"They keep saying that Shanhaiguan is extremely strong and is the first pass in the north. But now it is just a siege and a strong attack and it was captured by the rebels in less than two months. If he didn't know how to be loyal to the country, how could I tolerate him!"
In mid-September, when Geng Feng committed suicide, Wu Shou'an and others died in battle, and the news that all Liaodong except Jiulian City was lost reached the capital, Zhu Yunwen irritably threw the memorial in his hand on the table.
There were no outsiders in the palace at this moment, only him and the eunuch Li Quan, so he could vent his temper unscrupulously.
"Your Majesty..." Li Quan saw that Zhu Yunzhen's temper was gradually weakening, so he took out the memorial from the Ministry of Revenue and said:
"Yu Xin, Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, begged the old man to become an official. This is this year's "Money, Grain and Tax Book" sent by Wang Pu. Please read it."
Li Quan stepped forward cautiously and handed the memorial to Zhu Yunwen with both hands. Zhu Yunwen took it and read it, but the more he looked, the more he frowned.
The defeat of Geng Bingwen in the north caused the imperial court to lose millions of shi of money, food, and many supplies. Now that Li Jinglong was in charge of mobilizing troops, the money and food needed for troop mobilization from various places was quite a lot. Three million shi of food were transferred to Dezhou in one go.
Coupled with Jiangnan's policy of using banknotes to offset taxes this year, this year's Ming Dynasty unexpectedly exceeded its budget, with fiscal revenue reaching a negative of more than 5 million shi and more than 2 million guan.
If this happens every year, then the foundation left by Zhu Yuanzhang will only be enough to last the court for fifteen years at most.
"How come there are so many expenses..."
Zhu Yunwen searched for something wrong, among which the Lala rebellion in Yunnan and Sichuan Xingdu Division was one of the main reasons for this year's negative income.
Since Zhu Yunwen had previously set his sights on the north, the Daxue Mountain Luluoxia Mountain Rebellion in July this year robbed many mines, causing many mines to stop working, causing the Ministry of Household Affairs to lose nearly 600,000 yuan in income.
The counterinsurgency in the southwest has been dragging on, consuming hundreds of thousands of dan every month. In the past nine months, it has consumed at least 1.7 million dan.
These things restricted Daming's hands and feet, and even caused Daming's financial problems.
"In the past, this Luoluo was obedient, but now he dares to plunder my kingdom!"
Zhu Yunwen's words were filled with anger. Of course, he also knew that this was a reaction caused by mining in the southwest.
Many mining areas were originally where Luo Luo lived. After the Ming Dynasty mined gold, silver and copper mines, they drove them deeper into the mountains.
In those places, they could not provide for themselves and had to go down the mountain to rob the Han people.
Zhu Yunwen knew these things, but that didn't mean he needed to compromise.
"Order Qu Neng to lead his troops back to Sichuan Xingdusi to put down the rebellion!"
He ordered Li Quan, then closed the document and stopped discussing the affairs of the Ministry of Household Affairs.
After all, in his opinion, as long as the rebellion in the north is quelled, the finances will soon be restored to their original state.
He turned his thoughts to the north, and under his decree a month ago, the war machine left by Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor, began to fully activate.
Soldiers and horses from Ping Miao Yao in Huguang, Guangdong and other places were mobilized, and soldiers and horses from Fujian and Zhejiang were mobilized from Japan.
The Sixteenth Guards of Zhili Shangzhi were transferred, the cavalry of Tingcao in Beijing were transferred, the cavalry of Ganliang in the northwest were transferred, the soldiers and horses of Pingqiang Fan in Shaanxi were transferred... and Liu Zhen, who had just withdrawn from Jiulian City to Liaodong, also withdrew the first batch Three thousand soldiers and horses marched towards Texas.
Not to mention the soldiers in Jiangxi, Henan and other places.
All of a sudden, all the soldiers from all over the country were mobilized, and as the general who commanded them, Li Jinglong had already gone north to Dongchang, which was only two hundred miles away from Dezhou.
He mobilized more than 70,000 troops to go to Texas, and planned to use the winter in Texas to train the defeated 70,000 troops. Otherwise, given their current situation, they would be useless even on the battlefield.
Compared with Geng Bingwen, Li Jinglong commanded 70,000 people with ease. He ordered all states and counties to arrange supplies along the way outside the city. He also sent Wu Gao to lead 7,000 cavalry in Beijing to supervise them and not allow any troops to enter the city. Rest.
He knew very well that after a big defeat, soldiers would have accumulated emotions that could easily be stimulated and released.
