Fu Shanhe

Chapter 98: Taking Charge of Yangzhou
Everyone is in a hurry to return to Beijing, so many problems are no longer problems.

If you talk with sincerity, the efficiency of solving problems will always be beyond your imagination.

The Lianghuai Salt Administration, which was thought to be a difficult issue, was initially agreed upon by all parties within just half a month.

Li Mu is not qualified to participate in the specific distribution of benefits.

He only knew that the matter had been dealt with, the imperial envoys were all going back to Beijing, and he was unfortunately the only one left behind.

The plague in Yangzhou had just been brought under control, and the acting prefect was sent back home by Lord Xu, and the court had not yet confirmed the candidate for the new prefect.

A big city like Yangzhou cannot do without someone in charge.

Under normal circumstances, before the new prefect takes office, the government affairs of Yangzhou will be handled by the imperial commissioner.

Unfortunately, both Marquis Wuyang and Lord Xu wanted to return to Beijing as soon as possible and had no mood to deal with the aftermath of Yangzhou.

After the two of them pushed the responsibility against each other, this job that no one wanted to do fell on Li Mu.

The Dayu Dynasty was not without precedent of military generals taking charge of local government affairs, but that was only in the early years of the founding of the country.

Ever since the civil service group grew larger, such bizarre things have only occurred in border areas that have been perennially invaded by foreign enemies.

"My Lord, this is inappropriate!

I will take charge of Yangzhou City. If the news gets to the court, it will surely cause an uproar. By then..."

Before Li Mu could finish his refusal, Marquis Wuyang interrupted him with a wave of his hand:
"Don't worry, there are so many troubles in the court right now, who can care about such a small matter.

The appointment was signed jointly by me and Xu Wenyue. Anyone who troubles you with this matter is slapping me and Lord Xu in the face.

There seem to be many factions in the court, but generally there are only a few major camps.

You are the son of a noble family, so they will definitely support you in this matter.

Just based on your private relationship with the factory guards, the eunuch party will not target you.

The Qingliu Party wants to stir up trouble, and so does our Lord Xu!

If he can't even handle such a small matter, he should just quit his position and go home to farm."

After hearing the almost flawless explanation, Li Mu just felt tired.

If it were just me, a small pawn, I would probably be safe.

The factional struggles in the court are not about going crazy and biting everyone you see.

Most of the times disputes are provoked with a purpose.

The problem lies with the two big guys.

As a foreign relative like Marquis Wuyang does not hold a sensitive position for the time being, the probability of him becoming a target is low.

It’s different for Lord Xu, who is at the center of power.

Once the party struggle breaks out, it is only a matter of time before the fire burns him.

All kinds of criticism are inevitable.

It is not impossible to hope for some personal connections to avoid the storm, but the problem is that he doesn't have them!
The previous relationship between them and the factory guards was based half on interests and half on the power of the powerful.

But Li Mu still couldn't explain this kind of thing.

If Marquis Wuyang knew that he had always used his name when dealing with the factory guards, he would definitely not be in a good mood.

Maybe we have to redistribute the accounts.

The profit share that can be obtained through connections and the income that can be obtained by simply passing on a message are two completely different concepts.

"My Lord, why don't you change someone? I have to go back to the capital..."

The words suddenly got stuck at his lips. It seemed that the elders of the Li family who had died were all out of the fifth mourning period.

According to etiquette, he does not need to observe mourning for such relatives beyond the five degrees of mourning.

"Okay, stop making excuses!
Not only do you have to stay, but all the other captains in the yamen must stay.

Even the Beijing camp would leave behind one-third of its troops to ensure stability in the Huai River and Yangtze River regions.

In addition to Yangzhou City, other prefectures and counties in the Lianghuai region will also be placed under martial law.

With so many people around, do you feel better? "

Li Mu was speechless at Wuyang Hou's ridicule.

If he had known that everyone would stay and be responsible for the aftermath, he would not have said anything more.

In addition to facilitating political operations, the biggest problem of wanting to return to the capital was the unrest in the Huaibei and Huainan regions.

The rebels were wiped out, but there were still many fish that escaped the net and remained among the people.

In particular, the large number of prisoners in the hands of the government troops are a hidden danger that may explode at any time.

With so many problems left unresolved, the salt fields that had been stagnant due to the war had to resume production as soon as possible.

Not to mention the complicated post-war reconstruction work, which was all weighing on Li Mu.

It would be a completely different story if there were a bunch of unlucky people around.

Everyone is starting from the same starting line and no one is at a disadvantage.

With his colleagues helping him share the burden, he was actually only responsible for Yangzhou City and its suburbs, while the other prefectures and counties were the responsibility of others.

The workload has been greatly reduced and the responsibility on my shoulders has been lightened a lot.

……

In order to save time, after assigning the tasks, the two imperial envoys hurriedly left by boat the next day.

Suddenly, there was no one in charge, and Li Mu suddenly felt uncomfortable.

Being in charge of Yangzhou City does not mean that he is the prefect of Yangzhou.

