*****

Things are gathered by like, and people are grouped.

Qin Mu attaches great importance to Gu Yanwu, in addition to his extraordinary knowledge and fame in Shilin, but also because of his integrity and personality, such a person must be a person of righteousness.

If I can really subdue such a character for my use, it will be able to play a role in bringing the surface to the surface.

However, it is not easy for a person like Gu Yanwu to really make him willing to serve.

After entering the city, Qin Mu set up a banquet and warmly entertained Gu Yanwu, although it was just a few home-cooked dishes, but there were very few people who could be invited to a separate banquet by him, which was also a very high courtesy.

In the afternoon of midsummer, the first sight of the new rain brought a rare coolness, the glazed tile surface was washed clean by the rain, and in the silent garden, only Zhi Zhi was chirping, Qin Mu and the two of them sat in the octagonal pavilion, drinking and talking.

Gu Yanwu was very concerned about Huguang's measures to resettle refugees, and asked about the matter in detail at the beginning.

Qin Mu smiled faintly: "Do you know how much food this official has invested in order to settle the refugees who fled south in the past few months?" ”

"How much?"

"It's more than 3.2 million taels."

This figure made Gu Yanwu stunned, you must know that if the Ming Dynasty did not pay salaries, the annual income of the treasury would be several million taels, and Qin Mu had invested more than three million taels in the resettlement of refugees alone in the past few months, which was too unbelievable.

"The land of the lake is wide, the water and land are flat, if it is well developed, the grain output will not be less than that of the south of the Yangtze River, but it is a pity that the imperial court did not pay enough attention in the past. Last year, Huguang and Jiangxi suffered from war, hundreds of thousands of innocent people died in the war, Zhang Xianzhong and Zuo Liangyu drove hundreds of thousands of people into soldiers, so that the population in Huguang and Jianghan was seriously lacking, and the land was mostly barren;

Last year, the government used work for relief to greatly promote water conservancy, reclaim new fields, and popularize dryland crops. All these have further exacerbated Huguang's demand for population;

According to the latest reports from the state capitals. In the Jianghan area alone, it is more than enough to resettle another 500,000 people, and now the land is not a problem, and when the refugees come, as long as they are willing to settle down here, they can immediately get the land;

It's just that the resettlement of so many people requires a lot of money and food, so the official had to suspend the pace of the Northern Expedition, and the restoration of the Central Plains is of course serious. But it is also urgent to keep thousands of refugees alive. ”

Qin Mu's words were by no means deliberately fooling Gu Yanwu, at present, Huguang and Jiangxi have become the safest places in the world, and countless refugees have flocked to Jiangxi Huguang after hearing about it.

Seeing the miserable situation of the refugees starving and cold, without food and clothing, Qin Mu couldn't harden his heart and turn a blind eye, and besides, Huguang and Jianghan did need a lot of labor to farm.

Gu Yanwu asked about this, which was exactly what Qin Mu wanted. He felt that in order to persuade a strong-willed person like Gu Yanwu, the only way to lead his thinking from "loyalty to the monarch" to "love the people" could be done.

Gu Yanwu was not easy to fool, he thought for a while and said, "My lord." After all, the land in the lake is limited, and the people who can be resettled are also limited. Only by recovering as soon as possible is the way to cure the root cause. ”

"The feelings of the Ning people are understood, but so many refugees have fled south. It cannot be stopped, and if it is not properly resettled, the refugees who are struggling on the verge of death will definitely be in chaos. Once this backyard caught fire, all the Northern Expedition became empty words;

It can be seen that everything should not be ambitious, now that the new monarch has just been established, the dynasty has not been revitalized, and all kinds of waste are waiting to be revived, and the Northern Expedition is rashly raised, which is self-defeating;

Take my Huguang as an example, more than 100,000 soldiers are newly recruited, and they still lack training, and they were able to defeat Zhang Xianzhong before, but it was because Zhang was unpopular with the people, and his men and horses were all victims who had just been pulled up, so there was a situation of collapse at the touch of a button.

But Li Zicheng has become a climate, and he can't be despised lightly. What's even more worrying is the Manchu army, Ning people won't believe that the Manchu Tartars are really here to help me suppress thieves, right? ”

"How can the ambition of the wolf son of Jiannu be concealed from people, the Ming Dynasty died in Li Zicheng, it was for the death of the country, and if it fell to the Manchu Qing Dynasty, it was for the death of the world, so you must not be careful."

Qin Mu was very interested in Gu Yanwu's words, so he asked, "Ning Ren and add it in detail, what is the difference between this dead country and the dead world?" ”

Gu Yanwu looked straight and said solemnly: "The surname Yi has been changed, and it is said that the country has died; Benevolence and righteousness are full, and as for leading beasts to eat people, people will eat each other, which is called the death of the world. Those who defend the country are their kings and ministers, and those who eat meat seek them; Those who protect the world are cheap, and they are responsible! ”

"Okay, what a cheap puppet, and responsible!"

When Qin Mu heard this, he couldn't help but high-five, Gu Yanwu's words were to the point, Li Zicheng will not be a weapon again, and he will not destroy my clothes and crown and castrate the Chinese civilization after he wins the world. And dying in a foreign race is a catastrophe for Chinese civilization.

Gu Yanwu had such a sober understanding, and proposed that defending the Ming Dynasty was the business of high-ranking officials and magnates, and it was the responsibility of the husband to defend the world.

Qin Mu thinks about it, he has such an understanding, so in the original history, he devoted his life to resisting the Qing Dynasty, and ten Ming tombs showed that he was not necessarily loyal to the Ming Dynasty;

For him, perhaps who will be the emperor is not the most important, the key is that he can't bear the fall of Chinese civilization under the iron hooves of foreign races, and his ten Ming tombs are just nostalgia for the orthodoxy of the Han people.

