Fu Shanhe

Chapter 316: The Establishment of the Chu State
Yongzhou Prefecture.

"What? The Pseudo-Dynasty army is only thirty miles away from the city?"

Song Zetao asked in panic.

The Dayu Dynasty has ruled for more than 270 years, and its majesty has long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. It cannot be eliminated in a short period of time.

Three years ago, he was still a scholar who had failed in the imperial examinations many times.

He happened to catch up with the White Lotus Rebellion and was forced to work as an accountant.

I thought that if I just muddled through the days, I would be treated as a bandit and killed by the anti-rebellion army.

He never expected that the White Lotus Sect, which he despised, would grow rapidly and sweep across many provinces.

As an early member and a veteran, Song Zetao's career rose rapidly as the rebel army grew.

In this context, his sense of belonging to the White Lotus Sect was completely maximized.

"Yes, Your Excellency.

This was news from two hours ago. Perhaps the enemy is now less than twenty miles away from us.

The enemy's flag is Li, so it seems to be the army of that villain Li Mu."

The young general's answer made the atmosphere in the room suddenly solemn.

The rebel army fought north and south, and was invincible. They had long since stopped taking the ordinary government troops seriously.

The official troops under Li Mu were undoubtedly an exception.

Drive them out of their hometown in Guangxi. No one is not afraid of this ruthless man who can kill the White Lotus Saint Emperor.

It has been said above that Li Mu's troops suffered heavy losses in the war to support the king, but it is difficult to confirm whether this is true or not.

We have all experienced false propaganda carried out more than once or twice to boost military morale.

Before the loss of Guangdong and Guangxi, the news they received was that the Holy Kingdom's army had defeated the enemy.

If the news was true, Li Mu's troops should have been destroyed in Guangxi two years ago.

"That villain Li Mu is not easy to deal with.

Lord Song, let's report this to the prince and ask him to send reinforcements immediately!"

Min Wuliu, the governor of Yongzhou, immediately made his position clear.

It is impossible to fight alone and defend Yongzhou.

Judging from the data on paper, he has an army of 10,000, so defending the city is not a problem.

However, the Holy White Lotus Kingdom had fought against Li Mu's troops many times and had never won a single battle, so they had long suffered psychological trauma.

Without superior forces, he didn't want to try.

"it is good!"

Song Zetao agreed immediately.

If you are unsure of the situation, it is always better to be cautious.

Anyway, the prince has decided to send troops to Guangdong and Guangxi and is busy mobilizing troops. Asking for help now is just the right time to resolve the dispute over the choice of the main battlefield.

……

Looking at the city appearing in the distance, Li Mu smiled slightly.

Yongzhou is a good place. The last battle of Yongzhou brought him both fame and fortune.

Now when I revisit the old place, I feel a different kind of emotion in my heart.

If the rebels cooperate, Li Mu doesn't mind turning Yongzhou into a burial place for the enemy.

The tactics are all ready-made and you don't have to think about them at all.

If the main force of the enemy dares to come to rescue, then we will fight a decisive battle in the wild.

With the elite troops of the six prefectures, a total of 70,000 soldiers, it was a qualitative leap compared to the previous situation.

"Mu'er, the walls of Yongzhou are strong, I'm afraid it will be difficult to attack!"

Li Yuan on the side spoke up.

He had no doubt about his nephew's ability to command troops.

Through the contacts during this period, he also knew that the Guangdong-Guangxi army was badly damaged and was simply trying to fool the court.

He had already imagined the reason for doing so before he was asked.

It's simply because they are afraid that the idiots in the court will issue unrealistic combat orders after seeing the victory.

Similar stupid operations have occurred frequently in recent decades.

Many battles that were clearly victorious in the early stages ended in heavy losses under the command of those idiots in the court.

The officials in the court made half of the contribution to the Northern Tartars’ growth.

Choosing to falsely report war damage may be suspected of deceiving the emperor, but it is also for the sake of the overall situation.

We are all family, so even if he knew the truth, he couldn't tell it to others.

The others were not important enough, and no one would believe them even if they reported them to the court.

Inherent cognition makes everyone willing to believe that the army sent to support the king suffered heavy losses in Shandong.

Since the risks are controllable and Marquis Wuyang and a group of nobles share the responsibility, then this is not a big deal.

