Chapter Seventy-Eight: Fujian Undercurrent (Middle)

After thinking about it for a long time, Zou Weilian, who had a lot of thoughts, finally fell asleep, so he yawned and stretched, and slowly got up from the recliner, but he really had no intention of dealing with official business, so he took out a volume of "Research on the History of War" from the compartment under the recliner and read it with relish.

-- Although Zou Weilian has always been very resentful of the atrocities committed by the Australian thieves in colluding with the military generals of the country and the dangerous Ming Dynasty, and he always makes a posture that is incompatible with the Australian thieves on the surface, Zou Weilian, the governor, is still very interested in these new things made by these overseas people, so he often asks his servants to go to the market to collect all kinds of exquisite books and newspapers printed by the people, and then read them carefully in private.

In particular, this journal of "Research on the History of War" is devoted to military affairs in the world, which has won Zou Weilian's attention. Among them, there are quite a lot of militaristic stories and current situations, including the analysis of various classic war examples in ancient times, as well as the quick reports and related comments on the current war. Although the words and sentences of the articles in it are easy to understand and mostly use vernacular, the analysis is from shallow to deep, and it is quite interesting, and in the latest issue of "Research on the History of War", the commentary article on the battle of Daling River made Zou Weilian read it amazingly, and he was still amazed after reading it several times.

“…… It is said that during the Apocalypse, the military department Shangshu Wang presided over the Liaodong war in Jin, which was at the time of the defeat of Guangning, and the official army of Liaodong had collapsed on the whole line, and everyone was afraid. After surveying the front line in Jin, Wang believed that the imperial border army could no longer fight, and even if he was lucky enough to recover Guangning, he was unable to hold on. Moreover, the country's financial resources were exhausted, and it was impossible to confront Jiannu for a long time, so it advocated abandoning Liaodong and Liaoxi as much as possible, using the Great Wall as the border, rebuilding Shanhaiguan as the last line of defense, and only harassing the Jiannu hinterland with sailors, so as to greatly reduce military expenditures, and the total cost of the project was only one million taels of silver.

However, all the princes of the dynasty thought that Wang Zaijin did not plan to restore the lost territory of Liaodong, but wanted to abandon Liaoxi again, which was really cowardly and useless, so he was deposed and replaced by the emperor Sun Chengzong to supervise Liaodong. Sun Ge Lao wanted to fight back to Liaoyang and Shenyang and recover Liaodong, but the imperial court officials and troops could not defeat the Jurchen Jiannu in the field battle, so they came up with a fortress plan, built a large number of buildings outside the Shanhai Pass, and continued to build fortresses to the east. When Jiannu came, the soldiers and civilians retreated into the fortress to hold on, and when Jiannu retreated, they continued to build a new fortress, building while advancing, and finally repaired the fortress to Shenyang.

If this policy is used in the Yongle and Jiajing periods, when the country's finances are abundant, it may also be feasible. However, since the Apocalypse, there have been frequent disasters and famines in the world, and it is difficult to collect taxes, and the household treasury has long been unable to make ends meet. In order to implement fortress tactics, Inspector Sun gathered more than 100,000 troops in western Liaoning, and also built fortresses, cast artillery, and hoarded grain, but he was still unable to take the initiative to attack, but he was defeated every time he fought in the field, failed to recover an inch of lost land, could not dismiss the army to recuperate, and the military expenditure naturally could not be reduced, and he also gave Jiannu a large amount of grain, grass, weapons, horses and silver in vain. Moreover, every time the Jurchen soldiers attacked, after destroying the fortresses along the way, the official army had to rebuild it again, so the imperial court had to spend a lot of money on the project.

As a result, the annual military salary spent by the imperial court on the Guanning army in western Liaoning was as high as five or six million taels of silver, and the previous income of the household department of the imperial court was only about four million taels per year, and the household department soon began to cry for his father and mother. Sun Ge Lao looked at it and didn't seem to be good, so he wanted to be self-reliant and work in Tuntian, Liaoxi, but the grain and straw that could be harvested in Liaoxi were taxed, which was equivalent to only 150,000 taels of silver. Moreover, if the Guanning army can't defeat Jiannu in the field battle and can't stop the enemy from looting, then the crops in your tuntian are equivalent to being planted for the Jurchens.

Under such a situation of making ends meet, the imperial court had to repeatedly levy Liao salaries, which made the people of the world panic, but it still could not make up for this bottomless pit. Due to the construction of so many fortresses in Liaodong, the project was too expensive, and the imperial court had to tear down the east wall to make up the west wall, so the food and salary of the towns in the northwest were not paid for a long time, and the army of the Shaanxi border army mutinied, and the trend of the rampant flow in the northwest was unstoppable. The Central Plains and Shandong are also overwhelmed, and the people are swarming. No matter what the victory or defeat of the Great Ling River is, as long as Sun Ge's old fortress with huge expenses does not change, with the embarrassment of the imperial court's financial resources, sooner or later it will be dragged down alive......"

