"Urgent military situation, get out of the way quickly."
In the capital city of the Ming Dynasty, a cavalryman galloped wildly on a crowded street.
The people at the city gate looked at the embarrassed appearance of this cavalryman.
They were thinking about what had happened recently and were discussing at the city gate.
"Look at this, we are defeated again."
"It must be a defeat, how anxious are you?
Victories are usually reported calmly and leisurely, but those who wish they could run the horse to death are all misfortunes."
“After losing Hanzhong, we lost Sichuan, we lost Yunnan and Guizhou, and we lost Guangdong and Guangxi.
Now that even Henan has been lost, where else can it be lost?
Only Beizhili is left, and the Ming Dynasty is almost lost. I think the Ming Dynasty is about to end."
"Brother, be careful and don't talk about state affairs.
During this period, Jinyiwei has been keeping a close eye on you."
"Jin Yiwei, what do we say? We have the ability to go to the battlefield and fight with our strength."
"Someone from Jinyiwei is coming, let's run."
Someone shouted, and all the people surrounding the city gate ran away.
The soldiers were ordered to enter the city, and soon all the officials knew that the thieves in yellow had entered Daming Mansion.
Daming Mansion was captured by thieves in yellow overnight.
The news spread, and the nobles and gentry who had been watching were waiting.
Many people began to pack up their belongings, ran to Tongzhou, and headed south through the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal.
The thief in yellow is about to break in. A gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall.
Emperor Chongzhen quickly received information from the front line.
After reading it, he almost fell to the ground when he walked out of Qianqing Palace.
Wang Chengen immediately stepped forward to support Emperor Chongzhen.
Emperor Chongzhen stood there and took a few deep breaths before adjusting himself.
"Quickly recruit all the cabinet ministers to come to the palace to see me."
Emperor Chongzhen looked at the intelligence from the front line and said with a ferocious expression: "The thieves in yellow have captured Henan and are now officially sending troops to Northern Zhili.
Daming Mansion was captured by yellow-clad thieves in ten days, and a normal march would have taken three to five days.
The yellow-robed thieves captured Daming Mansion at a slightly slower pace than the marching army.
They are getting closer and closer to the capital."
After Emperor Chongzhen read the intelligence from the front line, he felt like a bucket of cold water had been poured on him.
The thieves in yellow are advancing too fast. Now they have reached Beizhili, and they are not far away from Shuntian Mansion.
When the cabinet bachelor saw the eunuchs sent by Emperor Chongzhen, he summoned them to the palace to meet the emperor.
They were not surprised at all. They already knew the intelligence on the front line.
After the thieves in yellow took over Henan, they did not continue to attack Shandong eastward.
The attitude of the thieves in yellow has shown that they want to conquer Shuntian Mansion and completely eliminate the Ming Dynasty.
The thieves in yellow marched directly north from Kaifeng Prefecture and attacked Daming Prefecture in the southernmost part of Beizhili.
The thieves in yellow have captured Daming Mansion, and they are only more than a month away from Shuntian Mansion.
Without troops to stop them, the thieves in yellow would be able to reach the capital in April.
Wen Tiren, the chief minister of the cabinet, sighed. Now the Ming Dynasty has reached the point where life and death will be determined by a battle.
If this battle is lost, the Ming Dynasty will cease to exist.
They arrived outside the Qianqing Palace, and under the leadership of Wang Chengen, entered the Qianqing Palace and met Emperor Chongzhen.
They saw that Emperor Chongzhen looked very unhappy and stared at the report from the front line for a long time without saying anything.
When the cabinet ministers arrived, Emperor Chongzhen did not express his position.
They could only stand aside and wait.
After waiting for a long time, Emperor Chongzhen did not respond.
Wang Chengen stepped forward and reminded in a low voice: "Your Majesty, the cabinet bachelor has arrived at Qianqing Palace."
Emperor Chongzhen responded and put down the memorial in his hand.
After a quick glance at all the bachelors in the cabinet, their eyes finally rested on Yang Sichang.
