Fu Shanhe

Chapter 35: Checking Military Farms
As soon as the news spread in the government office, someone came to ask for leave.

It can be seen that the eunuch party's plan was successful.

Greed is a universal human nature. If you can attract the sons of nobles, you can attract civil servants and gentry.

As long as the price is attractive enough, there will be no shortage of buyers.

If the land could be moved or was too far away to be managed, the bureaucrats in the capital would have been able to buy up all of these properties.

It doesn’t matter if we can’t sell all of it at once. The local gentry will rush over quickly after receiving the news.

What's more, next year is the year of the imperial examination, so it is possible for the successful candidates from all over the country to come to Beijing in advance.

Unless the place is too remote and the dignitaries in the court look down on it, Li Mu doesn't think they can get a share of the pie.

Two million eight hundred thousand acres may sound like a large number, but it is not enough for the royal princes, nobles, relatives of the emperor, and civil and military officials in the court.

Throughout history, every time a dynasty entered its middle and late stages, the population of the ruling group would grow rapidly, and the demand for wealth would increase accordingly.

The eldest son inherits the family business, and the other sons also need to have a place to stay.

They rely entirely on their family property to make a living, and if it is divided a few times, they will fall into financial difficulties.

In addition to increasing plundering of the people, the struggle within the ruling group will also become unprecedentedly fierce.

Patting his head, Li Mu realized that he was worrying too much.

Even if the sky falls, the emperor will be the first to hold it up.

There are a number of cabinet ministers and princes and nobles taking over, so it is not the turn of a small fry like him to worry about anything.

From what we know, both Emperor Tianyuan and the officials in the court are more shrewd than the other.

I don’t know whether we can learn lessons from history, but it is certain that we should read history books carefully.

Judging from a series of actions taken by Emperor Tianyuan after he ascended the throne, it was obvious that he had sensed the danger to the empire and pushed for reforms.

So far, the most direct results of these reforms are reflected in finance.

Compared with the first year of Tianyuan, the court's fiscal revenue increased by nearly a quarter in seven years.

For a large old empire, this is definitely a remarkable achievement.

Of course, Emperor Tianyuan had more failed reforms, but he was the man behind the scenes.

Not only did it divide the officials, it also pushed forward the eunuch party as the scapegoat, pulling in hatred.

Everyone was targeting the eunuch party, and no one paid attention to what the emperor did.

Or it could be said that he, the emperor, did nothing and was just hinting at others to do things the whole time.

If it succeeds, it means the emperor is wise.

If the work fails, it means that the people below have misunderstood the emperor's intention.

The emperor would not make mistakes unless he personally took action.

Except for the emperor's arbitrary decision-making at critical moments, all other things were done by the officials.

Playing like this in the feudal dynasty would make you invincible.

Assisting the monarch in handling state affairs is the duty of all officials.

If something goes wrong, you must naturally bear the corresponding responsibility.

Passing the buck to your boss is a technical job that not everyone can do.

Especially putting the blame on the emperor is full of risks.

The low-health Censorate is the best negative example.

The emperor, who was always open to advice, used the eunuchs to get rid of them without making a fuss.

It is estimated that many people were exiled from the capital because they did not know that they had offended the emperor, but thought that they had angered the eunuch party during the party struggle and brought disaster upon themselves.

After a while of thinking, Li Mu regained his confidence in the emperor and the court.

As soon as he returned to the Marquis' Mansion, before he had time to change out of his official uniform, he was summoned by someone sent by Marquis Zhenyuan.

"Uncle, you asked me to come here, but what happened?" Li Mu asked puzzledly.

He had some understanding of Marquis Zhenyuan.

After being in Beijing for so long, every time they met this uncle, he always looked confident and as if everything was under control. This was the first time Li Mu saw him lose his composure.

“Something big is going to happen!

The Embroidered Uniform Guard found the survivors of the Liaodong battle and learned from them that the army had run out of food the day before the decisive battle with the enemy.

Further investigation revealed that according to the deployment of Liaodong commander Duan Wenhong, the army requisitioned food and fodder from nearby garrisons.

However, the nearest Shenyang Guard was often attacked by the northern barbarians, and the military farms were seriously abandoned.

The military households had already fled, and there were only a few left, and there was simply not enough food left in the warehouses.

Such important news should have been reported before the war.

As a result, the message was suppressed during the transmission process.

After the war broke out, Commander Duan sent people to urge for food, only to find something wrong.

Unfortunately, the envoy's attitude was too bad, which angered the commander of Shenyang Guard, who killed the envoy in anger.

In order to evade the court's accountability, he escorted fake food and grass on the road, and fabricated the illusion that the entire army was annihilated by the northern barbarians on the way. Now he is nowhere to be found. "

Li Yuan said with lingering fear.

Whether it was concealing military intelligence or the deficit of the garrison, it was a huge event that would break the law.

It just so happened that these two major events directly led to the great defeat in Liaodong.

Now that it has come to this, the imperial court will get to the bottom of this matter no matter what.

"Uncle, do you mean that the court wants to conduct an investigation of the guards?"

Concealing military intelligence is a serious crime, and the removal of heads is inevitable. If you are not careful, it may even trigger the Nine Clans Elimination Game copy.

Whoever is found out will be doomed.

No matter how powerful the backing is, it is useless. No matter how much the two parties in the court fight each other, no one would be so desperate as to collude with the northern barbarians.

From the emperor to the civil and military officials, these bastards will not be let off.

There was nothing much to say about the inevitable outcome. The only major event that would happen was an investigation of the local garrisons.

Emperor Tianyuan had long been dissatisfied with the declining combat effectiveness of the garrison troops.

However, there are too many people involved in this historical disease, and it cannot be changed just because we want to.

The great defeat in Liaodong created favorable conditions for the investigation of the garrisons across the country.

There is no doubt that all the health centers across the country have encountered serious problems.

The combat effectiveness of the garrison soldiers declined, not only because of lack of training, but the most important reason was that the motivation that supported their fighting - their land - was seized by others.

Of the nearly 100 million mu of military land in the country, only one tenth remains in the hands of military households.

The military households, which originally enjoyed tax exemption and should have had a higher standard of living, now live even worse than hired households.

If you can't even fill your stomach, don't expect any fighting power.

"That's right!
His Majesty has long intended to reorganize the garrisons in various places, and he will naturally not miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

At the small court meeting, the Ministry of War proposed to investigate the military farms in various garrisons. Even though we, the nobles, strongly opposed it, the proposal was still passed! "

Li Yuan said with a gloomy face.

On the issue of checking the guards, the emperor and the cabinet actually reached a consensus, which put the nobles, who had little say in the court, in a passive position.

When it comes to talking, even if all the nobles and bigwigs were put together, they would not be a match for a cabinet minister.

Besides, this time, they have good reasons for what happened.

The reasons for objection raised by the nobles were totally untenable.

(End of this chapter)