It's been five years.

Since the first year of Chongzhen, Gao Yingxiang, who claimed to be the king of Chuang, has been wreaking havoc on the land of the Central Plains for five years.

In Shanxi, Shaanxi, Henan and other provinces, he fought back and forth for thousands of miles, broke through dozens of large and small cities, killed countless officials, gentry and clans, and coerced countless good people and ordinary people.

In August of this year, the thief army led by Gao Yingxiang was reduced to zero, infiltrated into Taihang Mountain, and then suddenly killed, attacked Jiyuan, Qinghua, Xiuwu, surrounded Huaiqing, infiltrated Xishan, smashed Shunde, Zhending, and forced Gyeonggi.

That's why.

For this cancer that is so stubborn and cunning, and has extremely destructive power, it cannot be tolerated any longer.

So it started on September 10.

Chongzhen held a military meeting in the Wuying Hall for many consecutive days, convening cabinet scholars Zhou Yanru, Wen Tiren, Wu Zongda, Zheng Yiwei, Xu Guangqi, the new military secretary Zhang Fengyi, the new household secretary Hou Sui (Bi Ziyan has been dismissed and imprisoned), and some military generals to discuss the major policy strategy of exterminating the thieves.

And most of these ministers convened by Chongzhen are quite talented, by no means mediocre and incompetent, they can be called the dragon and phoenix among the people, and they are the top elites of the Ming Dynasty, and they can completely refute the views of those Chongzhen who don't know how to use people.

My Healing Game

For example, Xu Guangqi, he was the first person in the Ming Dynasty to open his eyes to see the world, he keenly discovered that in mathematics, astronomical calendar, physics, military and other aspects, the Ming Dynasty has obviously lagged behind the West, so he studied under the missionary Matteo Ricci, compiled the "Chongzhen Almanac", introduced the concept of the circular earth in the almanac, introduced the concept of latitude and longitude, devoted his life to the study of science and technology, diligent writing, is an active promoter of introducing and absorbing Western science and technology, and made important contributions to the cultural exchanges between the East and the West in the seventeenth century.

In terms of agronomy, we have actively introduced drought-tolerant crops such as potatoes and sweet potatoes, and after the emergence of various high-yield crops in Xujiazhuang, we have taken Xujiazhuang improved varieties as the key introduction target, and have achieved very good results.

He is also the author of scientific masterpieces such as "The Complete Book of Agricultural Administration", "Miscellaneous Agricultural Relics", "Draft of Agricultural Books", "Taixi Water Law" and other scientific masterpieces, and is definitely the greatest scientist of this era.

In the military, Xu Guangqi paid special attention to the manufacture of artillery, and made suggestions from many quarters, hoping to introduce artillery manufacturing technology. He wrote various ordinances and codes, such as "Selected and Practiced Hundred Characters", "Selected and Practiced Rules", "Practicing Art Rules", "Shuwu Rules", "Form and Name Rules", "Fire Attack Strategy", "Gunpowder Making Law", and other regulations and codes, which were earlier batches of regulations and codes.

Astronomers, agronomists, scientists, military experts, so many labels focused on one person, such an encyclopedic wizard, there are not a few in the 5,000-year history of China.

It was precisely because of his outstanding talent and Chongzhen's reuse that Xu Guangqi entered the cabinet and became one of the five university scholars.

There is also the new military department Shangshu Zhang Fengyi, this person seems to have nothing extraordinary, in the normal historical timeline, Zhang Fengyi has no way to face the Jiannu army that entered the customs, holding the sword of Shangfang out of Beijing to supervise the army, but he can't go out of Zunhua City, and he is a talented and cowardly person, but he is also this person, who promoted Hong Chengchou, Chen Qiyu, Lu Xiangsheng and other famous generals to be handsome, and has a very good eye for people.

The others will not be given examples one by one, if you just stare at the shortcomings, Chongzhen is indeed not very good at employing people, but if you look at the advantages and disadvantages, comprehensively evaluate these ministers appointed by Chongzhen, you may come to a fair conclusion.

As for why Chongzhen failed in the later period, why he had to replace the first assistant in an average of three or five months, the fundamental reason is that the capable and loyal talents died one by one, some were framed by villains and died, and some were killed by Chongzhen himself, and in the end no one was available, or even if it was a talent, he didn't dare to show his talent.

This is also one of the reasons for Chongzhen's rapid collapse in the later period.

But now it's the fifth year of Chongzhen.

Hong Chengchou, Chen Qiyu, Lu Xiangsheng, Sun Chuanting and other talents are all there, and they are emerging one after another.

Zhu Youzhen's internal money now has a considerable amount of money and food, which is a golden age that can be done in a big way!

Therefore, after several days of continuous discussion.

A strategy of "200,000 coalition troops in five provinces will be suppressed" was formulated.

The five provinces, referring to the five provinces of Shanxi, Shaanxi, Henan, Huguang, and Sichuan, are preparing to designate these five provinces as war zones in the next one to three years.

The 200,000 army, that is, on the basis of the current local official army, is to expand the army on a large scale, the number of 5,000 to expand the army to 10,000, the number of 10,000 to expand the army to 20,000, and then from Shandong, Beizhili, Chongqing and other places to draw troops - such as Lu Xiangsheng's Tianxiong army, Tongzhou general Yang Yufan's Tongzhou army, Tianjin general Wang Hong's Tianjin army, Jimen general Deng Xi's Jimen army, and Shizhu Tusi Qin Liangyu's white pole soldiers.

