Hearing the viciousness and extreme shamelessness in Concubine Shen's words, Princess Teng was so frightened that she trembled all over. Although he swore in his heart that he would not enter the palace even if he was beaten to death, he did not dare to show the slightest bit on his face. Because she knew that if this woman could do what she did today, what else could she do with her mother? What else could she not do? How dare she show any dissatisfaction with Concubine Shen now?
It's just that this timid Princess Teng, how can she hide this scheming? Concubine Shen is so cunning that even Huang Qiong can't do anything about it? Regarding this woman, Concubine Shen pinched the plump part hard and said with a cunning and sinister smile: "If it weren't for that bastard, I would like the big one here. I can take care of all the places with just the two of me. Without him, how could such good things come to you?"
"From now on, if I invite you to come to the palace and come to my place. If you have the guts, don't come. What tricks can you play on me? Don't say that I am rude to you. You have seen what happened today. In order to hold him back, I can do anything. When the time comes, don’t blame me for being ruthless and hurting your whole family. I’ve made you feel comfortable today, but you have to pay some price.”
Faced with Concubine Shen's threat, how dare Princess Teng say anything to her. If it weren't for the fact that she didn't have any strength now, Princess Teng would have run away long ago. She was really scared of this terrible woman, and every word made her tremble. In response to Concubine Shen's threat, Princess Teng, who was very timid herself, was too timid to refute anything and even nodded involuntarily.
And just when Huang Qiong was struggling with Concubine Shen. Thousands of miles away in Ganzhou, the Prince of Guilin was also upset. When the uprising first broke out, a large number of officials who had been bribed rebelled and surrendered, relying on the foundation they had laid before. It can be said that it swept Guangnan East-West Road and Fujian Road. But since entering Jiangnan West Road and Huguang South Road, they have repeatedly encountered obstacles. Although on both sides, many state capitals were also captured.
However, they have never been able to capture several strategic locations, and now the troops are stationed under the fortified city. The intention of entering Liangzhe Road failed to be realized. The team that set out from Fujian and headed north was never able to break through Jianning Mansion. They took a detour and entered Zhejiang Road, but still couldn't break through Chuzhou. The one in the capital who kept silent half a year ago and replaced the generals in advance could be said to have hit him right in the middle.
He now has an advantage in Jiangnan, but in the past few months, he has not been able to completely capture even half of Jiangnan. If we cannot capture the whole of Jiangnan, how can we support the Fujian Road and Guangnan East-West Road alone? There are now more than 200,000 troops. These roads are rich in products, but tea, sugar cane, longan, lychee, and bananas cannot be eaten as food.
This army of more than 200,000 people consumes astronomical amounts of food and grass every day. Coupled with the monthly salary, the Guilin County Prince's Palace is the richest in the world, but it can't sustain the consumption for such a long time? It was originally hoped that after capturing Jiangnan, one would cut off the imperial court's largest source of revenue. Even if he didn't send troops to the north of the Yangtze River, and just separatized the south of the Yangtze River, he could still wipe out the imperial court.
Second, my original calculation was that as long as I could control the entire Jiangnan in a short period of time, I could rely on the wealth of Jiangnan to support the army and quickly expand my strength to compete with the elite soldiers of the four major battalions. Even if you can't train such elite soldiers, there are too many ants, and the bites of the four major battalions will be killed. Now that the war is not progressing smoothly, the three armies have changed from their previous invincibility and have become unable to attack for a long time.
Before the autumn harvest, he quickly occupied the entire Jiangnan. The plan to cut off most of the imperial court's annual income and use the wealth of the south of the Yangtze River to support and expand the army is about to come to nothing, and the army must also bear the astronomical amount of food and salary consumed every day. The Guangnan East-West Road, plus the three Fujian roads, are not grain-producing areas in themselves. Although the Guangnan East and West Road passed through the Guilin County Prince's Palace, people were recruited to cultivate it for hundreds of years.
However, this food output can only be barely enough to be self-sufficient. And Fujian Road is barely even self-sufficient. It is simply unsustainable to bear the expenses of a large army for a long time. Nowadays, if there is any shortage of food, we need to purchase it from Annan at a high price. What I can't afford to consume now is myself. Thinking of this, the prince of Guilin County couldn't help but feel a headache on his forehead, and his head hurt badly.
Looking at the gloomy-looking Prince of Guilin, who was also sitting in the former Ganzhou magistrate's yamen, which had been converted into a temporary living room, a group of so-called civil servants and generals, no one dared to say a word. As for why the prince of Guilin looked so ugly, everyone here knew it well. But no one thought that even though the man in Jingzhong was young, he was so capable of pulling people out of the cauldron.
This Lord has put so much effort into bribing the military generals and local officials over the years. Several key positions were transferred in advance. All were replaced by young generals selected from the Xijing Camp and the Four Camps. These young generals are all tempered on the battlefield. Moreover, he was die-hardly loyal to the one in the capital, and neither bribery nor threats had any effect.
Actually, relying on a bunch of rubbish-like guards, they were able to defend several strategically located cities, leaving this lord helpless. In fact, everyone here knows why it is like this. There is no other reason. He has a lot of troops and is not short of food and pay. After several years of hard training, those soldiers are considered to be excellent. But the problem is that his military officers lack actual combat capabilities.
