In fact, Xiong Tingbi, Minister of War, has been concerned about the war in Liaodong.
According to his original idea, Liaodong would have to increase its troops to at least 160,000 to 70,000 troops to contain Jianzhou.
However, with Yuan Yingtai's defeat, the Ming Dynasty lost tens of thousands of elites. Coupled with Li Xianzhong's elite army plan, the entire town of Liaodong now only had 100,000 troops, but Jianzhou was overwhelmed and breathless.
He also had to admit that Ning Yuanbo Li Xianzhong was not only brave in combat, but also a genius in strategic planning.
Nowadays, the imperial court mainly relies on Li Xianzhong's Kaiyuan, Tieling and Fushun routes to deal with Jianzhou.
Li Xianzhong completely took control of the battlefield with only 30,000 troops.
After abandoning Kuandian Fort, the pressure on the Ming army on the southern front suddenly decreased a lot.
Yan Mingtai, the governor of Jiliao, only needs to use tens of thousands of elite troops to guard the line between Crow Falcon Pass and Qinghe Fort to completely stabilize the situation on the southern front.
It is obvious that Liaodong's "attack in the north and defend in the south" strategy is not only effective, but also saves a lot of military expenditures.
The annual military salary of 70,000 men alone saved the court 1.26 million taels of silver.
Li Xianzhong only dispatched 20,000 people to attack Jianzhou. Such a scale could be tolerated by the court even if it lasted for one or two years.
Therefore, he did not agree with Ye Xianggao's proposal to increase troops in Liaodong.
Firstly, it greatly increased the burden on the court, and secondly, it was not necessary.
Because the dangerous places in the north of Jianzhou, such as Jiefan City, Sarhu, and Gule Village, were all in the hands of the Ming Dynasty.
Now there is only one Maldun village left in the north of Hetuala.
As long as enough ammunition and armaments are allocated to Ning Yuanbo and Li Xianzhong, it will only be a matter of time before he conquers it.
In addition, from a strategic perspective, Jianzhou is currently in the midst of internal strife. If the Ming army is pressing down on the territory at this time, they will definitely put aside their internal conflicts for the time being and fight to the death with all their strength.
If the Ming army postpones its attack at this time, it may allow them to continue fighting among themselves, or even lead to a firefight.
Therefore, Xiong Tingbi did not agree to continue to increase troops to Liaodong and open a second battlefield in Kuandian.
Xiong Tingbi is the most knowledgeable among the cabinet members, and his opinions should be the most authoritative.
However, the Donglin Party-dominated cabinet does not see it that way.
They believed that this time of statehood chaos was a good opportunity to completely resolve the statehood issue.
Li Xianzhong was dawdling in Maldun Village, obviously showing his self-respect to support the bandits.
Emperor Taichang was very wary of the power of the Li family in Liaodong, so he asked Li Xianzhong to send troops to attack Jianzhou.
But now the casualties of the Ming army are not large, and the Li family in Liaodong will be even worse after the war.
Since Li Xianzhong was unwilling to attack quickly, the imperial court could only increase troops and horses to open a second battlefield.
This will definitely accelerate the collapse of Jianlu.
On the one hand, it can prevent Li Xianzhong from monopolizing the great contribution of pacifying Jianzhou, and on the other hand, it can stimulate him to strengthen his offensive, which will help to completely solve the problem of Jianzhou!
Nowadays, the three parties of "Qi, Chu, and Zhejiang" are talking very little in the cabinet. Among the seven cabinet ministers, only Shi Jikai and Xiong Tingbi are opposed.
Since Yan Mingtai was the governor of Liaodong concurrently as the governor of Jiliao, the cabinet soon appointed Wang Huazhen, Ye Xianggao's protégé, as governor of Liaodong.
After all, Emperor Tianqi had just ascended the throne at this time, so he didn't know the powerful relationship.
After learning that the cabinet had not only allocated military resources, but also sent additional troops to Liaodong, so that the conquest of Jianzhou could be ended as soon as possible, he readily agreed to Wang Huazhen's appointment.
After all, it is no longer the Wanli Dynasty. Although the court meetings are not held every day, it is still easy for ministers to meet the emperor.
Emperor Tianqi directly agreed to the matter at the court meeting, and the Supervisor of Ceremonies could no longer reject the cabinet's relevant vote.
However, Wei Zhongxian still used his power as a eunuch to make changes to the cabinet vote.
