Chapter 1548: New Arrangements

"Assistant Prefect, you are well."

Yu Dayou and Qi Jiguang bowed and greeted Wang Yan.

It was already deep winter, and the heavy snow from the day before hadn't melted yet. Yu Dayou and other generals came to the capital to receive rewards, so they came to pay their respects to Wang Yan.

It was still at the Shuntian Prefecture office, and Wang Yan returned the salute.

"It should be me asking how you are. The chaos in the Southeast relied entirely on the two generals giving their lives, only then was there today's great victory and future peace. Today we are eating hot pot; in such cold weather, it is suitable to eat some hot meat. Two generals, please, let's eat, drink, and talk."

The group went to the middle hall. Three hot pots had already been placed on the dining table, and a large pile of meat was neatly arranged on the plates. Looking at the texture of the meat made people's index fingers move. There were also various vegetables that were rare in winter, also placed in piles on the table; it was truly a combination of meat and vegetables.

The three sat down, and Yu Dayou said: "Assistant Prefect really knows how to enjoy. These vegetables are not even fully seen in the warm Guangdong and Guangxi."

Wang Yan was putting a plate of meat into the pot, and laughed in response: "Old General, this is scolding people."

"Oh, Assistant Prefect misunderstood. This old man knows deeply that the Assistant Prefect loves the people like a son, and has no act of scraping the people's fat and ointment. Even if there are many rare green vegetables, I think the people who farm and work are all earning full pots."

Yu Dayou explained with a smile. After such a long period of concerted cooperation, he could be considered to understand Wang Yan's character, and also knew that Wang Yan was joking.

Qi Jiguang on the side also followed suit, putting meat in and laughing: "Old General is right, the Assistant Prefect is leading people to earn money. This time quelling the Japanese pirates in the Southeast, it was all thanks to the Assistant Prefect preparing military supplies."

"You two, three sentences and you can't leave the war."

Wang Yan shook his head and said, "Two generals are still flattering me here. How was this battle won? It must be His Majesty's temple calculation is invincible, it is His Majesty who let me, this Assistant Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture, prepare military supplies for quelling the Japanese pirates in the Southeast, and all the government offices worked together, only then was there a great victory."

"Hey, don't look at me like that. Saying some disrespectful words, many times mentioning His Majesty's credit first might have the suspicion of flattery, but His Majesty's trust cannot be erased. His Majesty had to let me come up first before I had the opportunity to serve the country."

"The war this time is the same; it is His Majesty who has opinions about the wealthy families in the Southeast. In the past, there was no such good opportunity, and there were no such military supplies; we couldn't fight, couldn't afford to consume. Now that everything is ready, only then was there today's great victory. In the final analysis, it is all His Majesty's credit; we just played the role we should have played."

"Or let me say it more clearly, if this battle wasn't fought well, we would all have to die."

Originally it was a very happy thing, but after being said so by Wang Yan, the two who were happy lost their spirit. They thought of the terrible influence that would come once this battle wasn't fought well. After all, they weren't unaware that Jiajing had a heaven-defying attribute of fire affinity.

Wang Yan poured wine and invited the two to have a drink, "It's me who spoiled the fun. Look, a good great victory, but I had to say what would happen if it was defeated; it's so boring. Let's talk about these dishes."

"These vegetables were grown by the Shanglin Garden office. In the past few years, there has been a lot of silver in the palace, so the Shanglin Garden has expanded a lot, and more greenhouses have been built. In addition, I also asked people to specifically study growing vegetables in winter, study how to make these green vegetables high-yield, and in the past two years, it can be considered to have some gains."

"Now the green vegetables produced by the Shanglin Garden are in short supply. Except for supplying the palace, and His Majesty rewarding officials, the rest are sold, and they are very popular. Two eunuchs in the Shanglin Garden have been beaten to death; money is truly like flowing water."

"I can eat so much because His Majesty knows I am greedy and love to eat, and sends me fresh green vegetables every day. It is all His Majesty's deep love. Eating this meat and these vegetables, I must always remember His Majesty's holy grace."

"The Assistant Prefect has done many practical things, and His Majesty's deep love is deserved. Come, Assistant Prefect, I toast you." Qi Jiguang was very active in prompting.

After such a round, the three of them began to talk about the specific process of quelling the Japanese pirates in the Southeast this time.

Finally, Qi Jiguang said: "Our great victory in the Southeast can be summarized into three reasons."

Seeing Wang Yan's questioning look, he explained, "First, it is His Majesty's support. Second, it is the Assistant Prefect preparing military supplies fully; the soldiers' salaries are sufficient, and the compensation is thick, so they are naturally willing to give their lives. Third, it is that the later Japanese pirates are not as good as the previous ones..."

Qi Jiguang analyzed for Wang Yan why the current Japanese pirates are not as powerful as the previous ones.

