At the end of the first month, Yu Youming took a fleet up the Min River and arrived in Chengdu, with more than 3,000 Zhejiang people, more than 1,000 Huguang men, and some family members.

Seeing that this Ming army had transported tens of thousands of stone of grain, Deng Ming couldn't help but be a little surprised: "Why do you want to transport grain?" Where is there no need for military rations in chóngqìng? ”

"We don't know if there is enough food here in Chengdu, so we brought some here, but the Admiral can rest assured that the military food there in Chóngqìng will definitely be enough to eat." Yu Youming replied that Zhongxian, Tongluo Gorge and other places had been abandoned by the Qing army, and the vanguard of the Ming army had also arrived near Chóngqìng and was building a camp to prepare to receive the large army in the rear.

However, Deng Ming was still a little puzzled, because he originally explained that the Ming army would first go all out to take chóngqìng, and then they could transport people and materials without hurrying: "Why did you come to the capital first?" Is this what Inspector Wen meant? ”

"It was the Duke of Jingguo who asked me to come first," Yu Youming told Deng Ming, Wen Anzhi is still sitting in Fengjie, supervising the delivery of grain and grass, Yuan Zongdi was once again appointed as the vanguard of the attack on Chóngqìng, and is now commanding the vanguard to confront the Qing army: "Jingguo Gong felt that Chóngqìng might not be able to take it for a while, and the people who came with me were some auxiliary soldiers with no combat experience, and Jingguo Gong felt that they could not help much, so he asked me to bring them to the capital first." ”

"How many enemy soldiers are there in Chóngqìng, and why does the Yasukuni Guild say that?" Deng Ming's impression of chóngqìng was still more than a year ago, when there were only a few thousand Qing troops in chóngqìng, and there was no strength to camp out of the city at all, and only Yuan Zongdi and Tan Wen's soldiers and horses could begin to clear the city fortifications under the city walls, so Deng Ming thought that as soon as tens of thousands of Ming troops arrived, they would soon be able to take chóngqìng.

"Yasukuni said that there were at least 20,000 or 30,000 Tartars in the city," Yu Youming also lacked combat experience, so he could only relay Yuan Zongdi's judgment: "The Tartars are camped around and outside the city, and our army can't get close to the city wall at all." ”

"Haven't you been near the walls until now?" Deng Ming was even more surprised when he heard this: "Didn't you send troops to Chóngqìng in November?" ”

Yu Youming shook his head: "After the Admiral came to Chengdu, the Governor was not worried that we would attack Chóngqìng, and he would not be able to send troops from Wanxian until the Duke of Jingguo arrived." The Duke of Yasukuni only led his troops to Fengjie in December, and began to send troops to Chóngqìng in the middle of the year. ”

According to Yu Youming, fortunately, it was Yuan Zongdi who led the front army, and the Ming army did not suffer unexpected losses. Yuan Zongdi soon judged that the strength of the Qing army far exceeded Deng Ming's estimate, and Wang Mingde also laid an ambush in the area of Tongluo Gorge, wanting to ambush the Ming army going upstream.

Because of the strength of the Qing army, Yuan Zongdi advanced very cautiously, obviously taking every step of the camp and not being able to attack the city like the last time he attacked Chóngqìng.

"When the end comes, the Yasukuni Gong has just set up a camp at the confluence of the Jialing River and the Yangtze River, and the Tartar sailors have all returned to the Jialing River, so the last general can come here in Chengdu." Yuan Zongdi asked Yu Youming to bring a message to Deng Ming, saying that he thought that the capture of Chóngqìng might be a long-term war, so he intended to transport the families of the Ming army and the men who did not need to stay near the battlefield to Chengdu first.

"Are you really on the North Shore or on the South Shore now?" Deng Ming pondered for a moment and asked, "Have you gained a foothold on the north shore?" ”

"The time of the end is not yet there." Yu Youming shook his head: "The Duke of Yasukuni now has only more than 5,000 troops under his command, and he can't climb the north bank. Originally, the Duke of Yasukuni had planned to set up two battalions to control the east bank of the Jialing River and the south bank of the Yangtze River, but later he saw the banner of the governor of Tarzichuan and Shaanxi at the head of the city of Chóngqìng, and concluded that there were at least 20,000 Tartars around the city of Chóngqìng, so they only joined forces on the south bank of the Yangtze River. However, the Tartars were also very cautious, and although we withdrew from the east bank of the Jialing River, they remained firmly on the west bank. ”

"That's right." After listening to the narration, Deng Ming felt that the battle situation was much more difficult than he imagined, if there were 20,000 Qing troops under the city, their armor would exceed 5,000, and even if Yuan Zongdi's troops were added, the armor of the Ming army was around 10,000, and the combat effectiveness of the Zhejiang soldiers and Huguang recruits was probably not as good as the Sichuan-Shaanxi Green Battalion. Yu Youming also mentioned Li Guoying just now, the governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi has a standard battalion, and the governor's standard battalion, like the Eight Banners of Manchuria, is a batch of armored cavalry, and the number is estimated to be about 1,000.

