Li Zicheng Juntian's slogan of tax exemption shouted too much, but there is no actual long-term governance ability, the people can take care of these, see that they can get benefits and naturally blindly follow the trend, the mouth is raised, and then it is very difficult to change back, the so-called from thrift to luxury, from luxury to thrift is difficult, used to describe the present is very appropriate.

Rather than risking confrontation with the people to restore the past tax revenue, it is better to take advantage of this shareholder trend to continue Li Zicheng's slogan and change it thoroughly, which is beneficial to the people's will.

But this matter should not be done by Chongzhen himself, it is a sure thing for the Son of Heaven to say it, and there is no possibility of maneuvering.

But if the front-line army wants to fight, and the imperial court needs money and grain to maintain it, so if these people are exempted from fighting, then they have to fight the idea of our rich households? There is no need to guess, once this matter spreads, the gentry have to make trouble with Chongzhen.

How to establish a new financial system and reconcile the contradictions between the upper and lower strata is another major problem that Chongzhen needs to think deeply about.

The Xuanfu was broken, and the army of Jianyu attacked Datong in a few days.

"Your Majesty, the night that the minister arranged to spy on the Western Front did not receive a return, and the Baode Prefecture area found that the general Tang Tong was camped."

"Tang Tong? Did he participate in the Shanhaiguan War? ”

"The thieves had transferred his troops to Beijing before, and they only appeared in Baode in the past two days, and the sentry inspection saw that his camp was loose and the soldiers were not in order, and it seemed to be a remnant."

Chongzhen thought for a moment and stopped talking.

Everyone rode their horses to the camp in the city, and after Jiang Hao and Jiang Xuan joined forces, they knew that the field battle was not an opponent, so they set up the military camp in the city.

It just so happened that behind the general town office in the north of the city, there was a large area of ruins, which was mostly Taoist temples and temples, because Zhang Tianlin's special habits were all destroyed in one fell swoop, so Jiang Hao ordered people to clean up and camp on the spot.

As soon as he entered the barracks gate, he heard "Ah! Yes! Chongzhen fixed his eyes and saw that the fat and heavy official was naked and tied to a wooden pillar and whipped by others.

It turned out that Jiang Hao had a concubine room that he liked the most, and the younger brother of this concubine was idle and not doing his job on weekdays, so the concubine was easy to talk about, and asked Jiang Hao to arrange a position as a baggage officer for his brother-in-law in the army.

Last night, when the heavy officer came home, he was full of pride, and felt that things had been done beautifully, so he asked his sister where the new adults in the city came from, and gave a general account of what had happened.

His sister also didn't know, and she felt curious, so when Jiang Hao went home, she took out the matter and told Jiang Hao about it.

After Jiang Hao heard this, his liver and gall were broken, and the concubine who slapped him fell to the ground, and then he hurriedly ordered someone to escort his brother-in-law to inquire.

This matter is not uncommon in the army.

In recent years, the focus of the imperial court has been on Liao, which has led to a shortage of money and food for the soldiers in the border towns, and it is reasonable for the main generals to find their own way to collect money and raise soldiers, so the means of killing the good and risking merit and embezzling and seizing the money quickly have intensified.

But this kind of "reasonableness" is limited to private, and it will pass with a blind eye, and the good guy is now directly placed in the emperor's face, which is a felony that can punish the nine clans.

Therefore, Jiang Jiu stayed awake all night, sitting at home with red eyes and thinking about it, he even germinated the idea of surrendering and rebelling, he sat on Datong, if Chongzhen was tied up and dedicated to....

Jiang Hao is waiting, waiting for Chongzhen to summon him, if Chongzhen really wants to punish him for this, even if he risks the infamy of the ages, he is afraid that he will be reversed.

In this way, he was worried until noon on the second day, and he did not receive the news that Chongzhen had summoned him, which made Jiang Hao gradually put his mind at ease, and he even felt guilty and guilty for his previous thoughts.

is such a contradictory egoist, jumping over the wall repeatedly only in a thought, Chongzhen should really be glad that he is cautious.

So there was this scene in the camp, Chongzhen recognized the baggage officer, and he knew what was going on, but he didn't break it, turned his head to Jiang Hao and asked, "Hey, why is this?" ”

Jiang Jiu's mind was clear, and when he heard this, he dismounted and replied: "Your Majesty is not strict, please condemn Your Majesty." ”

Seeing that Jiang Hao avoided the important and light, Chongzhen knew in his heart and said: "What kind of crime to surrender in a daze, you can handle the affairs in the army yourself, since I have carte blanche entrusted to you, I will not interfere at will." It's just that this person is not decently whipped, and it is still raining, so I think it is better to let it go. ”

"Your Majesty is kind-hearted, but the military law is not merciful, and when the military law is completed, he will hand over someone for treatment, and whether he dies or lives depends on his own creation."

"Just do as you say, take me to the big tent."

"No!"

After the group left, the soldiers who practiced military law quickly stopped, loosened the dying baggage officer, carried it on his back, and sent it to the accompanying medical officer.

