Fu Shanhe

Chapter 306: Dispute over Title

"Uligai, are you here to see the joke?"

As he spoke, Bashar slowly stood up from the bushes.

Now that he was exposed, there was no point in continuing to hide. Now he was like meat on the chopping board, and he could only hope that the other party would show mercy.

"Bashar, you think too much.

I'm in this situation now and I can barely take care of myself, so how can I have the time to watch you make a fool of yourself?

Greed and underestimating Yu Jun were the biggest mistakes we made.

Both the Hailar tribe and the Bayartu tribe suffered heavy losses. They returned to the grassland in disgrace, and I'm afraid everyone's life would not be easy.

For now, the best option is for our two departments to merge into one and face the new situation on the grassland together."

Uligai's words made Bashar's heart sink to the bottom. What do you mean by merging the two into one? It was clearly an attempt to annex the Bayartu tribe.

“What a big appetite!

The Bayartu tribe had as many as 50,000 armored soldiers.

Even if we lose a few thousand cavalrymen, we are still one of the largest tribes on the grassland. You are not afraid of choking!"

Bashar asked sharply.

However, it was too much of a bluff and had no effect at all.

If there really were 50,000 armored cavalry, then the overlord of the grassland would be their Bayartu tribe, not the newly emerging Tatar tribe.

There weren't that many armored cavalry, but there were still 50,000 young and strong men. Due to the needs of life, these people were divided into several tribes to graze.

The loss of several thousand cavalrymen might seem to have little impact on them, but in fact it was a serious blow.

The most capable cavalry of the entire Bayartu tribe were basically killed on the battlefield, and the only ones left were a group of herdsmen.

The situation of the Hyrule tribe was not much better.

It was just that Uligai was lucky. He reunited with the scattered troops in time and took the opportunity to annex some of the troops of his allies.

The strong prey on the weak on the grassland, and everyone is used to relying on the strong. In order to survive, small and medium-sized tribes are all qualified fence-sitters.

"Bashar, why don't you understand?
I do this just to make the Guifang clan great again.

The previous defeat was caused by your willful behavior. Do you want to make the same mistake over and over again?"

Ulige said with pretended regret.

When a battle is lost, someone always has to take responsibility.

As a person in power, you must learn to pass the buck.

Although the previous division of troops for looting was the result of everyone's discussion, the plan was proposed by Bashar.

Of course, the most important thing is that he met the down-and-out Bashar.

If the enemy was stronger and had one or two thousand cavalrymen around them, nothing would happen.

Unfortunately, the reality is cruel. In order to escape as quickly as possible, Bashar and his companions not only exhausted their horses to death, but also abandoned their armor.

Some soldiers didn't even have weapons.

If we meet in this situation and don’t do something, it would be a shame to the opportunity given by God.

“Uligai, you said it well.

Don't forget that the overlords of the grassland now are the Tatars, and they will not allow the Guifang to rise.

The Hyrule tribe had always been a thorn in their side.

If they annexed the Bayartu tribe, it would touch their bottom line.

Even if we combine our forces, we will not be a match for the Tatars!"

Bashar tried to intimidate.

The Guifang tribe has been divided for many years, and any tribe that attempts to unify the Guifang tribe will be severely beaten.

In the past, it was Dayu who maintained the balance of the grassland.

As Dayu gradually declined, the newly emerging Tatar tribe continued Dayu's grassland balance strategy.

On the one hand, they suppressed the strongest tribe, and on the other hand, they stirred up hatred among the tribes.

Large tribes such as Hailar and Bayartu were targets of the Tatars.

The Guifang people, who have a glorious history, are naturally unwilling to be suppressed all the time, and they have never stopped taking actions behind closed doors.

In the past few years, the two sides have fought five major wars.

Because of internal problems, the various departments were unable to work closely together, and each attempt ended in their failure.

“Since you choose to refuse, you don’t need to worry about these issues.

The great Guifang clan will eventually stand on top of the grassland again!"

As soon as the words fell, all the small tribes, receiving the signal from Uligai, rushed towards Bashar and his group.

The bloody massacre began. Before he could say anything, Bashar was shot into a hedgehog by a rain of arrows.

They were previously affiliated with the Bayartu tribe, but now that they have changed their master, they need to submit their allegiance again.

The killing before our eyes is just a microcosm of the changes in the situation on the grassland.

The failure on the battlefield broke the original balance and became the fuse for a major reshuffle of grassland forces.

……

Capital.

With the end of the Battle of Jinan, detailed battle reports were also sent to the palace.

Looking at the data on the memorial, Emperor Yongning rubbed his eyes in disbelief.

