The staff had never seen Governor Yang so angry, so they hurriedly agreed, and each went down to write military orders and folds, Bai Chongzan saw that Yang Ling was still angry, his face was pale, he coughed hurriedly, and changed the topic: "My lord, Jiangnan is rich in the world, robbing a village here, and robbing a county in other provinces, from the distribution of the Japanese Kou, its focus is also on the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions.

Therefore, the lower officials thought that they could transfer troops from Sichuan, Shandong, Hunan, and Hubei into Jiangnan to coordinate the suppression of bandits. ”

Cheng Qiyun glanced at Yang Ling's haggard face with pity, and interjected: "My lord wants to transfer troops into Jiangnan?" ”

Yang Ling sat back on the handsome chair tiredly, nodded heavily, and sighed: "Most of the soldiers in Jiangnan are not good at fighting, and they can't train recruits at this time. That's why I want to send troops to help suppress the bandits."

Cheng Qiyun doesn't want to burden Yang Ling anymore, but military quarters and salaries are a key matter, and she has been in charge of this aspect of affairs.

She hesitated for a moment, and finally said in a low voice: "My lord, the imperial court can no longer afford to pay the huge military expenses, you know, from last year to now, the imperial court's silver, Jiangnan is not as good as the border army, the border army's salary is cheap, and most of the above provinces are guards, the military salary is already high, and there is another subsidy in wartime, this military expense."

Yang Ling listened blankly, smiled bitterly, shook his head and said, "I don't know how expensive firewood and rice are if I don't belong to my family, alas! Why did so many things come together? If I were given a few years, as long as it took three or three years, the situation of the imperial court would be very different. Now".

He gritted his teeth: "Survive no matter what!" But military expenses, military expenses," he stood up and paced slowly.

There is no military salary, shouting a few words about the rise and fall of the country is the responsibility of the husband, the soldier should protect the family and defend the country, the peace of the Jing side, analyze the military and the people, the big truth of the relationship, it will not work for the current army at all, how can they have that consciousness, the soldiers also have a family to raise, they can't eat, the family has no food, you say that the sky is broken, willing to work for you is strange.

Cheng Qiyun saw that Yang Ling's face was worried, and said: "My lord, now that the war situation is tense, if it drags on, Jiangnan industry and commerce and even agriculture will be greatly damaged, so the troops must be adjusted." However, in order to save military salaries, he thought that he could reduce the number of officers and soldiers in the guard posts, and it was not yet known what the combat effectiveness of the officers and soldiers of the guard posts in various places was. ”

Yang Ling smiled and said, "What are you doing if you don't transfer the guards?" Mobilize the people? It is impossible, how can they leave their hometown, it is extremely difficult to dispatch, and the people are not an army, they have no responsibility to defend the land, they do not have this kind of consciousness."

Cheng Qiyun shook her head and said: "My lord, the humble position is not talking about the people, nor the officers and soldiers, these soldiers are definitely above the officers and soldiers, and the military budget is extremely low, as long as you have a full meal."

Yang Ling asked, "What soldier?" Is there progress at sea? ”

Cheng Qiyun smiled: "No, it's a wolf soldier!" Adults can recruit Miao, Zhuang, Tujia wolf soldiers, they are fierce, accustomed to mountains, jungles, water operations, and all of them are natural hunters, guerrilla ambush is not a good chance, transfer these native soldiers, you can reduce the number of officers and soldiers recruited, what do you think? ”

Yang Lingxi said: "Yes, it's a good idea, but despite this, is our existing military spending enough to be used?" ”

Cheng Qiyun said calmly: "It's not enough, it's far from enough!" ”

"However", she hesitated for a moment, and said, "My lord, the solution is thought up by people, can you tolerate some time, I will definitely have a way to solve this problem."

Yang Ling stared at her for a while, then suddenly smiled and said, "Okay!" My female Zhuge has never disappointed me, this time I believe you must also think of a way, then this official will first go to the court and ask for the transfer of troops, you first put down other affairs, and strive to solve the problem of military supplies and salaries! ”

Cheng Qiyun smiled, hugged his fists and said: "Humble obedience, as soon as the adult's words came out, the humble duty was exhausted, and he didn't dare to disappoint the adult even if he racked his brains." ”

Zhengde has absolute support for Yang Ling, he really can't get the silver, and he doesn't hesitate to transfer troops. Jiangnan is the foundation of the imperial court, and now there is chaos everywhere, and it will endanger the imperial court in the long run.

