Fu Shanhe

Chapter 313 The conspiracy unfolds
"The enemy will send out troops after the autumn harvest, and our plan will also be launched after the autumn harvest.

Since we have to fight anyway, we might as well have a big one.

The front lines of Huguang, Jiangxi and Zhejiang are all battlefields, and we will try our best to recover as much lost territory as possible.

Your Majesty and all the officials are watching, so we have to make some noise!"

Marquis Wuyang said calmly.

Recovering Huguang’s grain and fodder is a strategic necessity, recovering Jiangnan is an economic necessity, and recovering Nanjing is a political necessity.

Among the three, retaking Nanjing was undoubtedly the most difficult.

The previous plan was to take Nanjing directly by water, a strategy that could only be implemented when the lower reaches of the Yangtze River were in the hands of the imperial court.

With the fall of Yangzhou Prefecture, the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River fell into the hands of the rebels.

The enemy only needs to blockade the river with shore artillery to inflict heavy losses on the fleet.

If you want to recapture Nanjing, you either have to penetrate directly from Jiangxi and Huguang, or take the sea route all the way from Songjiang Prefecture.

The promise to Emperor Yongning to recover Nanjing within the year meant launching a major war to recover Nanjing within the year, and did not mean that Nanjing could be conquered within the year.

The rebels have become powerful and cannot be easily suppressed.

It would be enough to recover the lost territories of several prefectures and give an explanation to the court.

No one knows when the rebellion can be quelled.

"If all three lines are opened simultaneously, will the logistical pressure be too great?"

Jing Guoliang asked with concern.

Fujian is not a grain-producing area, and the province's grain output is barely enough to be self-sufficient.

You definitely can't count on them to provide you with military rations.

In fact, Guangdong and Guangxi were not much better off. If the war had not caused a decrease in population, they would still only be able to barely be self-sufficient in food.

“For the past year, we have been working hard to raise food and fodder.

The Governor-General's Office allocated funds and purchased one million shi of rice from the Nanyang region.

At the same time, fishermen were organized to go out to sea to fish, and about 25,000 stones of fish meat were stored by pickling.

After the autumn harvest, this year's tax grain should be stored in the warehouse.

If we add in private purchases, Guangdong and Guangxi should be able to provide 3 million shi of grain as military rations for subsequent operations."

Li Mu opened his mouth and answered.

From a purely numerical perspective, three million koku is a very large amount.

But when it is really used on the battlefield, it is actually just that simple.

From Huguang to Zhejiang, the battle line stretched for thousands of miles.

Once a full-scale war breaks out, the total number of troops deployed will be nearly 200,000.

Including the civilian laborers who transported grain and the livestock accompanying the army, the daily military ration consumption reached tens of thousands.

Fighting at home, we could barely sustain it for a year.

If the army is sent on a long expedition, how long the food can last depends on the distance.

Of course, if you defend the city, you can have good food for two or three years.

The main reason for choosing to go to war on all fronts was for money and food.

The money and grain raised by Guangdong, Guangxi and Fujian alone are not enough to support the army in long-term combat.

The reason why we are able to maintain such a huge armament now is that the stolen money was seized from the Shandong families.

The Ministry of Revenue did send people to ask for it, but the imperial court owed a huge amount of military pay and bounties.

According to the reward offered by the Ministry of War, the reward for the head of a real enemy is fifty taels of silver, and the reward for the head of an enemy general is even higher.

The rest of the miscellaneous soldiers are not worth much, but they still need to be rewarded.

In addition to these clearly marked rewards, even if a great victory is won, there must be some expression of gratitude.

The army sent to support the king killed people indiscriminately in Jinan Prefecture, and the court of Dayu had to pay out millions of taels of silver just for rewards.

After the bounty was paid, the bigger expense was the pension.

Regardless of the actual casualties, the losses reported by the army supporting the king were close to 50,000.

According to the laws of Dayu, normal pensions would cost millions of taels.

The bad debts accumulated in the past are a huge sum of money.

The subsequent recovery of lost territory also required the court to pay military salaries.

After some calculations with the account book, he had already used up the confiscated stolen money before he had even added up all the debts.

Of course, when dealing with the stolen goods, the bureaucrats in Beijing also made a fortune.

The confiscated land and houses were sold at a discounted price.

You can make a lot of money by reselling it.

It's just that the quantity is too large and it takes some time to process.

No matter how much stolen money you have, it will all be spent one day.

After filling up the previous deficit and dividing the spoils among the people, the remaining cash was only a little over five million taels.

War is a money-eating beast. Just building military equipment cost one million taels of silver.

The main expenses are armor and firearms.

Li Mu had high quality requirements for these products, and the names of the craftsmen and supervising officials had to be engraved on all of them.

