Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 463 One wrong step and one wrong step after another

Yuan Chongyu was extremely bold and had no worries when he started the business. After several attempts, he not only sold 1.5 million shi of military rations, but also sold more without telling Yuan Chonghuan. When Yuan Chonghuan learned that 1.8 million shi of military rations had been sold by his brother, he hurriedly ordered to stop it, because if he continued, his own granary would be completely empty.

The price of grain in the Ming Dynasty was not high during the Wanli period. One stone of rice cost about five cents. The price was higher in the north and lower in the south, but this was the average price.

During the Tianqi period, grain prices rose slightly, but the increase was not much. However, during the Chongzhen period, grain prices rose even faster. In just less than two years, the price of rice in the north had risen to one tael of rice, and at its highest it reached one tael and two. This number was almost doubled compared to the Wanli and Tianqi years.

Yuan Chongyu sold a total of 1.8 million shi of military rations. Of course, these rations could not all be rice, there were other grains as well. But even so, according to the average calculation, one shi of grain had a market price of at least one tael of silver, so these 1.8 million shi of military rations were approximately equal to 1.8 million taels of silver.

Of course, money is not calculated in this way. If it is calculated in this way, how can Yuan Chongyu make money? According to the agreement between him and Fan Wencheng, the silver he actually got from selling grain was only 1.2 million taels, and the difference of 600,000 taels of silver quietly fell into Yuan Chongyu's pocket. He made so much money in one transaction. This business was too easy to do.

The grain was almost sold out, and Yuan Chonghuan couldn't help but get anxious. If there was no grain in the warehouse, something serious would happen. Once the army was out of food, it would be strange if the army did not mutiny.

In order to solve the subsequent problems, Yuan Chonghuan used the silver from selling grain to send people to the interior to buy grain. At this time, Yuan Chongyu came out and said that he could also do this. He had connections in Jiangnan and could find reliable grain merchants. So Yuan Chonghuan handed the matter over to Yuan Chongyu, and Yuan Chongyu immediately took people south to buy grain with silver. However, this time he did not buy it at a fair price, but at a high price. He brought back a batch of grain at a price 20% higher than the market price. This in and out made Yuan Chongyu a lot of money, but the grain he bought still could not fill the previous gap.

This method of getting something for nothing was very skillful. Yuan Chongyu made a fortune by taking this opportunity. Of course, he did not forget his brother Yuan Chonghuan's share. If it weren't for his brother, Yuan Chongyu would not have made this money.

So Yuan Chongyu gave nearly half of the profit to Yuan Chonghuan. Looking at the hundreds of thousands of taels of silver sent by his brother, Yuan Chonghuan frowned and sighed, and finally accepted it without saying anything. However, unlike Yuan Chongyu, although Yuan Chonghuan also loved money, he was not so keen on the pursuit of wealth. He valued his official position and power more. In addition to keeping a few thousand taels of silver for himself, he generously distributed the rest to several generals and deputy generals under him. After all, selling military rations is not a trivial matter. If his brother eats meat, he must give everyone some soup, otherwise he, as the boss, will not be able to handle it.

As the saying goes, a man who eats someone's food is soft-hearted, and a man who receives someone's money is obliged to give it back. Yuan Chonghuan's trick really worked. After dividing the silver, the generals and deputy generals were all beaming with joy. Especially the Zu brothers, who were Yuan Chonghuan's most trusted confidants. Now that they had the silver, they were naturally satisfied.

However, some people were very dissatisfied with Yuan Chonghuan's move. For example, General Pingliao stationed in Yongping, General Zhao Lushi was such a person. When he learned that Yuan Chongyu sold military rations to the Mongols, and the Mongols sold the food to the Jian Nu, he hurried to find Yuan Chonghuan to report the matter, thinking that Yuan Chongyu had done it without Yuan Chonghuan's knowledge.

But he never expected that Yuan Chongyu did this with Yuan Chonghuan's tacit approval. When he realized this, the military rations in the Liaodong granary had been almost sold out by Yuan Chongyu. The large-scale sale of military rations began to lead to a serious shortage of food in the Liaodong army. Many troops had already reduced their food intake. With the emergence of this situation, the food supply of the soldiers had problems. The food intake of many soldiers was reduced from two meals a day to one meal a day. As time went on, even this one meal a day could not be guaranteed.

The soldiers began to starve, and how could Zhao Lujiao, the general in charge, not be anxious? Seeing that Yuan Chonghuan was playing Tai Chi with him on this matter and had not solved the problem, and a large amount of military rations continued to flow from Liaodong to Mongolia and from Mongolia to Huang Taiji, Zhao Lujiao could no longer bear it and directly questioned Yuan Chonghuan.

But how could Yuan Chonghuan give Zhao Lujiao a clear answer? It was even more impossible for him to tell him the truth. Yuan Chonghuan comforted Zhao Lujiao with a few words and used silver to shut him up, hoping that Zhao Lujiao would turn a blind eye like others after taking the silver, manage his soldiers well and stabilize the morale of the army. As for the problem of military rations, he would find another way to solve it.

Yuan Chonghuan's answer greatly disappointed Zhao Lujiao. He never thought that Yuan, whom he had always respected, would do such a thing. After returning home in anger, Zhao Lujiao became angrier and angrier. He wrote a memorial to the court, reporting that Yuan Chonghuan, the governor of Ji and Liao, had privately sold military rations to the enemy, and hoped that Emperor Chongzhen would send someone to investigate the matter as soon as possible.

But Zhao Rujiao never expected that Yuan Chonghuan would know about his memorial right after he sent it out. Yuan Chonghuan was so angry that his nose was crooked when he learned that Zhao Rujiao dared to accuse him privately.

