While they were making urgent preparations, the spies sent out by the Privy Council came back with accurate news, saying that Xiangfan had indeed been lost.
Now that there is no obstacle in Xiangfan, the Ming army has moved south to invade the Jinghu area, and there are signs of attacking Jinghu North Road and Jinghu South Road farther south.
Moreover, the Ming army had a large number of troops and was very powerful. Wherever the soldiers pointed, the Southern Song Dynasty was unable to compete, and cities fell one after another.
There are currently no signs of the Ming army marching further east. The headquarters should still be in Xiangfan. I don't know what the purpose of this move is.
The spies who came back from the north said that the Ming army stationed on Huainan West Road was preparing for war, and frequently inspected the riverside Song army to set up defenses, and was quite ready to go south.
Zhao Yan's heart tightened and his face looked very ugly.
"Do they really want to destroy the Song Dynasty? Can they do it now? Are they ignoring everything? Where did Su Yonglin get so much manpower and material resources?"
Yu Yunwen quickly stood up.
"The current specific situation is still unclear. It is impossible for the Ming army not to know how many defenses we have deployed in the south of the Yangtze River. The Ming army in Huaixi only has one army of 30,000 people. No matter how arrogant they are, they cannot think that 30,000 people can sweep across the east of the Yangtze River. .
Therefore, unless they immediately increase their troops to Huaixi, or the army from the Jinghu area marches eastward, it is definitely not to destroy the Song Dynasty, but at best to deter them. They must have ulterior motives, so please don't panic too much. "
Zhao Yu was pleased with Yu Yunwen's excellent performance and careful analysis, and he nodded.
"With Mr. Yu's advice, I know what to do."
So on June 30th of the fifth year of Hongwu, Ye Yiwen and Shen Gai set off from Lin'an in a hurry under Zhao Xun's urgent order.
Then Zhao Hao issued an order to the Dutong Division of Zhenjiang, Jiankang Dutong Division and Chizhou Dutong Division, so that the armies of the three places should be ready to return to Lin'an.
Once the Ming army really wants to go south and attack Lin'an again, there is no point in spreading the remaining troops. It will only allow the Ming army to defeat them one by one. This is a precious experience from the last battle.
Simply gathering forces to set up defenses near Lin'an City may also create a strength advantage over the Ming army. By then, the Ming army may be able to prevent the Ming army from invading Lin'an and gain capital for negotiations.
Immediately afterwards, Zhao Min ordered to use existing money to urgently recruit soldiers to join the army in case of emergencies.
The entire densely populated area near Lin'an City was mobilized again, and all young men over the age of fifteen but under the age of forty were required to enlist.
This time it can be regarded as a mandatory mobilization. Zhao Hao issued a prime-age quota to each state government. The local government must achieve the task, otherwise the highest local officials will be directly held accountable.
Under such coercive threats, several state capitals around Lin'an began compulsory recruitment of young men into the army. A large number of vicious government minions were dispatched from all directions to capture young men and send them to Lin'an City.
Of course, this process is destined to be chaotic and brutal.
Because many farmers, illiterate workers and the like don’t know their age at all and live in a very confused way. It all depends on the person who arrests them. As long as they are not little children who are not tall enough or old people with gray beards, Everyone else was taken away.
In fact, due to the frequent changes in era names and chronology in ancient times, apart from the upper class of society, a considerable number of people at the bottom of the society do not know their own age at all, and even need to use methods such as dental age to determine their approximate age. .
Therefore, when doing things based on age, official personnel have considerable autonomy, while ordinary people can only let them be at their mercy.
This is how the strong men handled it, and the 40,000 Song troops who now had it immediately began to build Lin'an defense fortifications, widen the moat, heighten and strengthen the city walls, and conduct emergency training to enhance military strength.
Yu Yunwen served as the privy envoy, Pingzhangjun state affairs and city defense envoy. He was fully responsible for the city's defense work and commanded the imperial army in the city on behalf of the emperor.
He recommended his friend Yang Wanli to become the deputy city defense envoy, responsible for mobilizing the strong men in the city to participate in the construction of the city wall and mobilizing all the strong men in the city so that no one could be left behind.
Then, Yang Wanli offered him advice.
"There are a lot of officials, dignitaries, and wealthy families in the city. Of course they don't want their young men to join the army. If you want to force their young men to join the army, I'm afraid there will be a lot of trouble, and you won't be able to do it then.
