Mei Zhihuan saw Mo Qian's arrival, and saluted that Lao Huai was very relieved, although he was sick, but when he saw Mo Qian, Mei Zhihuan still remembered state affairs in his heart.

"The king, now below Zhejiang, Fujian is attached, the king has six southern provinces, hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses.

But today, the old minister still has the courage to admonish the king, and in the next two years, the king should not use any more swords. ”

"Why is that?" Mo Qian asked.

Although the king took the six southern provinces within three years, the foundation of various places is still unstable, and although the king's Juntian policy has won the hearts of the people, it has lost the hearts of the squires and landlords.

Now that the south has been decided, the king should focus more on people's livelihood and internal affairs, and now Li Zicheng in the north is making trouble in Henan, and Zhang Xianzhong is also in Sichuan, and the court of the Beijing division is thrown away, and there are Tartars outside the gate.

The king, such as today's group of heroes, the king wants to unify the country, it still takes time, our country is newly established, the national strength is still weak, although there are six provinces in the south, but the drought in the south of Zhejiang is serious, and the two places also need to transfer grain from Jiangxi Lake for disaster relief.

Hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses, eating and drinking every day is a huge expense, if you use troops to foreign countries at this time, I am afraid that the people's strength will not be sustainable.

And the Huai River line, is not in the hands of our country, since ancient times, the river must guard the Huai, the current imperial court is powerless, unable to go south from the Huai River, our country can sit back and relax.

But the situation will change, if Li Zicheng destroys the imperial court and occupies the north, he will inevitably invade our country in the south.

If the imperial court destroys Li Zicheng, it will definitely send troops south.

In this way, the king should take precautions, first develop agriculture in the south, accumulate more grain and grass, train more elite soldiers, wait for two or three years, and wait until the situation in the north changes, when our national strength is strong, the soldiers are strong, and the king can raise troops to the north to expedition and set the Central Plains, so the hegemony can be achieved! ”

After Mei Zhihuan finished speaking, his whole spirit suddenly withered, as if the words just now used up all his strength.

After listening to Mei Zhihuan's words, Mo Qian nodded: "Mei Gong is right, in the past few years, it has not been easy, and now the life of the people in the south is also difficult, Mei Gong can rest assured, within two years, unless the foreign enemy invades, otherwise the sword soldiers will not be moved, we have to give the people a little time to recuperate, and we can't exhaust the people's strength too much!" ”

"The king is wise!" Mei Zhihuan, who was lying on the bed, spit out these four words vigorously.

Seeing that Mei Zhihuan was tired, Mo Qian hurriedly stepped forward and comforted: "Mei Gong, don't work anymore, you take care of your body during this time, and after a few days, I will come to see you again!" ”

Mei Zhihuan nodded weakly and watched Mo Qian leave his room.

Out of the Mei Mansion, Mo Qian said to Li Banghua beside him: "Li Gong, what Mei Lao said is reasonable, in the past two years, we have used troops too frequently, and I am afraid that the people's power will not be sustainable." ”

"What Father Bin said is not unreasonable, in the past two years, the king has indeed used troops too frequently, only last year and half a year, the amount of military food consumption is huge, Ruifeng warehouse and other large warehouses have long been empty, if it expands again, I am afraid that Jiangxi's food will not be enough to eat.

Now that Zhejiang is in drought again, and Fujian does not have much food, Zheng Zhilong still has 200,000 troops waiting to be fed, the king, those 200,000 people, but 200,000 mouths! ”

"What does Gong Li mean, let Zheng Zhilong dismiss his troops and horses?"

Li Banghua nodded, "King, Zheng Zhilong has 200,000 horses, and the number of troops is more than our regular soldiers, how many of us are only 60,000, even if we add the 10,000 Zhejiang soldiers who surrendered, it is only 70,000 people."

There are tens of thousands of soldiers in Nanjing, but the combat strength of these people is far inferior to the elite of our army, and I am afraid that even Li Zicheng in the north cannot be defeated.

Fujian is a poor province, and a province raising 200,000 soldiers and horses is too much, according to the old ministers, Zheng Zhilong's soldiers and horses must be abolished, at least more than 150,000 must be eliminated. ”

"So many cuts at once? I'm afraid Zheng Zhilong won't agree! ”

Of course he won't agree, the king named him the Duke of Zhenhai, and let him serve as the vice president of the Hangzhou Naval Academy, which is already a gift of kindness to him, but after all, he still has 200,000 soldiers under his command, and if the king loses in the north one day in the future, the news will reach Fujian.

Can the king guarantee that Zheng Zhilong will always be loyal to the king? ”

Li Banghua's words instantly reminded Mo Qian of Zheng Zhilong before, in the late Ming Dynasty, he was first a guerrilla general in the imperial court, and later became the chief soldier of the Southern Ming Dynasty, and then surrendered to the Manchu court, and finally ended up infamy.

