Fu Shanhe

Chapter 267 Imperial Edict
Yangzhou Prefecture.

"That's really too much. I..."

Pei Yunxuan was about to say hello to the man's whole family, but he swallowed the words back.

Sending a militia here is clearly a perfunctory approach.

He paid a huge price, but this is all he got.

There is no point in being angry. Marquis Wuyang has to give priority to protecting the Huguang battlefield, and he has very good reasons for that.

"If Huguang is prosperous, the whole world will be prosperous."

Looking at the entire Dayu Dynasty, Huguang was the primary granary.

It is not only the province with the largest grain production, but also the largest grain exporting province.

Only after taking over Huguang can the problem of military food be solved.

Although Jiangnan is also a major grain-producing province, its own consumption is also high.

In addition to farmers who grow crops, there are also a large number of workers and handicraftsmen.

The most crucial thing is that the gentry in Jiangnan are powerful, and the local government has limited say here.

If you want to raise food, you need to discuss it with the local gentry.

But these guys were more greedy than each other. The good rice collected from the Jiangnan area turned into chaff when it was transported to the front line.

The court has been investigating, but has not yet found any result.

The armies of Guangdong and Guangxi had suffered losses before, so no matter how many promises Pei Yunxuan made, no one believed him.

Unless he could first come up with enough food and fodder to supply an army of 200,000 for a year, the strategy of giving priority to Huguang could not be changed.

If there is no coordination below, it is equally unrealistic to expect interference from above.

In the court, the Jiangnan faction has become the target of public criticism and is being besieged from all sides.

Even if you make preparations in advance and arrange for the elders in your family to avoid disaster, accidents are still inevitable.

Due to the war, many officials from the Jiangnan region have been forced to resign and observe mourning in the past six months.

As a result, factional power also suffered severe damage.

It has been 27 months since I left office.

All the original network of relationships were disrupted.

No one knows whether there will be a place when the time comes to revive.

There were more than one or two officials who were demoted and used again because of mourning.

Many factors have come together to create the current embarrassing situation.

“Governor, it’s better to have reinforcements than none.

The Huguang regiments do have some combat effectiveness, and apart from their poor military discipline, they are still serviceable in other aspects.”

Gu Youwen reminded tactfully.

In his view, the Huguang Army was a double-edged sword.

If you want to use them for a larger purpose, you must make a scabbard to restrain them.

Otherwise, using them to suppress the rebels would be a disaster.

Of course, the regiment did a great job in suppressing the resurgence of the rebels.

Wherever they cultivated the land, there had never been a rebellion, and it was impossible for a rebellion to happen.

The sequelae is that the place is cleaner than your face, and it is difficult to see human habitation within dozens of miles. Local officials curse when they take office.

“No need to say more, since they are going to relieve the siege of Nanjing, let them go to Nanjing!
The money and food that the prefectures in Jiangbei can provide are limited, and we cannot afford to support so many soldiers."

Pei Yunxuan said helplessly.

The biggest difficulty in suppressing the rebels has never been the army.

As long as you have money in your pocket, you can train any kind of army.

But he ran into trouble when it came to collecting money and grain.

Just as he was about to levy additional taxes on the gentry and merchants, an anti-tax movement broke out among scholars, which frightened Pei Yunxuan so much that he hastily called a halt.

He can't afford to offend the gentry in the prefectures in Jiangbei, nor can he collect money from the merchants.

He could collect taxes from the lower-class people, but he didn't have the courage to continue raising them.

As a local official, one must consider the cost of governing.

Every time a tax is increased, a series of disturbances will occur locally.

Now the rebels are watching closely, and if something unexpected happens within the organization at this time, it would be fatal.

The likin system was established, but there were really few additional taxes that could be levied.

To put it bluntly, even the poorest province of Guangxi now collects more likin every month than he does.

This cannot be explained by the impact of war.

If the policy could be implemented seriously, the lijin contributed by Yangzhou Prefecture alone should far exceed that of Guangxi.

There is no way around it. Officials sharing profits has become the norm and it is not something that can be changed by individuals.

Each layer is peeled off, and no matter how much money is charged, there will not be much left at the top.

Pei Yunxuan had gone to lobby and try to change everything, but unfortunately everyone only provided moral support.

When it comes to the actual implementation, everyone becomes dust.

Under such circumstances, it was impossible for him to come up with a large amount of money and grain.

After all, the Beijing troops, the Shandong troops, and a large number of local troops residing in Jiangbei all needed to be paid and maintained by him as the governor.

……

The northern land has just finished the autumn harvest, and it should be a time of joy for all families.

Unfortunately, no one is happy this year, as the news of the northern barbarian invasion is now spreading like wildfire.

Even the capital, which is known as the safest place, is in panic at this moment.

Unlike previous looting, this time the Northern Tartars also brought the Guifang tribe with them when they raided the border.

