12-69 Driving away the tiger and welcoming the wolf
In Nanjing, there was a quarrel in the palace. The Xixia people offered too high a price, 70,000 taels of gold, 7 million taels of silver, and 700,000 bolts of silk and satin. Even if the Ming Dynasty was extremely wealthy, it would still be painful to spend this money and goods.
ah.
Silver is okay. You may be able to get enough by searching the Treasury and inner treasury of the Ministry of Revenue, but it is hard to say about gold and silk. The currency in circulation in the Ming Dynasty is silver, and there are very few gold ingots. Even if there are some Lu Song gold coins as international settlement,
It is also stored in the shipping treasury in Shanghai, and silk and satin have to be collected in Suzhou and Hangzhou. The inventory of hundreds of silk and satin shops in Beijing is not enough.
What should we do? The enemy dare not fight at the moment. We can only spend money to send this god of plague away. What if we can't get gold and silk? We can only get it from the people of the capital.
The city of Nanjing is home to all the descendants of the Ming Dynasty's clan, princes, high-ranking officials, feudal officials, and numerous wealthy merchants. Even those who rise to the top are mostly middle class. Gold is the most popular ornament and store of value these days.
Among the common people in the market, who doesn’t have some gold in their home? Even the poorest washerwoman will wear a golden hairpin from Lao Fengxiang on her temple.
Yes, let's start with them and send the Jin Yiwei to search for gold and silver from the people. The enemy is in front of us. The soldiers are working hard and the common people have to do their best. But no one can escape. Those ministers have worked hard to climb to this position.
In order to make money, but before the money was earned, they had to give up their family's gold first. This made them reluctant, so they unanimously opposed it.
The minister who insisted on collecting gold and silver from the people to fight back the enemy was Hou Xun. His face turned red and he spoke impassionedly. He rebuked other ministers for their short-sightedness, saying that after the gold, silver and satin were delivered to the enemy, it was not impossible to get them back. The Mongols had come.
We were traveling lightly at the time, and we would not be able to move very fast with so much gold and silver silk and satin. King Qin's troops from all walks of life blocked the way, and the army from the capital camp followed. Sooner or later, these money and items would be returned to their original owners, and they would also be rewarded, so why be afraid?
There is.
Hou Xun's words won the support of Wei Zhongxian, and Zhu Youxiao nodded repeatedly. Gradually, the ministers also came to their senses. Those who were flexible had already thought of ways to make money. The gold and silver from the noble families could naturally be returned.
, those who come from ordinary people's homes can operate it, hehe, not only will they not lose a penny, but they can also take the opportunity to make a fortune, so the opposition disappears and becomes overwhelming support.
"This is a clever strategy to slow down the troops. Your Majesty Hou deserves to be my chief assistant in the Ming Dynasty." Zhu Youxiao praised, Hou Xun stroked his beard and smiled proudly: "Your Majesty is still wise."
"Ask the Qin Secret Service, Dongchang, and Jinyiwei to deal with this matter as quickly as possible without any mistakes." Zhu Youxiao issued the order, and immediately the state machinery was activated, plundering people's wealth both inside and outside the capital. The Tatars had not yet entered.
The people in the city were in trouble, and the officials were ordered to rob, and even the momentum was much greater than before. In addition to searching for gold and silver, they also didn't forget to steal other valuables. For a time, the people in the capital were filled with resentment.
After all, time was too hasty, and at night only 30,000 taels of gold and 2 million taels of silver were collected, which was far from the amount required by the Mongols. In fact, the amount collected by the people was more than this amount, and most of them were intercepted halfway. Seeing that Zhu
With the school worried, Wei Zhongxian came up with another plan: "There are many gold ornaments in the palace, and the Buddha statues can be used temporarily. If there is not enough, you can just get some copper incense burners to make up the number. Anyway, there are many things, and the Tatars don't have time to count them."
"This is the only way to fool the Tatars with copper utensils." The monarchs and ministers all laughed. After laughing, they felt that it was not the case. The majestic king was beaten to the capital and killed like melons and vegetables. Once you get through it, now you are forced to raid the whole city to collect gold and silver to buy peace, and even take out the bronzes to make up the money. This is really a bit embarrassing."
The atmosphere suddenly became awkward. After a long while, Zhu Youxiao said: "Let's all disperse. Go collect the gold and silver."
Suddenly, a shout came from the door of the main hall: "There is no need to collect gold and silver, my victory is in sight for the Ming Dynasty!"
Everyone turned their heads together, and it turned out that Mao Bizhang was standing at the gate of Qianqing Palace. The moonlight shone on him, with a confident smile and the paper fan gently waving in his hand. It really felt like a feather fan and turban, Zhuge's reincarnation.
"Bizhang, why did you escape back?" Hou Xun asked in silence.
Mao Bizhang smiled and shook his head: "Although the enemy camp is tight, in my eyes it is nothing. I can come when I want and leave when I want. This time I returned to Beijing late at night to report good news to your majesty and the princes." , the Tatars are almost finished.”
Everyone was overjoyed immediately and gathered around to ask questions. Wei Zhongxian coughed unhappily, and everyone woke up. They quickly gathered in front of the emperor, and Maopizheng performed the courtesy of a monarch and his ministers. Zhu Youxiao gave him the gift. I took a seat and had tea, and let Mao Pizhang explain the matter in detail.
