Chapter Ninety-Five: Pacifying the Northern Front and Stabilizing the Imperial Court

Before Wang Gonggong arrived at Yaogang, Zhou Yuji, the chief soldier of Shanxi, and Jiang Jian, the chief soldier of Datong, came.

Zhou Yuji arrived first, and his family is here in Yaogang. Zhou Yuji knew that after the Dashun army in Taiyuan withdrew, he arranged the affairs of Ningwuguan and came to Yaogang.

After Zhou Yuji saw Zhang Zhimu, he thanked him and said, "Zhang Dongjia, thank you for your timely action, otherwise I may have to live and die with Ning Wuguan!" ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "Please don't blame General Zhou for being late." Because we were surrounded by Li Zicheng's large army, the brigade couldn't get out. Only a group of men and horses that we had laid in ambush outside in advance could maneuver. But there are too few others, and they can only see the opportunity and come to their critical place to solve the problem at once. ”

Zhou Yuji said: "Yes! It's really clever for you kiln gang people to use soldiers. Cutting off the thief army's food and grass overnight, they had no choice but to retreat without a fight. When I was in Ningwu, I thought that people like Zhang Dongjia would not watch us being surrounded and beaten. But I also know that you are surrounded by you. I didn't expect you to help us in such a difficult situation. ”

"Come on, we're all welcome." Zhang Zhimu pulled Zhou Yuji and came to the command center.

After sitting down at the command center, Zhang Zhimu said: "Originally, it was a little difficult for us to fight, but the emperor came to the holy decree again, and asked us to beat Li Zicheng out of Shanxi." I can't help it. ”

"Zhang Dongjia, I know that you have sent people over to the places you have conquered, and you have also announced that you will not collect any taxes for three years. Can you tell us what you think? "Zhou Yuji looks very rough, but he is not a simple person.

Zhang Zhimu said: "Every time Li Zicheng fights a place, he wants to announce that he will not collect taxes and pay grain for three years, if I beat Li Zicheng back, but I want to collect grain, do you say that the people of the world will drown me with saliva." Therefore, in the places I have built, not only will I not have to pay for food, but I will also help the poor and help the people to heal the wounds of war. In this way, I can cage people's hearts, otherwise, I won't be able to defend it. ”

"So, what do you think if the imperial court sends officials into the place where you beat down?" Zhou Yuji asked.

"Good! As long as they don't collect taxes, we're happy to have peace of mind. Zhang Zhimu said.

"It's impossible, what do the officials sent by the imperial court eat if they don't collect taxes?" Zhou Yuji said.

"Shanxi has been suffering from drought for many years, and has just been hit by military disasters, which does not allow the people to recuperate. Didn't we do evil to the people when we beat Li Zicheng? If you want to collect taxes, you can do it in three years. Zhang Zhimu said.

In fact, Zhou Yuji found that there were kiln gang people in Daizhou and other places under his rule, he was not satisfied, and he didn't know how to be good, today he just wanted to explore Zhang Zhimu's tone. When I heard this today, I understood that Zhang Zhimu would not give in in this matter. However, he thought that there was not much to collect in these places now, even if they were to collect taxes, it was better to hand over the burden to Zhang Zhimu and settle for personal favors.

Zhou Yuji said: "In this way, the people of Shanxi will be in charge." I should thank Zhang Dongjia for the people of Shanxi! ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "Mr. Zhou, I won't tell you, I am also beating the drum in my heart, and I may not be able to do this even if I scatter all my property." But now that I'm doing it, I'm going to do my best to do it better. In the future, I will have to help more soldiers! ”

Zhou Yuji was also very polite and said: "Where to speak, it is my responsibility!" I would also like to thank the Zhang family for taking care of our family. As soon as they saw me, they said the benefits of the kiln. Ah! It is said that the life of the kiln people is like heaven. This time they believed it, and what was even more unbelievable was that the guns were rumbling outside, and all walks of life were still thriving in the kiln. I think Yaogang is the only place in Shanxi that has not been affected by the war, which is really a miracle. ”

"Yes! There was a rare wartime boom in the kiln. The woven fabric of our kiln gang is out of the limelight this time, and those noble ladies and ladies who come to the kiln gang for refuge are wearing various styles of clothing. Those tailors with good skills have to queue up in front of the door. In the future, we will throw away the costumes and other fresh toys in the kiln, and it will slowly spread out. Zhang Zhimu said proudly.

When he was drinking in the evening, Mr. Zhou brought his wife with him. Zhou Yuji's wife is a Mongolian with strong martial arts, if according to the history of the previous life, he and Zhou Yuji should have both been killed in Ningwuguan.