According to rumors circulating outside, some said that the Hu people assembled an army of 300,000, some said 400,000, and some even said 500,000.

No matter how many people there are in the Hu coalition, the enemy has torn through the Great Wall defense line and is heading towards the capital.

The capital is now under martial law, and people in the government and the country are in a panic.

"My dear ministers, the northern barbarians are invading in large numbers. Do you have any plans to deal with them?"

Emperor Yongning asked with a tired look on his face.

He has not been in a good mood since the northern barbarians invaded the border in October.

Either this place falls or there is an emergency.

The Governor-General of Xuanda, who was highly expected, failed to stop the enemy's attack.

The Liaodong Division, which was responsible for dealing with the northern barbarians, performed even worse.

Not to mention tying down the enemy, the main force of the Northern Tartars took a detour through Xuanda, and they didn't even receive any news at all.

No one can tell whether these guys are useless or they received the news and deliberately concealed it.

In any case, the Dayu Dynasty performed very poorly in this war.

The troops that dared to leave the city to intercept the enemy were all defeated, and the troops on the Xuanda front suffered heavy losses.

"Your Majesty, please issue an edict to have all the troops in the country come to the capital to help!"

Minister of War Wan Yuxuan spoke first.

In order to stop the enemy, the Ministry of War tried every possible means.

The result was nothing but defeat.

Even if they won one or two small victories occasionally, they would quickly turn into major defeats due to the interference of civil officials.

There was no way. There were too many people in the Dayu Dynasty who claimed to be military gods, and too many officials who wanted to show off.

Many civil servants who were familiar with military books wanted to prove it.

“A large number of troops are now concentrated in the south to encircle and suppress the White Lotus rebels.

At this time, an imperial decree was issued to defend the king, and everyone rushed to the capital. Nanjing was in danger.

There are still more than 100,000 troops in the capital. Even if they cannot defeat the Hu people, guarding the city will not be a problem.

The Hu people are not good at attacking cities, so now we just need to order all the prefectures to fortify their walls and clear the fields, and gather all the supplies in the city to defend it.

Without anything to rob, the Hu people will naturally retreat.

In order to put pressure on the enemy, the Liaozhen troops can wait for an opportunity to go deep behind enemy lines and cause sabotage.

The main force of the Northern Tartars has come out in full force, and this is the best opportunity to reduce their war strength."

Jing Guoliang said with a hint of helplessness.

This battle was so frustrating that many troops who clearly should not have been sacrificed were killed due to wrong command.

He racked his brains but couldn't figure out what was in the mind of Xuanda Governor Li Zhihong.

There were only a few thousand troops in many cities, and instead of quickly organizing young and strong men to defend the city, they forced the generals to go out of the city for a decisive battle. From the Great Wall defense line to the capital, there were so many fortresses and strong cities in between, but most of them did not play their due role.

The current situation is deteriorating, and issuing an edict to support the king seems to be the best option, but in fact it is full of hidden dangers.

Not to mention the impact on the Jiangnan battlefield, the time and sequence of arrival of reinforcements from various places were also different.

The reinforcements that arrive in batches are likely to be seized by the enemy and defeated one by one on the battlefield.

Dayu's situation was already bad, and with the loss of some elite troops, the days ahead would be even more difficult.

With the court's current financial resources, the number of elite troops will only decrease in the future.

Even the current elite troops will slowly lose their combat effectiveness due to insufficient supply of money and food.

"Duke Cheng, this is wrong!"

"We, the Great Yu, are the Celestial Empire, how can we allow the barbarians to come and go as they please?

The Northern Tartars actually dared to advance deep into our territory alone. We must take this opportunity to gather all the troops in the world and keep them there.

Let the world know that my Dayu is not something that these scoundrels can spy on! "

Cabinet Minister Gu Jiaxi immediately retorted.

The noble group has become increasingly restless in recent days.

While they were not paying attention, a group of young generals were trained.

If we don't suppress them quickly and allow these people to grow and gradually gain power, we won't be able to suppress them later.

But the situation is complicated now, and we have to rely on the nobles to work hard for us.

Especially the upcoming battle to defend the capital will definitely be handed over to the nobles.

When it comes to the country and one's own life, no matter how much one wants to fight for power, one dare not do anything rash at this time.

The nobles presided over the defense of the capital, and their influence in the court was bound to increase greatly after the war.

In this case, the nine frontier generals must be involved to share the credit of the nobles.

In essence, it is still a balancing strategy.

As for keeping the Northern Tartars, that was just a political slogan.

If a real battle breaks out, it would be a great victory if we could kill tens of thousands of enemy soldiers.

It’s not that Dayu’s army was incapable of fighting, it’s mainly because the court’s finances couldn’t support it.

The court failed to allocate funds in time, and the generals below did not dare to fight at all.

Once the troops under their command suffered heavy losses, the imperial court would not only be unable to compensate them for their losses, but would even delay paying them pensions.

