On the tenth day of the fifth lunar month in the 19th year of Chongzhen's reign in the Ming Dynasty, the Yuhu Palace was visited.
In addition to Wu Sanfu, Li Yan, Wu Guoyong, Yan Yingyuan and others who were leading the army, the leading figures of the Ming Dynasty in Huguang included Qiu Yu, Fang Yuegong, He Tengjiao, Chang Yanling, Liu Kongzhao, Du Yinxi, Qin Liangyu, and a slave The predecessor of Nanjing Imperial Academy, Jiu Wen Anzhi, who had escaped from Yiling Prefecture occupied by the Dashun Army, all gathered together to offer suggestions.
"Your Highness," the old woman Qin Liangyu said, looking very worried, "I received an urgent report from Shizhu's home. The army of rogue bandits has gathered in Badong. The bandits in Qutangwei, Fengjie County, Wushan County, and Yunyang County have carefully posted notices everywhere. Singing songs about welcoming King Chuang and dividing the fields made people panic, and the regiment training troops lost their fighting spirit, fearing that they would not be able to withstand the attack of the rogue bandits! Moreover, the armies in central Sichuan have been miserable in the past two years, fighting life and death with the rogue bandits, resulting in heavy casualties. And we can’t get military pay from the imperial court, and we don’t have any reinforcements..."
The old lady didn't come all the way to see Prince Zhu just for the sake of a prince's reputation. She came to Huguang to get money, weapons, and reinforcements to arm the Sichuan landlords.
Earlier, when Zhu Cihong sent Ma Shiying to Hunan and Guizhou to Sichuan, he had given him a large sum of military pay. But since then, no money or materials have been sent to Sichuan. Moreover, the military salary he gave Ma Shiying was not enough to support the expenses of the Ming armies across Sichuan.
The situation in Sichuan was very strange. Before Zhang Xianzhong entered Chengdu, the Ming army in Sichuan was weak in various ways, and most of the landowners and wealthy people in Sichuan stood by and watched. However, chieftain Qin Liangyu actively resisted, but he was too weak to defeat Zhang Xianzhong. After Zhang Xianzhong successfully entered Chengdu and became his Ming Lord of Sichuan, the weak Ming army also rose up, and the landowners who stood by and stood by also jumped out to pull the lever. Even the Ming armies (guards of Guizhou and Huguang (Shizhou Guard)) Soldiers) also came to join in the fun.
As a result, Zhang Xianzhong was beaten to a bloody head and disgraced. Now he is a little angry!
During the two years of besieging Zhang Xianzhong, various landlord armed forces under the banner of the Ming Dynasty also grew stronger. They were not strong in force, but they were still powerful in numbers. The number of soldiers and horses from all walks of life is said to be no less than a million! Even if the water is squeezed out, there are still one or two hundred thousand - how could anyone beat Zhang Xianzhong like this without this? Li Dingguo, Sun Kewang, Liu Wenxiu and others are all under Zhang Xianzhong!
There were so many people fighting for the old Zhu family, and they fought so hard. How to settle the score? According to the salary of twenty taels of silver per person per year, plus the reward of ten taels of silver, and the armor money of ten taels of silver, how can the expenses of 200,000 people for two years have to be 16 million taels, right? Even if there is another discount, you still have to pay 10 million taels, right?
So Mrs. Qin is not only here to help, she is also here to pay!
Wen Anzhi, who is in his fifties this year, has a long beard that reaches to his chest, and a white face that is full of righteousness, took over the topic and said: "The Shentian fields in Yiling Prefecture, Badong County and Guizhou have also been divided... ..It was planned to teach the land by dictation, and waive debts and interest! Therefore, the ignorant commoners were incited to oppose the scholar-bureaucrats, causing the poetry and calligraphy house to either be ruined or to flee!
And Kuizhou is close to Badong, I'm afraid that the ignorant people there already know about Badong, and people's hearts will be in chaos! "
After hearing this, Zhu Cixiang's brows tightened slightly, you ignorant people, you are slandering the working people... The working people are so knowledgeable! Divide the land, forgive debts and interest, and you won’t suffer any loss no matter how much trouble you make!
Zhu Cixiang glanced at He Tengjiao again, and He Tengjiao said: "Your Highness, Sichuan has been in chaos for several years. The gentry and people in Sichuan are suffering terribly. They look to Master Wang like a baby looking forward to his biological mother. Now Master Wang has settled in Huguang. If we don't send troops into Sichuan in time, I’m just afraid that the people of Sichuan will be disappointed and the people’s support will be lost!”
Qiu Yu also said: "That's right, if the Sichuan Kingdom of Tianfu is captured by bandits, it will become bigger again! Master Wang should join Sichuan as soon as possible to defeat the bandits!"
Fang Yuegong also supported the entry into Sichuan. He said: "Now Sichuan's official army has a slight upper hand. If two divisions of new troops can enter Sichuan to overcome difficulties, the overall situation will be settled in one fell swoop. The rogue bandits will be pacified and Sichuan will be safe. I am still afraid. Can’t we recover the Central Plains?”
Prince Zhu understood what these three Huguang local snakes meant - hurry up and go to Sichuan to torment the Sichuan people! It would be great if Huguang could be restored to its original state!
Zhu Cihong turned his attention to Chang Yanling and Liu Kongzhao.
Chang Yanling said: "Your Royal Highness, I am willing to take up a brigade of soldiers to go to Sichuan with the new army. The bandits will not be exterminated and they will not return eastward after they die!"
