Dashun Yongchang

After hearing this, Wu Xing didn't dare to speak up, after all, this topic was too big, it seemed that he was not a clerk who could interrupt.Song Xiance withdrew his gaze from Shiqiao, turned to look at Wu Xing, patted him on the shoulder and said, "Wu Shuban, I think you have a good face, and you will definitely not succumb to this in the future." Within a county, is there any interest in formally transferring me to work by my side?"

Wu Xing first showed a look of liking, but soon bowed down to Song Xiance in fear and said: "Xing is a despicable person, if Mr. Meng does not abandon him, he is naturally willing to follow him. I am afraid that I am not capable enough. Serve your lord well."

Song Xiance laughed, but quickly corrected him: "With your talent, it would be a pity to serve me. After all, it is better to serve His Majesty. I am new in Dashun, and there is a shortage of people everywhere. As long as you can Show your talent and there will be a position that suits you."

Hearing Song Xiance's promise, Wu Xing's heart was also full of enthusiasm. Although he came from a family of petty officials who was proficient in the affairs of the yamen, but because the early emperor Zhu Yuanzhang once ordered: "The imperial examination was first established, and those who have smooth writing and diction, They are all pre-selected and persuaded with words. But the officials have broken their minds and are not allowed to take the exam."

In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, not only subordinate officials were not allowed to participate in the imperial examination, but even the descendants of subordinate officials were acquiesced by officials.The Tongsheng Examination, the first step of the imperial examination, is almost something that the magistrate can click on whoever is pleasing to the eye. Therefore, seeing the resumes of the three generations of grandparents and grandchildren on the test paper, it is almost unreasonable for the magistrate to directly brush you off.

Therefore, the subordinate officials of Ming Dynasty have almost become an independent class. They are proficient in all kinds of light and dark rules in the yamen, and even Zhengyin officials can play with applause. The status of slaves is inferior.

Although Wu Xing was talented, he couldn't even take the imperial examinations, so naturally he couldn't use it well, and scholars were unwilling to associate with subordinate officials, so naturally he couldn't rely on his literary talents to make a name for himself.Therefore, when he became an adult, he could only take over from his father and continue to be a clerk in the Feng County Yamen.

In such a troubled world, Wu Xing can do his best to protect himself and his family, which is already very good. Naturally, he will not even think about finding a way to make progress. After all, no one knows him after leaving Feng County.Being able to be favored by Song Xiance is indeed a rare opportunity for Wu Xing, especially after the Shun army defeated the Azig army, seeing that Dashun has stabilized a basic territory, the world today will eventually be defeated. Whose unification has already shown the dawn, he naturally hopes to have a new start in the Dashun Dynasty, so Wu Xing has to show excitement in front of Song Xiance.

Seeing Wu Xing overjoyed, Song Xiance was also in a good mood.If it was in the past, he would not have come forward to solicit the opponent so directly, at most he would have recommended Wu Xing to a certain general.

As a military strategist who was born as a quack warlock, Song Xiance actually didn't need to form cliques, because the talents he showed in front of Li Zicheng before were all biased towards mystery. After all, a fortune teller doesn't need many followers around him. When there are too many people, it is easy to be seen through.

But since Li Zicheng turned his military adviser into the chief of staff, Song Xiance suddenly realized that he was a little weak.Because the general staff does not rely on fortune-telling for food, but relies on statistical data and analysis of data for food.Therefore, the more talents he can use, the more comfortable he will be as chief of staff.

It's just that Song Xiance's background as a quack warlock made it difficult for him to gain the approval of those scholars and former military officers of the Ming Dynasty. Waiting for the headed general to send him, but he, the chief of staff, turned out to be a loner instead. Of course, this feeling is not very pleasant, so Song Xiance also started looking for talents and training useful manpower.

A subordinate official like Wu Xing with good handling ability is a good choice for him, because the other party is from the same social class as him, and others will not choose him at all.Therefore, after he promoted the other party, the other party could only rely on him.

Thinking of this, Song Xiance couldn't help but recall that Han Gaozu's subordinates were all old acquaintances in Pei County. Could it be that there are no heroes in the world?Obviously not, because only those in Pei County would follow Han Gaozu wholeheartedly, and others might not stay by his side when they were in danger.

