Fu Shanhe

Chapter 200 Another plot
“There is no proper solution, but there is a stupid way.

By simply converting the soldiers who maintain local public security into three shifts of yamen runners, half of the local problems would be solved.

The remaining vacancies in the government offices can be filled gradually."

Zhou Zhenbang answered with gritted teeth.

The atmosphere has been created and it would be embarrassing if we don't come up with a solution.

In a hurry, only bad ideas can be come up.

"Mr. Zhou, Guangxi has eleven prefectures, nine directly governed states, and more than fifty counties.

To fill the three shifts of yamen runners, more than 10,000 people are needed.

Taking into account the current special circumstances, if we want to maintain local stability, the staffing must at least double.

This is a critical moment in the war to quell the rebellion. What is your intention in withdrawing so many people from the army? "

Jia Bo immediately questioned.

The impact on the suppression of the rebellion was an excuse, but what really made him angry was that the aftermath was too serious.

Having been in the army for such a long time, he was very clear about Li Mu's prestige among the soldiers.

The Guangxi military is already very powerful. If soldiers are transferred to serve as grassroots clerks, these local officials will inevitably be sidelined.

At that time, no matter whether they are governors or provincial governors, they can only act according to other people's wishes.

“Master Jia is right. The White Lotus Rebellion has threatened the foundation of Dayu and must be suppressed as soon as possible.

The imperial court has repeatedly ordered us to speed up the process of suppressing the rebellion.

All measures now must revolve around suppressing the rebellion.

Any action that affects the cause of suppressing the rebellion is not allowed!"

Zhang Sihan's finishing blow made Zhou Zhenbang confused.

He had found out that the governor and the provincial governor were sworn enemies and often clashed with each other.

But the scene before him was obviously inconsistent with the intelligence collected.

The governor and the provincial governor did not fight each other, but instead joined forces to suppress him, the censor.

It is too unreasonable that he became the target of public criticism simply for proposing to lift martial law.

"Humph!"

Unable to understand the situation, Zhou Zhenbang could only shout coldly to express his dissatisfaction.

Deep down in his heart, he had already made up his mind to report them.

The imperial court has always cracked down severely on such behavior of local officials forming cliques.

The governor, the provincial governor, the commander-in-chief and the general get together, which is definitely forming a clique for personal gain.

"Everyone, let's discuss the strategy for Guilin!"

Seeing the tense atmosphere, Jing Yifeng spoke up to change the subject.

He may not care about the infighting among civil servants, but this cannot affect the war on the front line.

He was the one who led his army to capture Liuzhou, and the front-line troops bordering the enemy at this moment were all his generals.

The rebels are gathering troops towards Guilin. If he does not come up with a response plan quickly, the military pressure he will face will be too great.

“The situation in Yunnan is not good. Although the imperial court has allowed militia training, it will be difficult for them to form combat effectiveness in a short period of time.

The enemy is less than a hundred miles away from Kunming, and the situation in Yunnan could deteriorate at any time.

We don't expect to capture Guilin in one fell swoop, but we should at least start a war here to share their military pressure.

It would be even better if the pressure on the rebels was great enough to force them to withdraw from the three major fronts!"

Jabo was the first to make his position clear.

Lord Xu did not force Guangxi to send troops, but from the meaning revealed in the letter, he still hoped that they could take action.

As a confidant, it is natural to carry out the boss's will.

"Commander Li, what's your opinion?"

Zhang Sihan asked Li Mu.

Having personally witnessed the legendary event of the government troops retaking Nanning in one day, his recognition of Li Mu's military command ability greatly increased.

In order to avoid being refuted later for his opinions, he simply let Li Mu state his position first.

"We have to fight, but I don't think it's worthwhile to attack Guilin.

Now most of Guangxi is in our hands, and the rebels have retreated to a corner.

The enemy was busy strengthening Guilin's defense, but the defenses in other places became increasingly empty.

As a rule of thumb, we will not attack other areas before Guangxi is recovered.

Judging from the rebels' deployment of forces, the enemy clearly believes in convention.

My intention is to break the routine and, while launching a feint attack on Guilin, concentrate our main forces to attack Guangdong.

If we can recapture Guangzhou, the Guangdong and Guangxi regions will be shaken, and the morale of the rebels will be severely damaged! "

As he spoke, Li Mu stretched out his hand and tapped on the map, drawing everyone's attention to Guangzhou Prefecture.

Although both Guangdong and Guangxi belong to Lingnan, their influence is not at the same level at all.

Especially in terms of economic value, the fiscal revenue contributed by Guangzhou Prefecture is enough to match that of the entire Guangxi Province.

Even though it was affected by the war, Guangzhou Prefecture was still the richest provincial capital in the hands of the rebels.

As far as Li Mu knew, some daring merchants smuggled supplies to Guangzhou by sea and traded with the rebels.

Taking over Guangzhou was equivalent to cutting off the rebels' maritime trade lines.

"Commander Li, we are officials from Guangxi, and it is our duty to recover Guangxi.

Guangdong is not under our jurisdiction. According to Dayu Law, we have no right to send troops across the border without the imperial court's order.

Even if we really want to retake Guangdong, we have to wait until we conquer Guilin, or until there is an imperial decree from your majesty!"

Zhou Zhenbang spoke first.

He couldn't just turn a deaf ear to the opportunity to attend a military meeting.

It's not that he didn't understand the overall situation, it's just that he came too late as the Censor and didn't get any of the previous military merits.

If he led his troops to Guangdong at this moment, the generals would be able to kill the generals and seize the flags, and he, as the Censor, would completely lose the opportunity to intervene.

