Chapter 53: Spring Return (II)

"Fortunately, they didn't say that King Wu didn't pay for food when he came!" Zhu Chongjiu flipped through the secret report sent by the General Intelligence Department from the north, and threw it on the table with some depression.

Because of the late arrival of Lingxun this year, as well as some other internal reasons, the main force of the Huai'an Army has not yet crossed the river. Only small forces were sent and several outposts were set up on the north bank. Judging from the intensity of the enemy's resistance and the information at hand, it is clear that Tuhuan Timur was not prepared to place the main battlefield on the banks of the Yellow River. The Huai'an Army's next work of crossing the river will basically not be disturbed too much. There will be no suspense about the goal of advancing the main force to the Jeju front line in mid-February. What's even more exciting and inexplicable is that the gentry and heroes of the Northland, who were expected to cause trouble for the Huai'an Army, actually began to change their attitudes. Many families risked being exterminated by the Mengyuan government, and constantly sent their descendants and nephews to Xuzhou to serve. It seems that the guy who paid for and supported Chahan Timur and Li Siqi before had nothing to do with them.

To paraphrase a popular saying of Zhu Dapeng in that time and space, the situation in front of him is very good. It's not generally good, but it's unexpectedly good. But in a good situation, there are some trivial things that make Zhu Chongjiu feel very speechless. It's like eating a state banquet-level meal, but suddenly you find a plate of fried stinky tofu hidden inside.

"Actually, it's not wrong to add a piece of King Wu who doesn't pay for food!" Regarding the actions of the military intelligence department on the hidden front in the north, Liu Bowen's evaluation is very different from Zhu Chongjiu's. "Anyway, in the newly recovered land, the grain tax for this year and next year will definitely not be collected. And the future treasury needs of the lord will not depend on the local grain supply! Therefore, it is better for the lord to simply take the initiative to do a favor! ”

"But after all, sooner or later, you still have to collect it! And, you know I'm worried about more than that! Zhu Chongjiu glanced at him and shook his head slightly.

Obviously, Liu Bowen was deliberately interrupting. Don't want to distract yourself from these little things. After all, up to now, everything related to the Northern Expedition was proceeding in accordance with the predetermined plan of the General Staff, in a hurry, in an orderly manner. It's almost as perfect as a grandfather clock that has just come out, and every tick counts. It's just that there is more of the cold breath of steel inside, and there is a lack of some taste of life.

However, Zhu Chongjiu sometimes can't help but be distracted. Although, his current thoughts are incompatible with the companions around him. Except for Sesame Li, who has been dead for many years, there is no second person in this world who understands the allusion of "King Wu came and didn't pay for food". And now, he vaguely sees that he is slowly moving closer to King Li Chuang back then.

Relying on the people's dissatisfaction with the Ming Dynasty and their expectations for light taxation, the old order was quickly smashed to pieces. However, after turning from an insurrect to a ruler, he found that many of the responsibilities that needed to be borne by his opponents were transferred to his own head. Under his command, there are only seventy or eighty thousand soldiers who can fight, and two or three million that can be used. Many of the promises made before were quickly turned into dreams. He had clearly promised not to pay for food, but when he turned around, he found that if he didn't let the people pay food, King Chuang himself would have to starve to death!

"Is it the price of food in the north, or is it a nursery rhyme sung everywhere?! The lord is too worried! If Liu Bowen could guess Zhu Chongjiu's thoughts, he would definitely shout out for injustice. In fact, he didn't pay much attention to Zhu Chongjiu's mood changes in the past few days. The reason why he spoke out to explain the other party was just to do the duty of a courtier. "Although the price of grain has risen far more than the estimate of the General Staff, as long as wild vegetables grow in the fields, not many people will starve to death. Besides, the lord had done his best to divert the people from the famine, and it was not you who forcibly left them in the city. As for those nursery rhymes, since ancient times, they have led troops to fight, and the means have been used to the extreme"

"Yes, the responsibility is not mine! How much starved to death, the account should also be recorded on Meng Yuan's side! Zhu Chongjiu glanced at Liu Bowen again, and his face became more and more lonely. This is the pain of the traverser, and it is difficult for even the closest person to understand his thoughts. After all, the minds of the two sides are separated by hundreds of years of evolutionary mileage. And passively lost the "wolf blood" of the nomads for more than 70 years, the Chinese Junjie in this time and space is far more ruthless than the predecessors of the Song Dynasty.

