Crazy at the end of the Ming Dynasty

"My lord! It is unwise to offend Mr. Yang Ge just because of these mere foreign things." Zhang Zhiheng whispered to Wu Shigong.

When Zhang Zhiheng learned that Wu Shigong and Yan Jizu had reached an agreement, although he still wrote the memorial for Wu Shigong, he still held objections in his heart.Today, taking advantage of Wu Shigong being alone, Zhang Zhiheng took the initiative to ask for a meeting, wanting to point out Wu Shigong's mistakes, and it is best to find a way to make up for it.

"Mr. Zhang! If it's not for my own benefit, I'm going to lose my mind, but it's really helpless!" Wu Shigong sighed.

"But does your lord understand? Governor Yan's promises are like castles in the air. Once he is not in his position, everything he said will be invalidated. However, the rift between your lord and Mr. Yang Ge has already been established, but it is difficult to ease it. It's too much to lose!"

This time, in order to ask Wu Shigong for help, Yan Jizu spent a lot of money.In order to get Wu Shigong to make a move, not to mention the small conditions promised, Wu Shigong was also given two major benefits: one was to give Wu Shigong and Liu Zeqing [-] mu of land near Jinan City;

To be honest, if these two benefits are realized, it will indeed bring considerable benefits to the Runing Army.Let’s talk about ten thousand mu of land first, what Wu Shigong and Liu Zeqing agreed on is [-]% to [-]%, Wu Shigong can get [-] mu for nothing, even if he changes hands, he can get tens of thousands of taels.

Besides, that wharf, if realized, would be even more serious, it would simply become a cornucopia for the Runing Army.

Because of the ban on the sea in the Ming Dynasty, there are no commercial piers in the northern coastal areas at all, while the maritime merchants in Jiangnan and Fujian, led by Zheng Zhilong, have some piers on their own sites, but for the sake of concealment, most of them are on islands. .

This has caused a very strange phenomenon, such as: the most profitable golden route - Daming to Japan.If the north of Ming Dynasty conducts import and export trade with Japan, the goods must be sent to the south first.And then shipped through the south of the wharf.This is simply a huge waste in the face of the expensive logistics costs of the Ming Dynasty. [

If there is a transfer station in Denglai, the cost of transportation will be greatly reduced, and the profit of sea trade will be greatly increased.In addition, sea-going ships can be located at multiple locations along the way to supply and repair ships.Therefore, when the Zheng family learned that Wu Shigong had two saltworks in Denglai, they had already asked Wu Shigong about the possibility of building a wharf.At that time, because the timing was not ripe, there was no more content.But Wu Shigong had already taken this matter to heart.

And after Wu Shigong owns this pier, he will also greatly improve his status in the cooperation with the Zheng family.At least it can have the right to speak, it won't be like it is now.He was suppressed by the Zheng family with scruples.

It seems that there are indeed many benefits, but there must be a basis for realizing all this, that is, Yan Jizu must stay in the position of governor of Shandong.And not only can't be convicted, but can't even be removed from office.From this we can see how difficult it is to achieve this.

and.The things that Yan Jizu gave Wu Shigong were all obtained by taking advantage of his power.And he doesn't need to pay anything for it personally.What Wu Shigong paid was real support.That is to say, Wu Shigong used real things to exchange his appearance and succeed his ancestors.It always feels like a disadvantage.

"Mr. Zhang! You have also been an official in the court. According to what you have seen, what does Elder Yang Ge think of me?" Since it is difficult to explain clearly to Zhang Zhiheng directly, Wu Shigong is going to use a roundabout method.

Zhang Zhiheng immediately frowned.Thinking hard.After thinking for a while, he let out a long sigh, shook his head and said, "Not good!"

In fact, this reason is also obvious.Although Wu Shigong and Yang Sichang had little personal contact, there was no opinion or prejudice between the two of them.But Emperor Chongzhen had a bad feeling for Wu Shigong, and Yang Sichang was Emperor Chongzhen's confidant, so it was decided: Yang Sichang would definitely hold the same position as Emperor Chongzhen, so Wu Shigong and Yang Sichang were natural enemies.Now that he is already a natural enemy, he is not afraid to offend Yang Sichang again.

Although he wanted to understand this, Zhang Zhiheng continued to blame: "My lord! Even so, you should not be so anxious!" Zhang Zhiheng's words are also very reasonable. Anyway, it is better to have a fight later than a bayonet. Well, you must know that the current Wu Shigong is still fledgling after all, so he shouldn't make too many enemies.

Wu Shigong was also full of bitterness, shook his head and sighed: "Hey! Mr. and I said clearly that the soldiers in this battle were heroic and made mistakes in command, but I still committed the crime of underestimating the enemy and underestimating the Tartars, thinking that with [-] Ru Ning The army can defeat the Tartars, but I never imagined that the Tartars are so tough and the casualties are so heavy. Therefore, although this battle is won, it will still be defeated. If we mishandle it, our hard work for several years may be in vain."

"Why is that so?" Zhang Zhiheng immediately asked in surprise.Because he joined the Runing Army for a short time, Zhang Zhiheng did not fully understand the financial situation of the Runing Army.

