What Zhao Han is concerned about is not Zhang Xianzhong, but the increasingly serious spring drought.
The drought in the north reached its peak last year. It was the most widespread and severe drought in the north since Chongzhen ascended the throne. The drought even spread to the Mongolian grasslands!
This year, the spring drought spread to Sichuan, Hunan, Guizhou and Guangxi.
Of the provinces under Zhao Han's rule, only Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang, half of Jiangsu, and two-thirds of Jiangxi were not affected by the disaster.
Severe drought throughout Hunan!
Just looking at the situation of the spring drought, we know that it will be another disaster year.
The Manchu Qing Dynasty was very lucky, because the droughts in the past years only affected the Ningjin line. As for the home of the Tatars, there was not a single drought, and they could only withstand the snowstorms in winter.
"Should we postpone the Northern Expedition?" Huang Shunfu, the Minister of Household Affairs, asked.
"We can't stop," Li Banghua said. "If the drought is serious next year, why don't we stop fighting next year?"
"We must fight," Zhao Han said with great reluctance, "to persuade Zuo Liangyu to surrender. As long as he is willing to surrender, give him five ships to transport goods and go to Nanjing to become a rich man."
Zhao Han is also at his wits end. This year he must collect food from the victims, which will make life difficult for the people.
If Zuo Liangyu is willing to surrender, he can save countless grains and save many Shandong people from starving to death.
…
Shandong, Dongchang Prefecture.
Zuo Liangyu smiled half-heartedly, looked at Pan Duao and said, "Zhang Xianzhong really wants to join forces with me to fight Zhao Han? But I don't have food in hand, and there is another severe drought in Shandong this year."
"The Zhao thief has food, just go and rob it!" Pan Duao said.
Zuo Liangyu added: "If you seize food, you have to send troops, and if you send troops, you need departure expenses. I don't have enough money and food, so how can I go south to fight?"
Pan Duao asked back: "Now that Zhao Han is going north, it is just a matter of whether to attack the Zuohou first or the king of my family first. If Zhao Han destroys the Zuohou, the next one will be the king of my family. If Zhao Han destroys the king of my family, the next one will be the Zuohou.
At this time, our families are at loggerheads. If we don’t join forces, we will be defeated by Zhao Han one by one!"
"Let me think about it." Zuo Liangyu did not refuse, nor did he agree on the spot.
Pan Duao laughed and said: "Does the Zuohou still want to join Zhao Han? According to Zhao Han's rules, even if the Zuohou leads his troops to join him, he will definitely not be able to command the army in the future. If you don't have your own army, you can become a rich man, and you will not be able to do anything in the future.
Who can make a decision? When Zuo Hou's army is demobilized and all are given land in the countryside, who can not turn his heart towards Zhao Han? At that time, Zuo Hou's life or death will depend on whether Zhao Han is kind or not."
Zuo Liangyu fell into deep thought.
He is a typical soldier leader in the late Ming Dynasty, and his thinking has long been solidified.
He can give up his wealth, his title, and his official position, but he cannot give up the army!
Because in his consciousness, giving up the army is waiting for death. There are too many examples like the Ming Dynasty. If you have soldiers, you have everything, but if you don't have soldiers, you have nothing. It is normal to have your home confiscated and exiled.
Zuo Liangyu asked: "If we join forces, how should we fight?"
Pan Duao replied: "My lord, we will attack Xinyang and Luoshan in the north, Guangji and Huangmei in the south. As for Zuohou, Xuzhou, Dangshan, Shangqiu, Kaocheng... we can attack anywhere. With such a three-sided attack, Zhao Han will definitely have to worry about his head.
Don’t worry about the tail.”
"I'll think about it again." Zuo Liangyu hesitated.
He knew how capable he was and did not dare to go to war with Zhao Han easily. But he also did not dare to seek refuge with Zhao Han for fear of being deprived of his military power and fear of being executed.
It turned out that he still wanted to delay, but Zhao Han had already approached him and either came to beat him directly or go to deal with Zhang Xianzhong.
It cannot be delayed, beaten, or surrendered.
What should we do?
