Fu Shanhe

Chapter 362 Big Deception

The sudden news of the battle shattered everyone's fantasy.

War is coming!

If Emperor Yu had not decided to go to war with them, the Yu army would not have dared to invade the border without authorization.

"The damned Yu people actually dared to invade the territory of Da Yue. They are clearly bullying Da Yue because it has no people.

Pass the decree, all departments immediately mobilize the whole country, I will personally lead 300,000 troops to the north to capture the Emperor of Dayu alive!"

Hu Xinbo, whose defenses were broken, immediately ordered a national mobilization.

It is a taboo in military strategy to launch an attack in anger, but at this time, the top leaders of Annan obviously did not have the ability to think any more.

Everyone agreed that the Yu Dynasty would use military force against them.

Annan is facing a life-and-death situation and must do its utmost to win this battle.

"Your Majesty, calm down!"

"Spring ploughing is imminent, and mobilizing the whole country at this time will inevitably affect next year's grain harvest.

Some time ago, merchants from the State of Yu kept purchasing grain from my country, Dayue, and they raised the grain price by half.

Although the imperial court took timely action to ban grain exports, the decline in domestic grain stocks still became a reality.

The Yu army's current provocation is intended to trick us. We must not fall for the enemy's evil scheme!"

Ruan Xinjie hurriedly persuaded.

Only after becoming the head of a household did you realize how expensive firewood, rice, oil and salt are.

Once the war broke out, the Ministry of Revenue would be the one under the greatest pressure.

Financial deficits are not unique to Dayu. Dayue, which followed Dayu's example, also suffered from severe deficits.

In the past few years, we have been constantly conquering foreign countries and expanding territory, and everyone has been prosperous, but the mess was left to the Ministry of Revenue.

No matter how rich the newly occupied area is, it will still require money and food in the initial development stage.

The biggest problem of the Indochina Peninsula is that it is too rich. The indigenous tribes that were destroyed have no ambition to make progress and their development and utilization of land are very limited.

More than twenty countries were destroyed, and the beneficiaries were all the powerful and wealthy, and the spoils did not even enter the Ministry of Revenue.

"Despicable Yu people!"

“They really had it planned all along. It seems that the damned Emperor Yu has been plotting against our Great Yue for a long time.

The Ministry of Rites has drafted a document to demand the surrender of Emperor Yu. I want to expose Emperor Yu's despicable behavior and let everyone in the world know that he is a despicable villain!

......"

Hu Xinbo cursed loudly.

When merchants from the State of Yu came to collect grain, he thought that the State of Yu was affected by the war, and its grain production had dropped significantly, and it was in urgent need of purchasing grain from outside.

In order to make a fortune, he ordered that the old grain in the government warehouse be sold to merchants from the State of Yu at a high price as new grain.

Anyway, Dai Viet has no shortage of food. Every year a large amount of food rots in the warehouses of the powerful.

If there is someone willing to pay a high price for it, it must be sold.

The emperor and domestic dignitaries worked together to clear out excess inventory, and everyone made a fortune from this international trade.

He thought he had got the upper hand, but now it seems he is just a fool.

When they thought about the fact that the military rations that the Yu Dynasty used to support their troops were actually sold by themselves, and then looked at the silk, porcelain and tea that were exchanged for them, they suddenly lost their appeal.

No matter how angry they were, the matter of sending troops was put on hold until after the spring plowing season.

The Northern Expedition of 300,000 troops required the conscription of a large number of civilian laborers.

Once mobilized, agricultural production will inevitably be affected.

When encountering an enemy like Dayu, the possibility of a quick victory is almost zero, and we must be prepared for a protracted war.

……

"Governor, urgent news from the front!"

"The Annan people launched attacks on Zhen'an Prefecture, Siming Prefecture and other places. The defending soldiers fought bravely and managed to repel the enemy.

He killed more than 3,000 enemy soldiers, but also suffered heavy casualties himself.

Debao County Magistrate Wei Fusheng was unfortunately hit by a stray arrow while inspecting the city's defenses and died after failed rescue efforts.

