He and Li Zicheng were not that close after all; it was better to maintain a certain level of mutual respect.
Li Zicheng lagged a step behind Zhu Ci, unable to suppress the smile spreading across his lips.
As they passed Niu Jinxing and the others, Zhu Ci said very gently, "Jiang Shanggong, please arrange for these people to go have their meal first."
Jiang Xueyan bowed and said, "Your servant obeys the decree."
Niu Jinxing and Song Xiance had accompanied Li Zicheng. The two of them exchanged a glance, both seeing confusion in each other's eyes. They had previously heard that this Little Emperor had a violent temper and was a bringer of calamity, but seeing him today, he was completely different from the legends.
Of course, what confused them most was Li Zicheng's attitude.
Everyone knows their own boss, Li Zicheng was not an easy man to talk to. In the estimation of Niu Jinxing and Song Xiance, when Chuangwang and the Little Emperor met for the first time, they would certainly have to size each other up.
Even though Li Zicheng has surrendered now, it doesn't mean he can't rebel again.
For these people, as long as there is profit, they do not care about matters of integrity or otherwise.
However, Li Zicheng's smile just now was clearly born of genuine pleasure. He even acted somewhat restrained; had he not been trying so hard to compose himself, his Majesty—oh, his Highness—should have been laughing heartily by now.
Strange, what exactly did the Little Emperor say to Li Zao'er?
Unfortunately, the female official who took them to dine was far too tight-lipped; no matter how they tried to probe with indirect questions, they couldn't get any information from her.
Jiang Xueyan could certainly not reveal the contents of the private meeting; let alone a private meeting, she had never once revealed even Zhu Ci's private conduct.
Moreover, even if she were allowed to reveal it, she wouldn't be able to say anything. Was she supposed to say that her Emperor had coaxed Chuangwang into a state of pure joy?
To say he coaxed him might not be entirely accurate; Zhu Ci's attitude was always one of dignity blended with approachability, his every word and action was perfectly suited to his status, but the words he spoke struck a chord in Li Zicheng's heart with every single sentence.
Jiang Xueyan felt that the Emperor was truly extraordinary, capable of even subduing such a heroic figure.
However, Zhu Ci felt that this matter was even easier than fighting a war.
Li Zicheng surrendered because he had no other choice. He still possessed some sense of integrity, making it absolutely impossible for him to surrender to the Tartars. Zuo Liangyu had already been defeated, Zhu Yujian had previously issued a manifesto to denounce him, even Zhu Yihai had issued a manifesto against him.
When all was said and done, it turned out that only Zhu Ci, the legitimate Emperor of Great Ming, had never cursed him, his attitude toward him was also the most friendly.
He was even willing to surrender; as long as he was appeased and reassured that he didn't need to worry about his own life or the lives of his entire family, that would be enough.
One step further would be to understand and agree with him.
One must realize that before Zhu Ci traveled through time, he was a member of the proletariat, whereas Li Zicheng's family, at least, were peasants with land, making them part of the propertied class; finding common ground between them could not be any easier.
Moreover, Zhu Ci had not even brought out his trump card yet.
During the meal, he said to Li Zicheng while eating, "As the saying goes, one can serve as both a general and a prime minister. Nowadays, Great Ming has no Prime Minister, but there is the Grand Secretariat. As long as you render service to Great Ming, there will surely be a place for you in the Grand Secretariat."
Li Zicheng was stunned by what he heard; he had already prepared himself for the possibility of being provided for in retirement after surrendering.
All political regimes are like this; even if he is unwilling, it is of no use. Being able to preserve his own life is already quite good, let alone being able to keep his entire family safe.
He never expected that he would actually have the opportunity to join the Grand Secretariat.
He already knew quite a lot about the current state of the Great Ming court; although his understanding wasn't that thorough, he knew that the Grand Secretariat and the Censorate were the core institutions, the true entities governing the entire country.
Li Zicheng even asked subconsciously, "Is Your Majesty serious?"
