The situation in the south is developing in the direction that Wu Zongrui expected. However, at this time, he could no longer stay in Nanjing and had to return to the capital. For nearly two months after leaving the capital, he had been deploying troops in the south.

General, for Wu Zongrui, who had not been on the throne for a long time, he would definitely not dare to do this if he did not have absolute confidence.

The Intelligence Department has detected that the situation in Houjin in the north has begun to stabilize. In other words, Dorgon, the regent of Houjin, finally took full control of power after hard and unremitting efforts and completely suppressed his biggest opponent Hauge.

Although Dorgon's ability is inferior to that of Huang Taiji, he is still a generational hero, and his ruthlessness and ruthlessness shown in the power game will never be weaker than that of Huang Taiji.

Wu Zongrui, who traveled through time, once regarded Huang Taiji as his biggest opponent. Unfortunately, Huang Taiji passed away prematurely due to physical reasons. Wu Zongrui no longer had the opportunity to directly compete with Huang Taiji. Next, Dorgon will replace Huang Taiji

, becoming the object that Wu Zongrui needs to focus on.

After taking control of Liaodong, Wu Zongrui has been making plans. Against the layout of Hou Jin, Hou Jin's Eight Banners Army was unusually brave. If the Denglai New Army wanted to surpass Hou Jin's Eight Banners Army, they had to find another way. To achieve a breakthrough in thermal weapons, Wu Zongrui thought of it.

The best way to do this is that today's Denglai New Army has greatly improved Hongyi cannons and percussion flintlock guns, and its combat effectiveness is already stronger than that of Hou Jin's Eight Banners Army. As for the economy, Wu Zongrui is confident that it can be used at any time

Destroy the fragile economy of the late Jin Dynasty.

Wu Zongrui knew very well that the economic foundation determines the superstructure. Without strong economic support, it is difficult to maintain a strong army. The same is true for Hou Jin's Eight Banners Army. If Hou Jin had a strong economic foundation, he would have launched a comprehensive attack on the Ming Dynasty long ago.

, Huang Taiji had a clear understanding in this regard. In history, after Huang Taiji won the victory at Songshan, he did not pursue the victory and launch a comprehensive attack on the Ming Dynasty because there was a huge gap in economic strength. For a time, Huang Taiji

Taiji even agreed to negotiate peace with the Ming Dynasty, thereby buying time for economic development.

Even without the rebellion of Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong and others, the Ming Dynasty would have been destroyed by Hou Jin sooner or later, but the time would have to be delayed, because Huang Taiji, Dorgon and others, after having the powerful Eight Banners Army, understood the development

The importance of the economy. After Huang Taiji ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, he worked hard to implement many policies that were beneficial to the development of Houjin. These policies achieved obvious results and made Houjin begin to make strides in the direction of self-sufficiency.

It is a pity that Wu Zongrui, who traveled through time, struck hard and did not give Huang Taiji a chance. He established mutual markets in Xipingbao, Guangning and Yizhou, Liaoning, and set up banks to allow Hou Jin to easily trade on the mutual markets.

obtain food, thereby weakening the role of local agricultural production, causing the powerful people of Houjin to pay no attention to agricultural production, and wantonly insulting the Han people who are proficient in agricultural production. On the other hand, through the operation of banks, a large amount of money from the powerful people of Houjin was absorbed, and gradually

Master the lifeblood of Houjin.

If he had not thought about stabilizing the chaos left by Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty, had not thought about completely stabilizing the situation in the south and north, and had not thought about allowing the people to live a stable life, Wu Zongrui would have ordered the Denglai New Army to launch an attack on the Houjin Eight Banners.

The army's offensive led to the complete destruction of Hou Jin's regime.

When Lu Faxuan, Liu Ning, Qiao Mingjun, Niu and others entered the wing, Wu Zongrui had a smile on his face. He waved to everyone, indicating that they did not need to salute.

"In two days, I will return to the capital. The situation in the south has been controlled by us. Next, what we need to do is to continue to promote changes in the situation, and then seize the opportunity to unify the entire south in one fell swoop.

I estimate that it will take about a year to agree to the south. During this period, we need to wipe out Zhang Xianzhong and surrender Liu Zeqing, Liu Liangzuo, Zheng Zhilong and others. Of course, if these people do not obey our command, then the Denglai New Army does not need to be polite, the same

Completely annihilate them..."

"As for the Longwu Court, it is originally dependent on the Zheng family. Once we surrender Zheng Zhilong and the Zheng family, the Longwu Court will cease to exist. Therefore, the weak Longwu Court is not our focus."

When Wu Zongrui spoke, everyone looked soothed.

Wu Zongrui looked at Lu Faxuan.

"Lu Ting, your suggestion is very good. I have thought about it carefully. We really need to let go. You can vigorously promote the integration of officials and gentry in all parts of South Zhili. There is no need to worry. It has been so long.

