Cutting over the end of the Ming Dynasty: a dog-leg knife at the beginning

Chapter 578 Qi Hefengyun 11
Snowflakes fell one after another, the streets and alleys of the capital were covered with a thick layer of snow, and the Forbidden City was wrapped in a piece of silver makeup, showing a solemn beauty.

The snow fell heavily, which in a normal year is a good sign, meaning there will be a good harvest next year.It's a pity that the current Ming Dynasty is very abnormal. The heavy snow that can bring a lot of nutrients to the land is an out-and-out disaster for most people. Every day, poor farmers are frozen to death in the four directions At home, or under the eaves of the city, horse-drawn carriages would pull loads of corpses to the suburbs for burial every day.Heavy snowfall is a disaster for countless hungry farmers and bankrupt farmers who have lost their land, and their lives will be even more difficult.The capital has calmed down a lot now. Many people rolled up the tattered mat and the quilt covered with patches and stuffed with reed flowers before entering the capital, and begged all the way to Denglai or Daming Road to survive.I heard that a large number of farms and factories have been established there, requiring a large number of manpower. Once there, as long as they can endure hardship and have food to eat, they want to try their luck.The government also welcomed this, giving each person some old rice or an old piece of clothing, wishing them a safe journey and not to come back to bother them again.

This winter, Beijing is relatively calm. The large-scale development of Heluo, Denglai, and Daming Road has attracted many people to look for jobs, and a few months ago, Jiannu was killed in Lushun to pile up corpses, and most of Liaodong was retaken. On the peninsula, hundreds of thousands of bandits have now been wiped out. This series of victories makes people feel that there is still hope for this country.

A country is not afraid of poverty or chaos. The most fearful thing is that everyone thinks it is hopeless and gives up.

Therefore, no matter what, a country must protect that glimmer of hope for millions of people, even if blood flows into rivers, it cannot back down. A country that fails to do this will be swept into the dustbin of history sooner or later.

Chongzhen did not go to court today.Hundreds of thousands of bandits had been settled, and the reward given to Yang and Lu, which gave him a headache, was also dealt with by Queen Huizhilanxin. Jiannu was hiding in the snow nest, licking his wounds. It was originally a chaotic situation. The country suddenly became quiet, and there were naturally fewer things that he needed to deal with, and he was a little uncomfortable with it.Now he was reading the letter written by the Queen over and over again, laughing while reading it.

The Queen stayed in Handan City for two days, and traveled all over Handan City in just two days. She was amazed by the cleanliness and prosperity of the entire Handan City, and said excitedly in the letter:
"There are a lot of shops and hotels, and there are a lot of new houses, and more and more people use glass as doors and windows, and the light inside the house is very good..."

"The road is paved with cement. It doesn't look like it was built by manpower, but it looks like it was cut from a big stone. Every time I walk on it, I have to marvel at the magic of creation. The three prefectures of Daming, Shunde and Guangning are working day and night. Construction stopped on the ground, roads were opened across mountains and bridges were built over water, and the spacious and smooth highways continued to extend towards Henan, Beijing, Shanxi and other places, and it seemed that no force could stop them."

"Hundreds of thousands of captive bandits have been arranged early. The old and weak, women and children live in camps surrounded by barbed wire. They eat twice a day, one dry and one dry, and there is meat to eat. The young and strong are gathered, and the craftsmen are the first to be captured. They were picked and sent to various factories, and those without skills were sent to do some heavy work, such as building roads, repairing canals, digging foundations, etc., and the food supply was sufficient..."

Every time he saw this place, Chongzhen had to be amazed.How did Lu Xiangsheng manage to capture several 10 people at once, arrange them properly, and provide them with enough food?You know, this is several 10 people!People these days don’t have much oil in their stomachs, and their appetites are scary. If they let their stomachs eat, a mountain can be eaten down. Hundreds of thousands of people, it’s a nightmare to think about it!Generals such as Hong Chengchou and Cao Wenzhao all admitted that their biggest headache was not how to defeat the rogues, but how to settle the tens of thousands of hungry people who were deliberately thrown to them by the rogues.The livestock of these hungry people were robbed, the last bit of food for life was robbed, and even the seeds were robbed. The officers and soldiers had to give them food to eat, otherwise they could only continue to rebel, but the officers and soldiers themselves could not eat enough. How can we get so much food to accommodate them?In a word, without sufficient food, the northwestern rogues will never be able to solve it.But Lu Xiangsheng did it, and it was quite easy. He had to marvel at the ability of this Confucian general, it was really amazing!At the end, the queen also re-written that although the prosperity of daimyo dao is not as exaggerated as Jin Yiwei said, every family has surplus food, and the prices of vegetables and meat are also maintained at a low position, which most people can afford , which is quite remarkable.Chongzhen firmly believed in this, my wife, I would not lie to myself.