"It's just that I've heard a saying!" Without waiting for Liu Bowen to continue to explain, he added with a wry smile. "No matter how noble and bright the ultimate goal is, it should not be pursued by evil means. Because the purpose is the tree, and the means are the seeds, how can the seeds of evil grow into the trees of justice?! ”

This sentence is even farther away from the thinking of today's people. Liu Ji was stunned for a long time before he stroked his beard and shook his head in response, "This is probably the cloud of the hidden master!" Why didn't Wechen see it in the book of the lord conferred by the teacher? With all due respect, this may sound deafening at first glance. However, the first teacher's words are probably about how to stand up in the prosperous times, not how to open up peace in the troubled times. ”

The hidden master is the honorific title of the teacher compiled by Zhu Chongjiu by the people of the Great Governor's Mansion. Especially in the eyes of Liu Ji, Luo Ben and other scholars, the lord of his own family who can sit on Huaiyang with a pig-killing knife is by no means an illiterate reckless man. Instead, like Zhang Liang at the end of the Qin Dynasty, he was taught by a hermit of unknown origin and was highly respected by him. As for Zhu Chongjiu, who compiled them one after another with his own memory, and commissioned Lu Shuang'er to transcribe a few books that could only be regarded as ordinary high school or pheasant university textbooks in another time and space, such as "Arithmetic", "Physics", "Basic Economics", etc., they were automatically made up by people who had been in contact with Zhu Chongjiu's mastery, and his status was equivalent to "Taigong's Art of War" and "Huangshi Gong's Three Strategies". (Note 1)

Zhu Chongjiu really couldn't explain the subtlety of the fusion of the two souls and the intersection of the two time and space, so he also smiled and acquiesced to Liu Ji and the others' brain supplements. The advantage of this is that in the eyes of the people around him, he is finally no longer the reincarnation of Maitreya Buddha. But at the same time, it also attracted a huge undesirable consequence, that is, after reading all the mastery he had contributed, Liu Ji and others no longer believed in every sentence in the book, but began to try to argue or question.

"It is rumored that the former Taigongshang once said that it is better to take it in the straight than to ask for it in the song." Like Liu Ji, Robben also felt that Zhu Chongjiu's sudden mentality was a bit out of place. But Tai Gongshang's words are to teach King Wen how to govern the country, but not how to fight for the world. Since ancient times, soldiers have advocated that there is a difference between inside and outside! ”

"Yes, the lord himself once said that as long as I can make less sacrifices for my Huaiyang children, I don't care about using some extraordinary means during the Northern Expedition!" Lest Zhu Chongjiu offend the woman's benevolence at a critical moment, Chen Ji, the director of the Military Intelligence Department, also hurriedly followed Luo himself to help, and the three wisps of mustache that he had just grown looked like dust.

Although Su Mingzhe, the director of the Government Council, did not help, what he suddenly took out in his hand was a thick stack of account books. There is no need to look carefully, Zhu Chongjiu knew that this was to create convenience for the Northern Expedition of the Huai'an Army, and the details of the investment of the Great Governor's Mansion in recent months just by virtue of the color and markings on the surface.

That's a very large amount, almost worth an entire year's tax revenue from the Grand Governor's Office. Fortunately, in addition to taxes, the Governor's Office also holds the dividends it has received from the Huaiyang firm in the past two years, and has just copied Pu Shougeng's home. Otherwise, according to this method, before it reaches the capital, the Huai'an army itself will have to cut off the food first.

Whether it is a vocal refutation or a silent reminder, everyone here expresses the same content. Those who achieve great things are not informal. In order to ensure the success of the Northern Expedition, any means could be used as long as they were effective. Morality and mercy can only be applied to one's own people, not to the enemy's army and people.

The so-called own people are the Huaiyang Governor's Mansion, the Huaiyang Firm, the Huai'an Army and the Huaxia Fuxing Society, which has just temporarily emerged. At most, at most, to all the people currently under the Governor's Office. And Li Shu, the fallen land in the north, should definitely not be counted.