Zhu Ci winked at him. "A ruler does not speak lightly. I have said it in front of so many people, how could it not be true?"
Li Zicheng almost asked reflexively: Who is here?
Only then did he realize that the Little Emperor was referring to the people serving around them.. palace attendants? Servants?
Li Zicheng took a careful look and discovered that the people serving around him were both male and female. Setting the women aside, the men all appeared to be whole individuals; there was not a single eunuch among them.
He looked at these people and then at the Little Emperor, raising his wine cup to say, "I.. I am a coarse man and cannot speak sweet words. Since Your Majesty trusts me, I will certainly not fail Your Majesty!"
Zhu Ci immediately asked with humility, "Then in Chuangwang's opinion, how should we combat the Qing Army now?"
“Capture Xuzhou at all costs.”
When it came to fighting the Qing Army, Li Zicheng became energized. He immediately said, "As long as we occupy Xuzhou, it is equivalent to pinning down the north; we can advance to attack or retreat to defend."
"What about besides Xuzhou?" Zhu Ci naturally knew that Xuzhou was to be attacked.
The Qing Army also knew he intended to attack Xuzhou, so they would certainly defend Xuzhou with all their might.
Li Zicheng pondered for a long while before saying, "If we have sufficient troops, we can start from Jiujiang and advance north, attacking Tongguan to pressure the Qing Army from three sides."
Zhu Ci's eyebrows twitched. Attacking Tongguan.. Weren't you the one who was driven all the way from Tongguan to here by the Qing Army? So, you're planning to take a path of vengeance, are you?
However, what Li Zicheng said was not wrong.
Zhu Ci asked, "If you were to lead an army to attack Tongguan, what do you think would be the most lacking?"
Li Zicheng did not hesitate: "Provisions and firearms!"
Zhu Ci nodded: "I thought so too."
And then.. there was no more.
Li Zicheng felt quite restless; if he had the chance, he would definitely want to seek revenge. If he could take Tongguan back from the Qing Army, he would certainly lead the charge himself!
Unfortunately, the Emperor only told him to get some good rest and gave no other orders.
Fortunately, Li Zicheng was no longer young and was not as impulsive as he had been in his youth; he knew his current status was sensitive, even if the Emperor spoke to him with complete sincerity, he feared the Emperor would find it difficult to make a decision for the time being.
Li Zicheng told himself to be patient; the current situation was already much better than he had imagined.
After Li Zicheng left, the smile slowly faded from Zhu Ci's face. How could he not know that they were lacking provisions and firearms? He was also lacking them!
In reality, it wasn't actually that scarce; after all, he had brought over ten thousand people when he set out, most of whom were logistics and supplies.
However, after he incorporated Zuo Liangyu's navy and subsequently accepted the surrender of Li Zicheng, the army's numbers reached a terrifying one hundred and sixty thousand!
Of course, a portion of them were the families of the Dashun soldiers and officials. The same applied to Zuo Liangyu's side, but even if all of them were excluded, there would still be at least 120,000 to 130,000 people.
Zuo Liangyu had indeed confiscated a portion of the grain, but previously, Zhu Ci had seen that the surviving commoners in Jiujiang were truly too pitiful, so he had directly ordered people to distribute some of it to them, which would at least allow those survivors to live until the time of the harvest.
Don't even mention Li Zicheng; he was chased all the way here by the Qing Army, his supplies ran low long ago. His soldiers need grain from Zhu Ci just to survive.
At this rate, there won't be enough provisions!
Zhu Ci looked at the figures being reported below, feeling quite worried.
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Author's Note: Zhu Ci: Am I destined to lack the God of Wealth? Why am I always short on money! *Cat frowning while flipping through an account book. jpg*
Next update at 12:00 PM~
Chapter 127
Just as Zhu Ci was worrying, Jiang Quan said happily, "Your Majesty, Grand Secretary Fu has sent a fleet with supplies, there are many!"
