ATPnovel Chapter 122 The sugar daddy pulls Chen Boying down
Chapter 122 The sugar daddy pulls Chen Boying down
Chapter 122 The sugar daddy pulls Chen Boying down
Chapter 121 Three days later, Su Mei arrived at the Da Ning Commandery with the lease agreement signed with the Hui merchants. She smiled faintly and said, "Sir, the Hui merchants have really suffered a huge loss this time."
"Major bleeding?"
Chen Ying shook his head and laughed, "That's because you don't know how much wealth they have. They've only paid out some interest; the principal is still in their hands."
These three shops weren't actually worth much silver, at most around 20,000 taels. For Huizhou merchants, and even for the Chengji Trading Company, that was a drop in the ocean. Of course, the market economy of the Ming Dynasty was different from later generations; real estate and land in the Ming Dynasty had very low liquidity.
Typically, families only sell their land and fields when they are truly struggling to make ends meet. When a family starts selling houses and land, it signifies the beginning of its decline, and other families will seize the opportunity to attack, like a group eyeing a piece of meat. This is why, even as the Jia family in "Dream of the Red Chamber" began to decline, they had to persevere, because their family assets could not be liquidated. Once liquidated, it meant that everyone would want a piece of their wealth.
Even if Chen Ying had the money, it wouldn't be easy to buy suitable shops for direct operation in the capital, Tianjin, or Dengzhou, unless he leased them. But the problem was, even if he wanted to lease, it wouldn't be easy, because most shops in this era weren't leased; they were practically owned properties. These three shops were all in the style of three-courtyard residences. The smallest had twenty-nine rooms, covering two and a half acres, while the largest was just over three acres with a little over fifty rooms.
"Does Your Excellency mean we should continue the attack on Shenyang?"
"We definitely have to attack. Right now, the Jurchens have only suffered heavy losses, mostly in manpower. Their losses in money and supplies are not significant, and they still have the strength to fully recover!"
Chen Ying smiled bitterly: "As long as Nurhaci catches his breath, he will definitely send troops to attack Shuangcheng again. Right now, he doesn't have much room to maneuver. He will either attack Yongning Port or Shuangchengwei. By August or September, when our garrison and factories are built, the entire Suifen River, with its more than 200-mile-long riverbank, will be a perfect target for the Jurchens. Even if I had twice the number of troops, let alone only 30,000, I still wouldn't be able to defend all of them."
Su Mei was shocked and suddenly understood Chen Ying's entire plan. Now he was leading a large army to Shenyang to fight the Jurchens, to intimidate the Huizhou merchants, and to compete for the future of the Daming Commandery.
On the sixth day of the first month of the fifth year of the Tianqi reign, the council hall of the Shuangchengwei Daning Commandery was filled with a constellation of military leaders. Zhou Bin, Wang Gui, Qin Siming, Wang Tiezhu, Chen Daniu, Xiang Hu, and other generals under Chen Ying were all gathered in the hall.
Instead of the anxiety of an impending battle, the soldiers were like wolves, staring at the map and analyzing where to begin.
Chen Ying was the last to enter the council hall, and the generals bowed and said, "Greetings, Commander-in-Chief!"
"No need for formalities!"
Chen Yong stared sharply at the generals and said, "I know you have been waiting for this day for a long time. However, the Jurchens are a formidable enemy of the Ming Dynasty. We must not be careless. Since Nurhaci raised his army, for more than thirty years, the Jurchens have grown stronger with each battle. The Ming Dynasty has not only failed to defeat them completely, but has allowed them to continue to grow stronger. We have lost Nurgan and Liaodong. They are a tenacious and cunning opponent. Everyone must be cautious. We don't have much capital left and cannot afford to suffer losses!"
"Understood, sir!"
Chen Ying's words quickly calmed the generals down. The Jurchens were a formidable enemy of the Ming Dynasty, having been entangled with it for over thirty years. They were not easy to deal with. Although the Da Ning army was powerful, all its resources combined amounted to only 36,000 men. Adding the 9,000-plus cavalry of the Wolf Cavalry, the total was only 45,000 men. Even fewer could be deployed for combat. Every soldier and every horse was extremely valuable and could not be wasted. They had to be cautious.
