Nanjing City, Dagongfang.

On August 15, during the Mid-Autumn Festival, the nobles and ministers in Nanjing were invited to gather in the Dagongfang to listen to the opera and admire the moon.

The Mid-Autumn Festival was supposed to be a day of reunion, but these nobles and ministers of Nanjing City were unusual, and all the heads and faces came to Dagongfang to eat moon cakes.

The mooncakes are delicious, but there is no festive atmosphere. After the dinner, when everyone gathered in the hall to drink tea, everyone was sad, and the atmosphere was so depressing that people couldn't breathe.

The situation is unfavorable!

The prince of Yangzhou acted too ruthlessly, and defeated Jiang Yuntai, the general soldier of Zhenjiang at both ends of the first rat, with the power of thunder, and forced Wang Zhiren and Huang Binqing, the two general soldiers, to surrender their military power. Zhenjiang, Changzhou, Suzhou, Songjiang, Ningbo, Jiaxing, Huzhou, Shaoxing, and Hangzhou in the lower reaches of Nanjing also fell into the hands of the Xing Dynasty.

These nine mansions, plus the two mansions of Huaiyang, are all places where the wealth of the world gathers! Zhu Cihong took these eleven mansions, which is equivalent to controlling more than half of the wealth of the Ming Dynasty!

What's worse is that the Yangtze River estuary and three of the four major silk centers are now all in Zhu Cihong's hands.

If Zheng Zhilong, the big sea kou in Fujian, still wants to do business happily, he has to take refuge in Zhu Cihong...... In this way, the two provinces of Fujian and Guangdong will soon become the territory of the dynasty.

And the Tartars in the north and the rogues in the west have inexplicably softened. Not only did they not send troops to attack Shandong and Huaixi, but they also sued for peace at the same time.

Dolgon, the regent of Dongyu, wanted to marry his daughter to Prince Zhu. And Li Zicheng had no daughter to marry, so he simply proposed to be a minister - Gu Junen has now arrived in Wuchang!

is married to a daughter again, and is a minister, whether it is sincere or false, it is not Zhu Cihong's trouble for the time being.

And it will also greatly enhance the prestige of Prince Zhu!

At the same time, Zuo Liangyu, who was originally inclined to Nanjing, planned to send an envoy to Yangzhou to show his deference to the court.

In this way, the situation is very unfavorable for Nanjing!

Of course, the good news is not without it.

"Grandpa, the prince seems to have taken a step back...... "The person who spoke was a man with a short figure, a national character face, a big beard, thirty or forty years old, it was the Admiral Cao Jiang Shui Shi Cheng Bo Liu Kongzhao.

Liu Kongzhao is a descendant of Liu Bowen, but his sincerity was not inherited from Liu Bowen all the way, but was renewed by Emperor Jiajing - the sincerity passed down by Liu Bowen was broken when Liu Bowen's grandson Liu Di was born. In the Jiajing period, he continued to crown Liu Yu, the sixth grandson of Liu Diao, as the sincere uncle.

Because it has been broken for more than 100 years in the middle, the wealth of the sincere uncle family cannot be compared with those nobles who have not been broken. However, the motivation and talent of the sincere uncle family are also much stronger than those uncles who have been open for more than 200 years.

Liu Kongzhao and his grandfather Liu Shiyan have both done a career that can write a few more strokes in history.

Among these nobles in Nanjing, he and Chang Yanling, the Marquis of Huaiyuan, who was also renewed, are more capable masters.

Liu Kongzhao has been in charge of the river master for many years, and he has some strength at hand. Although the Xing Dynasty has also established the Yangtze River Naval Division, this Yangtze River Naval Division is newly built after all, and the foundation is still the grain transport army operating on the canal and the water thieves at the mouth of the river of Gu San Mazi, who are not familiar with the river situation west of the Nanjing section, and it is very likely that they will suffer losses if they rashly advance westward.

Therefore, the Jiangshui Master is the only force in the hands of Nanjing Xungui that makes Zhu Cihong a little jealous.

"Ahem, ahem, ahem......"

Xu Hongji, the Duke of Wei who was suffering from tuberculosis, had another heart-rending cough, and the maids who were waiting around him were busy for a while, and it was best to bring out a spittoon to let the old man spit out the old blood!

Mrs. Xu's face was a little more gray than the last time she saw the big guy! Looking at this, it doesn't seem to be going to last long......

Xu Hongji, who finally breathed a sigh of relief, opened his mouth, and a pair of cloudy old eyes were still slowly swept around the room, taking everyone's faces into their eyes. Finally, he exhaled and said, "You all want to take a break?" ”

Linhuai Marquis Li Zushu nodded and said, "Grandpa, if this situation continues to be confronted, it will not be good for us!" Not to mention anything else, the eleven wealth-gathering prefectures in the southeast are all controlled by the prince, and the estuary of the Yangtze River is also in the hands of the prince's army. We only have Yingtian Yifu...... If we drag it out, will we still have enough money to spend?

In order to rectify the Jingying squad army in Nanjing, we have spent 300,000 taels! 300,000! Now the Beijing battalion army has to pay more than 100,000 taels of silver every month, and we are supported by our own money. If the confrontation lasts for a few months, and the prince does not need to send troops to fight, we will be exhausted just by consuming military salaries! ”

This Marquis of Linhuai is the descendant of Li Wenzhong and Li Jinglong, Li Jinglong was unloaded and killed by Zhu Di in the Yongle years, removed the title, and went on a hunger strike at home to lose weight - starved for ten days and did not die, and then lived until the end of Yongle. Although his descendants no longer have titles, they still have hereditary commands to do. In the Jiajing period, he continued to be a Linhuai Marquis.

