It is most appropriate to describe the current situation in the Ming and Qing dynasties by how many happy and sad.

The Ming army won battles in a row, while the Qing army suffered defeats again and again.

This is fine. Victory and defeat are common in military affairs. The current decline does not mean that there will always be decline.

But one thing that caused a headache for the Qing court was that it was a natural disaster.

Droughts, floods, locust plagues, earthquakes, plagues...

Almost all the natural disasters that were called up were encountered by the Qing court, and they even appeared in the north.

I am afraid that the Qing court itself would not believe it.

Xiaozhuang has been frowning these days because Hanzhong is lost again.

In a memorial to Li Guoying, the governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi, all this was attributed to earthquakes and plagues.

But Xiaozhuang knew that human factors were even greater.

If the positions of Li Guoying and Li Dingguo are compared, Li Dingguo will definitely be able to defend Hanzhong.

Of course, none of this can happen.

As for the loyalty shown by Li Dingguo to the Ming court and Yongli, Xiaozhuang used the Qing court's best strategy of disagreement, but he was afraid that he could not do anything to Yongli and Li Dingguo's monarch and ministers.

If the problem arises for yourself, you naturally have to start from the root.

Xiaozhuang knew very well that the Qing army's combat power was no longer as good as before.

If Emperor Taizong was there, let alone Li Dingguo, even if ten Li Dingguo were tied together, they would not be the opponent of the Eight Banners Army.

Nowadays, the Eight Banners are idle all, and they are completely corrupted by the comfortable life, without any sharpness.

Such Eight Banners children are not qualified to use as ceremonial guards.

Of course, the Eight Banners soldiers stationed in various places are still much stronger than the Eight Banners soldiers in the capital. Although their combat power has deteriorated compared to their ancestors, they may at least be able to go on the battlefield to fight.

Xiaozhuang also knew that it was impossible to get it done in one step at this time, and this kind of work needed to be taken slowly.

The most urgent task at the moment is to solve the money problem.

After the last time I got the sweetness, Xiaozhuang raised his knife to the merchant again, but it was a specific Shanxi merchant.

Xiaozhuang named the eight major Shanxi merchants to send representatives to Beijing.

It is called reward, actually taking hostages.

With these hostages here, these big Shanxi merchants would be afraid of the bad habits and would have to give money to the court obediently.

In fact, in Xiaozhuang's opinion, these are all right.

If it were not for the Qing court's support, the Shanxi merchants would not have been able to jump over the Hui merchants and become the largest merchant gang in the Qing Dynasty.

Now that the Qing court is in trouble with internal and external affairs, the Shanxi merchants should stand up and feed back and prolong their lives.

Hundreds of thousands of taels of silver are not enough, they just sprinkle water.

Xiaozhuang planned to raise millions of taels of silver in one go to completely solve the Qing court's money panic.

Xiaozhuang decided to leave this matter to Sony. Although Sony is a little older, he is mature and polite.

As for those young people, they can't do things safely without saying anything.

The relationship between the Qing court and the Shanxi merchants was very subtle, and the two sides were mutually beneficial and symbiotic.

Since Xiaozhuang had to rely on the Shanxi merchants to transfusion, he could not offend Shanxi merchants.

Otherwise, if we support another merchant gang, regardless of whether it can quickly grow to the scale of Shanxi merchants, it is also a different story to whether we can be loyal to the Qing court.

For the Qing court, Shanxi merchants were the most loyal dogs. If they threw some bones at them, they would be excited to wag their tails and please their owners.

Since that is the case, the Qing court should naturally give this dog more bones.

The imperial concubine is also knowledgeable. While maintaining majesty, you must maintain a sense of proportion.

Xiaozhuang thinks she is still very good at handling it.

...

...

"Ama, the Empress Dowager ordered the old man to preside over the negotiations with Shanxi merchants. This is to take the blame for your old man."

Soetu sighed, his face full of helplessness.

"Forcing others to donate money, but not with a knife, and you have to pay a smile with a smile. This is not a job done by people. The Empress Dowager doesn't think about you when she gets old. When she comes such a thankless thing, she will think of you. My son really feels unfair for you!"

Seeing Soetu's angry look, Sony pressed his hands down and said, "Look at your appearance, what's so angry about you? There is a saying among the Han people, "Thunder, Rain and Dew are the kindness of the Lord. Don't care about what the order is, as long as it is the master's subordinate, we just follow the order, and there are no complaints."

"But Ama is obviously an offensive job. The Empress Dowager is too bullying!"

Soetu felt a little dissatisfied and said "striving with reason".

"So what if you offend someone? With the support of the Empress Dowager, they can still make a fortune."

Sony said disapprovingly: "They can pay this money even if they don't. If you pay it, you can still get decent if you pay it. Otherwise, don't blame me for being ruthless and ruthless."

I have to say that the Empress Dowager's move was indeed very vicious, completely squeezing the seven-inches of these Shanxi merchants.

Sony is just a spokesperson for the Empress Dowager.

Now that these big families are lush with branches and leaves, they pay more attention to bloodline and orthodoxy.

All the eldest sons of the direct lineage were gathered in the capital to see who dared to be disobedient.

"What do Ama wants to do?"

Soetu said helplessly: "Gather these people together to have a banquet?"

Sony nodded with satisfaction when he heard this, saying, "Yes, this method is feasible."

"You can prepare the banquet. Remember not to be too extravagant, as this also reflects the current tension of the court. These Shanxi merchants are willing to pay for it."

"Affect the order."

Soetu had no choice but to take the job.

"The Empress Dowager and I have a brief break. I will raise at least five million taels. It would be best if I could get ten million taels."

When Soetu heard this, he gasped.

Five million taels, ten million taels...

The Empress Dowager is really brave enough to mention it.

Although these Shanxi merchants are all rich enough to compete with their country, letting them raise 10 million taels means each family will take out at least one million taels.

This is not a small number, and even the eight great masters of Shanxi merchants would have to make some time.

The Empress Dowager really treats these big Shanxi merchant families as fish on the chopping board and wants to slaughter them at will.

Of course, as slaves, they just need to act with respect, so there is no need to ask why.

Through this incident, Soetu understood one thing, that is, the Empress Dowager's ambition is really great.

With this money, not only to maintain the existing army, but also to recruit troops and expand troops, there is no problem.

Could it be that the Empress Dowager is not very satisfied with the current Eight Banners children?

Or maybe the Empress Dowager wanted to cultivate a direct power belonging to the royal family outside the Eight Banners Army?

If this is true, this can be said to be a major change for the Qing Dynasty's military system.

If the Eight Banners can be replaced... Hiss, I dare not think or think...

So what role does Soetu play in it?

As a child of the Eight Banners, he felt that this was both an opportunity and a challenge. Whether he could seize it depends on his ability to seize the opportunity.

...
Chapter completed!