Fu Shanhe

Chapter 147 Making trouble

Guangdong Governor's Office.

“I just received news that the Huguang rebellion suppression army suffered heavy losses in Guilin and has retreated to Huguang for defense.

After receiving the news, the joint forces of Yunnan and Guizhou provinces also withdrew from Guangxi.

At this moment, the main force of the rebels is moving towards Guangdong. Do you have any good ideas to defeat the enemy?"

Hearing the question from Governor Zou Yunchuan, Li Mu rolled his eyes secretly.

The strategy formulated by the imperial court was to send three armies from Yunnan, Guizhou, Huguang and Guangdong to jointly suppress the rebels in Guangxi.

Among them, the government troops in Huguang were the most active, but also suffered the worst defeat.

The progress in Yunnan and Guizhou was relatively slow, but they also entered Guangxi and recovered several county towns.

Only Guangdong did not take any action for a long time, completely allowing the rebels and teammates to fight each other.

The current battlefield situation has deteriorated, and Guangdong Governor Zou Yunchuan should bear at least half the responsibility.

If the Guangdong army had actively participated in the encirclement and suppression, the rebels would have had no chance to concentrate their forces to defeat the Huguang army.

"Governor, if an enemy comes, we will stop him with soldiers and if a flood comes, we will block it with earth.

At this moment, we have gathered an army of 250,000 in Guangdong. There is no need to be afraid of the enemy. We can just send troops to wipe out the rebels.

If some people hadn't hesitated and were unwilling to send troops, the rebels would have been wiped out long ago!"

Governor Xue Weichen sneered.

It is the norm for Dayu bureaucrats to mind their own business and not worry about other people's problems.

Normality does not mean that everyone agrees with it. Xue Weichen was very dissatisfied with Governor Zou Yunchuan's passive avoidance of war.

"Master Xue, the rebels are coming with great force, and a hasty battle is definitely not a good idea.

It would be better to send someone to contact the rebel suppression forces in Huguang, Yunnan and Guizhou, so that we can join forces to suppress the rebels."

Censor Liang Qixin spoke next.

Due to the need for checks and balances of power, generally speaking, the relationship between the governor, provincial governor, and provincial judge would not be very good.

When the imperial court makes personnel appointments, it usually selects people from different factions.

In the case of Guangdong, it is obvious that the governor and the provincial judge were politically close to each other, suppressing the voice of the provincial governor.

The three civil officials were engaged in a verbal battle, while the military officers below were all daydreaming.

……

"Uncle Qi, how long do you think they can quarrel?"

Li Mu was bored, so he started chatting with the Lieutenant General of Huai'an Camp who was sitting next to him.

This person is a distant cousin of his father-in-law, one level higher than Li Mu, but the age difference between them is not that big.

Because they worked in adjacent places, the two families often visited each other and had a relatively good relationship.

“Based on my experience, if no one intervenes, I guess they can argue until the end of the meeting.

If a fire is lit, the three of them might start a fight."

Jing Yifeng said with a smile.

As for military generals, few of them like civil officials.

Now that the civil servants are fighting among themselves, they are naturally happy to watch the fun.

"Or you can go and encourage them to fight."

Li Mu joked.

“They are all elderly people, we should know how to respect the elderly and love the young.

If they really fight, one or two of them might die accidentally.

If the court holds us accountable and finds that we were the one who started it, wouldn’t that be terrible?”

Jing Yifeng teased.

Fortunately, in the military meeting, the general's seat was relatively back, otherwise he would have been furious to death after hearing the conversation between the two.

Several generals nearby heard the conversation between the two and wanted to laugh but were afraid of causing trouble, so they tried to hold it back and their faces turned red.

During the Great Yu Dynasty, there were only a handful of military generals who dared to offend civil officials.

"What you said makes sense. We really can't provoke these old men.

But if I follow them into war, I’m afraid that an incompetent general will lead to the destruction of the entire army.

Otherwise, before the battle in Guangdong starts, we two can go out and fight on our own."

Li Mu took the opportunity to extend the invitation.

There is nothing wrong strategically with attacking Guangxi from the sea and going straight to the rebels' lair.

However, this kind of action of breaking away from the civil service and acting on one's own is still somewhat extraordinary.

Although there are people in the court who can suppress the matter, it is still a bit rash.

When I go back to Beijing, I will definitely be scolded.

In order to have more peace of mind, Li Mu felt it necessary to get more people to share the responsibility.

Among so many generals present, the only one who had the courage to do this was this distant uncle.

"With just our two battalions, wouldn't our strength be a little weak?

If we anger the rebels, they will do their best to stabilize the rear, and I don't think these old guys will send troops to help.

Besides, the food and wages are still in their hands. If they delay the distribution of food, it will be a problem.”

Jing Yifeng said with a little hesitation.

Unlike the Yangzhou Camp which was established by Li Mu himself, he obtained the position of Huai'an Lieutenant General after the power reshuffle.

Having never been to the battlefield, he had no idea about the combat effectiveness of his troops.

"Wrong, it's not two battalions, it's four battalions.

This time, I not only brought the Yangzhou Battalion, but also the Yangzhou Navy and the newly formed battalion sent from Nanjing.

Including your Huai'an Battalion, the total strength is nearly 20,000.

