Fu Shanhe

Chapter 105 Borrowing Field
Three days passed in a flash, and Gu Youwen, who had completed the work handover, was now busy and exhausted.

Every time I open my eyes, all I think about is money and food.

After learning the news of the arrival of the chief officer, the garrison commanders from all over the country came to ask for money and food.

"Sir, please allocate some money and food quickly. Not only are the prisoners starving to death, but even the soldiers are hungry.

If we don't get money and food today, we will send all the prisoners to Yangzhou City. You can do whatever you want!"

A middle-aged general from the Beijing camp finished speaking, and the other generals followed suit.

The imperial court has been in arrears with food expenses for prisoners of war for some time.

If we hadn't captured a lot of food and fodder on the battlefield, the prisoner-of-war camp would have been filled with starving people.

These are everyone's spoils of war, which is equivalent to using their own property to advance funds to the court.

Officials who could achieve this were definitely very rare in the Dayu Dynasty.

Unfortunately, they did not do it voluntarily but were forced to pay the money and food, and they were already full of resentment in their hearts.

Since the chief officer was not there, they went to the Nanzhili Provincial Government to make trouble.

Because the Southern Zhili Province had already spent a large amount of money and grain to suppress the rebellion, its finances were already exhausted at this time.

Last month's salaries to government offices at all levels were not paid on time.

When faced with a group of fearless foreign troops, the governor and the provincial governor could only hide away for fear of being harassed.

As soon as Gu Youwen took office, everyone knew that he had a sum of funds and rushed over immediately.

"Everyone, please bear with me for a moment.

The treasury is really out of money now.

When I have the money, I will pay you in full and I promise not to owe you a single cent!"

Gu Youwen immediately guaranteed it.

Unfortunately, the credibility of civil officials in front of military generals was exhausted by their predecessors countless years ago.

No one was satisfied with his answer at all.

"Your Excellency the Prefect, we can bear it, but our stomachs cannot.

Now in the prisoner-of-war camps, people are starving to death every day.

We cannot bear to let hundreds of thousands of people starve to death.

If you have made up your mind, just give them a quick death and save everyone from suffering.

It’s up to you to decide how to deal with it!

Anyway, the soldiers need to eat. Since Yangzhou Prefecture does not provide money and food, we will return to the capital.

All the consequences that have occurred are caused by your dereliction of duty!"

The one who went crazy was a strong bearded man. He was unlucky because he didn't seize the rebels' food supplies.

After the imperial court defaulted on paying the prisoner-of-war camps money and food, it was up to the generals like them to find ways to raise food.

Now there is no one around, and we have to spend our own money to buy food from outside for emergency.

Seeing this situation, Gu Youwen knew that he could not shirk his responsibility today.

"Commander Li, how much stock is left in the granary in the north of the city? Can you take it out for emergency use?"

Hearing Gu Youwen's question, Li Mu frowned.

Now, all the troops in the Lianghuai area are short of food and wages.

The imperial court was unable to pay the expenses and left the trouble to the local authorities.

The Southern Zhili Provincial Government and the Governor's Office were also not capable of taking responsibility and chose to turn a deaf ear and dumb.

Now it's like a test of patience to see who can't bear the pressure.

"Sir, the granary in the north of the city has a small amount of inventory, which is not very useful.

Don't forget that there are still hundreds of thousands of refugees outside the city, all waiting for relief food to survive, and the stored food can only last for one month at most.

If you want to use it for emergency, I will naturally not object.

However, I would like to trouble you to take over the disaster relief matter as well.

By the way, Yangzhou Prefecture owes money and food for recruiting soldiers and the city defense garrison. I would like to trouble you to settle it all together.

It’s almost the end of the year, and we have to let the soldiers have a good year.”

Li Mu's unhurried answer made Gu Youwen very angry.

I wanted to find someone to share the pressure, but I never expected that another person would show up to ask for salary.

Compared with other troops, Li Mu, who controlled Yangzhou City, was the only general who made progress.

Although the management fee collected from the city every month is not enough to cover the military pay, it is barely enough to feed the soldiers under his command.

In the Dayu Dynasty, as long as the soldiers were well fed, they could be guaranteed not to mutiny.

