"Wen Anzhi fought very well in Hanzhong this time and deserves a reward."
Zhu Yihai was very happy, smiling all over his face.
"A decree is proposed to confer the title of Duke of Chu State on Wen'an, with the promise of hereditary inheritance, an iron certificate, and a rank in the world. Three thousand households will be granted a living estate, 800 households will be granted a real title, 800 acres of Yongye land will be granted, and a special gold medal of mang jade will be granted.
.”
Zhu Yihai really admired Wen Anzhi, an old master, for he gave him so many surprises.
At the beginning, he specially ordered to restore Wen'an and went to Yunyang as the patrol commander. This old master traveled hundreds of miles of enemy-occupied areas alone to take office, captured the capital and restored Xiang, and he made great achievements. Later he was promoted to the governor of Pianyuan, and quelled the rebellion of the chieftain of An.
Excellent. And when he was in Fengjie, he began to visit the five provinces of Sichuan and Shaanxi, and opened up the situation step by step, and his performance was even more remarkable.
Ping Sichuan and capture Hanzhong.
It is completely worthy of being granted the title of Duke of a country.
Nowadays, the titles of the Shaotian Dynasty are not as valuable as before, but the hereditary title of duke still represents a very high honor.
President Qin Liangyu is already the Duke of Shu, and Zhu Yihai has also specially granted the title of Spyker, giving him iron certificates, silver rewards and land.
Zhu Pengfei and Zhang Shipeng, the two camp admirals, each received the hereditary title of county dukedom based on their military exploits.
Qin Yiming, Ran Tianlin, Ma Wannian, Liu Jinzhong and other admirals and generals also received promotions and titles, and were given silver and land.
If the battle is fought well, there will be rewards and heavy rewards.
Zhu Yihai just wants to tell everyone that those who have merit will be rewarded, and military merit will be greatly rewarded.
"The Ministry of War must immediately assess the merits of meritorious officers and soldiers, and reward them in a timely manner."
There were more than 6,000 beheadings reported, and the total rewards for beheadings, co-beheadings, etc. were more than 100,000 taels, but Zhu Yihai didn't feel bad at all. Compared with the war expenses, the silver reward for the head was actually not that much.
Even if the top Manchu Eight Banner beheaded thirty taels, ten thousand people would only be rewarded 300,000 taels of silver. If the reward for assisting in the execution was added, the reward would not exceed 500,000 taels.
As for an Eight Banners with ten thousand people in Manchuria, the threat is huge. Whether it is offensive or defensive, it will cost a lot of money. To annihilate them all is a one-time expenditure and is cost-effective.
"I will draw an additional 200,000 pieces of silver from my inner treasury and give it to the soldiers who fought in the Hanzhong War."
Zhu Dadian, who was the Minister of War, asked the emperor, "Now there are more than ten thousand remaining Tatar troops, Li Guohan has retreated to Baocheng Town, and Aobai has led thousands of troops to station at Jitou Pass, intending to defend to the death. How should we fight next?"
"
Li Guohan lost Yangping Pass and Nanzheng. It can even be said that he lost almost the entire Hanzhong Plain.
Now, guarding Baocheng Town and Jitou Pass is just to guard Baoxie Plank Road and Shaanxi-Han Passage, especially when Qishan Road and Chencang Road are lost.
This is because he is unwilling to lose Hanzhong and wants to wait for reinforcements to recapture it.
Zhu Yihai asked someone to fetch the map and looked at the Baoxie Road in Hanzhong.
Baocheng Town is under the jurisdiction of Mian County, which is right at the mouth of Bao Valley and controls the exit. Among them, Jitouguan is built on the hillside on the east side of Liancheng Mountain in Baocheng Town, adjacent to the Baohe River Gorge in the east.
This is the only way to pass through the Shu Road. The terrain is narrow, easy to defend and difficult to attack. It is called the first danger of Beizhan.
There is even a saying in Hanzhong that once you leave the Jitou Pass, your tears will not dry up. Once you enter the Jitou Pass, your mood will naturally be relaxed.
With this pass as the boundary, there are hundreds of miles of dangerous plank roads to the north, and the flat Hanzhong Basin plain is to the south.
Li Guohan guarded Baocheng Town, and Obai guarded Jitou Pass. They responded to each other from afar.
