Emperor Ming Dynasty

Summer is coming, but for the southwest, it just scratches the itch, it just becomes more humid and hot.

Ya'an Mansion is located on a plateau. For the soldiers, it's just not that cold in the morning and they have to light a fire at night.

"Let's—"

On the official road less than one foot wide, carriages walked cautiously, and soldiers passing by had to stand aside.

"Whoa-"

Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, a carriage was blocked by rocks and tipped over, with less than half of the coal leaking into the deep valley.

The groom calmed the tugging mule, and then carefully pulled the wooden carriage back on track.

Nothing seemed to happen to the carriage in front of him, while the carriage behind him stopped and waited slowly.

These few miles are the most dangerous journey, and everyone is used to it.

After a while, the mule train moved on and the road began to clear.

Not far away, a big man was looking through a telescope, turning a blind eye to the scene just now.

A big man in his forties, with a neatly trimmed beard and slightly dark skin. He was wearing close-fitting clothes and carrying a knife at his waist. He looked very heroic.

Next to him, stood a slightly elegant young man, also holding a telescope, with two distinct colors on his face and neck.

"Prince, supplies from Chengdu are arriving in Ya'an in a steady stream, but the road is rugged and difficult to travel. Five kilo of grain can only be transported to one kilo."

Zhu Jing said in a deep voice: "Whether it is food, oil, salt, or charcoal, the losses are huge."

"I know!" Zhu Cunqu nodded: "Sichuan and Chongqing have spent nearly 600 million in money and food this year, and Sichuan and Chongqing have lost all."

In addition to the money allocated by the imperial court, the [-] troops stationed in Ya'an almost sucked the blood of Sichuan and Chongqing, that is, the deposits of various counties.

Although there was no tax increase, the consequences are obvious. Last year, there were no large-scale water conservancy projects, bridges and roads in Sichuan and Chongqing, and no regular activities such as encouraging students to learn and commending were conducted.

It can be said that it has been a hard year.

As expected, it will continue this year.

This is the result of squeezing local fiscal potential.

If any disaster occurs at this time, the local government will be almost helpless and cannot even provide rewards to the patrol camp to suppress the bandits.

In the Song Dynasty, local bandits were prevalent, and they repeatedly broke into counties and states. However, because they had no money and a weak backbone, bandits were allowed to wreak havoc.

If this continues, Sichuan and Chongqing will not be far behind.

Looking away at the prince, Zhu Jing was silent for a long time, and then said: "Although the pressure is a bit greater, in the end it is for Kang Zang, and I have to do it."

In fact, although Zhu Jing thinks the figure of 600 million is exaggerated, she doesn't think it is too high.

This road is too difficult to walk, and only 200 million is really used, and the remaining 400 million are basically lost on the road.

Even so, on average, for 2 people, it is only a hundred silver coins.

In the Beijing camp, the salary for 2 people is 50, plus some food, armor, and rewards, 200 million is enough.

If there is a war, it will at least be doubled.

Thanks to the fact that most of them were used by the local army at this time, they were cheaper than the Beijing camp, and the cost of food and drink was even more incomparable.

Therefore, this year, half of the army's salary, food and drink were actually used, and the remaining half was all used to prepare for war.

On the Ancient Tea Horse Road, three or five granaries have been built one after another, storing 20 stones of grain and grass.

There will definitely be enough food for the journey, and you will have enough to eat when you arrive in Kang.

Zhu Cunqu was silent.

The pressure from the two provinces was quite heavy for the prince.

In the final analysis, the governor-general of Sichuan and Chongqing only had control over the military and had no direct control over civil and military officials.

In order to worry about what's right, he had to write letters on a large scale to win over him, so he could maintain it until now.

Of course, in the final analysis, the court was too vague.

It only emphasized that the two provinces would obey the prince's orders, but did not ask for full cooperation, and did not specify the time and tasks.

Without nominal support, just relying on the governor of Sichuan and Chongqing is not enough, and the identity of the prince must also be added.

And even if he is a prince, he cannot overdraw too much and affect the future.

The longer the time goes by, the greater the pressure will naturally be.

Zhu Jing saw the prince's dilemma, so she spoke.

For the prince, isn't this a kind of training?
After a long time, the prince gritted his teeth and said: "Since this is the case, the news has not yet spread from the plateau, so naturally the time has not come yet."

As he spoke, he stamped his feet, looked at another load of grain dumped in the distance, and couldn't help but sigh:
"Uncle Thirteen, as the saying goes, there is no corruption without officialdom."

