Fu Shanhe

Chapter 366 Wrangling
After coming out of the admiral's office, the pirates' heads were still buzzing.

Does this mean that the recruitment is complete?

It seemed that they got nothing except a promise.

If you want to appear in the sun again, you must fight for your life.

During this process, the government did not make any move.

If any problems arise, they will be held responsible themselves and it has nothing to do with the court.

Admiral Li is not responsible for any of their actions.

"Boss Zhu, aren't we being too hasty in recruiting them this time?"

The middle-aged strong man asked the question that was in everyone's mind.

Although I have never been recruited, I have heard of stories about it.

Generally, such matters will take a very long time to complete and an agreement will be reached after a series of negotiations.

They came to pay homage to the Marquis of Hanshui, and they were all ready to attend the Hongmen Banquet.

In the end, people did see it, but the way it opened was different from what they expected.

Li Mu directly proposed the plan of recruiting them, and it was over after notifying them, without giving them any chance to bargain.

They were sent out after less than an incense stick of time of communication.

"Master Duan, what else do you want?
For a big shot like Han Shui Hou to take the time to meet us is a great honor.

If we want to negotiate terms with him, who among us are worthy?

You have never been in the military, so you don't know how much power he holds.

To tell you the truth, the influence of a noble leader like Marquis of Hanshui is never limited to one place.

He only needed to give an order and the government troops from south to north would move.

Among the millions of troops in the Dayu Dynasty, there were only a few people standing at the center of power.

Apart from the emperor, they hold the most power!"

Although Zhu Zhongxuan's words were exaggerated, they were indeed true.

As the noble family regained power, the power and influence of the positions of a number of noble family leaders also rose sharply.

In addition to a group of direct subordinates, other Dayu troops also have to give some face.

Everyone might hesitate to get involved in the court's factional struggles.

If it was just to target a certain pirate, everyone could give the order with their eyes closed.

The level gap is too big.

I have not been in official circles, so I have no direct experience of this.

Once you accept the amnesty, it will be like a mayfly seeing the sky.

If nothing unexpected happens, under normal circumstances, we will never have any dealings with each other in our lives.

The founding emperors killed their meritorious officials not because they really wanted to destroy their own achievements, but because these people had too much influence in the army and threatened the rule of the empire.

Emperor Yongning was also extremely wary of the growing noble faction, but Dayu now needed the support of these people.

If you want to reduce power, you have to wait until the world is at peace before you proceed slowly.

The brutal approach of directly raising the butcher knife was no longer effective in the middle and late stages of the dynasty.

There is also a special term in history books - self-destruction of the Great Wall.

If the emperor dares to move, the country will perish.

……

As soon as the pirates left, a group of officials from Guangdong Province came to their door.

"My Lord, when you met with the pirates in private, did you take the law into consideration?"

Kuang Xingxuan was the first to raise the issue.

As an imperial censor, he had been suppressed for too long and finally found an opportunity.

Investigating illegal activities among local civil servants is too risky.

It would be fine if you can bring someone down in one go, but if you fail to do so, it will be a big trouble if you serve as an official in the same dynasty in the future.

In comparison, it is more cost-effective to cause trouble for the nobles.

We are not in the same system, so it is difficult to cause trouble for him.

As long as you are right, just start criticizing.

If you anger the other party and get beaten up, you can still gain a reputation for being unafraid of the powerful.

"Master Kuang, don't be anxious. Sit down and talk slowly.

Someone come, serve tea to the gentlemen!"

Li Mu responded with a smile.

The censors of the Dayu Dynasty were a bunch of trolls who loved to court death.

Even the emperor was often embarrassed, so he would not argue with these guys.

Winning is disgraceful, and losing is even more shameful.

“My Lord, tea is always available, but the matter must be resolved immediately.

Pirates are extremely vicious people. It is not a blessing for the country to be associated with them!"

Kuang Xingxuan continued to fire.

Compared to the initial questioning, his momentum obviously dropped by three points when he brought the subject back after Li Mu changed it.

It can be seen that although the inspector in front of him wanted to be famous, he still had some concerns in his heart.

"Imperial Censor Kuang, you can't jump to conclusions based on hearsay.

What are pirates, and what is my identity?
Collusion, are they worthy of it?"

Li Mu immediately asked back.

When it came to recruiting pirates, he had always done so in secret.

It was really beyond his expectations that the matter was exposed so quickly.

