Zhang Sizhi also roughly guessed what the prince meant, and immediately replied: "I think the Qing army will definitely capture Jinan again. As long as they conquer Jinan and take all the treasures in the city, they can be equal to the gains from conquering the other three or four cities!"
Not to mention the Qing army, even a large group of rogue bandits would covet the wealth of Jinan and try their best to get their hands on this place if they invaded Shandong.
With the previous foreshadowing, Yaoji spoke to Chen Xinjia and Wei Zhaocheng again: "Both of you must be familiar with military literature and familiar with border affairs. You must know that Jinan is undefeated. If the Qing army enters the pass again at the end of the year and raids Shandong , Jinan City will definitely be conquered for the second time. Are we, the people of the Ming Dynasty, just waiting to be robbed by the Donglu after they have just resumed their daily lives?"
Although there is the Yellow River as a support in the north of Jinan City, in winter, the river freezes, so the Qing army's cavalry can walk on flat ground. Jinan is surrounded by plains, so the Ming army has no other choice but to fortify the walls and clear the fields, and wait for reinforcements.
As long as they go out to fight in the city, they will end up being wiped out by the pigtails. The surrounding defenders are far away from Jinan, not to mention they don't dare to come to support at all. With the Qing army carrying a large number of artillery, the capture of Jinan City was just a formality.
If the prince insists on doing this, Chen Xinjia is very worried: "Your Highness, if the imperial court intends to abandon Jinan, it will definitely destabilize Shandong Min's heart. This will generate rumors and be used by people with ulterior motives to gather the victims of the disaster and turn them into bandits. It can be said that There is no way to prevent it, so I hope Your Highness will take precautions."
Chen Xinjia knew very well how difficult it was to exterminate the bandits. With the imperial court spending all its money and the emperor allocating internal funds, the bandits that had plagued the Ming Dynasty for more than ten years were finally quelled. Once they reappeared in Shandong, I am afraid that the imperial court would again There is nothing to calm him down.
"I have launched a 'relief-for-work' policy in coastal areas, allowing the victims to build cities, mine, dry salt, and fish. The purpose is to allow the victims to support themselves, avoid starvation, and ultimately live and work in peace and contentment. If we stay in place If we don't move, we will still implement the previous strategy. Next year, Shandong will continue to be hit by disasters. Who among you, my dear friends, can use your own money to go to the rescue? Shandong is still in such a state of decline, and the people have no food to eat. How can the court talk about uniting the hearts of the people again? The reporter said that Shandong's army has limited strength. If half of the troops are stationed in Jinan, is it possible to give other key areas to the Donglu? If we defend across the board, the Donglu will break through the whole line, and our army will definitely be defeated and irremediable. Overview of the current situation The peninsula is rich in products and the canal can transport food. The best strategy is to gather heavy troops to defend the peninsula and along the canal."
As for other places, including Jinan, if you feel that it is difficult to leave your homeland, then you can burn incense and pray. Anyway, the government troops have withdrawn first...
The military strength of the Ming and Qing armies, especially the field mobility capabilities, is very different. At present, they can only carry out strategic defense, shrink across the board, and work hard to operate the canal lifeline and the peninsula mining area.
If you insist on defending Jinan and hoard half of your troops here, you will be sacrificing the foundation and chasing the weak.
Losing a Jinan city is nothing to Yaoji.
If the Qing army penetrates deep into the mining area and even destroys the salt fields along the coast, it will be really damaging.
Yaoji designated only three defense zones in Shandong for the Ming army. One was the area along the canal from Linqing to Jining, the second was the mining area from Ye County to Zhaoyuan, and the third was the salt field area from Rizhao to Qingdao.
Considering that the possibility of the Qing army going all the way south to the south bank of the Shandong Peninsula was slim, the Ming army only had to focus on defending the canals and mining areas. After transporting grain in winter, the value of the canals was temporarily lost.
The mining area at the end of the year is the top priority for defense. Fortunately, with Daze Mountain at its back, there is still half a natural barrier to rely on. If the braids were really greedy and attacked the salt fields on the southern front, Yaoji would be sure to keep half of the bandits behind.
Seeing that all the ministers were still digesting what he said, Yaoji took retreat as a way forward: "Whoever dares to issue a military order, I will allocate 10,000 troops to him and order him to guard Jinan City. When the Qing army attacks the city, ensure the safety of the whole city, make Jinan City immovable, and let the Qing army return in defeat, then you can be crowned uncle!"
Ten thousand men and horses are not many, but with horse chews and cannons and guns, it costs at least 300,000 taels of silver a year. The military expenditure is definitely not small. But for the huge city of Jinan, ten thousand defenders were obviously not enough, and military orders had to be issued in advance. This made the courtiers remain silent and did not dare to argue with the prince. Having said that, even if there are 20,000 defenders in Jinan City, no one can guarantee that they can fortify the city and repel the Qing army's fierce attack.
Everyone speculates that the prince is as fearful of enemies as a tiger, but why not himself?
Except for a few people such as Lu Xiangsheng and Man Gui, as well as Governor Yuan and Marshal Sun, most of the Ming army generals did not dare to engage in life-threatening field battles with the Qing army.
Even Governor Yuan only relied on the capital to compete with the braids. The main reason was that he was at the feet of the emperor and could not do without fighting.
At present, for the Ming army, it means going out for twenty miles in the field. As long as they can't run back, they will be wiped out by the opponent. The defenders are not sure that they can repel the enemy.