Thinking of Han Gaozu, Song Xiance couldn't help but think of Li Zicheng. Judging from the current situation, it seems that Li Zicheng has regained the luck that Dashun lost in Shanhaiguan.If this continues, the signs of Dashun becoming a new dynasty are becoming more and more obvious. At this time, he can't help but worry about how Li Zicheng will handle his relationship with the previous dynasty.

Judging from the current situation, it should not be a big problem to repel the Manchu Qing's Southern Expedition, but after repelling the Manchu Qing army, how to deal with the previous dynasty is on the agenda.At this time, no matter whether he killed the prince or released the prince, there would be future troubles. Even Song Xiance couldn't figure out what Li Zicheng would do.

Seeing that Song Xiance seemed to be lost in thought, Wu Xing thought about it and couldn't help but boldly asked: "What's bothering you, sir, I wonder if the villain can relieve you?"

After thinking about it for a few breaths, Song Xiance finally said to the cronies he had just recruited beside him: "There are two things that I take to heart. The first thing, I just wonder when will this Manchu retreat."

Wu Xing was not very familiar with military matters, but he rolled his eyes and thought for a moment, then boldly said: "If you tell me a villain, this man should not be far from retreating."

Song Xiance looked at him in surprise and asked, "How dare you make such an assertion?"

Wu Xingdao: "Because there are too many people who went to this county to escape the war, even the gentry in the area controlled by the Manchus ran out. The Manchus are a small clan outside the Guan. If it is for land, there is plenty of land outside the Guan for them. Therefore, it is obviously not worth the loss to consume the population of the tribe in order to compete for the land in the pass.

Therefore, the first task of the Manchus entering the customs is to control the people in the customs. Only after controlling the people in the customs can they levy taxes and pay labor to support the Manchus.The root of controlling the people in the pass is to control the local gentry, because these gentry are the real controllers of the local area.Without the support of the gentry, it would be difficult for the Manchus to obtain stable material and manpower support from the local area.

When the Manchus entered the customs, the gentry in Beizhi almost immediately turned to the Manchus, so the Manchus quickly settled Beijing and other places.But now the Manchus are wantonly enclosing land in the suburbs of the capital, and imposing heavy taxes on the gentry in the area under their jurisdiction. Even these gentry have to abandon their family business and go south.

If the Manchus still want to stay in the pass, they have to give the soldiers and people in Beizhi a breathing space, at least not to delay this year's spring plowing.Calculated in this way, the Manchus will retreat no later than March, otherwise this year's spring plowing will be delayed. "

For Wu Xing's analysis, Song Xiance was still satisfied, and only such insight was worth his asking.So next, he confided to Wu Xing what he was really worried about.

"Your analysis is very good. After you go back, why not write a report on the analysis of the Manchurian retreat. I will help you forward it to His Majesty. But you can listen to the second thing I worry about, and help me analyze it by the way. analyze.

The General Staff's judgment on this war is actually similar to your analysis just now, and it also believes that the Manchu Qing is about to retreat.However, there are several opinions inside and outside the General Staff Headquarters on how to end this war, and even I am a little undecided.

First of all, there are two opinions in the General Staff Headquarters. One thinks that the Qing army should launch a pursuit battle when it is about to retreat, and strive to defeat the Qing army and drive the Manchus out of Shanhaiguan; We followed the retreat of the Qing army and took back all the places that could be recovered until the Qing army launched a defensive posture, and then accumulated strength and waited for the next opportunity to fight the Qing army.

As for the voices outside the General Staff Headquarters, there are also two kinds of voices. One is to accept the good as soon as it is good, to end the war and prepare for spring plowing, first to stabilize the hearts of the people in Henan and Shandong, and then to follow suit; the other is to advocate that this should be the case. Reach a reconciliation with the Manchus, and then completely control the South in their hands, because although the South now maintains cooperation with the Marshal's Mansion in name, they recognize the crown prince instead of His Majesty. If there is any accident, the South is likely to It is out of the control of the Marshal's Mansion, compared with the broken north, the south is the one that cannot be lost..."

After listening to the four opinions put forward by Song Xiance, Wu Xing also hesitated for a long time. He has actually heard three of these four opinions. As for the idea of ​​making peace with the Manchus and then unifying the south first, he is the first one today. I heard it for the first time.But except for the first proposition, which is too risky and is completely gambling with the fortune of Dashun, he thinks that the other three propositions are actually feasible.

