The plague did not break out, but the number of refugees gathered in Xuzhou exceeded 100,000.
Originally, the people who fled their hometowns from North Zhili were planning to go south to South Zhili, because South Zhili has always been the richest and most prosperous area in China, and there are few wars.
But Chongzhen's farming in Xuzhou changed this result.
After hearing that the current emperor was personally in charge of farming in Xuzhou, the people who had originally planned to go to South Zhili changed their minds and flocked to Xuzhou to participate in farming.
In less than half a month, hundreds of thousands of refugees gathered.
Moreover, more refugees are swarming towards Xuzhou from the banks of the Yellow River.
This inevitably made the string in Chongzhen's heart tighten again, because in the first half of the year there was only input and no output in the field, so if too many refugees came, the entire plan would be brought down.
Originally, the army traveling north from Yangzhou had arrived in Xuzhou and brought 200,000 shi of rice.
If there are only 100,000 refugees, according to the standard of one pound of ration for a refugee per day, it will only be 667 shi per day. When the food is available this autumn, it will only be 120,000 shi.
So feeding 100,000 refugees is not a problem at all.
But the problem is that the current 100,000 refugees are probably just the beginning.
Chongzhen had a strong premonition that this wave of refugees from Beizhili would probably exceed 500,000, or even more than 1 million.
The order to shave the heads of the slaves was extremely lethal.
If this is the case, the pressure on water transportation will increase sharply.
Only now did Chongzhen realize that Ming Dynasty's beauty was not exaggerated.
Just talking about water transportation, you can't calculate it based on theoretical figures at all.
According to Lu Zhenfei, the one-way trip from Yangzhou to Xuzhou only takes one month, and one canal boat carries 400 shi. In theory, 10,000 troops and one thousand canal boats can transport 400,000 meters to Xuzhou in one month.
But what about the actual situation? In fact, only 200,000 shi of grain were transported.
Where did the remaining 200,000 shi go? First, the number of troops and canal ships was not as large as Lu Zhenfei estimated, and second, it drifted away.
This kind of floating is divided into two types. One is the real floating, which means that the ship rots and capsizes during transportation or the grain is soaked in water and becomes moldy. The other is the "floating" that is unspoken in the officialdom.
According to historical records, in Mao Wenlong's Dongjiang Town, the military pay, which was rated at 10,000 taels of silver, could only actually receive 7,000 or even 6,000 taels of silver. The remaining 3,000 to 4,000 taels of silver were confiscated by government agencies at all levels from the central to the local level.
.
Chongzhen just didn't expect that at this time, the Ming Dynasty was about to die, and he would still be playing with it.
At this moment, Chongzhen deeply felt the difficulty of doing things. Without a team of efficient and honest officials, no matter what you do, you can only get twice the result with half the effort. It is like being stuck in a quagmire. The more you struggle, the more suffocated you become.
For example, now, even if Chongzhen wanted to check whether the grain was floating or not, he couldn't.
One is that there are no qualified people on hand, and the other is lack of energy.
Just the farming affairs have already made him extremely busy.
Due to the lack of an official specifically in charge of farming, the current farming affairs are already a headache.
Chongzhen himself was a second-hand swordsman, and eunuchs such as Wang Chengen, Han Zanzhou and Gao Qiqian were even less useful.
Sorting out the refugees, coordinating farmland, distributing farm tools, and supplying seeds were complex and messy affairs that consumed a lot of energy. Anyway, Chongzhen was already very busy.
If there were more refugees, he was really worried that he would be exhausted to death.
Someone asked, why not let local officials in Xuzhou manage the farmland?
We have tried this before. The local officials in Xuzhou were not as good at managing farmland as Chongzhen himself, and they dared to commit corruption. The magistrates and magistrates in Xuzhou were dismissed from their posts because of corruption.
You dare to be greedy for any kind of food.
The good news is that Du Yinxi, the prefect of Changsha, should be arriving in Xuzhou soon.
As a lover of Ming history, Chongzhen remembers many famous officials during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, but only three of them left a deep impression on him.
The first one is Yan Yingyuan, a canon of Jiangyin who "on the 80th day, he pledged his allegiance to Taizu in the 17th dynasty, and a hundred thousand people died with one heart and soul to protect the three hundred miles of the Ming Dynasty."
The second one was Zuo Maodi, who knew he would die but resolutely led the mission north. For eight months, he faced all kinds of threats and inducements from the Manchu Qing Dynasty. In the end, even Dorgon followed Huang Taiji's example and personally lowered his rank to persuade Zuo Maodi to surrender.
But he remained unmoved and finally died calmly at Caishikou.
It is easy to die generously, but difficult to die calmly.
This is a man born for faith.
Zuo Maodi’s belief is not in the Ming Dynasty, but in the clothes of the Han family!
The last one was Du Yinxi who rode into the enemy camp alone and persuaded Du Yinxi of the 400,000 loyal camp to surrender.
During the revolution between the Ming and Qing dynasties, Du Yinxi definitely had a place among the many capable ministers. He was a truly capable official who could run the army on horseback and manage the people on horseback! If he was given a stage, he could really save the Ming Dynasty, but unfortunately in the end he was
Lost in party struggle.
Du Yinxi was also the censor of the field appointed by Chongzhen.
Of course, allowing Yinxi to farm the fields was just the beginning.
Chongzhen's real intention was to let Du Yinxi take charge of the Huanghuai defense line.
Because he was the emperor, he could not stay in Xuzhou forever. As long as he withstood the first two waves of Jiannu's offensive, or even the first wave of Jiannu's offensive, he would have to return to Nanjing.