If you don’t stay at home and huddle together to keep warm, there is basically no way to survive...
The prince's move was too damaging. Anyone who opposed the relocation of the capital would be sent to Jinan to defend the city. If the Qing army went south again, this job would most likely end in a narrow escape. Either defend the city and fight hard, and be killed or captured by the Qing army. Either he escapes from the battle, is caught, and is sent to the capital to be imprisoned and beheaded, which is unbearable no matter what.
"Since no one of you, dear ministers, can protect the safety of Jinan, I will assume that you all have agreed to move the capital to Ye County. The construction of the two cities on the northern line will be supervised by Zhang Guowei and Wang Yi'e. The construction of the city on the southern line still needs to be done. Dear friends, please discuss immediately. After finishing, today's court meeting can end and continue tomorrow! From now on, the court meeting will be held five days a week. If there are fewer matters, it will end in the morning. If there are more matters, it will be postponed to afternoon."
As for what to eat for lunch, it depends on my mood. If you are too angry with me, let's just wait and eat fried soybeans...
The courtiers did not expect that the prince would make such a decision, which was really unexpected.
Because the young prince's grandfather (Wanli) doesn't fall in love with Chao, and the uncle (Tianqi) doesn't fall in love with Chao either.
Although his father Chongzhen was diligent in politics, he could not gain the upper hand in quarrels with his ministers.
On the first day that the prince took charge of the country, he showed his unique side. It can be said that a hero emerges from a young boy.
Yaoji quietly watched the reaction below, thinking: How is it? From now on, everyone will go to court and fight every day. We, the monarch and his ministers, will fight together. How happy it is! Our family is really prosperous~!
Judging from today's situation, future court meetings should be about one thing and one thing, and everything must be fought against. If we work hard, we can fight against Asia and the world!
The courtiers are not very clear about what the prince is thinking, but if they go to court every day, it is easy for officials above the third rank to enjoy the cool air in the palace, but those below the third rank will suffer. In just one day, they will be blinded by the sun. Gold star.
Come to the sun every day, and within half a month, everyone will be turned into a black-bone chicken. If you were waiting at Fengtian Gate and the eunuch was shouting in Huangji Palace, you wouldn't be able to hear clearly, and it would be even more impossible for someone to come all the way to invite you.
At the moment, everyone doesn't have time to think too much about resting, because the prince has already ordered Wang Chengen to install a large map of Shandong on a stand, so that the ministers can discuss the matter of building a city in the southern coastal area of Shandong.
"How much money does the Ministry of Revenue plan to spend? How many cities do you plan to build, dear friends?"
Anyway, I have occupied the gold mine in the north, and now I am waiting to see you dog-eat-dog in the south.
Although everyone is concerned about the safety of Jinan, the capital has become useless in front of the salt fields that can provide millions of taels of silver. Besides, the prince has already spoken, and Jinan's fate is determined.
Chen Xinjia, Minister of the Ministry of War, first expressed his opinion directly from the perspective of defense: "Your Majesty, in my opinion, the southern coast of Shandong is extremely long. If it is to be conveniently and properly monitored, cities must be built at these six locations. Even if they are not new, they should be expanded. It is an original city. It can monitor the cultivation of salt fields in peacetime, and it can also accommodate salt farmers during wartime to ensure the safety of the people. If the city is built too little, it will not play its due role."
Although Chen Xinjia was promoted by Xue Guoguan in the capital, he was definitely not someone who was just waiting to die. On the contrary, he had strong professional skills, a thorough understanding of military matters, and his ability to analyze internal and external troubles was no lower than that of Yang Sichang.
The southern coast of Shandong is so long that building only two or three cities would be too thin. If the area under its jurisdiction is extended, it will be difficult to achieve the regulatory effect. If we want these coastal cities to achieve twice the result with half the effort, we must increase their number.
If the Ministry of Revenue has the financial resources, Chen Xinjia hopes to build strong cities at all important nodes along the southern coast. It is better to take preventive measures before they happen than to fix the problem before it happens. This money is not worth the money. The cost can be recovered in one year through salt field cultivation.
Li Daiwen, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, understood his colleague's strategy, but he still smiled bitterly and said: "Da Sima (another name of the Minister of the Ministry of War) has a wonderful idea, but it is difficult to implement it. Because the situation in Taicang is already known to the world, at most we can get We need one million taels of silver to build the city. If we spend more, we may not be able to run out of power."
The nobles' property had been inspected before, and all the gold and silver could be classified in Taicang. However, military pay was the biggest expense of the Ministry of Household Affairs. Tens or even hundreds of thousands of taels of pay and silver were collected from various places every month, which was really a headache.
The prince had just waived the three-rate tax in various parts of the north, and now he had to provide relief to the victims of the Shandong disaster. Although it was said that it was "relief with work," the actual need was not to allocate a large amount of silver from Taicang, but the form of relief was changed.
Li Daiwen's attitude is very clear. The Ministry of Household Affairs will pay one million taels of silver, and you can spend it and build whatever you want. If you want to get more funding, you can go to the prince and ask for it. Anyway, the Ministry of Revenue has no money.
In theory, the goals of the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Household Affairs are contradictory. The Ministry of War hopes to build as many cities as possible, so that it can resist the enemy with strong cities. The Ministry of Accounts hopes to spend as little money as possible, and it is best not to spend money, because Taicang really doesn't have much silver left.