Chapter 497 Fengxian II

But Wu Xing just wanted to speak, but he stopped. He suddenly felt that this question was too simple. With Song Xiance's ability, he shouldn't be unable to see the problems he saw. He then thought about it and understood it. What matters is not the feasibility of these kinds of propositions, but the people who put forward these propositions, just like the statements of different executives in the yamen, the younger brothers below can only choose sides.

Thinking of something, Wu Xing changed his mind and said, "Your Excellency, do you think His Majesty would like that idea?"

Song Xiance was stunned for a moment, and finally nodded slowly and thoughtfully said: "Yes, the important point lies in His Majesty's choice, and other people's opinions are not important. Wu Shuban, I really did not misread you..."

While the two were talking, an officer hurried up to the top of the wall. He looked around, and when he saw Song Xiance's figure, he quickly walked over, saluted Song Xiance, and reported beamingly: "My lord, good news. Zhang Hong's troops ambushed a group of Qing troops in Gaozhuang, beheaded Level 46, and captured dozens of prisoners. A Jiala Erzhen of the Qing army was also shot dead on the spot..."

This was indeed good news, so Song Xiance summoned the generals of Feng County to inspect the heads sent by Zhang Hong, and asked the visitors about the course of the battle, and then Song Xiance held a meeting with these generals to discuss.

For Guan Fumin and Ma Huabao, who had just arrived in Feng County, the successive news of victory had already made them lose their awe of the Manchus.Although the Qing army broke through the front lines of Dingtao and Chengwu, in their view, it was only at the end of their battle, because the Qing army did not take down Shanxian County.

Now a team of the Qing army with nearly one-third of the Manchus and Mongols was actually defeated by the new army and the local soldiers on their side. This also made them look down on the combat power of the Qing army again, especially It was Ma Huabao, as a rookie who had just surrendered to Dashun, he was eager to make some achievements in front of Li Zicheng, to show his heart to serve the new master.

Therefore, after inspecting the sent heads and hearing the course of the battle, Ma Huabao said impassionedly at the meeting: "These heads are indeed the heads of real Tartars, which shows that the morale of these Tartars has indeed declined. , Even this kind of battle can kill so many people. Of course we can't just sit here and wait for the Tartars to retreat on their own, we must recover one or two lost territories, and let the people and Your Majesty know our loyalty and bravery, right?"

After hearing this, the officials and the people did not take seriously Ma Huabao's eagerness to perform meritorious service. These former Ming officers and soldiers who were transferred from Huaiyang to Xuzhou were trained under him. The generals of these four Jiangbei towns were all worried, and felt that Li Zicheng's actions were too risky. When bad news came from various quarters, Li Zicheng should sit in Xuzhou and stick to it. To withdraw.

After Li Zicheng's side defeated the Qing army forcefully, and even Azig was driven back to Hebei, this group of people changed their preoccupied appearance and began to sing praises for Li Zicheng all day long, as if they were afraid that others would not know what they had done for him. Li Zicheng's loyal heart.From being afraid of the Manchus to being full of confidence now, Ma Huabao’s performance is nothing more than wanting to take some credit for himself before the end of the war. Fortunately, the new dynasty has gained a firm foothold. It is not that Ma Huabao really has the ability to fight against the Manchus. Courage, he can only be said to want to beat the dog in the water.

However, as the chief general who brought troops to reinforce Feng County, he now has the same position as Ma Huabao, and he also wants the credit. I felt that I was suddenly short of others, because no one else had such a bad experience, and the officials and the people could not blame Li Zicheng who left him behind, so they could only redeem themselves on the battlefield. Face lost, so is there a better chance than now?

So Guan Fumin thought for a moment, and then continued with Ma Huabao's words, "Vice Chief Ma is right, the Qing army did not show any will to fight in this battle, especially the troops set up by our army outside the village. After the suspicious soldiers were mobilized, the Qing army abandoned its chief and colleagues and fled. This was a rare scene in the past. Therefore, Vice President Ma said that the morale of the Qing army has declined, and I agree.

At this time, we really can't miss the opportunity and shrink back and dare not fight, otherwise we will give the Qing army a chance to adjust.Let me tell you that our current goal should not be to regain a few lost territories, but to focus on a part of the Qing army. If we can annihilate a part of the Qing army when it is not prepared, then the Qing army will not be able to persist ..."