Since it is inconvenient to force the young men of these families to join the army, it is better to let them spend money to eliminate disasters and give the country another way to make money. Anyway, it is a time of shortage of money, and the army especially needs a large amount of reward money. This is a way . "
Yu Yunwen was overjoyed after hearing this.
"What Ting Xiu said deeply touched my heart."
Yu Yunwen had heard Zhao Xi talk about the current plight of lack of money before. Once the war started, in order to appease and stabilize the morale of the military, throwing out money was a necessary means. Without the capital to throw out money, it would be too dangerous for Lin'an City.
Anyway, these powerful and wealthy people are definitely not willing to let their children come out to become young men, so why not ask them for money in an open and honest manner.
Wouldn't it be great to give money and save you and our troubles? Kill two birds with one stone?
So he immediately asked Zhao Yan for permission.
Zhao Hao also knew very well the virtues of those powerful and wealthy people, and it would save them some trouble and get money, so why not do it?
So Zhao Xi issued an order, saying that if you don't want to become a strong man, you have to spend money. As long as you spend a certain amount of money, you can be exempted from becoming a strong man.
This amount of money is not small, and ordinary people will never be able to afford it, but the rich people in the city can definitely afford it.
In order to obtain more money, Yu Yunwen and Yang Wanli also discussed different levels of money for different social classes, such as the level of wealthy households, the level of bureaucrats with rich wealth, the level of powerful people, and so on.
This move provides a way for the financially strapped national treasury to make money and provides a little financial support for the financially strapped national treasury.
There are many people who pay money to avoid being a strong man. Even the real powerful people are afraid of soldiers with swords coming to their door and the emperor's edict. They think that spending money to eliminate disasters will save a lot of money. So that he could become the chicken that Yu Yunwen was killed for establishing his power.
Lin'an City Defense was launched in this way. Under Yu Yunwen's tough city defense policy, Lin'an City, which had been in chaos before, seemed to be in order.
During this period, Yu Yunwen continued to accept people from surrounding areas into the city.
Of course, the requirement for entering the city is that you must join the army and serve the army, otherwise you will not be allowed to enter Lin'an City. Therefore, those who are allowed to enter the city must be a family with a strong man. If there is no strong man accompanying them, they will not be allowed to enter the city.
After this matter spread among the refugees outside the city, there was even a wave of people getting married on the spot and becoming a family and then quickly entering the city.
Without understanding the Ming Dynasty, it is a very normal choice for ordinary people to enter Lin'an City in order to save their lives. Lin'an City is very large. There are relatively sufficient food reserves and places to resettle residents in the city, as well as sufficient water sources. This is completely true. No need to worry.
But if it is really the Ming army's turn to press forward and surround Lin'an City for the second time, it actually doesn't make much sense to defend or not to defend.
In the Ming Dynasty, according to the orders of the emperor and the general staff headquarters, Zhang Yuejing, as the commander-in-chief of the Southern Expedition, dispatched troops and generals in Xiangyang to keep the Southern Song Dynasty in submission.
During this period, he also mobilized Fuxing members to carry out Fuxing-style transformation of the conquered sites and quickly build and transform new farmers' associations, in order to stabilize local order as soon as possible, resume production, and collect the upcoming summer grain harvest.
While he was busy here, he suddenly received news that the Southern Song Dynasty sent an envoy composed of two prime ministers to the Ming army, hoping to have some discussions with the Ming army. If you have any questions, please It's better to talk openly and honestly than to fight.
Zhang Yuejing knew when he received Su Yonglin's order before that Su Yonglin predicted that the Southern Song Dynasty would actively seek peace, so they could grasp the Southern Song Dynasty's core interest demands and target this demand to devour their power bit by bit.
talk!
We must talk, why not?
Until the Ming Dynasty is completely satisfied.
Su Yonglin made a list to Zhang Yuejing, which contained some requirements for the Southern Song Dynasty after this battle. Zhang Yuejing needed to convey these requirements to the Southern Song Dynasty envoys.
He doesn't need to worry about what happens next, but if the Southern Song Dynasty refuses to agree, then Zhang Yuejing will be sent out again to launch the second siege of Lin'an to force them to agree.
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PS: It’s so sad to be locked up at home. The bright sunshine outside can’t shine into my heart. There are dark clouds in my heart. So all I can do is play Genshin Impact and watch The Legend of Zhen Huan all day long... When can I see the light of day again...