"Yang Aiqing, the thieves in yellow have come to North Zhili.
What countermeasures does Yang Aiqing have?"
Yang Sichang immediately stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty, this battle at Daming Mansion is not without its merits.
Damingfu is just a small city. According to the thieves in yellow, they killed and injured more than a thousand people in Damingfu.
Wei Chen expected that this data was very imprecise, and the thieves in yellow would definitely try to reduce the number of their casualties.
The yellow-robed thieves killed and injured at least more than 3,000 people.
When thieves in yellow attack prefectures and counties similar to Daming Prefecture, the number of casualties will generally not exceed 500. The number of casualties among thieves in yellow is only one hundred.
Sometimes, there are even no casualties, which is simply a fantasy.
There is no way to fight without death.
The yellow-clad thieves suffered so many casualties because the policies issued by His Majesty had a miraculous effect.
When we deal with the thieves in yellow, we should mainly start with this policy."
When Emperor Chongzhen heard Yang Sichang's words, his eyes gradually brightened, and he quickly asked: "Yang Aiqing, which of my policies has had the miraculous effect?"
Yang Sichang said respectfully: "Your Majesty, the Ming Dynasty should intensify the efforts of the gentry to organize regiment training, recruit troops by themselves, and resist the intrusion of the yellow-clothed thieves.
After the thieves in yellow captured a place, they would definitely purge the local gentry and divide their land among them.
The gentry in other places were extremely angry, but they had no way of helping the court before.
This time His Majesty asked the gentry from all over the country to organize regiment training, and they all donated generously to organize large and small regiment training and armed forces.
Gao Shiliang, a Jinshi of Daming Prefecture, only organized a group training for three days, using some matchlock guns.
At least half of the yellow-clad thieves who were killed in Daming Mansion were killed by regiment-trained armed forces.
The number of officers and soldiers in various places is limited, and King Qin's officers and soldiers in the south have not yet reached Shuntian Mansion.
However, there are many Jinshi in various places, and even more people are promoted.
The regiment training arm formed by them will be the main force against the thieves in yellow.
The military training does not require the court to provide money, food, or personnel.
Just give them a certain reputation.
The gentry would also organize large-scale military training for their own lives and property.
According to Jin Yiwei's investigation, Kaifeng Prefecture officers and soldiers robbed the people outside the city of food before the thieves in yellow arrived.
They pushed the people without food to the thieves in yellow clothes.
The thieves in yellow had exhausted all their rations and could only wait for supplies from the rear, which slowed down the attack on Beizhili.
We can ask the team trainers in various places to do this.
The tenants who join the group training are asked to go to the city to help defend the city.
The tenants who did not join the group training used all their food to defend the city and let them consume the food of the thieves in yellow.
We are outside the city, and there is not a single well left open to thieves in yellow.
This method of blocking attacks at all levels will continuously consume the strength of the thief in yellow and delay the time for the thief in yellow to arrive at Shuntian Mansion.
We deployed strong troops in Tongzhou, Zhuzhou, Xuanfu and other places to stop the yellow-robed thieves from attacking.
With enough time, you can build a stronger city and produce more Hongyi cannons and gunpowder.
At the same time, the training intensity of the Beijing camp was increased and young men were recruited to assist in the defense of the capital.
As long as the thieves in yellow are unable to capture the capital for a long time, they will definitely retreat.
The thieves in yellow mobilized more than one million troops and civilians.
This will greatly affect the spring plowing under the rule of the yellow thief.
They found that there was no way to capture the capital in a short time, and they would definitely retreat.
When King Qin's army from the south arrived in the capital, we formed an alliance with Hou Jin.
The situation will become favorable to us.
The Ming Dynasty will not be destroyed, and Shuntian Prefecture can definitely be defended."
Yang Sichang spoke very fast and explained all his strategies in one breath.
He proposed a solution and gave Emperor Chongzhen hope.
The Ming court now has no food, no money, and no one.
Seeing the current situation of the Ming Dynasty, the southern provinces only sent a small number of soldiers to serve the king and recruited more troops to protect themselves.