Ye Xianggao and others originally wanted to completely sideline Yan Mingtai, the governor of Ji Liao, and let Yan Mingtai directly move out of Liaodong and take charge of Jizhou.
The Chief of Ceremonies refused to allow Yan Mingtai to evacuate Liaoyang on the grounds that he had worked hard and made great achievements in Liaodong.
With Yan Mingtai, the governor of Jiliao, in charge, there was some restriction on Wang Huazhen.
However, Yan Mingtai knew that he would not be able to stay as governor of Jiliao for too long.
Because he had heard the news, the cabinet intended to hold the Beijing inspection in advance three years later.
The Ming Dynasty stipulated that officials in the North and South Beijing should be inspected every six years, which was called "Beijing inspection".
During the Beijing inspection, officials of fourth grade and above were personally inspected by the emperor, and officials below fourth grade were inspected jointly by the Ministry of Personnel and the Metropolitan Procuratorate. If the officials failed the assessment, they would be directly dismissed and their posts would be reduced to the people.
The inspection of Beijing for officials of fourth rank and above mainly takes the form of "self-statements" written by ministers. The ministers themselves report to the emperor various shortcomings in their work in the past six years, hoping that the emperor will remove them from Guizhou.
After reading the self-report, the emperor usually encouraged his ministers and then retained them in office.
Therefore, the Beijing inspections of officials of fourth rank and above often stay in the situation and cannot play a supervisory role at all.
However, due to the rise of party struggle in the late Wanli period, Jingcha directly evolved into a tool for party struggle.
Whoever controls the Ministry of Personnel and the Inspectorate can clean up other parties.
During the Beijing inspection in the 45th year of Wanli, the three parties of "Qi, Chu, and Zhejiang" used the Beijing inspection to directly clear out almost all the Donglin Party members from the court!
Nowadays, the Donglin Party members want to advance the Beijing Chaos. It is obvious that they want to use the Beijing Chaos to further clean up the officials of the three parties of "Qi, Chu, and Zhejiang", so that the imperial court becomes the "one-spoken hall" of the Donglin Party.
Once the Donglin Party takes complete control of the government, they will definitely take down the Governor of Jiliao.
However, this change of governor of Liaodong caused an uproar in Liaodong official circles.
Because 10% of the profits from copper transportation in Hongtoushan belonged to the Liaodong governor's office, and this 10% was directly distributed to everyone by Yan Mingtai as welfare for Liaodong officials.
In addition, Li Xianzhong gave 30% of Yingkou's tariff to Yan Mingtai, and Yan Mingtai would also give part of it to the officials below.
Moreover, officials in Shenyang and Liaoyang along the route of transporting copper lines can also earn some extra income.
It is no exaggeration to say that Li Xianzhong and Yan Mingtai are like the food and clothing parents of these Liaodong officials.
Even if they are not on Kaiyuan Third Road directly under Li Xianzhong, they still enjoy the benefits brought by Liaodong smuggling and private customs.
Obviously, Wang Huazhen, the governor of Liaodong who suddenly arrived, was not welcomed by everyone here.
Wang Huazhen was a Jinshi in the 41st year of Wanli. He had previously served as the head of the household department and the right counselor for a long time. He had long heard about the smuggling situation in Liaodong.
He also knew that he was definitely not qualified to be promoted to governor based on his own qualifications, let alone the governor of Liaodong, the leader of the Nine Borders?
Now that the troops and horses reinforcing Liaodong are still on the way, he can just catch up on the smuggling problem in Liaodong and establish his own prestige.
Soon he got accurate information. Many merchants used copper ships on the Liao River to smuggle goods to Kaiyuan, and then exported them from Kaiyuan to the Mongolian tribes.
This is an important source of income for Li Xianzhong. He can just use this to establish his prestige and let these Liaodong officials know where to stand?
Kaiyuan is Li Xianzhong's hometown. It is a monolithic place. Even if he sends people to investigate, he probably won't be able to find any clues.
So he decided to raid the copper ships on the Liao River and caught them using the copper ships for smuggling!
In order to prevent anyone from leaking information, he did not call the Ming army in Liaoyang.
Instead, he directly used his own bodyguards. These people were brought by him from the capital and would never leak the news.
Soon, more than 40 shallow boats with 400 materials appeared at the mouth of the Liao River and Sancha River.
This is also a standard water transport vessel on the inland rivers of the Ming Dynasty. Each vessel has a cargo capacity of about three hundred stones, and is equipped with ten boatmen and guards.