Song Xiance heard the propositions of the two guest generals, and turned his attention to He Dacheng, the guard of the city. Under Song Xiance's gaze, the Feng County defender thought for a while and then said: "Your Majesty said, This war is a confrontation between our army and the Qing army, not a battle between my family and the Qing army, so the overall situation must be considered when fighting or defending.

The commander of the brigade had four regiments under his command, plus two artillery companies and some supply troops, the total strength was just over [-] men.With such a force, it is more than enough to defend Feng County, but it is not enough to attack.Unless His Majesty can order that the troops from Cao County to Shan County cooperate with the brigade commander to fight and restrain the troops in other areas of the Qing army from moving, otherwise the brigade commander's attack plan will not be feasible. "

He Dacheng's objection made Guan Fumin and Ma Huabao very dissatisfied, so the two argued with He Dacheng, but He Dacheng firmly grasped one point, that is, His Majesty's consent must be obtained for the attack, otherwise he would resolutely oppose sending troops , This makes any rhetoric of Guan Fumin and Ma Huabao pale.

Song Xiance turned his gaze to Wu Changyin, the staff officer at the side, and asked him, "Wu Staff Officer, what's your opinion on this?"

Wu Changyin, 31 years old, former Xuzhou Wei Baihu, when he heard the question from his superior, he immediately got up and replied respectfully: "I think the generals are right."

Hearing such a gentle answer, He, Guan, and Ma were clearly dissatisfied, and all three turned their gazes to him. Song Xiance was more protective of his subordinates, so he immediately stopped them Before asking: "How?"

Now that Wu Changyin had sorted out his thoughts, he went on to say: "It is true that the morale of the Qing army is low, but it may not be true to say that the Qing army has no power to fight back, because the main force of the Qing army in the Dingtao area has not yet moved. Therefore, if we attack rashly, the risk is still very high.

The current confrontation between us and the Qing army is an overall confrontation, not a battle between one unit and another. Any change in any point will affect new changes in the overall situation.So what General He said is correct, without His Majesty's personal approval, without the cooperation of the various troops on the entire front, our attack is just a blind attack out of the overall situation, and may not have a good impact on the overall situation.

And His Majesty also said: War is not only a confrontation between armies, but also a confrontation between people.Therefore, if we want to win the war, we must first eliminate people. If we want to win this war, we must do two things. We cannot let the Qing army destroy our people, and eliminate as many people as possible.Starting from these two points, the attack should also be carried out with the cooperation of the entire front. Only in this way can we achieve the goal of the attack. "

He Dacheng withdrew his gaze in satisfaction, nodded to Song Xiance and said, "What Staff Officer Wu said is exactly what I mean."

Although Ma Huabao was still a little bit dissatisfied, but seeing the silence of the officials around him, he also closed his mouth wisely.On the other hand, Song Xiance listened to the opinions of several people present, and also roughly understood the respective positions of these generals.For example, Ma Huabao just wanted to take advantage of it, Guan Fumin wanted to prove himself, He Dacheng maintained his loyalty to Li Zicheng, and Staff Wu made an explanation from the standpoint of the General Staff.

He just thought about it for a moment and knew that Wu Changyin's statement was the most in line with his position, because to the General Staff, the military exploits of one or two troops were actually meaningless, and what they were after was overall victory.At this moment, let Guan Fumin and Ma Huabao attack, even if they win a game, it may not add any advantage to the overall victory, but if they lose, it may cause the situation to get out of control, so after thinking about it, he decided to support Wu Changyin's statement.

After thinking about it, Song Xiance coughed a few times, and after attracting the attention of several people, he said: "The morale of the Qing army has been shaken. Of course, we must take this opportunity to continue to suppress the morale of the Qing army. Therefore, It is very necessary to take the initiative to launch an attack on the Qing army.

But what General He and Staff Officer Wu said was true. This was a battle between two armies, not a battle between some armies and some Qing troops.Therefore, we still need to consider our own action plan from the overall front, and it is inevitable to ask His Majesty's permission and the cooperation of various troops.

However, we must also pay attention to one point, if we only propose to His Majesty that the time is ripe for a counterattack, then it is His Majesty's decision-making power to launch a counterattack.It's just that the troops that are more suitable for launching a counterattack now are actually our troops in Feng County. As for the troops from Guide, it is safest to use them as a reserve team after the counterattack.

