Fu Shanhe

Chapter 472 Worries about Regional Military Governors
"The porridge is being served!"

As the constables shouted, countless refugees picked up their bowls and basins and lined up in an orderly fashion.

Those who broke the rules have already had their heads hung on the city wall.

The officers and soldiers of the Beijing Garrison responsible for maintaining order were not easy to talk to.

At best, they'd get a severe beating; at worst, their heads would be hung up.

Even if they die, it's all for naught. Those with connections and backgrounds will never end up in refugee camps.

Besides, no one had the energy to make a fuss. They were lucky not to starve to death, as they only had a bowl of bran porridge every day.

……

"Brother, when will this end?!"

Looking at the mushy porridge in the bowl, Ma San couldn't help but complain.

Hard times are nothing to be afraid of.

Life is rarely easy for ordinary people at the bottom of society.

Every year during the lean season, when food is scarce, people inevitably have to eat bran to survive.

On their journey from the famine, they ate grass roots and tree bark, and even ate dirt.

They were lucky to have brought their families to the capital.

What's more terrifying than a life of hardship is the lack of hope.

Although the imperial court distributed porridge, it only provided one meal a day.

They won't get enough to eat, but they won't starve either.

Nobody knows where the future lies.

"Eat it while it's hot. The food is pretty good today. They even added a few soybeans."

The older man spoke slowly.

Faced with harsh reality, Ma Da's edges had long been smoothed out.

No matter how tough life gets, it must go on.

Whether you're deep in thought or drifting aimlessly through the day, it's still a day; you can't change anything anyway.

Using your brain less can also reduce energy expenditure.

"Big brother, we adults can hold on, but my sister-in-law and Tiedan can't!"

After quickly finishing the mushy food in the bowl, Ma San spoke again.

Children with sensitive stomachs are prone to constipation if they eat this kind of bran paste for a long time.

In severe cases, it can even be fatal.

"Even if you can't stand it, you have to endure it."

Once we leave here, we won't even be able to get this bowl of gruel.

Believe it or not, without these soldiers patrolling, we'd be someone else's food supply!

Ma Da said indifferently.

It's not that he doesn't want to change the status quo; he simply has no other choice.

The situation is very close to the capital, and it concerns the dignity of the imperial court, so the government is still working on providing relief.

In other places, you won't even see soup kitchens, only bones scattered all over the ground.

If he didn't have a family to support, he could go out and take a gamble, but he has his wife, children, and brothers by his side.

If young and strong people go out during the disaster, there is still a glimmer of hope.

Women, children, the elderly, and the weak—if they go out, they become someone else's food source.

Since we're alive now, let's just muddle along for now.

His demands were not high; he was willing to wait indefinitely as long as the imperial court was willing to provide relief.

The official above also said that once the grain from the south arrives, we will be able to eat.

Although he didn't believe the officials' promises, he chose to believe them for the sake of his livelihood.

"Of course I know that!"

"But this dragging on isn't a solution either."

I heard that the Annam Protectorate is recruiting people. Those who are willing to go will be given a year's worth of rations and five mu of land per person.

They love it when they bring their families, so why don't we sign up too!

Ma San said with an expectant look on his face.

He had no idea where the Annam Protectorate was located; he was sure it was far away.

Once it's over, there's basically no chance of getting back.

Given a choice, no one would willingly leave their hometown.

But now they have reached a dead end.

The imperial relief was barely enough to keep people alive; it couldn't possibly fill their stomachs.

He wanted to go out and find work, but he couldn't even get into the capital.

There was no other way; the people in the city also needed to make a living.

A large influx of migrants would not only affect the city's security but also disrupt the existing order.

The imperial court did not want unrest to occur in the capital, so it banned refugees from entering the city early on.

"You're not young anymore. You've lived for so many years, have you ever encountered such a good thing?"

Ma Da asked in an annoyed tone.

He had heard many rumors about the Annam Protectorate in the refugee camp.

They recruit people every ten days, so it's hard not to hear about it.

If it were just recruiting strong laborers, he might have believed it, but the Annam Protectorate preferred to recruit those with families.

Why should someone who is not related to him spend money and grain to help him support his wife and children, let alone give him land?

"Brother, if it were the best land, it certainly wouldn't be our turn."

But what if it's wasteland?

It is said that Annam Protectorate is a vast and sparsely populated area with a large amount of land lying idle, and people are needed to go there to reclaim it.

I've thought it over. Rather than staying here and waiting to die, I might as well go out and take a gamble.

At worst, the wasteland would be reclaimed and then taken back by the landlord.

We can stay and work for them as employees, or as long-term laborers if that doesn't work.

Anyway, the land always needs to be farmed, and they happen to be short-handed over there, so there's no reason for them to kick us out.

Ma San said nonchalantly.

The reputation of the Great Yu Dynasty among the people had long been completely ruined.

