Fu Shanhe

Chapter 248 Speed ​​of Life and Death

Chinese army camp.

"Sir, the prefect of Pingle is outside the tent asking to see you!"

Li Mu was slightly stunned by the news brought by his personal soldiers.

He was in the circle of nobles and was not familiar with the civil officials. He had no friendship with the prefect of Pingle.

As far as he knew, after the fall of Pingle Prefecture, the prefect of Pingle disappeared.

As a local official, losing a city or territory is a serious crime. At this time, it is obviously abnormal for him to not quickly find someone to save his life and instead wander around on the battlefield.

"not see!"

Li Mu refused immediately.

Although the threshold of his tent was not high, not everyone could enter.

If nothing unexpected happened, he would naturally give some face to the prefect of a big prefecture like Pingle.

But now the Pingle prefect is a criminal who may be beheaded at any time. Even if he has a backer in the court, his career is over.

The unlucky guy who is destined to be eliminated from officialdom is not worthy of attention at all.

"Sir, the prefect of Pingle came with a generous gift, and a mysterious person accompanied him."

The personal soldier spoke up to remind him.

There is no love or hate in the world without reason.

Under normal circumstances, a prefect who is about to be in trouble has no need to socialize.

If you are willing to spend money, it will be different.

Maintaining an army is very expensive, and land development also requires money. Even though the business is so big, Li Mu's pocket is not rich.

For some small favors that are not related to principles, as long as the money is in place, everything can be negotiated.

"Bring him in!"

Li Mu thought for a while and said.

No matter what his plan is, let's see it first.

If he simply wanted to fake his own death and escape from the court's reckoning, he wouldn't mind lending a hand.

If he is not found out by the imperial court in the future, he will be lucky. If he is caught by the imperial court one day, it will be his fate.

If you want to find him to get out of trouble, then just stay away. Rules are rules, and they cannot be broken easily.

"As ordered!"

……

In the blink of an eye, the prefect of Pingle was brought in. Looking at the meatball in front of him, Li Mu seriously doubted how this guy got the position of prefect.

Although there was no clear regulation in the Dayu Dynasty, the practice of judging officials by their appearance has been a long-standing tradition.

In the imperial examination, there was a saying that "beautiful third place" was the best. If one's appearance was too different, even if he passed the imperial examination, he would not be able to be employed by the court.

The meatball prefect in front of him is the image of a corrupt official in the opera. Under normal circumstances, the Ministry of Personnel would not put them in the position of prefect.

There must be a story behind this situation. Either the prefect Zhao has a good reputation and has made real achievements, or there must be someone behind him.

When the rebels attacked, he neither stopped them nor died for his country. It was obvious that he was not a man who fulfilled his duties.

Then, the reason why Lord Zhao could sit on the position of prefect is that he has someone behind him.

"Master Zhao, what brings you here so late at night?"

Li Mu asked straight to the point.

He was not interested in the background of Zhao Zhifu. There were only a few powerful families in the court.

Although we cannot offend them, there is no need to be too wary of them.

A prefect who has committed a crime is lucky not to be abandoned, and he is not qualified to represent the faction behind him.

"Commander Li, it is not me who wants to see you, but a distinguished guest wants to visit you, and I am just greeting you.

To show my sincerity, I have specially presented ten stunning beauties and two boxes of jewels worth two hundred thousand taels of silver."

Magistrate Zhao said tremblingly.

Even if you have to pay for the way, you still need someone to lead the way.

They came here under the banner of the Holy White Lotus Nation, and it was estimated that they would be chopped down by the officers and soldiers before they could even get close to the camp.

Even if you are lucky enough to meet Li Mu, now that the matter is out in the open, no matter how much money you offer, he will not accept it.

Unable to find a suitable middleman, Prefect Zhao was pushed out.

The news of his surrender to the Holy White Lotus Kingdom had not yet spread. In the eyes of the outside world, he was still an official of the Great Yu Dynasty.

Although he had never dealt with Li Mu, as he was the prefect, he was at least qualified to inform someone.

"Ha ha……"

"Just for a brief meeting, you gave me such a generous gift. That's really generous!
But there is no reward without merit, Li knows that the threshold of my Central Army Camp is not that high. "

Li Mu resisted the temptation and refused.

It is okay to make money in official circles, but you must never accept all kinds of money.

With such a huge price, not to mention just to see him, even an audience with Emperor Yongning can be arranged.

Li Mu doesn't believe that there is a free lunch in the world. If someone spends such a huge price, they must have some ulterior motive.