"A few people misunderstood! Zhu is not suddenly showing mercy, nor is he accusing the MI of being too insidious in what he has done in the recent period! "In the face of the contrary advice within the Great Governor's Mansion, under normal circumstances, Zhu Chongjiu can be as good as he is. But at this moment, he made an exception and chose to be stubborn, "I just think that if you can do it above board, try not to use these outrageous means." Nursery rhymes are easy to make up and spread fast enough. But if you are not careful, I am afraid that others will take advantage of it, but harm yourself. As for the famine that is now artificially created by the northerners, although we are not to blame, there is no doubt that it started because of us in the first place. So, Zhu can't wait any longer"

After a slight pause, his gaze quickly swept over everyone's faces, and what he saw was hesitation, confusion, depression and disappointment, "So, Zhu decided that we won't wait any longer." Deji, pass on my command! ”

"In!" Hu Deji, the staff officer of the General Staff and Hu Dahai's adopted son, stepped forward, his face full of excitement.

"An order was sent to General Wang Xuan and Feng Changshi from the waterway, and the Sixth Army Corps, after receiving the order, immediately launched an attack on the Yuan army on Yidu Road. Within two months, Jinan must be taken and Dongchang must be coerced. In addition, we will gather people affected by disasters in various parts of the country and provide relief on the spot. The required grain and grass will be directly supplemented by Yangzhou Liuhou Fu. ”

"Yes!" Hu Deji said loudly again, grabbed a special steel-tipped pen, and began to handwrite military orders.

"Huang Zheng, the director of the Industrial Bureau, and Yu Changlin, the director of the Household Bureau, the two of you, starting tomorrow morning, will be responsible for organizing the people and craftsmen to erect a pontoon bridge over the Yellow River. The cost can be wide, but the bridge must be strong enough to at least withstand the flood on a normal scale! ”

"Order!" Huang Lao Crooked and Yu Changlin are both doers, whether they support it or not, they will march north now, and they will decisively get up and receive their orders.

Zhang Song, the director of the Internal Affairs Department of the "Lord", stood up and stopped talking. Although he did not speak before, he and many civilian officials present privately agreed that it would be more beneficial for them to postpone the time for the Huai'an army to launch an attack for ten days and a half a month at this moment. After all, the famine in the north has just started, and the local government of Mengyuan and the powerful families have just begun to have dirty. The Huai'an army waited on the south bank of the Yellow River for a long time, so that the disaster in the north continued to spread, the contradictions continued to brew, and perhaps many cities could be overcome without a fight.

"General Xu Tiande!" Zhu Chongjiu didn't stop, directly ignored him, and quickly turned his gaze to Xu Da, who had always been silent, "From now on, you immediately implement the Privy Council's Tianzi No. 1 action plan, don't delay any longer." After crossing the river, you are solely responsible for some matters on the front line. Liu Bowen is responsible for giving you advice, logistics and supply, and Zhu personally organizes people to deliver supplies in Xuzhou! ”

"Yes!" Xu Da suddenly grinned, raised his hand and gave Zhu Chongjiu a standard military salute. Just because he doesn't like to talk doesn't mean he doesn't have his own thoughts in his heart. And Zhu Chongjiu's sudden decision was exactly the one he was looking forward to the most.

After such a long time, the status has changed so dramatically, and the Metropolitan Governor is still the original Metropolitan Governor, and he still hasn't forgotten the dreams he told everyone when he was in Xuzhou.

Xu Da understands that he has not forgotten either.

Note 1: The purpose is the tree, and the means is the seed. This is a famous quote from Martin Luther King.

Note 2: According to the historical records, the account of the biography of the Marquis. Zhang Liang met the old man while strolling, and the old man repeatedly rudely ordered him to pick up shoes for himself, and Zhang Liang read that he was a lot of old man, and he obeyed with patience. When the old man saw that he was teachable, he gave him a book called Taigong's Art of War. And self-proclaimed, Jibei Valley City under the Yellow Stone. With this book, Zhang Liang assisted Liu Bang to gain the world. During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, some people pretended to use the name of Huangshi Gong to write "Huangshi Gong Sanluo", because its level was very high, and later generations knew its falsity and still regarded it as a military classic.