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

Chapter 728 Long talk 1
After devouring a meal, several pufferfish were wiped out by the group of the most distinguished eaters in the entire empire, even the bones were gnawed away--the bones of pufferfish are also a delicacy, and real foodies will never eat them. Let it go, so those eunuchs and maids who drooled for a long time and wanted to pick up some bones to satisfy their greed could only be greatly disappointed.

Zhu Cihong and Princess Kunxing looked eagerly at the puffer puffers that were not much bigger than tadpoles in the glass tank, and kept swallowing their saliva. Damn, these two little guys couldn't even think of puffer puffers that were so small. Eat it?Yang Menglong burped and said: "This... burp is too small to be eaten. If you want to eat it in the future, just catch it in the river."

The queen took the princess's hand and said with a smile: "Your father and Lord Hou still have important things to discuss, let's go over there to play first." Together with all the concubines, they bowed to Chongzhen and were satisfied. walked away.

The palace maid and eunuch came over to clean up the leftovers, served fragrant tea, and then retreated far away.Some things are beyond the reach of little people like them, so it's better not to hear them.

Chongzhen ate too much, and his belly was uncomfortable. He drank two cups of tea in a row before he recovered. He hiccupped and said, "Fugu is the best in the world, and it really deserves its reputation... Hiccup, this is the first time I have tasted such a delicious food. s things!"

Yang Menglong said: "Well, the people in Huguang eat it a lot. There is a saying that 'give your life to eat pufferfish'. Many people die of poisoning every year, but there are still so many people flocking to it, and it has been banned repeatedly."

Chongzhen said: "This kind of delicacy, everyone wants to eat it, how can I resist it?" Speaking of this, he sighed in frustration: "I didn't expect that my taste is not as good as that of ordinary people! They can eat this kind of food every day. Delicious, and as for me, only you, Aiqing, can eat meat when you come into the palace!"

Yang Menglong rolled his eyes: "Come on, the common people seldom get full all year round, and still envy them? It's not that arrogant!"

The two of them dated each other, chatting while drinking tea, talking nonsense all over the world.Yang Menglong told Chongzhen the customs of Huguang and what he had seen and heard during his campaign in Japan, and Chongzhen told Yang Menglong some interesting things that happened in the court, and the chat was very relaxed.Chongzhen likes this kind of conversation atmosphere, so he can be so relaxed when chatting with Yang Menglong. Yang Menglong doesn't regard him as the emperor at all, and he doesn't think the emperor is much nobler than anyone else. In his eyes, he can sit with him to eat and chat They are all friends, how can anyone else have the guts?
"There are many living graves in the mountains of Hunan and Guizhou..."

Chongzhen interrupted in surprise: "Living grave? What's going on?"

Yang Menglong said: "It is a kind of stone cave with air holes, and some food and water are stored in it. It was built by the Miao, Yi, Yao and other barbarians. When officers and soldiers came to chase the barbarians, many old people were unwilling to leave their homeland. So they hid in the living graves and strangled them to death. If they were lucky enough to see the clansmen come down from the mountain and return to the village, they would open the graves and come out. If they didn’t see the clansmen coming back, they would stay inside forever. I just want to bury their bones in their homeland. As far as I know, the vast majority of people never come out after entering the living room, and some even hide in with the whole family, it’s too miserable.”

Chongzhen was silent for a long time, and sighed: "Everyone in power has repeatedly told me that they are not of my race, and their hearts must be different. Why has no one told me this?"

Yang Menglong sneered: "Because in their eyes, those barbarians are not human at all!" He looked straight at Chongzhen sincerely, and said, "Your Majesty, stop chasing barbarians! If you don't stop chasing barbarians every day, the war between barbarians will continue every day." The meeting is over, Ming Dynasty has already shed too much blood in this area, and it is almost time to continue! Miao people, Yi people, Yao people... These barbarians are all good at farming, even in the mountainous areas of Guizhou, they can avoid large tracts of fertile land Planting rice is the wealth of the country, wouldn't it be a pity to kill them?"

Chongzhen was silent for a long time, and said: "Killing the barbarians and expanding the industry is a national policy that has continued since the reign of Taizu..."

Yang Menglong interrupted: "If you want to expand your business, you can only expand outward. There is no reason to expand in your own home! The expansion of the business has lasted for more than 200 years. How much land and wealth did Ming get? Did the Tianxiong Army expand in Hetao for a year? How much land?"

