Fu Shanhe

Chapter 109 The Cavalry Arrives
With the Prime Minister's deliberate indulgence, the Censorate lost its temper again, and for a time the eunuch party's arrogance soared.

Seeing that Zuo Guangen, who had subdued the court officials and was in charge of the Imperial Household Department, was radiant.

The title of Left Prime Minister gradually spread from the inner court to the imperial court.

In order to curry favor with the emperor, some officials even used the title of "Left Prime Minister" in official documents.

The signs of his power over the government are becoming more and more serious.

Xu Mansion.

As one of the two big guys in the Qingliu camp, after Pang Hengsheng chose to let things take their own course, Xu Wenyue became everyone's last hope.

"My Lord, the eunuch party is becoming more and more outrageous.

If this continues, the country will no longer exist!"

Chu Linjie said indignantly.

The Guanglu Temple Minister was in charge of the palace's sacrifices, banquets, wine, and food arrangements for court meetings and banquets.

Although it is not a high-ranking position, it is still a powerful position in the court.

The court's annual expenditure on this is no less than one million taels of silver, which is definitely a lucrative job.

With the rise of the eunuchs, everything changed.

First, the power to hold court banquets was taken away from them, then they lost the power to manage wine, liquor, and food, and now even the power to perform sacrifices has been taken over by eunuchs.

Nominally he was a senior official of the third rank, but in reality it was just an empty title.

No normal person could endure such a great injustice, and Chu Linjie naturally couldn't tolerate it either.

As an official with brains, he was well aware that as a figurehead like himself, his words carried no weight in the court.

If you want to overthrow the eunuch party, the entire Qingliu group must work together.

"Master Chu, you can't say such things carelessly!

Now the world is at peace and people are living and working in peace and contentment. How come you say the country is on the verge of collapse?

The eunuch party did act recklessly, but they were restrained by the officials in the court, so they were far from causing chaos in the world!"

Xu Wenyue scolded immediately.

He can completely understand the feelings of eunuchs.

But if we raise it to the political dimension, that is absolutely not possible.

Identity determines stance. If the country is really on the verge of collapse, what will become of him as a cabinet minister?

"I just made a mistake in my words, please forgive me, Lord!
That gang of eunuchs really went too far, they actually want to cut down the establishment of the Guanglu Temple, otherwise I wouldn't be so busy and flustered."

Chu Linjie hurriedly explained.

His power is already low, and if his subordinates are laid off, it will be even more difficult for him as the Minister of the Ministry of Rites to survive.

Judging from the eunuchs' style, the Guanglu Temple may become a empty government office in the future.

“The court is facing financial difficulties, and it is imperative to cut redundant staff.

All departments of the imperial court have to reduce their staff, why is it that your Guanglu Temple cannot do so?"

Xu Wenyue asked with a frown.

Unlike other reforms, the elimination of redundant staff was entirely the work of the cabinet.

The main goal is not to reduce the number of officials, but to send back home those who are just in name only and do not do any work.

The main targets were royal family members, nobles, and relatives by marriage. These two groups occupied a large number of honorary positions, but only received salaries without doing any work.

According to the plan, after clearing these nominal personnel out of the court, administrative expenses could be saved by 500,000 taels each year.

As for the possibility of affecting some of our own people, that is inevitable.

The cabinet has to do something all the time; it can't just sit there doing nothing all day long.

Since they don't have the ability to promote open source, they have to find ways to cut costs.

The plan to cut redundant staff was proposed by two newly appointed cabinet ministers. Xu Wenyue naturally voted in favor of this move which would benefit the country and the people without affecting his own interests.

"Sir, the situation is different!

The Ministry of Personnel wanted to wipe out my Guanglu Temple in one fell swoop. Except for me, the Minister of Guanglu Temple, all the people below were laid off.

The number of Shaoqing was reduced from six to one.

The number of temple secretaries was reduced from seven to one.

The number of bookkeepers was reduced from eight to two.

The department is being reduced from sixteen to three.

......"

Before Chu Linjie could finish, Xu Wenyue interrupted:

"Wait a minute, I remember that the number of the Guanglu Temple Shaoqing is two, and the number of the Temple Secretary is also two, how come so many people suddenly appeared?"

In normal times, everyone's attention is on the core government offices such as the Six Ministries, and few people pay attention to government offices with a lower presence such as the Guanglu Temple.

Especially after the real power was usurped by eunuchs, the Guanglu Temple became a deserted government office and no one paid any attention to it.

“Sir, these are all issues left over from history.

Some officials were demoted, some were directly assigned as Jinshi, and some were simply there to get by.

Originally, all celebrations were managed by the Guanglu Temple. Occasionally, when there was a shortage of people for grand events, people were borrowed from other government offices.

For various reasons, some seconded officials could not return and stayed in the Guanglu Temple.

The yamen is full, so we can only add a few more positions, and over time the number of people will increase."

Chu Linjie explained awkwardly.

The current Guanglu Temple is indeed filled with a large number of redundant staff.

The problem is that he is the Minister of Imperial Household Affairs, and his position determines his position, so he cannot stand up and support layoffs on his own.

Moreover, the serious problem of redundancy is not limited to the Guanglu Temple. Similar situations exist in all departments of the imperial court.

