Fu Shanhe

Chapter 310 Personnel Adjustment
When the ceremony of conferring the title of Marquis began, Li Mu felt like a puppet. He followed the procedure rigidly, fearing that there would be any mistakes, and became a topic of conversation among the audience.

Although no marquis of the Dayu Dynasty had ever been held accountable for mistakes in the enthronement ceremony due to military merit, historians were required to record such important events.

If there is no problem, then it is just a matter of words.

"On a certain day of a certain month of a certain year, someone was awarded a title for his military merits."

For those with great influence, their achievements will be noted later, but the content will not be too much, one page is enough.

If a joke is made, it should be introduced in great detail to serve as a warning to future generations.

Theoretically, history books can be revised. However, in order to revise them, either the emperor himself needs to intervene, or the aristocratic families who control the discourse need to hide the historical truth.

Generally speaking, when historical books are tampered with, a lot of unofficial histories will emerge.

It's hard to tell whether it's true or not, but the content is definitely explosive. There's nothing they dare not write unless they think of it.

Most of them were idle. Except for a few busy officials in the Dayu Dynasty, most people had a low workload and no entertainment activities.

Recording daily news has become a part of many people's lives. Usually, when doing so, people will bring in their own opinions and include a lot of personal information.

After the enthronement ceremony, various worship activities were held. First, the emperor led his officials to worship the imperial temple, presenting sacrificial texts to narrate the achievements and comfort the ancestors, hoping for the blessing of the ancestors.

Then everyone went back to worship their ancestors. The clan ancestral hall, which was only opened on major festivals, was also very busy.

All the clan members who were able to make it gathered in the ancestral hall.

First, the ancestral tablets of Li Mu's lineage were invited in by the elders, and then various sacrificial texts were presented.

The contents are similar, all of which recount achievements and pray for blessings from ancestors.

After completing the entire process, you still have to drag your tired body to the palace to attend the ennoblement banquet.

There is no doubt that so many complicated rituals were deliberately performed by the imperial court for the world to see.

In recent years, Dayu has been unlucky, with more defeats than victories on the battlefield. The siege of the capital by the northern barbarians and the fall of Nanjing have brought about a huge political disaster.

In order to stabilize people's hearts, both Emperor Yongning and the officials in the court attached great importance to this ceremony of conferring titles.

The purpose of this ceremony is to tell the world that the Dayu Dynasty has not yet fallen and there are still elite soldiers and generals who can fight.

In the palace.

Li Mu could not believe his eyes when he came into close contact with Emperor Yongning again. The young man who was full of vigor and vitality was no longer there.

Judging from his facial features alone, Emperor Yongning looked at least ten years older than his actual age.

Even though there was a smile on his face, the hidden sadness between his brows still added a bit of old age.

It can be seen that the emperor is having a hard time.

As the protagonist, Li Mu's position this time is very close to the front, and he and Marquis Wuyang are on the left and right sides of the emperor.

The dishes were nothing new, all of them were seasonal vegetables and meat. The emperor advocated frugality, so the banquet was naturally not extravagant.

Being able to come to the banquet was a symbol of honor in itself. As for what to eat, no one cared.

After a few brief words of encouragement, the topic inevitably turned to state affairs.

But most of the time, Li Mu was just a listener.

Although he had a say in state affairs, as a rising star, it was not appropriate for him to speak out in such a special occasion.

Unless the emperor asked a question by name, it was basically Marquis Wuyang who answered the questions.

A number of cabinet ministers and nobles also participated in the discussion. However, everyone was very restrained and tacitly gave the main stage to the two protagonists.

After the banquet to confer titles of nobility was over, a group of important officials, including Li Mu, were retained by Emperor Yongning.

……

"My dear ministers, there were many things to say just now that you are not comfortable saying.

Now that there are no outsiders, everyone can speak freely about their ideas.

I want to recapture Nanjing and recover Huguang and Jiangnan regions within this year, and I hope you will help me!"

Emperor Yongning's words seemed to be spoken to his ministers, but in fact he wanted the provincial governors to give an accurate answer.

Just one day before the ceremony of conferring nobility titles, the imperial court made a major personnel adjustment.

Xu Wenyue, the former Governor-General of Huguang, was appointed Governor-General of Sichuan.

