It's no wonder that the eunuch is anxious.

At the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, in order to facilitate the rule of China, the capital was set in Dadu, far in the north. The population of most of the capital is extremely large, "100,000 families in the capital", without official offices and garrisons, the people in the city live in their homes for a long time, there are 100,000 households, 450,000 people, plus garrisons, etc., at the most prosperous time, nearly one million.

"The complexity of the Baisishu Mansion, the guards and the people, all look up to Jiangnan."

With so many people, hundreds of thousands, millions, most of the daily needs of the yamen, the salaries of officials, the food and salary of the garrison, and the food and clothing of the people were all supplied by Lai Jiangnan. Thousands of miles away, transported to the capital. There are two main ways, one is the canal, that is, the water transport, and the other is the sea by sea.

On the basis of the previous generation, the Yuan Dynasty renovated the canal on a large scale, and successively dug and repaired the Tonghui River, the Tongzhou Yunliang River, the Yuhe River, the Huitong River, the Jeju River, etc., through these canals, it was connected with the original canal in the south of the Yangtze River, ensuring the continuity and smoothness of the north and south water systems. During the reign of Kublai Khan, most of the capital's grain supply was mainly transported by these canals.

At the same time as the renovation of the canal, the sea was vigorously developed. After a long period of exploration, we finally took the route of going to sea from the vicinity of Chongming at the mouth of the Yangtze River, going eastward, entering the Heishui Ocean, tending to Chengshan in the north, passing through the southern part of the Bohai Sea, to Zhigu at the mouth of the Jiehe River, and then transshipment to Dadu. The trail may seem like a long one, but it can be reached in about 10 days if the wind is downwind. The grain transported by sea was only more than 40,000 stones at the beginning, and then increased year by year, and by the middle of the Mengyuan Dynasty, it could reach more than 3 million stones at most.

Compared with river transportation, although there is a certain amount of risk in sea transportation, in general, its cost is much less than that of river transportation. As a result, the importance of the canal has diminished greatly since the development of maritime transport, and the economic life of most of the capital has become almost entirely dependent on maritime transport.

However, whether it is river transportation or sea transportation, there is one place that these two transportation routes cannot bypass. That's Shandong.

By sea, you need to cross Chengshan, which is located in the eastern part of the Shandong Peninsula; To go through the Bohai Sea, the Bohai Sea is between Liaodong and Shandong. If Deng She had gained a firm foothold in Yidu and Haidong had a strong sailor, this road would obviously not be possible.

So, is it possible to abandon shipping and take shipping instead of shipping as when the ancestor Kublai Khan was born?

It's even more impossible to get lucky. There are three reasons for this.

First, like shipping, most of the canals in the north are in Shandong, which is too unsafe. Second, even if the canals in Shandong are still under the control of Mengyuan, such as the Jeju River, it is Jining, and it is now in the hands of Chahan. However, since the construction of the sea, most of these canals have been abandoned, and then they are renovated, and there is no manpower and time. Third, even if the canal is not abandoned, it will not work. Why? The Huaisi area is now entrenched in the Anfeng regime of King Xiao Ming and Liu Futong, and their intervention in the middle is equivalent to completely cutting off the way of water transportation between the north and the south.

In fact, as early as after Zhang Shicheng captured Gaoyou, the way of north-south water transportation was cut off.

Gaoyou, whose status is very important, is located at the hub of the north-south Cao Yun. Why did Gaoyou lose and the world shook? and even the rate of one million male divisions, going down to the south of the Yangtze River, and surrounding it? In addition to the high post location in the rich land south of the Yangtze River, the cut off of the transportation of the capital is also one of the reasons.

Although it is said that Zhang Shicheng could not withstand the pressure of Zhu Yuanzhang, and later surrendered to Mengyuan, but the luck of the north and the south has long been unable to be used because of the red scarves everywhere.

In other words, most of the only things that can be relied on now are sea freight.

Why did Mao Gui, Wang Shicheng, and Tian Feng occupy Shandong for many years, and the head of the state never issued an edict urging Chahan to advance eastward? And why did Deng She benefit from the capital, and the head of the state immediately issued an edict to Chahan to "personally lead the army of the Son of Heaven and pacify Qilu"? Without it, just because Mao Gui and Shicheng have no sailors. But Haidong has sailors. Liaoxi, Shandong is a combination, most of the shipping is in danger! Deng She's benefit from the capital is related to the vital safety of Dadu.