However, this also indirectly proves that some of the pirates had connections with local officials in Guangdong, otherwise the leak would not have happened so quickly.

If the meeting time had not been short, we might have been blocked by them.

Although the exposure of such things will not shake his position, it will seriously affect his personal reputation.

Since no one was caught red-handed, we naturally cannot admit it at this time.

For those in a higher position, as long as they don’t admit it, it’s the same as if it never happened.

Besides, Li Mu did not lie, he indeed did not collude with the pirates.

The matter of recruiting the amnesty had already been reported to Emperor Yongning in a secret memorial.

When things are accomplished in the future, you won’t be afraid of people bringing up old issues.

If the attempt to recruit the amnesty fails, then just pretend nothing happened.

In essence, this operation was mainly aimed at using pirates to cleanse the vested interest groups in Annan.

He can do it on his own without the help of these guys.

However, doing it personally would get too much blood on his hands, which would be detrimental to future rule over the Annan region.

"My Lord, then you haven't seen the person who left the Admiral's Office before?"

Seeing that Kuang Xingxuan was no match for him, Censor Wu Qiuyu immediately joined the battlefield.

The question seems simple, but it actually contains a mystery.

If Li Mu had not seen that group of pirates, it meant that someone in the admiral's office was colluding with the pirates.

The Censor has the duty to supervise local officials, so when something like this happens, he must intervene and investigate.

Once a case is filed, its nature changes.

At the very least, some unlucky subordinate would be thrown out as a scapegoat, and at worst, it would become a collective political incident in the governor's office.

"Of course I have seen it!"

“These people have a grudge against the King of Annan, and when they heard that I was going to conquer Annan, they wanted to bring people to join the war.

Considering their unknown origins, I politely declined their offer.

By the way, before they left, they also donated a sum of military pay to the governor’s office.

There is no provision in Dayu law that prohibits accepting donations from the public, right?"

Li Mu's sophistry made everyone feel as uncomfortable as if they had eaten a fly.

I wanted to find something against him so that I could seize the initiative later.

They never expected that they were prepared from the beginning to the end, just waiting for them to jump out. There was no way, because Li Mu was the acting governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, and was their boss.

The pirate issue was revealed with just one sentence: his identity was unknown.

As Li Mu himself did not reveal what the two sides discussed in detail, they had no right to force him to answer.

Simply seeing pirates is not evidence of a crime.

Even if they captured the pirate leader and obtained his confession, it would be of no use.

The gap in status was too great. Not to mention that the pirates' confessions could not do anything to Li Mu, even if these officials reported them under their real names, it would hardly have any effect.

With Annan's invasion imminent, the situation in Guangdong and Guangxi is precarious, and Li Mu is the most suitable person to clean up the mess.

During this period, the court would pretend not to see anything unless it was a matter of principle.

The word "official" has two mouths in it. Whoever has greater authority has greater say.

There is no such thing as pirates giving gifts. Those are military salaries sponsored by others.

The donation was accepted by the Governor's Office, representing the Dayu court, not Li Mu personally.

"Master Hou, calm down!"

“Of course there is no problem accepting donations.”

“I came here mainly because we received reports from sea merchants, and we are worried that the pirates may harm you.

Nothing has happened now. I think the whistleblower has bad intentions and intends to stir up disputes in the officialdom.

Don't worry, Lord Hou, we will strictly interrogate the whistleblower when we get back and find out the mastermind behind all this!"

After determining that it was an unfavorable situation, An Qingfeng hurriedly came forward to characterize the matter.

It is a taboo in officialdom for the inferior to overthrow the superior.

It would be fine if you are right, but if you lose even the reason, it will be a major political event.

The reason why the inspectors were allowed to take the lead was because they had the power to report on matters as soon as they heard them, and they could be exempted from responsibility if they raised questions.

The subsequent provincial inspectors who participated in the war also had the authority to supervise local officials.

Both of them raised questions to their superior Li Mu within the scope of their authority, and it had not escalated to the level of a political struggle.

But that's true in theory, but in reality they still lost face today.

Something like this can only happen once.

If I encounter a similar incident in the future, it will be impossible to act so aggressively.

The defeat in the civil-military struggle was undoubtedly a major blow to the governor An Qingfeng.

The unconditional support of the people is due to their status as civil servants and the need to express their political stance.

However, this operation only happened once. When everyone realized that he, as the governor, was unable to check and balance the governor, they had to reconsider their stance.

The two sides also fought once when Marquis Wuyang first served as governor.