Only the three provinces of Beizhili, Shanxi and Shandong are left in the north.
Now if we want to defend the Ming Dynasty, we can only strengthen the efforts of the gentry to organize group training.
If the imperial court supports the organization of team training, disasters will occur in feudal towns.
The imperial court does not support the organization of regiment training, and the Ming Dynasty is about to fall, so why bother about the disaster of the feudal town.
Holding group training is like drinking poison to quench thirst.
After listening to Yang Sichang's words, Emperor Chongzhen regained some vitality on his face and cheered up again.
He looked at Yang Sichang, who looked confident, and then looked at the sad-looking Wen Tiren and other cabinet ministers beside him.
Emperor Chongzhen said excitedly: "From now on, I will entrust my family, life and the future of the Ming Dynasty to Yang Aiqing.
Yang Aiqing was fully responsible for resisting the intrusion of the yellow-clad thieves, and had the power to mobilize all the troops and officials of the Ming Dynasty.
Holding Shang Fang's sword, you have the right to kill first and then show off."
Emperor Chongzhen found that Yang Sichang performed best, so he directly delegated power.
Emperor Chongzhen also understood that Yang Sichang had a bloody feud with the yellow-robed thieves, and he would never seek refuge with the yellow-robed thieves.
Now the Ming Dynasty has the ability, understanding of warfare, and the only cabinet scholar who can be trusted is Yang Sichang.
Yang Sichang knelt on the ground, kowtowed and thanked him: "The humble minister Yang Sichang will definitely drive away the thieves in yellow and restore a bright future to the Ming Dynasty."
Emperor Chongzhen adopted Yang Sichang's opinion.
An imperial edict was issued again to support the gentry in organizing large-scale group training.
This time the Ming Dynasty gave the gentry sufficient power.
The gentry would enjoy the treatment of officials according to the size of the group training they organized.
When the gentry regiment is trained in arms, they can make cannons, armor and crossbows on their own.
In times of war, regiment-trained armed forces can take over local governance and city defense.
The approach of the Ming Dynasty was basically to turn the regiment training in a region into a local vassal town.
Let them rely on local resources to resist the invasion of yellow-clad thieves.
Emperor Chongzhen determined how to deal with the thieves in yellow.
He asked the cabinet: "How are the Qinwang troops from various places prepared now? Are their military salaries fully paid?"
Wen Tiren was responsible for this matter, and he could only stand up and introduce the situation.
"Your Majesty, King Qin's troops from all over the country have been arranged in important positions.
We had previously raised money to prepare for the rescue of Lu Xiangsheng and others.
Now the whole of Henan is occupied by thieves in yellow, and this money is mainly used to pay the military salaries of King Qin's army.
But the military pay of King Qin's army is still short of 600,000 taels of silver.
We have called on the civil and military officials and people in the city to donate.
The money received this time was only thirty thousand taels of silver, which was not enough to pay the royal army.
Wu Xiang, the commander-in-chief of Shanhaiguan, is now in a very emotional state, and the imperial court has not yet paid the Guan Ning army the due military pay."
Emperor Chongzhen frowned when he heard about the lack of pay.
The Ministry of Household Affairs of the Ming Dynasty was always short of money, and military pay was often in arrears.
But now that the yellow-robed thieves have reached Beizhili, other areas can rely on the gentry to organize group training to stop the yellow-robed thieves.
The capital city still has to be handed over to King Qin's army, which has sufficient fighting capacity.
The war is coming. If the soldiers are not paid, they will not sacrifice their lives for the Ming Dynasty.
Emperor Chongzhen said in a serious tone: "The cabinet must solve the problem of 600,000 taels of silver. If it cannot be solved within three days, I will raid the house."
When Wen Tiren heard what Emperor Chongzhen said, he was so frightened that he immediately knelt down.
"Your Majesty, you can't. If your Majesty searches your house at this time, it will cause panic among the people, and the Ming Dynasty will fall apart."
Other academics in the cabinet also knelt down and quickly advised Emperor Chongzhen not to have the idea of confiscating his property.
