"My brother is going to fight the two battles of the resumption of the South Seas and the resumption of the set?"

In mid-August, when the plan for the resumption of the set and the restoration of Nanyang was completely finalized, the news that even the route of the army was transmitted back to the capital, and Zhu Youxiao, who was teasing his imperial heir in the palace, also stopped moving.

He looked sideways at Cao Huachun, who brought back the news, and Cao Huachun bowed slightly when he heard this, and said:

"The north and the south sent troops at the same time, and about 180,000 soldiers were dispatched, 147,000 troops were dispatched to the Fuset, 33,000 troops were dispatched to the South Seas, four first-class fleets were dispatched, and two naval infantry guards were dispatched."

"How much does it cost? Can the Qi Palace? Zhu Youxiao took over the two plans for the southern expedition and the northern expedition, and asked while reading.

In response to the inquiry, Cao Huachun also used the data calculated by tens of thousands of scribes in the Governor's Office of the Five Armies to make a reply:

"There are more than 464,000 people, 246,400 horses, 620,000 taels of monthly military salaries and workers' wages, 270,000 taels of grain, vegetables, and horse feed, and tens of thousands of taels of gunpowder and stone bullets."

"Every month, the cost of the reset is about one million taels......"

"In comparison, it is much simpler to restore Nanyang."

"To restore the South Seas, we need to use 300 baggage ships of 6,000 materials, as well as more than 100 merchant ships under the command of maritime merchant Li Dan, and more than 24,000 people are enough."

"The people and the army consume more than 60,000 taels of silver per month, the monthly consumption of grain and vegetables is estimated at 30,000 taels, and the cost of gunpowder stone bombs is 10,000 taels."

"Every month to restore Nanyang, it will cost about 100,000 taels."

"The two wars started at the same time, and the total military expenditure should be 1.1 million taels, and there are still 9.27 million taels of silver in the governor's palace of the five armies, and there are still more than 4.52 million taels of grain."

"However, at present, except for the Sichuan Xingdu Division, southeastern Yunnan, western Guangxi and other places where there is no innovation, the rest of the guards have all been renovated, and the number of military tuntian has reached more than 87 million mu."

"After the autumn harvest, this year's Tianfu annual income is about 40 million stones, and the total amount is more than 16 million taels after folding, counting the expenses of the imperial store, there should be about 19 million taels."

Cao Huachun revealed all the family background of the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies, and Zhu Youxiao did not feel strange after hearing it, after all, he had long known that the income of the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies would not be too low after the reform.

"How many fields should be handed over to the household department by the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies this year?" Zhu Youxiao closed the two plans and looked directly at Cao Huachun.

In this regard, Cao Huachun replied without thinking: "It should be around 13 million stones." ”

"In other words, the revenue of the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies this year is 53 million stone ......" Zhu Youxiao pondered for a moment, and then spoke:

"Liaodong, Ryukyu Prefecture, and Futao, refugees and hungry people after the restoration of Nanyang will be transferred from now on."

"The Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies has to attack cities and plunder land, and it has to manage refugees, which is really unbearable."

"You let Zhongxian draft the will and send it to the household department."

As soon as Zhu Youxiao spoke, he relieved the current problem of the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies.

With the increase in the field tax payment of the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies this year, it is estimated that the annual income of the household department will not be less than 40 million stones.

Anyway, at present, the military salary is not considered by the Ministry of Soldiers and the Ministry of War, and in addition to the silver and materials of the Ministry of Labor, the Ministry of Household is only responsible for the hundred officials and the soldiers and horses of the five cities, and it can't use so much rice and wheat at all.

However, if the household department helps to share the cost of immigration, the governor's office of the five armies can better attack the city and plunder the land.

"Slave and maid receive ......"

After receiving Zhu Youxiao's instructions, Cao Huachun breathed a sigh of relief, after all, the current Qi Wangfu really couldn't afford the expenses of the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies and the relocation of the people.

