Any landowner who is unwilling to hand over grain at this time, let alone harvest crops, is undoubtedly collaborating with the enemy.
Regarding these people, although a certain prince had no direct evidence, he would not take direct measures to deal with them.
Just burn all the landowners' crops, which will make them suffer several times more than the death of their own father!
To this day, there are still many people who resist the imperial court in the Shuntianfu area, especially Diao Min who secretly fights against a certain prince.
Taking advantage of Braid's attack, a certain prince just dealt with them severely.
Compared with the evil-hearted and ruthless people, these people are far from being the opponents of a certain prince.
In addition to the guards battalion commanded by Zhang Yilong and part of the East Palace Guards under Zhou Yuji, they were stationed in the old city.
After receiving the latest orders, all the people around the capital went to various places in Shuntian Prefecture to "help" the fellow villagers harvest crops.
You have to pay whether you want to or not!
If you are willing to pay grain to the court, at least one stone of rice can be exchanged for two taels of silver, otherwise it will all turn into burnt straw.
Allowing Huang Taiji's men to plunder Shuntian Mansion and become self-sufficient was a definite operational error.
Not to mention Shuntian Prefecture, even in the entire northern part of Beizhili, a certain prince did not want Braid to steal a cow.
Although it is an ideal state, under the strategy of strengthening the wall and clearing the field, it needs to be done like this.
"Your Highness, will the general stop anyone who leaves the city?"
Zhou Yuji felt that allowing the wealthy gentry in the city to leave the city on a large scale would not be a good thing after all.
"It doesn't matter! It's not yet time to screen or even close the city gates, but we must ensure the safety of the wells in the city and don't let bad guys poison the wells. Furthermore, we must order every household to use containers to store dry soil and water to prevent If a fire breaks out and affects other households, the parties involved must be held accountable. For those large households with spacious courtyards but few people paying attention to them, once a fire breaks out and causes damage outside the courtyard, they must be severely punished!"
Aren’t you rich people willing to leave?
I also have ways to deal with you!
As long as it catches fire and affects your neighbors, just wait to be punished!
Before the new city was built, good locations in the inner city were places where every inch of land was at a premium.
If someone's house catches fire and affects the neighbors, then they should wait to have their land deeds confiscated, so that they can offset the losses!
Regardless of whether braided spies set fires, something similar is inevitable in early fall when it's still hot.
"Your Highness is wise!"
Although it was not stated clearly, Zhou Yuji knew in his heart that this was the Crown Prince "taking care" of those wealthy gentry and merchants in disguise.
"During the siege of the city by the Donglu, if any family leaves the courtyard and makes the courtyard a hiding place for the Donglu, they will be punished as collaborating with the enemy!"
There are so many ways to punish you, but I just don’t want to say it. If I say it, it will make you feel uncomfortable all over.
Isn’t it easy to even sit down?
Just find any excuse!
With the enemy currently under siege, we have to find some punching bags, right?
Those who are not optimistic about this potential stock and run away when the situation is not good will have to pay a certain price.
If you don't want to share the joys and sorrows, you just plan to sit back and enjoy the benefits. How can such a good thing happen?
I still want to sit back and enjoy the benefits?
Is it your turn to have such a good thing?
"Your Highness, Fang Zhenghua and Wang Shide would like to see you!"
"Xuan! Aiqing, please do what you just said. First, inform the rich gentry and the people about harvesting crops, and it will be implemented at dawn tomorrow! Let Zu Kuan lead his cavalry brigade to handle the far places, and the nearby places Just dispatch the infantry brigade. After all other combat units are sorted out, they can enter the old city to garrison. The most important task at the moment is to collect food as soon as possible. Whether it is harvesting crops or water transportation to Tongzhou, it must be completed within ten days. . People from various ministries in the Jifu area will also handle this matter and assist the people in collecting grain and storing it in the warehouse."
An army of 60,000 to 70,000 people was dispatched to collect grain, but two to three hundred thousand dan could not be recovered.
If more than 500,000 shi of grain is recovered, it is considered to be picked up.
Harvesting more grain by yourself means that the grain that Braid can grab will decrease sharply.
If they think it's unfair, they can attack the city. I'm waiting for you to take the initiative to conduct clinical trials!
If we want to surround but not fight, we can only go to Baoding Prefecture, Zhending Prefecture, and Hejian Prefecture to grab food. If that doesn't work, we can go to Shandong and Shanxi.
However, the situation in those two places seems to be worse than that in Beizhili. In Shandong, the situation along the coast and canal is just fine, but everywhere else is unsatisfactory.
The situation in Shanxi is slightly better than that in Henan, but that's all. Henan is already thousands of miles away, equivalent to northern Shaanxi.
With coal mines and oil fields in northern Shaanxi, it is equivalent to having two golden mountains. Judging from Zuo Maodi's memorial, things are improving rapidly.
Since Shandong is close to the sea and has canals, it is not too difficult to manage.
In these two places, Henan and Shanxi, the court has no way to treat them for the time being.
