Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 164
[On the [-]th of the winter month, Sicheng Prefecture fell into the hands of the rebels, and tens of thousands of people were looted]

[On the twenty-seventh day of the winter month, Qingyuan Mansion fell into the hands of the rebels, tens of thousands of people were looted]

[On the third day of the twelfth lunar month, the chieftains of Anlongsi and Shanglinsi rebelled, and Qian Guogong dispatched the chieftains of Guangnan, Guangxi, and Lin'an to rush to Guangxi to suppress the rebellion. 】

[On the ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, the rebels besieged Liuzhou, and Hu Yingtai, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, led the troops to defeat the rebels outside Liuzhou City and relieve the siege of Liuzhou]

[On the ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, bandit leaders An Bangyan and Song Wanhua led [-] troops to rescue Zhenyuan, and fought with the Sichuan soldiers for three times, and the Sichuan soldiers retreated calmly]

[On the eleventh day of the twelfth lunar month, Sun Yingyuan led the troops to Jingzhou]

[On the thirteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, Zhu Xieyuan, the governor of the five provinces, ordered the twelfth lunar month and the six armies to advance side by side to encircle and suppress extravagant Chongming]

The urgent military reports sent to Zhu Youjian in a very short period of time, and it was already the eighteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, and there were only two days left before Zhu Xieyuan encircled She Chongming.

"Your Highness, from the perspective of the sand table, as long as Governor Zhu encircles and suppresses She Chongming, then he can gather troops and go south to encircle An Bangyan and Song Wanhua with the Yongning Xuanwei Division and the Zunyi Military and Civil Mansion."

Wang Chengen happily turned his head to look at Zhu Youjian who was sitting on the main seat to observe the military newspaper. In front of him was a southwestern sand table measuring one foot long, one foot wide, and four feet high.

On the sand table, there are hundreds of wooden signs, large and small, of different colors.

Cities and passes were all carved with wood by artisans accompanying the army, while mountains and rivers were piled up with stones and sand, and rivers were sprinkled with red cinnabar.

Right now, in the military tent, not only the returned Wang Chengen, but also the generals of the Sixth Guards Army, Lu Wenzhao and others are watching the sand table battlefield.

Wang Chengen's words made everyone look at Zhu Youjian, wondering what His Royal Highness would say.

Zhu Youjian, on the other hand, didn't get up immediately after hearing the words, but glanced at the map and said:

"In the first battle of Yongning, there were still more than [-] people in Shechongming, and my six soldiers and horses in Ming Dynasty were Cao Wenzhao's Duogan camp with [-] people, Du Wenhuan's [-] people, Wu Aheng's [-] people, and Sun Chuanting's troops. Three thousand seven, Yang Wenyue three thousand, Hong Chengchou three thousand two, a total of [-] people."

"Sun Chuanting's troops still need to keep [-] people to guard Mani's camp, so there is not much difference between soldiers and horses."

"This kind of situation of besieging a place with almost the same number of soldiers and horses is worth watching."

"What do you think is the loss of our army after this battle?"

As soon as Zhu Youjian opened his mouth, everyone was dumbfounded. After all, it was a bit unlucky to talk about the damage before the fight started.

But everyone also understands the character of His Royal Highness, and they will never blame them for this kind of thing, so a commander walked out and bowed:

"The general estimates that [-]% of the troops will be lost."

"The final general thought that it would lose [-]%." Another commander walked out.

"The general thought..."

When the two of them opened their mouths, other people answered one after another, but even the person who guessed the most among them only dared to guess [-]%.

In this regard, Zhu Youjian smiled at them: "Does no one dare to guess [-]%?"

Fifty percent, that is, more than half of the casualties. If this guessing method is known by the censor, I am afraid that everyone in the account will be impeached.

However, Zhu Youjian did not shy away from this:
"This battle has been fought for two full months. Although there are sayings in the art of war, it will go all out, then decline, and three times will be exhausted."

"But don't forget." Zhu Youjian looked up at the generals and said:
"Don't underestimate your opponent too much."

After all, Zhu Youjian continued:
"Although Shechongming's troops failed to attack the city and lost a lot of soldiers and horses, those who fought against him were old soldiers from all over the country who had trained for more than nine months."

"Right now, the veterans of our army are fighting almost as well. In fact, the combat strength of the two sides is evenly matched. The key still depends on the [-] Songpan troops in Northwest Sichuan led by Du Wenhuan."

