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After deciding which local government offices will be abolished, as well as the methods and steps for the abolition, the court meeting will be dispersed.
After a quick lunch, Qin Mu summoned the cabinet ministers and the six ministers to discuss the next military and political strategic guidelines in a small circle.
Gu Jun'en, the assistant minister of the Ministry of War, said: "With the recovery of Shouzhou, the Huaihe River defense line has been consolidated. As for Xuzhou, it is like a sword that stretches out. If it moves northward along the Grand Canal, it can threaten Shandong. If it moves northwest along the Yellow River, it can threaten Kaifeng, Zhengzhou and other places in the Central Plains..."
"Wait!" The Minister of Revenue interrupted Gu Jun'en's endless speech and said, "King of Qin, although I don't understand military affairs, any country's use of troops requires a proper strategy. In the past year, our Great Qin has sent 70,000 troops to the north to attack Heluo and 200,000 troops to the east to attack Jiangsu and Zhejiang. This time, we have sent out another 100,000 troops to recapture Huainan. Although the latter two can barely be regarded as internal operations, the huge number of troops mobilized also consumed a lot of money and food.
King Qin, it's not that I want to hold back the army, it's just that the treasury is too heavily funded right now. In addition to military expenses, there are also projects for the imperial city..."
"Minister Liu, you also bring up the project of the imperial city. The people of our Great Qin have donated nearly 10 million taels, and the budget for the construction of the imperial city is only 4 million taels. Isn't there still a lot of surplus?" Gu Junen interrupted him.
Liu Boquan said angrily: "Minister Gu, are you pretending not to know or are you really stupid? To be honest, there is still some silver in the treasury, but can the soldiers at the front satisfy their hunger by eating silver
Food, the key now is the shortage of food. There are 70,000 to 80,000 laborers building the palace. Do you know how much food is consumed every day? The military rations for the soldiers at the front and the millions of refugees need relief. No matter how much silver you have, you have to be able to turn it into food.
The court's warehouses are almost empty. We can't move anymore. Now we mainly rely on purchasing grain from the public. Minister Gu, do you know that if the court purchases a large amount of grain from the public, it will cause the price of grain to soar in the market, and the burden on ordinary people will increase. Food is the first necessity of the people. If this continues, the people will be resentful..."
Gu Junen was speechless after being refuted by Liu Boquan. As the assistant minister of the Ministry of War, he considered the issue more from a military perspective. How much grain was stored in the granary was the Ministry of Revenue's business, and he had no right to ask.
Qin Mu consoled him, "Minister Liu, please be patient, be patient. I invited all the ministers here today just to discuss the next strategic deployment, not to immediately mobilize the army to march north."
Liu Boquan was still a little worried and said, "King Qin, it's not that I'm holding the army back, it's just that we really don't have much food and grass. It's still more than half a year before next summer. If we launch another northern expedition, it will definitely cause food prices to soar and people's lives will become more difficult. Therefore, I have to remind King Qin, please forgive me."
"Minister Liu, there is no need to do this. Okay, let's continue the discussion."
Sima An pondered and said, "King Qin, after consolidating the Huaihe River defense line, I think it is inappropriate for the main force to advance from the east. Whether it is the Grand Canal or the Yellow River, it is difficult to compare with the Yangtze River.
In other words, the advantages of our navy may not be fully utilized on these waterways. Even if the navy still has a certain advantage, the Central Plains is mostly plains. As the battle line lengthens, our army's logistics cannot rely entirely on waterways to meet all needs.
Therefore, I think that the focus of our army should be adjusted next. The King of Qin still remembers the discussion in Wuchang about whether to take the south of the Yangtze River first or the northwest first.
Currently, He Luo will not be able to wipe out the rebel forces in Guanzhong due to Ling Zhan and Ai Nengqi's constraints. This is a great opportunity for our army.
Nowadays, whether it is horses for the army or cattle and horses for farming, our Great Qin is in great shortage. If we can seize Guanzhong first, we can obtain a large number of cattle and horses from Hetao, Hexi and Longyou through the tea-horse trade to alleviate the Great Qin's demand for cattle and horses.
On the other hand, due to the obstruction of war, the various materials needed in various parts of the northwest are also in short supply. Seizing Guanzhong and opening up the trade route in the northwest can greatly promote the trade prosperity of our Qin Dynasty and increase treasury revenue.
At the same time, strategically, if they controlled Guanzhong, they could overlook the Central Plains and take control of the three borders. It was much more advantageous to advance from Guanzhong to Shanxi and Yanjing than to attack from Huainan.
