Fu Shanhe

Chapter 301: War Begins
Outside Jinan city.

Looking at the spoils all over the ground, the high-ranking officials of the Ghost Party all showed satisfied smiles.

Dayu is rich, and just grabbing a few things would be enough for them to struggle for many years.

What we have in front of us is only part of the spoils. There are more things waiting to be delivered.

The original plan was to only rob Qingzhou Prefecture, but the temptation was too great and he lost control, so he robbed the neighboring prefecture as well.

This cannot be blamed on the Guifang soldiers. They are not familiar with the roads in Dayu and cannot tell the administrative divisions at all.

Anyway, if you see something that can be grabbed, just grab it first.

He ran away while rushing. We had originally agreed to return within half a month, but now it is impossible to do so.

"Don't be happy yet, with so much loot, the vehicles we prepared are far from enough.

It would be a pity if we gave up because of transportation problems.”

Ulige said with a worried look on his face.

This is the first time I’m worried about having too much spoils, and it can be considered a happy worry.

“This is a simple matter. We just need to capture a group of laborers and craftsmen nearby.

While there is still time, we should quickly build a batch of vehicles and let the laborers push them.

Some inferior war horses can also be used to pull carts.

At worst, we can just march slower.

We still maintain the relationship with Liaodong Town, and at worst we can give them a share.

The rest of the Dayu army had already become frightened birds.

The troops ahead of us retreated very smoothly, so I don’t think there will be much risk for us.”

Bashar said calmly.

With an army of 30,000, there are not many troops capable of posing danger to them.

As long as Liaodong Town is dealt with, the threat from other Dayu troops will not be that great.

The only thing to worry about is the Yu army in Jinan city.

“In fact, we can consider giving up some of the spoils in exchange for the mobility of the army.

If the team is too long, it will easily attract the enemy's attention.

The combat effectiveness of Dayu’s army is severely polarized, and the elite troops among them are no worse than ours.

The temptation of benefits is great enough, and the Beijing camp may come out to stop us from returning north."

Ulige said with a little hesitation.

It would be too painful to abandon the spoils, but I couldn't walk fast with them.

Reason told him that it was extremely dangerous to march slowly in enemy territory.

Even if we can buy off Liaodong Town, it may not be reliable.

When the interests are great enough, promises become unreliable.

“What Ulige said makes sense. The spoils we obtained are too much.

Under normal circumstances, even if the Great Yu Dynasty was wealthy, it would not be able to rob so much."

Wu Rimu thought for a moment and said.

It is true that Shandong is rich, but now there are so many things being stolen, so many that it is unbelievable.

Putting aside other things, the truckloads of gold and silver don’t feel real.

"You two are so timid.

Don't always think about conspiracies. It's not worth it for us alone, but they are doing such a big thing.

I have already checked these issues.

We were able to loot so many things because, on the one hand, when we went south, many gentry and wealthy businessmen were also fleeing south.

The great victory of Yu's army in Jinan gave them confidence. In addition, the sea was rough at that time of year, so many people stayed.

On the other hand, the gentry and merchants in these coastal states have been engaged in maritime trade for a long time and are already very wealthy. "

Bashar said with a smile.

He is just greedy, but definitely not stupid.

After robbing a huge amount of wealth, one must definitely trace the reason.

“If that’s the case, then it all makes sense.

Dayu’s products were in great demand, and huge profits could be made whether they were shipped to Goguryeo or Japan.

It is not surprising that they have so much wealth after hundreds of years of accumulation."

Wu Rimu nodded and said.

The spoils in front of us are already astonishing, and once they are transported back later, the number will only be greater.

The original caution quickly disappeared in the face of huge profits.

Life is a rare opportunity to fight.

After acquiring huge wealth, they can go back and prepare themselves for further development and growth.

Once our strength has grown to a certain level, we will no longer have to care about the Tatars’ wishes.

Although the two sides were allies in this southward raid, they were also filled with blood feuds in private.

As the former overlords of the grassland, they are also proud.

If one can be the boss, no one would be willing to be someone else's younger brother.

……

On the Jinan city wall, Marquis Wuyang was looking at the enemy camp with a high-powered telescope.

"It seems the enemy's harvest was quite substantial!"

Marquis Wuyang couldn't help but sigh.

The war ended five days ago.

The heavy casualties caused the morale of the vassal army, which served as the main force in the siege, to completely collapse.