"Commander Li, rest assured. I only ask you to see me. Whether this is successful or not, these gifts are yours.

If we can reach an agreement, the price will be different. You can rest assured that what happened today will never be leaked!"

Looking at Prefect Zhao's solemn promise, Li Mu didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Do you really think he is afraid of leaking the secret?

He didn't want to see the person who came, because he had guessed the other person's identity.

In the whole world, the only ones who were willing to spend a huge sum of money to come and see him at this time were the White Lotus rebels who were being hunted down.

Others might be afraid of being impeached by the censor for colluding with rebels, but Li Mu was completely different. Looking at the entire Great Yu Dynasty, who didn't know that he was the pioneer in suppressing the rebellion!

He successively recovered the entire territory of Guangdong and Guangxi, as well as many prefectures in Huguang and Jiangxi, and annihilated a total of more than one million rebels, reversing Dayu's declining trend on the battlefield.

Even if the emperor and the civil and military officials in the court suspected someone of colluding with rebels, they would not suspect him.

Even if rumors spread, everyone would think that the rebels were afraid and were trying to sow discord.

Even if the censor impeached him, he would only accuse him of being arrogant and domineering, and of having his own army, and at most he would forcibly add the charges of withholding military pay and living a life of extravagance and debauchery.

"Since you are so sincere, let's meet!

However, for the sake of safety, necessary measures must be taken. I hope Lord Zhao and your distinguished guest will tolerate this."

After saying that, Li Mu gave a hint with his eyes, and Fu Sanqi, who had no idea what was going on, was escorted in tied up by his personal soldiers.

"Master Li, this is a misunderstanding!

We are really here to discuss business, it is definitely not intentional..."

Before Magistrate Zhao could finish his words, he suddenly found a rope around his body and was pinned to the ground.

"Okay, you've seen the man.

While I have time now, if you have anything in your heart, please speak up!"

Li Mu said with a smile.

As a trustworthy person, once you have accepted a gift from someone, you have to meet them in person.

But after all, their identities are different. As an official appointed by the imperial court, he must not be careless when facing a rebel.

"Commander Li, there is no acquaintance without fighting. This time, the Prime Minister came here to bring you great wealth!"

Fu Sanqi said neither humbly nor arrogantly.

This scene was completely within his expectations. Li Mu was an official, and they were thieves. If he received them with a friendly attitude, that would be a problem.

"Oh!"

"Does the false emperor want to surrender?"

"Don't worry, the emperor is wise and virtuous. If the fake emperor can turn back from his wrong path, your majesty will show leniency.

As long as you are willing to lay down your weapons and surrender, I promise not to kill anyone!"

Li Mu said calmly.

All the promises were true. If the fake emperor could surrender, Emperor Yongning would definitely show leniency.

From tortures like lingchi and five horses dismembering a body to three feet of white silk or a pot of poisoned wine, everything can be negotiated.

He would not kill prisoners of war or anything like that. As for whether the imperial court would kill them, that is unknown.

Considering the need to recruit other rebels to surrender, it is estimated that they can still live a good life for a few days in the short term.

The final reckoning will take place after the rebellion has been completely quelled.

"Master Li, you are such a joker.

Since ancient times, there has never been anyone who rebelled and proclaimed himself emperor and was not liquidated after being recruited.

This Prime Minister is not a person who fears death, and it is even more impossible for me to surrender.

I came here today just hoping that Lord Li would slow down his pursuit and buy a way out for my brothers.

From now on, for every day of rest that Lord Li's army takes, the Holy Kingdom is willing to pay 500,000 taels of silver, or property of equivalent value.

If Lord Li's troops can stop in Huguang and not enter Guizhou, the Holy Kingdom is willing to offer five million taels!"

Fu Sanqi said with full confidence.

In his opinion, no one could refuse such a huge sum of money.

With the salary from Dayu, even if he worked for a thousand years without eating or drinking, he would not be able to save such a huge sum of money.

"It sounds good, but even if I kill you, the money will still be mine.

Since they are all mine, why should I risk my life and make this deal with you?"

Li Mu said without changing his expression.

It would be a lie to say that I was not tempted by the huge sum of five million taels of silver. But it would take a whole fleet of cars just to transport this much cash, which was too hot to handle.

Since ancient times, money has attracted people's hearts.

Once the news leaked out, there would be chaos within the army. Li Mu didn't think that since he was the boss and got so much, his subordinates would have no idea.

