Fu Shanhe

Chapter 151 Preparations for the Holy Nation

Holy Land of White Lotus.

"What's going on in Lianzhou Prefecture?"

Shi Rongxuan asked expressionlessly.

These days, he has been busy establishing his own system and becoming emperor.

After establishing the regime, they looked back and found that the government troops had landed in Lianzhou Prefecture.

“Your Majesty, the incident in Lianzhou was purely accidental.

Half a month ago, the puppet dynasty gathered 50,000 troops and suddenly launched an attack on Lianzhou Port.

The Holy Dynasty had insufficient troops left behind in the area, and Zhou Damao, the defender of Lianzhou, led his troops to fight bravely, but the enemy forces were too numerous.

After killing a large number of enemy troops, they were forced to retreat to the city.

As the situation worsened, Zhou Zhenshou organized troops to resist the pseudo-dynastic army while lobbying local chieftains.

Now we have gained the support of many chieftains, and we are just waiting for the Holy Dynasty reinforcements to arrive, and then we can organize a large army to recover the lost territory."

Deputy Prime Minister Fu Sanqi answered.

As a new theocratic regime, the Holy White Lotus Kingdom has yet to establish a comprehensive set of reward and punishment measures.

Such a major event as the loss of city and territory should have been reported immediately, but it was delayed for half a month.

It says there are 50,000 troops, so just take it as 50,000 troops, and don't even bother to verify the information.

If the government troops had launched a large-scale attack, we might have lost several prefectures by now.

Despite such a serious accident, everyone present acted as if nothing had happened.

In the eyes of many church leaders, losing a port is almost the same as losing a county town on the front line.

All we have to do is fight back and take back the lost territory.

"Um!

Convey my order and order the local chieftains to send out 12,000 troops from large camps, 7,000 troops from medium camps, and 2,000 troops from small camps, so as to gather a total of 100,000 troops to attack the army of the pseudo-dynasty.

Tell those chieftains that once they become officials of my holy dynasty, they should stop being indecisive.

If Lianzhou Port cannot be recovered within a month, I will take their heads!"

Shi Rongxian immediately issued an order.

He had long been dissatisfied with the many chieftains under his rule.

When there are benefits, everyone rushes to grab them.

When it comes to getting down to business, everyone hides behind.

He clearly accepted his enthronement, but refused to follow his orders.

We were busy fighting the puppet government troops and had no time to pay attention to them.

Now that he had free hands, he needed to make these chieftains show their loyalty.

Unless these people have their hands stained with the blood of the puppet government's troops, no one can guarantee that these guys will not turn against us when the next war breaks out.

“Holy Emperor, Tusi has deep roots in Guangxi.

We have just stabilized the situation and it is not appropriate to engage in conflict with them."

Left Prime Minister Sun Xingchen began to persuade.

The power of a single chieftain in Guangxi is not that strong, as there are many chieftains in Guangxi.

Some chieftains on the border even have multiple identities.

He accepted the enthronement from Dayu, the enthronement from the Li Dynasty, and now he has accepted the enthronement from the White Lotus Dynasty.

A typical fence-sitter, not loyal to any one party.

"Forcing it won't work, we can also bribe it.

Don’t they want more land? I will grant their wish.

Tell those chieftains that for every government soldier they kill, they will receive an additional ten acres of land.

After they recovered Lianzhou Port, I rewarded them with ten thousand taels of gold, five thousand shi of salt, and ten thousand pieces of cloth.

The first meritorious person will be named Tuwang, and will lead all the Tusi in Guangxi."

Shi Rongxian promised immediately.

If you want to be a founding monarch, you cannot be stingy with official titles.

He was very open-minded in this regard. Conferring a title would not cost him anything, and it was much cheaper than offering substantial benefits to buy him off.

Even if there are hidden dangers, that is a matter for the future.

"Holy Emperor, now that Guangxi has been secured, it is time to consider the Northern Expedition."

As soon as King Wei Hao of Dongping opened his mouth, the court immediately became lively.

"Saint Emperor, what King Dongping said is inappropriate!

Huguang is the granary of the world and is also a place surrounded by wars.

If we fail to take it quickly, we will be surrounded by a large number of puppet government troops in an instant.

In my opinion, it is better to take Guangdong first.

Guangdong and Guangxi have been one since ancient times. After occupying Guangxi, we will seize Guangdong, and then we can retreat and control the southeast.

If we advance, we can seize Jiangxi, and if we advance into Southern Zhili and seize Nanjing, we will have half of the country in our hands.”

Prince Pingnan Fu Haoxuan immediately objected.

“Holy Emperor, what the two princes said makes sense, but neither is the best strategy.

Whether it was the Northern Expedition or the Eastward Expedition, they would face heavy enemy encirclement.

