Chapter 849: Vicious

"Hahaha, I have been worried for a while, thinking that the next wars will be money-losing wars. Now, I am worried too much. Read М" Chang Wei stared at the baggage carts, grinning from ear to ear.

For him, the King of Yan still has many ways.

If it weren't for this surprise attack, but a normal attack on Changcheng.

The powerful families and wealthy families in Changcheng would have fled westward, and they would have nothing to gain.

"In fact, if Wu hadn't moved its capital to Bacheng, we should have been able to seize more." Zhao Xu looked to the west.

This westward migration was the westward migration of the wealth of the entire Jiangnan region, and most of the wealth was still transported to Bacheng.

Chang Wei also looked to the west, and said, "Humph, these riches are the blood and sweat of the people of Dasong. As long as we break through Bacheng, we can take them back."

Clearing his throat, he continued, "Your Highness, when all the soldiers of the Third Army return and the people of the three states have harvested rice, we should march westward and fight a decisive battle with the powerful families."

Zhao Xu nodded. The soldiers of the Third Army who went to Jiangzhou this time returned the earliest.

But in addition to the soldiers of the Third Army who went to Jiangzhou, there were also soldiers who went to Xiangzhou and Yuezhou.

If their actions go smoothly, it will take at least a month before they can return to the team one after another.

And the summer harvest should be over by then.

During this period, the royal army had to be busy harvesting rice from the lands of the powerful families and the wealthy families.

"But Jiangzhou is also going to harvest rice, right? This time, we should really burn the rice in Jiangzhou and see what the powerful family army eats." Guan Tong thought of something and said hatefully.

The powerful families made them very passive by clearing the fields.

He really wanted to clear them out.

Zhao Xu and Chang Wei shook their heads at the same time.

Zhao Xu said: "The grain in Jiangzhou cannot be burned, otherwise the people of Jiangzhou will hate us. If we leave the rice, they will only hate the powerful families."

"Hate the powerful families?" Guan Tong scratched his head.

"That's right. This time Changcheng and other counties were cleared out by you. They will definitely impose heavy taxes on the people to make up for the deficit. That will be the time when the heavens are angry and the people are resentful." Zhao Xu said, "In this case, if the royal army enters Jiangzhou again, the people will surely welcome the royal army with food and drink."

According to the information provided by the four courts, when the people of the three states returned this time, many refugees and debt-ridden people in Jiangzhou had come with them.

In order to live a life in Jiangbei.

But most of the people in Jiangzhou did not come, not because they were loyal to the powerful families.

But because they were reluctant to leave their thatched houses and thin fields at home. This is the love of the hometown.

So, unless they can't survive, they will not leave their hometown.

But when it becomes difficult, they will definitely be welcomed if they go.

"So your Highness has already thought of it." Guan Tong laughed twice.

After chatting for a few more words, the three returned to Jinling City.

...

Ba City.

The news that Changcheng fell and the people fled back to the three southeastern states also spread here.

Liang Kai was furious and summoned Luther, Brooke, Xie Duan, Han Zheng and Wang Zian.

In the meeting hall of the palace, Liang Kai pointed at Wang Zian and said angrily, "What Wang family leader, he is just a fool. From Jiangbei to Jiangnan, he has made many ideas, but each time he caused greater disasters. Brother Wang, it's not that I Liang Kai doesn't give you face. This Wang Xie should be beheaded to show the public to thank the people for their anger."

Wang Zian was ashamed.

When the news came, he was restless. For a long time, he has been supporting Wang Xie.

Unexpectedly, such a big mess happened this time.

In order to settle the three families, Liang Kai handed Changcheng to their army for garrison.

Now, Changcheng has become like this.

But he was a little unconvinced, because Wang Xie was just giving advice on this matter, and in the end, including the British, he also agreed.

Han Zheng has always been very protective of Wang Zian, so he said bluntly: "Your Majesty, everyone decided this matter unanimously at that time. It can only be said that this was a conspiracy of the King of Yan. We had to send troops at that time, otherwise if the 90,000 troops heading west really started fighting, this Bacheng would be lost."

Since the fall of Jinling, Liang Kai has been more and more contemptuous of the three families.

Hearing this, he didn't want to give Han Zheng face at all, and he was about to mock.

At this time, Brooke coughed, "Have you forgotten your oath to jointly deal with the King of Yan? How can you cooperate if you blame each other for this setback?"

After a pause, he said: "Winning and losing in war is very common, and it is also normal to make mistakes in judgment. As the head of the Han family said, the King of Yan's trick of luring the tiger away from the mountain will fool anyone."

After Brooke said this, Liang Kai was speechless.

After a moment of silence, he said, "But Wang Xie has been there before, and he can no longer be the main general. Let Xie An replace Wang Xie."

Han Zheng, Xie Duan and Wang Zian did not dare to object.

Besides, Xie An was also from their three families, so they could accept it.

Seeing that the three did not object, Liang Kai sighed, "My three brothers, don't blame me for being harsh, because not only Changcheng, but also the grain and grass of other counties in Jiangzhou were robbed. In addition, the southern part of Xiangzhou and Yuezhou were also attacked, and suffered heavy losses."

"Next, the grain and grass of my Wu army will be in trouble, which is a matter of urgency."

Although Nanliang promised to sell them grain and grass.

But Nanliang also had its own soldiers to feed.

In addition, it had to pay tribute to Beidi every year.

The grain and grass provided to them could feed 400,000 soldiers.

Most of the grain and grass had to rely on the collection of agricultural taxes.

However, the stored grain and grass were robbed. Jiangzhou, Xiangzhou, and Yuezhou are places with more mountains than fields, and the grain production is not high. You can imagine the difficulties they are facing now.

If the situation continues to deteriorate, they will not be able to support this million-strong army.

"The only solution now is to impose heavy taxes on the people. It is better to let the people starve to death than to let the soldiers starve to death." Xie Duan said in a deep voice.

Han Zheng echoed: "If you want to survive this disaster, this is the only way."

"Even so, I am worried that this is one of the links in the King of Yan's chain plan. If heavy taxes are imposed, the people will yearn for Jiangbei more, which is not good for Wu." Wang Zian hesitated and said.

Liang Kai said: "I naturally thought of it, but even if it is drinking poison to quench thirst, I can only drink this cup of poison. If I don't impose taxes, I have to reduce the number of soldiers immediately. If I impose taxes, I can barely maintain it."

Brooke and Luther looked at each other and nodded.

They agreed with Liang Kai to do this.

Because they just want to drag the King of Yan into the quagmire of war as much as possible, to win time for the British mainland to react, whether it is to imitate the King of Yan's muskets, or to recall the reserves and send troops to the East.

Besides, they were not optimistic about the powerful army.

What they value more are the Russian state and the northern barbarians.

Therefore, they don't care at all how the powerful families treat the people under their command.

They just hope that they can live longer.

To die now or tomorrow, they will naturally choose tomorrow.

Even if the price is to eat the flesh and blood of the people of Dasong.

They even hope that the powerful families will do so.

It would be best if all the people of Dasong died. By then, even if the King of Yan unified Jiangnan, he would still take over a mess.

It would take manpower and material resources to restore.