Fu Shanhe

Chapter 384 Blocking War

The capital, Hall of Supreme Harmony.

"enough!"

"This won't work, and that won't work either. How about I let you sit on this dragon throne?"

Emperor Yongning scolded angrily.

The content of the previous high-level meeting was still leaked.

After a period of time, it has not only not faded, but has become even more lively.

The civil and military officials in the court either firmly opposed the tax reform or simply remained silent.

All of a sudden, Emperor Yongning became a lonely man.

He made a lot of efforts to quell the disputes between the government and the public, but he overestimated his credibility.

The series of bold moves he took in order to take power as quickly as possible eventually backfired.

All officials firmly opposed the tax reform. In addition to the loss of their own interests, they were also worried that the emperor would make unnecessary moves.

In the past few years, whenever the domestic situation stabilized, disputes would arise in the court.

This is due not only to the ministers but also to the emperor.

Every action started out with good intentions, but ended up in a mess.

Emperor Yongning felt that the officials were not working hard enough, while the officials thought that the emperor's requirements were too idealistic.

Many things are closely linked to each other.

Nothing will happen if you don't work, but once you start working, all kinds of problems will arise.

The combat effectiveness of Dayu's bureaucratic system is no longer what it used to be. Any complex operation is a test for the bureaucratic system.

"Your Majesty, calm down!"

"Your servants, we absolutely do not have such treasonous intentions!"

Seeing that the emperor was angry, all the officials hurriedly knelt down and apologized.

Originally, they were just venting their anger on the emperor, trying to put pressure on him by forcing him to abdicate and make him give up.

Similar operations have been performed countless times by our predecessors.

Almost every time a new emperor ascends the throne, there will be some turmoil.

Some of those with soft personalities compromised with the officials within two or three years and entered a co-governance mode between the emperor and his ministers.

It is normal for some people with strong will and political skills to suppress officials.

Either the power of ministers limits the power of the monarch, or the power of the monarch overwhelms the power of ministers. This is the way of playing that has been passed down for thousands of years from ancient times to the present.

The struggle between the two parties was a normal power struggle, and a system had long been formed within Dayu.

When we arrived at Emperor Yongning's place, we discovered some changes.

In addition to the power struggle, the country also faced internal and external troubles.

In addition to the daily power struggles, everyone also has to find ways to maintain the stability of the empire.

The veteran ministers in the court all hoped that the emperor would slow down and not cause trouble.

As for the young and vigorous generation, they are all at the back of the team and have no say for the time being.

Most of the former reformists were eliminated in the previous political struggles.

At this time, we wanted to promote tax reform from the eight southeastern provinces to the whole country, but we couldn't even find anyone to do the work.

To the extent that Emperor Yongning once wanted to recall several bigwigs from the noble family to the court to promote comprehensive tax reform.

But this is just thought. The noble group is making trouble in the south, but they have not suffered any loss.

The situation in the north is different. The noble group is also the vested interest group of the existing system, and it is too difficult for them to cut their own flesh.

According to convention, if the emperor has no support in the court, he should give up.

No one would have expected that Emperor Yongning had also learned to get angry and start something big right away.

The "dragon throne" must be given up, which is equivalent to saying that the officials are bullying the emperor.

Although everyone's actions did seem like bullying the emperor, they could never admit it publicly.

If the problem can't be solved, then just use magic to fight back.

Since ancient times, powerful officials have bullied the emperor. They were all arrogant and domineering, but they knelt on the ground and apologized.

If today's events were to spread, it would appear that the emperor was young and ignorant, and the ministers would have to kneel down and give him advice.

"you……"

Emperor Yongning finally took back his curse words.

All officials have made their stance clear through practical actions; continuing to fight back will only result in losses for both sides.

"Okay, the new tax law will not be promoted for the time being."

Emperor Yongning said indignantly.

Deep down in his heart, he had made up his mind to cultivate a group of trusted officials in the court.

He didn't want to encounter a palace coup like today again.

You have to know that he only mentioned tax reform at a high-level meeting and never even spoke of it publicly in the court.

Just revealing a hint of intention caused an uproar, and any normal person would feel aggrieved.

"Your Majesty is wise!"

Having obtained the desired result, the ministers ignored Emperor Yongning's unpleasant expression and directly rubbed salt into the wound.

Wan Junhui was most embarrassed at this time. A good situation had turned out like this, and he, as the prime minister, needed to be held responsible.

But there was no way, Emperor Yongning was too diligent.

If he could learn from the previous emperor and hide in the palace when he got into trouble, there would not be the scene of the officials forcing the emperor to abdicate.

