Chapter 138: Clouds of chaos rising from all directions (Part 2)
PS: Some readers said that Prince Fu’s Mansion in Luoyang at the end of the Ming Dynasty probably did not have three million taels of silver and hundreds of thousands of stones of rice and grain.
But I have a statistic here. When King Fu was granted the title of vassal, Emperor Wanli himself directly rewarded King Fu with more than one million taels of silver. King Fu must have had some savings before, plus the rest of his income, so in When he set out for Luoyang, King Fu already had at least two million taels of silver. After that, this lucky king must have made a lot of money in Henan. In the fifth year of Chongzhen, he should have four to five million taels of silver. After all, when this guy was still a prince, he spent three hundred thousand taels of silver on his wedding! Moreover, this was just when the severe drought in Chongzhen had just begun, and the food in the Central Plains was not as scarce as it was in the following years. Naturally, Prince Fu's Mansion should have more food in stock.
Also, some readers think that food prices have risen too high, but please note that this is an inflated price under conditions of war and embargo, and it is largely hyped up by profiteers and does not reflect Real supply and demand situation. After summer grain comes on the market, it will naturally fall back.
——The premise is that there is still summer grain that can be put on the market this year...or there is a consumer market that can sell summer grain...
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Of course, there are also opportunistic ways to save money when it comes to building an army.
First of all, if a professional military system is not implemented, but a compulsory military system is adopted, then the settlement expenses for soldiers can be basically saved.
Secondly, if soldiers are required to purchase their own ordnance and ammunition, be responsible for their own training, make their own clothes, and spend their own money to treat injuries and illnesses, and even allow soldiers to prepare a certain amount of food by themselves during short-term operations, then the training expenses and ordnance, The cost of clothing, quilts, and medical expenses were successfully settled.
Finally, the remaining military pay, pensions and retirement funds are easier to deal with. As long as they are paid a small amount of departure fee first, and then let them "break the city and let it be plundered", and rob and eat wherever they go, basically there is no need to pay any more military pay. As for pensions, burial expenses and pensions, you can use the occupied land to pay the bills, or you can even not pay the bills at all. Just declare that "it is compulsory to join the army and fight"!
But the question is... can an army built like this by cutting corners really be able to fight a war?
If you don't even pay a penny of resettlement allowance and ask the soldiers to work for you, it is likely to make them unwilling and demoralized.
The practice of asking soldiers to prepare their own weapons, ammunition and even food is even more miserable - those wealthy people will most likely not be willing to fight with their lives, while poor people with no money can't afford to take advantage of them even if they are willing to risk their lives. As for the household items, I could only make do with some wooden sticks and kitchen knives.
In addition, it is obviously difficult to uniformly prepare self-prepared weapons. For example, it is difficult to arrange a neat square array with various long and short spears.
As for training, it is also a big problem. Those soldiers who have not been trained must be a group of unorganized and undisciplined rabble. I am afraid it will be difficult to even form a formation. Even if the government orders itself to organize training, the problem is that such absurd orders usually cannot be implemented at all - who should take the lead in organizing, who will bear the food and accommodation, who will find the venue, and who will serve as the instructor? What exercises should be used?
Based on the above inference, this army, which was built with almost no money, without other incentives, will most likely have a lack of morale, a lack of equipment, a lack of discipline, and a lack of training. Training requires cohesion but no cohesion... Even if the number is ten times that of the opponent, it will definitely be no different from a pile of waste. Even how to successfully go to the battlefield is a problem. What is the meaning of this numerical advantage?
——The military households of the Ming Dynasty were almost self-funded troops, but their actual combat effectiveness could only be described as despairing.
However, just on the other side of the Yangtze River, the Wenxiang Cult Yaoren, as a rebel group, has a way to overcome the above disadvantages - of course, through the most cruel, bloody, and worst-influence method... To put it simply, in one word, Rob!
Want money? Want land? Want a woman? Then pick up your swords and guns and go rob the houses of those wealthy people who are ruthless in their pursuit of wealth!
The Wenxiang sect in Jiangbei, which had no food or salary at first, relied on this kind of deception to recruit hundreds of thousands of troops in one go.
But the problem is that the Donglin Party cannot use the methods that the Wenxiang Sect can use. These Donglin gentlemen are themselves big landowners who have occupied most of the wealth and land in Jiangnan. If they use robbery to deceive the soldiers, wouldn't it be equivalent to encouraging these vulgar warriors to rob their own properties?