This is not a very complicated matter. Overall, there are only so many people along the Southeast coast, and the number of people who have the guts to go to sea to become Japanese pirates is actually limited. Before these people became Japanese pirates, they were local ruffians and hooligans who fought for power, and after being incorporated by local gentry and wealthy families, they became local black evil forces. When they went to sea, there was no law, and they dared to commit arson, murder, and looting.

The combat effectiveness of these people is still quite good; they are bold, dare to take action, brave in fighting, and fierce when harming people.

The second-tier ones are those who were coerced and suppressed their animal desires. They are the ones who were submissive and later broke out. They are fiercer than the black evil forces, but their combat effectiveness is relatively poor. After all, for a long time in the past, they were hardworking but didn't have much harvest, and didn't eat as well as those black evil forces. This is a big difference.

Coupled with the fact that the black evil forces have always been fighting for power, the fighting, escaping, and survival instincts they practiced are more outstanding than ordinary people.

The number of these two types of people is limited, and the rest of the people who were coerced are just like that. As commoners, they couldn't eat their fill. As Japanese pirates, they still couldn't eat their fill.

Although this Japanese pirate chaos in the Southeast was premeditated, under such long-term continuous strikes, the old Japanese pirates suffered heavy losses, and the newcomers were unusable.

How could this group of new Japanese pirates be the opponents of the regular army? Especially the regular army that was paid enough?

A bunch of killing embryos, as long as the money is in place and death is worth it, they really fight to the death and do things when they get the money.

Of course, from another perspective, once they are on the battlefield, they are not allowed not to do things. After all, if you don't kill the Japanese pirates, the Japanese pirates will come to kill you. If you want to escape in the face of battle, there is a supervision team behind specifically to cut off heads, so you can only kill forward.

But then again, receiving full or even excess military pay, and the compensation for death can be fully implemented, also makes them more brave and fearless psychologically.

Originally, in life-and-death struggles, they might only exert 80%, and the remaining 20% was resistance to this shitty world. Now, it's more than 120%, moving forward without fear of life or death, viewing death as returning home; this is the generous and tragic song of these soldiers...

Although he understood everything, Wang Yan still listened patiently to Qi Jiguang's explanation and Yu Dayou's supplement.

After listening, Wang Yan said: "In addition, Minister Hu and Governor Tan also planned well, and their credit cannot be erased. Everyone worked together and was sincere and united, only then was there stability in the Southeast."

"But in the final analysis, the soldiers giving their lives is the main thing. No matter how strong or weak the Japanese pirates are, I believe that this chaos in the Southeast can be quelled, and our soldiers are brave and fearless good soldiers."

"Don't worry, I am also watching the recognition of the merits of this battle. In the capital, the powerful and wealthy all scold me as a dog. I, this dog, stare at them tightly. Whoever dares to play tricks on this, I will make their whole family uneasy."

This is the guarantee Wang Yan gave.

After the war, for these conscientious generals, the most difficult thing is the problem of the merits, compensation, and rewards of their subordinates. They fought hard for their lives, but the compensation wasn't much, the rewards couldn't be implemented, and a large group of subordinates couldn't get promoted. These problems eventually piled up on the generals above.

The result is that the above is dissatisfied with the generals, and the below is also dissatisfied with the generals, and neither side is pleased.

If there were no conscience, it would be much more comfortable, but obviously Yu Dayou, Qi Jiguang, and other generals who quelled the Japanese pirates in the Southeast this time are all quite good.

On the other hand, it is also because of the opportunity to fight this time that Wang Yan can be considered to have a very good reputation among a group of generals who lead troops. After all, fighting is logistics. This time Wang Yan provided logistics support for them, which was truly comfortable.

Launching canal transport to send grain in the capital, issuing new treasure notes in Fujian and Guangdong, directly covering the bottom for Hu Zongxian and Tan Lun, and raiding and investigating anyone involved with Japanese pirates, with procedures supplemented later. That is to say, whoever Tan Lun, Yu Dayou, and others think is colluding with Japanese pirates, they are colluding with Japanese pirates. They handle the people first, and if there are problems, they all count as Wang Yan's.

At the same time, Wang Yan also mobilized resources from Hunan, Hubei, Anhui, and Bashu to provide support for the Southeast, and also took the opportunity to investigate a large group of people related to canal transport.

Of course, as Wang Yan said to Jiajing, he couldn't be the Grand Secretary, so these local officials naturally didn't listen to him. He cooperated with Lu Fang to suppress various government offices and local governments to do things. There were too many conflicts and interest entanglements in this.

In a word, Wang Yan provided logistics support for these generals, allowing them to fight the most refreshing and easiest battle since they became military officers and led troops.

Various corruptions in the middle links were directly cut by Wang Yan remotely, cutting down dozens of people. The biggest official was the Prefect, cut by Tan Lun, executed by Qi Jiguang's subordinates, and supervised by the Eastern Depot and Embroidered Uniform Guard. This matter is still arguing and impeaching Wang Yan in the court.

