Chapter 370 Chapter C is difficult!

Chai Ke is indeed in a dilemma now.

Both Gaotai and Suzhou were occupied by rebels, but in the early stage, the rebels obviously directly abandoned the guards in eastern Gansu. Places like Liangzhou Guard and Yongchang Guard retreated without hesitation. It can be said that people like Liu Dongyang, Tu Wenxiu, and Xu Chaobu retreated without hesitation. The elite did not suffer many major losses.

There are currently nearly 20,000 rebels stationed in Gaotai and Suzhou, 5,000 in Gaotai, 13,000 in Suzhou, and 1,000 in Jiayuguan. If these three places are to be recovered, it can be imagined that a high price will be paid.

The northernmost Zhenyi Suo, namely Hexi Fort and Yanchi Fort, as well as the golden pagoda outside the border wall, were all handed over by Liu Dongyang to the Yi Chengen tribe who escaped from the border wall.

 Fortunately, Ganzhou has been recovered intact, which allows Chai Ke to breathe a sigh of relief.

It was originally expected that the war would continue until the end of the year, and that he might even have to face a Ningxia and Gansu towns that were beaten to pieces. The emperor and the cabinet were also most worried about this. If that was the case, the court might even have to face the prospect of giving up. Two towns, or they have to pay a huge price to rebuild the two towns.

It is impossible to give up. Anyone who dares to give up will be directly impeached by the censors. But in that case, rebuilding is probably not a matter of two to three million silver. It may not cost more than five million. The cost of two is also normal.

This does not include the fact that more than one million taels of silver have been spent on this trip to quell the rebellion, and the court is really overwhelmed.

But now it seems that the situation is not that bad. Ningxia is a little worse, but it is still bearable. Gansu Town is an unexpected surprise. I was originally worried that it would be worse than Ningxia, but now it seems that apart from Yongchang Wei, Apart from the larger losses on the border, only Suzhou, Gaotai and the Zhenyi Station in the northernmost corner are still in the hands of the rebels. In a sense, he has completed his mission.

When Ye Xianggao and Zhang Jingqiu explained themselves, although they did not say it clearly, Chai Ke could feel that if it was a last resort, it would be enough to keep the two guards of Yongchang and Xining and defend the Tatars and Fans to the west of Yanzhi Mountain.

 This is the final bottom line, but Chai Ke knows that the consequences of this bottom line are considerable and it is impossible to accept it.

Chai Ke did not believe that Ye Xianggao and Zhang Jingqiu dared to express their stance like this without the emperor's acquiescence. No matter how difficult the financial resources of the imperial court were, it would be impossible for them to make such concessions that would cost them the city and the land.

Once the Tatars and Fans in the West Sea are connected with the Tatars in the north, the strategic situation in the northwest of the Great Zhou Dynasty will be reversed. Suzhou and Ganzhou may even become the hunting grounds of the Mughals. Xining, Yongchang, and even Liang It will be difficult to hold Zhou and Zhuanglang, and the Great Zhou Dynasty may really become the second Southern Song Dynasty.

"Xiu Ling, how are you resting?" Hearing the footsteps, Chai Ke raised his head and put down his pen.

"It's okay. I went out and took a look around. The market in Ganzhou is pretty stable. I've asked Tang to arrange for people to clean up the military discipline and avoid disturbing the people." Yang He stepped into the room and frowned, "Zishu, what did you do last night? Not sleeping?"

"I slept for a while, but I couldn't fall asleep, so I got up early." Chai Ke shook his head, stood up with his clothes on, stretched and moved his body, "I have written a memorial to the emperor and the cabinet. You should also take a look at it. If there is nothing, it will be printed and sent out. I guess the imperial court is also looking forward to this memorial from us and is very anxious."

"No, didn't we send back some good news in the early stage? Just keep your mind at ease. Brother Zishu, I'm not being mean. I'm afraid many people in the court don't even know the difference between Ningxia and Gansu, and how far apart the two towns are. It may not be clear where they are. They just need to read a few stories at random, how many enemies have been killed, and what places have been recovered, and they will be dancing for joy. What is the result?..."

Yang He's tone was very calm, even understated, but every word was taken to heart.

"..., it's no wonder that these generals below are able to fool the imperial court at will. If you and I hadn't come to make such a trip in person, I'm afraid neither of us would have understood the importance of Shandanwei, nor would we have known that the Big and Small Songshan Mountains actually belong to Ningxia Town. They and Guyuan Town are in separate charge, and they may not even be able to figure out the true relationship between the red rabbits, the red rabbits, and the stone-diving rabbits on the grassland..."

 With this experience of working together in the face of danger, the relationship between the two people has become closer and closer in the past few months.

Yang He felt that Chai Ke was also a man who could do things and was especially considerate of the court's difficulties. Unlike some officials, who only thought about doing their own work and making meritorious deeds, regardless of whether they could hold on or how much mess and holes they would create.

Chai Ke was much more careful in this regard.

In Ningxia Town and Yongchang Guard, Chai Ke did not first look at how many enemies were killed, but at the local situation, whether the people had suffered too much, and whether there had been too many refugees. From this point of view alone, Chai Ke Much better than many people.

 Those who do not seek great achievements, but seek not to leave any consequences, are the ones who really do things.

 The current Great Zhou Dynasty cannot withstand the hardships.