It can be seen from this that if the Nanjing court, as the ruler, suddenly becomes mentally retarded and wants to use this cutting-edge method to build an army, the result will either be collapse without a fight, or a riot and rebellion, which is basically a suicidal act. .
Therefore, no matter how stingy you are by nature and you are hard-pressed to part with your good fortune, you still have to use the money you need, otherwise you will have to wait to be hacked or robbed.
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However, although all the ministers in the palace vaguely understand this truth, these guys are all masters who will not shed tears until they see the coffin. If you want them to spend millions of taels of silver to raise troops, it is really worse than poaching. Their ancestral graves still feel distressed... Moreover, this group of people also knows very well that even if they really bite the bullet and spend all their money to donate money to serve the country, how much of the money will be put to practical use?
——The current court of Emperor Yonghe has completely inherited the "second government" of the Ming Empire in Nanjing, and naturally also completely inherited all the old habits and bad habits of the Ming Empire. After ten thousand taels of silver were withdrawn from the treasury, three thousand taels of silver would immediately be floated away by officials from the Ministry of Revenue according to "routine practice." After the money leaves the Household Department, it will pass through the Military Department Yamen again, and will be stabbed again. Then it would have to go through the deductions from the Bingbei Road Yamen and the General Military Yamen before it could be distributed to the officers responsible for recruiting soldiers. If there were only three thousand taels of silver left at this time, it would be time to burn high incense.
Then, these recruiting officers will follow the routine and withhold about 50% to 70% of their salary to use it for socializing and supporting their own servants... After plucking out the feathers layer by layer, God knows in the end what will happen. How much money will actually be used to recruit soldiers? !
In this case, why do the important ministers use their hard-earned and embezzled money to give it to lower-level officials for welfare?
Generally speaking, the ancient "meat eaters" were really quite "despicable". It seems that we are always in a certain situation where we can eat a hundred beans without getting too fishy. Even if these greedy guys know that the crisis of ruining their family and country is just around the corner, they still won't learn any lessons.
In this way, in view of the above-mentioned very practical considerations, even if Zhou Yanru, the chief minister, talked a lot and ran out of words, on the issue of raising military expenditures, the gentlemen of Donglin finally reluctantly agreed to mobilize their families to report to the court. He paid 200,000 taels of silver and 10,000 shi of rice, and then distributed a "Jingnan Donation" of 300,000 taels of silver to the people in the capital - and then the rest was gone.
Seeing that only one-tenth of the expected military expenditure had been raised, Zhou Yanru, the chief and assistant minister, couldn't help but his eyes darkened - with such a small amount of money and food, it was the limit to be able to provide full military pay to the existing troops of the Nanjing court. Now, where is the money left to recruit new soldiers?
——It can be seen from this that the time-travel version of Emperor Chongzhen, when he was short of money and food, completely lost his face and took over Prince Fu's Mansion for treason, how wise and correct it was! Without this start-up capital from Prince Fu's Mansion, the situation of the exiled court in Huguang would have been much more difficult! It should be noted that the loyalty of the gentry landlords in Huguang Province to the Ming Dynasty is not necessarily much greater than that of the Donglin Party in Jiangnan!
After taking a deep breath, admonishing himself once again to be patient and cautious, and silently reciting a string of heart-clearing mantras that are said to calm the mind, Zhou Yanru, the chief minister who was slapped in the face one after another in the court today, finally cheered up again. spirit, and brought up the next topic: negotiating peace with the Kun thieves.
——The current decline of the Nanjing imperial court is quite obvious, even if it abandons its strongholds such as Yangzhou and Chuzhou in the north of the Yangtze River, it relies on the roaring Yangtze River to stop the footsteps of the Wenxiang Cult demons. However, the more than 10,000 field troops that were withdrawn could never stop the two-sided attack by the Australian Kun thieves and Chongzhen's deposed emperor.
In view of the irreconcilable contradiction between the Nanjing court that supported the new emperor Zhu Yihai and the forcibly deposed Emperor Chongzhen. So the two sides can only fight one battle anyway. On the contrary, after the Australian bandits occupied Hangzhou and controlled a corner of Jiangnan, they never continued to attack northward and advanced into the heart of Jiangnan. Although I don’t know what considerations these thieves have, it seems that there is still room for negotiation.
