scourge the qing dynasty

Chapter 306
"Pass the decree, take down Wang Xu's family, the treacherous official who wronged the country, and take him to Caishikou immediately for questioning and beheading!"

With bloodshot eyes yelling out this decree, Kang Mazi took another look at the fake dragon case, and yelled, "How many new troops have been recruited in Shandong Province in Zhili now? How many Mongolian troops have been transferred?"

"Return to master." Mingzhu, Minister of the Ministry of War, replied tremblingly: "Currently, there are 120 newly recruited troops in Zhili and Shandong, and a total of 910 soldiers were urgently recruited from Liaodong Nine people are currently stationed in Dong'an. A total of 250 troops from various Mongolian ministries are currently stationed in Zhangjiakou."

"More than 12, that's enough!" Kang Mazi slapped the table again, and shouted: "Decree, quickly prepare for the personal conquest. I want to personally lead the 12 army to drive the personal conquest, and personally fight Lu Yifeng's dog thief to the death. ! Recover the whole territory of Jiangnan!"

"Yujia's personal conquest?" Mingzhu, Suo'etu, Zhang Ying, and Jueluo Dehun and other important ministers present were all stunned. Starting up, they shouted together crying: "Master, absolutely not! Absolutely not! Master is the master of the world, every breath and every breath shakes the universe. You must not leave the capital without authorization, and easily conquer by yourself!"

"Fart!" Kang Mazi snarled wildly with red eyes: "Lu Yifeng's thieves have occupied my Jiangnan, cut off my water transportation, and played me like a monkey for half a year! If I don't drive myself to conquer it, I will go and get it myself!" This dog thief will be hacked into pieces and executed Ling Chi, wouldn't I be the laughing stock of thousands of people?!"

"Master, don't do it!" The ministers tried to persuade him again, but Kang Mazi overthrew the false dragon case and roared, "I have made up my mind, whoever dares to persuade me again will be beheaded immediately!"

Suo'etu, Jueluo Ledehun and others quickly shut up, trembling and sweating profusely. They wanted to persuade but dared not continue to persuade, but Mingzhu plucked up the courage to kneel out, kowtowed and said: "Master, you just cut the slave!" , Master, please finish the slave's words! Lu Yifeng is a thief who deceives the emperor and fools the emperor. He really deserves death. All the slaves want to eat his flesh, lay his skin, and drink his blood!— — But, master, we can no longer afford to fight the battle of Yujia's personal conquest, and it is impossible to win it!"

Speaking of this, Mingzhu burst into tears, crying loudly and said: "It is true that the slaves recruited 5 new troops for the master, and also transferred more than [-] mite and Mongolian troops from outside the pass, but these troops, to put it bluntly, are Crowd! Of the [-] new troops recruited in Zhili, Shandong, at least [-]% of the soldiers were not equipped with weapons. The actual combat test, and most of them have only gone through two or three months of preliminary training, what effect can they play on the battlefield?"

"As for our newly recruited Mongolian army, the Mongolian army is a little better. Most of them are young and strong soldiers, and they also bring their own weapons and horses. However, our soldiers in the Mite Province are mostly children of fifteen or sixteen years old. And the 50-year-old old soldiers! There are also their food, grass and military pay, as well as the rations and wages of the civilians to ensure that the 12 troops go out, and the slaves can’t afford it now——!”

"Master!" Mingzhu repeatedly kowtowed and cried bitterly, "Master, please think about it carefully. With such an army traveling thousands of miles, crossing the dangerous Yellow River flood area, and then attacking Jiangnan with its natural fortified city Is there a chance of winning? The slaves are not afraid of death, but they just don't want the master's fame to be ruined!"

"Master, what Ming Zhongtang said is justified, please think twice, master!" Suo'etu, Jue Luo Le Dehun and the others also wept bitterly and kowtowed repeatedly, for fear that Kang Mazi would do something stupid in his rage and impulsiveness, which would completely ruin Mi Qing's life. The last ray of hope also achieved and established Fatty Lu's eternal fame.

Yiyi's imperial conquest was unanimously opposed by all his confidantes and lackeys, and the anger in Kang Mazi's heart can be imagined, his pockmarked face was so angry that all the pockmarks bulged out, bulging like pimples all over his face, he almost wanted to see the A few hard-core lackeys of mine chewed it alive, and they can eat it raw without even dipping it in soy sauce!But fortunately, Kang Mazi is also a descendant of wild boar skin. No matter how much he likes military affairs, he doesn't know how to pretend to know how to command. He also understands that an army without military pay, food, grass, and weapons is a bunch of scum. The group of pigs slaughtered by Fatty Lu had no hope of winning.