The 800,000 taels of silver he brought with him when he left the capital, and later the inner treasury collected another 300,000 taels of silver, which was already the limit of the imperial court.

It is said that the emperor has spent all the money he can scrape together, and even plans to sell several palaces. To this end, he has also reduced the expenses in the palace. Of course, the expenses for the emperor and the emperor's concubine are absolutely indispensable. .

But just to make up for the arrears of the soldiers in Yulin Town and Datong Town, it cost 600,000 yuan, and this was the most basic condition for the soldiers in Yulin Town to work hard, and another 300,000 taels were spent on food and supplies. , after this calculation, there are only about 100,000 taels left.

But except for the relief and appeasement place in Ningxia, which is estimated to cost more than 500,000 taels, which is still the lowest number, the number in Gansu Town is not expected to be lower than this number. This does not include the pensions, rewards, casualties and meritorious service after the battle is won. Soldiers.

Chai Ke and Yang He made a rough estimate. Even leaving aside the battle to recover Suzhou and Gaotai, at least two million taels of silver would be needed to end the war.

This battle really cannot be fought. Once a battle is fought, all one sees is the money flowing out like water without stopping. These expenses make both Chai Ke and Yang He tremble.

Even military generals like Feng Tang did not shy away from warning Chai and Yang about this. If the fight continues like this, the court may have to increase taxes.

"Xiu Ling, be careful what you say. I'm afraid I'll look bad again if I hear it from Tang Dynasty. Well, if your words are spread back to the court, I'm afraid you will all be accused by the procuratorate." Chai Ke shook his head with a smile. .

"I dare to say this in front of Zi Tang. I'm not afraid. This guy has already had an argument with me before." Yang He snorted coldly, "He has been trying to fool me all day, and more than 6,500 people died in the battle. How can all the people, including more than a hundred who died of illness, be counted as those who died in the war? He also asked for compensation based on the price of rice at the place where they died in the war. How is this possible?"

Chai Ke shook his head and smiled bitterly.

He could also understand that with so many people killed in the Yulin Town Army, if Feng Tang wanted to control this group of arrogant generals in the future, he must strive for the maximum benefit for these soldiers.

Finally caught up with this battle and made great achievements, but he was unable to obtain the most satisfactory results for the soldiers. He, the commander-in-chief, could not sit still. He might be the next Shi Guangjue.

 The pensions for soldiers in the Zhou Dynasty also followed the Ming Dynasty, but were slightly improved.

For example, if a soldier who died in battle has no children except the military household, he can retire to a civilian household. If he has brothers, he can make up for it. The parents, wives, and children of the deceased in battle can receive fifty shi rice and grain as a pension.

However, rice grains in the south of the Yangtze River only cost 600 to 1,000 yuan per stone, which is less than one tael of silver. In the north, it can cost 800 to 1,200 yuan, or even 1,400 yuan. In Shaanxi, it can reach as high as 1,000 yuan. One thousand four hundred yuan, in the two towns of Ningxia and Gansu, it will reach 1,600 yuan, and in Ganzhou it has even reached as high as 1,800 yuan.

 The amount of rice grains to be provided for the compensation has been determined, but there is no detailed stipulation on the price at which the compensation will be provided.

It goes without saying that the general battle losses in the Jiubian Land are local, but if Yulin soldiers die in battle inside and outside the local border walls, then the compensation will be based on the grain price of 1,400 yen per stone, while in Ningxia and Gansu it will be 2 more. One hundred coins, and fifty shi of grain is ten thousand coins, which is more than eight taels of silver. For more than 6,000 people, it works out to fifty thousand taels of silver. This is not a small amount.

There are the same differences between soldiers who died of illness and soldiers who died in battle. Soldiers who died of illness could only receive thirty dan of food pension, which was twenty dan less than those who died in battle. This was also quite considerable for a family.

 Under such circumstances, it was certainly impossible for Feng Tang to give in.

Seeing Chai Ke's silence, Yang He knew that the governor might have the idea of ​​trying to reconcile with Xini again, so he glared: "Brother Zishu, you are not only the governor of the three sides, you are also the right minister of the Ministry of War! The imperial court's You know the situation clearly, but you and I are still going to be in a lot of trouble in the future. This little money is simply not enough. If you don’t save some money, how are you going to cope with it?"

"Xiu Ling, we have only been fighting for tens of thousands of taels of silver since Tang Dynasty, but how much difference do we have?" The smile on Chai Ke's face was no longer a bitter smile, but an extremely ugly smile, "Two million taels! This is How big is the difference between tens of thousands taels of silver and two million taels? Do you think we need to argue with Zitang over these tens of thousands taels?"

Yang He was startled and then slumped.

Yeah, what’s the point of tens of thousands more and tens of thousands less? Agreeing to give an extra tens of thousands taels would also allow Feng Tang to remember his feelings. Now the court simply couldn't come up with these two million taels.

But without these two million taels, Yulin Town might become the second Ningxia Town. If there is no mutiny, there will be civil commotion, and countless bandits will swarm in. The four towns in Shaanxi and other remote areas have always been The origin of thieves and bandits. If you don’t have enough food to eat, what can you do if you don’t want to be a bandit?

Thinking of this, Chai Ke and Yang He both felt depressed again, and their good mood that the counter-insurgency war was about to end was gone.

 (End of this chapter)