Braid is willing to go to Shanxi and Henan to rob, but a certain prince cannot stop him.
I hope I can meet Brother Li, the courier, and it would be best if we die together.
Last time, the braided army reached as far as Xuzhou, so this time it is best to move further south.
Being able to drink from the Yangtze River is perfect, and it will make the dumper happy...
"You two, just stand there. I'm feeling quite unwell just now. I seem to have a cold!"
When a certain prince saw that the people he had summoned had already entered the courtyard, he spoke first to avoid having to ask whether they had had smallpox.
If everyone asks this question, it means there is no three hundred taels of silver in this place.
"Your Highness, I have received instructions from Your Highness. From today on, we must strictly screen the people in the city for Donglu operations, but within ten days..."
Wang Shide was the first to speak. The report should be concise and to the point, not to waste the prince's precious time, and not to be too straightforward, otherwise it would make the prince feel annoyed.
"The city gate will be closed within ten days, because the vanguard of the Donglu army should enter the gate around the tenth day. The main force of the Donglu army will advance slowly, and will probably enter the gate about ten days later. The most important thing is that in the last ten days, Since the city gate is not closed, Donglu will quickly send out the information obtained. Then the city gate is closed. If you want to send out the information again, you must either bribe the guard or let the doves fly. Although the screening area is large, there is no way to do it . Ordinary people, Donglu will naturally not value. They are mainly merchants who have trade relations with outside the customs, as well as generals and officials who have relatives outside the customs. The focus of the screening is the houses of these people, and the inns where Donglu may stay. If there is no harvest, but the suspicion is serious, you can send someone to monitor the surrounding area all day long, especially the side door and the back door. Teach you a few simple identification methods, such as pulling your hair out one by one, and if you can't pull it out, it is definitely me. Da Ming Zi Min. If the bun has been pulled down, it is naturally a thief in disguise. If you have a bald head, you should check the scalp marks, especially the back of the head, to see if it has just been picked. If you have braids, the position of shaving the braids will be different from the surrounding scalp. The colors are different. The accent is not correct, and there is a foreign accent. Naturally, the personnel are allowed, and they must be asked to show relevant documents. Then check the teeth. Donglu likes to eat meat, so most of them have rotten teeth. I allow Dongchang and Jinyiwei to be here During a period of time, you can search for any suspicious persons. The principle is that you can’t let a bad person go, but you can’t wrongly accuse a good person. If there is no direct evidence, you can first arrest him in jail, except for women. But don’t use this method to seek personal gain. , anyone who behaves like this will be severely punished if I let this palace know about it, which is equivalent to ruining my reputation, and don't make the whole city a storm."
The method has been told to both of you, it is up to you how to catch it.
I have to do everything, so why raise a dog?
In special times, special things should be dealt with. It doesn't matter if you catch someone wrong, just catch them first and then release them.
"I don't dare to die!"
Fang Zhenghua and Wang Shide were both measured people, and the Crown Prince was far more sage than the one who moved to Nandu. The Crown Prince was basically aware of what was going on outside and would not be misled.
"In the near future, especially before the city gates are closed, the various divisions of the King's Division will go out to collect food. The city is dominated by the Guards Battalion and the East Palace Guards. You two must deploy more than a thousand people to participate in night patrol operations to ensure that the old city is safe. In particular, we should be on guard against deliberate arson by gangsters. Once an incident occurs, the patrol team closer to the incident must rush to the scene immediately to participate in the rescue. Furthermore, it is strictly forbidden for anyone to approach important military locations, especially arsenals, to protect An Min Factory. and various gunpowder and oil warehouses as the first priority.”
Anmin Factory is the largest gunpowder production factory in the city. It was rebuilt in the northwest corner of the inner city after the big explosion at Wang Gong Factory during the Tianqi Period.
The power of the Wanggong Factory explosion back then was quite astonishing. It is said that even the child of Tianqi Tank Master, Prince Zhu Cijiong, was killed by the falling debris.
The scene in the capital during and shortly after the explosion was like a disaster movie, with dust covering the sky and debris from open flames falling down one after another.
According to records at the time, the total amount of gunpowder stored in Wang Gong Factory was about one thousand tons, and the explosion radius exceeded one mile, killing and injuring more than 20,000 people.
A certain prince didn't know whether one thousand tons of black powder was so powerful. However, after the supervision of the country, it was stipulated that every 10,000 kilograms of gunpowder produced by Anmin Factory must be shipped to a warehouse elsewhere for storage and transportation.
Now the Jifu garrison has a lot of gunpowder, and there are also heavily guarded gunpowder warehouses throughout the old city.
Even if a braided spy detonated An Min Factory or a certain warehouse, the explosion power would not be as huge as the one at Wang Gong Factory.
On the contrary, the large quantities of oil continuously shipped from the Yanchang Oilfield in northern Shaanxi have become unsafe materials, with a total amount of no less than 50,000 to 60,000 barrels.