Therefore, in order to ensure that we can be the first to launch a counterattack, my idea is to first come up with a formal counterattack plan, clarifying the target we want to attack and how we plan to launch a counterattack, so that it will be easier for His Majesty to determine that we will launch a counterattack ..."

Song Xiance's words took care of all aspects, so everyone present did not have any objections. Everyone only hoped that their achievements would not be robbed by others. After ensuring this, their respective positions converged.

When Song Xiance asked Wu Changyin where it was appropriate to launch a counterattack, he replied to Song Xiance: "To the north of Fengxian County are the cities of Jinxiang and Yutai, and to the northwest is Shanxian County.

Now Jinxiang has been occupied by the Qing army, and the Qing army is besieging Yutai City by the lake.Yutai is the farthest from Dingtao, and Jinxiang is not only the connection point between Shan County and Yutai, but also the only way to Jining.

If the Qing army captures Yutai City, then our connection with Jining will be severed.If we send troops to the north to retake Jinxiang, the Qing army will have to stop its attack on Yutai, which is tantamount to smashing the Qing army's attempt to cut off our connection with Jining.Then the Qing army lost the meaning of continuing to fight us.

Because the Qing army that can't take Yutai can neither threaten Jining's flanks, nor can it confront our army here for a long time..."

Chapter 498 Steel One

Wu Changyin's suggestion was quickly recognized by the generals present. Even He Dacheng didn't want to make contributions. If he could get Li Zicheng's approval, he would naturally get credit for launching a counterattack from Feng County. After all, he is now The chief general of the Daying Camp in Fengxian County.

So Song Xiance decided to ask Wu Changyin to write out the counterattack plan tonight, and then send it to Guide tomorrow together with his letter, and ask Li Zicheng to judge it himself.After dealing with this matter, he wrote another letter to Yuan Yuzong, who stayed behind in Xuzhou, inquiring about the casting progress of the cannon at the Liguo Iron Works, requesting that the completed cannon be transported to Feng County, and dispatch another batch of gunpowder and bombs. And firearms up.

Song Xiance's letter was sent to Yuan Yuzong early the next morning, so Yuan Yuzong called Du Yizhong, the secretary-general of the general office, and asked him about the situation of the Military Weapons Supervision.

Du Yizhong quickly sorted out the clues and replied: "The quantity of gunpowder we produce ourselves is about 14 catties per month, mainly produced in Xuzhou and Huai'an; in addition, we also purchase 6 catties per month, mainly from Nanjing. , Fujian, Guangdong, etc. The quality of our own production is the best, and the quality of purchased gunpowder is uneven, and can only be used to load fire mines and old firearms such as three-eyed blunderbuss and tiger crouching guns.

According to our assessment of front-line operations, a battle of about 2 troops can consume nearly 20 catties of gunpowder a day, and 2 catties of gunpowder is the amount used to maintain two divisions for ten days.According to Chief Song's request, the gunpowder we transfer to Feng County must not be less than [-] catties, and it cannot be purchased gunpowder. This may affect the gunpowder compensation to other parties. "

Yuan Yuzong thought carefully about the counterattack plan Song Xiance mentioned in the letter, and still made up his mind and said: "Priority is to ensure the supply of President Song's side. Their side may be the key to ending this war. Then the muskets and cannons What about the problem?"

Seeing that Yuan Yuzong had already made a decision, Du Yizhong skipped the issue of gunpowder and explained the issue of muskets and cannons, "If it is an old firearm such as a three-eyed blunderbuss or a tiger crouching cannon, then it can be purchased from Nanjing and other places. There are still a lot of stocks shipped in, and the quantity required by President Song can fully meet. But if it is the latest design of matchlock guns, our current monthly output is only 300 pieces, and the less powerful bird guns have thousands of guns per month. The remaining branches, but mostly from Yangzhou and Nanjing. However, the latter has little lethality against soldiers wearing cotton armor.

As for the casting of cannons, the Liguo Iron Works cast a batch, but the success rate was only 9%. Only 21 of the 14 cannons were finally qualified. Of the remaining 7 cannons, [-] were completely unusable, and the remaining [-] cannons were completely unusable. The door has various problems, and it is estimated that it can only be sold to merchant ships to deter pirates.