Mao Pizhang's eloquence was originally good, and the story was quite dramatic. He uttered lotus flowers, which made the story more twists and turns and excitement. Everyone was amazed and their mood was ups and downs.
After finally telling the story, everyone was still immersed in it for a long time, but Hou Xun was the first to speak: "Then Liu Zongmin, will he really go down the river to rescue him?"
"You can't be wrong. He is the one the Tatars fear the most. General Liu is also good at cavalry. He rushed to Wuchang on a starry night and requisitioned civilian ships to go south. With the wind and the current, he won't be too late than the Tatars." Maopi said confidently. .
"I have heard about Liu Zongmin for a long time. He was originally a blacksmith. He was born with supernatural powers and bravery that no man can match. Later he joined the army and became a general under the command of Governor Yuan. Because of some trivial matters, he was always suppressed by Liu Ziguang, a traitor, and his official position was not promoted. Alas, What a pity." A Ministry of War official who thought he knew the inside story said sadly.
"How can such a good general be buried? When he arrives in the capital, I will give him a heavy reward. Come here, the gold and silver will be stored in the treasury for the time being to strengthen the city defense and wait for Liu Zongmin's reinforcements."
The next day, the Mongolian soldiers on the other side began to cut down trees and build ships. They inflated the cowhide rafts they carried with them and prepared to cross the river to attack the city. Zhu Youxiao came to the city to watch in person and saw many Mongolian soldiers riding directly into the water on their horses. There were people swimming in the river, as if they were walking on flat ground. Zhu Youxiao was so frightened that he turned pale and asked Wei Zhongxian, "Why hasn't Liu Zongmin arrived yet?"
Wei Zhongxian was also anxious. If the Tatars were to attack his own glory and wealth, it would be over. He said with a heart: "It doesn't matter, the capital city is tall and has countless artillery and crossbows. I don't think the Tatars can attack it."
Zhu Youxiao said anxiously: "Then hurry up and prepare. Look, the Tatars are all in the water."
But the Mongols just slipped into the water and took a turn. They were not stupid enough to ride across the Yangtze River and become a living target for others. The city walls here also started to get busy, preparing various equipment to meet the enemy. Suddenly a general ran away He came over and whispered a few words to Wei Zhongxian, who was so angry that Wei Zhongxian slapped him on the head, and angrily said to Zhu Youxiao: "Your Majesty, I will come as soon as I go." He followed the general to the side and asked in a low voice: "How many hundreds of dollars did it cost?" Where are the cannons purchased for ten thousand taels of silver?"
The general said with a grimace: "Who knew there would be a war in the capital? Didn't all the money go into your pocket?"
Wei Zhongxian was so angry that he slapped him again: "Why don't we remember it? Then tell me, what are those black and shiny cannons on the city wall? Are they decorations?"
The general said aggrievedly: "Isn't it just a decoration? It's a fake cannon made of wood, with a layer of paint on the outside. Not to mention looking at it from a distance, even when you look up close, it looks just like the real thing. This skill was taught by you, the Governor.
Woolen cloth."
Wei Zhongxian woke up from a dream. Wasn't it what he taught him? He believed that the capital had not fought a war since the Yongle Lord Jingnan Campaign, so there was no need for strong city defense firepower. The money to buy cannons and ammunition only cost a small amount of money.
Some of the model cannons were purchased, and the rest were embezzled by himself, the officials and generals of the Ministry of War and the Beijing camp.
Wei Zhongxian was so frustrated that he almost hit his head against the wall. When he regained consciousness, he asked again: "Can those steam repeating crossbows purchased before still be used?" That was a project carried out during the 9,000-year-old government, and cost one million taels of silver to profit from it.
The new gadgets ordered by the National Railway Works can't be counted on as artillery now, but a steam crossbow can be used to stop them for a while.
The answer is as expected. The steam repeating crossbow system has long been dismantled and sold as junk by these prodigal sons. This means that Nanjing city defense no longer has any heavy weapons and can only rely on firecrackers, bows, arrows, swords and guns to resist the Mongols.
Wei Zhongxian just felt dizzy. It was too late to say anything now. It depends on luck. The only hope is whether Liu Zongmin can arrive in time. If reinforcements are not available, he will have to protect the emperor and run away.
The Mongols were very efficient. They built hundreds of large rafts in half a day and mounted captured artillery pieces on them to form gunboats. The Yangtze River Navy was originally an inland river fleet. It was okay to scare fishermen and so on, even if faced with
There was nothing they could do about the gunboats, so they could only resist for a while and use them as cannon fodder.
Seeing the horn sound on the north bank, Zhu Youxiao and the officials were dumbfounded. Wei Zhongxian licked his chapped lips and was about to propose abandoning the city when he suddenly pointed to the river and shouted: "Look, there is a boat!"
A large ship appeared at the bend of the Yangtze River. On the top of the mast was a clear war flag, and then a 18-foot-long general military flag with the character "Liu" written on it. After the first ship passed by, there were thousands of sailing ships behind it.
.
With a "boom" sound, the warship opened fire. The distance was too far and no one was hit. It only raised a high water column on the river, but this was enough. The Mongols stopped and abandoned the raft and retreated hastily.
, not even the artillery strapped to the raft.
"Victory! Victory!" There was a cheer on the top of the city, but they didn't know that a greater danger had just begun to come.