Mrs. Zhou Zongbing is not afraid of the scene at all on this man's occasion, and she is really a heroine. This time, there were "Cybernaut" Yan Boju, Qiu Laodong, "God Zhang" Zhang Bengui, and General Ning Dening on the wine table.

These people didn't see each other, and Ning De said to Zhou Yuji: "If Zhang Dongjia hadn't forced me to stay, I would have been taken to Beijing and beheaded as a scapegoat." ”

Zhou Yuji also knows that people of their status look very beautiful, but in the eyes of those adults in Beijing, they are nothing, and if they don't get their lives, they will be gone, he asked with concern: "General Ning, what will I do in the future?" ”

Ningde said: "No matter. I will go south with Qiu Laodong's family in two days, and stay in Qiu's Yuncheng first, and wait for the opportunity to fight back to Tongguan with the "Mountain Harriers". I'm sorry for the people of Tongguan for not being able to protect them. I was injured and lying on the bed, and Zhang Dongjia told me that I had to recover from my injuries and prepare to go back to Tongguan. I just listened to this and survived. I watched the personnel that Zhang Dongjia assigned to us in Tongguan this time, and they were all elites. With them, our Tongguan will be better, and strive to make Tongguan similar to the kiln gang in a few years. It also allowed the people of Tongguan to live the days of electric lights and telephones. ”

Hearing Ning De's words, Zhou Yuji felt a lot in his heart and said, "Zhang Dongjia, you have to find a way to match Ning Wuguan with a set of people." I saw that General Ning hadn't recaptured Tongguan yet, and I began to think about what would happen after Tongguan. I'm more anxious. ”

Qiu Laodong's joked: "You Ning Wuguan, you can only let the emperor match you with a set of people." ”

Mrs. Zhou said: "We don't care what happens to Ning Wuguan. We, the family members, want to stay in Yaogang. I heard that there are still houses to sell in Yaogang, and I forgot to leave a few sets for us. School is about to start. Our children are looking forward to going to school every day. ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "Mrs. Zhou, don't worry too much. The houses in which you live are yours, and those that are sold are for outsiders. If you are not satisfied with the house, we will build a new house in the future. In short, the kiln is your home, and you don't have to worry about anything else. I would also like to thank our family members who have come to Yaogang, they have been in Yaogang for so long, and none of them have come out to make trouble. But the rich people who have money still come out to play drunk, crazy and make trouble. At this point, Yan Bo has the most to say. ”

Yan Boju said: "Yes, I was worried about how many high-ranking officials and family members came to our kiln, they used to be used to being above 10,000 people, and they would still play prestige when they came to us." But no. I didn't think about that. ”

Mrs. Zhou took over and said, "Actually, you don't know how I feel when I arrive at the kiln. No matter whether you know someone you know or not, no matter how high or low, you will nod and smile when you meet you on the road. It's a great feeling. In such a place, everyone is polite to each other, who is embarrassed to lose his temper. To be honest, we want to stay here, and that's the main reason. ”

Mrs. Zhou's words won everyone's unanimous approval.

Zhang Zhimu said: "Originally, I think this should be the case between people. I think it would be great if everyone in Shanxi could be equal! ”

Yan Boju was rarely so excited, he said: "We won't talk about other places, the places we beat down will slowly become like this." ”

Zhou Yuji probed the attitude of the kiln people, and he also knew what to do. This Ming Dynasty is really unbearable, and now everything in Shanxi depends on the kiln people. It was already difficult for the imperial court to do anything to the kiln people. If the kiln gang people really reverse that day, the Ming Dynasty will be over. Fortunately, the relationship between himself and the kiln people is not bad, and there will be no problem if he leaves a way out for the kiln people to his family. This time, the kiln people didn't treat themselves as outsiders at all, and they didn't carry themselves behind their backs for a lot of words and things.

Zhou Yuji borrowed some grain from the Yaogang people and prepared to go back to Ningwu. But before he left, the general soldier of Datong, Jiang Zhuang, came again, and Zhou Yuji had to leave a day late, and everyone gathered again.

However, the news brought by Jiang Jian is not optimistic. He said that the Mongols on the other side were ready to move. A few times he caused trouble on the side, Jiang Jian ordered patience. Because Li Zicheng was in trouble in Shanxi, he was afraid of fighting on both sides. This time, he was overjoyed when he heard that Li Zicheng had withdrawn from Taiyuan. He thought he would fight Li Zicheng in Datong.

Zhang Zhimu was particularly happy about Jiang Bao's arrival, because he wanted to discuss something with him. However, Zhang Zhimu knew that in his previous life, this Jiang Jiaoke was a celebrity, a famous wall grass, when Li Zicheng came, he listened to the persuasion of his brother who had already surrendered, surrendered Li Zicheng, and later surrendered to the Jurchens, and then raised the flag against the Qing Dynasty.

