At the end of the twelfth lunar month of the 12th year of Yongli, just as Chen Wen and the gentry in Jiangnan were engaged in an economic war with tens of millions of taels of silver as the basic unit, in the Shu King's Mansion of Xingdusi, Sichuan, Liu Wenxiu, the Shu King, was still scratching his head over the military pay issue of the army under his command. His mobile phone was without ads, which saved the most traffic.

Since the previous year, when he sent troops north to assist Wu Sangui, Liu Wenxiu began to work in southern Sichuan. The various vassal states under the banner of the Ming court have now controlled half of the world, but most of them are in the hands of the Ming army of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and they are also made by the Ming army of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. In contrast, the Ming army of the Xiying system, which once left Yunnan to fight against the Qing Dynasty, played triumphant songs, has now fallen into decline in the past infighting.

Nowadays, aside from the independent Ming army of Jiangsu and Zhejiang and Taiwan, which are far away from the southern Fujian and Taiwan, the two units of Fujian Ming army that lack sea and land connections, the Yongli court has a large territory, covering almost all areas of the southwest of China.

However, the four southwestern provinces, Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi provinces, are economically underdeveloped areas. Sichuan has been a place of economic development since ancient times, but now it is not as good as these three provinces - after all, there is no one, so how can we talk about economics?

It would be fine if the economy was underdeveloped. The territory of these four provinces was as numerous as a cow, and the Ming army system was extremely complicated. Finance has always been a major problem that plagued the Ming court.

In fact, Sun Kewang was fine in the years when he was in charge of the country. The leader of the Xiying Alliance could at least suppress the military leaders of all sizes and his administrative capabilities were of great significance in the world. Relying on the territory of these provinces, even in Yunnan and Guizhou, he could support more than 100,000 troops to attack in Huguang, Guangxi and Sichuan in the third line. That was also the most glorious time for the Ming army in the Xiying system. Later, Chen Wen instigated a huge change in Fujian and Guangdong, and took the southern part of Huguang without fighting. In addition to the western part of Guangxi, Sun Kewang even established an army of 150,000 or 10,000 yuan in just one system of Qinfan.

However, after Sun Kewang invaded the inner siege and Chen Wen launched a large-scale promotion to the king, the area controlled by the Ming army in the Xiying system was only missing a broken southern part of Huguang. However, even if the 50,000 troops brought by Li Dingguo from Guangdong had been reduced to a force of more than 100,000, the Yongli court actually had a serious financial deficit, even to the point where the troops could not be supported. The troops under Liu Wenxiu, which failed to rescue the Guanning Army, had to try to solve the problem of some of the food and grass on their own in southern Sichuan.

"Father, the child is incompetent and cannot bring back military pay and food."

The army under Liu Wenxiu had a total of 50,000, including 20,000 soldiers and 30,000 auxiliary soldiers. During this year, Liu Wenxiu used these 30,000 auxiliary soldiers to reclaim large areas of military farmland in Xingdusi, Sichuan. Even during the busy farming period, even the soldiers had to go down the fields, and finally restored some old views.

However, this is only the first year. The land is not fertile enough, and the weed cleaning work needs to be continued. In addition, the military camps cannot mobilize the enthusiasm of auxiliary soldiers to work, and the grain that can be harvested is really not as good as the yield of the mature fields in normal times. However, no matter where you get, people are iron and rice are steel, and you still have to talk about the principle that you don’t eat for a meal. Especially for such heavy labor, military rations are consumed very quickly and your savings are very small. As the end of the year approaches, you have to withdraw money and grain from the court for the New Year.

Logically speaking, next year's summer harvest should be self-sufficiency and have the spare time to supply some of the imperial court. Liu Wenxiu was quite happy to see the military farms in southern Sichuan. She was waiting for the New Year to reward the soldiers, but she sent his son back to Kunming to ask for the reward. As a result, the prince of Shu, Liu Zhen, returned empty-handed, which really surprised Liu Wenxiu.

"What's going on?"

Liu Wenxiu's eyebrows stood up, obviously very angry. No wonder he was the prince and the commander who led the army, and he was a hero who had made great contributions to rescue the emperor. His son brought a memorial to Kunming to ask for food and wages, but the result was that. It would be strange if he was not angry.

Liu Wenxiu was so angry that Liu Zhen was also very angry, and then said to his father: "The child was on the order of his father and went straight to the emperor. After seeing the memorial, the emperor agreed and instructed the Ministry of Revenue to go through the handover procedures."

Liu Zhen said that Liu Wenxiu was also relieved. At least Yongli should still remember his contribution. However, it was true that the food and salary were not coming. He even vaguely heard the words "but" that were about to appear in Liu Zhen's mouth.

"However, after the emperor approved it, it was rejected by the Ministry of Revenue, on the grounds that there was no more food and salary in the warehouse of the Ministry of Revenue. Then the emperor uploaded the cabinet's Ma Shoufu and Gong Shangshu of the Ministry of Revenue, and the answer he got was that the Kunming treasury was not enough to support this reward."

