Emperor Ming Fengyunlu

Volume VI The Battle of the Northern Frontier

Chapter 4 Recruiting Troops and Gathering Strength

Section 8: Agreements

Liu Yunwei frowned and asked, "What does Gonggong Wei mean?" ”

Wei Zhongxian said with a smile: "I don't mean anything, I just want to tell Mr. Liu that the power of Jin Shang is very huge, not just what you see on the surface, so don't be rash, so as not to spoil the big thing." ”

Liu Yunwei sneered and said, "Oh? How powerful can the Jin merchants be? Is it more powerful than Gonggong Wei? ”

"Haha, Mr. Liu is really joking." Wei Zhongxian pondered for a moment and said: "Let's put it this way, the miscellaneous family can indeed completely eradicate the Jin merchants, but correspondingly, the miscellaneous family also has to pay a great price, after all, there are many officials involved in the DPRK and the Jin merchants, and many of them are still in high positions and important positions. Therefore, the miscellaneous family does not want to provoke the anger of the public for a group of traitorous profiteers, and there are many ways to clean up this group of traitors, but the only thing is that they can't act rashly. ”

Yuan Mingxuan, who was on the side, said with some displeasure: "Gonggong Wei, can you understand your words below that you are trying to protect Jin Shang?" ”

"Nope! The miscellaneous family will definitely not protect the Jin merchants. On the contrary, the miscellaneous family has always wanted to eradicate the Jin merchants. ”

"I don't understand that." Liu Yunwei frowned and said, "Since Gonggong Wei wants to eradicate the Jin merchants, why do you want to prevent my Tongzhou Town from thoroughly investigating this matter?" If you have anything to say, please say it directly, I, Liu Yunwei, am a martial artist, I don't like to go around the bend, I like to go straight! ”

"Haha, then the miscellaneous family will say it directly."

Wei Zhongxian first picked up his wine glass and toasted with Liu Yunwei, and then said: "The miscellaneous family is planning a big event, and it is said that it should not be leaked, but Liu Zongbing is no one else, so the miscellaneous family will talk to Liu Zongbing." ”

"I want to hear about it."

Wei Zhongxian suddenly said: "This Liaodong War, first there are Qi family army, white pole soldiers and soldiers bloody battle Hun River, and then there are Hanwei army soldiers fighting thousands of mountains, Jiannu army has suffered heavy losses, although the process is very tortuous, but my Ming is still firmly in the upper hand, as long as we continue to increase the number of troops in Liaodong, this war will continue to fight, then Jiannu will be defeated, Liaodong will be restored!" However, under such a good situation, General Liu not only could not return triumphantly, but could only return to Tongzhou Town with hatred, and Jiannu took the opportunity to sweep the entire Liaodong, what caused this situation? Didn't Mr. Liu think about it? ”

Liu Yunwei and Yuan Mingxuan didn't speak, but lowered their heads and pondered, and Lu Ying next to him was also frowning and thinking about something.

Wei Zhongxian paused slightly, and then continued: "General Liu must have thought that it was the traitorous ministers in the court who made trouble, and it was the party struggle between the miscellaneous family and the Donglin Party that caused the instability of the rear of the Han Wei army, and finally forced the army to retreat to Guannei with hatred. ”

After speaking, Wei Zhongxian paid attention to Liu Yunwei's expression, and when he saw that he was slightly moved, he smiled and continued: "If Liu Zongbing really thinks so, then it is too simple. Nowadays, although my Ming Dynasty is worried about internal and external troubles, the country is still far stronger than Jiannu, and it is said that even if the DPRK and China are unstable, they will not be defeated several times against Jiannu. Among them, the key miscellaneous family also thought a lot, Liu Zongbing personally participated in the Battle of Sarhu, the Battle of Liaoshen, and the Battle of Qianshan, so he didn't think of anything from it? ”

"Money!" Liu Yunwei suddenly raised his head and said: "Whether it is the Battle of Sarhu or the Battle of Liaoshen, it is because of the deficit of the imperial treasury that makes it difficult to supply the Liao army, the equipment is insufficient, and it is impossible to recruit a sufficient number of soldiers and horses to fight. In this way, the army had already lost three points before the start of the battle, and coupled with the strong combat power of Jiannu, it is not surprising that the national dynasty was defeated one after another. In the Battle of Qianshan, our Hanwei army had to retreat to the pass because of the lack of money and food. In the final analysis, although there are various reasons for the defeat of the two major wars of the country, the lack of money is definitely the primary reason! ”

"Incisive!" Wei Zhongxian looked at Liu Yunwei with great appreciation, and said, "Mr. Liu really has extraordinary knowledge, and he immediately talked about the key to the problem. If the imperial court can continue to provide sufficient supplies for the Han Wei army from afar, even if the miscellaneous family falls out in the court, General Liu will definitely be able to defeat Jiannu and sweep Liaodong! ”

Liu Yunwei sneered and asked, "Gonggong Wei has been talking about it for so long, what does this have to do with Jin Shang?" ”

"This major event of the miscellaneous family can solve the situation of lack of money in the imperial court, and the Jin merchants are the most important part of this major event prepared by the miscellaneous family, so there is still value for the time being."

