Dominate the Country

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Nanjing Imperial City, Fengtian Hall.

As the first of the three major halls in the imperial city, the Fengtian Hall now combines major ceremonies, receiving congratulations from all officials and holding a grand court, the emperor's enthronement, the emperor's wedding, the enthronement of the queen, and the ordering of generals to go to war, etc.

Chen Hanfeng held a grand court on September 11, and the Fengtian Hall was extremely lively. Because in addition to government affairs and military progress, the King of Han today also personally raised a big proposition-should we take the opportunity to take Anhui! ?

Anhui, take Anhui! This is a temptation that all the civil and military officials in the court cannot refuse.

Looking at the large map hung with a wooden frame on the side, if the Fu Han Army also takes Anhui, then most of the Central Plains will have fallen into the hands of the Fu Han Army. When the army attacks Beijing next year, will the Qing army in Henan continue to stay in Henan?

Once Agui retreats, the troops in southern Henan and Anhui can take advantage of the situation to sweep northward..., Central Plains, Zhili, Shanxi...

Immediately, a feeling of blood swelling exploded in the hearts of everyone in Fengtian Hall. It was a dream come true. That situation was simply wonderful.

Chen Cong's face was also a little red, and even his breathing was anxious, but he had to remind everyone present that the problem of money was a problem as he had already taken the position of Minister of the Ministry of Finance! This cannot be ignored.

"The Ministry of Finance has no money?"

Chen Erbao, who had just returned from Guangdong, was like a mouse whose tail was stepped on, and his voice was much sharper. Lingnan Residential Office has been abolished because it is no longer needed. Yan Xishen was transferred to Guizhou to serve as Chen Han's first governor there, and the position of Guangdong Governor was taken over by the original Deputy Resident Xie Hu. Of course, Xie Hu also had the title of Governor-General of Nanyang on his head, and he was responsible for Hongji City, Singapore City, Sulu City, etc.

Chen Erbao returned to the Grand Governor's Office to serve as his own Left Deputy Governor. Chen Erbao, who had only been back for ten days, didn't understand many things, but in his mind, the Ministry of Finance was the former Ministry of Revenue. The Ministry of Finance had no money? This was a big deal.

Chen Quan, who was attacking Chen Erbao, rolled his eyes helplessly. On Chen Erbao's first day at work, he personally delivered a thick stack of military expenditure plans, not only for this year, but also for next year. But judging from Chen Erbao's performance today, this guy must not have read it.

"It's not that there is no money. It's that there is no extra money." Chen Cong replied. "In recent years, Anhui, Shandong and Henan are the three places that have been most oppressed by the Qing Dynasty. Take southeastern Henan last year as an example. Since our army started the uprising, there have been few places with imbalanced income and expenditure. To be precise, it is a loss." Fields are not counted as assets. What can be counted as "income" are things that can be exchanged for real gold and silver in the short term. The gold and silver that the Fu Han Army looted from Chenzhou is not as much as the gold and silver they sprinkled in Chenzhou.

"Anhui's situation will not be better than Henan's." Because the wealthy southern Anhui had long been taken by the Fu Han Army, Anhui north of the Yangtze River is not as good as the Henan Plain represented by Chenzhou at this time. So it is easy to attack Anhui, but to completely settle northern Anhui, millions of dollars will be spent.

"Food, silver. There is no plan to seize Anhui in our budget." In the original battle plan, the northwest is to open up the connection with the Yuandun Sect, and a large number of horses can be introduced, regardless of whether those horses are war horses. The east is to seize northern Jiangsu and Shandong, and northern Jiangsu and Shandong are not completely seized, but only the area east of the canal.

But now because of the problem of Xuzhou, the Eastern Fu Han Army has linked up with the Central Plains Fu Han Army, and it has become inevitable to split Anhui. The sudden addition of Anhui has changed a lot.

Unless Chen Han only provides small-scale relief to the local people's livelihood after taking Anhui, otherwise you just give the locals official land and tell them that there will be no tax next year, and the land tax will be reduced to such and such a level. People will starve to death, and what's the point?

Otherwise, why would there be so many militias in Anhui, Henan, and Shandong provinces?

Chen Hui also considered this point, so he raised it at the grand court meeting today and asked the important officials to discuss it. Instead of making a dictatorial decision.

Those people in Anhui starved to death under the Qing Dynasty, which would lose the hearts of the Qing people and ruin their reputation; but if there was a mess under the Chen Han government, it would be too bad.

Chen Erbao's face changed, and finally it was fixed on a gluttonous face, "It's just a few million silver, it's about the same if you put it together here and there. As for food, our army covers... half!"

An Anhui province, and an excellent geographical advantage for the war next year, Chen Erbao couldn't resist this temptation.

"It's several million taels of silver, not several million silver dollars..." Chen Cong's heart was pounding, but he couldn't help but consider the financial difficulties.

"Second brother, can't we get that money together?" Chen Hui, who had just finished the court meeting in the Qianqing Palace, summoned Chen Cong.

