It was the first day of the Lunar New Year in the fourteenth year of Chongzhen.

Zhao Han, Pang Chunlai, Li Banghua, Qin Liangyu, Xu Nianzu, and Mao Yuanyi sat together to discuss this year's troop dispatch plan.

Due to the lack of a map of Sichuan, Qin Liangyu drew a rough map, marking only important rivers, mountains and cities.

"We must take Yunyang first. If it's too late, we can take Wanxian," Xu Nianzu said, pointing to the map. "This will prevent Zhang Xianzhong from advancing westward. He was already attacking Kuizhou last winter."

Li Banghua shook his head: "If this is the case, we must start a war with Zhang Xianzhong in advance."

Mao Yuanyi said: "Zhang Xianzhong does not dare to fight. If there is a fight, who will go to Sichuan? Just cross the river and attack his Hubei hinterland!"

Pang Chunlai interjected: "If we send troops to Hubei, our army's invasion plan will be completely messed up. Fei Ruhe and Zhang Tieniu are all in Shandong, Li is in Xuzhou, and Huang Shun is in Lu'an. Returning to the army will inevitably consume food and grass, so the gains outweigh the losses."

.”

Zhao Han said: "After Huang Yao formed a new army, he immediately attacked Yunyang or Wanxian. The navy went to Huangzhou and cruised around Jingzhou to test Zhang Xianzhong's reaction."

"Do you really want to go to war with Zhang Xianzhong?" Li Banghua frowned.

Zhao Han smiled and said: "There may be small battles, but big battles are unlikely to happen. Zhang Xianzhong would not dare to fight at all. Once the two sides start fighting, Guizhou (Zigui), Yiling, Jiangling, Jianli, Hanyang, Huangzhou, Qizhou

These cities are all likely to be attacked by our army across the river. How can Zhang Xianzhong be able to defend it? He is setting up farming in Hubei and has finally made progress, so how can he be allowed to lose it so easily?"

"Don't be afraid of ten thousand, just be afraid of the unlikely event," Li Banghua said, "What if Zhang Xianzhong goes crazy?"

"Don't be afraid of going crazy," Qin Liangyu said. "Capture Yunyang. Our stone and white pole soldiers will defend the city. As long as there is no shortage of military supplies, he will not be able to capture it in ten years. If Zhang Xianzhong is stuck here and wants to march westward to Sichuan, he will

You have to climb mountains and ridges slowly along the way."

Zhao Han made a decision and said: "Okay, give Shidong an independent regiment 5,000 troops, and Shidong will raise the food and grass by himself for the time being. I will send a fleet to transport the subsequent military rations. You can fly the flag of the Datong Army and stay until the summer grain harvest season."

, by then I will have enough troops and food, and Huang Yao's troops will also march into Sichuan for reinforcements."

Pang Chunlai asked: "How far should Sichuan fight?"

"Sichuan cannot invest too much troops and food," Zhao Han explained. "This year's plan is to capture only three to five counties in Sichuan, and send officials to divide the fields in Yunyang, Wanxian, and Zhongxian. Wait for it.

After the civil affairs are completed, we will rely on these three counties to slowly continue to divide the fields westward. Try to train as many local farmers, soldiers and officials in Sichuan as possible, so that we can use Sichuan's food and Sichuan soldiers to defeat the entire Sichuan.

To conquer Sichuan, I will only send Huang Yao’s 7,500 men.”

"That might take several years of fighting," Mao Yuanyi said.

"Two or three years at most," Zhao Han said with a smile, "there is an advantage to fighting like this. If we want to attack Yunnan and Guizhou in the future, we only need to mobilize troops in Sichuan and collect grain in Sichuan, instead of transporting it all the way from Hunan."

As a land of abundance, Sichuan suffered relatively few natural disasters in the late Ming Dynasty.

As long as Zhang Xianzhong is blocked from advancing westward, there will be no decent hostile forces in Sichuan. Then why send heavy troops to conquer?

The mountain division of 7,500 people, plus 5,000 white soldiers, only needs to provide food and grass for the first year, and it will definitely be self-sufficient in Sichuan in the second year. By then, Sichuan will not only be no burden, but also become Zhao Han's food and soldier base.

You can attack Yunnan and Guizhou in the south, and go out to Shanxi and Shaanxi in the north.

As for Hunan, the training of peasants and soldiers cannot be stopped.

If Zhang Xianzhong is cornered, he will immediately recruit tens of thousands of peasants and soldiers, issue bonds to collect grain from the people, and directly cross the river to fight Zhang Xianzhong in Hubei!

…

On the sixth day of the first lunar month, Zhao Han proclaimed himself king.

No ceremony was held because the altars in Nanjing were all destroyed and abandoned, and even the ancestral temple of Lao Zhu's family was in disrepair.

If you want to hold a ceremony, you have to work hard to repair buildings such as the Temple of Heaven and Earth.

However, the official structure has changed greatly.

The Dudu's Mansion was changed to Prince Wu's Mansion, and its subordinate organizations were changed to: the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Husbandry, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Punishment, the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Commerce, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the Dudu's Mansion, and the Secretariat.

Ministry of Rites: Reformed from the Department of Propaganda and Education, it focuses on the ideological work of Datong and also serves as the Ministry of Education.

Ministry of Industry: in charge of transportation and water conservancy affairs.

Ministry of Commerce: In charge of national industry and commerce.

Ministry of Household Affairs: equivalent to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Ministry of Finance: Equivalent to the Ministry of Finance.

Ministry of Criminal Justice: leads and manages courts nationwide.

The Department of Integrity has been renamed the Metropolitan Procuratorate. There should be no rumors and evidence should be used in everything.

