Fu Shanhe

Chapter 257 The Concept of Military Academy

"Governor, it's time to set off!"

Pei Yunxuan's face suddenly turned dark when he heard the reminder from the accompanying Jinyiwei.

Along the way, he kept procrastinating, and it was obvious that he didn't want to go to Jiangnan.

But these Jinyiwei were ignorant and kept urging us to set off.

He is so tactless. It seems that the warning is not enough.

It is necessary to bring in court officials and find an opportunity to embarrass the Jinyiwei again. It would be best if the emperor abolished this agency again.

"knew!

Everyone has been busy all the way, it's not too late to have some refreshments before continuing on the road."

Pei Yunxuan said with a kind face.

No matter how much he disagreed, he would not bother with these soldiers.

Even though these Jinyiwei strongmen have low status, they represent the imperial power when they are outside.

When he arrived in the Jiangnan region, if he wanted to do anything, he would need the cooperation of the emperor's personal troops.

What's more, they are responsible for escorting us along the way. If something unexpected happens, we will need these people to fight for our lives.

The effect of his show along the way was very obvious, and the accompanying Jinyiwei all had a good impression of him.

"Report!"

"Governor, an urgent report has been received from Yingtian Prefecture that the rebels have besieged Nanjing!"

Pei Yunxuan was shocked when he received this news.

The rebels were much faster than he expected.

The impact of the siege of Nanjing was much more serious than the previous siege of Anqing, and he, the governor who had not yet taken office, had to submit a letter of apology.

"Take him down to rest!
Instruct the post station to prepare a banquet and entertain them well.

The rest of you should finish your refreshments as soon as possible and then get on your way!"

Pei Yunxuan said slowly.

It is destined that you cannot escape from the muddy waters of Jiangnan.

The Nanjing city walls are strong and contain a large amount of strategic materials.

There are still tens of thousands of defenders in the city, and it is impossible for the rebels to break through the city in a short period of time.

The worst situation has already occurred. No matter how he delays, the situation in Jiangnan will not change significantly in the short term.

He had thrown away all the blame that could be passed on, and he had to face the rest of the problems himself.

How to encircle and suppress the rebels suddenly became the top problem facing him.

If he had known this would happen, he should not have boasted when he put down the rebellion in Guanzhong a few days ago.

Because of the drought and little rain in the northwest, Shaanxi cannot collect taxes.

Lacking any political achievements, he had no way to report to the court, so he could only concoct a military operation to deal with it.

With the joint efforts of all parties, it was clearly just the suppression of a popular riot in one county, but under the writing style of the Spring and Autumn Period, it became the suppression of more than 200,000 rebels.

Emperor Yongning was an emperor who was sensitive to numbers, and this governor who quickly put down the rebellion immediately caught the emperor's eye.

After Xu Wenyue's memorial was submitted, Emperor Yongning, knowing that the rebellion could not be suppressed by relying on Xu Ge Lao, decisively chose to use Pei Yunxuan, who was knowledgeable about military affairs.

The Governor-General of Jiangnan, as the name suggests, is a person of high power and influence.

He was in charge of the richest land in the Dayu Dynasty and had the emperor's utmost trust.

However, this heavy trust made Pei Yunxuan feel heavy pressure.

The emperor sent him here to do work.

The White Lotus rebels cannot be wiped out by just dealing with them in a perfunctory manner.

"Master Liu, given the current situation, where do you think I should start next?"

Pei Yunxuan asked expectantly.

It is true that he was well-versed in military books, but leading troops in battle was something he had never done before.

You dare to try to bully the mob, but the White Lotus rebels who have conquered cities along the way are not so easy to bully.

If we rashly gather troops and go to encircle and suppress the rebels, we may end up sending ourselves to die.

"Governor, since the rebels have besieged Nanjing, let's go to Yangzhou first!
Although Yangzhou Prefecture had suffered a war a few years ago, resulting in the loss of a large number of people, the local public resentment was the least among all the prefectures in Southern Zhili.