Not to mention anything else, the annual military salary of the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies alone is as high as more than 13 million taels, and if it bears the relocation costs of millions of people, it will almost make the Imperial Horse Supervisor die.

And after a long time, it is estimated that the Qi Wangfu will also have to be in arrears.

Now that he has the share of the household department, he and Cao Huachun can also be much easier......

"I heard Li Ruolian say that the military quota of the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies exceeded the original quota?"

Suddenly, Zhu Youxiao suddenly talked about the number of soldiers and horses in the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies, and Cao Huachun also responded with bitter words when he heard this:

"Long live, indeed."

After responding, Cao Huachun also explained:

"The number of troops in the northwest exceeds the regulation of the Governor's Office of the Five Armies, and now it has reached forty-eight battalions."

"In addition, the Western Army Governor's Mansion, which absorbed the Qianguo Mansion, the Lijiang Mu Clan, and other Tusi, also exceeded the regulations, reaching fifty-two battalions."

"The original quota of the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies was 28 guards and 180 battalions, but now it has reached 28 guards and 240 battalions."

"The strength of the army has increased from 700,000 to 880,000......" Speaking of this, Cao Huachun glanced at Zhu Youxiao vaguely, and immediately explained:

"However, His Royal Highness also said that the Sichuan Xingdu Division and the Tusi of Guangxi, Yunnan and other places are likely to rebel against the imperial court because of their resistance to changing the land and returning to the stream."

"Therefore, after the Southern Army and the Western Army suppress Tusi, the strength of the troops should drop slightly by several battalions."

"After that, the Southern Army and the Western Army will also start to recover Annam, Sanxuan and Liuwei and other places, so it is not surprising that there are many troops."

"As for the Northern Army, it will also take a year off after the resumption and start cleaning up the Qingyu in the Qinghai area, and the strength is just right."

"For the time being, the Governor's Mansion of the Eastern Army is still on defense, plus the restoration of Liaodong is the mainstay, and when the number of acres of fields in Liaodong exceeds 20 million mu and the number of people exceeds 4 million, you can support the army to sweep and build captives in the north."

Cao Huachun reasonably explained the increase in the number of soldiers and horses in the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies, to put it bluntly, there are still many big battles to be fought at the moment, and a little more soldiers and horses is not a bad thing.

The 700,000 troops are the stable forces after defeating the surrounding enemy countries, and if the 700,000 troops are maintained now, then after the war starts, the front line will be damaged, and the rear will have to recruit troops immediately, and it will be too late to come up.

But even so, Da Ming's strength is too amazing.

With 880,000 soldiers, it can be said that as long as the logistics can keep up, the Ming army can completely sweep across the Eurasian continent.

You must know that the first all-European war that was going on on the other side of the ocean at this time, also known as the Thirty Years' War, had only 300,000 to 500,000 troops.

However, it was this logistical problem that led to the fact that the Ming Dynasty had no way to open up westward on land.

If it is just like the Romanov dynasty of northern Tsarist Russia, sending an expedition of hundreds or thousands of people to the east, of course, it is possible, but the problem is that if the Ming Dynasty uses this model, it needs to maintain at least thirty or forty thousand western conscription horses.

Out of Jiayuguan, whether it is Hami, Oirat (Warat), Yarkand, Kazakh, or Bukhara and other khanates, they can pull out 1 to 40,000 troops.

The loneliness of the overland Silk Road also represents the westward expansion in this era, and only the advantage of strategic terrain remains.

The recovery of the Western Regions was something that Zhu Youzhen had to do, but whether it was necessary to recover Central Asia after the recovery of the Western Regions became a question.

The problem can be seen from the expenditure of this re-set and the resumption of Nanyang.

Spend more than 100,000 taels per month, and at most a year in a war, spend millions of taels to recover the vast Nanyang region.

Looking at the reset, if the reset takes a year, the cost is tens of millions of taels.

