"Your Majesty, Weichen has just learned the news that many grain shops in Beijing have been sold out, and the remaining grain shops have begun to increase in price again, and they are sold in limited quantities. It's already a bit crazy to grab food outside! Xue Guoguan said worriedly, "Don't talk about the 200,000 refugees at the moment, even on the Jingshi side, there may be a food shortage, and there may be chaos!" ”

After finishing speaking, he immediately presented a book of music with both hands, and the chamberlain forwarded it to Emperor Chongzhen.

It seems that it should be the Jin merchants who are making trouble, or other black-hearted people who want to make a fortune! Emperor Chongzhen thought in his heart, so he opened the chapter first and looked at it.

Generally speaking, one tael of silver can buy two stones of grain, of course, this is already in the past. In the last years of Chongzhen, one or two pieces of silver bought a stone of grain, which was already good. Now that it has just been ravaged by Jianyu, these days before, the grain of the Jingshi has been leaning on two taels of silver and one stone of grain. But now, Emperor Chongzhen saw that the report on the chapter had already arrived at four taels of silver and a stone of grain outside, and that's it, it was sold in limited quantities every day, and as soon as the shop was opened, it was quickly sold out.

This kind of high-priced grain will definitely not be affordable for the people at the bottom. Of course, those powerful families, they themselves have the habit of hoarding food, and when they encounter this situation, they will not take action to be the culprit. Only those who are not up or down, in the words of later generations, are middle-class families who have to buy this high-priced grain.

As a result, some relatively solid families often fall to the bottom of the people after such a tribulation. If it was outside the city, it would be much the same, and some middle peasants and rich peasants who had land and lived a good life would also become nothing because of a turmoil.

After Emperor Chongzhen read it, of course he was angry in his heart, but he was already prepared, and he didn't seem particularly angry, and after closing the chapter, he looked at Xue Guoguan and asked, "What is Xue Qing's countermeasure?" ”

To be honest, Xue Guoguan was a little surprised by Emperor Chongzhen's unhurried attitude. Because of this, he was hesitant for a moment to say the countermeasures he had originally thought of, should he say it?

If the emperor is angry, angry or something, then it is definitely okay to say it. But now......

However, when he saw that the emperor had been staring at him, he didn't care, and said directly: "Your Majesty, Weichen thinks that the first is to transfer grain from Jiangnan to the north as soon as possible, and the second is to check the account books of those grain shops, so that they can sell grain according to the purchase price, and those who dare to violate it will be severely punished, so as to stabilize the price of grain!" ”

Behind the big grain merchants, there must be an official background. Although Xue Guoguan was not afraid of them, he always had to be reasonable, so he first suggested checking the accounts and letting them sell them at cost price. Even so, he, the first assistant, would definitely offend those people. However, he didn't care too much. Otherwise, he would not have advised the emperor to borrow money from all the rich people.

And when Emperor Chongzhen heard his words, he couldn't help laughing, this Xue Guoguan is really not as experienced as Wen Tiren when it comes to world affairs. Check the books of those grain merchants? Believe it or not, there are several sets of account books waiting for those grains. If you reason with him, he will cry poor to you, saying that this also costs money, that also needs money, anyway, it's all costs, believe it or not, when you look back, they are still trading at a loss, and they are accumulating virtue!

However, for this Xue Guoguan, he still needs to be encouraged, so he said to Xue Guoguan: "The matter of transferring grain from Jiangnan is indeed to be done." Xue Qing gave it to Jiangnan as usual. As for the Jingshi grain merchants, I have been staring at them for a long time, and Xue Qing can just watch this matter. ”

To be honest, Xue Guoguan can be the first assistant, and he is not a brainless person. It's just that there are only two people in the cabinet now, and Yang Sichang is in charge of military affairs, and other things are basically pressed on Xue Guoguan, and he is so busy that it is almost dark. Especially the recent impeachment of this, the impeachment of that is even more wave after wave. In any case, he has to draw up a ticket first. But even if he was busy to death, the speed at which he finished processing the chapter could not catch up with the speed at which the Secretary of General Affairs sent the chapter to the cabinet.

After Emperor Chongzhen finished speaking, he looked at Xue Guoguan's tired look and said with concern: "I have also heard about the accumulation of cabinet chapters. In this way, after the secretary returned, he put the recent notes on impeachment into categories according to the matter, the impeachment person, and so on, and sent them directly to the celebrant without a vote. In this way, I believe that Xue Qing can be less tired! ”

Hearing these words of the emperor, Xue Guoguan was a little ashamed. The emperor not only noticed the food problem for a long time, but also knew his own difficulties, thought about himself, and reduced a lot of things. What a blessing to be a courtier to be like this by your father!