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“…… Alas, even if he is an important cabinet minister, his knowledge of Liao affairs is probably no more than that. I didn't expect this thief to be so concerned! ”

Putting down the "Research on the History of War" in his hand, Zou Weilian, the governor of Fujian, couldn't help but sigh and said, "...... But even if you see through it, what can you do? ”

-- As one of the few capable ministers in the imperial court at the end of the Ming Dynasty, Zou Weilian certainly knew the drawbacks of Sun Chengzong's fortress tactics, and some people of insight in the imperial court also criticized this for a long time -- in fact, he did not need any kind of foresight, as long as he looked at the millions of taels of silver that were swallowed up by the fortress group of Liaoxi and the Guanning army every year, as well as the account books of the household department that had been in deficit for many years, all the officials and ministers knew that the country really could not afford such a expenditure.

However, since the finances were already so overwhelmed, why didn't the imperial court change its course and reinstate the former governor Wang Zaijin, using his strategy of sticking to Shanhaiguan to save money? Could it be that no important cabinet member is willing to bear the responsibility of abandoning the cities of Jinzhou and Ningyuan outside the Guanguan?

Well, there is a little reason for this, but by no means the main thing. The real key problem is that there are many people who can't see the court saving money!

To take a more significant similar example, since the Ming Dynasty moved its capital to Beijing, Beijing's food supply has relied on the transportation of water on the Grand Canal. But the problem is that a canal from the south to the north, from the local to the center, from Cao Ding to the head of the household, the cabinet bigwigs, I don't know how many people share the fertilizer on it, every year according to the regulations from the south of the Yangtze River to Beijing 8 million stones, along the way all kinds of inexplicable consumption of nearly 30 million stones, as well as the cost of repairing the canal and maintaining the sluices, it is really necessary to take out the gold and silver every year, which makes the people of Jiangnan breathless.

As a result, people of insight in Jiangnan were thinking to themselves that since Cao Yun traveled thousands of miles from south to north, Cao boats, Cao Ding, government offices along the way, and various fees and regulations could not be saved, and they all had to be spread on the heads of Jiangnan people. So why not take the bottom of the kettle, simply not take the canal, but take the sea route instead? You know, the volume of sea ships is much greater than that of boats, and the speed of sailing ships is much faster than that of manpower fiber pulling, if you can change the transportation to sea, then the transportation cost and consumption along the way will be greatly reduced, and the burden of the people in the south of the Yangtze River will be greatly reduced, benefiting the people's livelihood and doing a great job.

Therefore, since Qi Jiguang pacified the Japanese and restored the peace of the sea frontier, there have been people in the court who have been mentioning that the transportation of water should be changed to sea transportation to reduce the burden on the entire south of the Yangtze River. But in the end, this qiē initiative was all sunk into the sea -- thousands of miles of canal transportation, involving nearly a million people, and tens of millions of stone grains could be used to share the profit every year, that is, tens of millions of taels of silver. In the face of such huge and steady gains, who wants to change? Who would dare to touch it?

Even if the Donglin Party in Jiangnan controlled the government at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the financiers behind them were the gentry and wealthy business groups in Jiangnan, not the small farmers in Jiangnan.

As a result, it dragged from the Ming Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, even if steamships and railway trains appeared, because the interests of too many people were involved, Caoyun was still the same. Finally, at the beginning of the 20th century, because the northern section of the Grand Canal was so clogged up that it was impossible to sail at all, and the Qing court, which had just caused the Gengzi Boxer Rebellion and signed the Xinchou Treaty and compensated the foreign powers with 450 million taels of silver, could not come up with the funds for river control in any case, so they had to ignore the resentful eyes of the officials and resolutely abolish the Cao Yun -- the Cao Gang, which had lost their jobs, became the Qing Gang, some changed their careers to go to Shanghai, and some went to join Sun Yat-sen and became a revolutionary party. In the later Xinhai Revolution, these laid-off slender men also played a significant role in overthrowing the Qing Dynasty.

In the same way, Sun Chengzongge's old fortress tactics not only cost five million taels of silver every year, and the national taxes were not enough, but once the battle really started, it could not be attacked, and it could not be defended. The so-called Ningyuan Great Victory and Ningjin Great Victory were just more than 20 fortresses, which were swept away by the Houjin army to a maximum of four or five, and a large amount of money, food, materials and personnel were taken away from the capital, but there were a few particularly strong fortresses that were not breached.

