Fu Shanhe

Chapter 162: Return to the country
"Can't we raise food from the local area?"

Jabo asked with concern.

If we recover Lianzhou Prefecture, there will be more than 100,000 mouths to feed. If we continue to recover lost territories, there will be even more people to feed.

Relying solely on supplies from the rear would be an extremely heavy burden for the Dayu Dynasty.

"Master Jia is joking!
Guangxi was already poor, and it was also ravaged by the rebels.

People have reached the point where they have to trade their own children for food, where can they raise food and fodder?

If the loss was only more than 10,000 soldiers, with the financial support from Southern Zhili, we would not have to urge Guangdong to distribute grain every day.

That’s not right!

We have reported these situations to the Guangdong Governor's Office. Didn't they report them to Lord Xu?"

Jing Yifeng asked in pretended surprise.

Knowing that the Governor of Guangdong was going to be held accountable, they naturally wanted to add insult to injury.

Since the impeachment letter was submitted, the two sides have been at a point of no return.

If he doesn't use the imperial envoy to completely kill Zou Yunchuan now, it would be irresponsible for his own career.

"No!
If he had received the report, Lord Xu would definitely have found a way to solve it. How could he be so passive? "

Jabo answered affirmatively.

Deep in his heart, he once again greeted Zou Yunchuan's entire family.

It seems that he is just making things difficult for the Yangzhou Camp and the Huai'an Camp, but in fact he is also trying to cut off Jia's career.

As a special envoy sent by the imperial commissioner, in addition to delivering orders, he also came to serve as a military supervisor.

He had seen the coalition forces in Guangdong before and knew that those guys could not be relied upon, as they fled to Lianzhou only a year later.

Judging from the situation along the way, the Yangzhou Camp and the Huai'an Camp did not disappoint him, and he could feel the murderous aura from afar.

Compared with the two armies of Huguang and Guangdong, these are definitely elite.

It was totally unexpected that even though we had soldiers capable of fighting, they could still be stopped by prisoners of war and refugees.

“Two lieutenant generals, the rebels are attacking vigorously. Huguang and Guangdong are in danger at the moment.

For the sake of the overall situation, please be sure to capture Xunzhou Prefecture and Wuzhou Prefecture and put pressure on the rebels!
As for the issue of food and grass, I will report it to the elders and will not make it difficult for you."

Jia Bo thought for a moment and said.

He had no idea whether he could get enough food and supplies.

At the moment, these hundreds of thousands of mouths are already very difficult to feed.

If this number increases several times, even if Lord Xu speaks up, it may not be resolved.

But when he thought of Lord Xu's promise, he still felt that he should do something.

As long as the two places can be recovered, the rebels will surely come back to provide support, and the crisis in Huguang and Guangdong will be resolved.

The Yangzhou Camp and the Huai'an Camp could not withstand the counterattack of the main force of the rebels. The worst that could happen was that they would abandon the refugees and prisoners and retreat.

"Master Jia, the New Year is coming soon.

At this moment, the morale of the army is unstable and it is really not suitable to launch an attack.

I think the situation of the rebels is similar. Even if they want to launch a war, it will be after the new year.

Why don't you hurry up and get more food and grass? The food we brought in this time won't last long."

Li Mu declined politely.

The reason is very good: the officers and soldiers want to celebrate the New Year.

Not levying taxes during the New Year is the tradition of Dayu.

As for whether the rebels abide by tradition, only God knows.

With an extra buffer period, it will become clear whether Lord Xu can get enough food.

“After the New Year, I’m afraid it’s a bit late!

If we can dispatch troops during the rebels' New Year celebrations, we will surely reap good rewards."

Jabo said, frowning.

Yongzhou was lost, and Huguang was exposed to the iron hoof of the rebels.

When he left Wuchang, the White Lotus Rebellion broke out in Hengzhou Prefecture, which has now most likely fallen.

It is possible that the rebel Northern Expedition Army has already reached Changsha.

The situation in Guangdong was equally bad. When he passed by, Zhaoqing Prefecture, Gaozhou Prefecture, Leizhou Prefecture, and Luoding Prefecture all fell into the hands of the rebels.

Even Guangzhou Prefecture was lost half.

"Master Jia, there is a saying in Guangxi that there are seven mountains, two rivers and one field.

The White Lotus Rebellion was able to grow rapidly because local chieftains also got involved.

If we want to recover the lost territory, we must not only capture the city, but also deal with the chieftains entrenched in the mountains.

I remember that when the First Emperor conquered the Baiyue people, he fought in Guangxi for six years, with hundreds of thousands of casualties, before he was able to recover Guangxi.

It also took our dynasty several years to pacify Guangxi, and there were many setbacks afterwards.

Throughout history, there has never been a quick victory over Guangxi.

It would take at least a year or two to recapture Xunzhou and Wuzhou, which were heavily guarded by the enemy.

To be honest, every time we conquer a county, we have to spend a lot of time to eliminate banditry.

If we encounter an area where chieftains are entrenched, the struggle will last even longer.

Without eliminating these hidden dangers, the army will not be able to move forward.

