Fu Shanhe

Chapter 311: Financial Dilemma
Nanjing City.

Under the constant persuasion of his ministers, King Fu Haoxuan of the South was crowned emperor in the Nanjing Palace and established the Great Wu regime.

In order to win over local gentry, Fu Haoxuan issued a series of political reforms after the establishment of Da Wu.

The religious theories that were originally used during the White Lotus period were directly abandoned by the Xin Dynasty.

It officially drew a line between itself and the White Lotus Holy Kingdom and transformed from a religious regime to a secular regime.

The effect was very obvious. After changing its course, it gained the support of a large number of dissatisfied scholars.

After learning that the gentry would no longer be massacred and would instead be politically wooed, the intensity of resistance in various places dropped significantly.

As a result, the Northern Expedition also went smoothly.

The two prefectures of Huaiyang, which held out hard, were soon captured by Wu's army, which then headed straight for Fengyang and Luzhou prefectures.

The rapid progress on the front line filled the entire Wu State with optimism.

As long as these two prefectures are captured, the middle and lower reaches south of the Huai River will all belong to the State of Wu.

We are only one step away from competing for the Central Plains.

"Your Majesty, news just came from the north that the grassland coalition forces withdrew from Dayu.

The various armies that came to support the king returned to their hometowns one after another.

The emperor of the pseudo-dynasty once again made personnel adjustments.

Xu Wenyue, the former Governor-General of Huguang, was appointed Governor-General of Sichuan.

He appointed Marquis Wuyang as Governor-General of Jiangnan and concurrently Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi.

Jing Guoliang, commander-in-chief of the Left Army, was appointed governor-general of Fujian and Zhejiang.

Li Yuan, commander-in-chief of the Right Army, was appointed governor-general of Huguang.

Li Mu was appointed Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, concurrently as Governor-General of Jiangnan.

......"

Hu Yuzhe said in a panic.

As a surrendered minister, he was very familiar with the situation of the Dayu Dynasty.

This personnel appointment means that Dayu has changed its national policy of controlling the military with civil power and has fully activated the group of nobles.

Without laymen commanding the experts, the combat effectiveness of the Yu army at least doubled.

"Minister Hu, you don't have enough concentration!

The pseudo-dynasty is already on the decline, and the predicament cannot be reversed by a single personnel appointment.

This is not the early years of the founding of the country, and those noble lords have long since fallen.

There is only one Marquis of Wuyang, and not all nobles are so good at fighting.

Even if they have good military capabilities, they still need soldiers to be available.

According to the intelligence collected previously, the Guangdong-Guangxi army lost nearly 50,000 troops in Jinan Prefecture and had long been defeated.

The Governor-General of Jiangnan is just a hollow shell, and the only thing Marquis Wuyang can rely on is his remnant army, which is simply unable to launch an attack on us in a short period of time.

The Yu army in Huguang has long been on the verge of collapse and could be wiped out at any time.

Zhejiang was divided between us and the King of the West, and the Governor-General of Fujian and Zhejiang only had Fujian.

The Western King is already planning an attack on Fujian. They can barely take care of themselves, so how can they afford to cause trouble for us?
The three governors-general in the southeast region are three jokes.

Panic Only the foolish fake emperor believes that changing someone can turn the situation around!"

Right Prime Minister Yang Jingren immediately joked.

The Dayu Dynasty had almost no awareness of confidentiality, and these confidential information could be obtained by just sending anyone to inquire.

To a certain extent, they understand Dayu better than Emperor Yongning.

If the Emperor of the Yu Dynasty had issued this personnel appointment a year earlier, they would have been in a real mess.

But now it is different. The State of Wu occupies more than 20 prefectures and its territory is as large as two provinces.

Moreover, they are all rich and fertile lands. The income from looting the noble families alone is enough to cover the expenses of the Wu Kingdom for two years.

With the help of a number of surrendered officials, the local government has been initially established and the tax system has begun to function.

In the face of Wu Jun's butcher knife, all the lands that had been hidden were cleared out.

Merchants who have always enjoyed tax-free treatment also pay taxes in accordance with the rules.

Even though it had just experienced war, the taxes collected by Wu in its ruled areas still exceeded those during the reign of Dayu.