And this year's Linhuai Marquis is clever enough, he was an official in Beijing, but when he saw that the signs were wrong, he slipped away before the Beijing city gate was closed on March 12, the 17th year of Chongzhen.

As soon as Lin Huaihou spoke, the echoing voice immediately rose.

"Yes, Huang Yushi said that he could raise money for us, but he hasn't seen a tael of silver until now!"

"We're all paying for it!"

"I raised a million taels before, and it's only been a long time, and it's almost spent, and it's not a way to drag on King Qin's affairs all the time."

"If we raise money from Nanjing, we will still bleed ......"

"It's hard to collect the money on the river! The merchant ships coming from Hankou Town are all under the banner of General Ping, and we will offend Zuo Liangyu if we have to collect taxes! ”

"Can't be delayed! The prince has eleven rich mansions in his hands! After the tax is paid in the spring of next year, the prince will have an extra few million taels of silver on hand! ”

"More than a few million, the fields of the eleven prefectures can have more than 10 million stones! The salt tax in Huaiyang Erfu for half a year was 3 million taels...... There are also the tax packages of the North and South Oceans and the commercial taxes of the eleven prefectures, both of which are two million taels. ”

"With so much money, how can we fight him? Where there is money, there are soldiers! He now has six land divisions, two water divisions, and seven military guards, with nearly 100,000 troops. In another half a year, there will be an army of 150,000 people, let's still fight a fart! ”

"Ahem, ahem!" Xu Hongji coughed violently again, and the nobles and ministers present were silent for a while, and they all looked at the terminally ill Duke of Wei.

"Uncle Sincerity," Wei Guogong looked at Liu Kongzhao, "You are resourceful here, you say." ”

Liu Kongzhao stroked his beard, his face was solemn, and he shook his head and said: "The prince is coercing the princes of the Son of Heaven, and now he has mastered the eleven prefectures in the southeast. And our side is too passive...... Can you always lead your troops to attack Zhenjiang? What banner can you play? This time, the prince sent soldiers and horse officials to occupy the nine mansions in the south of the Yangtze River, except for the battle of Jiang Yuntai in Zhenjiang, everywhere else was bloodless. Doctor Jiangnan has no one to raise troops to resist the prince! Why is that? Isn't it because the crown prince has the banner of the saint in his hands? Resisting the prince is a rebellion! ”

Jiangnan Jiufu Shi Dafu did not resist not only because Zhu Cihong controlled Emperor Chongzhen, but also because he did not violate the bottom line of the southeast Shi Dafu - the tax exemption privilege of the Shi Dafu!

The benefits of the salt tax mainly belonged to the nobles and high-ranking officials, and the vast majority of the southeastern scholars were not qualified to get involved in the salt tax. Moreover, Zhu Cihong also left a certain profit space for the four salts of the Hui Gang, so that they could continue to convey some of the benefits to the backstage bosses.

The interests of the guards belonged to the nobles, hereditary military attachés, and military scholars, and it was difficult for civilian scholars to get involved.

In other words, Zhu Cihong's current infringement on the interests of the majority of the gentry in the southeast is not serious, and it is only the military scholars and doctors in the Huaiyang Second Prefecture who have been harmed. Therefore, the reaction of the Southeast Scholar was relatively negative, and he was still able to tolerate Prince Zhu.

Besides, Chongzhen's righteous title is still in Zhu Cihong's hands!

How could these guys who read the books of sages challenge the prince who has a righteous reputation when their own interests are not obviously damaged?

In this case, the nobles of Nanjing were very passive and could not take the initiative at all.

Liu Kongzhao then said: "And there is still a trump card in the prince's hand that has not been released!" ”

"And the trump card?" Xu Hongji's white eyebrows tightened.

"Yes!" Liu Kongzhao said, "The prince can still open Enke!" He has the saint in his hand and the court, so he can open a branch and get scholars. In the process of moving south, the imperial court lost a lot of officials, and it was just time to open an enke to make up for the manpower.

And most of the Northland has fallen, and there will be no more north-south lists! If the crown prince orders the opening of Enke, I am afraid that the southeast scholar will call him long live! ”

Xu Hongji's brows were already twisted into a ball, and he asked, "Then what do you say we should do?" ”

"It's better to have a plan!" Liu Kongzhao said, "Since the prince has taken a step back, let's also take a step back!" As long as the prince arrives in Nanjing, are we still afraid that there will be no chance? ”

"How do I get back?" Xu Hongji asked.

Liu Kongzhao thought about it and said: "If we promise to hand over 20 million mu of land, and then welcome the Holy Lord and the prince into Nanjing, the prince will definitely come with the Son of Heaven." ”

"Hand over 20 million acres? You...... Ahem......." Xu Hongji coughed loudly in anger, and almost lost his breath.

It was easy to recover, Liu Kongzhao frowned again and said: "Grandpa, the problem now is that the prince and the saint are willing to come to Nanjing, they are here, so we have a way!" Otherwise, if it drags on for a year and a half, this silver will be spent! ”

"Then they're coming, can we beat it?" Xu Hongji asked again.

"This ......," Liu Kongzhao looked at Zhao Zhilong.

"Beat it!" Zhao Zhilong's eyes rolled and said, "Although the prince has many soldiers and horses, they have been scattered all over the place, and the most people and horses in his hands are only twenty or thirty thousand. If we give in to the prince, he will definitely get carried away and lead the 20,000 or 30,000 people stationed in Yangzhou into Nanjing without waiting for the army to concentrate...... We still have a chance! ”