Even if he was willing to share the spoils to appease his subordinates, if the officials in the court knew that he had obtained a huge sum of money, trouble would arise.

"Ha ha……"

"Master Li, you have fought with us so many times, have you ever obtained a huge amount of spoils?

If we are defeated and cannot take away the huge amount of wealth, we would rather abandon it in the wild than let the enemy get it.

There are so many places to hide things along the way. If you have time, arrange for someone to search slowly!

As long as your soldiers don't hide anything, they should be able to recover some of it in three to five years."

Fu Sanqi said disdainfully.

Every time the Holy White Lotus Nation was defeated in a battle, it would throw silver coins, both to stop the pursuers and to prevent the government army generals from taking advantage.

Whoever picked up the small change would own it as spoils of war. The confiscated property would be returned to the public, but that only applies to large quantities of goods.

There were no marks on the silver and money, and it was impossible to tell whether they were captured on the battlefield or the soldiers' own property.

Except for a few inhumane generals, most people would condone this behavior, including Li Mu.

It was too hateful to forcibly confiscate money from soldiers. As long as the amount was not too large, he would pretend not to see it.

If the rebels really threw the valuables they carried all over the world, there would be very little he could collect.

People's hearts cannot stand the test. Even if the soldiers below discover huge amounts of wealth, they may not report it and may even try to cover it up.

“It doesn’t matter, the meat will eventually rot in your own pot.

I have never been a greedy person. Even if the money comes into my hands, it will become the military pay for the soldiers later.

Take them down and keep them under guard. After we capture the fake emperor alive, we will interrogate them together. "

Li Mu shook his head and said.

It is impossible to have no ideas, but reason prevails in the end.

Letting the White Lotus Sect into Shu would have serious consequences. If things go wrong, they might really overthrow the Yu Dynasty, and that would be a loss of the greater good.

What's more, most of the main generals in the army are children of nobles, and their class stance determines that they will not cooperate with the rebels.

After the episode, Li Mu increased his offensive efforts.

If the White Lotus Sect can bribe him, then they can bribe others as well. Just because he can stick to his bottom line doesn't mean others can do the same.

If Guizhou gave in and failed to fulfill its obligation to intercept, and the rebels were allowed to invade Shu, all his work would be in vain.

The roar of artillery fire continued, and the rebels responsible for the rear guard were quickly defeated.

"withdraw!"

Looking at the remnants of his defeated army, Shi Qichuan gave the order helplessly.

It turns out that ambushes also require skills.

What they did just now was a negative example. They ambushed the enemy on the route they had to take, but unfortunately the government troops discovered them as soon as they approached.

Before the trap could take effect, the enemy sneaked into the flank and knocked them dizzy.

While running for his life, Shi Qichuan had already made up his mind deep down that he would return to the mission as soon as possible.

Whoever is willing to do the job of covering the rear can do it, because he is not capable of it anyway.

He has so much wealth but hasn't enjoyed it yet, and he doesn't want to die young.

……

"I have given you 10,000 troops to cover the rear and delay the enemy's advance, but I am not asking you to fight a decisive battle with the government troops.

How did they lose so quickly? Did the enemy have wings? "

Looking at his cousin who was apologizing in front of him, Shi Rongxian couldn't help but scold him angrily.

In less than two days, the remaining 10,000 troops were wiped out. I don't know what to say about such efficiency.

“Saint Emperor, although the government troops do not have wings, it is almost the same as if they had wings.

The enemy's vanguard troops only carried some daily rations and had no pressure of logistical supplies, so their marching speed was much faster than ours.

There are still some remaining local gentry who can provide them with intelligence. Our every move is under the enemy's surveillance.

We had chosen a strategic location, preparing to launch an ambush and weaken the enemy's morale.

Unexpectedly, the government troops received the news in advance and made targeted deployments.

As a result, we suffered a great loss as soon as the battle started. If we had not retreated quickly enough, the rear guard troops would have been wiped out!"

Shi Qichuan explained with his head down.

Most of these were made up in his mind. He was defeated too quickly on the battlefield, and he had no idea what caused the defeat.

In order to shirk responsibility, he decisively chose to let the remnants of the gentry take the blame. Anyway, it was impossible for the Holy Emperor to go to the enemy to verify the truth.

"waste!"

After cursing angrily, Shi Rongxian knew that his bribery attempt had failed.

If a deal had been reached, the government troops would not have fought so hard even if they caught up with us.

……

(End of this chapter)