Seven days later, Yang Anxuan received a battle report from Zhang Xuan and learned that Yidao City was lost and Sima Chu was assassinated.
After learning that the assassin's name was Mu Qian, Yang Anxuan shook his head and sighed. Originally, Sima Chuzhi moved Mu Qian to give up the assassination and follow him loyally, but he did not expect that he would eventually die in the hands of Mu Qian because of his arrival.
Regarding Sima Chuzhi's death, Yang Anxuan was secretly relieved and secretly happy. Sima's useful talents can be regarded as being cleaned up by Liu Yu's hands, so that it will be convenient for him to do things in the future, and the bad reputation will not fall on him. ..
Yidao City was gained and lost, and Yong's army lost its foundation on the south bank of the Yangtze River. There were nearly 6,000 Yong soldiers who fled to Jitou Mountain with Zhang Xuan. Of course, there was no room for tigers beside their couches. Shen Linzi ordered Liu Kangzu to go into the mountain to clear out the troops. As a result, Instead, Zhang Xuan used the terrain to win a few small games.
Considering the complicated terrain in the mountain, Shen Linzi ordered Liu Kangzu to set up strongholds at several exits of Jitoushan to guard the mountain, and shouted to the mountain to recruit Yong's army to surrender. Yong's army was large in number, but without food supplies it would not take long before they collapsed without a fight. Shen Linzi did not want to press too hard and lose strength.
Unexpectedly, Zhang Xuan secretly contacted the remaining naval forces of Bashan Water Village, and took most of Yong's army across the river at night to join Zhang Feng's troops. He himself took 500 soldiers and stayed in Jitou Mountain.
There were five hundred people hiding in the vast mountains and forests, with a radius of more than a hundred miles. The Song army had nowhere to find them. The navy left behind Zhou Xiang and more than thirty small boats, which could travel across the mountains and rivers. The 20,000 stones of grain stored in the village are scattered in many places, and there are wild animals and wild vegetables in the mountains. There is no need to worry about food in summer and autumn.
The fire in Yidao City burned for a day and a night. Most of the houses in the city were burned, leaving ruins and more than 10,000 people homeless. The worst thing was that the granary set up by Yong's army in the northwest corner was also burned by fire, and most of the more than 100,000 stones of corn were turned into black charcoal.
How to relocate so many people? After Shen Linzi asked Liu Yu for instructions, he moved the people in the city to Jiang'an City. They left their homes and cried loudly, and the people gritted their teeth and hated the Song army who burned their homes.
After seeing off the people, Shen Linzi left Liu Kangzu to garrison with eight thousand soldiers and horses, and took the remaining soldiers and horses back to Jiangling City by boat.
Liu Yu received the six cans of Yongjun gunpowder sent by Shen Linzi as if he had found a treasure, so he sent someone to the Caizhou Danhuo Institute in Jiankang to analyze the ingredients of Yongjun gunpowder and improve his own Danhuo.
At the same time, Liu Yu asked Xu Xianzhi, who was in charge of the government, to collect methods to improve skills from the subjects of the world, especially to improve the technology of warships, weapons, farming, etc. If it was beneficial to the country, he should not hesitate to reward him.
It was nearly July, and summer grain began to be put into storage. Liu Yu asked Xu Xianzhi, Zhao Lunzhi and others to raise 1.2 million shi of grain in the near future and send it to Jiangling, Xiakou and other places. As for the grain life of the garrison troops in Dongguan, Pengcheng, Jiangyang and other places, Each collects them locally.
Ten million stones of military rations must be prepared before the year. The war with the Yong Army will not end in a short time. The two armies are fighting without military rations.
In Jiankang City, Yuan Zhan, the right servant of Shangshu, died of illness in May. Song Gong Liu Yu recommended Shangshu of the Ministry of Personnel and Danyang Yin Xu Xianzhi to take over the post of Shangshu Youpushe, together with Shangshu Ling Kong Jing, Shangshu Zuopushe and Wang Hong. politics.
After receiving Liu Yu's order, Kong Jing, Xu Xianzhi and others discussed at the Shangshutai that it was urgent to improve the gunpowder and had already ordered it to be sent to Caizhou Danhuoyuan. If Yidaocheng is recaptured, the Yangtze River waterway will be unimpeded, and the transportation of saltpeter will be faster.
Everyone agreed to offer a reward for improving ordnance craftsmanship in the name of the imperial edict. Those who can provide a good prescription will be rewarded with a hundred thousand yuan and will be awarded an officer as appropriate. If the battle power can be significantly improved, the reward can be awarded as a marquis.
Wang Hong sighed: "There must be brave men under heavy rewards. There are many shipbuilding yards in Sanwu. I believe it won't be long before there is a good way to improve warships."
