The Soldier of the Red Mansion

Chapter 384 The Chess Game: Chariots and Horses
Shi Ping stormed in and saw the military commander eating. He glanced at the table and saw only a plate of pickled vegetables.

The furnishings in the house were very simple.

Inside, there was a heated kang bed with neatly folded cotton quilts. Under the window, there was a square table, several low stools, and three large boxes for clothes and miscellaneous items. In the outer hall, there were bookshelves and a desk. The bookshelves were empty, filled only with account books and documents. On one side of the desk were unread books.

Wang Xin finished the porridge in his bowl.

He seemed to want more, but unfortunately, the rule he set for breakfast was two bowls of porridge.

From top to bottom, the military town of Datong tightened its belt and cut back on food and clothing.

He got up, put on his coat, and walked past Shi Ping. His guards followed him, and soon servants came in to tidy up. There was only a bowl, chopsticks, an empty plate, and an empty casserole.

Shi Ping had mixed feelings. After hesitating for a moment, he strode after him.

Wang Xin ignored Shi Ping and, taking advantage of the early hour, went to the camp in a corner of Datong City as planned.

"Day, night, sun, moon, stars."

The entire army cut back on food and clothing, and training was halved. The child soldiers were of child age and could not get enough to eat, so they tried to minimize physical exertion. However, they were not exempted from reciting the words they had learned the day before every morning.

The training ground was packed with children, both boys and girls.

The children sat in circles, then recited the five words they had learned the day before, and then wrote them down in the sand.

The childish voice echoed through the air.

Wang Xin, dressed in civilian clothes, was accompanied by military officers such as the guerrilla general of the camp, as well as several outstanding captains from the inspection team. They were even more uneasy and followed cautiously and nervously in the crowd.

Ten children are in each circle, and the child who recognizes words the fastest and is the most sensible is selected to be responsible for the daily morning check.

Then, ten laps form a team, and the team leader supervises and checks the memorization of the junior team leaders. The junior team leaders can all recite and write, and then they check their own teammates.

"Most of the children came from disaster victims. If the disaster victims joined the agricultural reclamation team and the ranch team, bringing their children would only be a burden. In order to solve their worries and to better take care of the children, the children were taken in separately."

"Later, we also took in orphans from the military and civilians."

"Of the more than 12,000 children, we must not only ensure that none of them starve to death, but also teach them to write and do arithmetic, ensure they are well-fed, and teach them knowledge. Only by doing this well can we ensure that our slogan of being invincible and protecting our country is not just empty words."

Wang Xin earnestly said to his subordinates, “The people have a sense of justice. They are not afraid of difficulties. As long as we take the lead and forge ahead, the people will naturally follow and support us. That’s why so many agricultural reclamation teams and ranch teams were established. They have gone through countless hardships to reclaim land and find grasslands with water sources. They have made great sacrifices, but so far there has been no chaos.”

One hundred thousand disaster victims arrived one after another.

More than 950 agricultural reclamation teams and 45 ranch teams were established.

A population of 100,000 would normally consume 30,000 shi (a unit of dry measure) per month, but after eight months, only 70,000 shi have been consumed. Apart from being able to drink only two meals of thin porridge a day, everyone is doing everything they can to find food outside the pass.

They dig for wild vegetables, fish, hunt animals, and even eat grass roots.

Today, more than 100 state farm teams have begun harvesting and are fully self-sufficient, while more than 300 state farm teams are moving closer to the goal of self-sufficiency.

Everyone's faces were serious; no one could laugh.

The team leaders were dressed in clean, simple clothes, but their faces looked pale and sickly, suggesting they weren't living a very good life.

Each member of the inspection team received a monthly salary of two taels of silver, plus a five-qian grain coupon subsidy. They were entitled to one day off every ten days, with a total annual leave of twenty days, which was considered an excellent income for ordinary people.

However, the price of grain rose so high that the whole family relied on five qian of grain coupons to survive, counting the rice they put into the pot each day to make ends meet.

Shi Ping followed in the crowd and looked at the training ground, which had at least two thousand children. Although it was a system of older children leading younger children, the older children were mostly grouped together and the younger children were grouped together, and then some older children were selected to lead the younger children.

They were like bamboo poles, one by one.

