In fact, only about a week later, through the military intelligence agency, the results of the Jiangnan War were communicated to the Ministry of War of the Imperial Court, and the Ming Dynasty Central Committee learned about it.
Beijing, Forbidden City.
This morning at the regular court meeting, Xiong Mingyu, an official from the Ministry of War, took the initiative to break the silence and went out to discuss this matter.
"Your Majesty, the 200,000-strong army in the south of the Yangtze River was completely wiped out. Xujiazhuang achieved a complete victory by sending only a few thousand troops. Your Majesty, Xujiazhuang has achieved great success. We will see when Xujiazhuang will have the ambition to devour our Ming Dynasty."
It's like a huge boulder dropped from the calm lake.
Buzz.
All the civil and military officials in the dynasty began to whisper and discuss.
Zhou Yanru, the chief minister of the cabinet, also had to stand up and said: "Your Majesty, Xujiazhuang is gaining momentum. The harm to our Ming Dynasty has far exceeded that of rogue bandits and slaves outside the customs. In three to five years at most, Xujiazhuang will be destroyed."
By annexing the rich land in the south of the Yangtze River, and then swallowing up our country in the Ming Dynasty, and based on the business habits of Xujiazhuang, who do not value Confucian scholars and do not respect the imperial power, if Xujiazhuang takes over the world, there will be no place for the ministers and your majesty except to die in battle.
!”
Cifu Wen Tiren also said: "Your Majesty, if Xujiazhuang takes over the world, the clothes and moral traditions of our country will be extinct, the ethics of dignity and inferiority will be ruined, the writing, etiquette and music will be crippled, and the royal family, nobles and gentry will not be rich and noble. The harm will be no less than that of the Five Husbands who destroyed China and Yuan Dynasty.
Lord Hu’s Central Plains artifact! If we don’t take measures to deal with it, we will all die without a burial place.”
All the ministers came out one after another and said in unison: "Your Majesty, Xujiazhuang cannot let it go any longer, and the court must take action!"
On the dragon chair.
Facing the requests of the civil and military ministers, Chongzhen Zhu Youjian realized the seriousness of the problem and understood that it was simply impossible to maintain a strange silence on the Xujiazhuang issue.
The 200,000-strong army organized by the honorable gentry in the south of the Yangtze River went to attack Xujiazhuang, but all ended in annihilation. If the 200,000-strong army was sent by the imperial court, could it defeat Xujiazhuang? Or could it be a 50-50 split?
Will the imperial army also end in a disastrous defeat or even annihilation?
Chongzhen Zhu Youjian, who has been the emperor for five years, actually has this self-awareness, and has long understood a very simple truth: running a country is like running a family, and war is all about money and food. Only spiritual will and loyalty to the emperor and patriotism can fundamentally
It is impossible to defeat a strong enemy.
So when Li Jinniu, the deputy general of Yangzhou Jinyiwei, reported in May that Duke Wei successfully raised 10 million taels and raised 20 million taels of food and grass, Zhu Youjian was very envious and jealous, and also felt extremely fearful.
, raised so much money and food, and secretly formed an elite army of 200,000 people. What did Wei Guogong want to do? Is it really just to destroy Xujiazhuang? After destroying Xujiazhuang, did the Jiangnan army disband on the spot, or did he have evil intentions?
?
So I was under strong fear.
Regarding the formation of the Jiangnan army, Zhu Youjian has always held a coldly on the sidelines, never supporting but not opposing the attitude. After all, Xujiazhuang is also a big threat.
Since the snipe and the clam are competing for the fisherman's profit, it is best for the noble gentry in the south of the Yangtze River to fight with Xujiazhuang and both sides will lose! The court will benefit from it.
But the result was still far beyond Zhu Youjian's expectation. Not only Xujiazhuang won a complete victory, the losses were also very slight, and the foundation was not damaged at all. After consolidating the existing territory, it will only become stronger and its momentum will be even more unstoppable!
I can't sit still!
Such a terrible result made Chongzhen unable to sit still, and now he was threatened and exaggerated by all the civil and military officials in the court.
"My dear ministers, the threat from Xujiazhuang is so great, what should the court do, and what should I do?"
Zhu Youjian couldn't help but stood up and asked.
Seeing that the emperor's attitude was consistent with his own, the ministers and officials couldn't help but feel happy and secretly happy, and they all made plans and put forward their suggestions.
Hou Xun, the Minister of Household Affairs, came out and said: "Your Majesty, for the present plan, we must cut off all commercial contacts with Xujiazhuang, destroy and close all shops related to Xujiazhuang's goods, confiscate all goods, blockade various passes and water and land transportation, and not allow any
A piece of goods from Xujiazhuang is not allowed to flow out, and not even a grain of grain, minerals, gold and silver is allowed to flow into Xujiazhuang. They will be trapped and starve to death! This generation of merchants makes a living by trade. If their trade routes are cut off, it will be like blood vessels that are not smooth. Over time, they will...
Suffocate to death, collapse without a fight."
This is a strict blockade plan against him.
Immediately, a large number of voices expressed support, saying that all goods from Xujiazhuang would be burned, and life-sized glass mirrors worth ten thousand taels of silver would be smashed without leaving a single piece.
But this was also opposed by many ministers.
"It is not feasible to destroy shops and burn goods. There are no shops in Xujiazhuang. Those shops are opened by agents, and the goods are wholesaled from Xujiazhuang. Xujiazhuang has already made money. Why is the court harming the interests of agents? This is
Didn't you hit the wrong child?"
