Wang Chengen and more than a dozen eunuchs stood in front of the Tianjin County Prince's Mansion. They looked at the Tianjin County Prince's Mansion that had been transformed from the Tianjin Duke's Mansion and shook his head.
Unexpectedly, I came here again to beg Li Zhi.
Although Wang Chengen suggested that the emperor ask Li Zhi for waterproof equipment, Wang Chengen also knew that this business was very embarrassing. When Li Zicheng was defeated, the emperor pushed away the King of Tianjin and said to let my new army come, but now the emperor's new army is trapped
In the central county of Shaanxi, there is no way to advance or retreat. Even now, Li Zhi is still asked to provide a helping hand.
Even Wang Chengen, a eunuch, felt this was a bit shameful.
However, this matter has to be done. The emperor is now suppressing civil servants in the capital and promoting reforms. He needs a big victory on the front line to increase his prestige and deter the Jiangbei Army in the Jianghuai area. If all 50,000 new troops are lost in northern Shaanxi, I am afraid that not only the emperor will be
The prestige will be damaged, and the civil servants will even counterattack collectively.
Jiangbei's army is in the south and cannot attack the capital. However, there are hundreds of thousands of soldiers in Ji Town, Xuanfu and Datong towns near the capital. On the surface, these camps are soldiers and horses of the Ming Dynasty, but in fact all the generals at all levels are civilian officials.
The promoted emperor is now using his own power to overwhelm the civil servants of the court. If the capital camp dies, the soldiers near the capital are likely to cause trouble.
The emperor's reforms completely cut off the gentry's financial resources, and the civil servants' counterattack must be very fierce. Maybe these miscellaneous soldiers will follow what Li Zhi did and attack near the capital to protest.
So no matter what, the soldiers and horses of the Beijing camp must win. If the Beijing camp loses, the emperor's hard-won reform of equalizing wealth may fail.
Wang Chengen took a breath and walked into the palace with the eunuch.
At the entrance of the main hall of the palace, Li Zhi, wearing a black gauze folded up scarf and a four-clawed golden dragon robe with a coiled collar and narrow sleeves, stood on a high platform waiting for Wang Chengen.
At this time, Li Zhi was the king of the county and could not be neglected by Wang Chengen, the eunuch and eunuch. He walked quickly to the high platform, bowed his hands and prostrated: "Wang Chengen has met His Royal Highness the Tianjin County Prince!"
Li Zhi smiled and looked at Wang Chengen. He felt that Wang Chengen looked tired, as if he hadn't slept well for a long time.
As the emperor's most trusted confidant, Wang Chengen not only had to serve the emperor, but also had to worry about his family, country, and country. This pressure was really great.
Li Zhi waved his hand and said: "The noble man may follow the widow into the palace!"
Wang Chengen sang a promise loudly, walked up to the high platform, and entered the main hall of the palace.
Entering the main hall, Wang Chengen found that Tianjin Governor Li Xing and other ministers were already waiting there. When everyone saw the emperor's cronies coming, they all came up to see Wang Chengen. Wang Chengen came to Tianjin to ask for help, so he naturally returned the greetings one by one.
Li Zhi sat on the throne and asked calmly: "Why did the noble man come to Tianjin this time?"
When Wang Chengen heard this, he glanced at Li Zhi, raised his hands and said, "Your Highness, our family is here to ask for a set of rainproof equipment for the new army in the Beijing camp."
Li Zhi replied calmly: "Oh?"
Wang Chengen said quickly: "Your Highness, let's put it bluntly, the 50,000 new Beijing troops are now trapped in the central county of Shaanxi, unable to advance or retreat due to lack of waterproof equipment. If this drags on for a long time, sooner or later the food route will be cut off by thieves.
.At this time, only His Highness can produce waterproof equipment to save the new army."
When Li Zhi heard this, he smiled and said nothing.
Li Xing looked at Li Zhi's face, laughed and walked out, saying, "What the noble man said is wrong. The emperor originally said that after the Huben army occupied Tongguan, there was no need to march westward, and they only had to wait for the new army in Henan.
Just a good report. With the emperor's words like this, naturally I don't need Tianjin to get involved in Shaanxi's affairs."
"The emperor has already spoken out. How can a nobleman come to Tianjin to ask for rainproof equipment without telling the emperor?"
