Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 237 Partisan struggle broke out
"Brother is going to fight together in the two major battles of Funanyang and Futao?"

In mid-August, when the plans for re-tao and Nanyang were fully finalized, the news was sent back to the capital along with the route of the army, and Zhu Youxiao, who was teasing his heir in the palace, also stopped his actions.

He looked sideways at Cao Huachun who brought back the news, and Cao Huachun nodded slightly when he heard the words, and bowed again:
"At the same time, the north and the south dispatched troops, about [-] troops were dispatched, [-] troops were sent out in the second set, and [-] troops were sent out in Nanyang. Four first-class fleets were dispatched together, and two naval infantry troops were dispatched."

"What's the cost? Can Prince Qi's Mansion afford it?" Zhu Youxiao took over the two plans of conquests from the south to the north, and asked while looking at them.

Regarding the inquiry, Cao Huachun also used the data calculated by tens of thousands of scribes in the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies to make a reply:

"There are more than [-] civilian husbands, [-] horses, [-] taels of military pay and civilian wages per month, and [-] taels of grain, vegetables, and horse feed. Tens of thousands of taels, gunpowder and stone bombs cost tens of thousands of taels."

"Every month of multiple sets, it consumes about one million taels..."

"Compared to Nanyang, it is much simpler."

"Recovering Nanyang requires [-] baggage ships of [-] materials, and more than [-] merchant ships under the command of the maritime merchant Li Dan. More than [-] people are needed."

"The civilian husband and the army consume more than [-] taels of silver per month, the monthly consumption of food, fodder and vegetables is estimated to be [-] taels, and the gunpowder and stone bombs are tens of thousands of taels."

"It takes about one hundred thousand taels to fight Nanyang every month."

"The two wars started at the same time, so there should be a total of [-] million taels of military expenditure. There are still [-] million taels of silver in the Fifth Army Commander's Mansion, and more than [-] million taels of grain. "

"However, except for the Xingdusi in Sichuan, southeastern Yunnan, and western Guangxi, all the guards have not been reformed, and the number of military farms has reached more than [-] million mu."

"After the autumn harvest, this year's land tax income is about [-] million taels. After the color is folded, the total is more than [-] million taels. Counting the expenditure of the imperial store, it should be about [-] million taels."

Cao Huachun revealed all the family background of the Fifth Army Commander's Mansion, and Zhu Youxiao was not surprised when he heard it. After all, he had known for a long time that the food revenue of the Fifth Army Commander's Mansion would not be too low after the reform.

"How much land tax should be handed over to the household department by the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies this year?" Zhu Youxiao put together two plans and looked directly at Cao Huachun.

Regarding this, Cao Huachun replied without hesitation: "It should be around [-] million stones."

"That is to say, the annual income of the Dudu's Mansion of the Five Armies this year is [-] million shi..." Zhu Youxiao pondered for a moment, and then said:

"Liaodong, Ryukyu Prefecture, and Futao, after the restoration of Nanyang, the refugees and hungry people migrated. From now on, the Ministry of Households will allocate food."

"The Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies has to siege cities and plunder land, and manage refugees, which is really unbearable."

"Let Zhongxian draft the will and send it to the Ministry of Accounts."

As soon as Zhu Youxiao opened his mouth, he relieved a problem in the current five-army governor's mansion.

With the increase in the payment of land tax to the Dudu Mansion of the Five Armies this year, it is estimated that the annual income of the Ministry of Households will not be less than [-] million shi.

Anyway, the current military pay is not considered by the Ministry of Users and the Ministry of War. Apart from the silver and materials of the dispatch department, the Ministry of Households is only responsible for the salaries of hundreds of officials and the salaries of soldiers and horses in the five cities, and it does not need so much rice and wheat.

On the contrary, if the Ministry of Household Affairs helps to share the immigration costs, the Fifth Army Commander's Mansion can better capture the city and land.

"The servants take orders..."