Without the urging of the generals on the front line, the team transporting supplies naturally worked hard to rush. Whether urged or not, it was the same, doing their best to transport.

The main reason is that Wang Yan took advantage of this war to open branches of the Imperial Bank in various places, and all the treasure notes issued were recognized by others. If they didn't recognize them, they would become military supplies.

He paid the soldiers and commoners who transported, and the money could be spent. If they couldn't spend it, they even earned more, so the subjective initiative was naturally full.

To sum up, Wang Yan relied on the logistics provided by treasure notes and used empty checks to win such a great battle related to the rise and fall of the Great Ming...

It was also relying on logistics and empty checks that made a group of generals have a good impression of him. He can also be considered to have cultivated his own forces through this battle.

This is also why Jiajing said those words, because he had already seen that Wang Yan was seizing power. Jiajing was happy to see this.

From a selfish point of view, Wang Yan is obedient and can make money. From a public point of view, Wang Yan does things quite reliably, governs the locality effectively, and has the ability to make the Great Ming great, so he, Jiajing, can just lie down and become the emperor of ten thousand ages.

Li Zhi said that the Taizu Gao Emperor was the emperor of ten thousand ages, so he is better than blue, so naturally he is the emperor of ten thousand ages...

The two nodded repeatedly and said good, happily toasting Wang Yan, drinking quite happily.

After drinking for a while, Wang Yan asked: "What arrangements does His Majesty have for the two generals?"

"We only saw His Majesty once, listened to His Majesty's encouragement, and were sent out by Eunuch Lu..." Yu Dayou shook his head, also confused about his own emperor.

Wang Yan nodded with a smile, and asked again: "Then what plans do the two generals have?"

"What plans do we have? Wherever we are, we do our best for the King's affairs, and it is all arranged by His Majesty." Qi Jiguang understood Wang Yan's spirit very well, and had to mention His Majesty when speaking.

"According to me, the Old General is familiar with the South, and he is old. It is better to be comfortable in the South. I heard from Hu Zongxian's letter that the Old General has trained the navy well. In the future, stay in the South. It is both guarding the Southeast and guarding the fleet to manage the Nanyang. I have already told you two before, if the fleet is managed well and the navy is invincible across the sea borders, it is a great achievement."

Yu Dayou thought for a while and said: "What the Assistant Prefect said is reasonable. This old man really doesn't want to move, so let's settle it like this?"

"I will ask His Majesty for instructions later."

Wang Yan took a sip of wine, turned to look at Qi Jiguang, and said, "General Qi is only thirty-seven years old, in his prime, and is in his prime. The South is stable, and the border affairs in the North cannot be neglected. I think General Qi is the most suitable place to manage the military affairs of Jiliao, train troops, and prepare for the border."

"Does the Assistant Prefect intend to advance north?" Yu Dayou couldn't help but ask.

"The North is different from the Southeast. The situation is complex, and pulling one hair affects the whole body. If one place fights, everyone fights. The supply route is long, and the waste is huge. With the current national strength of our Great Ming, it is not suitable to start a major war lightly. I still have to use my methods to plan military supplies and find a good opportunity before I can fight."

Wang Yan gave a relatively clear answer, and then continued, "Before that, it is better to focus on training troops and defense, not letting the northern barbarians easily go south and disturb the peace of our border people. Secondly, we must delineate the market, trade with them, earn their silver, and it is best to make them all use our treasure notes. When that time comes, it will be easy to clean them up, or we can subdue them without fighting."

In the confusion of Yu Dayou and Qi Jiguang, Wang Yan thoughtfully explained to them the power of economic control, as well as the influence and impact of advanced culture and thought on the common people at the bottom.

"Don't worry too much about these things, General Qi. Train troops well and guard the border well. If you do these, I guarantee you will get rich."

Qi Jiguang waved his hands repeatedly: "Assistant Prefect misunderstood, I am not..."

Wang Yan shook his head with a smile: "If you should take it, you must take it. You think this silver is just those barbarians'? There are also wealthy families in Shandong, Shanxi, and Hebei who do business with the barbarians in the north. We set up a market and cut off other people's business, which is earning their silver. There will be a lot of trouble."

"If this matter really starts to be done, I'm afraid I will have to be assassinated more than ten times again..."

"Assistant Prefect is righteous, all according to the Assistant Prefect's arrangements." Qi Jiguang was moved. He felt the strong will of Wang Yan to make the Great Ming great, truly working for the Great Ming with his life...

"Then it's settled. Tomorrow I will enter the palace to report to His Majesty. Come, come, two generals, let's get drunk today."

?? Daily thanks to the good brothers who reward, vote for monthly tickets, recommendation tickets, and silently read the book for their strong support! ===== CHAPTER 1549 =====