As long as our army continues to infiltrate the eastern front and maintains a pressure of a large army heading north at any time, making it difficult for the Central Plains to calm down and tying down the Qing army on the eastern front, it will be much easier to seize Guanzhong. "
He Liang, the Minister of War, nodded repeatedly. As soon as Sima An finished speaking, he continued, "In Yunnan, quality is more important than quantity. Therefore, I think it is enough to have General Cui Feng, the General of the Southern Expedition, to enter Yunnan with more than 10,000 troops. The troops of Li Dingguo, the Grand Commander of the Rear Army, do not need to enter Yunnan to fight. They only need to attack the passage to Yunnan along the eastern coast of Qinghai-Tibet so that materials from Sichuan can be sent to Yunnan at any time.
When Zhang Xianzhong entered Sichuan, the people's livelihood in Sichuan suffered great damage, but Sichuan was originally a land of abundance. As long as it was well governed and new crops were promoted, there should be no problem in providing food and fodder for the army's northern expedition to Guanzhong after the summer harvest next year.
If it is not enough, it will not be difficult to send some from Huguang. What the court needs to do now is to determine the strategic direction first, so that it can prepare in advance in terms of food, fodder and weapons. "
In later historical books, there are records of Zhang Xianzhong's massacre in Sichuan, saying that Zhang Xianzhong massacred all the people in Sichuan. In a big city like Chengdu, only a few people were left, and they only escaped by hiding in a dry well.
Qin Mu was not sure whether this historical material was the Qing Dynasty blaming Zhang Xianzhong for its own crimes.
But now, although Zhang Xianzhong killed a lot of people when he entered Sichuan, he definitely did not kill everyone in Sichuan as recorded in the original historical materials.
Zhang Xianzhong entered Sichuan with the intention of using Sichuan as his base. If he was not stupid, he would not kill everyone in his base. If he did so, where would the reserve troops and food supplies come from
Obviously, Zhang Xianzhong would not be so stupid as not to consider these issues. If this were the case, would there not be so many people following him
On the other hand, Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong have committed murder, arson, cannibalism, and all other bad things since they started their rebellion, but they have not carried out massacres. Their burning and killing were all targeted, in order to force more people to join their ranks.
The basis of their growth is the broad masses of the people, so they would not be as cruel as Duoduo, who slaughtered all the people in an area without distinguishing between men, women, young and old.
The last time he entered Huguang, Zhang Xianzhong forced hundreds of thousands of civilians to serve as soldiers, and burning, killing and looting were common occurrences. These are facts, but he never massacred a city, and he was never so cruel as to exterminate all the people in an area. In Changsha, Zhang Xianzhong even restrained his troops from looting in order to win the hearts of the people.
Therefore, it doesn't make sense to say that Zhang Xianzhong massacred people in Sichuan. Did Zhang Xianzhong go crazy as soon as he entered Sichuan
Today, Sichuan's population has decreased by about 30 to 40 percent due to years of war, but as long as the country is well governed, people's livelihood should be able to recover soon.
In Huguang, after two years of governance, coupled with the promotion of new crops, clean government, and the influx of a large number of manpower, production recovered very quickly. It was no problem to transfer food and fodder from Huguang to Xiangyang and Shangluo to supply the troops fighting in Guanzhong.
With Huguang and Sichuan included, it will be no problem to march into Guanzhong after the summer harvest next year.
When Qin Mu was in Chuzhou, his plan was to take Shandong first. He proposed his idea again, but was immediately opposed by Sima An: "King Qin, judging from the situation, Shandong and the Central Plains are one, while Jianghuai is out of reach. If we take Shandong first and the Central Plains are not conquered, Shandong will be isolated and difficult to defend.
Furthermore, Shandong is in ruins and confined to a corner. After taking it, unlike Guanzhong, we can make up for our dynasty's consumption through trade. Taking Shandong at this time is tantamount to throwing a large force of our army into a cage and letting the Tartars besiege it. It is really a loss without gain."
"I have also thought about Mr. Sima's concerns, so I actually want to take Fujian first. Once successful, Shandong can be connected with Jiangnan and Jianghuai by sea, and then threaten Yanjing and even Liaodong."
Sima An was silent for a moment...
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ps: The situation is not good. Friends are being overtaken by others one after another. Haozi asks for support. He is about to be pushed off the list and is very anxious.
Urgently asking for monthly tickets! urgent! urgent! urgent!
.(To be continued..)
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