The lights gradually dimmed, and the stars stared at the world.
Dong'an Gate slowly opened, and Xie Jin, Tie Xuan, Xia Yuanji, Zheng Ci, Xu Kai and others slowly walked out of the palace gate.
Jie Jin looked up at the starry sky and solemnly said to Xia Yuanji: "This war is related to the fate of the country for a century. The Ministry of Revenue needs full support. No matter how much pressure or difficulty there is, the money needed must be spent!"
Xia Yuanji was bitter: "It's easy to talk about it, but after all, Hu Bu is not the God of Wealth. He can take out as much as he wants."
Tie Xuan understood Xia Yuanji's difficulties and said, "I will spare you half a year's salary and pay it to the sergeant!"
"If that's the case, then I'll be exempted from half a year's salary."
Xie Jin glanced at Tie Xuan and followed helplessly.
The cabinet is advancing and retreating at the same time, and you have taken a stand. If I don't take a stand, wouldn't I be regarded by the emperor as ignorant of the overall situation and without a view of the overall situation?
When Zheng Ci heard this, he said tremblingly: "I am old, so I don't need to pay my salary. Xie Ge is right, this time is related to the fate of the country for a hundred years. If we win, there will be no war for a hundred years. For the sake of future generations, I will eat less. , it doesn’t matter.”
Xia Yuanji was touched. Although Zheng Ci had children and grandchildren and could not live without a salary, it was still a large amount of income: "In this case, I will not be polite to you. If this war is really what the emperor wants, then The financial resources provided by the Ministry of Household Affairs are probably unprecedented."
Zheng Ci chuckled and said, "You still have to be an official in the court, so don't take the lead in this kind of thing of exempting yourself from salary. Tomorrow I will go to the court to propose that people who don't live long, don't be afraid of offending others."
Xia Yuanji was a little sad: "Zheng Shangshu is in good health, so you can't say this..."
Zheng Ci waved his hand and walked away with Huang Fu's help.
Salary is an important source of income for officials. Those who propose to waive salary are indeed very offended. If you agree, your body will hurt. If you don’t, your head will hurt. If your body hurts, it is easier to curse. If your head hurts, it will still be easier to curse...
Xia Yuanji had no choice but to say to Zhuo Jing: "We are going to issue documents tomorrow to urge all prefectures and counties to collect summer taxes as soon as possible this year."
Zhuo Jing solemnly agreed: "No problem, I will draft the documents tonight."
Tie Xuan walked to Xu Huizu's side and said solemnly: "The Beijing army is the foundation of the world and cannot be easily transferred too much. The current situation is unclear, so we need to be cautious in the deployment."
Xu Huizu looked at Tie Xuan and asked softly: "In your opinion, how much should the Beijing army move northward?"
Tie Xuan lowered his head to calculate, stretched out a hand and spread his fingers: "Fifty thousand, no more."
Xu Huizu shook his head and said seriously: "Are the 50,000 Beijing troops going to deal with Wu Liangha or the Tatars? You should know that if the intelligence is true, the Tatars, Wu Liangha, and Wala will use their entire clan to take action. . The 50,000 Beijing troops cannot stand up to the two forces on the prairie. The sergeants can withstand the five-line battle under the city defense, but they cannot withstand the three-line battle on the grassland. It is a two-line battle!"
Tie Xuan gritted his teeth: "But you must also understand that too much mobilization of the Beijing army can easily make the capital fall into emptiness. With the army outside, the emperor may not be able to sleep peacefully."
Xu Huizu shook his head: "You still underestimated the thoughts of the military governor and the new army's strategy. Even if all the 300,000 Beijing troops were taken to Lake Baikal to fish, the emperor would still be able to sleep peacefully."
Tie Xuan rolled his eyes at Xu Huizu: "What I'm talking about is not the affairs of the Zhao family, but the affairs of the capital! The capital army is the foundation of the stability of Jinling City. If too many are deployed, something will happen elsewhere, and the emperor will have nothing to dispatch. Soldiers and generals, what should we do? You also know that the White Lotus Sect is one of the most powerful
The insects are dead but not stiff, who knows if they will take advantage of the chaos to cause trouble! "
"You have to leave enough troops in case of emergencies. Besides, the situation on the front line is unknown and too many troops are hastily mobilized. The granaries along the way cannot bear it. I said fifty thousand, just the vanguard. If follow-up intelligence confirms , it won’t be too late to send more troops.”
Xu Huizu pondered for a while and nodded: "I will report that 50,000 will be dispatched first. The details need to be decided by the emperor."
Tie Xuan sighed: "It seems that we won't be able to rest this night."
rest?
Time is running out.
Zhu Yunwen issued a partial mobilization order for the third level of the Ming Dynasty.
In the Beijing Army Camp, the newly established logistics bureau began to operate. Orders followed the sergeants out of the city and were spread to the north and south sides of the Yangtze River.
At dawn, a thousand water transport ships and merchant ships had been mobilized to the shore, and two thousand horse-drawn carriages had also appeared at the Yangzhou military camp.
Food, horse grass, ordnance, armor, and warm clothing began to be allocated from the warehouses.
At noon, sergeants from Yangzhou Prefecture and Huai'an Prefecture Guard Stations mobilized 10,000 people and transformed them into logistics troops on the spot. They carried food and other supplies to ships and carriages along the river channels and concrete official roads of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal.
In the evening.
Zhu Yunwen's decree was transmitted to the Beijing Army Camp, and the 50,000 troops who were ready to go, led by Xu Kai, Hua Ju, and Xu Yingxu, headed for the Peking Army Camp first.
Fifty thousand sergeants rushed to Peiping in three groups.
Fifteen thousand soldiers were transported all the way by water and rivers.