At one point, the order to attack the city caused a mutiny among the soldiers.

Although the mutiny was quickly suppressed, the army lost the ability to continue the siege.

Except for a few who sincerely surrendered to the Northern Tartars, most of the vassal army soldiers were forcibly captured young men.

Those who are truly capable of fighting have long been taken away by the top brass of the vassal army.

After all, being a traitor is just for the sake of wealth, glory and high office, not because one really wants to work for the Northern Tartars.

In a mission destined to result in death, one must conserve one's strength.

For these military leaders, once they lose their troops, their own value will be gone.

But the above commands must also be executed.

Conscripting able-bodied men to fill the numbers became the best option.

"My Lord, Shandong has been a prosperous place since ancient times, and in our dynasty it has reaped the benefits of maritime trade.

Silk, tea, and porcelain are all popular commodities overseas.

It is normal to make several times the profit by shipping a shipload of goods and then trading in some overseas specialties.

Every year, the net amount of silver flowing into our dynasty through maritime trade is at least seven or eight million taels.

Several provincial capitals that are now being plundered by the enemy all have ports facing the sea.

It is not surprising that local gentry and merchants got a piece of the pie given the geographical advantage.

Unfortunately, the imperial court was unable to control these huge amounts of wealth, and they were all swallowed up by the gentry and merchants.

Otherwise, the revenue from import and export tariffs alone would exceed the salt tax.”

Li Mu applied the eye drops calmly.

It is unrealistic for them to promote reforms given their status, but they can let Marquis Wuyang know that maritime merchants are rich.

When we encounter financial difficulties in the future, we will naturally think of asking these people for money.

Merchants in the Dayu Dynasty had a low status and were targeted by the governor who controlled military and political power, so it was difficult for them to avoid bleeding.

It's useless even if there is support from a noble family behind you.

After being tormented by the rebels, these families' local networks were almost wiped out.

If you want to rebuild it, it will be difficult to recover without more than ten years of operation.

Even if they were willing to step forward, they were powerless to fight against the local officials.

"Ok!"

"You are right. It seems that the previous approach of collecting lijin from merchants was the right one.

With a net inflow of seven or eight million taels of silver every year, the profits these merchants earned must have been tens of millions.

In terms of wealth, they were indeed comparable to the salt merchants. If this wealth could be included in the tax collection, the financial difficulties of the court would be solved.

Unfortunately, the vested interest groups are too powerful, and it is not appropriate for the court to make any moves at this time.

We can coax and deceive people at the local level, but if we bring it up in the court for discussion, we will be asking for trouble."

Marquis Wuyang said with a gloomy expression.

It can be seen that he is not in a good mood now.

Although he made a fortune in Shandong, his own salt fields in Lianghuai fell into the hands of the rebels.

If a long-term profitable business is suddenly lost, you will naturally not be in a good mood.

But there is no way to say this kind of thing out loud.

In addition to his resentment towards the rebels, he also disliked the gentry and merchants who possessed a large amount of wealth but were unwilling to pay taxes.

If it weren't for these guys who worked so hard to drain the Dayu Dynasty, the situation wouldn't have deteriorated to this point.

"My Lord, the time for the decisive battle is about to come.

Give the enemy another three days, and then it will be time for us to attack.

The more they grab now, the more we can share later."

Li Mu immediately changed the subject.

It's okay to put on eye drops, but it's not necessary to participate in deep discussions.

As a loyal minister of the Dayu Dynasty, criticizing the court's problems was a reflection of his concern for the country and the people.

If he were to come up with a reform plan and try to tell the court what to do, that would be beyond the duties of a military general.

On this issue, Li Mu judged the scale very accurately.

He always only raised issues and pointed out the shortcomings of the court, but at most made indirect comments on how to reform it.

If you find problems, you won’t offend anyone.

Pointing out the shortcomings of the imperial court will not offend anyone either.

If you really offend someone, you should solve the problem.

No matter what plan is adopted, as long as major political reforms are carried out, the interests of vested interest groups will inevitably be affected.

Generally speaking, when you encounter such tragic things, there will be no good ending.

Even if the reform is successful, there will be backlash.

"Oh, so fast?"

Marquis Wuyang asked with a hint of surprise.

As an imperial envoy, he was under a lot of pressure, but he didn't tell anyone about it.