A certain prince has ordered the Ministry of War to distribute the oil to the garrison in the city as soon as possible. As long as it is dispersed and deployed in a short time, there will not be much danger.
It's just that the oil transportation is coming to an end for the time being, and we can't let the braids plunder the oil.
Even if they don't know how to refine crude oil, they will still use these free things to heat and cook.
The imperial court's purchase price is only fifty taels of silver per barrel, and ten thousand barrels is fifty thousand taels. It must not be cheap.
There is no need to stop production at the Yanchang Oilfield, and production can continue as long as it is transported to the capital after the war.
This itself is a work-for-relief project. Once production is stopped, it will mean that oil field workers and their families will have no food and clothing.
The imperial court purchases at least 100,000 barrels of oil from the Yanchang Oilfield every year, with a total price of 500,000 taels of silver.
Twenty percent of this money falls into the pockets of workers, and it can also bring together tens of thousands of households.
For the poor people in northern Shaanxi, oil fields, like coal mines, are the basis for their livelihood.
Coal is available everywhere. Even if it is refined into coke, it will still face great market competition pressure, and the court will not purchase quotas.
But oil is completely different. At present, the Yanchang Oilfield has the largest mining volume and the lowest mining difficulty in the entire Ming Dynasty.
Compared with the fiercely competitive coal mines and gold mines with long mining cycles, the oil fields are the biggest hope for Zuo Maodi, the governor of Shaanxi.
The automatic oil pumping unit developed by the Academy of Sciences, also known as the kowtow machine, is still in the experimental stage and is not expected to arrive for installation at the Yanchang Oilfield until next year.
Even so, under Zuo Maodi's careful care, especially the nearby young people, suddenly found a way to make a living, and the monthly output of the oil field has jumped to 30,000 barrels.
If we continue to work hard at this rate, it will only be a matter of time before the oil field's annual output of 500,000 barrels of oil is extended, and the resulting procurement pressure will be passed on to the court.
It is necessary to prepare 250 to 3 million taels of silver every year to purchase oil. For Li Shiwen, the Minister of Household Affairs, it is a very difficult thing. If it is not possible, he has to borrow money to survive.
Shaanxi definitely needs strong support. The oil field is the most reliable project to attract young people. Even if it costs three million taels of silver a year, it is still worth it.
"Your Highness, Yin Houdong of Shuntian Prefecture has asked to see you!"
"...Xuan!"
Why is it that the more inconvenient it is to meet people, the more diligent these guys come?
This matter is very strange and mysterious!
"I'm not feeling well, just stand with them and talk!"
"Yes! Your Highness, I just inspected the inner city and found that there are still many children turning in locusts. I don't know if the acquisition is still needed. If the acquisition is stopped, some children may live in trouble! Furthermore, do you think it is necessary? You can increase the amount of lime purchased and stock up in advance to prepare for the siege of Donglu."
After Hou Tongzeng became the prefect of Shuntian, he was still very responsible and properly implemented the prince's three principles of epidemic prevention, fire prevention, and detail prevention.
It's just that the number of Shuntian government officials is limited, and their execution ability is far inferior to that of Dongchang, Jinyiwei and the garrison. In many cases, they have to apply for cooperation from multiple departments.
After walking around the city, Hou Dong had seen the problem and hurriedly came to ask for instructions, because Donglu was about to attack the city and important matters could not be postponed until tomorrow.
"My dear, what you said makes sense. The number of locusts is generally sufficient. There is no need to continue to purchase them for the time being. Let the children collect stones and tree trunks. Five kilograms are discounted to one copper coin. The more the better. Lime is a disinfectant material. Regardless of the scale, as long as the owner of the lime mine is willing to provide it, You can buy them all together. If Shuntian Mansion doesn’t have enough silver, I can advance the payment in advance.”
Those children's family backgrounds are not good, and children from wealthy families will no longer make money by catching locusts. Stopping this project is equivalent to cutting off these children's access to money.
Since there is no need to collect locusts for the time being, let them simply get some rolling wood and thunder stones. It doesn’t have to be too big, just do what you can. It’s also a thought to get a hundred tons back.
Through a series of measures, the epidemic has now been suppressed invisible, but there is no guarantee that it will not recur during the siege of the city, and lime must be hoarded on a large scale.
The lime mine owners took advantage of the imperial court's orders to make a fortune. With silver as a powerful driving force for mining and transportation, the supply of lime has been endless.
"Then as for coal, we need to store as much as possible. If the Donglu are still unwilling to retreat in winter, the people in the city can also keep warm. There are many open spaces in the middle city and the new city, which can be used to store supplies. The place where supplies are stored is the place where the supplies are stored. The palace will send troops to strictly guard it, so in terms of manpower, I don’t need to worry too much, my dear."
You need to be fully prepared now. Once the braids are around you and you don't attack, most of the ultimate moves you have prepared will not be used.
If Braids had only begun to attack the city in early winter, it would have been a month before the smallpox virus broke out.
During this period, coal must be burned to keep warm, otherwise the people in the city will be freezing to death before the braids come in.