The enemy is coming fiercely, and the defending generals have sent a letter asking for help, hoping that you can send 200,000 reinforcements, allocate 2 million taels of silver, and 1.5 million shi..."

Before the master could finish speaking, Zhang Sihan was dumbfounded.

He was the governor of Guangxi, not the emperor of Dayu. Where could he dispatch troops and raise huge amounts of money and grain?

Not to mention 200,000 reinforcements, he couldn't even mobilize 20,000.

It’s not that Guangxi’s military equipment is in disrepair, it’s simply that the government has no money.

After the policy of changing the native system to Han Chinese, Guangxi's fiscal revenue increased substantially.

However, this growth is compared with the original low base, and the total amount is still less than a fraction of that in wealthy provinces.

In essence, Guangxi's finances were still in a deficit, and it needed support from the imperial court to cover administrative expenses.

No matter what, it is always a good thing to increase fiscal revenue.

However, the imperial court suffered from a serious financial deficit, and after peace was restored in Guangxi, the Ministry of Revenue reduced its financial allocation to Guangxi.

The increase is less than the cut in funding.

As a result, if government offices at all levels want to operate normally, they have to rely on the officials to exercise their subjective initiative.

"Was Magistrate Wei killed for his country?"

Zhang Sihan asked with concern.

Reinforcements, money and food were not something he could get.

We can only focus on the officials who died for their country.

He knew Wei Fusheng, a talented man who was good at poetry and songs. However, because he offended people in the court with his foul mouth, he was demoted to Guangxi.

After arriving in Guangxi, this guy learned some lessons and no longer deliberately provoked his superiors.

Unfortunately, this fellow's talent for courting death is too strong, and he often flatters the horse's hoof, which makes him very unpopular in official circles.

If you are a little polite to him, he will become arrogant and forget his place.

He criticized the government without any scruples, as if no one in the court, from the emperor to the ministers, was as powerful as him.

If it were just these, it would be fine. Everyone works within the system, and if there is no conflict of interest, no one will do anything too drastic.

He was exiled to the frontier and that was the end of the matter.

The big guys won't lower themselves to argue with the same madman.

But this guy is particularly discriminatory against military generals.

Other civil officials looked down on military generals in their hearts, but this guy said it out loud.

He often complained in public that the corrupt situation in the country was caused by the incompetence of military generals.

Even powerful men like Marquis of Hanshui and Marquis of Wuyang were just a bunch of bastards in his eyes.

It turns out that offending a military general on the border is more terrible than offending a civil official.

They don't have such fancy political means, but they can use physical elimination.

As soon as the war broke out, the magistrate of Wei County died for his country.

This conclusion was reached because Zhang Sihan had come into contact with Wei Fusheng and knew very well that this guy was a big talker and would never go to inspect the city defenses in the midst of war.

"Yes, Your Excellency the Governor."

“However, the content of the battle report is too simple. It does not describe the details of what happened. Even the losses were glossed over as heavy losses. There may be something fishy going on.

Sir, do you think you can send someone to investigate and verify it?"

After hearing the answer from his master Bei Tianyou, Zhang Sihan immediately shook his head.

"No need!

Now is a time of war, and they are needed to fight.

As long as the head is real, everything else is just trivial.

Polish up the battle report, fill in the obvious loopholes, and apply for posthumous honors for Magistrate Wei.

The official documents sent to the capital were copied in two copies and sent to the Governor-General's Office and the Admiral's Office respectively.

He really didn't want to delve into whether there was something fishy about the battle report.

It would be fine if no problems were found during the investigation. Once something fatal is discovered, the investigators sent out will most likely disappear.

The matter has become a big deal and everyone has lost face.

The threat from the Annanites was imminent, and he didn't want to confront the military just for the annoying Wei Fusheng.

Helping to apply for a funeral honor is the best way to fulfill your duty as a colleague.

If you are a little unscrupulous, just ignore him, it's not a big deal.

In the past few years, more than three-digit officials of Dayu have died for their country, including many high-ranking officials of the third rank or above.

A remote county magistrate who was demoted for offending someone is not worth mentioning at all.