The generals of the Guangnan East-West Route and the Fujian Route Guard, as long as they were transferred from the frontier army and the four major battalions, were almost all transferred away quietly. Those people who originally rebelled from the Guards in Guangdong and Guangxi were either useless or had the same problem. A loyal general who can be bought with money, is that a real general?
Now on several battlefields, although the military strength is advantageous. But due to the lack of actual combat, there is nothing that can be done if the battlefield changes slightly. Facing a fortified city, it could not be captured for a long time. We have superior strength, but we don't know how to fight. More than a hundred cannons were forged in Shiwan Mountain, but these cannons were too heavy. The continuous autumn rain during this period made the roads muddy and made it impossible to transport them.
Although more than a hundred elephants were requisitioned, they were still unable to be transported due to the weight of the roads and cannons. Fortunately, the imperial court also lacks artillery, and the elite troops transferred from the four major battalions are still far away in Huainan, so the current stalemate can still be maintained. Otherwise, let alone sweeping Jiangnan, it would be good not to be driven back to Guangnan West Road. But everyone knows this truth, but who dares to say it at this time?
Someone once proposed sending people to assassinate the defending generals. But almost all of the people sent out never returned. These people barely have some military experience. But none of them had ever heard that the guards around the military attache were all archers. On average, each person keeps at least a dozen hounds. The assassin who went there was shot into a hedgehog by random arrows as soon as he touched it.
Later I found out that these things were all given by the master in the capital. Even the archers and hunting dogs were brought from the capital. The master of the capital has clearly calculated this man's methods. The man in front of me always thinks that he has no plans left. But the son-in-law facing him was beaten to death. Almost none of the various methods can be used.
He is a cunning fox, and his son-in-law is a master at treating foxes. If we say that this pair of father-in-law and son-in-law have turned the world of Qi Dynasty into a chessboard for a game. But now it seems that this father-in-law is somewhat capable and is no match for his own son-in-law. If Jiangnan cannot be taken, it is impossible to rely on Jiangnan's finances and taxes to support the army. No one can afford to rely on the Guilin County Prince's Palace alone to support these armies.
In addition to the guards who surrendered, plus the salaries of the officials who surrendered. Now the monthly military salary expenditure alone is nearly one million. Wuwei Bank is still in the area controlled by the imperial court, and all branches in various places were mobilized by the imperial court to garrison them as early as the first day of the army. The large sums of money and silk stored in banks across the country, as well as more gold and silver, all fell into the hands of the imperial court.
I originally thought that the imperial court would have some scruples in this regard. After all, the Wuwei Bank branch in the capital had a large amount of money in reserve for the Ministry of Household Affairs. Coupled with the founding princes behind Wuwei Bank, even if the king of Guilin rebels now, the court does not dare to take any action. What everyone didn't expect was that the imperial court directly sent troops to take it over by force. I don’t know where the people were sent from, and they all took over the operation.
Not to mention them, even the master in front of me didn't know where the court found those people to take over the banks in various places. Even if they were beaten to death, they would not believe that those idiot-like officials from the Ministry of Household Affairs could select so many people. At the beginning, they all persuaded them to transfer back the money in stock at Wuwei Banks in various places. At least the money in inventory in each branch in Jiangbei must be transferred back first.
But the Lord didn't want to alarm the court at the last moment, so he didn't do it. Because he thought he was very confident, even if he started a rebellion, the court would not dare to attack Wuwei Bank. But he didn't expect that the imperial court would really do something that no one dared to think of. The Guilin County Prince's Mansion has indeed amassed a huge amount of wealth, but at least 30% of this wealth lies in Wuwei Bank.
If we cannot seize the East-West Road of Jiangnan and the two Zhejiang provinces within a short period of time, if things continue like this, it will be the Guilin County Prince's Mansion that will be unable to make ends meet. No matter who it was, his face would not look good. No one said anything, and the Duke of Guilin, who looked downcast, said coldly: "I didn't raise you alone just to let you look at me in a daze. What I want is your idea on how to solve the current situation."
When several counselors heard what the King of Guilin said, they all knew that it would be impossible to remain silent. They still knew clearly what this Lord was like. The oldest one among them pondered for a while and then said: "Your Majesty, no one thought that the master in the capital would do such a desperate thing. Now our offensive is restricted everywhere, and as time goes by, Food and wages will inevitably be scarce.”
"This kind of stationing troops under a fortified city is extremely detrimental to our army. I believe that there are three strategies to solve the problem: upper, middle and lower. The lower strategy is to rest and wait for the cannons to be transported up. But this is too time-consuming. By then, those cities will be captured, but when our army enters Jiangnan East Road, I am afraid that the court will not leave us even a grain of grain or a penny of taxes."
"What's more, except for the state capitals that took the initiative to surrender to our army, the imperial court in other state capitals cleared the country in advance. All the food that could be collected was collected. What could not be collected was also collected. Possible destruction. If all the food needed by my army relies on transportation from the rear, I am afraid that it will be us who cannot support it. This strategy is best not used unless it is absolutely necessary."
"The central strategy is to ignore it and urge the generals in front to attack the city with all their strength. Although the resistance of those cities is tenacious, our army's strength far exceeds that of the imperial court. As long as we attack the city with all our strength regardless of losses, it will only be a matter of time before the city is broken. Once it is broken, By defeating these cities, our army's route to the north will be opened. However, doing so will greatly deplete our army's vitality and is not conducive to the next combat operation."
