The people dispersed, and the twilight was hazy.

When Sun Chengzong and Bi Ziyan, who were left behind, finished eating Laba porridge, Chongzhen ordered the little eunuch to take away the eating utensils and talk secretly with the two.

In fact, Chongzhen was a little puzzled by Sun Chengzong's reintroduction of advancing the defense line in western Liaoning.

The reason why Sun Chengzong became the secretary of the military department was because he was Yuan Chonghuan's old superior, who could not only suppress Yuan, but also mobilize Yuan.

I have also told the bottom before, and now that the situation in the northwest is erosive, it is difficult for the Ming Dynasty to allocate resources to Liaodong.

He directly said tentatively, "Old Yuanrong, is the matter of building a city on the Great and Small Ling Rivers Yuan Chonghuan's plan, or is it your original plan?" ”

Sun Chengzong was stunned for a moment, and then said, "Although this matter was strongly suggested by Liaozhen to the Ministry of War, it was also a plan that the minister had when he passed through Liaodong. ”

"The two castles of Ningyuan and Qiantun are like the eyes of Shanhaiguan. If you don't open your eyes before you are restless, you will be panicked when you close the door, and you can't live all day. ”

"The big and small Ling rivers are like the waist and abdomen of Shanhaiguan. There are many sandy depressions in western Liaoning, and the land can only be cultivated until the tributaries of the Liaohe River. If you are here to farm, it can be a long-term solution. ”

"Oh?" Chongzhen disagreed.

As Bi Ziyan said before, although Liaozhen is known as the strongest army in the world, it is defeated in every battle in Jianzhou. There are even those in charge who ridicule him for having the disease of 'Liao soldiers are good at walking'. ”

"If this disease is not eliminated, if the big and small Ling rivers are also pruned and collapsed, wouldn't it be child's play to treat the wealth of the country as a child's play?"

Sun Chengzong shook his head and said, "The person in charge of what Your Majesty said is the former King of Liaofu Zaijin. This person is just to prove that his Liao people are not trustworthy and the Liao soldiers are unusable, and this person is not sympathetic to the people's feelings, and what he says is really undesirable. ”

"Your Majesty, there are two or three hundred thousand soldiers and civilians in Liaoxi outside the gate closed today. There may be untrustworthy people among them, but if they are all scorned as traitors, not only will they be weak in replenishment of soldiers, but the people of western Liaoning will not be able to serve as soldiers and eat food, but they will also lack livelihood. ”

Bi Ziyan asked, "Can't these people be moved into the gate?" ”

Sun Chengzong shook his head with a wry smile, "Back then, Liaodong retreated, and the people of southern Liaoning came to the sea, and the customs were no longer able to bear it, and even the wind of hostility towards the people of Liaodong rose. Now that the land in Kannai is also completely saturated, it is absolutely impossible to move 200,000 people to Kannai. ”

"Your Majesty, you can't immigrate them, and you can't credit them, and in order to conquer Jianzhou, you have to send guest troops to smash their jobs."

"When the foreign guests arrive in Liaodi, what will these people think and do?"

"I'm afraid, except for the closure at that time, it is not owned by my Daming."

Chongzhen was a little touched, "So the elder of the pavilion 'guarding the Liao land with the Liao people' is not purely because he trusts the Liao people, but because he uses it to win the trust of the Liao people." ”

"Exactly!" Sun Chengzong arched his hand. "I know that the saint is very wise, and after the rebellion of the eunuchs, he is particularly sensitive to the tail of the courtiers."

"The Taoist officials also have a lot of scripts, saying that Liaozhen has been replaced by soldiers and generals, and if it is allowed to use Liaotu to Tuntian, it will gradually become a feudal town."

"Actually, it's just a big deal. With the mountains and tidal flats of western Liaoning, the left and right can supply 30% of the military rations, and the rest still depends on the transportation of the imperial court. ”

The reason why Weichen wants to Tuntian is not only to get food, but also to cure the disease of "Liao soldiers are good at walking". ”

"Meng Ziyun, those who have constant birth have perseverance. After a long time in Tuntian, His Majesty can reward those who have made meritorious contributions, and then the Liaoxi army can be determined, so that Ning Yuanbo's military might can be restored and fight in front of the Jurchen array. ”

Chongzhen nodded again and again, talking to Sun Chengzong, who personally participated in the creation of the so-called Guanning Iron Cavalry, and asked him to understand one thing.

