Although he did not stuff a large number of people into the imperial court, Ning Zhiyuan still asked his little son-in-law Chi Fei to conduct a comprehensive inventory of the entire Great Wei treasury as a messenger.

Ning Zhiyuan urgently needed to know how much silver, grain and grass were still in the treasury today.

Only by knowing these specific data can he determine his future plans, so he deliberately asked his little son-in-law, who is proficient in arithmetic, to do this.

As a result, after careful calculation, Chi Fei found that there was not much silver, grain and grass left in the treasury at all, and it was completely an empty shell with no appearance.

However, this can also be understood, the so-called soldiers and horses move, gold ten thousand taels.

The Xie family dispatched troops everywhere, and in order to raise military salaries and grain and grass to defend against the Hu people, they had already emptied the treasury.

In addition, the plague was rampant in the provinces south of the Yangtze River, and the price of grain soared, which further burdened the imperial court, which was already in the stage of eating grain.

It can be said that even if the Hu people do not come in, judging from the financial situation of the imperial court, which is close to collapse, the Wei army will sooner or later have a rebellion due to lack of food and salary.

Faced with such a bad financial situation, Ning Zhiyuan couldn't help but feel a headache, and immediately called a group of henchmen over to discuss a solution.

"You all already know what the state of the treasury is now.

If any of you have any suggestions, please feel free to bring them up and discuss them together. After everyone had seen the results of the audit done by Chi Fei, Ning Zhiyuan said straight to the point.

"Jiangnan is obviously the capital, grain and tax land of the Great Wei, how could the Xie family operate like this, is the disaster in Jiangnan really so serious?" Li Dingbei frowned.

"Indeed, I can't figure it out either." Xiao Zhijian was also very confused.

"Ah Zhen, tell them about the situation of the puppet dynasty."

"Yes, father-in-law.

General Li, General Xiao, in fact, since the million-strong army led by Emperor Zhao Yanfeng of Shuntian launched the southern expedition in the southern region, the imperial court's finances have been in trouble.

Not to mention anything else, the daily consumption of grain and grass by the army of the Southern Expedition alone was enough to make the treasury unable to make ends meet.

Therefore, the Xie family wanted to recover the southern region as soon as possible with an overwhelming number of troops, so as not to run out of grain and grass in the rear.

However, no one expected that the Southern Expedition army was ambushed by the Hu people halfway, resulting in the annihilation of the entire army.

In this way, the imperial court lost not only these millions of men and horses, but also countless grain, grass, baggage and other materials.

What is even more tragic is that the pensions of those soldiers who died in battle have not been paid until now.

In order to fill the vacancies of the soldiers who died in battle, the imperial court could only recruit new soldiers in large numbers and manufacture new weapons in large quantities.

But whether it is recruiting new soldiers or building weapons, it requires a lot of silver, a lot of silver.

In order to fill this hole, the imperial court had to raise taxes, and they became heavier and heavier every year.

The Xie family itself was a well-known family, and they were afraid that those wealthy families who owned a lot of land would unite against them, so they did not dare to collect taxes from those people, and could only impose taxes on many yeoman farmers.

However, because the tax is so heavy, many yeoman farmers cannot afford to pay the tax at all, so they can only sell their fields and even sell their children and daughters to make ends meet.

Those wealthy families took the opportunity to hoard a large amount of land, and took those homeless farmers as hidden households to help them farm for free.

This creates a vicious circle.

The more the Xie family raised taxes, the more farmers lost their land. The Xie family, who were undertaxed, had to raise taxes again and again, with the result that more farmers abandoned their fields and became recluses.

In the end, the fat are just those wealthy families who take the opportunity to hoard land.

This is the reason why the civil unrest in various parts of the Great Wei is getting worse and worse year by year.

The Xie family moved the capital to Jiangnan, perhaps one of their intentions was to get rid of this big burden.

After arriving in Jiangnan, although the Xie family did not need to recruit a large number of soldiers, they had a hole that cost a lot to fill.