Instead of confronting the enemy head-on, it is better to seize the southwest first.

In the past, the Shu Kingdom relied on the southwestern land to divide the world into three parts.

Yunnan and Guizhou, like Guangxi, are mostly mountainous.

When the army of the Pseudo-Dynasty arrived here, their combat effectiveness, which was very strong, was suddenly reduced by 50% to 60%.

We can easily capture the two provinces, and then advance into Sichuan to establish our dominance.

When there is a change in the world, we will lead our troops to the north to pacify the Central Plains."

King Wei Jiarui of Zhenxi followed suit and spoke.

The White Lotus Rebellion in Guangxi involved not only people from Guangxi, but also White Lotus followers from surrounding provinces.

The current dispute over the route is actually a fierce competition among these three factions.

The local faction in Guangxi can accept either the Northern Expedition, the Eastward Expedition, or the Westward Expedition.

All strategies are nonsense. What supports their decision-making is mainly interests.

In war, the guide party plays an important role.

Marching in that direction means that people from that faction will be more valued in the future.

The King of Dongping, the King of Pingnan and the King of Zhenxi were actually the spokesmen of the White Lotus Sect in the three places who were pushed forward by the court.

"Okay, stop arguing.

The government troops attacking Lianzhou came from Guangdong, so we should attack Guangdong first."

This decision was a bit hasty, but who can blame the White Lotus Holy Kingdom, which is itself a makeshift team!

As the Holy Emperor, Shi Rongxian was just a man of the world who had just begun to learn literature and art.

It was purely by chance that I got to my current position.

I only have a vague understanding of the real situation in Dayu.

The situation is similar for other high-ranking officials of the White Lotus Holy Nation.

They all came from the bottom of society, and those who could read and write were considered rare intellectuals in the religion.

If one really had a good family background, was well-read and knowledgeable, who would join the White Lotus Sect?

I don't know which plan is better, so I just pick the one that I don't like the most.

……

Lianzhou Port.

"The rebels are coming in force, and we are just standing still?"

Jing Yifeng asked doubtfully.

As the young generation of the Jing family, the one with the most outstanding ability is naturally those who are familiar with military books.

Although he had never commanded a large military operation, he still had rich experience in suppressing bandits and robbers.

He was even more familiar with various battle examples in history books.

With no strong city to defend, the enemy gathered their troops and launched a massive attack.

The most common approach is to first catch one of the enemy forces and beat them hard, not giving them a chance to gather.

“Uncle Qi, if we don’t wait for them to gather together, how can we know how many Tusi forces are involved in the rebellion?

If at the critical moment when we are encircling and suppressing the rebels, these rebels hiding among the chieftains suddenly attack from behind, it would be fatal.

If the enemy wants to assemble, let them assemble.

The interests of the White Lotus Sect and the local chieftains were not completely consistent.

When they gather together, conflicts are bound to arise. There are even more conflicts among the chieftains in Guangxi.

In the past, it was because of the suppression by the imperial court that major chaos was avoided.

The rebels brought together a group of conflicting forces.

Although it seems to be very powerful, the actual combat effectiveness it can exert is greatly reduced.

What's more, the more troops there are, the more difficult it is to command them.

Even you and I, if we want to command tens of thousands of troops, have to be very careful.

The White Lotus rebels have no family traditions to inherit, and they have to rely on themselves to figure things out, so it's not easy for them to grow up."

Li Mu explained calmly.

From the moment he decided to stay in Guangxi to serve, the local chieftain forces became a thorn in his side.

The lairs of these chieftains are mostly in the mountains.

It would be extremely difficult to mobilize a large army to encircle and suppress the enemy.

In order to solve the hidden dangers of chieftains, successive dynasties have made great efforts.

In the end, I found that the benefits were not proportional to the efforts, so I chose to support one faction and fight against the other.

Li Mu didn't think he could easily solve the problems that the ancients hadn't solved.

The chieftains were hiding deep in the mountains, and there was nothing he could do.

Now someone has tricked these chieftains out, which has helped him a lot.

We don't expect to completely annihilate them, but as long as we can inflict severe damage on these guys, it will be much easier to push for the subsequent reform of the local system.

"You have such a big appetite, aren't you afraid of choking?"

Jing Yifeng couldn't help but laugh and scold.

Although they are both recruiting soldiers, the difference in their combat effectiveness is huge.

Comparing the Huai'an Camp and the Yangzhou Camp, the difference can be seen at a glance.

Whether in terms of military morale or the intensity of daily training, the two sides are not on the same level.

Strength in the military means voice.

In this round of cooperation, Li Mu, whose army had more powerful combat capabilities, naturally took the leading position.

"Ha ha……"

“Being choked is better than being hungry.

