Chapter 275 Money and Food

The military generals in the study were smiling very happily, and Zhu Gaoxu also showed a suitable smile.

At this time, Zhu Gaoxu understood a truth even more: even if he was a brother who shared life and death, as long as he had a different position, his mood would be completely different... Of course, the generals could laugh, because as long as there was a war, he would have military achievements!

But Zhu Gaoxu had to consider another thing, money and food.

When it comes to money, everyone no longer kisses.

When the Yunnan government mentioned the use of military service to Meng Yangsi a few days ago, the commander Cao Long was very silent while respectfully obedient, which shows his attitude.

The year before yesterday, Zhu Gaoxu brought tens of thousands of people to Yunnan Province. Of course, the prince's expenses were borne by the imperial treasury.But the court's approach was to pass on the burden to the three Yunnan departments...

The Ming Dynasty taxes collected a large amount of physical goods, and due to the limited transportation costs, most of them were stored in the local treasury; the more the imperial court spent locally, the more officials had to try to exploit them to enrich the treasury.

The men brought by Zhu Gaoxu consumed the money and grain of these treasurys, and the guards wanted to farm land, and occupied a large number of official land in prefectures and counties, which reduced the income of the government.

In any case, the Yunnan government cannot refuse such expenses; but now it is necessary to use troops to fight for an expedition, and the cost of transporting military supplies is extremely high, and it may require each government to pay for it, so the three departments and prefectures and counties will naturally not be willing.

Zhu Gaoxu thought a lot this time, and there were two choices before him: first, report to the court first, wait for the court to decide on the matter, and even the Ministry of War would appoint a general officer to be responsible for the battle; the benefit of doing so could transfer the contradiction to the central court of the Ming Dynasty.

Second, fight quickly and decide quickly. As long as the time is short, the money and food spent can be controlled within the tolerance of all parties.

Therefore, there are many benefits to immediately retaliate against Meng Yangsi.The only disadvantage is that the risk is a bit great, because Zhu Gaoxu not only has to win, but also has to be fast!

But if he chooses to wait for the decision of the central court, there will be no shortage of problems... He is very self-aware. There are too many people in the capital who don’t like him, and there will definitely be someone who will jump out to impeach him, sue him for causing trouble and provoke the war.

Zhao Baihu, how many people have come from Si family?Zhu Gaoxu asked.

Zhao Ping stopped his smile and thought for a while, clasped his fists and said: There are at least three thousand people, or maybe five thousand, and there are twenty or thirty battle elephants.There are many mountains and dense forests there, which is difficult to estimate.

Zhu Gaoxu asked again: How long have you resisted in the village?

Zhao Ping's expression was a little ugly and he said: Go back to the prince, the last general was broken into the village gate that day.I was not lucky at that time. I had just repelled the siege of the natives several times, but suddenly it started to rain heavily and all the firearms were useless...

Zhu Gaoxu nodded frequently while listening carefully.

So Zhao Ping continued to narrate: The village only has a dirt wall and a ditch, which is too short and is very easy to be climbed by natives.After the firearm stopped when it rained, the native man sat on the battle elephant, higher than our brothers on the wall, and threw javelins at the defenders.

Although the brothers fought to the death, they were unable to have enough men.The village gate was too thin and was opened by the war elephant.

Well... Zhu Gaoxu made a sound.

Zhao Ping said: The last general had to gather troops and horses in the camp gate, and then rushed into the battle formation by a battle elephant tied with sharp weapons and wearing leather armor. He was outnumbered and defeated.The last sentence is true, and the prince can ask others to ask other soldiers who are lucky.However, if it didn't rain that day, I might be able to stay for a few more days!

Zhu Gaoxu experienced the Jingnan Battle and saw various firearms, and knew what Ming munitions were. He knew that the Ming army at this time had very limited range, whether it was cannons or muskets.

The muskets and the guns and cannons in his impression are not the same thing!

He waited for Zhao Ping to finish everything, thought for a while, and then asked: Are elephants afraid of firearms?

Zhao Ping hurriedly said: The prince is conscious!At that time, we didn't have the Hongwu cannon, and the battle elephant was most afraid of the bowl-mouth gun, which was loud and scary; copper muskets could also play a role.Once we set the firearm, the elephant would turn around and retaliate against the enemy's own troops.Later it rained, and the loud sound of gongs could scare the elephant.The livestock is timid and even more courageous than the war horse.

Zhu Gaoxu nodded thoughtfully again.He thought to himself: In ancient times, cavalry was popular in military forces, not elephants. Reality has confirmed that elephant soldiers must have great weaknesses.

He asked in detail about the characteristics of the Xiang soldiers, and then asked Zhao Ping about the tactics and characteristics of the chieftain army.

Zhao Ping talked about many things about the native army, such as poor military discipline, cruelty and fearlessness of death, each tribe fights independently, familiar with the terrain and climate, etc.

After Zhu Gaoxu asked, he asked Zhao Ping to go back and rest; then summoned Diao Ya, a native of the Qianhu Station in Tengchong.

At this time, Zhu Gaoxu had made the decision to make a quick decision against Meng Yangsi and made up his mind to do so!But he was still trying his best to understand the situation and continue to think about the advantages and disadvantages.