Liu Yunwei and Yuan Mingxuan were both moved when they heard this: "It seems that Wei Zhongxian is going to do something out of the ordinary." ”

Liu Yunwei asked in a deep voice, "What does Grandpa Wei want to do?" Please also make it clear. ”

Wei Zhongxian smiled and said, "It's nothing, I just want to get some silver for the country." ”

Seeing that Wei Zhongxian was still playing haha, Liu Yunwei couldn't help but feel angry in his heart, and said in a cold voice: "Is it okay to be specific, Gonggong Wei?" ”

Seeing this, Wei Zhongxian didn't care, but laughed out loud and said, "Okay! Then the miscellaneous family said it directly. I don't know what Liu Zongbing thinks of the first emperor (Emperor Wanli) opening mines and sending tax supervisors? Anyway, the miscellaneous family can tell Liu Zongbing that the first emperor's move can be said to be a good thing for the country and the people. During that time, the tax supervisors stationed in various places by the imperial court collected a large number of taxes, the treasury was full every year, and there was never a shortage of supplies for the soldiers of the Nine Sides! However, the Donglin Party in the court was reluctant to do this, because most of the tax inspectors sent by the first emperor were in the provinces south of the Yangtze River, which were the hometowns of the Donglin Party officials, and the first emperor's move greatly affected the interests of the Donglin Party faction. As a result, the officials of the Donglin Party broke out a dispute with the first emperor on the grounds of competing with the people for profit, and finally forced the first emperor to abolish the tax supervision in various places and prohibit mining in various places. Since then, the income of the imperial treasury has decreased dramatically, so much so that later the household department could not even pay the military salaries for the construction of slaves. ”

Hearing this, Liu Yunwei, Yuan Mingxuan, and Lu Ying were all shocked, and at the same time, they all knew what Wei Zhongxian wanted to do, and the three of them said secretly: "This Wei Zhongxian really dares to think and dare to do it!" ”

Liu Yunwei frowned and said, "Father-in-law Wei wants to reproduce what the first emperor did back then?" ”

"Exactly!" Wei Zhongxian said: "And the miscellaneous family wants to do something else." ”

Liu Yunwei and the others were even more shocked when they heard this.

Wei Zhongxian continued: "First, the miscellaneous family should reopen the mineral deposits in various places and restore the system of the first emperor to send tax supervisors; Second, miscellaneous families should develop shipping and encourage businessmen to prosper; Third, miscellaneous families should levy commercial taxes on merchants all over the world. As for the Jin merchants, the miscellaneous family had been in contact with them before, on the one hand, to warn them not to go too far, and on the other hand, to let them provide some assistance to the miscellaneous family in the matter of mining and collecting commercial taxes, after all, only the Jin merchants could compete with the wealthy merchants in Jiangnan; Moreover, the connections of Jin merchants in the court are also incomparable to ordinary people. However, Liu Zongbing can rest assured that after the miscellaneous family has done this major thing, the Jin merchants must be eradicated, and it must be done by the miscellaneous family themselves. ”

Liu Yunwei was silent for a long time, and then said: "Father-in-law Wei is so courageous, since this is the case, then I will let Jin Shang go for the time being." However, it is better for Gonggong Wei to communicate with the Jin Shang, don't provoke my Tongzhou Town, I don't want to hear any news from Tongzhou Town from the mouth of the Jin Shang to Jiannu! ”

"Although this Liu Zongbing can rest assured, the miscellaneous family has already sent someone to warn Jin Shang."

Liu Yunwei continued: "In addition, I also want to make another agreement with Grandpa Wei. ”

"Oh? What conventions? Wei Zhongxian couldn't help frowning and asked.

"When Gonggong Wei prepares to eradicate the Jin Shang, the money will belong to you, but those traitors of the Jin Shang must be handed over to my Tongzhou Town to deal with! Moreover, I, Liu Yunwei, am an impatient, it is better for Gonggong Wei to give me a deadline, don't let me wait indefinitely, I don't want Lord Yuan to encounter the enemy again when he transports grain. ”

"Three years, three years at most, when the time comes, the miscellaneous family will definitely hand over the Jin merchants and others to General Liu."

"Good!"

In the middle of the night, Liu Yunwei, Yuan Mingxuan, Lu Ying and others rode horses on the street, preparing to find an inn to settle down.

Yuan Mingxuan remembered what happened just now and said, "Little General, are we really not caring about those Jin merchants for the time being?" I don't believe what Wei Zhongxian said. ”

Liu Yunwei thought for a while and said, "I think Wei Zhongxian's words tonight still have some credibility, at least those words about increasing treasury revenue should be true." As for the Jin Shang's side, let's put it aside for the time being, and then continue to investigate after this period. After all, we made an agreement with Wei Zhongxian today, and we must at least give Wei Zhongxian a face. ”

As he was talking, everyone unconsciously passed by the door of the yamen of the military department, only to see that the lights in the military headquarters were still bright in the middle of the night, and from time to time they could see one after another fast horses constantly coming and going.

Liu Yunwei, Yuan Mingxuan, and Lu Ying were all shocked when they saw this, everyone was a member of the army, and they all understood that such a scene in the military headquarters in the middle of the night only showed one thing: there must be a war burning again.

Sure enough, at this moment when everyone was staying, Li Linbin hurriedly ran into the yamen of the military department from the outside, and inadvertently saw Liu Yunwei and others who were stunned at the door, so he ran over with an anxious face, so tired that he couldn't breathe.

Everyone hurriedly greeted them, and Liu Yunwei hurriedly asked, "Master Li, is there another accident in Liaodong?" ”

Li Linbin said with a pale face: "It's not Liaodong, it's southwest!" The Ministry of War received an urgent report from the southwest: Sichuan Yongning Xuanfu envoy Hao Chongming and Guizhou Xuanwei Division Tongzhian Bangyan have rebelled, and now the entire southwest is in chaos, the officials and armies of Sichuan and Guizhou provinces are losing one after another, and the rebels have attacked the hinterland of Sichuan and Guizhou! ”

Liu Yunwei was shocked when he heard this.