You are a good Zhao Lujiao. I have never treated you unfairly and have always treated you as my confidant. Is this how you repay me?
Yuan Chonghuan was furious at Zhao Rujiao's betrayal, but now was not the time to deal with Zhao Rujiao. After all, explaining to Emperor Chongzhen was the most important thing. Fortunately, Yuan Chonghuan had made preparations in advance. When Yuan Chongyu sold military rations privately, he wrote a memorial to Emperor Chongzhen, informing him that these military rations were used to win over the Mongols to fight against the Jian Nu together, for the purpose of united front.

Because of his trust in Yuan Chonghuan, and the fact that Emperor Chongzhen had previously agreed that Yuan Chonghuan could try to win over the Mongols, Zhao Lujiao's complaint did not cause any waves. Emperor Chongzhen simply asked Yuan Chonghuan about the actual situation, and Yuan Chonghuan still used the same method to deal with it. He also mobilized part of the military rations to temporarily alleviate the food shortage in various troops. Yuan Chonghuan soon dealt with the matter, and in the end Emperor Chongzhen did not do anything to Yuan Chonghuan. Zhao Lujiao's complaint was a complete failure.

After dealing with Emperor Chongzhen, Yuan Chonghuan naturally had time to teach Zhao Lujiao a lesson. As the commander-in-chief of Ji and Liao, what kind of commander-in-chief was he if he couldn't even control the generals under his command? How dare Zhao Lujiao betray him and accuse him of something? It was simply lawless!

However, Zhao Lushi had always been honest and brave in battle. Yuan Chonghuan had no handle on him now. It was impossible for Yuan Chonghuan to remove him as the general, but he had plenty of ways to make things difficult for Zhao Lushi. Yuan Chonghuan immediately called his brothers and other generals to explain something. Soon, the various tribes in Liaodong began to exclude Zhao Lushi. Yuan Chonghuan also found various reasons to make trouble for Zhao Lushi. After several troubles, Zhao Lushi was miserable.

All of Yuan Chonghuan's operations in Liaodong fell into the eyes of Sun Yuanhua. As the person Yuan Chonghuan specifically requested, Sun Yuanhua was naturally favored by Yuan Chonghuan. However, it is not the case to say that Sun Yuanhua was Yuan Chonghuan's confidant.

When Sun Yuanhua was in Liaodong, Yuan Chonghuan was not a military commander, not even a governor. Although Sun Yuanhua, who was sent to Liaodong by the Ministry of War, was not as high-ranking as Yuan Chonghuan, the two of them had a good relationship. In particular, Sun Yuanhua had a good teacher, the famous university scholar Xu Guangqi. Xu Guangqi was not only a leader of Western learning, but also a veteran minister in the court, with many students and former officials. When Wei Zhongxian was in power, he had to give Xu Guangqi some face.

In addition, Sun Yuanhua was proficient in mathematics and had considerable research on firearms. The Ming Dynasty rarely fought field battles with the Jiannu in Liaodong, and the Eight Banners were not comparable to the Ming army. Yuan Chonghuan had been in Liaodong for so many years and exhausted all his efforts to form a cavalry. This cavalry was called the "Guaning Iron Cavalry" and was the most capable army in Yuan Chonghuan's hands. However, even so, they were at best evenly matched with the Eight Banners in field battles.

Therefore, the Ming Dynasty basically adopted a defensive position in Liaodong. Sun Chengzong saw this point and used the tactic of building cities to reduce the living space of the Jiannu. Although this tactic is a bit stupid and takes a long time to take effect, it is indeed useful. As long as there are no mistakes and steady steps are taken, the living space of the Jiannu can be forced to become smaller and smaller. When the time is right, it is time for a formal counterattack.

Unfortunately, due to various reasons, Sun Chengzong's strategic deployment was only half completed. If it were not for the fact that Emperor Tianqi and Wei Zhongxian wanted to take action against the Donglin Party and solve the problems in the court in one fell swoop, Sun Chengzong would not have resigned and returned home, and no one else would have taken over Sun Chengzong's position, which led to the outbreak of a series of wars later.

To be honest, before Huang Taiji ascended the throne, the Jiannu were almost unable to hold on. If Sun Chengzong were still alive, he would certainly be able to see this clearly. There would be no need to engage in a major war with the Jiannu. As long as he continued to defend a few key points and implemented the original strategic deployment, the Jiannu would have been trapped to death by the Ming army, and the situation in Liaodong would have changed drastically.

What a pity, Sun Chengzong left at a really bad time. After Sun Chengzong left, although Yuan Chonghuan still maintained the deployment when Sun Chengzong was there, Yuan Chonghuan actually made some other arrangements for selfish reasons. Moreover, his negligence led to the fall of Juehua Island, which opened a gap for the Jiannu.

After Nurhaci's death, the situation changed again when Huang Taiji succeeded to the throne. Huang Taiji and Yuan Chonghuan hit it off for their own interests and reached a peace talk in private. As a result, the Ming army in Liaodong stopped oppressing the Jiannu and relaxed their control over them. Coupled with rampant smuggling, the encirclement of the Jiannu that Sun Chengzong had worked so hard to set up became a mere decoration.

After that, Huang Taiji stabilized Yuan Chonghuan, turned around and united the Mongolian tribes to take decisive action against Ligdan Khan. At this time, Yuan Chonghuan thought he was smart and sat on the sidelines watching Ligdan Khan being driven out of Chahar. Once Ligdan Khan left, Jiannu became one with Mongolia, and the originally difficult situation was instantly solved.

(End of this chapter)