Chongzhen was silent... not really.Miao people, Yao people, Li people, Bo people, Dong people and other ethnic minorities mostly live in poor mountains and rivers, barren mountains and wild mountains, and their ancestors have worked hard for generations to open up a small piece of land. Even if they are driven away, how much land can they get? ?
Yang Menglong said: "There are two pieces of fertile soil right now, one is the Hetao Great Plain, and the other is the Northeast Great Plain. Needless to say, the Hetao Plain is suitable for farming and animal husbandry. It can not only grow rice, wheat, and cotton in large quantities, but also Breeding a large number of cattle, sheep and war horses can be said to be a matter of national destiny; while the Northeast Great Plain is fertile and wild, some young people from the Sauron tribe came to vote a few days ago and offered a handful of soil, which is dark and shiny, and can really squeeze out oil. Even a chopstick can grow sprouts there! Now Ming Dynasty has the ability to retake the Hetao Plain and the Northeast, but the reclaimed land needs manpower to develop, without people, what is the use of more land?"

Chongzhen asked: "You mean, leave those barbarians and move them to Hetao Plain or Liaodong?"

Yang Menglong said: "It is not necessary to move them out. It is the same to move the Han people there. After the Han people move out, the land left behind must be cultivated, otherwise it will be like picking sesame seeds and losing watermelons. Or let them move to Annan. Go, and knock down the Red River Plain and the Mekong River Delta, which will also be of great benefit to Daming."

Chongzhen asked: "What good will it do to Ming Dynasty?"

Yang Menglong said: "These two plains are very fertile. These farming experts can get a good harvest with a little effort. If you sell them some fertilizer, they will have a lot of surplus grain. Where will the surplus grain be sold? Naturally, it will be sold to Daming , In this way, the price of food in Daming will drop, and the common people will be able to eat well, isn’t it great?”

Chongzhen nodded: "It makes sense. I have decreed that if the barbarians move out, the officers and soldiers are not allowed to stop them. It is the best of benevolence and righteousness. It depends on whether they have the ability to take down Annan." He tapped the table with his fingers and said: "By the way, last year Huguang's taxes and grains were shipped to the capital by sea, and the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty were very dissatisfied."

Yang Menglong rolled his eyes: "Why are you dissatisfied?"

Chongzhen said: "Water transportation is the food and clothing of millions of waterworkers, and Huguang is a big tax banker, which has a great relationship. If Huguang's tax bank abandons water transportation, I don't know how many waterworkers will lose their jobs. Doing so will cause big troubles! "

Yang Menglong snorted: "If we continue to use the water transport, there will be no big troubles? The Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal is silted up, and navigation is difficult. The food and clothing of millions of water workers have to be paid from tax money. The consumption is amazing. In addition, there are layers of water transport officials. Greedy ink, false public benefit, one thousand shi of grain was transported to the capital through the canal, and in the end I wondered if two hundred shi could go to the treasury! Not only was it inefficient, it was staggeringly expensive, and it wasted millions of young and strong laborers. What is the use of such water transportation? But shipping by sea is different, a large ship can carry ten thousand stones of grain at a time, and it takes only ten days to arrive in Tianjin from Guangzhou, and twenty or thirty sailors can handle it, and the efficiency is hundreds of times higher!"

Chongzhen smiled bitterly: "Why don't I know that shipping by sea is more economical and labor-saving? But once these millions of water workers have no way of living, the world will be in chaos!"

Yang Menglong said: "The way of living is earned by oneself, not given by others! If they really want to survive, they can serve as soldiers, work in factories, or move their families to the Hetao Plain for reclamation. Why bother staying on both sides of the canal Cruel time?" Some coldly said: "Your Majesty, from now on Huguang's food and payment will be transported by sea, if possible, I would like to ask the emperor to abolish water transport and encourage sea transport!"

Chongzhen was taken aback: "Are you crazy!? Those millions of water workers..."

Yang Menglong said: "It is precisely because of the millions of water workers that the water transport is abolished! After all, the territory laid down must be developed by someone. Whoever has a family is willing to leave his homeland to Hetao and go to the northeast? Once the water transport is cancelled, the million The water workers will have no place to go, and then some policies will be introduced to encourage them to go to the Hetao and the Northeast, wouldn’t it be a matter of course?”

