Daming: At the start of the showdown, Lao Zhu was stunned

Chapter 331

"How about it, have you found out the details of the Ming army at Zhenyitai?" Inside Shanhaiguan, guard Gao Basi Timur asked eagerly.

"Those Ming dogs have a very powerful cavalry. Our sentry can't get close to the beacon." The person Gao Basi Timur asked, another guard at Shanhaiguan, Hong Boyan Timur, put his helmet on the On the table, a pair of slender eyes with a dangerous light narrowed slightly. "The banner they fight is Qin Wangwei. The ordinary Ming army will not be so elite. I think those people are really the sons of Emperor Zhu's family."

"Damn it." Gao Basi Timur slammed the wine bowl in his hand on the table. "Where did this Ming army come from? How did it suddenly appear here?"

"Prime Minister Zuo (Naha's official position in the Yuan Court at this time) asked us to guard Shanhaiguan and clean up the Ming army in Liaodong... Seeing that the Ming army was about to be wiped out by us, but out of nowhere, these few things appeared. A son of the Zhu family emperor."

"This matter is so troublesome, it's really depressing! Why don't we mobilize the army to go out tomorrow, whether it's mules or horses, and force them to pull them out for a walk!"

"Don't be reckless!" Hong Boyan Timur waved his hand. "We don't know their reality yet. What if we go out by ourselves, what if we are completely wiped out by them?"

"Moreover, the Ming army surnamed Ye has joined them. It is obvious that the Ming army has regained its foothold in Liaodong and is planning to seize this Shanhaiguan. We cannot act rashly at this time."

"Could it be that we just wait for it?" Gao Basi Timur dissatisfied.

"It's okay, we won't be waiting for long." Hong Boyan Timur narrowed his eyes slightly. "Emperor Zhu's son can come to Liaodong without anyone noticing, but it is impossible to unknowingly bring tens of thousands of shi of grain and grass!"

"Tens of thousands of stones, grain and grass! How many people's chariots and horses will be mobilized! How much waste will be spent on the way! If Daming can have such confidence and ability, you and my brothers might as well vote for the Ming court. Therefore, although we don't know How many of them are there, but one thing is certain: their army at this time must still be short of food."

"Well, that's right!" Gao Basi Timur's eyes lit up.

Don't think that when Zhu Su was in the south of the Yangtze River, he easily raised tens of thousands of shi of food and grass by searching for merchants.You must know that the grain and grass in the Jiangnan area are completely different from those in the northern Xinjiang area.

The first is the issue of production. China has experienced hundreds of years of turmoil, especially in the north.At this time, the Ming Dynasty had not yet been established for a long time, and although the sight of "bones exposed in the wild" in the northern part of Nuoda has decreased somewhat, the words "no rooster crows for thousands of miles" are not an exaggeration at all.

The population in the north is sparse, the productivity is lacking, and because of the difference in weather and geography, the fertility of the land is not as good as that in the south.From time to time, the Yuan people in the north would go south to hunt grass and valleys. Although the Ming Dynasty has now established a country, the people will not let the Yuan court fish or meat, but the people in the north can barely grow food for their own family.It is impossible to have a large amount of surplus food to be paid to the imperial court for the imperial court to raise troops to fight.

Based on this fact, Lao Zhu also implemented a policy of light corvee and low tax on a large scale in the north, hoping that the northern region can recuperate and live well, and does not expect them to be able to support the imperial army.

However, Yuan Ting was still stalking outside the pass, and most of Ming's troops were still stationed in the north.Where will the food and grass to feed these armies come from?That is naturally the "South-to-North Grain Transfer".Every year, the imperial court organizes a large number of grain transportation teams to transport grain to and from northern Xinjiang.

However, if the grain grown in the south is to be sent to the soldiers in the north, it must bear a huge amount of loss.First of all, the imperial court needed to conscript a large number of civilian husbands, and more than half of the heavy "corvette" that the people had to bear in ancient times referred to the task of transporting grain.At that time, the roads were inconvenient, and the time for a round trip was often calculated in months.And the peasants also need to eat food during the transportation of food. If they eat while walking, the food will naturally be consumed very quickly.In addition, it is not easy to store food on the road. In case of rain or snow, or dampness, mold, mice or thieves, these are all losses.

Even if a grain transport team had tens of thousands of shi of grain at the beginning, when it was delivered to the northern frontier soldiers, there were often less than a hundred shi left.

Such a huge amount of loss caused every attack on food and grass in northern Xinjiang to be enough to damage the national strength of Ming Dynasty.The [-] shi of grain and grass that Naha had burned had already been hoarded by Daming for several years in order to counterattack Liaodong, and now they have all been destroyed.What an extraordinary ability the Ming court has. It can gather a million shi of food in a short period of time, and it can also let a group of corvee men bypass the frontline battlefield without anyone noticing, and quickly transport them to these food shortages. In the hands of Ding Liaowei?

It is absolutely impossible.

"Since the Ming army is short of food, then we just need to stay behind closed doors and clear the fields. Naturally, the Ming army can't continue to stand still." Hong Boyan Timur was confident. "Whether they want to plunder food and grass in Liaodong, or storm our Shanhaiguan to get in touch with the Ming army, it must be in the past few days. I have people monitoring their movements."

"As for a Ming army without food, whether it is fighting or fleeing, is it up to us?"

"Okay! That's great!" Gao Basi Timur was overjoyed. "It has to be you, brother!"

"If you take Emperor Zhu's son, it will be a great achievement! Even if you are appointed as a marquis and worshiped as a prime minister, it is not impossible! In the future, you and I will be like Prime Minister Zuo, supporting one side and being the head of a department on the grassland... "

The two looked at each other and smiled, quite like the idiom of the Han family.

"My lord! My lord!" Just as he was drinking hot wine in a big bowl, a servant outside barged into the gate of the palace shouting all the way, and a gust of night wind blew straight on the faces of the two Timurs.The two cheered together, and Gao Basi scolded: "You bastard, what's the name of the ghost in the middle of the night? Do you want to freeze the two grandpas to death?"

The young man hurriedly closed the door of the palace, and continued to speak hastily: "My lords, the villain has a serious military situation."

"The Ming army at Zhenyi Terrace suddenly broke out at night!"

"What?" The two Timurs were not surprised, but Hong Boyan glanced at Gao Basi, "Look at what I said? The Ming army is indeed out of food!" Gao Basi threw the wine bowl in his hand, "Quick , Blow the trumpet! Get someone to put armor on this general!" As he spoke, he kicked the table open and strode out of the hall.

The military exploits have come, why does it matter why it is windy at night?It's important to capture the son of Emperor Zhu's family!
……

As the young man said, the Ming army, which had been silent around Zhenyitai for several days in a row, was moving abnormally tonight.Even at the Shanhai Pass, you can see the hilltop where Zhenyi Terrace is located, illuminated by countless torches.

"Wuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!" Three low-pitched horns blew past, and countless Ming soldiers filed out from the Zhenyi stage, and everyone looked anxious.Even in the darkness of night, you can see the banners covering the sky.

War is imminent!
However, what the Ming army did not discover was that there were many Yuan army sentries hidden in the dark and secluded jungle and bushes around them.

"Quick! Quickly report the Ming army's movements and report to the two generals in the pass!" A Yuan Ting commander shouted at his subordinates in a low voice, then continued to open his eyes wide, watching the anxious Ming army in the dark .

(End of this chapter)