Zhu Yihai looked at the memorial sent to him by Chen Qianfu and shook his head.
"This Du Fenghe is quite capable, but he has a lot of old habits. It's very generous to leave him ten thousand taels of silver, and I'll use it all to give him gifts."
Du Fenghe did not send money to Zhu Yihai, but instead brought six beauties. Chen Qianfu said that they were all young and of good background. They were all rich ladies from official families, and they were all beauties who knew how to be educated and courteous. Because the family members
They surrendered to the captives and rebelled, so their homes were confiscated, and these girls fell into the dust.
"I've seen those girls, and they are indeed fair ladies. They are so pitiful that Your Majesty can accept them."
Zhu Yihai shook his head.
Although the girls are pitiful, this is not the reason for the Namei people. This is a battlefield.
"In this case, I'll ask the girls if they are willing to marry one of my royal camp officers. If they are willing, I will arrange a blind date for them. I will grant them marriage to whichever handsome man they like."
"Your Majesty, you really don't want her? There are not many girls like her. It's okay to be a palace servant for the time being. Your Majesty doesn't have any attentive and gentle palace servants to serve you. They are all rough men."
"You can't let this trend go unchecked." Zhu Yihai still shook his head, "No one accepted Du Fenghe's gift, right?"
"The law and military discipline are here, who dares to accept his bribe? Besides, you can't build a bright future just for that little money." Chen Qianfu said with a smile, saying that it was a gift of 10,000 taels of silver, but how many ministers are in Dengzhou now?
Each person could not pay much. For example, Chen Qianfu was the one who personally released Du Fenghe, and Du Fenghe only gave him 500 taels of silver and two victims of the disaster.
Five hundred taels of silver was really nothing to a noble official like Chen Qianfu.
Since Zhu Yihai succeeded to the throne, he has not only provided generous salaries to the army, but also provided high salaries to support his integrity. Although high salaries cannot eliminate corruption, if the salary is too low and he has power, it will obviously force people to seek rent with power. This kind of self-deception
The matter is actually meaningless. In the end, it is the authority of the court and the interests of the people that are damaged.
So Zhu Yihai would rather put these things on the table.
Important ministers such as Chen Qianfu will receive a salary according to this rank, which has been greatly improved from the original standard. In addition, they will receive an additional salary, which is equivalent to a year-end bonus.
In addition, there is rice bank, which is the living allowance. An important minister like Chen Qianfu needs two to three thousand taels of rice bank a year. In addition, he also holds multiple jobs, and part-time jobs are also subsidized.
In addition, all officials receive salaries based on their rank, salary based on their duties, subsidies based on part-time work, and food allowances.
These are all on the surface, rather than the gray income from gifts such as ice, charcoal, and gifts in the past.
In addition, there are usually rewards during the New Year festivals.
Plus various material benefits.
The salary of officials in the capital has improved a lot. It is more than enough to support their families and they can still make a lot of money. Even if they are not corrupt and have less gray income, they can still live a comfortable life.
And for important ministers like Chen Qianfu, who held multiple positions, his income was even greater.
Even because the imperial court has now added some formal staff to many of the former officials' staffs, and the imperial government has changed their salaries, this has also reduced the expenses of the officials and actually increased their income.
Five hundred taels of silver was really something Chen Qianfu looked down upon.
Of course, as long as they are small gifts such as door bags and greeting gifts for general officials and their followers, Zhu Yihai will not be too over the top.
"Let Du Fenghe take back all the money and focus on how to stabilize Dengzhou and restore people's livelihood and economy. There are victims and hungry people everywhere. As a parent, he has to make sure that the people under his rule can have food to eat and houses to live in."
Live, there is hope."
"There are wastelands everywhere in Dengzhou and there are hungry people everywhere. We need to find ways to organize the hungry people to till the land so that when the harvest season comes, we can have food instead of wandering around and fleeing famine all the time. We have to fend for ourselves. If we lack seeds, we can find ways to get them."