As for the arrears of food and wages, it is a common phenomenon and everyone is used to it.

It is obvious that Admiral Li is not aware enough when it comes to considering the overall situation.

There is no intention of providing money or food to tide over the difficulties together.

"Something is better than nothing, Lieutenant General Gu has agreed.

Just give me the location. You don’t need to send someone to take it. We will bring someone to pick it up ourselves!”

While speaking, Zhao Yawei also gave a hint with his eyes.

When receiving a request for help from his colleagues, the helpful Li Mu naturally would not refuse.

“The grain stored in the north of the city belongs to Yangzhou Prefecture. Since Lord Gu has agreed, I will naturally not refuse.

The sign for the granary is very obvious. It is near the camp in the north of the city. You have trained soldiers there before.

This is my warrant, you can take it and pick up the grain!"

Li Mu pretended to be confused and threw out a token, which made all the officials in Yangzhou Prefecture furious.

If the relief food is gone, it will be a big disaster.

Everyone felt terrified when they thought of the scene of hundreds of thousands of refugees outside the city asking them for food.

But no one dared to come out to stop them. The refugees outside the city were cannibalistic, and the group of soldiers in front of them were not to be trifled with.

If pushed to the limit, these guys would send all the prisoners of war to Yangzhou City and run away.

The horrific consequences could also cost them their lives.

After watching the generals leave, Gu Youwen glared at Li Mu fiercely and said unhappily:

"Commander Li, how could you agree to them? You know..."

“Master Gu, Prefect Gu, open your eyes and take a good look.

If I hadn't reacted quickly just now, it would be unknown whether your heads would still be on your necks.

You have just arrived in Yangzhou and don't know the situation. If you visit the prisoner-of-war camps in various places, you will not say such stupid things.

Ever since the imperial commissioner returned to Beijing, the court stopped issuing money and grain, and everyone had to find ways to make ends meet.

All the provincial capitals below were destroyed in the war. Where can we raise money and food?

If you don’t believe me, go out of the city and take a walk to see how much tree bark and grass roots are left within a radius of dozens of miles.

This is still Yangzhou City where the situation is the best, the situation in other places is even worse.

You know, when people are extremely hungry, they can do anything.

Every few years in my Great Yu Dynasty, there would be a few self-righteous fools who died in the soldiers' riots over pay.

You are all smart people, you won't let the worst happen, right?" Li Mu interrupted unceremoniously.

He was very clear about what was public and what was private.

When it comes to official matters, you have to be tough when it comes to being firm.

Without establishing a strong image, things that follow will simply not be possible.

As a military general, it is understandable that he is a little bit arrogant.

"General Li, calm down first. Lord Gu has no intention of blaming you.

The current situation is difficult and we need to stick together even more.

Those foreign troops will eventually leave, and the issue of prisoners of war and refugees will ultimately be resolved by us.”

Ma Tongzhi's words seemed to be an attempt to stop the fight, but in fact they were a veiled warning.

The foreign troops had to leave, and the local officials couldn't do anything about it.

But Li Mu, the Lieutenant General of Yangzhou, has to be stationed here for a long time, and there are still many places he needs to deal with in the future!
“Master Ma, the issue of prisoners of war and refugees is your business.

I am a military officer and cannot interfere in local affairs. You don't need to discuss these matters with me.

However, the government must give an explanation for the money and grain owed.

I will not make things difficult for you. It would be best if you could give me some money and food.

If you really have no money, then use something else to pay for it.

There are so many unowned lands in Yangzhou Prefecture, so I'd like to take a loss and allocate 300,000 acres of land as military grain fields.

Of course, the land still belongs to the court. I am only in charge of it for a period of time. When the treasury is full in the future, you can take it back."

Li Mu said with a loud voice.

He knew very well that no one would agree to such harsh conditions.

There are many people sharpening their knives for the land of Yangzhou, but no one has taken action yet. That's because they are influenced by the culture of moderation and don't want to be the first to take action.

If such a big piece of cake was cut off all at once, everyone would go crazy.

"Commander Li, this is impossible. The conditions are too harsh!"

Judge Zhou was the first to object.

