Emperor Ming Dynasty

Chapter 522
For such a situation, You Shiwei, who is in charge of Gansu-Shaanxi, bears the main responsibility.

The reason why he eagerly used troops to the northwest was because Liu Tingjie swept Monan, and the emperor gave him the power to manage the Hetao.

This had a great impact on You Shiwei: "Lieutenant General Liu Tingjie still wants to climb on top of me, don't even think about it."

So, after some mobilization, they set off along the Huangshui River, thinking that Li Zicheng would inevitably send troops to fight head-to-head, and the preparations for food and grass were not sufficient.

But who knew that Li Zicheng could bear the loneliness, they were almost at Xiningwei, and they still couldn't hear the wind.

In this way, they will sit on the wax instead. If they continue to send troops, they will have insufficient food and grass, and if they retreat, all previous efforts will be wasted.

So there is no choice but to choose to buy and sell merchants by force. After all, this is a common thing in feudal society.

However, in the late Ming Dynasty, the township party was prevalent, and there were the Chu Party and the Qi Party in politics. In private business, Shanxi merchants, Shanxi merchants, and Huizhou merchants also held together, and established a large number of guild halls across the country. Although loose, But there are occasional pulls together.

And You Shiwei faced Shaanxi merchants, who were both a township party and a business group with a strong background, so he could only choose to remain silent and could do nothing.

Jiang Tuan frowned and said, "I heard that the Shanxi merchants invested a lot when they were in the hidden residence today. It's really difficult."

Thinking of this, Jiang Yu also felt a headache. He had joined him when he was in Hanzhong, and some of his qualifications were older than You Shiwei. How can this be mandatory?

When the war is over, plus the impeachment of robbing people's wealth, it means that there is no war.

"Since Shaanxi merchants cannot be forced, why not guide them?"

At this moment, Uncle Longzhou and Zeng Ying of Ningxia Commander-in-Chief, who had a big beard and was eager to try, stroked his long beard and suggested.

Zeng Ying was a Sichuan general who made great contributions in resisting Zhang Xianzhong's war epidemic. Later, he took refuge in the then king of Yu and the current emperor, so he replaced Zhu Meng and guarded Dasan Pass.

Afterwards, he took part in the Battle of Xi'an, and when Emperor Shaowu ascended the throne, he was granted the title of Uncle Longzhou.

In the first year of Shaowu, he also served as the commander-in-chief of Ningxia, regaining Ningxia and Lanzhou, and sent troops to the Hexi Corridor. Now he is following You Shiwei to pacify Li Zicheng.

But obviously, he did not catch up with the Winter Solstice seal in the first year of Shaowu, he was still an earl, and Hui Dengxiang, Wang Guangen, Zhao Guangyuan, Qin Yiming, etc., who were also granted the title of uncle, were all promoted to marquis.

Therefore, it attaches great importance to the quelling of chaos this time.

"Leader, where did you come from?"

You Shiwei was taken aback, and turned to look at the beard-loving chief soldier.

"Qizhizhi, the generation in the northwest, especially along our road, has noticed that the lakes are mostly salt water, and even many lake bottoms have a bluish-white color. This may be green salt!"

Zeng Ying sighed: "If we use silver, the Shaanxi merchants will not be happy, but if we use green salt, the Shaanxi merchants will be happy."

"Salt, that's right, green salt is top-grade, and the price is several times that of ordinary official salt."

Jiang Guan hurriedly clapped his hands and said, with a greedy look on his face: "If we have the official salt price to sell to Shaanxi merchants in exchange for their transportation of grain, wouldn't it be the best of both worlds?"

You Shiwei showed a moved expression.

That's right, these salt lakes are placed here, and the army must not be able to mine them, but the merchants can, after all, this place belongs to the country.

Still, there are risks here.

"Okay——" You Shiwei gritted his teeth and made up his mind: "Tell those Shaanxi merchants that as long as they are willing to transport grain, I will allow them to mine green salt. As for the price, it will be rock salt and rice."

Gao Yigong became a spectator at the side, and he was relieved when he saw several people discussing the countermeasures and finally got a result.

Finally having a place in Ming Dynasty, he didn't want to return to Nanjing in despair.

Thinking of the official rank of Gansu General Soldier and Xintaizi, Gao Yigong feels ashamed, it's all due to my sister!

For the sake of his sister and nephew, Li Zicheng really had to beat him.

Just when he was thinking wildly, You Shiwei, who had made a decision by the side, did not forget the general soldier of Gansu:

"Mr. Gao, you must be the only one who knows Li Zicheng the best in the entire barracks. I don't know what he thinks now?"

"After all, our army is only two hundred miles away from Qinghai Lake."

Gao Yigong was asked abruptly, so he could only bite the bullet and say: "I don't know much about the humble job, but I know that Li Zicheng is good at cavalry, he likes surprise attacks, and doesn't like to be frontal. Now that he lost Li Yan in the camp, it must be because of him." Lord!"

"A surprise attack?" You Shiwei was lost in thought.

The [-] troops under his command are the elite of the Northwest. There are nearly [-] cavalry in the frontier army alone, and there is also the elite Yulin Battalion.

Even when he left Nanjing, he asked the court for a thousand flintlock guns and two hundred carrying guns, thinking of them as his trump cards.

"Li Zicheng went to the Tumote tribe. If he conquered the tribe, there must be a lot of cavalry."

As he said that, You Shiwei raised his head and said sharply: "From today onwards, we will be sent out for fifty li at night, and the rangers will be patrolled in shifts throughout the day, and we must not slack off."

Now, the whole army immediately fell into tension.

As the time arrived at the end of June, Shaanxi merchants continuously delivered grain and grass through Huangshui, as well as a large amount of gunpowder, which relieved the whole army.

You Shiwei's confidence also doubled, and without any worries, he resolutely led his troops westward and arrived at Xiningwei.

Xining City was built by soldiers led by Geng Bingwen, Marquis of Changxing. The city alone is five feet high (16 meters) and five feet thick.

During the Zhengde and Jiajing dynasties, the vitality declined, and only the [-]-mile-long Xining Guard side wall could be built, which played a great role in preventing the invasion of the Mongols.

"It seems that Xiningwei is still there!"

When You Shiwei saw the bright flag on the city wall, his face was full of smiles.

"Regulation, since Jiajing, the frontier army has been abolished, and the Xining Guard is barely feasible for the Tartars, but if it is a thief, I am afraid it will be powerless."

Zeng Ying shook her head, full of vigilance.

Jiang Guan on the side was about to refute, blocking this guy who wanted to steal the limelight, but after thinking about it, what he said was indeed reasonable.

If it is said that Datong and Xuanfu still have some combat power because of the capital, but how can Xining, a poor and remote place, be able to deal with intruders.

"What Zeng Zongbing said is true." He could only agree helplessly.

"That's right." Gao Yigong on the side also agreed: "Chuangjun especially likes to pretend to be officers and soldiers, and there are even officers and soldiers among them, so that it is difficult to distinguish the real from the fake."

"Back then, Li Guo pretended to be Governor Sun and seized the city with a big banner. If it weren't for His Majesty's wisdom, Tongguan would have been in danger."

Speaking of this, everyone nodded their heads. This is not the current emperor's battle to become famous, killing a tiger and Li Guo, and becoming famous in the Central Plains.

As a foil, Li Jizu acted as a buffoon and almost lost Tongguan.

"You must guard against it!"

You Shiwei nodded, and said cautiously: "Send someone to check, and put the whole army on guard in case of a surprise attack."

(End of this chapter)