At this time, we must strictly manage the army to prevent them from becoming undisciplined thieves.
At the same time, he personally went north to Hezhou, and asked Ping An to lead Xu Kai's 5,000 Shanxi cavalry south to Dezhou. He listened to his control and asked Xu Kai to defend until the soldiers and horses gathered in the south.
Such an approach would naturally prevent the soldiers and civilians from offending him, but doing so would inevitably lead to many people impeaching him for running the army too strictly.
Zhu Yunwen also asked Huang Zicheng and others, but they rarely recognized Li Jinglong's style, and thought that if the army was not strict, it would be a mediocre response to Zhu Yunwen.
After Zhu Yunwen heard this, he no longer asked Li Jinglong, nor did he urge him. He just asked him to lead his troops well and not to cause another drama where Yan Ni took the blame.
Regarding this request, Li Jinglong responded to him in a respectful handwriting, sincerely describing the situation he encountered, and promised to build everything before winter, and go north to defeat the Yan army after the beginning of the next spring.
After receiving the response, Zhu Yunwen stopped interfering in the northern military affairs and handed it over to Li Jinglong. At the same time, troops from all over the country also gathered in Dezhou.
This situation made the generals in Beiping very nervous. In the Chengyun Hall of Yan Mansion in Beiping, the sound of dripping water could be heard quietly.
Looking at the people in the hall, Zhu Di knew very well what they were worried about. After all, Li Jinglong was a general who had trained troops all over the country and had followed Fu Youde, Lan Yu, Feng Sheng and others in their campaigns. He was familiar with the combat methods of the soldiers and horses of any city, and he also knew how to fight. Train them and get a better understanding of the situation in Peiping.
Facing such an opponent, it would be strange for the generals not to worry.
"Yesterday, spies came with news that Li Jinglong had taken a boat and sailed north along the canal to Dezhou, and collected Geng Bingwen's defeated generals. The imperial court in the south also mobilized more than 200,000 troops to go north..."
Zhu Di was the first to talk about the situation, and then said: "You are afraid of Li Jiujiang (pseudonym of Li Jinglong), but I am not afraid of him."
"The son raised by Li Jiujiang is resourceful but arrogant, fierce in appearance but discouraged, jealous and selfish, and he has never led an army of tens of thousands to defeat the enemy in battle."
"Now that my nephew has deployed 300,000 troops for his own use, he is completely pushing himself into a pit of fire."
"I heard that the Emperor of the Han Dynasty was generous, knew people well and put heroes to good use, but he could only command a hundred thousand troops. How talented Li Jiujiang was, he dared to command an army of three hundred thousand troops. Now it seems that he is just Zhao Kuo. Zhao Kuozhi The defeat is a lesson learned from his mistakes.”
"Um..." Listening to Zhu Di's self-praising and belittling words about Li Jinglong, the generals looked at each other, thinking that it would be better if Li Jinglong was really as idiot as his Highness said.
"Your Highness thinks that Li Jinglong doesn't know about military affairs?" Zhang Yu asked Zhu Di bravely, worried that Zhu Di would be proud and complacent because he defeated Geng Bingwen.
Facing his inquiry, Zhu Di smiled honestly and said: "There are five defeats in the art of war, and Jinglong has committed them all..."
"First, it is because the general does not revise his political orders, lacks discipline, has different intentions, and is estranged from life to death."
"Secondly, it's getting cold early in the north, and soldiers in the south have insufficient fur and snow. Their coats are exposed to frost and snow, and their hands and feet are wrinkled. In worse cases, their fingers are broken. The soldiers have no food, and the horses have no shelter."
"Third, don't consider the risks and risks, and go deep into the pursuit of profits."
“Fourth, greed without governance, lack of wisdom and trust, excessive energy and confusion, lack of benevolence and courage, inability to command and control, and the three armies are easy to defeat.
"Fifth, his music is noisy, his golden drum has no rhythm, he likes to flatter and like sycophants, and he is dedicated to being a villain."
"These five points are the reasons why Li Jiujiang was defeated by me!"
Zhu Di praised himself without hesitation and belittled Li Jinglong in order to boost morale.
Although the generals did not take it seriously, they could understand Zhu Di's good intentions and bowed to him one after another.
"Boss, how are things arranged over there?"
Zhu Di set his sights on Zhu Gaochi. After all, he was actually allowed to challenge Li Jinglong's 300,000 troops alone. He still felt a little guilty, but if his second son entered the customs with tens of thousands of troops from outside the customs, then he would be confident. .