The Military Academy was changed to the Governor's Office, where troops were recruited, trained, and fought.

The Ministry of War is in charge of equipment logistics, the promotion of senior officers, and the formulation of operational policies.

The combat plan is divided into two parts. The Ministry of War can only determine whether to start a war and lead the war from a macro level. The governor's office is responsible for the specific combat plan to prevent laymen from blindly directing experts.

Moreover, Zhao Han's Ministry of War is no longer a purely civilian organization, and generals can also be promoted to Minister of War.

However, after a military general is transferred to the Ministry of War, he may no longer intervene in military command and must resign from all positions in the Governor's Office. If he holds concurrent posts, it is tantamount to treason.

The Secretariat was renamed from the Secretariat and became more formalized.

The Secretariat has set up ten departments to work with the eight ministries and two houses, which is equivalent to the six departments that have been castrated from the supervisory function.

After becoming emperor, a cabinet will be established. Zhao Han has no idea how to arrange the power of the cabinet ministers.

In addition, there is Datong Bank, which is entangled with the Ministry of Finance. After the world is settled, the relationship between the two parties will slowly be straightened out.

Zhao Han's title became King of Wu, and the official names of the officials naturally had to be changed. Pang Chunlai was the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Li Banghua was the Minister of the Ministry of War, and Chen Maosheng was the Minister of the Ministry of Rites.

Fei Ruhe, Huang Yao, Li Zheng and others were all promoted to left governor.

Mao Yuanyi, Xu Nianzu and others were called Bing Cao's secretaries.

…

Ma Wannian was sent to Jeju Island to help train cavalry.

Qin Liangyu returned to Shidui by boat. She wanted to mobilize white soldiers to quickly cross the river and capture Yunyang before Zhang Xianzhong.

When she passed by Kuizhou, Kuizhou had already been lost.

Continuing to go up by boat, Zhang Xianzhong's troops had actually captured Yunyang!

Qin Liangyu landed directly at Wanxian and ordered his followers to return to Shili to mobilize troops. He only led a few people to defend Wanxian.

Arriving outside the city, Qin Liangyu ordered his people to shout: "Shi Dian Qin Liangyu is here, open the city quickly!"

"Mrs. Qin?"

Xie Zongtai, the county magistrate, was stunned at first, and then he was overjoyed: "Hold Mrs. Qin up quickly!"

Several baskets were put down, and Qin Liangyu and his entourage quickly arrived on the city wall.

"Xie Zongtai, who was born late, has met Mrs. Qin!"

Xie Zongtai seemed to be grasping at straws and was so moved that he wanted to cry.

He was a Jinshi in the tenth year of Chongzhen. He had just been a county magistrate for one year when his hometown in Zhejiang was captured by Zhao Han. Then the situation changed drastically and Sichuan lost contact with the imperial court. Xie Zongtai has been working as an official in confusion.

This guy is a master at solving cases, and he is quite professional as a judge. Letting him defend the city is just to catch up.

Qin Liangyu didn't waste any time and asked directly: "How many defenders are there in the city?"

"There are only more than 300 local warriors, and they were recruited before the Chinese New Year." Xie Zongtai replied.

It was not easy for Qin Liangyu to scold him for his incompetence. After all, Zhang Xianzhong's army was not far away. The county magistrate had done his duty by not abandoning the city and fleeing.

Qin Liangyu asked again: "How much food is there in the treasury?"

"Not much," Xie Zongtai added. "If we have a few hundred soldiers, we can last for two or three months. If we recruit more soldiers, we may run out of rations in a month."

Qin Liangyu had no choice but to take out the Datong military flag and lied: "Your Majesty has married Princess Kunxing and canonized Zhao Han of Jiangxi as King of Wu. At this moment, the princes and princesses are all in Nanjing, which is nothing more than entrusting the emperor to inherit the country.

Lift it."

"Really...really?" Xie Zongtai couldn't believe it.

Qin Liangyu sighed: "Beizhili is surrounded on three sides by rogue bandits and Tartar slaves. The Ming Dynasty is not far from overthrowing. Your Majesty must leave a way out."

"Alas!" Xie Zongtai could only sigh.

Qin Liangyu added: "The King of Wu sits in the lands of Fujian, Guangdong, Hunan, Zhejiang, Huaihe and Jiangxi, and will definitely ascend the throne in the future. After the summer harvest, the King of Wu will send a large army to Sichuan, and the eight thieves will definitely be defeated by then."

"But with so many people in the city, they can't guard the summer harvest." Xie Zongtai said.

"There are also white-pole soldiers," Qin Liangyu deliberately showed a confident smile, "I'm here. The white-pole soldiers will arrive soon. You tell the whole city about this."

"Okay!" Xie Zongtai suddenly felt confident.

Qin Liangyu added: "Immediately collect wood and summon carpenters in the city. Rotten wood can be used, and the gun head is also made of wood. Paint it all white to make a fake white-barrel gun. Place the Datong military flag, the horse flag and the Chinese character Qin on the top of the city.

Flag, and send people outside the city to spread the news that the white-pole soldiers have arrived."

"This is a great plan!" Xie Zongtai became more confident upon hearing this.

Qin Liangyu said: "The news of His Majesty being crowned the King of Wu and marrying the princess was also spread outside the city. Also, they publicized the brutality of the Eight Thieves in the city, saying that once the city was broken, they would be burned, killed, and looted by the bandits. They forced the rich in the city to

Every household donated money and food, and summoned the people to come and defend the city. Forget it, I will personally handle the matter of gathering troops and urging donations!"

With Qin Liangyu as the backbone, the entire county quickly moved into operation.
To be continued...