Among the many forces in the world, the one with the best financial situation was the Wu State.

Next were the other two rebel kings of the White Lotus Sect, who had amassed a considerable fortune by plundering the gentry.

The Northern Tartars can only rank fourth in financial resources. Although they have just made a fortune from looting, they lack sustainable and stable income.

The Dayu Dynasty seemed to be the most powerful, but it had the worst financial situation among all the major forces.

Wars are fought for money and food.

Dayu, which is short of financial resources, is now showing signs of decline when facing the siege of a pack of wolves.

Against this background, there were many scholars who were optimistic about the Wu State.

"My dear Yang, what you said makes sense.

But we still can't be careless, Dayu still has some assets.

If it weren't for the prodigal son of the false emperor, it would be really difficult to deal with him.

The three newly appointed governors-general of the southeast should be the last pillars of the Dayu Dynasty.

As long as we get rid of them, the era of competition among many heroes will truly arrive.

Especially at times like this, we should not take it lightly.

Judging from the map, the enemy should be attacking from the south.

The first to bear the pressure was King Xi.

I remember that year, the King of the West and I jointly raised an army to rebel against Yu, and we worked together to get through the most difficult years.

Send someone to keep a close eye on the war between them, and once the King of the West falls into a disadvantage, send someone to lobby him.

For the sake of our past brotherhood, as long as the Western King is willing to surrender to me, I will reward him generously with the title of King!"

Fu Haoxuan said proudly.

Being able to fight his way out of the chaotic world, his abilities must be good.

While the ministers were considering the threat from Yu's army, Fu Haoxuan was already thinking about how to seize the world.

The establishment of the Wu State certainly stabilized people's hearts, but it also led to a path of no return.

Not only was there no possibility of easing tensions with the Dayu Dynasty, but relations with other anti-Yu forces were also on the verge of breaking down.

There are no two days in the sky, and there are no two masters in the country.

In the face of power, any friendship is unreliable.

The break with the White Lotus Sect directly pushed the State of Wu into opposition with the other two rebel kings.

They didn't turn against each other directly because they had a common enemy, Dayu.

Once the Yu Dynasty was overthrown, these major forces that were determined to fight for the world would inevitably break out into a war.

From the perspective of long-term development, while overthrowing the rule of the Yu Dynasty, we must also find ways to weaken or suppress our competitors.

"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"

All the ministers shouted in unison.

Although everyone did not think that Western King Wei Jiarui would surrender, it did not affect Wu's attempt.

Even if Wei Jiarui could not be won over, winning over some generals would have very important political significance for the State of Wu.

However, the premise of all this is based on a major setback on the battlefield of King West.

If we can defeat the Yu army, these small actions will be meaningless.

……

The fleet sailed south, and it was already midsummer when the army arrived in Guangzhou.

Despite the scorching sun, Li Mu still felt at ease.

Compared with the hard days of sailing on the sea, landing itself is the greatest happiness.

"Mu'er, we are going to organize our troops in Guangzhou, and we are counting on you!"

Jing Guoliang said with a smile.

Relatively speaking, the pressure on him as the Governor of Fujian and Zhejiang was relatively small.

Although Zhejiang fell into the hands of the rebels, Fujian was still under the control of the imperial court.

And during the fall of Zhejiang, many government troops successfully withdrew from there.

These people are the backbone of the noble faction, and all of them were split out from Li Mu's subordinates.

The reason they lost cities and territories was not because of their incompetence, but mainly because the situation deteriorated too quickly.

Many people had not yet taken office, or had just taken office when the war broke out, leaving them with no time to prepare for war.

Even so, relying on the support provided by Li Mu, they were able to fight the rebels back and forth in the early stages.

It was not until the imperial edict to support the king was issued that Li Mu and Marquis Wuyang led their troops north to support the king, and they were unable to continue to provide them with assistance.

The originally tense battlefield in Zhejiang soon became one-sided.

The Dayu army enjoyed multi-level financial support.

That is: a three-level support system consisting of the imperial court, provinces, and prefectures.

This is a product of the national policy of controlling the military with civil power. It can not only ensure the court's control over the local army, but also establish the supervisory power of the local government officials over the army.