Zuo Liangyu summoned his own think tank and discussed for half a month, but still could not find any way out.
Pan Duao kept waiting, anxious and despised Zuo Liangyu for being indecisive.
A few days later, Zhang Dai came to Dongchang Fucheng as an envoy.
"I admire the King of Wu very much, and I am willing to submit to you sincerely," Zuo Liangyu said. "I am willing to serve as the king's vanguard. Whether it is to fight against Beizhili or to fight against the bandits, as long as the King of Wu gives the order, all the soldiers will be killed."
I will definitely serve you to the death!"
This guy hinted at retaining the army as soon as he opened his mouth. How could Zhang Dai agree?
You can't even make excuses. Otherwise, what if Zuo Liangyu uses Zhao Han's name to burn, kill, loot and expand in Shandong? It will ruin the reputation of Zhao Han and the Datong Army!
Zhang Dai told the truth: "As long as Zuohou is willing to surrender and hand over the army, we can use five large ships to transport goods and go to Nanjing to buy a house and enjoy peace and happiness."
Zuo Liangyu sighed: "I can't just think about myself. I'm afraid many people are not willing to disarm all the soldiers and return to the fields."
"The generals under Zuo Hou have been arranged by the King of Wu, and they will certainly not treat him harshly," Zhang Dai said. "The King of Wu has always kept his word since he raised his army, and has never reneged on his word. To put it bluntly, since he promised to let Zuo Hou
If you become a rich man later, you won't be able to settle accounts later, and Zuohou has no weight to ask the King of Wu to make an exception."
"I can trust King Wu's character and conduct, please let me think about it again." Zuo Liangyu was a little moved.
Zhang Dai continued to reason, and Zuo Liangyu almost agreed.
However, this guy is still unwilling to take a final stand. His habit has always been to wait and see.
What Zuo Liangyu was thinking was that maybe when Zhang Xianzhong and Zhao Han started fighting, he could bring his troops back at the critical moment and take the opportunity to gain more benefits!
After sending Zhang Dai away, Zuo Liangyu summoned Pan Duao: "I have decided that as long as your army sends troops first, Shandong's army will definitely cooperate in going south."
"This is a wise move!" Pan Duao was overjoyed.
Zuo Liangyu deliberately made a promise to let Zhang Xianzhong and Zhao Han go to war. First, let Zhao Han's troops point towards Hubei and not attack Shandong for the time being; second, observe the outcome of the war between the two sides and jump out at critical moments.
Stand in line and take the opportunity to claim more benefits!
Zhang Xianzhong, however, only wants to fight!
He didn't dare to fight at first, but this year there was a severe spring drought in Hubei, and the number of troops exploded. Zhang Xianzhong's military rations could no longer sustain it, so he had to find a place to get some votes, and Zhao Han's territory was a natural supply area.
Anhui is so rich, Zhang Xianzhong is drooling with greed.
Although Zhao Han only occupied the Anhui area for half a year, he had already completed the land distribution and immigration work. In Zhang Xianzhong's eyes, it seemed particularly wealthy, with a large population, a lot of food, and a lot of goods. It was at least much stronger than his Hubei.
!
Alas, Zhang Xianzhong also wanted to develop people's livelihood, and he was very active in military and civilian settlements, but in the event of a major disaster, he could only return to his old profession.
In the spring of this year, Zhang Xianzhong once again forcibly confiscated grain and grass, and forced countless people to work as civil servants. He did not have the patience to develop the territory despite natural disasters, so he simply overextended the people to fight, and maybe he could conquer the Jianghuai area.
The two military advisers, Liao Zhifang and Xu Yixian, tried hard to persuade each other, but to no avail. Zhang Xianzhong had already made up his mind.
…
"Your Highness, according to the detailed reports, Zhang Xianzhong is collecting grain and grass and recruiting civilians. More and more troops are stationed along the Yangtze River."
The person who spoke was Xu Ying. He finally returned to Nanjing and was still in charge of the intelligence department, somewhat similar to the leader of the Jinyiwei.
Zhao Han suddenly frowned: "He must be crazy, it's spring plowing season now!"
