In the Wenyuan Pavilion in Jinling, Chen Mingyu frowned, and the three great scholars sighed together.

The imperial court used troops from all sides and put no less than 500,000 troops into the battlefield, especially the war in the southwest. While Zheng Zhilong defended Guangzhou Prefecture, he also divided his troops to raid Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

As the saying goes, when the cannon sounds, there are tens of thousands of taels of gold. The state of military use has been in full swing for almost half a year, and the court's income will soon be ineffective.

The reason why the treasury was full at the beginning was because of the huge profits brought by maritime merchants, and the commercial tax reforms of Hou Xuanyan caused the treasury tax to rise wildly. However, now the Zheng family naval army blocked the sea surface, the imperial court's tax revenue was greatly reduced, and the money consumed was seriously exceeded. Fortunately, there were still tens of millions of silver confiscated by the salt merchants in Lianghuai that could last for a while.

Chen Mingyu looked at the account book and frowned deeper, and finally couldn't help but speak: "The two lords are resourceful. Now the Northern Expedition is at a critical moment. We cannot go on the battlefield to kill the enemy, but we cannot drag the soldiers in front of us. You guys, what can we do to get out of the current predicament."

"Everything in this world is easy to handle, but the most difficult thing is to handle without money. He transported all the people's money that Ding Kuichu plundered in Guangdong and Guangxi. Xia Wanchun got all the money and made it easy. He stated in the previous chapter that he would transport it to the capital. I think the Xiang army could be sent to him on his own and not in a hurry to pay it. As for Zhongzhen Camp and the Eastern Route Army, the countless money and food consumed in the daily battle were the top priority. Especially the Eastern Route Army, the Duke of the State personally led the army north, and we must do our best to do the responsibilities of the rear for him." Ma Shiying took the lead. His statement was very firm, that is, he should focus on the Eastern Route Army.

Zhang Huangyan looked at him unhappily. After working together for so much time, Zhang Huangyan had abandoned his prejudice against him and knew that he was not a mediocre person. However, he never was complimentary about his character. He gave his daughter to the top and flattered Hou Xuanyan. Hearing Ma Shiying's words, he immediately said: "The Eastern Army is important, but Zhongzhen Camp is guarding Xiangyang, and he is siege by the four pseudo-Qing princes. He also has to divide his troops to deal with Zhang Zongfan of Xiezhou Prefecture. I don't need to say much about the difficulties in it. And don't forget that Zhongzhen Camp was a rebel before. If they were fighting hard in front of us and we were not in money and food, I was afraid that they would fight back and the situation in Huguang would be completely over."

When Chen Mingyu heard this, he was shocked and said, "Isn't it this way?"

Ma Shiying chuckled and said, "The Duke of the Kingdom has long been saying that Zhongzhen Camp is a meritorious army, and the main force when Jingxiang won the fierce battle. The civil and military officials in the court should not be despised. To be hostile to Zhongzhen Camp, they should be treated equally with the Northern Expedition Army. Is Zhang Cangshui's words a little inappropriate?"

Zhang Huangyan snorted coldly, but he knew that he had made a mistake and was caught by Ma Shiying. At this time, he could not argue. Chen Mingyu would have come out to be a peacemaker in the past and persuaded him with a smile, but the matter was too serious. The two of them were still fighting openly and secretly here. Chen Mingyu was immediately angry and said anxiously: "Now is not the time to discuss whether the Zhongzhen Camp can trust. The treasury is empty and cannot bear the Northern Expedition. If we don't make any decisions, we will become the culprit of the failure of the Northern Expedition. No one can bear this charge."

Although Chen Mingyu is very good at speaking and has a good temper on weekdays, he is the chief minister of the cabinet after all. When he gets angry, the two of them calm down and dare not contradict each other.

Ma Shiying pondered: "This matter is not a trivial matter. You cannot deceive and conceal it. I think it is better to send someone to Huai'an to inform the Duke of the State and let him decide. The Duke of the State is meticulous and handles things well, which is a hundred times better than us."

-----

In the suburbs of Hong County, Fengyang Prefecture, and in the tent of the Northern Expedition Army, Hou Xuanyan held the secret report in his hand and focused on his thoughts.

Zhu Dadian asked nervously: "Duke, what happened in the court?"

"Um."

Zhu Dadian felt a little nervous and then asked, "What's wrong?"

"Poor, no money?"

"ah?"

Hou Xuanyan put down the secret scroll and sighed: "There are wars everywhere, and there is too much money and food spent, and the national treasury is tight."

No money is a big deal. If you don’t have money, you can’t do anything. If you don’t have money, you can’t do anything. If you have money, you can’t move around the world, but you can’t move without money. As a corrupt official who was born in a mud-legged manner, Zhu Dadian knew this well. He frowned and asked, “Earlier this year, the court spread the whole country’s strength to help Sichuan and Sichuan. At that time, wars were everywhere, and the court could still provide it. Why did the treasury lose money after a few months?”

Hou Xuanyan smiled bitterly and said, "At that time, most of the income of the court was paid by maritime merchants. Now that the old thief Zheng Zhilong blocked the sea surface, our income has been mostly gone, but the expenditure has increased. Day after day, the money is naturally not enough to spend."

"It's this Zheng Zhilong again!" Zhu Dadian blushed in anger: "Just a pirate, but he was so misfortune that he was simply a thief in the country. I don't think it will cause endless harm if he eliminated this beast."

Hou Xuanyan had to admit that he had underestimated this person before. Historical books said that he was short-sighted and lived a life of imprisonment that was worse than a pig or a dog after surrendering to the Qing Dynasty. Now, recall that after he surrendered and was detained, the Zheng family was divided, and one of the forces, Zheng Sen (Zheng Chenggong), could still pose such a great threat to the Qing Dynasty. As long as Zheng Zhilong did not leave, he would be the absolute authority of the Zheng family, and a complete Zheng family would not be underestimated.

It is like touching a lottery ticket by relying on historical books. Hou Xuanyan cursed in secret and stood up and said, "I thought Xia Wanchun was more than enough to deal with Zheng Zhilong, but he didn't expect to underestimate the enemy now. This guy was in a gang with the chieftains in the southwest, making it even more difficult to deal with. I have already ordered Li Haoxian to withdraw the Huo Battalion of the Eastern Army. You two battalions should be foolproof to defend Huai'an. I should go to the south to preside over the overall situation. I will definitely kill Zheng Zhilong, the dog thief, on land."

Only by destroying Zheng Zhilong and the Northern Expedition were fully activated. Before the war began, everyone thought that Zheng Zhilong had hugged the Qing Dynasty's thigh, but until now, everyone suddenly realized that it was the Qing Dynasty hugging one of the thighs, Zheng Zhilong, the king of the sea.

Early the next morning, Zhu Dadian, in front of the camp, did not expect Hou Xuan to leave when he spoke. He was so resolute that he had already become a little too decisive. Two thousand guards were light and frugal, escorting Hou Xuanyan out of the camp. He wanted to go to Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas to preside over the overall situation, recover Fujian, and destroy the rampant Zheng family.

Zhu Dadian bowed and said, "The Duke of Guo is far away. We are here to wish Duke of Guo to sweep the southwest, spread the southeast, and calm the sea."
Chapter completed!