Or be thick-skinned and simply deny it.

It is impossible for officials participating in the meeting to come out and self-destruct.

If anyone else dares to make a fuss, it would be considered as planting spies in the palace, a serious crime punishable by the confiscation of property and the extermination of the entire family.

If there is no evidence at all, it is just groundless talk. In the name of severely punishing rumor-mongering, one can also take the opportunity to deal with the unlucky people whom they dislike.

The emperor was helpless because he didn't know how to use the ready-made imperial power tactics.

If the emperor couldn't handle it, he would have even less control over the officials.

Emperor Yongning chose him as the Prime Minister because he valued the faction behind him was weak and would not be able to monopolize power.

The effect is very obvious, he has never been autocratic.

The price is that when problems arise, he, as the prime minister, cannot control the officials.

"Your Majesty, the prefect of Qiongzhou reported that the Annan people sent assassins to impersonate the envoys and attempted to sneak into the capital to commit treasonous acts.

The delegation has now been detained by the Qiongzhou government office. Please let the court decide their fate."

Wen Siyuan immediately reported it.

As the Minister of the Ministry of Rites, under normal circumstances, he should not have gotten involved in this mess.

However, since the Prime Minister had given him a hint, he could only hand over the matter to divert the awkward atmosphere in the hall.

Deep in his heart, he sent his regards to the entire family of the Qiongzhou prefect.

The assassins pretended to be an envoy and reported to the court themselves. What's the point of sending the official documents to the office of the Honglu Temple?

It is true that they are in charge of foreign envoys, but their only job is reception work.

As for foreign diplomacy, that is unnecessary.

In international relations, the Dayu Dynasty was the sky, and the vassal states had no choice but to obey orders.

"Ministry of Justice, how should we deal with these assassins from the vassal states?"

Emperor Yongning asked coldly.

"Your Majesty, according to the laws of Dayu, the assassin should be brought to justice and his vassal state should be held accountable."

The Minister of Justice Di Deyu gave the answer immediately.

In fact, there are so many contents in Dayu Law that he is not sure whether there is such an article.

If you don’t remember, it won’t affect your answer.

Dayu has never been a country ruled by law. More often than not, rule of man is more important than rule of law.

The Dayu Law must also conform to everyone's moral concepts. If there is a conflict between the two contents, the Ministry of Justice has the right to interpret the law.

It is not impossible to temporarily add a clause and sentence them.

After all, the words "the vassal state sent assassins to impersonate an envoy to commit evil" are too niche.

This was the first time in the 280-year-long history of the Great Yu Dynasty that such a thing had happened. Normal people would never have thought that such a weird and ridiculous thing could happen to them.

If the two countries were not at war, the imperial court would definitely send people to investigate the whole matter.

"Ok!"

"They are a bunch of clowns. Let the Qiongzhou prefectural government handle them according to the law.

As for sending people to blame Annan, forget it!

Tell Hanshui Hou to beat him up for me. I don't want Annan to exist in this world."

Emperor Yongning said murderously.

It was obvious that this wave of Annan people had run into trouble.

The emperor was filled with anger and had no place to vent, so they just happened to come along.

It was rare that the ministers did not oppose the emperor's decision.

It is better for the emperor to vent his anger on the Annamites than on himself.

Even the most active censor remained silent at this time.

The message everyone received was that Annan invaded Guangxi, and Dayu was responding passively, so there was naturally no question of militarism.

At this time, assassins were sent to provoke. If Annan continued to exist, where would everyone put their faces?

Dayu learned from the lessons of the Song Dynasty and took a much tougher political stance when dealing with foreign enemies.

……

In the early morning, just as the sky was getting light, the Annan military camp outside the city was empty.

Standing on the city gate tower, looking at the empty camp left behind by the enemy's withdrawal, Li Mu sneered.

"Send the order and have the guards in Guangxi leave the city to pursue the enemy.

Tell the people below to bite the enemy's tail and beat them hard, and gradually erode the enemy forces.

This time, the priority is to annihilate the enemy's effective forces, not to defeat them quickly."

If the Annan army of more than 100,000 were to deploy their forces and fight head-on, it would cost a considerable price to defeat them.

But now the battlefield has turned into a march. Even if the enemy set out at midnight yesterday, the rear army has actually only walked a few miles.

At this distance, the Yu army will be able to catch up quickly.

The long snake formation looks impressive, but when a real fight breaks out, the head and tail cannot even take care of each other.

Someone will definitely remind King Annan of these military common sense issues.

