Great time travel

138 Chapter [-]

PS: Some readers said that there might not be 300 million taels of silver and 10,000+ stone rice in the Fuwang Mansion in Luoyang at the end of the Ming Dynasty.

But I have a piece of statistical data here. When King Fu became a vassal, Emperor Wanli himself directly rewarded King Fu with more than 100 million taels of silver. When he went to Luoyang, King Fu already had at least 200 million taels of silver.Afterwards, this King of Fortune must have taken a lot of money in Henan, and he should have four or five million taels of silver in the five years of Chongzhen.After all, when this guy was still a prince, he spent 500 taels of silver for a wedding!Moreover, this is just the beginning of the severe drought in Chongzhen. The food in the Central Plains is not as scarce as it was in the next few years, so the food in Prince Fu's Mansion should naturally be more.

Also, another part of the readers think that food prices have risen too high, but please note that this is an inflated food price under the conditions of war and embargo, and it is largely hyped up by profiteers and does not reflect real supply and demand.After the summer grain is on the market, it will naturally fall back.

——The premise is that there is still summer grain that can be marketed this year...or there is a consumer market that can sell summer grain...

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Of course, when it comes to building an army, there are opportunistic ways to save money.

First of all, if the professional military system is not implemented, but the compulsory military system is adopted, then the settlement expenses for soldiers can be basically saved.

Secondly, if soldiers are required to purchase their own weapons and ammunition, be responsible for their own training, wear their own quilts, spend their own money to treat injuries, and even allow soldiers to prepare a certain amount of food during short-term combat, then the training expenditure will be different from that of military equipment, Clothes and medical expenses were settled smoothly.

In the end, the remaining military pay, pensions and pensions are easier to settle.As long as a small amount of starting fee is paid first, and then they are allowed to "break the city, let them be plundered", and grab and eat wherever they go, basically there is no need to pay military salaries.As for pensions, burial fees, and pensions, you can use the occupied land to cover the bills, or you can even not pay the bills at all, as long as you declare that "joining the army and fighting is an obligation"!

But the question is... Can an army built by cutting corners like this really fight?

If you don't even pay a cent for the settlement, you have to ask soldiers to work for you, which will probably make them unwilling and demoralized.

And the practice of letting soldiers prepare their own weapons, ammunition, and even food is even more miserable-most of the rich and rich will not be willing to fight for their lives, and even if the poor without money are willing to gamble their lives, they still cannot afford to buy them. I can only make do with some wooden sticks and kitchen knives.

In addition, it is obviously difficult to standardize self-provided weapons. For example, with various long and short spears, it is difficult to form a neat square formation.

As for training, it is also a big problem. Those soldiers who have not been trained must be a group of unorganized and undisciplined mobs, and it may be difficult to even arrange formation.Even if the government ordered to organize the training itself, the problem is that such absurd orders are usually not implemented at all—who should lead the organization, who should bear the board and lodging, who should find the venue, and who should act as the instructor?What exercises to use?
According to the above inferences, this army built with almost no money, in the absence of other factors to motivate, must have no morale, no equipment, no discipline, no discipline, and no training. Training requires cohesion and lack of cohesion... Even if the number is ten times that of the opponent, it must be no different from a pile of trash. Even how to go to the battlefield smoothly is a problem. What is the meaning of this numerical advantage?
——The military households of the guards in the Ming Dynasty were almost such self-funded troops, but the actual combat effectiveness can only be described as desperate.

However, just on the other side of the Yangtze River, the rebel Wenxiangjiao demon has a way to overcome the above disadvantages - of course, through the most cruel, bloody, and worst-affecting methods... To put it simply, it is just one word, Rob!

Want money?Want land?Want a woman?Then pick up your knives and guns, and go to the homes of those rich and unkind big families to rob!

The Wenxiang Sect in Jiangbei, who had no food and no salary at first, relied on such tricks to pull up hundreds of thousands of teams in one go.

But the problem is that the Donglin Party can't use the methods that Wen Xiangjiao can use.These Donglin gentlemen themselves are big landlords who have occupied most of the wealth and fields in the south of the Yangtze River. If they use robbery to fool the soldiers, wouldn't it be the same as encouraging these vulgar warriors to rob their own properties?
It can be seen from this that if the Nanjing court, as the ruler, is suddenly brain-dead and wants to use this method of cutting corners to build an army, the result will either be a collapse without a battle, or a riot and rebellion, which is basically a suicidal act of death .