"Master Gu is right. How can we, the great country of Dayu, be bullied by a group of barbarians?

If we don’t organize a counterattack, we will all be sinners in the history books of the future!”

Prime Minister Wan Junhui then expressed his position.

It can be seen that the civil service group has now reached a consensus on the issue of suppressing military generals.

But the plan is still too empty.

They keep talking about fighting back, but when it comes to taking concrete actions, they don't even have a reliable plan.

There was no valuable advice other than calling for reinforcements.

From a military perspective, it would be better to let Liaozhen go deep behind enemy lines and play the tactic of changing homes.

Everyone played a killing competition together and killed all the younger generation of the Northern Tartars, cutting off their roots.

"Um!

Draft an imperial decree, ordering all the troops in the country to come to the capital as soon as possible to defend the king.

The troops currently participating in the suppression of the rebels are not included in the call-up."

After hesitating for a while, Emperor Yongning made a decision.

It’s not that Duke Chengguo’s proposal is bad. Deep down, he also wants to send people to kill all the younger generation of the Northern Tartars, but this will damage his reputation.

Just because it is in the interests of the empire does not mean that everyone will accept it.

Scholars would curse him to death for allowing the enemy to wreak havoc in the country just to cut off the roots of the northern barbarians.

Emperor Yongning always attached great importance to his reputation during his lifetime and after his death.

During the previous emperor's reign, the northern barbarians would not dare to do this.

If this scene had happened a few years ago, the soldiers from the nine borders would have rushed into the prairie to retaliate immediately.

Dayu has a large population, and even if millions of people die, it will not cause much damage to its vitality.

But the Northern Tartars can't do that, as they only have such a small population.

The younger generation was slaughtered, and no matter how powerful they are now, they cannot escape the fate of genocide.

……

Guangzhou Prefecture.

Teams of soldiers lined up neatly on the parade ground, waiting for instructions from Marquis Wuyang.

The original agreement to send troops in October to lift the siege of Nanjing was delayed until November.

The city of Nanjing was already crumbling at this moment. In order to urge them to speed up, messengers from the south of Jiangnan came one after another.

Fortunately, Li Mu has experience in delaying time.

The ceremony of swearing in the oath of office to go to war alone has lasted until now.

They should have boarded the ship directly, but they pulled the troops from all over the place to Guangzhou to hold a swearing-in ceremony.

According to the plan, the dispatch of troops will be delayed until December, and it is only mid-November now.

The excuse for the first two days was that the weather was bad, the sea was rough and not suitable for sailing.

The sky is clear today, so the weather excuse doesn't work, so it must be that Marquis Wuyang is sick.

"Admiral, news has come from the capital that the northern barbarians have invaded the border.

The Emperor has ordered the mobilization of all the armies in the country to come to the defense of the country, and the Governor-General invites you to discuss the matter.

......"

“Sorry, guys.

The emperor has issued an order to defend the country, so the original military plan has to be cancelled now.

Pass the order down, the oath-taking ceremony is cancelled, and all troops return to their respective camps for normal training."

Li Mu pretended to be helpless and said.

It’s not that he doesn’t want to save Nanjing, but the emperor has issued an imperial edict, and as a subject he naturally has to execute it.

In fact, he had received the news that the Northern Tartars had invaded the border.

But I didn't expect that the situation would be so serious that I would need to call up an army to support the king.

"Admiral, Nanjing..."

Without waiting for the person behind him to finish speaking, Li Mu interrupted him with a wave of his hand.

"Mr. Zhuxi, please be careful with your words. Since His Majesty has issued the imperial edict, he must have considered all aspects.

As your subjects, we also need to understand your Majesty's difficulties.

I know this is a big deal and you won't be able to handle it in a short time. Why don't you come with me to the Governor's Mansion to find out more about the situation?"

It was just a perfunctory remark, but the few people were helpless.

As representatives sent by the Governor-General of Jiangnan, in order to urge Li Mu to send troops, these people have been following him every day in recent days.

It's so annoying, but these guys are famous scholars.

I can't hit him, and I can't scold him enough.

He wanted to give them a hard time, but was afraid of killing them, which made Li Mu lose his temper.

Not only was he harassed, but Marquis Wuyang was no exception and his life was also affected.

The situation is different now. The emperor has issued an imperial decree, asking them to go to Beijing to serve the king.

Using Nanjing for moral blackmail has now lost its effect.

No matter how important Nanjing is, its status is lower than that of the capital.

What's more, there is the emperor's edict, which makes the political bonus even more powerful.

No matter how good the reasons are, he cannot disobey the order.

"Hey!

These are troubled times! "

Mr. Zhuxi, with a white beard, sighed with a look of despair.

The Northern Tartars came at a wrong time. He had already persuaded Li Mu to send troops to reinforce Nanjing.

I never expected that such an accident would happen during the oath-taking ceremony.

……

(End of this chapter)