...In the garden behind the pear garden, there was unexpectedly a little noisy.There were many people sitting on the chairs on both sides, all talking.

Most of them are relatives of Chen Xu. Mrs. Chen’s husband’s family is a descendant of Chen Wansan, and her mother’s family is a descendant of Xu Fujiu; so these people have the surname Chen and Xu.

In addition, there are also fellow accomplices from other families who have invested in the Shen family business gang.

We all have to rely on each other in Yunnan. But if you fight thousands of troops, it is a bottomless pit! How many days can everyone withstand this little wealth? The person who spoke was a man over fifty years old, and he was the uncle of the same clan of Mrs. Chen Baoyan, stepdaughter.

After the son-in-law of the Shen family said something, everyone nodded and agreed, thinking it made sense.

Mrs. Chen had no choice but to persuade her: Brothers, don’t be impatient, the King of Han did not ask us to pay for money and food. A few days ago, Xu Cailiu was in the Han Palace. Please tell me about Xu Cailiu.

After all, Mrs. Chen's husband has passed away, and she has never given birth to a man or a woman for the Shen family. At this time, almost all the people who questioned him were from the Shen family, and the people from the Xu family endured it and said nothing.

Another middle-aged man who spoke was also named Chen, but his relationship was a bit far apart.

His tone was relatively gentle and he said earnestly: We have seen the methods of the emperor's family before. If they hadn't wanted to pay money from our pockets, would they take care of others? Besides, if you pay for the money, you can’t lose any money! What did the Shen family get when they paid for the city to build and reward the army?

Several people agreed, "It's Ah, it's... The teacher who never forgets the past and the next thing...

The man looked back and sighed again, and looked at Mrs. Chen on the chair on the side, saying, "The wife was still a bit too hasty when she was in contact with the King of Han."

He lowered his voice and said in a deep voice, "I think this matter is just a matter of doing it at the beginning!"The King of Han was so happy that he decided to open up the territory early in the morning.So he first used the guise of jade to lure us on the boat; then they had the final say and insisted that we had a share.In the end, if the knife is placed around your neck, do you give it to the military expenses, money and food?

Immediately someone whispered: People from the Zhu family are the most unreliable!

At this moment, a middle-aged woman in a gray-white dress walked in, walked gently to Mrs. Chen, bowed her head and said a few words in Mrs. Shen's ear.

Mrs. Chen's expression changed slightly. The discussion around suddenly became less, and everyone looked at each other curiously, guessing what the servant said just now.

Dear brothers, it’s too early to make a conclusion, so let’s wait a few days to see. Mrs. Chen said, I have something urgent to do, please say goodbye first. She turned her head and told her servants to entertain relatives and friends from both families with great success.

yes.The woman replied.

Mrs. Chen had already stood up, and the guests had to get up and return the greeting and say goodbye to Mrs. Chen.

She walked through the corridor on the eaves, stepped back and forth, waiting for the middle-aged woman to come.

The two of them walked to a bridge-like wall, and Mrs. Chen asked softly: King Han is in the theater?

The woman said: Yes, the people over there still asked him to go upstairs and sat in the original private room.

After the two walked for a while, the woman finally couldn't help asking, "I'm brave enough, do the wife think the King of Han is reliable?"

Mrs. Chen hesitated slightly and said: After all, Taizu was an emperor who fought against the country. The King of Han has been frugal and not so cruel since he was a child... But people's hearts are separated from their stomachs, who can say it accurately?

When I came to the theater, it was just after afternoon; the first play was sung on the stage, and there were not many guests in the hall.The theater usually does not sing opera in the morning.

Mrs. Chen walked into the door of the private room and saw the King of Han sitting there alone, looking at the actor on the stage. Today, the few guards around him were in the corridor and did not enter this private room.

Before Mrs. Chen could speak, Zhu Gaoxu turned around. Mrs. Chen bent her knees and held her hand in front of her belly and said, "I have seen Your Highness."

I'm exempted, my wife asks me to sit here.Zhu Gaoxu called out, it seems that this female actor who is singing the opera is not Li Louxian?

Mrs. Chen said: Go back to Your Highness, it’s not the time when there are many people. Li Louxian’s play today should be in the hour of You.

Well... Zhu Gaoxu nodded.He often has this movement and tone.

Zhu Gaoxu then asked: Has Li Louxian recovered?

Mrs. Chen had no choice but to follow his words and answer: Your Highness is concerned about her, she has been cured. A few days ago, fortunately, she only ate arsenic or two, so she got better quickly. I heard from the doctor that I am most afraid of treating people who often take arsenic...

Speaking of this, she couldn't help but ask carefully: Is the prince here today to watch Li Louxian's play?

After asking, Mrs. Chen was anxiously waiting for Zhu Gaoxu's answer, and nervously saw him shaking his head.

He replied: I'm not here to see the show, but to meet her.Didn’t we agree to meet again when she has a good body?What I said usually does.

Mrs. Chen looked at him with a complicated expression.

Zhu Gaoxu paused and said: I will lead troops to Meng Yangsi in a while. If I don’t take time to see her these days, this matter will be delayed.

Mrs. Chen hurriedly said: I will call her over now.