Fu Shanhe

Chapter 315 Pre-War Resolution
Nanchang City.

"How much grain will be stored in the warehouse this autumn tax?"

Wei Jiarui asked with concern.

As an army of rebels spanning three provinces, all the lands under its rule are prosperous, so he has no shortage of money.

However, during wartime, food is more important than money.

All major forces have strengthened their control over food and prohibited the outflow of food from within the country.

At this time, even if you have money, it is difficult to buy food from outside.

Against this background, autumn harvest is very important.

The amount of autumn grain stored in storage directly determines the intensity of the subsequent war.

“Your Majesty, with the joint efforts of all the ministers, we have investigated the farmlands in various places.

The actual number of acres of land is generally twice as high as the re-registered acreage.

The actual population of each prefecture and county also exceeded the registered population of the pseudo-dynasty.

After integration, this year's autumn tax is expected to exceed that of the Dayu reign.

It is estimated that the autumn grain deposits will be about 18 million shi.

Mainly due to the impact of the war, production in various places has not yet fully recovered.

Once we recover, that number will increase dramatically.”

Minister of Revenue Xiao Yushan said with pride.

The high amount of tax grain is not only due to the local wealth, but also to their taxation system.

Compared with the various miscellaneous taxes of the Dayu Dynasty, the tax system of the Holy Kingdom of White Lotus is much simpler and more crude.

All of it will be distributed among the fields and collected in kind in one lump sum directly according to the amount of land.

The simplest taxation model is often the most effective.

The more tax types there are, the higher the cost of taxation will be and the more difficult it will be to enforce the law.

They are just a bunch of rough guys, and even many high-ranking officials may not be able to sort things out, let alone ordinary people.

Most corruption occurs when information is not transparent.

If the Dayu Dynasty could collect so much tax grain from these places, it would not have to default on even military rations.

"After deducting the salaries of officials from the 18 million dan of tax grain, how much is left for military rations?"

Wei Jiarui immediately asked.

In times of chaos, food prices soared, and if officials were to work with peace of mind, it was necessary to issue them rice as stipends.

Not only do officials have to pay their salaries, but clerks at all levels also have to receive rice salaries.

Usually these expenses are deducted in advance by local government offices during the collection process.

The reported 18 million koku is just the data on the books.

The consumption of grain during transportation and the payment of personnel salaries all involve costs.

"If we save a little, we can probably squeeze out 10 million shi."

Xiao Yushan thought for a moment and said.

Administrative expenses are high and this is unavoidable.

From the moment the tax in kind was levied, it was bound to be a huge waste of money.

“There aren’t enough!

It is not possible to pacify Guangdong and Guangxi overnight.

With millions of troops marching south, the amount of money and food consumed every day is not a small number.

Ten million dan of military rations may seem like a lot, but with a million-strong army, it won’t be consumed for long.”

Wei Jiarui said with a frown.

A million troops is just a fictitious number, but when you include the civilians who transport supplies, there are just as many people to eat.

What's more, during wartime, various unexpected losses may occur during the transportation of food and fodder.

If half of the 10 million stones were saved when they were delivered to the front-line soldiers, it would be considered a strong organizational ability.

"Your Majesty, if you use it sparingly, it won't be a problem to last until next year.

Compared with the pseudo-dynasty, we are at least wealthy.

Guangdong, Guangxi and Fujian are not grain-producing areas. No matter how powerful the two villains Wuyang Hou and Li Mu are, they cannot produce any food.

In the previous battles, the government troops clearly had the upper hand, but in the end they all started well but ended badly, all because of the lack of food.

To seize Guangdong and Guangxi, it is not necessary to completely annihilate the government troops, but exhausting them to death can also achieve the goal.

As long as I start a war, the officials of the pseudo-dynasty will call on the people to defend the city.

Lengthen the battle line, expand the scope of the war, and consume as much military rations of the Pseudo Dynasty as possible.

They can only hold out for half a year at best before they get into trouble.

After all, Guangdong and Guangxi had only recently fallen into the hands of the Pseudo-Dynasty, and there was no food stored in the local areas!"

Prime Minister Chang Junyi immediately offered a suggestion.

There is no shame in using some small tricks to win on the battlefield.

What's more, the tactic of attrition warfare is itself a conventional conspiracy and does not lower the moral bottom line.

"The Prime Minister's words make sense, but I am being too picky.

Instruct all the troops to prepare for a major battle. In seven days, we will send troops to Guangdong and Guangxi!"

Wei Jiarui immediately gave the order.

As a local lord, his greatest strength is his ability to accept advice with an open mind and to admit his mistakes.