If Lord Jia is willing, why not report to the elders and implement the policy of changing the natives to officials in Guangxi to solve these stubborn problems at one stroke!"

Li Mu deliberately said in an embarrassment.

From the moment he set foot on Guangxi, he was thinking about "changing the land system to officials".

However, as a military general, he had no say in civil affairs.

Even if it was reported to the court, it would be ignored by the civil officials.

If one wants to promote the policy of converting natives into officials, it can only be passed if a civil official with weight makes a petition. It will certainly help consolidate the rule of the empire, but the risks are also huge.

Once the policy of converting chieftains into officials was implemented, all the local chieftains would be pushed into the ranks of the rebels.

"inappropriate!
Putting down a rebellion is already extremely difficult.

If we push the Tusi to the opposite side, it will further increase the difficulty of suppressing the rebellion!"

Jia Bo refused decisively.

As for the policy of reforming the native system in Guangxi, five attempts have been made since the establishment of Dayu, all of which ended in failure.

A strategy that was not completed during the heyday of the empire would only be more difficult in the later years of the dynasty.

"Master Jia, your worries are unnecessary.

Regardless of whether the chieftains were reformed or not, they all participated in the rebellion.

This time when Lord Xu leaves the capital, he must achieve some results.

It was not enough to just suppress the rebellion. Only by reforming the natives and bringing the people back to the mainstream, a great feat that would go down in history, would be worthy of him.

In fact, even if Lord Xu doesn't do it, the next Governor of Guangxi will do it.

After the imperial army has encircled and suppressed the rebels, the local chieftain forces will be mostly eliminated.

If Lord Xu is not interested, then..."

Li Mu deliberately left a tail to allow Jia Bo to play freely.

Any literati with a little bit of ambition is interested in leaving their names in history.

If Guangxi's policy of changing the system of native officials to officials is a dead end, no matter how great the temptation is, no one will rush into it.

But the current situation is that the chieftains of Guangxi have rebelled, and the imperial court will take action against them regardless of whether they are reformed or not.

Of course, you can also choose to recruit.

In the past, when chieftains rebelled, only the ringleaders were executed, and those who followed them were not punished.

However, doing so is also fraught with risks.

If the chieftain who was recruited rebels again, the officials responsible for recruiting him will bear joint liability.

In the past, this little thing was no big deal.

With Lord Xu's status, he can handle the situation as long as the chieftains do not rebel on a large scale again.

We are now at a crossroads of power reshuffle, and any handle left behind may become a sharp weapon in the hands of political opponents.

"This matter is of great importance, I need to report it to the elders before making a decision.

You two should prepare to send troops first, and try to take Xunzhou in one fell swoop after the New Year!"

Jia Bo thought for a moment and said.

After being led in circles, he almost forgot the topic.

However, after learning about the situation in Guangxi, his psychological expectations have dropped significantly.

There is a group of chieftains hiding in the mountains, so the battle cannot be fought quickly even if we want to.

As for "changing the native system to Han people", he did have some ideas in his mind.

However, he had no authority to make the decision on such a major matter.

Even if we really want to promote it, this political achievement can only belong to Lord Xu.

If he wants to sit at the table and eat meat, he has to be the governor or provincial governor of Guangxi.

There is a gap of several levels in between, and the probability of exceptional promotion is almost zero.

……

Guangzhou Prefecture.

After a long period of passive defense, the morale of the defending officers and soldiers inevitably began to decline.

Especially at the end of the year, the governor's office did not show any response at all, which hurt the soldiers under him.

"Governor, the wine and meat you prepared are too little.

We have already finished our New Year's Eve meal, what should we do during the New Year? "

Wei Zhiyuan, the general of Fujian, was the first to complain.

As a guest army, they are only temporarily under the command of the Governor of Guangdong and will leave after the battle.

Since the personnel relations are not in Guangdong, the fear of local civil servants is slightly less.

"If it's not enough, save some food!
The government distributed the food to each person in the ratio of one pound of wine, half a pound of pork, and one pound of fish.

In the common people, these things are enough for a family to have a prosperous New Year.

It's not that I'm stingy, it's just that my ability is limited.

How about this, increase the fish meat supply for each soldier by another half a catty!"

Zou Yunchuan said in a pretentiously arrogant manner.

A single soldier is insignificant, but the supplies of an entire army of more than 100,000 people added up to a huge sum of money.

In fact, the issue of money is secondary. The key lies in the limited production capacity of pork, beef and mutton in Guangzhou.

The demand is so huge that money cannot solve it.

Relatively speaking, only fish is more abundant.

However, due to the sea ban policy, the number of fishermen in Guangzhou is limited, which restricts fish production capacity.

“You can rest assured that the salary of officials entering the rank will be much higher.

Military officers above the seventh rank are not subject to quota restrictions on wine and meat."

Seeing that the generals still refused to buy it, Zou Yunchuan realized that there was trouble and then added.

In fact, the meat consumed by the soldiers was only a small part, while the supplies consumed by the officers were the bulk.

The supplies distributed by the governor's office would be stripped of their supplies through layers of stripping, leaving even less in the hands of the soldiers.

……

(End of this chapter)