In normal times, if one wanted to mobilize a large army, one had to obtain orders from the emperor, the Ministry of War, and the Governor's Office at the same time.

During wartime, local civil officials could only have military command after obtaining authorization from the imperial court.

After the White Lotus Rebellion became stronger, the Ministry of Revenue was unable to provide money and food for the army to suppress the rebellion, and the court was forced to delegate power to the governor-general. The part of the obligations that originally belonged to the court fell on the governor-general's office.

After the fall of Zhejiang, without the financial support of the local government, the people had to rely entirely on grants from the governor's office to survive.

With limited money and food, it was difficult to feed his own retainers, let alone replenish the military structure and recover lost territory.

Also affected were the generals who were transferred to Huguang.

Their situation is even worse because of jurisdiction issues.

After retreating to Guangdong, we could not get a single penny of funding.

He wanted to ask the Governor of Huguang for money, but was blocked by the rebels, so he had no choice but to come back and ask for help.

Naturally, they could not count on the military pay, but for the sake of their old colleagues, Li Mu discussed with Marquis Wuyang and provided them with a batch of military rations.

Now that the new governor has taken office, he will definitely integrate this part of the troops.

However, in this process, there is one issue that cannot be avoided, which is the "money and food" needed by the army.

The few important towns in Huguang are still under siege by the rebels and are certainly unable to provide money and food.

Fujian was able to provide some money and food, but this year's taxes had already been advanced by Marquis Wuyang to the army sent to support the king.

As a result, the two governors, Jing Guoliang and Li Yuan, were faced with the dilemma of having no money and no grain to collect as soon as they took office.

“Don’t worry, father-in-law, reorganizing the military is easy.

Most of the generals who recruited soldiers in Fujian and Zhejiang were former subordinates of the son-in-law, or were children of noble families.

Just give them a call and they will fully cooperate with your work.

Uncle Qi is the general in Guangdong, and you can also take the troops under his command with you to serve him.

These troops together have about 20,000 soldiers, and I will support you with another 5,000 soldiers.

With the addition of the tens of thousands of troops in Fujian, we can recapture Zhejiang after a little reorganization.

If you want to be prudent, it is best to first fill the vacancies in each department and then launch a counterattack against the rebels."

Li Mu immediately assured.

The issue of money and grain requires communication between Jing Guoliang and Marquis Wuyang. He cannot make any promises beyond his authority.

But helping to reorganize the army is still very easy.

If these old subordinates become successful outside, the words of him as their old boss may not carry much weight.

But as soon as these people went out, they suffered head injuries and bloodshed, and their pride was instantly lost.

At times like this, the power of his boss is further highlighted.

After all, he had led his army alone deep into Guangxi and recovered lost territory along the way.

The environment we faced was much worse than it is now.

"You're afraid it will be hard for you to explain to Marquis Wuyang if you mobilize so many elite troops at once?"

Jing Guoliang asked with concern.

According to the original plan, the troops under Jing Yifeng were not taken into account.

There were only three towns in Guangdong and Guangxi that recruited soldiers. They poached five thousand people from Li Mu, and then abducted the soldiers of another town. It was really too ugly to see how greedy they were.

What's more, it was not only his father-in-law who needed help. Li Yuan, the governor of Huguang, also needed support from Li Mu.

If both sides were treated in this way, the elite troops of Guangdong and Guangxi would be drained, which would inevitably affect the subsequent recovery of Jiangnan.

“This matter is not a big problem. I have discussed it with the Governor-General and plan to expand the recruitment of soldiers in the three towns.

After these troops are withdrawn, we can expand another town to fill the gap.

The situation in Huguang is more complicated, so my uncle may have to wait for a while.

The number of troops evacuating from that side was slightly smaller, and my old subordinates had only about 3,000 people.

However, these people are servants of the generals.

Due to financial constraints, there is no way to expand.

If the money and grain problems could be solved, a town could be built immediately.

In addition to the 5,000 soldiers promised before, after the recruitment and expansion is completed, my nephew can select a town of troops to participate in the battle to recover Huguang."

Li Mu replied with a smile.

The fact that there are only three towns in Guangdong and Guangxi that recruit soldiers does not mean that he only has these few soldiers capable of fighting.

