Chapter 485 The grand master is too tired in the position of chief assistant!
In the middle of the second month of the lunar calendar, Dorgon almost figured out one thing. The Ming army did not seem to have the idea of taking Shenyang City in one fell swoop. They took the initiative to stop their troops targeting the current line of actual control. The only military action at present is to find a way
Opening up the land connection between Liaoyang and Jinzhou, there will be no major military operations other than this.
What's going on? Why didn't the Ming army attack the city of Shenyang at the height of its strength? Even Dorgon himself had no confidence in defending Shenyang city, but the Ming army held back its own hands and feet. This
The strategic choices are really puzzling.
"Send an order to let the army outside Shenyang enter the city to rest. In addition, send horses back to the capital to ask Hong Chou to come to Shenyang." Dorgon, who was confused, was ready to find someone who understood and asked to see what the Ming army was thinking.
something.
Hong Chengchou rushed to Shenyang City in a hurry. After seeing Dorgon, he saluted and said, "Your Majesty told me to return to Shenyang, but for the Ming army's ceasefire?"
"That's exactly what happened! Why did the Ming army suddenly stop their troops? They overran an army of 200,000 people in Liaodong. How come they only occupied Jinzhou and Liaoyang before stopping their troops? Could it be that their purpose this time was to recapture Jinzhou?
and Liaoyang, and then stopped, and didn’t want to take Shenyang in one fell swoop?”
"If they only wanted to recapture Jinzhou and Liaoyang, they would not have gathered so many soldiers and horses. The current Ming army, with an army of 200,000, is enough to advance into Shenyang. If the troops are stopped now, the Ming army will be more terrifying!"
"Why did you say this, sir? What's so scary about it."
"The scary thing is that they were able to endure the losses and were not eager to claim full credit. They should have been prepared for the 200,000 troops to stay in Liaodong for about a year before suspending operations at this time. For the Ming army, the final
The suitable time to enter Shenyang should be August, just after the sweltering heat. Now in Shenyang, in March and April, when the ice in Liaodong is breaking, the roads will be muddy and the transportation of military supplies will be quite troublesome. They stopped their troops at this time, probably to avoid this period.
, in case Shenyang is not fully controlled and is pushed back by our army."
"The two hundred thousand troops will be stationed in Liaodong for another half a year? Will the Ming court spend such a large amount of money and the Qing Dynasty?"
"That's how it should be!"
"They only have more than two provinces of territory now, how can they be so wealthy?" Dorgon knew how much it would cost to have 200,000 soldiers stationed on the front line for nearly a year. He didn't believe that the Ming army could have such power.
Rich. Back then, when they gathered all the strength of the country, they were not rich enough to spend 200,000 soldiers and horses fighting against the Qing army in Liaodong.
"The energy consumption must be affordable. If it continues to be consumed, it will be even more detrimental to us. The Ming court should also know this truth. The difficulty lies in whether they can make this determination. The Ming Emperor's temperament has changed drastically in recent years, and his temper has become worse.
It is becoming more and more stable, which is not a good thing for the Qing Dynasty."
When Hong Chengchou said this, he had some personal emotions. He was getting more and more angry with Zhu Youjian. If you had this strategic determination back then, the battle of Songjin would not have been so miserable. According to reality
In the process, the Battle of Songjin lasted for more than two years. However, when the plan was made, it was not prepared for two or three years. The military order from the capital forced him to fight the Qing army decisively in order to end it as soon as possible.
The war and the reduction of financial pressure were the main reasons why Songjin was out of control across the board.
The final result was that the money was not wasted, and all the soldiers who could be mobilized were buried in Songjin, making a bamboo basket to draw water in vain. It was precisely because of thinking about the battle of Songjin that Hong Chengchou said that the consumption must be energy consumption
It's affordable. I heard from people that the current financial situation of the Ming Dynasty is much better than before. As long as they can afford it, the Manchu Qing Dynasty will definitely not be able to spend money on others.
"Sir, how can the country break this situation?"
"The old minister's idea is that the previous plan to retreat to Beijing remains unchanged! Once Liaoyang and Jinzhou are lost, the army will not have the same advantage as when it faced the Ming army. It will be difficult to hold Shenyang without a barrier. We should use the Fushun and Tieling lines as the basis.
Be prepared for a long-term confrontation with the Ming army."
"What should Shenyang do now?"
"From the perspective of the entire war situation, Shenyang is a bit useless now. But now there is no way to abandon the defense. We can only maintain the status quo and choose the opportunity."
Maintaining the status quo is not easy to maintain. The Manchu Qing Dynasty does not have much standing army. Their main force is not professional soldiers. When spring begins, they have to be busy with their own family affairs. By then, it will be very difficult to gather 50,000 to 60,000 troops in Shenyang City.