The two main problems faced by the military inspectorate were the shortage of fuel and iron materials. In addition to the civil affairs department's requirement to ensure that a part of iron materials were used to make farm tools, the large demand for barbed wire on the front line also squeezed out a lot of iron materials.In addition, the Liguo Iron Works also used a lot of iron materials to build some railway tracks, or they could be asked to stop building the railway tracks first and use the iron materials for weapon making. "

Yuan Yuzong knew about the fact that the Liguo Iron Works spent a lot of iron to build the road on the ground. He knew better that it was Li Zicheng's proposal, and that the Li Guo Iron Works just followed Li Zicheng's suggestion.If it was on weekdays, then he would naturally not think of blocking this matter, and there is no need to make Li Zicheng unhappy.

For him or others, it is really unbelievable to build a railway on the ground to transport materials. In their opinion, if they really want to increase the transportation capacity, digging a canal is more useful than building any railways.It's just that the construction of a canal requires geography, geological conditions, water sources, and a lot of manpower. Now Dashun really doesn't have the energy to think about this issue.

Yuan Yuzong suddenly remembered something, so he asked, "Did the railway from Liuquan Town to Sanmaoshan Iron Mine be repaired last month?"

Du Yizhong nodded and replied: "Yes, but there was a car accident on the first day of opening to traffic, and then the vehicle was modified again. It should be re-tested in the past two days."

Yuan Yuzong then made up his mind and said: "You tell people to prepare the horses. I'll go to Liuquan Town to have a look. If the railway is still not working well, then it's time to stop and use the iron materials in more important places."

Du Yizhong agreed and went out to arrange a trip for Yuan Yuzong. Here, Yuan Yuzong also returned to his office and changed into a set of arrow clothes suitable for riding a horse.When he walked out of his yard, a troop of cavalry was already waiting in front of the gate. Yuan Yuzong gave a few instructions to Du Yizhong who was seeing him off, and then got on his horse and led the guards out of the east gate.

Today is a cloudy day, and it is still a bit cold to be blown by the head-on wind while riding a horse.However, Yuan Yuzong also noticed that the willow trees by the Yellow River had already sprouted buds, and several peach blossoms by the roadside were in bloom. Spring had indeed arrived.Seeing the breath of spring, Yuan Yuzong did not relax, but rather worried.

He wasn't worried that the war would be lost. According to the information collected from various places, he knew that the Manchus were powerless to fight, and it was only a matter of time before they retreated.What he is worried about now is that if Man Qing refuses to admit defeat and drags Dashun to delay the spring plowing, then it will be a big problem for Dashun.

As the logistics planner responsible for the entire war, Yuan Yuzong more intuitively faced it than anyone else, how much material was consumed in this war.Li Zicheng's way of dealing with war is completely different from that of the Ming court. The Ming court has always spent as little as possible on war, and sometimes even counts on the army to serve the court hungry.

The reason why the Ming court treats the army in this way is because the officials in the court have no interest relationship with the army, and they will not be retaliated against if they deduct the army. It is bound to be criticized by other officials, because these officials are not only worried that the court will increase taxes on the gentry, but also want to do something good for their hometown in order to improve their prestige in the village.

In this way, there will be disputes when everyone mentions tax increases, but no one stands up to oppose the reduction of military expenditures. Although anyone with a discerning eye knows that this kind of harsh treatment of the military must pay a greater price. But for the sake of a little profit in front of them, no one is willing to stand up and let their own interests be damaged.

And Chongzhen, who came to power from a vassal king, was almost a layman in politics. He didn't realize that the army was the basis for the existence of the Ming Dynasty. The harsh treatment of the army made him lose the military's allegiance.Without the threat of the army, the gentry simply didn't bother to pay attention to the orders issued by him, the emperor.

But for Li Zicheng, whether it is now or in the past, he regards the army as his foundation, and now he puts the maintenance of the daily supply of the army above all else.Relying on the policy of giving priority to the army, the Ming army who surrendered to Dashun after Li Zicheng went south almost quickly recognized his new identity.

This is also when Li Zicheng led the army to the north, the soldiers who were coerced by the generals to surrender had no morale at all. After Li Zicheng defeated the Manchus, they immediately turned back.Perhaps the officers were dissatisfied with Dashun's military discipline, but for ordinary soldiers, although the Shun army's military discipline was strict, Li Zicheng could feed them well, which was much better than that of the Ming court.

As for the Manchus, although they can feed them, they have to go to the civilians to rob them. Although robbing can make a little money, if the Manchus can't beat Li Zicheng, then they would rather come back and eat their fill.After all, most of the looting was taken away by the officers, so it's not worth it to fight for a little money and the Shunjun.