However, no matter how strong you are, you still have to consider practical issues.

Attacking a city is not the same as fighting in the field. In Li Mu’s previous battles, few of them were achieved by storming the city.

It’s not that we are worried about not being able to capture Yongzhou, the key is how much it will cost to capture Yongzhou.

If the army suffers too great losses, it will inevitably affect subsequent operations.

As the Governor-General of Huguang, he is still waiting to recover the lost territory, so there cannot be any problems with the army.

“Don’t worry, uncle, the rebels themselves told us how to attack the city.

Since the rebels can dig underground to attack the city, we can naturally follow suit.

Before evacuating Yongzhou, the government troops deliberately left a back door.

If the rebels hadn't discovered it, the subsequent siege would not have been so difficult.

Besides, our goal is not to capture the city of Yongzhou, but to recover the entire Huguang land.

The gains and losses of a city or a place are not that important.

It would be fine if the rebels gathered their main forces to come for a decisive battle.

If the enemy ignores us, we will divide our forces and march into Huguang to capture this granary of the world!"

The speaker may not mean it, but the listener may take it seriously.

When the government troops withdrew, they left a secret door behind. His nephew, the Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, knew about it, but no one reported it to him, the Governor-General.

This made Li Yuan realize that his control over the Huguang government troops was seriously insufficient.

But there is no way around it, the position of Governor of Huguang is too high, and he is surrounded by a large group of officials.

The government army generals guarding Yongzhou had to queue up if they wanted to see him and had no right to report individually.

According to the procedures, the news was reported step by step. It is estimated that when the governor received the news, the rebels had also received the news.

“If we want to recover the entire Huguang territory, White Butcher’s regiment will also be a help.

Although they were suppressed in a corner by the rebels, they were able to hold out for such a long time, so I think their fighting capacity should be strong.

If necessary, I can order him to cooperate in the battle.

But if this happens, it will definitely affect Jiangnan’s strategy, and you may not be able to explain yourself.”

Li Yuan said slowly.

Strengthening control over the army cannot be accomplished overnight. The most important thing at the moment is to recover Huguang and control Huguang, so that the governor of Huguang can live up to his name.

From a personal perspective, priority must be given to recovering Huguang.

However, now the three governors are fighting together, and the troops serving as the main force of the war, although they are from Li Mu's command, are under the pressure of the Marquis of Wuyang.

If it is proposed to give priority to recovering Huguang, it will not only make Li Mu's job difficult, but also affect the unity within the noble group.

"Now all the civil and military officials in the court are eyeing Nanjing, and the pressure on Marquis Wuyang is very great.

What he wanted was to reach the Yangtze River as quickly as possible and then take Nanjing downstream.

The presence or absence of one more or one less capital in other states does not actually affect the overall situation.

As for the White Butcher, forget it!
His reputation is too bad, and he is not the same kind of person as us, so there is no need to mix him up with us."

Li Mu said slowly.

Huguang and Jiangnan are both granaries, but Jiangnan has developed industry and commerce and has gathered a large number of non-agricultural population.

In recent decades, most of the grain produced in the Jiangnan region has been consumed by these people.

The amount of grain that can be exported is already very limited.

Huguang, located deep in the inland, is different. Not only is it a vast fertile land, it is also a purely agricultural province.

In recent years, it has become the most important grain producing area of ​​the Dayu Dynasty.

There is a popular saying among the people: "If Huguang is prosperous, the whole world will be well-fed."

Only after recovering Huguang could the grain prices of the Dayu Dynasty begin to slowly drop.

Only when the food supply is stabilized can the situation in the world hope to stabilize.

Many officials were aware of the importance of Huguang, but due to political factors, they could only think about it in their hearts.

Including Li Mu himself, no one dared to say that the Huguang strategy was better than Nanjing.

Not being able to say it doesn’t mean you can’t do it.

He shouted about retaking Nanjing, but when it came to taking actual action, he led his main force straight to Huguang.

There is no standard answer as to where to send troops in order to recapture Nanjing as quickly as possible.

There are not many officials in the court who understand military affairs, and Emperor Yongning is also a military novice, so it is not difficult to fool them.

“Since you have made up your mind, I won’t say much.

If you are sure of victory, it is okay not to let the White Butcher get involved.

His reputation is indeed hard to describe in words!"

