Fu Shanhe

Chapter 575 The Outer City Falls
"Another million taels? Does Your Highness think silver is some kind of precious paper?!"

Before the cabinet could make a statement, the Vice Minister of Revenue in the third row couldn't hold back any longer.

Since the outbreak of the war, the Ministry of Revenue has spent more than five million taels on war expenses.

As for why the expenses were so high, it was naturally due to soaring prices during the war.

All the military supplies procured by the imperial court were the "best of the best," and their prices were naturally much higher than the market price.

Whether outsiders believe it or not, the officials in charge certainly did.

Auditing the accounts was impossible; without the emperor's control, the bureaucratic group became unprecedentedly powerful.

The cabinet ministers who held power in the court were themselves members of the bureaucratic group and could not exist independently of the system.

They were powerless to stop the rampant corruption in the imperial court.

Even with such intense factional strife in the government, no one uses anti-corruption as a tool, which speaks volumes.

If the officials below aren't fed, who will do their jobs?
When all crows are equally black, no one can defy the general trend.

“Minister Cui, stop being sarcastic.”

With the northern barbarians launching such a fierce offensive, hundreds or even thousands of soldiers are falling every day. What's wrong with the court spending some money to support the troops?
"If the Ministry of Revenue's silver isn't used for military expenses, are we going to save it for the northern barbarians?"

The Duke of Chu immediately launched into a tirade.

In recent days, he has been working hard to defend the city, and his body has become visibly thinner.

To show his approachable side, this pampered duke often ate from the same pot as the soldiers guarding the city.

Although there was an element of showmanship involved, it still takes perseverance to stick with it.

Having put in so much effort, he was still being criticized, which made him stubborn.

He blurted out everything, both what he should and shouldn't have said.

Anyway, he could see that the current cabinet was a bunch of cowards.

Not only could they not intimidate local governors and viceroys, their control over the imperial court was also very limited.

"You're being unreasonable!"

Vice Minister Cui couldn't help but retort.

Even if someone in the Ministry of Revenue wanted to leave silver to the Northern Barbarians, the Ministry of Revenue would still need to have silver in it.

The most peculiar thing about the Great Yu Empire is that its finances are always empty, but when money is needed, officials can always find silver from various sources.

Although the practice of robbing Peter to pay Paul is undesirable, it is the key to the survival of Dayu.

If the northern barbarians were to enter the city, they would find that the Ministry of Revenue's silver reserves were less than the silver reserves of any random official in the capital.

This kind of play, where poor government officials are rich, is a unique characteristic of Dayu.

Whether I am being unreasonable or not is none of your business, a mere vice minister.

In short, your Ministry of Revenue must find a way to provide this one million taels today!

The Duke of Chu immediately feigned helplessness.

Experience taught him not to argue with civil servants.

Debating in someone else's area of ​​expertise will only lead to humiliation.

The best way to achieve your goal is to use unreasonable tactics to force them to make concessions.

Now is the best opportunity. The enemy is pressing in with a large force, and it is the time when the defending troops need to fight to the death.

If they don't take advantage of them at this time, it will be even more difficult to get the Ministry of Revenue to spend money at another time.

Using this tactic, he has successfully demanded money and supplies three times since the start of the war.

There's still enough food to eat, so let's take this opportunity to ask for money.

Part of it was used to entertain the troops, part was used to improve the lives of the generals, and part was kept as a reserve.

When leading troops in the Great Yu Dynasty, a slush fund is indispensable.

If, at some point, the imperial court suddenly cuts off its provisions, that is when it will use the slush fund.

"Don't think about it!"

……

"enough!"

“If you want to argue, go outside. This is not the place for you to fight.”

"If there's nothing else, let's adjourn the court now!"

Seeing that the argument was escalating, Wan Huaijin immediately announced the end of the court session.

It wasn't that he was stingy with military pay; it was just that the money couldn't be spent like that.

The imperial court has its own laws and regulations. Once this bad precedent is set, there will never be peace again.

The Battle of Nanjing had just begun, and within a little over a month, military officers were repeatedly asking for money to support the troops.

This would have been unimaginable in the past.

In the early years, being able to receive 60-70% of the daily military pay was something to be grateful for; who would dare to ask for anything extra!

That won't do now. As the situation in the Great Yu Dynasty deteriorates, the military generals have become arrogant.

People could tolerate powerful officials like the Marquis of Hanshui, but even nobles in the court who had no military achievements had learned to threaten the court.