Even if the rebels come to attack, the probability of them joining forces with the enemy is not high.

In addition, Yangzhou City has an important strategic position. If we control Yangzhou, we will have the opportunity to send troops to Nanjing at any time.

The most crucial thing is that a strong army was born in Yangzhou Prefecture, which was invincible in the previous battlefield to encircle and suppress the rebels.

After you take office, you only need to issue an order to recall the Yangzhou Camp and the Huai'an Camp from the Guangdong and Guangxi regions, and you will have available troops at hand.

If possible, it would be best to transfer back the two generals Li Mu and Jing Yifeng.

At that time, we will directly join forces with the Beijing Camp and the Shandong Army trapped in Nanjing, and crush the rebellion in one fell swoop with internal and external support!"

Master Liu said with confidence.

After the false emperor was wiped out, the strength of the Guangxi soldiers was directly exposed to the world.

Everyone knew that Guangxi had strong troops. After in-depth research, they suddenly discovered the Yangzhou Camp hidden among them.

After further digging, Master Liu discovered the Huai'an Camp, which also had strong combat effectiveness. Coincidentally, both camps were from the jurisdiction of the Governor-General of Jiangnan.

“I have also heard of the names of the Yangzhou Camp and the Huai’an Camp.

After the previous emperor quelled the salt merchants' rebellion, he specially expanded the five battalions and recruited soldiers in order to pacify Liaodong.

Since the Yangzhou Camp and the Huai'an Camp both performed brilliantly on the battlefield, I think the Yong'an Camp, the Tongzhou Camp and the Baoding Camp will not be bad either.

I will just take them all and let the rebels know how powerful the imperial court is!"

Pei Yunxuan thought for a moment and said.

The five new battalions formed during the reign of Emperor Tianyuan all had similar origins, all of them being composed mainly of the children of meritorious officials.

Pacificating Liaodong was just an open excuse.

The real reason was to support the nobles and fight against the growing power of the nine frontier generals.

In the following years, the court invested a lot of resources in these five camps.

"Governor, the Yong'an Camp, Tongzhou Camp, and Baoding Camp have been crippled in the previous battles to suppress the rebellion."

Master Liu reminded with a bit of embarrassment.

Pointing out the boss's mistakes to his face is not a sign of high emotional intelligence.

However, since this involves a war to quell rebellion, if the situation is not explained, it might be that the governor has overestimated the strength of the Third Battalion.

If you make the wrong strategic layout, you will be doomed.

"He's been crippled!"

As he spoke, Pei Yunxuan frowned.

When the time came to hire someone, he was suddenly told that there was no one available.

Although the Yangzhou Camp and the Huai'an Camp are good, they are now under the command of Marquis Wuyang, and no one knows whether they can come back in time.

During this special period, everyone likes elite troops, and it is not impossible that official documents can be sent to detain the main army and not let them leave.

Even if Wuyang Hou didn't block him, the people below might not necessarily execute his orders. The imperial court owed a lot of military pay to various departments, and God knew how many bad debts the Yangzhou Camp and Huai'an Camp had.

The generals under him refused to give him face and demanded money before taking any action. As the governor, he was powerless to do anything about them.

It is impossible to hold them accountable. At this moment, both the Yangzhou Camp and the Huai'an Camp are great contributors to the court. How can they destroy themselves just because of a little disagreement?

……

Guangzhou Prefecture, Governor's Office.

Looking at the list submitted by Li Mu, Marquis Wuyang also began to worry. In addition to those generals who had arrangements at home, a group of high-ranking generals in the Guangxi Army wanted to come out and try their luck.

It's not that Li Mu is a bad boss, but the main reason is that everyone in Guangxi has reached the upper limit of their positions. Other places can have a lot of non-permanent positions such as lieutenant generals and deputy generals, but Guangxi Province cannot.

It is pure fantasy to set up a prefecture in Guangxi as a military base and ask the local government to provide financial support.

The local officials squeezed the people dry and still could not raise the money and food needed for the army.

