I am the prince of the Ming Dynasty, I don't give up

Chapter 569 Situation Analysis

"Not only that, they have far more manpower than us!" Zhu Houxuan continued.

"Oh? What do you mean, Your Highness?" Jiang Jiangong asked with great interest.

"Do you know what the total population of the Ming Dynasty is now?" Zhu Houxuan asked back.

"I have heard of this. The official statistics of the Ming Dynasty show that the national population is more than 60 million," Jiang Jiangong replied.

"That's right, more than 60 million. However, this number is just to deceive the person sitting on the dragon throne. The national population counted during the time of Taizu was more than 60 million, and the population counted by subsequent emperors was also more than 60 million. Although there have been some wars in the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty in the past 150 years, most of the time was peaceful. How could the population not increase much in 150 years of peace? Humph!" Zhu Houxuan said with a sneer.

"It seems that Your Highness knows the total population of the Ming Dynasty?" Jiang Jiangong became even more curious.

"Of course Your Highness knows!" Chen Hong said.

Jiang Jiangong immediately looked at Chen Hong.

"The Ming Dynasty now has a total population of more than 120 million," Chen Hong said with a smile.

"How do you know? How did you calculate this?" Jiang Jiangong asked in surprise.

"The Royal Group has controlled the salt industry in Daming for fifteen years. We have all the data on salt sales in all the prefectures and counties in Daming during these fifteen years," Chen Hong said proudly. "Salt prices have dropped significantly during these fifteen years, and private salt is no longer profitable. The sales data we have is basically the consumption of salt in each prefecture and county."

"People need to eat salt. Salt is a must, and eating too much is not good either. It is very suitable for estimating population. Although there are many interference factors, such as the habit of hoarding salt, eating habits, and salt used to feed livestock, etc., we have fifteen years of data. We have been adjusting the calculation method to eliminate various interference factors. The data of these fifteen years is enough for us to come up with a relatively accurate number."

"In fact, 120 million is just a conservative figure. The actual population of the Ming Dynasty is only slightly more than this number," Chen Hong added.

Jiang Jiangong nodded in shock, then asked, "How much manpower do they have?"

"The hinterland of the Ming Dynasty is divided into two capitals and thirteen provinces. We can now control only one capital and five provinces. Northern Zhili, Shandong, Shanxi, Shaanxi and Henan can actually be counted as five and a half provinces. The northern part of Southern Zhili is also under our control. We have very little control over the rest of the places." Zhu Houxuan said.

"But the population in the north of the Ming Dynasty is much lower than that in the south. Now the population we can control is barely around 40 million," said Zhu Houxuan.

"So they control the rest of the people?" Jiang Jiangong asked in surprise, "More than 80 million people?"

"It might be as high as 90 million." Zhu Houxuan said seriously, "Their mobilization ability is not low. The gentry already controls the grassroots of the Ming Dynasty. They have a high degree of control over the grassroots." Jiang Jiangong showed a look of shock on his face. This data is too scary.
The atmosphere in the study suddenly became somewhat solemn. After all, a rebellion of unprecedented scale was about to break out in the south.
"Don't worry, Your Highness. Even if the enemy can gather a million troops, I have the confidence that I can lead the Guards to defeat them!" Jiang Jiangong suddenly said in a sonorous voice.

The solemn atmosphere in the study was suddenly broken.
Zhu Houxuan suddenly laughed. He patted Jiang Jiangong on the shoulder and said, "Even though their strength seems to be much stronger than ours, I always believe that we will win in the end!"

Jiang Jiangong and Chen Hong became excited after hearing Zhu Houxuan's words.

"I never thought we would lose!" Zhu Houxuan said lightly.

"It was you who said at the beginning that you wanted to take the Guards south to quell the rebellion immediately, and then I analyzed the situation between the enemy and us for you, in order to make you understand that the situation in the south is more complicated than you imagined." Zhu Houxuan continued.

Jiang Jiangong showed an embarrassed look on his face and was unable to refute.
"Today I only dealt with that old man Fei Hong, and did not deal with the more than 300 officials who participated in the rebellion because I wanted to avoid the outbreak of war at this time. Doing so at least will not intensify the situation and cause the war to break out immediately." Zhu Houxuan continued.

"Ah?" Chen Hong and Jiang Jiangong sprained their waists due to Zhu Houxun's sudden turn.

"It's too sudden! We are not prepared for anything! A rebellion of this scale is about to happen. Even if we win in the end, I don't want the war to break out at this time." Zhu Houxuan said seriously.

"The coup in the capital seems to be our final victory, but in fact we suffered heavy losses in this coup." Zhu Houxuan said in a deep voice.

"In order to capture the capital, we recruited millions of soldiers and civilians. Many of the Royal Group's businesses were suspended. The Guards and retired veterans also suffered heavy losses, with 6,000 to 7,000 casualties. In addition, the buildings in the capital were damaged. The total loss is huge, and we have to pay for it."

"The Royal Bank's capital headquarters was looted during the coup. Although a lot of gold and silver bars in the vault were recovered, a lot of account books were burned, and the credit was damaged as a result. These explicit and implicit losses are incalculable."

"The most important thing is that His Majesty was assassinated and has been seriously ill and unconscious ever since. We have lost our most influential person. The loss in this regard is immeasurable."

"And what about them? They only sacrificed a few hundred officials in Beijing and caused us such a huge loss."

Chen Hong and Jiang Jiangong's expressions also became serious.
"It will take time for our factories to switch to wartime status. Switching to wartime status immediately will cause us huge losses. It will also take time for us to mobilize."

"You may only be thinking about the various things before and during the war, but I have already considered many things after the war," Zhu Houxuan said with his eyes sharp.

Chen Hong and Jiang Jiangong were stunned. They really hadn't thought about what would happen after the war.
"If the war breaks out at this moment, we will be caught off guard and will likely fight with the enemy repeatedly in the Huguang, Jianghuai and other areas. Then, as our factories are transformed and more and more forces are mobilized, we will gradually gain the upper hand. But at this time, the war will probably last for several years, and countless people will be affected and die. The Ming Dynasty will suffer huge damage, and then it will be left behind a huge mess! In the end, we will have to clean up this mess ourselves!"

Chen Hong and Jiang Jiangong nodded slowly. They were completely shocked by Zhu Houxuan's words, but after thinking carefully, Zhu Houxuan's speculation was very likely to happen.
(End of this chapter)