It's a lot of effort. In addition, so much land has been lost this time, and farming around Shenyang City is no longer stable. The income of the Eight Banners soldiers will definitely be affected, and how they will live in the future will be a problem.
"Grand Master, the battle to restore the Liao Dynasty has come to an end for the time being. Although we have not been able to achieve full success, the basic situation has become clear. As long as we do not make big mistakes in the future, Jianlu will no longer be the main threat to the dynasty. In other words, from now on
From now on, all the focus must be concentrated on the pass, and the cabinet must be prepared for this." In the dormitory, Zhu Youjian found Zhou Yanru, and the monarch and his ministers were basking in the sun at the entrance of the palace and talking about the next work.
"It's time to resolve the internal affairs. I wonder which direction Your Majesty wants to start from?"
"Actually, it doesn't matter which direction. What needs to be determined now is whether to attack across the board or advance step by step. I feel that based on the current situation, the advancement across the board is insufficient. After the liberation of Shenyang City in August or September, the entire Liaodong plus Cloud
To neutralize Daning, it is necessary to contain about 150,000 troops. The area and population currently under actual control of the country can only add another 50,000 to 60,000 troops at most, which is close to the limit. In other words, as soon as possible,
The number of troops that can be used to pacify Jing's belly before the end of the year is only about 150,000, and this number of troops is not enough to spread across the board!"
"Invincibility starts with sacrificing the ancestor"
"According to your Majesty's wishes, it would be better for the country to quell the chaos province by province next. If this is the case, the places where troops can be used are the Jin region, the Central Plains and the three provinces of Nanzhi. The Central Plains has been corrupted for a long time, and the Jin region has mountains and rivers both inside and outside.
Nanzhi is a prosperous place."
"The Central Plains and Shanxi have been in chaos for a long time. It's time to put an end to the chaos and bring peace to the people."
"However, the people's power in these two provinces is dilapidated. After fighting the rebellion, I am afraid that they will not be able to provide assistance to the court for a while. Instead, they will need to make great efforts to recover like Shandong now. Although there are chaos and thieves in the abdomen, in terms of strength, I think
When Xian Thief and Sun Baigu are the leaders, we should use troops in the Central Plains and Jin. The national army will face the Qin army directly. Liaodong needs a large army to be stationed for a long time. I am a little worried."
"Sun Baigu's strength has increased rapidly in recent years, but I feel that 100 to 150,000 soldiers and horses are enough to deal with it, so there is no need to worry too much. Although the Central Plains has been dilapidated for a long time, it has always been a province with a large amount of manpower. After the liberation of the national army,
, it should not be a problem to expand the army to more than 100,000 within one or two years. As for the financial contribution, it may not be as good as Nanzhi, but as long as we manage it carefully, about three years will be enough."
The Central Plains is the Central Plains. No matter how dilapidated it is, its population will not be reduced there. After the liberation, the biggest help was to expand the source of troops. What Zhu Youjian was thinking about was not as simple as expanding the army by 100,000 from there. His plan
It is to recruit 300,000 troops and horses from the Central Plains and Taiyuan Valley within two or three years, thereby laying the foundation for quelling chaos across the country.
With another 300,000 troops, we can start a war on all fronts. If we let him grind one province at a time like he is doing now, when will it be over?
"Grand Master, in addition to military planning, we also need to make plans in other aspects. Since we are recovering, we must have a new look. We can't be like before. The people are in dire straits and the authority of the imperial court is not enough to cover the local areas. Among them
, the most important thing is to improve transportation. The cabinet will build a Ministry of Transportation on the basis of the six ministries to plan and arrange transportation construction issues across the country. In the next ten years, my idea is to build a road from Chang'an in the west to Chang'an in the south.
A double-line main railway line will be built from Nanjing in the north to the capital. In addition, an auxiliary line will be built from Xuanhua through Datong and Taiyuan to connect with the main line railway in the Central Plains. At the same time, a single line will be built through Guihua and around the Hetao to Hexi, Gansu.
Railway, as well as the railway extending from Shanhaiguan to Shenyang. If conditions permit, it would be better to connect Daning with Jinzhou or Shenyang by railway."
"Your Majesty, building so many railways will cost a lot of money, right? Even if it can be built through loans, private funds are always limited. Can it afford it?"
"The money spent is definitely not a small amount. It will cost at least nearly 100 million taels of silver dollars to make it possible. However, judging from the current financial situation, it is not unaffordable! This year's fiscal and tax revenue of the imperial court, excluding the tobacco and alcohol monopoly tax, is
It should be more than 20 million taels, right? In the next year or so, Shandong's finance and taxation will not be a big problem if it exceeds 30 million taels. When the situation in the Central Plains and Shanxi improves, there will be 40 to 50 million taels. In the next ten years
Most of the country will be at peace, and the fiscal and tax revenue will reach 100 million taels. It is achievable. One-tenth of the year will be used for railway construction, and another tenth will be used for official roads and water conservancy repairs. The impact on the entire finance will be
Not too big.”