"ah?"

The financial problems of the Yongli court were huge, which was well known to Liu Wenxiu. In the words of his general Weining Bo Gao Chengen, Chen Wen hollowed out the foundation of the warehouses and military garrisons in Guizhou, Wang Ziqi and Wang Shangli plundered a large number of warehouses in Kunming, and Li Dingguo did not have the means of making money like Sun Kewang. In addition, the size of the army, even if the civil servants in the court were as honest as water, it would not be enough, let alone those guys would not be able to control their hands and claws.

The problem of civil servant corruption is Gao Chengen's guess. After all, there is no evidence, and it is impossible to catch one first. However, the previous problems exist. The annual income of the Yongli court shrank greatly compared to Sun Kewang's time of the country. Although there are fewer places to spend, the decline in the growth rate is even greater. It would be strange if the finances are not tight.

"I heard from Gong Shangshu that He Jiuyi, Wang Ziqi and Wang Shangli had intercepted the taxes of Nanning and Liuzhou prefectures. Uncle Li suggested to the emperor to send troops to attack, but the emperor did not agree."

Li Dingguo's temper, Wang Shangli and Wang Ziqi first plundered a large amount of warehouses in Kunming, and now they intercepted taxes, which would be strange if they could endure them. However, Yongli did not dare to act rashly. Liu Wenxiu was also very clear about the reason, because east of Liuzhou and Nanning is Guilin and Wuzhou, where the Ming army in Jiangsu and Zhejiang were heavily stationed. If Chen Wen was involved in the battle, it would probably be a "small thing" such as intercepting taxes.

"After hearing this, the emperor wanted to reduce the expenses of the palace and even sell the artifacts in the palace, but the Ma Shoujiao disagreed. Later, the officials below suggested that the officials donate some money, and the legend began to be said in Kunming that the court was poor and wanted to kill rich households to serve as military pay, which caused panic. People fled out of the city every day, and the child did not dare to withdraw money and food again, so he had to return empty-handed."

"You did it right and you can't ask for it anymore."

Liu Wenxiu knew very well that Ma Jixiang did this, and he could not sell the artifacts in the palace. Liu Zhen did not continue to stay in Kunming. Kunming is now in a state of affairs, and as the prince, he really cannot continue to cause trouble. However, there are still people here, but Liu Wenxiu couldn't think of who it was, and he was unwilling to think about it, especially after thinking about it, he finally thought of those people he didn't want to believe.

"Father, what should I do if I give it a reward?"

This is a real problem. Liu Wenxiu looked at her eyebrows deeply and thought about it carefully. Then she said to Liu Zhen: "The amount of rewards will be reduced. First, use the inventory before harvest next year. If the military salary and rations are insufficient, we will still have more than 100,000 taels of cellar gold in our family. It is better to support one day. We can't cause trouble for the emperor anymore."

Liu Wenxiu sighed, but there was no way. The father and son were helpless, so they could only do this for the time being. Next, after talking about what they saw and heard along the way, Liu Zhen suddenly remembered something and told him to Liu Wenxiu.

"Father, when my child was in Kunming, Uncle Li called his old subordinates who followed him into Yunnan in Guizhou as Jin soldiers. The Qin soldiers who originally served under Uncle Sun were not only different in terms of different titles, but also in terms of military pay, food and grass, and many uncles were very dissatisfied with Uncle Li."

After Chen Wen withdrew from Guizhou, Li Dingguo was in charge of Guizhou. Liu Wenxiu was originally responsible for Yunnan's defense. Later, with Wu Sangui stationed in southern Sichuan anyway, the court was fully responsible for Yunnan's affairs, which was also a symbol of Yongli's regaining power.

In Sichuan, the generals from Kuidong received assistance from Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and had already been stationed in eastern Sichuan and western Sichuan, actively resumed production, but he was prepared for every means, and there was no war with a clear sword or a gun. In Guizhou, Li Dingguo's burden was heavier. After all, Guizhou was once the granary of the Ming army in the Xiying system, and now the military households in the military garrison were emptied by Chen Wen, and it was a big deal to resume production. But what he didn't expect was that at this point, Li Dingguo actually played with factions.

"At this time, we must unite the generals and unite to the outside world. We are all from Xiying. We have broken bones and tendons, so how can we still do this indiscriminately?"

Before this, Li Dingguo had punished Di Sanpin, Wang Hui, Zhang Guangcui and other generals for being affiliated with Sun Kewang. Now Di Sanpin is listening to Liu Wenxiu's army and has complained about Li Dingguo on weekdays. If that's the case, it would be fine. During the initial recovery of Guizhou, Li Dingguo even executed Sun Kewang's confidant Zhang Hu, Guan Youcai and others. Wang Ziqi and He Jiuyi and others are not completely unreasonable to act like this.