If the Western Regions are to be recovered, this number must be increased, because the land west of the river cannot support more than 50,000 troops, and only by transporting grain from Guanzhong can the army logistics be fed and guaranteed.

From Baoji in the west of Guanzhong to the Yinli River Valley, the largest cultivation base in the Western Regions, the distance is more than 5,300 li.

Even if 40,000 troops are sent, the number of people represented by these 5,300 miles is at least 1 million.

This is also because of the support of the Hexi Corridor, without which at least more than 2.6 million people would be needed to ensure that 40,000 people can travel more than 5,000 miles.

Therefore, even if the Tang Dynasty had the blessing of the land Silk Road and the warm weather, the Tang army could only maintain 44,000 troops in the Western Regions.

Compared with the millions of people in the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty, the population of the Western Regions in the late Ming Dynasty was less than 400,000, the climate in Guanzhong was even worse, and the Ming army had to face greater logistical pressure.

Spending tens of millions of taels to build Central Asia and the Western Regions is not the end, but a beginning, because after the Xiaoice River drought broke out in Shaanxi, if you want to maintain the Western Regions and Central Asian army, you need to transport grain from Huguang, Henan, and Sichuan.

Tens of millions of taels of silver were smashed in the west, although they could gain thousands of miles of territory, but the output was surprisingly low.

But if these tens of millions of taels are smashed in the south, the gains will be terrifying......

Just like this, after hearing Cao Huachun's explanation, Zhu Youxiao rarely said about the strength of the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies:

"The strength of the Western Army and the Southern Army Governor's Mansion can be more, as for the Northern Army's Governor's Mansion and the Shangzhi and Eastern Armies, they only need to make Mobei surrender and consolidate Hetao, Liaodong and Nurgan."

Zhu Youxiao's words did not regard the recovery of the Western Regions as a strategic goal at all, because except for a few oases such as the Yinli River Valley in this era, the rest of the Western Regions were more desolate than those of later generations.

This kind of thinking is also in line with the consistent thinking of the monarchs of the Ming Dynasty.

The Ming Dynasty did not have no monarchs who wanted to recover the Western Regions, but when they asked the Guanxi Qiwei who entered the customs and ordered them to leave the customs, the heads of the Mongolian nobles of the Guanxi Qiwei were shaking like rattles.

In the eyes of the Mongolian nobles of the Seven Guards of Kansai, the inside of Jiayu Pass is simply a paradise, and outside the gate, birds do not.

Therefore, they would rather disband their subordinates and grow melons for a living than lead troops out of the customs.

They all lived outside the Guan, let alone the Han Chinese.

In Zhu Youxiao's interest, he is only interested in the Northeast, Monan, Nanyang, Annan, Sanxuan and Liuwei.

Therefore, after seeing Zhu Youxiao's attitude, Cao Huachun hesitated for a moment and said:

"The slave maid sent a handwritten letter to His Highness, I think His Highness should agree, and ...... other"

Cao Hua said suddenly: "Long live, Your Highness asked him when he would be able to return to Beijing to visit you." ”

"Return to Beijing......" Hearing these two words, Zhu Youxiao's face also hesitated.

He also wants to see his younger brother, but the problem is that the capital is not convenient at the moment......

"Call me!"

When Zhu Youxiao hesitated, many Donglin officials such as Nanzhen Fusi Edict Prison and Wan Yanyang were tied to the wooden frame, and Nanzhen Fusi Jinyiwei held a long whip and swung it.

Wan Yanyang, who was whipped, almost fainted, but was soon woken up by salt water and let out a terrible scream.

It was not only him who suffered such treatment, but also some other Donglin officials.

The reason why they suffer such treatment is also because of a person's negligence......

"What's coming to the old man! Why bother to be ruthless to the old man's colleagues?! ”

Listening to the terrible screams, in the deepest cell of the edict prison, Yang Lian, who was wearing a Taoist robe, grabbed the wooden fence and yelled at the Jinyi Wei Qianhu outside the cell.

