Fu Shanhe

Chapter 144 Planning
Wenyuan Pavilion.

After the court meeting, seven ministers gathered in Wenyuan Pavilion.

In the past two hours, too many things happened, enough to affect the future of Dayu.

The most important thing is that they lost control of the court.

Neither the capture of Zuo Guangen nor the abolition of the factory guards were initiated by them.

"Prime Minister, the situation seems a little bad!
The emperor's actions today were really too unreasonable.

It would be fine to use the court's discussion to forcibly take down Zuo Guangen.

It's just an embarrassment to us, it's not a big deal.

But if we lay off the factory guards, the impact will be too great!"

Jing Guoliang said worriedly.

Compared with the civil and military officials, the nobles are more closely tied to Dayu.

Laying off factory guards may be beneficial to everyone in the short term, but it will be fatal in the long run.

Perhaps the current East Depot and Embroidered Uniform Guard are already corrupt internally, and their combat effectiveness is far less than it was in the past.

However, these two institutions still play an important role in Dayu.

The Jinyiwei, in particular, not only monitored the officials internally, but also collected intelligence externally.

Those book-stupid fools can deny the value of the Imperial Guard, but they, the helmsmen of the empire, cannot.

"It's all because of those two bastards. Ever since those two came to Beijing, there has been no peace in the court.

I shouldn't have let them go in the first place. I was so lenient that I didn't expect that they would become a disaster!"

Pang Hengsheng said with gritted teeth.

From the cold light between his brows, it can be seen that he has the intention to kill.

The other six people had similar ideas, and they all disliked Yin Zuo and the other two.

However, Yin Zuo and the other two had too high a reputation in the court and the country, and it was difficult to take them down without a suitable reason.

It was at this time that everyone remembered the good things about Zuo Guangen. This kind of dirty work was most suitable for the eunuch party to do.

Unfortunately, the eunuch party is now finished. If they want to take action, they will have to do it themselves.

But everyone is a person who values ​​their reputation, and no one wants to sacrifice their own reputation for the sake of eliminating traitors for the country.

What's more, Yin and Zuo are protected by the emperor. Now that they have the power, they can naturally kill people.

However, the price is too high, and the emperor will make a list in the future.

"It's fine to abolish the East Depot, but the Imperial Guard cannot be abolished entirely. The court needs an agency to collect external intelligence.

Besides, the Jinyiwei are the emperor's personal army, guarding the imperial city, so they cannot be moved lightly."

Li Yuan said with a heavy heart.

On the way here, he had thought it through.

The emperor can act recklessly, but his ministers cannot follow him.

All the ministers wanted to abolish the imperial guards, and the emperor also issued an order at the court, so no one could stop them at this moment.

What we can do now is to preserve as many seeds as possible to lay the foundation for future reconstruction.

However, after all this trouble, the Jinyiwei will inevitably suffer heavy losses.

The reason why the Imperial Guards are so powerful is that they have buried a large number of intelligence personnel throughout the empire over the past hundreds of years.

It is easy to dismantle an intelligence organization, but it is difficult to rebuild it.

"Your Majesty is right, the Imperial Guard cannot be completely dismissed.

But now the government and the public are very excited, and we cannot protect it openly.

Just give these branches a new name and let them continue to serve the Empire."

Lu Shoutong followed up with a suggestion.

"If everyone has no objection, let's do this to abolish the factory guards!

The officers and soldiers of the former Dongchang Jinyiwei cannot be disbanded directly. I think they should be sent to Guangxi to quell the rebellion.

If they have made military achievements, they will be recruited as soldiers, or they will be split up and placed in different armies."

Pang Hengsheng said expressionlessly.

As a civil servant, he naturally disliked the factory guards.

Now that the opportunity to kill the factory guards has come, we must not show mercy.

If these people are not dealt with, it would be disastrous if the emperor later realizes and rebuilds the Censorate.

It is definitely not possible to just raise the butcher knife, so the only option is to kill with someone else's knife.

War means casualties, and even small-scale combat units of secret organizations like the East Factory and the Embroidered Uniform Guard are elites.

Once you get involved in a major war, the situation is different.

At least before adapting to the combat mode, you will have to pay a heavy price.

Being able to accept the retention of some establishments was, on the one hand, to save face for Marquis Zhenyuan, and on the other hand, because the empire really needed it.

……

Yangzhou City.

Li Mu, who was preparing for war, was stunned when he saw the official document forwarded by the court.

Only after confirming it again and again did I dare to believe it was true.

Disbanding factory guards, why does the plot sound so familiar!
It was a vivid preview of the Chongzhen version, the only difference being that there was a group of regents around him.

However, according to Dayu's tradition, the new emperor will rule the country personally after his wedding, and the role of the regent will be infinitely reduced.

Thinking of this, Li Mu already had a bad premonition in his heart.

The situation in Dayu is slightly better than that in the late Ming Dynasty, but the improvement is limited.

If the emperor were as troublesome as Chongzhen, no matter how rich the family fortune was, it would not be able to withstand squandering.

Li Mu shuddered when he thought of the horrific scene at the end of the dynasty.

If there is a real change of dynasty, the children of the nobles of the previous dynasty usually don't have a good ending.

Especially people like him who have soldiers and military achievements are the first to be purged.

"Sir, are you feeling unwell?"

Lan Linjie on the side asked puzzledly.

The contents of the official document did have a great impact on Dayu.

But to their own masters, they are the vested interests in the abolition of the factory guards.