The victory came too suddenly, completely beyond his expectations.

"it is good!"

"it is good!"

"it is good!"

"This battle was fought beautifully!"

Emperor Yongning couldn't help but praise.

With the last great victory in Jinan as a prelude, he no longer doubted that Marquis Wuyang would win another great victory.

There is no way, the previous battle report is too honest.

When the officials from the Ministry of War checked, the number of heads reported matched exactly.

If you say they are real captives, then they are real captives, without any exaggeration.

As for other data that could not be accurately verified, with his professional level, he could not find any problems.

This was the case in the last battle report, so I think it will be similar this time.

Subconscious trust made Emperor Yongning directly accept this good news.

"Your Majesty, the ministers are waiting outside."

Su Haoyu reminded.

The news of the great victory in Jinan had been circulating in Beijing two days ago.

However, the war was still going on at that time, and the intelligence sent by the Jinyiwei only mentioned that the government army had won a great victory, but there was no specific battle record.

Knowing that the army supporting the king had won, all officials naturally kept a close eye on the battle reports from the front line.

Upon receiving the news of the victory in Beijing, everyone rushed to the palace.

The northern barbarians marched in and plundered, causing great political impact.

If they are not allowed to leave something behind to let the enemy know how powerful we are, this kind of thing will become the norm.

Whether for the sake of the court's face or for strategic security considerations, Dayu must launch a counterattack.

During the enemy's retreat, a group of loyal soldiers came on stage to perform.

Including Liaodong Town, which had been slacking off, they also took the initiative to attack and successively eliminated several teams transporting spoils, killing thousands of real captives in total.

Unfortunately, overall, the Dayu Dynasty had more defeats than victories.

This is the logistics' fault.

Many of the troops that came to support the king arrived in such a hurry that they did not carry enough supplies.

The local government offices that were supposed to provide strategic materials to the army were very slow to respond due to the corruption of the bureaucracy.

As a result, many troops who came to support the king had to live a life of hunger and satiety after arriving at the front line.

There was no large-scale mutiny, which was a manifestation of loyalty to the emperor and patriotism.

Going to the battlefield to kill the enemy with an empty stomach will naturally not be very effective.

Even though the environment was so harsh, the various tribes managed to kill thousands of Northern Tartars.

However, such a record obviously could not satisfy Emperor Yongning or the officials. They only captured a few thousand heads of the real captives, and even without considering the gold content, the data could not catch up with the first Jinan victory.

"Let them in!"

Emperor Yongning said with a smile.

It can be seen that he is in a very good mood now.

The continuous defeats on the battlefield and the good news from the front line became the best medicine.

Even though the battle reports showed that the army that came to support the king suffered greater casualties, he ignored it.

How is it possible for infantry to fight cavalry without paying a price?
The thing that the Dayu Dynasty had the most was people.

The casualties of the troops are great, so just replenish them.

After the victory, not only the emperor was happy, but all the officials were also happy.

The outstanding military achievements proved that the Dayu Dynasty was still viable and there was no need to consider changing dynasties for the time being.

As long as we keep up the good work and put down the White Lotus Rebellion, everything will return to normal.

As vested interests, since the court was able to rescue it, no one wanted to start over again.

……

“The northern barbarians in Shandong suffered heavy losses, and the remaining remnants are busy fleeing northward.

The Northern Tartars in other areas are also evacuating. Does the Ministry of War have any further combat plans?"

Emperor Yongning asked with concern.

Even though the battle on the battlefield was a mess, he still had high hopes for the Ministry of War.

It’s not that I like to use civil officials, it’s purely out of need for balance.

Since we want to make use of generals from the nobility, we must arrange for checks and balances.

Consolidating the position of the Ministry of War is a crucial link.

“Your Majesty, the Ministry of War has issued strict orders to all troops in various places to intercept the enemy troops returning north.

The plan is currently progressing steadily and will definitely inflict heavy damage on the enemy.

The most difficult issue at the moment is money and food. The amount of military pay owed by the court is really too huge.

The officers and soldiers below are almost unable to survive.

If this problem is not solved, it will probably cause a big mess.

The second is to reward meritorious officials.

It was mainly the troops under Marquis Wuyang who won two great victories and inflicted heavy damage on the enemy.

His outstanding military achievements made him the first in the country in the past hundred years.

According to his merits, he should be knighted."

Wan Yuxuan replied immediately.

As the Minister of War, he considers issues from a different perspective than ordinary civil servants.

I am not afraid that the generals under me can fight, I am afraid that the people under me cannot fight.

The Ministry of War has contributed to every outstanding achievement on the front line.

