Fu Shanhe

Chapter 228 Jiujiang Crisis
Governor's Yamen.

"Commander Li, if we apply pressure like this, will it backfire?"

Marquis Wuyang asked nervously.

Forcing pressure to push forward is most likely to cause a backlash.

Although he currently has a large army under his command, there is still the threat of rebels outside.

If there are problems internally, it will be easy for the enemy to take advantage.

"My Lord, please relax!

Being able to fight his way through the officialdom and be promoted all the way to the position of governor, his inner ability to endure must be very strong.

Right now the three governors are waiting and watching, and one of them is needed to take the lead and break the deadlock.

If they were allowed to take direct action against the aristocratic families, Governor An might not have the courage to do so and might really resign.

Now all we need to do is to pressure the merchants who are dependent on the aristocratic families and ask them to contribute some military expenses.

It was a temporary levy, not a permanent tax, and did not affect the core interests of the gentry group.

If Governor An was smart, he would pick out a few unlucky guys to make an example of them and then directly ask for donations.

We are all in the same circle. Governor An is more familiar with the rules of the game among the gentry than we are and knows how to strike a balance.

The reason he has not taken action yet is simply because he cares about his reputation. He wants you to come down in person and take the blame for him."

Li Mu applied the eye drops without changing his expression.

As the chief military strategist, he had a comprehensive plan from the very beginning.

The reason for choosing to put pressure on An Qingfeng was mainly because he was the weakest and most unlucky of the three governors.

They had neither money nor armed forces, and even the bureaucratic system had not had time to integrate.

Once confronted head-on, Marquis Wuyang could easily crush this unaffiliated governor. Using him as a breakthrough point is undoubtedly the best choice.

It is impossible to raise military funds without offending people.

As the governor, Wuyang Hou, once he was out of office, there was no room for maneuver. Even if the people below him made trouble, he could come out as an arbitrator to clean up the mess.

Against this backdrop, the task of inciting hatred fell on the three governors.

Theoretically, they could continue to exert pressure on the lower levels, but the influence of middle and lower-level officials was limited, and they could only intimidate some ordinary gentry.

The aristocratic families that could be called great families had many successful candidates. Except for special circumstances, there were always people in the family who served as officials of the third rank or above in the court.

Not to mention that his disciples and former officials are spread all over the court, at least at the local level, there are a lot of connections of all kinds.

Even though they lost many personal connections in the war, the power of these literary families should not be underestimated.

If you want to tax them, you have to use some tricks.

Fortunately, the White Lotus Sect did a great job before. Not only did they rob the property they left behind, but their hands were also stained with the blood of the gentry.

On one side are the rebels who want to kill them, and on the other side are the imperial court who want money. This is an easy multiple-choice question.

The current game is nothing more than a question of how much price each party needs to pay and how much benefit they can get.

“Those businessmen were the most cunning and had transferred their assets away long ago.

Even if people have returned now, they don't have much cash with them.

Even if the family is wiped out, I'm afraid there won't be much profit to be made.

If we kill a chicken to scare the monkeys now, maybe people will be scared away!"

Marquis Wuyang said with a frown.

If the problem could be solved by confiscating the property, he would not hesitate at all and would have given the order to do it long ago.

If you don't prepare well in advance and just raid someone's house, you'll hardly gain much.

The best example is the crackdown on the eunuch party by Emperor Yongning. Many people were arrested, but not much stolen money was seized.

If it is not politically correct and we are simply fighting corruption, we cannot convict people just by looking at the confiscated property.

Theoretically, through torture, there is a high probability that these hidden treasures can be plundered.

But they are officials appointed by the imperial court, not rebels who start their own business barefoot, so they must abide by the rules.

“My Lord, no matter how they transfer their wealth, as long as the money is on Dayu’s land, we can find it.

It is an open secret that merchants from Guangdong and Guangxi fled to Fujian, Zhejiang and other places to avoid the war.

If Governor An really wanted to take ruthless measures, he could send troops to these places and ask those merchants who did not give him face to come back.

The news that the imperial court intended to lift the maritime ban had been circulating for such a long time that I guess those maritime merchants must have been frightened a long time ago.

If we change the plan now and sell sea licenses, I think they will accept it as long as the quantity is limited.

Paying a little money for the huge profits of monopoly should not be a big problem.

When dealing with other major business groups, we can also follow suit and adopt similar approaches to appeal to their emotions and convince them with reason.

The real trouble is the imposition of land tax.

It seems that the tax is levied on the owner of the land, but the local officials do not want to offend the gentry, and the taxes imposed by the court are likely to be passed on to employees, self-employed farmers, and even small and medium-sized landlords.

By the time the White Lotus Rebellion is quelled, I wonder how many self-cultivating peasant families will go bankrupt. Land annexation in the three provinces is likely to reach a new level.

If this continues, big problems will arise sooner or later.”

Li Mu immediately explained.

Frankly speaking, the current fundraising method is not what he wants.

Levying additional taxes and levies could only temporarily raise funds. For the court's current financial difficulties, it was only a temporary solution and not a fundamental solution.

