Chapter 563

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It is said that July’s fire recedes, marking the transition from scorching heat to cooler temperatures.

Three days after the Battle of Tongzhou, news of the Tongzhou campaign reached Qingzhou, and during this time, the Bessemer steelmaking production line was also steadily under construction.

“Your Highness, having taken Tongzhou by surprise this time, the Prince of Wei will inevitably launch a massive attack once he reacts. At this point, you should have Yue Yun lead a portion of the warships to patrol the river near Jinling City to make the Prince of Wei apprehensive. At the same time, you should also have Lu Fei dispatch cavalry to Huaizhou to feign an attack and tie down the Prince of Wei’s forces.”

According to the current military system, the Tongzhou battle report was first sent to Niu Ben. Upon receiving the report, Niu Ben immediately discussed the matter with Xiao Ming.

Hearing this, Xiao Ming nodded.

Tongzhou’s location was modern-day Nantong, a place bordered by the sea to the east and a river to the south. Westward along the Yangtze River from Tongzhou was Jinling City, where the Prince of Wei’s residence was located.

His capture of Tongzhou this time was partly to retaliate against the Prince of Wei for seizing his merchant ships, and partly to drive a nail into the heartland of Wei territory. This nail would constantly pain the Prince of Wei.

At the same time, completely controlling Tongzhou also meant he had a stable coastal supply point, and maritime trade now had a transit station.

“In terms of defending a city, who can compare to my soldiers? This time, I had Yue Yun bring five hundred siege cannons. These siege cannons are all standard firearms, not the export-grade cannons sold to the Prince of Wei. Even if he wants to use the Dengzhou Army’s method of breaching a city, he probably can’t.”

“That’s right, wouldn’t our artillerymen just eliminate his cannons first?” Niu Ben said with a smile. Now he finally understood why Xiao Ming had specifically produced a batch of export-grade cannons back then.

It turned out he had considered this kind of situation back then.

Handing the battle report sent by Ye Qingyun to Niu Ben, Xiao Ming said, “Since that is the case, as the Governor said, immediately order the Southern Expedition Army to feign an attack on Huaizhou.”

“Yes, Your Highness.” Niu Ben acknowledged and turned to leave.

Watching Niu Ben depart, Xiao Ming looked at the map of Great Yu Empire hanging in the main hall. At this time, the Prince of Wei’s fief was heavily marked by him.

Wei territory had thirteen prefectures in total, with Pengzhou being a major northern prefecture. Now that he controlled Pengzhou, it meant he controlled one-tenth of Wei’s northern territory.

Now he had also occupied Tongzhou. Now, out of the thirteen prefectures, only eleven remained. As for Huaizhou, it was modern-day Huaian, right next to Pengzhou, and this was where he planned to attack next.

However, perhaps due to the failure of the Battle of Pengzhou, the Prince of Wei not only reinforced Huaizhou but also transported fifty cannons to be set up on the city wall of Huaizhou.

Xiao Ming remained calm in response to the Prince of Wei’s reaction. After all, no matter how many cannons the Prince of Wei produced, they posed no threat to him.

It could even be said that Xiao Ming was not afraid of any army within Great Yu Empire. His army could contend with top armies like the barbarians, so why would he fear these armies that turned pale at the mention of barbarians?

His only concern was that these forces might unite to attack him. In a one-on-one fight, he could easily handle them, as his firearm units had been established for almost two years now.

Neither the soldiers’ mindset nor the army’s regularization could be compared to these armies that were still stuck in the cold weapon era with lax organization and discipline.

On the map, Pengzhou had been marked with an ‘X’ by him. Now he had drawn another ‘X’ on Tongzhou. These two ‘X’s, one in the south and one in the north, were like a giant maw preparing to devour the Prince of Wei’s fief.

As he was contemplating the next strategy for Wei’s territory, Pang Yukun arrived in the main hall after being announced.

“Your Highness, the supplies transported from Pengzhou by Grand Councillor Fei’s men have arrived. There’s grain, cloth, salt, tea, raw silk, and porcelain. Although the powerful families of Pengzhou took a lot of gold, silver, and valuables, most of their property was left behind. Besides these things, there are tens of thousands of oxen. Grand Councillor Fei asked me to ask Your Highness whether this batch of oxen should be kept in Pengzhou City or sent within the fief’s borders.” Pang Yukun said in one breath.

“Naturally, they are for the common people of Pengzhou. Is Pengzhou not my fief now?” Xiao Ming retorted.

Pang Yukun did not react for a moment, then suddenly realized. He said with a bitter smile, “I was indeed muddle-headed. Your Highness intends to incorporate Pengzhou into the fief now, so how can we show favoritism?”

Xiao Ming nodded, “That’s right. You write back to Grand Councillor Fei and tell him that all affairs in Pengzhou are to be handled according to the fief’s prefectures and counties, and that the people of Pengzhou should be integrated into the fief as quickly as possible.”

“Yes, Your Highness.” Pang Yukun said.

After a pause, Pang Yukun continued, “Your Highness, the three-year period has now passed. According to custom, it is time to collect the agricultural tax.”

“I once promised to exempt the people of the fief from three years of taxes, and indeed, the deadline has arrived. But how was this year’s harvest?”

“Compared to last year’s drought, this year’s grain harvest can be considered bountiful. Furthermore, the large-scale trial planting of potatoes in the prefectures near Qingzhou this year also yielded a rich harvest, so the common people have no worries about food and drink.” Pang Yukun smiled.

In his opinion, the fief was truly thriving now. The common people had enough food and clothing, lived in peace and contentment, and even had spare money to buy various goods.

Currently, goods such as soap, salt, and white sugar sold by the Chamber of Commerce were actually sold the most within the fief, which showed that the people of the fief still had some spare money.

“In that case, the agricultural tax shall begin to be collected.”

Xiao Ming said contemplatively. He could no longer afford to be overly generous. The army’s campaigns in the east and west were extremely costly. The bullets fired and the cannonballs expended were all money, not to mention the continuously built warships, cannons, and firearms.

The pace of military equipment innovation during this period had been fast, but this was all achieved on the premise of Xiao Ming increasing the proportion of military spending.

And most importantly, after the chaos in Chang’an, prices soared. The prices of various goods doubled, which also led to the huge military expenditure becoming a financial burden for the fief.

Moreover, with the refinement of administrative affairs, administrative expenses also increased. At the same time, there were public schools throughout the fief. To popularize education, he was currently operating at a loss to gain goodwill.

All of these factors compelled him to collect agricultural taxes. After all, in an agrarian-based social system like this, agricultural taxes were still the main source of revenue.

However, while agricultural taxes were to be collected, they couldn’t be enforced too harshly.

The result of his discussion with Pang Yukun was to take only one-tenth of the harvest per mu of land, which would be enough to ensure that the lives of the common people were not significantly affected.

“Yes, Your Highness. In that case, I will post notices and also have the Qingzhou newspaper publish this matter.” Pang Yukun said contemplatively.

Xiao Ming nodded, “Also, this tax must be clearly defined. No local government offices are allowed to arbitrarily impose taxes under various pretexts, otherwise, don’t blame me for taking drastic measures.”