After handling the military affairs outside the city, Qingxian County also began to send back news, but many key details related to the army's next move still require further reconnaissance.

What Zhou Shixian is most concerned about is naturally the attitude of the local Cao Gang in Qingxian County towards the Ming court, as well as their number of ships and food and grass reserves. He has an army of 2,000 and 700 to 800 horses, which consumes a huge amount of money every day.

However, it would take time to find out the military information. Zhou Shixian could only continue to wait besides asking Wu Xingye to send out sentries to be wary of the pursuing troops in the north.

However, he must set off immediately by noon tomorrow at the latest, otherwise he is very likely to be discovered by the Shun army.

During this period, he naturally wanted to go into the city to pay his respects to Emperor Chongzhen and Empress Zhou, and to meet his daughter-in-law, who had not yet visited, and his sister-in-law, who had been clamoring for cakes.

After appeasing his mother-in-law and his unmarried daughter-in-law, who knew about the killing last night, and promising his sister-in-law to buy cakes for her, Zhou Shixian finally had time for a "private meeting" with Li Banghua and Ni Yuanlu, two important ministers.

They were on the road all the way south. Although Li Banghua and Ni Yuanlu had long wanted to have a good chat with this talented and talented prince-in-law, they never had the right opportunity.

In fact, when the two met Emperor Chongzhen for the first time, they had roughly guessed that taking them south was the personal decision of the consort Zhou Shixian, but they couldn't guess the reasons.

After all, they had only heard about this prince-in-law. They neither knew him nor knew that he was actually capable of such a thing.

Zhou Shixian listened to the two people's questions, but smiled slightly and said: "Meng Weng and Ni Gong are both pillars of the country. I, the brave and loyal ministers in the Ming Dynasty, have long been famous in the government and the public. How can the younger generation not know?"

Although Li Banghua and Ni Yuanlu were highly respected, they still won the emperor's heart when facing the emperor's consort. Just like the praise of the emperor's consort, they couldn't help but feel a little excited in their hearts, but they both waved their hands in unison and said they didn't dare.

Both of them humbly expressed that they were getting old, but they were just mediocre and of no use anymore.

In fact, they had already prepared to die at home. In the original history, these two men were loyal ministers of the capital city to the Ming Dynasty until death. They died at home when the city was destroyed. How could you imagine that

Will Zhou Shixian rescue them all together?

"If the consort hadn't recruited so many loyal and good people to come to the rescue, maybe we two old guys would have been buried." Li Banghua said with a wry smile.

"When all the civil and military officials were helpless and millions of thieves were approaching the city, three hundred elite soldiers escorted them out of danger. The prince-in-law is really a great talent. This is the blessing of the Ming Dynasty and the blessing of the country!" Mr. Ni Yuanlu also praised.

After Zhou Shixian heard this, he repeatedly rejected it, thinking that these two people were really literati and their words were too exaggerated. Where did the intruders get an army of millions?

However, these two veterans are different from those civil servants who only know "what's right" and "benevolence, justice and morality" all day long. They have real abilities, not to mention courage and courage.

Moreover, Zhou Shixian also knew what the two of them were here to do. The words of support were just to bring the relationship closer and introduce topics. What Li Banghua and Ni Yuanlu really wanted to talk about was probably the same thing as what Zhou Shixian was thinking.

Sure enough, these two ministers, who were accustomed to seeing the ups and downs in the court, were very good at observing words and expressions. Zhou Shixian only showed it a little, and they guessed it.

As a result, Li Banghua stopped being secretive, let alone going around in circles, and went straight to the point:

"This trip south is not only as simple as escorting the troops to Nanjing, but the most important thing is how to protect half of the country in the south, and then plan the northern expedition to restore the country and wipe out the rebels.

Nowadays, the intruders are powerful, and all the northern provinces have fallen. If nothing unexpected happens, they will soon send their troops south. However, the bandits in Sichuan and Sichuan are raging in the west, and there are few soldiers in the south. The situation is critical.

Although there are still available resources in the provinces of Southern Zhili, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian, Guangdong, and Guangxi, if we do not reform the government, rectify the government, and return the financial, civil, and military power to the central government, I am afraid that even in Nanjing, it will be of no use."

After Zhou Shixian listened, he secretly nodded in agreement. Li Banghua's opinion was indeed good, and it got to the core. In fact, historically, the Southern Ming Dynasty died in these places that were difficult to reform.