Without the supervision of the Imperial Guard, many things that he dared not do before are now feasible. He can't guarantee anything else, but with his understanding of his master's ability, it is not a problem to make tens of thousands of taels of silver every year.

"fine!
I just thought of some things and felt a little nervous.

Maybe it’s because it’s his first time leading troops into battle, so he’s not sure about himself!
By the way, the imperial court ordered the Jinyiwei from all over the country to rush to the front line.

Our army just happened to be lacking capable scouts, so we took along the Jinyiwei along with us."

Li Mu made up a lame excuse and said.

It's a little bit out of order, but it's not a big deal.

From the moment the emperor issued an order to disband the Jinyiwei, they were no longer the emperor's personal army.

The imperial court has not yet given a clear answer on how the reform will be carried out, but the treatment will definitely not be higher than that of recruiting soldiers.

Given the bad impression that the civil servants had of the Jinyiwei, their treatment might not even be as good as that of the garrison soldiers.

It is estimated that it won’t be long before this special forces unit disappears in the long river of history.

It just so happened that he wanted to set up his own intelligence agency, so he decided to take the opportunity to make some money.

If you can screen out available people, then poach them.

It doesn’t matter if you can’t find it. Bringing more people to the battlefield will only consume more money and food.

For ordinary generals, this is a huge trouble.

For Li Mu, it is not a big problem at all.

He has rich experience in how to extort money and food from civil servants.

With the support of people in the court, he is not afraid of the case being brought before the emperor as long as he is right.

"Sir, the Jinyiwei is notorious. If..."

Li Mu interrupted Lan Linjie before he could finish.

“This is a simple matter. If the civil officials ask, just tell them that we need cannon fodder in the war.

When we get to the battlefield, if we report more casualties of the Jinyiwei, everyone will be very satisfied.

At worst, the Jinyiwei who died in the battle could be re-enlisted under a new name and incorporated into the Yangzhou camp.

If there are no vacancies, we will occupy the local garrison troops.

If everything goes well, after this battle, I can be promoted to a higher level.

I am not sure whether I can continue to stay in Yangzhou, but the number of positions I have will definitely increase.”

According to my previous thoughts, it would be best to stay in Yangzhou, this colorful world, and live a happy and peaceful life.

But after realizing that the situation in Dayu was not good, he no longer had the thought of seeking comfort.

At the age of 20, it is the time to venture out and explore. How can you just lie down and enjoy yourself?

The right thing to do is to take advantage of the fact that you have someone in the court now and quickly climb up to gain control of as many soldiers as possible.

If the situation in the empire deteriorates in the future, having soldiers on hand will enable us to deal with various emergencies.

"Sir, Yangzhou is a good place.

The treatment of Yangzhou Camp is the best in the entire Dayu Dynasty.

Even in the Nine Border Areas, those soldiers only have higher salaries in name, but their actual living standards are far lower than ours.

Once you go to a cold and bitter place, it will be difficult to maintain such a life.

If you really want to be promoted, I suggest you plan for the position of Commander-in-Chief of Southern Zhili, or directly stay in Yangzhou and be promoted to deputy general or general.

With your connections in the court, it won't be difficult to do this."

Lan Linjie said with a smile.

Choosing to be a legal advisor was undoubtedly the right move for him.

No one could have imagined that the small captain a year ago has now become a powerful general in the empire.

The name of the official office of the Duzhihuishi: Duzhihuishisi, one of the three offices of the province, is the highest military leadership organization in the local area.

In its heyday, it was able to compete with governors and provincial governors.

With the rise of civil servants, the status of the commander-in-chief declined significantly and was controlled by the local governor.

However, in cases of good or bad fortune or funerals, when using the sequence of titles, the Commander-in-Chief is still ranked before the Governor.

This position was once Li Mu's highest pursuit when he entered the officialdom.

If we deeply explore the power contained in the position, theoretically, he can command hundreds of thousands of soldiers in a province.

As long as he can subdue the generals below, he will still be the real power in the local area even if he is suppressed by civil officials.

However, if one really wants to plan for this position, then Nanzhili is not the first choice.

The local area is indeed wealthy and can continue to occupy the land borrowed from the government office, but there are too many "mother-in-laws" above.

In addition to the governor, provincial governor, and provincial judge, there are also the six ministries of Nanjing putting pressure on them.

Any slight movement would attract the attention of these people.

In peacetime, it is simply impossible to do anything.

On the contrary, the border provinces have more room for development.

Especially in the nine border areas, if the generals of the nine border areas can solve the problem of military pay, they can instantly be transformed into a vassal state.

"Ha ha……

There is no rush for these things for now.

Let’s put down the rebellion in Guangxi first. It’s too early to talk about these things now.

Besides, there is someone else in the position of the Commander-in-Chief of Nanzhili. It is not gentlemanly to forcibly replace him!"

Li Mu said with a smile.

His own advisor was finally able to give him advice on important matters.

Although due to information asymmetry, my ideas were contrary to his.

But putting aside the memories of the past life, looking at it from the current perspective, staying in Nanzhili to work is definitely the best choice.

Ranking the position of the commander-in-chief as the most preferred one is undoubtedly a combination of his actual situation and planning from his perspective.

Although they are all commanders-in-chief, different people in different positions can wield different powers.

The current commander-in-chief of Southern Zhili has been sidelined by the Nanjing Ministry of War, and the generals under him simply ignore him.

If a strong general like Li Mu were to take over, even if he couldn't take back all the power, he would at least have enough say in the military affairs of the entire province.

……

(End of this chapter)