"Mr. is wise, and I just want to ask him for advice." So Wu Shigong introduced the situation that the Runing Army will face to Zhang Zhiheng in detail.

First of all, Wu Shigong compared the combat effectiveness of the Runing Army and the Qing Army for Zhang Zhiheng.Wu Shigong believes that the Runing Army is a little stronger than the Qing Army, but not by much.

Wu Shigong analyzed: The advantage of the Runing army is firearms, so it is superior in frontal confrontation; while the advantage of the Qing army is the whole cavalry, which is more mobile.The command, tactics, individual combat effectiveness and fighting will of the two armies are similar.

If the two armies fought head-on again, Wu Shigong was confident that he would be able to defeat the Qing army, even if it was not destroyed.But if the Qing army voluntarily retreats or fights, the Runing army will have nothing to do.And this is when the numbers of the two armies are about the same.So in the following analysis, Wu Shigong was a little pessimistic.

Among the casualties of the Runing Army this time, most of them were soldiers from the Teaching Association, Feima Town and Artillery Association.These soldiers are either technical arms, or veterans of the Runing Army. It should be said that they are all elites of the Runing Army.So such casualties have hurt the strength of the Runing army. [

As for the Qing army, although the casualties were similar to those of the Runing army, Wu Shigong estimated that the number of Manchurian and Mongolian allied forces in Liaodong would not be less than 20 (in fact, Wu Shigong's estimate was too high), and it should be said that they have not been injured.Therefore, comparing here and there, the strength of the Runing Army and the Qing Army are actually even wider.

Then there is restorativeness.Because the situation in the Qing army was unknown, Wu Shigong couldn't estimate it.But if the Runing Army wants to restore the pre-war level, at least 40 taels of silver are needed, not counting other horses and supplies.However, in this expedition, the Runing Army did not achieve the goal of supporting war with war, and it can be said that they did not get a penny.So now Wu Shigong also encountered the same problem as Emperor Chongzhen-raising the food and payment department.

The only good thing is that Wu Shigong has more than [-] village guards, mine guards, and road guards, so there is still no shortage of prepared troops, but the key to stopping the explosion is money.

In the end, Wu Shigong confessed to Zhang Zhiheng the belongings of the Runing Army.The current Runing Army can use up to 8 to [-] taels of money at the bottom of the box, so this gap is huge.

When Wu Shigong returned to Runing, he wanted to raise another [-] to [-] yuan by selling some properties.But other than that, there is no source.So the notch is pretty big.Therefore, Wu Shigong agreed to Yan Jizu, wanting to get something.There is no way, the current Wu Shigong is also poor and crazy.

"How about issuing bonds again and raising money from the gentry?" Zhang Zhiheng asked.

"I have thought about this method, but the previous debts are not cleared, and the future debts are difficult to solve. After all, the gentry families have a lot of money, and most of them buy stocks and save money in banks. They can raise up to [-] to [-] yuan, which is really a drop in the bucket!" Wu Shigong thought long ago. After this method, but Ru Ning and Guide have too many investment directions for their idle money, and the attractiveness of stocks and futures is too great, so Wu Shigong is not sure about issuing bonds.At this time, Wu Shigong really felt like he was in a cocoon. The financial products he invented had absorbed a lot of money from the market, so much so that even if he wanted to borrow money now, it was difficult to borrow.It's really a stock for success and a stock for failure!

"Does your lord have extra land to sell?" Zhang Zhiheng asked again.

"The land owned by the Runing Army is actually very tight. The disabled, the compensation for the soldiers killed in battle, the resettlement of the retired soldiers, the expiration of the redemption of the peasants, and the distribution of the serfs to the free people have all gathered in the past few years. In fact, the land is not enough. It won’t last long even if you eat enough food. The only things you can use are the land of Jinan and Zheng Gueran’s attack on Yizhou.”

"But the land in Jinan can't be sold at a high price. After years of famine, the land price has been extremely low. It is even more difficult to find a buyer unless we lower the price. And the land in Yizhou is even more impossible. Unless it is sold to Otherwise, Zheng Guerrilla would not even be able to find a buyer. But Zheng Guerrilla has no shortage of Yizhou land, so there is a place there." While talking, Wu Shigong scratched his head, and at this moment he seemed quite trouble.

Zhang Zhiheng also felt quite difficult, and after thinking for a long time, he could only say: "Then the sir can only reduce the number of soldiers. Replace the number of soldiers with the best of soldiers."

Wu Shigong smiled wryly again.He knew that this question was very difficult, so he asked Zhang Zhiheng if he was treating a dead horse as a living horse doctor.Seeing that Zhang Zhiheng couldn't do anything, Wu Shigong's heart felt like a stone fell.

Wu Shigong thought to himself: I may be too persistent, and I have been delusional about restoring the original strength.But there is really no way and can only take a step back, so that the sea and the sky will be brighter.Although there were more than 1 casualties, Wu Shigong still had a strong force of [-].As long as we work hard for a few more years, the strength of the Runing Army will still be restored.However, in the past few years, the Runing Army has not been able to fight again, and he can no longer bear such losses. (to be continued...)