Emperor Ming Fengyunlu

Volume 9 The Great Tribulation

Chapter 1 The Difficulties and Disasters of the State Arise

Section 3: Bandits in Northwest China (2)

After listening to Han Yuan's words, Emperor Chongzhen's heart felt extremely shocked, and he couldn't help but secretly say in his heart: "If you want to exterminate the thieves, the imperial court actually wants to raise at least four million taels of silver, as well as 1.8 million stone grain, and requisition 30,000 to 50,000 elite troops?" It's nothing short of a miracle! With all this money, food, soldiers and horses, you can attack the Qing army! ”

"Elder Ge, how much more grain can the imperial court take out now to quell the rebellion? You're going to give me an account today! Emperor Chongzhen asked with a frown, the look on his face showed that he had no confidence in the financial resources of the imperial court.

Han Yuan hesitated for a moment when he heard this, and then said: "Your Majesty, according to the situation of the military department and the household department, the imperial court can only raise 1.3 million taels of silver and 200,000 stone of grain at most. If there is more, the imperial court really can't come up with it, and this is because the household department has already embezzled part of the disaster relief money that was supposed to be allocated to the provinces south of the Yangtze River. ”

When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he was immediately furious, stood up suddenly, his eyes seemed to be about to breathe fire, and he glared at Han Yuan angrily and said: "What does Elder Ge mean is that now the imperial court can't even afford to fight a battle to quell the chaos?" I have hundreds of millions of people and tens of thousands of miles of rivers and mountains in the Ming Dynasty, and the imperial court is still so difficult, why is this! ”

Han Yuan's face was flushed when he heard this, but he fell to his knees without saying a word, no matter how Emperor Chongzhen roared, there was nothing to say.

In the following period of time, Emperor Chongzhen began to raise money and grain everywhere, not only deducting a large amount of money and grain from the palace, but even issuing orders several times to let the vassal kings and clansmen in the capital and various places donate, but with little effect. Those vassal kings and clans were all loyal to Emperor Chongzhen on weekdays, but now that it is really a critical time, they have all become like they have nothing to do with themselves, and almost no one is willing to contribute money and food. In a full month, Emperor Chongzhen only raised a mere 30,000 taels of silver and more than 2,000 stone of grain. Looking at the money and grain raised, Emperor Chongzhen was so angry that he trembled and his face turned pale, but he had no choice but to mobilize 300,000 taels of silver from his internal treasury for the purpose of countering the rebellion, but it was still a big gap from the huge amount of 4 million taels of silver and 1.8 million stone grain.

Just when Emperor Chongzhen was overwhelmed and at a loss in order to raise money and food, the military department received the latest movement of the army of thieves.

"It has been reported that the army of thieves who had retreated into Shaanxi before had a tendency to re-enter Shanxi, and the thieves had returned to Ma Shouying, Ba Jingang, Wang Zishun, Shangtian Monkey and other units, and they had already completed their assembly under the leadership of the thieves Gao Yingxiang, and they could cross the Yellow River and enter Shanxi at any time......"

"It is reported that the bandits Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong's troops are assembling at the junction of Shaanxi and Shanxi, and it seems that they are cooperating with Gao Yingxiang's troops to attack Shanxi from the north......"

Emperor Chongzhen looked at these dazzling reports with a sad face, and knew very well in his heart that if the army of thieves was allowed to enter Shanxi, the situation that had just stabilized would get out of control again, and then the money and grain used by the imperial court to quell the rebellion would not only be now, but would be multiplied several times! If that happens, the consequences will be unimaginable!

"The counterinsurgency army must go out immediately, and the army of thieves must be defeated as soon as possible!"

Emperor Chongzhen secretly said in his heart, and just as he was thinking about it, he saw a letter on the bookcase, which was the letter of invitation submitted by Liu Yunwei, the governor of Jiliao, a few days ago.

"It seems that this time the Northwest bandits are still counting on the Jiliao Governor and the officers and soldiers of the Hanwei Army."