If there is a quality problem, everyone in the production chain will lose their heads.

Strict quality requirements mean that production costs will not be low.

Up to now, only 10% of the armor production task has been completed.

Firearms production was slightly faster, only 30 percent completed.

The reason for such efficiency was that he brought away craftsmen from Shandong area and enhanced the military production capacity of Guangdong and Guangxi.

The production speed is still increasing, but the growth rate is already very limited.

At this production rate, by the time the war breaks out in the autumn, at most one quarter of the armor will be delivered.

However, Li Mu was still satisfied. It was good enough to be able to produce firearms in time.

"Since we are fully prepared, let's fight!"

"The enemy came to us on their own initiative, so we can save some effort."

Jing Guoliang made a prompt decision.

Everyone in the government and the public is watching them, and they must open up the situation as soon as possible.

It would be much easier for Wei Jiarui to bring his troops to their doorstep than for them to initiate an attack.

According to normal siege warfare, each city would have to pay a heavy price.

If the enemy insists on holding out, we won’t be able to deal with the rebels for a while.

Although the government troops were more professionally trained and had more advanced weapons and equipment, the rebels had fought their way out of a pile of dead bodies.

Deep down in his heart, he couldn't help but feel fortunate that the Holy White Lotus Kingdom was split.

Otherwise, if the three rebel forces join forces, the combat power they unleash will be even stronger.

"If Wei Ni comes to the goal himself, as the defending side, we should be able to gain a considerable advantage.

However, the most troublesome person was Fu Ni, who was ambitious and established a pseudo-dynasty in Nanjing.

A large army was organized to march north, and it might have already reached the Central Plains.

Affected by the invasion of the northern barbarians, the military system in the north was severely damaged.

The government troops in the Central Plains are mostly no match for the rebels.

For the sake of our country, we must take action and not let Fu Ni's conspiracy succeed!"

Li Yuan on the side spoke up to remind him.

The court currently has few mobile forces that can be mobilized, and the troops from various places that have come to support the emperor have just returned and are in a state of rest and recuperation.

Transferring them to Henan would obviously make things difficult for them.

It would be fine if it was all a hassle, but the key point is that the imperial court still owes money and grain.

No matter how loyal an army is, it cannot withstand such ordeal.

“Then, in the Zhejiang battlefield, we will launch an attack from the sea, quickly seize Songjiang Prefecture, and prepare to attack Nanjing.

Force Fu Ni to withdraw troops from the front line to support Nanjing!
Admiral Li, come up with a joint combat plan as soon as possible to integrate the military forces of each province. "

Marquis Wuyang said murderously.

Recapture Nanjing, this was the pie he painted for the emperor.

It is not known when the promise will be fulfilled, but the war will surely start. …

Kunming Prefecture.

"What, you won't let us help?"

Yunnan Governor Zhong Zhenyu asked in disbelief.

In the past, when we encircled and suppressed the rebels, we always urged them to send troops.

This time he offered to help, but was collectively rejected by the three governors, which was completely beyond his expectations.

“My Lord, it’s not a direct refusal.

They still welcome us to send troops to fight.

However, their request for money and food was directly rejected.

And they said in a tough attitude: If the prerequisite for sending troops is that they provide money, food and weapons, they would rather not have our soldiers.

Not only us, but also Guizhou also expressed its willingness to join the war, but was also rejected due to the issue of money and food. "

Dou Yutang said with a look of grievance.

After the White Lotus Rebellion broke out, not only the soldiers under him but also he, the military commander, was unlucky.

He often traveled back and forth, nominally supervising military affairs within the province, but in reality he became an errand boy.

As soon as the Guangdong and Guangxi troops returned from the north, he rushed over without stopping to discuss the issue of joint military action.

It’s not that they like fighting, it’s just that they suffered a defeat before and are now in the process of “making up for their crimes”.

If they don't seize the time to show their performance, they will have no explanation when the court holds them accountable.

It just so happened that the previous war had emptied the Yunnan treasury.

Due to limited local financial resources, if we want to send troops to quell the rebellion, money, food and weapons will become a problem.

Unfortunately, they are not the only ones short of money, other provinces are also short of money.

"The mouse is short-sighted!"

“I thought these three governors were capable of suppressing the rebellion.

Now it seems that they are just a bunch of selfish rats!

While they were confronting the rebels, we attacked their territory from the flank and crushed the rebellion in one fell swoop.

They actually abandoned such a perfect battle plan just for a few money, food and weapons!

......"

Zhong Zhenyu couldn't help but curse.

The imperial court refused to allocate funds, and the three governors were not happy with the idea, so they put him under house arrest.