, all parts of Southern Zhili have basically stabilized. I see that the large-scale collection of trade taxes in Southern Zhili has not caused a huge backlash. Many merchants, including those scholar-bureaucrat families, have become accustomed to it..."

"Liu Ning, you are directly responsible for the expedition of the new army in Denglai. Qiao Mingjun, Niu, Zhang Dongtao, Li Yan and others will assist you. You must remember that although the overall strategy has been determined, it is by no means

It remains unchanged and will be treated on a case-by-case basis. If the situation changes, our combat deployment will have to be adjusted accordingly..."

"Whether it is matters related to people's livelihood or military matters, you must make a decisive decision. Unless you encounter a major situation, you can make your own decisions on ordinary matters to avoid delaying the opportunity..."

"Okay, let's talk about it. What else are you worried about?"

No matter what kind of strategy and tactics, Wu Zongrui needs Lu Faxuan and others to implement them, so before leaving Nanjing and returning to the capital, he needs to listen to people's ideas, especially how to better control the future situation.

Lu Faxuan was the first to speak. Before speaking, Lu Faxuan looked at Liu Ning and others.

"Your Majesty, I believe that Denglai's new army will be able to completely control the south in about a year..."

Wu Zongrui nodded gently.

"Lu Ting, let me tell you your analysis. You have always shown your ability in the military. You can be said to be both civil and military."

Lu Faxuan quickly clasped his fists.

"I don't dare to accept the emperor's praise. I just feel that Zhang Xianzhong, who is entrenched in Sichuan and Huguang, is incomparable to Li Zicheng in terms of strength and the area he occupies. Therefore, facing Denglai's new army,

With a massive attack, Zhang Xianzhong cannot hold out for long. As for Liu Zeqing, Liu Liangzuo, Zheng Zhilong and others, if they are smart enough, they should know what to do..."

A wry smile flashed across Wu Zongrui's face. He didn't know the reason. Since he ascended the throne, he heard more and more flattering words, including Zeng Yongzhong, Lu Faxuan and Shi Kefa. When they spoke, they would first flatter him.

After a while, Liao Wenru, Liu Ning and others spoke more directly.

Lu Faxuan's analysis cannot be said to be unreasonable, but it does not have much gold content.

Denglai's new army will eventually unify the south. Wu Zongrui left the capital and came to Nanjing for two months, and has been making plans. The purpose is to unify and control the south as soon as possible.

If the main force of the Denglai New Army is used to forcefully attack Sichuan and Huguang and completely wipe out Zhang Xianzhong, there is no problem. With the influence and deterrence of the Denglai New Army, it is also possible to force Liu Zeqing, Liu Liangzuo, Zheng Zhilong and others to surrender.

But in doing so, Wu Zongrui failed to achieve many of his goals.

For example, if the government and gentry are promoted to work as errands and pay taxes in the south, the powerful scholar-bureaucrat group and scholar group in the south will definitely unite to oppose it because their privileges have been deprived. They may be able to suppress it with the strongest methods, but it will bring consequences.

Due to many sequelae, the new regime of the Wu Dynasty still needs the support of these scholar-bureaucrat groups for the time being.

Let Zhang Xianzhong deal with these scholar-official groups and completely destroy their arrogance. Let Liu Zeqing, Liu Liangzuo and Zheng Zhilong, so-called warriors, offend those scholar-official groups when the situation is urgent and further suppress the self-esteem of the scholar-official group. Under such circumstances

, after Wu Zongrui unified the south, many policies could be implemented smoothly without encountering strong backlash from the scholar-bureaucrat group.

When a master plays a game with his opponent, he does not need to use brute force. It is best to be able to borrow the strength of others to achieve the goal.

After Lu Faxuan finished speaking, Liu Ning cupped his fists and spoke.

"Your Majesty, together with General Qiao, General Niu, General Zhang and General Li, we will do our best to unify the south as quickly as possible and live up to the emperor's trust..."

Wu Zongrui sighed inwardly and looked at everyone speaking again.

"Okay, I believe you will be able to unify the South. I won't say much else. I will emphasize two points."

"First, in terms of people's livelihood, we cannot completely abandon the scholar-bureaucrats in the south. In some aspects, the court must rely on them. The provincial examination will be held from September to October, and the joint examination and palace examination will be held in February of the next year. How should the examination be conducted?

, I’m still thinking about it, but I think most of the people who can pass the imperial examination or even the imperial examination are descendants of scholar-bureaucrat families, Lu Ting, you need to think more about this."

"Second, regarding the expedition of the Denglai New Army, the number of troops deployed by the Denglai New Army in the south is limited to 150,000 to 200,000. The number of troops cannot be too large. It should be noted that the cost of money and food for the expedition is

The people all over the world have suffered too much from the war. While we are reunifying the South, we must not neglect the people's livelihood issues, and we must not allow the people to survive and then rise up in rebellion."

"What I need to emphasize are these two points. I hope you all remember..."
Chapter completed!