Therefore, Zhou Yanru felt that even if he was just trying to make a fool of himself, he should send someone to negotiate with the Australian thieves so that he could concentrate his efforts to fight against the enemies upstream. No matter from which point of view, Zhou Yanru's opinion was It is very reasonable:
"...Currently, the Kun bandits are entrenched in Hangzhou and have captured a corner of the south of the Yangtze River; the demons of the Wenxiang Sect are wreaking havoc in the north of the Yangtze River. They are only separated from Jinling by a river. Even with the natural dangers of the Yangtze River, there is no guarantee that the bandits will not find an opportunity to sneak across to the south. And there are powerful enemies in Huguang. on the side, on the side Everyone is watching. The situation has evolved so far that the imperial court has been overwhelmed. It can only try to calm down the bandits for a while, so that the imperial court can fully deal with the crisis in the upper reaches and save the capital. "
But here's the thing. There are so many things in this world that are always insulated from rationality. After Zhou Yanru put forward this suggestion, the Donglin gentlemen who had just been filled with resentment because they were forced to pay for it immediately immediately It exploded:
"...Absolutely not! The thieves slaughtered the Jin gentry in Zhejiang, humiliated the scholars, and committed many crimes! How can the court forgive this person's heinous sins?"
"...Shameful! How can I, the sovereign of heaven, bow my knee to such vulgar barbarians?"
"... Your Majesty, I am going to impeach the chief minister Zhou Yanru. As the chief minister of the cabinet, he shoulders the hope of the world, but he praises the painting in vain. He cannot help your majesty at home and abroad, but instead treats foreign barbarians as a slave. It is really a crime worthy of death. ! I am a Ming Dynasty Since the founding of the country, no territory has been ceded, no compensation has been paid, and no marriage has been made. Even when Tumubao was defeated and the Ola army besieged the capital, they never knelt down and begged for peace. How can we make an exception for a mere bandit today?"
……
All the Qing gossip officials stood on the moral high ground and fired fiercely at Zhou Yanru, a traitorous official. After spitting out some righteous words, Zhou Yanru instantly became the target of thousands of criticisms and was drowned out by the overwhelming curses. Even if the other Donglin bosses understood that negotiating peace with Kun Thief was the right choice, none of them were willing to stand up and say a few words to Zhou Yanru - they were all still eyeing the position of chief assistant under Zhou Yanru's butt! If we could take the opportunity to tarnish this guy's reputation, wouldn't it be more convenient to overthrow him in the future?
In the end, the helpless Zhou Yanru had no choice but to retract the proposal sadly, and at the same time secretly cursed in his stomach: You guys who stand here and complain about back pain, don't you know what I did? The poisonous snake bites the hand, the strong man breaks the wrist?
Why don't we cede territory, make peace, and pay compensation? In the past, in order to appease the various Tatar chiefs and chieftains, were the official titles and silver and silk rewards given by the imperial court still too little? It's just that the word "sui coins" is not used like the two Song Dynasties in the past. What is the actual difference?
But at this moment, you are still making noises, saying that losing power is humiliating the country and insulting ethics. But do you have the ability to move mountains and reclaim seas to turn the tide? He talks like he can command thousands of troops! How about this thief asks you to take his servants to fight him?
However, although Zhou Yanru kept complaining in his heart, he still did not have the ability to turn the tide and fight with the Confucian scholars. He could only watch the Nanjing court jump off the cliff - in short, under the "wise decision" of Mr. Donglin, The Yonghe Emperor of Nanjing will continue to be in a weak state, short of soldiers and pay, and bravely fight against the three enemies of Emperor Chongzhen, the Wenxiang Sect and the Australian Bandits at the same time...
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Throughout the entire court meeting, His Majesty Zhu Yihai on the throne remained silent, watching indifferently as the civil and military officials spit and cross-eyed below. It was not until after the ministers dispersed that the Emperor Yonghe, who had been a puppet on Danqi for a long time, moved his hands and feet and walked straight to the back court.
——Like the overgrown halls of the previous dynasties, the back court of the Forbidden City in Nanjing is also barren and even more dilapidated because it has been uninhabited for two hundred years: lush vines and plants have long climbed up the palace stones. On the steps and window sills, green saplings sprouted and grew up in the cracks of the bricks, gradually cracking the bricks on the floor... At first glance, it looked like an ancient Mayan city swallowed by the jungle.