Of course, there is another point, which is the endless "party struggle", which caused Nanming to miss many opportunities to counterattack, and further depleted the already weak military power.

"So, the prince-in-law brought the two old men with him, probably because he wanted officials from southern Zhili, Zhejiang, Jiangxi and other places to work together to fight the national crisis and form a strong force in the court to resist the Qing Dynasty, right?" Ni Yuanlu also said vaguely.

asked.

After listening to the words of the two veterans, Zhou Shixian knew that he had not brought the wrong person. They were all talents who understood the situation. In this era of extremely underdeveloped information and communication, such talents are extremely rare.

It is no exaggeration to say that there are not even ten such people in China today. Otherwise, Li Zicheng would not have been defeated so quickly.

"What the two gentlemen said is absolutely true. I am indeed worried about this, but as long as Your Majesty goes south safely, rebuilds the imperial court in Nanjing, stabilizes people's hearts, and uses the financial and material resources of Jiangnan to resist the rogue bandits and Donglu, it should not be difficult.

.And..." Zhou Shixian was about to say something but hesitated. Whether he said the following words or not depends on whether Li Banghua and Ni Yuanlu asked him or not.

"Could it be that the prince-in-law has a good plan already?" Li Banghua saw this and asked quickly.

"Yes, Prince Consort, please stop showing off." Ni Yuanlu also said anxiously.

Zhou Shixian looked at the eager expressions of the two veterans and said seriously:

"Both gentlemen are models for officials, with high moral standards and high reputation. Mr. Li is a leader of Shilin, who knows the soldiers and officials. He was once an official in Nanjing, and he was very famous in Nanjing's official circles. Now that he is going south, the younger generation will

The route is actually based on the advice of adults. Listening to your words today is better than reading ten years of books.

Mr. Ni is a loyal and loyal man of the Ming Dynasty, and he is also proficient in finance, taxation and goods transportation. When we go to the south of the Yangtze River, we must spend a lot of money to raise military pay and raise soldiers. Then we will have to rely on Mr. Ni!"

Zhou Shixian came from a later generation and knew these two old ministers very well. Naturally, this flattery was on point and had a great effect. The two old men were very happy to hear it.

"I believe you two adults have seen it now. Not to mention the Southern soldiers, the emperor's imperial camp is also poorly equipped. The soldiers are starving and have no clothes. How can a dedicated army fight?" Zhou Shixian

After complimenting the two of them, the conversation immediately changed and got to the point:

"Going south this time to rebuild the imperial court and stabilize people's hearts is only the first step. To rectify the civil service, raise military pay, build soldiers and weapons, use the financial, material, and manpower from Jiangnan to rebuild a new army, and then go north to the Central Plains to restore the rivers and mountains. This is the end.

Therefore, this is why I want to invite two adults to go south. Without the help of these two adults, I am afraid that the Nanjing court will not be able to rectify, the officials will be corrupt, and it will be difficult to collect finance and tax. If the finance and tax are insufficient, it will be impossible to build a strong army.

All these steps are interconnected and work together.”

When Li Banghua and Ni Yuanlu heard this, smiles appeared on their faces, and then they looked at each other, seemingly confirming something. The prince-in-law in front of them was indeed not a boastful young man, and his thoughts were very profound.

In Zhou Shixian's plan after he went south, Li Banghua and Ni Yuanlu were both important links. He not only wanted to rectify the court and reform the administration, but also increase revenue and reduce expenditure, raise military pay and food, open new weapons manufacturing workshops, and train new troops.

In order to defeat the Qing Dynasty in the Northern Expedition, wipe out all resistance forces, and regain Liaodong, Zhou Shixian needed an army of 200,000.

Of course, an army of 200,000 cannot be built in one day. It needs to be done step by step - from 20,000 to 50,000, from 50,000 to 100,000, from 100,000 to 200,000...

And his grand plan does not stop there. The Ming Dynasty's powerful army will not stop at 200,000, and it is not limited to the land division.

The entire inner and outer Northeast, Siberia, Mongolia, the Western Regions, Qinghai-Tibet, Annan, and Luzon. The Ming Dynasty wanted to participate in the great voyages in this turbulent era. What the Europeans could do, the Ming Dynasty could do the same.
Chapter completed!