To maintain the overall situation, the only thing the cabinet can do now is to try its best to preserve the dignity of the court.

As for the nobles' demands for money, those can be discussed later.

……

The minor incident came to an end, but the conflict between the civil and military officials in the city became increasingly acute.

The military officers felt that the civil officials were inhuman, while the civil officials thought that the military officers were too greedy.

This is a messy situation, and it's difficult to simply define who is right and who is wrong.

Time passed second by second, and the negative impact of the Northern barbarians' letter continued to spread.

There's nothing we can do; this is the result of the promotion of education after the establishment of the Great Yu Empire.

Although the system of one village school had long since become a dead name, it still made the per capita literacy rate of Dayu far exceed that of any feudal dynasty in history.

In places like Nanjing, the literacy rate among the city's residents is even higher.

Even though the imperial court strictly ordered the confiscation and destruction of these documents, people's curiosity was irresistible, and the more the court forbade something, the more people couldn't help but open it to look at it.

As a result, news sent by the northern barbarians could always spread in the shortest possible time.

If it were just a rumor, that would be one thing, but the news coming from the imperial court actually corroborated these claims.

The city was filled with panic, and the morale of the army was also severely affected.

Time passed slowly, and as night fell, the atmosphere in the city became increasingly heavy.

"Commander Liu, it's time to make a decision!"

Hearing the visitor's urging, cold sweat poured down Liu Bohan's forehead.

Reason told him that once he took this step, there was no turning back.

But there was nothing they could do; their weakness had been exploited.

"Go back and tell Lord Shu that I will act as agreed."

Let them cause trouble in the city first, to attract outside attention.

Commander Liu hardened his heart and said.

When the time came, he had no choice but to back down.

Even if he stops now, the imperial court will not forgive him once the matter comes to light.

Some things are a one-way street; once you've done them, there's no turning back.

"Commander Liu, rest assured, the people who set fire to the city have already been arranged, and they will start at three quarters past 1:45 AM."

During this break, you can also inspect the city's defenses and eliminate any potential threats.

The scholar in blue said with a smile.

With fame and fortune within reach, he didn't care about any risks at all.

The operation went so smoothly mainly because the morale of the people of Dayu had collapsed.

Even the highest levels of the court were pessimistic about the future of the empire, let alone those below.

As the hourglass slowly sank, the time of Chou (1-3 AM) drew ever closer, and suddenly shouts of battle erupted from the city.

The experienced Commander Liu instantly realized the situation was dire. "Mr. He, the secret has most likely been leaked inside the city."

You immediately send a signal to the outside of the city, allowing the allied forces to attack the city ahead of schedule.

"I'll go arrange for the city gates to be opened right away. We need to be quick; we can't hold out here for long!"

Commander Liu hurriedly urged.

Deep down, he hated his incompetent teammates.

Making mistakes at other times is one thing, but having problems at a time like this means you're not prepared to live.

But the arrow was on the string and had to be fired.

As a participant in the plan, he would also face certain death if the imperial court investigated.

"Commander Liu, please calm down. This is most likely an accident caused by someone else."

We have people in the Nanjing Prefectural Government, the Governor's Government, and the Garrison Command. Even if problems arise, we will help cover them up.

If time weren't so tight, we could have brought in all those people from the cabinet.

"The entire court is made up of our own people, how could we possibly lose!"

Mr. He immediately boasted.

If they had really bribed so many people, there would be no need to play the trick of seizing the city in the middle of the night; they could have simply surrendered the city during the day.

However, at this critical juncture, he needed to keep Commander Liu calm and continue with the previous plan, so he had to project an air of confidence and deception.

"Mr. He, please send the signal quickly!"

Commander Liu urged in a flustered manner.

He'd seen people who were slow and indecisive before, but he'd never seen anyone so slow and indecisive in a life-or-death situation.

Although he knew that there were many people secretly colluding with the Northern barbarians, he absolutely did not believe that they had infiltrated so many government offices.

At most, they might bribe a few minor officials or individual bureaucrats.

It is impossible to completely control a government office.

The more people involved, the easier it is for mistakes to occur.

The Great Yu Empire has endured for so many years and has never lacked loyal ministers.

These people are not afraid of death, so how could they be easily bought off?

"That...I..."

Seeing Mr. He hesitate, Commander Liu immediately understood.

It turns out that the messenger in charge of communication hadn't even prepared the tools for emergency communication in advance.

The image of a makeshift troupe immediately filled his mind, and he instantly felt that "there was no future in it."

