Fu Shanhe

Chapter 391 Disagreement
The Hall of Nourishing Heart.

"Prime Minister, His Majesty is in such a hurry to summon us to the palace, what is the matter?"

Lai Yaohua stepped forward and asked.

The relationship between the emperor and his officials was not good, and the relationship between the inner court and the outer court was also very strained.

As the main force in the battle, the Censorate has never been favored by the eunuchs, and it is difficult to get information from them.

However, the eunuchs also need to consider the person's situation.

He can be ignored as the Left Censor-in-Chief, but he will definitely give face to the Prime Minister.

"There is urgent military information coming from the south six hundred miles away. I think it may be related to this."

Wan Junhui responded with a frown.

It can be seen that he was very dissatisfied with Lai Yaohua's low-level questioning.

It would be fine if it was a middle or lower level official, but the Left Censor-in-Chief was an important figure in the court, and it was unacceptable for him to lack political acumen.

Since Lai Yaohua came to power, the Censorate has launched several major actions, but none of them have been successful.

The situation has developed to the point where the spearhead is directly aimed at the emperor.

The relationship between the emperor and his subjects deteriorated sharply, and the Censorate, which he headed, needed to bear at least one-third of the responsibility.

No boss would like a subordinate who is only focused on infighting.

But for the sake of factional balance in the court, Lai Yaohua cannot be removed, otherwise the Qingliu Group will go crazy.

"South, six hundred miles, express."

Lai Yaohua muttered something and then kept silent.

The hint has actually become very obvious at this point.

The rebels in the Jiangnan region have been wiped out by the imperial court. Even if there are still remnants causing trouble, they are not worthy of the 600-mile rush.

The only battlefield that deserved the court's high attention was Annan.

The emperor called everyone together in such a hurry that either the front line would win a great victory or suffer a disastrous defeat.

The probability of the former is obviously higher. If they really suffer a defeat, the front-line generals will definitely try their best to cover it up.

Reporting good news but not bad news is an old tradition of Dayu.

Usually, by the time the bad news reaches the capital, the chaos has become so big that it cannot be covered up.

With the power of the nobles, they can completely cover up the matter unless it is a catastrophic defeat with the loss of tens of thousands of troops.

He was still very confident in Li Mu's military capabilities.

Even if they failed to conquer Pingnan in one fell swoop, they would not have suffered a disastrous defeat.

After the interlude, Emperor Yongning entered the hall with a smile on his face.

"My dear ministers, I just received news that the Marquis of Hanshui has defeated the enemy in Annan.

Now the government troops have recaptured many prefectures, including the rebels' old nest, Thang Long City.

Marquis of Hanshui submitted a memorial, hoping that the court would send capable officials to rebuild the Jiaozhi Provincial Administration.

This is a serious matter, and I would like to hear your opinions."

Emperor Yongning said with a smile.

However, the ministers still understood the arrogance in his smile.

The Battle of Annan broke out only half a year ago, and the imperial court launched a counterattack only a few months later, and captured the capital of Annan.

Even the most picky person would be satisfied with this record.

"Congratulations, Your Majesty!"

"Congratulations, Your Majesty!"

……

As soon as Emperor Yongning finished speaking, the ministers immediately gave the most enthusiastic response.

In recent years, the Annamites have been very noisy.

First they supported the White Lotus rebels, and then they repeatedly provoked Dayu. Everyone was furious.

If a small foreign country is causing trouble like this and is not suppressed with thundering means, the dignity of the Great Yu Celestial Empire will be completely lost.

People opposed the war before because they were worried that the Annan War would be protracted and consume a lot of national strength.

When the news came that Annan had taken the lead in launching a war, the anti-war faction in the court was passively transformed into the pro-war faction.

Now that the front line has achieved a great victory, all parties have breathed a sigh of relief and everyone is happy from the bottom of their hearts.

One northern barbarian is enough, and we really can't afford to deal with another southern barbarian.

As important officials in the imperial court, no one wants to make a mess of the country's governance, and everyone wants to make achievements during their tenure and leave their names in history.

Most officials have had the experience of taking the world as their responsibility and have worked hard for it.

The subsequent decline is the result of failure in struggle and ideals being defeated by reality.

"Your Majesty, the battle for Annan has not yet been completely concluded. Rebuilding the Jiaozhi Provincial Government requires caution!"

The Minister of Revenue Pang Chengjie objected immediately.

Expanding territory is a good thing, but local governance costs money.

Annan had left Dayu for hundreds of years, and its ruling foundation in the local area had long ceased to exist.

Rebuilding the Jiaozhi Provincial Administration is not just about building a provincial government office, but all the provincial administrative agencies under it must be built.