"In that case, I'm going to take a trip to chóngqìng." Deng Ming felt that he had almost rested, and there was nothing particularly important here in Chengdu, so it was necessary to go to the front line of Chóngqìng to have a look, if it could not help much, at least it could play a role in boosting the morale of the Ming army.

Before leaving, Deng Ming gave Yu Youming a detailed explanation of the laws and regulations here in Chengdu, and asked him to communicate with the criminal officer Yamen to help the arriving people to open up the wasteland. In addition, Deng Ming was still worried that Xiong Lan would issue currency indiscriminately, when Xiong Lan and Liu Jinge came to see him for the first time, they obviously did not take the interests of the people and the credit of the paper money seriously, so before leaving with the guards, Deng Ming scared Xiong Lan again, saying that if he found that prices were soaring, Deng Ming would give Xiong Lan an explanation to the people.

"Do you know Cao Cāo's grain officer?" Deng Ming asked, seeing Xiong Lan nodded: "It's good to know!" ”

…… Deng Ming hurriedly left by boat with the guards, and Yu Youming also began to run the yamen for three days and two ends, after several fruitless negotiations, Yu Youming finally made a fuss in front of Liu Jinge, the prefect of Chengdu: "Why do you need an IOU for everything here in Chengdu?" ”

Originally, Yu Youming felt that it was not difficult to organize the Zhejiang army and the Chu army to open up the wasteland, but he soon found that things were not as simple as he imagined. The people who had just arrived in Chengdu needed to buy a lot of things, and although they brought some farm tools, they were completely insufficient, and the more urgent need was salt, which had to be consumed every day.

Liu Yao and Yang Youcai, who were originally making salt, also took their auxiliaries to the Dujiangyan area, and they had to buy salt from several salt-making firms first. But the merchant houses were not very large at present, and their production was very limited, and they were very difficult to supply the needs of the natives, who, in addition to some reserves, had IOUs in their hands - the various salt houses only accepted this currency.

Yu Youming wanted to ask Liu Jinge's yamen for some, but Liu Jinge said that after Liu Yao and the others left, the yamen itself did not have the ability to produce salt, so he couldn't help it. So the newcomers wanted to exchange the grain for some salt, if the salt was willing to change, it would not be a big deal, because Deng Ming harvested a lot of grain in Nanjing and other places, and Yu Youming also brought tens of thousands of stones.

However, the salt shop refused to change it, and each salt shop claimed to be heavily indebted, owed a large number of IOUs to the bank, and the rent of the yamen shop and the tax on the business were all required to take the IOUs, and if they did not pay the IOUs, they had to borrow more IOUs from the banks and pay interest. Anyway, now the farmers near Chengdu still have IOUs in their hands, and the salt production is so low that they can't be sold, so the salt store refuses to accept the grain.

In addition to salt, farming tools are also a big problem, and now there are two blacksmith shops in Chengdu, and they can't make a few things every day. Yu Youming once personally went to talk to one of the blacksmiths named Li Muyang about the purchase of farm tools, and Li blacksmith said that his products after a month were also ordered away, even if the Zhejiang and Chu people wanted to order his things in two months, they had to pay an IOU as a deposit, and they had to pay the full amount.

"I took out the silver to him at the time," Yu Youming shouted in front of Liu Jinge: "I said that I would ask him to help, and work two more hours a day to help us fight some urgently needed food, and how much silver we want is easy to discuss." ”

"Then what did Li Xiucai say?" Liu Jinge had already guessed Li Muyang's answer in his heart, because Xiong Lan had discussed with him about the loan to this blacksmith shop.

"He said he didn't want anything, he wanted an IOU! He also said that he now owes tens of thousands of IOUs to the bank and his neighbors, and he is still profitable, and if he can't pay it back then, he will have to jump the Minjiang River with gold and silver! Yu Youming shouted excitedly.

"Well, what he said is right, I know this Li Xiucai, he owes tens of thousands of IOUs, in order to open this shop, he sold all the land he reclaimed last year to others, and every day he has to use the IOUs to buy iron and charcoal." Liu Jinge nodded: "If he can't afford it, the shop can't be saved." ”

"Yes, and charcoal!" Yu Youming suddenly remembered again: "Even those who sell charcoal must collect IOUs and don't want copper coins." In this cold day, men are fine, but there are also women and children. ”

Shut down

"yes, because we collect IOUs." Liu Jinge's face was full of sympathy, and he said to Youming: "But you can go and burn charcoal by yourself." ”

"But we can't do everything ourselves, we open our own mines, burn our own charcoal, and mine iron by ourselves, so when are we going to farm." Yu Youming complained loudly.

