The infinite heavens start from the red building

Chapter 321 10.34 The Capital Responds to the Reopening of the World
Chapter 10

10.34 The capital responds and the world reopens

A few days later, the Imperial Palace in the capital, the Imperial Study Room of Daming Palace.

"It was sent over urgently from [-] li just now, all of you have a look." Emperor Yongzheng looked tired, but rarely said anything unpleasant, nor did he get angry, "Dai Quan, please explain to all the dear ones. "

"The White Lotus Demon Empress personally led tens of thousands of elite soldiers, and raided the three towns of Wuchang overnight. By the time this urgent report was sent, all of them had fallen, and the situation had reached a critical juncture.

Prior to this, she also adopted the strategy of "clearly repairing plank roads and concealing Chen Cang" to attract the main force of the imperial court to various cities along the Yangtze River, and led the army to attack continuously. Although she could not win all of them, she still controlled several key points.

Now, the imperial court has completely lost control of the section of the Yangtze River from Jiujiang to Wuchang. If it cannot be regained quickly, the entire south of the Yangtze River will be cut off from the imperial court. "Dai Quan's voice was very severe.

"In this case." Niu Jizong, the current leader of martial arts, was one of the first to read the report, his brows were already twisted into the word "Chuan", "It will be troublesome for all the troops who are attracted to the east of Wuchang.

Now the state affairs are difficult. Although the imperial court has been allocating the money, the food and grass are collected locally. Huguang is the world’s granary and has never had any problems, but Wuchang is the core transfer station. Once they lose it, they will cut off their power Grain supply.

It’s okay in a short period of time, at most half a month, and the total number of nearly [-] Huguang local officers and soldiers may run out of food. As long as the White Lotus Demon Empress seizes the opportunity, the battle in Huguang may come to an end.”

"Enough - half a year, half a year at most, if we still can't put down the Bailian rebellion, what is the surname south of the Yangtze River is a difficult topic to talk about." Emperor Yongzheng stood up slowly, cupped his hands in a rare way, "Do all my lovers have a good strategy?"

"I'm waiting for the death penalty!" Everyone in the imperial study fell to their knees.

"I don't want to care about capital crimes now!" Emperor Yongzheng's expression was cold, "I want you to find a way to solve the civil unrest. I think you all know the situation over there now——Niu Aiqing, do you have a good plan?"

"Your Majesty, there is a serious shortage of troops on the front line. If there is not enough troops to supplement, it will be useless even if a humble minister has an idea." Niu Jizong pushed two six five without hesitation.

"Shen Aiqing, what about your side?" Yongzheng's expression became even colder.

"This—" Shen Yan wanted to yell, but he couldn't avoid it, "Nowadays, the country's affairs are difficult, and the Ministry of Households can only pay half of the salaries of the court officials. This"

"That is to say, the front line needs troops, but you can't provide money and food, and can only sit and watch the war continue to deteriorate day by day?" Yongzheng's expression was so gloomy that it was about to drip, "Then, what's the use of supporting you?" ?”

"Your Majesty, the Ministry of Households really can't afford the money and food right now, and it's not the time to collect the summer grains, just for a while." When it comes to money and food, the Ministry of Accounts must be avoided, Shangshu Jiang Xing could only bite the bullet and stand up and explain.

"Your Majesty, in fact, the problem of insufficient money and food is not unique to the imperial court. Admiral Marquis Wei of Jiangnan is also facing this problem. For this reason, he has increased the collection of commercial taxes!" Niu Jizong said suddenly.

"Why, is the general able to collect taxes on the spot?" Li Shouyi, Minister of the Ministry of Rites, immediately stood up and said, "Your Majesty, it has been a long time since the disaster of the feudal towns in the late Tang Dynasty, but the lesson must be learned!"

"Niu Aiqing shouldn't just be talking about these things, right?" Emperor Yongzheng didn't respond. Of course, he could see that the new Minister of Rites was responsible for the civil servants who were in charge of martial arts. "But what question did Wei Aiqing ask?"

"Your Majesty, this is mentioned in Wei Houye's letter to Wei Chen." Niu Jizong, who had been prepared for a long time, immediately took out a few pages and did not forget to throw nails by the way, "He is not qualified to participate in the small court meeting in the Imperial Study Room. Originally, I wanted to submit a memorial, but I was worried that His Majesty would not see it, so I said it in a letter."

"Oh?" Yongzheng glanced coldly at the civil servants, and then opened the letter paper, but within a minute his face flushed, "Niu Aiqing, is what Wei Aiqing said true? Two million taels, commercial tax ?”

"Your Majesty, Lord Marquis Wei also said that Jiangnan's current commercial tax receipts are definitely less than half of what he actually owed, because he is not in Jinling, and many things cannot be implemented directly. Lord Lin is too soft-hearted.

Those merchants concealed too much, and he hasn't figured out a way to verify it yet, let alone solve it directly. " Niu Jizong said immediately, "This data is only for one place in the south of the Yangtze River. "

"Your Majesty, a benevolent monarch has never 'competed with the people for profit' since ancient times." Seeing that the face of the civil servants was getting darker and darker, Li Shouyi, who was in charge of talking about fighting, had to stand up. The Li family is a big family in Jinling. The whole is choking.