Because Guangdong had not yet been fully recovered at that time, most of the leadership teams were vacant and the local area was under military control.

As soon as the dispute began, the governor was directly sidelined.

It was not until the Marquis of Wuyang went to the front that local power returned to the governor's office.

Unfortunately, An Qingfeng had bad luck. Not long after he took control of the real power, he had another "mother-in-law" above him.

After months of painstaking planning, he fell into a trap as soon as he took the first step.

After today, there will definitely be many local officials who will get closer to Li Mu, the acting governor.

"Master An, you are too serious!

We are all doing this for the country and the people, so it’s okay to just talk things out if there are any minor misunderstandings.

The Annamites' ambitious invasion will certainly not be limited to the military, but will most likely stir up conflicts in the rear.

Dozens of battles, large and small, took place on the Guangxi front, and it was only thanks to the defenders' desperate efforts that the enemy's conspiracy was thwarted.

Especially at times like this, we should be more cautious.

It won't be long before I have to go to the front line to take charge of military affairs, and I will still have to rely on you in the rear.

In the days ahead, I hope everyone will keep an eye out and not let Annan’s spies take advantage of them! "

Li Mu warned without changing his expression.

Putting the blame on the Annan people is both a way to give everyone a way out and an invisible warning.

Who is the Annan spy is not decided by the Annan people, but by the acting governor Li Mu.

In the subsequent cooperation, whoever does not cooperate with the work will be an Annan spy.

The evidence will naturally appear once the Kingdom of Annan is destroyed.

Even though they knew it was a threat, everyone had no choice but to take the step.

Today's work was handled too roughly.

Trying to capture a provincial governor with a group of pirates is really too much of a joke.

But there is no way around it, Li Mu is too clean.

Except when he is in the government office, he is at home.

Occasionally, he would go out to inspect the military camp and stay in the main camp.

It is extremely difficult to find any evidence against him.

Once you finally find a loophole, you must try your best to seize it.

"Follow the Marquis' instructions!"

Everyone responded in unison.

No matter what you think in your heart, you have to bow your head now.

Some smart people have already noticed something is wrong.

What happened today seemed like a deliberate flaw to lure them into the trap.

The reason why Li Mu was able to be so powerful was because of the power of the military, which had penetrated into every corner of Guangdong.

In addition to the official army, most of the clerks in government offices at all levels were retired soldiers.

These people may seem insignificant, but they actually hold real power.

Once the two sides come into conflict, their orders will most likely not be able to leave the government office.

After seeing the situation clearly, I became even more afraid to act rashly.

No matter how much of a dispute there is between civil and military officials, it is ultimately a dispute over interests.

The interests of the group are not equal to individual interests.

The smarter a person is, the more he knows how to plan for himself.

If you can't beat them, just join them. Since the military has the upper hand in the Guangdong and Guangxi areas, just join them.

If I am transferred to other positions in the future, it will not be too late to return to the civil service.

In the officialdom, there are only eternal interests, no eternal camps.

……

Capital.

With a series of good news, Emperor Yongning finally had a good year.

Unfortunately, the good times did not last long, and the situation changed at the beginning of the year.

After the Guanzhong rebels were attacked by the border troops, they could not bear the pressure and took the initiative to jump out of the encirclement and enter the Shanxi territory.

When it comes to cross-provincial military mobilization, it is necessary to report to the court for approval before taking action. The encirclement and suppression army in Shaanxi stopped at the border.

Such actions will bring misery to colleagues in Shanxi.

The two provinces started a wrangling mode, with Shanxi officials impeaching the Shaanxi governor for dereliction of duty and accusing Shaanxi of deliberately driving the rebels into Shanxi.

Officials from Shaanxi were not to be outdone and insisted that they had informed Shanxi in advance and asked them to help stop the rebels.

He claimed that it was his colleagues in Shanxi who neglected their duty and failed to dispatch troops in time to help suppress the rebellion, which allowed the rebels to break out and caused the subsequent disaster.

The lawsuit between the two provinces went all the way to Emperor Yongning. Both sides had their own reasons, and it became a mess to determine who was right and who was wrong.

"My dear ministers, what do you think of the dispute between Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces?"

Emperor Yongning asked helplessly.

The lawsuit came, and as an emperor, he couldn't pretend not to see it.

If accountability is pursued, there will inevitably be a major reshuffle of officials in a province.

Emperor Yongning, who suffered losses in this regard, has become cautious in personnel appointments.

(End of this chapter)