The capital, Huangji Palace.
Cabinet Chief Minister Li Banghua is reporting on his work.
"Now that Tongzhou's grain transport and land transportation have been restored, rice from Jiangnan will reach the capital in a month and a half at most."
"Yan Yingyuan successfully recaptured Yanqing last night, beheaded Li Paohui, the governor of Yanqing, and accepted 1,239 surrendered soldiers."
"When the bandits retreated, they looted the people just as Your Majesty expected! Yanqing is now extremely short of food. The grain transport teams of the Household and Soldiers and the civilian grain transport caravans have left Juyongguan and are expected to arrive in Yanqing tonight."
Chongzhen nodded, expressing his recognition of Yan Yingyuan's ability.
If it were Tang Tong, he might not have reached the city of Yanqing yet.
"What are Yan Yingyuan's plans for tomorrow?"
"Your Majesty, Yan Yingyuan will recapture Huailaiwei tomorrow!"
Huai Laiwei?
When Chongzhen heard the place name, he was stunned at first, then the corners of his mouth twitched.
The place Huailaiwei is not famous in history, but a castle in the east has left a significant mark in history: Tumu Fort!
Tumubao is more than ten miles away from Huailaiwei. More than 190 years ago, Zhu Qizhen, the god of war of the Ming Dynasty, embarked on a one-year study abroad journey here.
If the Tang Dynasty fell at Xiangji Temple, then the decline of the Ming Dynasty began at Tumu Fort.
Chongzhen shook his head and quickly forgot about this god of war from his mind.
He pointed to another place on the map and asked, "Is Yan Yingyuan's plan to recover first and then govern?"
"It seems like this now. He said in his petition that if we go one day later, many people will starve to death. So the current strategy is to send three or five soldiers from small counties to notify them. If they surrender again, we will transport food to them for disaster relief. If they don't surrender, we will just abandon them."
"In my opinion, there should be no one who refuses to surrender."
What Li Banghua said was well-founded. The Ming army and Li Zicheng had been fighting in Henan for more than ten years, and the local officials and gentry had already gained experience.
It can't be defended anyway, so we will surrender to whoever comes, unless one of the parties sends heavy troops to guard it.
This experience has already spread across the country.
Li Banghua continued: "After retaking Xuanfu, Yan Yingyuan will govern according to the new policies of the court."
"Good, very good."
Chongzhen did not interfere with Yan Yingyuan's plan.
His principle of employing people is to not employ people you doubt, and to trust people you employ.
Li Banghua looked around and saw that there was no one else, so he whispered, "Your Majesty, the total population of Xuanfu, Yanqing Prefecture, Huailai Wei, and Baoan Prefecture is less than 400,000, but Yan Yingyuan asked the court for 600,000 dan of grain!"
"This amount of food is enough to feed the people in Xuanfu for five months!"
"I think Yan Yingyuan must be on guard! The Ming Dynasty already has one Wu Sangui, and there must not be a second one! Moreover, once the Jiannu capture Xuanfu, the uneaten food will fall into the hands of the Jiannu..."
"Don't worry, I trust Yan Yingyuan."
"But Your Majesty!" Li Banghua became anxious when he saw that Chongzhen did not take this matter seriously.
"Your Majesty, this is not only a question of trust, but also a question of money! Currently, each dan of rice in Jiangnan costs about one tael of silver. The cost of transporting it by land to Beijing is about one tael and one qian, and the cost of transporting it by canal to Beijing is seven qian of silver per dan."
"To buy 600,000 dan of grain, it would cost at most 1.26 million taels, and at least 1.02 million taels! And that doesn't even include the military pay!"
"The Ministry of Revenue spent more than one million taels of the 10 million taels of silver defending the city, and Wu Sangui received 1.5 million taels. If the silver needed by Yan Yingyuan is added, the Ministry of Revenue will spend more than 4 million taels in one month."
It's no wonder that Li Banghua is anxious. Under the premise that there will be no income in the next year, the national treasury spends 40% of its deposits every month. Anyone would be anxious.