"That's right, the agent is not guilty of much. All he needs to do is cancel the cooperation with Xujiazhuang, promise not to buy Xujiazhuang goods again, and then strictly block the traffic roads."
"Seal down the entire Yangzhou Prefecture?"
An official from Yangzhou had to stand up and said: "Yangzhou controls three states and seven counties, with more than 5 million people. Xujiazhuang only controls 2 million. Most of the people are court subjects, and there are various counties.
The prefecture, Yangzhou City, is still in the hands of the imperial court and has not been occupied by Xujiazhuang. If the entire Yangzhou is blocked, will even the people of the imperial court have to suffer? What's more, Yangzhou is a tax-heavy area, and it pays more than one million yuan in food to the imperial court every year.
Taxes, if there is a strict blockade, will these taxes also be eliminated?"
Another official from Yangzhou also said: "Your Majesty, the strategy of blockade is not feasible. Killing a thousand enemies and damaging yourself eight hundred is a bad strategy!"
Immediately, the two Yangzhou officials were criticized verbally and writtenly. It was believed that they were speaking for Xujiazhuang and that they must have received money as representatives of Xujiazhuang's interests. The two Yangzhou officials argued with them and started to quarrel with them.
The Jinluan Hall suddenly buzzed with chaos and turned into a vegetable market.
Seeing the chaos, the eunuch Wang Chengen said in Zhu Youjian's ear: "Your Majesty, Xujiazhuang's goods cannot be banned. Among your dozens of imperial stores, Xujiazhuang's goods are the best-selling ones, and with the help of Manager Fang
Now, I will enjoy the purchase discount of 35% price reduction, which will bring a profit of more than 100,000 taels to His Majesty's internal funds every month. This is one of His Majesty's important financial resources. If it is cut off, Your Majesty will have no money to use."
These words shocked Zhu Youjian's body.
He remembered that at the beginning of this year, his money was empty and he was living a miserable life again. Fang Yizhi, who was returning to Beijing, was very distressed when he saw this, so he helped to make connections for the royal family.
I won the qualification of Xujiazhuang's goods agent, and was also included in the list of friendly agents. Not only did I enjoy a 30% discount on the price, but for Fang Yizhi's sake, Xujiazhuang offered another 5% discount, which allowed Huangdian to have the purchasing cost.
With a low competitive advantage, he earned more than 200,000 taels in the first month, triggering a wave of price cuts for Xujiazhuang goods.
The profit margin in the latter part is a little lower, but there is still at least a profit of 100,000 taels per month.
The royal members in the palace can also buy Xujiazhuang's glass mirrors, watches, lighters, toilet paper, bicycles, soap, sugar, cans and other goods at low prices, which significantly improves their quality of life.
Even Zhu Youjian himself is used to this high-consumption life where he can wipe his mouth and butt with soft toilet paper. If he were asked to go back to the past...
Shaking his head, he spoke loudly: "Dear ministers, since there are still millions of my people in Yangzhou, the blockade strategy is definitely not feasible, and there is no need to discuss this matter again!"
Hou Xun's proposal was rejected, which made him quite frustrated, but it also made him realize that not half, but at least one-third, of the ministers in the court who had business dealings with Xujiazhuang, including
The emperor's royal shop...
Next, regarding how to restrict Xujiazhuang, the ministers and officials came up with many ideas, some of which were truly imaginative.
There are suggestions to send spies and assassins into Xujiazhuang to assassinate the owner Xu Yuan and other leaders.
Some people proposed sending many great Confucians into Xujiazhuang to influence the people of Xujiazhuang with the principles of saints.
There are also proposals to select children of appropriate age from the ministers' families and then marry them to senior officials of Xujiazhuang. For example, Xu Yuan, the owner of Xujiazhuang, has no official wife so far. If a royal princess or a noble daughter of the clan is married to him, it will further influence the thinking of Xujiazhuang's senior officials.
, and ultimately achieve the purpose of changing or assimilating Xujiazhuang.
Several officials even directly persuaded the emperor not to borrow any more money from Xujiazhuang, thereby expressing their dissatisfaction with Xujiazhuang.
Etc., etc.
These may sound okay, but in fact, each method is more bad than the other, making Zhu Youjian shake his head repeatedly without comment.
The discussion lasted several hours, from morning to noon.
Still haven't been able to find a reliable and feasible method.
"If Duke Chengguo, Duke Yingying, Uncle Xiangcheng, and the ministers of the Ministry of War raise enough money and food within three years, train another 300,000 elite soldiers, and then send troops to attack Xujiazhuang, will they be able to succeed?"
Finally, the impatient Zhu You checked the names of Chengguo Duke Zhu Chunchen, British Duke Zhang Weixian, Xiangcheng Bo Li Guozhen and officials from the Ministry of War, and asked this question.
"Well……"
Silence, these military officers and ministers all bowed their heads and remained silent.
"Can it be done?" Zhu Youjian patted the dragon chair and asked in a louder voice.
"No, we can't." Zhu Chunchen said.
"I have no confidence unless I am given half a million elite soldiers!" Li Guozhen shook his head.
"I am too old to lead troops," Zhang Weixian said.
Officials from the Ministry of War either shook their heads or were silent. No one dared to stand up and say such big words.
"Retreat!"
Zhu Youjian tossed his sleeves and walked away with a sullen face, and the shrill voice of the etiquette eunuch sounded. The meeting, which had lasted for a long time, was still an anticlimactic meeting. Apart from wasting words, it did not achieve any results.