The worst situation is to retreat to the sea to avoid the attack temporarily.

Guangxi is a poor place. It has been plagued by the White Lotus Sect for such a long time that its money and grain have probably been almost exhausted.

If we don't seize the time to fight, Guangxi alone won't be able to support the White Lotus Sect's one million holy soldiers."

Li Mu joked with a smile.

The million holy soldiers were propaganda by the White Lotus Cult, and I guess even the White Lotus Saint Emperor doesn’t know the real strength of the army.

The only thing that is certain is that the White Lotus Sect was indeed engaged in militarism.

……

Lianzhou Prefecture.

"Your subordinate respectfully welcomes the Prime Minister!"

Zhou Damao said in panic.

He was flirting with his concubine at home and having a great time when he suddenly heard his subordinate come to report that his old boss was coming.

Without even bothering to enjoy himself, he immediately put on his official uniform and ran out to greet him.

"Humph!

Zhou Zhenshou, you are really good.

The puppet army has occupied Lianzhou Port and may attack us at any time.

Instead of inspecting the military camp and looking for strategies to defeat the enemy, you still have the mind to enjoy yourself at home.

Are you worthy of the Saint Emperor's cultivation?"

Fu Sanqi scolded harshly.

It was a pity that he was in the court and tried hard to absolve Zhou Damao of responsibility. He didn't expect that this kid acted as if nothing had happened and was still living happily at home.

Although the younger brother needs maintenance, he also needs to be beaten.

People like this who get into trouble and don't even realize it need special education.

"Prime Minister, I was confused for a moment.

After occupying Lianzhou Port, the puppet government troops remained inactive.

I sent people to test the waters many times, but they didn't send any troops, so I relaxed my vigilance.

But don't worry, I have already formulated a strategy to quell the rebellion.

Oh, it’s over there with the military department. I’ll bring it over to you later!
......"

Zhou Damao explained hurriedly.

It is not a sin to pursue pleasure, and it is not a problem to indulge in debauchery in broad daylight, but it is a sin if you are caught by your boss.

Now he just wanted to deal with his old boss as soon as possible to avoid being held accountable by the Holy Dynasty.

"Humph!

You don't have to worry about suppressing the rebellion.

The Holy Emperor has ordered that the subsequent wars will be commanded by me personally.

You must immediately gather food and fodder for me. At least two months' worth of food and fodder for an army of 100,000.

If you fail to complete the mission, I will chop off your head first without the Holy Emperor punishing you."

After hearing what Fu Sanqi said, Zhou Damao was so scared that he broke out in a cold sweat.

The amount of food and fodder needed for an army of one hundred thousand is no small number.

Lianzhou Prefecture was not rich to begin with, and the homes of wealthy gentry had long been ransacked by them.

The big bosses were all escorted to the Holy Dynasty, and they, the participants, just followed along and drank a sip of the soup.

Even if we plunder the people at all costs now, we may not be able to complete the task.

"Prime Minister, help me!

I am not trying to shirk responsibility, it is just that Lianzhou Prefecture is too poor.

The territory is still filled with a large number of chieftains, and the number of common people is limited.

It is simply impossible to raise so much money and grain in a short period of time."

Zhou Damao immediately knelt down and begged for mercy.

He didn't dare to take on such a difficult task.

It is easy to impose heavy taxes and levies, but the problem is that the local young and strong people have all joined the Holy Kingdom army.

Many of them served as military officers, and some of them were even higher in status than him.

Unscrupulously harassing military dependents can easily lead to big trouble.

"waste!"

“If you can’t collect grain, you can find a way to buy it yourself.

In short, the army’s food and fodder must be guaranteed.

Even if you can't raise the funds in two months, you still need to prepare for at least one month.

If you don't complete the task, I will take the more than 100 pounds from your body to make up for it!"

As he spoke, Fu Sanqi had already swung the whip in his hand.

Deep down, he was also in anxiety.

The Holy Dynasty is filled with a large number of confused officials. It would not be easy to seize the world.

"Yes!

Yes!
I will try my best to complete it!"

Zhou Damao, who was whipped, said with a look of joy.

Being whipped was equivalent to being punished, and the previous events were over.

The reduction of the food and fodder mission by half is a great event.

"What are you standing there for? Go down and prepare the barracks.

The Holy Emperor has issued an order to mobilize local chieftains from several nearby states to join the war, and they will be here soon.

You must arrange for it properly and not cause any trouble for me!"

Fu Sanqi scolded angrily.

After driving Zhou Damao away, he glanced at the beautiful concubine next to him, cursed inwardly that the good cabbages were being eaten by pigs, and turned around and left.

Reason told him that the war was imminent and it was not the time to be lustful.

……

(End of this chapter)