Fu Shanhe

Chapter 163: Raising Food
Holy White Lotus Kingdom, Eastern Expedition Army Camp.

"Is there any movement from the Pseudo-Dynasty?"

Pingnan King Fu Haoxuan asked in high spirits.

From the moment the Eastern Expedition was launched, the army swept across the country.

The battle continued all the way to Guangzhou Prefecture, where they encountered fierce resistance from government troops.

To Fu Haoxuan, a little trouble is nothing.

At the current pace, he is confident that he can capture Guangzhou within a month and pacify Guangdong within three months.

Once this strategy is completed, his position in the Holy Kingdom will become unbreakable.

"Your Majesty, the Pseudo-Dynasty is continuously sending more troops.

The enemy forces, which had been severely damaged by us, have now recovered to their peak strength.

However, most of these reinforcements were garrison troops from various places, and their combat effectiveness was very limited.

The soldiers with strong fighting ability in the pseudo-court are all recruited soldiers. These troops stay in the north all year round and are not adapted to the climate in the south.

Judging from the intelligence collected, the war situation in Liaodong is easing and the Northern Tartars seem to be unable to hold out.

Under this influence, the pseudo-North Korea may send its participating troops southward.

The headquarters of the Hunan Army and the Hubei Army of the Puppet Dynasty are both in Huguang, and the pressure on Prince Dongping will be very great at that time.

The combat effectiveness of the Yunnan Army and the Shu Army of the Pseudo-Dynasty is also quite good, and the Western Expedition Army will most likely encounter trouble as well.

Relatively speaking, the situation here is the best.

As long as Guangdong can be quickly captured, the Guangdong Army will become rootless.

The recruitment of soldiers in the Fujian and Jiangxi armies was abandoned many years ago, and their presence in the puppet army has never been very high. "

Chief Clerk Wen Tianzong analyzed carefully.

As the army continues to conquer, the talent system of the Holy White Lotus Kingdom is also constantly being optimized.

As more and more failed scholars joined in, the initial makeshift entrepreneurial team gradually took shape.

“It seems like this New Year cannot be celebrated!
Pass the order down and let all soldiers prepare for a continued war.

I will take advantage of the fact that the government troops are relaxing their vigilance during the New Year holiday and capture Guangzhou Prefecture in one fell swoop.

Inform our people to spread rumors among the pseudo-Dynasty army and disrupt the enemy's morale as much as possible.

At the same time, we will do our best to mobilize the religious uprising in Guangdong. Don't be afraid of spending money. I want to cause chaos in the enemy's rear!"

Fu Haoxuan gave the order cruelly.

People cannot even have a peaceful New Year's Day. He knows that this military order will make the people below curse his mother, and maybe even curse his ancestors for eighteen generations.

But speed is of the essence on the battlefield, and the Holy White Lotus Kingdom needs to race against time.

They were able to gain momentum largely because Dayu's elite troops were deployed on the Liaodong battlefield, leaving the southeastern provinces without troops.

Once the recruits from various provinces return, the subsequent battles will be difficult to fight.

The Battle of Lianzhou is the best example, where two recruited troops were able to defeat a coalition of 100,000 chieftains on the front battlefield.

The troops of the Holy White Lotus Kingdom are as powerful as the Tusi coalition forces, and all of them are young and strong men temporarily recruited.

Even up to now, only a small number of elite troops have been trained.

The command levels of the generals were also uneven.

Compared with the government troops, there is a big gap overall.

The ones who can take advantage now are those who are vulnerable and have a confused commander.

If we don't seize the current opportunity and expand our territory as much as possible, all that will end up being tragedy.

“Don’t worry, Your Majesty, the officials in the Pseudo Dynasty are the most greedy.

On the eve of a major battle, we will place a row of large pots for the soldiers to stew meat, which will surely shake the enemy's morale! "

Wen Tianzong immediately agreed.

Compared with the class-stratified Dayu, the entrepreneurial team of the White Lotus Holy Kingdom is much more dynamic.

