Not to mention the silver coins placed in Taicang, even if it is the proceeds from confiscating the properties of Shanxi merchants that have not yet been pocketed, the Ministry of Accounts has already planned the use of this money.
Regarding Meng Zhaoxiang's strategy of training troops, Li Shiwen, the Minister of Household Affairs, supported it, but it was only verbal, and there was no actual action because there was no money to support it.
Mr. Meng wants to train troops, so please raise your own funds. The Ministry of Revenue has no money to give you, so just give me 30,000 to 50,000 taels.
Li Shiwen's answer did not include the grand new capital city. The cumulative cost in three years would be as high as four million taels. Meng Zhaoxiang was even more choked up when he said it.
There is also the Yongwei camp that raises Huang Degong, which also requires money from the court, so the scheduled expenditures have reached a huge amount of 23 million taels in the books.
What's even more terrible is that in order to boost the morale of the soldiers, the prince ordered that the pensions of all soldiers who died in the war will be increased to two hundred taels of silver in the future.
As long as 10,000 people died on the battlefield, the Ministry of War would take two million taels of silver from the pockets of the Ministry of Household Affairs. If pensions for the wounded were included, the money would be no less than four to five million taels.
After this order was spread throughout the world, the commanders and generals who were fighting abroad naturally clapped their hands and applauded. The people in the household department were the ones who suffered the most. Everyone could only hope that Master Wang could win battles again and again.
The prince can make money, and he can also spend money. If the court cannot earn 25 million taels of silver this year, it will have to reduce expenditures in certain areas.
Including Li Shiwen, the courtiers privately jokingly interpreted the word "prince" as "a child who can spend too much money"!
In the eyes of everyone, the prince is a master who earns one hundred taels and spends one hundred and fifty taels...
Fortunately, a large part of the expenses on the books are scheduled, that is, the money that was intended to be spent but has not yet been spent.
Most of the silver is still stored in Taicang under the supervision of the Ministry of Revenue, and there is no danger of it being evaporated by the prince for a while.
Moreover, the prince is guaranteed to earn at least 25 million taels of silver per year, so there is no pressure on the household department to make money for the court. As long as Taicang is managed well, the book details are kept well, and the possibility of enriching one's own pockets is reduced.
Regarding Meng Zhaoxiang's military training plan, Li Shiwen's reply was condensed into just two words - "Haha"!
You haven't even prepared enough money, how can you train a sesame soldier? ? ?
After the prince took charge of the country, the income of the household department increased sharply. Under this situation, the prince did not mention military training, but only approved Huang Degong to add a cavalry sub-battalion. Other than that, the garrison troops in Jifu area maintained their original size.
The East Palace Guard is the prince's private armed force. Except for the generals who are transferred from the Yongwei Camp, the personnel, horses, ordnance and even wages are all paid for by the prince himself. There is no need for the court to pay a tael of silver.
What the prince does is his business and has nothing to do with the court, and the Ministry of Revenue will not pay for the East Palace Guards. The imperial court's military training must go to the account of the Ministry of Accounts, and the money of the Ministry of Accounts is tied to various projects.
The current situation is that if an adult wants to train troops, he should ask an expert to raise funds on his own. The Ministry of Accounts is unable to help, so please bear with me. It’s like this if you can’t bear it anyway...
"Now that the Donglu are in full force and waiting for an opportunity to move south, how can the imperial court have no money left to train troops?"
Meng Zhaoxiang did not dare to reduce the expenditure for relief to various places, otherwise he would be contemptuous of the people of Li. Moreover, border payments could not be discussed lightly. Wang Zaijin and several people from the Ministry of War were watching him, and they were likely to attack at any time.
At this time, he couldn't be choked by Li Shiwen. After much deliberation, Meng Zhaoxiang could only reply with a question. His intention was good and his purpose was correct. Unfortunately, he didn't expect that the deposits in the household department had already been divided.
In response to this, Li Shiwen answered calmly: "The revenue and expenditure status of the Household Department has long been registered and all details have been marked. Whenever something happens, it will be reported to His Highness the Crown Prince and submitted to the cabinet for reading. What I say below is the current situation. Does Mr. Meng understand the truth?"
The prince screened the Household Department twice, and as many as hundreds of borers were eliminated. With the lessons learned from the past, everyone is treading on thin ice. Now the Household Department’s income and expenditure accounts are clearly remembered, and everyone is welcome to come at any time. Go check it out.
Li Shiwen was reminding the other party between the lines that if you continue to inquire deeply, you will have serious doubts about my duty. Why not let you be the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue and see how capable you are of raising money for military training.
Regarding Li Shiwen himself, Meng Zhaoxiang had no intention of speaking harshly. When he saw that the other party was getting angry, he took the initiative to back down: "I have no hostility towards the Great Situ. I am just concerned about our Ming Dynasty. If I have offended you, I hope that the Great Situ will forgive me." !”
The Ministry of Revenue had already spent all the money in Taicang and the money that was about to be deposited in Taicang. Meng Zhaoxiang also understood that no matter how much he begged, it would be useless.
