“…… The grain in Xuzhou Cang, Linqing Cang, Tongzhou Cang and other places should be no less than 3 million stones, and if you add the grain stored by the Beijing Division, there should be no less than 3.6 million stones of Cao grain in the hands of the Qing Prisoners in the north now, which can barely be eaten by the Beijing Division for a year......"

After leaving Chang Yingcang's further study, Zhu Mingzhong, who frowned slightly, still had Li Jiechuan's answer in mind.

"One year ......"

Now the Manchus had enough to eat for a year.

And what does the time of year mean?

When crossing the canal by boat, Zhang Guojiu, who had been following him, noticed the solemn expression of the military gate, so he asked.

"Junmen, but are you worried about clearing the grain?"

Worried about the grain of the Qing captives, I am afraid that such a fierce question will only make outsiders feel a little surprised, but Zhu Mingzhong nodded and said.

"The people who rely on the Qinglu in the north are all Jiangnan Cao grain, if there is no Jiangnan Cao grain, Jingshi and other places will naturally be unsustainable, these three million stone grain, but only enough for it to barely eat for a year, that is to say, now we are just stuck in the life gate of the Qing captive, no matter what, these Qing captives are bound to try in every possible way to open up the canal, so see that the Qing captives will only come faster......

Although when the decision to go north was made, he had long expected that when the Qing captives went south, the loyal and righteous army in front of them would have to fight with them, if he could, Zhu Mingzhong naturally hoped that there would be enough time for military training and even recruitment, after all, the available soldiers of the loyal and righteous army were only more than 10,000 people.

But now, under the pressure of food, there is a good chance that the Qingyu will come sooner and earlier than he thought! So the pressure is naturally even greater!

In other words, in order to survive, the Manchus will do whatever it takes to open the canal and recover Jiangnan in the next year, so that they can maintain the livelihood of those parasites.

Maybe there was still silver in the Manchu treasury, after all, they killed so many Han people, I don't know how much silver they looted.

But the money is not to be eaten. Without the grain in Jiangnan, those parasites are likely to starve to death!

Just as 200 years later, after the British fleet appeared on the Yangtze River and cut off the Cao Transport, the Manchus almost immediately agreed to all their conditions.

For any imperial court that has set the capital of Jingshi. Grain is life, and the Grand Canal is the lifeline.

And now this lifeline happens to be in the hands of Zhongyi, in this case, how can they sit back and watch the Zhongyi army occupy Huaiyang.

Although mastering Huaiyang is not the same as mastering Jiangnan, mastering Huaiyang is equivalent to controlling the gateway to Jiangnan. That means that for the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the loyal and righteous army is undoubtedly a thorn in their side.

"The military gate is extremely worried!"

Zhang Guojiu hurriedly agreed,

"After the Qing captives entered the customs, the time when they went south happened to be directly related to their consumption of grain, and it was a well-known fact that the Beijing division could not leave the grain for a day. Now that Jiangnan is the general's recovery, and the canal is cut off by our army, under such a change in the situation, I think that the Qing chieftain will definitely order Dasu to go south as soon as possible to open up the canal and reoccupy the heavy grain to relieve the use of the Beijing division, but, in my opinion, this is also a good thing! ”

"A good thing?"

Looking at Zhang Guojiu in surprise, Zhu Mingzhong motioned for him to continue.

"Junmen, in fact, no matter within this year, whether the Qing captives can open up the canal and retake Jiangnan, in order to maintain the rations of hundreds of thousands of Qing captives in Beijing, it is bound to increase the exploitation in Shandong, Henan, North Zhili and other places, the more so, the more beneficial it will be to our dynasty, the south Zhili and the places south of the Yangtze River are slaughtered by the Qing captives, and the people are scarce. On the contrary, my Da Ming will only get stronger and stronger......"

It seems that Zhang Guojiu did not think about the defeat of the loyal army at all, he only thought about how to fight the Qing on another level, and this is a completely new battlefield.

As for him, he didn't even sympathize with what would happen to the people in the north under the exploitation and oppression of the Manchus, all he valued was the result. A result that is more favorable to the Ming Dynasty.

His suggestion reminded Zhu Mingzhong of another sentence, where there is oppression, there is resistance. Only when the Manchu oppression became stronger could it be possible to rekindle the fire of resistance in the enemy-occupied areas, or at least to allow the people in the enemy's war zones to move to the "liberated areas".

In any era, population is combat power! If there are people, there will be taxes, and there will be soldiers.

"Therefore, in the opinion of the following officials, the military gate should now send a naval army to attack Xuzhou Cang and burn it all, so that the Qing captives will inevitably levy new taxes, and at that time, if there are people fleeing south, the military gate can recruit displaced people and reclaim wasteland......

Take advantage of his illness and ask for his life. Marching to fight, naturally as it should be. Since the other party's grain and grass are not enough, then setting fire to the grain is the best choice.

Zhang Guojiu's suggestion will also bring another result, that is, under the dog jumping over the wall, the Manchus will attack themselves at any cost to solve the food crisis.

Faced with such an embarrassing choice, Zhu Mingzhong pondered for a moment, and then he looked at him and asked rhetorically.

