Chongzhen Undergraduates

As for the princess, it is also a good thing to marry Zhang Juzheng's descendants. After all, Zhang Juzheng had been rehabilitated in the early years of Chongzhen.Uncle Zhang's reputation is enough for Zhang Tongchang to be worthy of Princess Changping.

The happiest ones were Liu Zongzhou and Wang Duo, who had already met the prince twice under the pretext of looking for Shi Kefa. The prince's strong interest in Confucianism made them ecstatic.

Whether it is Zhu Youjian or the various forces in Nanjing, they seem to be immersed in joy.

However, Houjin in the north is a bit difficult.

Hong Chengchou’s policy of supporting the people has encountered the biggest problem: food; Dorgon’s wooing of Zheng Zhilong has not been effective for the time being; the only Shandong where there is war, Hauge is also fighting very hard, and Li Yan is indeed difficult to deal with, almost village by village In the battle for village by village, the Eight Banners Army arrived in the mountainous area, and their combat effectiveness was almost the same as that of the Ming Army.

"Gentlemen, our Dajin Kingdom will rely on you a lot." Dorgon specially summoned the eight great Shanxi merchants in the palace, they are: Wang Dengku, Jin Liangyu, Fan Yongdou, Wang Dayu, Liang Jiabin, Tian Shenglan, Zhai Tang, Huang Yunfa.

"I am willing to share the worries for the prince." Wang Dengku, the leader of Shanxi merchants, immediately expressed his position.

At the beginning, after the death of the wild boar skin, Huang Taiji admired the fighting spirit of the Shanxi merchants, and was even more attracted by their wealth. Huang Taiji continued to maintain close contact with the Shanxi merchants, and promised that after he took control of the Central Plains in the future, the borrowed money would be increased with interest. return.

At the same time, he vigorously supported Shanxi merchants and adopted various preferential policies to attract them to do business in "Houjin". While providing them with convenience, he used them to reserve military strategic materials and developed some of them to spy on the military affairs of the Ming Dynasty. Economic intelligence, understanding and mastering every move of the Ming Dynasty.

With the help of Shanxi merchants, Houjin was able to equip a well-armed Eight Banners army, and the food and grass were well prepared. The domestic situation improved instantly.

After entering the customs, Dorgon even summoned Fan Yongdou, a wealthy businessman from Shanxi Province to Mongolia, as the imperial merchant of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

It can be said that wherever the Eight Banners soldiers fought, Shanxi merchants followed them. They were completely Houjin's logistics troops, not only providing food and grass support, but also reselling spoils.

"I don't know where you plan to buy grain from?" To resume production in the north, the grain problem must be solved this winter.However, the production in Huguang and Shaanxi was destroyed.

If you want to get food, there are only Shu and Jiangnan.And Jiangnan is in the hands of Daming, so it is bound to be difficult to buy grain.

"I still have some friendship with my counterparts in Yangzhou, so I should be able to get some food. In addition, the land of Shu has been rich in crops for many years, the prince can think about it." Wang Dengku and others have traveled far and wide, and they still have a good understanding of the situation.

In fact, Sichuan at this time is the place with the most food. Zhang Xianzhong took a fancy to this and led his troops into Sichuan.

At the end of September in the 18th year of Chongzhen, Zhang Xianzhong proclaimed himself emperor after occupying Chengdu. Before that, there was no so-called massacre in Sichuan.

Dorgon understood what Wang Dengku meant, that is, Hou Jin could go and rob Sichuan, and that was a good way to solve the food problem.

Chapter 237: Food Problem

"Long live, the price of food in the south of the Yangtze River has skyrocketed."

Zhu Youjian hadn't been in a hurry for two days before Wang Chengen brought the bad news.

"What's the price now?" Zhu Youjian was taken aback. The price of grain in Jiangnan has always been the lowest in Ming Dynasty.

The issue of food should be the last issue that all traversers in Nanjing should not consider. This is the biggest advantage.

"Three silver dollars a load." Wang Chengen said with a teary face.

Zhu Youjian was stunned. That is to say, a soldier's salary for one month can't buy a hundred catties of rice.When did the price of rice in Jiangnan become so expensive?

"How much is the purchase price of the grain merchant?" Since the government has already purchased so much with silver dollars, the purchase price of the grain merchant will only be higher.

"Two taels of silver a load."

"Are you sure it's not your people who are reaching out?" Zhu Youjian's first thought was whether the person in charge of purchasing was tricky.

"The slaves sent several people to investigate secretly, and it is indeed the real price." Wang Chengen was also worried about this problem, and obviously did an investigation, otherwise he would not dare to report it to Zhu Youjian easily.

"The price of grain has skyrocketed during the summer harvest season. It is obvious that someone is obstructing it." Zhu Youjian roughly understood that the price of grain in the south of the Yangtze River has doubled, which is obviously abnormal.

If it was said that it was due to the large-scale acquisition by the imperial court, Zhu Youjian didn't believe it at all, because the amount of acquisition he invested in the market was not much.And it is even more impossible to say that it was raised by farmers themselves. Farmers in this era do not have the ability to raise prices in a region.There is only one possibility, someone is intervening in the acquisition, and the one who can have this kind of strength can only be Houjin.