If nothing unexpected happens, the enemy must have arranged a rearguard force.

In the past, Li Mu would have repeatedly warned his subordinates to be careful of enemy ambushes.

No need now.

After experiencing so many wars, if you don't even have this little sense of battlefield, then at most you can be a general flag.

If you climb to a high position, you will harm others and yourself.

"As ordered!"

After receiving the order, Wu Dage immediately got busy.

Compared with before, the current Li Mu Group has already become formalized.

In the past, military orders were delivered orally, but now such orders must be in the form of official documents with the seal of the commander-in-chief and a special anti-counterfeiting code.

This will sacrifice some efficiency to a certain extent, but in order to avoid buck-passing, this step must be taken.

It was all based on verbal orders, and it was too easy to forge.

It doesn’t matter when there is a foreign war. No matter how desperate the officers and soldiers in the army are, they will not surrender to the Annan people who have no future.

If it turns into an internal war, all kinds of intrigues and deceptions will be used, and it will be normal to bribe insiders.

Li Mu was sure that there must be spies under his command planted by other political factions.

With the methods used these days, no matter how much internal review is done, there is no guarantee that the internal system is clean.

He did not cause any trouble, not only because he was cautious in employing people, but mainly because everything he did was within the political rules.

Even though there are some taboos, they are not issues of principle.

If the matter was brought to the court, he would most likely be reprimanded and fined several months' salary.

If there is a party dispute, there is a possibility of losing office.

In troubled times, for military commanders with outstanding military achievements, these punishments are better than nothing.

The imperial court is now inseparable from the noble family. Unless the emperor goes crazy and wants to hide away the bow and birds after they have been killed, he will have to dismiss them today and re-employ them tomorrow.

In a flash, the tightly closed city gates slowly opened, and the government troops set out on their journey in an orderly manner.

Looking at the distant enemy, Li Mu's mind emerged with the battlefield of fighting in the distance.

……

"Rumble..."

"Who ordered the cannon to fire? I haven't given the order yet."

The sound of artillery fire rang out, and Shi Yufeng questioned angrily.

As an old minister who was not favored by the King of Yue, it was no surprise that he had the tragic task of being the last one to leave.

In order to stop Yu's army, he set up an ambush on the road they had to take, ready to give the enemy a head blow first.

They never expected that there would be a loophole and their own artillery would fire before the enemy entered the ambush circle.

"General, the gunfire is not coming from our side.

Judging from the sound, the rear army must be in trouble.

Perhaps the enemy took a small path, ran to the front, and ran into our rear troops."

Upon hearing this answer, Shi Yufeng's face darkened.

The border between the two countries is so long, and the only highway that can accommodate the army is Zhennan Pass.

If you ask how many paths there are, no one can tell you for sure.

The rugged mountain roads could stop other troops, but for the Guangxi soldiers it was as easy as walking on flat ground.

It is not impossible for a team of 180 people to infiltrate the enemy with some dry food.

It is unrealistic to stop the Vietnamese army, but it is still possible to create trouble during the evacuation and delay the evacuation.

“Don’t worry about the rear troops, our mission is to hold off the enemy for three days.

If they haven't retreated to the safe zone after such a long time, they deserve it!

Let everyone stay hidden and never let the enemy…"

Before he could finish his words, the sound of Yu army's muskets firing and the roar of field artillery shattered Shi Yufeng's fantasy.

"Bang, bang, bang..."

"Rumble..."

He didn't know where he was exposed, but it was a fact that the enemy discovered their ambush.

In addition to the front, enemies also appeared on both wings.

"Throw down everything you prepared, and then set the mountain on fire!
Once you are done, evacuate this area immediately."

Shi Yufeng gave the order decisively.

The ambush turned into an offensive and defensive battle, and he was very helpless.

The kerosene, rolling stones and straw balls that were prepared at great expense in advance failed to play the expected role, but the Yu army could not get away with it.

If you can't kill the enemy, just use it to delay time.

The mission this time is to cover the rear and delay the enemy's attack speed. Battle record is not the first priority.

As long as the fire is started, it will definitely slow down the speed of the enemy's pursuit.

In a flash, raging fire broke out on both sides of the mountain road, and the official road was also blocked by the fire.

The billowing smoke could be seen clearly from miles away.

"Oops, the enemy is more cunning than expected!

Send a message to the front troops to quickly put out the fire. Don’t let the fire spread any further!”

Li Sanqi hurriedly gave the order.

It was the first time I led troops alone and encountered such a thing. It was really unforgettable.

(End of this chapter)