Chongzhen also began to pay attention to this issue. He believed that increasing revenue could not be stopped, and reducing expenditure must also be done.
After a moment, Chongzhen raised his head and said, "Why is there no sea transportation? As far as I know, the cost of sea transportation is about half of that of grain transport."
Li Banghua was silent for a long time. "It's a long story. During the reigns of Emperor Xiaozong and Emperor Muzong, they tried to transport grain by sea, but because the trial voyage was not successful and there were too many people in the court who opposed it, it ultimately failed."
Although Li Banghua did not reveal the deeper reasons, Chongzhen knew it well enough that it was all about interests.
Chongzhen was too lazy to bother with those trivial matters. He made the decision directly: "Order Zheng Zhilong's caravan to transport 300,000 shi of grain to Beijing. The transportation fee will be determined by your Ministry of War. At the same time, write a secret decree to Zheng Zhilong and his son and Huang Fei, the commander-in-chief of the navy, and ask them to enter Beijing secretly. I have important matters to discuss with you."
Li Banghua couldn't figure out what the emperor was going to do, but as a subject, he shouldn't ask questions that he shouldn't ask, so he quickly wrote down the information.
Just as he turned to leave, Chongzhen suddenly asked, "Where is Huang Degong?"
Li Banghua calculated: "The report from the court three days ago said that Huang Degong has reached the south of Xuzhou. According to the calculation of marching 60 miles a day, he will reach the capital in another month."
Upon hearing the news, Chongzhen straightened his back.
Huang Degong is his confidence and also the main force in this hunt for the Jiannu.
If one word is used to describe Huang Degong, it would be "fierce".
In the 14th year of Chongzhen, Huang Degong fought with Zhang Xianzhong in Qianshan, facing Ma Wu, the King of Chuangshi, and Wang Xingguo, the Three Harriers. The Three Harriers were Zhang Xianzhong's adopted sons and were known for their bravery in battle. Huang Degong was shot in the face by an arrow, but he fought back with his ferocity and eventually captured the two alive.
Huang Degong would drink in every battle, and he would drink several cups before charging into battle. Because of his unusual roughness and bravery, he was called "Huang Chuangzi" in the army.
At the critical juncture of mid-April in the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, the only powerful general he could use was Huang Degong!
"Three things!" Chongzhen began to make arrangements.
"First, when you return to the Ministry of War, draft an imperial edict. Remember, this is drafted in the name of the Ministry of War, asking Huang Degong to go and encircle and suppress Zhang Xianzhong, and not to come to Beijing to defend the emperor."
Li Banghua was confused. He remembered that the emperor in front of him had told him personally that the Jiannu would enter the pass and plunder in mid-to-late May.
There are not many soldiers available in the capital, so why should Huang Degong be transferred back now?
Chongzhen did not explain and continued, "Second, without alerting the Ministry of War, how many cannons, Portuguese guns, and gunpowder can you secretly transport to Xuanfu before the Jiannu enter the pass?"
Li Banghua was not a fool. After a moment he analyzed the reason why Chongzhen did this.
He suspected that there was a spy inside the Ministry of War!
"Your Majesty is suspicious..."
"Don't think too much, Lord Li. I am just suspicious. You have just taken charge of the Ministry of War. Even if there are spies, it has nothing to do with you!"
Chongzhen was not doubtful, he was certain!
Not to mention the fact that in the eleventh year of Chongzhen, Huang Taiji entered the pass and happened to save Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong.
The fact that Huang Taiji sent Abatai into the pass in the 15th year of Chongzhen alone shows how terrifying the spies within the Ming Dynasty were.
The Ming army had six governors and eight generals, with a total force of nearly 400,000!
The main force of the Eight Banners Army could not be found!
You know, Abatai stayed in the pass for eight months!
He even dismounted and herded in Linyi for more than a month to rest, and during this time no Ming army attacked.
It is one thing when officers and soldiers are afraid of fighting, but the real reason is the leakage of intelligence!
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