"To continue the siege, the imperial court can send cannon-smiths to Hanzhong to cast Krupp cannons, invincible red cannons, etc. directly outside the town of Bao. They can also build a bastion outside the town of Bao while surrounding the siege, which can be attacked.
It can be defended.”
After the Battle of Nanzheng, the Ming army now has the upper hand in Hanzhong.
This not only solved the hidden danger of Zhang Xianzhong, but also almost drove the Qing army out of Hanzhong.
This means that the Ming army has a stable Sichuan-Han base camp, where they can resume production and cultivate their fields with peace of mind.
According to the Qinling Mountains, by blocking the Baogu Valley and controlling the Chencang, Qishan, and Ziwu passages into Shaanxi, it is easier to block the Qing army north of the Qinling Mountains.
It will be easy to defend.
Although Jitou Pass is very dangerous and easy to defend, the Ming army could build a bastion here, and they could even directly collect or transport copper and iron in Hanzhong to cast cannons, without having to laboriously transport cannons from the south of the Yangtze River.
Once you have enough cannons, no matter how dangerous your mountain pass castle is, you won't be able to resist it.
Even if Wu Sangui quelled the rebellion in Guanzhong, he would still be able to plunder grain and grass to supply him with troops in Hanzhong, but with the exit blocked, it would be difficult for him to do anything.
After taking Hanzhong, the Ming army now surrounded Guanzhong in Shaanxi and Gansu.
Meng Qiaofang and Wu Sangui's current military strength makes it difficult for them to guard the pass. Does he dare to leave lightly?
If his main force goes south to Hanzhong, then He Hongqi, Wang Yongzhen, Milayin and others can attack Ningxia, Pingliang, Fengxiang and other places to raid his home base.
"Surround Baocheng Town and Jitou Pass and fight slowly,"
"The Zhongkai of Xing'an Prefecture, the loyalty of Yunyang Prefecture, and the loyalty of Yiling Prefecture can take this opportunity to attack Yunyang."
After the rebellion of Wang Guangen of Yunyang and after the Xing'an Battle, his strength was also greatly reduced. Yunyang Mansion only had one city left in his hands. However, Wang Guangen still controlled Xiangyang and still had some strength.
Of course, now is a good opportunity.
"Previously, Huguang reported that they planned to besiege Jingzhou and then fight Wuchang. I thought it was better to postpone the attack on the big city and gnaw the hard bones one by one. Don't be greedy for more. This time on the western front, we will besiege Baocheng Town and Yunyang City.
, these two cities are now also surrounded by our army, and must be fought if conditions permit.
But for the cities of Jing, Xiang, and Wuchang, don't worry for the time being."
Focusing on Zhang Xianzhong and Hanzhong, the Ming army deployed and prepared for more than a year, and finally everything came together, and more than 6,000 Tatars were annihilated in Hanzhong. In addition to the thousands killed by the Western army, the total number of Tatars was more than 10,000.
But there are still more than 10,000 Tatars, and the strength of these troops is still there. The Tatars won the battle of Hanzhong because they underestimated the enemy. Otherwise, if they fought with solid infantry and cavalry, they would at best be able to repel the Qing army, and the casualties might even be higher than
The Qing army was so powerful that it was impossible to defeat them with far fewer casualties than them.
This still took advantage of the fact that the Qing army did not have time to rest and recuperate after the battle with the Western army, so they took advantage of the opportunity and entered.
But such an opportunity does not come every time. Now the Tatars are retreating to the castle. If they fight hard, the offensive and defensive positions will change. If you are not careful, you may lose, so you would rather be cautious.
If Jingzhou is not fought for now, it is better to provide some money, food and weapons from Huguang to support the two armies, and concentrate on fighting the siege.
"Our troops in Hunan, Jiangxi, and Huaixi can raid the outskirts of the Tatar strong city in small groups."
It is already August, and Zhu Yihai is preparing for a long-term siege. Even if the siege of Baocheng and Yunyang lasts until the end of the year, or even until the beginning of next year, the siege will have more victories and fewer casualties than a direct attack, but it will require more logistical supplies.
higher.
"This summer and autumn, locust plagues broke out in Henan. Especially in spring and summer, fires broke out in Henan, resulting in serious disasters. Fortunately, various places took active precautions and the locust plague finally did not spread too much. However, Shandong, Huainan and other places also saw a lot of grain production reductions.