The mining flags flying on the bows indicate that these ships are mining ships responsible for transporting copper ore.
The scribe at the governor's yamen said to Wang Huazhen: "Report to the governor, according to reliable information, these copper ships are carrying a large number of mink skins to be transported from Yingkou to Tianjin Port for sale."
Under Wang Huazhen's instruction, these soldiers quickly set up a blockade and forced the fleet to stop.
The miner transporting copper asked angrily: "This is a copper ship from Liaodong, why are you obstructing it?"
The clerk said: "The governor's office received a report that someone was using a copper ship to carry out smuggling. We have set up a checkpoint here on the order of the governor. Do you still want your cooperation?"
At this time, only a sharp voice was heard from the cabin: "The governor's office of Liaodong is so brave. It even dared to inspect the copper ship of the Liaodong Mine Supervisor. Don't you know that these copper ingots were paid tribute by Ye He's tribe?" Your Majesty, can you bear the consequences of delaying the progress of transporting copper?"
Wang Huazhen did not expect that Ma Yun, the supervisor of the Liaodong mine, was also on the ship, so he had to go to the front desk and said: "Eunuch Ma personally escorted the copper mine. It was really hard. I have also received many reports, so I had to set up a card check here. , please cooperate with me, father-in-law!"
Ma Yun didn't say angrily: "Our family was ordered to return to Beijing to report the situation of the copper mine to His Majesty. Governor Wang must inspect it today. If smuggled goods are found, our family will definitely find out the smugglers and report them to Governor Wang." An explanation; but if you can’t find any evidence today, our family will definitely seek justice from Ye Shoufu for the delay in transporting copper!”
It seems that this time I have completely offended this Eunuch Ma, but now I have to shoot!
He could only bite the bullet and said: "Thank you, Eunuch Ma, for your cooperation. Wang will only be offended."
Soon Wang Huazhen's soldiers from the governor's office boarded the ship for inspection.
These soldiers checked the boat inside and out, but it almost turned over.
But surprisingly, no smuggled goods were found at all.
Ma Yun pointed to a big box and said, "This box contains our family's personal belongings. Does Governor Wang want to open it to see what contraband is inside?"
Wang Huazhen could only clasp her fists and say, "I'm sorry for disturbing you so much, please forgive me, Eunuch Ma!"
He understood that he was being tricked.
So Wang Huazhen became angry and led his troops directly to Yingkou Pier.
He wanted to seize evidence of merchant smuggling directly at the dock.
Unexpectedly, he was intercepted by a group of Ming troops before he entered the dock.
Hundreds of cavalry blocked them 5 miles away from Yingkou Port.
Even though he revealed his identity as the governor of Liaodong, the other party still had no intention of letting him go.
The leading general said: "The last general, Yaozhou guerrilla Zu Dashou, was ordered to garrison Yingkou Port."
"This is the transportation port for the copper mines in Liaodong and the supply port for the navy of the Ming Army stationed in Korea. Without the instructions of Ma Gonggong, the mine supervisor of Liaodong or Ning Yuanbo Li Xianzhong, the Ming Dynasty governor in Korea, the general would not dare to let Governor Wang enter Yingkou Port. "
Wang Huazhen snorted coldly and said: "You, a small Yaozhou guerrilla, dare to prevent me from entering the port for inspection. What if I must enter the port for inspection today?"
Then the Ming army behind Wang Huazhen drew his saber.
Zu Dashou said with a smile: "Not to mention Governor Wang, even the Liaodong mine supervisor Ma Eunuch cannot go to the water village of the 'Ming Army Garrison' to inspect; Ning Yuanbo still can't go to the copper mine dock even if he comes in person. Please don't do it, Governor Wang." It’s hard to be the last general!”
"If Governor Wang must enter the harbor for inspection, please bring out Governor Yan's warrant!"
"Otherwise, I won't be able to let you go without my forgiveness."
After Zu Dashou said this, the cavalry behind him directly raised his spear.
Although the number of both sides was about the same, Wang Huazhen understood that the showy soldiers he brought from the capital were no match for these Liaodong frontier troops.
What's more, there is a city wall blocking the port outside Yingkou. Even if they can defeat the Ming army in front of them, they still cannot enter the port.
Originally, he thought that only the Kaiyuan Third Road under Li Xianzhong could not be controlled by him, the governor of Liaodong.