Faced with the problem, Zhu Gaochi also bowed and said: "The more than 840,000 stones of grain seized during the last four battles south have been put into the warehouse, of which 500,000 were transferred to Guangning together with the previous one million, and were escorted to Guangning by Fang Tongzhi. ”
"After Gao Xu captured Shanhaiguan, he wrote to me, saying that he would soon send Wang Yi to command 20,000 horse infantry and 30,000 Daning infantry to go south and put them under your control."
"Twenty thousand horse infantry?" When Zhu Di heard this, he immediately became happy. You must know that even after he defeated Geng Bingwen, he only had 30,000 horse infantry.
Now Zhu Gaoxu sent 20,000 horse infantry and 30,000 infantry at once, totaling 50,000 troops. It can be said that he spent a huge amount of capital.
However, despite being happy, Zhu Di was still covetous of Zhu Gaoxu's cavalry, so he told Zhu Gaochi: "You can write back to Gao Chi and tell him that we don't have many cavalry and horse infantry here, and ask him if he can send more."
"Also, I heard that he has the fourth battalion of Shenji. Can you divide two of them to help us defend the city? After this battle is over, I will definitely return them to him."
Zhu Di's words can no longer be regarded as a big talk of the lion. They are simply an excuse for parents to help their children keep the lucky money during the New Year.
Even the blind Qiu Fu could see his thoughts, let alone Zhu Gaochi.
"Dad, I don't think Gao Xu will give it to me. He said in the letter that this is it, and he has uses for the rest."
Zhu Gaochi had no choice but to speak. Zhu Di, who had been expected by Zhu Gaoxu in advance, was also a little frustrated, but he still felt happy at the thought that another 50,000 troops would soon go south to listen to his restraint.
After being happy for a while, he slowly said to the generals: "Right now, our army has reorganized 50,000 troops and horses, and has obtained another 50,000 troops and horses from Lao Er's side. Counting the casualties from the previous march south, there are still 100,000 soldiers and horses. Sixty thousand troops and horses are available, including 10,000 cavalry, 50,000 horse infantry, and 100,000 infantry.”
"It seems like Li Jiujiang doesn't dare to fight us in the winter. He will definitely wait until the spring of next year."
"Seizing this opportunity, we have to train our troops well. Except for the 40,000 infantry in Yongping, Juyongguan and Peiping who do not need to participate in the training, the other 120,000 soldiers and horses have to undergo a major training so that they can cooperate when we go south. tacit agreement."
Zhu Di wanted to seize the time to train his troops, and after Zhu Gaochi heard everything, he also wrote Zhu Di's arrangements into a letter with complicated emotions, preparing to send it to Zhu Gaoxu later.
The hour-long discussion was finally over, and Zhu Gaochi took the written letter and returned to his prince's mansion.
But before getting off the carriage, he looked up at the plaque of the Prince's Mansion and felt mixed emotions.
After he entered the Prince's Mansion, he heard the child's cry.
He hurriedly walked into the Prince's Palace, and sure enough he saw a pretty woman holding a crying baby.
"Is the baby crying again? Is he not feeding or something?"
Zhu Gaochi ran to the woman and sat down, taking the doll from his hand with a smile on his face, no longer as complicated as before.
"I don't know why the child Zhanji has been crying since his father and second brother started the army. Recently, after Shanhaiguan was captured, he has been crying from time to time."
The woman in palace clothes frowned and talked to Zhu Gaochi, but Zhu Gaochi smiled like Maitreya Buddha: "Children, at this age, dogs are disgusted, and it is normal to cry often."
"The situation is now good. Although Li Jinglong went north to control the 300,000 troops, we still have about 200,000 here, so there is no need to be afraid of him."
"From what I see, dad seems to be planning to take advantage of the stalemate to write a letter to the south to see if we can negotiate peace."
Zhu Gaochi talked to the woman beside him, and this woman was naturally Zhang, the wife Zhu Yuanzhang chose for him.
The concubines of Zhu Yunwen, Zhu Gaochi, and Zhu Gaoxu were all selected by Zhu Yuanzhang together, and their wedding dates were not far apart.
Madam Zhang is knowledgeable and considerate of others, so when she heard Zhu Gaochi mention the war, Madam Zhang frowned slightly and said worriedly: "You'd better worry about yourself first."
"Have you thought about what I told you last time?"
What Zhang said was her advice to Zhu Gaochi when she saw that Zhu Gaoxu was powerful.
"Do you want to fight with him or not?"