Seeing the solemn expressions on the faces of his generals, Chen Ying was actually quite satisfied. In fact, Chen Ying's victory in the Battle of the Three Rivers Plain was very lucky. If Bomubogor hadn't interfered, Chen Ying would most likely have been defeated. In the Battle of Shuangchengwei, Nurhaci was actually careless. If he had just played it safe, even if Chen Ying had a large number of cannons and firearms, it wouldn't have been easy for him to win. This is because everyone evolves in war. Before, when faced with Chen Ying's grenades, the Jurchens could only stare and stand there to be bombarded.
The problem is that during the pursuit, they also discovered that as long as they lay on the ground, there was a high probability of avoiding the damage from grenades, and they also needed to lie on the ground to avoid the damage from artillery shells. Now, it was not easy for the soldiers of the Shahe New Army or the Daning New Army to use grenades and artillery shells to inflict large-scale casualties on the Jurchens.
Chen Ying looked at the generals and said, "In this battle, we do not seek a great victory, a small victory will suffice. My true objective is to use offense as a form of defense, forcing the Jurchens to abandon their plundering of our Daning's spring planting. That would be victory!"
All the generals were solemn.
According to past weather records, it would take at least two and a half months for the area around Shuangchengwei to thaw, and at least three months before spring plowing could barely begin. Now they have three to four hundred thousand military households here. How large is this defensive range? The area that Chen Ying planned for Xingzhou Situnwei alone is more than 40,000 square kilometers.
If the Jurchens were to take action, they wouldn't need to send too many troops; just a few thousand cavalry would be enough to make it difficult for Chen Ying to carry out spring planting normally. If spring planting is impossible, it means that Chen Ying cannot be self-sufficient in food. Although Chen Ying extorted 1.5 million shi of grain from the Huizhou merchants, the problem is that he has completely offended them, and it is unlikely that he will be able to buy grain from them again.
What worried Chen Ying even more was that Emperor Tianqi abolished the Xingzhou Five Garrison Guards and transferred them to the Daning Military Command. This gave the Ministry of War hope of getting rid of a burden. It should be noted that within the territory of Shuntian Prefecture, there were also twenty-four garrison guards under the jurisdiction of the Beiping Military Command, including the Tongzhou Five Garrison Guards, the Zhuozhou Three Garrison Guards, and the Jizhou Three Garrison Guards. More than two hundred years after the Ming Dynasty moved its capital to Beijing, the military farmland of these twenty-four garrison guards had been almost completely lost. They were either seized by officials or sold by the officers of the garrison. These twenty-four garrison guards could not even support themselves, let alone cultivate land to support their troops. With the complete removal of the Daning Five Garrison Guards, most of the military farmland went into the pockets of officials. The Ministry of War, the Five Military Commands, and the civil official group were all raking in the profits from the military farmland.
They even proposed moving six guards—Liangxiang, Wuqing, Fengrun, Yutian, Xianghe, and Pinggu—into the Daning Military Command and placing them under Chen Ying's jurisdiction. This would mean that the Daning Military Command would increase from five guards to eleven.
Chen Ying cannot refuse these six military households. At the latest by early February, these more than 300,000 military households from the six military households will also be relocated to Yongning. The security situation in Daming is very serious now.
"All generals, heed my command!"
The generals stood at attention in solemn silence.
Chen Yingdao: "Hada!"
"Your servant is here!"
"You lead the vanguard of the Wolf Cavalry, driving the main force forward. Don't the Jurchens boast of their strength and act arrogantly? Now we'll take the war to Liaodong, smash their jars and pots to pieces, and see if they're still so arrogant!"
"Yes, sir!"
Chen Ying turned his gaze to Hamutai: "You lead your three thousand iron cavalry, and I will transfer another two thousand men from the Wolf Cavalry to make a total of five thousand iron cavalry for you. You will have full command of them. Starting from Shuangchengwei, go along the Suifen River and slaughter all the cattle and sheep, burn all the fodder, and loot all the horses of any tribes that are hostile to the Ming Dynasty along the way!"
