Chapter 551 Leader

In the Dadu Imperial Palace, more than a dozen core ministers of the Yuan Dynasty were gathering in Kublai Khan's study.

Emperor Hao Jing first played: "Your Majesty, since the Ordnance Supervision began to manufacture muskets in batches, a lot of financial and material resources have been invested, which has made the military expenditure of our dynasty a little clumsy, and the raw materials for making guns have also begun to be insufficient. ”

Kublai Khan, of course, knew about these circumstances, and the purpose of convening the ministers to discuss was to solve the financial problem. ”

Wars, especially long wars of attrition, are fought in the end to see who has the most power, and to put it bluntly, who has more money. Although Kublai Khan knew what to expect and had been prepared for a long time, the sudden development of firearms disrupted the original plan.

If Kublai Khan and I had talked carefully, I would have felt the same way.

"Your Majesty, the minister thinks that you can start from four aspects." Ahma, who was the governor of Pingzhang in the Zhongshu Province of the Yuan Dynasty, said, "First, the system of handing over banknotes was fully implemented, and the circulation of metallic currencies such as gold, silver, and copper was prohibited. At present, the Zhongtong Yuanbao banknotes used by our dynasty are divided into ten grades, and the money is the standard, and one thousand wen yuan (consistently) is equivalent to one or two banknotes. Although the banknote system has been in place for some time, the circulation has been very modest, with no more than 100,000 ingots per year, and the minister suggested that it be increased to 1,000,000 ingots per year; Second, the implementation of the accounting system, at present, there are financial chaos, corruption and other phenomena in the government at all levels of our court, for this reason, when the financial revenue of all the government is checked and cleaned up, all unreasonable and illegal income will be collected by the imperial court; Third, the sales of silver, iron, salt, and other items were all collected by the imperial court and monopolized sales were implemented; Fourth, increase tax items, raise various taxes, and follow the example of the Southern Dynasties and issue war bonds. As for the raw materials for muskets, iron tools could be collected from the people, and each household could donate one iron tool to the imperial court. ”

As soon as Ahma finished speaking, he was opposed by many ministers.

First of all, the uncontrolled issuance of banknotes will inevitably lead to "the weight of things and the lightness of money", which will eventually lead to both public and private evils, that is, inflation and currency depreciation, and the calculation system without the guarantee of the law can only become more and more chaotic, and the result will be that officials at all levels will eat small fish and small fish eat shrimp, and in the end it will be the grassroots officials and ordinary people who will suffer big losses. For monopoly sales, increasing information, etc., it is tantamount to drawing wages from the bottom of the kettle, and eventually making the people miserable.

But then again, to be effective in the short term, it's a viable approach. In all dynasties and dynasties, at the end of the period, didn't the rulers all adopt such methods?

"Lord Ahma." Another minister in charge of finance, Mai Shuding, said, "The three measures other than Article 2 will greatly increase the burden on the people, and at a time when our dynasty is in a war with the southern dynasty, it is really not conducive to the internal stability of our dynasty." If there is further chaos in the country and it causes public resentment, will it not add fuel to the fire? ”

Ahmad was unmoved, and said with a smile: "Lord Maishuding, then in your opinion, how to make the emperor raise military expenses as soon as possible?" ”

"This ......," Mai Shuding was momentarily stunned.

Ahmad Deli didn't let anyone, and said with a tight expression: "Ladies and gentlemen, if you have any good suggestions, even if you put forward them, the envoy department (the original name of the Mongolian State Shangshu Province and the main agency in charge of finance) will definitely adopt it and share the emperor's worries." However, everyone also needs to understand that at this time, everything should make way for war, and the reputation of your lordship is very important, but the victory or defeat of the war is more crucial, if there is any notoriety, let the next person bear it. ”

Hao Jing frowned and said: "Lord Ahma, you are the Minister of Finance of my court, but the method proposed cannot kill chickens for warmth, just like Lord Maishuding's words, if it causes civil strife among the people, it will not outweigh the losses." ”

For Hao Jing, Ahma also seemed quite respectful: "Emperor Master, if you can't quickly obtain wealth and relieve the tension of military spending, then our dynasty will fall into passivity in the war. ”

Ahmada was so clever that Hao Jing and the others were speechless in a few words.

If the country is not a country, how can it come to home?

Seeing that everyone was silent, Kublai Khan finally concluded: "Ahma, do what you say." ”

"Yes, Your Majesty."

In late May, the well-prepared Northern Expeditionary Army of the Middle Song Dynasty launched the Battle of Zhaozhou.

For Ah Shu and Boyan, Zhaozhou is already the last stronghold of the Middle Route Army, and it is impossible to retreat further. First, there is no stronger city, and second, Zhaozhou is not far from the capital.