"Yushan, have you ever considered what would happen if my loyal army was defeated by Dasu?"

The rhetorical question of the military gate made Zhang Guojiu stunned for a moment, and then smiled.

"Junmen, with the military prestige of the Loyal and Righteous Army, not to mention that the Qing captives led by Dasu are claimed to be 100,000, even if it is really an army of 100,000, how can it be the opponent of the Loyal and Righteous Army?"

Although Zhang Guojiu only entered the curtain of Zhu Mingzhong in Nanjing, this does not mean that he does not know about the loyal and righteous army, and the bloody battle of Tongjimen has played a reputation for the courage of the loyal and righteous army, but under the fierce attack of only 6,000 loyal and righteous troops and tens of thousands of elite Qing troops, they can still counterattack, almost defeat into victory, and enter the city.

At the beginning, the Loyal and Righteous Army was still so brave, not to mention now, now the Loyal and Righteous Army not only has many soldiers and generals, but also has abundant military resources. In Zhang Guojiu's view, as long as the military gate is given two months to train the troops, when the time comes, let alone the 100,000 army led by the so-called "General Annan" Dasu, there is no 100,000, even if there are really 100,000, how can it be the opponent of the loyal and righteous army.

Of course, all this is precisely because Zhu Mingzhong's reputation for being good at training soldiers has long been outside, and no one will doubt that as long as he is given a few months, he will be able to train an elite army. After all, the Loyal Army is proof of this.

Time!

As long as there is time, the military gate will definitely be able to train an elite army!

"Jade Mountain ......"

Yushan's words made Zhu Mingzhong shake his head slightly.

"Don't forget, even if we add more than 10,000 water camps now, at most 20,000 horses, Dasu doesn't have 100,000, 70,000 or 80,000, and it's hard to beat four hands with two fists!"

Insufficient troops, this is the biggest problem that the Loyal Army is facing now, although since the Loyal Army has been formed, it has won many battles, but in addition to the bloody battle of Tongjimen, the others are suspected of opportunism, although the self-confidence of the Loyal Army has been won in a hundred battles, but as the commander, Zhu Mingzhong does not know his own problems, what is the biggest problem?

Insufficient troops!

And what is the reason for the lack of troops?

"My loyal army, from Jiangyin, Xingzhou, but all the places in the south of the Yangtze River were slaughtered by the Manchu Qing Dynasty, but only hundreds of thousands, even Yangzhou and other places have also suffered slaughter, that is, Huai'an, there is no fire, but even so, the two places are at most one million, even if they recruit troops here, they want to come to the army only 30,000 or 40,000 people, if there are more, I am afraid it will affect the farming ......"

Population is the foundation of development, without population everything is empty talk, just like now Li Dingguo in the southwest, although he has won many battles, but now it is getting weaker and weaker, the reason why this is so is precisely because the southwest has almost reached the point of population extinction under the massacre of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, so that even if Li Dingguo wins, he will not be able to replenish grain, grass and soldiers.

Without sufficient population resources, it is impossible to recruit enough soldiers, and without enough soldiers, it is impossible to build a strong army, and of course it is impossible to obtain enough food, grass, and taxes. Everything is based on population.

As it is now, and will be the same for centuries from now, population is the key to national development, and it can never be a burden, as some say. Even if it's a burden, it's only a temporary burden.

In this day and age, population is the most important thing, as long as there are people, you can recruit soldiers, you can collect taxes, and of course, there is a market for goods.

Zhu Mingzhong didn't want to let himself become the second Li Dingguo, although he won a hundred battles and made the Qing army frightened, but because of the population problem, it became weaker and weaker.

Zhu Mingzhong's words made Zhang Guojiu slightly stunned, and at this time, he realized that the crux of the problem was not that the military gate was not good at training, but whether the military gate could recruit enough soldiers and not enough soldiers, all of this was empty talk.

And all this is back to Zhang Guojiu's previous suggestion. Only by all means can the Manchus intensify their exploitation of the people. It was possible to prompt those people to leave the Manchu occupation zone and come to the south, where they cultivated the wasteland.

"Thirty, forty thousand...... Well, the military gate, if you can recruit 30,000 or 40,000 recruits and train them, you can calculate that the loyal army is 60,000 horses, which is enough, and you don't have to be afraid if you want to come to Dasu, and when he arrives, after defeating Dasu, he may be able to capture tens of thousands, and when the time comes, naturally there is no need to worry about the lack of soldiers......"

"I hope so!"

Regarding Zhang Guojiu's suggestion, Zhu Mingzhong did not object, but just glanced at the Qingjiang River on the other side, and then said.

"Qian Bingqi and Gao Chengtian should have arrived, Yushan, you should go with you for tonight's dust washing banquet!"

The seemingly casual order of the military gate only made Zhang Guojiu's heart jump suddenly, this seemingly simple sentence, in fact, was indirectly telling him that he had become a confidant of the military gate......

When Zhang Guojiu's mood was a little excited, Zhu Mingzhong's brows were tightly locked, weighing his previous suggestion in his heart.

"Maybe ......"