Hamutai rubbed his hands together excitedly and laughed, "General, this is my specialty!"
Chen Ying looked at Bomubogor and said, "Bomubogor, you will lead the main force of the Solon tribe, and I will also provide you with three thousand wolf cavalry. When Nurhaci mobilizes the Khorchin Mongols to support Shenyang, you will march straight to Khorchin. All the territory you conquer and the people you seize will belong to your Solon tribe. Can you do that?"
"able!"
Bomubogor had long coveted the Khorchin grasslands, but the Khorchin tribe was too deeply bound to the Jurchens. Whether it was Ligdan Khan of Mongolia or them, as long as they dared to make a move, the Jurchens would send troops to support them. If he couldn't even deal with the Khorchin, whose main force was out of the way, he might as well hang himself with a noodle.
"Meng Gun!"
"Yes, sir. You will lead your own troops, and I will also provide you with troops from the Hezhe and Woji tribes, totaling six thousand men. Your mission is the same: secretly infiltrate the Inner Khalkha tribes. Once they are lured to Shenyang by me, you will pacify the five Inner Khalkha tribes for me. Can you do it?"
"If this servant cannot do it, bring me your head!"
Only then did Chen Ying's gaze fall upon Wang Tiezhu and the others: "You will follow me on this expedition, crush all enemies in your path, penetrate to the very end, and capture Shenyang!"
"I am willing to die for the Commander-in-Chief!"
On the twelfth day of the first month of the fifth year of the Tianqi reign, the north gate of Shuangchengwei was opened wide, and more than 30,000 soldiers from the Daning New Army and the Shahe New Army marched out in formation. Firecrackers were like a forest, and banners were like clouds. More than 480 chariots and more than 160 cannons were dragged by mules and horses, leaving deep ruts on the snow. The procession stretched for more than ten miles and headed north in a grand procession.
Chen Ying remained seated in the carriage. He didn't ride a warhorse to show off; the weather was too cold. The carriage door was open, and he watched as squads of soldiers passed by.
These soldiers were in high spirits, their faces filled with eager excitement. They didn't know what kind of fierce battle awaited them on their way to Shenyang, nor did they care. All they knew was that Chen Boying, their commander, was a very fair person. Their military merits would not be deducted in the slightest, and they would receive their full rewards.
As for the fierce battle and heavy casualties, that was not within their consideration. In the current cannibalistic world of the Ming Dynasty, having a fair commander was a blessing they had earned over countless lifetimes.
"General,"
Zhou Bin rode forward: "Hada's vanguard has arrived at Funingyi. He sent someone to report that they did not see the main force of the Jurchens along the way."
Chen Ying nodded: "Nurhaci won't fight us head-on in the open. He will definitely consolidate his forces, lengthen our supply lines, and defend Shenyang to the death. Pass down the order for the entire army to slow down, only forty li a day, and have the artillery battalion lead the way, clearing paths through mountains and building bridges over rivers."
"yes!"
Chen Yongren said, "Godfather, with your sending troops, the Huizhou merchants are probably going crazy with worry."
Chen Ying smiled and said, "That's the right thing to do. If we're not in a hurry, why would they be willing to bleed?"
Even if Chen Ying were to skin such traitors alive, it wouldn't be considered too harsh, because their selfishness led to the deaths of tens of millions of people in the Ming Dynasty. They were accomplices in the Yangzhou Massacre and the Jiading Massacre.
"Cheng Jiashan thought that he could get rid of me by giving me some money and grain. He was wrong. What I want is not that money and grain, but my own trade routes, my own grain supply routes, and my own empire."
Yongning Port, the backyard of Chengji Trading Company.
Cheng Jiashan paced back and forth in the inner room like an ant on a hot pan. On the table was an urgent report that had just been delivered from Shuangchengwei. That thin piece of paper felt like a mountain pressing down on his chest.
"Third Uncle!"
Cheng Yi stumbled in, his face deathly pale: "Chen Boying's army has already left, and their vanguard is heading straight for Funing. He's really going to attack Shenyang!"
