Just when Zhang Yue actively readjusted the defense line and tried to close the door for the puppet Tang rebels to enter the Yangtze River, news of the fall of Nanchang spread quickly, first spreading throughout Jiangxi, and then causing great panic.
North of Fuzhou, except for Nanchang, other cities under the control of the Ming army saw a large-scale wave of refugees!
After learning that Nanchang had been lost and Fuzhou could fall at any time, Huai Wang Zhu Houyi in Poyang City of Raozhou Prefecture was in panic all day long and was active, trying to leave the war-torn place. Otherwise, no one knew when Raozhou Prefecture would fall.
It will fall into the hands of thieves. When the time comes, their Prince Huai Mansion will have to follow in the footsteps of Prince Jingjiang.
Even more miserable and even more worried than King Huai is King Yi Zhu Houye, because King Huai is still in the area controlled by the Ming army, and there is Fuzhou in front of him, but King Yi's palace is in Jianchang Mansion.
Jianchang Mansion is located in the southeast of Fuzhou Mansion. Although the puppet Tang bandits have not arrived yet, this is only because the puppet Tang bandits are still busy fighting Zhang Yue and have no time to attack Jianchang Mansion.
That's all.
But from a strategic point of view, Jianchang Mansion is actually trapped behind enemy lines, and there is no heavy defense. This ghost place is not a place that my grandma does not love and cares about. Zhang Yue does not even bother to waste even one guard soldier in this place.
of military strength.
Like many prefectures and counties, local defense can only rely on local strength, including some guardsmen and others recruited by local officials themselves.
But without the main force, it can't stop the attack of the puppet Tang rebel army!
However, these vassal kings are the same as the local officials of the Ming Dynasty. They cannot escape without permission and can only passively wait for death!
Otherwise, so many local officials and even King Jingjiang of Guilin would not have had their homes confiscated and their families exterminated in Guilin Mansion. If they could have escaped, they would have escaped long ago.
In addition to the local vassals and local officials in Jiangxi who were greatly shocked, Southern Zhili was also shocked by this. What did they do after the shock?
The first thing they did was not to organize troops, build guns, strengthen city defense, and prevent it. Well, although they had been doing this, in fact it was not the most important thing. The most important thing was that they wanted to impeach Zhang.
Yue!
These memorials to impeach Zhang Yue, together with the battle reports of the fall of Nanchang, flew to the capital like snowflakes. If these memorials to impeach Zhang Yue were piled up, they would be enough to drown Zhang Yue!
Most of the memorials in the impeachment of Zhang Yue were based on Zhang Yue's incompetence. In the past two years, he had spent countless money and food in command of six southern provinces, but he had lost many troops and generals. Not only did he fail to recapture Guangdong, Guangxi and Guizhou, but he also lost a large number of prefectures and counties in Huguang and Jiangxi.
, now even Nanchang, the provincial capital of Jiangxi, has been lost. If this continues, Yingtian Mansion may fall into the hands of thieves.
Zhang Yue also knew about their impeachment, and even felt angry about it!
You are paralyzed, if you have the ability, come and do it!
I worked hard every day to build guns and train new troops, and finally managed to defend Changsha and Hengyang. Although there was a slight accident in Jiangxi, the loss of Nanchang does not mean that the situation in Jiangxi has been completely ruined.
His main force is still stationed in Fuzhou. Even if the puppet Tang bandit army captures Nanchang, it does not mean that they can enter the Yangtze River without restraint and threaten Southern Zhili.
And you said that Zhang Yue spent countless money and food from the court?
What a waste of money. Most of the money Zhang Yue used to build guns and train the new army was raised on the spot. In the past few years, the cumulative military expenditures allocated to Zhang Yue by the imperial court would not exceed three million taels of silver!
This is just the total amount. Zhang Yue can actually get no more than half of the silver, which is about 1.5 million taels of silver at most. And with such a small amount of money, he only gives military pay to his supervisor.
Not enough, let alone making guns and cannons and daily combat needs.
Most of Zhang Yue's expenses for maintaining a large army in Huguang and Jiangxi were raised by himself in the six southern provinces, mainly from the wages of thieves.
In addition, part of it comes from various fundraisers!
Even so, the military expenditure Zhang Yue can actually obtain is pitifully small!
The Army of the Tang Dynasty spent tens of millions of dollars a year on military expenditures and only maintained an army of over 100,000. However, the total number of troops under Zhang Yue reached 30,000 to 400,000. In the second year of Xuanping, the amount of money spent was only 50,000 at most.
Around one million.
The combat effectiveness of the army under Zhang Yue was insufficient. In fact, a large part of the reason was insufficient military expenditure. When the soldiers did not even have enough to eat, they naturally could not be expected to fight against the Tang Army, which had enough to eat every day.
However, even so, Zhang Yue is still encouraging to maintain the war in Huguang and Jiangxi!
To put it bluntly, the defense lines of the Ming Dynasty in Huguang and Jiangxi were supported by Zhang Yue alone and had nothing to do with the big bosses in the capital of the Ming Dynasty.