That is to let the Ministry of Industry manufacture a large number of firecrackers regardless of the cost.

Don't look at this thing as inconspicuous, but it is extremely labor-intensive and material-intensive to manufacture on a large scale, and it is very silver-burning.

In particular, the Ministry of Engineering only has the drawings and samples of the previous dynasty, and they need to explore and develop them little by little, which costs even more.

If the Xie family has been operating in Jiangnan for several years, although the expenses spent on the fire gun are large, they can afford it.

But since the day the Xie family really moved the capital to Jiangnan, it has not even been a year, and it can be said that it has not even been hot yet.

At this moment, the Hu people and the plague came together.

In order to resist the Hu people and control the plague, the already insufficient treasury naturally could not last long.

As far as I know, the Xie family is even ready to attack the wealthy families in Jiangnan who have nothing to do with it. I want to force them to pay food and silver, and if they don't pay, they will go straight to grab it.

As a result, before they could make a move, the Hu people came to Xinjing's side, which made them have no time to take care of anything else. ”

"I see, no wonder the Xie family, who occupies such a good piece of territory in Jiangnan, will be poor like this." Li Beiding and Xiao Zhijian suddenly realized.

Ning Yafeng said with a smile: "You deserve to be like this." In our northwest and northeast, which family dares to play tricks under our noses. Unless he wants to try it, the taste of being robbed of his family and exterminated. ”

Chi Fei explained: "Second brother, this side of Jiangnan is different from the northwest and northeast, not only is there the largest number of powerful families, but they also collude with each other through marriage and other means.

It's not that the Xie family doesn't want to attack these Jiangnan families, but they are afraid that they will unite and rebel together.

Even before the outbreak of the plague, there were Hu people eyeing the south, and our Northwest Army was waiting for an opportunity in the north, An Guogong and others had long been too busy to take care of themselves, where would they dare to offend these Jiangnan families.

Therefore, the appetite of borers in these places will be raised more and more, forming a stubborn disease that is difficult to cure. ”

Ning Yabai agreed: "Ah Zhen is reasonable, the Xie family is indeed afraid that those Jiangnan families will unite against them, so they will be afraid and dare not act rashly.

But for those insatiable family heroes, using force is the only way, otherwise don't try to force them to spit out what they swallowed.

Xie Mingshun is really old, and he is becoming more and more timid in doing things, which will lead to the phenomenon of local mergers becoming more and more serious. ”

"Don't go too far, get back to business. Lao Zhang, what do you think about this? Ning Zhiyuan asked his confidants and staff on the side.

Zhang Wenxuan arched his hand and said: "My lord, my subordinates think that we should guide the displaced people from all over the country to return to their hometowns to farm and resume farming as soon as possible.

The climate in the south of the Yangtze River is temperate and the soil is fertile, and many places can be harvested twice a year, or even three times a year, and it is a well-deserved grain production center in the Central Plains.

As long as the peasants are willing to return to their hometowns to farm, it may only take a year for the provinces south of the Yangtze River to recover.

As for the plague that the people feared, the lord could implement vaccination and treatment throughout the south of the Yangtze River, as the Northeast did, so as to prevent the plague from continuing to spread.

As long as the people are not afraid of the plague, and the local officials handle it properly, it will be much easier to guide the displaced people back to their hometowns. ”

Ning Zhiyuan nodded and said, "You're right, the most important thing now is to let the displaced people return to their hometowns to farm and restore grain production."

Only in this way can Jiangnan recover.

Ah Zhen, what do you think? ”

Chi Fei sorted out a line of thought, and then spoke: "Father-in-law, the son-in-law agrees with Mr. Zhang's suggestion. Now is indeed the time to guide the displaced people to return to their hometowns and resume farming as soon as possible.

It's just that the son-in-law's idea is a little different, and the son-in-law thinks that it is best to take a two-pronged approach now, replacing defense with offense. ”

"What is a two-pronged approach, you can tell me quickly."

"The first point is to follow Mr. Zhang's suggestion, first vaccinate the displaced people in various places with medicine to immunize and dispel sores, and then send troops to guide them to return to their hometowns to farm and resume production.