These soldiers and horses were all used in the encirclement and suppression of Gao Yingxiang and other rogue bandits, forming a court army group of at least 200,000 people, divided into several roads, all in Shanxi, Shaanxi, Henan, the three main areas of activity of the rogue passes, while carrying out the clearance, while compressing inward, constantly narrowing the scope of activities of the rogue army, and even if the rogue resisted desperately, even if they concentrated all their strength to attack one of the court officials and troops, the court soldiers and horses along the way also had the strength to defeat the rogue head-on alone.

That is, the rogues can't break through this net, no matter where they collide, they will only be defeated and killed!

Does this strategy sound familiar?

That's right.

On the normal historical timeline, Yang Sichang, the secretary of the Ministry of War, put forward a set of "four positive and six corners, ten sides of the net" strategy to suppress the Liukou army, and the strategy adopted was the same as this set of "heaven and earth net" strategy, the essence is actually the same, the effect was surprisingly good at the beginning, almost all the rogues were wiped out, but Yang Sichang finally played smashed, it is said that Chongzhen moved the woman's benevolence, what to say, "The thief is also a child, Can't be killed', he can only try his best to appease, but he can't get the money and food to settle it, which leads to the rebellion of the rogue, and the credit is lost, of course, this may also be pseudo-history, Chongzhen is unlikely to be stupid enough to treat the thief who dug the ancestral grave of the Zhu family as a 'child'.

The actual reason for Yang Sichang's failure was, on the one hand, that the imperial court's finances could not support it, and it could not be fought anymore, so he could only choose Zhao'an; The second is that the mesh is too big, and the network cable is not strong enough, which led to Li Zicheng escaping, Zhang Xianzhong killed the encirclement, and finally made a comeback and buried the Ming Dynasty.

Now that Chongzhen and the ministers have discussed with the ministers, can the strategy of "Five Provinces and 200,000 Allied Troops Suppress" succeed and achieve the goal of killing all the rogues in one net?

"Your Majesty, if the five provinces work together, plus the elite army of 200,000 imperial courts, all the rogues will be turned into powder, and there is absolutely no possibility of resurgence, but to complete this strategy well, Your Majesty's internal money and food of 5 million yuan, I am afraid that it will not be enough, at most it will be used for half a year." Hubu Shangshu Hou Sui said.

"Half a year?" Chongzhen frowned, so much money and grain can only be burned for half a year?

Hou Sui carefully calculated the accounts for him, for a year, how much money is needed for 200,000 troops, how many war horses, as well as weapons and armor, and the loss of thousands of miles of transportation, to maintain 200,000 soldiers and horses to fight continuously, the minimum monthly expenditure is 1 million, he said that it can be used for half a year, or deliberately optimistic, it is good to be able to fight for four months.

As soon as the cannon goes off, there are ten thousand taels of gold, this sentence is not a joke.

"Let's take out another five million!"

Zhu Youzhen thought for a while and said: "In addition, I will send eunuchs and Jinyi guards, let them go to the front line with money and food, roll call one by one, and completely put an end to the phenomenon of drifting, corruption, etc., whoever dares to stretch out his hand, behead him immediately, no matter who he is, don't think about drinking the blood of the soldiers, greedy for the food and salary that the soldiers can only get in exchange for desperately." This trick was taught to him by Fang Yizhi, and it played a miraculous effect in the royal farm, eliminating corruption at the source level and greatly improving the enthusiasm of the peasants.

In the case of the same amount of food, the difference in motivation may be tenfold.

And such a good method, of course, Chongzhen has to learn and learn from it, especially in a militaristic event such as war.

"Your Majesty, even if you roll call and pay, you can only support it for a while longer, and although the household department has more income this year, it has accumulated too much over the years, and it is necessary to repay two or three million, Guan Ningjin and the Nine Border Defense Line, you also have to allocate five million dollars and grain, even if you cut off the civil and military officials, at most, you will only squeeze out 2 million money and grain, and there is still a gap of 3 million, and the minister is really powerless." Hou Sui knelt on the ground and said.

Hear here.

Chongzhen is not good to be persecuted anymore, after all, the civil and military officials are all broken, and the officials who are not very honest can continue to live nourishingly, but there are always a small number of honest officials who survive on that meager income, if this is broken, what will those honest ministers rely on to support?

The Hou Sui in front of him is famous for his honesty, and the patches on his clothes are no less than the dragon robe he wears when he is so poor that he has no money, of course, Hou Sui may also be a show, but even so, in the court where there are not many honest people, Chongzhen also has to show his trust and attention to him.

"Seven million money and food, it's enough, at least it can be fought for a while, and as for the shortage, we can always find a way to solve it!"

Zhu Youzhen said that the war cannot be fought in a day, and if it can be held out until August and September next year, and when next year's taxes are collected, the war machine of the imperial court can be activated again.

It's just that considering that there are Jiannu on the outside and Xujiazhuang on the inside, this war still can't be delayed for too long, and it's best to solve it quickly!

……

September 20th.

With the issuance of military orders one by one, the Ming Dynasty entered a state of full military readiness.

On the 25th, Fang Yizhi finally finished many affairs of the royal farm, only took a few entourages, rode a bicycle into the capital, Chongzhen was overjoyed, and immediately set up a banquet to entertain him, and the two of them had a long talk all night.