Because they had many playmates, the children still smiled from time to time despite being hungry.

Then came the inspection team.

Having followed the military commander for so many years, Shi Ping keenly noticed these people with different identities.

He was neither an official nor a soldier.

He was not an official.

The fact that the general had these people by his side was definitely not a coincidence; there must be a deeper meaning behind it.

Having learned about the Boy Scouts and the issues in the military camp, they returned to the Marshal's Mansion, where Zeng Zhi and the others were already waiting.

With the establishment of agricultural reclamation teams, ranch teams, and children's corps, over 100,000 more mouths to feed were provided; food wouldn't just fall from the sky.

"According to the usual practice of the military governor's office, the 160,000 military personnel need 510,000 shi of grain every year. With the addition of more than 110,000 mouths, it would take more than 854,000 shi to feed them. In reality, the total amount received was 410,000 shi, which is more than half short."

"In the past eight months, the newly added population of over 110,000 has only consumed 79,600 shi of grain. The 160,000 military personnel, on the basis of tightening their belts, have used 390,000 shi of grain, totaling 470,000 shi of grain. Of the 164,000 shi of grain stored up last year, only 100,000 shi remain, which will not last until next year."

I tried various methods.

If we only manage the military, although there will be difficulties, we can not only get through them by cutting back on food and clothing, but also have a surplus to make more preparations for next year.

What I fear most is not the present, but next year.

What if the disaster situation doesn't improve next year, or even gets worse?

With current expenditures, even if the situation doesn't worsen next year, but remains the same as this year, it will still be difficult to sustain.

Even with money, you can't buy food, let alone without money.

It seems the imperial court's military expenditure this year will not exceed 300,000 taels, which is 100,000 taels more than last year, but what good will it do?

There are actually other ways.

Wang Xin felt calm.

Prolonged hunger is indeed detrimental to health, but what does it matter when it comes to survival?

Tighten your belt and eat porridge every day; you can save more than half of your food rations.

If everyone's daily food ration is halved from top to bottom, then there should be enough food, right? After all, history is full of natural disasters, wars in various places, and the Qing army's massacres after entering the pass. In the end, the population was still 80 or 90 million.

The exact population of the Ming Dynasty is debated, ranging from 100 million to 250 million.

Now it is the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Wang Xin is being conservative; let's say the population is 150 million. If each person eats half, that's 75 million, which is about 500 to 1500 million less than 80 to 90 million.

In times of peace, the goal is to preserve people's lives.

If everyone, from top to bottom, cuts back on food and saves grain, and the whole nation goes out to clear wasteland, digs up wild vegetables and eats grass roots, and even finds overseas products like sweet potatoes, then many people will only need to eat a few bites less than usual.

Will it work or not?
You could try Datong.

But what if it really comes to that, and the interests of the wealthy families are threatened, and the imperial court, which represents those interests, is thoroughly enraged?
The imperial court may not stand up for the common people, but it will definitely stand up for the wealthy.

So even if the method works, the external environment doesn't allow it.

unless
Someone stepped forward first.

D.

Shoot the first bird.

At this point, it all comes down to who can stay calm and collected.

Wang Xin strongly opposed the way the Prince of Dongping was doing things, which involved colluding with the barbarians to raise bandits and enhance his own power. However, despite his opposition, he hoped that the Prince of Dongping would cause trouble first and set an example for himself.

"Did your family send him to the capital?"

Wang Xin asked with concern.

"I've already written home. Although the elders haven't agreed, they've arranged for many young men to go to the capital," Zeng Zhi said with a regretful expression.

A poor family's road to wealth.

Moreover, how could they easily give up their family's assets? Therefore, although they raised the risks ahead, the elders of the clan were still unwilling to leave, willing to take the risk and gamble that the Prince of Dongping would not dare to target the wealthy families.

It's just a conflict of interest between one or two families. With the power of the Prince of Dongping, although it can cause him trouble, it's not enough to make the court completely turn against him.

But if they were to target all or most of the major households in Liaodong, wouldn't that be a complete disregard for the imperial authority, showing no respect for the court and trampling its face in front of the world? Both public opinion and the circumstances would leave the court with no other choice. Zeng Zhi could understand this.