What's more, there is a cavalry unit among them, so it is not a problem for them to gain a foothold in Lianzhou Prefecture.

Since the Guangdong Governor's Office refused to distribute grain, we impeached them as hidden remnants of the eunuch party.

Because he was dissatisfied with the court's elimination of the eunuch party, he deliberately delayed the opportunity to fight, hoping to take revenge on the court.

I remember the martyred governor of Guangxi, but he was Mr. Zuo's favorite student and a pillar of the Qingliu Party. The fact that Guangdong did not send troops to rescue and watched Guangxi fall is the best evidence.

Your Majesty hates the eunuch party the most. If we find someone to stir up trouble for us, we will definitely not let them off."

Li Mu said calmly.

He did bring a lot of people this time, but the fighting troops were still from the Yangzhou Camp.

Only God knows how effective the temporary battalion formed by the Embroidered Uniform Guard is.

Anyway, he had no hope for such a demoralized army.

The main task of the navy is to protect the army's retreat and transport food and fodder, and it is impossible for it to be involved in land battles.

As for impeaching the Guangdong governor as a remnant of the eunuch party, it was purely to scare people.

How could there be no one in the court who could serve as the governor of a province?

If any impeachment could be enough to bring him down, Zou Yunchuan would have been brought down long ago.

Unless he can convince his uncle and father-in-law to take action, the court will not take the impeachment of a small lieutenant general like him seriously.

“You are very brave, but you can definitely try.

Otherwise, we can recruit a few more partners, and after conquering Lianzhou Prefecture, we can also take back Nanning Prefecture and Xunzhou Prefecture.”

Jing Yifeng said eagerly.

No one likes to fight a cowardly fight, and being able to make their own decisions has always been the pursuit of the generals of Dayu.

He was really tempted by Li Mu's promises.

For generals like them with backgrounds, as long as they win the battle, these little things don't matter at all.

Even if the civil servants in Guangdong were dissatisfied with them, they would not risk offending the two assistant ministers and actually impeach them.

If they really fall out, the worst that can happen is that they will be accused of being the remnants of the eunuch party.

Others would not believe it, but it is hard to say for Zuo Hongjiang, whose students had died.

If this person holds a grudge against the Governor of Guangdong and cooperates with them, they might be able to bring him down.

However, this extreme approach is a very bad strategy. After killing the Governor of Guangdong, you will offend the forces behind him.

It is equivalent to intervening in party struggles, and the subsequent hidden dangers are too great.

“If you can attract people, I have no objection.

However, the order we received was to suppress the rebellion in Guangxi, and the official document did not say that we had to obey the orders of the Governor of Guangdong.

Taking the troops out to work alone did not violate military orders.

They are different. Either they received orders to go to Guangdong for support, or they are local troops from Guangdong.

If you follow us, you still have room to maneuver if you win, but if you lose, you will lose your head."

Li Mu said indifferently.

If he really wanted to recruit people, he was confident that he could fool these colleagues over.

The problem is that war is fought for money and food, and logistics will be a problem if you bring a large army with you.

He came by sea, carrying with him a large amount of food and fodder, enough to feed 20,000 people for three months.

Even if the imperial court did not allocate food and fodder in time, he had enough time to send a fleet back to Yangzhou to transport food.

Whether asking Nanzhili for food or paying for it themselves, the logistics of the army could be guaranteed.

But once the military force increases to 60,000, there will only be enough food for one and a half months, and the pressure will suddenly increase.

Instead of heading straight to Guangxi, it landed in Guangdong first.

On the one hand, it is to rest the troops, and on the other hand, someone is responsible for meals, which can reduce the consumption of food and fodder.

"General Wei, General Liu, you all heard it.

Do you want to work with us? Just tell me straight out loud."

Jing Yifeng spoke bluntly.

He knew that what Li Mu said was true, and the local troops in Guangdong would never dare to offend the governor's office.

The only ones who dared to disobey the orders of the Guangdong Governor were these foreign troops.

"General Jing, please show some mercy and let us go!
You are not afraid of offending people, but we are!"

Fujian General Wei Zhiyuan said helplessly.

To be honest, he was really moved.

But reason told him that he could not take the risk.

The two people in front of me both have backers. If they cause trouble, the worst that can happen is that they just walk away.

For the sake of the two assistant ministers, Guangdong did not want to be too serious about it.

But it’s different for him as a temporary general. Although he has some connections behind him, he can’t afford this.

If we really work together, if we fail, we might have to take the blame.

"General Wei is right. We should just pretend we didn't hear anything. Please do as you please."

Jiangxi General Liu Yingjie followed up with a low voice.

Deep down, he couldn't help cursing.

To discuss such matters, we can just conspire in private.

If there was a promise of a guarantee, he might dare to take the risk.

In this kind of situation, no matter how low your voice is, people nearby will be able to hear it.

I guess as soon as the meeting is over, the news will reach the ears of the Big Three.

"Just don't participate, Jing never forces anyone to do anything.

If you want to tell on me, I won't stop you.

Just follow them to fight, and when you get to the battlefield, you can only wish for your own good!"

Jing Yifeng said in a very angry tone.

Seeing this scene, Li Mu began to doubt whether it was the right choice for him to ask his seventh uncle to cooperate with him.

Although what he said was the truth, sometimes the truth is the most hurtful.

……

(End of this chapter)