Fu Shanhe

Chapter 71 Aftermath
The existence of doubts is not important. The key is that the siege of Yangzhou was lifted and the military pressure faced by Nanjing was greatly reduced.

There is no need to worry about the Jianghuai rebels joining forces in Yangzhou and heading straight for Nanjing.

It is a good thing for the overall situation, but it is completely different for individual officials.

The departments that had originally prepared to settle the accounts suddenly found that the plan could not go forward.

"Sir Shangshu, now that the siege of Yangzhou has been lifted, should the strategic materials that were previously distributed continue to be delivered?"

Yin Dengjia asked nervously.

If it is actual strategic materials, it would be reasonable to recover them now or continue to send them.

But the problem is that the strategic materials promised by the Ministry of War were only allocated on paper.

The two places are only so far apart. If there were so many strategic materials, they would have been handed over to the defenders long ago.

Not only is the account of strategic materials a mess, but the troops sent out for reinforcement are also paper troops.

However, compared with reinforcements, strategic materials are more difficult to obtain. In addition to the Ministry of War, it also involves several other government offices such as the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Works, and the Navy.

The money that left the warehouse on paper was not paid in full and had passed through many hands.

It’s not easy to balance the accounts again.

You can delay it for a while, but you can’t delay it forever.

The Wucheng Bingmasi is different from other government offices. The Nanjing Military Department cannot influence people's promotions, and they are fighting away from home, so they cannot control the situation at all.

Marquis Wuyang has urged several times, and if nothing is produced, the lawsuit may be brought before the emperor at any time.

“Quickly notify the people below to send a portion of the promised strategic materials. For the remaining supplies, say that the siege of Yangzhou has been lifted and that the Ministry of War will give priority to reinforcing other areas.

Send a few people who are good at speaking and don't offend anyone.

Those guys are now heroes and are at their most arrogant. Don't cause trouble for them.

Send someone to inform Lord Xu that the situation has changed and ask him to come and take charge of the situation as soon as possible."

Tian Zhisheng reminded again and again.

Now the Ministry of War is in the wrong. The promised weapons and equipment have not been delivered even after the war.

In addition, the mess left by previous officials cannot withstand the investigation of the court, so low-key handling is the best option.

Subsequent problems can only be settled from other places.

Deep down in his heart, Tian Zhisheng couldn't help feeling regretful.

If we had known that the Wucheng Bingmasi was capable of fighting, we should have switched to supporting Taizhou and Nantongzhou when we were settling accounts earlier.

But this kind of thing is just something you can think about.

The rebel forces in front have not yet become powerful, and the strategic positions of the two places are not as good as Yangzhou. Even if reinforcements are sent, the materials that can be allocated are limited.

The situation has developed to this point. In this round of multi-party game between the Qingliu Party, the eunuch party, and the nobles and relatives of the emperor, the Qingliu Party has been completely disadvantaged.

If the Qingliu bosses no longer come to take charge of the situation, they will lose their say in the subsequent handling of the Lianghuai region.

……

Huaian City.

"Bastard!"

"Don't think your true self is easy to fool!

If the useless Five City Army were able to defeat the rebels, then what are we?"

Zuo Guangen scolded angrily.

It's not that he looked down on the nobles, it's just that he dealt with them frequently and he knew those nobles' children too well.

They do have some abilities, but it is too unrealistic to expect to defeat hundreds of thousands of rebels with just a few thousand soldiers.

In terms of combat effectiveness, the people from the Five Cities Army are no match for the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot.

As for the young and strong men who were temporarily recruited, they were simply ignored by Zuo Guangen.

A group of farmers who had just put down their hoes and had not received any training might not be able to match the rebels in terms of combat effectiveness.

It's okay to use it to defend the city, but attacking the rebel camp is just a dream.

"Left Prime Minister, please calm down first.

The people below are not trying to fool you. The siege of Yangzhou has indeed been lifted.

The Wucheng Bingmasi did indeed chop off many heads of rebel soldiers.

The battle report forwarded by Marquis Wuyang was generally true, but they concealed the key points of the process.

This is also partly due to our contribution.

During the rebel rebellion, many of the Jinyiwei's spies hidden in the Lianghuai area took advantage of the opportunity to infiltrate the rebellion.