As a result, he discovered an even crueler reality. I'm afraid he couldn't control the entire east of the Liao River.
Is this Liaodong still the Liaodong of the Ming Dynasty?
It seems that Yan Mingtai, the governor of Jiliao, and Li Xianzhong have been wearing a pair of trousers for a long time.
But he soon discovered that there were some things he still had to take care of.
He returned to Liaoyang City to find Yan Mingtai, governor of Jiliao, for a warrant to enter Yingkou Port, but found that Yan Mingtai had gone to the front line of Gulezhai.
At this time, a large number of hungry people gathered in front of his Liaodong governor's office in Liaoyang City.
This year there was a severe drought in Liaodong, and more than 70% of the land failed to harvest.
Although the imperial court has reduced or exempted taxes this year, the people without food have to survive!
Originally, the governor of Jiliao, Yan Mingtai, who was also the governor of Liaodong, ordered people to cook something called sweet potatoes and mix it with some wild vegetables to help the victims of Liaoyang City.
But since Wang Huazhen took office, he has never done any relief work.
The hungry people had no choice but to surround his governor's office and demanded that the governor of Liaodong open a warehouse to release grain.
This severe drought has not lasted for a day or two. Several batches of grain have been distributed from some free warehouses and even official warehouses.
Nowadays, the granaries are empty enough for horses to race, and not even a mouse can be seen.
Thousands of people, their faces haggard, their clothes ragged, the anger and dissatisfaction in their hearts flashing in their eyes. They surrounded the governor's Yamen, and everyone's eyes were fixed on the main door of the Yamen.
They shouted loudly, their voices full of pain and despair. They demanded that warehouses be opened and food distributed so that everyone could have a chance to survive. Some of them were even more radical. They raised broken farm tools, waved tattered clothes, and roared at the top of their lungs.
Inside the yamen, Wang Huazhen, the governor of Liaodong, looked livid.
Other officials of the governor's yamen, big and small, were trembling with fear, fearing that they would become Governor Wang's punching bag.
This year's severe drought has caused food prices to rise again and again. At present, the price of corn has reached 2 taels of silver per stone, and the price of rice is 3 taels of silver per stone.
But fortunately, something called sweet potato appeared, which only cost 5 coins per stone.
If it weren't for these sweet potatoes, many more people would have died of hunger.
Wang Huazhen said: "Where can I get these sweet potatoes?"
The clerk whispered: "These sweet potatoes are grown in Pinglubao. There is a severe drought in Liaodong this year, and only the 300,000 acres of land in Pinglubao have not failed to harvest."
"The sweet potatoes used by Governor Yan for disaster relief were taxes paid by Ningyuan Boring Pinglu Fort, and now they have been used up."
"Not only in Liaoyang, except for the Kaiyuan Third Road under Ning Yuanbo, I am afraid that the hungry people in all other roads have stopped providing relief now."
Wang Huazhen asked again: "What about the rich households in the city? Shouldn't they contribute to disaster relief at this time?"
The scribe said: "Governor Yan has mobilized many times, and now even the landlord's family has no food left."
Wang Huazhen took a breath, he really made a mess.
Yan Mingtai, Li Xianzhong, you are so cruel!
In fact, there is still food in Liaoyang City. In order to open a second battlefield, the imperial court has just allocated 120,000 shi of food.
Now facing these hungry people who are going crazy with hunger, he can only take out 20,000 shi of grain to serve porridge and support them for a while.
Then Wang Huazhen quickly wrote a letter asking the cabinet to continue to allocate more food for disaster relief.
At this time, Yan Mingtai, the governor of Jiliao, was enjoying a feast with Li Xianzhong at Ningyuan Bo's Mansion in Kaiyuan.
Li Xianzhong pointed to a pile of beef, mutton and sweet potatoes on the table and said: "There is a severe drought in Liaodong now, and food is particularly precious. Even my uncle has not had rice for more than ten days."
"But I don't have anything else here. Sweet potatoes and beef and mutton are enough. Brother Yan, please don't dislike it."
Yan Mingtai and Li Xianzhong were close friends of life and death. At this moment, he didn't care about his image, so he grabbed a lamb leg and started to chew it.
His life in Liaoyang was miserable, but it wasn't that he couldn't afford it.
But the people all over Liaodong are suffering from the disaster, and many people can't even eat wild vegetables. He, the governor of Jiliao, doesn't like big fish and meat.
He also took the lead in reducing three meals to two meals and munched sweet potatoes for many days.
