Poor Family Chapter 678

  Chapter 678 Emergency Deployment

The fall of Yanjing City not only caused a great uproar among the people in the capital, but also shocked the imperial court. The ostrich policy was implemented for nearly a year. Pull yourself out of the sand and face the impending regime crisis.

  This is an unbreakable theorem through the ages. When a power organization triggers a huge crisis due to improper operation, its power legitimacy will be widely questioned. This is the case with the Zhizhengtang, which holds the power of prime minister, and the emperor, who holds the power of the monarch, is equally difficult to avoid.

  Early in the morning, in the side hall of the Xuanzheng Hall, Zhao Ji held an emergency military and political meeting. Dozens of officials above the third rank participated in the meeting to discuss how to deal with the crisis caused by the invasion of Jin.

At this time, the Song Dynasty court could be described as internal and external troubles. Although it obtained a large amount of Liao Kingdom wealth from Yanjing City, it only took less than half a year for the wealth to be exhausted. Now not only the treasury is seriously empty, but even the emperor's internal treasury is also running low. , The imperial court was extremely financially distressed, and even the daily military expenditure was difficult to support. The imperial court was unable to prepare for war in Hebei on a large scale, nor could it respond to Xixia's military provocations, largely because of financial constraints.

   "Dear dears, this is the end of the matter, and I don't want to hold anyone accountable. Let's talk about it! How should we deal with the invasion of the Kingdom of Jin?"

  Zhao Ji's voice is not high, and his expression looks very tired. The invasion of the Kingdom of Jin brought him tremendous pressure, which made him restless.

   There was silence in the hall. At this critical moment, everyone kept silent. They did not want their words to affect the final decision. No one could afford this responsibility.

  Zhao Ji had no one to speak for a while, so he couldn't help but feel a little displeased, so he said to Gao Qiu: "Secretary Gao, let's talk first!"

Gao Qiu was called by name, but he had no choice but to get up and said: "Your Majesty, the response to the invasion is actually only eight words, 'Soldiers come to block, water comes to flood the earth,' since the Jin soldiers are coming, then we will send troops to deal with it, nothing more. Two lines, one Hebei line and one East line. The Hebei line has deployed 100,000 Xiang troops, but the Xiang army's combat effectiveness is relatively weak. Wei Chen suggested adding another 80,000 forbidden troops to Hebei. Wei Chen recommended Liu Yanqing as the main general to lead the army northward. Defense. In addition, the east line is mainly defended by Taiyuan. At present, Taiyuan Prefecture has 20,000 elite soldiers, and the army is slightly insufficient. I propose to add another 20,000 troops to Taiyuan Prefecture. However, Yao Pingzhong is a little weak and lacks decisiveness in the face of danger. I suggest a replacement .”

  Wang Fu snorted heavily, stood up and said, "Liu Yanqing has been defeated repeatedly, how can such a defeated general be useful? Taiwei Gao, this is a critical juncture for the country, I hope you don't bring your personal emotions."

  Zhao Ji also heard that Gao Qiu had selfish intentions, and he felt a little displeased, so he waved his hand to signal Gao Qiu to sit down, and said: "The other ministers will talk about it later!"

  At this time, Prince Zhao Huan, who was sitting in front of the jade steps, said, "Father, can you allow me to come up with a plan!"

   At this time, Zhao Huan took the initiative to express his position, which made Zhao Ji quite pleased, so he nodded and said, "Please speak, my son!"

Zhao Huan stood up and said, "Actually, the two proposals of Gao Taiwei just now coincided with those of Erchen. They mainly strengthened two lines of defense, one is the Hebei line, and the other is the East line. Hebei is defended on three sides. Zhending Mansion, Xiongba two prefectures and Hejian Mansion, 80,000 banned troops and 100,000 Xiang troops are almost enough in number, and the east line is also mainly a defensive battle in Taiyuan, but Taiyuan is only the second defense, the first defense should be in Daizhou , add 20,000 troops to Taiyuan, and then transfer the 20,000 troops defending Xixia to Daizhou Yanmen Pass and Tudun Pass for defense, this is my opinion."

   There was a lot of discussion in the main hall, but the crown prince didn't mention the person who led the soldiers, which is a bit unfinished! Zhao Ji frowned, "Who does the emperor think should lead the troops?"

   "This" Zhao Huan hesitated to say.

  Cai Jing said from the side: "His Royal Highness, now is a critical moment. Your Highness can speak bluntly and propose a proper plan to relieve His Majesty's worries!"