When Marquis Wuyang sent his men to launch a night attack, our people took advantage of the chaos to start a fight in the rebel camp, which eventually led to a camp uprising.

It just so happened that they were lucky, and the surprise attack team they sent out ran into the rebels' granary as soon as they entered. "Gu Yuansong's light explanation made Zuo Guangen even more depressed.

The process of the war is not important; the court only cares about the final result.

Regardless of whether the Five Cities Army won by strength or luck, it does not affect the achievement of this military merit.

The Marquis of Wuyang, a relative of the emperor, brought a group of sons of nobles and led several thousand soldiers of his own army to defeat hundreds of thousands of rebels.

Although he was a eunuch in the Imperial Household Department and had more military forces at his disposal, he was still besieged by the rebels for many days and was finally rescued with the help of the Beijing Camp.

In comparison, he seemed too incompetent.

In the Dayu Dynasty, both relatives by marriage and eunuchs were able to hold power because of the emperor's favor.

Both are tools used by the emperor to check and balance the court, and there is also a competitive relationship between them.

Because of Marquis Wuyang's special status, all the methods he used to attack his competitors are now useless.

With the support of military merit and the emperor.

It is possible that after this battle, the long-silent foreign relatives group will also make their voices heard in the court.

There is also a group of nobles who will definitely take the opportunity to fight for positions for their own children and expand their base in the court.

The eunuch party group, which had taken great risks to meddle in the Lianghuai Salt Case, had not yet gained any benefits, but instead the nobles and relatives of the emperor who had cooperated with them had reaped the benefits.

"You Jinyiwei are really capable. Why didn't your people make any efforts when Huai'an was besieged before?"

After complaining, Zuo Guangen's anger had mostly subsided. This matter really could not be blamed on the Jinyiwei.

It was their duty to cooperate with the imperial army to fight the rebels.

The game between the top leaders is a complete secret to those below.

On the surface, the eunuch group and the nobles and relatives of the emperor are now political allies.

At least when it comes to dealing with the issue of the Lianghuai salt administration, everyone stands together.

"I just said something out of turn, don't take it to heart, dear brother."

"Those nobles and their relatives are lucky, unlike us who are miserable and have to fight for everything.

It is normal to have better luck on the battlefield.

Since they have defeated the rebels, let them continue their efforts and send troops to quell the rebellion together with the Beijing Camp as soon as possible!"

Zuo Guangen's metaphysical explanation instantly won everyone's approval.

There's really nothing you can do about luck.

If you are born in the right family, you have won 90% of your life.

The remaining three points depend on hard work, and seven points are determined by fate.

……

Jingying.

Since the siege of Huai'an was lifted, the Beijing troops have not fought a decent battle and have been chasing after the rebels every day.

The rebels, who had suffered a great loss, were now like frightened birds and refused to fight with them at all.

Faced with such an opponent, everyone in the Beijing army lost their temper.

They are fighting on their own soil and are much more familiar with the terrain than they are.

Those who couldn't run died along the way, and those who survived, under the threat of death, became long-distance running champions one by one.

"Brother Jing, the bandits' morale has been lost and they are now fleeing in all directions.

They are all small enemy forces. Even if we catch up with them, it will be difficult to achieve decent results.

The rebels in other areas are still waiting for us to suppress them, so let's just hand these remaining bandits over to the local authorities to deal with them!"

The proposal of Li Yuan, Marquis of Zhenyuan, shocked Jing Guoliang, Duke of Cheng. He said yesterday that all evil must be eradicated, but he changed his position so quickly.

However, when he recalled the battle report from Yangzhou, he instantly understood.

After the Wucheng Bingmasi defeats the rebels outside the city, they will definitely take the initiative to attack.

Even if they themselves don't want to move, all parties will force them to send troops.

As elders, they know best what kind of people their own children are.

There might not be any problem in defending a big city like Yangzhou, but going out to fight the enemy in the field would definitely be a disadvantage.

An elephant can be killed by ants. Once you are surrounded by the enemy, your few servants will be of no use.

Having experienced the baptism of war is completely different from having never seen blood.

The son of a noble family who is able to defeat the rebels alone is already worthy of their increased investment.

Not to mention cultivating famous generals of the time, there is still hope of cultivating a group of talents who exceed the average level of Dayu's generals.

(End of this chapter)