If he had not died at the hands of the Annamites, his name would not have been mentioned separately as evidence of the Annamitic invasion.

……

The fleet slowly sailed into the port, and the dock was already full of people.

Looking around, one can vaguely see that most of these people are officials and gentry from nearby areas.

As for the wealthy merchants, they were not qualified to stand in the front row on such special occasions. Li Mu had learned to adapt to such high-level receptions after being accustomed to big occasions.

If you want to survive in officialdom and cannot change the ecological environment, you must learn to blend in with the crowd.

If someone arranges the reception, then follow the procedure.

The welcoming banquet was held as normal and the gifts were accepted.

No one would feel at ease unless something like this happened.

Although the imperial court's appointment had not yet come down, those who were well-informed knew the result.

Even if he acts as the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, he is still the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi.

When Wuyang Hou was the governor, he had given them a hard time. The sea merchants felt the most deeply, and were being fleeced.

When Li Mu, a military strongman, came to power, he made three big moves upon taking office, and no one knew how he would do it.

The only thing we can do is to be polite and not offend others.

After a few daily greetings, the dinner venue was changed from a restaurant in the city to Li Mu's governor's mansion.

It's just a small matter, naturally no one would offend their future boss.

In the evening, the Governor's Mansion was brightly lit.

"Admiral, urgent military information has arrived from Guangxi."

The sudden news of the battle made the originally noisy banquet fall into silence.

"Everyone, continue eating and drinking.

I have military duties to attend to, so I will go ahead!"

Li Mu said to everyone with a smile.

The battle report was delivered at such a coincidence, it must have been arranged by him.

The changes that occurred in Guangxi were all pre-arranged scripts, and the people below were just carrying out the plans.

There is no way, the officials and gentry in Guangdong are too enthusiastic.

Even though no one dared to force him to drink because of his status and position, he still drank a lot.

If you continue like this, you'll end up getting drunk.

Fortunately, this was in the mansion, and everyone was cautious and did not dare to arrange many entertainment activities.

If a group of courtesans who are proficient in music, chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry and songs appeared in the restaurant and urged him to drink, Li Mu would not want to challenge his weak spot.

If you get too carried away, it will be a big trouble.

No one knows who these professionally trained women are hiding in. Keeping them around is like a bomb with a remote control in someone else's hands.

Although Li Mu asked everyone to do as they pleased, the officials tacitly put down their wine glasses and left the banquet, leaving the gentry stunned where they were.

When receiving urgent military intelligence from the front line in front of your superiors, you must express your concern. Everyone has this bit of political awareness.

He opened the document and glanced at it. Except for the fact that an unlucky county magistrate died abroad, everything went according to the script.

Of course, there is no invasion by the Annan army, as they are in a state of confusion at the moment.

The heads obtained were all the result of the border soldiers taking the initiative to attack.

The death of the Annan soldiers was not unjust, as frictions often occurred in the border areas before Li Mu took office.

The Annan people colluded with the chieftains of Guangxi and frequently harassed border areas. The local government reported this to the imperial court many times but to no avail.

After Li Mu reorganized Guangxi's military, frictions still occurred between the two sides, but the border troops, with a new stratum, were no longer polite.

If anyone dares to cross the border, the border troops will kill them.

After suffering several losses in succession, the people of Annan began to behave themselves.

It is reasonable to target them now.

"The Annan people invaded the border, causing heavy losses to the border troops, and even a county magistrate died for his country.

War is coming!

Guangxi couldn't hold on any longer, so the governor of Guangxi sent a letter asking for help. You can read the details yourself!"

After saying this, Li Mu handed the official document to the Governor of Guangdong who was approaching.

The officials nearby spontaneously gathered around. Seeing this, An Qingfeng read the official document in front of everyone.

After learning the content, everyone's faces looked unhappy.

There has been a saying since ancient times that Guangdong and Guangxi are one. If a war breaks out in Guangxi, Guangdong cannot expect to remain unaffected.

Just a few years after we recovered Guangdong and Guangxi from the rebels, a new war broke out.

Everyone’s first reaction was not how to use troops, but where the money and food would come from.