Like his own general, he has always coveted the wealthy families, but so far he has not dared to make a move.

There are plenty of people who want to take advantage of the wealthy.

From royalty to commoners, there has never been a shortage of people who covet the wealth of the rich.

The wealthy have their own advantages.

Their only support was the imperial court.

Deep down, Zeng Zhi still hoped that the imperial court would quickly free up its resources to transfer more grain from areas with ample supplies to subsidize regions with huge shortages, especially the various military governors along the nine borders.

Former Ming military officers did not begin to become warlords until after the fall of the Ming Dynasty and many years of chaotic warfare.

That's because the military officers in the Ming Dynasty were appointed through a system of transfers.

The military officers in the garrison were not hereditary military officers; the generals of the army, including the commanders of each town, were appointed by the Ministry of War of the imperial court.

But the Great Zhou was different.

Besides the several princes of the time, the Great Zhou also had many more military governors, who were military leaders with enormous power, each with their own army to support.

If one is merely a temporary official, one will only be frantically trying to avoid trouble.

But they were not inactive officials; they would not allow the army to become disloyal to them. Whether they liked it or not, they would force them to find every possible way to solve the problems encountered by the troops below.

None of them spoke.

Different people will naturally have different opinions when faced with a major decision.

Wang Xin could also understand Zeng Zhi's hesitation and confusion.

"How much longer until the Xue family arrives?"

"They should have already set off, but the road is difficult, so it will probably be much slower."

Wang Xin nodded.

At this time in Dream of the Red Chamber, Xue Pan was leading a merchant caravan. As the owner of the Xue family, Xue Pan would have led a large caravan, and it was impossible for him to have only a few attendants. Yet, he was still robbed by bandits and almost lost his life. Fortunately, he met Liu Xianglian, who saved his life and helped him recover his belongings.

Although it was just a few words of explanation, the scale behind it was definitely not just a few people.

The name of Ping'an Prefecture appears several times in the text.

Based on the estimated travel time, it was still within the capital region, which is now Zhenbao Town. It was designated as Anzhou of Baoding Prefecture, and Ding Yuan, the military governor of Ping'an Prefecture, was appointed. He was an ally of Jia She of the Rongguo Mansion.

However, there are also doubts.

Jia She and Jia Zheng were at odds, and Xue Pan was Lady Wang's nephew. Xue Pan was kidnapped in Ping'an Prefecture and then coincidentally rescued by Liu Xianglian.

Wang Xin analyzed.

It is likely that Jia She wanted to take action against the Xue family, so he contacted the military governor of Ping'an Prefecture. The military governor was unwilling to get involved, but he could not refuse Jia She, so he did it. However, he also arranged for his own hero, Liu Xianglian, to step in and save the family.

This way, he could both report back to Jia She and avoid making a mess of things, turning a big problem into a small one and a small one into nothing.

However, it also shows that the status of the Jiedushi of Ping'an Prefecture was not very high.

After all, this was the capital region. How could they allow others to snore beside their bed? At the beginning of the founding of the country, in order to keep the most powerful military leaders in the north away from the court, they even granted them the title of Prince.

Therefore, the closer a military governor is to the capital, the weaker his or her power will be, except for the eight meritorious officials.

Indeed, the troops under the command of the military governor of Ping'an Prefecture numbered only a few thousand. At its peak, the force numbered over 30,000, but only one-tenth remained. Despite holding the title of military governor, their actual strength was no more than that of a guerrilla general.

It's only because the imperial court has been preoccupied with internal strife for so many years that it hasn't been able to attend to these minor military governors; otherwise, it would have made changes long ago.

Whether or not surgery is required, thorough preparation is essential.

I'm not a robber.

Whatever you do must be ethical and in accordance with common sense. At the same time, you must have a backup plan. If you actually resort to violence and fail to resolve the issue afterwards, then all your reasons will be untenable and you will lose your legitimacy.

Wang Xin didn't say much to Shi Ping, and sent him to work for Zhao Yong.

Shi Ping left not long ago.

An imperial censor sent a petition to the court for help.

original.

Last year, some people in Shaanxi counties rebelled and even captured Baishui County. The governor of Shanxi has been dragging his feet on dealing with the rebellious refugees until this year, and the number of people rebelling is increasing.