Nobody believed the propaganda of the officials.

However, these refugees had nothing to begin with, so they weren't afraid of being targeted by officials.

Immigrating is simply moving to another place to work for the big shots.

To put it bluntly, if a wealthy and powerful family announces that they want to take in servants, there will be a huge number of people scrambling to sell themselves.

Money doesn't matter, as long as they provide meals.

In years of great disaster, people are worthless.

What you're saying could actually be true.

The Annam Protectorate was said to be located outside Lingnan.

There are probably not many people in such a poor and remote place.

A big shot like the Marquis of Hanshui wouldn't need to joke with us; he probably really needs people to farm for him.

But can the food grown in that kind of place feed us?

Ma Da said with great concern.

He certainly wouldn't believe it if land and grain were given away for free.

But if we let them go and clear the land, their credibility would immediately increase.

Only those who have farmed know how hard it is to clear land.

Ordinary people couldn't afford to raise livestock, so they relied entirely on manual labor for slash-and-burn agriculture.

They have to work on the land all year round.

It takes years of intense labor to fatten up the raw soil.

Often, once land reclamation reaches this stage, the land has no further connection with these farmers.

Similar lessons have been learned countless times throughout history.

Countless people who longed for land were swindled out of their life savings.

The food rations are provided by others, and he may not care about the land ownership, but the output of the land is of paramount importance.

Once the grain is produced, it must first be used to feed the master before it can be distributed to the hired laborers.

"Brother, you can rest assured!"

The land in the south is much more fertile than that in the north.

The imperial court transferred grain from the south, including to the Annam Protectorate, which had become the new granary of Dayu.

It is said that the Annam Protectorate has no problems except for the hot and humid summer climate.

We never see snow all year round, which saves us money on buying cotton-padded coats.

I guess those officials saw the high grain prices in the north and wanted to make a fortune, so they recruited people to go and reclaim wasteland…

Ma San explained with great interest.

Having never experienced the devastating effects of "sweltering heat," he was filled with longing for tropical regions.

Winters in the north are just too cold.

For ordinary people at the bottom of society, buying even a used cotton-padded coat requires emptying their savings.

In winter, it's rare to see anyone outside in the north; everyone stays home to hibernate.

Insufficient winter supplies often lead to people freezing to death.

Even in the capital, tens of thousands of people freeze to death during periods of extreme cold.

The fact that there is no snow in winter and you don't need to wear a cotton-padded coat is enough to attract people who are afraid of the cold.

"Now that you've found out everything, let's take a gamble!"

After glancing at his wife and children beside him, Ma Da hardened his heart and said.

He didn't know if the decision was right or wrong, but life had come to this point, and there was no better choice.

The imperial court has been slow to address the resettlement issue, allowing the Annam Protectorate to come and recruit people, clearly indicating that they want them to get rid of them.

The reason there was no enforcement was because there were too many refugees.

After one group left, another quickly gathered.

Unless the government stops distributing porridge, the number of refugees will only continue to grow.

From the government's perspective, it's better to gather the refugees together, pack them up, and send them to the Annam Protectorate than to let them scatter and wreak havoc in various places.

Once the general direction is set, ordinary people caught in the torrent have no choice but to adapt.

Those who volunteered were simply hoping to leave sooner.

Those who don't register will be forcibly sent away once transportation capacity becomes available.

It has nothing to do with the An'nan Protectorate. The main issue is that the large number of refugees gathered at the foot of the imperial city is damaging to the face of the imperial court.

The officials in the imperial court couldn't bear to see the people suffer, so they had to leave.

……

Wenyuan Pavilion.

"The number of refugees outside the city has finally stopped increasing."

The disaster relief efforts are showing initial results; it seems that in a few more days, Shuntian Prefecture will be able to recover from the natural disaster.

Bai Jilin spoke slowly.

As a "local" of Shuntian Prefecture, he was satisfied with the current speed of the imperial court's "disaster relief".

The disaster victims were brought under unified management, which did not cause too much chaos in the local area.

In the past, such an event would inevitably lead to popular uprisings.

"Shuntian Prefecture has escaped the crisis, but other regions are still plagued by troubles."

The northern provinces have been ravaged by disasters in recent years, and the floods were just the trigger.

Many people are struggling to survive, and the floods have triggered a wave of bankruptcies among self-sufficient farmers.

Immigration has temporarily alleviated social conflicts, but it can only solve the immediate problem.

five days ago.

The vassal state of Southeast Asia who went to the capital to lodge a complaint was sentenced to immediate execution by the Shuntian Prefecture on charges of impersonating a foreign envoy and falsely accusing a court official.

Gao Jingfeng said with a worried expression.

Calling a deer a horse is nothing new in politics.

However, apart from that idiot Zhao Gao, everyone else did it in secret.

These people knew better than anyone whether the foreign delegation was genuine or not.