Come, but people must save themselves first."
The restoration of local civil affairs in Dengzhou is a top priority, and using local officials like Du Fenghe is also a more practical and expedient method.
Of course, the imperial camp will also transfer some officials to the local area, and even select some local gentry from the local area and appoint them as officials to manage the local area together.
"Is there no result yet in Laizhou?"
Several days have passed in the blink of an eye, but no good news has come back.
Chen Qianfu, who also serves as the General Staff Officer of the Royal Camp, has relatively good intelligence and information. "We did not expect that Geng Thief would be so cautious. The North Korean grain ship failed to deceive him this time."
“It’s normal if you don’t get cheated, but it’s an accident if you get cheated.”
Zhu Yihai was relatively indifferent to this. Jin Shangxian offered his advice and repeated his old tactics. Zhu Yihai also had high hopes. The imperial camp rushed to Laizhou by land and water, but things didn't go well this time.
The navy, under the banner of Korean grain ships, repeated its old plan to seize Dengzhou Port. However, Laizhou was not a port city, but was about twenty miles away from Laizhou Bay, although there was a river connecting Laizhou City and Laizhou Bay.
But after all, it’s not near the sea.
Moreover, Geng Zhongming was more cautious. The North Korean ship was intercepted and inspected by Geng's troops at the mouth of the Bay River. They asked to board the ship for inspection. The North Korean grain ships were filled with soldiers from the royal camp. There was no food. Letting them board the ship would definitely leak the goods.
So in the end, the deception turned into a surprise attack.
The Ming army launched a sudden attack on a battalion of the Geng tribe that was inspecting the river at the mouth of the river. Although the Ming army suddenly took action and took the initiative, they used the artillery on the ships to bombard the Geng tribe's Qing troops on the shore, and quickly defeated them and won the victory.
But the plan to cheat the city failed.
Valley Sword
The defeated Geng troops fled back to Laizhou City on horseback. When Geng Zhongming heard that the Ming army was attacking, he immediately blew the horn and put the whole city on alert. At the same time, he immediately sent people to capture Kong Youde's general Sun Long Sanqian who had just passed through Laizhou and went to Gaotang to quell the rebellion.
The infantry and cavalry, as well as the two thousand men he sent out, were quickly recalled to defend the city.
When the Ming army failed to defraud and reported to the rear, they could only turn from deception into a hard attack.
The Ming army landed at the mouth of the river and set up camp.
Gather all the troops and then attack Laizhou.
The Ming army besieged the city, but Geng Zhongming had eight thousand troops under Geng Kong in Laizhou City, plus thousands more from local regiments and civilians, so the force was not weak.
Facing the prepared Kong Youde, the Ming army could only launch a conventional siege.
They first tried to use artillery to bombard them, but under the artillery bombardment, the Qing army still stood firm at the top of the city. Due to the lack of siege equipment, the Ming army could not enter the city with only artillery cover.
The Ming army finally had to stop the bombardment and began to dig trenches and erect fortifications outside the city. At the same time, they cut down trees to build siege equipment.
That night, the Brotherhood in the city and some other clubs secretly supported by the Ming army's intelligence department launched an attack in an attempt to respond from the city.
But Geng Zhongming had rich experience and had already prepared for the enemy in the city. Although the people in the city were very brave, they never got close to the city gate. They made a noise all night and were finally wiped out.
The next day, Geng Zhongming cleaned up the whole city again, searched and arrested many people, and killed many righteous people. The anti-Qing forces in the city were completely exhausted.
After losing the internal support, it completely turned into an ordinary siege.
"Geng Zhongming's behavior is normal. Kong Youde is glad that the defeat of the two false kings was an accident caused by underestimating the enemy." Zhu Yihai now also knew that the battle of Laizhou was not easy to fight.
"Do you know how much food is left in Laizhou City?"
