I

Zhao Han looked at Zhang Bingwen with a smile: "Do you want to take a test?"

Zhang Bingwen cupped his hands and said: "There is no need to take the test on the Four Books and Five Classics. The content in primary school and middle school is too simple, and it is no different from the scholar test back then. Please ask the town chief to come up with questions to test "Datong Collection", "Mathematics" and "Geometry"?"

"There's no need to take the exam. I believe you. A political envoy would not tell such lies." Zhao Han said.

Zhang Bingwen handed over his hand again: "Thank you to the town for your trust!"

Zhao Han suddenly asked: "What do you think of the general trend of the world?"

Zhang Bingwen immediately cheered up. This was the real test: "The Ming Dynasty's treasury was empty, its officials were corrupt, and annexation was serious. It has long been difficult to recover. The northwest rogue bandits, running endlessly, unable to stop and develop stably, are just large groups of horse bandits." When will the rogue bandits be able to drive the officers and soldiers everywhere, then they will be able to set up an official system and have the capital to compete for the world. The Liaodong Tatars are foreigners. But at this time, the Tatars have already established a system. Once the Ming Dynasty collapses, than Rogue bandits have a better chance of conquering the world. As for Jiangxi, I don’t need to repeat it."

Zhao Han was very satisfied and asked: "Do you know how I will develop next?"

Zhang Bingwen said: "South Zhili is the most elite place in the world. We can go out from the east of Guangxin Prefecture and occupy Zhejiang first. Then we can take the navy down the Yangtze River and attack Nanjing, Taiping and Zhenjiang from a land and water attack. In this way, Jiangnan is settled. , half of the country is at your fingertips.”

"Then should I play Zhejiang this year?" Zhao Han said with a smile.

"No," Zhang Bingwen said, "Given the temperament and intelligence of the commander-in-chief, we must go to southern Hunan first, and then to Guangdong and Fujian."

Zhao Han became more and more satisfied and asked: "Why is this so?"

Zhang Bingwen analyzed: "If Jiangnan is lost, the Ming Dynasty will die quickly. The Tatars will inevitably break through the border, and the Tatars who are organized and proclaim emperor will quickly occupy Hebei. Unorganized rogues are definitely no match for the Tatars. Before that, as long as If the main town dares to attack Nanzhi and Zhejiang, the Ming court will definitely risk everything and send all the troops from the six northern provinces to fight a decisive battle with Jiangxi. The situation at that time will be that the main town can deal with the imperial army alone, while the rogue bandits and Tatars sit back. Harvesting the fisherman’s profit. How unwise is that?”

"Then why should I go to southern Hunan first?" Zhao Han asked.

Zhang Bingwen said: "Huguang is ripe and the world is rich. Dongting Lake is also the world's granary. In these troubled times, food is the most important. Whoever can feed the people will be able to dominate the world."

In the middle and early Ming Dynasty, the main grain-producing area of ​​the Ming Dynasty was Jiangnan, to be precise, the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the area around Taihu Lake.

However, starting from the mid-Ming Dynasty, the population in these places continued to multiply, and a large number of cash crops were planted, resulting in a serious shortage of food supply. Huguang was developed again and became the granary of the world. Much of the grain from the Jiangnan prefectures was shipped to Huguang and Jiangxi for sale.

Therefore, Zhao Han does not need to conquer Jiangnan. He only needs to occupy the grain-producing areas of Huguang and Jiangxi, and he can choke the Jiangnan region at any time.

Zhang Bingwen continued: "As for Fujian and Guangdong, maritime trade is of great benefit to the world. Once the sea is opened and smuggling is cracked down, the taxes will be no less than those in Nanzhi and Zhejiang."

"Ha ha ha ha!"

Zhao Han laughed heartily and said, "You are a great talent."

Although Zhang Bingwen was from Tongcheng, he had served as a military patrol in Fujian. He knew how profitable Fujian's maritime trade was.

It was difficult for the Ming Dynasty to attack, but Zhao Han could do whatever he wanted and brutally killed a group of smuggling merchants. You can kill him however you want, but it won't involve his interests anyway, so Zhang Bingwen is happy to see this happen.