Even if you are a grassroots who come here, as long as you are good enough to fight on the battlefield, you will still have a chance to stand out.

The only flaw was that they issued the Equal Field Distribution Order, which aimed to divide the land among the gentry and wealthy families.

However, it had little impact on Wen Tianzong, as he was just a low-level gentry and the amount of land in his family was limited.

What's more, the land distribution order was not implemented thoroughly. As long as you joined the Holy White Lotus Kingdom, you could avoid having your land divided up.

From his point of view, the Equal Field System was nothing more than a reshuffle of interests.

Most of the soldiers who joined the rebellion were pursuing wealth and glory.

Without purging the remnants of the previous dynasty, there will not be enough benefits to distribute to the heroes.

In essence, it is the same as the changes of dynasties in history, with new interest groups replacing old interest groups.

When the rentier groups were small in size and number, the world was full of vitality and prosperity.

When this group grows stronger, it will become a new gentry family, constantly devouring the flesh and blood of the empire.

"Um!

This is a good idea, and we can let the people below arrange it.”

Fu Haoxuan said readily.

……

Wuchang Mansion.

Looking at the battle reports coming in from all over the place, Xu Wenyue couldn't help but sigh.

The White Lotus Rebellion was getting bigger and bigger, and was showing signs of spreading everywhere.

Influenced by the growing strength of the rebels in Guangxi, rebellions of varying scales broke out in Guanzhong, Henan, Shandong and other places.

Half of the rebellious activities were related to the White Lotus Sect, or were carried out under the banner of the White Lotus Sect.

If these minor disturbances were not a big concern, then the situation in the five provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou, Huguang, Guangdong and Guangxi would keep him awake all night.

Up to now, the counter-insurgency war has not only not been eliminated, but has become even stronger.

By the time the intelligence came out, Yunnan had lost one and a half prefectures, while the situation in Guizhou was better, with only a few counties lost.

Huguang lost one-fifth of its land, and Guangdong lost half of it.

Guangxi was the worst off, now only one prefecture was under the control of the imperial court. In a comprehensive calculation, his governor-general of five provinces was actually equivalent to the governor-general of three provinces.

"Lianzhou is short of food. How much can Huguang provide?"

Xu Wenyue asked with concern.

The main grain-producing areas of the Dayu Dynasty were Huguang, Jiangnan, Shuzhong, Shandong, and Henan. The grain output in other regions could only barely be self-sufficient, and some areas had to import grain from outside.

The grain in the north had to be supplied to the nine borders, and only Shu, Huguang and Jiangnan could provide grain.

"Lord, due to the war, Huguang's grain production capacity has also been affected this year.

There are still supplies for the main army to use, and the amount that can be used to support Guangxi is very limited.

In my opinion, we should find a way to raise grain from Jiangxi, Nanzhili, Zhejiang and other places!

If it is really not enough, we can only think of a solution from Shu.

However, due to the distance, the cost of transporting it to Guangxi will be very high.”

Lu Jingxuan declined tactfully.

If possible, he really wanted to provide Guangxi with a batch of food and fodder.

As long as a fight breaks out there, the rebels will not be able to send reinforcements to the front line, which can greatly reduce the military pressure on the Huguang front.

However, war is not only a gold-devouring beast, but also a food-devouring beast.

Even in homeland warfare, soldiers consume much more food during wartime than in normal times.

With the previous example of the prefect of Zhaoqing, even if everyone asked for military rations, they had to make sure that the soldiers could barely fill their stomachs.

Especially after Xu Wenyue took office, he paid close attention to the food and fodder issue, which greatly increased the risk of corruption.

"We'll try to negotiate with the local gentry and try to get them to sponsor a batch of grain and fodder.

Tell them that when the White Lotus rebels come, they will not only take their land, but also their heads.

If anyone doesn't believe it, then let him arrange people to go to the occupied areas and find out how many noble families have been brutally destroyed and their homes have been ransacked.

