Fu Shanhe

Chapter 148 Battle of Landing
"Bastard!"

"Such arrogance and domineering, what's the difference between you and a traitor!
This old man will definitely take part in their investigation..."

Zou Yunchuan kept cursing.

I had just had an argument at a military meeting and I was already very angry.

Soon after, he received news that the Yangzhou Camp and the Huai'an Camp were going to act alone, completely disregarding the face of him as the governor.

If it were an ordinary military general, he would have ordered his arrest long ago.

If pushed into a corner, it is not impossible that he would kill someone to establish his authority.

Things are different now.

The Yangzhou Camp and the Huai'an Camp are not only the most capable among the reinforcements, but their two lieutenant generals are also the most powerful among all the generals.

Since ancient times, there have been people who kill chickens to scare monkeys, but there has never been anyone who kills tigers to scare chickens.

The fact that they dared to discuss it at the council meeting was obviously a way to express their dissatisfaction with him as the governor.

"Since you knew about this, why didn't you report it on the spot?"

Zou Yunchuan's questioning stunned the people who had reported him.

In order to show their loyalty, they reported it immediately after the meeting.

Unfortunately, this kind of performance not only did not receive any praise, but instead caused anger.

"Governor, we are in such a solemn situation that it is inconvenient for us to speak!"

Xie Chenghan said helplessly.

You have to choose the right occasion to be a snitch. If you really expose someone on the spot, the situation will be even more embarrassing.

Not only did it slap the faces of the Big Three, but if Li Mu and Jing Yifeng were thicker-skinned and directly bit back, it would be hard to say whether anyone would dare to testify for them.

At least for the generals of Fujian and Jiangxi, offending him, the commander-in-chief of Guangdong, is more cost-effective than offending Jing and Li.

For some people, if something doesn't happen, it doesn't exist.

If he was not working in Guangdong and had to rely on the governor's office, he would not want to do such an offending thing.

"What are you standing there for? Hurry up and get him back. No troops are allowed to act without my order!"

Zou Yunchuan said unhappily.

It is a shame for a civil official to be in charge of logistics but unable to control the military commanders. This will make the court doubt his ability.

The low-level reception at the dock was just a warning from him.

I originally wanted Li Mu to recognize who is the boss in Guangdong so that he would behave himself in the future, but I didn't expect it to have the opposite effect.

Not only does he not listen to orders himself, he also drags others into disobeying orders.

Fortunately, the generals of the reinforcements from Fujian and Jiangxi were not of noble birth, otherwise it would not be just two battalions causing trouble, but reinforcements from three provinces would be causing trouble together.

After this farce, no matter what the final outcome is, he, as the governor, will be labeled as incompetent.

Even if he has a background in the court, he dare not promote him. No one knows what kind of trouble he will cause in the future if he cannot control his subordinates.

"Yes, I will chase him right away!"

After saying this, Xie Chenghan turned and ran away.

The local general who had informed on the matter decisively chose to follow.

Experience told them that when their governor was angry, they must stay away from him as soon as possible.

The group arrived at the gate of Yangzhou Camp. At this time, the soldiers had already begun to dismantle the camp, and it was obvious that they were not planning to spend the night here.

"Thank you for your visit, sir. I apologize for not welcoming you in person. I hope you can forgive me!"

Seeing the person coming, Li Mu said with a smile.

It goes without saying that these people must have reported him and were then ordered to come and persuade him to stay.

However, these people were obviously not very courageous. Only a few generals came to persuade them, but no one brought the army to forcibly intercept them.

Considering the mobilization efficiency of Dayu’s army, if they really wanted to intercept them by force, it would take at least a day or two to assemble a team.

"Commander Li, I think you understand why we are here.

For the sake of the overall situation, I hope the Yangzhou Battalion can stay!"

Xie Chenghan began to persuade.

The reason for choosing to go to Yangzhou camp to persuade was mainly because this incident was instigated by Li Mu.

Moreover, the fleet was in his hands, so as long as the Yangzhou Camp was left behind, the Huai'an Camp would not be able to escape.

"Thank you, Commander, there is no need to do this.

Guangdong currently has an army of 250,000. Even without our 20,000 troops, there are still 230,000 troops.

It's enough to deal with the rebels' attacks, it won't affect anything at all.

On the contrary, it is our best strategy to attack the rebels from behind and form a four-pronged attack! "

Li Mu talked nonsense seriously.

Guangdong at that time was not the number one province in the world as it would be in later generations. Among the many provinces in Dayu, it ranked relatively low.

If there really were an army of 250,000, the daily expenditure of money and food alone would be enough to suffocate Guangdong.