What are you going to Nanjing for? Of course, to make money and to attract people.
Building the Huanghuai defense line and using the frontier troops of the Twenty-Eight Towns to defend the Yellow River is only a temporary measure.
There are still many things to do later, so Chongzhen cannot stay in Xuzhou forever, so he must find a minister with outstanding ability to shoulder the heavy responsibility of guarding Xuzhou when he is away.
And Du Yinxi was the candidate Chongzhen found to guard Xuzhou.
Chongzhen was just thinking about something when a voice suddenly sounded in his ears: "Father, I'm hungry."
When Chongzhen looked back, he saw the youngest Zhu Cizheng looking at him pitifully. When he realized that he had successfully attracted Chongzhen's attention, Zhu Cizheng flattened his mouth and was about to cry.
"Don't cry." Chongzhen shouted with a muffled groan.
Zhu Cizheng could only hold back his tears again.
Zhu Cihong and Zhu Cijiong on the other side are very strong.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! After these few months of wandering around, I have grown up all of a sudden.
One of the two brothers stepped on the hole with his feet, and the other spread the seeds. They were already in a decent position.
"Zheng'er, please hold on a little longer." Chongzhen stepped forward and said to Zhu Cizheng, "After we finish planting this ridge of land, we can have dinner."
Zhu Cizheng was holding a small dustpan, grabbing corn seeds from the dustpan and scattering them into the pit. He said, "Father, I want to eat white noodles. Can I have white noodles tonight?"
Chongzhen sighed softly after hearing this.
He must have eaten the same brown rice as the refugees.
This is not masochistic, but just political showmanship.
If we can't set up saintly monarchs who "sympathize with the people and care about the soldiers at the bottom", how can we change people's hearts? How can we fight against the civilian officials? After all, the soldiers and civilians at the bottom have already despaired of the Ming Dynasty.
Scholars all over the world may still have some nostalgia for the Ming Dynasty.
However, the soldiers and civilians at the bottom had already despaired of the Ming Dynasty. They no longer had any resistance to the change of dynasty. The Dashun army said that they would not have to pay for food and have food to eat, so they followed King Chuang. If the slaves did not do anything after entering the customs, they would
They won't resist if they are easy to obey. As long as they have a mouthful of food to eat, who is willing to rebel?
Therefore, the image of Ming Dynasty in the hearts of the soldiers and civilians at the bottom must be reversed.
We must let the soldiers and civilians at the bottom know that the Ming Dynasty has a good emperor. The Ming Dynasty is not over yet, but it is still worth rescuing. The emperor of the Ming Dynasty can still have a full meal.
Of course, changing people's hearts is a systematic project.
It can never be completed by doing a political show for a few days or even a few months.
Regarding this, Chongzhen had a comprehensive idea in his mind, but now it is just the beginning.
All in all, the key point now is to defend Huanghuai and withstand at least two waves of Jiannu's offensive, especially the wave of offensives in October, before we have the opportunity to consider other issues.
…
Chongzhen didn't know that Du Yinxi had already arrived in Xuzhou.
And at this moment, Du Yinxi was standing at the edge of the field, watching blankly as Chongzhen led the three royal heirs and followed the refugees to sow seeds in the plowed fields.
Xu Haogu, Du Yinxi's aide, was also amazed.
"Dong Weng, have you ever heard of an emperor personally farming with his heirs in the past two thousand years?"
"It may have happened in ancient times, but in the past two thousand years, only monarchs have taught farming. I have never heard of an emperor taking his heirs to work in the fields themselves like old farmers."
"So, is this a good thing or a bad thing?"
"Of course it is a good thing." Du Yinxi said decisively, "In any case, an emperor who knows the hardships of the people's livelihood and three princes who also know the hardships of the people are a great blessing to the common people in the world."
"Dong Weng's words are very much in line with my wishes." Xu Haogu said happily, "This time the holy king is in the court, and with Dong Weng's capable officials and ministers assisting him, we have hope for the revival of the Ming Dynasty."
Du Yinxi just shook his head when he heard this.
To be honest, he didn't know why the emperor summoned him suddenly.
He would never believe that he blocked Yinxi Jian in the emperor's heart.
Du Yinxi was just a scholar from a poor family. Firstly, he had no background, and secondly, he did not know how to speculate. He only went to Nanjing a month ago to visit the Minister of War, Shi Kefa, and the Governor of Jiangxi, Yuan Jixian.
Both Shi Kefa and Yuan Jixian admired him very much.
Could it be that Mr. Shi Ge recommended him to the Holy One?
Seeing that Du Yinxi was silent, Xu Haogu said: "Dong Weng, it's time for you to come forward and see me."
"Oh, yes." Du Yinxi woke up as if from a dream after hearing this, hurriedly straightened his clothes and walked into the fields.
"Stop, who are you?" The two Yiding who were guarding the ground immediately rushed forward to block the way.
Du Yinxi prostrated himself on the ground a dozen steps away and said loudly: "Your Majesty, Du Yinxi, bows to the Holy One."
"It turns out that Du Aiqing has arrived." Chongzhen was overjoyed. He immediately came forward barefoot and helped Du Yinxi up with his own hands. He then took Du Yinxi's hand and said, "I have been waiting for you for more than a month."
"I made your Majesty wait for so long that all my ministers died." Du Yinxi said in panic.
"Hey, how can I blame you for this?" Chongzhen waved his hand and said, "Let's go back to the palace and discuss it in detail."
Well, Chongzhen actually left his three sons behind, took Du Yinxi's hand and walked away.