It is precisely for this reason that when Chahan waited and watched because of Polo's reasons, the Yuan Lord changed his previous strategy of balancing the two sides and slightly biased towards Polo's policy, and simply issued an edict to Polo, ordering him to go north first and leave the army outside the fortress, so as to resolve Chahan's suspicions.

Unexpectedly, in the end, the plan fell short. Polo dared to ignore the lack of food in most of the capital, and brazenly withdrew to Datong for his own selfish desires. As a result, Chahan had to return to his division in a hurry when he had the upper hand, giving Yidu a chance to breathe.

How can he not be anxious?

However, he was suffering and could not speak. And why? He had long heard rumors that the reason why Polo dared to withdraw his troops was precisely because of Pu Buhua. When Polo was still in Yixing Prefecture, he sent secret envoys and lobbyists many times to enter and leave Pu Buhua's mansion. gave a generous bribe, said that he moved Pu Buhua, and got a secret letter in exchange. What is the content of the secret message? Go without saying.

When he heard about it, he felt that it was wrong, but because of his position as the right prime minister of Zhongshu Province, he was thanks to the efforts of Pu Buhua and Qi's family, so he didn't dare to stop it. Although he is greedy for money and power, in the end he is no better than Pu Buhua Goryeo eunuch, and he still has knowledge. It's a pity that the matter has come to this point, in vain! He and Beli Hutai did not take the sedan chair, but rode a horse and rushed to Pufu.

Something happens, and it has to be resolved. How to fix it? I also had to go to discuss with Park Buhua. He was worried and thought, "Chahan has lost all his previous achievements and suddenly withdrew his troops. If this matter cannot be resolved immediately, Deng Thief will definitely sit in Dayidu. In the coming year, how Zhang Jiusi should transport grain to Dadu is afraid that it will be a problem. ”

Yuan Ting worked hard and worked hard, and only recently agreed with Zhang Shicheng and Fang Guozhen, Fang Guozhen went out on the ship, Zhang Shicheng sent grain, and at least once a year to transport grain to the capital. The time for transporting grain every year is set in March and April in the first half of the year. The New Year is coming soon, and in a few months, it will be the shipping season.

If we don't solve the trouble of withdrawing from Chahan as soon as possible, and if we don't get all the benefits done quickly, we see that next year, there will be another famine in the capital. Last year there was a famine, one or two hundred thousand died, and next year there will be another famine? But it's really going to be like what Beli Hutai said: become a ghost. You don't have to wait for the red scarf to fight, and you will collapse first.

"Zhang Jiusi, Zhang Jiusi."

Jiangsu and Zhejiang are not only one of the main goals of Haidong's grain quest, but also the only hope of most capitals. The eunuch was in a hurry, and he went to find Pu without discussing. Pu Buhua was not in the mansion again, and accompanied the Qi family to the Prince's Mansion early in the morning, and I didn't know what to discuss. I waited for a long time, and it wasn't until night fell that we met.

How the two of them will discuss and what countermeasures they will find will not mention for the time being. In Yidu City, Deng She returned from the countryside.

He took Yan Zhixi and others to run for a long time, not only went to Chenjia Village, but also selected a few of the surrounding villages, and worked tirelessly, personally went down to the fields, and inquired about the people's conditions very carefully. Combined with the reports of the left and right divisions, I have a general understanding of the damage caused by the war to the people of Shandong.

"Not optimistic."

After returning to the house, Deng She didn't let Yan Zhixi and others leave, stayed, had dinner, and ordered someone to find Ji Zongzhou and Luo Lilang, briefly told everyone what he had seen and heard, and spread out the report fold handed over by the left and right divisions of the province again, put it on the table, and asked everyone to discuss.

He said: "The damage caused by the war is very great. Food shortages are one problem, and there are many other problems. There is a shortage of labour, there is a shortage of cattle, there is a shortage of seeds, farmland is damaged, irrigation ditches are damaged, and so on. After the beginning of spring, spring ploughing is followed. The plan of the year lies in the spring. These problems must be resolved as soon as possible.