In order to suppress local opposition forces, a large number of troops must be maintained.

If we want long-term stability, we must send immigrants to the local area and vigorously promote Central Plains culture.

The total amount of money needed to absorb the Annan region would probably be tens of millions of taels of silver.

This was not a big problem during the dynasty's heyday.

The huge investment will be divided into more than ten years to complete. Although the financial pressure is great, it is bearable.

"Mr. Pang, you are right to worry.

But Jiaozhi has been away from Dayu for so many years, and finally returned to the embrace of the court. The court can't just ignore it!"

Marquis Wuxiang immediately retorted.

The bigwigs of the noble family are all in the local areas, which leads to a decline in their voice in the central government.

But no matter how much it has declined, it is still a lot higher than in previous years.

When it comes to the interests of our own group, we must fight for our rights.

"My Lord, everyone knows the state of the court's finances.

It would be impossible to rebuild the Jiaozhi Provincial Administration without tens of millions of taels of silver.

Even if the troops from Guangdong and Guangxi were directly stationed in the Jiaozhi area, the expenses would still be huge.

The northern barbarians are ready to make a move and may move south at any time. We must give priority to strengthening the northern border defense line.

In addition, coastal defense must also be taken seriously.

With the imposition of tariffs, the southeastern coastal provinces were essentially opened up, and with it came the rise of piracy.

If the navy is not strengthened, it won't be long before the Japanese pirate rebellion happens again.

......"

In a flash, Pang Chengjie threw out a bunch of things that required money.

Even projects that the Ministry of Revenue had previously strongly opposed allocating funds for are now included in the budget.

From the perspective of the Ministry of Revenue, Guangxi is a country that has to pay compensation, and Jiaozhi, which is further south, will have to pay even more.

The reason our ancestors chose to give up Jiaozhi was largely due to financial considerations.

“Sir, you are right.

The imperial court should prioritize stability. The Jiaozhi Provincial Administration has been lost for so many years, there is no need to hold on for the sake of face.

Since the government troops have taught Annan a lesson, let’s withdraw immediately!

The imperial court is not well-off and cannot continue to fight the enemy in Annan."

After Lai Yaohua spoke, a group of upright people responded one after another.

For officials like them who only have Dayu in their sights, a wild place like Annan is completely dispensable.

Instead of wasting the court's limited funds on war, it would be better for them to find an opportunity to divide it among themselves.

The nobles did not follow the rules and collected taxes from the local areas to solve the military expenses, and did not let them have any control. Even the border troops that the court valued the most could only get 60% to 70% of the salary, but the armed forces of the nobles could actually get the full amount of military pay, which was really too wasteful.

For these bureaucrats, the most important thing was to stop the war as soon as possible and take back the local administrative power from the hands of the nobles.

The two sides started a heated debate, and the noble faction quickly lost the upper hand in an area they were not good at.

Fortunately, it was not a grand court meeting, otherwise, with their numerical advantage, the officials from the noble family would probably be scolded and become autistic on the spot.

"enough!"

"I asked you to come here to discuss matters, not to listen to quarrels!"

Emperor Yongning scolded immediately.

After being disturbed by the ministers, his good mood disappeared instantly.

I thought that rebuilding the Jiaozhi Provincial Administration would be an opportunity to show off my military prowess and would gain the support of my ministers.

Now it seems that he was totally overthinking it.

Apart from the nobles who were determined to fight, the civil service group was not that interested in this war.

Elevating the historical status of this war will bring prestige to the emperor and glory to the nobles, but it will not benefit the civil service group at all.

It seemed that he was opposing the reconstruction of Jiaozhi Provincial Administration, but in fact he was suppressing the influence of the emperor and the nobles.

The Ministry of Revenue’s lack of money is just the superficial reason.

If you really want to rebuild the Jiaozhi Provincial Government, there are ways to do it with more money and there are ways to do it with less money.

At worst, we can just set up the framework first and leave the administrative agencies below vacant temporarily.

Later, a part of the population was relocated there and large-scale farming was established there.

By relying on the income from military farming to support local garrisons, financial expenditures can be greatly reduced.

"Your Majesty, calm down!"

The ministers responded in unison.

Seeing this scene, Emperor Yongning's face instantly turned gloomy.

As an emperor, being unable to control the court is undoubtedly a sign of failure.

The emperor's autocratic rule is fine if used occasionally, but if used too often, he will become the scapegoat for all officials.

"Humph!"

After giving a cold shout, Emperor Yongning walked away on the spot.

If a problem cannot be solved, put it aside for now.

But this is only temporary. The court must give an answer to the Jiaozhi issue.