Zhao Han asked someone to bring a piece of information, handed it over and said, "Sir, please take a look."

Zhang Bingwen was a little curious and glanced at it, but it was a copy of the imperial palace newspaper.

This year, he didn't even take a break during the Lantern Festival. On the 14th day of the first lunar month, a document was issued. Chongzhen accepted the advice from the Ministry of Industry to Fu Yuanchu, who was involved in the incident, and ordered that customs be levied on the sea in Fujian to help pay.

Zhang Bingwen shook his head and sighed: "Alas, the foundation of the Ming Dynasty has been damaged. Even if it opens the sea, it will not be able to collect a few taxes."

Zhao Han handed over another piece of information, also from the first month, that Nanjing was laying off 89 redundant personnel.

"It seems that the imperial court is really out of money and has actually started to lay off officials," Zhang Bingwen said with a smile. "Unfortunately, there are too many constraints. If we really want to lay off redundant staff, Nanjing can lay off at least 300 people. Moreover, why not lay off a few more ministers? Official positions The highest ones are just a few principals.”

Zhao Han stood up and said, "You go to the Secretariat to work."

Naturally, it is impossible for a person like Zhang Bingwen to become a real official, but it is even less possible for him to break the rules for him. Therefore, it is best to get into the Secretariat. After accumulating two years of qualifications, and then being sent out to serve as an assistant official, you can quickly get promoted.

Zhao Han has already sent four secretaries out, and Fei Yu has been sent out to be the county magistrate. When they expand in southern Hunan and Guangdong, Fei Yu can be promoted to be the county magistrate.

Zhang Bingwen settled his wives and concubines, and sent people back to Tongcheng to pick up his children.

After completing the handover procedures, Zhang Bingwen went to work in the Secretariat and saw an old man in his fifties.

Even the prefect of Guangxin, Xie Lijing, who wanted to go on a hunger strike, Zhao Han didn't bother to persuade him. He asked him to go to the countryside to see himself, and then he was recruited into the Academy of Secretaries as an ordinary secretary.

There is only one year difference between the two of them, and they are the oldest in the Secretariat. They know what the other person is like without asking.

Holding each other's fists and doing their own things.

Pang Chunlai quietly found Zhao Han and said as an elder: "Brother Han, is it time for you to take another concubine?"

"There's no rush." ​​Zhao Han said.

"It is better to take a concubine as early as possible," Pang Chunlai said, "This is not my idea alone. Many officials and even the people hope that you can take a concubine."

Zhao Han sighed: "Let's wait until this year's battle is over."

The reason why the officials were anxious was simply because they were afraid that Zhao Han's heirs would be unhappy.

Although Fei Rulan gave birth to a son, she has been silent since then. Last winter, Zhang'er had a cold and a fever, which made Pang Chunlai, Li Banghua and others very anxious.

Having only one son, given ancient medical standards, was really unsafe.

You must have more children, and you must have them as early as possible.

If Chai Rong's son was twenty years old, how dare he, Zhao Kuangyin, wear a yellow robe?

It is true that Zhao Han was young and powerful, but the officials under his command were afraid of what might happen.

For Zhao Han, giving birth to a son has become a political task. He can only do as he pleases and go home that night to have a hard time with Fei Rulan.

This year the situation was good. After the rice seedlings were planted, there was generally only a slight drought. The drought only lasted less than a month before it rained.

Only Jiujiang Prefecture and Nankang Prefecture in the north are facing more serious drought relief work, and the counties in these two prefectures are already busy.

By the way, for the sake of convenience, Nanchang Prefecture has jurisdiction over the four northwest counties, all of which are under the jurisdiction of Nankang Prefecture.

Because starting from Nankang Fucheng, you can reach Wuning and Ningzhou via Xiushui, Jing'an via Shuangxi, and Fengxin via Fengshui. Anyway, it can be reached by boat from Fucheng, and the transportation is very convenient.

If the four counties still belong to Nanchang, the taxes to be paid in the future must be transported to Nankang Prefecture first, and then shipped to Nanchang Prefecture. When government officials go to the countryside to do business, they have to go around in circles, which is a waste of manpower and material resources.