This can also well explain the reason why he did not choose to defect to Nanjing, but went straight to Wuchang. Thinking of this, Qin Mu was more confident in convincing Gu Yanwu.

"Yes, now I am fighting against the thieves, but I am just letting Jiannu sit and reap the benefits of the fisherman. The top priority at the moment is to eliminate party disputes, purge the rule of officials, accumulate national strength, reorganize armaments, and then wipe out these ghosts in one fell swoop when both Jiannu and Li Thief are defeated in the coming day. ”

Gu Yanwu was full of enthusiasm, although he couldn't bear to see the hundreds of millions of people in Jiangbei in dire straits, he knew that what Qin Mu said was indeed a top priority.

He sighed and said: "Not to mention anything else, just to eliminate the party struggle and reorganize the armament, I am afraid it will not be easy, the princes of Nanjing, in the matter of supporting the new monarch, have become fire and water, and then I am afraid that they will inevitably slander each other and squeeze each other;

The military discipline of the four towns in Jiangbei is corrupt, unruly, and the scourge is no less than that of traitors. And the imperial court not only failed to stop it, but also added officials and knights to show appeasement, which only made it more unruly and difficult to control. ”

"The four towns of Jiangbei hehe, this official has never counted on them, as for the party struggle in Nanjing. Freezing three feet, not a day's cold, it is even more impossible for them to release their suspicions, don't mention it. ”

"Adult"

Qin Mu suddenly said lightly: "The report was reported before the court, and he was martyred. Alone on the coal mountain, tragic national disaster. Everything is certain. ”

"Your Excellency!" Gu Yanwu was so startled that he suddenly stood up, looking at Qin Mu with wide eyes, "My lord has even heard these proverbs?" Dare to ask where did you know about it, and how do you explain the next few sentences? ”

"Since it is a fixed number, what is the difference between knowing and not knowing? Ningren. A large number of people who have been displaced have been displaced to the south, and the resettlement work is very arduous, and because of the huge amount of money and grain involved in disaster relief and resettlement, it is inevitable that there will always be corrupt officials and corrupt officials who make false reports, harm the people, and enrich their own pockets, and it will be difficult to investigate and deal with them. Ning people, you are full of knowledge and talents, and you are honest. This official intends to let you inspect this matter, punish the lawless, and correct the discipline, I don't know if you would rather be willing to take on this important task? ”

Qin Mu obviously didn't want to talk about the gossip more. This made Gu Yanwu feel even more unfathomable, and he hurriedly replied: "I don't want to, I really don't dare, my lord." New students"

"Ningren." Qin Mu interrupted him and said, "You don't have to be self-conscious, do you know that this official weishenme wants to use you." This officialdom is like a big dye vat, and it is precisely because you have just arrived and are not yet contaminated that this official wants to use you. Ning Ren only had to answer whether he dared to take on this important task, and there was no need to say anything else. ”

As soon as they met, Qin Mu gave him such a heavy responsibility, and this trust moved Gu Yanwu very much, and he gritted his teeth and replied: "Mengda is wrong to love, and students are willing to do their best." ”

Although Gu Yanwu accepted the mission, he did not show great loyalty, and his words were very measured.

Qin Mu also knew that unless he had a righteous reputation, it would be impossible for someone like Gu Yanwu to make him follow him all at once, so take your time.

"Okay, good, Ning people, Huguang is in ruins, and is in urgent need of talent governance, and I hope you can introduce more people with real talents and real learning, this official must be waiting for a vacant position."

"Thank you, sir."

This banquet lasted for a total of an hour, during which the two talked a lot, ate little, discussed the general trend of the world together, and the conversation was quite speculative.

After the banquet, Qin Mu had just asked Li Shi to take Gu Yanwu down to settle down, and Yan Gaofei hurriedly came over and reported: "My lord, Yuan Zongdi really sent troops to the north, but not much, only 10,000 horses. ”

Qin Mu frowned slightly when he heard this, Yuan Zongdi originally had more than 40,000 horses in Xiangyang, and now he has sent 10,000 to the north, and there are more than 30,000, and his troops in Wuchang and Jingzhou are only 60,000, and if he leaves one to 20,000 to defend Wuchang and Jingzhou, the infantry and cavalry that can really be sent to attack Xiangyang are only about 40,000.

Xiangyang City has high walls and thick walls, and it is difficult to capture it when the number of troops is equal.

"Where are Su Jin and Li Jiu now?"

"Back to my lord, General Li has returned to Jingmen to rest, and General Su is currently in the Zhaojiawan area."

"Order Su Jin, let him launch an attack on the 10,000 enemy troops going north, drag him as long as possible, and see how Yuan Zongdi in Xiangyang reacts."

"Yes."

Yan Gaofei left, Qin Mu was thinking alone in the pavilion, he had the intention to occupy the strategic point of Xiangyang, but Yuan Zongdi left heavy troops to guard, and he really couldn't help him.

It is very stupid to press all the forces and fight with the Dashun army now, which is equivalent to helping the Manchus to attack Li Zicheng.

But with Zuo Liangyu's previous lesson, Qin Mu didn't want to let a strategic town like Xiangyang be in the hands of others, and there was a big contradiction between fighting or not.

"Go to the army to fight, then to attack the enemy, then to attack the army, and then attack the city" Qin Mu muttered to himself, thinking about how to use the minimum price to seek Xiangyang, when a slight footstep suddenly came from behind him, "Who?" Qin Mu flicked up, and Huo Ran turned around

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(To be continued......)