Since Changyu's defeat at sea, Jiankang officials were all uneasy. Since the waterways in the south of the Yangtze River were crisscrossed, it was entirely possible for Yong's army to enter the Yangtze River from the sea and attack Jiankang.
Liu Yu ordered people to set up water fortresses on the sandbanks at the river mouth, Jingkou to Jiankang section, and prepare iron cones for sinking the river in the strongholds. They also set up iron ropes at the river gorges of Jingkou, Guangling, Shitucheng and other fortresses; he ordered Xuanwu Lake, Cangou, Kuaiji and Sanwu shipyards have accelerated shipbuilding and strive to add 300 warships before the end of the year.
In order to prevent Yong ships from landing along the Yangtze River, Liu Yu ordered Liu Daolian to build embankments along both sides of the river to prevent disasters and prevent ships from landing; they also built beacon towers to convey messages and be on alert at all times.
Then everyone discussed the matter of military rations. Xu Xianzhi's expression became slightly lighter.
He said, "Brother Zhao, the weather has been good this year and the summer grain harvest will be bumper. It shouldn't be difficult to raise military rations."
Unexpectedly, Zuo Min Shangshu Zhao Lunzhi said with a gloomy face: "Xu Pushe, although the grain harvest is bumper this year, nearly one-seventh of the land for growing grain has been reduced, so raising military rations is not optimistic."
Xu Xianzhi knew that a large amount of farmland had been converted to cotton this year, but the imperial court collected grain taxes on a daily basis. Regardless of whether farmers grew grain or cotton, they still had to pay taxes, which would have little impact on the storage of grain.
Zhao Lunzhi began to calculate the accounts and said: "In the battle with Yong's army, Jiangling and Jingling had 50,000 soldiers and horses and more than 10,000 naval forces; Xiakou garrison had more than 20,000 soldiers and more than 10,000 naval forces; Dongguan had two soldiers and horses Ten thousand people, about 26,000 in Pengcheng and Xiapi areas; Yizhou Tandaoji has nearly 20,000 troops and 5,000 naval forces, and the number of troops on the front line alone is more than 160,000. Jiankang, Jingkou, Guangling There are about 50,000 soldiers and horses in , Xunyang, Liyang and other places. Including the state and county troops, the number is more than 80,000. The imperial court has nearly 300,000 troops."
Kong Jing sighed. The war continued and the people could not make a living. The people in the counties and counties were exhausted to cope with the needs of the war. If this war lasted for a few more years, the people might have no choice but to flee into the mountains or return to the family of aristocratic families. Become a hermit.
Just listen to Zhao Lunzhi continue: "The imperial court collects taxes according to the household registration. According to the household registration, there are 3.1 million males and 3.4 million females. At the beginning of the Song Dynasty, he ordered to reduce the tax. The males paid four dan, and the females paid 4 dan. Ding Sanshi, you can get 22.6 million shi; various rent transfers and miscellaneous donations can get about 50 million shi. Including commercial tax, customs tax, market tax and other taxes, the annual tax is about 100 million shi. "
Wang Hong calculated in his mind that if the hermit houses and fields under the names of various aristocratic families were included, it should be able to increase by about 40 million shi. Song Gong had been vigorously cleaning up the hermit houses under the names of the noble families, but the resistance was great and he was busy with Yang Anxuan fought, and it was difficult to implement the matter of ending the earth.
"An army of 300,000 and a frontline army of 160,000 need 800,000 shi of food per capita based on an average salary of 3 shi per capita and 2 shi of food. The garrison in the capital, Jingkou and prefectures and counties also require 500,000 shi of food based on a per capita monthly salary of 4 shi. About 1,000 dan; 8,000 war horses require 10 dan per month, totaling 80,000 dan, and food for the soldiers and horses requires at least 1,400,000 dan per month."
"Including the food and transportation of the servants, the monthly food consumption to support the battle will not be less than 2 million dan, and the annual military rations are 24 million dan; 20 million dan will be prepared for pensions and rewards. The cost of raising the army every year accounts for half of the tax. If you include shipbuilding, elixir fire, ordnance and other expenses, it will be close to 80 million dan."
"The number of officials in the imperial court is about 40,000. Calculated at more than 200 dan per capita. Including festival rewards, the number is about 10 million dan. Calculating expenses such as disaster relief, poverty alleviation, building bridges and roads, water conservancy, and schools, etc., it is beyond the means to make ends meet. Ah." Zhao Lunzhi sighed.
Cai Kuo, the Minister of the Ancestral Temple, said: "When the Song Dynasty reduced taxes, Foolishly objected because the state treasury was empty. Now that the government decree has been issued, it is inconvenient to ask for money from the people. Can aristocratic families donate some money and food?"