Thinking of this, Emperor Chongzhen said to Wang Chengen beside him: "Immediately give an order to Liu Yunwei, the governor of Jiliao, and order him to enter Beijing immediately, and I will discuss with Liu Supervisor in person about quelling the chaos!" ”

At the end of August of the second year of Chongzhen (the first year of Tiancong of the Manchu Dynasty).

Liu Yunwei, who received the order of Emperor Chongzhen, ordered the commanders of all battalions of the Hanwei Army and the governors of the Governor's Mansion to rush to Tongzhou to stand by, ready to wait for the arrangements before his expedition; In addition, more than 30,000 soldiers of the pacesetter battalion and more than 30,000 soldiers of the Yue cavalry battalion should also immediately go to Tongzhou City, while the soldiers of the Yingyang battalion will continue to garrison Shanhaiguan. At the same time, Liu Yunwei also ordered Chen Zitong, the governor of the Tunshou Division, and Ma Shiming, the governor of the City Bo Division, to immediately raise money and grain, and ordered Sun Yuanhua, the governor of the General Division, to immediately mobilize troops to Tongzhou and make preparations for the army.

In order to be in a hurry, Liu Yunwei set off to the capital with only 20 personal guards, and rushed to the gate of Desheng in the capital four days later.

The Royal Palace, the Imperial Study.

Emperor Chongzhen looked at Liu Yunwei, who was in the dust, and didn't know why his heart suddenly became a lot more steady, and said: "Inspector Liu, now that there are thieves in the northwest, there is a great posture of erosion in the north, I don't know what Inspector Liu's strategy is to break the enemy?" ”

Liu Yunwei pondered for a while, and then said: "Your Majesty, the northwest thieves are actually not worried, if you want to defeat them on the battlefield, my Hanwei army only needs two battalions of 60,000 troops, as long as my Hanwei army soldiers rush to the northwest, within two months will pass on the good news!" It's just that in the opinion of the ministers, the focus of the northwest is to appease the homeless, not to strangle the thieves! ”

Emperor Chongzhen sighed and said: "I also know this truth, if you can't help the displaced people and settle down the place, I am afraid that the thieves will be more and more suppressed, and this counterinsurgency war will be fought endlessly." ”

"What Your Majesty said is very true!" Liu Yunwei clenched his fists and said: "Your Majesty, the minister suggested that while the imperial court sent an army to recruit and suppress the thieves, another minister should be sent to Shanxi and Shaanxi to stabilize the places and collect the homeless people, so as to achieve the effect of drawing salaries from the bottom of the kettle. In this way, the minister can guarantee that the northwest will be completely pacified within a few months! ”

Emperor Chongzhen said with a sad face: "I know that what Inspector Liu said is the words of the old man to seek the country, but now the imperial court really can't come up with enough money and food!" ”

Hearing this, Liu Yunwei understood everything: the imperial court is not unable to exterminate the army of thieves, in the final analysis, there is no money and no food, this counterinsurgency war and the relief that needs to be carried out at the same time, the imperial court has no ability to continue, it can only watch the army of thieves wreak havoc in the northwest and stare dryly!

"Fortunately, this governor was prepared for this situation, and let the Investigation Division find out the situation of the Jin merchants in advance, and the counterinsurgency war and the cost of relief for the displaced people will be covered by those traitors and Jin merchants!"

Thinking of this, Liu Yunwei said: "Your Majesty, the minister has a way to solve the problem of money and food, but he needs His Majesty's support!" ”

Emperor Chongzhen has been troubled by the matter of money and food for this period of time, and when he heard that Liu Yunwei had a way to get money and food, he was overjoyed and hurriedly asked: "Inspector Liu, as long as what Inspector Liu said is practical and feasible, I will fully support it!" ”

"Your Majesty, the minister can lead two battalions of 60,000 troops to the expedition in a few days, and the food and salary required by the soldiers of my Hanwei army do not need to be supplied by the imperial court, and the imperial court only needs to make every effort to raise the money and food needed to help the displaced people."