"Give us a confirmation early so that our family will not end up like Li Jiancheng."
Every word she said struck a chord in Zhu Gaochi's heart. Facing his words, Zhu Gaochi's smile slowly faded away, but it was not cold either. He just said like ordinary people chatting:
"Do you think that I can take the throne just because I want to?"
"Except for a few subordinate officials around you, and there is no one else following you, what can't you do?" Ms. Zhang rolled her eyes at Zhu Gaochi, feeling that this damn fat man was always leading her in circles.
"Let me ask you..." Zhu Gaochi glanced outside the hall, and then whispered to Mr. Zhang: "Now do you think it is me or my father who should be worried about this matter?"
"Let me tell you first, today the second brother gave my father 20,000 horse infantry and 30,000 infantry in one breath. Not to mention my father and I, even my grandfather had to crawl out of Xiaoling... …”
"Stop, stop, stop! Stop scaring me." Mrs. Zhang asked Zhu Gaochi to stop: "If the old man really climbs out, all three of you will count. As long as you can still stand and talk to him, I will immediately jump into the river with my son. "
"Hey...you can't say that." Zhu Gaochi was not angry when his wife refuted him, he just said with a smile:
"In short, the second child's foundation is getting stronger and stronger. Do you think my father is afraid that I will become Li Jiancheng, or is he afraid that he will become Li Yuan?"
"That's not the case..." Zhang said hesitantly. He didn't think Zhu Di could beat Zhu Gaoxu.
"That's what I'm saying." Zhu Gaochi pointed at the air with one hand and said:
"What do you think the second son will do if the imperial court in the south suddenly gets enlightened, makes the second son a prince, and comes to sow discord between my father and the second son."
"I've never met him, how do I know?" Ms. Zhang stretched out her hand and pinched Zhu Gaochi. Zhu Gaochi was so hurt that he didn't dare to show off, and said quickly:
"I have seen it, and I tell you, the second child will definitely disagree, because the second child does not want the prince, he wants the throne."
"You really dare to say that!" Zhang pressed her fingers hard, obviously not believing Zhu Gaochi's lies.
In her opinion, although Yan Mansion defeated Geng Bingwen, the southern court was still powerful, and its money and food were dozens of times that of Yan Mansion.
No one dares to wish for the throne until the last moment.
"That's because you don't understand him." Zhu Gaochi pushed her hand away, rubbed his painful hand, and then hugged Zhu Zhanji to Mrs. Zhang. He got up and walked around the hall, mumbling:
"I know the second brother very well. He did a lot of things in Nanjing in the past. At that time, I thought he was just playing around, and at worst he wanted to be a prince."
"It's just that my grandfather later conferred the crown prince title on me. When I went to see him again, he was still chatting and laughing with me. That smile..."
Zhu Gaochi clicked his tongue several times: "I was panicking when I saw him. I was afraid that he would kill me with one punch."
He put his hands into his sleeves, shook his head and said, "Later, when he went to the Bohai Sea and continued to expand his troops and smuggled iron materials, I knew that he was not simple-minded."
"The things he did later, I felt strange no matter how I looked at them. They were not at all what a county king or even a prince should do."
"Tell me about it...the equalization of land, exemption from taxes, private recruitment of soldiers, and mutual trade with the Jurchens. Not even him, not even my father would dare to do these things."
"But, the second child dared to do it, and even if he knew that my grandfather was with him, he still did it without fear that my grandfather would deal with him."
"Now that I think about it, the second child knows exactly what my grandfather's bottom line is, so he is not afraid at all."
"Think about it, that's my grandfather. My father would be shaken to pieces when he saw it, but the second child dared to jump around under my grandfather's nose."
Zhu Gaochi kept clicking his tongue, seeming to admire Zhu Gaoxu.
"Does that mean he wants to be emperor?" Ms. Zhang didn't believe it. After all, the emperor was not that easy to do.
"This can't be explained yet, but after my grandfather left, look at the actions of the second child."
Zhu Gaochi couldn't help but break out in cold sweat when he thought of Zhu Gaoxu's actions.
"When we were still in the capital, the second son encouraged my father to take the troops of the Sandu Division directly south to Jingnan."
"Think about it, if my father had really listened to the second child, would we and the third child still have a way to survive?"
Zhu Gaochi looked at Mrs. Zhang, who was also frightened by what he said: "Your second brother doesn't even care about the life and death of your two brothers?"
"I definitely care, but the second child will weigh the pros and cons." Zhu Gaochi said:
"If it is my father who leads the Sandusi troops south, then the second brother's biggest threat is me."
