Fu Shanhe

Chapter 339 Destiny

"Your Majesty, after the defeat at Wuchang, the Chu State is finished.

Even if the King of Chu managed to escape, he could only survive for a while at most.

After destroying the State of Chu, the government army’s next target of attack will definitely be us.

The only solution now is to expand the military and prepare for war in order to cope with the upcoming changes.

Once the war breaks out, the consumption of all strategic materials will inevitably increase greatly.

The original plan to exchange food for war horses can only be stopped now."

The left prime minister, Yu Ruiyu, was the first to express his position.

Stopping the war horse trade was equivalent to terminating the plan to train cavalry.

It cannot be said that all the human, financial and material resources invested in the early stage were wasted, but most of the investment was wasted anyway.

Knowing that it would suffer heavy losses, the State of Wu now had no choice.

After the failure of the Battle of Wuchang, not only did they suffer heavy casualties, but the Huangzhou and De'an prefectures under their rule were also doomed to fail.

Next, Jiujiang Prefecture will become the front line again.

Several provincial capitals in the north have long since become battlefields.

The financial and material resources that Wu could mobilize would inevitably be greatly reduced.

Once a war breaks out, the consumption of various strategic materials will increase dramatically.

Other things can be lacking, but food cannot be lacking.

"Ok!"

"The Prime Minister is right, war is the most important thing.

Not only was the grain-for-horse plan suspended, but palace maintenance was also stopped.

From now on, all supplies in the palace will be reduced by 20%, and those that are expensive will be directly cancelled."

Fu Haoxuan said readily.

Having emerged from the turbulent times, he knew very well the difference between temporary wealth and lifelong wealth.

In this critical moment of life and death, the emperor must take the lead and set an example so that those below him can work wholeheartedly.

"Your Majesty is wise!"

All the ministers shouted in unison.

After taking control of Nanjing, the rebel leaders inevitably turned to extravagance and debauchery.

As the emperor, Fu Haoxuan had three palaces, six courtyards and seventy-two concubines.

It’s not that he is lustful. In troubled times, marriage is also an important means to stabilize the local area.

The killing was too brutal in the early stages, and the gentry were all scared away when they heard the name of the rebel army.

However, no matter how much they could run away, only the direct descendants would leave, and there would always be members of the collateral and distant branches left behind.

Following the advice of his subordinates, Fu Haoxuan forcibly took the women from these families' side branches as his concubines.

Winning over people's hearts is one aspect, but alienating the relationship between Dayu and the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River is the main purpose.

The means are a bit despicable, but the effect is good.

Internal strife was rampant in the court of Dayu. When one heard that the relatives of a political enemy were marrying a rebel, how could he give up the opportunity that was delivered to his doorstep?

Regardless of whether he was forced to do so or not, impeach him first.

“Your Majesty, since the Chu State is doomed to fail, there is no need for us to exercise restraint on the southern front.

Rather than letting them lose these lands to the pseudo-dynasty, it is better to let our people take over, which will be more conducive to the anti-Yu cause."

Minister of Rites Hu Yuzhe stepped forward and suggested.

After the establishment of the State of Wu, its territory did not continue to expand, and was largely restricted by the Wu-Chu alliance.

Now that the State of Chu has fallen and the alliance has lost its effectiveness, it is the best time to expand southwards.

By taking over Chu's territories in Jiangxi and Zhejiang, Wu's strategic space will be greatly increased.

After integrating these territories, the Wu State had enough financial and material resources to compete head-on with the ruined Dayu.

"My dear Hu, this is not good, right?
After all, we are allies. If we attack Chu, wouldn’t it be laughed at by the world if it gets out? "

Fu Haoxuan said with a little hesitation.

When you're a bandit, doing this kind of thing doesn't matter.

Now that he is the emperor, he needs to save his face.

“Your Majesty, we naturally cannot attack our allies.

However, the defeat of Chu this time was mainly caused by traitors colluding with the enemy.

If you want to save the State of Chu, you must first eliminate the traitors.

I propose to send a man of eloquence to the State of Chu to persuade the generals and establish a deeper anti-Yu alliance.

If anyone refuses, he must be a spy planted in the State of Chu by the Pseudo-Dynasty, and he must be eliminated with lightning speed!"

Hu Yuzhe said righteously.

No matter how nice the words sound, in essence it is still kicking an ally when he is down.

The emperor cannot take the blame for this, so only his ministers can do it.

After the large-scale rebellion of the Chu court officials, the Wu State was also affected.

Fu Haoxuan didn't say anything on the surface, but he was secretly on high alert.

In particular, officials who have had connections with Dayu have become the focus of supervision.