Emperor Chongzhen couldn't help but be overjoyed when he heard this, and asked, "How to solve the needs of the soldiers of the army?" ”

"This requires His Majesty's support!"

By the time Liu Yunwei left the palace, he already had a holy decree issued by Emperor Chongzhen in his arms, which ordered Shanxi merchants to donate food and salaries for the army, and fully supply the soldiers of the Hanwei army to quell the rebellion of the thieves.

"With this decree, if those Jin merchants are willing to pay for food, then the governor will empty their households; If they don't want to, it will be even better, and Ben Governor will directly exterminate them for the crime of resisting the decree! ”

On the same day, Liu Yunwei rushed back to Tongzhou City, and it was already night when he entered the city.

Tongzhou General Military Mansion Hall.

Liu Yunwei didn't care about being tired, and as soon as he returned to the General Military Mansion, he convened everyone to discuss in the hall.

It didn't take long for Lu Ying, the chief military officer of Tongzhou Town, Wen Poyu, the chief military officer of Jizhou Town, Zhao Shujiao, the chief military officer of Shanhai Town, Wu Xing, the chief military officer of Liaodong Town, Zhao Kaishan, the general of the Huben battalion, Li Tianhao, the general of the Yuecai battalion, Wang Gandang, the general of the Zhechong battalion, Gao Hongguang, the general of the Yingyang battalion, and Huang Fuming, the general of the Yulin battalion, as well as Yuan Mingxuan, Sun Yuanhua, Chen Zitong, Ma Shiming, Zhou Tianyi, and Hu Kun.

Liu Yunwei was not polite, and said directly and loudly: "Now that the bandit trouble in the northwest is getting more and more intense, Your Majesty has issued an order to recruit my Hanwei army to the northwest and pacify the army of thieves." This time, the soldiers of our Hanwei army no longer allocated money and grain when they went to the imperial court, and our army's money and grain were supplied by Jin merchants. ”

After Liu Yunwei finished speaking, everyone burst into laughter, obviously Liu Yunwei's plan had been known to everyone, and everyone's face showed an extremely excited expression: what a pleasure it is to be able to slaughter a traitor businessman, or even kill him completely!

Liu Yunwei waved his hand to signal everyone to be quiet, and then asked, "What is the situation of the general, have the troops been prepared?" ”

Sun Yuanhua came out and said: "Inspector Qi, the general has mobilized a large number of troops from the treasury, enough for 60,000 troops, and has now arrived in Tongzhou City. ”

"Excellent! The Tunshou Division, the City Ship Division, have the food and salaries that were transported with the army ever prepared? On this expedition, the army must carry the money and food needed for January with the army in case of emergency! ”

Chen Zitong and Ma Shiming got up together when they heard the words and said: "Governor Qiqi, the money and food needed for the army in January have been prepared, and now they are hoarded in Tongzhou City, and they can be shipped at any time. ”

Liu Yunwei nodded with satisfaction and said to Yuan Mingxuan: "Governor Yuan, from today onwards, in addition to paying close attention to the movements of the Northwest Thief Army, we must also continue to pay attention to the situation in the direction of Liaodong. ”

"Don't worry, Inspector, as soon as there is any movement over there in the Manchu Dynasty, I will get the news when I investigate Sima."

Seeing that everything was in order, Liu Yunwei took a deep breath, got up and said, "Early the day after tomorrow, the governor will lead the pacesetter battalion and the soldiers of the Yue cavalry battalion to Shanxi to quell the rebellion. The defenders of Tongzhou Town, Jizhou Town, Shanhai Town, and Liaodong Town continued to strictly defend the city, beware of the Manchu Qing taking the opportunity to move south. The soldiers of the Yingyang Battalion were temporarily assigned to Shanhai Town to assist Shanhai Town in guarding Shanhai Pass. During the period when the Governor led the army to go on the expedition, Governor Yuan oversaw the overall situation of everything in the Governor's Mansion, and the Planning Division and the Suppression Division went out with the army! ”