There was a suffocating atmosphere in the imperial study, Wang Chengen and Zhao Huaizhong's faces became extremely ugly, and they quietly gestured to Zhu Daolin, signaling him not to say any more, but Zhu Daolin seemed to be invisible, shook his head and continued:

"Your Majesty, now we can talk about Shanhaiguan, there are currently 20,000 troops stationed in Shanhaiguan for a long time, and a total of 50,000 troops stationed in Funing, Yongning, Kaiping, Jimen, and Zunhua, adding up to 70,000 people......"

"If you add the 50,000 horses and horses of Ningyuan's chief soldier Zu Dashou, a total of 120,000 people, you need to provide 200,000 taels of silver every month, which is 2.4 million taels of silver a year, this figure does not include the weapons, armor, muskets and artillery that the emperor has continuously sent!"

"If you count them together, there are a total of 120,000 troops on the Shanhaiguan to Ning and Jin lines, and the annual consumption is not less than 3 million taels, plus the 4 million taels of consumption on the Guards and Xuanda lines, only the thousand-mile defense line from Shanhaiguan to Datong consumes an astonishing 7 million taels of silver every year!"

"If we add the military expenditure in the northwest and southwest to counterbalance the rebellion, it is estimated to reach 15 million taels of silver, and since the previous year, incompetent court officials have desperately encouraged the emperor to increase taxes, so that the total amount of taxes last year finally exceeded 20 million taels of silver......

"However, the result of this kind of killing chickens and eggs is that there are many complaints from all over the country, countless poor people have been displaced, and even thieves have rebelled, making it very difficult to collect taxes this year, and it is estimated that the annual tax revenue will not reach 18 million taels of silver, and it will be reduced year by year, which is very dangerous!"

The eunuchs sighed for a long time, but Emperor Chongzhen was annoyed and angry by Zhu Daolin's blow, he suddenly straightened up and puffed out his eyes, and asked Zhu Daolin very annoyedly:

"You say so much, it's nothing more than a sarcasm, you Zhu Daolin is so discerning. With such foresight, why don't you see you come up with a solution? Phew! You say! Why are you dumb? ”

Zhu Daolin hurriedly moved away and prostrate on the ground: "The minister didn't mean to be sarcastic about the emperor, just talking about things, since the emperor wanted the minister to say a solution, the minister had the courage to say ......"

"Your Majesty. The minister was willing to lead the new army and the naval division under his command to cooperate with the ground armies to defeat Dengzhou, completely pacify or even eliminate the Kong Youde rebels, and then take a short rest to train the collected Shandong troops, and then recruit 50,000 young men from all over Shandong and Zhili, strictly train them, and wave their troops north to take over Shanhaiguan and Ningyuan City. ”

"That's it. The emperor can transfer the 80,000 horses from Ningyuan City and Shanhaiguan to Zunhua, Miyun and Xuanda to strengthen the defense, and he can also transfer the guest troops from all over the country back to their hometowns to strengthen the counterinsurgency forces in various places! ”

"All this, the minister does not have to spend a penny on the emperor and the court, and all the military expenses and food, drink and Lazar in the future will also be solved by the minister himself, and the minister will guarantee his life with his own money, as long as the minister is there. The Manchu army would not have been allowed to cross the Shanhai Pass to the Zunhua line, and the naval division would have been dispatched to occupy Juehua Island, Guanglu Island and Phi Island for a long time. ”

"The minister is willing to follow the example of General Mao Wenlong, who died unjustly. The frequent dispatch of troops threatened the rear of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, so that the Manchu army could not boldly pour out of the nest and break through! ”

"Your Majesty, the minister believes that he can do all of the above, but the minister wants to know, how much power can the emperor give the minister?"

Emperor Chongzhen was completely shocked. Wang Chengen, Cao Huachun, Zhao Huaizhong and others on the side were even more shocked to the point of roaring in their ears and stunned on the spot.

……

"He is so young, except for his impressive talent in business, it seems that he has never fought in a war, but he has only shown a certain military talent in military training, can he be competent for the heavy defensive pressure on the front line of Shanhaiguan?"