Poor Nanchang Prefecture, which originally had jurisdiction over eight counties, was reduced to four counties by Zhao Han.

During the drought relief work in northern Jiangxi, two Jinyi guards had returned to Beijing to resume their duties, and four others remained in Jiangxi for exploration.

Qianqing Palace.

"Your Majesty, the Zhao thieves have taken over the entire territory of Jiangxi." Jin Yiwei knelt on the ground and reported.

Chongzhen was not angry because he had received multiple pieces of information. It was only a matter of time before Zhao Han took over Jiangxi alone.

Zhao Han even handed over another letter through Wang Diaoding.

The content is very simple. Zhao Han promised not to send troops to Nanzhi and Zhejiang. The reason was that he did not want to face the imperial court's military front, and he did not want the rogue bandits to continue to grow in the north.

Chongzhen continued to inquire and called Yang Sichang and Wang Diaoding.

Ever since Zhao Han delivered the second letter, Wang Diaoding's identity has become obvious, and he is the mouthpiece between Zhao Han and the emperor.

"Zhao thief has taken over the entire territory of Jiangxi." Chongzhen's tone seemed calm.

Yang Sichang was suddenly shocked: "Jiangnan is in danger!"

Wang Diaoding said: "Yang's military department does not need to worry about Jiangnan. Zhao thieves will definitely send troops to southern Hunan, where the most grain is produced."

Yang Sichang was speechless. He was from Changde, and Zhao Han wanted to occupy his hometown.

Both the emperor and his ministers had nothing to say.

The rogue bandits in the northwest, the Tatars in the east of Liaoning, and Zhao Han in the south. However, the imperial court's money and food supply were insufficient to deal with even one of them, and it had to deal with three at the same time.

"What can I do?" Chongzhen felt weak. He was really too tired.

Yang Sichang sighed and said: "It is impossible to recruit troops to fight in Nanzhi and Zhejiang. There have been severe droughts in these two places for years, and it is already difficult to collect taxes. If we recruit more troops to fight, how will we support the soldiers in the north? It is impossible for the imperial court to send troops to conquer the Zhao traitors. The Yangtze River The natural danger requires me to train as a water master. Where can I get the money to train as a water master?"

Chongzhen sneered: "What's the use of all this?"

Yang Sichang bowed his head and said: "We can only believe that the Zhao thieves will not attack Nanzhi and Zhejiang. While the Zhao thieves are expanding to the west, the court should quickly wipe out the rogue bandits. Only by destroying the rogue bandits can we free up our hands to conquer the Zhao thieves. As for the Zhao thieves ...The gentry in southern Hunan, Guangdong, and Fujian can recruit local warriors to form a regiment to slow down the expansion of the Zhao thieves."

Chongzhen said angrily: "The gentry recruited local warriors by themselves? Do you want to turn Ming Dynasty into the Three Kingdoms at the end of Han Dynasty!"

Yang Sichang kowtowed and said: "This expedient measure will only be implemented in the three southern provinces. Once the imperial court has wiped out the bandits, this order can be canceled immediately. The most urgent task is to quickly wipe out the bandits. Please train another 100,000 troops!"

"Where's the money?" Chongzhen asked.

"Extra training salary!" Yang Sichang gritted his teeth and said, he was also driven into panic.

Chongzhen was slumped and said weakly: "I'll just follow your plan."

What's the plan?

Of course, we should send more training and pay, organize and train new troops, and quickly suppress the bandits. At the same time, orders were sent to southern Hunan, Guangdong, and Fujian that the powerful gentry could organize and train their own armies.

The next day we brought it to the court for discussion, and the situation was very surprising.

The matter of organizing group training was unanimously approved. These officials were afraid of being divided by Zhao thieves. Anyway, it was the method proposed by Yang Sichang. If it fails, it will be an opportunity to impeach. If it is done, it will kill the Zhao thief.

As for increasing the pay for training troops, which has attracted wild criticism from officials, everyone knows that they can't mess with it anymore. Wouldn't increasing the pay for training force more peasants to rebel?

The opposition was ineffective, and the country once again sent more troops, making the people miserable.

On the other side of Jiangxi, Zhao Han prepared his troops hard and only waited for the summer grain harvest before dispatching troops.