Without Zhang Yue and his supervision, Huguang and Jiangxi would be lost in minutes!
Similarly, in fact, Yu Dayou and his bandit-breaking army mainly raised their own military expenses!
Not only Yu Dayou and Zhang Yue, but in fact, the expenses for recruiting soldiers and even guard soldiers in the southern provinces were basically self-financed. The central agencies of the Ming Dynasty basically did not have much ability to arm and maintain such a large army.
To carry out combat.
Moreover, this method of raising military expenses and recruiting soldiers for combat also greatly increased the power of local officials, especially the governors of the southern provinces, represented by Zhang Yue, whose power reached the peak of history in just two or three years.
New peak!
From this we can see how weak the central financial capabilities of the Ming Dynasty were!
The income is only a few million taels of silver a year, and he has to maintain a huge administrative system. The amount of silver that can be used for military expenses is only a small amount a year. Emperor Zhengde also grasps such a small amount of money tightly. In the past two years,
Years were spent on the Beijing camp, but Zhang Yue didn't get much.
But this does not mean that the dynasty is poor. In fact, the local government is still rich. The fact that so many local officials can recruit soldiers without spending a dime from the court is proof of this.
As for the officials and gentry, all of them are wealthy. The big shots in the court are all extremely wealthy!
So it was not the Ming Dynasty as a whole that was poor, but the central finance of the Ming Dynasty, or more accurately, Emperor Zhengde!
With this somewhat deformed physique and the fact that it is war time, Zhang Yue naturally does not worry that he will be impeached. To put it mildly, as long as he quits his job today, Huguang and Jiangxi will be finished tomorrow.
!
However, Zhang Yue knew about these things, and Emperor Zhengde also knew about them, but many officials did not know, or they knew but didn't care, and they still used nonsense to impeach Zhang Yue.
The Tang Dynasty has also heard about the conflicts and turmoil of the Ming Dynasty, but it has not paid much attention to it, because no matter how the Ming Dynasty changes, the Tang Dynasty will continue to expand at its own pace.
!
After the news of the successful capture of Nanchang reached Zhaoqing, Li Xuanlong was so happy that he immediately awarded Li Chunjing a marquis!
Li Chunjing was immediately instructed to keep the current fruits of victory, and at the same time continue to maintain a high-pressure posture against the Ming army, strive to seize Jiujiang, and completely open the channel to the Yangtze River.
The Ming Army in Huguang and South Zhili were divided into two, creating a favorable foundation for the subsequent army to march eastward to South Zhili and seize Jiangnan.
And Li Xuan was not the Zhengde Emperor. He only knew how to let the horses run without giving them grass. While he asked Li Chunjing to actively attack, he also personally ordered the Privy Council to replenish the Second Army with troops as soon as possible.
The Second Army has been fighting on the front line for more than a month and suffered a lot of casualties. Now is the time when a large-scale recruitment is needed, not only for new soldiers, but also for artillery shells.
At the same time, we are also preparing to further increase our military strength in Jiangxi!
In addition to preparing to send the newly formed second heavy artillery battalion to the Jiangxi front line, Li Xuan is also preparing to mobilize more troops!
He ordered the Sixth Infantry Division to move the defense line further forward and directly enter Jiangxi to reinforce the Second Army!
As a result, the defense of Guangdong is completely handed over to the two mixed regiments and the Guards. However, the coast of Guangdong can now be considered safe. Although the number of troops is smaller, security can still be guaranteed.
Now Li Xuan is looking forward to continuing to open a breakthrough in Jiangxi, so it is necessary to mobilize the Sixth Infantry Division for reinforcements.
After receiving the order, the Sixth Infantry Division began to move north from northern Guangdong. After they entered Jiangxi, the main force would move north along the Gan River. At the same time, some areas along the way that were still under the rule of the Ming Dynasty would be cleared, such as Jian.
Changfu!
Then he ordered the cabinet to follow the military's lead and bring the newly occupied areas into rule as soon as possible, and start conscription and taxation!
The continuous expansion of the Tang Dynasty requires a steady stream of soldiers and taxes to support it!
In the past two years, almost all the qualified soldiers in the Guangdong, Guangxi and Guizhou regions have been recruited. Because the Tang Army has relatively high requirements for soldiers, many young men actually do not meet the standards. If the recruitment is forced, the recruitment will be very difficult.
The quality of the soldiers will be insufficient, and it will also affect the normal development of local industry, commerce, and agriculture.
Now, according to the preliminary estimates of the Tang Dynasty, the total population of Guizhou, Guangdong, Guangxi and other places is only tens of millions. The exact number of people is a mystery and no one knows.
According to the estimated number of tens of millions of people, the total number of the army and navy of the Royal Army of the Tang Dynasty, including the combat troops and the recruits being trained in the rear, has reached 150,000, and the military-civilian ratio has reached one to six.
Fifteen, and this number is already relatively large.
The ratio of soldiers to civilians in the traditional feudal dynasty was about one to one hundred. Anything above this number would basically be considered a military force.
And the current Tang Dynasty is naturally a typical example of militarism!