Everyone only regarded the words of His Highness the Grand Sun as the young man protecting his own face, and no one took them seriously.
After looking at the chariot, everyone looked at the iron wolf. After testing in the military exercise, the officers and soldiers discovered that the military adviser had an idea. The weapon made of moso bamboo was miraculous in dealing with enemy soldiers. Although it could not kill the enemy, it could provide
Our own side provided strong protection, which greatly increased the accuracy and lethality of fire guns, bows and arrows. So after returning to Beijing, the officers and soldiers specially brought a batch of moso bamboo back for practice, but found that the bamboo joints cracked after a few times, and the wolves were in danger.
It was scrapped. Moreover, some officers and soldiers originally from the north said that the climate in the north is drier and the bamboo joints are more likely to crack. Wang Xian simply found a blacksmith and changed it into an iron-clad wood wolf bamboo, which was stronger, sharper, and lighter.
Quite a few.
After looking at the weapons, everyone entered the room again. Zhu Zhanji said: "Through that military exercise, we also learned a lesson丨"
"People say that eating a pit makes one wise, but His Highness has gained a lot of wisdom. This pit is worth eating." Jin Wen joked.
"Haha." Zhu Zhanji looked at Wang Xian with a smile. At this time, the deputy seemed more awesome. Wang Xian then laughed and said: "During the last military exercise, because of our lack of experience, sometimes we just dropped the rice
If there is a pot, we have to march in a hurry. Sometimes it is even cloudy, there is no fire, and the soldiers have no food to eat. This is still during the exercise. If on the battlefield, the officers and soldiers have no food to eat and are hungry outside the wall, there is no need for the enemy to launch an attack.
We would die without a fight. So after we came back, we thought about a kind of food that was easy to carry and easy to eat.
"It makes sense." Jin asked: "I heard that other armies bake the cakes in advance..."
"We also make pancakes, but they taste too hard and have no nutrition. We also made a kind of cloth bag fried noodles, which is very convenient to carry..." Wang Xian said, taking a bulging long cloth bag and tilting it
He straddled his shoulders and said: "A bag like this is a soldier's five-day ration. When you want to eat, open the bag..." He untied the rope at the mouth of the bag, took out a handful of noodles and said, "If you, two masters,
I don’t mind it, it’s okay
The two East Palace lecturers were not squeamish either. After hearing this, one of them happily grabbed a handful and was about to put it into his mouth. Jin Wen smiled and said, "Do you want to eat raw noodles?"
"Let's talk after you taste it." Wang Xian smiled.
The two of them said nothing more, and each took it to their mouths. They shut up and tasted it for a moment, then suddenly said: "The noodles are cooked." "It's still salty." "What kind of noodles is this?"
"Fried noodles. Fry the soybeans, sorghum, and rice, grind them, add salt, and drink them with cold water." Wang Xian asked the two adults to bring tea bowls to rinse their mouths, and said with a smile: "This is better than eating.
Flatbread is much more nutritious, can be stored for a long time, and is convenient to eat. There is no need to light a fire and expose the target on the grassland.
"You are really thoughtful." Jin Wen and Yang Pu were completely convinced. They smiled at Zhu Zhanji and said, "We can reassure His Highness the Crown Prince. His Highness the Grand Sun has thought much more carefully than we have."
"Hehe, my father is always worried that I am rash, and now I have nothing to say." Zhu Zhanji said with joy from ear to ear: "Let's take a walk and see a few new things, and there are more interesting ones..."
Wang Xian followed Zhu Zhanji and the others out of the house. Just as he was going to the next room, he saw Zhou Yong walking over quickly.
Wang Xian stopped, distanced himself from everyone, and asked, "What's the matter?"
"Steward Chen is outside the camp and said that Madam would like to invite you to come." Zhou Yong said softly: "You have not been home for half a month."
"I can't leave." Wang Xian frowned and said, "The whole army is preparing for war..."
"Then...how should I reply?" Zhou Yong was a little confused.
"I just said that in a few days..." Wang Xian sighed and said, "I will make time to go back."
"Yes." Zhou Yong went out to reply.
"Alas..." Wang Xian sighed again and went into the house.
The imperial city was also very busy. Since the conquest orders were issued to all the yamen, the huge war machine started to operate. The entire empire was transformed into a wartime system and began to prepare for the expedition of half a million troops.
For the Ming army in this era, there was no need to mobilize for war. The soldiers regarded fighting for the emperor as a great opportunity to build meritorious service and get promoted and make a fortune. They all wanted to go to the battlefield. But it was never enough to have an army.
The reason for starting a war, especially a conquest involving hundreds of thousands of troops, was actually about logistics and food and supplies. After many years of great construction and prosperity, the Ming Dynasty's finances were extremely depleted. Understand the inside story
All the officials in the Ming Dynasty said that if the great housekeeper Xia Yuanji, the Minister of Household Affairs, was not a genius in making plans, the Ming Dynasty would have been stripped naked long ago. Some people even said harshly that compared with Sui Yang, it is too much today.
Xia Yuanji
However, even Xia Yuanji, who was so happy with his achievements, was exhausted both physically and mentally. He was unable to raise the military rations for the expedition, which made Zhu Di furious. After getting angry for a while, Zhu Di realized that he still had to rely on him for support.