"Besides, outside Yongning City, there are four stone fortresses that are easy to defend and difficult to attack. There are more than [-] soldiers stationed here."

"Although it's not as dangerous as Hailongtun, if She Chongming is determined to guard Yongning Guard and wait for An Bangyan to go north, it may be very easy to guard for a few months."

Having said that, Zhu Youjian glanced at the crowd, and said again:

"Do you know how much food has been spent in the She'an Rebellion?"

"..."

A question stopped all the generals in the account.

For a long time, Zhu Youjian, Wang Chengen, and Cao Huachun have been managing the money and food of the army, and among the ministries, only Habayashi Wei has really participated in the war, so only the commander of Habayashi Wei said:

"Reporting to Your Highness, the final general has read the Household Report of the Ministry of Household Affairs. It is said that the land tax and all the additional pies in Yunnan and Sichuan have been used up, and more than half of it has been used in Huguang and Guangdong."

In a word, although I can't give a general idea, at least the commander of the Habayashi guards has memorized these things, which is gratifying.

If a general cannot consider whether the logistical supplies behind him can support it, it is tantamount to a burden for the imperial court, and it is extremely important for the strategy.

"At least [-] taels have been spent now."

"what?!"

Zhu Youjian gave the answer directly, and this expenditure made everyone almost stop breathing.

[-] taels, which is basically one-twentieth of the current tax of the Ming Dynasty.

You must know that this battle has only been fought for two months, and according to the estimates of the generals, this battle will take at least a year.

In other words, the court will need to spend at least five or six million taels of silver until the fight is over.

Even if the scale is bigger and smaller, the cost will not be less than four million taels.

Four million taels...

The scale of this expenditure made all the generals swallow their saliva one after another, and Zhu Youjian even said:
"If it takes two or three years, what do you think will happen?"

Two or three years, there is no doubt that if they really fight for that long, the situation in the Ming Dynasty that has just improved will become a little bit bad.

Although this kind of misfortune is within the controllable range, it will cost Daming more energy.

"Okay, let's go down and study. Remember to march and fight in the future. You must remember the money and food for the soldiers and horses of the headquarters, as well as the local money and food expenditures. You must not implement things that cannot be accomplished by local taxation."

"I'll take my leave..."

Hearing what Zhu Youjian said, all the generals bowed and withdrew from the tent, and finally only Wang Chengen and Lu Wenzhao were left.

After they left, Zhu Youjian also picked up the file on the table and glanced at it.

Seeing this, Wang Chengen also stepped forward and said: "After two months, under the measurement of more than 2364 soldiers and horses, the military farmland in Shanxi and North Zhili has a total of 8709 mu and 4 points."

"The children of the guards in the two provinces, as well as the people of Fatian and the children of the clan, a total of 723 people."

"85 mu of land joined the army, 206 mu of land owned by the army."

“宗室田亩发放72万3320亩，佃户田发放2001万0060亩4分。”

"and also……"

"Okay." Zhu Youjian put down the file, looked at Wang Chengen and said:
"Those common people and clan children, have you explained to them the nature of the fields?"

"As I said, [-]% of the land tax needs to be taken out to pay taxes, and all the land belongs to the Imperial Horse Supervisor, and cannot be bought or sold." Wang Chengen responded:
"Next year's autumn harvest, you should be able to receive a land tax of [-] million shi, and after paying the tax, there will be another [-] million."

"Counting it, starting from next year, including the private salt, after the discount, it should be able to earn about [-] million taels per year."

Wang Chengen's words made Zhu Youjian a little tongue-tied.

He never expected that he could achieve such a high income just by rectifying Shanxi and Beizhili.

But after reacting, he understood everything.

At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the land was abandoned and it was difficult to reclaim the land. Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang, the ancestor of the family, did not have a lot of grain and food for the army.

If the ancestor Zhu Yuanzhang followed his own collection method, it is estimated that all the tenants rebelled.

As for why the tenants are not unhappy when they receive [-]% by themselves, it is because normal landlords are four or six, and some are even five or five, or even six or four or seven or three.

In comparison, the [-]-point Yumajian is simply the conscience of heaven and earth.

"The world is dangerous, I showed a little bit of kindness, but it became the life straw of the people..."

Zhu Youjian smiled contemptuously in his heart, and then said to Wang Chengen:
"How is the progress of Huangdian's grain sales in Liaodong?"