That is the current Guanning Iron Cavalry, not the Liaodong Iron Cavalry in the Li Chengliang era.

The armies that were armed with three-eyed iron guns and rampant on the battlefields of Liaodong and Korea had already perished along with the fall of the Liaonan Plain.

The current Liaozhen soldiers are all guest soldiers, defeated soldiers and new soldiers, and these people are of course "good at walking", because they have no sense of belonging to Liaoxi.

Sun Chengzong saw that Chongzhen's attitude had softened, and said, "The minister thinks that building a city in the Great and Small Ling River also has the effect of training troops. ”

"If I build a city, Jianzhou will inevitably send troops to harass me, and there will be war."

"Only by relying on the city wall and killing and injuring Jianzhou can we eliminate the fear of ordinary soldiers about Jianzhou, so that they can gradually get out of the city wall, rely on shield carts and military formations, and fight with women in real face-to-face."

Chongzhen said suddenly, "I heard that after Yuan Chonghuan was reappointed as the superintendent, he once rotated the armies of Ningqian, Guanmen, and Santunying. Isn't this move also for the purpose of training the troops, so that everyone in the army can understand that the Jurchens are not terrible after fighting the Jurchens on the front line? ”

"Exactly!" Sun Chengzong's head. "It's just that since Huang Taiji suffered a setback in the Battle of Ningjin, he understood that the current fortress in the hands of the Ming Dynasty was insurmountable, so the frequency of attacks on Ningqian was greatly reduced."

"Only by constantly advancing can the army be retrained with considerable intensity, just as the sword is about to be struck, it must be struck with a heavy hammer."

Chongzhen was noncommittal, just looked at Bi Ziyan.

Bi Ziyan met the emperor's gaze, and could only say hard.

"Your Majesty, the ministers have thought about it, and now the budget is still a way to open up sources and reduce expenditure."

Chongzhen nodded and said, "No matter what kind of ideas you have, you can say it, and you can do it if you can." ”

Bi Ziyan said, "First of all, there is still room to increase the income of wine and tea in the imperial court, and we can order all localities to strictly supervise and urge them in the examination, and gradually put the income of wine, tea, and even sugar, oil, sauce, vinegar, etc., completely in the hands of the state." ”

Chongzhen nodded, "Now that illicit salt is still rampant, I also intend to send another bold and strong person to ban illicit salt." ”

Bi Ziyan didn't express his position, but just called Shengming, because these private salts of the Ming Dynasty were all made by those relatives of the emperor through the emperor's approval, and only the emperor made up his mind to ban it.

He added, "No matter how much military salary there is in the northwest, it may not all be paid by the imperial court. ”

Seeing Chongzhen's brows furrowed, Bi Ziyan explained, "Although there are frequent wars in the northwest, most of them are in poor counties in mountainous areas, and the prosperous land of Linfen business and tourism in Guanzhong has less influence. The emperor might as well allow the two ministers to collect taxes from the Yellow River crossing, Tongguan and other places to supplement military salaries.

"There are also tobacco leaves in northern Shaanxi, which can also be allowed to be kept and sold for sale to increase income."

Sun Chengzong listened intently, and asked at this time, "If the Qinjin Mountains and Rivers lock the key land, if it is allowed to raise its own income, will it also have a tendency to be big?" ”

Chongzhen shook his head and said, "This matter is easy to solve, as long as the people who inspect the customs and the tobacco are all replaced by the Beijing officials sent by the household department, just like the Song Zhi's transfer envoy, although the materials are handed over to the ministers, they are still responsible for the imperial court." ”

Bi Ziyan said, "The emperor is far-sighted, and this law will ensure everything." ”

"In addition, the military salary originally handed over to Liaodong was allowed to purchase armaments and war horses on its own."

"But now that the imperial court has won many battles and has enough war horses, it can be directly handed over to Liaodong, and the silver saved will be used for building cities."

Chongzhen nodded. The ordnance war horses were directly issued by the imperial court, which saved the loss of earning the price difference and dealing with the military department within Liaozhen, which was more economical.

He reassured Sun Chengzong, "With so many fundraising, it is expected that construction will start within the year." Does the elder still have insights? ”

Sun Chengzong took a deep breath, "This is very good, Weichen asked for orders to go to Liaodong in the near future, and exhort the three armies to work hard for the imperial court!" ”