Li Yuan said with a slightly disappointed look.

In the battle to recover Huguang, he, the Governor of Huguang, actually became a spectator.

There is no way, there are too few chips in hand.

The several thousand soldiers under his command cannot serve as the main force at all.

It was the only armed force in Huguang that persisted in resisting the rebels and was also notorious.

He often heard of the name of the butcher Bai Yifeng in Beijing.

In the eyes of many people, the reason why Bai Yifeng has persisted until now and has not surrendered is not because he is very loyal to the court.

He simply wanted to surrender, but the rebels wouldn't accept him.

In the previous battle to suppress the rebellion, Bai Yifeng's troops were the most brutal.

Even if the rebel soldiers surrendered, he would cut off their heads in exchange for military merits.

That would be fine if it were just that, but the key point is that Bai Yifeng's army not only slaughtered the soldiers but also spared their families.

It was common for the entire village to be killed if one person joined the rebels.

The area he guarded was able to contain the spread of the rebels, not because of his great military talent.

They were simply ruthless in their killings. Many times, in order to clear the countryside, they simply slaughtered all the nearby residents.

The memorials impeaching Bai Yifeng often piled up higher than a person.

Forced by the situation, Emperor Yongning suppressed these impeachments.

After all, the regiment did not seek salary from the imperial court and actively participated in suppressing the rebels, so we could not demand too much from them in other aspects.

……

Nanchang City.

Wei Jiarui led everyone to the platform and started the ceremony of offering sacrifices to the sky.

As the White Lotus Sect's army grew stronger, the shortcomings of the religious regime gradually became apparent.

Especially when recruiting talents, no matter how good the previous conversation was, there is no need to continue once you hear the word "white lotus".

The bad reputation of cult organizations is too deeply rooted in people's minds.

The scholars did not think they had any chance of conquering the world.

It was precisely because he realized the seriousness of the danger that King Fu Haoxuan of the South broke away from the Holy White Lotus Kingdom and established the Great Wu regime.

With successful cases, Wei Jiarui also accelerated the process of secularization.

First, the missionaries unique to the White Lotus Sect were banned, and then all kinds of evil sacrificial rituals were expressly prohibited.

After completing the de-religionization, the signboard of the Holy White Lotus Kingdom became nothing more than a burden to Wei Jiarui.

In order to participate in the competition for the world, he followed the advice of his advisers and established the secular and legitimate Chu before going on the expedition.

However, compared to Fu Haoxuan, Wei Jiarui was more restrained. He did not directly proclaim himself emperor, but only called himself the King of Chu.

The ordinary soldiers could not perceive the significance of the change in the king's title, but the civil officials were extremely excited.

Although it is also a rebellion, the title of King of the West makes everyone know that he is a low-level self-proclaimed king.

If you read a little more, you wouldn't use this kind of title.

If it were the King of Chu, it would be completely different.

Its history can be traced back more than two thousand years, and it ranks high among all the royal titles.

Anyone who heard this knew that this was a bid to conquer the world.

They can tell the outside world clearly that they are powerful lords, not a makeshift team.

Looking at the urgent letter for help in his hand, the official responsible for maintaining order at the scene had cold sweat on his forehead.

Speed ​​is of the essence on the battlefield. As an entrepreneur, Wei Jiarui attaches great importance to the military situation on the front line.

No matter when, any urgent military intelligence received from the front line must be reported immediately.

Even if it was the middle of the night, he would get up immediately to handle official business.

Today's situation is special. Once the ceremony of offering sacrifices to the heaven begins, interruption is not allowed.

Even if he sent the letter for help after the sacrifice, it would only cause trouble for his own prince.

Those who are more superstitious would also believe that this was a warning from God to Wei Jiarui to leave the Holy Kingdom of White Lotus and establish the Kingdom of Chu.

It was born out of a religious organization, and most people follow its lead.

Maybe a bunch of officials will pop up immediately to persuade Wei Jiarui to return to the big family of the Holy Kingdom of White Lotus.

Reporting it would bring trouble to his own prince, and not reporting it would have more serious consequences.

After some time, the impact of changing the king's title faded, but the Yongzhou front could not withstand it.

Concealing military intelligence is a serious crime in itself, and causing the loss of cities and territories on the front line is an even more serious crime.

(End of this chapter)