After receiving Zhu Youxiao's instructions, Cao Huachun breathed a sigh of relief. After all, the current Qi Palace cannot afford the expenses of the Five Army Commander's Mansion and the relocation of the people.

Among other things, the annual military salary of the Fifth Army Commander's Mansion alone is as high as more than [-] million taels, and it also bears the relocation expenses of millions of people, which will almost make the Imperial Horse Supervisor do it to death.

And after a long time, it is estimated that Qi Wangfu will also owe money.

Now that the household department is sharing the burden, he and Cao Huachun can relax a lot...

"I heard from Li Ruolian that the military quota of the Fifth Army Commander's Mansion has exceeded the original quota?"

Suddenly, Zhu Youxiao suddenly spoke about the number of soldiers and horses in the Fifth Army Commander's Mansion, and Cao Huachun responded with bitter words:

"Long live back, indeed."

After the response, Cao Huachun also explained:

"The number of troops in the Northwest exceeds the regulations of the Fifth Army Commander's Mansion, and it has reached the [-]th Battalion now."

"In addition, the Governor's Mansion of the Western Army, which absorbed the Qianguo Mansion, the Mu Clan of Lijiang and other chieftains, also exceeded the regulations, reaching fifty-two battalions."

"The original quota for the five armies' governor's mansion was twenty-eight guards and one hundred and eighty battalions, but now it has reached twenty-eight guards and two hundred and forty battalions."

"The troop strength has increased from [-] to [-]..." At this point, Cao Huachun glanced at Zhu Youxiao secretly, and immediately explained:
"However, His Highness also said that the Xingdusi of Sichuan and the chieftains of Guangxi, Yunnan and other places are very likely to rebel against the imperial court because of their resistance to reform and return."

"Therefore, after the Southern Army and the Western Army suppressed the Tusi, their troop strength should drop slightly by a few battalions."

"Afterwards, the Southern Army and the Western Army will also start to recover Annan, Sanxuan and Liuwei and other places, so it is not surprising that there are many troops."

"As for the Northern Army, they will take a rest for a year after resuming their assignments, and start to clean up the Qing captives in the Qinghai area. The strength of the troops is just right."

"For the time being, the Governor's Mansion of the Eastern Army will still focus on defense and the restoration of Liaodong. When the number of acres in Liaodong exceeds [-] million mu and the number of people exceeds [-] million, we can support the army to sweep north and build captives."

Cao Huachun reasonably explained the increase in the number of soldiers and horses in the capital of the Five Armies. To put it bluntly, there are still many big battles to be fought, and it is not a bad thing to have more soldiers and horses.

The [-] troops is a stable force after defeating the surrounding enemy countries. If the [-] troops are maintained now, then after the war starts, the front line will be damaged, and the rear will have to recruit troops immediately, and there will be no time.

But even so, Daming's military strength is too astonishing.

With [-] soldiers, it can be said that as long as the logistics can keep up, the Ming army can completely sweep the Eurasian continent.

You must know that the first all-European war, also known as the Thirty Years War, was going on across the ocean at this time. The number of participating troops ranged from [-] to [-].

However, it was this logistical problem that made it impossible for Daming to open up land westward at will.

If it is just like the Romanov Dynasty in northern Tsarist Russia, sending an expedition team of hundreds or thousands of people to explore the east, then of course it is possible, but the problem is that if Ming uses this model, it needs to maintain at least [-] to [-] troops from the west. .

After leaving Jiayuguan, whether it is Hami, Oirat (Wala), Yarkand, Kazakhs, or Bukhara and other khanates, they can pull out [-] to [-] troops.

The desolation of the land silk road also means that in this era of westward development, only the advantage of strategic terrain is left.

Recovering the Western Regions is what Zhu Youjian must do, but whether Central Asia needs to be recovered after the recovery of the Western Regions has become a problem.

The problem can be seen from the expenditure of this re-set and re-Nanyang.

It costs hundreds of thousands of taels a month, and it takes at most one year in World War I. It costs millions of taels to recover the vast Nanyang region.

