Seeing Chongzhen's unkind look, both Qian Longxi and Li Biao felt guilty.
"When did the Ministry of Household Affairs distribute the food and salary to Dongjiang Town?" Chongzhen asked Bi Ziyan.
Bi Ziyan, the Minister of Household Affairs, thought for a while and said: "Since last year, every town has been in arrears in food and salary arrears. However, Dongjiang is located overseas, which is particularly difficult. In November last year and in March this year, some money and food were squeezed out twice.
Dongjiang issued payment silver. The total amount was 180,000 taels of silver and 500,000 dans of miscellaneous grains."
Chongzhen nodded, saying that it was unrealistic to reissue them all. Except for Yang Fan, the prodigal, he auctioned off all the seized materials and repaid all the back pay for the four towns that he went to for the expedition. Moreover, the bonuses were cashed in for meritorious service in full accordance with the court system.
Bi Ziyan can partially reissue it, but no one can say anything.
When Chongzhen heard that the Western Expeditionary Army was owed pay, he was very angry. He deeply blamed Yang Fan for wasting his family. Now that the finances are so difficult, if you have this money, you might as well send it to me, why bother giving it to these Qiu Ba? Isn't it possible here?
Solve bigger problems.
Fortunately, Yang Fan later asked the left minister of the Ministry of War to escort more than 300 captured Mongolian nobles and supplies from the Shunyi Palace to Beijing, and sent the emperor 700,000 taels of Xinghe Bank banknotes. The emperor was very happy and told the matter
Let it go.
Chongzhen turned to Qian Longxi and said: "Qian Qing is responsible for this matter. Why did Mao Wenlong say that he did not receive money or food?"
Qian Longxi complained secretly in his heart. He really didn't look at the almanac when he went out today, and one unlucky thing happened one after another.
When we just talked about the reasons for the mutiny, Dongchang had verified the fact that civilian officials had lost their military pay. The emperor didn't say anything, which didn't mean that he wouldn't pursue the matter, but that the emergency was one thing after another and he couldn't take care of it.
Now, Mao Wenlong has revealed that Yuan Chonghuan cut off the wages of Dongjiang Town. It is really difficult to explain.
"Last year, Governor Yuan, in order to coordinate the supplies of the entire north for the five-year restoration of Liao, concentrated all the food and wages from the entire north to Juehua Island for storage. The entire Ji, Liao, Tianjin, and Shandong came to coordinate the supplies. After all, supplies are now available
Difficulties can only be solved by concentrating."
Chongzhen agreed on this point. With the current financial difficulties, the military expenditures issued by the court were not enough no matter what. They were demolishing the east wall to pay for the west wall. Yuan Chonghuan centralized management of all money, food and materials, but he was forced to have no choice. Good steel is used on the blade.
There is nothing to waste.
It is also necessary to divide things into priorities.
"The weather was cold last winter, and the Bohai Bay froze early and lasted for a long time. The delays caused the food and wages to Pi Island not to be delivered in time. The cabinet did not know that Pi Island was in such difficulty."
Qian Longxi pushed away all the responsibilities.
Chongzhen opened his mouth and found that he had nothing to say. The same was true for the Central Committee now, where there were no arrears. If Yuan Chonghuan was wrong, he would not be much better. There were arrears everywhere. Some of them had one or two years of arrears that had not yet been paid.
Well, as an emperor, is he also responsible?
"Now that the weather is getting warmer and it has been more than a month since the sea opened, we need to distribute the grain and grass from the Dongjiang River as soon as possible. It is isolated offshore and is much more difficult than Jiubian." Chongzhen said in a pleasant tone, urging them to ship the goods as soon as possible.
"Yes, I will send a letter to Governor Yuan tomorrow," Qian Longxi said.
After handling the matter, Chongzhen said to Li Banghua: "Although Governor Zuo's approach is a bit extreme, it is excusable. The Ministry of War sent someone to Yantai to meet Governor Zuo. Let him not worry, I have already taken care of this matter.