"Ji Gong, you have been in Shandong for a long time and are familiar with the situation. Luo Qing, your left and right divisions are in charge of civil affairs. Yan Gong, you are the prefect of Yidu, and you are considered a local representative. What are your opinions? What can be done to solve these problems? Although. Tonight, let's talk freely. ”

"Speaking of which, lack of food is the biggest problem. However, in this regard, after discussion this morning, the lord has already had a countermeasure: go to Jiangnan to ask for food, and the envoy will leave soon. Let's put this trouble aside for now. Ploughing cattle, lack of seeds, etc., the left and right divisions also have countermeasures, which can be relieved by Haidong. This trouble can also be put down for now. In addition to these aspects, the minister thinks that what needs to be solved as soon as possible is, in the final analysis, only one trouble: lack of labor.

"Nothing can be done without people.

"For example, if farmland is damaged or ditches are damaged, if you want to fix it before spring planting, you need someone. When Haidong's cattle, farm tools, and grain are transported, there must be people to cultivate the land. Therefore, the minister thinks that the lack of labor is really the problem. If it can be solved, all difficulties will be solved. ”

This is Yan Zhixi's opinion.

Ji Zongzhou said: "What Lord Yan said is very true. People are the foundation of agriculture. The problem of labor shortage needs to be solved urgently, and it should be solved in the first place. However, let's not talk about how to solve this problem, and assume that we can solve this problem and call in labor from elsewhere.

"There is another difficulty, I wonder if Lord Yan has considered it? -- Now I am short of food in Haidong. Before my envoy asks for food from Jiangnan, even if he summons labor, what will he use to feed him? Moreover, Zhang Shicheng and Fang Guozhen's intentions are unpredictable, and even if my envoy goes smoothly, whether they will agree to sell grain to me or not is difficult to predict for the time being, and it is between the two.

"Suppose again that I have called for labor; Shicheng and Guozhen refused to give me food. What should I do? ”

Lack of food, lack of labor. Without food, labor cannot be called. If you can't call in labor, you will still lack food in the coming year. This is a contradiction.

Yan Zhixi disagreed, and said, "How can you waste food because of choking? If you don't call for labor, you will still have enough food for the coming year. Labor was summoned, and the winter and spring passed. At least until autumn, I'll be able to get my hands on it. ......, the lord and the minister thought that the act of calling labor was imperative, and it really couldn't be delayed! It is the two most important things to ask for food and benefit me at present. ”

Ji Zongzhou sighed, deliberately argued, and thought: "Calling labor for lack of food is too risky. Once there is a shortage of food, there is a gap and the supply cannot be supplied, which will inevitably lead to civil unrest. But he suddenly remembered the dark tide that had been set off in Yidu officialdom in recent days, and finally suppressed the rebuttal, nodded and said, "Yes, yes." Lord Yan was far-sighted and what he said was very true. ”

The so-called "dark tide of Yidu officialdom" that he remembered was nothing else, but related to Concubine Li.

After the news of Luo Guannu's good news came out, the trend that temporarily disappeared due to the attack of Chahan also reappeared. Many people privately believe that compared with Luo Lilang, Yan Zhixi's official fortune is obviously more prosperous, and he can be trusted by Deng She. Compared with his family background, Yan Zhixi is far better than Luo Lilang.

There are also rumors that since Yan Shurong went to Haidong, Deng She has sent people to send gifts to her many times, and she is clearly very cared for and loved. even gave Yan Shurong more things than to Luo Guannu and others. In addition, after Luo Guannu was happy, Deng She just decided to take her to Yidu, and other than that, he didn't say a word. Based on this, they all thought that if Deng She wanted to establish a concubine, nine out of ten would be Yan Shurong.

If Yan Shurong is the princess, Yan Zhixi is Deng She's father-in-law.

Ji Zongzhou is sleek, and it is too late to win over Yan Zhixi, so naturally he will not have contradictions and discord with him for some official affairs or the like. Even if the discussion is now about major matters related to the national economy and people's livelihood, he is still willing to retreat. Touting Yan Zhixi for two sentences, he sat on the side and stopped talking.

Deng She asked Luo Lilang and said, "What does Luo Qing think?" ”

"What Ji Gong and Yan Gong said is right. The worries of the two adults are also reasonable. This is a lack of food and labor, and it is indeed difficult to do.