Cheng Jiashan stopped in his tracks: "Didn't you go to see him? What did he say?"
Cheng Yi said with a mournful face, "He wouldn't even see me. He only sent Su Mei with one message: 'Where is your one million shi of grain?'"
Cheng Jiashan's face turned ashen.
He never intended to actually give them that million shi of grain. He thought he could stall until Chen Ying calmed down and the matter would be over. Who knew Chen Ying wouldn't give him a chance to stall and would send troops directly. Moreover, even if he were willing to give it, he couldn't conjure up that million shi of grain. The Huizhou merchants also bought their grain from Jiangnan. Even if they pressured the price down, each shi of grain would still cost five or six qian of silver, and transporting it to Yongning by sea would cost eight or nine qian of silver.
"Third Uncle, what should we do?"
Cheng Yi said anxiously, "If he really takes Shenyang, the Jurchens will be finished. How will we explain this to the Jiangnan General Chamber of Commerce?"
""
Cheng Jiashan closed his eyes, remained silent for a long time, and finally said slowly, "Send the message to the Jiangnan General Chamber of Commerce, and tell those gentlemen that Chen Boying is determined to send troops to Shenyang, and we cannot stop him."
Cheng Yi was shocked: "Third Uncle! If the gentlemen find out about this, our Cheng Family business will be in serious trouble—"
"If you know, you know."
Cheng Jiashan's voice was filled with utter exhaustion: "We've done our best. Chen Boying is someone we can't handle. Let the higher-ups worry about him."
He leaned back in his chair and murmured, "Chen Boying, Chen Boying, you're a great warrior, but do you know who you're going against? Those lords in Jiangnan can make it impossible for you to move an inch in the imperial court."
Cheng Yi didn't dare to reply and hurriedly retreated.
However, Cheng Jiashan was unaware that Chen Ying actually knew they were the financial backers of the Donglin Party, and that although the Shanxi merchants also smuggled goods to the Jurchens, the problem was that they were just amateurs. The Shanxi merchants smuggled goods by land, a journey of more than two thousand miles, which not only resulted in great losses along the way, but also limited quantities.
The Donglin Party relied on sea smuggling to transport goods directly to Korea, and then from Korea to the Jurchens. With the Jurchens' production capacity, a mere few hundred thousand people were able to support seventy to eighty thousand cavalrymen, and there were also more than thirty thousand heavily armored cavalrymen. Not to mention that the Jurchens only had a few hundred thousand people, even if they had several million people, they could not support such a large army.
Ten days later, in Suzhou, Jiangnan.
Inside the main hall of the Huizhou Chamber of Commerce, several elderly men dressed in silk sat together. The one in the center, with his beard and hair piled high, was none other than Wang Wenzong, the head of the Huizhou Chamber of Commerce. He held Cheng Jiashan's urgent report in his hand, his face so gloomy it could wring water out of it.
"Gentlemen," he slammed the urgent report on the table, "Cheng Jiashan has botched things in Liaodong. That military man Chen Boying has already sent troops to Shenyang. The Jurchens are in imminent danger."
A commotion broke out inside the hall.
"That Chen Boying, he's got some nerve!"
"He's just a regional commander, who gave him the authority to start border conflicts on his own?"
"If the Jurchens are destroyed, the imperial court will be free to deal with Jiangnan. How will we continue our business then?"
Wang Wenzong raised his hand to silence the murmurs, and said coldly, "It's no use talking about this now. Chen Boying has already sent out his troops; we need to find a way to stop him."
"How can we stop him?" someone asked. "He's in Liaodong, and we're in Jiangnan. We're too far away to reach him."
Wang Wenzong sneered: "No matter how cunning he is, he's still just a commander-in-chief. There are plenty of people in the court who can deal with him."
He stood up, walked to the window, and gazed at the misty, rain-drenched Jiangnan water towns outside. He slowly said, "Send down the order to mobilize our people in the court. Impeach Chen Boying for recklessly starting border conflicts, wasting money and resources, and amassing military power. Tell the censors that as long as Chen Boying can be brought down, the money won't be a problem."
"yes!"