Looking at the double set again, if the double set takes a year, the cost will be tens of millions of taels.

If the Western Regions and important areas are to be regained, this number will need to be increased, because the land in Hexi cannot afford to support an army of more than [-], and only by transporting food from Guanzhong can it support and guarantee the army's logistics.

From Baoji in the west of Guanzhong to the Ili River Valley, the largest farming base in the Western Regions, the distance is more than [-] miles.

Even if [-] troops are sent, the number of civilians represented by these [-] miles is at least one million.

This is because of the support of the Hexi Corridor. If there is no Hexi Corridor, at least [-] million people are needed to ensure that [-] people can travel more than [-] miles.

So even if the prosperous Tang Dynasty had the blessing of the land silk road and the warm weather, the Tang army could only maintain [-] troops in the Western Regions.

Compared with the million people in the Western Regions in the prosperous Tang Dynasty, the population of the Western Regions in the late Ming Dynasty was less than [-]. The climate in Guanzhong was even worse, and the yield of arable land per mu required greater logistical pressure for the Ming army.

Spending tens of millions of taels to conquer Central Asia and the Western Regions is not the end, but a beginning, because after the outbreak of the Little Ice River drought in Shaanxi, if you want to maintain the Western Regions and Central Asian armies, you need to transport food from Huguang, Henan, and Sichuan.

Tens of millions of taels of silver were spent in the west, and although they could obtain a territory of thousands of miles, the output was astonishingly low.

But if the tens of millions of taels are thrown in the south, the benefits obtained will be terrifying...

Just like this, after hearing Cao Huachun's explanation, Zhu Youxiao also rarely spoke about the military strength of the Fifth Army Commander's Mansion:
"The Western Army and the Southern Army's Governor's Mansion can have more troops. As for the Northern Army's Governor's Mansion, Shangzhi, and Eastern Army, we only need to make Mobei surrender and consolidate Hetao, Liaodong, and Nurgan."

In Zhu Youxiao's words, he did not regard the recovery of the Western Regions as a strategic goal at all, because in this era, except for a few oases such as the Ili River Valley, the rest of the Western Regions are more desolate than later generations.

This kind of thinking is also in line with the consistent thinking of the monarchs of the Ming Dynasty.

It is not that there were no monarchs in the Ming Dynasty who wanted to regain the Western Regions, but when they asked the Guanxi Seven Guards who had entered the customs and ordered them to leave the customs, the heads of the Mongolian nobles of the Seven Guanxi Guards shook their heads like rattles.

In the view of the Mongolian nobles of the Seven Guardians of Kansai, the inside of Jiayuguan is simply a paradise, and the outside of the pass is nothing but a bird.

Therefore, they would rather disband their troops than lead their troops out of customs.

This is true of all of them who lived outside the customs, not to mention the Han people.

Among Zhu Youxiao's interests, he is only interested in the Northeast, Monan, Nanyang, Annan, and San Xuan Liu Wei.

So after seeing Zhu Youxiao's attitude, Cao Huachun hesitated for a moment and said:
"Send it to His Highness with a handwritten letter from a servant girl. I think His Highness will agree to it. In addition..."

Cao Huachun bowed suddenly and said, "Long live, Your Highness asked when he could return to Beijing to see you, Long live."

"Back to Beijing..." Hearing these two words, Zhu Youxiao also hesitated.

He also wants to see his younger brother, but the problem is that the current capital is not convenient...

"Call me!"

While Zhu Youxiao was hesitating, Nanzhen Fusizhao Prison, Wan Yanyang and many other Donglin Yanguan were tied to the wooden frame, and Nanzhen Fusi Jin Yiwei swung a long whip with his hand.

Wan Yanyang, who was whipped, almost fainted, but was soon woken up by the salt water and let out a miserable scream.

He was not the only one who suffered this kind of treatment, but also some other Donglin officials.

The reason why they were treated like this was also because of one person's negligence...