Well, when Yang Menglong settles down the Huguang rebels, this country that is full of smoke and fire, which makes his hair gray with worry, will be considered stable. At that time, no matter whether he takes the initiative to defeat Jiannu or defend himself according to the Great Wall, he will always be able to live a happy life. It's been good for a few days to live in peace.Of course, Chongzhen knew that Lu Xiangsheng was a general with a strong desire to attack, and if he was asked to guard Xuanda, he would definitely use the Mongols for surgery.He did not hide this fact in his memorial to Chongzhen. He explained very frankly that he just wanted to snatch the Mongols' cattle to cultivate land for the Ming people, snatch the Mongols' horses to become the mounts of the Ming army, and take the Mongols' horses to serve as mounts for the Ming army. The sheep brought back became a delicious meal for the people of the Ming Dynasty, and all the land suitable for farming in Mongolia was taken over for the people to plant, and the young and strong in Mongolia were taken over to let them fight for the Ming Dynasty!To put it bluntly, it is to regard the war as an investment, and the cattle, sheep, horses and land plundered are all benefits.Chongzhen was taken aback. This kind of war aimed at plunder is against the way of saints!But after being surprised, he was happy again. Thinking of Mongolia and Houjin's large-scale plundering of Daming several times, he hated him so much. Now let you also taste this feeling!

When the spring is warm and the flowers are blooming, my new army will be able to leave the customs with a long song and turn the grassland into a sea of ​​blood.

Come spring quickly!

Wen Fuzhong.

It was freezing outside, but inside the house it was as warm as spring. Wang Yingxiong and Wen Tiren were only wearing summer robes, and they didn't feel cold at all.This is thanks to the fireplaces and anthracite sold from Daming Road.A fireplace is a good thing. Install one, and then throw wood, coal or even peat into it. If the fire is just a little bit, the whole layer will become warm. If the fire is too strong, it will still be too hot. It will be really hot. A good thing.By the way, there are also honeycomb briquettes made of anthracite, which are high-end products and are about the size of a golf ball. They are very hot when burned and don’t produce much smoke. It’s so pleasant to use them to make a pot of wine on a cold day!
These sanctimonious scholar-bureaucrats scold Yang Menglong and others every day for doing strange tricks and lascivious things, and they are not doing business properly, but scolding is nothing but scolding, they have all these things. Fanatical fans of "things, as long as there are any novel products on the market, they will buy them back at a high price at the first time, and they can't put it down.

Is it a little schizophrenic?
There is no way, scholar-bureaucrats are all urine-like, and this disease cannot be cured without a [-]-volt electric shock.

Enjoying the convenience brought by industrial development, Wang Yingxiong doesn't appreciate it at all - these things are good things, but I am determined to kill the people who made them, and no one can stop them!In his eyes, Yang Menglong was so abominable that he actually contradicted him in front of the ministers and the emperor in the Jinchen Palace, causing him to lose all face!Lu Xiangsheng was not a good person either. He was clearly from the imperial examination, but instead of helping civil servants, he got mixed up with that vulgar martial artist. He was really self-destructive!

Of course, the most hateful thing is that these two have so much money in their hands, yet they are unwilling to use it to honor them at all!According to the script, subordinates such as Yang Menglong and Lu Xiangsheng should take out all their financial resources and ask the rulers to laugh at them, let the rulers take most of them away, and then be flattered to leave a little leftovers, and be proud of it. .Since the two of them have no idea of ​​superiority and inferiority at all, he has no choice but to find a way to teach them what superiority and inferiority are!
"I heard that the martial artist is holding some kind of sports meeting again, and people from dozens of surrounding states are going to participate!" Wang Yingxiong said a little indignantly while drinking tea, "This is an out-and-out harm to the people. It is a waste of money and food, and if tens of thousands of people gather in one place, it is very easy to cause troubles, so Yang Menglong knows that there is such a danger, but he still has to do it with great fanfare, with ulterior motives!"