As a surrendered minister, although Hu Yuzhe had the merit of surrendering the city, he still could not avoid suspicion.

"Minister Hu is right. We will let the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of War work together to complete this matter."

Fu Haoxuan made a decision immediately.

He had long been coveting the territory of Chu.

But due to the constraints of the covenant, he never had the chance to do it.

Now that the State of Chu has been defeated and the ministers below have helped find reasons to send troops, there is no need to hesitate.

……

Wuchang City.

"Uncle, it seems we have no choice but to stop our advance."

Looking at the collected battle reports, Li Mu said helplessly.

In order to defeat the enemy, the insiders burned down the rebels' granary.

The effect was very obvious. It really undermined the morale of the rebels and successfully defeated the enemy.

It was precisely because the enemy's morale was low that the government troops captured a large number of prisoners.

According to incomplete statistics, the number of prisoners of war captured in the Battle of Wuchang exceeded 350,000.

This number is still increasing.

Together with the hundreds of thousands of prisoners of war captured in the early stages, more than 500,000 prisoners of war were captured just in the recovery of the Huguang area.

Prisoners of war also need to eat.

The rebels themselves were short of food during the Battle of Wuchang, so naturally they could not seize much food on the battlefield.

The sudden increase in so many tickets put heavy pressure on the logistics of the government troops.

If they continued to fight, they would not be defeated by the enemy, but would be hindered by their own logistics.

"Hey!"

"What a shame for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"

Li Yuan said with a sigh.

As the Governor of Huguang, he was also well aware of the great logistical pressure on the army.

Although Huguang was recovered by the government army, it had just experienced a war and not much grain could be collected in a short period of time.

The army's consumption mainly depends on supplies provided by the three provinces of Guangdong, Guangxi and Fujian.

Unfortunately, the grain production in these three provinces is very limited.

The fact that it has been able to hold on until now is a miracle in itself.

“It’s not a pity. Although we stopped here, the other armies that were suppressing the rebellion did not stop.

We should be able to seize a lot of territory before Fu Ni sends out his troops.

After recovering so much territory in one go, it's time to stop and take a break.

If you need, you can leave some of these prisoners of war to settle in Huguang.

As for the rest, I plan to exile them to the border according to Dayu law to strengthen the defense of southern Xinjiang."

Li Mu smuggled the goods without batting an eyelid.

In terms of cost-effectiveness, it is definitely better to directly cultivate land in Huguang, which will produce greater returns.

However, Huguang is located in the heart of Dayu and is also the granary of the world, and it has attracted the attention of the government and the public.

It is impossible to learn from the previous situation in Guangdong and Guangxi and occupy unowned land as military farms. Even if you can withstand the pressure and operate it, you will suffer backlash in the future.

Since he had no time to engage in intrigue at home, Li Mu simply sent the person away.

After a period of labor reform, the unstable factors are eliminated, and the remaining people are all excellent labor force.

The reason why Dayu lost Annan was largely because there were not enough Han people in the area.

In the early years of the founding of the country, the population was small and large-scale immigration was not possible.

Past experiences are a lesson for the future, so Li Mu would naturally learn from the same mistake.

The development of Indochina Peninsula is limited, and people are not willing to go there for normal immigration.

There is no need to entrust traitors to exile on a voluntary basis.

"Are you really determined to govern Annan?"

Li Yuan asked with a frown.

Among the many vassal states of Dayu, Annan is undoubtedly the most special one.

The fact that they were able to become independent from the Jiaozhi Provincial Administration was not only due to the factional struggles within the court, but also because of their own strength which should not be underestimated.

With more than 300,000 soldiers, it is definitely a giant in Southeast Asia.

If everything goes smoothly, it would be fine. But if you accidentally get stuck in a quagmire, it will become a black history in your military career.

"Uncle, I want to leave my name in history!"

Li Mu answered carefully.

This reason is the most impeccable.

Even though they fought so hard at home, they were ultimately suppressing a rebellion, so historical evaluation is destined not to be too high.

Being able to leave one's name and have a separate page of record is considered a courtesy from those civil servants.

I guess the content recording the Jinan Victory is more than the content recording the suppression of the rebels.

It's not about revenge, but the civil unrest is a dark history and should be recorded in the style of the Spring and Autumn Period.

If Annan was destroyed and the Jiaozhi Governorate was rebuilt, it would be different.

Losing the Jiaozhi Provincial Administration has always been regarded as a shame by the people of Dayu.

The previous emperor was ready to send troops to retake Annan, but was ultimately unable to take action due to financial constraints.

This kind of war of annihilation of a country with the purpose of revenge is the most respected.

“I knew that you young people would not live in peace.

It's better to go to the south now to make trouble, so as to avoid hanging around in the court and disturbing others.

