Chapter 34 Decision on the Northern Expedition

In the Qianqing Palace in Nanjing.

Zhang Xuan saw that the cabinet and the Privy Council were all here, so without saying a word, he set the tone first, and said: "The northern changes have occurred, Azig was defeated and killed, Shunzhi was pro-government, opened the coffin and killed the corpse of Dolgon, cleaned up the two white flags, and the Qing army's heart was shaken, which is really a good opportunity for the Northern Expedition." ”

"Therefore, I have decided to go on a northern expedition."

Zhang Xuan knew that if he didn't say this sentence and nothing else, it would take a long time just to argue about whether it was suitable for the Northern Expedition, but now that Zhang Xuan had set the tone, they could only choose to implement it.

"Ministry of Rites, withdraw the messenger immediately." Zhang Xuan said.

Wen Anzhi said: "Yes." ”

Zhang Xuan said: "Lord Yao, immediately count the treasury and supervise the mint, I want to know how much grain and grass can be used." ”

"In the treasury, there are tens of millions of stones of grain, seven million taels of silver, and the mint's interest for these three months is as much as three million taels, this is only the treasury, if the minister takes over the provincial treasury, it will probably be able to turn over a generation, but it is also the limit." Yao Qisheng said: "Your Majesty, as long as you wait for three years, the minister will definitely make adequate preparations for the Northern Expedition." But food is out of the question. At the beginning of the world, the people did not have much food, and they thought that two million stone of grain were sold in the north. ”

Zhang Xuan said: "When is the preparation sufficient? Back then, three meals a day was enough, I had made up my mind, needless to say, you prepare two things. ”

"The first thing is to issue government bonds. Let's start with 20 million taels. I remember that the model version of being the top ten coins has been prepared, and with the preparation of the melting copper coins to be the top ten coins. ”

"Second, prepare the grain, and the grain and grass of the provinces will be collected to the Yangtze River."

He paused slightly, and said: "In case of emergency, the magistrate is allowed to act cheaply, and then report it." ”

Zhang Xuan was prepared for the worst.

Desperately mint money, and use it as ten coins with copper plates.

Such an act will inevitably cause the value of the currency to fall sharply.

Although it is also exploiting the people, this is the best way to think about it in Zhang Xuan.

Why?

The reason is simple.

First of all, taxation comes at a cost, and this price is likely to be bloody.

Chongzhen is only a lot of money, 13 million taels a year, but the people below have increased the weight layer by layer, and the huge Ming Dynasty will be broken up, and these bureaucrats will collect it from the people, and it will definitely not be 13 million taels, but 13 million taels.

Because of the economic characteristics of this era, because of transportation and other reasons, the depreciation of the currency affected the countryside, and it was already a matter of several years later.

Losses are all together, rather than putting the burden on the people at the bottom.

As for acting cheaply, it is a sword for local officials.

He did not know the virtues of the officials everywhere.

Although Zhaowu cleaned up the entire officialdom in three years, Zhang Xuan did not feel that he could affect the nature of these officials. It's just the lesser of two evils.

As long as you can drive out the Eastern captives in one battle, it is worth paying a big price.

"Yes." Yao Qisheng said.

"When do you think you'll be ready?" Zhang Xuan asked.

"May." Yao Qisheng said: "The minimum number of months to prepare. ”

Yao Qisheng knew Zhang Xuan's plan, as soon as he decided to go on the Northern Expedition, it would not be one or two armies, but hundreds of thousands of troops, and it would not be easy to raise supplies for so many troops.

Zhang Xuan turned his head and said to Yuan Shizhong: "May is it okay?" ”

Yao Qisheng nodded and said, "The plan set by the Privy Council is also May. ”

"During the busy agricultural time, the south is earlier than the north, which means that we can harvest in the south and then go north in a big way, because the grain is the enemy." Yuan Shizhong said: "This time is just right. ”

Zhang Xuan said: "Okay. ”

The biggest consumption of food, many times, is not eaten by the soldiers, but the consumption of transportation on the road, you must know that the people who transport have to eat, so when it is transported, the freight exceeds the transportation volume, which is also a very normal thing.

Therefore, if you can eat one grain from the enemy because of the grain, you will save ten grains for the rear.

Zhang Xuan said: "The specific plan will be told to the cabinet. ”

Zhang Xuan was deeply involved in this plan, and at this moment Zhang Xuan asked Yuan Shizhong to introduce it to the cabinet.

"This Northern Expedition is divided into four routes." Yuan Shizhong said: "On the first road, the king of Dian led the troops of Yungui to cross the Yangtze River and attack the degree, and General He Hutou was the deputy general. ”

"On the second road, Tang Wang's troops went out of Xiangyang to attack Luoyang, and Jin Shenghuan was the deputy general."