Now that Zhang Zhimu saw him, he knew in his heart that he surrendered last time because he knew that the Ming Dynasty was no longer good, and it was impossible for him to stop Li Zicheng's Dashun army by himself. But now he knew that as long as there were kiln men in front of him, he would have a chance of winning, so he would not surrender.

Zhang Zhimu didn't know at this time that his brother who had surrendered had not gone to him to persuade him to surrender. However, Zhang Zhimu doesn't care whether there are jujubes or not, let's talk about it first. After everyone met politely, when they walked into the house, Zhang Zhimu deliberately asked: "Mr. Jiang, Brother Ling has always been good?" ”

Zhang Zhimu's words made Jiang Ji tremble. He hurriedly said, "Okay! OK. ”

Zhang Zhimu understood in his heart that his brother must have gone to him to persuade him to surrender. Zhang Zhimu didn't mention it again. But Jiang Ji found an opportunity and said to Zhang Zhimu: "Zhang Dongjia is really powerful!" Alas, my brother, who is not angry, did not say anything about the thieves himself, but also came to persuade me to surrender. For my brother's sake, I couldn't bear to kill him. ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "Everyone has their own ambitions, and you don't have to be embarrassed. From his point of view, your brother thinks he is helping you, how can you harm your own brother? It's just that we must pay attention to things in the future, the Ming Dynasty can't do other aspects, and those people in Jinyiwei are not idle eaters. ”

Jiang Zhi bowed his hand and said, "Thank you Zhang Dongjia for your understanding!" ”

During the banquet, Zhang Zhimu introduced to Jiang Jian the current situation of the Yaogang army and some of his plans for Shanxi.

Jiang Pai said: "I've always been mindful." Because the Jurchens subdued most of the Mongol tribes, after they stabilized, they all aimed at us, and constantly provoked on the border, I was afraid that Li Zicheng would attack again in the south, and if the Jurchens in the north attacked again, we would suffer from the enemy on our backs. ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "It just so happens that General Zhou is also here, let's discuss this matter." I see that the north side is all up to you, and the south side is left to us. For the north, it is still necessary to adopt the method of General Jiang's army, and now we need to be patient. When I stabilize Shanxi, we won't be afraid of them. ”

Mr. Zhou and Mr. Jiang both nodded. Zhou Yuji said: "Zhang Dongjia, we are much more relieved to rely on you." You deal with the thieves as soon as possible, and we can hold out to the north for a while. ”

Jiang Jian said: "It's okay for a short time, I'm afraid that it won't work for a long time." This year's annual salary of the imperial court has not yet reached half of it. If the Jurchens in the north knew about this, they would not stand still. ”

Zhang Zhimu laughed and said, "Mr. Zhou, Mr. Jiang, don't worry." The court will not receive any money, and they will not have any money to pay you. But soon they will have silver. ”

Zhou Yuji and Jiang Jian both put down the cups in their hands and looked at Zhang Zhimu. Zhang Zhimu said: "You don't need to be surprised. We were surrounded by Li Zicheng, and the emperor was embarrassed to borrow money from us. But Li Zicheng ran away, and the emperor should make a holy decree. ”

Zhou Yuji and Jiang Jian both lowered their heads and did not speak. But their hearts are sour. This kiln gang people sent troops to fight, and the imperial court did not have a little military salary, not to mention grain and grass, and the imperial court also borrowed silver from Zhang Zhimu. They all knew that the silver borrowed by the court was to ask for silver.

Zhang Zhimu saw that the two chief soldiers did not speak, and said, "Two adults, don't think about it. As long as the emperor can use this silver to protect the peace of our northern frontier, it will be the blessing of all the people, and we Yaogang people will recognize it. Regarding grain, you can rest assured that when we sent troops, we first stared at Li Zicheng's two large grain and grass bases in Jiaocheng and Fenyang, and seized some grain and grass. We can support you some first. But there's one more thing I'd like to discuss with you. Mr. Zhou knew that we had already telegraphed to Lingshui Wharf. I want to send a telegram from Yaogang to Ningwuguan and Datong, and you see what happens. ”

Jiang Ji also knew about the telegram now, and he and Zhou Yuji clapped their hands happily when they heard it.

Zhang Zhimu said: "However, you two also know that this telegram is too expensive. Seeing Zhang Zhimu lifting silver, Zhou Yuji and Jiang Ji didn't dare to look up.