As long as the two large pieces of money, namely disaster relief and military pay, cannot be moved, then he will not be able to raise the money needed for military training from the Ministry of Household Affairs.
Taking into account the cost of recruitment and training, as well as the purchase of ordnance and ammunition, it would cost at least 500,000 taels to be effective, but this is already a mirage and a dream.
When Yaoji saw that Li Shiwen had defended Meng Zhaoxiang on his behalf, he pretended to be a peacemaker: "Well, both of you are dedicated to serving the country, so there is no need to have any grudges over this. At present, although our Ming Dynasty's fiscal revenue is There has been improvement, but they are still unable to launch a counterattack against the Donglu. Whether it is Liaoxi, Jizhen or Xuanda, we must adhere to the principle of full-line defense and focused defense, organize our military equipment, and firmly defend the defense area. For the defense strategy of Western Liaoning, we must also follow the principles before this palace As for the strategy of the two sides to stop fighting and make peace, dear friends, you can refer to the "Chanyuan Alliance" signed by Song and Liao. This past event must be well known to everyone. At that time, in the face of the fierce attack of the Liao army, Zhao and Song were in Hebei area The entire line of defense was in critical condition. If Song general Li Jilong had not defended Chanzhou and shot Liao general Xiao Talin with a giant crossbow, which demoralized the Liao army, how could the Liao State, which had the upper hand, shake hands with the Song State, which was tired of dealing with it, and make peace? In the past The situation is still applicable to the present. If our Ming army cannot defeat the Donglu who are marching south, I am afraid that it will no longer be possible to make peace with the Donglu. But how easy is it to defeat the Donglu? It is even more difficult to kill ten thousand of them. It’s even more difficult. For me, the Ming Dynasty, there is no guarantee of victory in today’s war, and most of them are disastrous defeats. There is no opportunity to find peace, and it cannot touch the mood of Donglu. This situation and scene can’t help but make this situation more difficult. Gong recalled that at the end of the Song Dynasty, when Meng Gu’s army marched south, the Song army was defeated repeatedly, and even suing for peace was no longer possible, until the Meng Gu cavalry destroyed the country, leaving Zhao Song without an heir in Yashan!”
Seeking peace?
Do you think seeking peace is something that everyone can do?
You don't even have the ability to resist braids marching south to plunder, so why should they agree to your request for peace?
If the Song Dynasty could make peace with the Liao Liao and sign the "Chanyuan Alliance", at least the Song army would have the ability to restrain the Liao army from continuing to move south.
Does the Ming army now have the strength to resist braids entering the pass to rob?
Obviously not!
In the early stages of the war, the Nurha Chicken Wings focused on conquering cities and territories, which ensured that the braid had enough living space and strategic depth. However, the cost of this strategy was that it would damage a lot of effective forces.
After Huang Taiji came to power, he adopted an extremely flexible tactical strategy, abandoning traditional siege methods and focusing on long-distance mobile warfare. He mainly attacked the effective forces of the Ming army and destroyed the economy in the hinterland of the Ming Empire.
The disadvantage of doing this is that Braid's control area has not been expanded, but the advantage is that it can weaken the Ming Empire's national power without significantly increasing military casualties, and ensure that its own combat power continues to grow.
After Braid obtained a large number of firearms, especially the Hongyi cannon presented by Kong Youde's troops, in front of Braid's elite, the Ming Empire's Great Wall defense line became ineffective and vulnerable. As long as a breakthrough was made, the entire enemy line would collapse.
Joke people are inferior to people, but the current situation is like the situation in the late Southern Song Dynasty. Facing the Menggu cavalry swarming down, the Song Dynasty even lost the chance to negotiate peace, and was pushed all the way to the sea to feed the fish...
Braid does not yet have the strength to destroy the Ming Empire, but it already has the potential. As long as the bandits within the Ming Empire can continue to make trouble, Braid can assess the situation and wait for an opportunity to go south and capture the capital in one fell swoop.
The capital of the Ming Empire now looks more like a giant stronghold used by the empire to maintain its rule in the north. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is barely surviving.
However, the Ming Empire still had about 300,000 war-ready soldiers. This was the root of Braid's fear, so he did not dare to launch a war to destroy the country.
If Huang Taiji was daring, he could unite with Meng Gu, mobilize the entire country's troops to enter the pass, and engage in a strategic decisive battle related to the fate of the country with the main force of the Ming Empire.
After the general mobilization of Braid, the number of troops should be around 250,000. The Ming Dynasty transferred all the main forces in the south to Jifu, and should be able to gather an army of 350,000 to 400,000.
But the probability of winning is very slim. If Braid can withstand huge losses, he will have more than 70% chance of winning.
However, due to the huge loss of manpower, the possibility of swallowing up the entire Ming Empire will be lost, and it will only be able to occupy half of the country at most.
Advancing to the front line from Lianghuai to Hanzhong in the west will end, and it will be beyond reach any further. It can be regarded as the PLUS version of the Northern Wei Dynasty.
With Huang Taiji's nature, he would not put all his chips on the battle of Tianwang Mountain.