Before Dayu, whenever a dynasty entered its middle and late stages, Yunnan and Guizhou would be out of control.

After the establishment of Dayu, the imperial court took a series of measures to strengthen its control over Yunnan and Guizhou.

The most famous is the military household system, which directly led to the immigration of hundreds of thousands of people.

The price of local stability is a sharp increase in government spending.

Yunnan's finances have been in deficit for a long time, and the taxes collected from local areas are not enough to cover the cost of governance.

Of course, the imperial court did not lose out by strengthening its control over Yunnan.

Although tax revenue is insufficient, Yunnan is rich in mineral resources.

Among them, the output of silver and copper has always topped the list among the provinces of Dayu, laying the foundation for the monetary system of the Dayu Dynasty.

Later, with the booming development of overseas trade, a large amount of silver poured in, making money no longer exist, and Yunnan's status declined.

Although the profits from mining are lucrative, they have little to do with local governments.

The profits from the government-owned mines went into the pockets of officials.

The actual production capacity has been increasing year by year, but the data reported to the court has been decreasing year by year.

And for good reason: The best veins of ore have been mined out, and the remaining ore is of lower quality.

Generally speaking, these parasites will not stop until the price drops to near the break-even point.

It is impossible for the emperor to come and supervise in person, so if he sends an imperial envoy to rectify the situation, there will only be a temporary rebound.

Not to mention private mines, the mining rights were nationalized during the Dayu Dynasty, and private mining was prohibited.

It is obviously impossible to expect people to pay taxes when they are mining illegally.

Under such circumstances, it was almost impossible to rely on local government offices to raise money, food, and military equipment.

What was lost on the battlefield must be made up on the battlefield by "making up for one's crime with merit".

If we want to join the war, we have to solve the problem of money, food and military equipment first.

Zhong Zhenyu was too timid to touch the pockets of the vested interest groups, so he could only beg for alms from neighboring provinces.

Unfortunately, their previous performance was poor and they were not taken seriously at all.

"Governor, please calm down. If they don't give us money and food, we can still go to Lord Xu.

He had just been transferred to become the Governor-General of Sichuan, and was just short of troops. Our going there would be like providing timely assistance.

......"

The governor Tao Leqi on the side began to persuade.

The reason why they were not welcome to join was not only because of disputes over money and food, but also because of another important factor - the circle.

He is a big shot from the noble family. If a civil servant like his own governor wants to join him, it would obviously be asking for trouble.

Their identities and status are not equal, and their strength is far different.

When they arrived at the table of nobles, no one knew how to arrange their seats.

Instead of putting yourself in a difficult position and forcing yourself to fit in at all costs, it is difficult to gain other people's trust.

"Master Tao, I'm afraid this matter is not that easy.

The last time we were defeated, it caused a lot of trouble for Lord Xu."

Zhong Zhenyu said with a bitter look on his face.

Last time, he was careless and encountered an enemy ambush while pursuing the enemy, which really harmed Lord Xu.

Not only did it cause casualties, but it also led to the failure of the encirclement and suppression opportunity.

If there was no senior official in the court willing to take over this mess, he wouldn't even have the chance to redeem himself.

"Governor, this is one time, that is another time.

At that time, Lord Xu was in a high position and had great power, so naturally he had high expectations of us.

Now that the situation has changed, Elder Xu's status has also been impacted, so his demands will naturally not be so harsh! "

Tao Leqi said with confidence.

The ups and downs of officialdom are always full of surprises.

Because of the unsuccessful suppression of the rebellion, the halo of the regent gradually disappeared.

The reinstated Xu Wenyue was demoted from the second assistant to an ordinary cabinet minister.

Changing him to the post of Governor of Sichuan explains the problem.

You have to know that Lord Xu back then was the governor-general of five provinces and was truly extremely powerful.

"Then send someone to try!
We can relax the specific conditions slightly and try to facilitate cooperation.”

Zhong Zhenyu said expressionlessly.

The rebels in Shu are no pushovers either.

It is still unknown whether the army can defeat the enemy if it really enters Shu to fight.

However, the risk was high, so he had no choice but to take a gamble.

If you want to keep your current position, you must take risks when it is time to do so.

……

Nanjing City.

"Your Majesty, the plan was successful!"

“Under the guidance of our people, the Pseudo Dynasty and Wei Jiarui regard each other as a formidable enemy and are busy preparing for war.

According to insider information, they will start a war in the fall!"

Hu Yuzhe said happily.

Letting him, a surrendered minister, take charge of this task is enough to prove how much Fu Haoxuan values ​​him.

Now, we have lived up to everyone's expectations and delivered an excellent answer sheet, and my heart has finally settled down.

(End of this chapter)