"It's difficult!"

After sighing, Xu Wenyue also started to have a headache.

I never expected the boomerang to come so quickly.

I thought that cutting redundant staff would only mean removing a group of people who were just figureheads, but I didn't expect that so many redundant officials would be revealed.

"Lord, you have to help me think of a solution. If we follow the Ministry of Personnel's approach and lay off so many people at once, it will cause a big mess!"

Chu Linjie said anxiously.

The main reason is that the Guanglu Temple was stripped of its real power, otherwise adding a few staff would not be a big deal.

Taking the six ministries as an example, there are no large numbers of redundant staff, not because the number of officials has not increased, but because the demand for officials is also increasing.

No matter whether the work you undertake is important or not, as long as you have something to do, you will not become a "redundant staff".

"Okay, I know what happened.

If it can be solved, I will naturally find a way. You go back and wait for the news!"

Xu Wenyue said while waving his hand impatiently.

……

Li Mu, who was far away in Yangzhou, could not feel the ups and downs in the court for the time being.

His mind is now full of the good news he has received: the court's military budget will be increased next year.

At the strong request of the military, Emperor Tianyuan promised that next year's military spending would increase by 15% based on this year's.

The beneficiaries were mainly the border troops, and the increased expenses were in preparation for the counterattack in Liaodong.

Emperor Tianyuan is not one to suffer losses. The last defeat in Liaodong made him lose face, and he must find a way to get it back.

All the disturbances in the court revolved around money.

Be it the eunuchs or the cabinet, all they do is for money.

The emperor wanted to recover Liaodong and lead his troops to destroy the northern barbarians, which required the support of money and food.

The major factions in the court have basically reached an agreement on this issue.

Even if there are differences, they are differences on the timing of sending troops.

If one wants to achieve "Tianyuan Restoration", it is not enough to just sort out the internal affairs, but one must also achieve success in foreign wars.

All officials with a little political ambition supported the destruction of the Northern Tartars.

Officials from northern Xinjiang, in particular, are staunch advocates of war.

"Sir, what is written in the document that makes you so happy?"

Seeing Li Mu smiling, Lan Linjie asked in confusion.

“I applied for a thousand war horses, and the court approved seven hundred.

It is now on the way and will arrive in Yangzhou soon.

If nothing unexpected happens, the military budget allocated to us by the court next year will increase by approximately 10,000 to 15,000 taels.”

Li Mu replied with a smile.

This is the advantage of being a direct descendant. You can be the first to enjoy any favorable policies of the court.

Although the money was increased because of the cavalry establishment, the cavalry was also won by him!

In addition to the 700 war horses to be distributed to officers and scouts, 500 war horses can be used to form cavalry.

Five hundred cavalrymen are nothing on the front line of the Nine Frontiers, but this is Jiangnan.

Looking across the entire south, there are very few generals who have 500 cavalrymen under their command.

“Sir, if that’s the case, our military expenses have increased again.

The government's funding is just a drop in the bucket!"

Lan Linjie said with a sad face.

He didn't see the benefits of cavalry, but as a steward, he knew that military spending was going to be tight again.

In addition to war horses, cavalrymen were also equipped with inferior horses.

It would be good if we could get it from the court, but if we can’t, we have to find a way to purchase more.

Even if all the cavalry equipment was purchased by the imperial court, they still needed to be responsible for the subsequent training grounds, war horse breeding, and equipment maintenance.

It seemed that only 500 cavalrymen were added, but in fact military expenditure increased by 40%.

“It’s okay, difficulties are temporary.

Build a bigger horse farm, and if there is an opportunity, the cavalry organization will continue to expand in the future.

We should also recruit more craftsmen. The quality of the firearms issued by the court is worrying. Let's see if one or two can be modified.

When I have enough financial resources, I will also learn from the frontier troops and try to build my own artillery."

Li Mu said with a smile on his face.

Compared with the improvement of military strength, a little money and food is nothing.

Judging from the results, his move to take up the post in Yangzhou was clearly the right one.

If the place was not wealthy, it would not be easy to feed this army in the northern border area.

Let’s not talk about anything else, just talking about the price of food, the price on the Liaodong front is several times that of Jiangnan.

The expenses of border troops are high, largely due to the loss of farmland outside the Great Wall and the loss of the ability to be self-sufficient.

Almost all the strategic materials needed by the army were transported from the rear.

"The students will go down and make arrangements right away!"

Lan Linjie said helplessly.

It is not a good thing if the boss you follow is too aggressive.

I thought that after the situation stabilized, Li Mu would be able to make money in Yangzhou for a few years and then get promoted and leave.

With his accumulated network of contacts, he can also retire after achieving success and devote himself wholeheartedly to the cause of imperial examinations.

Judging from the current situation, Li Mu is obviously not here to make money, but rather to gain military power and establish himself.

Fortunately, Li Mu's identity as a son of a noble family made him gradually feel at ease, otherwise he would have considered packing up and running away.

Compared with other dynasties, the nobles of Dayu were relatively worry-free and never caused any major trouble.

As a group that shares the same destiny with the country, the nobles themselves are deeply bound to the imperial power, and there has so far been no case of them commanding their own troops.

……

(End of this chapter)