Even if he took over the entire Guangdong, it would have nothing to do with him.

When it comes to one's own interests, one naturally has to strive for it.

"Master Zhou, this is wrong!

We are officials of Dayu. We are not divided into Guangdong and Guangxi. We are all serving the emperor. I think Commander Li’s suggestion is good. We should first recover the Guangdong area where the rebels are weak and reduce the rebels’ space for activities.

Finally, destroy the rebels in one fell swoop!"

Jia Bo immediately objected.

Although he was the governor of Guangxi, he was also a military supervisor appointed by Lord Xu.

No matter where the Guangxi Front Army fights, he will always have a share of the military merits.

Without affecting one's own interests, one can naturally consider the issue from a global perspective.

If he could really capture Guangzhou and recover a large area of ​​Guangdong, his weight with Lord Xu would be further increased.

“Lord Jia, His Majesty’s order is to retake Guangxi as soon as possible.

As subjects, we should follow orders instead of making decisions on our own!"

Zhang Sihan said with a livid face.

Originally, the generals under him did not listen to his orders.

Once the army enters Guangdong, his say as the governor of Guangxi will be even lower.

It is possible that the imperial court would issue an order to keep the army in Guangdong.

Compared with the rich Guangdong, the poor Guangxi obviously cannot retain people.

Although he was often unhappy with Li Mu and Jing Yifeng, he had to admit that these two were really good fighters.

In order to suppress the White Lotus Rebellion, Dayu mobilized hundreds of thousands of troops.

Among the many encirclement and suppression armies, the achievements of these two were the most outstanding.

Once the two are transferred, the situation in Guangxi, which has just improved, may relapse at any time.

If you want to kill the donkey after it has done its job, you have to wait until the millstone is unloaded before you can do that. Now is the time when the donkey is needed to work hard.

No matter how dissatisfied he was, he only complained privately and did not take any substantive measures.

"Governor, you have misunderstood His Majesty's meaning.

Your Majesty, you want us to put down the rebellion as soon as possible.

As long as it is beneficial to suppressing the rebellion, it is acceptable whether to attack Guilin first or Guangzhou first.

If you are worried about His Majesty blaming you, then I will take full responsibility for this matter!"

Jabo said proudly.

The entire court was focused on suppressing the rebellion. As long as the rebellion could be suppressed, Emperor Yongning didn't care where to attack first.

From a purely political perspective, retaking Guangzhou would be more meaningful to Dayu than retaking Guilin.

The most crucial thing is that the rebels' attention was drawn to Guilin and they did not pay enough attention to Guangzhou Prefecture.

If we suddenly send troops to launch a surprise attack on Guangzhou, even if we fail to take the city, we can turn around and recapture Guanghaiwei, Gaozhou Prefecture, and Leizhou Prefecture.

Anyway, it’s all military merit, it’s just a matter of size, it won’t be in vain.

At times like this, the risk of showing responsibility is almost negligible.

"Nonsense!"

"Military and national affairs are no joke, so how can we shoulder them all by ourselves?

If something unexpected happens, can you afford it?"

……

Seeing more and more civil servants joining the battlefield, Li Mu pulled Jing Yifeng and quietly left the room.

"Uncle Qi, how long do you think they will quarrel?"

Li Mu joked with a smile.

Too many people means more trouble.

In the past, there were fewer officials in Guangxi and their meetings were efficient and clear.

But now it’s different. The imperial court has sent more than a dozen civil servants at once, and each of them holds an important position.

It seemed like the Censor was performing, but in fact he was representing these newly appointed officials and demanding power from them.

The military meeting just now was completely a bait thrown by Li Mu and Jing Yifeng, the purpose of which was to test the bottom line of these civil servants.

“If we want them to unify their stance, I estimate that even after ten days or half a month, there will be no result.

If you just want them to stop arguing, just remove the tea and snacks. When they get tired of arguing, they will naturally stop.

But we agreed beforehand that the attack on Guangdong was just a feint, so don't take it seriously!"

Jing Yifeng said worriedly.

Having witnessed Li Mu's imaginative use of troops, he was very skeptical that Li Mu could make his fake things come true.

"Whether or not to send troops to Guangdong depends on whether the rebels cooperate!

According to past practice, news of this kind of multi-person military meeting would spread everywhere before a decision was made.

If the rebels receive the news and strengthen their defense in Guangdong, we will continue to attack Guilin.

If the enemy does not make any move, we can continue to strengthen Guilin's defenses and then turn around to attack Guangdong!"

Li Mu said with a smile.

It is easy to say that strengthening Guangdong's defense is easy, but if it is really put into practice, the first problem the rebels will face is insufficient manpower.

Guangdong’s coastline is too long, and there are many provincial capitals along the coast.

Thirty to forty thousand troops were deployed in one place, and hundreds of thousands of troops were scattered out.

Not to mention whether such defense is foolproof.

Such a large number of troops alone will affect the strategic deployment of the Holy White Lotus Kingdom.

If troops are deployed to the coastal defense lines, then other battlefields will receive less support.

At present, the two sides are mainly in a strategic stalemate, and every time troops are withdrawn from the front line, it is like walking on a tightrope.

If you are not careful, or a problem occurs in any link, it may lead to the failure of the entire line.

If the rebels do not take action, they will have to worry about the fall of Guangdong.

After all, Dayu has more than one Guangxi Front Army.

As long as there is a gap in Guangdong's defense line, the Fujian Front Army, which is passive and lazy on the battlefield, will quickly pounce.

The elite troops will lead the way in front, and the miscellaneous troops will follow behind to seize territory. The situation in Guangdong and Guangxi is about to change again.

(End of this chapter)