Judging from the maintenance of the morale of the Shun army, Yuan Yuzong did not deny that Li Zicheng's army-first policy was effective, but he also believed that running a country like this would obviously not last long, because the army could not produce any materials. All the supplies needed by the army come from the supply of the people, and with the current size of the Shun Army, just maintaining this army will almost consume the equivalent of one year's income of the Ming Dynasty, so what money does the imperial court have for flood control? and do other things?

The reason why Dashun's finances have not collapsed is because Li Zicheng has pledged all his income for the next ten years to the bank. The money borrowed from the people through the bank is actually Dashun's income for the next few years. Unless Li Zicheng plans to renege on his debts, otherwise From now on, everyone can only drink northwest wind.Li Zicheng had nothing to fear, he still spent a lot of the borrowed money, as if he was spending big money instead of real money.

However, officials like Yuan Yuzong still started to panic. They didn't want Dashun to go bankrupt, nor did they want Li Zicheng to renege on his debts.Because they are now officials of Dashun, the downfall of Dashun is obviously of no benefit to them. The other is that they have also bought a lot of national debt. If Li Zicheng reneges on his debts, they will also suffer losses.

Therefore, the officials in the Marshal's Mansion now hope to end the war with the north as soon as possible, and then take real control of the southern provinces, because only by controlling the south can they raise taxes on the southern provinces, so as to make up for Dashun's financial hole.After all, Dashun's court is mainly composed of northerners, so these officials have no psychological pressure at all to raise taxes to the south to repay the national debt of the northerners.

In particular, the better Li Zicheng fought on the front line, the louder his voice would be in Xuzhou, because the good news coming from the front line means that everyone should stop worrying about life and death. After that, what should Dashun do next.Of course, no matter what Dashun did, they had to take care of their interests first. Anyway, they had done their best for Dashun, so there should be something in return.

It's just that people like Yuan Yuzong can distinguish priorities. No matter what Dashun should do after the war is over, the first thing to do is to end the war. After all, they can't do anything without ending the war.Under the threat of war, it was impossible for Li Zicheng to discuss matters other than war with them.

Yuan Yuzong also had to admit that only such a stubborn Li Zicheng could repel the Manchus going south, because under his firm will, the Marshal's Mansion is now only operating around one thing, and no other voices are allowed at all .If it was the Great Ming Dynasty Hall in the past, there would definitely be people running out to gain favor with the common people, such as complaining about the heavy taxes on the common people, but in the current Dashun, such voices are simply not allowed to be published.

Chapter 499 Steel II

Liuquan is famous for the large number of willow trees planted beside the spring. This spring flows in all seasons and is crystal clear. The Jiawang Spring in the east is also a famous big spring in Xuzhou. However, before the stone mountain post was removed, Liuquan was just a A small village with a beautiful scenery, although it is five miles away from Shishan Station, but it does not share the benefits brought by the post road. Instead, it has to provide manpower and food for the post station, which can be described as miserable.

However, after the Shishan Station was removed, Liuquan people spent nearly ten years working hard to open up the Erlang Mountain Pass. Compared with the Lushan Pass that the original post road passed through, the Erlang Mountain Pass has a flat terrain and straight roads, so they immediately obtained the pass. Favored by tourists and merchants, Liuquan became lively.By the sixth year of Longqing, Liuquan Village had almost replaced Shishanyi and became a must-go place for traveling between the north and the south.

At that time, Liu Shunzhi, the magistrate of Xuzhou, saw that officials and businessmen from the north and the south liked to go to Liuquan, and as a small village, Liuquan had no suitable place to receive distinguished guests, so he simply demolished the building of Shishan Post Station, which was sparsely populated. A mansion was established in Liuquan.Although this move greatly stimulated the development of Liuquan, but with the continuous wars during the Chongzhen period, the businessmen from the north and the south were cut off, and the prosperity of Liuquan declined again until Li Zicheng led his army south.

Although Liuquan is surrounded by hills, because of sufficient water sources, there are seven rivers formed by the accumulation of mountains and waters alone, and the high terrain will not be flooded by the Yellow River, so the local area is indeed a place suitable for the development of agriculture.