Zhu Youjian immediately called Fang Yuegong, Chen Zilong, Shi Kefa, Zuo Maodi, and Huang Zongxi over, because Ma Shiying was still in Jiangbei and hadn't come back. For the time being, this is Zhu Youjian's core ruling team.

"Wang Chengen, tell me about the situation again." Zhu Youjian had a cold face, obviously very unhappy.It was the first time for Huang Zongxi to participate in this kind of meeting, and he was still a little nervous.

"Yes, Lord Long Live!" Wang Chengen immediately explained the matter in detail, and several ministers also understood that they are not stupid people, and they can understand the general idea after hearing it.

"What does the emperor mean: someone is harvesting grain?" Chen Zilong said it first.

"If the grain merchants in the south of the Yangtze River were collecting grain, they would definitely not let the price of grain rise so fiercely. They would buy when the price of grain was low and sell it when the price of grain was high. With such a high grain price, the grain merchants are Hate to buy it."

Fang Yuegong is familiar with Jiangnan, so he naturally knows the usual methods of grain merchants. Such a large increase is obviously not an act of buying and selling ordinary grain merchants.

"Then there is only one possibility: Houjin is harvesting grain." Zuo Maodi said affirmatively.

"Fang Aiqing, is there enough food for my Daming?" Since food was mentioned, Zhu Youjian of course had to calculate his own situation.

"Although Jiangnan is a place of grain production, since last year, millions of refugees from the north have moved south. In addition, they have to support the front line for a long time. There are also some turmoil in the south, and there is no one in Hubei..." Fang Yuegong said a lot A pile of difficult problems scared everyone sitting here.

If you think about it carefully, it is true. It seems that Jiangnan is a place of mass production, but the current situation is that the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River are supporting everything. Except for some mountainous areas in the central and western regions, we basically rely on the food subsidies in the Jiangnan area.

"You mean, we can barely make enough for ourselves?" Zhu Youjian's face darkened. He probably understood why the Manchu Qing was eager to attack Jiangnan in history, and only Jiangnan could attack the north. It was the grain from the south of the Yangtze River that saved the north.

"Yes." Fang Yuegong nodded.

"Where is there still food?" Since there is no food in the south of the Yangtze River, it is necessary to know where to get food. This must be what Hou Jin is eager to know.

"There are only two places: Bashu and Annan." After Zuo Maodi finished speaking, several people nodded, and everyone's views were basically the same.

Annan is a bit far away. Without the support of the Zheng family, who can get a grain of grain? Only Bashu is possible, and it is the most likely.

"But Houjin doesn't have the troops to attack Bashu now." Chen Zilong felt that this seemed unrealistic. Almost all Houjin's Eight Banners army was restrained by the Ming army. If there was another Bashu battlefield, their strength would not be enough.

"Yes. Although Dorgon doesn't believe in Wu Sangui, Wu Sangui's soldiers are still not weak. Dorgon doesn't need Wu Sangui to make military exploits, but he can be sent to defend the city." Zuo Maodi explained.

Zhu Youjian had to admire these people in front of him. Historically, when the Manchu Qing attacked Nanming, Wu Sangui was hidden in the snow in the early stage. It was not until Li Dingguo counterattacked that he released Wu Sangui, a vicious dog, and finally killed his former master.

But letting the dogs go left troubles behind, and in the end there was still a San Francisco Rebellion.It can be seen that Dorgon knew Wu Sangui's urine in his heart. Before Dorgon died, Wu Sangui had no chance to make military exploits.

"From Xi'an to Nanyang, it only takes five days to walk through Wuguan, and one of them can come and change defenses. Azige is transferred to Guanzhong, Wu Sangui guards Xiangyang, and the Zhongzhen Camp can't do anything to him." Zuo Maodi continued to talk about the problem from a military point of view. .

Li Zicheng's soldiers were not only afraid of the Eight Banners Army, but also Wu Sangui's Guan Ning Army. The only thing they were not afraid of was the Ming Army.

"But we don't have soldiers to join the Bashu battlefield, right?" Huang Zongyi finally spoke, and asked in a very low voice.

He has only been on the job for a few days, and he doesn't know enough about Daming's strength. He only knows about the situation in Jiangbei and Shandong, and he also knows about the Loyalty Camp.

Zhu Youjian smiled slightly, looked at Shi Kefa and said, "Shi Aiqing, do we have soldiers?"

"The emperor still has one hundred thousand soldiers." Of course, Shi Kefa, the Minister of the Ministry of War, knew exactly how many soldiers Zhu Youjian had.

When beating Li Zicheng, Zhu Youjian took the time to put his reserve force in Wuchang. Shi Kefa didn't know his intention at that time, but now it seems that the emperor was preparing for Bashu.

Huang Zongyi really didn't expect Zhu Youjian to control so many troops, and he could still control them directly.He felt that his teacher underestimated the strength of the emperor. If students from Jiangsu and Zhejiang fought against an army of 10,000+, what were the chances of winning? Of course, political struggles are not calculated in this way, so let’s continue to listen.

"No, not only the [-], but we also have soldiers." Zuo Maodi said suddenly.

"There are more?" Everyone was taken aback, even Zhu Youjian was confused, how can I have soldiers?