As soon as Yang Ling's performance was reported to the imperial court, it was almost immediately approved, and the order of the military department was immediately sent to Shandong, Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan, and Guizhou provinces on a fast ride of 600 miles.

As soon as Yang Ling received the report from the imperial court, he hurried to the backyard, and was so surprised that the pigeons that were leisurely coming and going in the courtyard spread their wings and flew one after another. Yang Ling's big sleeves flew and went straight in, Huo Di opened the door, and Cheng Qiyun, who was about to push the door out, pounced into the air and fell into his arms.

Yang Ling hurriedly held on, Cheng Qiyun blushed and moved away, covering the tip of her sour nose and said coquettishly: "Why are adults walking in such a hurry, if you break your face, you will have to rely on you for the rest of your life."

Yang Ling didn't have the heart to flirt at this time, he waved the message of the military department and said urgently: "Qiyun, the military department has arrived, and the reinforcements from various provinces are about to set off for Jiangnan, do you have an eyebrow for the military salary?" If the army arrives and they can't pay their salaries, let alone let them go to war, just to deal with the chaos of these soldiers, the officer will lose his hair."

Cheng Qiyun glanced at him and said: "That's deserved, I broke my appearance, and I want you to look good."

She rubbed the tip of her upturned nose before she said: "The lowly post is about to meet the lord, these two lowly posts have met with the political envoy and the Gu Gonggong, and will not Wu Lao, Xu Gongzi and other Jiangnan gentry and wealthy families, and came up with a method acceptable to the two courts and the people, and it is estimated that the military expenses raised are enough to pay for the army."

Yang Ling was overjoyed, and said without hesitation: "God-given Qiyun and me, talk quickly, what is a good idea?" ”

Cheng Qiyun listened to his words, her heart was sweet, and the fatigue of a few days was suddenly swept away, and she said with great interest: "There is no silver in the imperial court, because the war situation stretches for several provinces, the business of our internal factory is also greatly affected, not to mention that those silver to raise tens of thousands of troops is also a drop in the bucket, and now only in the areas where the war is being waged is to levy taxes."

There is a precedent for this, and the areas affected by the war are the direct beneficiaries, so it is acceptable to both rich and poor. After consulting with the political envoys Liu Daren and Gu Gonggong, and listening to the opinions of Wu Jiyuan, Xu Jing and other representatives of the gentry and wealthy families, it was decided to levy taxes in the name of 'wartime emergency drafting'. ”

Yang Ling was stunned for a moment, and hesitated: "In times of war and banditry, local officials have the right to judge the situation, dispatch all manpower and materials, and collect taxes urgently in the name of wartime. What if it's collected from other provinces? ”

Cheng Qiyun smiled bitterly: "Do you think that the local government and the hundred mansions have achieved 'the world for the public' now?" It doesn't matter, not only do the people in other provinces have the intention of resisting, but even the local government will also delay in doing so, and the only way to collect taxes is from the war areas, which has also set a precedent in the past.

However, the old precedent was to collect according to the original tax markup, and the lowly position thought that this example was not advisable, and the lowly position meant that the government would first divide the people of the six provinces into ten classes according to the rich and poor, and first collect them from the first-class rich, and the taxes collected would be stopped if they were enough for the army, and if they were insufficient, the reduction ratio would be collected from the second-class rich, and then the third-class would be collected from the insufficient subtraction, and so on.

This minimizes the losses suffered by the poor, and the wealthy are mostly willing to accept it because the losses suffered by the war are much greater than the taxes levied, and they are anxious for the war to subside. In addition, the carriage and horse shops, teahouses, gambling houses, record houses, and restaurants all over the world were publicized by the internal factories all over the world, and the benefits of opening the sea to lift the ban were promoted, which strengthened the people's support for the fight against the Japanese invaders.

Second, Gu Gonggong duly launched the 'Anti-Japanese Music Donation Certificate' specially issued by the Haishi Yamen, and those who took the initiative to donate silver taels to support the anti-Japanese bandits could receive preferential treatment in all aspects such as maritime merchants and tax collection after the ban was lifted in the open sea. It is believed that it can attract a considerable number of gentry and wealthy families to donate willingly, so that the surplus silver taels can be used to continue to invest in the formation of shipyards and sailors, as well as the preparation of various maritime yamen, so that they will not be affected by the war and delay the progress. The lowly position tested the attitude of the local government and some wealthy families, and these measures were all recognized, even if some people complained, but they were in a hurry to do the right thing, and they could not take care of it."

