Fu Shanhe

Chapter 462 Every family has its own sutras that are difficult to recite
"inappropriate!"

"I have no objection to sending immigrants to the Annam Protectorate."

Transporting grain by sea is highly inappropriate!
The weather at sea is unpredictable, with various severe weather conditions occurring frequently. A slight mistake can lead to the destruction of the ship and loss of life.

Since the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of troops on the front lines are at stake, the transportation of supplies must be carried out with utmost care and reliability.

If something unexpected happens at sea, we won't have the capacity to gather a second batch of supplies in a short time.

Rather than taking a risk, we should seize the time to dredge the canal.

Minister of Works Yue Xiangsong decisively rejected the idea.

"The livelihoods of millions of canal workers depended on them," and the significance of this in the Great Yu Dynasty was self-evident; abolishing the canal system and converting it to the sea was absolutely forbidden.

Even in special times, we cannot set this precedent.

The tax reform of that time is the best example.

The agreed-upon temporary additional tax was eventually converted into a regular tax after the war ended, as the court, having tasted the benefits, was unwilling to give up this revenue.

Having learned from past mistakes, people are no longer buying into "temporary emergency measures."

Once the canal system is abolished and replaced by the sea, not only will the interests of people in the canal transportation industry chain be harmed, but the Ministry of Industry will also be a big loser.

With cheaper and more convenient sea transport, the government's investment in the maintenance of canal routes will inevitably be significantly reduced.

With fewer engineering projects, the income of Ministry of Works officials will naturally shrink.

Seeing that someone was taking the lead, officials who profited from the canal transport industry chain stood up to oppose it.

In the blink of an eye, opponents and supporters were arguing fiercely over the issue of abolishing the canal and converting it to the sea.

The drawbacks of not having powerful ministers were exposed at this time.

The court was divided into two major camps, and neither could convince the other for a time.

If the emperor were older, he could make the decision, but the new emperor was only five years old.

I reckon they don't even know what the officials are arguing about.

……

The grassland allied forces' camp.

"The Yu Dynasty was a bunch of trash!"

"idiot!"

……

Having expressed his willingness to negotiate, but receiving no response from Yu Chao for a long time, Hugjil couldn't help but curse loudly.

The Great Yu could not withstand the continuous war, and neither could they.

Having suffered heavy losses in the encirclement and annihilation of the right flank army, and realizing that the enemy was not easy to deal with, the grassland allied forces lost their previous arrogance.

Despite seemingly holding the upper hand on the battlefield, in actual battles, the allied forces dared not push the Yu army too far.

Despite being allies now, the various grassland tribes still see each other as the greatest threat.

Once on the battlefield, one must not only be wary of Yu's army's counterattack, but also guard against one's own people taking advantage of one's misfortune.

When things are going well, everyone can cooperate.

When facing adversity, be more cautious than to form alliances.

Unfortunately, as the war progressed, most of the Yu army had retreated into the city.

To eliminate the enemy army, we must attack the city.

The surrendered Yu army cannon fodder was simply not enough.

In order to obtain more cannon fodder, the Allied forces were conscripting men from all over the place.

Even so, Yu Jun's defensive tactics still gave them a headache.

The Guifang people who came with them are no longer so obedient.

They looted and pillaged everywhere, showing absolutely no interest in encircling and annihilating Yu's army.

Within the Tatar community, voices of opposition were growing louder and louder.

As losses continued to mount, serious disagreements arose among the Tatar leadership regarding their strategy of marching south to seize the Central Plains.

"Great Chanyu, please calm your anger!"

"The Yu Dynasty's top officials are a bunch of scoundrels, each one selfish and self-serving, and they don't care about national affairs at all."

With our pressure, they can barely manage to unite.

Once the pressure from external enemies is gone, these guys will get caught up in internal strife and destroy themselves.

Erdé forced himself to persuade him.

It's true that the Yu Dynasty is adept at internal strife, but this time they stumbled upon a winning strategy.

At the normal pace, once the canal was cut off, Yu's army wouldn't be able to hold out for long before going hungry.

They couldn't withstand the heavy losses they had suffered in the early stages, equivalent to half of their troops, which were being fed the provisions prepared for the entire army.

With the supplies provided by the northern provinces, Yu's army, which should have run out of food, can now hold out for several more months.

Theoretically speaking, if the war continued for another six months, most of the Yu Dynasty's soldiers would be trapped and starved to death.

The problem lies in the situation on the grasslands, which doesn't allow them to drag things out any longer.

While their main force was away, Liaodong Town, which had been holding back, tentatively recaptured two border cities.

If they stay here and let Liaodong Town take the opportunity to wipe out their base, they will suffer a huge loss.

