Wala is lacking something, very lacking.
Nine months have passed this year, and the number of businessmen coming can be counted on one's fingers.
Especially after April, the Ming caravan has not come once. This is naturally directly related to the internal war in Oara. But now that the war is over and winter is coming, but the caravan has not come, how can we live...
Besides, relying only on caravans to survive, it would be difficult for Wala to obtain stable and sufficient supplies. If he occasionally went out to graze, he had to be wary of Song Sheng coming out to rob, so he might as well stay in hibernation for the time being.
Mahamu persuaded Taiping and Batu Polo to write a letter asking for surrender and be granted the title, and selected Shan Suocheng to be the envoy. To show his sincerity, Mahamu also added a hundred yuan to the envoy's gift list. A war horse, thirty Eastern beads, some gems, etc.
Shan Suocheng set off with more than thirty people, carrying Mahamu's hope.
Wala needs to recuperate, and Ming Dynasty wants to cause trouble with the Tatars, so go ahead. As long as they don't come to us, everything can be easily discussed.
September 20, Pingxiang, Guangxi.
Zhang Fu summoned generals at all levels to gather around the Annan map to discuss the battle strategy.
The army arrived in Pingxiang at the end of August. After resting for seven days, they resumed mountain climbing and swimming training. The sergeants who were making dumplings in the river in the past few days almost blocked several rivers.
Han Guan pointed at the map and said seriously: "The one at the front is Polei Pass. The mountains on both sides here are high and difficult to climb. If you want to attack from here, you must fight quickly to avoid dragging down morale."
Zhang Fu nodded solemnly: "Through the telescope and days of testing, it can be determined that Annan's army is equipped with a large number of firecrackers, but the lethality of the firecrackers is not great. A hundred steps away, it can be defended with a cowhide iron shield. At this distance , enough for us to use the Crouching Tiger Cannon to completely open the slope barrier."
Tie Xuan had seen the Crouching Tiger Cannon and knew its power. He said: "Once the Po Lei Pass is opened, I suggest that before the Annan Army can react, they immediately go to Qiuwen County and launch an attack directly on the Ailiu Pass to completely break the Hu family's idea in Annan." We must rely on passes to block our army’s intentions and deter Annan’s army!”
Zhang Fu said solemnly: "Ailiu Pass is not easy to fight. Polei Pass is just a small pass, but Ailiu Pass is a real large-scale city pass. It is built on a mountain and has a stronghold, and there are pits and pits under the stronghold. The gorge is also covered with bamboo sticks. According to the information, there are as many as 20,000 defenders there, and there are also divine machine cannons and fire blunderbuss."
Yuan Yue stared deeply at the map and said: "Ailiu Pass should be the first large-scale battle after entering Annan. It is inevitable that we will defeat it. The key is how long it will take. I am willing to lead troops to attack Ailiu Pass. Win this level within two hours!"
"Two hours?"
Han Guan was a little dissatisfied. Even Tie Xuan thought that Yuan Yue was too confident. After all, there were 20,000 defenders there. Even if they stood there and let you kill them, they wouldn't be able to kill them all in two hours, let alone defeat them.
Zhang Fu stared at Yuan Yue. This man was promoted by himself. No one knew his ability and courage better than him.
"No jokes in the army!"
Zhang Fu said sternly.
Yuan Yue slapped his chest: "I am willing to issue a military order!"
Zhang Fu looked at Yuan Yue with trust in his eyes: "In that case, you will lead the troops of Nanning Guard and Pingxiang Guard. As the vanguard, we will go straight to the Pass and Liuguan! If we cannot take it within two hours, military law will not allow it." !”
"I obey my orders!"
Yuan Yue was very happy. The first battle of the war between Ming Dynasty and Annan would definitely be recorded and reported to the emperor as quickly as possible.
Who wouldn’t want to take the lead in the first effort?
Cheng Kuan, the commander-in-chief, Yang Song, the commander-in-chief, and others were envious. Zhang Fu still preferred his own people, and he was not afraid of being known as nepotism.