After the Shun army cleaned up the bandits and cottages around Xuzhou, the law and order around Liuquan quickly improved, and the business routes that had been cut off were once again opened up.The population brought south by the Shun army from the north also brought sufficient labor to the local area, and many new villages were quickly built around Liuquan.

However, compared with the improvement of social security and population migration, the action of Marshal Dou to rebuild the Liguo Iron Works can be regarded as the last cornerstone for Liuquan to be upgraded from a village to a town.Coal, iron ore, and limestone were found in the hills around Liuquan, and especially high-quality coal suitable for smelting steel was found in Jiawang. become more important.

When Yuan Yuzong arrived at Liuquan on horseback, he suddenly found that the village had expanded a lot compared to last month. Compared with last summer when there were only a hundred households, now it has at least increased to nearly a thousand households. Such a population growth rate is really hard for him to see. It is estimated that only when Beijing was rebuilt in the early Ming Dynasty and the rich households in the south of the Yangtze River moved to the north could such a scene be seen.

After Liuquan Village was upgraded to a town, a guardian was set up here, and part of the original Liuquan Mansion was requisitioned for the office of the yamen.When Yuan Yuzong dismounted in front of the mansion, Liang Er, the mayor of the town, and Wang Yong, the head of the military inspector stationed in the town, hurried out to meet him after hearing the news.

Yuan Yuzong rejected the two people's request to invite him to the reception, and said directly to the two: "I still have to go to the Liguo Iron Works, I can't stay here for a long time, you can prepare some meals and feed the horses." In addition, I also want to see the current situation of Liuquan, you can accompany me to the village."

Of course, Liang Er and Wang Yong would not object. They hurriedly walked in front of Yuan Yuzong, and while taking the Shangguan to watch the workshop area, residential area and commercial area under construction in the local area, they reported the progress and details of these constructions. overhead.

After going around more than half of the village, Yuan Yuzong was satisfied with both the local construction progress and the report of the two of them.Although winter is not suitable for construction, the craftsmen still came up with a lot of ways to speed up the construction, and as the weather got warmer, the construction progress accelerated again. This is obviously a good sign, because the faster the construction, the faster the construction. You can save a lot of costs.

As for the reports of Liang Er and Wang Yong, they were almost all real things, and they didn't make some inconspicuous things to fool themselves, which made Yuan Yuzong quite satisfied.You must know that in the Ming Dynasty, everyone generally did not do things seriously, but thought out how to treat Shangguan and colleagues in such a way. As long as the Shangguan and colleagues can be satisfied, then he is a good official who understands human feelings. Liu Shunzhi demolished Shishan Didn't the purpose of building the Liuquan mansion in the post is to make the officials who pass by Liuquan live more comfortably, so that they can think about themselves?

Of course, if it was in the Ming Dynasty, it would be impossible for Yuan Yuzong to inquire about work matters as soon as he got off the horse. At least he should get close to the local villagers first, take a look at the local scenery, and then write a few poems to publicize Let's talk about my hard work.If you don't publicize, how will the court know what you have done?

After Liu Shunzhi built the Liuquan Mansion, he also wrote a small article commemorating the construction process of the Mansion, lest colleagues and nobles living in the Liuquan Mansion do not know whose credit it is.Of course, this is not unrelated to the unspoken rules of officialdom in the Ming Dynasty, or the unspoken rules of previous dynasties. After all, the Holy Son of Heaven is in power, and the world is in harmony. How can officials have anything to do?

With this in mind, although the power of local officials is great, there is really nothing practical to do. For example, the two most important duties of local officials are food collection and settlement. Food collection has always been controlled by local gentry Yes, if local officials interfere too much in grain collection affairs, they will be regarded as harsh officials, and it is not worthwhile to offend the local gentry.As for the settlement of cases, the quality of the Ming Dynasty's governance of the region was based on the lack of litigation. No matter how well you resolve the case, it only shows that you are not good at governing the region, so the people are not harmonious at all.

With these two main responsibilities removed, the only things local officials can do are: water control, enlightenment, and reception of colleagues.Flood control needs money, and Daming’s local fiscal revenue and expenditure are fixed, which means that it is difficult to add an extra expense. Not every local official has the ability of Haigangfeng to order the gentry to contribute money and the common people to contribute. It is for the local flood control, so there are few local officials who will make such troubles for themselves, not to mention that the flood control can not be completed within a few years, that is to say, you have contributed, but the result is the successor, which is even more people. No motivation anymore.