I want to be emperor

Chapter 323 Time is Money
Ruichang City is only about [-] kilometers away from Jiujiang City. At such a short distance, even the slow-moving old-style Ming army with a large amount of luggage can usually arrive in about three days.

If it was replaced by the Chu army, it would only take two days to fight from Ruichang City to outside Jiujiang City.

And not only a large number of soldiers passed by, but also a large number of artillery and supplies will arrive with them.

On average, marching [-] kilometers a day, and the terrain along the way is flat, and there are official roads available, this is not a problem at all for the current Chu army.

Even two days are rich.

On August [-]th, Luo Zhixue led his army to officially set off from Ruichang City, and by the afternoon of August [-]th, they had already arrived outside the gate of Jiujiang West City.

Immediately, the army began to set up camp relying on some fortifications and camps built by the vanguard.

The attack on Jiujiang is destined to be a stormy battle that will not take too long and relies heavily on heavy artillery, so there is no need to rush, and there is no rush.

"Arrange all the ministries to set up camp first, and repair the fortifications!" Luo Zhixue rode on the horse, looked at the large number of soldiers in gray military uniforms in front of him and behind him, and said to Xu Zhixian who was beside him: "First, find out the fortifications and firepower on the opposite side, and wait for the artillery Attack after you are in place, although time is tight, but you can't waste soldiers in vain just to save time."

Xu Zhixian immediately said loudly: "Your Majesty is wise!"

"Jiujiang City is well-defended, and there are a lot of Hongyi cannons to rely on. There is also a group of Anlu new standard troops in the city. If you are fully prepared and attack by force, you may suffer a lot of losses. Your Majesty is sympathetic to the soldiers. You are actually my servants." Fortunately!"

It is also a strong attack on Jiujiang. If Luo Zhixue requires the troops to take it quickly, even if the Chu army can take Jiujiang, they will inevitably suffer more casualties.

But if the time is more relaxed and the preparations are more adequate, then the casualties can be effectively controlled.

Luo Zhixue smiled: "The soldiers are fighting for the empire, so I naturally have to think about the soldiers!"

Needless to say what Xu Zhixian said, Luo Zhixue knew that Jiujiang City was not easy to fight. Although he also wanted to take it in a short time, preferably within two or three days, it was unrealistic.

The overall defense level of this place is much stronger than that of Linxiang City before!

Not only are there more troops, but also more artillery, and the fortifications, especially the anti-artillery fortifications, are more complete. If the strategy is wrong in this fight, it will easily become a death for the Ming army on the opposite side.

Therefore, even though time was tight, Luo Zhixue decided to take it easy.

After all, it is only August now, even if it takes a month on the Jiujiang front line, it is unlikely to affect the eastward strategy of the Chu army this year.

Before setting off from Wuchang, Luo Zhixue had already clearly stated the strategic goal of this year's eastward campaign in the imperial strategy meeting held by Luo Zhixue.

There is only one core strategic goal in the early stage, and that is to take down the front line of Jiujiang, which was heavily garrisoned by the Ming army, including the Jiujiang prefecture governing Dehua (Jiujiang City), and the Hukou where Dehua is separated from Dehua by the entrance of Poyang Lake. De'an City and Xingzi City in the south of Dehua have a total of four cities.

And in the process of taking these four cities, try to wipe out the vital forces of the Ming army as much as possible, especially the new standard troops, cavalry, artillery and other troops in the Ming army.

If these four cities can be successfully captured and the Ming army is wiped out in large numbers, then the Chu army can unscrupulously attack northern Jiangxi, cross the mouth of Poyang Lake, and advance towards the south of the Yangtze River.

The entire previous strategic goal has also been achieved.

The medium-term strategic goal is to win Anqing. The reason for winning this place is very simple, it is to open up the Yangtze River waterway and provide logistical support for the subsequent entry into the hinterland of the south of the Yangtze River.

And the later strategic goal after winning Anqing is to drive straight in, capture the entire hinterland of Jiangnan and even Zhejiang, and win the important city of Jinling City in the process.

According to the combat plan formulated by the General Staff, the early stage of the campaign, that is to win the Jiujiang line and even the entire central and northern regions of Jiangxi, is best before September, but if the progress is not smooth, it is not unacceptable to relax until October.

And to take down Anqing, as long as you take it down before the cold winter comes.

As for the entire eastward campaign, we must strive to end it before May next year.

Why choose this time, because it is time to collect summer grain from June to July...

Conquering the south of the Yangtze River to collect taxes is the core goal of the Great Chu Empire's [-] troops moving eastward. Naturally, it is impossible to wait for the Ming court to take away all the summer grain before going to fight.

As for this year's summer grain and autumn grain.

There is no need to count on summer grain in Jiangnan this year, but summer grain in Jiangxi, especially northern and central Jiangxi, can be counted on.

According to the tradition of the Ming court, the collection of summer grain was basically completed before August.

However, although the grain has been harvested, it does not necessarily mean that it will be transported away by the Ming court.

On the contrary, there are tens of thousands of Ming troops gathered on the front line of Jiujiang, and the food consumed every day is a very large number. There is a high probability that the local food will be left to supply the officers and soldiers.

That is to say, the large quantities of grain confiscated by the Ming government are now either in various official warehouses, or in the warehouses of the Ming army, or in various private grain stores.