The second point is to use force against the Hu people in the southern region, and take advantage of the perfect opportunity when their main army is completely wiped out to recover the lost territory as much as possible. ”

"You want to start a southern expedition now? But how can we have so much food and grass to supply the army for an expedition? Ning Zhiyuan asked in surprise.

The others were also surprised, they didn't expect Chi Fei to pick this difficult period to launch a southern expedition.

Chi Fei didn't answer and asked: "Father-in-law, do you know why the Hu people never worry about the logistics of grain and grass?" ”

Ning Zhiyuan was stunned for a moment, and then his eyes lit up, "You mean, you want the expeditionary force to follow the example of the Hu people and loot on the spot to make up for it?" ”

"Yes.

The reason why the Han army often worries about making up for it is because of the lack of war horses in the Central Plains, and the army is mainly infantry.

Every time there is a war, not only do the soldiers have to move on foot, but they also have to go on the road with a large number of people who carry a lot of grain and grass and heavy loads.

This made the Han army not only move slowly every time they sent troops, but also had to support so many people on the march, and the consumption of grain and grass was extremely high.

If the war lasts for a long time, there is also a fear that the enemy will cut off the grain route halfway, causing problems in the supply of grain and grass.

Therefore, for the Han army, the supply of food and grass has always been a very headache.

But now it is different from the past, our Northwest Army has captured a large number of war horses from the Hu people, which has the advantage of being able to march as quickly as the Hu people.

Today, the entire southern region and most of the southwest region are all the territory of the Hu people.

Over the years, the Hu people have had a certain climate and scale in the governance and operation of these two territories.

Almost all the local Han people became slaves of the Hu people, and under their arbitrary beating and scolding, they worked for no compensation to raise these jackals outside the customs to be fat and strong.

According to the rough statistics of the spies I sent over, there were about 800,000 to 900,000 Hu people in the entire inland area.

Among them, there were about 350,000 regular soldiers, and the rest were all ordinary herdsmen, and they were mainly the Shazhen tribe, the relatives of the king of the Great Turks.

Although all the Hu people are soldiers, there is still a big gap between ordinary herdsmen and real soldiers.

Now that the main army of more than 200,000 led by the great Turkic prince Arobu has been completely wiped out by us, the remaining regular army of the Hu people in the southern region is only about 100,000.

With the firearms of muskets and flowering bullets in our hands, it was enough to send an expeditionary force consisting entirely of cavalry and wagons to sweep away the remnants of the Hu army entrenched there.

As for the logistics of grain and grass, we can completely follow the example of the Hu people, and make up for it locally every time we lay down a piece of land.

Since the entire expeditionary force consisted of cavalry and horse-drawn carriages, it could move much faster than an ordinary army that relied on a large number of men to transport food and forage.

Coupled with the help of firearms such as muskets and flowering shells, the expeditionary force can be said to be able to fight wherever it wants, and come and go freely. ”

When Ning Zhiyuan heard this, his eyes were already as blue as a bandit, and his face was full of excitement.

As for Li Dingbei, Xiao Zhijian, Ning Yabai, Ning Yafeng, Zhang Wenxuan and others were also surprised.

This is completely copying the Hu people's style of play, but the difference is that the Northwest Army still has muskets, flowering bullets and other weapons of mass destruction.

This alone is enough to crush the Hu people in terms of combat power. Otherwise, the army of more than 200,000 led by the eldest prince Arobu would not have died here.

In fact, in Chi Fei's view, this is not so much a copy of the Hu people's style of play, but a reference to the lightning tactics of Germany during World War II.

At the beginning of World War II, the German army relied on the high-speed movement of motorized troops and the heavy artillery support that enabled them to occupy many major powers, including Poland and France, in a very short period of time. The lightning tactics also became famous because of this.

Since there are no motorized tools in this era, then replace them with war horses. Firearms such as muskets and flowering bullets were then used as the main attack weapons against the Hu people to achieve a copycat version of blitzkrieg.