One thing, the food and salary allocated last year and this year will be transferred to Phi Island as soon as possible."
"Your Majesty is wise, with accurate information, Governor Zuo will definitely lead his troops to withdraw from the area." Li Banghua said.
Li Banghua understood that at this juncture, Mao Wenlong could no longer be forced to rebel. The mutiny in Jizhen had not been resolved, and the Shandong mutiny would be really troublesome. Therefore, Mao Wenlong must be appeased at this time.
After listening to Dongchang's report, Chongzhen did not investigate the corruption issues that caused the mutiny because the top priority was to put down the rebellion first.
After dealing with Mao Wenlong's matter, the emperor just breathed a sigh of relief when he saw another urgent messenger coming in.
Chongzhen became inexplicably nervous. There were too many bad things today, and he had a premonition that another one would happen.
Bad thing.
"Your Majesty, gentlemen, the latest frontline battle report. Hu Dawei and Meng Ruhu were defeated in Niwa Town, and most of the two thousand soldiers were lost. The remaining 700 people have retreated to the west side of the Chaobai River, joining forces with Zuo Liangyu
, defend Hongqiao and prevent the rebels from invading Tongzhou."
"The rebels have gathered tens of thousands of people. They crossed the Baoqiu River at midnight today and occupied Niwa Town. They are now rushing towards Hongqiao."
Suddenly, the ministers were panicked.
"The rebels who were advancing east attempted to steal summer grain from Uncle Dingyuan's fields. They were repulsed by Uncle Dingyuan's slaves. More than 8,000 people in this group had already turned to Huairou, looting along the way.
They went to the countryside to rob food and money. For three consecutive days, they failed to attack Huairou County. They instead went to Hongqiao to join the rebels advancing eastward. Currently, the number of rebels on the east side of Hongqiao is close to more than 20,000."
After the messenger reported the situation, he was put down to rest. He had to rush for six hundred miles without sleep, and his physical strength was extremely exhausted. At this time, he had to eat, drink water, and sleep for a while.
Everyone did not expect that these ragtag groups could fight so well. Hu Dawei and Meng Ruhu led more than two thousand people, but they were defeated. The plan to use Bao Qiushui as the first line of defense also failed.
Now, the top priority can only be to defend Hongqiao.
However, the strength of the capital is now seriously insufficient. The capital camp has gone to the northwest. Originally, Chongzhen prepared 6,000 Rumi musketeers, 5,000 Jinyi cavalry, Dong Jishu's Xuanfu soldiers, and Yang Fan's chariot camp. The patrol battalion in the capital
It was also controlled by the emperor. It was originally foolproof.
However, plans can never keep up with changes.
A poisoning incident caused the situation to completely collapse.
The capital's military strength is now seriously insufficient. More than 10,000 people are undoubtedly not enough for the 50,000 to 60,000 rebel troops.
Chongzhen originally thought that sending more than 6,000 Xuanfu soldiers from Nanyuan would be enough to defeat these rabble. He would be defeated if he did not arrive first.
Although these Xuanfu soldiers were led by Japanese pirates and were dragged to collapse once, their combat effectiveness still ranked first among the soldiers in the capital.
Unless the chariot battalions, cavalry, and Rumi gunmen are mobilized, this force is sufficiently elite among the existing forces.
Dong Jishu was stationed in Tongzhou, and in addition to the Tongzhou Guardsmen, he brought with him three thousand battalions.
Now Hongqiao originally had Zuo Liangyu's 1,000-man garrison, plus the 700 men brought by the defeated Hu Dawei and others, the number was less than 2,000. Zuo Liangyu would definitely find it difficult to defend Hongqiao.
Although Hongqiao is a wooden bridge and can easily be blocked, setting fire to the bridge can prevent the rebels from crossing the Chaobai River, which has a large volume of water.
However, there are many ships along the coast. After all, water transportation here is developed. In a short time, the rebels can find enough ships. It is only a matter of time before they can cross the Chaobai River.
For a moment, Chongzhen felt his heart pounding and his mouth felt dry.
This chapter has been completed!