"On the third road, Your Majesty personally led the two battalions of soldiers in Jiangnan and Nanjing, attacking Yangzhou."

"On the fourth road, King Yue led his headquarters out of Korea and attacked Liaodong, with Yuan Zongdi as his deputy general."

"Your Majesty is the main force of the whole army, along the canal north, to attack Shandong. After capturing Shandong, with the army of the Tang Dynasty and the army of the King of Yue, united, the King of Yue attacked Liaodong from Korea, went out of the Saiwai, and besieged Beijing. The Tang king went down to Luoyang, entered Shanxi, entered Datong, and joined the Tang king's army. His Majesty will lead the army slowly north, and the decisive battle will be with the city of Beijing. And the army of the king of Yunnan, after going down to Sichuan, in the process of tackling the fortification, cut off the connection between the northwest and the Central Plains, and can have the northwest, which is no better, if not, the Qing army will be blocked in the northwest and cannot support the battle of Beijing. ”

"Basically, that's all."

On the whole, Zhang Xuan's arrangement is very clear, generally a descendant general and a foreign general, balanced with each other.

Li Dingguo is a foreign line, He Hutou is a foreign line, Cao Zongyu is a foreign line, Jin Shenghuan is a foreign line, and Zhang Xuan himself has the main force, needless to say, Zhang Xuan is confident that he can suppress everyone's opposition. And Zheng Chenggong is a foreign lineage, and Yuan Zongdi is already a descendant at this moment.

"How many people are there?" Yao Qisheng only felt that his mouth was dry, not that he was thirsty, but that he was frightened by the large scale of the four-way army.

Yuan Shizhong said: "Specifically, there are about 200 battalions of soldiers, and the follow-up auxiliaries and civilian soldiers will probably need this number. ”

"One and two million mouths." Yao Qisheng took a deep breath and said, "One person has a solar eclipse. It is 12,000 stone a day, and if there is a big war and the labor intensifies, I am afraid that it will be 20,000 stone a day, and 10 million stone of grain can only support more than a year, then it still does not count the food consumed along the way, which has been lost, and even used to appease the people. There is also time to supply food from all over the world. ”

"From May to December this year, it must be stopped." Yao Qisheng said: "It is impossible for the imperial court to support such a long battle. ”

"Only seven months?" Zhang Xuan said: "It's not that there is still an autumn harvest. ”

Yao Qisheng said: "Military affairs, you can't take it for granted, the army is so dispatched, I'm afraid that the people used by the ministers are not only 600,000." ”

"Seven months is already the limit, even if you don't want food, you have to think about running out of financial resources."

Zhang Xuan said: "There are also Huai'an's two million stone grain, which have long been closely watched, and it is absolutely impossible for them to be transported to the north, and it will still be our grain at that time." ”

Yao Qisheng said: "Your Majesty, you are still cautious about such things. ”

Zhang Xuan thought for a while, and said for a while: "In this case, seven months is seven months, first formulate a military plan for the second half of the year, and this winter, we will definitely spend the New Year in Shandong." After occupying Shandong, the southern part of Shanxi, rest for half a year, and it is not too late to continue. ”

"It's just that in this way, this plan will have to be adjusted."

Yuan Shizhong said: "Your Majesty means ----"

Zhang Xuan said: "Let Li Dingguo strike first, in February. Let him let go of his hands and feet, and hit as hard as possible. He also ordered the king of Yue to reorganize his troops and horses, and first test the defense of the Qing army in Liaodong. ”

"Zheng Lian." Zhang Xuan said.

"The minister is here." Zheng Lian's general administration secretary is like a shadow, very unnoticed, but ubiquitous.

Zhang Xuan said: "Send someone to see Wu Sangui, if he is willing to surrender, I am willing to make him the king of Liao, and use Liaodong to seal him, hereditary disregard." ”

"If you don't want to, I am willing to set up the daughter of the Wu family as the concubine of the Son of Heaven, and the Zhang family and the Wu family share it in this world."

"I remember to pay 100,000 yuan to Wu Sangui first. Let's just say that I congratulate him on his birthday. ”

Don't be afraid to spend a lot of money when it matters.

Zhang Xuan's official who can be promised, knighted, give him money, all given to Wu Sangui, and make a big fanfare, if Wu Sangui is unwilling to surrender, let the Qing court know that he Zhang Xuan offered a price.

Once Wu Sangui is shaken, in Zhang Xuan's opinion, he will earn it.