"It's a brilliant idea to launch an expedition with all cavalry, and then make up for it on the spot like the Hu people. Wonderful, indeed wonderful.

Ah Zhen, do you have anything else to add? Ning Zhiyuan urged.

Chi Fei continued: "The reason why the son-in-law wants to choose this time to launch the southern expedition is not to expect the expeditionary force to recover the entire southern region in one go, which is unrealistic and difficult to do.

What the son-in-law really likes is the huge number of cattle, sheep and other livestock in the hands of those Hu herdsmen in the southern region.

Cattle and sheep are the lifeblood of the Hu people, and when those herders migrated from the southwest plateau, most of them took them with them.

They have lived in the warm interior for so many years, and the number of cattle and sheep in their hands has already increased several times.

As far as I know, the number of cattle and sheep in the south and southwest today is at least between five million and seven million, and perhaps the true number is far higher than that.

As long as you can grab about two to three percent of the livestock from the Hu people, plus a certain amount of coarse grain, it is enough to feed the people in the south of the Yangtze River for more than a year.

Therefore, the real purpose of the expeditionary force was not to recover all the lost territory in one go, but to do its best to grab as many cattle and sheep as possible from the Hu people, and then rely on these livestock to feed the people of Jiangnan and survive this most difficult period.

Father-in-law, the above is the advice of the son-in-law, please consider it. ”

After Ning Zhiyuan listened, he looked at Zhang Wenxuan with excitement on his face and said, "Old Zhang, what do you think of Ah Zhen's proposal?" ”

Zhang Wenxuan smiled and said: "Mr. Su's plan is wonderful, and the old man is convinced. ”

"What about you?" Ning Zhiyuan asked Li Dingbei and the others again.

"Dashuai, my subordinates think they can give it a try."

"Like Lao Li, I think this plan is feasible."

"Of course I'm in favor, but Dad, this time you have to promise to let me go on the expedition." Ning Yafeng said with a salivating face.

"Get out, when Lao Tzu makes a decision, where is your turn to speak. What about you, Abai? ”

Ning Yabai smiled: "Dad, I am also the same as Ah Feng, I just ask you to let me go out with the army." ”

"Two stinky boys, they're quite good at beating snakes with sticks.

Okay, since you all have no opinion, then let's try it according to what Ah Zhen said. Let those dogs also try the taste of being invaded at will. Ning Zhiyuan slapped the table and made a decision with full confidence.

Li Dingbei and others were also full of interest in this expedition plan, and their hearts were full of fighting spirit and eager to try.

……………………

After Li Dingbei, Xiao Zhijian, Zhang Wenxuan and others left the official office, Chi Fei did not leave with them, because he still had some things to report to his father-in-law in person.

At this time, there were only four people in the study: Ning Zhiyuan, Ning Yabai, Ning Yafeng, and Chi Fei, and Chi Fei said: "Father-in-law, I received a private message from Princess Yanfang yesterday, and she asked you to tell me one thing in the letter, let me tell you on my behalf. ”

"What does she want?"

"The princess wants to beg you to spare her husband Xie Changting, and don't ask him for guilt."

Ning Zhiyuan frowned and asked, "The princess won't really fall in love with Xie Changting for a long time, right?" even interceded for him personally. ”

"I don't know if it's a long-term relationship, but Princess Yanfang said in the letter that when Emperor Jing'an and the eldest prince both perished, as the eldest prince's sister, she was not implicated because of Xie Changting's concubine, and lived a stable life for several years. The concubine Xie Changting is indeed kind to her.

Now that everyone in the Xie family is about to be punished for their crimes, since she has received Xie Changting's help, she should try her best to repay her.