"We sold more than [-] shi for more than [-] taels of silver, and the price of grain in Liaodong has dropped to seven cents a catty." Wang Chengen responded with a smile on his face.

Zhu Youjian knew that he laughed because the Yumajian had money, and the money would continue to increase in the future.

"Let Lu Jianxing send people to Huguang to buy grain for the money he got. If the price of grain in Huguang rises, he will buy it in Jiangxi."

Zhu Youjian was calculating in his mind while talking.

It is now the end of the twelfth lunar month, and there is still more than a month left before the thaw begins in Liaodong, and spring planting will begin in three months.

At that time, the price of grain in Liaodong should be stable at five or six yuan a catty, and even if the Huangdian still continues to deliver food, it is not impossible to hit the price of grain to four yuan a catty.

"call……"

Zhu Youjian breathed a sigh of relief, because he knew that people's hearts are food, and if food prices are stabilized, people's hearts in Liaodong will be stabilized.

As long as people's hearts in Liaodong are stabilized, then the abolition of the Liaodong Guard can be done step by step.

As long as the abolition is over, Liaodong Cheng will be established later to make Liaodong a separate province, then Liaodong's sense of belonging to Ming Dynasty will gradually return.

However, the matter of abolishing the Liaodong Guard...

"Is there no news from Li Rubai yet?" Zhu Youjian looked at Lu Wenzhao, and Lu Wenzhao replied after hearing the words:

"After Li Rubai heard the news, he wrote a handwritten letter and sent it to Liaozhen, but the generals in Liaozhen haven't replied to him yet."

Lu Wenzhao explained what happened, while Zhu Youjian rubbed his fingers, playing around:
"It seems that the people in Liao Town are not all idiots..."

Regarding this, Lu Wenzhao also said according to the news that Jin Yiwei inquired:

"This is also normal. After all, Liao Town has been divided into three factions since Li Chengliang, Uncle Ning Yuan, was impeached for the first time and stepped down."

"One faction is the generals of the Li family in Liaodong, the other is the rising star of Liaodong, and the other is the generals from the outer towns."

"Compared to Qi Shaobao, Uncle Ning Yuan..."

Speaking of this, Lu Wenzhao didn't know what to say, but Zhu Youjian glanced at him and knew what he meant.

To put it bluntly, most of Li Chengliang's military exploits when he was in Liaodong were outside the Great Wall, and it is easy to whitewash the real situation.

If the enemy invaded the interior, he would rely on the strong city and clear the country, wait and see the situation with his troops, and then attack. He could even cover up his defeat and turn it into credit, killing good people and pretending to be the head of the enemy army, and plundering the people of Liaodong.

All the officials in the cabinet were deceived by him. The governor and supervisor of Liaodong Town had the slightest intention of disobeying him, but they were pushed out by him, so that they could not report his illegal activities.

In the [-]th year of Wanli, Li Chengliang was finally dismissed. As a result, the Battle of Ningxia broke out in the second year, and the Ming Dynasty had no one to use. Li Rusong had to lead the generals of the Li family to conquer, which indirectly expanded the power of the Li family.

Fortunately, Li Rusong took the enemy lightly and died afterwards. Otherwise, based on his achievements in the Korean War, I am afraid that Liaodong will be monolithic now, instead of being divided into three factions as it is now.

Now that the factions are divided, one can fight the other.

Right now, standing on my side are He Shixian, You Shigong and others from the Yulin faction. The soldiers and horses were also broken up by me.

The only thing to care about is Zhu Wanliang, a rising star in Liaodong, and the generals of the original Li family such as Zu Dashou.

The number of soldiers and horses in the two departments is a mess, not to mention Zhu Youjian himself, even Xiong Tingbi can't figure it out.

Right now, Qin Bangping divided the soldiers and horses east of the Liaohe into [-] battalions, and after they were dispersed, they were stationed in various places in Liaodong. In this way, the strength of the two factions was suppressed.

The soldiers and horses in southern Liaoning are already on the way to be reorganized, and there is no way to make waves. The only thing to pay attention to is the west of the Liaohe River.

If it is the same as in history, perhaps the generals of Liao Town who are entrenched here can cut off the Liaoxi Corridor to threaten the court.

But the problem is that at present, Neikarka and Harqin are won over by Zhu Youjian with the interests of the mutual market, and the Ming army can gallop in their horse pastures at will.