However, you have to assess the risks yourself.

If you are not sure, just fight a few symbolic battles to ensure that Guangxi is not lost.

Annan has a harsh climate and is a remote and poor place, so it doesn’t matter whether we can get it back or not.”

Li Yuan said earnestly.

Sometimes it is a problem when your younger generations are too capable.

Military generals like Li Mu, who have made great military achievements at a young age, are the most feared.

According to historical experience, if one returns to the capital to participate in court disputes, he will either die halfway in the internal strife or usurp the throne against the trend.

It’s not a question of whether or not they have ambition, but rather that the situation forces them to move forward.

Once the emperor has the intention to kill and does not want to sit and wait for death, he can only fight back.

In a clan society, everyone suffers together and prospers together.

Once Li Mu was involved, the entire Li clan would be passively involved.

No matter which outcome it is, it is not what Li Yuan wants to see.

"Uncle, you are wrong.

Annan is not only not poor, but also very rich.

According to the intelligence collected, there are many plains in Annan, but the Annan people do not know how to develop them.

In my opinion, today's Annan is the Jiangnan of a thousand years ago.

Once developed, it would be enough to feed tens of millions of people.

The Annan people have laid the foundation for us, and the subsequent development will be much easier."

Li Mu said with a smile.

If you want to gain the support of the clan, some information still needs to be revealed.

Recreating a Jiangnan region would bring enormous benefits.

As long as the news is confirmed to be true, those conservative scholars will instantly become radical war advocates.

"Are you sure it's true?"

Li Yuan said in shock.

If it were another Jiangnan, we couldn’t give up.

Guanzhong is plagued by natural and man-made disasters and may become a battlefield at any time.

If we stay where we are and develop, we will sooner or later be caught up in war.

For the sake of family inheritance, it is inevitable for the clan members to migrate.

However, good places are owned by others, and powerful dragons like them will be boycotted wherever they go.

The original intention was to disperse the clan members to Guangdong and Guangxi for development. With the support of the officials, it would not be difficult to gain a foothold.

Now that there is suddenly a better option, there is no need to compete with the local tyrants for territory.

It is unrealistic to eat alone, but it is still necessary to seize the opportunity.

"Uncle, I'm not completely sure about this kind of thing, so I dare not speak carelessly.

However, it will take some time to develop Annan, and it will be difficult to see results without decades of operation.

If we want to develop it to the level of Jiangnan, it will probably take hundreds of years.”

Li Mu answered conservatively.

If you want to gain trust, what you say must be within the other person's sphere of knowledge.

"If Jiaozhi is really that wealthy, then you can take advantage of the information gap and seek the position of Jiaozhi governor.

It just so happens that those civil servants want to weaken our noble group.

Find an opportunity to push it from behind and they will bring it up themselves.

Recovering the Jiaozhi Provincial Administration requires a huge amount of manpower, material resources and financial resources.

The support that the family can provide is just a drop in the bucket.

I will try to stay as the Governor-General of Huguang for two more years to deliver supplies to you.

As for the captured prisoners of war, they and their families were exiled to Lingnan.

All prisoners of war in subsequent counterinsurgency wars were treated in the same way.

The conditions are not ripe now, so don't do it for now. Wait until you conquer Annan and then exile them there.

I will coordinate this matter with Duke Chengguo and Marquis Wuyang.

As a price, you and I will give up all the subsequent merits in suppressing the rebellion."

Li Yuan's expression changed so quickly that Li Mu was shocked.

Before it was calling it Annan, but now it immediately changes to Jiaozhi, as if it is planning to wipe it out completely.

In order to help him complete his plan, he was even willing to exile millions of people.

It can be seen that the temptation of fertile land to traditional scholars is unparalleled.

“Shizhen Jiaozhi Chief Secretary, this is indeed a good choice.

Uncle, don't worry, your nephew won't let you down.

The King of Annan died and the new king had just ascended the throne. According to convention, he would request the court to issue a letter of enthronement.

The new King of Annan is arrogant and will definitely challenge Your Majesty in his letter.

If the imperial court does not agree to their unreasonable demands, it will not be long before the Annan people send troops to invade the border."

Li Mu immediately made arrangements for the new King of Annan.

No matter what is written in their letter, the letter sent to the capital will definitely be a slap in the face of Emperor Yongning.

It was just a verbal provocation, which at most would make the emperor and the officials angry.

At this time, the imperial court will definitely not launch a major war.

But if there is news of Annan's invasion again, then even if the court does not want to fight this war, it will have no choice but to passively order troops to be dispatched.

In essence, the provocative letter was only intended to convince the court that the Annamites would invade Guangxi.

……

(End of this chapter)