Therefore, Princess Yanfang begged her father-in-law to let go of the concubine Xie Changting, she was willing to give up the position of princess. ”

Ning Yafeng was amazed: "In order to save a Xie Changting, he is willing to give up the position of princess." It seems that the princess really plans to live her life behind closed doors with Xie Changting, a scholar. ”

Ning Yabai was skeptical: "I really don't believe that the Zhao family has such a long-term relationship, especially the one who is still the concubine of Emperor Jing'an and the sister of the eldest prince." ”

Ning Zhiyuan asked, "Ah Zhen, what do you think about this matter?" ”

"Father-in-law, although the son-in-law doesn't know whether the princess is out of repaying her kindness or having a long-term relationship with Xie Changting, I still want to intercede for the princess.

Because when the Imperial City mutinied, Ah Zhi and I were guests in the princess's mansion.

Later, the princess's mansion was surrounded by forbidden troops, and if someone hadn't sent someone to inform us to evacuate as soon as possible, we might have fallen into a trap and couldn't escape.

When I continued to arrange eyeliner in the capital, by chance, I finally knew that the person who warned us that day was Princess Yanfang.

So Ah Zhi and I do owe the princess a life-saving grace, that's a fact.

Since the princess has something to ask for, I should do my best to help if it makes sense.

The son-in-law has already checked that Xie Changting is different from the rest of the Xie family, he is a scholar who is not good at political affairs, and he has no interest in the struggle for power.

Perhaps because of his eccentric personality, he was regarded as an outcast by the Xie family, and let him be Princess Yanfang's concubine.

The son-in-law thinks that even if Xie Changting is released, there will be no trouble.

But just in case, it is necessary to send someone to monitor it regularly. ”

Ning Zhiyuan thought about it carefully, then sighed a little helplessly and said, "My Ning family and the Xie family, just like the Hu people and the northwest, are mortal enemies who share the sky.

In order to cut the grass and eradicate the roots, not only the Xie family, but I even plan to eliminate the entire Xie family to prevent future troubles.

Xie Changting is no longer like the Xie family, after all, he is Xie Mingshun's grandson, and he is also the second son of Changfang.

If he is let go, it is equivalent to leaving a root for the Xie family.

If it weren't for the fact that the princess had saved you and Zhi, I would never have agreed to this.

That's it, just pay back this favor for you.

You inform the princess that I will let Xie Changting go and let him come out safely.

But from now on, he must be incognito, not to use his original name, let alone appear in front of people as a child of the Xie family, this is my minimum requirement.

As for the princess position, I will not take it away easily, please rest assured. ”

"Yes, father-in-law." Chi Fei responded happily.

"Aside from Princess Yanfang, what is the request from Princess Qingping?"

"The eldest princess of Qingping has not made any requests for the time being.

The eldest princess is a smart person, when the family evacuated Xinjing, I just told her about the general trend of the world, and she already knew what to do.

Such a smart person will not ask for help easily.

It's always better for someone else to owe her a favor than a favor that has already been used.

Once she really waits for you to beg you, it will not be a trivial matter. ”

"The eldest princess is indeed a smart person.

As long as the children in her family don't do anything angry and resentful, for Shan'er's sake, my Ning family will always be open to them.

You can tell her a word, just say that as long as I, Ning Zhiyuan, am still alive for one day, then there will only be two princesses in this capital, her and Yan Fang, and there will be no one else. ”

Ning Yafeng couldn't help but interject: "Dad, what about Ah Shan and the little sister?" They won't be princesses in the future? ”

Ning Zhiyuan nodded and said, "Yes, the two sisters will only be crowned county lords in the future, not princesses."

This is not only to show outsiders my Ning family's respect for the Zhao family, but more importantly, to prevent Ah Zhen from becoming a colt.

In all dynasties, there are rules and traditions that horses are not allowed to participate in politics.

I don't intend to break this rule, so the best thing to do is not to make Shan'er and Xiao Zhi princesses. In this way, their husbands, especially Ah Zhen, will not be affected. ”

"I see, my father is wise." Ning Yafeng suddenly realized.

Although Chi Fei, who is the person concerned, is very grateful to his father-in-law for his respect, the problem is that he doesn't want to be an official in the future, and he just wants to run his literary newspaper well.

Now that I'm in trouble, how can I explain it to my father-in-law in the future? Chi Fei couldn't help but think with a headache.