Either withdraw troops or establish local rule.

The rest of the officials can talk without any hesitation, but the cabinet and the six ministries and other power institutions cannot keep shirking their responsibilities.

If you oppose the reconstruction of the Jiaozhi Chief Secretary, you have to come up with a new solution.

Today's quarrel is a game in front of the stage, and the follow-up is a game behind the scenes.

Judging from the results, the noble faction was not so resolute in its stance on the issue of rebuilding the Jiaozhi Provincial Administration.

Otherwise, before proposing a plan, one should first lobby for the support of officials in the court.

At least officials from Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan and other places can be won over on this issue.

Officials from other places can also win the support of some people if they exchange political interests.

During the argument just now, many officials just stood by and watched, without expressing any opinions from beginning to end.

At its core, politics is the result of mutual transactions and compromises.

As long as the benefits are big enough, occasionally betraying one's own interest group can be negotiated.

Emperor Yongning was obviously unwilling to lower himself and was using his own interests to trade with the officials, which led to the embarrassing situation just now.

……

Baosheng Mansion.

The army retreated westwards and finally got rid of the pursuers.

The high-ranking Vietnamese soldiers who had successfully broken through did not show any joy on their faces.

They lost too much in this war.

"My dear ministers, I just received news that the enemy's pursuers have stopped in Taiyuan.

In the first phase of the anti-Yu war, our dynasty won a strategic victory.

Having survived the most difficult days, it is time for us to launch a counterattack.

My dear ministers, do you have any strategy to defeat the enemy?"

Hu Xinbo tried his best to deceive.

Judging from the territory, the current Dai Viet Dynasty seems to have entered an era of three-way confrontation.

The Yu army controlled a quarter of the land, the various rebel forces controlled a third of the territory, and the rest of the land was in their hands.

But when it comes to land, we need to consider not only its area but also its actual value.

Having lost the vast plains area, they had to rely on a few mountainous provinces for support, and the human, material and financial resources they could mobilize were severely weakened.

Strategic victory is pure self-deception.

Unless the Yu army withdraws its own troops, with their current strength, they do not have the ability to counterattack for the time being.

"Your Majesty, I suggest sending another delegation to lobby the Great Yu court to end this war."

Ruan Yixiu spoke first.

As Hu Xinbo's confidant, his position in the court has always been based on the emperor's mood.

The proposal for peace talks at this time was obviously a suggestion from Hu Xinbo.

The biggest reason for the change from the pro-war faction to the pro-peace faction is that they are afraid of being beaten.

Dayu only stretched out one hand and pierced the tiger skin of their little South Asian bully.

The gap in strength between the two sides is too great, and the probability of winning the war through military means is too low.

If this drags on, the internal conflicts alone will be enough to bring them down, even without the Yu army taking any action.

The heavy logistical pressure brought severe disasters to the people.

Social security in the limited control area has deteriorated sharply.

The chaotic peasant uprisings never stopped.

Since we cannot defeat them and cannot afford to delay, we can only negotiate.

"Minister Ruan, if you want to restart the peace talks, you have to talk to Dayu!
We would like to talk, but the problem is that the other party doesn't want to talk.

The heads of the envoys sent earlier are still hanging on the city walls!
If we send someone over now, the situation will probably be similar, and we won't be able to see the Emperor of Dayu at all."

The Minister of Works Tai Mochuan retorted unhappily.

Although Dayu had a history of abandoning Annan, it would be too presumptuous to ask them to withdraw their troops when the war had reached this point.

Even if the peace talks are successful, the price they pay will definitely not be low.

“No matter how great the risk is, negotiations must be conducted.

The last negotiation failed mainly because the delegation did not hide their identities, which allowed the pro-war faction in the Yu Dynasty to know about it.

For their own interests, they chose to strike first, and the delegation was slaughtered before it even reached the capital.

This time we have learned our lesson and have the delegation disguise themselves as merchants and never reveal their identities before arriving at the capital of Dayu.

Once they enter the capital, it will not be easy for those pro-war officials of the Yu Dynasty to do anything!
If we find pro-peace officials and spend a lot of money lobbying them, the situation will be completely different.”

Ruan Yixiu explained immediately.

In his opinion, the failure of the last peace talks was simply because they worshipped the wrong temple.

In Guangdong and Guangxi, where the pro-war faction was dominant, the purpose of revealing the identity of the diplomatic envoy was simply because they did not want to enter Beijing alive.

"Minister Ruan, since you want to try it so much, just send someone.

If it succeeds, it will naturally be a great achievement.

If the negotiations fail, it will just put an end to some people's unrealistic thoughts!"

Chen Chuyang suddenly supported.

(End of this chapter)