"Maybe it's up to the task. He is rich and well-trained, and even veterans such as Wu Jingxian, the old and respectful Wu Jingxian, Xu Hongji, the Duke of Wei, Zhang Gongwei, the Marquis of Longping, and Zhao Zhilong, the Bo of Xincheng, also respect him, and he should be able to do it, right? ”

"Shanhaiguan is not trivial! Once it falls, the capital will be under the iron hooves of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and there must be no luck! ”

"Why is he so confident? Why do you dare to vouch for my life? That's right, he has something to fear, otherwise where would he get a million net worth? It seems that he has already made up his mind and moved after he has made up his mind! ”

"Such a person should not be a bombastic hypocrite like Yuan Chonghuan, not to mention that he is broad-minded and extremely thoughtful, not only for me to think of an ingenious plan to solve the great trouble of Zu Dashou, but also on the premise of pacifying Dengzhou Kong Youde, let me see his ability to lead troops, this is not something that ordinary generals can think of and do!"

"Once I want to reuse, I have to give him a worthy title and power, the title is nothing, like Wu Xiang after the restoration of the fictitious title of the governor of the Chinese army is very simple, with his contribution to Zhu Daolin, I have no problem directly promoting him to the chief military officer of the second rank, and no one can say the reason to refute it, but he gave him the heaviest Shanhaiguan general soldier in the world, can he take on such a big responsibility? Those proud Guan Ning soldiers and Zhili soldiers are afraid that they will not accept it......"

Emperor Chongzhen, who was in the war between heaven and man, thought hard and weighed repeatedly, but it was always difficult to weigh the pros and cons.

Zhu Daolin still prostrate respectfully on the ground, motionless, and several big eunuchs on the side stood solemnly except for occasional glances at each other, silent like a cicada, and the atmosphere in the imperial study became even more depressing and weird.

Half an hour passed, and the young emperor came back to his senses, and saw that Zhu Daolin was still so respectfully maintaining a prostrate and kneeling posture, and his heart couldn't help but feel a little warm: "Get up, you're not tired, I'm tired of looking at it." ”

"Your Majesty."

Zhu Daolin slowly propped himself up and sat cross-legged opposite Emperor Chongzhen again, in front of his two knees, which happened to be Dengzhou City, which was occupied by Kong Youde's rebels.

Emperor Chongzhen's heart moved, and a faint smile appeared on his face: "Aiqing, as long as you can cooperate with Chen Yingyuan, the governor of Denglai, and General Wu Xiang, the governor of the Chinese army, to defeat Dengzhou City and completely quell Kong Youde's rebels, I will make you the chief soldier of Denglai, what do you think?" ”

Zhu Daolin didn't answer, looked at the map again, and asked a question that made everyone think deeply:

"Your Majesty, it is not difficult to pacify Kong Youde's rebels, just transfer more than 20 new warships of the Jiangnan Navy Division to the sea of Dengzhou, and rely on powerful artillery to block the last retreat of Kong Youde's rebels.

"But what about after the city is broken? How does the emperor reward Wu Xiang, who has made meritorious contributions? Don't forget that Wu Xiang's wife is Zu Dashou's sister, and if Wu Xiang is put in Shanhaiguan and Zu Dashou are integrated, it will definitely form a greater safety hazard, and the emperor may be even more unable to sleep. ”

Chongzhen suddenly had an epiphany: "That's right! The hidden danger is indeed huge! But Shanhaiguan is the first Xiongguan in the world, and there must be a respected general to guard it, otherwise I really don't feel at ease! ”

Zhu Daolin thought about it and was about to speak, when he saw Wang Chengen and Zhao Huaizhong desperately glancing at him, he naturally didn't want him to open his mouth on this matter, otherwise if something went wrong, he would not say that he would take responsibility, and it would attract criticism from the courtiers, putting him in a more disadvantageous position.

*************

PS: It's the last hours of the month, Xiaohuo begs for a subscription and a monthly pass!

Thank you all for your support! I wish you all a happy New Year's Day, good health, and all the best! (To be continued.) )