After hearing his son's description, Liu Wenxiu was quite dissatisfied with Li Dingguo's mishandling, but when Liu Zhen told him what he saw later, he realized that his dissatisfaction seemed to be just a prelude.

"I heard from Brother Ai Shi that the Chief Wen of the Court was dismissed by the court a few days ago. In fact, it was the Chief Ma who joined forces with the ministers in the court. It is said that the Chief Ma was afraid that Chief Wen would steal the throne of his cabinet minister in the court. I don't know if it is true."

Wen Anzhi, the general of Sichuan and Hubei, was besieged by the censors because the generals of Kuidong received assistance from Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Liu Wenxiu knew that this was Ma Jixiang's work, so she didn't think much about it. She even faintly dissatisfied with Wen Anzhi's "incompetence" because of the generals of Kuidong blocking the road to the north. However, at this moment, hearing the information Liu Zhen got from Ai Nengqi's son Ai Chengye, it was clearly a political struggle within the civil servant group. The chief minister of the cabinet Ma Jixiang was born in the Jinyiwei, not only was he a Shujishi, but also a civil servant. This reason is not impossible.

Thinking of this, Liu Wenxiu immediately thought of Mao Dengshou, the new governor of Sichuan and Hubei. After this rank-in-law arrived in Kuidong, he could not leave Fengjie City Gate. Now a dignified supervisor is not as good as that of the Jiangsu and Zhejiang Ming Army, the Hubei Provincial Administrator General, who is responsible for Sichuan material assistance, and his incompetence really reminds him of the benefits of Wen Anzhi.

Now that Wen Anzhi has been dismissed, he has to go back to his hometown in Yiling. The political struggle is understandable, but Liu Wenxiu cannot understand that Yongli has no trust in Ma Jixiang, so why did he dismiss an old minister because of this? He even refused to give him a chance to return to Beijing to defend himself. It is really incredible.

"I heard from Brother Ai Shi that Ma's life was saved by flattering Uncle Li. Later, Uncle Li saw that he was diligent in doing things, so he asked him to join the cabinet to do business. When Uncle Li was in Guizhou, Ma's life was relied on Uncle Li to form cliques in the court and attack dissidents, and then he took the position of Prime Minister of the cabinet."

After hearing this, Liu Wenxiu didn't understand what happened here. Yongli hated Ma Jixiang and Pang Tianshou deeply, so he asked Li Dingguo to send Jin Tongwu to kill them. Pang Tianshou committed suicide for fear of crime, but Ma Jixiang lost his life by relying on his 3-inch-long decay. However, if this person had no background, Yongli would not have let him do this.

Thinking of this, Liu Wenxiu immediately understood that the previous reward must be Ma Jixiang's hindrance. He relied on Li Dingguo and acted with Li Dingguo's tiger skin in the court. Li Dingguo's direct troops must be concerned about money and food. Now that Li Dingguo is in the division of factions, it will add fuel to the fire. Sooner or later, the "Qin soldiers" will be discriminated against. What He Jiuyi, Wang Ziqi, and Wang Shangli do is a precursor!

"No, we must never allow such evil people to continue to cause trouble in the government, otherwise the court will sooner or later defeat them."

Liu Wenxiu is not without solution. He had planned it before, but the move was of great importance and had to be prepared to start. But now it seems that Sichuan's economy is gradually being controlled by Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and even more treacherous people in the court are causing trouble, so he can no longer delay it.

"Father, do you want to explain to Uncle Li?"

He moved to Sichuan, and used the righteousness of the monarch and ministers and the power of the imperial Ming for more than two hundred years to encourage the generals of Kuidong to surrender. Liu Zhen knew very well that this was the best plan for progress, but there was inevitably a worry.

"No need, Li Dingguo is the King of Jin, and his father is also the King of Shu. When he was under the throne of the eldest king, he had a similar status. I, Liu Wenxiu, had to ask him for advice from Li Dingguo if I didn't do anything!"

After making up his mind, Liu Wenxiu began to prepare for this. However, the New Year is approaching, and Liu Wenxiu still needs to make proper arrangements for the reward. After the New Year, he sent Liu Zhen back to Kunming again and asked to move.

Liu Zhen left in a hurry and returned in a hurry. The news that Liu Wenxiu received was that Yongli agreed with the proposal to move to Sichuan, and ordered Liu Wenxiu to make preparations in advance and ordered the Ministry of Rites to set off on an auspicious day.

Such a major matter was suddenly settled, and even the discussion did not call Ma Jixiang, the chief minister of the cabinet. While the court and the harem began to prepare, in Ma Jixiang's mansion, his younger brother Ma Xiongfei and son-in-law Yang rushed over anxiously. After clearing the left and right, he said to Ma Jixiang in sweat: "Brother, the King of Shu is here for us!"

"Yes, my father-in-law. Now we move to Sichuan and arrive at the king of Shu. We will not be able to speak for ourselves, and we may not even be able to save our lives."
Chapter completed!