Zhang Zhimu said again: "Don't be nervous. I have a solution, you can see if it works. Mr. Zhou, you are closer to us, and you have coal there. Mr. Jiang, you have copper there. My idea is that we will give you food in exchange for coal and copper. In this case, we can exchange it for silver and do the work of this telegram. You don't have to worry about the rest. What do you think? ”

The two of them understood that this was a matter of great advantage for them, and that they did not need money to buy food, so they exchanged things. When it's over, people will fix the telegram. This is Zhang Zhimu taking care of them, and they are unwilling.

However, Jiang Jian proposed again: "Zhang Dongjia, since you need a lot of copper here, can I exchange copper for some muskets." ”

Zhang Zhimu thought for a moment and said, "Okay, no problem." You've got muskets. We feel safer, so I don't want any copper anywhere else. ”

Zhou Yuji saw that there was a door and said, "Zhang Dongjia, I have lead there, do you think you can change some muskets and ammunition?" ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "Okay! You can have as much lead as you want. I will help the two of you, that is, to help ourselves, that is, to help the three Jin fathers. "In fact, these two things are things that are currently in short supply in the kiln.

As Zhang Zhimu expected, not long after Zhou Yuji and Jiang Jiao left, Wang Gonggong came to the kiln with a team of brocade guards.

Seeing Zhang Zhimu, the prince still laughed at the signature "quack", and Zhang Zhimu had begun to adapt to this. Without waiting for the prince to speak, Zhang Zhimu said: "The prince is really a good friend!" Knowing that we were fighting here in Yaogang, they came to fight side by side with me. ”

The prince's mouth was not given for nothing, and he smiled and said, "Zhang Dongjia still understands me." I heard that you are fighting here, and I can stay there in the Forbidden City. When I saw the emperor, I pleaded for mercy and said that Shanxi would come to fight the thieves with you. But the emperor didn't allow it. There are too many things to do with the emperor, and he can't do without me! I couldn't help it, I didn't finally come out until today. ”

Yan Boju quipped: "I heard that Li Zicheng ran away, so the prince dared to come out, right?" ”

"Quack! Look at what you said, Zhang Dongjia knows that I am not a person who is afraid of things. "The prince and these people in the kiln are very familiar with each other, and they are very willing to get along with them. It is not false at all to say that the prince is willing to come to the kiln.

After the greetings, he went into the house to see if there was anyone else, and the prince said to Zhang Zhimu and Yan Boju: "It's hard to speak, but this is the emperor's order, and I don't dare to delay." No matter how difficult it is, you have to say it. ”

Yan Boju snorted with his nose and said, "You want silver again, right?" ”

"No, it's the court that borrowed the silver." The prince corrected.

Zhang Zhimu deliberately said: "Princess, what are you doing like this?" Can't you just hide from it? ”

Sitting on the chair and tilting his head, the prince said, "I think it's not easy for the emperor." The ministers in the court only knew that they wanted silver, but the silver could not be collected, and the emperor's hair turned gray. The emperor sent me out to borrow silver, but there was no way, and he felt uncomfortable. ”

Zhang Zhimu asked: "This time, how much silver does the emperor want to borrow?" ”

The prince raised a finger and said, "One million taels!" ”

Zhang Zhimu lowered his head and thought for a while, and said, "Princess, you go back and tell the emperor that we have been surrounded by thieves for so long. We sent our troops out to fight again. When Li Zicheng was in the city we took over, he announced that he would not pay food or taxes for three years, and we would not be able to collect it, so a lot of silver was needed for disaster relief. I don't even know, but I don't know if we have enough for all our money. However, the emperor's silver cannot be less, this time we lent the emperor 300,000 taels of silver, and 700,000 taels of kiln coins. So that we can still slow down. ”

Wang Gonggong said in his heart, what is the same silver kiln gang currency is the same to pay the army to buy food, and the ticket number of the kiln gang currency to the kiln gang can also be exchanged for silver, he said: "Hey! It's not easy for the kiln people. I thank Zhang Dongjia for the people of the world and the imperial court. Without the Zhang Dong family, I don't dare to think about what would happen to our Ming Dynasty. ”

When sending the prince to escort the silver cart away, Yan Boju said to Zhang Zhimu: "Now the whole of Shanxi can't collect a million taels of silver a year. The emperor should be happy. ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "Uncle Yan, the value of this million taels of silver, the emperor will hold the Jurchen and Mongolian side for us." Now we have stabilized in the north, and the imperial court has stabilized. After cleaning up the Dashun army in Shanxi. We've got a lot of things to do. ”

Yan Boju said, "Yes! However, it is imperative that we open our water routes as soon as possible. ”

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The Song and Yuan armies went to war in Japan. The Mongols annexed Western Europe and moved on to Africa. --Progress of "Memories of the Southern Song Dynasty".