"Wang Chengen, bring the newspapers issued by the thieves in yellow."
Wang Chengen, the eunuch who had been waiting nearby, knew which newspaper the emperor was referring to.
He immediately held the newspaper in both hands and handed it over.
Emperor Chongzhen took the newspaper, rolled it into a ball, and hit Wen Tiren hard on the head.
"You are all cabinet ministers of the Loyalty Kingdom. Take a look at the merchants of the thieves in yellow, and then look at our merchants in the Ming Dynasty.
If there is a businessman in our Ming Dynasty who donates fifty million taels of silver.
I have already sent troops to eliminate the thieves in yellow."
When Emperor Chongzhen saw this newspaper report, he was so angry that he didn't even eat that day.
Wen Tiren, the chief minister of the cabinet, saw Emperor Chongzhen's action.
He kept kowtowing and said loudly: "Your Majesty, please calm down. I am guilty."
He said it three times before hearing Emperor Chongzhen's faint response.
"Get flat!"
Wen Tiren then picked up the newspaper and unfolded it.
This is the Yanhuang Daily, the official newspaper of the thieves in yellow. It solemnly reported that the bank issued 50 million silver coins in war bonds, which had been sold out.
The King of Qin has raised fifty million taels of silver coins for the war of unification.
After Wen Tiren read this newspaper, it was not the first time he saw it, but he still took a breath.
He immediately passed the newspaper to other bachelors for viewing.
They looked at each other in shock after reading it. Everyone was shocked by the amount.
Fifty million taels of silver coins means fifty million taels of silver, which was the annual income for the ten years of the Ming Dynasty.
Su He, the false king of Qin, raised fifty million taels of silver in less than a month.
Even if you hit it with money, it can destroy the Ming Dynasty.
The opponent has too much money at his disposal.
Compared with the current situation of Ming Dynasty, even 600,000 taels of silver cannot be obtained.
The gap between the two parties is really huge.
Emperor Chongzhen said fiercely: "Within three days, the cabinet must raise 600,000 taels of silver, otherwise I will let Dongchang and Jinyiwei do it themselves.
The businessmen at the thief in yellow can donate generously.
I don’t believe that our Ming businessmen are all selfish.”
Wen Tiren saw that things had reached this point.
He must never allow Emperor Chongzhen to release the two monsters Dongchang and Jinyiwei again.
Wen Tiren made up his mind and said: "Your Majesty, please rest assured that our businessmen from the Ming Dynasty are all businessmen with a Ming Dynasty in mind. They will definitely contribute generously to solve this military pay gap."
When Emperor Chongzhen saw the cabinet's agreement, he waved his hand and said, "I'm tired, you all can step aside."
Many academicians in the cabinet withdrew from the palace.
Yang Sichang, the Grand Scholar of Wuyingdian and Minister of the Ministry of War, cupped his hands and said to everyone: "I'd like to thank you all for your troubles regarding military pay.
I’m going to inspect the defense of Shuntian Prefecture.”
Yang Sichang said goodbye and left. He was going to Tongzhou, Zhuzhou, Xuanfu and other places to see for himself.
Time is too tight now, and we must understand the true strength of the Ming army in various places.
Only then did Yang Sichang arrange the defense plan for Shuntian Mansion.
When everyone returned to the cabinet, Wen Tiren looked at the bachelors and said: "Now we must solve the problem of military pay.
His Majesty almost made it clear that we cannot collect military pay this time.
Your Majesty sent Dongchang and Jinyiwei to collect military pay from us civilian officials."
The cabinet ministers discussed how to collect military pay.
The businessmen behind them definitely don't have to pay military pay.
They finally discussed and decided to divide the 600,000 military pay among the small businessmen in the capital and the merchants under the Ming Dynasty clan and nobles.
Let these people bear their share of military pay and publish the contents of the newspapers of the thieves in yellow.
Anyone who dares to resist is considered disloyal and unjust to the Ming Dynasty. They will be arrested directly and thrown into the prison of Shuntian Mansion.