It was also because of this that Kang Mazi thought about it, and finally made a little concession, and asked: "Then how many troops can we dispatch at most under the condition of ensuring the military supplies and food?"

Mingzhu wiped away her tears, pinched her fingers and counted quickly for a moment, and then whispered a few words with Suo'etu, finally bit the bullet and replied: "Master, if you want to ensure that the army has no shortage of food and grass, you can only dispatch four [-] troops. We can only support the [-] troops to fight for about four months at most, if the time is longer, the slaves will have nothing to do."

"Forty thousand troops? Why is it so small?" Kang Mazi asked angrily.

"Master, the slaves have done their best." Mingzhu replied with a mournful face: "It is impossible to deliver this year's grain. Excluding the rations for the [-] troops who fought in April, the remaining grain in the Beijing warehouse is only enough to support the capital. By February next year, the slaves really won’t be able to get it out.”

"There is no grain, so what about the autumn grain from Zhili, Shandong and Shanxi? Have you included it?" Kang Mazi asked.

"Back to the master, the slaves have already been counted in." The chief assistant Suo'etu replied tremblingly: "Shandong and Zhili have never been large grain-producing provinces. Although the weather is good this year and there is no major famine, even if all The tax and food are all collected, and there is only enough. The situation in Shanxi is a little better, but the money and food collected in Shanxi must be fully supplied to Shaanxi and Gansu, not only can’t make a surplus, but also have to extend a part to the court.”

"What about the military salary?" Kang Mazi suddenly remembered an important question.

The first assistant Suo'etu and the second assistant Mingzhu looked at each other, and then Suo'etu replied tremblingly: "Master, for a month, the servants can only pay the [-] troops for one month at most."

"Master, you can't completely blame Suo Zhongtang." Mingzhu defended his political opponent Suo'etu for the first time: "After ten years of Kangxi, the imperial court's revenue has been unable to maintain the expenditure of the army. To make up for the shortfall, Master Axixu tried every means to obtain money from Jiangnan, which was barely able to maintain. After Lu Yifeng's dog thief invaded Jiangnan half a year ago, all these were cut off, and the most important salt tax and tea tax of the imperial court Lijin and Customs are gone. Suo Zhongtang has been able to support it to this day because of countless efforts and painstaking efforts, and it is not easy..."

Mingzhu didn't dare to finish her sentence. If it wasn't for being played by Fatty Lu like a monkey for the first half of the year, she would have gone south to attack Fatty Lu with all her strength. In the end, not only was the precious fighter opportunity completely missed, but the Qing economy, which relied entirely on Jiangnan's wealth, was also completely overwhelmed.

But this was enough, after listening to the first half of Mingzhu's speech, Kang Mazi collapsed back to the false dragon chair, with despair written all over Ma's face, he lamented after a while: "Da Qing, is it really over? "

None of the lackeys of Kang Mazi present could answer this question, but the despair and helplessness in their eyes clearly showed that they agreed with Kang Mazi's judgment.

"No, I still have hope. As long as I regain Jiangnan and get rid of Lu Yifeng, the scourge of the Qing Dynasty, I still have a chance!" After comforting himself, Kang Mazi forced himself to sit up straight again, hoarse The voice said: "Then tell me, is there any way to increase income for the national treasury? Get military pay and food for me?"

"Master, there is really nothing the slave can do except to learn from Geng Jingzhong and increase taxes on the people." Suo'etu replied with a mournful face.

"Increase taxes?!" Kang Mazi shuddered, and suddenly remembered the lesson of Chongzhen's last years. Drinking poison to quench thirst, the more taxes and taxes were added to the people, the faster the situation would collapse.

Mingzhu observed the words and expressions, saw the fear on Kang Mazi's face and knew that Kang Mazi was hesitating, so she said cautiously: "Master, increasing taxes and levies is drinking poison to quench thirst. Since the master loves the people like a son and cannot bear to do such a thing, then this servant may have a way to resolve the current situation. Eyes on the horizon."

"Quickly, what can I do?" Kang Mazi asked excitedly.

"Master, why don't you follow Lu Yifeng's dog thief and issue military coins?" Mingzhu said cautiously while peeking at Kang Mazi's face: "The imperial court carefully reported that when Lu Yifeng's dog thief ran thousands of miles to attack Jiangning City, in order to ensure the physical strength of the soldiers, Along the way, pigs, cattle, sheep, chickens and other domestic animals were purchased by Lu Yifeng's dog thief, and they were slaughtered and cooked for soldiers to eat. Because there was no cash in hand, Lu Yifeng's dog thief issued a substitute silver called military coins. Afterwards, after Lu Yifeng's dog thief captured Jiangning City, he exchanged cash for the military currency he issued at that time, and paid a little interest, so those common people Not only did he have no complaints, but he is also very grateful to Lu Yifeng's dog thief."