"Brother Wang, the issue in Anhui is not just a matter of disaster relief and economic recovery, but also the issue of the Yellow River and Huai River embankments. When Li Shiyao left northern Jiangsu, in addition to frequently sinking ships in the canal and tearing up the embankment of Gaoyou Lake, fortunately it didn't cause a big disaster, he also messed with the embankment of the Yellow River, dug out a lot of stones, and dug holes in some important sections of the embankment. It must be rebuilt in the spring of next year. This is a big money-consuming matter. If the Qing army in Anhui is desperate and also destroys the Yellow River embankment, the cost of the Yellow River alone next year will not be four or five million."

In autumn and winter, the Yellow River enters the dry season. Even if the riverbank is pulled out and damaged, it will not cause disasters. What is scary is next summer...

And the large-scale repair of the Yellow River embankment in Anhui will definitely involve Chen Han's energy, manpower, financial resources and material resources.

"Unless the reserve fund is used." That is the silver that the Fu Han Army has saved since the implementation of "land instead of salary", which is prepared for use next year. "Besides the problem of money and food, I am more afraid that this Yellow River will trip us up." The performance of the Qing Dynasty this summer has already revealed what "doing everything possible" means. How can Chen Cong not worry!

Chen Hui also showed a tangled expression on his face. Qianlong, this dog thing, is now doing some tricks. In addition to assassination and sabotage, he keeps working on the riverbank. It's like a thin and sharp iron rod against Chen Han's chest, which makes you pay attention. Otherwise, if he accidentally gets the iron rod stuck in his chest, he may not die, but he will have endless troubles.

Previously, Chen Hui personally preferred to take Anhui. He considered money and food, but he ignored the issue of the Yellow River embankment.

Who can guarantee that Li Shiyao will not be as ruthless in Guilin as he was in northern Jiangsu?

Chen Hui, who was originally inclined to take Anhui, once again turned it back to the middle. "Let's discuss this matter later."

The military intelligence received by Nanjing from the Eastern Theater was that Chen Ming had not yet fought with the Qing army in Anhui. When the news of Nanjing's "difficult decision" came back to him, he had already led his troops to take Suzhou. But he stopped at Suzhou City. Of course, he also sent this news to Nanjing, but there was a time difference on the way.

Chen Ming also had doubts about whether to take Anhui, and like his father, Chen Ming mainly considered the issue of money and food, ignoring the ruthlessness of the Qing Dynasty. This kind of court that plays tricks on the dam that affects thousands of lives is a court that does not take the people under its rule as human beings. With the morality of the Qing Dynasty, who dares to say that they really do such a thing as digging up the Yellow River and destroying the river embankment when life and death are at stake? Chen Ming led his troops to only Suzhou, which is right.

Tong Jin, who fled from Xuxikou, is said to have run all the way to Qiuhe, and then gathered his troops again. So far, there are only two or three thousand people.

Li Yuelong, who surrendered, was entrusted with an important task by Chen Ming, and was given the title of Anhui Army Suzhou Garrison Regiment, and led his troops to guard Suzhou. Then Chen Ming will return to Xuzhou, and it is time to deal with the Qing army in Xuzhou.

Because the second batch of Qing army reinforcements led by Agui himself has arrived in Dangshan, his target is not Jining, but Xuzhou.

Shaanxi's attack on Hanzhong turned into defense, and part of the extra troops returned to Gansu, and the other part entered Henan.

The bilateral situation is a matter of one move!

Although the current borders between the Manchus and the Hans are not jagged, any disturbance in the long line of confrontation between hundreds of thousands of troops on both sides that stretches for thousands of miles will cause the entire army to shake.

Of course, as long as the Fu Han Army maintains a certain degree of restraint, the current situation is also easy to resolve in Chen Ming's eyes.

Yang Mingzhao led his troops from Yizhou to support Jining. After Chen Ming solved Xuzhou, he would deal with Agui. Then the Fu Han Army used Xuzhou Prefecture as a node and entered Shandong through Peixian. The part west of the Shandong Canal was abandoned, and the canal was used as a division. This war could be declared over after the Battle of Jinan. If the Qing Dynasty is willing to accept the current situation!

In Jining City. Five gaps collapsed on the three walls of the north, south and east, and the entire Jining City was like a birthday cake that had been scraped clean of cream and cut several times.

From day to night, the sound of gunfire always rang out, and even in the darkest night, you could hear sporadic sounds.

The south of Jining City is the most dilapidated place in the whole Jining. Two days ago, the Qing army rushed into the city for the first time through the broken wall gap, but they did not succeed. Li Zuoen, a martial arts candidate from Qufu, led his men to fight with swords and finally blocked this wave.

The next few successful explosions by the Qing army were not as thrilling as the first time. They were just a little bit away from cheering in Jining City.

As for the entire Jining City, which was already in ruins in the smoke and almost turned into a ruin, who cares?