So, Xue Guoguan sincerely thanked him, then wiped his sweat, and hurried back to the cabinet to deal with government affairs.

Seeing him come back in a hurry, Yang Sichang was secretly happy in his heart: This assistant is not so easy to do! Hehe!

However, on the surface, he leaned over as if concerned and asked, "Is the emperor angry?" Is there any quasi-play? Ah, I have so many things to do here that I can't do them. ”

When Xue Guoguan heard this, he turned his head to look at him and asked: "Now that the affairs of King Qin's army are directly under the control of the emperor, and they have also been incorporated into the jurisdiction of the Imperial Horse Supervisor, what else do you have over there?" ”

As soon as he heard this, Yang Sichang immediately turned back, picked up a few copies of the recital, and said: "Look, Jizhen, Baoding, Shandong and other places, there are countless military and civilian casualties, these things are all about the aftermath!" Also, the emperor has organized a lot of general soldiers from all over the country into the forbidden army, so their original defense is also to worry about! Also, the Qin Wang Army, which has not been adapted this time, must have a charter for how they deal with it. For example, Wang Pu, the chief soldier of Datong, said that when he returned to the land of Yunjin, he encountered thieves. I was asking how to count the one hundred and fifty-sixth level of beheading......"

Xue Guoguan heard that he was still chattering, so he interrupted impatiently: "Okay, okay, you are busy with yours." We don't have to worry about food, the emperor has his own decision! ”

Hearing this, Yang Sichang couldn't help but be a little surprised, he thought that the emperor had been busy with the affairs of the three major battalions under the Imperial Horse Supervisor, and he hadn't even had time to deal with the three commanders of the Qin Wang Army, so he could still be distracted and take care of the food matter?

But looking back, it seems that I think of the emperor as the same again. Today's emperor seems to be very different, faintly, he really has a bit of the legendary Taizu's demeanor. Could it be, Taizu fell into a dream, and he really had to teach the emperor, right?

However, this food crisis does not seem to be so easy to solve. At least it will be too late to mobilize grain from Jiangnan.

After the war, food has always been the top priority, Yang Sichang had expected it a long time ago, but he was reprimanded by the emperor several times, so he had the heart to let the emperor know that there are some things that cannot be done by a certain barbarian, and it must be assisted by a courtier like him. But now that Xue Manzi is the first assistant, it depends on your ability!

Hehe, this time the food crisis, just wait and see!

At this time, Emperor Chongzhen was indeed busy with food. Cao Huachun, the commander of Dongchang, and Li Ruolian, the commander of Jinyiwei, were summoned successively to inquire about the things that they had asked them to investigate before. After knowing this, he went back to the harem and went to find Queen Zhou.

"What? Open a military uniform workshop? When Empress Zhou heard Emperor Chongzhen's intention, she couldn't help but confirm in surprise.

Emperor Chongzhen nodded and said, "That's right, isn't the palace spinning?" I thought about it, so I made military uniforms by the way, and made military uniforms for the three major battalions under the command of the Imperial Horse Supervisor. ”

In fact, the military uniforms of the Ming Dynasty were not uniformly produced and distributed. Rather, it is different from ministry to ministry. Some of them were made by businessmen, some were directly distributed to fabrics, and some were sewn by their own families. And the military uniforms of the Son of Heaven are originally made by the eunuch Wang Xinxin himself, not to mention cutting corners, and some military uniforms have been lost, resulting in many soldiers having only one set of military uniforms, and they have been wearing them for three years and three years.

"Your Majesty, it's not impossible." Empress Zhou frowned and said, "But there are not so many raw materials in the palace, and there are not so many people!" ”

When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he smiled and said: "Just buy the raw materials, this time a lot of silver was confiscated, and money is not a problem." As for people, it's easy to solve. At present, there are more than 200,000 refugees who need to be resettled, their hometowns have been destroyed, and the imperial court is not yet able to let them return to their hometowns. Therefore, the palace can send people to pick female workers, set up a workshop outside the palace, and let them make military uniforms first, which can be regarded as killing two birds with one stone! ”

As soon as she heard this, Empress Zhou understood that the most important thing for the emperor to do this was to solve the affairs of the 200,000 refugees.

Therefore, she nodded and immediately agreed.