However, there is Jiling Pass after Ailiu Pass, so we are not afraid of running out of battles.
Zhang Fu straightened his back and looked at Tie Xuan: "The emperor sent an edict yesterday, please ask Tie Shangshu to explain it to them."
Tie Xuan looked at the crowd, and did not come to ask for an imperial edict. He directly said the content: "The emperor has an edict. The Ming Dynasty sent troops to march south, just to capture Hu Ji Yao and his son, and to destroy his so-called Dayu Kingdom. It is not related to Annan. The common people are the enemy, so we issue the 'Seven Don'ts' as a military order."
"Why seven no-nos?"
Yang Song asked.
Tie Xuan waved his sleeves majestically and said: "First, we are not allowed to indulge in military discipline; second, we are not allowed to massacre people; third, we are not allowed to destroy people's huts and tombs; fourth, we are not allowed to rob people of their wives and daughters; fifth, we are not allowed to kill and surrender; sixth, we are not allowed to burn crops; seventh, we are not allowed to Destroying people’s ancestral temples…”
Zhang Fu warned: "After you go back, tell everyone that once you offend, you will not be spared."
Everyone nodded and kept it in mind.
Tie Xuan added: "The emperor also said that all those in the army who can fight bravely to kill the enemy, behead generals and seize passes, break through fortresses, and perform extraordinary feats will be named by their names. On the day of the class, they will be rewarded based on their merits. No one will be allowed to have them." If you take credit for taking credit or pretend to be someone else, you will be severely punished once it is found out!"
After hearing this, Yuan Yue and others nodded.
Emperor Jianwen dealt very harshly with corruption, impersonation, and bullying of the army. Between February and May, a large number of officers in various military posts were unlucky because of these problems. It is said that the court traced them back to the Battle of Yuerhai.
In Zhu Yunwen's words, it means chasing him for twenty years. Whoever reaches out will never be able to think of stability for the rest of his life.
Military merit cannot be taken away and cannot be claimed falsely. Everyone knows this truth. Moreover, the ones who record military merit are not only the director of the Ministry of War, but also the officials of the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion and the Security Bureau. There are three account books, and the Minister of the Ministry of War is personally watching. Who can Don't dare to be confused at this time.
Military preparations are in place, but the issue of interests has not yet been finalized.
After Zhang Fu held a military meeting, Chang Baiye, Zhou Dajiang, Liang Wenxing and others entered the big tent.
Chang Baiye has been having a headache recently. Zhu Yunwen had already agreed to something when he was in the capital, but now some problems have arisen here. The problems are not big, but they are fatal.
"You want the treasure in Shenglong City, and it's not enough to give you five million taels."
Zhang Fu's lion opened his mouth wide.
Chang Baiye wanted to cry, and said anxiously: "Dashuai Zhang, the information about Shenglong City has also been passed on. Although I can't say how much the goods there are worth, they are only worth four million taels at most. You want five hundred." Wanliang, there is nothing we can do.”
Zhang Fu pointed to the Duobang City on the map and said, "We take a step back and here is attached to you."
Chang Baiye looked at the map, his face became even darker, and he said bluntly: "Duobang City is just a military city, it is worthless at all. Even if the stones were dismantled and sent to the Ming Dynasty, they would not be worth one million taels." .”
Indeed, Chang Baiye was right. Duobang City was a military city in the truest sense. The Annan army was stationed in it. It was the most important barrier to protect the eastern capital of Shenglong City. There was nothing valuable there, and there was nothing of value.
"No one can tell how many treasures there are in Thang Long City. The information you merchants have received is just what some prisoners said, which cannot be true."
Zhang Fu insisted and refused to let go.
Chang Baiye looked at Master Zhou, who lamented and said: "Businessmen also have limited financial resources. If Marshal Zhang thinks that the eastern capital of Shenglong City is worth five million taels, then how much is the western capital of Qinghua worth? Although Huizhou merchants and Shanxi merchants If merchants, Zhejiang merchants, etc. join forces, they can't come up with such a sky-high price, right? In Shenglong City, the most we can offer is 4,100,000 taels."