"According to the intelligence previously obtained, there is not much food in Laizhou City. There are tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians in the city now, and it is estimated that they cannot last for a month."
Chen Qianfu believed that Laizhou was short of food, so he was not afraid of Geng Zhongming's persistence.
Zhu Yihai didn't think so. Even if there was only one month of food, Shandong was not without Qing troops. There were Qing troops in Jinan, Yanzhou, Xuzhou, and Huai'an.
There is the Tatar auxiliary Prince Duanzhong Bolo in Xuzhou, Tan Tai in Huai'an, and the powerful generals of the Eight Banners such as He Luo Hui and Tu Lai are also in Shandong. Together, they have at least 40,000 Manchu and Han troops.
Among them, nearly 20,000 elite Eight Banners participated in the war.
This force cannot be underestimated.
"Let Laizhou dig trenches to the bottom of the city and use hole attack and blasting techniques. We can't delay it for too long."
"You have to keep an eye on the west direction and be on guard at any time for reinforcements from the Tatars."
Chen Qianfu suggested, "Can we come to besiege the city and call for reinforcements?"
However, Zhu Yihai did not immediately agree. The key was to face the Eight Banners' elite. Siege and reinforcements were not a simple task. If not done well, it would become a field battle, and the Ming army might not be the Eight Banners' opponent in the field.
"The express message informs the two Northern Expeditionary armies on the middle and west roads to keep an eye on the Qing troops in Xu Huai and Lu Feng. If they leave the city and come north to rescue Laizhou, then find ways to block and delay them and contain them."
"If you can't hold them back, let them go and attack the city."
"If it really doesn't work, we can retreat first. We can still defend Dengzhou. If Dengzhou cannot be defended, we can retreat to Changdao first. We have the naval advantage and we are still invincible."
Zhu Yihai had already stocked up the Northern Expeditionary Army's grain and grass on Chang Island before transporting it to Dengzhou City. It was just a precaution. If the land was difficult to defend, he would retreat to the island first. As long as the grain and grass were not lost, whoever had the advantage on the water would
The Ming army still always had the initiative in the war.
There is no rush to fight for one city or one pool. The main thing is to annihilate the enemy's effective strength. Every time a Tatar soldier is killed, the Qing army loses a strength.
Accumulate small victories into big ones, and fight piecemeal as before. In one battle, if ten thousand of them are wiped out, his vitality will be severely damaged.
"If this is the case, then do we still have to work hard to stabilize the Denglai Peninsula, and do we still need to provide military rations to help the people?"
"We still have to relieve the victims and resume farming production. Even if we can't hold on now, we still have to do these things. Now we can transfer food from the sea. The food does not need to be collected locally, although this transfer is not expensive.
It’s less, but at least it can still ensure the supply and safety of food and grass.”
Giving up on Denglai is just preparation for the worst, and may not lead to that point.
Planting now is not just to harvest now. This must be considered in the long run, to calm people's hearts and restore production. This will be beneficial to Ming Dynasty in the long run.
"Our current three-pronged Northern Expeditionary Army is the attacking party and has the initiative. Although the Tatars have 40,000 to 50,000 people in Huanghuai, the real elites are only about 20,000. These people are quite powerful when they are gathered together, but if they come
Shandong, we will attack Huaixi. If we defend Huaihe, we will attack them all. If they are divided and defended, we will encroach."
Looking at the larger battle situation, the Huanghuai area is just a corner of the entire battlefield. The 50,000 Qing troops here are restrained by the Ming army, so the pressure on the Sichuan-Shaanxi battlefield on the western front will be much less.
Even over there in Huguang, the pressure can be reduced.
"By holding them back and looking for opportunities, the Tatars will always show their flaws. Just like this time, don't we just win the first battle, seize Dengzhou directly, and kill the Tatar king?"
Chen Qianfu, who was still a little anxious about the battle situation, heard the emperor's analysis and suddenly felt that the advantage was entirely mine.