Therefore, no matter how stingy one is by nature and hard to part with good fortune, one must still use the money that should be spent, otherwise one can only wait to be hacked and robbed.

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However, even though the officials in the palace vaguely understand this truth, all of these guys are masters who don’t cry without seeing the coffin. If they want them to pay a huge sum of several million taels of silver to raise soldiers, it’s really hard work Their ancestral graves are even more distressing... Moreover, this group of people also knows very well that even if they really bite the bullet and donate money to serve the country with their entire family, how much of the money can be used for practical purposes?
——The current court of the Yonghe Emperor has completely inherited the "Second Government" of the Ming Empire in Nanjing, and naturally, it has also completely inherited all the outdated customs of the Ming Empire. The 1 taels of silver were withdrawn from the treasury, and 3000 taels were immediately lost by the officials of the household department according to the "routine".After the silver leaves the Ministry of Households, it will then pass through the Yamen of the Ministry of War, where it will also be brutally slaughtered.Then it has to go through the embezzlement of the Bing Bei Dao Yamen and the Zongbing Yamen before it can be issued to the officer in charge of recruiting soldiers. If there are 3000 taels of silver left at this time, it is time to burn the incense.

Then, these recruiting officers will deduct about [-]% to [-]% of the salary according to the routine, and use it for socializing and entertaining their own servants... After such a layer of geese go through, God knows how there will be [-]% in the end. How much money will be really used for recruiting soldiers? !
That being the case, why should all the important ministers take out the money they have embezzled so hard and give it to those lower-level officials for free?
In general, the ancient "meat eaters" were really quite "despicable".It seems that there is always a situation where eating a hundred beans is not too fishy.Even though these greedy guys clearly knew that the crisis of ruining their family and country was imminent, they still wouldn't learn any lessons.

In this way, in view of the above-mentioned very practical considerations, Zhou Yanru's first assistant talked badly and cut his mouth. On the issue of raising military expenses, the gentlemen of Donglin finally agreed to mobilize their families to submit to the court. Pay 20 taels of silver and 30 shi of rice, and then apportion a sum of [-] taels of "Jing Nan Donation" to the people in Beijing-then it will be gone.

Seeing that the military expenditure had only been raised to one-tenth of what was expected, Zhou Yanru, the chief minister, couldn't help but turn his eyes dark. With such a small amount of money and rations, it was the limit to be able to pay the full amount of military pay to the existing troops of the Nanjing court. Now, where is the spare money to recruit recruits?
——It can be seen from this that it is wise and correct for the time-traveling version of Emperor Chongzhen to tear up his face completely when he was short of money and food.Without this start-up capital from Prince Fu's Mansion, the situation of the imperial court in exile in Huguang would have been so difficult!It must be known that the loyalty of the gentry and landlords in Huguang Province to the Ming Dynasty is not necessarily much stronger than that of the Donglin Party in Jiangnan!

Taking a deep breath, he reminded himself once again to refrain from urgency and use patience, and silently recited a series of incantations that are said to be able to calm the mind, the chief assistant Zhou Yanru, who was slapped in the face one after another in the court today, finally cheered up again Spirit, throw the next topic: negotiating peace with the Kun bandits.

——The current decline of the Nanjing imperial court is quite obvious. Even if they gave up the strongholds of Yangzhou and Chuzhou in the north of the Yangtze River, they used the surging Yangtze River to block the footsteps of the demons of Wenxiangjiao.However, the more than 1 field troops withdrawn will definitely not be able to stop the two-sided attack of the Australian Kun bandits and the deposed Emperor Chongzhen.

In view of the irreconcilable contradictions between the Nanjing court that supported the new emperor Zhu Yihai and the Chongzhen Emperor who was forcibly deposed.So the two sides can only fight one battle anyway.On the contrary, after the Australian bandits occupied Hangzhou and controlled a corner of the south of the Yangtze River, they never continued to attack the north and advanced into the heart of the south of the Yangtze River.Although I don't know what considerations these thieves have, it seems that there is still room for negotiation.

