It turned out that Ye Yaoyao had already known about this from Zhou Shaohuan and others who had returned to Hangzhou earlier. She felt angry and laughed. It turned out that she was planning to bring Shang Yi and Lin Fengwu together, but she didn't expect that Shang Yi actually asked Yao first. Lissandra took action. It seemed that Shang Yi was still open to both Chinese and foreigners. However, he was also driving one sheep and herding two sheep. Even Chen Yuanyuan tolerated it at first, and now he is willing to accept Lin Fengwu, so of course he doesn't care. There is one more person. Besides, she is relatively familiar with Alexandra and has a good friendship. Therefore, she is also waiting for their return at the mansion today.
Seeing Alexandra and her daughter-in-law acting as helpless as her parents-in-law, Ye Yaoyao couldn't help but feel a little funny, but after all, she was at the gate, and she didn't want to tease her more. In fact, it was mainly because no matter how much she said, it was useless, because Alexandra didn't understand at all. So she went over and took Alexandra's hand and said, "Come on, let's go into the house first." But Alexandra was pulled by Ye Yaoqi, confused. He entered the General Military Mansion ignorantly, while Shang Yi was secretly having fun on the side.
After entering the mansion, Chen Yuanyuan was waiting in the hall, and Alexandra had no choice but to accept her fate. After staying in China for more than two months, she had learned a few Chinese words, so she also bowed to the two of them. Li said in Chinese: "Hello, madam."
Ye Yaoyao smiled and said: "Are you still calling me Madam now? Should I call you sister?"
Now only Shang Yi can act as translator. After listening to Shang Yi's words, Alexandra blushed again. In fact, she was not afraid of being teased about the relationship between men and women, because when she was on the ship, she heard the sailor I am used to telling dirty jokes to soldiers, but Spain is a Catholic country and polygamy is not allowed. And Alessandra has received this kind of Catholic teaching since she was a child. Although she got the Arconia on the ship The explanation was that now she was asked to turn this corner immediately, and she was really not used to it.
Of course, don’t think that Europeans just stick to monogamy. In this regard, people will find ways to work around it. If polygamy is not allowed, then find a lover. Among European aristocratic men and women, a lover is actually a kind of love. There is a phenomenon recognized by everyone, including emperors and empresses, almost all have their own lovers. This can be regarded as compensation for monogamy.
But now that she was forced to have no choice but to grit her teeth, Alexandra finally uttered two difficult words: "Sister."
Ye Yaoyao also felt that it was enough. If she continued teasing, it would be bad if Alexandra became angry. He took her hand and said: "Yani, I just made a joke with you, but please don't do it." Don't take it seriously. We will be a family from now on. Considering our age, I should call you sister." After saying that, Tian Zhu took a brocade box and handed it to Alessandra's hand, and then said: "In a hurry , there’s nothing good about it either, please don’t be offended, sister.”
Alexandra opened it and saw that it was a pair of mutton-fat jade bracelets, which were smooth and crystal clear. Chen Yuanyuan also gave her a pair of jade earrings and two pieces of woven silk.
Seeing that both of them had prepared gifts for themselves, it was obvious that they accepted her. Alexandra was relieved and very grateful when she arrived. However, although she did not prepare any gifts, she was from a noble family after all, so she took them with her. He bought a lot of good accessories, so he first took out his pure gold pocket watch from his jacket pocket and gave it to Ye Yaoyao. He also took off the pure gold cross he was carrying and gave it to Chen Yuanyuan as a thank you to them. It also presents a harmonious atmosphere of a family.
Then everyone stayed with Alexandra for dinner, and she finally let go. She started talking and laughing, and was coping well. But after dinner, Alexandra refused to stay there at all. They spent the night at the mansion and insisted on returning to their residence. Shang Yi also thought that the two of them had not held a wedding after all, so he did not force it. He just sent Alexandra back to the mansion.
When Shang Yi came back, facing the questioning of Ye Yaoqi and Chen Yuanyuan, he also used his whole body to solve the problem, and finally turned the questioning into a bed exercise, and easily resolved it.
It was already mid-February. Before the New Year, Shang Yiping destroyed Majiazhai and occupied the Haisha Salt Farm. It can be said that there was a lot of commotion in Zhejiang. After the new year, the local powerful people in Zhejiang He began to move around, preparing to defeat Shang Yi. Some people had already gone to Beijing to complain, and many people had already complained to Nanjing. But at this time, some officials in Nanjing still cared about Shang Yi's affairs. Because the situation in the north is already precarious.
As early as December 18th of the previous year, Li Zicheng ordered two generals, Li You and Baijiuhe, to attack Shanxi. He sent a message to all states and counties in Shanxi, asking officials in various places to control the situation and surrender as soon as possible.
On the first day of the first lunar month, Li Zicheng officially proclaimed himself emperor in Xi'an, named the country Dashun, changed the name of the country to Yongchang, changed Xi'an to Chang'an, and used the Qin Palace as his palace. At the same time, he also promoted people below Zeng Yu to be emperors, and his mother was the queen mother. It also stipulated that The names of ancestors and fathers are not allowed to be used. He also made his wife Gao as his queen and Chen as his concubine. Then he granted the titles of meritorious officials, General Quan, General Zhi, Marquis, General Guoyi, and General Mighty. Bai Guangen, Chen Yongfu, Wang Liangzhi and other surrendered generals also received rewards, and more than 100 people were knighted successively. In terms of civil servants, Niu Jinxing was made prime minister, Song Xiance was made military adviser, six ministers were set up, etc. Yanran is a It is necessary to change the dynasty and establish a foundation.