"What are you coming at this old man! Why do you want to attack this old man's colleagues?!"

Hearing the shrill screams, in the deepest cell of the edict prison, Yang Lian in Taoist robe grabbed the wooden railing and yelled at the Jin Yiwei Qianhu outside the cell.

Half a month ago, after seeing what the eunuchs did, Yang Lian scolded Wei Zhongxian, and then stopped Zhu Youxiao's chariot at the gate of Qianqing Palace.

He asked Zhu Youxiao to execute Wei Zhongxian for crimes such as persecuting the late emperor's old ministers, interfering in the government, and manipulating Dongchang to abuse power.

Zhu Youxiao did not deal with Wei Zhongxian, but only indicated that Wei Zhongxian would be punished for his salary and ordered to investigate.

As a result, Yang Lian not only did not stop him, but pointed out loudly that the evil result of Wei Zhongxian's monopoly was that everyone in the court only knew Wei Zhongxian, not His Majesty.

As soon as he said this, Zhu Youxiao immediately scolded him angrily, and then asked General Dahan to take him down.

If that's the case, it's fine, but at this time, Yang Lian still thinks that Wei Zhongxian is a disaster for the country, so he continues to go to school.

The final result is that Zhu Youxiao is annoyed. After all, he has a bad impression of Yang Lian. The incident of Yang Lian's impeachment of Zhu Youjian is still vivid. If Zhu Youjian hadn't been persuading him, Zhu Youxiao would have cleaned up Yang Lian is gone.

Although he appreciates Yang Lian's strength of character, he has always disliked Yang Lian's stubborn temper.

So after Zhu Youxiao was angry, Yang Lian was decreed to be dismissed as a civilian.

I thought the matter was over like this, but Yang Lian still publicized Wei Zhongxian's destructive actions among the people, and this behavior fell in the ears of Keshi and Wei Zhongxian, which led to the arrest of Yang Lian and a lot of Donglin officials jail.

If Wei Zhongxian hadn't been jealous of the relationship between Yang Lian and Zhu Youjian, Yang Lian would have been crushed by earth bags and pierced with iron nails as in history.

However, even if Yang Lian couldn't be hurt, Yang Huan under Wei Zhongxian still came up with a way.

Since Yang Lian likes to do things alone, he was imprisoned next to many officials in Donglin, and then tortured the others, constantly torturing him.

Obviously, this kind of torture is a kind of torture and suffering for Yang Lian. At this moment, his eyes are red, his hair is disheveled, and beside him is the overturned meal.

It's just a pity that his behavior not only did not bring back Jin Yiwei's stop, but caused the other Donglin Yanguan who were suffering from pain to yell at him.

"Yang Wenru! Why do you have to be hypocritical!"

"Yang Wenru, do you really think I don't know the relationship between you and King Qi? It's only because I mistrusted you that I suffered this crime!"

"Ah! Yang Wenru, you Qi Wangying dog—"

In the imperial prison, the officer who was being tortured was yelling curses. In this dark cell, there was only a window the size of a palm.

Listening to the insults from his colleagues around him, Yang Lian knelt down in the prison in a daze. At the same time, Yang Huan, who was watching him from a corner, also smiled at the people sitting beside him:

"Master, if this goes on like this, I'm afraid this old man Yang Lian won't last long."

He was flattering, while Wei Zhongxian, who was sitting beside him drinking tea, also said lightly:

"Just don't let him die or go crazy. If King Qi speaks, let him go, but he must not stay in the capital."

"I understand." Yang Huan responded with a smile. After all, he didn't want to offend King Qi because of Yang Lian's affairs.

"Have Zhao Nanxing and others made any moves recently?" Wei Zhongxian took a sip of tea and asked Yang Huan sideways, and Yang Huan also bowed his body and responded like flattering an old dog:

"Zhao Nanxing begged behind closed doors, and Li Tengfang, Chen Yuting, Wei Dazhong, Yuan Huazhong, Zheng Sanjun, Sun Juxiang, Rao Shen, Wang Zhicai and others in the official department also begged behind closed doors. It seems that they want Long Live to come forward and release Yang. Lian and others."