"Mr. He, the secret has been leaked in the city, and it won't be long before the imperial court comes knocking on our door."

If you want this credit for capturing the city, then from now on, follow my instructions.

I will later use a basket to send you out of the city to contact the royal army.

We have to be quick, or we'll all die!

As the shouts of battle drew ever closer, Commander Liu made a decisive decision.

Although most of the officials in the court were incompetent and good-for-nothing, there were also some intelligent ones.

The discovery of someone causing chaos would inevitably lead one to think about the defense of the city.

Once the higher-ups react and send reinforcements into the gates, it will be virtually impossible for him to open the city gates again.

If he misses tonight's opportunity, the imperial court will investigate thoroughly and soon find him.

He did not believe that all the participants could keep their mouths shut under torture.

……

Chu State Duke's Mansion
"My lord, the soldiers have reported that someone is causing chaos in the city."

Upon hearing this news, the Duke of Chu, who had just fallen asleep, immediately sat up.

My initial drowsiness vanished instantly.

"check!"

"Immediately arrange for a thorough investigation!"

"Notify the general in charge of night watch to immediately increase the number of soldiers on patrol and make sure to capture all the rebels."

Especially at the city gates, control must be strengthened!

Without the slightest hesitation, the Duke of Chu instinctively issued a series of orders.

Despite lacking extensive military command experience, he had read numerous military texts, and his current operations were entirely based on reading from the books.

Blindly copying others' methods during wartime is a major taboo, but when applied to defending a city, they are all full of valuable lessons learned.

"The last general takes command!"

After saying this, the middle-aged general turned and left.

After the minor incident, the Duke of Chu was no longer sleepy. His intuition told him that this man-made chaos was not as simple as it seemed on the surface.

In these turbulent times, it's perfectly normal for some people in the city to collude with the northern barbarians.

It would be strange for him if no one betrayed him.

However, the identity of the traitor and the total number of people involved require a detailed investigation.

However, the imperial court needs stability. If the tacit understanding in the court is broken and the investigation is carried out in depth, it will inevitably make the already turbulent people in the city even more chaotic.

If the defending officers and soldiers were to learn that high-ranking officials in the imperial court had betrayed the Great Yu, it would undoubtedly further demoralize the troops.

If we don't investigate, problems will arise; if we investigate thoroughly, problems will also arise.

Suddenly, the Duke of Chu became conflicted.

At that moment, he suddenly understood why Li Mu had given up the position of Grand Secretary.

You're working yourself to the bone on the front lines, but you have a bunch of useless teammates behind you who keep dragging you down and causing trouble.

These people, who have thrown the world into chaos, not only disappear themselves but also try to shift the blame onto others.

After sorting through his thoughts, an ominous premonition gripped his heart. Without delay, the Duke of Chu immediately donned his official robes and personally inspected the city's defenses.

"Rumble..."

The sudden sound of siege artillery fire unveiled the final mystery.

The siege was brought forward, but the assassins ordered to create chaos in the city still took action immediately after receiving the signal.

In the blink of an eye, Nanjing was engulfed in flames. Countless people were already engulfed in flames before they could even understand what was happening.

"Dang, Dang, Dang..."

Upon discovering the fire, the soldiers on night patrol immediately sounded gongs and drums to summon nearby residents to help fight the fire.

"The city is broken!"

"The northern barbarians have invaded the city!"

……

The servants of the various mansions who participated in creating the chaos began to shout, making the already turbulent city even more chaotic.

Shangyuan Gate.

Commander Liu was bowing and scraping, welcoming the "royal army" into the city.

Unfortunately, these "royal troops" didn't take him seriously for long. They were all rushing into the city, and no one had time to exchange pleasantries with him.

One soldier was beheaded by a Tatar general who entered the city because he was positioned too far forward.

The bloody scene shocked and enraged Commander Liu, who had nowhere to vent his grievances.

Mr. He, who had previously been in contact with him, never reappeared after the grassland allied forces took over the city's defenses.

Clearly, his value vanished the moment the city gates were opened.

If we're lucky, he might be remembered when rewards are distributed after the capture of Nanjing, but that's all in the future.

The killings continued to spread throughout the city. Upon discovering that Shangyuan Gate had fallen, the defending general immediately dispatched reinforcements in an attempt to drive the northern barbarians out of the city.

Unfortunately, there were too many enemy soldiers entering the city, and they couldn't be wiped out all at once. A fierce battle ensued on the outer city walls, resulting in rivers of blood.

……

(End of this chapter)