The imperial court must provide timely relief and relief!"
The war has been going on so far. In fact, both the Qing army and the Ming army are somewhat unable to fight.
However, for the Ming army, the situation is getting better and better, but they are burdened with Huainan, Henan, Shandong and other places, and have to continuously fill holes, which consumes a lot of war potential.
But it won't work if the hole is not filled. If the hole in the Central Plains is not filled up, the Ming army will not be able to cross the Central Plains and march north of the Yellow River.
The Tatars were worse off than the Ming army. They were in decline. Their early strategic mistakes, coupled with the Ming Dynasty's resurgence, led to more and more resistance in various places. The Tatars' countermeasures were to massacre and intimidate, and then economically enclose the land, invest in it, impose additional taxes, etc.
These policies of plunder and plunder have made the Tatars no longer popular among the people.
The Tatars put out fires everywhere, killed people everywhere, and collected taxes and levies to maintain their power, but everyone knew that although the Eight Banners of the Tatars were still very powerful in combat, they could no longer save them.
From Hexi to Liaodong, and from the north to Henan, the Tatars do not have an inch of stable land.
Their war resources are getting less and less, and even the Eight Banners cannot hold on.
In one Hanzhong, they killed more than 10,000 people. The pension and burial money alone cost millions of taels, not to mention the loss of such an important land in Hanzhong.
Last year, the Tatars completely lost Longyou, Hexi, Hanzhong, and Yunyang. Henan was left with only Nanyang and Runing, plus half of Shandong, Liaodong lost less than half, and Liaoxi was not stable.
In the current situation, Zhu Yihai actually doesn't need to be anxious. As long as he maintains the current situation, he will have a stable rear, can resume production, accumulate strength, and will become stronger day by day.
However, the Tatars are so exhausted that they cannot even pay out the rations for the Eight Banners and the salaries for the officials.
Zhu Yihai picked up the Tang newspaper again and said, "This Tang newspaper was sent out from Hanzhong at the end of July. It was 600 miles away on an urgent basis. Someone was specially assigned to transfer water and land along the way to deliver it. It also took more than ten days, so it was a bit slow."
Song Zhipu explained, "Tangbao comes from Hanzhong by first going down the Han River to Yunyang, then going south to Yiling, then via the Yangtze River to Nanjing, then going out to sea and taking a boat to the north to Qingdao, and then along the Jiao Lai Canal to Laizhou and then to
Fengtian did take a lot of long detours, mainly Yunyang and Xiangyang, and Wuchang and several places were still in the hands of the Tatars. Otherwise, it would be much faster to go directly along the Han River to Hankou and enter the Yangtze River, and then to Nanjing. It would be much faster to go down the river.
"
Zhu Yihai nodded.
"Since the Chongzhen period, when many post stations across the country were abolished, the Yi Delivery area has indeed been destroyed, so I think it is time to rebuild the Yi Delivery network."
The emperor's words made it difficult for the ministers to answer the question for a while.
Someone once summarized the three major malpractices of the Ming Dynasty, namely, the Weisuo, the vassalage and the post.
Needless to say, the money and food consumed by the vassals and guards in the Ming Dynasty was huge, but it is not easy for the post station to be able to compare with it.
Chongzhen abolished the post stations on a large scale, and the postman Li Zicheng lost his job, and then rebelled and eventually invaded Beijing.
The post station of Ming Dynasty is hard to describe.
The local people were burdened with the burden of the post station. They had to enlist in the army and had to share food and money. The imperial court also suffered from the huge burden of the post station.
This is indeed a sinkhole. It was reformed during the Wanli period, but it was still very serious during the Chongzhen period. The imperial official wrote that the post delivery incident was the most harmful to the people. Today, about seventy-eight out of ten people in Xiazhou County are trapped in the post station, and the post station uses
Only two-tenths are used for official duties, and eight-tenths are used for private matters.
In the end, Chongzhen ordered to streamline and save 685,000 taels a year, thus eliminating the Chongzhen Dynasty.
The post station provoked anti-kings like Li Zicheng, but it was indeed one of the three major sinkholes. Now that the situation is getting better, the emperor said that he would restore the post station, and the ministers did not know how to respond because there were too many sinkholes.