Even though his military ability is not that strong, he still manages to gather a large number of supporters thanks to his personal charm.

"As ordered!"

All the ministers answered in unison.

A war is bound to be fought, and no one has the energy to stop it.

Even if they did not move, the government troops would take the initiative to provoke a war.

Instead of responding passively, it is better to take the initiative and try to control the initiative of the war as much as possible.

……

Guangzhou City, Governor's Office.

"The Imperial Guards have sent us news that the rebels are moving towards the border area and are suspected of launching an attack on us.

Previously, we had determined a plan to fight on multiple fronts and engage in a decisive battle with the enemy.

Now we need to make a choice: wait for the enemy to come to us, or take the initiative to attack.”

As the host, Marquis Wuyang spoke first.

The territory bordering Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian and Wei Ni is not small, and the battle line is more than a thousand miles long.

Due to its terrain, Fujian is basically safe.

The endless mountain ranges are enough to discourage the enemy from advancing.

With Fujian in the hands of the imperial court, the court could also focus on maritime trade and levy taxes from it.

If it falls into the hands of the rebels, it will be a complete mess. If the local gentry flee quickly, it will be difficult to recover the cost of the war.

This is something the rebels could not envy.

The threshold for overseas trade is quite high.

Even a son of a noble family like Li Mu wanted to interfere in overseas trade, but he was able to put a knife to the neck of the maritime merchants.

Even so, we still suffered considerable losses in the process of participating in overseas trade.

After the White Lotus rebels killed a lot of people, all the gentry and merchants were wiped out, so business naturally could not continue.

Without overseas trade, Fujian would be a poor and barren place.

It is also a burden to hold it in your hands.

“You can freely choose other battlefields, but we cannot delay in Songjiang Prefecture.

The court is pressing us, so we must produce results as soon as possible.

The political banner of retaking Nanjing must be launched as soon as possible! "

Jing Guoliang immediately made his position clear.

The specific method of fighting is not important; the key is the political slogan, which must be shouted out at the first possible moment.

The reason why troops were not sent to retake Nanjing was a matter of political stance.

The bad example set by Liaodong Town made all officials in the court look like bad guys to everyone else.

The failure to capture Nanjing after the troops were dispatched was a problem of capability. The rebels were so powerful that it was completely understandable that they did not recapture Nanjing immediately.

“Be cautious, and defend the places other than Songjiang Prefecture first.

When the rebels moved south, there were actually not many routes available to them.

Either send troops from Hubei or Jiangxi.
Yongzhou and Meiling need to be paid special attention to next.

If necessary, we can launch a battle in Yongzhou to defeat the enemy first."

Li Yuan added.

It can be seen that this is an old soldier.

Yongzhou.

It connects with Jiaoguang in the south and Jingxiang in the north, and has the advantages of navigation on Xiangjiang River and Xiaoshui River.

Meiling Mountain is located on the Five Ridges and spans the two provinces of Jiangxi and Guangdong.

It controls Jiaoguang in the south, resists Hunan and Xiang in the west, is located in the upper reaches of Jiangxi, and is close to Lingnan.

Meiguan, the only passage, is known as the first pass in Lingnan.

Controlling Yongzhou is equivalent to getting a ticket to enter Huguang.

Controlling Meiling is equivalent to opening the gateway to Jiangxi.

Of course, the same is true for the rebels.

By taking these two places, we will have the key to entering Guangdong and Guangxi.

Rather than fighting for two places, it would be more accurate to say that both sides are fighting for the initiative in the war.

"There is no problem strategically, Yongzhou and Meiguan are both places that must be fought for by military strategists.

As long as the rebels are not stupid, they will give priority to taking these two places.

Now that Yongzhou has fallen into the hands of the rebels, we must take it back as soon as possible to maintain our strategic initiative.

The two places are not far apart, so it is better to say that they are one battlefield rather than two battlefields.

I will personally lead an army of 120,000 in this battle and try to inflict heavy damage on the rebels."

After Li Mu finished speaking, the room suddenly became quiet.

Although there were many generals attending the meeting, only four of them were qualified to speak.

The combination of one duke and three marquises is a very powerful political group no matter where it is.

What's more, they controlled a large army, dominated the fate of the southern land, and influenced the decision-making of the Dayu Dynasty.

Seeing that Li Mu, the old boss, jumped out to seize the initiative in the war, no one knew how to continue the topic.

From a personal perspective, everyone supports Li Mu.

There is no other reason, the results of the battles are the most convincing.

But the other three are not easy to mess with either. They are all nobles and it would be inappropriate to support any of them.

"I have no objection. Admiral Li's suggestion is very good. We will try to implement it as soon as possible."

