After Mu Zan successfully pacified Guangyuan, Shi Heng led the main force of the Ming army and began to move south. They rushed all the way to the bank of the Beijiang River, and then set up camp to prevent Annan's army from counterattacking across the river. He also began to arrest people everywhere in the north and build bridges and pave roads. , cultivating a fast food transport road behind Beidi.
Opposite Beijiang are the three cities of Wuning, Jialing, and Ciyan. These three cities were built by the Ming Dynasty more than 20 years ago to defend Jiaozhou. These three cities were the beginning of the Ming Dynasty's rule over Jiaozhi. , but more than twenty years later, under the witness of these three cities, the Ming Dynasty's rule in Jiaozhi came to an end.
That is the most densely populated hinterland in Annan.
Their Tokyo Shoryu Castle is located here.
In the past 20 years, the population of Jiaozhi was only over 3 million. Those near Jiaozhou, that is, Beijiang Prefecture, Xin'an Prefecture, Guangwei Prefecture, Zhenman Prefecture, and Jianchang Prefecture around Thang Long City accounted for the entire population of Jiaozhi. 70%.
On the Jiaozhou side, the roads are no longer as difficult as in the north, and the waters are crisscrossed. As long as the main force of the Ming army successfully crosses the river, it will be a series of siege battles. Therefore, the transportation requirements for siege equipment and military supplies are strict, and it is also because of this For this reason, Shi Heng could only postpone his advance.
Once the Ming army crosses Beijiang, they can attack Huanglong directly.
In Wuning City, the main defensive force of Annan led by Ding Lie also occupied a front line, facing the Ming army across the river.
After the Ming army was stationed on the bank of Beijiang, an envoy came from the other side. He found Shi Heng carrying Yu Yang's tokens and letters.
They want to cooperate with Shi Heng to eradicate the Wuxun Group in Annan and help them restore the continuation of orthodoxy. As long as Shi Heng is willing and able to make the decision, they are willing to hand over Shi Heng's Beijiang defense map, and will cause a turmoil on the south bank of Beijiang, allowing the Ming army to Cross the river smoothly, and then provide cooperation to the Ming army after the Ming army crosses the river smoothly.
After Shi Heng got the secret letter, his first thought was that these skinny monkeys wanted to play tricks on me, Shi Heng, but after the persuasion of others, he still investigated first.
They also sent Annan soldiers belonging to them to threaten their families and ask them to cross the river and join Din Lie's army.
Although the main forces of the two armies were facing each other on the banks of the Beijiang River, there were also many people from Annan in the North who reached the other side by boat.
Almost every day there are people running to the other side.
At this time, some remaining soldiers would not attract any attention if they ran over.
In the feedback from these soldiers, Shi Heng found that what they told him before was somewhat correct. Now he became less wary and revised the secret letter sent to the head of the Ministry of War in Jiaozhou and sent it to the capital.
The main force of the Beijiang Ming Army has four camps, each of which is no more than ten miles apart. Each camp has more than 20,000 people.
Shi Heng was in charge of the Chinese army camp. The first thing he did when he got up every morning was to push the artillery to the river bank and fire three cannons.
Although it will not cause any substantial casualties to the Annan defenders in Wuning City, it can act as a deterrent and create a sense of tension.
The confrontation between the two armies has lasted for more than half a year.
Han Yong was sitting in the rear, constantly transporting grain to Annan by sea and land, and then diverted it to Shi Heng's Chinese army camp, while more than a dozen large workshops under the Nanjing Ordnance Department were firing on all cylinders, firing countless arrows. Arrows, shotguns, and weapons were all shipped to Guangxi.
After fighting for more than half a year, the imperial court has spent 300,000 taels of silver on food. The white money has flowed into the Ministry of Industry and the Weapons Department of the Nanjing Ministry of Industry. From preparations to the official start of the war, the capital has spent more than 800,000 taels of silver. If it were not for the new tax system in the previous two years, the imperial court would have been unable to fight.
This is why the Ming Dynasty rarely used large-scale troops against Mongolia since the Ming Dynasty. The biggest reason was not because the Ming army was timid, but because the court did not have real money to fight.
Of course, Zhu Jianshen also knew that although the money seemed to be spent, it still went to craftsmen and the people. Even if a group of businessmen became rich, the ordinary people who worked for the businessmen would still have extremely high incomes.