Half a month ago, after seeing the eunuchs' actions, Yang Lianshang reprimanded Wei Zhongxian, and then stopped Zhu Youxiao's steps at the gate of the Qianqing Palace.

He demanded that Zhu Youxiao execute Wei Zhongxian on the grounds that Wei Zhongxian persecuted the former ministers of the former emperor, interfered in court affairs, and manipulated Dongchang to abuse obscenity, and Wei Zhongxian was also so frightened that he knelt in front of the chariot and cried bitterly to Zhu Youxiao's explanation.

Zhu Youxiao did not deal with Wei Zhongxian, but only signaled that he would punish Wei Zhongxian and order someone to investigate.

As a result, Yang Lian not only did not stop it, but loudly pointed out that the evil result of Wei Zhongxian's dictatorship was that everyone in the palace only knew Wei Zhongxian, but not His Majesty.

As soon as he said this, Zhu Youxiao immediately reprimanded him angrily, and then asked General Dahan to take him down.

If that's the case, forget it, but at this time, Yang Lian still thinks that Wei Zhongxian is a disaster for the country, and he is constantly slackening.

The final result is that Zhu Youxiao is annoyed, after all, his impression of Yang Lian is not good, Yang Lian's impeachment of Zhu Youzhen is still vivid, if it weren't for Zhu Youzhen's constant persuasion, Zhu Youxiao would have cleaned up Yang Lian a long time ago.

Although he admires Yang Lian's style, he has always disliked Yang Lian's stubborn temper.

So after Zhu Youxiao was angry, Yang Lian was ordered to be dismissed as the people.

thought that this was the end of the matter, but Yang Lian still publicized Wei Zhongxian's scourge among the people, and this kind of behavior was in the ears of the Hakka family and Wei Zhongxian, which led to the arrest and imprisonment of Yang Lian and a large number of Donglin Yanguan.

If it weren't for Wei Zhongxian's jealousy of the relationship between Yang Lian and Zhu Youzhen, I'm afraid that the current Yang Lian would have been crushed by the dirt bag and nailed by the ears as in history.

However, even if he couldn't hurt Yang Lian, Yang Huan under Wei Zhongxian still came up with a solution.

Since Yang Lian likes to do things by himself, he locked him up next to many officials in Donglin, and then tortured others and tortured him constantly.

Obviously, this kind of torture is simply a kind of torture and torment for Yang Lian, at this moment, his eyes are red, his hair is scattered, and next to him is the food that has been knocked over.

It's just a pity that his behavior not only did not change back to Jinyiwei's stop, but instead made the other Donglin officials who were enduring the pain scold.

"Yang Wenru! Why should you be cowardly! ”

"Yang Wenru, I really don't know the relationship between you and King Qi? It's only because I misbelieved you that I suffered this crime! ”

"Ahh Yang Wenru, you Qi King Eagle Dog-"

In the middle of the edict, the official who was being tortured scolded loudly, and in this dimly lit cell, there was only a window the size of a palm.

Listening to the abuse of his colleagues around him, Yang Lian knelt in prison in a trance, and at the same time, Yang Huan, who was observing him from a corner, also smiled at the person sitting next to him:

"Factory father, if it goes on like this, I'm afraid this old Yang Lian won't last long."

He was flattering, and Wei Zhongxian, who was sitting next to him and sipping tea, and Wei Zhongxian, who was dressed in a given clothes, also said lightly:

"Don't let him die or go crazy, if the King of Qi speaks, let him go, but never stay in the capital."

"Humble duty understands." Yang Huan responded with a smile, after all, he didn't want to offend King Qi because of Yang Lian's matter.

"Have Zhao Nanxing and the others made any moves recently?" Wei Zhongxian took a sip of tea and asked Yang Huan with a sideways look, and Yang Huan also bowed his body and responded like a flattering old dog:

"Zhao Nanxing begged behind closed doors, and Li Tengfang, Chen Yuting, Wei Dazhong, Yuan Huazhong, Zheng Sanjun, Sun Juxiang, Rao Shen, Wang Zhihuan and others in the ministry also begged behind closed doors, it seems that they want Wan Sui to come forward and release Yang Lian and others."