Even if the main force of the Yu army is wiped out, it will be of no use.

They were pressured not only by Liaodong Town, but also by the Dayu Navy from the south.

These people had no concerns about Liaodong Town and were not worried about retaliation, so they were even more ruthless.

The Tatar people in the coastal areas were completely slaughtered.

If it weren't for the lack of cavalry, these guys might have gone deep inland and caused trouble.

Now that the battle has been successful, the Great Yu court is very likely to transfer a cavalry force from other regions to cooperate with the navy in the operation.

With a cavalry force wreaking havoc in the rear, no one can feel at ease.

Choosing to negotiate was actually a last resort.

Unfortunately, the officials of Dayu, who were embroiled in internal strife, knew that they would not have an advantage in negotiations at this time and would easily be criticized.

For the sake of their own reputation, they simply wouldn't listen to them and wouldn't even give them a chance to start negotiations.

"You mean we should withdraw our troops now?"

Hugjil frowned and asked.

As it turns out, the Great Yu was not the Great Song.

There is absolutely no hope of forcing the other side to cede territory and pay reparations through negotiations.

"Great Chanyu, the Yu Dynasty has just deposed and installed an emperor, and it is precisely the time when they need to stabilize the situation."

No matter which faction it is, they dare not easily negotiate with us.

Even if we leverage the connections of Shanxi merchants and manage to get them to push through the negotiations, it will be difficult to achieve the results we want.

Ultimately, it was because the gentry of the Yu Dynasty were unwilling to accept us.

If the royal court were to follow the example of the former Yuan dynasty and govern the empire jointly with the gentry in Han lands, such resistance would be greatly reduced.

Erd offered his advice.

This strategy was not his original idea.

The surrendered officials of Dayu had long ago offered their strategies for pacifying Dayu.

One of the most important aspects was to govern the country together with the gentry, implement a tax farming system in local areas, and grant the most autonomy to powerful families.

With the success of the Yuan Dynasty as an example, many people within the Tatars were tempted, and Erdős was a strong advocate of this strategy.

"inappropriate!"

"The situation we face now is different from that of the previous Yuan dynasty."

If we compromise with the gentry and powerful clans, we may be able to make progress smoothly in the early stages, but it will also lead to the fragmentation of the country by various warlords.

Before the Yuan dynasty entered the Central Plains, it conquered several countries and had hundreds of thousands of armored archers.

Only those forces far stronger than us can suppress these powers.

If we blindly follow suit, we could easily get bogged down in a quagmire once we take control of the Central Plains! Moreover, although the Mongol Yuan dynasty seized power through this policy, it also led to the rapid overthrow of its empire.

The central government's control over local areas was almost zero, making it a breeding ground for rebels.

The Great Yu was not the Great Song; they also had a group of military nobles within their ranks.

"If we don't wipe these people out, even if we seize the world, we won't be able to hold onto our throne!"

Sarina resolutely objected.

What kind of opponent will we encounter, and what measures will we take?

There's a tough bunch within the Great Yu Kingdom. If we don't break their bones, conquering the world in the south is just a pipe dream.

Perhaps the gentry and powerful families would choose to cooperate with them for their own benefit.

However, those military nobles were too closely tied to the interests of the Great Yu, so they couldn't possibly offer more generous terms to bribe them.

Moreover, their advantages are not obvious at present, and the Great Yu Dynasty has not yet reached the point where it must change dynasties.

As long as Dayu can be maintained, the vested interest groups will not easily abandon it.

After all, a change of dynasty means a reshuffling of the cards, and there are too many uncertainties involved.

With so many gentry and officials across the land, it was difficult to reach a consensus.

Based on historical experience, local gentry would support those they believed to be the true dragon in their bets.

Choosing the wrong option can result in serious damage to one's health or even the extinction of one's entire family.

The larger and more successful a family is, the more cautious they are in this regard.

No one can guarantee that they will gain more benefits in the new round of power reshuffling.

As long as they can make a living, few powerful families are willing to take risks and cause trouble.

Even with the terms offered, those Shanxi merchants with deeply intertwined interests were still the ones willing to cooperate with them in the short term.

"Alright, you two, stop arguing!"

"Let me think about this matter for a while before making a decision."

Since the Yu Dynasty is unwilling to negotiate, then we need not be polite.

The order was given to bypass the heavily guarded city and plunder as much wealth as possible from the local area.

This time, not only do we want to rob money and grain, but we also want to bring all the able-bodied men and women back to Liaodong.

"The Yu Dynasty is bullying our small population, isn't it? Then let's plunder their people and strengthen our foundation!"

Deep down, Hugjil had made up his mind to strengthen the Tatar people as soon as possible.

If there aren't enough members of their own tribe, then they'll recruit members from other tribes.