Wen Tiren admired the crystal clear glass teacup in his hand, smiled vaguely, and said, "Didn't we do well last year?"

Wang Yingxiong said: "Last year did well, but it doesn't mean there will be no accidents this year! We should go up and impeach that martial artist for disturbing the people, and let the emperor decree to reprimand him and prohibit him from doing such harm to the people again!"

Wen Tiren shook his head: "It's useless...The emperor now trusts him to the point where no one can sue him."

Wang Yingxiong said sharply: "Then let's just watch that warrior continue to be arrogant and proud, make friends with barbarians from foreign countries, encourage women to let go, destroy my Chinese ethics, and disrupt my Ming Dynasty!" He panted heavily and said: "The martial artist interfered in local political affairs, made friends with the generals of foreign towns, flattered the vassal kings, expanded the army privately, exploited the common people, bullied the gentry's sons, and searched for the people's fat and anointing. This case, one after another, which one is not a capital crime! If you continue to let it go, My Ming Dynasty will not be a country!"

Wen Tiren shook his head slightly.What you said was righteous and stern, but in fact, did you hate Yang Menglong for slapping you in the face and making me unable to get off the stage in the court?Don't you hate Yang Menglong for having so much money but not being filial to you?It sounds nice, but it's a pity that the selfishness can make people somersault ten kilometers away.

Unlike Wang Yingxiong, who was obsessed with personal grudges and huge profits, Wen Tiren had a relatively clear understanding of the court.He could clearly see that with the end of the Battle of Lushun and the Battle of Suppression of Bandits, the structure of the court had undergone great changes. The power of the warriors was rising strongly and was unstoppable!Although neither Yang Menglong nor Lu Xiangsheng could join the cabinet, Fu Zonglong, who had a close friendship with these two people, became the Minister of the Ministry of War. Needless to say, this stubborn old man indirectly pushed him to this high position with his full support, and it is very likely that he will also The two generals who can help him take a step further and aspire to be the first assistant have great trust and full support.And Chongzhen, who was so angry that he was fascinated by the military exploits of recapturing the Liaodong Peninsula, made even more generous decisions. He made the two prime ministers, one prime minister of the military affairs of the five northern provinces, one prime minister of Huguang, and the newly appointed commander-in-chief of Sichuan Qin Liangyu. Its influence covers almost the entire Ming Dynasty, while the influence of traditional literati will be greatly compressed, leaving only Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Fujian.In the more than 250 years since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, such a situation has never occurred!What's even more frightening is that Chongzhen seems to be happy to see these two capable generals gain greater power, bring him more tax revenue, and even expand territory!
The almost unshakable holy family, the outstanding military exploits, the reputation accumulated by rescuing millions of refugees, and the extremely powerful productivity, tens of thousands of fierce warriors...

Wen Tiren couldn't help shivering.In four years, in just four years, the two new armies have developed to this level. If they are given another four years, or ten years, what will it be like?Although he is in the court and doesn't know much about many things, he clearly feels that with the new army's victories and factories springing up like mushrooms after rain, a new and strange era is coming. Slowly kicked off.

How come in just four short years, that stunned young man already has the ability to influence the direction of Ming Dynasty?
Did the times make him, or did he change the times?
Recalling Yang Menglong's stumbling journey in the past four years, Wen Tiren let out a low sigh in his heart: "Qi Hefengyun..."

Wang Yingxiong was still complaining.But he could only complain in front of Wen Tiren, he would never dare to say that in front of Chongzhen.Chongzhen's trust in Yang Menglong is almost hopeless now, and because he couldn't offer enough rewards, he even sent the queen to appease Yang Menglong.He is extremely disgusted to hear bad things about Yang Menglong, whoever dares to make a small report on Yang Menglong in front of him will definitely be unable to bear it!So he can only complain, now his means of dealing with Yang Menglong are really limited.

The spout of the teapot kept bubbling, the cold wind was howling outside, and the snow was flying heavily.

What will it be like next spring?

Come spring quickly!

(End of this chapter)