Coming out of the governor's mansion, Xiao Ruxun went to the Liaodong governor's office to get to know some officials. After handing over some work, he began to inspect the entire Liaoyang to see how many supplies had arrived, whether they were up to standard, how long they could last, and so on. These were all important matters.
It should be known that the consumption of supplies for the 40,000 Ming Army was an extremely frightening figure. A Ming Army soldier would consume one liter of food a day, and a warhorse would consume three liters of bean fodder. The Ningxia soldiers, Zhejiang soldiers, Shandong soldiers, and Xuanda soldiers — the total strength of the Ming Army was more than 48,000 people. It was estimated that at least 7,000 warhorses would be consumed. In total, they would consume about 720 dan of food and 200 dan of bean fodder a day. If they wanted to support two months of fighting, they would need 43,200 dan of food and more than 12,000 dan of horse fodder.
It was unknown how much food and horse fodder the North Koreans had in storage, but presumably, they would only be able to support the Ming Army for three months if they used all their strength.
That was why Song Yingchang had ordered the Ming Army to gather within their own borders and not go to North Korea to consume their scarce food reserves. This was reasonable, but there were some things that needed to be done first. He would personally go to Yi Zhou in North Korea and discuss these issues with the North Korean military officials face to face. Then, he would bring all the military provisions of the Ming Army to North Korea. First, he would begin to arrange for the storage of the military provisions so that the North Koreans could start moving one step earlier. Before the Ming Army was assembled, the food problem had to be solved first.
As the saying goes, before the army moves, the provisions and fodder move first. If the provisions and fodder could not keep up, it would be fatal.
Seven days later, Xiao Ruxun had almost sorted out the entire network of Liaoyang. After giving the order to transport all the military equipment and supplies to Zhenjiang Fort, he returned the governor's seal, bid farewell to Song Yingchang, and first went to Yi Zhou in North Korea.
He had already felt that a group of civil officials and generals from Liaodong were not friendly to him, as well as the obstacles he encountered when he went to check the 200,000 taels of military expenses allocated by the Emperor in advance in the treasury. If it were not for the help of Liaodong Inspector-General Hao Jie, he really could not enter the treasury. After entering, he found that there were only 120,000 taels of silver left. When he asked for the reason, he found that 80,000 taels of silver had been used to appease the Liaodong Army.
In this regard, Hao Jie, who supported Xiao Ruxun, also felt a little helpless. He explained that the Liaodong Army was born in a poor place. Once they joined the army, they knew that they would die soon, so they pursued extreme enjoyment. They were extremely brave and good at fighting on the battlefield, but outside the battlefield, they did not abide by the law and harmed the people.
The imperial court had suffered from the military discipline for a long time, but they pitied their bravery and used them for the time being. The 200,000 taels of military expenses would have fallen into the hands of the Liaodong Army, but after Xiao Ruxun's strategic plan was recognized, the main force of the war became the coalition forces of the provinces, not the Liaodong Army.
This made many generals of the Liaodong Army extremely dissatisfied with Xiao Ruxun. In addition, Li Chengliang and his son failed to compete with Xiao Ruxun. Before Xiao Ruxun arrived in Liaoyang, Li Rusong arrived first. He communicated with many generals of the Liaodong Army, and together they embarrassed Xiao Ruxun and took 80,000 taels of silver first.
This kind of thing was very common in the Daming Dynasty, and it was even more common in Liaodong. Even if a lawsuit was brought to the emperor, there would be no result. Hao Jie, the famous dynamiter of the Liaodong Army, suggested that Xiao Ruxun should swallow his anger for the time being. After the victory of this war, with the prestige of the two victories and the morale of the provinces, he would clean up the Liaodong Army.
Xiao Ruxun nodded, took the 120,000 taels of silver, remembered this account, and set off for Yi Zhou in Korea with 30 personal guards.
On the way through Yi Zhou, Xiao Ruxun arrived at Zhenjiang Fort. According to Song Yingchang's previous military order, at this moment, the provincial troops in Liaodong should have arrived at Zhenjiang Fort to prepare for the war. Xiao Ruxun wanted to inspect the troops first. The troops stationed at Zhenjiang Fort should be the Deputy Commander Wu Weizhong and General Luo Shangzhi of 3,000 Zhejiang troops. Originally, there were more than 2,000 Liaodong Cavalry here, but the imperial court ordered them to return to their original station and garrison.
The troops of the provinces were all on the way. The nearest was the Shandong troops, who would arrive in about 15 days, and the Xuan Army's crossbowmen would arrive in 20 days. Although the farther Zhejiang Snipers, Sword and Shield Soldiers, and Ningxia Firearms Camp had set off earlier, they still had more than half a month to travel.
The Ming Dynasty Army needed at least a month to prepare for the war, which had exceeded the 50 days agreed upon with the Japanese. Therefore, this time, Xiao Ruxun also brought along the protagonist of the biggest fraud in East Asia in the next 300 years.
"Shen Weijing, I spent a lot of effort to bail you out of prison this time. You should know what to do this time, right?"
Xiao Ruxun looked at Shen Weijing, who was sitting anxiously in the horse-drawn cart, and said.
Shen Weijing hurriedly replied, "Admiral … Admiral, I know, I know, I know, I will use my glib tongue to make that Xiao Xi lose his sense of direction!"
"That's not all! When I arrive at Zhenjiang Fort, you will cross the river and go to Pyongyang. Not only do you have to let the Japanese continue to wait, but you also have to find out the number and distribution of the Japanese troops in Pyongyang at this moment. I don't believe the intelligence of the North Koreans, and the intelligence of our country hasn't been gathered in my hands.
I heard that Liaodong General Tong Yangzheng sent his nephew to the North Korean army to observe. Now that his nephew is dead, we have lost a pair of eyes. Now, I want you to be the eyes. Before the war in Pyongyang, I want to know everything about Xiao Xi! "
Xiao Ruxun said meaningfully, "You know, Shi Butang and the others are just using you as a sacrificial pawn. When they need you, they will support you. When they don't need you, they will naturally get rid of you. That is the consistent style of civil officials, but I am different. I don't care about the process, I only care about the results, and I will reward you. If you complete the task I give you, I will give you enough money to live a comfortable life for the rest of your life. I will also change your name and send you back to your hometown.
How about it? "Shen Weijing hurriedly knelt on the cart and kowtowed." Thank you, Admiral! "
"Mm!" Xiao Ruxun nodded. Then, he remembered a very important matter and said, "There is one more thing that I am very concerned about that I need you to do."
"This little old man is listening. Please speak, Admiral."
Shen Weijing grasped this life-saving straw.
"Previously, I read Zu Chengxun's interrogation report in Liaoyang and felt that there were many suspicious points. Zu Chengxun said that when he led his troops to Pyongyang, the North Korean guides of the five battalions disappeared. After entering the city, most of the vanguard troops were killed by the Japanese soldiers hidden in the houses. When the main army entered the city to fight, it seemed that the Japanese had already taken precautions and defeated them one by one.
More importantly, he said that when he retreated from Pyongyang, the North Korean General Li Zhi, who was with him, actually had a few words with the Japanese general who had chased after them. The Japanese retreated slightly, and then the Japanese caught up. Li Zhi then led his troops to kill dozens of Japanese before finally escorting Zu Chengxun to retreat. No matter how I think about it, I feel that there is something fishy about this. "
Shen Weijing was very shrewd. At this moment, in order to save his life, his intelligence was raised to the peak. He immediately grasped the main point. "Admiral, do you mean that there is a Japanese spy among the North Koreans? Betraying my army's operation plan? "
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