He was also aware of the changes that had taken place in the court.

In order to save the situation, the civil service group became polarized, which was unthinkable in the past.

Judging from the current situation, Emperor Yongning is inclined to loosen up on the nobles and use the power of the nobles to quell the White Lotus Rebellion as soon as possible.

Simply from the surface, this is a big cake delivered to your door.

But behind the huge benefits, there are also huge hidden dangers.

The transfer of all the noble leaders to other places will inevitably lead to a power vacuum at the center.

Duke Chengguo and Marquis Zhenyuan were regents appointed by the previous emperor. They had very special identities and status and could compete with the cabinet politically.

If you encounter problems, you can argue with the civil servants.

This is something that other nobles do not possess.

There were also disagreements within the noble camp as to whether to accept this suggestion.

Some people believed that they should step forward to save the empire from crisis.

More people hold opposing views, and the reason is very simple: they do not trust the civil servants.

They just took office and started to sabotage others right after. They are very capable of doing such a thing.

It is possible that the nobles would be squeezed out of the court just as the local mess was cleaned up.

As a newly promoted leader of the nobility, Marquis Wuyang has a lot of say in such matters.

Even though he was not in the capital, many officials wrote to him trying to gain his support.

He could ignore other people's letters, but he had to reply to Emperor Yongning's private letters.

For a while, Marquis Wuyang couldn't make up his mind.

"The enemy began to rush to produce vehicles, proving that they had fallen into the trap and now the fighter planes were ready."

Li Mu replied calmly.

It wasn't that he was being perfunctory on purpose, it was mainly because the real reason was not convenient for him to say it out loud.

The enemy's rush to build vehicles showed that they had already seized enough spoils and were reluctant to let go.

This means that the dispatched troops will have to transport the spoils and will not return to the camp immediately.

At this time, the enemy forces outside the city had less than half of their total strength.

Being able to defeat them one by one is definitely better than directly taking on a tough challenge.

Choosing to postpone the decisive battle for three days is to allow the enemy to further relax their vigilance.

"This governor is busy with court affairs and does not have enough energy to take care of the battlefield.

As for the specific combat plan, you can directly handle the whole process without reporting it.

This Governor only wants good news, nothing else matters!"

Marquis Wuyang immediately gave the order.

After fighting in many battles over the years, he is no longer the military novice he once was.

Although it is still difficult to command tens of thousands of troops, common sense knowledge is still known.

Every extra layer of management will reduce efficiency.

If you can't help, don't make things worse.

……

Time flew by, and more and more spoils were transported back to the camp.

The whole camp was filled with joy.

"Rumble..."

The sudden sound of artillery fire was like a blow to the head, stunning many Guifang generals.

As the sound of artillery fire rang out, the tightly closed gate slowly opened and the defending soldiers stepped out of the city gate in an orderly manner.

And they formed a military formation outside the city as quickly as possible and advanced towards the Guifang camp.

"What happened outside, and why did the enemy fire?"

Wu Rimu couldn't help but ask.

"Chief, the Yu Dynasty army in the city suddenly rushed out and is heading towards our camp.

There were so many of them, it was like they were pouring out.”

The guard's answer surprised Urimu.

They didn't even bother attacking the city, so why did the Yu Dynasty army take the initiative to provoke trouble?

This was completely different from the Yu Dynasty army he knew.

Even if we want to take action against them, we should wait for reinforcements to gather and then surround them from all sides.

"Organize a counterattack immediately!"

Wu Rimu made a prompt decision.

Now that the enemy is here to kill us, the process is no longer important.

The army camp was far enough away from Jinan City that the enemy's artillery on the city wall could not reach it. The sound of the artillery was more like a signal flare to start a war, so there was no need to panic.

Cavalry is an offensive force and is not suitable for defending a camp.

When faced with an enemy attack, the best option is to counter attack with attack.

If they could defeat the enemy's attack, they might be able to push back and capture the city of Jinan.

If they can win this battle, their reputation on the grassland will surely reach a new height.

They have accomplished what the Tatars have not done, which will inevitably attract many tribes to join them.

If enough tribes are attracted to join them, it is not impossible to confront the Tatars head-on.

After all, the population of the Guifang tribe is far larger than that of the Tatar tribe.

If they can complete internal integration, their military strength will surpass that of the Tatars.

……

(End of this chapter)