"If I am killed, the second son's position as crown prince will be stable."
"It's just that my father didn't agree. Then you know what happened next. The second brother started an army and became stronger and stronger."
"Right now, the second son controls two palaces by himself. My father doesn't even have half of one, just two palaces."
"The second threat now is not me, but my father's thoughts."
"My father doesn't understand. Maybe he is still worried about us."
"Of course you have to worry about us. Otherwise, according to you, if the second child takes over, we will still have a way to survive?" Mrs. Zhang said quickly, but Zhu Gaochi shook his head at the expression of Niu playing the piano:
"You are wrong. If the second brother takes over now, our family will definitely be fine, because the second brother doesn't like our family at all."
"The second brother is arrogant, but his heart is broader than my father's, and his actions are generous enough."
"If his position as crown prince is secure, not only will we be fine, but we will also be rewarded and properly placed."
"Then why are you hesitating? Give up your position as soon as possible." Zhang interrupted, but Zhu Gaochi sighed:
"I want to, too, but until the capital is conquered and my father and second son are completely at odds, I can only sit on this rickety chair, unable to get up or down."
Zhu Gaochi suddenly felt that it was quite hard for him to meet such a grandfather, such a father, and such a younger brother...
He is now a stone that balances Zhu Di and Zhu Gaoxu. He can't step down too early or too late. He has to step down at the right time.
If he goes down early, Zhu Di's people will feel that Zhu Di is afraid of Zhu Gaoxu, and they will all join Zhu Gaoxu.
If it goes down later, Zhu Gaoxu will probably start a Xuanwu Gate Incident to force the palace.
"Then when can you get off?"
Mrs. Zhang was worried, fearing that Zhu Gaochi would not be able to figure out how to fight for the throne.
"When they break into the capital, I can get off."
"Before this, our family could not leave Prince Yan's mansion."
Zhu Gaochi could see clearly that he could not compete with Zhu Gaoxu, and if he really dared to compete with Zhu Gaoxu, he had no doubt that Zhu Gaoxu would connive at his men to start a Xuanwu Sect uprising.
What he can do now is to help Zhu Di stabilize his men so that Zhu Di will not be ignored.
His thoughts were also Zhu Di's thoughts now, but Zhu Gaochi still underestimated Zhu Di when it came to family ties.
"Are you so wary of your own son?"
In the former palace, which was only a few hundred steps away from the Crown Prince's Mansion, Zhu Di also discussed the Crown Prince's position and Zhu Gaoxu with Mrs. Xu.
Zhu Di said that he could not let Zhu Gaochi accede to the throne early, because that would cause Qiu Fu, Zhang Yu, Zhu Neng and other people who already favored Zhu Gaochi to turn to him one after another, causing him to be sidelined.
However, he was not doing it for himself, but for Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Gaosui.
"I can't see through the dick..."
Sitting next to Mrs. Xu in the palace, Zhu Di's face was full of sorrow: "I don't know if the eldest son is allowed to step down from the throne and helps the second son to ascend, then the second son will be cruel to the eldest and third sons in the future. "
"My father said that the second child is cunning and cruel by nature. You and I also know what the second child's personality was before."
"Tell me, if the second child's change of temper in recent years is just an act, and I no longer have military power, if he wants to attack the boss, how can I protect the boss and the third child?"
Zhu Di worried too much because he couldn't see through Zhu Gaoxu.
But compared to him, Xu shook her head: "I don't think the second child is like that."
"Why?" Zhu Di lowered his head and glanced at Mrs. Xu, then followed Mrs. Xu's gaze to the family letter on the table.
Looking at the pile of family letters written by Zhu Gaoxu himself, Mrs. Xu smiled:
"The second brother is still kind, he is just pretending to be fierce..."
"Records of Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty": "Jinglong marched north with 300,000 troops. When he heard that Emperor Taizong was in danger, he sent Wang Yima and 50,000 infantrymen to help Peiping."
"History of the Ming Dynasty: Biography of King Yan": "King Gaochi of Yan, the eldest son of Emperor Taizong Wen, and the eldest brother of Emperor Shizong Wu, went to the capital with Shizong when he was young. He said that my younger brother had a kingly spirit. However, Taizu wanted to restrain Taizong, so Shizong went to Jilin, and then Yu Shizi is located in Gao Chi. Gao Chi heard that, "My brother has a kingly spirit. I will take his place for the time being. When the time comes, I will return to my brother's throne."
(End of chapter)