Zheng Zhilong's loyalty is obviously inferior to that of his son Zheng Sen.

Thinking of this, Mo Qian suddenly felt that what Li Banghua said made sense.

He said: "Li Gong, Zheng Zhilong was originally a pirate, he can be attached to me, if he is not loyal to the Ming court, it is possible to surrender to others when he loses power, this kind of person is indeed not too trusted."

But at the moment, we don't have enough ability to completely eat him, and if we want him to cut off his troops, then we have to find a suitable reason. ”

"The reason is very simple, let's just say that we don't have so much money and food to support so many soldiers, so you will give him 30,000 soldiers and horses and let him train the navy, and as for the army, he will not give a cent.

Since he Zheng Zhilong has already surrendered to the king, he naturally has to listen to the king's words, if he does not surrender and withdraw his troops and horses, then he has two hearts.

If he lays off his troops and horses, then we will have no worries.

If he agrees to dismantle the troops and horses on the surface, but does not implement it in private, then we don't have to care about him, anyway, we will pay the military salary according to the quota of 30,000 people, and he Zheng Zhilong wants to raise 200,000 soldiers, so he can only think of other ways.

Now the officials of all the prefectures and counties in Fujian are all appointed by us, and it is also our people who collect grain taxes, and unless he Zheng Zhilong goes to the sea to rob the passing merchant ships, he will definitely not be able to afford 200,000 soldiers. ”

When Mo Qian heard this, he couldn't help but nodded.

Li Banghua's plan can be said to be a yang scheme, and now Mo Qian occupies the moral high ground.

He is now the lord of the Han Kingdom, Zheng Zhilong is the Duke of Zhenhai, if Zheng Zhilong wants to be a loyal minister, then he has to listen to him, if he wants to be a second minister, then he can also plan early.

Mo Qian agreed with Li Banghua's opinion, and the two agreed that they would send official documents to Fujian when they went to court the next day.

After the morning of the next day, a decree with the seal of the lord of the country was sent from the imperial palace in Nanjing, and went straight to Fuzhou, Fujian.

Zheng Zhilong, who had just returned to Fuzhou, received the holy decree of the lord of the country sent by Kuaima, and he was still wondering in his heart.

After listening to the content of the will, Zheng Zhilong's face changed.

Several generals around him even scolded: "This surnamed Mo hasn't crossed the bridge yet, why does he want to tear down the bridge?" ”

Zheng Zhifeng also said: "Big brother, this Mo Qian is too much, it's not easy for us to save some belongings, how can we be cut so easily, if we cut the soldiers, then we will really become meat on the board!" ”

Zheng Zhilong's face was also blue at this time, and he was very dissatisfied with Mo Qian's will in his heart.

It is true that there are more than 100,000 people under him, but the real main force is only about 30,000 people, and the rest of the people are basically made up.

Zheng Zhilong originally thought that he could ask Mo Qian for military pay with the number of 200,000 soldiers and horses, but as soon as this will came, Mo Qian obviously saw through him and only wanted to give him 30,000 military salaries.

30,000 people, the annual military salary is only a few hundred thousand taels, what is this money enough for?

Zheng Zhilong's face was extremely dark.

However, thinking that his son is still in Nanjing, Zheng Zhilong's black face has eased a lot.

"No, Sen'er is hostage in Nanjing, I have surrendered to Mo Qian, and I have also accepted the title of Duke of Zhenhai, if I am not called today, wouldn't it mean that Zheng Zhilong is a second minister and thief, then Sen'er is not dangerous?

Although 30,000 horses are a little less, my main force is still there.

If I don't agree to this condition, I'm afraid that the soldiers and horses from Zhejiang, Jiangxi, and Guangdong will have to come over immediately, and then I, Zheng Zhilong, will have to flee back to the sea and start my old business on the island?

No, absolutely not! ”

After some consideration, Zheng Zhilong decided to agree to Mo Qian's request for troop reduction, and offered to leave only 30,000 navies, and the rest of the soldiers and horses were all reduced!

The envoy returned to Nanjing with Zheng Zhilong's reply, and Mo Qian was overjoyed when he saw the reply.

He told Li Banghua: "Gong Li, Zheng Zhilong has agreed to cut troops!" ”

"Oh, is it? It seems that this Zheng Zhilong can still distinguish the weight, congratulations to the king, the rear is stable! ”

After solving the problem in Fujian, Mo Qian could finally put his focus back on Zhejiang and Nanzhili provinces.

Since the beginning of spring, there has still been no rain in these two provinces, and the severe drought has made it difficult for the people of Zhejiang to even use water for normal daily life.

On the first day of July, staring at the scorching sun, Mo Qian came to the outside of Nanjing to investigate, and found that many paddy fields outside Nanjing had also dried up.