The imperial court obviously could not be relied upon. Even if the emperor was willing to allocate funds, it would not be enough to cope with this great war.

Guangxi was too poor, and faced with a huge gap in money and grain, they could only raise two or three tenths at most on their own.

The remaining gap can only be made up by financial assistance from neighboring provinces.

At this moment, the imperial court was busy recovering Nanjing, and the financial resources of various provinces were leaning towards that direction.

In a short period of time, the burden of raising money and grain will have to fall on Guangdong.

The court's arrangement was obviously to let Guangdong Province pay this money.

Having experienced the hardship of raising money and food, no one really wants to go through it again.

"My Lord, the Annan people are raising a million troops to attack. Isn't this too much of an exaggeration?"

Ma Cunyi couldn't help but question.

There is no need to worry about the outbreak of war.

The heads of Annan beheaded by officers and soldiers on the front line and the list of soldiers killed in the battle all speak for themselves.

Moreover, it was an open secret among officials that the Annan envoys had provoked Dayu.

The war is bound to be fought, and the key now is how big the scale of this war will be.

The governor was in charge of the money and grain of a province. If there was a need to raise money and grain, he would be the first to bear the brunt.

“The million-strong army is a propaganda by the Annanites themselves. The exact number of troops the enemy has is still unknown.

However, when our dynasty pacified Jiaozhi, the population of Annan exceeded three million.

After so many years of expansion, the territory of the Annan people has increased several times, and the total population under their rule is probably in the tens of millions."

Li Mu immediately fooled.

The synchronized population growth and territorial expansion seems very reasonable, but in fact it is pure nonsense.

Although the territory controlled by the Annanites was not small, only a small part of the land was actually developed.

Most of the country's population is concentrated in the Red River Delta Plain, while other areas still follow the traditional tribal system.

These scattered tribes nominally belong to the Kingdom of Annan, but in fact they are still independent.

The people lived deep in the mountains and forests, and the King of Annan had no way to go in to collect taxes.

According to the intelligence collected, the current total population of Annan is approximately between five million and six million.

Now is the best time to conquer Annan.

If their agricultural level were to improve further and a new round of population growth were to occur, they would not be able to eat enough.

Of course, Annan’s registered population is still over three million.

This aspect was similar to that of Dayu. In order to avoid taxes and corvee labor, the gentry learned to hide the population.

The Kingdom of Annan claimed that it had an army of over 300,000 soldiers, but this could only scare scholars who knew nothing about military affairs.

Li Mu didn't feel any pressure at all about this set of data.

After all, the total number of registered troops of the Dayu Dynasty was as high as more than 2.8 million.

And this number continues to grow with the expansion of recruitment.

Li Mu wouldn’t find it strange if it exceeded three million one day.

But when it came to actual combat, it was extremely difficult for Dayu to mobilize an army of 300,000.

The master is so miserable, and the situation of the apprentice who follows him is not much better.

Dayu looked weak, but that was just bad luck as it happened to be caught in the Little Ice Age.

If it weren't for the continuous natural disasters that caused war all over the country and consumed a lot of national strength, the Northern Barbarians would be nothing.

"It's just a tiny country, but it has such a large population.

It seems that the ambitious Annan Kingdom has become another major threat to our dynasty after the northern barbarians! "

Ma Cunyi said in shock.

Any regime with a population of over 10 million is a powerful force that cannot be ignored.

The total population of Guangdong and Guangxi regions is now less than 10 million.

How can you allow others to snore on the side of the bed?
Even though everyone is decadent in normal times, they still have a sense of crisis.

The officials who were deceived by Li Mu had quietly changed their views on the Kingdom of Annan.

Originally they just wanted to fight a small battle to teach the Annan people a lesson, but now they want to get rid of them as soon as possible.

Seeing this scene, Li Mu was delighted.

Since the officials in Guangdong could be fooled, it would be even easier to fool the officials and the emperor far away in the capital.

Anyone with a little political sense, recognizing the threat posed by Annan, would not allow this powerful enemy to continue to grow.

(End of this chapter)