Coupled with the existence of the three guards in Daning and the opening of the Denglai-Jinzhou sea road, the importance of the West Liaoning Corridor has been greatly reduced.

As long as the Liao town generals here dare to do something, the Ming army from all directions will destroy them before Nurhachi attacks.

"How many soldiers and horses are there west of the Liao River and north of the mountains and seas?"

Zhu Youjian asked suddenly, and upon hearing this, Lu Wenzhao also took out the booklet from his bosom, flipped through it a few times and said:
"According to the yellow book, it should be the [-]th Fort of the Sixth Guards and the Fifth Battalion, with a total of [-] soldiers and horses."

"Sixty-nine thousand..." Zhu Youjian narrowed his eyes, and Lu Wenzhao also said:

"According to the temperament of Liao Town, the number of soldiers and horses should be about the same as that of Xiong Jinglue's performance before, about [-], of which more than [-] people can only guard the city, and [-] horses can go out of the city to fight in the field."

"However, according to the follow-up military report of the Man Zongbing to Qinghe Pass, the [-] troops are worse than the Habayashi Guard at that time."

According to Lu Wenzhao's information, the current strength of Liao Town's troops has probably been divided.

The first class is undoubtedly the Baigan soldiers, the Zhejiang soldiers, and the Baijia Balaya of Jianlu.

The next level is the ordinary Eight Banners soldiers of Jianlu, and the more than [-] old trilogy of He Shixian, You Shigong and others.

The second rank is Zhu Wanliang, Zu Dashou's Liaoxi servants, Mangui's Daning Sanwei, Kuandian Qi Yuangong and others' seven battalions of Han soldiers, and the generals of the three towns in Shanxi who aided Liao Dynasty.

The third class is the Liaodong soldiers and horses guarding the city, and the ordinary soldiers from Shanxi to aid the Liao Dynasty.

From this point of view, no matter in terms of the number of soldiers and horses, or the degree of bravery, Zhu Youjian and the others have the upper hand.

But there are still two variables, one is the Liaoxi Corridor controlled by Zhu Wanliang and other Liaozhen soldiers and horses, and the wild boar Pinurhachi hiding in the mountains and watching.

In the last battle, although Nurhachi was hurt and nearly one-thirtieth of the males in Jianlu were eliminated, it did not reach the level of breaking one of his fingers.

Jianlu's strength is still there, and to guard against them, we must be fully alert.

Therefore, to deal with the soldiers and horses of Liao Town entrenched in western Liaoning, the first thing is to divide the current generals and soldiers of the two towns from the old and new factions.

Even if Zhu Wanliang is unwilling to leave Liao Town, as long as Li Pinghu, Qin Deyi, Zu Dashou and other Li family generals bring nearly [-] troops from western Liaoning to Guyuan with Li Rubai, then the remaining Zhu Wanliang will be settled easily.

"Continue to monitor Li Rubai, and notify me as soon as there is news."

Zhu Youjian explained to Lu Wenzhao, and Lu Wenzhao bowed in response, but said again:

"Your Highness, if Li Pinghu, Zu Dashou, Zhu Wanliang and the others don't respond to Li Rubai, what should we do?"

"Don't leave?" Zhu Youjian said contemptuously: "If you don't leave, you don't dare to rebel, then wait to be eaten away."

"One by one, the soldiers and horses are changed. When there is no way to retreat, they will either rebel or bow their heads."

"Right now there are three guards in Daning, [-] in Shenyang, and [-] in Liaoyang."

"If they want to surrender, they have to live with it."

Zhu Youjian is very confident, and this confidence stems from the situation in Liaodong that has been arranged long ago.

Instead, after responding to Lu Wenzhao's doubts, he looked at Wang Chengen again and asked him:

"Have you decided where to plant potatoes and sweet potatoes?"

"Returning to Your Highness, I chose Shuntian Mansion, potatoes and sweet potatoes. According to your Highness, you need to plant [-] million mu of arable land." Wang Chengen replied:
"After the autumn harvest next year, we should be able to plant [-] million mu, and at most [-] to [-] million mu in the year after next."

The promotion of crops is slow, and Zhu Youjian is not surprised to hear Wang Chengen's words.

Besides, he doesn't need to promote too many sweet potatoes and potatoes, he just needs to make the ratio reach 10% of Daming's.

In the final analysis, it is supplementary food, which is mainly used for disaster relief in famine years and to feed livestock in peace years.