"Hmph!" Hearing Yang Huan's words, Wei Zhongxian snorted coldly, and then said:
"Want to beg for a divorce? Don't let our family catch them!"

What Wei Zhongxian said made Yang Huan's heart tremble.

He has been in Jinyiwei for more than ten years, and he has never seen such a violent eunuch as Wei Zhongxian. In the past, eunuchs at most used to arrest people based on the facts, and then increased the punishment, but Wei Zhongxian directly framed and slandered.

This kind of method made Yang Huan, who was in Jinyiwei, shudder. Looking at Wei Zhongxian's appearance, it seemed that Zhao Nanxing and others could not escape.

However, after all, Zhao Nanxing is an upright official in the hearts of the people all over the world, and most of the officials under his command are also deeply loved by the people. If he wants to attack them, I am afraid that he...

Yang Huan's eyes were cloudy and uncertain, and she was silently thinking of a way out for herself.

At the same time, when they were conspiring in prison, Cao Huachun, who had just come out of the Qianqing Palace, also summoned Cui Yingyuan, the commander of the Nanzhen Fusi Commander.

Cui Yingyuan walked into Xuqin Palace cautiously, and in the meeting hall of Xuqin Palace, Cao Huachun and Wang Chengen sat at the main seats, and after Cui Yingyuan came in to salute, he said:

"Your Highness already knows about Nanzhen Fusi, but you seem to have failed to do what His Highness asked you to do..."

"Bingbi..." Cui Yingyuan knelt down all of a sudden, lowered his head and said:

"It's not that the lower officials don't want to do it, but Wei Bingbi is watching closely right now, and Yang Lian has not been punished."

Zhu Youjian is naturally aware of Wei Zhongxian's use of Nanzhen Fusi to torture, and the reason why Wei Zhongxian can use Nanzhen Fusi so easily is also Zhu Youjian's acquiescence.

After all, even though Wei Zhongxian had Hou Guoxing, Wei Liangqing and others placed in Nanzhen Fusi, most of the officials in Nanzhen Fusi were promoted by Zhu Youjian.

Like Cui Yingyuan, Lu Wenzhao also held his details, which could decapitate him at any time, so he naturally didn't dare to be disobedient.

Zhu Youjian wanted to kill the Donglin Party, but he didn't want to kill the capable ministers in the Donglin Party.

For example, Zhao Nanxing, Zuo Guangdou, Yuan Huazhong and others are all capable officials, and they are also clean enough, otherwise the common people would not cry when they suffer, and even spontaneously raised money to redeem them.

It's just that among the hundreds of Donglin party members, there are only a few dozen capable people, and the rest are all talkers, who not only disgusted Zhu Youjian, but also disgusted the Ming Dynasty.

Since this is the case, then this group of people can only die.

Only when they are dead can Zhu Youjian disintegrate Donglin step by step, and finally send all capable ministers in the Donglin Party to places where they are needed.

Therefore, Zhu Youjian's military order to Cui Yingyuan was not to kill the capable Donglin civil servants.

At present, it seems that Cui Yingyuan has indeed done a good job, and the reason why Cao Huachun said this is to beat him.

He is telling Cui Yingyuan that the only person who can be his master is the current king of Qi.

Cui Yingyuan's attitude also made Cao Huachun very satisfied.

Regarding this, Cao Huachun also said:
"This time between Wei Zhongxian and Zhao Nanxing, Donglin is not the only one who has been dealt with. Now His Highness needs you to find someone to give Zhao Nanxing the handle of the civil servants who have defected to the Eunuch Party."

"Give it to Zhao Nanxing? I understand." Hearing Cao Huachun's words, Cui Yingyuan immediately understood what King Qi wanted to do.