"Of the 400 million that disappeared, I estimate that 200 million were swallowed up."

"Be bold, it's 300 million."

Hearing this, Zhu Jing smiled casually: "In more than a year, 30 yuan has fallen into my pocket."

"There are thousands of officials, and 300 million yuan is just idle money."

The prince was surprised by Zhu Jing's frankness and was speechless for a moment.

Zhu Jing laughed and said: "Your Highness, we have to accept this money, this is officialdom!"

As he spoke, he talked about the rules of officialdom.

Since there are clear levels of hierarchy in the officialdom, those in higher positions have clear suppression on those in lower positions, so they pay attention to being arrogant and unyielding.

Once you go beyond the rules or don't follow the group, you can only be suppressed or leave.

For example, even an upright official like Hai Rui had to succumb to the subsidies given by local officials to pay filial piety to Beijing officials.

Because once you oppose it, it will be in the interest of hundreds or thousands of people.

And once corruption appears, it will spread like ink into the water tank, and there is no way to stop it, except to cut out the flesh and cut off the arms.

Corrupt officials will naturally repel honest officials, thus bad money drives out good money.

Therefore, for thousands of years, corruption has been either severely cracked down on or turned a blind eye to.

There is no third way.

"When I received this money, the corruption in Sichuan and Chongqing had already penetrated deep into the flesh. If we clean it out directly, the officialdom will be shaken, and His Highness's war will naturally be difficult to achieve."

"Only those corrupt officials who are in the same boat are willing to let the war continue, thereby dividing the Sichuan and Chongqing officialdom."

Hearing these words, the prince was suddenly stunned.

"So it seems that these corrupt officials are supporting the cause of the Western Expedition?"

He felt ridiculous for a moment.

Zhu Jing said calmly: "Your Highness, these corrupt officials have families and careers. When the war is won, they will naturally be able to remove them one by one. They will do whatever they swallow, and they will spit them out."

"Even if the war is not going well, they are the best scapegoats..."

Zhu Cunqu was startled when he heard this, and his thoughts were incomprehensible.

He even thought about the options for failure. Uncle Thirteen is indeed a great talent.

The two rode horses and walked carefully on the mountain road. They arrived at the camp two-quarters of an hour later.

There were noisy quarrels in my ears. This was Cuju football time once every five days, and it was the time when everyone was most relaxed.

After as little as half a year to a year of training, the army not only got used to the plateau climate, but also cooperated tacitly, and was ready to go on an expedition.

"Everything is ready, before Dongfeng——"

Zhu Cunqu murmured in his heart, a look of anticipation on his wheat-yellow face.

Not long after he sat down, a message came from a horse.

"What's the matter?"

"News from Kang State." Zhu Cunqu stood up suddenly and quickly took the letter.

When he unfolded it and took a look, he immediately burst into laughter.

Zhu Jing on the side knew most of it, took the letter in a hurry, and read it carefully.

It turned out that there was not much written in this letter, only a few hundred words, but it contained key information.

The Kangguo army went to the plateau last year, but was blocked by fortresses and found it difficult to move forward.

But it was not until last month that news suddenly came that his army had defeated tens of thousands of Uizang troops and arrived in Lhasa soon.

This time has passed, almost a month, and it must be that the Kangguo army has arrived in Lhasa.

The two countries may already be engaged in a decisive battle.

This is the opportunity you have been looking for.

No matter which side wins by then, their vitality will be severely damaged, and by then the Ming army has arrived in Shunjing and destroyed the Kang state.

At that time, we could even take advantage of the victory and directly capture Wei Zangguo.

"Bang the drum, gather the generals——"

Zhu Cunqu and Zhu Jing looked at each other and immediately made up their minds.

Immediately, in less than half an hour, all the generals from the three military camps within a radius of ten miles gathered.

"Gather your troops together and set out in three days!"

Zhu Cunqu didn't waste any time and shouted directly.

For a moment, the crowd was excited.

The narrow Tea Horse Road immediately became heated, with a large number of dwarf horses pulling carts heading northwest.

As for the tea-horse merchants on the road, they were already disguised as royal merchants. It took nearly a year to find out the news and deliver the information, which was a lot of hard work.

Just like this, Zhu Jing did not panic. He was in charge of the central army, and the prince was in charge of the rear army, walking slowly.

Although we could only travel twenty miles a day, we were lucky enough to have enough money and food, as well as maps and guides, so we kept going.

After walking for more than ten days, we arrived at Kangding City.

This is a pass and the dividing line between the two countries.

This place was garrisoned by the defense envoy Liu Tichun.