Therefore, Zhou Yanru feels that even if it is hypocrisy at the moment, he should send someone to contact and negotiate with the Australian thieves, so as to concentrate their strength and meet the upstream enemy. is quite reasonable:

"...At present, the Kun bandits are entrenched in Hangzhou, and they already have a corner of the south of the Yangtze River; the Wen Xiang Sect demons are raging in the north of the river, just across the river from Jinling. Even with the natural danger of the Yangtze River, there is no guarantee that the bandits will not find a way to sneak south. And there are strong enemies in Huguang From the sidelines, he is eyeing Liudu. The situation has evolved so far, and the imperial court is overwhelmed. We can only temporarily appease the Kun bandits. To seek peace for a while, the imperial court will fully deal with the upstream crisis and preserve Liudu. There is no other good strategy!"

But the problem is.There are so many things in this world, which have always been insulated from rationality—after Zhou Yanru made this suggestion, the gentlemen of Donglin, who had just been filled with resentment because they were forced to pay for it, immediately went away. Blow up the pot:

"... Absolutely not! The gangsters slaughtered the gentry in Zhejiang, humiliated the scholars, and did a lot of evil! How can the court forgive this generation's heinous crimes?"

"...Shameful! How can I bow my knees to such vulgarity?"

"... Your Majesty Qi Zuo, the minister impeached Zhou Yanru, the chief assistant. As the chief assistant of the cabinet, he shouldered the hope of the world, but he praised the painting for nothing. He could not make peace for His Majesty. Instead, he was servile and servile to the outsiders. He deserved death. Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, I have never ceded land, paid compensation, or made peace. Even though the Tumu Fortress was defeated in the past, and the Oirat army besieged the capital, I have never bent my knees to beg for peace. How can I make an exception for a mere bandit today?"

……

All the Qing rumor officials stood on the moral high ground and fired fiercely at Zhou Yanru, a traitorous minister.After some righteous saliva sprayed down, Zhou Yanru instantly became the target of criticism and criticism, and was overwhelmed by the overwhelming scolding.As for the other Donglin bosses, even though they knew that negotiating peace with the bandits Kun was the right choice, none of them were willing to stand up and say a few words for Zhou Yanru—they were all still staring at the position of chief assistant under Zhou Yanru's ass!If he could take the opportunity to tarnish this fellow's reputation, wouldn't it be more convenient to resign in the future?
In the end, the helpless Zhou Yanru had no choice but to withdraw the proposal, and at the same time secretly cursed in his stomach: You bastards who stand up and say that you don’t have a backache, don’t you know what this official is doing? Will the poisonous snake bite the hand, and the strong man cut off the wrist?

What else is there to say that if you don't cede the land, don't make peace, and don't pay compensation!Is it true that the official titles and silver silk rewards awarded by the imperial court to appease the Tatar chiefs and chieftains from all walks of life in the past are still small?It's just that the words "Shangsui" are not used like in the Song Dynasty in the past. What's the difference in essence?
But at this very moment, you guys are still making noise, saying that the loss of power is humiliating to the country and morality, but do you have the ability to move mountains and fill seas and turn the tide?They seem to be able to command thousands of troops with their mouths!Why don't the gangsters let you take your servants to hunt him?

However, although Zhou Yanru kept complaining in his heart, he still had no ability to turn the tide and fight against the Confucians. He could only watch the Nanjing court jump off the cliff—in short, under the "wise decision" of the Donglin gentleman, The Emperor Yonghe of Nanjing will continue to fight fiercely at the same time with the three enemies of Emperor Chongzhen, Wenxiangjiao, and the Australian Bandits in a weak state short of soldiers and wages...

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From the beginning to the end of the whole court discussion, His Majesty Zhu Yihai on the throne remained silent, watching indifferently the civil and military officials spitting and cross-eyed.It wasn't until after the courtiers dispersed that the Emperor Yonghe, who had been a puppet for a long time on Danchi, moved his hands and feet and walked straight to the imperial court.