The post of Governor-General of Fujian and Zhejiang of Marquis Wuyang was revoked, and he was replaced by Governor-General of Jiangnan, and concurrently served as Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi.

Pei Yunxuan, the former governor of Jiangnan, was dismissed on the spot and escorted back to Beijing by the Embroidered Uniform Guard to await further decision by the court.

Jing Guoliang, commander-in-chief of the Left Army, was appointed governor-general of Fujian and Zhejiang.

Li Yuan, commander-in-chief of the Right Army, was appointed governor-general of Huguang.

The entire southern battlefield has entered the era of nobility.

In addition to sending eunuchs to supervise the army, the power of the governors was greatly enhanced.

Including: the right to freely conscript soldiers, the right to adjust taxes within the jurisdiction, and the further expansion of personnel rights, with the right to dispose of and appoint military generals below the third rank and civil officials below the fifth rank.

It can be seen that Emperor Yongning placed high hopes on these people and gave them maximum power.

The power of local governors has increased significantly, and if they have ulterior motives, they can easily become new vassal states.

There has been a constant stream of opposition to such actions within the court.

However, most of the major officials in the court were supportive.

There was no way out. The imperial court was suffering from severe financial deficit and was simply unable to pay the high military expenses.

The imperial court could not provide money and food, so if it wanted to suppress the rebellion, it could only delegate power to the governors on the front lines.

“Your Majesty, it is too difficult to recover Jiangnan, Huguang and other places within this year.

The rebels have grown larger and are no longer the makeshift group they once were.

The situation was the opposite for the government troops. The most powerful government troops in Guangdong and Guangxi suffered heavy losses in the War to Defend the King.

They are in urgent need of replenishment before they can be put into the new war, and it is difficult for them to play a role in a short period of time.

The situation of government troops in other regions was even worse.

The Jiangnan region has now almost completely fallen, and the remaining government troops have completely lost their morale.

There are only three prefectures left in Huguang, and they are still struggling to hold on.

In the short term, we not only have no soldiers available, but also lack money and food.

In the next six months, the first thing we need to solve is the problem of money and food, and then we can train troops and quell the rebellion.

For political reasons, priority should be given to retaking Nanjing and stabilizing the people's hearts.

If everything goes well, the imperial court will wipe out the White Lotus rebels within the next two years."

Jing Guoliang spoke first.

As the commander-in-chief of the Left Army and the governor-general of Fujian and Zhejiang, the de facto head of military generals, he had to come out and pour cold water on Emperor Yongning.

There was no way. The emperor's demands were too high and completely unrealistic.

Even if the army that came to support the king had not been damaged, it would have been impossible to recover the four provinces in just half a year.

Considering the practical issues, it will take time for them to take up their posts and it will also take time to sort out the bureaucratic system.

The actual time available to quell the rebellion will not exceed three months.

In order to recapture Nanjing within this year, all parties must cooperate fully.

If you try to deal with all the rebels at once, you will choke to death.

Sending troops hastily will only result in casualties and make the situation worse.

"Two years is too long, the court can't afford to delay!

Jing Aiqing, can't you hurry up? "

Emperor Yongning frowned and said, "He himself knew that it was unrealistic to resolve the rebellion within half a year."

The main purpose of making this request is to put pressure on everyone.

But the time period of two years was really beyond his psychological bottom line.

It has been more than three years since the White Lotus Rebellion, and if you add the two years it will be more than five years.

It would be fine if it just took a long time, but the key is that Dayu’s financial situation is extremely bad.

Having lost a number of important financial sources in the southeastern provinces, the imperial court suffered huge financial deficits every year.

A penny stumps the hero.

The imperial court needed money everywhere, and relied on robbing Peter to pay Paul to maintain its rule.

This situation is obviously unsustainable.

The longer the war drags on, the more problems Dayu will have to face.

If all the financial problems were passed on to the northern provinces, the rebellion in the south might not be suppressed and chaos would break out in the north again.

"Your Majesty, it really can't be quick!
If the correct countermeasures had been taken earlier, the court might have had a chance to quickly suppress the rebellion.

But the situation is different now. The rebels have grown stronger, while the imperial court has suffered great losses.

The increase and decrease greatly increased the difficulty of suppressing the rebellion.

Two years is actually an optimistic estimate.

If the enemy resists stubbornly, the period of suppressing the rebellion may be prolonged! "

Jing Guoliang answered with gritted teeth.

