Chapter 212 Ringing the cloud and rain drums, the enemy attacked the capital
The Hall of Nourishing Heart.
Luoyunshan holds a memorial in front of the saint.
"Your Majesty, although troops are being mobilized from various places this time, the amount of troops sent by some places is different from the amount of troops supported, or even far different..."
Zhu Youde took the memorial and glanced around, the most eye-catching one was Liu Nandao.
Liunan Road is close to the southern border and borders South Thailand. Its military strength is stronger than that of the Central Plains. It has a hundred thousand soldiers and horses, but only 20,000 troops were sent.
The southern border has always been stable. There has been no war intrusion for a hundred years. The soldiers usually cultivate the land and support themselves, similar to the production and construction corps.
This battle left 80,000 troops and horses with ulterior motives.
In Langshan, Jibei and other places, the amount also differs by more than half.
Zhu Youde wrote them down one by one. After reading the excerpts, he found no banners of the vassal kings. All the five vassal kings sent out their troops without reservation.
This actually made him feel at ease. If all the five vassal kings had different intentions and rebelled like King Yan, the Liang Dynasty would be in chaos.
In this way, the attitude of various local forces towards the central government is clear.
When the war was settled and the vassal state was reduced, Zhu Youde could take the lead and issue different policies.
"The Ministry of War will make unified arrangements for the time being. When Wang Po leads his army back to Beijing tomorrow, it will be handed over to General Wang Po to dispatch the expedition!"
Zhu Youde paused and lowered his voice and said: "Monitor every move of Lin Yun, the Minister of Revenue. If there is any abnormality, you can kill him first and report later."
At present, Lin Yun is the only one left in the court who belongs to King Yan's power. He has the power to regulate food and grass. When his tail shows up, he will be cut off with a single sword.
Luoyun Mountain retreated, and Tang Huo came to see him.
Mineral resources from various places in Daliang Dynasty were transferred to the capital by Zhu Youde and hidden in the suburbs for the use of the Firearms Bureau.
"Your Majesty, the Firearms Bureau has recruited a new group of craftsmen to form three shifts and produce gunpowder ammunition day and night. Sufficient supplies have been stored." Tang Huo handed over the specific number.
Zhu Youde nodded in agreement. It takes time to cultivate a firecrackers army. The enemy can only prepare sufficient gunpowder bombs to ensure the continuous firepower of the 50,000 firecrackers army.
"Your Majesty, I have something to report." Tang Huo hesitated, and after receiving permission, he said:
"Although gunpowder bombs are simple to make, their purity is not high, resulting in excessive consumption of resources. If Da Liang has been relying on the fire gun army, I'm afraid..."
Stopping here, Zhu Youde understood what Tang Huo meant.
Resources are ultimately limited.
"I will find a way..."
After sending Tang Huo away, Zhou Kongfang came in.
This Daliang God of Wealth usually doesn't show much publicity, but Zhu Youde knew that he had a very high status in the capital's business district.
If nothing else, he became famous because he raised 5 million by auctioning mulberry silk.
Subsequent tours to Tongque Palace and advertising space bidding completely established him as the God of Wealth.
Zhu Youde summoned him here to inquire about the grain merchants in the capital.
"Your Majesty, there are no local grain merchants in the capital. They are all foreign merchants. There are mainly Northeast merchants, Hui merchants, Shanxi merchants and Northwest merchants. These four major grain merchants account for 80% of the share of Daliang..."
"Maybe we can contact the person in charge of the four major businessmen in Beijing?" Zhu Youde asked.
Zhou Kongfang thought for a moment: "Could it be that your Majesty wants to collect grain and grass?"
After receiving an accurate reply, Zhou Kongfang frowned slightly: "Your Majesty, this is not the lowest period for food prices. The price has increased three times..."
Hearing this, Zhu Youde was stunned. He did not expect that food prices could rise to such an extent.
Then he said: "The world says that you are the God of Wealth. I guess the four major grain merchants will give you some thin noodles. You can negotiate the price in person and buy grain and grass at the lowest price..."
Zhou Kongfang was ordered to retreat and immediately contacted the grain merchants.
