Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 784
Nanjing failed in the battle for the throne, and King Lu returned to Jiangbei. He did not give up on this, but he could not compromise at this time.

On the way back to Jiangbei, King Lu also reflected on this failure. After all, his own strength was not enough. Although Wang Yan allowed him to govern, he must succumb to Wang Yan in the decision-making of major events. It doesn't mean much.

Therefore, the King of Lu decided to send only Zhang Kentang, Zhang Huangyan and other ministers of the Zhejiang lineage to the Nanjing court to represent his interests, and for the Zhejiang gentry to take place in the court. .

After the fall of Nanjing, without Hong Chengchou's plan, Duduo in Jiangbei was in chaos, with more than [-] people guarding Hefei and Yangzhou. Even Huai'an was lost, and no troops were sent to get through it. Ting, it is not so important.

At this moment, there was a strange tranquility in Jiangbei. It seemed that both sides were tired, and they were lying on the ground panting.

Jiangbei, Yancheng, the king of Lu who decided to try his luck, led a group of officials to walk between the field ridges, with green rice on both sides, and waves blowing with the wind.

Numerous soldiers and civilians walked through the fields, pulling out weeds, and the waterwheels in the distance, under the tread of Jian masters and soldiers, poured water from the ditches into the paddy fields.

It can be seen that, without any surprises, this year should be a bumper year.

"Thanks to His Highness who bought this batch of grain from Nanyang, we were able to plant the seedlings before the summer planting, and the two slightly safer counties of Yancheng and Rugao were able to plant the seedlings." Zhao Shuxiang followed Behind King Lu, he said while walking.

In order to control Xie Qian's tribe, King Lu also played some tricks. First of all, he transferred Xie Qian's think tank, Zhao Shuxiang, and appointed him as the Minister of the Household Department of the Xingchao.

"Will the food in these two counties last until next summer's harvest?" King Lu asked casually after hearing this.

Zhao Shuxiang hurriedly cupped his hands, "Just as I was about to report to His Highness, I made a rough estimate. If there is no disaster, it is estimated that 40 shi of rice grain will be needed. If there is any change, I am afraid it will be even more." .”

Jiangnan has been fighting for more than half a year, and there must be a shortage of food this year, and the price of food is likely to skyrocket.

King Lu couldn't help being a little annoyed. The climate in Nanyang is good, and there are three crops a year. If it is stored in China, I am afraid that the food will not be enough. But it is said that the people there are lazy and the food produced is not much. It is difficult for him to buy it now. to grain.

When I went to Nanyang to buy grain at the beginning of the year, the food was already very tight, and the price of grain had doubled. Moreover, Wang Yan was also very concerned about Nanyang's grain. To buy grain, he had to go through the relationship of Guangnan City Shipping Department to buy grain.

North Korea in the east is dying of poverty, thank God if I don’t starve to death, and Japan doesn’t produce food, King Lu is a little helpless.

40 shi, which didn't cost much in previous years, may cost at least 200 million this year.

This year's battle is over, King Lu can be said to be poor, and he must ask Wang Yan for money.

"How much can you charge for drying salt this year?" King Lu stopped and asked.

"I'm in Baiju Farm, and Miaowan Town has opened more than a dozen salt farms. Including some original salt farms, this year's income will be about 80 taels."

After hearing this, King Lu pursed his lips, "The scale of drying salt will be expanded, and it must reach at least 100 million this year."

Zhao Shuxiang hurriedly bowed and said, "Don't worry, Your Highness, as long as there is no major war in Jiangbei this year, I will definitely double the size of the salt farm."

King Lu nodded. This Zhao Shuxiang is a talented person. The salt in Lianghuai has always been an important source of Ming's tax revenue. If he can control more salt fields and recover Zhejiang, his finances will improve immediately.

At that time, not to mention surpassing Wang Yan, but at least to compare with the Tang Dynasty faction.

King Lu and his party continued to move forward, preparing to go to the seaside to inspect the salt fields.

Xie Qian and other groups of refugees from Huaihe River and Huaihe River took refuge in the Queen of Lu. With the help of his civil servants, the King of Lu quickly normalized and reformed these groups of refugees. To carry out farming, drying salt and other production.

With the participation of civil servants who are good at governance and management, the severely damaged Jiangbei area will be restored soon.

Before King Lu and his party reached the beach, several galloping cavalry caught up with him and brought a big news, "The Yellow River was blown up by the Qing army."

Jiangbei, on the south bank of the Huaihe River, the King of Lu, under the escort of a group of cavalry, advanced along the river, and the amount of water sent down the Huaihe River was reduced by at least half.

King Lu and his party rushed into Huai'an City, and Xie Qian and others came to welcome him into the hall of the government office.

Not long after, a thin scribe was brought to the lobby.

When King Lu came in, Xie Qian had already told him about the situation, so he asked first, "Mr. Yan, please tell Gu about the specific situation."

This literati was none other than Yan Ermei, a literati from Nanzhili who was sent by Qian Qianyi and other Jiangnan Fuming forces to organize an incident on the Shandong side.

"Your Highness, it's miserable~ Donglu is inhumane, the north of Shandong, hundreds of miles of land, has been flooded by Donglu, the Yuyuan rebels, millions of soldiers and civilians, it's all over, woo~" Yan Ermei couldn't help but feel sad when he heard King Lu's question. From the bottom of my heart, I fell to the ground and cried loudly.

King Lu saw him like this, so he didn't want to ask urgently. After Yan Ermei cried for a while, he asked slowly.

As early as when Xie Qian traversed the two Huaihe Rivers in Shandong, the Yuyuan Army took a more formal route because of the participation of the original Liu Zeqing and Jiangnan literati. The rebel army concentrated on operating Caozhou and other places without mobile combat.

The Qing government felt that the Yuyuan Army did little harm, so it did not attract enough attention. Several attempts to encircle and suppress were terminated due to some accidents, and the Yuyuan Army further grew as a result.

After the Battle of Jiangnan in the South started, the Yuyuan Rebel Army also received orders to contain the Qing Army in the North, in order to cooperate with the Battle of Jiangnan.

The south of the Yangtze River is very important to the Qing court. After Dorgon in Beijing received the urgent military report from Hong Chengchou and Duoduo, he naturally would not sit and watch the show in Beijing. Prepare to go south to support.

However, when the army was advancing south along the Grand Canal, the Yuyuan Rebel Army who got the news laid an ambush on the Qing army. Unexpectedly, the Qing army's vanguard was really defeated in World War I.

At this time, Dorgon realized the threat of the Yuyuan Rebels. There was such a man and horse at the junction of Beizhili and Shandong, and close to the Grand Canal. The threat to the Manchu Qing was too great. Going south also threatened the Qing army's grain road, and even destabilized Northern Zhili.

Dorgon immediately mobilized troops to encircle and suppress, but the Yuyuan army used the Yuyuan and tunnels to deal with the Qing soldiers. The Qing cavalry could not exert their combat power in the woods.

When King Lu heard this, he knew that the Jiangnan Campaign had been fought for so long, and the Qing army in the north had not gone south to support. It turned out that it was held back by the Yuyuan army.

Now that the Yuyuan army is wiped out, the Qing army in the north will definitely move south if the marsh area dry up or the weather freezes.

It's not for anything else, Dorgon has no food now, so he can't grab it. Even if it's hard to fight here in the Ming Dynasty, he will rely on the cavalry to grab a wave.

(Thanks to Saburo for the one thousand, Xiao Xiaoan for the reward, thank you for the monthly pass, subscription, and recommendation.)
(End of this chapter)