Zhu Cihong thought: Go to Sichuan to destroy the bandits? Are you trying to deal with the local snakes in Hunan? Think about it, you, a noble prince, are an honest man, how can you compete with Hunan scholars?
Liu Kongzhao was the only one with a frown on his face among everyone present. He didn't say a word from the beginning until now. Even when Zhu Cixiang looked at him, he didn't say a word.
Zhu Cixiang smiled faintly: "What you all said is true and loyal advice for the country... But I still need to listen to the opinions of the generals. When I return to Wuchang, I will discuss it with you. Sincere uncle, please stay. Exit, I want to talk to you about returning to Wuchang. The other ministers, please go down and rest first."
"Your Majesty, please leave!"
Everyone who had to leave stood up, saluted, and then exited the palace hall. Only Liu Kongzhao remained.
Zhu Cixiang looked at him: "Uncle Chengyi, don't you agree with heading west immediately?"
Liu Kongzhao smiled bitterly: "It is a great cause to march westward to Sichuan and suppress the bandits. But how much food does Qiantui Master still have in his hands? I know that Sichuan has been in chaos for many years. The young men are fighting, the fields are barren, and the powerful are separatist... .Moreover, Sichuan has never been a province rich in money and food. Even in the peaceful and prosperous times, it only paid a land tax of 1.08 million shi of white rice! Your Highness, please think again!"
Zhu Cixiang remained silent.
The problems are one after another!
Entering Sichuan is a righteous thing! The Kingdom of Abundance of Heaven is the dream of all people, so how could you not go there?
But after going there, it was a bottomless pit!
Sichuan's team training is no better than that of Huguang or Nanzhi, but it is similar to that of Shandong. It has grown enough to defeat Zhang Xianzhong.
Therefore, Zhu Cihong will not receive any money or food from Sichuan for many years to come, not even 1.08 million shi. Not only would he not give it, but he would also ask Zhu Cixiang to throw money into it!
So how can we not give a heavy reward to the team members who worked so hard to suppress the bandits?
There are so many remnants of Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong that it is simply unrealistic to eliminate them all. If you want to appease someone, you will inevitably have to spend a lot of money on it.
It doesn't matter whether it's possible to use the invaders to control the captives. Can those invaders be used in vain? And you have to give them equipment and supplies, and let them go to war with the Donglu without food and weapons!
Liu Kongzhao said: "Your Highness, the key to the suppression of Sichuan lies in how much the imperial court can spend. In the past, the imperial court has tried to pacify the bandits many times, but it was always difficult to succeed. The problem is that the imperial court has no money and food!"
Zhu Cixiang breathed out, "It is necessary to enter Sichuan, and it is also necessary to pacify the bandits!" He looked at Liu Kongzhao, "Uncle Chengyi, if you can tell me this, it means that you are one of my own... You can add the word "overcoming difficulties" in front of your count."
"I would like to thank His Highness the Crown Prince..."
Zhu Cixiang waved his hand, "But there are some things that must be done! Even if it doesn't work, we can't let the bandits feel too comfortable in Sichuan!"
"But..." Liu Kongzhao hesitated to speak.
"Uncle Chengyi, what do you want to say?"
Liu Kongzhao lowered his voice and said, "Your Highness, the civil uprising in the southeast is imminent!"
"Civil uprising?" Zhu Cixiang was stunned, "Did you hear something about it?"
Liu Kongzhao shook his head: "I am a guard in Jiangdu and in Wuchang. I was in charge of the Jiang Navy before. I know best how many grain-carrying ships have sailed since last autumn. Moreover, I also know how many Huguang rice ships have sailed in the past years. !
Southeast is running out of food! No food to eat! I still have relatives in Nanjing, and I wrote a letter to borrow money from me a few days ago, saying that the price of rice in Nanjing has now risen to four cents of silver per dou..."
yes!
The Southeast is running out of food!
Zhu Cihong knew that Liu Kongzhao had been the admiral of the Caojiang Navy for many years and was very familiar with the water transportation situation on the Yangtze River.
In the past, how much rice from Huguang was shipped to Jiangnan every year. How could he, the naval admiral, know? Don’t know how to take bribes?
Moreover, the Chengyi family is also a big family. There are many relatives in Nanjing. They all used to live in the Southeast Guard. Now most of them have lost their property and have to eat old rice at home, so they are extremely sensitive to the fluctuation of rice prices.
"This matter is indeed troublesome," Zhu Cixiang frowned, "Uncle Chengyi, go back to Wuchang immediately and see if you can find a group of rice merchants willing to go deep into Hubei and send troops to escort them to collect rice."
Now most of the territory of Jingzhou Prefecture, Chengtian Prefecture, De'an Prefecture, and Hanyang Prefecture in Hubei are occupied by the Ming army. However, the influence of rogue bandits was still great, and the antagonism between farmers and the government, gentry and merchants was serious. Moreover, the original rural trade routes no longer exist, and going to the countryside to harvest rice has become a business that may cost lives. Selling rice is not a high-profit business, and it is not enough for rice merchants to risk their lives. Therefore, there are many businessmen gathered in Wuchang now, but few dare to go to the countryside to harvest rice.
"I'll leave now!" Liu Kongzhao stood up and said, "But Mr. Qiantose should think of another way...otherwise the price of rice in the Southeast will still rise. Although the Southeast is rich, there are also many poor people. Ah! Without food, sooner or later there will be chaos!"