This proportion is not too low. According to the addition of Ming's civilian farmland, military farmland, and official farmland, it can reach between [-] million and [-] million mu.

At that time, only 10% of the supplementary food will be able to feed hundreds of millions of people in Ming Dynasty for three to four months.

Their appearance will reduce the people's demand for rice, wheat, sorghum and other crops, and in disguise, they can use limited land to feed more people.

But just like this, there is still no guarantee that hundreds of millions of people in Ming Dynasty will survive the severe drought for seventeen years.

Therefore, the most important thing is the development of the Northeast, Southwest, Nanyang, Western Regions, Hetao and other places.

"Mangui, remember to ensure that their sweet potatoes and potatoes are cultivated first. In addition, the peppers and tomatoes from Yongping Prefecture can also be sent to Daning for some seeds in the spring of the coming year."

Zhu Youjian opened his mouth to explain, but Wang Chengen nodded slightly in response.

Peppers and tomatoes are introduced crops that were found incidentally, but the yields are not as terrifying as those of later generations.

In this era, the yield per mu of pepper was about [-] catties, and that of tomatoes was [-] catties.

Peppers can keep out the cold and increase the heat, and tomatoes have a large yield per mu, which can completely become a big supplementary food in the vegetable market.

In short, a series of crops are prepared for the severe cold in the next few decades and the severe drought for more than ten years.

All you have to do is increase your complementary food and reduce your staple food intake.

Although for Wang Chengen, he didn't know why his highness cared so much about these things, but he still tried his best to do it.

After responding to Zhu Youjian, he also said to Zhu Youjian:

"Your Highness, our people found the peanut you mentioned in Denglai."

"Have you found the peanut?" Zhu Youjian's eyes lit up when he heard this.

In this era when the soybean yield was 18 to [-] catties per mu, and the oil yield was only about [-]%, peanuts can be said to be a good treasure for the people to survive the great famine.

If there is oil and water in people's stomachs, the demand for food will be greatly reduced.

"How much is the local peanut yield per mu?" Zhu Youjian asked eagerly, and Wang Chengen also said:

"This thing is easy to grow. It is planted in April and harvested in August and September. It can look like a hundred catties per mu."

The news reported by Wang Chengen did not discourage Zhu Youjian, because according to the comparison between Daming's weight and later generations, this hundred catties is about [-] catties per mu of later generations.

Although the yield per mu of peanuts is lower than that of soybeans, its oil yield is as high as [-]%, which means that one mu of peanuts is almost as good as two mu of soybeans.

"Good news..." Zhu Youjian clenched his fists, and then said to Wang Chengen:
"Buy enough peanut seeds in Denglai, and cultivate them in the official fields in the south of Beizhili. Later, I will write a booklet on how to extract oil. You can ask people to follow that booklet."

"Your maidservant takes orders." Wang Chengen bowed in response, and at this time, the smell of food wafted from outside the big tent.

Zhu Youjian sniffed, and his stomach growled.

He didn't feel embarrassed, he smiled at Lu Wenzhao and Wang Chengen, then waved his hands and said:

"Let's go! Let's eat first. Now that the matter of the military garrison is about to be settled, it's time for me to take the six guards back to Suncheon."

After all, he walked out of the big tent in the first place, while Lu Wenzhao and Wang Chengen followed closely behind him.

It's just that when the three of them walked out, someone was walking quickly not far away, and Lu Wenzhao subconsciously stood in front of Zhu Youjian.

The person who came was Jinyiwei Baihu in Baihu uniform. When he walked up to Zhu Youjian, he first bowed and saluted, and then took out his handwriting and said:
"Your Highness, a letter from Tianjin, on the twenty-sixth day of the twelfth lunar month, fourteen civilian ships from Tianjin Dockyard were launched."

"It will be ready so soon?" Hearing the news, Zhu Youjian took the handwriting, tore it open and read it at a glance.

Sure enough, the director of the shipyard in the letter has already responded, saying that the fourteen civilian ships have been completed and rested for three days.

Now we are waiting for the launch on the twenty-sixth day of the twelfth lunar month.

Civilian ships are the accumulation of experience in manufacturing sailing battleships. Zhu Youjian attaches great importance to the future Armada of Ming Dynasty, so he said to Wang Chengen:

"Pack up and pack up, tomorrow we will set off first and go to Tianjin!"

(End of this chapter)