Transport all the way by land, light cavalry, ten thousand cavalry.
Along the way, they took six treasure ships, thirty big fortune ships, and twenty-five thousand soldiers in the capital.
The Ming Dynasty's war potential showed frightening power at this moment. In just twelve hours, 50,000 troops began to be deployed. During the whole process, except for a group of merchant ships, not even a single citizen was recruited!
As for all the grain and grass supplies, it seemed that there was no preparation at all, and even the granary outside the Jinchuan Gate, the largest in Jinling, had not been opened. The granaries scattered in various places are like inconspicuous nodes, making it possible for the army to march quickly.
The flat and straight concrete roads further facilitated the march of the light cavalry.
Longjiang Shipyard and Ma'anshan Shipyard delivered the latest fifteen iron ships that had just completed sea trials to the Navy Governor's Mansion. Li Jian sat directly on the ten-mile corridor of Houhu and would not leave until he was given enough gunpowder bombs.
The rogue Li Jian won. After reporting to the Second Artillery Bureau, Zhu Yunwen approved the opening of the gunpowder warehouse in Lion Rock and delivered the sealed gunpowder bombs to the navy.
Li Jian watched with horror as boxes of gunpowder bombs were brought out.
No one knows when so many caves were dug in Lion Rock, and no one knows how deep it is and how much space there is. They only know that this is the territory of the Science and Technology Bureau.
Li Jian knew that the Science and Technology Bureau was established before the Second Artillery Bureau, but he also knew that the Second Artillery Bureau came from behind and became the core firearms research and manufacturing base of the Ming Dynasty. Since then, the Science and Technology Bureau has declined, almost like the War and War Bureau. It works, but it's not dazzling.
But who would have thought that this group of people would dig out a large gunpowder magazine without saying a word? No wonder Zhu Yunwen wasn't worried about the Navy taking away a large amount of firearms and ammunition. He still held a batch of gunpowder ammunition in his hand.
Perhaps, besides Lion Rock, there is also Lion Rock...
Li Jian marveled at Zhu Yunwen's plan, and was also shocked at how these secrets were kept
Keep it confidential!
A batch of firearms and gunpowder bombs were secretly sent to the iron ship, and when it got dark, it began to set sail.
At the same time, the imperial court began to cut back on food and clothing, urged local summer taxes, and accelerated the storage of granaries as the summer harvest had just ended.
June 22nd.
The report from Zhang Fu, the capital of Liaodong, was delivered to the capital by steam engine and ship, traveling three thousand miles day and night.
The news that Duoyanwei mobilized the army and was about to make a move was confirmed.
Xia Yuanji proposed to suspend the construction of the new capital of Beiping in order to mobilize people to take on transportation and save finances at the same time.
Zhu Yunzhen is not sure.
Xia Yuanji proposed again to issue treasury bonds, which Zhu Yunwen approved after careful consideration.
The Ming Dynasty started the second national debt, with the scale reaching 8 million guans, 3 million guans in the capital, and 5 million guans distributed equally among Suzhou, Hangzhou, Kaifeng, and Peking.
Such a huge scale of national debt shows that Xia Yuanji has already prepared for the worst.
Countless people didn't know what was going on, but the mobilization of the Beijing army, the rare summer tax call, the issuance of large national bonds, and the halving of the salary of Beijing officials all showed that the situation was unusual.
On this day, Jianwen Daily published a piece of news that seemed inconspicuous but affected countless people:
Businesses and residents are only allowed to use the two sides of the concrete road, and the one-and-a-half-foot-wide road in the middle is not allowed to be used.
Shen Yiyuan was sitting in Yangzhou, staring at Jianwen Newspaper, looking at Shen Xiude, and said seriously: "It seems that the imperial court is going to make big moves."
Shen Xiude's eyes showed uneasiness and he said softly: "Father, the Korean War does not require such a big noise, right? Even the concrete roads have begun to be cleared. Is this specially used for the post messengers to deliver messages?"
Shen Yiyuan put down the newspaper and looked at the somewhat gloomy sky: "North Korea cannot be treated like a court. If I am not wrong, it is either Tatar or Oara. One of them must be doing something."
"They want to attack the Ming Dynasty?"
Shen Xiude's eyes widened and he couldn't believe it.
Shen Yiyuan chuckled: "It is a very strange process for people to make decisions. It may be for profit, it may be for a breath, or it may be influenced by others. Just like Chang Baiye, such a shrewd person, isn't it? Did Wala make any mistakes because of improper employment? And he wanted to do business in North Korea, but the result, haha, there is no business in North Korea now."
"No one can make mistakes at any time. Everyone will make mistakes. Even the most brilliant chess players will make stupid moves. Let's just watch. If someone really provokes Ming Dynasty, what will happen to us? It’s a good opportunity for us. Without Oara and Tatar, it will be safer to do business.”
Seeing that his father was quite happy, Shen Xiude couldn't help but said: "Father, Tatar and Wala have been recuperating for more than ten years, and their strength should not be underestimated. If chaos really breaks out, will the court..."
Shen Yiyuan shook his head, with a wise light in his eyes: "What did you study in the Imperial College? Think about it. From the day when the Imperial College was reformed, the Ming Dynasty had already surpassed the dying Tatars and Oaras. Only Only ignorant people will underestimate the strength of the Ming Dynasty. The Tatars, Walas, and Uliangha, after all, are outside the Great Wall and cannot see the rapid changes in the Ming Dynasty, and they still have the illusion of the Hongwu Dynasty..."
The night is dark and the stars are dim.
Outside Seoul, black shadows were like a wall, pushing towards the city wall.
On the city wall, the bells were ringing loudly.
The fierce and bloody battle finally started in the night!