Tie Xuan, who was listening, put down his tea bowl and said coldly: "Such a deal makes Ming like a bandit. If word spreads, where will the majesty of Ming be? If it's less than five million taels of failure, let's not talk about it!"
Chang Baiye took a deep breath: "Tie Shangshu, as far as I know, the imperial court's deployment of 300,000 troops only used 1.6 million taels of money (not including food and grass). Now we have spent so much, several times Why are you still not satisfied with the military pay from the imperial court?"
Tie Xuan looked at Chang Baiye and said, "Because you are businessmen, and businessmen seek profit. If it weren't for the huge profits, would you be here?"
"But when seeking profit, you have to pay attention to capital. If you lose capital or lose profits, then this business cannot be done. Not only do we need people, but we also need a large number of people to help with transportation. When we sell them out and recover the capital, we are afraid that I don’t know when.”
Chang Baiye was very dissatisfied.
Zhang Fu sighed and said, "Well, the war is about to begin. We really don't need to get too entangled in this matter. Let's talk about it. How much you can finally bring out and whether it succeeds will show the bottom line."
Chang Baiye discussed with Zhou Dajiang and others and said: "Thanglong City and Qinghua City are the east and west capitals of Annan, connecting the twelve surrounding cities. Our bid totals 10 million taels."
"Ten million taels?!"
Zhang Fu felt a little breathless.
You must know that during the Hongwu Dynasty, the imperial court only had a financial budget of three million taels of silver. If the tax in kind was converted into silver, it would not reach 20 million taels at all! With the promotion of Jianwen's reforms, large areas of tax-free land were included in the scope of taxation. In addition, tax rates were increased, and business stimulated the imperial government's finances to surge, reaching 45 million taels in the second year of Jianwen.
What a terrifying force a businessman can take out of nearly a quarter of a country's finances.
Chang Baiye, Zhou Dajiang and others did not think so. The 10 million taels they shouted out now was just a number. The actual money they paid out was only 5 million taels. As for the remaining half, it was from the Royal Central Bank. For the money I paid, I just paid a loan interest...
Tie Xuan and Zhang Fu were both silent.
Ten million taels is an extremely optimistic figure for the Ming Dynasty's finances. With this amount of money, the finances will inevitably be abundant. By then, whether it is the implementation of culture and education, infrastructure construction, or expanding the scope of the new army strategy , build a warship...
Even if the costs of droughts, floods, and the Battle of Annan are taken into account, there will still be some leftover.
have to.
accepted.
In this way, Zhang Fu and Tie Xuan packaged and sold the spoils of Annan's main cities, including the east and west capitals, to merchants.
Yes, the imperial court has issued an order not to allow the indiscriminate killing of people. The problem is that when businessmen come, they are really not robbing people. How much money can the people have? Their target is the princes and nobles of Annan. These people are going to be arrested. Everyone has been arrested. It is reasonable to raid their homes...
If Hu Jishen had known that the war hadn't started yet and that his things were no longer his, I wonder if he would have jumped directly over the city wall.
After walking out of the camp, Chang Baiye smiled.
This is such a cost-effective deal. It only costs five million taels to leverage 10 million taels, and what you win is inestimable wealth.
There are many treasures in Thang Long City. What do those captives know? Some uninformed people. The only ones who really know the news are the businessmen who have been to Champa. They said that the treasures in Thang Long City could not be exhausted for ten days and ten nights.
In any case, this was a big gamble. If the bet was right, Shanxi merchants would usher in a new era. If they lost the bet, they would lose their capital and go back to Shanxi to mine coal.
On September 28, Zhang Fu ordered the army to enter the highest combat readiness.
On September 29, pioneer Yuan Yue led the Nanning Guard and Pingxiang Guard, totaling 15,000 people, out of Pingxiang Pass and camped three miles outside Po Lei Pass.
On October 1, Zhang Fu issued a military order: "Attack!"
Suddenly, the situation changes, and the Annan War begins, which changes the fate of countless people. Some people will die here, and some will win glory.
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