  Zhao Ji nodded, "Mr. Cai Cai is right, the emperor can be blunt, I will listen."

  Zhao Huan had no choice but to bow and said: "I think that if you want to solve the immediate danger, you have to learn the way of a teacher!"

  The main hall was silent for a moment, and Zhao Ji felt a little bitter in his heart. Is there no one in the Song Dynasty except for the way of teaching teachers?

   After a long while, Zhao Ji said slowly: "Master Zhong is old, I am afraid he has no energy to serve the country anymore, does the emperor have any other plans?"

  Zhao Ji couldn't accept the way of being a teacher before coming out of the mountain. He really couldn't bear the face. Of course Zhao Huan understood that his father couldn't accept the way of being a teacher before going out of the mountain. He said: "I have another plan."

   "You said, what plan?"

"Father, my son recommended Zhang Shuye to be the chief of troops and horses in Hejian Mansion, responsible for the defense of the eastern front of Hebei, and the chief of Xiongba in the middle division, in charge of the center line defense of Xiongzhou and Bazhou. Liu Guangshi was recommended as the chief of Zhending Mansion , responsible for the defense of Zhending Mansion on the west line of Hebei Road, Erchen recommended Kang Wang as the general manager of Xiangzhou, and King Yun of Daming Mansion was in charge of the second line of defense on Hebei Road, and deployed the 80,000 troops on the two Jingxi Roads and Kaifeng Mansion On the second line of defense, in this way, the two lines of defense on Hebei Road can keep the capital safe."

  Zhao Ji nodded, he can accept this plan, and he asked again: "What about the deployment on the East Road?"

"Father, the East Road is the key. Just as Gao Taiwei said, Yao Pingzhong is a little gentle, but not brave enough to be decisive, so he is not suitable for defending the city. My son suggested that Yao Pingzhong be appointed as the governor of the state and lead 20,000 troops to deploy on the front line of Yanmen Pass. If the Yanmen Pass is broken by the Jin soldiers, then Yao Pingzhong can lead his army to retreat to Jingxing, and even Luoyang, but Taiyuan must be guarded by a brave future, and I recommend Li Yanqing to lead 20,000 Jingzhao troops to Taiyuan."

  This plan aroused a lot of discussion. Wang Fu asked: "May I ask your Highness, Shaanxi Road is also facing the threat of Xixia. If Li Yanqing is transferred to Taiyuan, who will be in charge of Shaanxi Road?"

Zhao Huan smiled slightly, "Xixia's national strength has not yet recovered, so it may not be possible to attack Shaanxi Road. Liu Wei, the transfer envoy of Shaanxi Road, can be temporarily appointed as the defense envoy of Shaanxi Road, leading the defense of Xixia by the armies of Shaanxi Road. In addition, I suggest adding the title of Zhongshi Dao As the general, sit in Jingzhao Mansion."

This is undoubtedly a very subtle plan. At present, Zhong Shidao is living in Jingzhao Mansion for the elderly, so that Zhong Shidao is given the false post of a general. With his prestige, it is more than enough to guard Jingzhao Mansion, and Jingzhao Mansion is not the front line. There is no need for too many troops to garrison, and if Zhong Shidao is given a false post, he is actually in a state of retirement, so there is no embarrassment involved.

At this time, everyone looked at the emperor Zhao Ji. Zhao Ji pondered for a long time, and finally nodded, "Yao Pingzhong didn't need to guard Yanmen Pass, but was directly transferred to Xijing to stay behind. He led 20,000 Taiyuan troops to garrison Luoyang. Envoy, lead 40,000 Jingzhao troops to guard Taiyuan, take full charge of the defense of Hedong Road, and the prince can adopt other plans!"

  Zhao Ji knew very well that Li Yanqing could not command Yao Pingzhong, and keeping Yao Pingzhong on Hedong Road would only hinder Li Yanqing, which was not conducive to the defense of Hedong Road, so he simply let him guard Luoyang, the western capital.

  Military and political discussions have only made a general decision, but detailed plans such as troop mobilization and logistics replenishment still need to be planned by the Privy Council and the Ministry of War. However, rescue is like firefighting. Zhao Ji ordered Gao Qiu to come up with a detailed plan within three days.

But for the imperial court, the deployment of the army is relatively simple. What is really difficult to solve is the financial difficulties of the imperial court. This is related to the military expenditure of hundreds of thousands of troops. Zhao Ji then called Wang Fu, Cai Jing and Prince Zhao Huan to the imperial study to discuss the settlement. The problem of insufficient military expenditure.

