Chapter 28: During the Northern Expedition (Part 2)
Marching thirty miles every day, it was equivalent to just eating lunch and walking for an hour before the army was ready to set up camp.
As a result, the team was delayed for more than thirty miles. Fortunately, there were canals to transport food and communicate with each other, otherwise it would be really inconvenient.
However, in view of the fact that the size of the army reached 140,000, Li Jizu wisely placed the Guan Ning Army and the Henan Army under the supervision of Chen Yongfu.
It is located in the middle of the army.
The 30,000 Yuyuan Army members were responsible for holding down the formation and were in the rear.
In fact, Li Jizu looked down upon these mixed rebels.
If it weren't for his forcible control, the Yuyuan Army would have plundered all the villages and towns along the river.
Therefore, they are definitely the weak point in the decisive battle. Instead of affecting morale, it is better to let them stay in Tianjin Guard for support.
For a decisive battle, his Huaihai Navy, Guanning Army, Henan Army, and Jingying are enough.
In Shanxi, after the Qing army retreated, Jiang Gan breathed a sigh of relief and survived.
However, when he came back to his senses, he realized that the vast Shanxi Province, except for Datong Prefecture, was almost completely occupied by Shaanxi people who only made wedding clothes for others.
At this time, he also deeply understood his situation. From the Ming Dynasty, to Dashun, to the Qing Dynasty, and finally to the Ming Dynasty, he almost traveled all over.
We have reached the point of no return.
"The general will pay homage to the Marquis of Yi, sincerely——"
Jiang Yan bowed knowingly and his attitude was very upright.
The civil and military officials who followed also bowed down with great momentum, giving You Shiwei and Liu Tingjie a great deal of face.
In response, the two of them nodded and looked at Jiang Yu with a high regard. They were still aware of current affairs.
"General Jiang understood the general situation, brought order to the chaos, and restored Jin Province to the Ming Dynasty. His merits are outstanding."
You Shiwei showed a smile, then took out the imperial edict from his arms and said loudly:
"Your Majesty has a decree——"
"I hereby appoint Jiang Quan as the commander-in-chief of Datong, and grant him the title of Prince of Liaozhou..."
"The general will thank the emperor for his kindness——"
Jiang Quan breathed a sigh of relief and kowtowed hard.
Immediately, he welcomed You Shiwei and Liu Tingyi into Datong City.
The tall and steep interior of Datong City is worthy of being an important military town. The roads inside are full of twists and turns, and a large number of defense facilities are extremely complete. It is worthy of being a strong city in the North.
"Now that you and I are courtiers, I don't want to see you outside."
You Shiwei sat on the throne unceremoniously, his eyes sweeping across the Datong generals, and no one dared to look at him.
In Beidi Military Town, no one dares to compare with You Shiwei's qualifications.
During the Tianqi period, Bianzhen had a reputation for bravery. As early as the second year of Chongzhen, he became the commander-in-chief, guarding Juyong and Changping.
Its prestige over the past few decades has been terrifying.
"The imperial court intends to restore the capital in the north and go east in Shanxi. I only have 20,000 people under my command, which is definitely not enough. The Datong soldiers under your command must also obey my command and go east together."
"This is natural." Jiang Quan patted his chest and said, "It's just that although Datong still has more than 20,000 soldiers and horses, there is not enough food and grass."
"In the past two years, the Manchu Qing Dynasty has been extracting grain reserves from Jin Province. Even my military salary and food are only 70% of what they used to be."
"It's easy to go east, but it will be difficult if we can't get food."
"There isn't much food in Taiyuan."
You Shiwei frowned, sighing secretly.
When he invaded Taiyuan, he noticed that the food stocks were unusually low. He thought that all the food supplies were supplied to Datong Town, but unexpectedly, Datong was also empty.
"Building slaves is so vicious."
After scolding, Jiang Quan on the side echoed: "Master Hou, since the defeat two years ago, the year Duduo died in battle, the Manchu Qing Dynasty has been short of money and food. Jin Province has been repeatedly drained of blood, and the people are in poverty. If it is forced
Conquest, I'm afraid it will easily lead to civil unrest..."
"well!"
You Shiwei shook his head. He originally thought like this, why not work hard for the sake of the people of Ming and Jin Province? The court will not forget them.
But Jiang Yan spoke first, so it was hard for him to say anything.
If there is trouble in Shanxi in the future, he will have to remember it.
Sacrificing yourself for the great cause of the imperial court is unacceptable.
"If we go east, we have an army of 40,000, and we have to travel hundreds of miles with people eating horses and chewing. We obviously can't reach Beijing without two to three hundred thousand dan."
"It's a pity that Jin Province is unsustainable..."
You Shiwei looked at Jiang Yu's calm look, and suddenly thought in his heart:
Isn't this guy afraid of losing troops and doesn't want to fight Beijing?
He raised his head and glanced at Liu Tingjie: "It seems that we can't claim the credit for the restoration of the capital."
"It's a pity that An Hou led more than 100,000 people to fight, and after a while he became An Guo Gong!"
"Who says it's not the case? If you can't get the staple food, just eat some soup and water!"
Although Liu Tingyi didn't know what he meant, he still cooperated and spoke with a look of reluctance on his face.
Jiang Yu and other Datong generals on the side were all busy with their thoughts, whispering and muttering to each other.
Jiang Yan was even more excited.
If there are people to deal with the main force of the Qing Dynasty, then they are partial troops. Can't they just fish in troubled waters and pick up the slack?
This belongs to the credit of sending it!
"What a pity, where can we find those two to three hundred thousand shi of food?"
You Shiwei sighed with a pity look on his face: "What a great opportunity! Maybe I can get a title, make some achievements or something..."
Jiang Yan's expression did not change, but he was still a bit clumsy.
After the meeting, Jiang Gan asked to see You Shiwei alone, and said: "I have been in Datong for a long time. Although my family's financial resources are meager, I still prepared some food. Now the entire five thousand dan has been used for military purposes."
"General Jiang is so righteous!"
You Shiwei sighed and patted his arm heavily.
Subsequently, more than a dozen officers from Datong Prefecture, ranging from guerrillas to deputy staff generals, staff generals, etc., donated a total of 50,000 shi of food and grass.
You Shiwei was not surprised by these grains. Which of these hereditary generals did not have tens of thousands of acres of fields?
Not only were the military fields in Shanxi swallowed up by them, but there were also military households as tenants, who did not have to pay taxes, and could even plunder the military pay sent by the court, even though they were owed for many years.
The same thing played by military households in Yulin is the same in Shanxi, and the water and soil near Datong are much better than in northern Shaanxi.
"These are not enough!"
Liu Tingjie sighed: "We need at least 200,000 shi of military rations before we can set off."
"Let me think—"
You Shiwei shook his head and began to think hard.
"Shanxi is much richer than Shaanxi. The government is poor, but the people are not poor. Just because the poor people have no food does not mean that the gentry are short of food."
You Shiwei said solemnly: "Nowadays, under special circumstances, we can only do special things. On the one hand, we can persuade the gentry in various prefectures to make donations. If we can't borrow money, we can do it."
"The other way is to investigate and expose the traitor."
"Um?"
Liu Tingjie was stunned for a moment and then said: "An open traitor?"
"Anyone in the family who serves as an official in Beijing but fails to die or resigns from office will be treated as an open traitor and half of his family's money and food will be confiscated."
"Is half too little?"
Liu Tingjie said.
"You are stupid, how do we have this power? When we settle the accounts in the future, we will just say that they donated it voluntarily. It would be difficult to say."