Without the court's urging, Guangdong would send troops to quell the rebellion as soon as possible.

The reason for not taking any action was not only that the Guangdong governor was timid, but also that there were huge interests hidden behind it.

The 250,000-man army was just a boast they made up, but when they reported the expenses to the court, they actually followed that number.

If it is delayed for a year or two, not only can the province's original deficit be filled, but a huge profit can also be made.

With huge interests at stake, officials in Guangdong Province would naturally not be enthusiastic about suppressing the rebels.

Including the governor who advocated war, they only clamored for sending troops because of political needs, but did not take any substantial action.

However, since the governor's office announced that it had an army of 250,000, Li Mu took it as true.

According to the figures on paper, even if he left with his troops, there would still be 230,000 troops in the area, which was theoretically enough to deal with any emergency.

If anything unexpected happens in the Guangdong war in the future, it will have nothing to do with him.

"General Li, please stop pretending to be confused.

You know the actual strength of the local garrison troops.

The 100,000 reinforcements from Fujian and Jiangxi actually only had a total strength of less than 30,000.

The nominal army of 250,000 soldiers was only half of that in actual strength, all thanks to the generals' good command of the army.

Among them, there were no more than 40,000 to 50,000 soldiers capable of fighting.

Once the Huai'an and Yangzhou camps leave, Guangdong's military strength will be greatly reduced..."

Li Mu interrupted Xie Chenghan before he could finish.

"Thank you, Commander. You can eat whatever you want, but you can't say anything you want.

The Governor's Office said that Guangdong has an army of 250,000. That is 250,000 troops, and not a single soldier can be missing.

All the generals in the army are brave men. An army of 250,000 men is 250,000 soldiers, without any impurities!

Well, I still have military duties to attend to, so I won't try to keep you here any longer."

After knocking everyone out with a set of politically correct punches, Li Mu turned around and left.

……

Just as Li Mu was planning the battle of Guangxi, the political struggle in the capital once again opened a new chapter.

First, he was one of the Eight Ministers, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department and the governor of the Eastern Depot, Zuo Guangen. After being released from prison, he hanged himself at home.

Then the old news of Sima Yi's usurpation of power became a hot topic in the capital again, with the spearhead directed at Prime Minister Pang Hengsheng.

However, compared to the fallen Zuo Guangen, Prime Minister Pang's foundation is obviously much more stable.

No matter how hard you try to compare him with Sima Yi, apart from the fact that they are both very old, they don't actually have much in common.

Except for a few stupid people who believed it, most people just regarded it as a farce.

Sima Yi was able to usurp power because he had held power for decades and maintained power over a long period of time.

Pang Ge Lao was just a pure civil servant. Even if he had ideas in his mind, he had no ability to put them into practice. Not to mention usurping the throne, he was even a little short of having power over the government and the country.

Even if one person is missing, the seven ministers still check and balance each other in power, except that the civil servants have more say in the court.

The outside world may not take it seriously, but Pang Hengsheng, the person involved, was seriously frightened.

This is no longer a simple political struggle; it is clearly an attempt to kill him.

His experience in political struggles told him that if a rumor is spread enough, it will become the truth.

The emperor is a suspicious creature, especially when it comes to imperial power. His approach is usually to rather believe it than not.

Once the emperor believed it, he would have no hope of a good end.

In order to prove his innocence, he had no choice but to submit five resignations in succession, which were naturally rejected one by one.

He had just gotten rid of the Imperial Household Department, and now he was sending the Prime Minister home. Even if he lacked political common sense, he knew that this was not the way to go.

If the ministers are pushed into a corner, they might even risk their reputation during their lifetime and after their death to establish a new emperor.

In fact, from the time he ascended the throne to the present day, Ji Zhaoshun has always lacked a sense of security.

The reason he chose to kill Zuo Guangen was not only because he instinctively hated the eunuch party, but also in order to take control of the palace into his own hands.

Cining Palace.

"Mother, why did you call me here?"

Looking at his mother, Ji Zhaoshun asked puzzledly.

As a filial son, he came to pay his respects every day and told his parents everything at that time.

"Your Majesty, I shouldn't have spoken about matters at court.

But recently, both the government and the public have been in an uproar over a rumor.

You should also keep those two gentlemen in check. The world has never been at peace since they came to Beijing.

When your elder brother was in power, they loved to make trouble, and they still haven't changed their bad habits now.

Pang Hengsheng has been forced to resign repeatedly, and you just want to kill a prime minister before you take power!"

Queen Mother Zheng said with a look of disappointment.