"Isn't this a disguised search from the common people?" Kang Mazi roared angrily.

"It's true, but this proves that this method can indeed solve a temporary emergency." Mingzhu replied cautiously: "And as long as it is timely and creditworthy, not only will it not make the people resentful and dissatisfied, but it will also further strengthen the hearts of the people. "

Suo'etu, Zhang Ying, Jue Luole Dehun and others also nodded repeatedly, echoing Mingzhu's move—just kidding, those fat sheep in the south of the Yangtze River have been circled away by Fatty Lu, so don't hurry up and encourage Kang Mazi to search the people's heads with all their strength. If Kang Mazi wanted to slaughter the fat sheep again, he would definitely start with the new fat sheep from the rich, dignitaries and dignitaries in the capital!As for Kang Mazi's confidants and their family members present, which one is not among this group of new fat sheep?
"That's true..." Kang Mazi had a thoughtful look on his face.It would be a lie to say that Kang Mazi really didn't want to plunder the common people—otherwise, what would Kang Mazi eat and drink?For Kang Mazi, what he was worried about was actually how to search a large number of people without stirring up a popular uprising.So after hearing about Fatty Lu's idea that transcended the times, Kang Mazi only thought about it for less than a quarter of an hour, and quickly decided: "Then give it a try. Anyway, it's better than raising taxes directly from the people." powerful!"

"Master Shengming." Mingzhu, Suo'etu and the others breathed a sigh of relief, and hurriedly kowtowed in agreement.

"Hurry up and draw up a statement, and submit it in the morning!" Kang Mazi ordered: "I want you to raise enough military expenses to arm my 12 new army within one month, as well as their southern expedition." Food and grass and military pay. Within three months, we must raise enough food and grass for our army to march south for half a year!"

"Present it in the morning? The master wants us to be villains and he is the holy master." Suo'etu, Mingzhu and others murmured together, but they didn't dare to say it directly, so they had to knock out their teeth and swallow their blood together. Kowtowed and replied neatly: "My emperor is holy, long live the emperor, long live long live!"

........................

With Kang Mazi's words, the Qing court, which has been overwhelmed by huge military expenditures, can finally breathe a sigh of relief and can flex its muscles. In just one night, the plan to issue military coins of 800 million taels of silver was officially launched. Released, the release period is one year, the annual profit is three cents, and it will be released nationwide—to be precise, it will be released on the territory north of the Yellow River that the Qing court can effectively control now.

In view of the fact that the vast majority of the common people have not been exposed to this new thing, the Qing court also formulated the contracted issuance amount of military coins in each province and government without a teacher, forcing the governments and generals to issue coins in exchange for the coins in the hands of the people. Cash is used for military expenditure, and officials who do not implement it properly, and officials who fail to complete the issuance task, will be dismissed and punished!In addition, the Qing court made a more wise decision to use military coins for all food transactions, so that the Qing court could use military coins to purchase military grain.And although Kang Mazi knew that this was also drinking poison to quench his thirst, and if he couldn't exchange it for cash after a year, the consequences might be more terrifying than a large-scale tax increase!However, considering the current financial difficulties of the Qing court, Kang Mazi gritted his teeth and signed the plan, approving its implementation.

When it was officially implemented, the area under the control of the Qing court suddenly became lively. The people with a high illiteracy rate in this era would not believe that this kind of rough printed torn paper could be used as money and could be exchanged for cash in the future. For this reason, countless civil uprisings of various scales occurred, forcing the local officials of the Qing Dynasty to suppress and enforce it with force, while quietly taking the big traitor Lu Fatty as an example, "I heard that Lu Yifeng Lu Sanhao Lu Is there a God of Wealth? He made this thing. The people in Jiangxi exchanged silver and copper coins for this kind of military currency, and within a month, they exchanged it back for cash and earned two cents more interest!"

"What? You don't know who Lu Caishen is? It's Lu Yifeng who made the Eight Banners drug cream, and that Lu Yifeng who dug up tens of millions of taels of silver in Guangxi! You use Can his things be wrong? Just wait to get rich!"

Of course, it is impossible for the Qing court to hide such a big move from the eyes of the rebels from all walks of life, and when the spy sent the news back to the leaders of the rebels from all walks of life, Geng Jingzhong, who was being overwhelmed by the military salary, suddenly stared. As soon as it came to light, we did the same thing without saying a word, and issued military currency to search for people's wealth. By the way, in order to pay for the huge military expenditure, our Lord Geng has now invented more than a dozen new taxes.And our second prince, Wu Yingqi, although Wu Jun's current financial situation is still relatively weak, he imitated it without even thinking about it, and used it to plunder people's wealth and fill his own pockets, forcing the later Fatty Lu to wipe his ass for him. Repaying it for him out of his own pocket is something for later, so I won't mention it for now.

