As soon as he said this, Huang Bodang's eyes suddenly turned a little angry for some reason. Even his breathing became a little fast and heavy. The city defense was important, but it only came at the back. Food, fodder, and military pay were all important.
affect the overall situation.
But Huang Bodang's reaction really made others notice his reaction. He had never been like this when talking about the two more important things before, so why did he have such a big reaction when he mentioned this matter.
"Huang Bodang, what are your opinions on Cangzhou City Defense?" Since you have the biggest reaction, I might as well let you speak directly.
"I believe that if we want to consolidate the city defense properly, we must send an extremely honest official there. After all, the city defense requires a large amount of silver. If this job falls into the hands of some corrupt officials, there is a high probability that it will also be a crime."
The city defense is in a state of decay. I have seen this kind of thing happen before. The budget was 500,000 taels, but the final report was 300,000 taels more."
The more Huang Bodang talked, the angrier he became. He had obviously seen this kind of thing before. Besides, he was an honest person, so he would naturally get very angry when this kind of thing happened.
"This is natural." Of course Zhu Ling also knows that once a project is involved, there will inevitably be corruption, and there will be some corrupt officials who want to make some profits from it. Therefore, the person in charge must be an honest person.
Of course, who the officials are is still open to question.
"Who among you can tell me how to build this city defense?"
The problem of city defense is naturally best dealt with by those who know the military, so Fan Xianchao couldn't wait to stand up and bowed and said: "Your Majesty, the construction of city defense must first be based on local conditions and make full use of the difficult terrain to set up obstacles. Now Cangzhou is close to the Yellow River.
Therefore, if we want to stop intruders or slaves, the natural danger of the Yellow River is naturally indispensable. We must have a moat with a pontoon built on it. Once the enemy attacks the city, the pontoon can be taken back directly."
"I do not recommend any further large-scale construction of city towers. At best, the existing towers can be strengthened. Otherwise, if we insist on building, not only will it be too late, but the manpower and material resources required will be unimaginable. The safest way is to
The only way is to build moats, trenches, and horse barriers. This is the most stable way."
After Fan Xianchao finished speaking, Wang Jiayan, as the Minister of the Ministry of War, naturally had his own opinions. After thinking about what he said, he expressed his own question: "Why not build an urn city again? Cangzhou is not easy to defend but difficult to defend.
As for the place to attack, and His Majesty is here, it is necessary to have an additional defense. The Wengcheng is extremely useful, and many times it can even affect a war."
"I believe that building an urn city is quite a waste of money, material and manpower. Besides, no one knows where the intruders went. If the intruders attack halfway through the construction, it is possible that the gain will not be worth the loss if it is destroyed."
Fan Xianchao explained the reasons why he did not build the Wengcheng. In his eyes, it was reasonable not to do this.
"I think it would be better if the city defense could be expanded a little further." Meng Zhangming suddenly came out and said, and everyone was not clear about his words, so they just waited for him to continue.
"If we only use Cangzhou to build defense, wouldn't it be a bit too weak?" After Meng Zhangming finished speaking, he scanned the people around him and finally looked at His Majesty above.
When Zhu Ling heard Meng Zhangming's words, he was also thoughtful. Thinking about it carefully, isn't this the kind of defense system that will be used in the future? Connect several or dozens of cities in this area, and then jointly build a defensive front. It is not only composed of
Instead of defending one city, several cities can defend together. This can coordinate and cooperate with each other, greatly improving the effectiveness of defense.
"Keep talking."
With His Majesty's approval, Meng Zhangming felt his confidence greatly increased and said again: "We can build the defenses of several surrounding cities at the same time. In addition to strengthening the city walls, we also need to station troops and food. In this way, once one city is threatened, several other cities will be protected.
We can also quickly send troops to relieve the siege. In this way, it is much better than just building a Cangzhou City."
"But this will inevitably increase a lot of expenditures, and where will the troops come from? Now that the northern part of the Ming Dynasty has basically fallen except for Shandong, where are the troops?" Fan Xianchao was also a little anxious. This is certainly a good thing. But for this reason
It will involve more expenses. Where can the current court get so much money and troops?
"How many soldiers are there in Cangzhou City now?" Zhu Ling looked at Huang Bodang in the hall with a serious expression.