The various government offices did not recognize their identities, mainly because they did not want to offend the Marquis of Hanshui.

If Li Mu were to kill all of these people, no one would say much.

A pack of stray dogs, they're dead, so be it.

But now the situation has changed. The person was killed by the imperial court, and on charges of "impersonating a foreign envoy and falsely accusing an official of the imperial court."

Although both involve murder, their political nature is completely different.

The fact that the emperor was beheaded after being tried by the Shuntian Prefecture government meant that the imperial court had endorsed the decision.

The matter was immediately defined, and any further discussion of this issue would require the mission to be imposters.

If anyone brings up this issue, they are slapping the Great Yu Dynasty in the face.

After all, the people had been killed by the government, and overturning the case would be tantamount to admitting the wrongful killing of the envoy from the vassal state.

If this joke gets out of hand internationally, it's not something that image-conscious scholars can accept.

Besides the case itself, the unusual movements of the Qingliu Group caught them off guard.

In the past, the Qingliu Party members were the most ruthless in impeaching the Marquis of Hanshui, but now they are actually helping Li Mu clean up the mess.

The fact that two previously hostile political forces are showing signs of converging is no small matter.

"Your Excellency is overthinking it. The fact that the Qingliu Party members are trying to curry favor with the Marquis of Hanshui is just a desperate attempt to find a cure."

The two families are ultimately not on the same page and cannot unite.

Marquis Weiyuan said with a smile.

Li Mu's prestige is too high, which is not conducive to their control over the noble faction, but this is an internal conflict among the nobles.

It's impossible to sow discord between them and Li Mu.

The nobility camp was already showing signs of splitting, and if the head of the family were to clash with the most powerful faction, the team would almost certainly fall apart.

Without the noble faction, they wouldn't even have the right to sit here and discuss matters.

Throughout Chinese history, those who rose to high positions as generals and prime ministers were all outstanding figures of their time.

Compared to their predecessors, Marquis Weiyuan and Marquis Zhendong were undoubtedly inferior.

Not only is the "entering the prime minister" a weaker version, but the "exiting the general" is also full of empty rhetoric.

His greatest achievement was joining forces with civil officials to bring down Emperor Yongning.

However, they are just incompetent in terms of political achievements, not stupid.

“My lord, since you say so, then I am relieved.”

History offers too many negative lessons; there are some things we must be wary of.

Gao Jingfeng said meaningfully.

Because they were all involved in forcing Emperor Yongning to abdicate, the five of them formed a political alliance and jointly dominated the court of Dayu.

However, this political alliance, though seemingly powerful, still harbors many hidden dangers.

There were quite a few people in the court who disagreed with them, among whom the Qingliu Party was the most active.

The reason they didn't cause any trouble was that although the Qingliu Party had a large following, they couldn't compete with the lack of troops.

A bunch of armchair critics, aside from having the upper hand when arguing in court, can't shake their position.

But once he got involved with Li Mu, things changed.

The Qingliu Party has no soldiers, but the Marquis of Hanshui does!

Even without leading troops into the capital, Li Mu's prestige in the army could still influence the political leanings of many generals.

If the two sides join forces and bring out the retired emperor in the palace, they can instantly collapse the favorable situation of the cabinet alliance.

Because of their apprehension, the cabinet members have always been quite cautious in their actions.

To avoid giving others a handle to use against them, they basically operate within the rules.

"Alright, it's all baseless speculation, there's no need to dwell on it."

The situation in Shuntian Prefecture has stabilized, but the situation in Guanzhong and the Central Plains is not optimistic.

Many remnants of the rebel army emerged from the deep mountains once again, causing quite a stir.

And Liaodong Town, it hasn't been very peaceful lately either.

The imperial court had agreed to add one more town's personnel, but they were not satisfied and wanted to expand the army to three more towns.

The calamity of regional military governors is imminent!

Jiang Shuhan said with a solemn expression.

Separating the rebels from the Liaodong garrison demonstrates a genuine desire to resolve the issue.

Now that they're all put together, the phrase "the scourge of the regional military governors" doesn't just refer to Liaodong.

No matter how arrogant the Liaodong Garrison was, it was still heavily dependent on the imperial court in terms of politics and economy.

After years of effort to increase the size of the army, the imperial court has finally agreed to do so.

As a price for expanding their army, they would have to send troops to harass the northern barbarians' rear whenever the northern barbarians crossed the Great Wall and invaded the south.

Essentially, this is a political deal.

In contrast, the Marquis of Hanshui, thousands of miles away, was truly out of control.

Military pay and supplies were all self-raised, and the organization of the army was decided by a single decision.

The reported number of troops alone exceeded 200,000.

No one knows exactly how many troops the Marquis of Hanshui commands.

Any ruler would lose sleep over having such an uncontrollable army under his command.

(End of this chapter)