After entering the big tent in the camp, Chongzhen sat down at the top and asked, "What is the situation of those prisoners now?" ”

Chen Zhuo came out and said: "Back to Your Majesty, after the lowly count, a total of more than 1,600 people were captured, of which about 500 were veterans, and the rest were recruits who had not been in battle. ”

"Will you surrender?"

"Some of the old soldiers are unwilling, about two hundred, and they don't know how to deal with it, and they ask Your Majesty to make an idea."

After listening to Chen Zhuo's report, Chongzhen rubbed his temples, it is a pity that these old pawns are killed, it is difficult to tame in a short time, it is really chicken.

After thinking about it, he said to Jiang Xuan: "In this way, those who are willing to surrender will be scattered and placed in the five camps, and the remaining two hundred hard bones will continue to be locked up and starved for a few days, and I will go to see it myself when the time comes." ”

"No!"

"There is a lot of money and food seized in the Daiwang Mansion this time, and I already know the specific amount."

At this point, Jiang Hao's ears couldn't help moving, and he secretly glanced at Chongzhen's face, and there was nothing unusual.

"Half of it will be allocated to the camp, and the other half will be stored in the treasury, and I will use it for other purposes, Jiang Xuan, you will supervise this matter, and it must be done within today."

Jiang Xuan immediately came out to receive the order, and there were some doubts in his heart, why did Your Majesty send me this matter? Shouldn't the brother be responsible?

"Jiang Xuan, tell me about the armament situation in the city."

"Your Majesty, the armament situation is really not optimistic, the thieves took most of them away when they left the university, and most of the rest were damaged for a long time, which was embarrassing and useful. After screening, the number of swords, guns and shields was barely enough, with a total of 2,000 crossbows and 50,000 arrows. The equipment used to defend the city, such as fierce fire oil, rolling stones and wood, and 10,000 enemies, was more sufficient. There are three small franc machines, 15 tiger guns, and a total of 500 fast guns, bird guns, and three-eyed guns. ”

"Where's the armor?"

"There is not a single piece of armor left in the thief, and there are only 800 people in the army wearing armor."

There are more than 10,000 people, 800 in armor, most of them wear fat jackets or winter clothes, few cannons and fewer guns, and they have nothing to do except for the high wall of Datong City, which is more than ten meters high.

Chongzhen quietly looked at the map hanging on the wall, no longer spoke, and felt a little lost in his heart.

Wang Chengen, who had accompanied him all the way to this point, secretly glanced at the generals, Jiang Hao would be satisfied, and hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, although our army is underarmed, the soldiers are united and full of morale, and they may not be able to fight with Jianyu." ”

Chongzhen shook his head, he didn't need these scenes.

"How many cavalry are there in the battalion?"

"A thousand cavalrymen, all one man and one horse."

"Cut half of it, re-select good riders in the battalion, expand the general flag for five nights, prepare enough dry food for one person and two horses, and release all the enemy movements with Datong as the center, as far as Xuanfu and Taihang in the east, Taiyuan in the south, and the border of Shanxi in the west, I must know all the movements of the enemy."

"If you let the soldiers practice once a day, is it difficult?"

As soon as he heard this, Jiang Xuan and Jiang Xuan were in trouble at the same time, what about Your Majesty's nonsense? If you practice every day, don't you have to be a housekeeper?

Seeing their expressions, Chongzhen also knew that it was unrealistic, so he had to retreat to the second: "How about practicing for two hours a day and providing one more meal?" ”

The two looked at each other, and Jiang Xuan spoke: "If the money and food are enough, it is not impossible to practice for two hours a day, but what is incomprehensible is that His Majesty wants the soldiers to practice?" ”

"Each person carried ten pounds of weight, so he ran in circles around the city wall, and kept running, until he couldn't get up before he was allowed to rest."

"Your Majesty, is it just a lap?" Jiang Xuan understood that Chongzhen should want to train the physical fitness of soldiers, but is it a little more simple to only run laps? Jiang Hao also looked strange, how did His Majesty practice running laps alone? It's more appropriate to drill the battle formation.

"Just practice according to what I said, and instruct the soldiers in the army to have oil and water and put more salt in their meals every day."

"Your Majesty, with all due respect, this move is too expensive, and if it is only for the exercise of the soldiers' physical fitness, I am afraid that the gains outweigh the losses."

"My plan has been decided, you just have to practice, practice hard, and you don't have to worry about food."

"No!"

The matter was almost discussed, the two commanders were ordered to leave on their own, and training more than 10,000 people was not an easy job, and it had to be arranged step by step.

Chen Zhuo stayed in the tent to guard, and saw that Chongzhen would take down the map for a while, lay it on the ground, gesture on it with his hands, and write and draw on the paper with a pen for a while, and it was full of symbols that he had never seen, Chen Zhuo wanted to ask but didn't dare to speak.

Chongzhen raised his head and saw that Wang Chengen and Chen Zhuo were staring at him, and said with a smile: "Are you curious about what I'm doing?" ”

The two nodded in unison, and Chongzhen put the pen down.

"I won't tell you."