Chongzhen was dumbfounded, and stared at Yang Menglong blankly, as if looking at a lunatic.After a while, he said: "You keep mentioning the Northeast, but I want to ask you, how long will it take to destroy Jiannu and take back Liaodong?"

Yang Menglong cautiously stretched out two fingers: "Two years!"

Chongzhen said coldly: "You are crazier than Yuan Chonghuan. Yuan Chonghuan's eyes are high above the top, and he is defiant. He only dared to claim that the Liao Dynasty was flattened for three years, and finally he came to Beijing!"

Yang Menglong said: "The minister is different from him!"

Chongzhen asked sharply: "What's the difference?"

Yang Menglong said: "First of all, compared with the army of eight years ago, the new army of Ming Dynasty is not the same in terms of equipment or training. Second, the Jiannu died and injured tens of thousands in Lushun, not to mention their vitality, and the psychological advantage they gained over our army through hard battles no longer exists. Other armies dare not say that at least The Heluo New Army, Tianxiong Army, Sichuan Army, and Denglai New Army will not be afraid of them, and they dare to fight to the death against the enemy. No matter which new army they face, Jiannu has no advantage; finally, our army is now Guns and cannons are already extremely sharp. A single cannon cannon can kill 30 to [-] people, and thousands of muskets firing in turn are enough to weave an airtight curtain of fire. One will be beaten into a hornet's nest halfway, what will Jiannu use to fight us!"

Chongzhen was silent again, and it took a long time before he said: "If someone said these things to me, I would treat him as a big talker, and cut off his head without saying a word, but when I heard these words from you, I have already put Jiannu Treat them like a bunch of dead people!"

Yang Menglong bowed obediently: "Thank you for your trust, Your Majesty!"

Chongzhen encouraged: "When I give you enough, just let go! If two years are not enough, then three years, if three years are not enough, then five years! I am still young, and I will eventually see our army's battle flag planted on the top of Shenyang city. One day, I'm not in a hurry!"

If Yuan Chonghuanquan knew it, he would definitely cry out when he heard this sentence... Back then, the big boss wouldn't give him more for a day!

"I plan to promote Wu Sheng to be the General Army of Shandong and also to be in charge of the Dongjiang Army. What do you think?" Chongzhen asked a new question.

Wu Sheng is now the commander-in-chief of Denglai. Although it took only two years for a general to be promoted to the commander-in-chief, everyone knows that the current position does not match his merits—————————————————————————————————————————————————— The Denglai New Army was the main force, they fought extremely hard, and suffered heavy casualties. The Denglai New Army deserved the most credit for the great victory in Lushun.This is the first achievement since the Liao incident, and it would be too foolish to just seal the general of Denglai.Chongzhen was very satisfied with Wu Sheng, he was loyal and reliable, he worked hard without complaint, and he was the top leader in military training. Daming lacked such talents.But he had to take Yang Menglong's feelings into consideration. After all, Wu Sheng was still Yang Menglong's subordinate the year before last, so he was promoted rashly to the general of a province, almost at the same level as Yang Menglong. What did Yang Menglong think?
Unexpectedly, Yang Menglong raised his hands in approval: "General Wu is brave and good at fighting. With his military exploits, it is a matter of course for him to be the commander-in-chief of a province."

Chongzhen was a little skeptical: "Do you really have no objection?"

Yang Menglong said: "If I have any opinions, I wish he could be alone so that he can help a little."

Chongzhen said: "Then it's settled. Wu Sheng was promoted to the general army of Shandong, with a total of [-] soldiers... Let's recruit from the water workers. I heard that the water workers are as strong as cattle, can endure hardships, and can obey. Order, it is a good choice to pull him into the army."

Yang Menglong was so excited that tears filled his eyes...Big Boss, you finally got the hang of it. You know that besides pulling fiber, the waterworker can also serve as a soldier!
How did the Qing Dynasty solve the problem of water works?Well, to put it simply, they captured young men, the Taiping Army captured them, and the Qing Army also captured them. Hundreds of thousands of water workers were divided into two camps and fought bloody battles. After the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was pacified, there were not many left among the millions of water workers. This The heavy burden will naturally be thrown off...

(End of this chapter)