Yang Ling remembered that before Li Zicheng entered Yanjing, those misers who were blind-eyed, refused to take out silver for military expenses, and sat back and watched the city break and make themselves penniless, knowing that this move would definitely attract the opposition of some rich gentry, Cheng Qiyun was just afraid that she was worried, so she deliberately covered it up.

But so what? Even if it is a normal season and a normal tax, isn't it that some unscrupulous gentry find ways to delay and conceal taxes? Even if you turn upside down and give them silver, I'm afraid he will have to find some reasons for the large population of my family and the small population of his family to complain and scold his mother because of the unfairness of the gift, I can't take care of it.

Yang Ling thought for a while, and said categorically: "Okay, just do it, you come up with a detailed plan, and I will immediately promulgate the six provinces and report to the cabinet." I'm relieved that this matter is settled, and I'll go back to the front hall first."

He looked at the mountains of files on Cheng Qiyun's desk, frowned slightly, and sighed lightly: "Qiyun, if you are tired, just rest, your body is weak, don't be tired."

"Yes, sir, sir."

Yang Ling turned around and asked suspiciously, "Is there anything else?" ”

Cheng Qiyun approached and said faintly: "The man has only grown a beard since he was twenty-eight years old, and the adult has a weak crown, and his beard is very clean. But now his hair is messy, his stubble is green, his cheeks are thin, and he loses his temper at every turn.

If you are sick, you have adults to care about, if you are sick, but I don't know how many bastards are secretly rejoicing, commanding the six provinces, working hard, the war is not over in one day, you have to take care of your own body."

As she spoke, she unexpectedly gently stroked Yang Ling's chin, her soft little hand gently stroked his short hair, and her eyes were shining. Yang Ling was shocked by the affectionate and forgetful actions revealed in her tone, and let her caress her jaw and cheeks affectionately, seeing that Cheng Qiyun was about to fall into her arms, Yang Ling woke up, he coughed slightly embarrassed, and said: "Well, Lord Cheng's orders, the official remembers, the official will never let some people rejoice, hehe, this major matter is solved, the official has a heart disease, how about you and I have dinner tonight?" This official has already said that he will not drink a drop of wine, and I will have a few drinks with you tonight."

After Yang Ling finished speaking, he hurriedly turned around and slipped away. Cheng Qiyun raised her hand in the air, watching him escape in embarrassment, startled the white doves flying all over the sky, suddenly "poofed" and smiled, and then clenched her fists hatefully: "Afraid that I will be angry, you want to invite me to eat and drink?" Who seldom eats your wine! Eat your people if you want to eat! ”

She rolled her eyes, wrinkled her nose, and snickered proudly: "Your biggest weakness is soft-heartedness, since this girl knows this secret Yang Ling, Yang Ling, you are helpless!" ”

Wujiang City, because of its proximity to Suzhou, and Suzhou is the camp of Yang Ling, the governor of the six provinces, and at the same time, the commander of Jiangnan Province, Bai Chongzan, is also stationed here, and there is a large army to protect it, so Wujiang City is close to the water and has not been invaded by the Japanese invaders, and the defenders have gradually become careless.

This is the fog in the early morning, the sun has just shone through the fog into Wujiang, the city is faintly faintly seen a large group of people appear, at this time the fog is filled, the line of sight is less than 100 feet, the defenders of the city head hurriedly echo the four cities to avoid the pass and defend themselves, to find out the situation of the people.

A small school climbed on the top of the city, looked at the city for a while, and couldn't see the identity of the comer, so he shouted and asked, "Who is the person under the city?" Tell us who you are, or we'll be shooting arrows! ”

He was answered by a series of strange screams, and then several arrows were shot at the head of the city, and the little colonel was horrified, hurriedly retreated a few steps, and shouted: "Brothers, be careful, the Japanese are coming!" Notify the garrison! ”

The sound of war drums and bangzi started with each other, and the whole city was shaken, and Liang Xinghua, who was guarding in the city, knew that there were Japanese robbers in Jiaxing, Yuhang, Shanghai, Jiading, and Taicang not far away, but he didn't expect that they dared to go deep into the hinterland and kill under the city of Wujiang.