Seeing the situation, I had no choice but to calm down, asked for a drink from the hot milk, and asked in a deep voice: "I ask you again, how much military rations can be transported to Juyongguan before February?"
"Report to the Emperor," Xia Yuanji was not yet fifty years old, but his long years of hard work had already made his beard gray, like an old man in his sixties or seventies. He slowly replied: "If you can transport the military rations to Juyong Pass, please report it."
, before the summer harvest, there will be no more food in the treasury."
"Do you want my army to drink from the northwest wind outside the Great Wall?" Zhu Di became angry again.
"I would never dare, but it's hard for a clever woman to make a meal without rice." Xia Yuanji kowtowed and said, "I, the Minister of Household Affairs, have already made everything clear in my account."
"..." Zhu Di's face looked extremely ugly.
"Actually, there is still food that can be adjusted." Seeing that the emperor was about to explode again, King Zhao, who had never expressed much opinion on state affairs, spoke up.
"Oh?" Zhu Di looked at Wang Zhao and said, "Tell me, the youngest."
Everyone in the palace looked at His Royal Highness King Zhao, most of them did not believe that he could be more powerful than Xia Yuanji.
"I thought," His Royal Highness King Zhao was dressed in the luxurious clothes of a dragon prince, with a winged crown on his head and a white jade belt around his waist. He looked even more noble and outstanding than when he was fighting crickets in the battlefield. He said loudly:
"Xia Shangshu is a wise man who always makes mistakes. How could he forget the two thousand Changpingcang in the world?"
As soon as this statement came out, everyone looked disappointed, and Zhu Di also frowned and said: "Chang Pingcang is the life-saving food for the people. Once there is a famine, the people will still rely on it to survive, and it must not be misappropriated?"
"Father, your Majesty. If it weren't for Xia Shangshu having no other choice, I wouldn't have come up with this idea. If this idea was really disgusting, I wouldn't have brought it up," Zhu Gaosui replied calmly.
"..." Zhu Di liked this young son who looked exactly like his late wife very much, and said patiently: "Then tell me, what's wrong with this idea?"
"I came up with this idea after reading several corruption cases in Changpingcang in the Di newspaper. I was wondering why those corrupt officials dared to steal the grain from Changpingcang? So I went to check the records of the past few years, and finally
"I discovered a phenomenon," Zhu Gaosui said still calmly, with a smooth voice: "The number of Changping warehouses opened in the country every year is only 20% at most, and in most years, it is less than 10%. In other words, the vast majority of
All the food was wasted in Chen Chen Xiangyin, so those corrupt officials had the idea of Chang Pingcang." After a pause, he bowed deeply to the emperor and said: "So I boldly thought that we might as well put aside the dogma and start from
Chang Pingcang transfers part of the grain for the army, and it will not affect the livelihood of the people."
Zhu Di was very moved when he heard this. He pondered for a moment and asked Xia Yuanji: "Does what King Zhao said make sense?"
"Excuse me, I'm honest, it's too risky." Xia Yuanji shook his head decisively and said: "Changping Granary is the life-saving food for the people. No one knows this year or where there will be a famine next year. Only when there is food in the warehouse can we not panic. The people
If you stay calm, even if there is a temporary famine, the price of food will not skyrocket. On the contrary, if the food in the warehouse is transferred away, the people will be panicked if there is a famine. If someone stirs up trouble again, it may lead to civil unrest."
In fact, there is another reason he did not mention, that is, after these years of overdrafts, a lot of grain from the Changping warehouse was used by the government to plug leaks elsewhere. Therefore, most warehouses have discrepancies with their accounts, and even
Even half a warehouse is not enough... He, the Minister of Household Affairs, knew all this, but he couldn't say it because those local officials were forced by him to have no choice but to tear down the east wall and mend the west wall like this.
He couldn't give a strong reason, but the reason he gave was not too strong. The emperor's reaction could be imagined. Zhu Di's expression became obviously relaxed, and he actually smiled: "This is easy to handle. I allow counties to borrow food from each other.
Let you, Xia Shangshu, be the middleman. If one side is in trouble, all parties will support it. Besides, I didn’t force their food, I bought it with money, so there’s no problem now, right?”
"..." Xia Yuanji said in his heart, regardless of whether it was good or not, the Ming Dynasty would be completely bought by His Majesty's excessive treasure money. He wanted to argue again, but saw the emperor's hand raised, as he had done many times before.
Against all opinions, Qian Gang said arbitrarily: "Just like that, we made a secret decree to transfer 30% to 50% of the grain and grass from Changpingcang in the counties north of the Yellow River and transport it to Juyongguan. Those with 50% will be promoted to the first level and 40% will be evaluated once.
, those who are less than 30% will be dismissed from their posts on the spot, I admire this."
"The ministers will receive the decree." Emperor Yongle said this. It was an imperial edict that could not be changed. The ministers could only act according to the order.
In the sound of farewell, the emperor left the hall. The officials stood up and wanted to leave, but they saw Xia Yuanji kneeling on the ground slumped and unable to get up. Yang Shiqi and Yang Rong stepped forward and helped him up. Yang Rong said softly.
: "Da Sinong, there is no Flame Mountain that we can't pass. Let's just find a way together."
Xia Yuanji said bitterly: "The only way is to worship God and pray for good weather next year. Otherwise, there will be big trouble."