By concentrating the entire province's strength, it would be considered good enough to feed a battalion of soldiers.

If you stay, you can only stay in the garrison. Now it is a war time, and with the resources of the court, the gap cannot be seen for the time being.

Once the war is over, the gap between the garrison commanders and the recruiting commanders will quickly widen.

If you want to move up, you must jump out of the guard post. Otherwise, you can only farm bitterly, and there is no chance of promotion or wealth.

If there are not enough internal resources to share, then we can only go outside. Staying in Jiangnan is better than going to the nine borders to fight for our lives.

"Commander Li, do you want me to settle them all down?"

Marquis Wuyang asked with concern.

Although half of the people on the list were his former subordinates, they were not closely connected to each other, and there was also Li Mu in between.

It involves major personnel adjustments, so we must make things clear. Otherwise, if so many generals are withdrawn at once and the Guangxi Army is ruined, it will not end well.

"Governor, my master has asked you to take care of the arrangements. If it is convenient, it would be best if everyone can be settled down.

The place does not have to be in Zhejiang. As long as there are vacancies in Guangdong, Fujian, Huguang, Jiangxi and other regions, arrangements can be made.

If it is the South Zhili area, we need to wait for a while. We can make the appointment after the situation stabilizes."

Lan Linjie said nervously.

The transfer of more than 20 high-ranking generals at one time had long been beyond his comprehension.

Under normal circumstances, the appointment and removal of generals at this level are all recommended from below, and if they are reviewed by the Ministry of War and the Governor's Office and found to be without problems, they are reported to the emperor for decision.

In essence, when it comes to the transfer of military generals who are actually lacking in the third rank and above, the ultimate personnel power still lies in the hands of the emperor.

It is so troublesome to mobilize one person, let alone mobilize more than 20 people at one time.

Of course, these people are all children of noble families, and their ancestors all had blood of Dayu. Background checks are all plus points. As long as their achievements are sufficient, they will not be held back at the review stage.

"Well, I'll try my best to arrange it!"

Marquis Wuyang said calmly.

Pushing so many people up at once is no longer a simple personnel adjustment, it also involves politics.

It seems to be for the overall consideration, but in fact it is also to split up the Guangxi Army and prevent local military towns from becoming too powerful.

In addition to these visible things, there is also a hidden line - to pledge allegiance to the noble group.

Unlike other in-laws who just lived a life of idleness and waiting for death, Marquis Wuyang had military merits, especially after he annihilated the central government of the Holy White Lotus Kingdom, he was no longer in the category of ordinary in-laws.

The Queen Mother in the palace has promised to help him lobby the Emperor. After the war is over, he will most likely be awarded a military rank, and then he will be a genuine noble.

However, becoming a noble does not mean that he will be accepted by the noble group. Before that, he has to take action to show his political stance.

This cooperation came about purely out of mutual benefit.

The reputation of the noble group seems to have been restored a lot, but its influence in the court is still limited, and it needs the participation of Marquis Wuyang.

For Marquis Wuyang, although the relatives by marriage were honorable, they were short-lived. No matter how prominent they were, they would decline after a few decades.

In contrast, the noble group lasts much longer. As long as they don't commit suicide, the title will be passed down.

Even if the dynasty declined in the middle, as long as the younger generations had the ability, they could quickly return to the court.

The generals on the list are proof that many of them are from the side branches of the nobility. Some of these families have long since left the power center, but their children were still taken care of when they were promoted.

In order to avoid any further complications, he has made up his mind to complete the personnel appointments as soon as possible.

In official circles, recommendation is equivalent to a second life.

If he did not take action, other nobles in the court would take action, and this favor would no longer have anything to do with him.

If you want to get involved with so many noble families in the future, it will not be something that can be done with a simple memorial.

……

Guangxi Camp.

A large number of generals were about to leave, and Li Mu began to look for replacements. Ideals are full, but reality is very skinny.

In the past two or three years, he has trained many direct descendants, but only a few of them are capable of serving as high-level generals.