"Hahahahaha...!" Unlike other anti-thief leaders, when the culprit, Fatty Lu, heard that the Qing court was imitating himself in issuing military coins, not only did Lu Fatty not order to continue issuing military coins, but he laughed three times. Laughing maniacally, he said, "It's over! It's over! If you open this hole, Kang Mazi will never try to close it again in his life!"

"Boss, Mangou is indeed doomed, but our troubles are coming!" Wang Shaobo reminded: "Since Emperor Mangou has done this, he naturally hopes to be able to fulfill the promise in a year's time, in exchange for the hearts of the people to recover the loss." , Where did the Mangou Emperor’s money come from? Now, in the whole world, who else can come up with this money except us in Jiangnan?”

"Uncle Shao is right." Zhu Fangdan rarely expressed correct opinions on military politics, and warned: "Since Emperor Mangou has done this, he must want to take a desperate gamble and use this borrowed money and food as military pay." , Take back Jiangnan at all costs, and then use Jiangnan's money to repay the loan! It is estimated that it will not be long before the power of the whole country is about to beat us!"

"Come on, come on, I'm afraid they won't make it?!" Fatty Lu said arrogantly: "With the current quality and quantity of the Mangou army, and our current situation, unless Mangou abandons Shaanxi and Gansu and transfers back to Shaanxi Gan's main force, together with Jiangxi's main force and Zhejiang's main force, will besiege me with all their strength! Otherwise, even if only two main forces are used, they will never want to snatch Jiangnan from me!"

"But we have to suffer heavy losses, don't we?" Wang Shaobo is not as humble as Lu Fatty, and he calmly warned: "Master, please think about it, if Mangou draws part of the army from Zhejiang and some troops from the battlefield in northern Jiangxi, then Mobilize or assemble a large army to attack us from the north and attack us from three sides at the same time. Even if we can win in the end, the territory will be beaten to pieces by the dogs. Without a foothold, what else do you use to compete with others?"

"Of course I understand this." Fatty Lu waved his hands, spread them out again, and said helplessly: "But what can I do? Who told me that I occupy the best land now, and I have completely torn my skin with Man Gou, Man Gou If you don’t hit me, who will you hit? Apart from trying to keep the enemy at home, what else can you do?”

"Didn't the master ever think of attacking first?" Wang Shaobo said with a smile: "Although we can't send our allies into the south of the Yangtze River to make a living, if we take advantage of Mangou before we have a chance to kill them from the north, we should first kill the soldiers around us." Weaken the two full dogs so that they can only protect themselves without any aggressiveness. Wouldn’t it be much easier when the full dogs are encircled and suppressed? By the way, they can also train the new army, grab one or two more state capitals, and fight for Wouldn't one or two buffer sites serve multiple purposes?"

Fatty Lu stopped talking, strode to the sand table of the map, and stared at the sand table for a long time before Fatty Lu asked, "Uncle Shao, in your opinion, we should weaken that dog first?"

"Of course it's the Mangou in the south." Wang Shaobo quickly replied: "Geng Jingzhong, who helped us to contain the Mangou on the southern line, is not only the weakest, but also the most unreliable. He may reach an armistice agreement with the Mangou at any time to deceive us, and it will only be greatly weakened." Only when Man Gou in the south and Man Gou come to the north for a decisive battle, can our southern front be safe. As for the West Front, no matter how unreliable the Second Prince, General Ma Bao and General Xia Guoxiang are, they will never fight Man Gou The truce will allow the northern Jiangxi Mangou to deal with us with all their strength, so our western front is relatively safe."

"Write a letter for me, to the one who raised your sex." Fatty Lu ordered without turning his head: "Tell him, I will personally lead the army to the south in a few days, first attacking Songjiang and then attacking Jiaxing, ensuring the safety of the flanks. , and then attack Huzhou and Hangzhou! Please launch an attack on the front line of Jinhua as soon as possible, and strive to join our army under the city of Hangzhou!"

"Boss, there's no need to tell Mangou about our route of attack, right?" Wang Shaobo was startled, and hurriedly reminded: "My boss forgot that Zeng Yangxing had stopped attacking Mangou in Hangzhou under the order of Geng Jingzhong. Just let Zhejiang Mangou come to bite us, so that they can reap the benefits—if Zeng Yangxing learns from his wicked master and deliberately betrays us, and sells your letter to Zhejiang Mangou, then we will be in big trouble gone?"

"Of course I know that." Fatty Lu grinned, and replied, "However, I just hope Zeng Yangxing will betray me!"

(End of this chapter)