On the eighth day of the first lunar month, Li Zicheng left General Quan Tian Jianxiu to guard Xi'an. He, together with Liu Zongmin, Niu Jinxing, Song Xiance, Liu Fangliang, Gu Junen, Li Guo, Li Yan and other civil and military generals, personally led the army to start the eastern expedition.
After the army crossed the Yellow River, it divided into two groups. Liu Fangliang led a partial division along the Yellow River to the east along the Yellow River, advancing into Huaiqing Prefecture, Weihui Prefecture, Zhangde Prefecture and other places in Henan, and then went north to attack the capital. Li Zicheng personally led the army. , rushed directly to Beijing. On the 23rd, he captured Pingyang Prefecture, and then led his army north to attack Taiyuan.
At this time, the Ming Dynasty court was in chaos. After the envoys from Zhejiang returned to Beijing, they reported to the court that the Xiyi Ganlu people were invading the coast of Zhejiang, and Shang Yi was leading the army to resist the enemy. The ministers in the DPRK were also confused. After a lot of quarreling and debating, some people advocated abandoning Zhejiang and transferring Shang Yi to the north to go to King Qin; others suggested that Wu Sangui should be transferred to the south to help the army, and some suggested that Chongzhen move to the south. Each minister had his own reasons and felt that he was right, so they argued over each other. Happy.
In fact, these opinions have some truth, and of course there are also problems. After all, the Ming Dynasty has reached this point and is irreversible. Even Chongzhen is undecided, while Chen Yan and Wei Zaode, the cabinet bachelors, are now ignorant of every question and go to court every day. The Ming Dynasty is like a clay figure, saying nothing. In fact, no matter which resolution is chosen, there is still some hope of maintaining the Ming Dynasty. Unfortunately, time is slowly being consumed in the constant wrangling.
After getting this information, Shang Yi was finally able to confirm that this period of history has not changed. If everything goes normally, Li Zicheng will capture Taiyuan on the sixth day of February. He will capture Ningwu on February 26th and defeat Datong on the first day of March. , conquered Xuanhua on March 6th, captured Juyongguan on March 15th, and entered Beijing on March 18th. The end of the Ming Dynasty was coming soon. In less than a month, the Qing army would also officially enter the pass.
Judging from the subsequent development and the analysis of later generations, Li Zicheng's hasty accession to the throne in Xi'an and his immediate eastward expedition seemed to have done more harm than good. Although Li Zicheng had an absolute advantage at this time, since he went north, he fought against Sun Chuanting and defeated Sun Chuanting. It took less than four months in total to conquer Tongguan, occupy Xi'an, close the three sides, settle in Guanzhong, and then proclaim the emperor. Then we rushed to conquer Beijing. This series of victories came so fast, so fast. Some of it was unbearable, so the entire army was filled with complacency and pride.
Moreover, Li Zicheng occupied Guanzhong for too short a time and his foundation was not solid. More importantly, after occupying Guanzhong, Li Zicheng still insisted on the three-year exemption from taxation in order to win over the people of Longnan. Therefore, he has never established a stable foundation. The source of taxation. Military salary expenditures are still collected from local gentry, and even the actual price is quoted. After becoming a nine minister, the silver is 50,000, the Zhongcheng is 30,000, the supervisor is 10,000, and the county magistrate is 5,000. And this kind of This approach was later used in Beijing, but the result was that it was difficult to restrain, causing the situation to get out of control.
If the Dashun Army could maintain its military advantage, it wouldn't matter, but once it suffered a military defeat, it would immediately trigger a chain reaction and collapse immediately. And Li Zicheng ignored that the combat effectiveness was far beyond that of the Ming army. The Qing army outside the Pass.
Therefore, some people in later generations believed that if Li Zicheng could stabilize Xi'an for a period of time at this time and let Dashun's rule stabilize in Guanzhong, then even if he was later defeated by the Qing Army in Beijing, he would be able to retreat to Guanzhong and avoid being defeated again and again. So that there is no chance to turn around.
Of course, all this has nothing to do with Shang Yi. Anyway, he has been preparing based on the results of the Qing army's entry into the pass. Now he is just waiting for the Ming Dynasty to complete the last part of its journey. At the same time, he also seizes the last time to complete the preparation work. is more substantial.
It should be said that Shang Yi has indeed spent a lot of effort to arrive at this moment, and even the most difficult financial crisis has been considerably alleviated.
In December, the merchant army quelled the confiscation of Majiazhai and made a total of more than 100,000 taels of silver, which was considered the largest income since settling in Zhejiang.
After the New Year, in January, the Haisha Salt Farm produced 3,750 taels of salt, earning a total of 100,125 taels of silver. The attack on Taiwan also confiscated more than 60,000 taels of silver from the Spaniards. In addition, the silk factory finally received more than 15,000 taels of silver. In the first month of the new year, Shangyi Group finally achieved a good financial situation with revenue exceeding expenditure for the first time.
The glass factory has also begun to put into production, and the silk factory and Haisha Saltworks will also be on the right track. It seems that the financial situation has begun to improve step by step.
Shang Yi looked at the financial statements for January and suddenly thought that in another time and space, after Li Zicheng entered Beijing, he plundered on a large scale. He said that he obtained a total of 70 million taels of silver, which was equivalent to the fiscal revenue of the Ming Dynasty for five years. But after Li Zicheng was defeated by the Qing army, almost all of this huge amount of money fell into the hands of the Qing army. Later, the Qing army was able to send troops to the Southern Ming Dynasty for more than 20 years, and it cannot but be said that this first pot of gold also came from Not a small effect.
Therefore, Shang Yi suddenly thought that it would be great if he could seize this huge amount of wealth. Then at least within ten years, he would not have to worry about financial problems.