The limitation of his own abilities is one thing, but the more difficult thing is that he does not have the ability to send many of his confidants to positions in a short period of time.

Different from promoting the children of nobles, he only needs to recommend people, and there will naturally be people to help make it happen.

If a grassroots general wants to be appointed, he will need to take action personally.

It was easier for generals below the rank of a thousand households, as efficiency was important during wartime and the imperial court's review was not strict.

Higher-level generals had to go through layers of approval. Military merit was only the bottom line for entry; the general's family background, character, and external reputation were all assessment conditions.

He promoted a Qianhu who had no background to the position of the commander of the guard all of a sudden, and promoted several people at a time. It was obvious that he was afraid that the outside world didn't know that he was cultivating his confidants.

He estimated that after receiving the news, his father-in-law and uncle, who were the left and right generals, would come directly from the capital and whip him.

Within a system of rules, it is naturally possible to cultivate confidants, but it must be done according to the rules of the game.

To be promoted and appointed out of turn, one must have made great contributions or have a powerful background.

After hesitating for a moment, Li Mu came up with an idea. The confidant must be promoted, but he cannot be directly placed in the position of chief officer.

The gap between a thousand households and a guard commander is too big. If it is changed to a deputy commander, the operability will be greatly increased.

It is also an extraordinary promotion, but the court’s assessment standards for chief officials and subordinate officials are completely different.

The garrison troops were not taken seriously, and given the special period of war, the imperial court was likely to give him this face.

As for the selection of chief officers, we will continue to use the sons of nobles. Although the abilities of these people are not as good as those who left, it is not a big problem.

At the very least, the person he chooses has a certain level of ability and will execute orders according to his will.

When they have accumulated enough merit, they will leave on their own and will not stay to fight for dominance of the army.

However, in this way, his place became a training camp for the children of meritorious officials, specifically for supplying meritorious generals to Dayu.

After a brief hesitation, Li Mu decisively decided to do so. Not only to employ the children of nobles, but also to attract more children of nobles.

Cultivating meritorious generals may seem like a favor to the imperial court, but in fact, the interests hidden behind it are too great.

Every family that has children here must invest resources here. If there are occasional outrageous actions, they will also help clean up the mess.

These are just the initial benefits, the real gains are yet to come.

For capable sons of noble families, the rank of lieutenant general and deputy general is only an important stage in their career and is far from the limit.

If you gain more experience, you can eventually get the position of general.

In less than ten years, this group will become the largest faction in Dayu’s military.

With this group as a cover, his cultivation of confidants would not be so conspicuous.

Deep down, Li Mu already had a comprehensive plan. He would split the recruited soldiers and the garrison soldiers.

The "Military School for Children of Nobles" was included in the recruitment process and displayed for everyone to see, while the direct descendants were stuffed into inconspicuous garrisons.

Guangxi can't afford to recruit soldiers for a town, so it can pull Guangdong to do it together. He has made such a great sacrifice, so it's not too much to be appointed as the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi!
In the future, the scale of recruiting soldiers can be controlled at 20,000 to 30,000. This can maintain a certain deterrent effect without causing suspicion from the emperor.

As for the garrison troops, they were gradually replaced by their own people.

In the early days, the chief officers of the garrisons were concurrently appointed by meritorious generals among the recruited soldiers. However, their main work had to be focused on recruiting and training soldiers, and they were only in office but not in full performance of the duties.

No one can refuse such a good thing that comes to your doorstep. Raising your rank first will play a very important role in subsequent promotions and appointments.

The specific affairs of the garrison were left to the deputies.

If you have made enough military achievements, you can start as a general when you leave. This can save you several years, which is definitely a big favor.

If the world were at peace, he would be a loyal minister of the Dayu Dynasty and the leader of the young and vigorous group of nobles.

If it really comes to the end of the dynasty, or if the emperor suddenly becomes unhappy with the nobles and wants to slaughter his meritorious officials, he will also have the power to protect himself.

(End of this chapter)