The Ministry of War also bears some responsibility for every defeat on the counter-attack front.

As for the issue of military generals becoming powerful, that is a matter for the future.

What he is considering now is how to quell the rebellion as soon as possible and restore peace to the world.

If there is another defeat on the front line, he will no longer be able to do his job as Minister of War.

“The Ministry of Revenue and the Cabinet will work together to find a solution to the problem of money and grain.

My dear ministers, please discuss the matter of rewarding meritorious officials!"

Emperor Yongning nodded and said.

No matter how capable the Minister of War is, at least he does things to his satisfaction.

The imperial court is poor now and has no way to offer money for rewards, so it can only provide them with official titles.

If you can’t fill a real vacancy, then give a nominal position.

In short, the military's morale must be appeased.

“Your Majesty, as the most meritorious minister, Marquis Wuyang should be granted the title of hereditary marquis for his achievements.

The second person to have made the greatest contribution was Li Mu, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, whose achievements were also worthy of the title of marquis.

However, considering his qualifications and age, you can push him down a bit.

Further down, the Left Army Lieutenant General Qin Tianrui, the Central Army Lieutenant General Liu Qifeng, and the Right Army Lieutenant General Ye Hongchang also barely reached the threshold for being conferred a title.

Among them, Lieutenant General Qin was from the lineage of Duke Xingguo, Lieutenant General Liu was from the lineage of Marquis Nanyang, and Lieutenant General Ye was from the lineage of Marquis Pingyuan.

Due to unexpected changes, the titles of these three families have not yet been determined.

It is also in accordance with the rules to let them inherit their ancestral titles.”

After saying this, Jing Guoliang stepped aside and waited for the officials' reactions.

"inappropriate!"

“My Lord, there is no dispute over the title of Marquis Wuyang being conferred as a hereditary marquis.

Admiral Li can be conferred the title of marquis or earl, there is nothing controversial about it.

The three of them, Qin Tianrui, Lieutenant General of the Left Army, Liu Qifeng, Lieutenant General of the Central Army, and Ye Hongchang, Lieutenant General of the Right Army, had only been in the army for three years.

Although his performance in the army was good, it was not amazing.

If three people are conferred titles, then there will be more generals who can be conferred titles in the nine border areas.

The imperial court must be fair in conferring titles upon those with military merit.

It is also not advisable to let three people inherit the family title.

Although they are from the same family, their blood relationship is beyond the fifth generation.

In terms of blood relationship, there are still a lot of people ahead of them in the three families, which is not in accordance with etiquette. "

The Minister of Rites immediately objected.

Maintaining the laws and etiquette of the court is his job.

Someone took the lead in opposing it and soon gained the support of a group of civil servants.

Supporting the appointment of nobles as head coaches was a helpless choice due to the worsening situation, but it did not mean that he would allow the noble group to grow bigger.

Compared with other political groups, the biggest drawback of the nobility is that the circle is too small and there is a shortage of talent.

There were only a little over a hundred hereditary nobles in the Dayu Dynasty, which inherently restricted the growth of this group.

Every additional nobleman is an injection of fresh blood.

The rush to promote Qin Tianrui, Liu Qifeng and Ye Hongchang meant that the civil officials had put the issue of the succession of titles by their direct descendants and nobles on hold indefinitely.

The question is: there is controversy.

Those who are familiar with politics know that such long-term suspension generally means that there is no plan to carry out the plan.

From the perspective of the imperial court, reducing the number of nobles would reduce the number of people supported by the finances.

But for the noble group, it was a disaster.

After the last big explosion in the capital, there were more than a dozen unlucky nobles whose titles have remained vacant to this day because their direct descendants were wiped out.

If the problem is not resolved in time, the base of the noble group will be reduced by one tenth.

Theoretically, if there is a dispute over succession rights, the emperor can designate the successor to the title.

However, Emperor Yongning was reluctant to express his position, so the Ministry of Rites took the opportunity to suspend the inheritance of titles of these families indefinitely.

No one can say how long this cold treatment will last.

If you're lucky, the emperor might be in a good mood one day and get things done.

If one is unlucky, the title issue may not be resolved even after several generations.

Generally speaking, the longer the delay, the lower the probability of keeping the title.

The main thing is that people forget about you.

As time went by, the family's connections became weaker and weaker, no one mentioned him in front of the emperor, and it was highly likely that he would be forgotten.

The fact that Qin Tianrui, Liu Qifeng and Ye Hongchang were able to obtain resource support actually showed that they were already the connections of the three families and played a role in the end.

After all, political resources are not unlimited, and everyone has successors who need to be trained.

……

(End of this chapter)