There is one thing, but she doesn't know that Emperor Chongzhen actually has another purpose in doing this, that is, to open a state-owned enterprise with military uniforms, which belongs to the textile category, and will expand its business in the future.

This is done because grain, cotton and other basic materials of life must have state-owned enterprises to play the mainstay.

Then, Emperor Chongzhen drove to the military camp of the Imperial Horse Supervisor. But this time, he didn't go to see all the soldiers. Instead, he summoned all the general soldiers at the Yamen.

It was only two days later, and the emperor came, and as the emperor said before, he would come to see it often, which made all these general soldiers very excited, and they were all in good spirits and lined up on both sides.

Emperor Chongzhen first asked them about the placement of the soldiers, how they felt in the new military camp, whether there was a shortage or something, in short, to show his concern. In this regard, the answer of the general soldiers, naturally, there is no problem, thank you for the emperor's concern.

After chatting for a while, Emperor Chongzhen began to say the main purpose of his visit this time: "At present, there is still a shortage of personnel in all armies, and I came here this time to solve this matter for you!" ”

According to the establishment, the Yongwei battalion is about 20,000 people, the rock battalion is about 15,000 people, and the hussar battalion is about 10,000; The total strength of these three battalions is about 50,000 horses. However, the number of people adapted from the Qinwang Army, plus the little troops originally left, was less than 40,000 in total, and there was still a shortage of more than 10,000.

At this time, hearing that the emperor was coming over to replenish the soldiers, these general soldiers were of course very concerned, and hurriedly looked at the emperor, with expectation in their eyes, I don't know what elite the emperor will mobilize to come over? At least in their opinion, their three major battalions will be the first elite of the Ming Dynasty, and they are the strongest forces of the Son of Heaven, and such an army will naturally be elite.

However, Emperor Chongzhen was obviously going to disappoint them. I heard him say to the generals: "Qing and others have saved more than 200,000 people from the hands of Jianyu, and these people, both men and women, are young and strong. I believe that they must be trying to take revenge on Jianyu. This time, I gave them a chance to recruit the three major battalions for diligent training, so that one day they could go to the battlefield, take revenge on Jianyu with their own hands, and set foot in Liaodong. I am confident that they will come as good soldiers and will live up to my expectations! ”

Hearing this, these general soldiers, who were still a little disappointed at first, thought about it seriously and felt that the emperor's words were not unreasonable. Those people who were rescued, they naturally saw it, and they knew that they were indeed young and strong. Selecting 10,000 people from 200,000 seems to be carefully selected.

Thinking like this, they became happy again, and hurriedly responded that they would definitely train them well. Sun Yingyuan even said: "Your Majesty Shengming, veterans bring new soldiers, and most of them are veterans, and the last general believes that these recruits will be able to use them soon." ”

Emperor Chongzhen actually thought the same way, so he said to them: "This matter is as soon as possible, early tomorrow morning, you will go out of Beijing with the people in the palace to pick people." ”

Speaking of this, he also said bluntly: "These 200,000 or so people must also be settled, so that the army and the palace can be resettled a lot, and I can rest assured." ”

Hearing this, the commanders immediately responded to the emperor's mercy.

However, Emperor Chongzhen did not say another meaning, that is, these people hate Jianyu to the bone, so they will inevitably hate the Jin merchants. When he turned back, he sent this army to raid the Jin merchants. If others don't say it, at least these refugees-turned-soldiers will definitely not show mercy to the Jin merchants.

In order to get rid of the Jin Shang Group in one fell swoop, in order to get as much stolen money and goods as possible from the Jin Merchants, Emperor Chongzhen also racked his brains and slowly laid out step by step.

Originally, he also wanted to divert some of these refugees to form a construction corps to build houses, roads, and water conservancy. But in retrospect, in this era, these things were all free labor, that is, if there were large fortifications, they were sent to labor; If at this time, labor is not used, and a special construction corps is set up to do this, which seems to be a bit ahead of its time. What's more critical is that if there are too many things at hand, if you spread out too much at once, I am afraid that you will not be busy, resulting in some things that are not standardized at the beginning, but will be bad.

Of course, he also considered that the places that were ravaged by the Jianyu were all in ruins, and these young men and women could not all be used for other purposes, and they still had to go back and become the main force in rebuilding their hometowns.

Therefore, Emperor Chongzhen gave up this idea. Seeing that it was already evening, he sent an order to Li Ruolian, the commander of Jinyiwei, and Cao Huachun, the commander of Dongchang, to meet together, and after other things were arranged, it was time to take action.

。 m.