open sea

Chapter 1236 Changes
The plague should not have broken out in Tongzhou. Tongzhou is the northern end of the Grand Canal, the last stop of water transport from the south to the north, and the plague came from the north.

According to the incubation time, it should have erupted in Miyun or even on the way outside the pass, so the harm would be much less. There were very few wounded soldiers of the Zhejiang army who followed Qi Jiguang's northern expedition, and there were corresponding precautions for emergencies. The news of an epidemic may not even spread into the customs.

But Emperor Wanli had a good heart in his mouth, and the Qinglong Army column helped Plague complete his journey from Wulianghai to Tongzhou.

The name Qinglong Junlian sounds cool, but it's not the same thing at all to the soldiers who ride it, and no one wants to ride it a second time unless it is absolutely necessary-but there is no way, their general thinks, and feels they thought.

hurry up.

How can a fully organized guerrilla general headquarter carry supplies, tanks, and artillery for forty miles in one hour?

No, there is no such thing in this world.

It is not difficult for soldiers on foot to walk twenty miles. Veterans who have been trained hard can even eat and rest a few times on the road. Things can't go fast on flat roads.

But as long as the troops pull up to the station and board the Qinglong, the military column can send all the people, horses, vehicles, artillery, and food three hundred miles away within twelve hours.

Forty miles in one hour is not difficult, what is difficult is two or three hours, always moving forward at the same speed, people need rest, horses need rest even more, but Qinglong does not.

It can continue to drive at this speed as long as the track is not finished after one or two days.

Under the temptation of such a speed, the generals didn't care about such issues as strong wind, cold weather, shaking and shaking their brains out.

In fact, then again, sitting in the Qinglong Army column is uncomfortable, and you can travel thousands of miles. If you ask anyone, he would rather suffer for three days in the military column than walk for half a month or even a month on his legs.

Times are changing, and even Qi Jiguang did not expect Wulianghai to be truly stabilized in his hands... The fact is too paradoxical. After the completion of the wooden-iron composite track, Beizhili, thousands of miles away, dispatched troops to Wuliangha Sanwei. It is faster than the Mongolian tribe grazing over two mountains.

The bad effect of this change is that everything is converging towards the center, and this center is Tongzhou, which extends in all directions.

It is not only the last stop of water transportation, but also the starting point of railway transportation outside the mouth. It can also directly connect to Beiyang sea transportation. The army is in Tongzhou, the wounded soldiers are in Tongzhou, the coachmen are in Tongzhou, the coal merchants are in Tongzhou, and the grain merchants are naturally in Tongzhou. Everything is in Tongzhou. Convergence—the plague, also came.

Chen Shigong's preparations were relatively simple. Fortunately, not long after the year, there were still many firecrackers in the capital and Kinki, which were confiscated by the chief medical officer with the emperor's hair in the treasury, and pancreas, medical uniforms, sulfur powder, and turbans from the Beiyang Industrial Zone , Masks and other items are all made according to orders, and the court will give them at a certain price, so that Emperor Wanli has gained a good reputation.

Wanli was indeed very concerned about the plague. Not only did he issue an edict to take the silver from Taicang and send it to the eunuchs of Dongchang to Tongzhou. In addition, part of the briquette tax was exchanged for charcoal fire support from large coal merchants in Tongzhou, and on the other hand, eunuchs were sent to various places to purchase materials with their internal treasury silver.

More critically, food is always a big problem in any catastrophe.

The dignitaries have good hygienic conditions, regardless of hair care and skin care for brushing their teeth and face, or bath beans and pancreas for bathing, they have enough financial resources and can use as much as they want; To satisfy food and drink, and to keep warm and cold, health is generally a little worse than that of the nobles.

Those most vulnerable to infection are precisely the producers of food and basic supplies.

After this trend was discovered by Wanli, he immediately made a decision-this year, the 460 million shi rice and grain shipped by the Nanyang military government to Beiyang will not enter the capital, but will all be transferred to the water transport yamen, and they will be pressed in Tongzhou to relieve the famine like a needle in the sea.

The floating hearts stabilized almost instantly.

There is almost no precedent for such a decision. It's not that people in the past didn't want to, but because they really didn't have the ability. The 460 million shi rice is close to [-]% of the empire's annual tax revenue, and it can feed [-]% of the nine soldiers. It's not easy, not to mention that the previous emperors didn't have this income, so how could they make a decision?

Only Wanli, the empire not only had this continuous extra income in the era when he was in charge, but also the reduction in Lumi brought about by the transfer of the vassal. Money and food in his era were really elite divisions that could be used for offense, not A local army that can only defend.

In other words, Lord Longqing didn’t eat anything all day long. The Ming Empire in the Longqing era was still in deficit every year. Even if Wanli ate wildly every day and spent 200 million taels a year, no matter what he used the money for, he would be in the Forbidden City. He is still a Mingjun if he takes money to melt a lot of little Wanli to play with him, because his expenses will not stretch the empire's expenditure, nor will it affect the normal operation of the empire.

And the personal experience of Chen Shigong, the chief medical officer who has received this strong financial support, is naturally invincible.

Under the conditions of an excellent macro environment, even if personal abilities are not so outstanding, as long as they are not too slow, they can often get things done.

The reverse is also the same. When the Ming Dynasty collapsed, no matter how many loyal ministers and good generals tried their best to support it, the general officer Hou Shilu was an example. He took 2000 soldiers and horses from the Xuanfu to defend Beijing. Leading troops to Jizhou, the two counties along the way didn't care about food. The chief general Yuan Chonghuan thought his soldiers were old, weak and tired, so Jizhou city didn't allow them to enter, let alone stay overnight. The artillery and artillery sent him to other places; Hou Shilu, who had lost his heavy firepower, went to Tongzhou City, but Tongzhou refused to let him enter the city, leaving [-] people to guard Tongzhou, because his soldiers were hungry, and they had been hungry for three days on the road. The people were hungry and there was no leader to lead them, so they robbed; and Hou Zongbing was chased by the Liao soldiers on the way from Tongzhou to Shunyi. .

Finally brought the remnant soldiers into the city of Beijing, lost the battle again, was hit on the brain with a stick, fled back to Shanxi to recuperate, and was impeached when he returned, saying that he had robbed 700 taels of silver chariots, and was spared death because of the hard work of King Qin dismissed from office.

The most embarrassing thing is that the 3000 taels of silver belonged to the Jurchen general Haning Ajie.

The whole battle has basically nothing to do with whether he is mediocre or talented. The general environment is that the army owes a salary for a year, the commander is incompetent, the logistics supply is not good, the local officials are discriminated against, and the loss of effective cooperation with multiple armies is a joint battle. nightmare.

　Good morning!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)