To be honest, sweet potatoes are not very filling, and I will feel hungry after a while.
Even though you may not die from hunger after eating stuff for a long time, you will lose energy and strength.
Yan Mingtai said: "Is the yield of this sweet potato really that terrifying?"
Li Xianzhong said: "The current weather in Liaodong allows two rounds of planting a year, and the harvest period is about a hundred days. Every year from mid-March to early October is suitable for planting."
"The yield per mu can reach 7-10 shi."
Yan Mingtai said in surprise: "In other words, from the 300,000 acres of fertile land in Pinlubao, you harvested more than 2 million sweet potatoes in one go."
"It doesn't matter what you're eating. You're selling it for 5 cents of silver and 1 stone. Isn't it too sinister?"
Li Xianzhong said: "The imperial court has ordered tax exemption, but I still sent you 200,000 tons of sweet potatoes in the name of paying taxes. Otherwise, who knows how many people in Liaodong will starve to death?"
"Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, how many businessmen have donated 200,000 shi of food at a time to the court for disaster relief?"
Yan Mingtai said: "I made a mistake because of my brother, but your move is really damaging. I'm afraid Wang Huazhen is already in trouble by those victims."
Li Xianzhong said with a bad smile: "We are slowly pushing Jianlu into a desperate situation step by step. This Wang Huazhen actually wants to come directly to pick peaches. How can we let him do so?"
"Brother Yan, don't think that 5 taels of silver per stone of sweet potatoes is expensive. You must know that these sweet potatoes cost 5 taels of silver per stone in Jianzhou now, and you can't buy them even if you have the money."
Now Nurhachi's back injury is getting worse and worse, almost to the point where he can't sleep.
And his big gold, just like his body, was almost unable to hold on.
It's already November, and although the autumn harvest has long passed, this year's severe drought has resulted in almost no harvest.
Before falling out with Daishan, they could still get some food from North Korea.
But now that Daishan has become independent in North Korea, Jianzhou has also lost access to food, which has caused them to completely run out of food.
Originally, Huang Taiji controlled the families of the two red flags and wanted to keep him here to threaten Daishan after he succeeded to the throne.
But where will they get the extra food to feed these hostages now?
Finally, an agreement was reached with Daishan, who exchanged 150,000 shi of food for a large number of family members of the two red flags.
In this way, at least the food for the Eight Banners soldiers will be solved.
But the Jurchen tribesmen in Jianzhou and the family members of the Han army were tied up with North Korea, so there was nothing they could do.
The old people who built the state took up bows and arrows and went hunting in the mountains and forests, while the fishermen fished in the rivers.
But even so, a large number of people still starved to death.
Fortunately, profiteer Fan Yongdou extended a helping hand to them at this time. He sold 100,000 shi of sweet potatoes to Jianzhou at the price of 5 taels of silver and one shi.
After obtaining this batch of sweet potatoes, Hetuala avoided the tragedy of cannibalism.
At this time, Nurhachi summoned Huang Taiji and Fan Wencai to his bedroom.
He said: "It seems that I, Dajin, cannot survive this food shortage on my own. Is it possible to find a solution from the Ming Dynasty?"
Fan Wencai said: "The Ming Dynasty also suffered from a severe drought. The current food supply in Liaodong has also increased to two to three taels of silver and one stone. Is it any better than us?"
At this time, Huang Taiji said: "I have already communicated with Daishan about exchanging grain for Korean coatings. There are also Koreans starving to death on Daishan's side. It is impossible for him to feed those Korean coatings."
Nurhachi fell into deep thought and said: "In this case, we have to think about it for a long time. Rather than starve to death, these untouchables might as well become the rations of my army."
When Huang Taiji and Fan Wencai heard this, they looked at each other. Finally, Huang Taiji said: "I understand what to do."
Soon the old and weak in the city were driven out of Hetuala, and now this situation can only leave them to fend for themselves.
Then more than 200,000 Korean soldiers were brought into the canyons of the mountains of Jianzhou in batches.
Although no one except Zhenghuang Banner who was performing the mission knew where those Korean wrappers went, dried meat actually appeared in the daily food rations of the Eight Banners soldiers.
Thank you to all book friends for your support with monthly tickets, recommendation tickets, and follow-up subscriptions!
Thanks to book friends "Jie Dandan", "The Stadium is not three or four", "Zhang Yumeng", and "Illegal Life" for their monthly ticket support!
(End of chapter)