Nanzhen Fusi has been innovating for many years. In fact, many officials have their handles. If Zhu Youjian wanted to, he could use these handles to bring down a large number of political opponents, but he did not do so.

The reason for not doing so is simply that he doesn't want dirty water splashing on him.

Right now, Wei Zhongxian and Donglin are completely tearing their skins apart. If Wei Zhongxian is allowed to use the handle in Nanzhen Fusi's hands to attack Donglin, then the final result can only be that the Eunuch family dominates.

Even if Wei Zhongxian was killed or exiled later, the officials of the five parties of Qi, Chu, Zhejiang, Xuan, and Kun who took refuge in him would only switch sides and make things worse.

In the end, just like in history, Donglin Nengchen was all killed, Wei Zhongxian and the real eunuchs were killed by Chongzhen, and the five parties of Qi, Chu, Zhejiang, Xuankun jumped out of the eunuchs, and continued to govern the government in a disguised form.

In the current situation of the Ming Dynasty, even if Donglin and the Eunuch party continue to be in power, they will not die suddenly, but if these five parties are in power, the Ming Dynasty will still perish.

So what Zhu Youjian needs Cui Yingyuan to do now is to use Zhao Nanxing's hand to kill the capable civil servants of the five parties of Qi, Chu, Zhejiang, Xuan, and Kun.

"You can use this directory to find out the reasons and find someone to give it to Zhao Nanxing. It is also finding a way out for you."

Cao Huachun took out a list, and after Cui Yingyuan heard his words, he also took the list like a life-saving straw.

On the list, there are Yao Zongwen, Feng Sanyuan, Wei Yingjia, Zhang Xiude and other well-known speech officials of the five parties, as well as the current real power faction among the five parties.

If this group of people is brought down by Zhao Nanxing, the power of the entire five parties will be cut in half...

This also represents how much credit these people's handles will be.

Giving this credit to Zhao Nanxing in the name of Cui Yingyuan, it is estimated that Zhao Nanxing and most of the Donglin civil servants will not only not hate him, but may also confide in him.

However, when Cui Yingyuan continued to look down, he found that there were many officials of the Qi Royal Party among them.

"Bingbi, the name behind this..."

Cui Yingyuan didn't understand why His Royal Highness wanted to attack the officials under his command.

"Some people don't agree with us." Cao Huachun said something meaningful, which also made Cui Yingyuan understand the truth.

The eunuchs have planted traitors in Donglin, and Donglin has also planted traitors in the eunuchs, so will there be no traitors in King Qi's party?
"Humble post Xie Bingbi, thank you Your Highness..."

Cui Yingyuan, who closed the list, knew that he didn't have to die, and he would be one of the people Zhu Youjian wanted to save.

As for Yang Huan, Wei Liangqing and others, I am afraid that when Donglin and the eunuchs are weak in the battle, they will all be sent away by their own King Qi.

Thinking of this, Cui Yingyuan felt that that person was scary, but at the same time he also had a problem.

Therefore, he got up cautiously, and said to Cao Huachun and Wang Chengen:
"You two, even with this excuse, will Long Live really agree to depose them..."

Cui Yingyuan asked the key point. After all, the eunuch party was supported by the emperor alone. If the eunuch party and Donglin attacked and impeached each other and led to the demise of both parties, then the Qi royal party would dominate the court.

In such a situation, would the emperor be willing to have it appear...

Regarding this, Cao Huachun glanced at Cui Yingyuan, then lowered his eyes and said:

"These things have nothing to do with you, it's enough for you to do your own thing..."

"Yes..." Hearing what Cao Huachun said, Cui Yingyuan also knew that he asked something that shouldn't be asked, and then answered honestly.

When he saw Cao Huachun and Wang Chengen serving tea at the same time after a while, he knew it was time to leave.

"Resign from a humble position..."

Cui Yingyuan saluted, and then withdrew from Xuqin Palace, and that night, all the details were brought to Zhao Nanxing's mansion...

(End of this chapter)