Otherwise, he wouldn't dare to fight freely when facing the main force of the Yu army in the future.

If the number of young and strong men of the Tatar tribe were to triple, he would not hesitate to swallow the northern lands whole, instead of being as timid and hesitant as he is now.

They feared that if they fought too fiercely with Yu's army, they would lose precious troops and be unable to maintain their position as the overlord of the grasslands.

……

Annam Protectorate.

During the mourning period, the Marquis's residence became much quieter.

Many who had been trying to build connections tacitly stopped their efforts.

All the invitations for banquets and social gatherings disappeared from Li Mu's desk.

Contact between relatives and friends also mainly turned into letters.

Aside from handling daily government affairs and occasionally meeting with former subordinates who came back to report on their work, Li Mu basically did not see any outside visitors.

In short, all parties showed him sufficient respect in observing the mourning period.

"My lord, the Dutch, Spanish, and Portuguese have jointly sent envoys to protest our military operations in Southeast Asia."

The mission is staying temporarily at the inn; would you like to meet with them?

Lan Linjie stepped forward to report.

As a nation of etiquette, the Great Yu Dynasty could be assertive in dealing with foreign affairs, but it must never be impolite.

The two sides are not at war, and since the other side has sent a special envoy, he should receive him according to etiquette.

"I am in mourning and it is inconvenient for me to receive foreign envoys. You can receive them for me."

The etiquette and protocol should follow that of an ordinary envoy from a vassal state.

First, figure out their intentions, then decide how to respond.

Li Mu said calmly.

For colonial empires, "protest" is only used when they encounter a formidable opponent.

The weak opponents all became members of the colonial empire.

Despite the vast distance separating them, he paid little attention to these colonial empires.

They were treated with courtesy because the Western countries were the most important trading partners of Dayu.

Every year, they purchase a large amount of luxury goods such as silk, porcelain, and tea from Dayu, which contributes a significant amount of fiscal revenue to Dayu.

If it weren't for the concern about the revenue from overseas trade, the Southeast Asian strategy wouldn't have been so restrained.

However, as Yu's army advanced to the Strait of Malacca, touching the interests of the colonial empire, these guys could no longer sit still.

The three kingdoms, which were originally fighting against each other, chose to stand together for their own interests.

They attempted to exert pressure on the Protectorate General by leveraging the power of the three-nation alliance.

"My lord, judging from the intelligence we've gathered, these three countries are all quite powerful at sea."

In the South Pacific alone, there are dozens of sailing warships with a displacement of thousands of tons, whose combat power is probably not much weaker than our navy.

This is only a small part of the naval power of the three countries; if troops from other regions are added, it would be difficult to deal with.

Lan Linjie offered a tactful reminder.

In recent years, the Protectorate General's Office has increased its investment in the navy, and even developed "ironclad warships".

But this iron lump, without the power of a steam engine, travels at a snail's pace.

Steam engine technology was still in its infancy, and major overhauls were required every few hours of operation.

Furthermore, the start-up time is irregular; sometimes it can run for three or four hours, and sometimes only for one or two hours.

This unpredictable iron behemoth, while possessing formidable defensive capabilities, is truly difficult to foresee in actual combat.

Apart from building an experimental ship, the navy's main warships did not have much of an advantage in combat power.

If the battlefield hadn't been so close to home, the Annam Protectorate would have had no strength to directly confront a naval superpower.

"Don't worry, the three kingdoms won't form an alliance so easily."

In their struggle for colonies, they stabbed each other in the back behind the scenes quite a bit.

Even if they wanted to unite, it wasn't up to the colonial officials to make the decision; it had to be reported to the domestic authorities for a decision.

It would take at least a year or two to get it sorted out.

When that time comes, our occupation of Malacca will be a fait accompli.

Any further interference would be tantamount to declaring war on the Great Yu.

In the eyes of these colonial officials, this Marquis was merely a governor of the Great Yu Dynasty.

The strength we demonstrate in the Southeast Asia region will certainly influence their misjudgment of the imperial court's military strength.

You just need to act tough and intimidate them temporarily.

Li Mu said calmly.

In the era before the telegraph, communication was the biggest obstacle to the development of colonial empires.

When European countries were expanding overseas, they could only delegate power to their colonial officials.

In order to reduce the cost of governance, many colonial institutions were nominally state-owned, but in reality, they had long been outsourced to merchants.

Even during World War I, many countries still had businessmen serving as their foreign envoys.

Despite their impressive titles, these purchased positions do not actually represent their motherland in making decisions.

Without domestic approval, they have no right to mobilize troops from other regions to participate in a war against a behemoth like the Great Yu Dynasty.

(End of this chapter)