Marquis Wuyang said with a smile.

From the outside world's perspective, there is no room for two tigers in one mountain. With three governors gathered in the small city of Guangzhou, friction is bound to occur.

Unfortunately, the information these people see is what they want everyone to see.

The three governors who commanded large armies lived in harmony with each other and colluded with each other to make money all day long. What did the emperor think?
As long as it does not delay things, occasionally creating some small conflicts is to reassure the emperor and the officials.

When it comes to discussing strategic decisions, it is clearly not applicable.

"In that case, the battle to retake Songjiang will be my responsibility."

Jing Guoliang expressed his opinion immediately.

Although the battle line seems to be thousands of miles long, there are only a few strategic locations where the actual fighting takes place.

The main force of this war was the soldiers from Guangdong and Guangxi, so naturally the focus was on the Guangdong and Guangxi sides.

Even if they were of a higher status and had the ability to fight for the position of commander-in-chief, it would be meaningless.

It is a big taboo in military strategy for soldiers to go directly to the battlefield without knowing their generals and generals without knowing their soldiers.

If you suffer a defeat, all the reputation you have accumulated over your life will be lost in one day.

For them, it is better not to go to war, but if they go, they must win.

Especially in the Dayu Dynasty, any failure of a military general would be magnified and interpreted by civil officials.

No matter how great the achievements made in the past, they will pretend not to see them.

The sunk costs are too high, too high to accept failure.

"Then leave the rest of the battlefield to me."

Li Yuan said calmly.

Frankly speaking, such task assignment is seriously inconsistent with his status and position.

Under normal circumstances, he should have been the one to lead the battle to recapture Yongzhou.

However, the Huguang soldiers had just formed combat effectiveness after being reorganized.

If we want to launch the Battle of Yongzhou, we must mainly rely on the troops from Guangdong and Guangxi.

The war has to be fought by others, and his monopolizing the position of head coach will inevitably affect subsequent cooperation.

Even if Li Mu didn't care, the generals under him would not buy it.

After the expansion of the army, the six towns in Guangdong and Guangxi added many grassroots generals in addition to the noble generals.

They form their own system in the military, and because they lack a voice in politics, their presence is relatively low.

These people were Li Mu's close confidants who were promoted by Li Mu. Because of their backgrounds, their relationship with the noble generals was not so harmonious.

This is the price that must be paid for taking over the mountain.

Generals from noble families came here to gild their reputations, squeezing out other people's opportunities for promotion.

I can't go against the big things, but deep down, I can't help but feel angry.

Under normal circumstances, with Li Mu in control, there would naturally be no trouble.

If we change the head coach, there will be no guarantee.

……

The military meeting ended efficiently, which made many generals who were attending the meeting for the first time feel very uncomfortable.

The opening remarks go straight to the point without even any symbolic greetings, let alone long speeches with quotations from classics.

This is completely different from the civilian military meetings they are familiar with.

Only four big guys spoke during the entire meeting.

In name it was an enlarged military meeting, but in reality it was more like a four-person meeting with a different meeting location.

With fewer people involved in decision-making, the probability of conflicts and contradictions will naturally decrease.

However, this way of playing still makes some old-school generals unhappy.

"My Lord, you are of the most honorable status, and this war should be commanded by you.

At the very least, we must be responsible for important battlefields.

Sending troops from the sea to recapture Songjiang Prefecture at most took advantage of the popularity of recapture Nanjing, but in reality it was just a piece of chicken ribs.

As long as Nanjing is not taken, no matter how well we fight, it will be in vain! "

The middle-aged general's complaint made Jing Guoliang frown.

The war hasn't even started yet, but the game of fighting for fame and fortune has already been created.

He did not fight for command of the main battlefield, not because he did not want to, but because he simply could not do it.

Without the full support of the soldiers from Guangdong and Guangxi, relying solely on gathering the defeated soldiers would be just giving heads to the enemy.

"Shut up!"

"As a lieutenant general, you are not qualified to participate in military affairs!
Others should take this as a warning and not say things that should not be said just for the sake of being mean.”

Jing Guoliang immediately scolded.

You are bringing up things that are not relevant to the topic. It is obvious that you are trying to embarrass him.

The military power at hand is limited, and if we are tricked into going to the battlefield, we will be in big trouble.

……

A similar scene also happened under the command of Marquis Zhenyuan.

Not surprisingly, those who made the suggestion were scolded.

If one wants to overturn the decision of the Big Four, there is only a chance to change it unless Emperor Yongning intervenes personally.

He has nothing but is instigating the boss to fight for power. It's obvious that he is not a good person.

(End of this chapter)