According to the minister's statistics, Yidu, Laizhou, Tai'an, and some prefectures and counties around Changbai Mountain, as well as some prefectures and counties south of Yidu, are the most seriously deficient. These places are also the places where the war disaster is most serious. Six of the ten households do not survive. Most of the surviving people are elderly, weak, women, and children.

"However, the southeastern coast and the eastern and northern parts of Yidu are not the main areas of engagement between us and the enemy, and the shortage of labor is not obvious. In addition, the prefectures and counties where there is a shortage of labor are often the places where farmland is damaged and ditches are more damaged. Because when Chahan left, he had sent a special army to do these things. Destruction of farmland, collapse of ditches. Extremely hateful. The minister also made statistics on this, and the amount of labor required to restore all the damaged farmland and ditches was very large.

Based on the above situation, in the opinion of the minister, what Yan Gong said seems to be more reasonable. Although there is a shortage of food in Haidong today, labor is indeed indispensable. Otherwise, not only will the spring ploughing of the next year be delayed, but also the autumn ploughing of the next year, and even the spring and autumn ploughing of the next season, I am afraid that it will also be delayed. ”

Luo Lilang glanced at Yan Zhixi and Ji Zong, he had been by Deng She's side for a long time, and he was a well-deserved cronie, as early as when he was in Shuangcheng and Pyongyang, he had seen many military meetings, and he had a very good understanding of Deng She's concept of post-war construction.

He continued: "However, it is not unreasonable for Ji Gong to call for labor because he is worried about the shortage of food, which may lead to instability among the people. The minister thinks that the best policy today is nothing more than two laws.

"Or, use the fields as bait to move the Dongli people and Jurchens to the sea, or attract the displaced people from Huaisi and Jinji to come to my Yidu. Although the attack of Chahan has dealt a big blow to the people's livelihood in Shandong, but also because of its attack, on the order of the lord, this period of time, I have taken the opportunity to kill a lot of local heroes and strongmen in various parts of Shandong, and I know a lot of Chahan remnants, and the amount of farmland owned by the government is really a lot.

"For example, in Yidu, up to now, it is very rare for the people in the whole province to have a hundred acres of land. Wen Pingzhang is responsible for this matter, and the lord should know better than the minister. Haoqiang alone died under his hands, no less than a hundred. This gives us control over a large number of vacant fields.

"Although my Haidong is now short of food, I use idle fields as bait, just like the story of Haidong's division of fields. The minister thinks that it is not that he cannot summon labor. ”

After Chahan retreated, Wen Huaguo, Zhao Guo, Zhang Ji'er and others did not come to Yidu City immediately, but on the orders of Deng She, they entered the main combat zones and first cleaned up the landlords and heroes who had attached to Chahan. If calculated according to the proportion, the number of people killed by Wenhua Guo is still relatively small.

Because, when Chahan withdrew his troops, many heroes in Yidu knew that there would be no good fruits to eat if they stayed, so they followed Chahan together. There aren't many people who need to be killed.

The one who killed the most people was Zhang Ji'er. As early as when he was recovering Laizhou, in order to ensure that the Haidong reinforcements could arrive safely, a large-scale search was carried out, and the whole city arrested the landlord's family who had taken refuge in the customs protection. In ten days, five or six hundred people were killed. Many landlords were beheaded. The city was full of heads. When Wen Huaguo entered the city, he was taken aback, and laughed that Zhang Yi'er was about to catch up with Li Ye.

Li Ye is in western Liaoning, a notoriously murderer. None of the captured prisoners remained, and they defected to the enemy and mutiny. He was in Liaoxi for less than a year, and he killed four or five thousand people. And he took pleasure in killing prisoners with his own hands. Because he was outnumbered and blocked the footsteps of Shijiabao going north, he was regarded by the Yuan army as the "iron wall" of western Liaoning. He was even more good at killing prisoners and surrendering, and was regarded by the Yuan army as a "thief" in western Liaoning. Of course, the generals of Haidong, in the eyes of the Yuan army, are all thieves. But as soon as the name can be mentioned by Yuan Jun, it must be suffixed with the word "thief", under Deng She and Chen Hu, Li Ye is the third.