In order to defend these fortresses, there is a palm-sized piece of land, but the price is a commotion in the four seas, the Central Plains is in turmoil, the people are overwhelmed, and the poles are rising, the border army is cut off from pay and food, mutiny, and countless rogues are rampant in Shaanxi, Shanxi, Gansu, and Henan provinces, stirring up turmoil throughout the country.

As long as you compare the gains and losses a little, you should understand that the national strength of the imperial court at the end of the Ming Dynasty could no longer support this fortress tactic at all.

Since this kind of fortress tactics are so bad, both a waste of money and ineffective, and there are huge sequelae, why does Ming Ting still insist on holding on to it?

Because it has the same biggest advantage as Caoyun, that is, it is convenient for everyone to reach out and embezzle!

Obviously, spending huge sums of money on so many projects that cannot be defended at all is really suitable for the relevant departments to embezzle project funds -- when the enemy attacks, the fortress falls, and then it is looted and demolished, and in addition to causing a lot of property damage and casualties, it will also destroy all traces of the embezzlement of project funds by the personnel concerned.

Therefore, as long as the fortress is repaired, ** will be extended wherever it goes. It is still light for those black-hearted officials to build the fortress into tofu scum, and it is common for them to directly make up some strongholds that do not store zài on the bill, and use them specifically to cheat money from the imperial court! Anyway, when the Jurchen soldiers came, the jade was burned, and even if the imperial court wanted to send someone to check the accounts afterwards, there was nowhere to check it...... In addition, the hundreds of thousands of Guan Ning troops on the imperial roster were scattered in more than 20 fortresses, unable to support each other, once the Jurchen army came to sweep, the Ming army was naturally defeated like a mountain, and the death was scattered. ”

As a result, the fortress group established by Sun Chengzong in western Liaoning not only became a fixed supply station for the Jurchens to regularly form teams to farm monsters and burst out grain, grass and ordnance, but also became a cornucopia for the generals of western Liaoning to extort the imperial court every year. What's even worse is that the Liaoxi Jiangmen is also an old oilman in the officialdom, and he understands very well the truth of not holding the people accountable and making a fortune together, so just like Caoyun, since the construction of the Liaoxi fortress group started, from the six departments of the cabinet to the local officials, I don't know how many people have been involved in this - almost all the financial income of the imperial court is here, and anyone who is a little capable will find a way to make money from here!

As a result, the Ming Empire smashed pots and sold iron land every year to invest five or six million taels of silver in Liaoxi, for which the people of the world rose up and rebelled, but the result was to fatten a large group of vampires and gold-swallowing beasts from the central civil officials to the Jiangmen of Liaoxi, and also raised the Jiangmen of Liaoxi into a feudal town that was not controlled by the imperial court, and was only willing to take a lot of food and wages, unwilling to fight well, and carried the Jurchens to rob a large amount of money, food and materials, and became stronger and stronger day by day.

Therefore, although the Liaoxi fortress group dragged the imperial court's finances to a basic collapse, from the cabinet ministers, the six departments of the imperial court to the various forces involved in the construction of the Liaoxi fortress group, and of course, the Liaoxi Jiangmen as the direct party, were unwilling to switch to Wang Zaijin's strategy, withdraw to Shanhaiguan to save expenses, and let the court take a breath. Because once the court spends less, they will have fewer benefits for corrupt officials and corrupt officials. And those who dare to forcibly implement this strategy will not only bear the infamy of "discarding the land of their ancestors", but also offend a large number of people, most of whom may not even be able to save their lives!

In this way, for the gray income of so many people, the Ming court can only stubbornly continue to adhere to the fortress tactics of Liaoxi, and drag it on until the whole country collapses - in fact, in the future, even Sun Chengzong himself vaguely feels that this set of fortress tactics that seems to be very good and powerful has become a harmful thing like Cao Yun. But things have come to this point, and even he, the founder, has no way to change his course.

-- As long as any erroneous strategic move can facilitate the bureaucracy's corruption and distribution of profits, then do not try to correct it.

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“…… Hey, although I can't put forward a really usable solution, but this generation is far away from the rivers and lakes, and you can also see the doorway in it, which shows that the Australian scribe who wrote this article must be well-informed and knowledgeable. If it can be said that he will abandon the darkness and serve the court......"

Zou Weilian muttered here, but suddenly laughed dumbly - although this article is sharp-eyed and well-commented, the words are all in the vernacular, which is quite vulgar, and there are not a few allusions throughout the article. With this kind of literary talent, at most, he can be a child, and he may not even be able to pass the exam, let alone a jinshi. A person like this, in the court of the Ming Dynasty, can be a staff member for those lowly martial artists, I am afraid it is already the best creation!

