Xie Sanbin, the Minister of Revenue and Cabinet Minister of the Ming Dynasty, was very busy.
He was responsible for both the currency reform in Jiangnan and the salt inspection in Jiangnan.
At the same time, reforms to the salt system were being planned.
This is not the end yet.
He was also present when preparing money, food and supplies needed for the war in Liaodong.
For a time, Xie Sanbin became a celebrity in the court.
After being spread by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Xie Sanbin became a celebrity in the Ming Dynasty!
His popularity even surpassed that of the cabinet chief, Fan Jingwen.
The instigator was none other than the Ming Emperor Chongzhen.
The reason he did this was that he wanted to use Xie Sanbin to slap the Donglin Party and the gentry class in the face.
But before that.
He first had to use Wang Yongji's hand to slap the Jian Nu in the face and take back Ningyuan.
Wang Yongji did not disappoint Chongzhen's expectations and went around Ningyuan City every day to slap the Jian slaves in the face.
As the strategy of advancing step by step was implemented, Wang Yongji slapped the Jian Nu in the face more and more frequently.
July 14, the 23rd year of Chongzhen.
Wang Yongji woke up from his sleep.
Because of too much stress, he had very little sleep.
The first thing he did after waking up was to wash his face, then he skillfully lit a cigarette and started smoking.
Not only him, many generals and soldiers in the Ping Liao army developed the habit of smoking.
The court gave them military pay, and they used part of it to buy cigarettes.
The smoke came from Chongzhen's inner court.
This money eventually entered the inner court and became Chongzhen's private money.
The more intense the battle, the more and faster the cigarettes will be sold.
The more money there was in the treasury, the more confident Chongzhen became.
Wang Yongji stood outside the military tent, took his last puff of cigarette, and looked up into the distance.
It was still dark outside, and the fireman lit the firewood and started cooking as usual.
The curl of smoke rose into the sky and merged with the morning mist.
Before the meal was ready, a scout came to report: "Governor, there is something going on with the Jiannu."
"What's going on?" Wang Yongji suddenly woke up.
"He Jin from the right wing reported that the Jiannu only dug one trench last night. Before that, they would dig at least two or even three trenches every day." The scout replied.
Before Wang Yongji could digest all this, another scout came to report: "Governor, Wu Sangui from the left wing reported that the Jiannu army seemed to have sent reinforcements to Canglong Mountain."
"How do you know?"
"The Guanning Army records the number of bonfires used by the Eight Banners soldiers to cook on Canglong Mountain every day. This morning, there were nearly 30% more bonfires than yesterday morning," the scout replied.
Wang Yongji frowned: "Send reinforcements to Canglong Mountain?"
withdraw troops?
Or counterattack?
"Call the generals of the central army to discuss matters in the tent!" Wang Yongji took a deep breath and strode back to the central army tent.
The left and right wings are too far away from the central army, making it inconvenient to travel back and forth.
Generally, they will not be involved in the process of emergency military meetings, and they will only be told the results.
After a while, all the generals arrived. Wang Yongji placed the map in front of them and said, "The Jiannu only dug a trench in front of our right wing last night."
"Wu Sangui said that the Jiannu had sent reinforcements to Canglong Mountain, but their intentions were unclear."
Everyone looked at each other and expressed their opinions.
Some people believed that the Jiannu would launch a counterattack upstream.
After all, the war in the lower reaches of the Ningyuan River has reached a stalemate, and it is difficult to find a breakthrough here. The only way to break the deadlock is to change the location.
A trench is dug because troops are withdrawn upstream or to accumulate strength in preparation for a subsequent battle.
Some people think that the Jiannu are going to run away.
Canglong Mountain is located in the northwest of Ningyuan City. It is both the direction for attacking Ningyuan City and the direction for evacuating Ningyuan City.
The Jiannu suddenly increased their troops, apparently because they were afraid of being hunted down by the Ming army while escaping, so they deployed heavy troops to cover their retreat.
As for digging a trench, it was probably to accumulate strength for escape.
Both viewpoints have merits and both have their supporters.
Wang Yongji was at a loss for a moment.
Soon, the sound of artillery fire was heard simultaneously upstream and downstream.
The Ming army sent a force of several hundred men to harass them, and upon seeing this, the Eight Banners soldiers also sent out a force of the same size to meet the enemy in battle.
The infantry of both sides were in front and the cavalry were behind.
Start a head-on confrontation.
"Governor, the upstream and downstream areas are fighting again," said Huang Degong.
"Do you want to fight too?" Wang Yongji stared at Huang Degong and asked.
"Yes," Huang Degong answered without hesitation, "Only by killing the Jiannu can we gain military merit, and only by gaining military merit can we get promoted and receive money. My brothers and I can't wait any longer."
"It's just Ningyuan, why rush? There will be plenty of opportunities after the Liaoxi Corridor is opened up!" Wang Yongji advised.
"What are the casualties of our army since entering Liaoning?" Wang Yongji looked at the official in the central army who was in charge of recording.
The official quickly flipped through the book and said, "It has been nearly two months since we entered Liao. Before arriving in Ningyuan, there were few or no casualties. After arriving in Ningyuan, casualties began to increase, ranging from dozens to hundreds of people per day. If you count them all, there are about 10,000 casualties. The specific ratio is four injured and six dead!"
Normally there are more injuries than deaths.
But medical conditions were limited at the time, and many wounded soldiers died from various infections.
Not to mention Wang Yongji, even Chongzhen, as a time traveler, could not solve this problem.
The only thing that could be done was to provide as much food as possible so that these dying soldiers could have a full meal before they died.
"What about the casualties of the Jiannu?" Wang Yongji asked expressionlessly.
"The Jiannu suffered more casualties than our army, but not by much."
"Yeah," Wang Yongji nodded with his eyes narrowed.
Excluding the navy, the Ming army had 130,000 troops.
Ten thousand casualties accounted for less than eight percent.
The overall impact is not significant.
It would be different if Hauge's Eight Banners soldiers were in command.
Hauge's total military force was 75,000 men.
Ten thousand casualties accounted for about thirteen percent of the total force.
His military strength was already insufficient, and the loss of 10,000 soldiers had a huge impact on Hauge.
Fortunately, this is just a cumulative number of casualties, not the result of a battle.
Otherwise Hauge would have run away long ago.
"Everyone," Wang Yongji stood up and looked at everyone, "The total number of Haoge's troops is a mystery, but... it must be not many, otherwise he would not be forced to retreat by our army."
"It has been almost two months since we entered Liao, and the Battle of Ningyuan has been going on for more than a month! As the saying goes, if you fail to capture a city after a long siege, you will lose it. We can't drag it on any longer. Otherwise, we will be sorry for the court and the people!"
(The longer the attack, the greater the chance of failure.)
Everyone held their breath and looked at Wang Yongji.
"This governor has decided to have a decisive battle with the Jiannu!"
After a brief silence, warm cheers broke out in the military tent.
"Very good."
"I can't wait any longer. Your Excellency the Governor, please give the order quickly."
"I want to kill with pleasure!"
After everyone calmed down, Wang Yongji gave the order: "Tomorrow, 30% of the troops in the central army will stay to defend along the river, and the rest will follow me to the downstream to fight the Jiannu."
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