But there is no way, reform is really too difficult.

Throughout history, there have been only a few successful reforms. Neither Wuyang Hou nor Li Mu had the courage to carry out reforms at this time.

Making minor adjustments to the existing system can be considered as taking the initiative.

Once the tax system is reformed in depth, it will inevitably be counterattacked by vested interest groups.

Emperor Yongning doesn't seem like someone who can take responsibility. If things really get out of hand, whoever promoted the reform will be the scapegoat.

"That's it!
There is nothing perfect in the world. If you want to do something, you have to pay a price.

In order to quell the rebellion, let them suffer for now."

Marquis Wuyang said with some embarrassment.

Combating land annexation has always been the most important national policy of dynasties.

It is usually implemented well in the early stage of a dynasty, but once it enters the middle and late stages, land annexation will become the social norm, constantly devouring the wealth of the empire.

Both Li Mu and Marquis Wuyang had a large amount of land under their names.

It seems that they were all bought, but if they were not forced to do so, no one would do such a wasteful thing as selling the land.

The same is basically true for land annexation by aristocratic families.

Those who rob and plunder are all fools. The truly effective land annexation is planned in secret, using natural disasters and man-made calamities to make the self-cultivating farmers bankrupt and owe huge debts.

In the end, in order to survive, the self-employed farmers had no choice but to come and sell their land.

Generally speaking, when things have developed to this point, even if the land is sold, it will not be enough to pay off the previous debts.

At this time, you only need to buy it at a reasonable price and then generously say: the land can be rented to them to continue farming, and the debt owed can be repaid slowly, and you will immediately gain the gratitude of the self-employed farmers.

Once the news gets out, everyone will praise the benevolent master.

Eat cleanly and leave a good reputation.

In fact, such means are only average in land annexation.

If you want to speed up the pace of annexation, all you need to do is pick a few idiots and encourage them to rob and plunder and create hatred.

When the matter becomes serious and the pigs are almost fat, they can be slaughtered and the meat divided under the banner of "appealing for the people".

The aristocratic families benefited, and the officials in charge of the work gained the title of "honest officials". It was a win-win situation.

After hesitating for a while, Li Mu finally chose to shut up.

The longer you stay in officialdom, the more you understand the darkness of this world.

Neither he nor Marquis Wuyang has the ability to change the world.

Unless a land revolution is launched, land is redistributed, and private land transactions are completely banned, annexation is inevitable.

Since the ending is predetermined, why bother saying meaningless nonsense and making others hate you?

……

Jiujiang Prefecture.

As the "mouth of three rivers and the thoroughfare of seven provinces", Jiujiang suffers from war whenever there is chaos in the country.

“Why did the artillery stop?

Can't you see the enemy is attacking? Counterattack quickly!"

The middle-aged general scolded angrily.

The enemy's attack was fierce, and many gaps had appeared on the city walls that had been in disrepair for a long time. The defenders had to risk their lives to fill them.

At this critical moment in the battle between the two sides, their own artillery suddenly misfired, which was really damaging to morale.

"Commander-in-Chief, the gun barrel has turned red, and it is too dangerous to continue firing.

Just now, another cannon exploded, killing three and injuring six. If the bombardment continues, the artillerymen will be killed by their own cannons!"

The artillery commander who rushed over after hearing the news hurriedly explained.

In order to defend Jiujiang City, the imperial court urgently dispatched a large number of artillery support. Unfortunately, these artillery were either antiques older than them or inferior products made with shoddy workmanship.

When they were pulled to the city wall, problems arose frequently. While killing the enemy, various accidents occurred one after another, causing a large number of casualties among their own people.

As a result, the artillery in the city became a high-risk unit, and the death rate of the soldiers was higher than that of the infantry.

"waste!"

After cursing angrily, Admiral Zheng reluctantly accepted the reality.

Without artillery support, the subsequent battle to defend the city will become increasingly difficult.

"Guards, immediately send someone to ask for help from the governor, tell him that Jiujiang City is in the most dangerous time, and we need reinforcements!"

It’s frustrating just thinking about it. The imperial court clearly ordered the troops from Zhejiang, Nanzhili and Shandong to reinforce Jiujiang, but these troops all dawdled on the way.

Everyone wanted to wait for the Beijing camp to arrive and then act together after they had joined forces.

This put the Jiangxi government troops in a difficult position. As reinforcements were delayed, they had to face the rebels' attacks alone.

Jiangxi is a wealthy place and it is true that the governor's office is rich, but that does not mean that the army's combat effectiveness is strong.

Usually, where literature flourishes, military power is inevitably weakened, let alone the Dayu Dynasty, which relied on literature to control military power.

Even the generals of the garrisons were proud of studying for the imperial examinations, because those who failed the imperial examinations would choose to inherit the hereditary official positions.

In this context, there were many more "Confucian generals" in the Jiangnan region, and the army's combat effectiveness was ranked last in the Dayu Dynasty.

In order to keep Jiujiang Prefecture, Jiangxi has tried its best, but the result is still not optimistic.

……

(End of this chapter)