Although he is said to be a defense envoy, he is actually half a military envoy. He has great decision-making power over the local area, and he is the overlord of mines and other resources.

As the No. 4 general in the current army after Li Laiheng, Tian Jianxiu, and Liu Fangliang.

It is precisely because of this that he did not go on an expedition, but guarded the border to prevent the Ming army from plotting evil.

And compared to Tian Jianxiu's restraint and Liu Fangliang's recklessness, Liu Tichun is more cautious and has a tougher personality.

Of course, it was also because he was relatively young and belonged to the second generation of generals, following Li Laiheng.

A long-distance migration across the northwest caused countless injuries to this group of wandering generals. The injuries and injuries increased to the point where Li Laiheng became the leader.

"What does the Ming army want to do?"

Liu Tichun said angrily.

As a veteran in the army, Liu Tichun was extremely loyal to Li Zicheng, which naturally extended to the Kang state.

Although the young King Kang is not very sensible now, he is still a member of the Li family.

At the same time, Kang's semi-feudal policy also united the interests of the generals, making them inseparable.

Naturally, he could not tolerate the destruction of the Ming army.

"I knew that the thieves had bad intentions and that the overlord of the country would plot against us. That princess cannot be married at all..."

In anger, he put on his armor, climbed onto the city wall without any explanation, and began to command.

Looking up, the small mountain road is covered with troops, with flags like a forest, and the light reflected by the armor seems to be able to set the entire Kangding City on fire.

Liu Tichun was only surprised by such a strong strength, but he was not afraid.

Because his Kangding City had clearly stationed 5000 people at this time.

The number was second only to Shunjing in Kang State, just to defend against the Ming army.

"Master Wang is finally here!"

Liu House.

In the small town of Kangding, the Liu Mansion occupies a quarter of the area, which shows that its status is extraordinary.

As for Liu Tichun's son, Liu Guan was overjoyed.

Due to years of wandering, Liu Guan has been living in suffering. It was not until the establishment of Kang State that he barely stabilized and enjoyed wealth.

Having been in barbarism all year round, he has adapted to it, but who wants to have Daming next to him?

After enjoying civilization, barbarism is extremely uncomfortable.

Therefore, he was good at martial arts and literary, and had some extraordinary enthusiasm for the Ming Dynasty.

Especially since he often visited Chengdu and enjoyed the charming prosperity, he became increasingly disdainful of Kangding.

In this regard, he has always wanted to return to the Ming Dynasty, but he could not find a good opportunity.

At this time, someone approached him and came up with conditions on behalf of the Ming Dynasty.

After a while, we hooked up.

But that day, as soon as his old father left, a servant ran in and told the truth about the Ming army:
"Your Majesty, these elites have been training for a year and number about 5 people. They are extremely strong."

"And you also know the situation in Kang State. Most of the elites have gone to fight against Weizang. They are really no match for them..."

"Tell me, what are the conditions!" Liu Guan raised his head and said seriously.

From the day he hooked up with Jin Yiwei, he knew this day would come.

"I won't hide it from you. His Royal Highness is in charge of the army now, and the rewards are definitely not low. As long as you open the city gate, your family property and other things will be preserved, even the mine land will not be occupied..."

"At the same time, your father will be awarded the title of Count Kangding. Although this is not as good as your Duke Yi, he is the Earl of the Ming Dynasty, and he is a Spyker——"

Speaking of this, the man puffed up his chest and was filled with envy.

The same is true for Liu Guan.

Although the earl is a little low, he can't stand the high gold content. He is much better than the viscount baron, and he can be hereditary!

Rest with the country.

This is indeed better than the Duke of Kang.

Moreover, the Liu family's property in Kangding will be preserved, but they will lose their right to sit on one side and go to Beijing to enjoy their happiness.

Is this still an option?
What's the point of being a frog in a well?
"I agree!" Liu Guan nodded and said, "There is only one thing. My family has a very deep relationship with Kang State and we do not want to fight with each other!"

"no problem!"

The man was overjoyed.

Here, Liu Tichun sat in command, orderly letting the people carry things, and looking at the Ming army from time to time.

But he couldn't understand why the Ming army still didn't attack the city after so long?
"What's the secret here?"

Suddenly, a firework was set off in the city.

And this was like a signal, which immediately caused the Ming army to go to war.

A large number of Ming troops carried siege machinery and began to attack the city feebly. If there was a slight setback, they would immediately return.

"It's really outrageous. Is the Ming army so weak?"

Liu Tichun said curiously.