Fu Shanhe

Chapter 381 The smoke rises

"My Lord, this good news must be shared with the people of Annam."

Li Sanqi said with a smile.

The preparations were sufficient in advance. From the moment the war broke out, Annan fell into Li Mu's trap.

The current situation has driven King Annan crazy.

If the King of Annan knew that Dayu had pacified the rebels in the south of the Yangtze River, the pressure on him would be even greater.

Go up to the army and plan.

Intimidation is also an important tactic.

The more panicked the enemy is, the more likely they are to make mistakes.

“Well, good news must be shared.

But the time to share is not now.

If we count the days, the people who were sent over have also completed landing.

After waiting for another ten days or half a month, the King of Annan would receive news of the rebellions in the country.

When the time comes, I will send this great gift over as well.

Pass the order down, and all armies should prepare to enter Annan to fight.

The recruited doctors must be assigned to every centurion's office.

All the medicines must be checked once more. Whoever is responsible for the link that has problems will have his head taken away by this Marquis.

Everyone has memorized the precautions for entering Annan, and they must be strictly followed when we get there."

Li Mu gave the order immediately.

Throughout history, the biggest challenges facing the Central Plains dynasties in conquering Annan have always been the terrain and climate.

You can't change the terrain, but you can try to adapt to the climate.

After so many years of development, the power of the "miasma" in the Annan region has been reduced a bit.

As long as you don't go to the deep mountains and forests and stay in densely populated areas, there is actually no big problem.

Li Mu didn't have any good ideas to deal with the miasma, but he had a lot of stupid ways.

It was a fool-proof operation, draining the water from the swamps and cutting down all the trees on the marching route.

If conditions permit, it is best to burn it again.

It's a bare patch, which is not environmentally friendly, but it's practical.

No matter how many mosquitoes and ants there are, most of them will die after this torment.

In order to implement the plan smoothly, Li Mu spent a huge amount of money to purchase a huge amount of kerosene.

Take one step at a time and move forward steadily.

The situation would be much better if we crossed Lang Son and pushed the front line into the heart of Hanoi.

……

"General, the Marquis has sent a military order."

After receiving the secret order from the messenger, Zhang Ning's expression changed slightly.

"Pass the order down, the army returns to Guangdong to rest."

After returning from Jiangnan to provide reinforcements, they thought they would go to the Guangxi front to show their prowess, but they were forced to change their plans while still on the way.

There is no way, a soldier's duty is to obey orders.

The military order required them to replenish their troops as quickly as possible and prepare for landing operations, which clearly intended to advance on both land and sea fronts.

At almost the same time, the other two towns that returned together received the same order.

The war machine of Guangdong and Guangxi has been fully activated.

……

"Kill the Emperor of Yue and distribute the land equally!"

Along with the slogans of the rebels, the war began to spread to Hanoi.

The pirates burned, killed and looted in front, creating a large number of refugees.

The rebels who landed, recruited soldiers and started the anti-Vietnamese war.

The exploding political propaganda slogans frightened the officials and gentry in the city.

"Sir, the rebels are coming with great force, and the defenders can no longer hold on!"

The master said in panic.

Ningping Prefecture also suffered many disasters. First, it was robbed by pirates, and then it was attacked by rebels.

In order to defend the city, Ruan Wenyu was forced to order the abandonment of the territory under his jurisdiction and to defend the city with all his strength.

Faced with the pirates who were burning, killing and looting, the defenders in the city still mustered up the courage to fight the enemy to the death.

When the rebels attacked the city, the situation changed suddenly.

The reward promised by Prefect Ruan last time has not been fulfilled yet.

Only 10% of the pensions for the dead and wounded soldiers were paid out, and the army had long been complaining about this.

After the enemy army raised the political slogan of equal distribution of land, the defenders' position was directly shaken.

"Captain Huang, where is the dead person?" Ruan Wenyu asked sternly.

"Sir, you guessed it right.

While patrolling the city wall, Guard Huang was shot dead by an arrow from nowhere.

The army is in chaos right now, with no one in charge."

The middle-aged captain's flattery hit the horse's hoof directly.

The garrison general was killed in battle, and there is a high probability that he was ambushed by his own people. There is no point in fighting this war.

"roll!"

"Stay away from me!"

Ruan Wenyu kicked him in disgust.

He regretted it after kicking the man. In the past, he naturally didn't take a small constable seriously.

But now is a time of war, the city may be breached at any time, and it is undoubtedly irrational to offend the local tyrants.

However, the official's arrogance made him unable to bring himself to apologize to a lowly constable.

"What are you looking at? Hurry up and pack your things so that you can escort me out of the city tomorrow.

With your usual style of bullying men and women, do you really expect the rebels to let you go after they enter the city? "

Ruan Wenyu scolded with pretending to be arrogant.

Reason told him that the more times like this, the more he had to show his strong side.

The morale of the soldiers in the city was low and he was powerless to do anything.

He had no choice but to delay paying the money and military salaries.

In order to launch the Northern Expedition, the imperial court mobilized a large amount of money and grain, and the treasury was already empty.

In order to maintain the operation of the government, he increased the tax levy three times and took 20% of the benefits for himself.

Of the remaining 80%, 50% was left for the lower-level clerks and gentry to share, and the remaining 30% was used to bribe superiors after deducting the government's transportation expenses.

When the previous prefect's term ended, he extended the tax collection to fifty years later, and he simply added another five years to that.

These are all historical issues. I never expected that those untouchables would dare to rebel.

Since we can't defend the city, we can only escape.

In recent months, so many officials have lost cities and territories that the court is too busy holding them accountable.

Compared with other officials who lost cities and territories, at least he managed to withstand a wave of pirate attacks.

Then he could go back and work on it and continue to serve as an official in another place.

"As the lord has taught me, I will gather my men at once."

Although he spoke sincerely, there was a hint of coldness between his brows.

If the city is lost, Prefect Ruan can move to another place and continue to abuse his power.

But these officials can't do that.

Throughout the Dai Viet Dynasty, all the officials were local tyrants.

When outsiders arrive in a place where they are unfamiliar with the environment, they simply cannot gain a foothold.

Without his hometown, he is nothing.

If you take your accumulated wealth with you, it will soon be eaten up by others without leaving anything behind.

But there were too many people in the city who had been bullied by him, and no one could guarantee whether any of them had joined the rebellion.

Once the rebels broke into the city, killing a notorious official like him would be the best way to win people's hearts.

The equally notorious Prefect Ruan is at least an official and has value in united front work.

Recruiting these officials to surrender can also reduce the resistance of subsequent cities.

"Master, I'm afraid this person is unreliable!"

After watching the middle-aged constable leave, the blue-robed lawyer at the side stepped forward and reminded him.

"Ok!"

"Take the servants with you immediately. We will disguise ourselves as civilians and leave the city among the crowd."

Ruan Wenyu gave the order decisively.

He may not be capable of handling government affairs, but he is a natural at escaping.

Long before the rebels besieged the city, he was secretly planning a retreat.

If he had not been worried about being held accountable by the court, he would have run away.

After the enemy surrounded the city, he led the garrison to hold out for three days. He thought he was worthy of the salary.

As night fell, the group quietly left the prefectural government office.

The city was in chaos at this time.

Knowing that the situation was not good, the wealthy people in the city took advantage of the cover of darkness to leave the city.

Along the way, Ruan Wenyu met several acquaintances.

(End of this chapter)