Li Xing's words were a slap in Wang Chengen's face.
All fools know that if Emperor Zhu Youjian had not said anything, Wang Chengen would not have come to Tianjin to ask for equipment. However, Wang Chengen was embarrassed to say that the emperor had arranged this matter, because when the Tiger Army defeated the trespassers and fled, the Emperor's imperial edict
His courage was so great. At that time, the emperor thought that the war in Shaanxi was nothing to worry about, and that the 60,000 new troops could destroy the intruders with a snap of his fingers.
Who would have thought that the boat would capsize in the gutter and now it would be in this situation.
Could it be that Wang Chengen wanted to admit that this time it was the emperor who wanted to beg Li Zhi? It was impossible for Wang Chengen to admit this. He was trying his best to protect the emperor's last bit of face.
With his face red and white, Wang Chengen stood speechless in the middle of the hall.
Li Xing was actually a little annoyed with the emperor's imperial edict. When he led his troops to occupy Tongguan, he was about to go to Shaanxi Province and make great achievements, but he was stopped by the emperor's imperial edict. Li Xing was about to get the credit he was about to get.
The emperor snatched it away and was very unhappy. Seeing Wang Chengen's embarrassment, he wanted to ridicule him.
But Li Zhi waved his hand and stopped Li Xing's pursuit.
Li Xing saw Li Zhi's gesture, swallowed the words that came to his mouth, and sneered.
When Wang Chengen saw Li Zhi helping him to get out of the siege, he raised his hands and said, "The new army is in critical condition. Please help, Your Highness!"
Li Zhi nodded and said: "Zhongguiren! It is not easy to make waterproof equipment for the New Army. First, the foundry factory must make molds and cast them with molten steel. Then the machine tool factory must refine the formed equipment. The most important thing is,
It is necessary to carve out threads and buckles on the casting so that the waterproof equipment can be installed on the gun."
"If it were made by hand by craftsmen, I'm afraid they wouldn't be able to make one in a month."
"And the intruders are so cunning that they may not only start battles on rainy days, but also attack camps at night. If the new army wants to win, they will not only need rain-proof equipment, but also night-fighting weapons such as flares!"
Wang Chengen blinked and secretly thought that Li Zhi started to complain, but then took the initiative to give flares. This was obviously a condition.
Li Zhi waved the sleeves of his four-clawed golden dragon robe and said: "This time I am making equipment and providing flares for the emperor! In exchange, after I go south to Japan and defeat the rebel Jiangbei Army, I am willing to govern half of southern Zhili for the emperor."
After hearing Li Zhi's words, Wang Chengen's face suddenly turned pale.
Li Zhi wanted to dye his guide to Zhili.
What is Nanzhili? Just by the name, you can tell that it is not an ordinary province. It is the Zhili Province in the south, where Nanjing, the capital of the Ming Dynasty, is located. Nanzhili has a population of more than 30 million, accounting for 20% of the total population of the Ming Dynasty. Half of Nanzhili
Li, that’s a population of over 10 million, which is close to the total population of Tianjin plus Shandong plus Henan.
Not counting North Korea, the population of the Ming Dynasty under Li Zhi's rule was actually only 18 million. Li Zhi suddenly wanted half of Southern Zhili, which actually meant doubling the territory under his rule.
Wang Chengen stammered a little and said: "South Zhili is where I am the capital of the Ming Dynasty. How can I leave it to His Highness to manage?"
Li Zhi nodded and said: "Nanjing is to the south of the Yangtze River. I don't want the Nanzhili south of the Yangtze River, but I only want the north of the Yangtze River. If the emperor agrees, from now on the Nanzhili in the north of the Yangtze River will be called Jianghuai Province, and it will be controlled by me.
Governing on behalf of the Emperor."
South Zhili, north of the Yangtze River, is more populous than half of South Zhili, with a population of nearly 20 million.
After hearing Li Zhi's words, Wang Chengen's face turned pale and red. In normal times, Wang Chengen would have jumped up and scolded Li Zhi for his ambition. However, at this time, the new army was in danger, and Wang Chengen did not dare to offend Li Zhi at all.
Finally he sighed deeply.
"Let our family report to the emperor, and it will be decided by Long Live."