Liang Xinghua hurriedly took the general Liu Tong with eight people to drive the Xicheng fast horse to Suzhou City to report the news, and then personally went to the city to check the situation, this look Liang Xinghua couldn't help but be surprised, at this time the sun gradually intensified, the dense fog dissipated, the city of the Japanese people have been roughly seen, only to see the crowd in the distance, look at the appearance of this group of people is six or seven thousand people, how is this possible? How could such a large number of pirates enter the hinterland?

Liang Xinghua panicked, and hurriedly ordered the whole army to defend the city, and at the same time mobilized the people to strengthen the archers and auxiliary formations.

He secretly calculated that the walls of Wujiang were high and thick bricks, and although the Japanese had the courage to be a hundred, there should be no problem for the three thousand defenders in the city to insist on it, and then the army of Suzhou would also arrive.

Thinking of this, Liang Xinghua made up his mind and commanded his soldiers to aim their artillery at the Japanese Invaders, waiting for the first round of attacks from the Japanese Invaders. The Japanese gradually approached, and the next white-clothed Japanese man raised his fan and waved it, screaming a few strange words, and a rain of arrows first shot towards the city, and then a large group of men and horses rushed over.

Judging from the arrows that landed, most of them were actually used by the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty, and it is thought that they were captured by the Japanese robbers who raided everywhere and captured them from the officers and soldiers who were killed. The officers and soldiers at the head of the city immediately fired arrows to return fire, and people kept falling down under the city, and with a "boom" to the ground, the cannons at the head of the city also rang out, and dozens of Japanese robbers bore the brunt and fell in a pool of blood.

This time, the Japanese were forced to flee to the coastal area of Daming from the area of Osumi and Fenggo, and there were about 20,000 real Japanese people, because this time the hometown was uprooted, and some family members brought out their wives and children, old and young, and placed them on a hidden island, and the total number of Japanese people reached more than 30,000 people.

More than 30,000 people need to be fed and clothed, and all the supplies need to be looted from the Ming Dynasty, so this time the Japanese invaders broke the kettle and sank the boat, and the attack was far greater than before. Although there were less than 20,000 real Japanese people, they were attached to the Japanese people, and there were several times more false Japanese who fought for the tiger, so the total strength of the Japanese reached more than 60,000 people.

This group is one of the more powerful of the Japanese bandits, and the leader is the leader of the Nami family, who has been pirates for generations, and he cunningly restrains his subordinates, taking advantage of the chaos of other Japanese tribes everywhere, attracting the attention of the Ming army before quietly landing on the shore and rushing straight to the big city.

He already knew through careful work that Suzhou had the governors of the six provinces sent by the Ming Dynasty to take command and the commanders of Jiangnan Province, and Suzhou City had 30,000 officers and soldiers to guard, but according to his previous experience, he did not feel that there was anything terrible about this Ming army, and with his experience, to deal with the officers and troops of the Jiangnan Guard, his 1,000 men and horses were enough to deal with 10,000 officers and soldiers.

Naimei Zhengzhi thinks very long-term, saying that the country is not going back for the time being, always going ashore to plunder is also not a long-term solution, Suzhou has many generations of gentry, all rich and rival the country, if you take a risk, break through the city of Suzhou, then the wealth he plundered can be used to buy countless warships, and become the overlord of all the pirates and pirates, and then cross the sea.

With this consideration, Naimei Zhengzhi decided categorically to lead the army to rush forward, ignoring the small cities and counties along the way, and marching all the way to Wujiang City, using this as a base to attract the Ming army to come to help, first annihilate the reinforcements, and then take Suzhou.

The drums rumbled, and the Japanese rushed up with shouts again. The Japanese people admired authority, and the commander-in-chief gave orders, and they did not think much about whether to fight or retreat, and the false Japanese who attached them were also outlaws and murderous pirates, who were also not afraid of death, and they held simple shields made of rattan shields, table boards, and bed boards, and escorted a group of soldiers carrying huge beams and pillars as siege logs to attack the city gate.

Several Japanese leaders wearing horned iron helmets and ghost masks jumped up and down, directing the attack of the Japanese pirates, and the archers and musketeers at the head of the city took turns shooting, and the rolling wood and stones were also ready to fight.

At this time, on the official road a mile outside the west city, the war horse servants who had broken their legs by the horse pit and the stumbling horse rope were wailing on the ground, and a Japanese coward pulled out the blood-dripping sword blade from the back of the officers and soldiers, and smiled at Liu Bai, whose face was as colored as earth.

Several other Japanese robbers stripped off the clothes of the dead officers and soldiers, dressed them one by one, and then walked to his side with great martial arts. ”

(To be continued)