   "Cai Xianggong talked about the plan of Zhizhengtang!"

  In the imperial study room, Zhao Ji still looked very tired, but perhaps because of the results of the army deployment, Zhao Ji spoke a little more confidently.

  Cai Jing had already prepared a plan, he saluted, and said calmly: "The Zhizheng Hall has held a senior council meeting for three consecutive days, and has drafted a long-term plan and a short-term emergency plan."

   "Let's briefly talk about the long-term plan first!"

"The long-term plan is still to start from the source of taxation, including increasing the official taxation of wine, salt, tea, pig iron and other official goods, and at the same time increasing the corresponding commercial tax. The Ministry of Households has estimated that if it is increased by 10%, the annual income of the imperial court will increase from 60% to 100%. If the land tax, household tax and exemption money are increased by 10% at the same time, the revenue and expenditure of the imperial court can basically be balanced. In addition, increasing the production of copper and silver will help increase the issuance of huizi Quantity is also a long-term way to earn money.”

   "Okay, the long-term plan will be discussed slowly later, and now I am more concerned about the short-term emergency plan." Zhao Ji interrupted Cai Jing's words a little impatiently, and now he is more concerned about how to raise the urgently needed military expenditure of more than 10 million guan.

   "The short-term emergency plan was drafted by Wang Xianggong, please ask Wang Xianggong to explain it!"

Wang Fu bowed and said: "Reporting to Your Majesty, the short-term emergency plan can start from four aspects. The first is to transfer all the silver deposits from the silver mines in the south to the capital. According to the statistics of the humble official, there are about 1.5 million taels of silver. According to the current market price of silver coins, it can be exchanged from the private sector to about 5.8 million coins, or it can be used as collateral to directly issue 10 million coins.

  The second is to sell light goods. Although Zuo Zangku is short of money, he has enough cloth and silk, and he can sell some of them to merchants. Wei Chen estimates that he can raise about 3 million guan.

  The third solution is to exchange gold for money. There are plenty of copper coins among the people, but there is a serious shortage of gold. We only need to take out 100,000 taels of gold to exchange for 4 million coins.

  The fourth plan is to issue one million guan **** money, so that the four-pronged approach can raise 15 million guan military expenses in a short period of time, and solve the half-year military expenses of 500,000 troops. "

  Zhao Ji looked at Prince Zhao Huan again, "What does the emperor think?"

Zhao Huan quickly bowed and said: "I am against the fourth short-term plan. Issuing large amounts of money is too harmful and will cause food prices to skyrocket. I think it is more convenient to borrow money directly from major money shops with silver and gold as collateral. It is also a good way to sell light goods, but the long-term plan has yet to be discussed, and the tax is too heavy."

   "The long-term plan will be discussed later. Now Zhizhengtang will raise military expenses as soon as possible according to the prince's plan. All progress will be reported directly to the prince."

   "The minister obeys the order!"

   Cai Jing and Wang Fu left in a hurry, but Zhao Ji left Prince Zhao Huan behind. He was silent for a moment and asked, "Why did the emperor think of letting King Kang and King Yun sit on the second line of defense?"

   "My son mainly considers that the royal family will be in charge of Hebei, which can better stimulate the morale of the soldiers of the three armies."

   "You really think so?"

   "I really think so, and I dare not hide it from my father."

  Zhao Ji took a deep look at Zhao Huan, then turned away and asked, "Why is the battle on the East Road more critical than that on the Hebei Road?"

"My father, it is now June, and Bianliang still has the natural danger of the Yellow River to rely on. Even if the Jin soldiers break through the two defense lines of Hebei Road, they will not be able to threaten the capital for the time being. But Hedong Road is different. Once Hedong Road falls, Then the entire west of Tongguan is in danger, and the Kingdom of Jin is based on the East Road, and in winter, when the Yellow River freezes, the Jin soldiers will march eastward, and the capital will be in danger at that time."

  Zhao Ji sighed for a while and said: "The situation is so serious, it is my fault. If the situation continues to deteriorate, I will have to abdicate myself!"

  Zhao Huan was so frightened that he quickly knelt down, kowtowed his head and said, "It's my son who failed to share the father's worries. All the responsibilities should be borne by the son, and have nothing to do with the father!"

  Zhao Ji suddenly felt extremely tired. He waved his hand, "Get back! I am very tired and want to rest."

   "Father, please rest well, and my son will leave!"

  【Ask for a monthly pass! 】

  (end of this chapter)

Chapter end