In this lush "urban jungle", only a small side hall was cleared out to serve as Zhu Yihai's bedroom - Zhu Yihai's original wives and concubines were all separated on the way to escape, and they did not care about returning to Nanjing after they arrived in Nanjing. Married, so such a small amount of land is still enough to live in.
At this time, there was a middle-aged eunuch with a white face and no beard, guarding the gate of the palace with a bit of restraint. Seeing Emperor Yonghe appear outside the door, the middle-aged eunuch breathed a sigh of relief. He quickly greeted the emperor to come in, and then stepped back with a very nervous expression. However, Emperor Yonghe's expression was very calm. He found a chair and sat down, and then he calmly asked the eunuch: "...Have you completed all the things you ordered before?"
"...Your Majesty, everything is done!" The middle-aged eunuch who had protected Zhu Yihai all the way south from Shandong quickly replied in a low voice. At the same time, he placed several robes in front of the emperor and opened them. There were two ultimatums inside. Original, number of half-used monk's robes Set, flints, dry food, and some coins - including copper coins and silver ingots from the Ming Dynasty, gold coins and silver coins from Westerners, and even Chinese yuan banknotes from the "Australian Kun Thief". I don't know where this middle-aged eunuch came from. Got it. There is also a set of head shaving tools, and it looks like you are ready to make up and run like a monk at any time.
And this is exactly the purpose of Yonghe Emperor Zhu Yihai - "...Well, very good!" Zhu Yihai nodded with satisfaction, "... Pay attention to the roads in the palace these days. If there is any trouble, we will shave our heads and change Put on the monk's robe and escape! I don't want to stay in this ghost place anymore!"
"...I obey, Your Majesty...But, Your Majesty, do you really no longer want the position of emperor?" the middle-aged eunuch asked hesitantly.
"...Emperor? Hey! What kind of emperor is this? He has an unjustified name and a dishonest reputation. He is worse than Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty during the Three Kingdoms! No clan in the world is willing to accept it. How many loyal ministers are there around Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty? ! Who else can I trust besides you?”
As soon as he mentioned this matter, Zhu Yihai suddenly became melancholy, "...it's okay if you can't grasp the authority and no one listens to your words. It's okay to sit on the throne and be a puppet. After all, it was all agreed upon before. But Look, those rebellious officials and traitors are only willing to give me a thousand taels of silver every month. Can they survive here? Moreover, what kind of palace are they living in? It looks like that haunted abandoned house! Is this where the emperor lives? Remember the concubines and concubines in the palace? The house is not in such a dilapidated condition!”
He pointed at the palace he was in now. Although it had been roughly cleaned and repaired, it was still filled with the lingering smell of decay and mold, "...Hey, I really shouldn't have been obsessed with Qian Qian in the first place. Benefit from that old man What a fool! He actually went to fight for the throne with Master Chongzhen! This is really a good thing. Judging from the current situation, let alone rule the world, I'm afraid I won't be able to hold on to the city of Nanjing for a few days!
If Emperor Chongzhen were allowed to break into Nanjing, those court ministers would most likely be able to be forgiven of their previous sins and rehabilitated as long as they knelt down and cried bitterly and repented. At the worst, they would just resign and return to their hometowns. If Emperor Chongzhen wanted stability in Jiangnan, he would not be cruel to them.
Only I, the false emperor, will definitely be pushed out of the tank by them, and this kind of thing is destined to be a dead end! As far as I can guess, there are probably people in this city who are secretly contacting Emperor Chongzhen of Wuchang, hoping to use my, the false emperor’s head as a proxy! ”
"...Oh, Your Majesty! What a miserable life you have!"
When the middle-aged eunuch heard this, he burst into tears thinking about how his little master seemed to be so noble now, but was actually walking on thin ice. Where are the prince and the eldest lady?”
As a result, the master and servant held each other's hands and cried, and quietly discussed the plan to escape from the palace in disguise when the crisis came... - The Ming Empire in the south was strolling and procrastinating as usual. La, while slowly preparing for the decisive battle of life and death; the Qing Dynasty in the north is still advancing like a raging fire and wind, conquering the flowers and mountains of the Han people in the Central Plains at an astonishing speed...