Li Zhong was a little worried, but he still waited for Feng Taichu to leave before reminding: "Isn't it too risky to transfer the cavalry from Henan and Shandong?" ”

Li Yan confidently explained: "There is no risk, the security in these two places is very good, even if there are bandits hiding in the deep mountains, they dare not come out." It was better for them to come out, just in time to take the opportunity to exterminate. Threats from other aspects, Zhili, Shanxi, and Shaanxi are not mobilized. As for Jiangnan, they are not afraid of them coming. ”

"What about the heavy grain and grass?" Li Zhong still had doubts: "Nearly 20,000 cavalry, the amount of baggage needed is not a small amount, can you be prepared in such a hurry?" ”

Li Yan said with a smile: "Don't worry, there is a caravan." They can get silver or salt from us, and they can sell their goods along the way, and the profit is much greater than when they were in the border market. ”

Now that he is cracking down on illegal salt in the areas under his control, and an official retail system is gradually being established, the price of salt has dropped considerably. However, salt production in the south has suffered a lot of damage, and the shortage of salt is not small, and it is still possible to make a lot of money by selling salt to the south. He had already communicated with his trading group and the border merchants in Shanxi, and they were still very enthusiastic about this kind of action of following the army into the grassland.

Li Yan continued: "Now many Mongolian tribes along the Great Wall have very little hostility towards us. One is that we are strong enough, and the other is the reason for the border trade market. If they can get the materials they need to survive through mutual market trading, they should not take a greater risk to come and rob them. Therefore, we must not show weakness, and we must let the Mongolian tribes see that we have the ability to deal with the Qing State, even in the depths of the steppe. ”

"Alas," Li Zhong sighed, "Northern Mongolia, how can it be so easy to subdue." Zhu Di led hundreds of thousands of troops on five northern expeditions, but it was just to reduce the border troubles slightly. Although the Mongols were divided into many tribes and their strength was greatly reduced, the Qing state was still organized from them, and it was difficult to tame them easily. The key is still the Qing State, as long as the Qing State surrenders, Mongolia will be honest. ”

Li Yan shook his head: "Having said that, we can't directly take the Qing Kingdom." The Qing and Mongolia are each other's Austrian aids, and we will go out to attack the Qing State, but the Qing State can send troops to make a detour through Mongolia and attack our Great Wall. They are agile, but we have to defend everywhere. If we can win over the Mongolian ministries to our side, then the pressure along our Great Wall will be much less, and when the time comes, we will get twice the result with half the effort. ”

"It's not something that can be done in a short period of time." Li Zhong said.

Li Yan smiled indifferently and said, "Don't be afraid, time is on our side." When we unify the south, we will be able to mobilize all our forces to deal with the Qing state. ”

Li Zhong also smiled, and then changed the topic: "Most of the land in Henan is going to be fallow. After three or four years of continuous intensive farming, the soil fertility has begun to decline, and the farmers have grain stocks at home, so the willingness to fallow is very strong. This year, the number of peasant households planting winter wheat will be greatly reduced, and next year's grain tax revenue will be reduced by more than two percent. There will be other places that will be fallow after that, so be prepared. ”

"Is there enough food for the army?" Li Yan frowned and asked.

Li Zhong replied: "There is no problem with using it for a year. However, it is better to receive it as soon as possible in the Huguang area, after all, the north is poor, and even if there are high-yield potatoes, it is always uneasy. ”

"Well, wait for the next few batches of recruits, we must continue to expand the army, and let the other troops rest for a while." Li Yan nodded: "The south is in chaos now, and it's not too late to talk about it later." As long as there is no food shortage. ”

"There's no need to worry. We only collect 30% of the goods, and the people have stored everything except for a part of it in exchange, which is richer than our official treasury. Li Zhong said with a smile.

Li Yan was completely relieved when he heard this, as long as the people had food in their hands, there would be no chaos.