"Humph!" Hearing Yang Huan's words, Wei Zhongxian snorted coldly, and then said:

"Want to beg? Don't let us get their hands on them! ”

Wei Zhongxian's words made Yang Huan's heart sink.

He has been in Jinyiwei for more than ten years, and he has never seen a eunuch with such violent means as Wei Zhongxian, in the past, the eunuch was at most arresting people based on facts, and then increasing the punishment, but Wei Zhongxian directly framed and slandered.

Such a method made Yang Huan, who was in Jinyiwei, shudder, and looked at Wei Zhongxian's appearance at the moment, it seemed that Zhao Nanxing and the others could not escape.

However, after all, Zhao Nanxing is a clean official in the hearts of the people of the world, and most of the officials under his command are also deeply loved by the people......

Yang Huan's eyes were cloudy, silently thinking of a way out for himself.

At the same time, when they were plotting in prison, Cao Huachun, who had just come out of the Qianqing Palace, also summoned Cui Yingyuan, who was commanded by the Nanzhen Fusi Division.

Cui Yingyuan cautiously walked into the palace, and in the hall of the palace, Cao Huachun and Wang Chengen sat on the main seat, and after Cui Yingyuan came in and saluted, he said:

"His Royal Highness already knows about the matter of Nanzhen Fusi, but what His Highness wants you to do, you don't seem to have done it......"

"Bingbi ......" Cui Yingyuan knelt down all of a sudden, lowered his head and said:

"It's not that the lower officials don't want to do it, but Wei Bingbi is keeping an eye on it right now, and Yang Lian has not been punished."

Zhu Youzhen is naturally clear about Wei Zhongxian's use of the Nanzhen Fusi to torture, and the reason why Wei Zhongxian was able to use the Nanzhen Fusi so easily is also indispensable to Zhu Youzhen's acquiescence.

After all, even if Wei Zhongxian had Hou Guoxing, Wei Liangqing and others installed in the Nanzhen Fusi, most of the officials in the Nanzhen Fusi were promoted by Zhu Youzhen.

Like Cui Yingyuan, Lu Wenzhao also holds his bottom line, which can make him head in a different place at any time, and he naturally doesn't dare to be disobedient.

Zhu Youzhen wanted to kill the Donglin Party, but he didn't want to kill the capable ministers in the Donglin Party.

For example, Zhao Nanxing, Zuo Guangdou, Yuan Hua and others are all capable officials, and they are also honest enough, otherwise the people would not cry when they are sinned, and even spontaneously raise silver taels to redeem them.

It's just that there are hundreds of Donglin Party members, and there are only a few dozen people who are capable, and the rest are all talkative, and staying is not only disgusting to Zhu Youzhen, but also disgusting to the Ming Dynasty.

Since this is the case, then this group of people has only one way to die.

Only when they are dead can Zhu Youzhen dismantle Donglin step by step, and finally send all the capable ministers in the Donglin Party to the places where they are needed.

Therefore, Zhu Youzhen's military order to Cui Yingyuan was not to kill the capable Donglin Wenchen.

At the moment, it seems that Cui Yingyuan has indeed done a good job, and the reason why Cao Huachun said this is also to beat him.

He is telling Cui Yingyuan that the only person who can be his master is the current King of Qi.

Cui Yingyuan's attitude also made Cao Huachun very satisfied.

In this regard, Cao Huachun also said:

"This dispute between Wei Zhongxian and Zhao Nanxing, it's not just Donglin that has been cleaned up, and now His Highness needs you to find someone to give to Zhao Nanxing the handles of the party ministers who have defected to the eunuchs."

"To Zhao Nanxing? Humble duty understood. Hearing Cao Huachun's words, Cui Yingyuan immediately understood what King Qi wanted to do.