Now the fiscal and taxation system of the Ming Dynasty is healthy, but the puppet Li Dynasty of Annan is somewhat unable to withstand it.
The loss of the Northland left them with a lot less resources, and they could only transport it from farther south. A large number of laborers began to do this work, and the fields began to be abandoned. Now even if the Ming army ceases the war and withdraws, Annan will be in trouble next year. During the Great Famine.
In Jiaozhou City, things started to get turbulent as well.
Ding Lie on the front line wanted to take the initiative and didn't want to delay any longer, but Yu Yang and others felt that if they attacked on all fronts, losing one battle would destroy the country's destiny. They couldn't afford to lose, so they couldn't attack at will. They had to delay and let the Ming army rush first and expose themselves. Telltale.
This difference in political views caused a serious confrontation between Annan's martial arts faction and the civilian faction.
At this time, the Emperor of Le Dynasty looked at this confrontation and did not clearly support either side. Instead, he still hoped for peace talks and a truce.
The Ming army arrived at the door of the house, but there were three voices in Annan's court, which seemed a bit sad.
The sun rose from the east, and the soft sunlight shone on the largest city in Annan, and also on Yu Yang who stood on the city wall.
At this time, Tokyo's Shoryu City no longer has the peace it had half a year ago.
Yu Yang and dozens of officials looked at the endless shacks under the city and sighed.
These shacks were all built by fleeing people.
A city with a population of only more than 300,000 people, but outside the city wall, there are nearly 200,000 refugees, all of whom fled from the banks of the Beijiang River.
After they arrived in Tokyo City, the Wu Xun faction was afraid of causing chaos, so they ordered the four gates of Thang Long City to be closed to prevent these people from having a civil uprising and causing trouble in the city.
Thang Long City was not besieged by the Ming army, but was besieged by its own people.
These people brought their families with them. When they first arrived, they brought food with them to eat. But after half a month, the food was all gone. Some people chose to continue going south, while more people chose to stay and stretch out their hands. The court of Chao Le Dynasty wanted food, but their demands were not responded to because the officials in Thang Long City were fighting for power.
As a scholar, Yu Yang couldn't handle this situation at all.
He can do nothing but have a compassionate heart.
"Sir, when the grain road officials are escorting grain, they now dare not pass through Shenglong City for fear of being robbed by unruly people." An official said in a low voice.
Yu Yang looked at the people below, then looked back at the official who was speaking: "How many days can the food in the city last?"
"My lord, we can only eat for half a month. Sir, please tell your majesty to clear the place."
"I can't be a sinner for all eternity. If I do, let them do it. Just wait, wait until the food runs out, wait until those nobles can't open the pot in their homes, and they will naturally jump out." Yu Yang said softly.
"But, will His Majesty be dissatisfied with us?"
At this time, Yu Yang smiled coldly and said: "Hasn't he been dissatisfied with us a long time ago? But what if he is dissatisfied? If it were not for us, he would have been deposed by those nobles in this situation of internal and external difficulties."
"I was wondering if the common people could take advantage of it..."
After hearing this, the dozens of officials behind them all gasped. They were all civilian officials. Although they were civilian officials, many of them served as admirals of the guards. The generals sent by Wu Xun controlled the army. Very rarely.
The generals of Wu Xun faction have prestige in the army, but they do not have the power to command the troops. Although the civilian officials have the power to command the troops, they have no prestige at all. This makes them constrain each other and then fear each other.
"My lord, what I mean is to secretly let them into the city."
Yu Yang turned around and said, "It is also a kind of retribution for these people to tear these nobles into pieces."
"But, sir, our family members are all here too. If all the people enter the city, it will be a dead end. In my opinion, we should delay it a little longer."
"Yes, sir, we haven't reached this stage yet. Why don't we go ahead and ask for a batch of food from the south to be shipped over and distribute it to the people first, and then we can talk about what happens next."
When Yu Yang heard that so many officials were unwilling to support him, he chuckled: "I was just joking to see if I could scare you."
Seeing that Yu Yang gave up this idea, many officials breathed a sigh of relief.
In fact, many ministers in the Li Dynasty now feel that something is wrong.
This has not yet been done with real swords and guns, but the country is on the verge of subjugation. Especially the officials in the grain road have a pessimistic attitude.
Somewhat collapsed...
Biquge