If the government troops cannot hold out, they will not have a good life.

According to the news from Guangxi, the rebels have caused great harm to Guangxi.

The imperial court would need to prepare at least 500,000 shi of grain to recapture Xunzhou Prefecture, and the number would not be smaller than this to recapture Nanning and Wuzhou.

In addition to our own use, we will provide at least 200,000 shi of grain to Guangxi next year.

The remaining gaps will be filled by the provinces in the south of the Yangtze River.

Forget about transferring grain from Shu, just let them support the battlefields in Yunnan and Guizhou."

Xu Wenyue instructed carefully.

It’s speechless to think about it. The Lianzhou Front Army, which should have been under the greatest military pressure, actually encountered the biggest problem of food shortage.

The other three armies that were highly expected did not lack food and fodder, but their combat effectiveness was poor.

Lianzhou's army of more than 10,000 people was able to achieve remarkable results by fighting in the enemy's hinterland.

Compared with his colleagues who commanded an army of hundreds of thousands but were still suppressed by the enemy, the difference was too obvious.

Even though Xu Wenyue knew that the Yangzhou Camp came from the Five Cities Military Department and was the backbone of the Wuyang Marquis faction, he still had to make use of it now.

"Lord, the official army in Guangxi only has the Yangzhou Camp, the Huai'an Camp and a temporary camp. Why would they need so much food and fodder?

In my opinion, most of them are making excuses and do not want to fight the rebels.

After all, their military strength is limited, and they are in the heart of the rebels, so they are under great military pressure. "

Lu Jingxuan evaded helplessly.

It has never been easy to take the grain from the gentry and wealthy families.

Don't expect these people to be generous unless it's absolutely necessary.

Even when the situation is really critical, there are still people who would rather spend money than live.

After living in peace for so long, many people have forgotten what war is like.

“The soldiers couldn’t eat that much, but the prisoners and refugees could eat it, and it was still far from enough.

The two lieutenant generals in charge of the Battle of Lianzhou came from the Jing and Li families respectively, and were both pillars among the nobles.

The orders from this Lord do not carry that much weight in front of them.

If food and fodder are not distributed, they will dare to stay where they are.

Of course, there is another option, which is to directly order them to kill all prisoners and not take prisoners in subsequent battles, which can save a lot of food.

But killing prisoners is unlucky, and I cannot bear to do that!"

Xu Wenyue shook his head and said.

At this moment, he could especially understand the God of Killing Bai Qi.

With the productivity of the Qin Empire, the Qin Empire simply did not have the ability to feed so many prisoners of war on a front line far away from its homeland.

For the sake of the Qin Dynasty's foundation, it is inevitable to act as a god of killing.

The current situation is different. The two meritorious generals entrenched in Lianzhou have no awareness of sacrificing themselves for the country.

If there is a problem, report it and throw the trouble directly to us.

They also threatened to withhold food and send the prisoners of war to Guangdong to cause trouble.

The military generals were unwilling to kill prisoners on a large scale, so it was even more impossible for him, a leader of the Qingliu faction, to do so.

In this context, he could only find ways to raise food and supplies.

After all, in addition to asking for food, Li Mu also gave him a pie in the sky.

After the war, Guangxi was transformed into a state of Han Chinese, ending the slave rule of chieftains and helping all ethnic groups enter the feudal era.

If he could solve this problem for the court, even if he temporarily failed in the power struggle, he could still return to the center of power by virtue of his achievements in reforming the natives.

Thousands of years later, when people discuss the famous officials of Dayu, his name is always mentioned.

The evaluation of the historical community will definitely not be low.

This matter can also be recorded in great detail in the family tree to highlight his contribution to Chinese civilization.

If nothing goes wrong later, even if he doesn't get the posthumous title of Wenzheng after his death, he can at least get the posthumous title of Wenzhong.

If such a big cake is served to you, how can you be content without trying to take a bite?

(End of this chapter)