——Like the weed-grown halls of the previous dynasty, the back court of the Forbidden City in Nanjing is also barren due to no one living there for 200 years. On the steps and window sills, small green saplings sprouted and grew up in the cracks in the bricks, gradually cracking the paving bricks... At first glance, it looks like an ancient Mayan city swallowed by the jungle.

In this lush "urban jungle", only a small side hall was cleaned out to serve as Zhu Yihai's bedroom——Zhu Yihai's original wives and concubines were all lost on the way to escape, and after arriving in Nanjing, he didn't even care about going to see him again. Married, so such a small amount of land can still live.

At this time, there was a middle-aged eunuch with a white face and beardless, guarding the gate of the palace somewhat cautiously.Seeing Emperor Yonghe appearing outside the door, the middle-aged eunuch breathed a sigh of relief, and hurriedly called the emperor to come in, and turned away from the left and right, with a very nervous expression.However, Emperor Yonghe's expression was very calm, he found a chair to sit down, and then asked the eunuch unhurriedly: "...Have you done everything you ordered before?"

"...Go back to Your Majesty, it's all done!" The trusted middle-aged eunuch who once protected Zhu Yihai from Shandong all the way to the south, quickly replied in a low voice, and at the same time put a few bags in front of the emperor and opened them. This book, several sets of half-old monk clothes, some flints, dry food, and some coins—among them are copper coins and silver ingots from the Ming Dynasty, as well as gold and silver coins from Westerners, and even Chinese yuan banknotes from the "Australian Bandit". Where did the middle-aged eunuch get it from?In addition, there is a set of shaving tools, which is ready to make up and look like a monk running away 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 of Miyagi in the past few days. If there is any trouble, we will shave our hair and change it. Put on the monk robe and escape! I don’t want to stay in this ghost place anymore!”

"...As ordered, Your Majesty... But, Your Majesty, don't you really want the position of emperor?" The middle-aged eunuch asked hesitantly.

"...Emperor? Hey! What kind of emperor is this, my widow? If the name is not right, it is worse than Han Xiandi in the Three Kingdoms time! No clan in the world is willing to obey. How many loyal ministers are there around Han Xiandi? ! Apart from you, besides you, who else can you trust?"

As soon as this matter was mentioned, Zhu Yihai immediately became melancholy, "...If you can't grasp the authority, it's fine if no one listens to your words, and it's okay to sit on the throne and be a puppet, after all, it's all agreed before. But Look, those gangsters are only willing to give the widow 1000 taels of silver every month, how can they sustain it? Moreover, what kind of palace are they living in for the widow? It’s just like that haunted abandoned house! This is actually the place where the emperor lives? Remember the houses where the sons and daughters of the concubines live in the palace, and they are not dilapidated to such an outrageous level!"

He pointed to the bedroom where he is now. Although it has been roughly cleaned and repaired, there is still a lingering musty smell. That old bastard was fooled! He actually went to fight for the throne with Lord Chongzhen! This is really good, it’s really hard to get off! Judging from the current posture, don’t say anything about the king’s rule, I’m afraid even the city of Nanjing won’t be able to hold on for a long time Gosh!
If Emperor Chongzhen were allowed to break into Nanjing City, those court ministers would probably just have to kneel down and cry bitterly to repent, and most of them would be exonerated and reformed, or at worst would just resign and return to their hometowns.If Emperor Chongzhen wanted Jiangnan to be safe and stable, he would not be cruel to them.

Only the widow, the false emperor, is definitely going to be pushed out by them, and this kind of thing is destined to be a dead end!As far as my guess is concerned, most people in this city are already secretly contacting the Emperor Chongzhen of Wuchang, wanting to use the head of my false emperor, my young master, as a signature! "

"...Oh, Your Majesty! You are really miserable!"

Hearing this, the middle-aged eunuch burst into tears as he thought about his young master's seemingly honorable status, but he was actually walking on thin ice. Where are the prince and the eldest lady?"

So, the master and the servant cried for a while, and quietly discussed the plan of trying to escape from the palace with makeup when the crisis came...

——Just as the Ming Empire in the south was strolling and procrastinating as always, slowly preparing for the decisive battle of life and death; the Qing Dynasty in the north was still advancing furiously like a raging fire and wind, wantonly attacking at an astonishing speed The flowers and rivers and mountains of the Han people in the Central Plains...