Zhu Ci took the ledger handed over by Jiang Quan and glanced at it, discovering that Fu had actually sent enough provisions to sustain over a hundred thousand men.
Although the news of his victory over Zuo Liangyu had already reached Huaian, the news of his successful surrender of Li Zicheng had not yet been passed on.
However, it was obvious that Fu must have had great confidence in him, which was why he had prepared the provisions in advance.
Considering that it would take at least five or six days to transport these provisions to Jiujiang, it meant that by the time Li Zicheng had just finished meeting He Gang, Fu would have already prepared all the provisions.
That is truly reassuring.
Zhu Ci breathed a sigh of relief, yet at the same time, he felt something was strange.
Did the Grand Secretary trust him too much? What if Li Zicheng failed to surrender?
However, this thought did not linger in Zhu Ci's mind for long before being cast aside.
Although the provisions were sufficient, having too many soldiers was not necessarily a good thing.
As long as the weapons are advanced enough, they can always make up for the gap in numbers.
This was precisely why Zhu Ci had not had time to improve the firearms recently; of course, it was also because the rockets currently in hand were sufficient for use, all that remained was to wait for the Dingyuan General Bronze Cannon.
After deliberating for a long time, Zhu Ci summoned all the generals under his command and said, "Our army is currently very large, but there are countless elderly, weak, sick, disabled soldiers among them. I have decided to downsize the army."
What?
Li Zicheng and his subordinates looked at each other, momentarily at a loss as to what expression they should wear.
In this current era, whenever people recruit soldiers, they want to drag in every single person who still has the strength to fight. Why then, does His Majesty take the opposite approach and seek to reduce the size of the army?
Zhu Ci did not hear any immediate opposition, which put his mind at ease. Of course, it was also possible that the two before him lacked the confidence to oppose him immediately; if this were a grand assembly, the Censorate would likely have jumped out to object.
Li Zicheng was feeling somewhat restless, but he did not dare to speak plainly, so he could only look toward He Gang.
He had no choice but to brace himself and ask, "How many soldiers does Your Majesty intend to cut from the army?"
The Emperor had already clearly explained the reasons for downsizing the military, they did indeed sound reasonable.
Zhu Ci pondered before saying, "Given the current situation, we must reduce the military by at least twenty thousand men."
This.." He Gang's expression changed, he hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, please reconsider.
Twenty thousand was no small number; when they went on campaign, even including the forces under General Shi Kefa, the total number of troops was only twenty thousand!
Zhu Ci waved his hand and said, "This is the result of my careful consideration. Now that there is a surplus of personnel, at least this many must be cut."
His military reductions certainly had standards; those over fifty and those under sixteen were to be cut.
Zhu Ci had originally intended to set the age at eighteen, but even without thinking, he knew no one would agree.
In fact, it wasn't that he insisted on following the laws and regulations of future generations; it was mainly because in these chaotic times, most people lived from one meal to the next and didn't fare very well. Boys of fifteen or sixteen years old haven't even finished growing, with malnutrition on top of that, wouldn't they just be sent to the battlefield to be slaughtered with their thin arms and legs?
However, on second thought, some children might not have any other family left; even if he allocated land to them, they might not necessarily be able to farm it. It would be better to let them stay in the army for the time being to ensure they have food to eat. They could stay later or be discharged later; in any case, they would receive land upon discharge.
As for the younger ones with families, they followed their kin, but for those without families, he registered them all and took them in!
After Zhu Ci explained his thoughts in detail, Li Zicheng spoke up boldly, "Your Majesty, let's be more lenient and set it at sixty or above. Fifty is still in one's prime."
Zhu Ci??
Do you even hear what you're saying?
Do you even know what the current average age is?
Sixty years old is almost retirement age in the future; you want to send them to the battlefield to risk their lives?
People like this might not be of much use on the battlefield; if they are sent out to work the land, they could still grow some grain and generate tax revenue.
Seeing the subtle change in Zhu Ci's expression, He Gang said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, people of this age might not necessarily provide much labor if sent back, they might even.."