There is also a large amount of folk grain, and it is estimated that most of it is lying in the granaries of various big landlords.

Now that the Chu army has reached the north of Chu, they can directly receive a large amount of food from the Ming government and the Ming army.

In the follow-up, grain can also be confiscated from various gentry and landlords. If it is not easy to confiscate, compulsory collection at a par price can also be adopted.

After such a wave of operations, the Great Chu Empire could not even do the hard work of collecting summer grain in the summer, and could get a large amount of grain when it came.

Of course, if you want to obtain a large amount of summer grain, you have to act quickly. After a long time, the ghost knows how long the summer grain in the northern and central Jiangxi regions can be preserved, in case the Ming court ruins it all.

For this year's autumn grain, this time is more generous. According to the tradition of the Ming court, the autumn grain needs to be collected in February of the following year.

It is estimated that the Great Chu Empire will be able to collect autumn grain in the Jiangxi area by then.

As for the autumn grain in the Jiangnan area, this depends on the progress of the troops. If the fight goes well, there may be a wave of collection.

But if the fight is not smooth and it is delayed for several months, then the autumn grain in the Jiangnan area will have no fate with the Great Chu Empire...

Because the speed of eastward movement is directly related to how much this year's summer grain and autumn grain can be collected in Jiangxi and Jiangnan areas.

So Chen Xingkai, Minister of the Taxation Department, who came with him, visited Xu Zhixian on the day the army arrived outside Jiujiang City.

Didn't say anything, just reminded Xu Zhixian and several other military generals once again:
"Brother Xu, Your Majesty has a saying: time is money! If we call one month earlier, we will charge one month more!"

"This money is not a small amount, at least a million a month, and if we can win Jiangnan in February next year, we can earn tens of millions more!"

"Most of the money collected is going to your military as military expenses!"

"If the action is slow, and you don't get enough funds before tomorrow summer, then you will be in big trouble. At that time, your military will not talk about military expenditures of 3000 to 1000 million. It is impossible to have [-] million!"

After Chen Xingkai reminded the military, he patted his ass and left. Anyway, he just collects taxes... The more taxes he collects, the more credit he gets.

As for how the military finds a way to take Jiangnan as soon as possible, that's not something he, a tax collector, should worry about.

After sending Chen Xingkai away, Xu Zhixian's face darkened slightly, and then he snorted coldly and said, "What the hell is using finances to suppress me!"

"Damn it, how can our military not know if there is no money?"

"If it weren't for the smooth eastward movement to make money, our military would have mobilized a full [-] main troops here in one go?"

Li Cheng on the side said: "Don't pay attention to him, he was such a virtuous person at Funiu Mountain, relying on His Majesty's attention, he has always spoken very badly, but this person is still a bit capable of making money, don't worry about it." Get acquainted with him!"

Xu Zhixian snorted coldly: "If it wasn't for the fact that he can make money, I would have hacked him."

Li Chengtong hehe!
Chen Xingkai was the minister in charge of taxation and property affairs, and one of the seven most powerful courtiers in the Great Chu Empire.

In terms of political status, you, Xu Zhixian, are comparable to Chen Xingkai...

If one of the two must die, I don't know who His Majesty will protect.

After all, although there are few people who can be the chief of staff, there are still a few candidates in the army.

But the tax collection can receive Chen Xingkai's benefits, looking at the Great Chu Empire, there is no second one for the time being.

He knew that Xu Zhixian had always hated those civil servants in the Government Affairs Council, not Chen Xingkai alone. Even Guo Quanshu, Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, Xu Zhixian had never given him any good looks.

As for why this is so...

Look at the civil servants at the Government Administration Council, who are thinking about reducing military spending every day, and say that the military spends too much money every once in a while.

Then he often blows in front of His Majesty, saying that it is undeniable and even necessary to have higher military expenditures in the period of starting a business, but when the hypocrisy is overthrown, the captives are eliminated, all thieves are wiped out, and the world is unified, the military expenditures will also increase. It should be normalized.

In other words, many civil servants are already thinking about the issue of disarmament after the unification of China...

This made a group of generals very angry!

I'm still leading the army to fight the world, you fucking think about laying us off in a few years, even if you want to cross the river and tear down the bridge, you have to cross the river first...

And don't start yelling that the bridge will be demolished when I cross the river before I finish crossing the river...

Doesn't this make it clear that they are going to give them eye drops for the military!

And Xu Zhixian, as the military boss who faced the most civil officials directly, could often see the faces of civil officials, so he hated those civil officials more and more.

But compared to Xu Zhixian's disgust, Li Chengtong is much better, he is very open.

If China is unified, I guess I should retire to enjoy the blessings, and it has nothing to do with him whether to disarm or not.

What, do not back down?

Li Chengtong is not stupid... With his current position as a lieutenant general in the army, he will continue to lead troops to fight. When China is unified, there will be at least one general, and it is estimated that there may be a marshal.

The title is most likely a duke.

The status in the army is estimated to be among the top few!

If he is like this, if he doesn't take the initiative to retire to enjoy the blessings after joining China, His Majesty may be worried.

And Li Chengtong himself is even more worried...

He is also afraid of death!
(End of this chapter)