The harem of the Dayu Dynasty was not allowed to interfere in government affairs. She originally didn't want to get involved, but rumors were flying everywhere and she couldn't keep her ears open in the harem.

"No, how could I force the Prime Minister to death!
Mother, who spread these rumors?"

Ji Zhaoshun denied it immediately.

He hasn't even taken power yet, so he definitely can't do something as deadly as forcing the Prime Minister to death.

Under the cabinet system, the role played by the prime minister is very important.

Since the establishment of Dayu, only a few prime ministers have been killed.

Even if the emperor wanted to settle accounts, he would wait until the other party left the court and then find an excuse to take action.

There is no precedent in Dayu of forcing someone to death in office, and Ji Zhaoshun does not intend to set this precedent.

"The news is spreading all over the capital, if I can't hear it, I would be deaf.

Okay, I just have one more thing to say.

You are the emperor, you should make your own decisions.

Counting the days, there is only more than a month left before this year ends.

If you have nothing else to do, spend more time on your wedding and don’t bother with useless things.”

Queen Mother Zheng said unhappily.

In her opinion, it is better to follow the procedures step by step than to seize power from a group of ministers.

It won’t be too late to sort out state affairs slowly after you’ve firmly established the throne.

"Mother, I don't mean to blame you.

But I didn't expect that things would become so serious.

Don't worry, I will explain this matter at the court meeting so that Lord Pang can rest assured!
As for the wedding, I will trouble you, mother, to take care of it."

Ji Zhaoshun explained immediately.

Deep down in his heart, his dissatisfaction with Pang Hengsheng deepened even more.

She didn't tell the emperor about the matter, but came to report to the empress dowager, which clearly showed that she didn't take him seriously.

However, considering that the wedding was approaching and he would soon take power, he needed stability in the court and temporarily suppressed his inner dissatisfaction.

……

Lianzhou Port.

Ever since the city was breached by the rebels, it has been in a state of panic.

The gentry and merchants were not optimistic about the success of the White Lotus Sect, and chose to temporarily interrupt this trade route to avoid being held accountable by the imperial court later.

The economic value was gone, and it was located in the rear area. Apart from leaving a small number of troops to garrison, the rebels did not take this place seriously.

Zhao Laosan, who originally served as a dock supervisor, was appointed as a captain and was responsible for guarding Lianzhou Port because he was an elder in the church and had killed an inspector during the uprising.

At the beginning, Zhao Laosan worked very hard, but gradually he found that the ships on the sea would not dock at all and there was no profit to be made, so he lost his enthusiasm.

Every day, he led a symbolic patrol, went fishing and basked in the sun. Compared with his colleagues fighting on the front line, his life was quite comfortable.

"Captain... we have a boat... we have a boat!
A large number of fleets appeared on the sea..."

After hearing his fifth brother's hesitant words, Zhao Laosan, whose good dream was disturbed, kicked him out.

"Old Five, can't you just try harder?

There are ships on the sea, so there's nothing to be surprised about.

Do you think you can go to the sea and collect taxes from people with just a few small fishing boats like us?"

Being an official and collecting taxes has been his lifelong dream.

Now it is halfway done, and I have successfully become an official of the White Lotus Sect, but unfortunately there is no tax to collect.

The situation in Guangxi is special. It seems to have a population of several million, but half of them are controlled by chieftains.

After the White Lotus Rebellion was successful, in order to increase military strength, all the young and strong men were incorporated into the army, leaving no time to take care of production.

Looking around, everyone is our own people, so taxation naturally does not exist.

“This time it’s different, the fleet is heading towards us.

There is a flag flying, so it is most likely a ship belonging to the government army."

Zhao Laowu explained aggrievedly.

"What, an official ship?

Why didn’t you say it earlier!

No, we must quickly notify the brothers to assemble and never let the enemy land successfully.

No, we must send someone to inform General Zhou immediately and ask him to send reinforcements."

Zhao Laosan said in panic.

Dayu has ruled this land for more than two hundred years, and its influence has long been deeply rooted, and it cannot be eliminated by a single uprising.

Even though the White Lotus Sect occupied most of Guangxi, everyone was still full of fear of the imperial court.

Before his men could take action, the roar of artillery fire had already begun.

The originally lazy rebel army soon fell into chaos.

“Don’t mess around!

Don't mess around!
Artillery, fire back immediately!

......"

Zhao Laosan shouted with all his might.

However, the sound of artillery fire awakened everyone's deep-seated fear of the imperial court. The louder he shouted, the more panicked the soldiers became.

(End of this chapter)