Zhu Youde got up and went to Kunning Palace. He had been tired all morning and felt dizzy. He missed the queen's massage.
When he opened the door of the palace, his face was filled with joy. Five beauties were there.
But the beauties all had serious faces, and before Zhu Youde could ask any questions, they all knelt down and saluted.
Luo Xian looked worried and said: "Your Majesty, I heard that there was a war on the border and there was no food supply in the capital. I have informed the Yanshan Luo family to invest in purchasing food and grass to transport to the capital..."
As he spoke, he picked up the brocade box and opened it.
"These are the silver notes and gold and silver jewelry that I saved by controlling the expenses of the harem, and they are also used by Your Majesty to buy food and grass..."
As soon as she finished speaking, Zhou Ruqian continued: "Your Majesty, I received a letter from my father asking me to donate two to three million in silver on his behalf to supply military pay..."
Qingyu and the Liu family twins also took out their jewelry boxes and accumulated silver notes.
Zhu Youde froze on the spot, opened his mouth and could not speak, his eyes were slightly moist, even though he was a noble person, he was also moved by the beauty.
People say that foolish kings indulge themselves in the harem and spend too much on beauties. Little do they know that beauties are virtuous wives who are willing to donate their meager resources to help Liang tide over difficulties in times of crisis.
How could you not love such a woman?
Zhu Youde took a deep breath and helped the beauty up.
"Just keep the jewelry boxes. Daliang's schedule is just tight, and it's not to the point where we need to sell off our property."
"As for the grain and grass donated by our family, I will ask Mr. Zhou to repay the principal after the war and give him a reward."
Zhu Youde smiled at the beauty with a doting expression. Although there were not three thousand beauties in the harem, it was better than three thousand.
Suddenly.
A tight drum sound came from outside to inside, and Zhu Youde's expression changed drastically.
This drum sound...
It’s like... Yunyudu!
Zhu Youde pushed open the palace door, and the drum beat became louder.
Wang Zhonghou flashed and came from afar, "Your Majesty, the northwest city gate is ringing with the rain cloud drum..."
The Yun Yu Drum is unique to the four major gates of Jinling City and can only be sounded when an enemy attack that threatens the capital is discovered.
Several imperial orders were issued from the palace, and Zhou Heng led the imperial army to follow Zhu Youde to the northwest city gate.
Outside the city, the army was pressing down on the border, and the entire open space was filled with darkness. Tens of thousands of soldiers were lined up in formation.
Zhao Yang, the governor of Langshan, and Huizi, the militia leader, were in the rear.
The two of them were overjoyed when they heard the Yunyudu.
"The Queen Mother's information is accurate. It seems that Jinling City is indeed empty and has insufficient defenders. It should be as the Queen Mother said, there are only 10,000 imperial guards." Zhao Yang was about fifty years old, with a little white on his temples.
Teruko was dressed in black, with a thin figure and sharp eyes like a falcon.
"The capital is empty and there are no soldiers nearby. We only need to rush into the palace and capture the young emperor, and then we can enjoy the merit of following the dragon..."
The two were talking, the northwest city gate opened wide, Zhou Heng led the imperial army out of the city, and Zhu Youde appeared on the city tower.
"Langshan soldiers and horses?" Zhu Youde was shocked when he saw the military flag. Langshan was on the Luoyun Mountain fold.
I originally wanted to wait for Qiu Hou to settle the score, but I didn't expect that she would take the initiative to fight at the door of my house.
"Your Majesty, we have found out that it is Zhao Yang, the governor of Langshan, and 20,000 militiamen..." Li Renjie whispered.
"Militia?" Zhu Youde was startled, and then realized that Liu Xuan'er brought five thousand militiamen last time...
not good!
Queen Mother!
Zhu Youde frowned and told the tiger to leave the mountain. The palace is in danger!
"Li Renjie, lead the royal guards back to the palace to capture Empress Dowager Cining of the East Palace! Hurry!"
At this time, in the West Palace of the Queen Mother, Ci Ning was dressed in a strong suit and holding a sword, staring coldly at Ci'an.
"Good sister, the late Emperor has summoned you. You have to sign it today. If you don't sign it, my sister will force you to sign it!"