Xu Ying said: "It is estimated that the spring drought was serious, and Zhang Xianzhong did not build water conservancy projects, so he could not harvest much food even if he planted seeds. He simply gave up spring plowing and took advantage of our army's summer grain harvest to invade the Jianghuai area with his army. He along the river
The purpose of increasing the garrison in the city is to prevent our army from attacking from the Yangtze River."
Zhao Han summoned all the main officials and after some discussion, he quickly made a decision.
First, all regions must do a good job in spring plowing, and drought relief work must not stop.
Second, issue food bonds, do a good job in publicity, and collect food from the private sector.
Third, Hunan summons 20,000 peasant soldiers and 20,000 civilians; Jiangxi recruits 20,000 peasant soldiers and 20,000 civilians. Gather along the Yangtze River and be ready to go to war at any time!
Fourth, Jiangnan summoned 10,000 peasants and soldiers and 20,000 civilians to immediately support the direction of Guangji.
Fifth, Xinyang Prefecture recruited 2,000 peasant soldiers and 3,000 civilians on the spot.
Sixth, Fei Ruhe returned to defend Xuzhou, and Zhang Tieniu moved to Taizhuang (Taierzhuang). While guarding against Zuo Liangyu, he was ready for counterattack at any time and mobilized five thousand civilians from northern Jiangsu.
Seventh, Huang Yao's new mountain division in Shizhou Prefecture was waiting for orders to cross the river and capture Yiling.
Once an all-out war breaks out this time, the economy and people's livelihood under Zhao Han's rule will definitely be severely affected.
However, within the acceptable range, the majority of the working people at the bottom have simply changed from eating three meals a day to tightening their belts and eating two meals a day.
Fortunately, this spring, the weather is good in Guangdong, Fujian, and Zhejiang, and the grain shipped by sea from Vietnam can be transported to the coast of Jiangsu to relieve the pressure.
However, there is really not much food shipped by sea because the profit is not huge enough.
Even if Zhao Han was exempted from import tariffs on grain, maritime merchants would just use the grain as ballast to make a little money on the way.
Vietnam does have a lot of food, but Vietnam's land transportation is also poor and transportation costs are extremely high. You can only buy food in the coastal areas of Vietnam.
As for the food from the Philippines, Cambodia, and Myanmar, don’t even think about it. Maritime transportation is extremely risky, and ships may be destroyed at any time. High-profit products are worth the risk. It is absolutely impossible for maritime merchants to transport food over long distances.
The war with Zhang Xianzhong had nothing to do with Zhao Han's intervention in Sichuan.
Because Zhang Xianzhong did not dare to mobilize too many troops even if he attacked Sichuan, and he had to be on guard against Zhao Han at all times. Once a major disaster occurred, he would have to fight. Who would make Zhao Han's territory more prosperous?
Just as the two sides were mobilizing their troops, Zuo Liangyu, who was planning to wait and see which direction the wind was blowing, suddenly received a shocking news.
"Master Hou, the intruders have entered Beizhili!"
"What?"
The drought in Northern Zhili was equally severe. Due to the lack of food and salary payments, the defenders of Kaizhou, Guangping, and Daming Prefecture rebelled on wages.
Two generals were killed, one escaped, and one surrendered to the enemy. Governor Chen Xinjia and the governor fled back to Beijing in embarrassment.
Li Zicheng's generals from the Henan direction led troops into Beizhili, then headed northwest, and Li Zicheng attacked Sun Chuanting from east to west.
Sun Chuanting was defeated and fled back to Beijing, and Li Zicheng broke through the Taihang Mountains and entered!
Li Zicheng claimed to have 400,000 troops, and the cities along the way watched the wind. Even the troops stationed at the imperial mausoleum took the initiative to join Li Zicheng, and the eunuchs guarding the mausoleum even served as guides.
In the entire North Zhili, there are only Hong Chengchou's Jizhen soldiers, and they are still working hard to suppress the bandits.
After Hong Chengchou learned the news, he was preparing to lead his troops to serve the king. Li Zicheng had already led his troops to the gates of Beijing.
(The name of the leader is wrong. Sorry, thanks to the leader of Liu Nima sb for the reward.)