"Your Majesty, Lord Wei has also expected this." Niu Jizong immediately interrupted him and handed over a memorial directly this time, "He asked the minister to present this on his behalf, mainly because he was worried that it would not be able to reach His Majesty. He mentioned in the memorial that although the purpose of collecting commercial taxes is to support the army, it will definitely offend many people. If there are no surprises, your majesty’s impeachment report should be enough to prevent the imperial kitchen from buying firewood for some days.”

"Dai Quan?" Emperor Yongzheng immediately turned his head and said.

"My lord, you said a few days ago that the servants should collect them first, but the servants have not forgotten." Dai Quan waved his hand immediately, and soon four wooden cabinets about three feet in length were lifted up, "This is this month's , and because there are too many other things, this imperial study room is really beyond its reach."

"Huh!" Emperor Yongzheng waved his hand impatiently, glared at the civil servants and said nothing more. He kept these notes, not because he was so kind to Wei Xu, but because he knew in his heart that even if He wanted to do it, but there was nothing he could do for the time being.

Wei Xu's kind "reminder" is of course not that he really intends to serve the court, but that he wants to muddy the waters in the capital again. He is now the second only to the four kings with different surnames. His goal is too big.

Although it is not impossible to take down the entire Jiangnan and wipe out the Zhennan Army now, but the talent pool is still insufficient, and it is still inconvenient to do it directly, so we can only find ways to buy time, whether it is Dongfangbai or the capital. , are actually for one purpose.

"Your Majesty, the matter of business and taxation is very involved, and I'm afraid it will be difficult for a while." Jiang Xing, Minister of the Household Department, reported with a serious face, as if he hadn't heard the irony just now.

"Of course I know that there is a lot involved." Yongzheng flipped through Wei Xu's papers, waved his hand impatiently and said, "It's just that the country's affairs are difficult now, and it's time for this group of people to serve the country.

Since Wei Aiqing can collect 200 million taels of tax in Jiangnan, presumably there should be no difference in more than ten provinces in the north. What does Jiang Aiqing think? "

"Your Majesty——Sheng Ming!" Jiang Xing could only respond with a bitter face, even though he felt as if he had eaten Coptis chinensis in his heart, and said bluntly, if he can't find money and food to expand the army this time, Emperor Yongzheng doesn't mind taking it away. He killed it like a chicken.

"Your Majesty, if you only talk about the salary, two million taels is enough to guarantee the needs of a hundred thousand troops for a year, but if you count the food and grass." Niu Jizong saw that it was beneficial, and immediately stepped forward to make up for it.

"Jiang Aiqing?" Of course Emperor Yongzheng understood this, so he looked at Jiang Xing again.

"Your Majesty, now Jiangnan is full of waste, and Huguang is in war again. It's about food and grass." This time Jiang Xing didn't have the guts to guarantee that the food problem in the entire feudal era had always been serious.

"En!" Yongzheng nodded, knowing that Jiang Xing was not lying, he thought about it and looked at Niu Jizong, "Niu Aiqing, did Wei Aiqing mention how to solve the problem of food and grass?"

"Marquis Wei didn't think of a direct solution, but he mentioned something." Niu Jizong immediately replied with a smile on his face, "If there is something lacking in the Central Plains, you can look at the surrounding vassal states, and maybe you can gain something.

As far as I know, although Koryo is a small country and the people are weak, there are still a few lands that produce grain. However, if you raise money from there, although the purchase is cheaper than that in Zhongtu, the cost of transshipment is quite high. "

"Well!" Yongzheng nodded. Of course he has known for a long time that Wu Xun has been using Jinmen and Weihaiwei for sea trade, and the main route is to go north to Korea, Japan, etc., "You can discuss it with Jiang Aiqing. !"

"I will obey the order!" Seeing that the problem has been solved, both civil and military personnel in the imperial study heaved a sigh of relief, and the rest of the time is nothing more than going through the scene and going home to sleep.

At the same time, the capital is Pingyuanhou's Mansion.

"Brother Xu, this time Sister Bai's actions are a bit too big, although it has indeed attracted all the attention of the court." Lin Daiyu said softly, "In this way, will the pressure on her be too great?"

"Don't worry, Dongfang will take care of it. More importantly, there is no shortage of supplies in the south of the Yangtze River." Wei Xu knows that "war is about logistics", and he is definitely the richest in the world now. "If necessary, add some troops In the past, the Jiangnan side could recruit troops on the spot to make up for it.”

"Brother Xu, can we do it again now?" Shi Xiangyun didn't care about this, but stared at the jade pendant on Wei Xu's wrist with a pair of beautiful eyes, and his eyes showed excitement.

"That's right, the most important thing for us now is not these things, but this!" Wei Xu smiled and shook his wrist, "It's just that this time, I'm a bit confused, because it's really hard to match up!"

"Huh?" All the girls showed surprise on their faces, even Xue Baoqin, who had never been to the world of the heavens but had already been instilled with knowledge, was the same!
(End of this chapter)