Thinking of this, Zou Weilian couldn't help but feel a little excited, and he didn't want to read it any more, so he threw "Research on the History of War" everywhere, got up and called his handmaid, waited for him to get dressed neatly, and then came out of the study, stretched his waist, moved his hands and feet, and breathed fresh air.

As soon as he walked out of the room, a steward came up to greet him, "...... Sir, can you get up and have some refreshments? ”

“…… Oh, well, let's eat it in the garden gazebo! What snacks did you have today? Zou Weilian asked casually.

“…… The pot in the kitchen is steaming Australian sweet potatoes, and it is almost out of the pot. In addition, there is a new Australian sweet corn, the little one knows that the lord is good for this bite, and specially took a boat to run a long way to Xiapu to buy the goods! The steward said with a smirk, "...... I also bought some Australian tomatoes, Australian bell peppers and Australian cauliflower for dinner! ”

Hearing that today's refreshment consisted of Australian sweet corn, and that there were sweet peppers, tomatoes, and cauliflower for dinner, Zou Weilian couldn't help but be very happy—although a gentleman is a chef, it is another matter when it comes to eating. For all of you Donglin gentlemen who live a luxurious life and pay attention to food and clothing, the more varieties of ingredients, the better, and the fresher and more novel, the better. Although over the years, there have been a variety of novel exotic fruits and vegetables have been introduced from overseas to the Ming Dynasty, but in recent years, when the Australian recipes and ingredients spread to the southeastern provinces, it still caused a huge sensation and sought after.

Take this Australian sweet potato as an example, a few years ago, merchants who traded with overseas countries also brought it, but if you want to talk about the taste, it is really not comparable to the Australian sweet potato varieties. The sweet corn of the Australians tastes a hundred times better than the maize of the Xiyi Franc machine. There are also tomatoes, cauliflower, bell peppers and other things, which also taste good and feel quite novel. It is said that the yield of rice in Australia is also extremely high, far better than that of the Middle Earth rice varieties.

It's a pity that this Australian doesn't know what secret method is used, and the Australian sweet potatoes he bought can only be eaten, not planted! It's not that these sweet potatoes are cooked beforehand and therefore can't sprout - after planting. This bud can grow, and the seedlings also grow quite long, but the strange thing is that it only grows seedlings, but it doesn't produce potatoes! The same is true for several other Australian ingredients, such as the Australian tomatoes, the fruits you buy are all red, big and sweet, but you have to plant them...... The fruit is definitely small and sour, and the yield is surprisingly low, which is a strange thing!

Therefore, up to now, most of the "Australian vegetables" on the market are still only available to the subordinates of "Australians". I heard that in southern Fujian, these new crops have been promoted by the "task force" of Australian thieves, but in northern Fujian, where the imperial court still exists, only the Funing Weijun households in Xiapu can obtain seeds and plant them...... As a result, demand has been in short supply, and vegetable vendors who go to Kasumigaura to buy goods have to queue up from time to time......

“…… Hey, although this Australian thief does not abide by the law of etiquette and is vulgar and unliterate, he is not only good at 100 jobs, but also very accomplished in farming, but unfortunately he refuses to obediently serve the court, but colludes with traitors and traitors, intending to harm my Chaosheji, it is really his heart can be punished......" Zou Weilian thought so in his heart, and was about to move to the pavilion, but unexpectedly, another subordinate outside ran in shouting, "...... Sir, sir! ”

“…… Shut up! What kind of system is it that shouts and screams! What's so panicked? Zou Weilian frowned unhappily and scolded.

“…… Old...... Master, there is a Master Zhang outside who asks to see him, and it seems that he is from Jiangnan! The subordinate hurriedly reported.

“…… Oh? From Jiangnan? The one who came last time? ”

Hearing this, Governor Zou Weilian immediately hung up a black line on his head - could it be that Zhang Dai from last time is here again?

“…… No, it's another Master Zhang I don't know. The servant hurriedly replied, and at the same time handed over a beautiful name note with both hands.

Then, looking at the handwriting on the name card, Zou Weilian's face became darker, "...... Zhang Pu Zhang Qiandu? Last time, I finally sent away Zhang Dai, why is this mad dog here now? What kind of trouble do the Donglin princes in Jiangnan want to make? ”

“…… That...... Sir, do you want to invite him in? Or are you not there? ”

Seeing that the governor's face was not good, the man cautiously asked tentatively.

“…… If the visitor is a guest, please invite him in and meet him! "Governor Zou Weilian, who knew how difficult Zhang Pu's goods were, didn't dare to give the other party a closed door in the end," ...... See you in the flower hall and bring the prepared refreshments...... Hey, why can't you let the old man be quiet for two days? ”