"Oh, yes, I forgot what I said, you can't just open mines, strike iron, and burn charcoal, everything here in Chengdu Mansion is a monopoly, and you have to give me an IOU for a license."

"What!"

"It's not expensive, one hundred yuan a piece, originally the admiral said that the firm could not have more than ten people, but I will turn a blind eye, as long as you don't sell to others, I don't care." Seeing that Yu Youming was about to break out, Liu Jinge took a step back: "Forget it, you can also owe the IOU for the license first, as long as you don't sell it privately, I will pretend not to see it, and I won't do it again after two months." ”

…… After more than ten days, Liu Jinge sent people to call Yuan Xiang and Xiong Lan to his yamen.

Yuan Xiang didn't need to return to Jianchang, and after Deng Ming learned about the situation of the Sichuan Xingdu Division, he felt that Yuan Xiang's criminal officer Yamen was useless, and when the entire Jianchang was under the control of the military, it was of little significance for this civil affairs department to exist. Moreover, the Jianchang military was strong, and Deng Ming felt that the possibility of implementing this set in Chengdu was also very small, so he simply removed this organization and let Yuan Xiang also stay in Chengdu to work.

Deng Ming felt that Liu Jinge's power was too great before, so he divided it into three, issuing currency and lending to the bank, Yuan Xiang Yuan was responsible for the trial, and the prefect Liu Jinge was responsible for administration. Although Deng Ming said that the three of them did not belong to each other, the three of them often got together to discuss, and although Yuan Xiang theoretically only had the right to hear cases, Liu Jinge also attached great importance to his administrative advice.

In addition to these three people in the yamen, there are also Yu Youming, who are frequent visitors these days, as soon as Xiong Lan stepped into the lobby of the yamen, Liu Jinge immediately pointed at him and said to Youming: "Do you want an IOU?" Ask him for it! ”

"You're Governor Xiong?" Yu Youming jumped over and asked.

"Who are you?" Xiong Lan asked rhetorically.

"Yu Youming."

"So you're the big smuggler! I haven't come to you yet, but you dare to come to me! Xiong Lan shouted, and her eyes immediately turned red.

Ten days ago, after Liu Jinge agreed that Yu Youming could burn charcoal by himself, the Zhejiang soldiers immediately started to do this low-tech work, and after burning enough charcoal for their own use, they did not hesitate to sell the rest to the people, in exchange for IOUs to buy salt and other daily necessities.

But the Zhejiang soldiers had only been sold for two days before they were sued by the charcoal-burning firm to Xiong Lan, saying that these Zhejiang soldiers had robbed them of their business. Of course, Xiong Lan cared about these commercial banks that borrowed bank loans, so she encouraged them to go to Yuan Xiang to complain, and she went to Liu Jinge to exert pressure.

Liu Jinge also felt very dissatisfied after hearing this, Yu Youming's gang did not pay taxes, and robbing the business of the business of the business house was equivalent to robbing money from the yamen, so when Yuan Xiang came to ask, Liu Jinge said that he would never agree with this kind of behavior. Seeing that Liu Jinge and Xiong Lan both had the same intention, Yuan Xiang immediately approved the complaint of those Xiucai, and asked the soldiers of the Yamen to drive out the city of those who sold charcoal without a permit, and their goods were confiscated and compensated to the charcoal-burning trading houses - in fact, Yu Youming was given some face, at least he did not arrest his people in prison.

When Youming came to make trouble again, Liu Jinge also resolutely pushed back.

Seeing that Liu Jinge didn't help, Yu Youming asked not to go into the city, organized people to go to the countryside to sell, and even had the intention of burning salt. After learning about this, those who had licenses were of course angry, and this time even other commercial banks joined in, and everyone felt that if these Zhejiang people were not stopped, everyone would end up with business damage, and no one would be able to repay the bank's debts.

When Yuan Xiang saw that almost all the firms had come together to file a complaint, he felt that the situation was serious, so he ignored the protests of the Zhejiang people and approved their cases again, and authorized the prefect Liu Jinge to stop this unscrupulous smuggling. In this way, the power of the newly established pavilion was used for the first time, and the pavilion priests did not learn cultural knowledge anymore, so they went out to catch smugglers and advertise to the people not to buy goods without a license, otherwise they would be fined!

Of course, smuggling is not prohibited, but this has caused a lot of trouble to Yu Youming's people, if they are caught, they will be confiscated, and there have been many conflicts between the two sides, but fortunately there is no harm caused to you. At a time when the dissatisfaction of the Zhejiang people was growing, Xiong Lan's anger at these smugglers who harmed the interests of the trading houses was also accumulating, and today the two spat and blamed each other when they saw each other.