Having learned from the lessons of the unlucky people before him, he would rather confront the emperor than make empty promises.

Make the difficulties clear in advance, and you can find excuses if you fail to complete the task on time.

Raising the emperor's expectations in advance and making big promises in front of his ministers is equivalent to issuing a military order.

Failure to complete the task would be deceiving the king.

“Your Majesty, Duke Cheng is right, we cannot be impatient at this time.

The imperial court cannot afford to be turbulent, and the top priority is to seek stability.

It is better not to start a major war than to suffer a major defeat in a war with a rebel.

Launching the Battle of Nanjing within this year would be fraught with risks.

If you want to blossom everywhere, I'm afraid..."

Marquis Wuyang followed up with his persuasion.

As the Governor-General of Jiangnan, he had to face the greatest troubles.

Just retaking Nanjing is not an easy task.

On the surface, the army sent to support the king suffered heavy losses.

Even if it was politically necessary, he had to pretend to rest and replenish his troops before launching the Battle of Nanjing.

He discussed with Li Mu privately and decided to expand the combat troops from two towns to five towns after returning.

During the military expansion period, it is not suitable to launch large-scale battles.

If all goes well, the Battle of Nanjing can be launched by the end of the year.

Fighting is to give an explanation to the court. When Nanjing can be recaptured depends on the performance of the rebels.

"Hey!"

“National affairs are difficult!”

Seeing that his family members all opposed it, Emperor Yongning couldn't help but sigh.

Experience has taught him that anything that everyone opposes will never be accomplished.

“Your Majesty, refer to historical experience.

Once a religious rebel group like the White Lotus gains the upper hand, the top leaders will quickly become corrupt.

The longer it drags on, the more beneficial it will be to the court.

Even if the leader of the bandits has great ambitions, he cannot guarantee that his subordinates have the same ambitions as him.

Nanjing’s glamorous world is the easiest way to wear down one’s fighting spirit.

Let the rebel generals enjoy themselves for a few months, and by then, their combat effectiveness will be only 40% or 50% at best."

Wan Junhui spoke to comfort her.

It can be seen that he put a lot of effort into reading history books.

He discovered all these inconspicuous and unpopular rules.

The city of Nanjing is indeed easy to corrupt people's hearts. In history, no dynasty that established its capital in Nanjing lasted long.

But saying it now can just calm people's hearts.

Even if corruption spreads quickly, it still takes time. It is impossible to destroy a regime from within in just a few months.

……

In times of war, speed is of the essence.

On the third day after the ennobling ceremony, Li Mu led his team on their return journey.

Compared to when we came here, we were accompanied by my uncle and father-in-law.

Everyone's workplace is in the south, so it's just on the way.

Fortunately, he resisted the temptation and was not corrupted by beauty. If he really took a few concubines and brought them south with him, the scene would be unimaginable.

The weather in June is like hell. Not only is it hot like a furnace, but the sea is also very rough.

Li Mu, who was afraid of death, decisively ordered to sail along the coast and not waste that little time.

If you find the weather is not right, immediately go ashore to avoid the wind and waves. The main thing is to be steady.

"My Lord, these days, the generals in the army have been visiting us frequently..."

Before Wu Da Ge could finish, Li Mu interrupted him with a wave of his hand: "I know about this matter, let them go as they please!"

We cannot go south to quell the rebellion without a military team.

The troops of the Beijing camp had suffered severe losses before and were unable to participate in the southward march to quell the rebellion.

When Duke Chengguo and Marquis Zhenyuan went south to take up their posts, they only brought some of their family's private armies with them. That little bit of force was naturally far from enough.

The combat effectiveness of the local official army could not be relied upon, so they had no choice but to swing hoes at Li Mu's troops.

Li Mu didn't care about the movement of noble generals.

During the prior communication, he had promised to support 5,000 troops. The current poaching operation was originally part of the agreement.

There is no need to be angry about what you promised. If someone leaves voluntarily, it will be a good opportunity to eliminate unstable elements.

The camp is made of iron and the soldiers are flowing water.

The Dayu Dynasty is not short of people, so the vacancies can be filled by others.

The new recruits train in the camp for a few months, then are taken to the battlefield to fight for a few feet, and those who survive become veterans.

The truth is a bit cruel, but that's the reality.

……

(End of this chapter)