"There should be three thousand soldiers and less than five hundred horses in Cangzhou City now. But whether this is the case requires further inspection to confirm." Huang Bodang said unhurriedly, not afraid of being punished for telling the truth.
rebuke.
Having said that, it is obvious that Cangzhou City also has some loopholes in this regard.
"In case of the intruders' movements, you can send more scouts out. If fifty miles doesn't work, then go to a hundred miles and give more money. Wang Jiayan can just discuss the specific arrangements with you two. Besides, there is no rush to build the defensive front.
In addition to the few things I said, Yinzi has also sent a messenger to Yingtian, asking Ni Yuanlu to find a way. Don't think that the Minister of the Ministry of Finance can give up his job when he gets to Yingtian. I am still waiting for him here.
.”
Zhu Ling also calmed down the emotions of a few people first. They didn't have a good rest after arriving in Cangzhou. Instead, they felt worried because there were so many messes. But it was inevitable. If they didn't tense up, something might happen.
whats the matter.
But he did not mention the matter of silver. It seemed to others that His Majesty simply did not speak for the time being because he had been frustrated many times in this regard. But Zhu Ling naturally would not turn a blind eye. The matter of silver was a top priority and could not just be talked about.
Those few things can solve it. He already has a bad plan in his mind, but he can't tell it in public and then secretly summon someone to take action.
"Furthermore, construction within the city is also an important matter. The quality of life of the people in the city will greatly affect the safety of Cangzhou. Zu Xiangyang, tell me, how is the life of the people in the city?" This time, he turned his attention to Li Yuhuang
Zu Xiangyang behind Bodang.
When Zu Xiangyang heard this, he knew that this was not an easy question to answer. He could only think about it for a moment, and then stood up and said: "Your Majesty, the people live and work in peace and contentment, and there are no big problems for the time being. Since those corrupt officials were killed, the people's
Life is better."
The change in Huang Bodang's expression in front of him clearly didn't agree with his statement, but now that Zu Xiangyang was answering, he couldn't refute it.
"As an official in Cangzhou, I have been bullied by others. How can I talk about the common people who are living in humble circumstances? I want you to be honest and don't lie." Zhu Ling knew that he said this because he was afraid of blaming him. After all, the people's lives were not good.
They are responsible, not just Ma Kui.
Hearing His Majesty's words, Zu Xiangyang could not lie and said hurriedly: "Your Majesty, the common people may be used to being bullied by those overbearing officials, so there are not many cases every year. But I think that their lives are not good.
not good."
"So, of course it is the truth. Since we caught some corrupt officials yesterday, of course we have to kill them. But when we kill them, we should try our best to let the people in the city see them. Secondly, it is not just the officials who disturb the peace of my Ming Dynasty.
There are some wealthy businessmen and landlords who collude with officials, and such people must be severely punished."
Hearing His Majesty's words, Huang Bodang, who had always been wary of the power of Liu Zhan's family, finally had some light in his eyes. In order to prevent His Majesty from offending the local landlords and wealthy businessmen, he took the crime of killing Liu Zhan on himself. And he
I also learned that the Liu family had already planned to kill him, but the overall situation was critical, and such trivial matters did not dare to upset His Majesty too much.
Now that His Majesty is saying this, he must be remembering the power of Liu Zhan's family.
Sure enough, Zhu Ling cast his eyes on Huang Bodang when he said this, and it was obvious that he was speaking to him. He continued: "As for how to deal with the wealthy businessmen and landlords, I will discuss it with Huang Bodang and let them know.
Everyone, everyone has their own things to do now. Meng Zhangming and Fan Xianchao went to investigate the movements of the intruders and build Cangzhou. Wang Qing went to manage the refugees and Guan Ning's army, and Huang Bo took care of the food and grass issue. It was Zu Xiangyang who beheaded the corrupt officials.
go."
"Secondly, Huang Bo, the magistrate of Cangzhou, will take office immediately. Zu Xiangyang will take over the post of magistrate. If there is anything else, please tell me first."
"Your Majesty, what should we do with Liu Zeqing?" Wang Jiayan finally told what happened about Liu Zeqing. This person had been lingering in his mind, and he always felt that if this person did not die, there would be future trouble for the court.
"He, I have a way."
[Author's digression]: Give me a few more tickets, the next war is coming soon!