Nanzhen Fusi has been innovating for many years, and in fact, many officials have their handles, and if Zhu Youzhen wanted to, he could use these handles to bring down a large number of political enemies, but he didn't do it.

The simple reason for not doing so was that he didn't want dirty water to splash on him.

At present, Wei Zhongxian and Donglin are completely torn apart, if Wei Zhongxian is allowed to use the handle in the hands of Nanzhen Fusi to attack Donglin, then the final result can only be the dominance of the eunuch family.

Even if Wei Zhongxian is killed later, or he is exiled, the officials of the five parties of Qichu, Zhejiang, Xuankun and Kun who have taken refuge in him will only change their doors and fall into the ground.

In the end, just like in history, Donglin Nengchen was all killed, Wei Zhongxian and the real eunuch party were killed by Chongzhen, and the five parties of Qichu, Zhejiang, Xuankun jumped out of the eunuch party and continued to govern the government in a different guise.

The current situation of the Ming Dynasty, even if Donglin and the Eunuch Party continue to govern, they will not suddenly die, but if they are governed by these five parties, the Ming Dynasty will still perish.

Therefore, what Zhu Youzhen needs Cui Yingyuan to do now is to use Zhao Nanxing's hands to kill the capable Wenchen of the five parties of Qi, Chu, Zhejiang, Xuankun, and Kun.

"This list, you take it to find a handle and find someone to give it to Zhao Nanxing, you are also looking for a way out for you."

Cao Huachun took out a directory, and after Cui Yingyuan heard his words, he also took the directory like a life-saving straw.

On the list, they are Yao Zongwen, Feng Sanyuan, Wei Yingjia, Zhang Xiude and other famous officials of the five parties, as well as the current real power faction among the five parties.

If this group of people is brought down by Zhao Nanxing, the power of the entire five parties will be cut in half......

This also represents what a great credit these people will have.

Give this credit to Zhao Nanxing in the name of Cui Yingyuan, and it is estimated that Zhao Nanxing and most of Donglin Wenchen will not only not hate him, but may also have a heart-to-heart relationship with him.

However, when Cui Yingyuan continued to look down, he found that there were many names of officials of the Qi Wang Party.

"Bingbi, the name behind this ......"

Cui Yingyuan didn't understand why His Royal Highness wanted to attack the officials under his command.

"Some people are not of the same mind as us." Cao Huachun said meaningfully, which also made Cui Yingyuan understand the truth.

The eunuch party planted traitors in Donglin, and Donglin also planted traitors in the eunuch party, so will there be no traitors in the Qi Wang party?

"Humble Xie Bingbi, His Royal Highness Xie ......"

Cui Yingyuan, who closed the list, knew that he didn't have to die, and he would be one of the people Zhu Youzhen wanted to be saved.

As for Yang Huan, Wei Liangqing and the others, I am afraid that when Donglin and the eunuchs are weak in the fight, they will all be sent away by their own King Qi.

Thinking of this, Cui Yingyuan couldn't help but feel that that person was terrible, but at the same time he also had a problem.

Therefore, he got up cautiously and said to Cao Huachun and Wang Chengen:

"Two, despite this handle, will Banzai's side really agree to depose them......

Cui Yingyuan asked the key point, after all, the eunuch party was supported by the emperor, if the eunuch party and Donglin attacked each other and led to the destruction of both sides, then the Qi Wang party was the dominant party above the court situation.

Would the emperor be willing to have such a situation......

In this regard, Cao Huachun glanced at Cui Yingyuan, and then lowered his eyes and said:

"These things have nothing to do with you, it's enough for you to do your thing......"

"Yes......" Hearing Cao Huachun say this, Cui Yingyuan also knew that he had asked something that he shouldn't ask, and then responded honestly.

After a while, when he saw Cao Huachun and Wang Chengen serving tea at the same time, he knew it was time for him to leave.

"Retirement ......"

Cui Yingyuan saluted, and then withdrew from the palace, and that night, a handle was also taken to Zhao Nanxing's mansion......