Chen Hu is also good at killing. As early as when Dingzhou was in North Korea, not long after Deng She got the twin cities, he had killed hundreds of people in one night because of trivial matters. Attacking the twin cities, Deng She was wounded, and it was he who gave the order to allow the soldiers to slaughter the city. In troubled times, if you don't have iron blood, you can't kill people, and you can't do it, this is no way. If you don't kill people, you can't stand up. However, Chen Hu and Li Ye killed most of the enemies and small people.

Wen Huaguo and Zhang Xiao'er killed most of the landlords and heroes this time. Some officials of the Imperial Historical Observatory, before Wen and Zhang returned to the city, wrote to Deng She for this purpose and impeached the two of them. said that the two of them were "too indiscriminately killed, for fear of damaging His Highness's benevolent name".

In person, Deng She encouraged these officials, expressed praise and recognition, said that what they said was very right, and promised to severely punish Wen Huaguo and Zhang Yan'er. turned around, but he comforted Wen Huaguo and Zhang Ji'er warmly. Rebellion is not a dinner party, and it cannot be so calm and polite. So gentle and frugal. A rebellion is a riot, and to rebel is to kill people.

Deng She is not unaware of the importance of the landlord class and the literati and Confucian scholars, but the centrists can be wooed. He has always been very active in wooing this. What about those who can't win over? Stubborn elements, but they must be killed.

In order to stabilize the situation, the treatment of those stubborn elements is like the autumn wind sweeping away the leaves, which is absolutely intolerable. Among them, he also has another consideration, taking this opportunity to defeat a group of remnants of Mao Gui and Wang Shicheng.

From this point of view, Wen Huaguo and Zhang Xiaoer's murder is actually done well. Of course, Deng She was going to be soothed by gentle words. After listening to Luo Lilang's answer, he asked, "You said that there are two ways. Dividing the land is one way, but what about the other? What is it? ”

"It's still like the story of Haidong. After this battle, Shicheng's old department suffered many losses, and the combat power of its survivors was also greatly reduced. If Chahan makes a comeback, they will not be an adversary. In this case, the minister thought that it was better to simply draw his elite and form another army; Use its old and weak to replenish the tuntian. The number of people may not be too much, after all, they were originally soldiers, but they are still restrained by military law, and they are uniformly used to renovate farmland and repair ditches. ”

Deng She intends to make another adaptation of Shicheng's old army, and Luo Lilang knows it. According to his method, the army was reorganized and the local labor force was replenished, which can be described as killing two birds with one stone.

Luo Lilang said again: "The reorganization of the old army of Shicheng is a matter of military affairs. The ministers are in the left and right divisions, and they dare not speak out about this. A little superficial, whether it is feasible or not, please judge the lord. ”

Deng She smiled and said, "Military affairs, naturally you shouldn't talk about it. Still, your proposal is good. Can be considered. However, the stakes are too high to be taken lightly. After I send it to the provincial Privy Council, Tong Shengyang, Monk Li and others will discuss a charter first, and then talk about it. ”

From the table, he took the fold handed over by the left and right divisions in his hand, smiled, and said, "Chahan is in retreat, and he will return it to us Yidu." It's robbing and burning again, obviously preparing for the coming year. If my prediction is correct, as soon as Polo's troubles are resolved, he will definitely come back next spring and summer at the latest. It's like locusts crossing the border. What if I am done by him again? He sighed, "It's really worrying." ”

Everyone in the hall was silent.

Deng She looked out of the hall to see that the night was getting darker. A few cold stars, hanging far in the sky. The cold wind blows, sometimes covered by clouds, and the starlight appears and disappears, as if it is crumbling. He didn't feel it coming from his heart, and chanted in a low voice: "When you sing about wine, what is your life?" For example, the morning dew, the day is bitter! ……。 ”

Time flies too fast, day by day, although Chahan is gone, the threat is still in the near future. Will we be able to heal the damage of the war in a short period of time, regroup and face the next challenge with confidence? Deng Shewei really has no bottom. The moon stars are scarce, and the black magpie flies south. Three turns around the tree, no branches to follow.

——

1. Most of them transport grain.

Most of them were shipped from Gangnam. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, Cao Yun was cut off, and most of them were short of grain, so Meng Yuan made some tuntian near Dadu, but it was a drop in the bucket. There are also grain transfers from Shaanxi and other places, but not much. Some people analyze the reasons for the fall of the Yuan Dynasty, and one of the reasons is: "shipping was interrupted, and the canal was also cut off".