Half of Shaanxi was in rebellion, and all the prefectures and counties had completely lost contact with each other.

It was like the calm before the storm.

People are waiting for the imperial court's decision.

Beijing.

The city remained grand and magnificent, while the displaced people were driven out of the city.

Zhang Mansion.

Zhang Qi shook his head and rejected Cheng Zhixin's suggestion to transfer Wang Xin to quell the rebellion, saying, "I have long said that Wang Xin is untrustworthy and have impeached him many times, but the Grand Secretary has protected him."

Zhang Qi felt deep regret when Wang Xin was mentioned.

He had watched this man rise through the ranks and had repeatedly pointed out his ambition, but Zhang Jifu would not listen to him.

"What should we do then?" Everyone present was Zhang Jifu's confidant or staunch ally, and they all wanted to quell the civil unrest as soon as possible. The civil unrest in Shandong had not been completely quelled yet, and they didn't want another unrest to break out in the west before the east was pacified.

“We can order Yun Guang, the military governor of Chang’an, to lead troops to quell the rebellion. If he does not comply, we can threaten him to ask the Prince of Xining to send troops to quell the rebellion. He certainly will not dare to refuse.” Zhang Qi said with a confident and smug look, “This move of chasing away the tiger and driving away the wolf will leave Yun Guang with no choice.”

"Will Lin Ruhai and the others object?" Cheng Zhixin suggested, "Yun Guang's ancestors had a long-standing relationship with the Jia family, and he still maintains good relations with the second branch of the Rongguo Mansion. I'm afraid he won't give in easily."

Zhang Qi started to have a headache.

The Jia family wasn't particularly powerful, yet they always seemed to suddenly emerge from nowhere, catching everyone off guard. Their relatives and friends were everywhere.

Zhang Jifu's face turned even uglier.

The world is so vast, there is not a single place of peace.

Liaodong, Datong, and Ningxia are three major troubles, and there are also civil unrest in Shandong and Shaanxi one after another. One wave has not been quelled and another has risen. The disaster situation in Shanxi and Henan is critical, and an epidemic has broken out in the capital area. I also think about the things in the palace.

Zhang Jifu made up his mind and ordered the military governor of Chang'an to quell the rebels, reorganize the various armies of the capital garrison, vigorously promote the generals and soldiers who had made meritorious contributions in the previous two years, and urge the Prince of Dongping to annihilate the barbarian prince.

There was a pause.

In the past two years, Wang Xin has been the quietest, not doing anything too outrageous, and honestly trying to save himself, which is in line with his usual personality, but we still can't let our guard down.

"Zhou Wen was relieved of his post as General of the Western Route of Datong and promoted to Governor of Taiyuan, Shanxi, to take charge of military and political power within Shanxi, in order to prevent the Shaanxi bandit Liu from infiltrating into Shanxi." There was another intention that was not explicitly stated.

With over 100,000 troops in the Beijing Garrison and 60,000 troops in Taiyuan, Shanxi, the total number of soldiers alone reaches 200,000. They form a pincer movement, and with another 60,000 soldiers available from Xuanfu and Jizhou, how could they not intimidate him?
As long as Wang Xin doesn't act recklessly, no one else will dare to act recklessly.

If others don't act rashly, Wang Xin won't dare to act rashly either.

The imperial court must always maintain an elite force with an overwhelming numerical advantage.

Zhang Jifu recalled the Emperor Emeritus's demands from a few years ago and couldn't help but feel a little scared. Fortunately, he had laid a solid foundation at that time; otherwise, given the current situation, it would be impossible to expand the army.

“The grain requested by Datong will not be issued.” Zhang Qi continued, “Without grain, he can’t do anything. He’s willing but unable. Let him honestly focus on his production and self-reliance. This is also a way for the Grand Secretary to show his care for him and to preserve his reputation for loyalty.”

Although the imperial court faced difficulties, it did not forget its mission in various places.

Wang Xin also paid close attention. Although many things were unsatisfactory, they were still within the bottom line. After all, the imperial court could not provide the funds and grain, and could not watch the people below starve to death. So, he generally turned a blind eye to some of the overstepping of the line.

(End of this chapter)