From that day on, Li Zuoen stayed in the south city, and Kong Zhaohuan also assured to hand over the command there to Li Zuoen. The front-line Shandong militia, including some young and strong laborers pulled from the city, worked like crazy under the leadership of Li Zuoen. Everyone only slept three or four hours a day, and the rest of the time was spent on building breast walls, building fortifications, and transporting various materials.

Now the entire south city of Jining has become unrecognizable. The dilapidated houses were either demolished or reinforced into fortifications for soldiers to rest. Li Zuoen looked at the beams, which were as thick as his thighs and made of large wood. They were not beautiful in architecture, but they were solid. Each such building was a firing point.

All the ammunition and supplies under Li Zuoen's command were also hidden several meters below the surface, and covered with large wood. The ammunition and supplies were placed in a scattered manner, just in case something happened and everything was destroyed.

He didn't have a single cannon in his hands, only a batch of grenades and musket shells. In his anxiety, some of the bullets sent to Li Zuoen were even unqualified, so he had to melt them and recast them. The melting point of lead is very low.

The Qing army attacked day and night, with varying strengths. After these days of busy work, Li Zuoen's eyes were red. He was sitting on a pile of wooden boxes and talking to his brother Li Zuochang, who also looked exhausted.

The Li family and the Kong family have a deep entanglement. Kong Zhaohuan should have called them cousins. The Li family did not form their own team, but directly joined the Kong family. Now they can only fight desperately.

"The Qing army has come to reinforce again. There are so many soldiers outside the city. If His Royal Highness the Crown Prince does not return, the people in the city will be completely finished."

"Haven't you prepared for it? The Lord took this task, and he came here to fight desperately. If you die, the eggs will be in the sky. If you don't die, all of us will continue to enjoy wealth and honor."

Li Zuochang took a sip of strong tea, his tone was lonely. Li Zuoen also sighed. Even if they integrated into Chen Han, they would not be able to take on important tasks. This life would just go on like this. Of course, this idea is a delusion in the current situation. Jining might be broken in the next moment.

Three walls, five gaps. The Li brothers' here is just one of them!

For a while, neither of them spoke. Until a few dull explosions were heard outside, it was the Qing army's artillery firing!

Li Zuochang stood up suddenly, "Brother, you take a rest here, I'll go to the front line first." As he spoke, he picked up the telescope and waist knife on the table, and strode out of the command center with several followers and messengers. The artillery fire just now must have been a test firing of the Qing army's artillery. More violent bombardment and subsequent infantry attack are imminent!

...

"Are the teams of Guo Shiyou, Li Huapeng, and Zhou De ready?"

Shi Chunze's face was as cold as a stone. As the great-grandson of Shi Lang, Shi Chunze went from a hollow Han Eight Banners Zhenglan Banner Deputy Commander to the present step by step in several years of war. If the Qing Dynasty can continue to exist, Shi Chunze will really be honored.

Since the death of Shi Shilun, the prominent status of the Shi family has disappeared. Among Shi Lang's grandchildren, there is no one who can really take up the responsibility, because the year before Shi Shilun died, Shi Shipiao, who served as the admiral of Fujian Waterway, had died of illness at the age of 54.

The Shi family, which was in a slump, was a nobody with empty titles during the Yongzheng and Qianlong dynasties. Even though Shi Chunze had made many contributions in the army that conquered Xinjiang, he only got an empty title of deputy governor of the Han Eight Banners. If it weren't for the rise of Chen Han, the frequent deaths of famous generals and ministers of the Qing Dynasty, and the replacement of a large number of generals in the army, Shi Chunze might still be doing nothing in Beijing.

"Reply to the general, the three adults are ready."

"Good." Shi Chunze shouted good, and then said: "Then only the artillery is left? Tell them to move faster! Don't dawdle. At the beginning of the morning hour, I must see all the artillery fire."

Shi Chunze is not a descendant of Shi Shilun or Shi Shipiao. He is the grandson of Shi Lang's fifth son Shi Shiqi. But the descendants of Shi Shiqi, who was not very outstanding at the beginning, have now become the most prominent pillar of the entire Shi family. Although the Shi family is also not optimistic about the future of the Qing Dynasty, they are helpless because the Fu Han Army insists on some "principles". With the dark history of the Shi family, even if they surrender, they will not have a good ending.

"Have you contacted Jinan? Is the situation there tense? If possible, Jining continues to need reinforcements." Shi Chunze sat in his command center with a gloomy face. Since the attack on the front line is about to be prepared, he doesn't need to keep an eye on it. He tried hard to construct a distribution map of the entire Jining in his mind. The importance of this battle may not be as great as Jinan or Xuzhou Prefecture, but it is an opportunity.

It is the most likely place for the Qing army to take down the earliest among the three focuses of this battle!

Although the Fu Han Army's troops have not yet entered Beijing and Tianjin, this is a battle that determines the fate of the Qing Dynasty. If it fails, the Qing Dynasty can only be on the defensive, on the defensive.

The Central Plains War Zone, where they have the most abundant troops, is also at a disadvantage. "God bless us, God bless our Qing Dynasty..."