It would be possible for Nurha Chicken Wings or Dorgon to do this. These are two big gamblers, one old and one young.
The former was able to concentrate superior forces to fight a war of annihilation under Yang Hao's tactics of separate attacks and combined attacks, thus creating the foundation of Braid.
When the latter faced the army of courier Brother Li, he spent all his capital and completely gambled away the Qing Empire!
Compared with the two, Huang Taiji's strategy of governing the country and advancing the army is much more conservative. In other words, it is much more stable and can be regarded as step by step.
Every time they entered the pass and plundered, the casualties would not exceed ten thousand people. They defeated and annihilated the Ming army that was several times their own. The looted materials, people and animals far exceeded the investment, and the returns were definitely huge.
The Ming Empire was led by pigtails in mobile warfare, which it was not good at, and in vain consumed its already precarious national, financial, and military power.
There is no need for Huang Taiji to launch the Songjin War. As long as they come to the pass every year to plunder, for five consecutive years, the economy of the northern Ming Dynasty will completely collapse. Coupled with successive years of natural disasters, it will inevitably lead to the spread of the Min people. By then, it will be impossible not to move the capital.
A certain prince believed that he had three main enemies - pigtails, bandits, and natural disasters!
The easiest thing to deal with is the rogue bandits. By adopting preemptive tactics, at least Zhang Da Zongzi will not be able to take advantage of them, and he can continue to suppress Li Zicheng in the mountains.
The most difficult thing to deal with is the braid. If the military strength cannot be increased, we will not be able to maintain a strong front. Recovering the lost territory in Liaodong in twenty years is considered fast. As long as the pigtails are tied into the mountains of northern Liaoning, it will take another ten years to eliminate the pigtails.
To deal with natural disasters, we have to delay time. At least we have to survive until 1650, which is twenty-three years after we have passed the blame. If there is still such a year name at that time.
That's just a long-term goal. We need to survive the next three years first. We don't even have money for military training, so we can postpone the task of making cakes to satisfy our hunger.
The Song Dynasty!
Niyuan!
Zha Ming!
Shit clear!
Each of these four things is worse than the other.
The main reason why the former can be destroyed by the latter is that it is not strong enough to resist the enemy and cannot find foreign aid.
Without others mentioning it, it is clear that this terrible situation was that if General Tokugawa was willing to send 200,000 Japanese troops to land in Liaodong, the situation would be reversed immediately.
Of course, General Tokugawa was a super stingy man. It was impossible for him to send so many people and horses to help Ming Dynasty braid his hair. The reason why he could send 50,000 horses was because of his conscience.
It is not a shame to seek help from foreigners when life is in danger. Your life is about to be saved. Whoever can lend a helping hand is your savior.
If 100,000 foreign aid can be cobbled together to help in the battle, then the border defense pressure on Zha Ming will be greatly alleviated.
No matter who it is, even the black uncle in Africa, as long as someone can transport them to Liaodong to have their hair braided, they can receive the corresponding reward.
After being rebuffed by the prince, all civil and military officials in the dynasty fell silent, because the current situation was exactly the same as that in the late Song Dynasty. It can be seen that it was difficult for the army to win on the battlefield when facing the Donglu.
It seems that it is really impossible to negotiate peace with Donglu. Even if the imperial court is willing to bear the infamy, Donglu, who is in the limelight, will not be willing to sit down and call for a truce.
It would be really sad if we could not even sign a peace treaty similar to the "Chanyuan Alliance" and were repeatedly invaded and plundered, thus leading to the demise of the Ming Dynasty.
In order to ease the atmosphere, Xue Guoguan, as the first assistant, could only flatter him: "Your Highness is wise, mighty, and far-sighted. Under Your Highness's rule, I, the Ming Dynasty, will surely realize the revival of the Ming Dynasty!"
What else can be said?
He asked for peace but was not allowed to do so.
He couldn't even beat the opponent.
There is no money to train troops, and the defense line is just like paper. You can't defeat the enemy just by relying on integrity and etiquette.
I don’t know if there is a third way besides war and peace.
This meeting was extremely embarrassing, but this was Zha Ming's current situation.
The courtiers knew that Xue Guoguan was flattering the prince, but there was nothing they could do.
If it were me, I probably wouldn't be able to say anything other than similar words.
Can you raise money? Can you still lead troops?
Since you can't do anything, just shut up.
It is better to do less than to do more. If you do anything recklessly when you are not capable, you are asking for trouble.
Xue Guoguan's daughter Xue Wanqing has been summoned to the palace by Queen Zhou, and it is widely rumored that she will become the crown princess from now on.
This means that the affairs of the Ming Dynasty will be controlled by this pair of sons-in-law from now on, and the future is very confusing.
It is well known to everyone that Mr. Shofu is uneducated and has no skills.
His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is still young, and he has other plans to kill prisoners and exterminate relatives.
In order to get those salary increases, all officials are living in confusion.
On the battlefield, the imperial army was completely defeated by Donglu.
When the prince said this, everyone suddenly felt that the current situation was more and more like the situation in the late Song Dynasty.