"Can't you take gold, silver, and grain? Do you have to collect an IOU? After arguing, Yu Youming complained for the 10,000th time.

"This is the Admiral's order." Liu Jinge still repeated the answer that he didn't know how many times.

"After the admiral left, we came in two more batches, and now there are thousands of people, and we have only bought more than 100 farm tools, and it will take two months to deliver them. If you miss the agricultural time, do you want us Zhejiang people to drink the northwest wind? Yu Youming's shouting shook the sky.

"These 100 pieces were stolen by smuggling." Xiong Lan said hatefully.

"You can use wood first, we didn't use it last year." Liu Jinge replied.

"Isn't this a monopoly?" Yu Youming said in a sarcastic tone.

"As long as you don't sell it to others, I'll turn a blind eye."

"We are willing to sell grain," Yu Youming also knew that getting angry was not the solution, so he came up with his own solution: "After we leave the seed grain and rations, we can also sell 10,000 stone of grain," Yu Youming said to Xiong Lan: "Give us an IOU of one million." ”

"What are you looking for me to do about this?" Xiong Lan immediately stretched out her hand to point at Liu Jinge: "You go to him, he is responsible for exchanging IOUs for food." ”

"He said he didn't have an IOU anymore," Yu Youming sneered: "Governor Liu said that he needs President Xiong, the god of wealth, to give him an IOU before he can buy our grain." ”

"Nope." Xiong Lan shook her head: "The Admiral doesn't allow me to print more." After speaking, Xiong Lan questioned Liu Jinge again: "Just by buying and selling people, you have collected millions of yuan in IOUs, how can you not have an IOU?" ”

"The early flowers are gone." Liu Jinge cried poorly: "Now Liu Shuai and Yang Shuai are also looking for me to have an IOU, saying that the water conservancy cannot be dredged in vain, and the first soldier must also issue an IOU; We here, the soldiers of the yamen need IOUs, the pavilion priests need IOUs, and the gentlemen who teach the pavilion scholars to study also have IOUs. Because Deng Ming wanted to strengthen his ability to control zhèngfǔ, the scale of the Chengdu Prefecture has now become very large: "Didn't the criminals who Yuan Ti sentence, as well as the bookkeepers of the banks under you, also want me to give an IOU here?" ”

"That's not it," Xiong Lan still shook her head: "More than 15 million IOUs have already been issued, too much, and one yuan can't be printed anymore." When the price of grain rises by more than one hundred and two, the admiral wants me to ask! ”

"Where's the more?" Liu Jinge pointed out: "Now a stone of grain outside can be bought for more than 80 yuan. ”

"That's because too many people are hoarding IOUs, not that there aren't enough IOUs." Xiong Lan said angrily, because the value of the IOU has an upward trend, the people began to wait and see: "And I haven't settled accounts with you yet!" ”

Seeing that the price of grain was constantly falling, Xiong Lan once printed an additional 1 million IOUs to Liu Jinge, asking him to buy grain for 100 yuan a stone, not more, just 100 yuan a day -- Xiong Lan felt that in this way, no people would be willing to sell a stone of grain for 80 yuan, but would wait to line up at the yamen to exchange IOUs. But Liu Jinge did not do what Xiong Lan said, but used the price of 85 yuan to one stone to collect grain, so that Xiong Lan's plan to raise the price of grain to 100 went bankrupt.

"What's wrong with me?" Liu Jinge shouted: "The Admiral said, the most important job is to earn money and collect grain, I collected more grain, and I also saved a lot of IOUs, if I hadn't been so frugal, what if I bought an IOU from Liu Shuai?" Aren't you going to print it again? ”

"If you don't have an IOU, you won't buy it."

"What if you don't buy that horse shop? Didn't you sell those horses to a horse dealer and earn an extra 30% of the IOU? Even if you buy it, it won't be until fourteen months before you can have a pony. ”

"No, I can't print more anyway. I earned more for the horse, but it was a long time before I could get the IOU back, and they didn't pay it right away. Xiong Lan gritted her teeth: "At most, 5,000 yuan a day will be printed, and you must use these IOUs to collect 50 stone of grain at the price of one stone to 100, and you must collect it from the people, otherwise the price will not rise." So many IOUs have been scattered, and now everyone looks at the price as if it is falling, so they are reluctant to use it, they want to take advantage of it, and when the price rises, they must all be taken out and used, Liu Shuai and Yang Shuai are the same. Already a thousand, millions of IOUs, and a few more millions? When the price of grain rises by more than one hundred and two, the Admiral is going to kill my head!" ”

…… While arguing in Chengdu, Deng Ming had already arrived at the Chóngqìng front line and met Yuan Zongdi.