Everyone's eyes turned to Wang Hong. The Langya Wang family was the spokesperson of the powerful family in the court. Wang Hong smiled bitterly and said, "On behalf of the Wang family, I will donate 600,000 dan in food and try my best to persuade other families to share their worries for the country."
Xu Xianzhi knew that the Duke of Song had offended the family because of the imperial examination, and had forced everyone to donate money once because of the marriage of King Langya's daughter. I'm afraid there would be complaints if he tried to raise money again this time. However, the war ahead is urgent, and there is not much to worry about for the time being. Since Wang Hong agrees to persuade, he should be able to collect at least tens of millions of grains.
Zheng Xianzhi, the newly appointed Minister of the Fifth Army, suggested: "At present, the imperial court's expenses are tight, and the emperor, as the king of a country, should also show his respect. Our court has thousands of hectares of fertile land in Linyi, Hushu and other places as the queen's bequest. We might as well temporarily fill the state treasury with the income from the land." .”
These thousand hectares of land are all good farmland, with a yield of more than eight shi per acre. If the income is collected into the national treasury, about 800,000 shi of grain can be obtained. Eight hundred thousand shi is nothing to the entire national treasury, but this proposal reveals an infringement of imperial power. Everyone knew that it was only a matter of time before the Song Dynasty succeeded the Jin Dynasty. Zheng Xianzhi's proposal undoubtedly moved the country forward.
Xu Xianzhi moved on the table and said, "The fool will suggest this matter to Song Gong. If Song Gong agrees, he will report it to the emperor. The emperor understands the righteousness and will not stop it."
Everyone in the hall was silent. Although the Jin Dynasty had ceased to exist in name only, they were nominally ministers of the Jin Dynasty, and their faces were a little hot when they forced the emperor like this.
Xu Xianzhi coughed lightly and said, "This year the farmers will plant
There are about 300,000 hectares of cotton fields planted. The price of cotton last year was not low. The taxes on cotton fields can be increased as appropriate. "
Zhao Lunzhi said with a bitter face: "Yu was about to talk about this. This year, the cotton fields have increased sharply, and there are fewer grain fields. The young men and women are not enough to be recruited. The price of camellia seeds in Jiangbei has increased significantly, which has caused many farmers to plant in the mountains. Tea trees have caused many grain fields to be abandoned this year, and grain output is at least 20% less than last year."
Xu Xianzhi was shocked. Food is the foundation of the country. If there is a shortage of 20%, it will inevitably lead to a food shortage. No matter how much grain flowers and camellia seeds are planted, it will not be enough.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Xu Xianzhi forced himself to calm down, and thought for a while: "We are currently harvesting grain. We can let the government purchase grain from the people. We must not make it public and cause panic. Next year, the quantity of cotton fields must be controlled, and camellia must not be planted. Whoever wants to lay waste the fields after missing the farming season will be severely punished without mercy.”
While the princes in the court were discussing countermeasures, grain merchants appeared in counties and counties in Xu, Yang, Jiang, Henan, Hunan, Jiao, Guang and other states, purchasing grain at higher than market prices. It was said that the Qin and Liang States in the northwest Fighting requires a lot of food.
People don't care about so much. After paying taxes, they calculate their own food rations, sell the excess food, and get a few more baht to buy the utensils they need at home.
The government realized later that they were still thinking of taking advantage of the grain coming into the warehouse to buy grain at a lower price and reap benefits from it. As a result, half a month later, no grain could be collected at all.
Soon, the increase in food prices led to an increase in commodity prices. The government found abnormalities and reported them step by step. It was ten days before Xu Xianzhi and others received the report.
Zhao Lunzhi said urgently: "This group of grain merchants is very suspicious. We cannot allow them to take grain out of the country. We must immediately order the government to seize the grain team and confiscate the grain."
After receiving the imperial decree, the government set up bans on key roads. The endless flow of grain and grass on the official roads disappeared, but the trade of grain could not be banned.
Xu Xianzhi ordered Wang Shaozhi to send spies from the Military Intelligence Department to investigate and found that a large amount of grain was burned in the mountains or poured into rivers. It was obvious that someone had deliberately destroyed the grain.
The military situation was urgent, so Xu Xianzhi sent someone to report to Jiangling.
Liu Yu received the report and learned that more than a million stones of grain had been destroyed. His hands and feet felt cold. Even a defeat on the battlefield had never brought him such great panic.
In the Yongjun camp in the north of Jiangling City, Yang Anxuan listened to Ding Quan's report on the secret guards destroying food in the south of the Yangtze River, and knew that the dawn of victory had appeared.