Li Zhong spoke again: "Also, Zhou He sent a letter, saying that he had met Princess Changping of the former dynasty and asked him to send someone to escort him, saying that he was going to Wutai Mountain to take refuge in Buddhism. Zhou He didn't dare to agree, so he wrote to ask for instructions. ”

Li Yan casually ordered: "Then send a few people to send it." Since you are going to become a monk and cultivate, don't make a big fuss. ”

"That's the princess of the previous dynasty, if she really wants to become a monk, will there be other incidents?" Li Zhong was a little worried.

Li Yan said nonchalantly: "It's just a princess, not a prince." As for the officials of the previous dynasty, there are many more people who come to camp here than those who miss their old master. As for those Taoist gentlemen, no matter how good we do, we are still just thieves, so we don't need to pay attention to them. ”

"Well, then I'll let Zhou He do it."

Li Yan was planning to subdue the Mongol tribes, and the ministers of the Southern Ming Dynasty, who fled all the way south, were not idle. After they fled all the way to Wenzhou, they finally learned that Zhu Yousong, the Hongguang Emperor, had been caught by Li Zicheng, and the letter of persuasion issued in the name of the emperor had been sent to Wenzhou.

It's good now, the original ones who supported King Lu's accession to the throne have got their wish. Although King Gui is more suitable for the throne, isn't King Gui in Guangxi, it's too far away from them, so he can only let King Lu, who is close at hand, be the emperor. As for surrender, it has not yet reached the end of the mountain, so naturally there is no need to think about it first.

Ma Shiying, Ruan Dacheng, and a few of them have no choice. At the beginning, they attacked Donglin and Fushe and drove away many people, but now they have escaped from Nanjing and want to reorganize the imperial court, so they can only use these opponents who were driven out by them. But it's not the worst, at least they still have Liu Zeqing's army, and they should still be able to do it if they continue to control the government.

The Empress Dowager was very concerned about the overall situation, although her son was arrested by Li Zicheng, she still gave King Lu an edict to King Lu according to the request of the ministers, asking King Lu to supervise the country. As for the matter of ascending the throne, I will talk about it after settling down, this Wenzhou is not a place to live for a long time.

But at this time, King Lu was unwilling. At the beginning of Nanjing, there were at least four towns guarding the river defense, and Zuo Liangyu controlled the upper reaches. What is there now? The people of the four towns, Huang Degong died, Liu Liangzuo fled, Gao Jie was considered a rebellion, and only Liu Zeqing was left. And Zuo Mengeng is also reversed, the Yangtze River defense line and the Jiangxi defense line have collapsed, Li Zicheng has sent troops to chase after him, and he will come out to be this target when he is crazy.

"No, no, this king is not a prisoner, you can choose someone else." After King Lu received the edict of the Empress Dowager in a small courtyard, he immediately waved his hands and refused. This is a sincere refusal, but I'm not in the mood to play a three-push-three-let persuasion game.

The Guizhou soldiers sent by Ma Shiying stepped forward and walked towards the prepared sedan chair without saying anything. The eunuchs and Changshi, Chengfeng and others in the back didn't dare to stop them.

Zhu Changzhu shouted in fright: "Don't harm this king, don't harm this king!" The shouting was exhausted, and the tears couldn't stop coming out. He was really scared, but Li Zicheng was chasing him, how many vassal kings he had killed, he didn't want to be Li Zicheng's next target.

Gao Qiqian, who came to deliver the message, followed behind and persuaded in a low voice: "Your Royal Highness King Lu, you will agree." This Ming dynasty will depend on you in the future. Our three hundred years of the Ming Dynasty can't be bad in your hands. ”

Zhu Changzhu shouted weakly: "Aren't you harming me, aren't you harming me." King Gui is closer than me, why don't you look for him? ”

"Your Highness, you are reluctant to make it difficult for the sake of the Ming Dynasty." Gao Qiqian casually persuaded. At this time, he also felt that the choice of this emperor was really a bit outrageous, and it couldn't match the previous virtuous name.

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