After the reorganization, the garrison troops obtained a large amount of military land and also possessed considerable combat effectiveness.

If you observe carefully, you will find that the wounded in every major war were ordered to retire after the war.

However, these retired soldiers did not return home to farm, but were incorporated into the garrison troops.

In all previous major wars, there were garrison troops, and their actual combat effectiveness was no worse than that of recruited soldiers.

Everyone wore the same uniform, and outsiders could not tell the difference between the two.

Although the generals inside knew that he had a garrison force with good combat effectiveness, they did not know the exact number of people.

After all, the garrisons in various places existed independently.

Even when participating in a war, a guard would usually only select one or two thousand households to take turns to train on the battlefield, and would not send out all the troops.

If he wanted, he could immediately expand the recruitment by simply changing the unit number.

But Li Mu was not prepared to play it this way.

The troops were hidden with great difficulty, so they naturally could not be exposed easily.

We can just use our visible financial resources to expand the army based on the recruitment of soldiers from the original two towns.

The soldiers who survived, having been tempered by blood and fire, became elite troops.

The old soldier served as sergeant, the former sergeant served as squad leader, and the squad leader served as flag officer.

With these people as the foundation, it is not difficult to turn two towns into six towns.

After several months of training, they will be able to initially develop combat effectiveness.

First pick the weak ones to practice, and after winning a few battles, an elite force will be born.

These are all old tricks, and Li Mu is very familiar with them.

"We have to raise funds for the army anyway, so it doesn't matter if we wait a little longer.

However, can we guarantee the money and food to expand so many troops at once?
Can weapons and equipment be supplied in a timely manner?

How much combat effectiveness does the army have left? "

Li Yuan asked with concern.

Recruiting soldiers is very expensive, and the six garrisons at full strength require more than 70,000 soldiers.

The Liaodong Town, which was built at great expense by the imperial court, had a total population of only more than 60,000 people.

Even if they were all infantry, the annual daily expenses would cost several million taels.

The imperial court did not have enough armor and firearms in stock to organize so many elite troops at once, and could only provide swords and spears at most.

The weapons in the arsenal had already been used up in the previous wars.

If you want sophisticated weapons and equipment, you can only make them yourself.

There is no need to worry about manufacturing technology, just ask the court for it, but you have to provide the required money and food yourself.

What's more, rapid expansion of the military will also affect combat effectiveness.

With a series of unfavorable factors compounded together, Li Yuan had to worry.

“Uncle, please don’t worry.

Now that this plan has been proposed, the feasibility issue has naturally been considered.

As for the funding issue, most of it has actually been raised in Shandong.

The insufficient funds can be raised from Guangdong and Guangxi.

As long as money and food can be provided, weapons and armor will not be a problem.

This force was temporarily expanded to recapture Nanjing. We only need to guarantee the military expenses for the first two to three years.

After we recover Jiangnan, the army will certainly suffer heavy losses, and we can then reduce its size accordingly.

After the expansion, it is inevitable that combat effectiveness will be affected.

At their peak, the military garrisons of Guangdong and Guangxi were able to defeat the northern barbarian army head-on.

Even if their combat effectiveness is cut in half, I think it will still work if they are sent out to bully the rebels."

Li Mu lied seriously.

There is no such thing as downsizing. In troubled times, the military establishment will only get bigger and bigger.

Once the chaos begins, it will not end immediately.

After suppressing the White Lotus Rebellion, other rebels will emerge.

Even if internal dangers are eliminated, there will still be external enemies invading.

"Just be prepared in advance!"

Although he said it with ease, Li Yuan was secretly complaining in his heart.

Li Mu's military expenses have been resolved, but the military expenses for the Huguang soldiers have not yet been settled.

When they set out, the imperial court did allocate a sum of money, but it was just a drop in the bucket.

It is impossible to recover Huguang without spending money.

Now that the territory is in the hands of the rebels, no matter how many plans he has, he will not be able to get money and food from the enemy.

Raising military funds for the army is an official matter of the imperial court, so you can't ask your nephew for money, right?
Even if he himself doesn't care about face, the court still needs face!
Fundraising and borrowing are not good solutions.

Given the current credibility of the Dayu Dynasty, it is impossible to expect everyone to voluntarily pay.

(End of this chapter)