Outside the city of Zhaozhou, a group of generals surrounded me and looked at the city wall together. After everyone took turns using binoculars to look at it, I said, "General Wanyan, General Crete, how long will it take?" ”

The two of them understood what I meant, and said to the end: "The city of this city is strong, and the main structure is made of boulders, and it is estimated that it will take half a month to a month to collapse the city gate." ”

Lu Wenhuan said: "So long? ”

"Yes, Lu Shuai."

I smiled and said, "It's okay, if there is time, our army will come to play a game of cat and mouse, and toss slowly." In the next few days, another broken red-clothed cannon will be delivered to Yuzhou, just in time to test the power of the giant cannon. General Wanyan, General Crete. ”

"The end will be."

"Open fire."

More than 40 cannons, led by red-coated cannons, roared in turn, and in an instant, the city wall of Zhaozhou was shrouded in smoke.

An hour later, the artillery stopped shelling.

"General Meng, you go and tell Ah Shu and Boyan that I hope they will lay down their weapons so that there will be no more casualties."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Meng Tianxiang, who received the order, came to the city wall single-handedly, and said to the Yuan army in the city: "Marshal Ashu, Marshal Boyan, you have already seen the power of my artifact, and today, you have all seen that the second generation of my artifact, the red-clothed artillery, is even more amazing. His Majesty the Emperor of my dynasty is a god descended from heaven, a leader of all mankind, and the only saint in the world today who has seen the guardian of the Lord, who is incomparable in benevolence and righteousness, and has the virtue of a good life. ”

Boyan on the city wall, as a disciple of Yin Tianya, knew the meaning of the guardian and the guide, and secretly thought to himself, "If what Meng Tianxiang said is true, then it can explain the origin of the firearm." The Guardian's artifact, how to break it? ”

When he was out of his mind, he only heard Ah Shu say loudly: "General Meng, Lingzu Meng Shuai is the only respected general of the Southern Dynasty in this handsome, when the Southern Dynasty was weak, he relied on his own strength to support half of the Southern Dynasty. As for the word surrender, in the future, Hugh Ti, I, the general of Dayuan, have never had such an idea. ”

"Marshal Ashu, isn't this the heroism you agree with in your heart?" Meng Tianxiang laughed and said, "Marshal Ashu, generals, personal integrity is a small section, and only those who serve the people are righteous." For decades, you have been conquering the east and west, plundering other people's lands everywhere, and it seems that you have achieved great victories, but your victory was made by the cries of many orphans and widows, not only our Han Chinese, Jin people, but also you Mongols. Your Mongolian ancestor Genghis Khan had a great understanding before his death, and once said that the glory of life is not exchanged for a handful of land after death. Therefore, I would like to advise all the generals that victory on the battlefield is not a real victory, and the great righteousness of the world is to seek benefits for the people of the world. The ancient sage Yao Shun, the reason why future generations can admire, is not how many victories have been won, but for the development of mankind has made great contributions, only such a person, can be forever famous. ”

Hearing this, Ah Shu suddenly laughed: "General Meng, I didn't expect you to be so eloquent at a young age, but this is the battlefield where the two armies are fighting, and it is not suitable to debate the past and the present. General Meng, please go back. ”

"Marshal Ashu, good words are bitter, if you don't think about yourself, you should also think about the 50,000 soldiers in the city of Zhaozhou, whether you are a hero, how many people will die in the artillery fire." Meng Tianxiang pulled the reins and said, "Generals, think about it, I will say goodbye in the next place, and there will be a period later." ”

Ah Shu snorted and said, "Don't send it." ”

Seeing Song Jun disappear from view, Ah Shu looked at Boyan, who was a little lost and depressed, and whispered: "Boyan, what is a guardian?" ”

After being silent for a while, Boyan also whispered: "Marshal Ashu, to put it simply, the guardian is the god, and the leader is the spokesperson of the god in the world. I heard the Supreme Lord say that the emperor of the Southern Dynasty, Zhao Yu, had met the guardian of the Han people in the Valley of the Emperors, and after that, there was a saying that Zhao Yu was the leader. ”

"Really?" Ah Shu said thoughtfully.

The defenders of the city spent their days under artillery bombardment. Although Ah Shu, Boyan and others continued to cheer up the soldiers, the Yuan army was still unable to overcome the increasingly serious fear.

When the facts are in front of us, no language pales.

Ten days later, the walls of the city began to loosen, and cracks began to appear in the stones that looked extremely strong, and it seemed that they could collapse at any time. Many generals of the Yuan army proposed to Boyan that instead of waiting for death, it was better to take the initiative to attack.

On the fifteenth day of the shelling, even Ali Hague and other high-ranking generals became impetuous and proposed to Boyan to go out of the city to fight the Southern Korean army.