Although the Yangtze River is not far away, many fields cannot be irrigated because of the difficulty of obtaining water.

Looking at the drying paddy fields, Mo Qian said to Li Banghua, who was accompanying him: "Li Gong, the drought is getting more and more serious, and we must find a way to divert water to irrigate the fertile fields, otherwise, the people will be hungry next year." ”

"Yes, my lord, the old minister is considering whether to organize the people and everyone go to the Yangtze River to fetch water, although the flow of the Yangtze River has declined, there is still water available."

"Is there a way?"

"Yes, use manpower to build a large windmill to take water, and then dig a windmill on the edge of the Yangtze River, erect the windmill on the ditch, and then divert water back, so that it can supply water sources for tens of thousands of acres of fields."

"Okay, immediately organize the people and dig a ditch!"

Soon, Li Banghua called the local officials, and Mo Qian also ordered the 20,000 soldiers stationed in Nanjing to be transferred out of the city.

After two days of organization, a large army of 100,000 people began the mighty cause of digging ditches on the south bank of the Yangtze River!

Mo Qian sat on the throne of the Han king, personally rolled up his sleeves, picked up a hoe, and followed the people and soldiers down to dig a ditch.

When the people saw that the king of Han had gone down to dig the ditch in person, they were all shocked, and they couldn't imagine that the king of Han was so close to the people and was willing to work in the field himself.

Even King Han took the initiative to go down to work, and the officials next to him couldn't cover their faces at this time, so they asked someone to come to the hoe, rolled up their sleeves and followed Mo Qian to dig a ditch.

On the shore, there were several accompanying eunuchs, who took notes with pens and paper.

There are also a few officials who are not long-sighted, and they actually began to command on the scene, running here and there, looking very busy, but in fact they didn't do anything.

When Mo Qian came up to rest, he signed and saw an official wearing a seven-rank official robe running back and forth.

Mo Qian called the eunuch beside him and asked, "Who is this person?" ”

The eunuch replied: "Back to the master, this person is Lan Baiqiu of Ying Tianzhi County!" ”

"Lan Baiqiu! What is he up to? ”

"Back to the master, the slave doesn't know, let the slave go and inquire!"

After a while, the eunuch came back and said to Mo Qian, "Master, Lord Nalan is busy directing the people to work!" ”

"Command the people to work?"

"Yes, there are tens of thousands of people on this shore, there are too many people, and Lord Lan is afraid that there will be more people and chaos, so he began to command on the spot."

When Mo Qian heard this explanation, his face suddenly turned cold.

He said, "Give me a note of this man, and the widow will remove him." ”

In the afternoon of the same day, the will of the king of Han came down, and Lan Baiqiu was dismissed from his post and imprisoned for favoritism.

It turned out that as soon as Mo Qian gave the order to dismiss, the eunuch found Li Banghua and said that the King of Han was very dissatisfied with Lan Baiqiu.

Li Banghua immediately guessed the meaning, and he immediately ordered the minister of the Advisory Council to check the bottom of Lan Baiqiu, but he didn't know if he didn't check it, and he was shocked when he checked it.

This Lan Baiqiu actually connived at his relatives to bully and dominate the market in Nanjing, and forcibly occupied a shop in the area of Confucius Temple.

This is okay, Li Banghua immediately reported the matter to Mo Qian, Mo Qian was furious when he heard this, and immediately ordered Lan Baiqiu to be dismissed and questioned, and Lan Baiqiu's family was arrested.

Nanjing, at the foot of the King of Han, the first good place, the magistrate dared to be so domineering, Mo Qian suddenly felt that his team seemed to be a little powerless against corruption.

He immediately called Wang Zhongyi over and said to him: "You, immediately organize a spot check, and let me check all the officials above the county level to see if there are any corrupt people who bend the law and engage in favoritism." ”

Wang Zhongyi didn't know what was going on, and the King of Han was actually furious.

After some inquiry, I learned that Ying Tianzhi County actually committed an accident.

Wang Zhongyi immediately realized that something was wrong and immediately began to organize manpower to investigate officials.

As soon as the news broke, many officials immediately became afraid.

On the eighth day of the seventh month, Liu Chengzhi in Nanchang came up, Mo Qian opened it and saw that Liu Chengzhi found out in Nanchang that the White Lotus Sect had developed into the government.

Five officials have been found to be involved in the White Lotus Sect in Nanchang County.

Among them, Guo Yunchang, the prefect of Nanchang, also severely punished one of the officials, dismissed him from his post and sent him to prison, and handed him over to officials of the Criminal Law Department.

It was at this time that Guo Yunchang offended the people of the White Lotus Sect, and in order to retaliate, the people of the White Lotus Sect deliberately wrote an anonymous letter to Li Banghua, which led to this incident.

After reading the content of the recital, Mo Qian's face was cold and terrifying.

7017k