According to this division, Yangzhou Prefecture will no longer need to collect taxes in the future.

Since the gentry and the big families could not collect taxes, there was no way to collect taxes from the land that fell into the hands of domineering generals like Li Mu.

If all the burden is distributed among the common people, there will also have to be self-employed farmers.

All of them were caught and used to harm the employees. Even if they were squeezed dry, there would not be many drops of oil left.

"Sir Zhou, I didn't say anything nonsense.

According to the Dayu law, each military household in the garrison was granted 50 mu of land.

It is well known that the cost of recruiting soldiers is greater than that of garrison soldiers.

I am only referring to the requirements for the treatment of the garrison soldiers and I have absolutely not exceeded the standards.

I know what you want to say, the court has allocated military pay.

The problem is that the imperial court only gives 50,000 taels every year, and the rest depends on the local government to provide financial support.

I have been to all the Nanzhili Governor's Office and the Provincial Government's Office before I finally came up with this idea.

You don't have to worry about the procedural troubles. I have the official documents from the governor and the governor, you can take a look!"

Li Mu said calmly.

The official documents must be genuine. He went there every day to ask for money, and the governor and the governor were afraid of his harassment.

However, the specific number of acres of land was not written above, and it only required the Yangzhou Prefecture to make arrangements as appropriate.

The mystery lies in this discretion. Theoretically, as long as Yangzhou Prefecture is willing to give it, no matter how many provinces are willing to accept it.

This is a typical practice of passing the buck, which is very consistent with the daily operations of Dayu bureaucrats.

"Commander Li, three hundred thousand acres is really too much.

Even if we dare to approve it, there will be endless troubles later.

How about this, we will each take a step back and limit it to 20,000 acres.

We can ask Yangzhou Wei to lend you another 30,000 acres!"

Gu Youwen gritted his teeth and said.

Most of the land in Yangzhou Prefecture is paddy fields, and the annual grain output per mu is about 300 kilograms.

According to the 1.5-1.05 split between the farmers and the employees, the harvest from acres of land is about tons, equivalent to about tons of rice.

The price of grain in the Jiangnan region is cheap. Calculated at five cents of silver per stone of rice, it is exactly more than 50,000 taels of silver.

If it was a good year, they could harvest more, just enough to buy a thousand pieces of cloth and ten thousand shi of rice.

From this point of view, the Lord Gu in front of him is still an honest man and he did not bargain for the price randomly.

"My Lord, I understand your difficulties.

Okay, let’s each make a concession.

I am not asking for 300,000 acres, and you don’t have to mention borrowing military farmland from the garrison. Just allocate 100,000 acres of land directly to me.

Half of it is the subsidy for the Southern Zhili Province. Since there are official documents issued by the governor and the governor, you can just deduct it from the annual taxes. "

Li Mu tried his best to deceive.

There is no way. It is too difficult to ask for money from the government office in Dayu!

If we don't take advantage of the special circumstances now to make requests to the government and resolve the matter quickly, it will be difficult to speak up later.

“One hundred thousand mu is too large, the maximum is 80 thousand mu, otherwise it will be difficult to handle later.

In addition, Lieutenant General will help us resettle 10,000 refugees and ensure that there will be no trouble!"

Gu Youwen thought for a moment and said.

The current affairs of Yangzhou cannot be handled without the cooperation of the army.

Those foreign troops will leave sooner or later, and the only ones who can be used are the camp under Li Mu.

If the military pay issue is not resolved, this force will become the biggest destabilizing factor.

“Since Lord Gu has said so, I will naturally cooperate with him to the fullest.

For ease of management, these lands must be located near military camps.

There will be martial law in the future and government offices cannot interfere too much.

In addition, please ask Lord Gu to allocate some funds for us to resettle the refugees.

If we move quickly, we can still finish winter ploughing now!"

Li Mu set up an ambush without changing his expression.

Acquiring land is just a by-product; acquiring mines is the goal.

The mine was enclosed and he had the final say on how to manipulate it.

"Okay, I agree to this.

Judge Zhou, I will leave the matter of temporarily borrowing the land to you and Lieutenant General Li."

Gu Youwen nodded and said.

(End of this chapter)