"But after the world is at peace, there will be a lot of soldiers and horses to raise, and most of the court's fiscal and tax revenue will need to be diverted to military expenditures. In addition, there will be a lot of expenditures on teachers and officials. The veteran is afraid that the court will not be able to divert them by then.
Pay so much money."
"When the country is liberated, it will not be a problem to earn 20 million taels from tobacco and alcohol taxes. It will also be possible to earn more than 20 million taels from palace property to subsidize military expenses. My idea is that from now on, the national army will have seven main battle troops.
More than 100,000, and more than 800,000 security forces are almost enough. The military expenditure for the whole year is about 60 million taels! The number of officials and teachers in the country is less than 2 million, and the overall expenditure will not exceed 100 million. In terms of revenue and expenditure
Say, it is feasible to squeeze out 20 to 30 million taels."
After all, the imperial court was rich, Zhou Yanru couldn't help but sigh in his heart. According to the emperor's assumptions, the country's annual expenditure would be around 150 million taels of silver dollars. Such a large expenditure would have been unthinkable before.
Dare to think about it, but now not only the emperor is optimistic about it, but even Zhou Yanru feels that it is not too difficult.
He even felt that Ming Dynasty had to spend so much money to maintain stability and the current good situation. It was still like before, tens of millions of taels of silver a year, and nothing could be done.
"Grand Master, you have been sitting in the position of chief minister of the cabinet for a long enough time these years! You have worked hard for the rejuvenation of the country and have made great achievements. Now the state affairs have improved a lot. I can't bear to have the Grand Master work so hard again.
." After chatting about spending money, Zhu Youjian changed the topic to Zhou Yanru's own position.
The situation in the world has changed. The next step is to seriously focus on economic construction. If Zhou Yanru and others are to lead the cabinet, Zhu Youjian feels that their abilities are limited and they are not competent enough. They will just make do with it when it comes to filling the pot.
It's time for those who are using them to be replaced by a wave of more capable court ministers.
"Your Majesty, this veteran has devoted himself to serving the country and worked tirelessly. Now is the time to exert one's strength, and it is my duty to do so."
This old boy was very dishonest. He rejected Zhu Youjian's tactful idea of abdicating his position in favor of someone else, and directly stated that he could still take the lead.
"I am planning to establish a State Counselor's Office. The main responsibility of the Counselor's Office is to supervise whether the state, court, cabinet, military command hall, and the Fifth Army Governor's Office are fulfilling their duties on behalf of me and the people of the world. The method of supervision is to go to the Central Government every year.
Each yamen submits a performance report to the advisory council, and the advisory committee members will review the report. If the performance of duties is not satisfactory, the committee members can recommend removal and accountability. According to the laws of foreign countries, major imperial orders are also reviewed by the advisory committee.
At the same time, the appointment of important ministers of the country is also discussed and recommended by the Counselor Hall and submitted to me for approval. There are a total of 130 members of the Counselor Hall, half of whom are officials who perform their duties in the central government office of the court.
As well as the governors of important provinces, the other half do not hold specific positions and are only responsible for inspecting the central and local areas on weekdays. The term of each advisory committee member is five years. After five years, I, the central government office, and the local governors will
The members of the Imperial Council jointly recommended replacements. There is a Grand Sikong in the advisory hall, who is responsible for organizing the annual review and inspection work. He is given excellent treatment and ranks first among officials in the world. The Grand Master feels that the first Grand Sikong of the dynasty should be appointed by anyone.
good?"
The old boy was not on the road, so Zhu Youjian had to resort to big tricks to deal with it. It sounds like the advisory council seems to have overwhelming power, but in fact, if they do not hold specific official positions, the power of the committee members is empty. Suppose
On the one hand, this agency is to add a layer of supervision to the administrative agencies, so that the emergence and performance of officials are more orderly. The other purpose is to provide a transition for important ministers who have withdrawn from the front line, allowing them to serve in vain for a few years, and then completely withdraw from the court.
.
In the so-called half-time, half-full-time system, the quota of full-time advisory committee members is reserved for people like Zhou Yanru. To create a high-quality Da Sikong is just to give the old man some temporary benefits before he retires.
In any case, Zhou Yanru has worked hard over the years even if he has no merit. You can't just put him aside completely after the situation improves, right? He must have wanted to completely solidify his reputation as a famous minister of Zhongxing before stepping back.
, but Zhu Youjian doesn't have that much time to give him. It may take another five or six years for the world to be settled. It will definitely be unrealistic for him to sit in the position of chief minister for another five or six years. It is definitely unrealistic to give him the position of Da Sikong.