Just because the imperial envoys can do it doesn't mean he can do it too.

If the future prefect disagrees and completely denies his approach, who knows how much trouble it will cause.

After weighing the pros and cons, Li Mu tragically discovered that he could only follow the measures taken by the previous imperial envoy.

This is the case in Yangzhou City, and it is probably similar in other areas.

No wonder those big shots dared to leave without worry, it was obvious that they had anticipated this and did not dare to cause any trouble.

The only benefit was that he could temporarily live in the government office and temporarily satisfy his life as a prefect.

If nothing unexpected happens, this will most likely be his only chance in his life to issue orders in the government office. "Sir, these are invitations from the gentry of Yangzhou.

The rebellion has caused many land deeds to be lost, and they hope you can help them complete the formalities."

After hearing Lan Linjie's words, Li Mu immediately rolled his eyes.

What's the point of completing the formalities? It's obvious that they want to take advantage of the opportunity to annex the land.

According to the laws of Dayu, unowned land will be nationalized.

We will decide whether to sell it based on the situation later.

By then, in addition to the local gentry, the surrounding aristocratic families will also come to share a piece of the pie.

Maybe even the powerful people in the court will come along and get involved.

The local gentry obviously did not want to see this situation happen, and they could not wait to take action as soon as the two imperial envoys left.

They had worked together once before, and Li Mu left a deep impression on them, so now they wanted to replicate it again.

"Decline it for me, saying that the plague has not yet dissipated and it is not suitable for a gathering.

After the epidemic is over, we will have a drink together again.”

Li Mu decisively refused.

He is very clear about what money can be accepted and what money cannot be accepted.

The purpose of collecting wealth in Yangzhou before was to appease the gentry, which was a semi-official duty.

Most of the money looted would go into the emperor's pocket, and he just made some hard-earned money from it.

Even if someone digs up old accounts and finds out where the money finally went, they will shut up.

Now they are colluding with local gentry and privately forging land deeds, which is embezzlement of state-owned assets.

Once it is revealed, the future will be a big bomb.

It is possible that all the bad debts of Yangzhou Prefecture will be blamed on him.

Similar operations often occur during infighting among civil servants.

"The students just turned them down."

“That’s right, Master Qianhu.

You asked someone to keep an eye on Huang Renlong's lair, and some movement was recently detected in one of the places.

Last night, a group of people secretly came out of Hongze Lake, suspected to be remnants of the rebels. "

Lan Linjie added.

This is not the first time that the remnants of the rebels have been spotted.

But in the past, he was not completely sure, and Li Mu did not want to leave an impression of being greedy and reckless in front of his superiors.

“Let the people below prepare and choose a suitable time to take action.

People will be arranged to check several lakes in Yangzhou and eliminate the water bandits at the same time.

I will send a letter to the Jiangnan Navy, asking them to send people over to join the operation.

Go meet with Mr. Zhou in private and see if you can get any valuable information.

If there is no harvest, after catching Huang Renlong, we will send him off!"

Li Mu gave the order coldly.

Yangzhou is flat and there is no space for bandits to survive, but there are quite a few water bandits.

These people usually hide in the countryside and will only take action when they have locked on a target.

With the protection of their neighbors and the encirclement and suppression organized by the government, it is difficult to catch them.

However, no matter how deeply these people hid, they were all blown out during the Lianghuai Rebellion.

Whether actively or passively, these people joined the rebels.

Labelled as rebels, they are no longer ordinary bandits and must be wiped out.

This is a long-term project and it is difficult to see results in a short period of time.

The Wucheng Bingmasi has no navy, so it is powerless to deal with these guys and can only rely on the Jiangnan navy.

In the past, the imperial court mobilized the navy to suppress bandits more than once or twice.

The final result is always to no avail, and at most it can only play a small role in the short term.

Once the navy withdraws, the situation will revive.

Li Mu had no confidence in the Jiangnan Navy, but some things had to be done regardless of whether they would succeed or not.

After the official document was issued, the pirates were still rampant, which was the responsibility of the Jiangnan Navy.

If no official notification is issued, it means that the Yangzhou Prefecture’s governance is not strict.

Although no one will hold him accountable for local governance at this critical juncture, there is still work to be done.

"Master Qianhu, could it be that Mr. Zhou is from the Zong family?"

Lan Linjie asked with a little hesitation.

In order to avoid suspicion, he never interfered in the investigation into the identity of "Mr. Zhou".

In his opinion, his master is very fond of talent.

If the problem is not extremely serious, a talented person like "Mr. Zhou" will definitely find a way to use it for his own benefit.

"You guessed correctly. Mr. Zhou is the missing Zong Guangtai, one of the thieves wanted by the imperial court with a huge reward."

Li Mu's answer extinguished his desire to beg for mercy.

The rebel leader must be killed. This is a matter of principle.

Not to mention that they hit it off at first sight, even if they have known each other for decades, they still have to be ruthless at this time.

"Damn you, you traitor, you're so sinister and cunning!
The student was deceived. Fortunately, the adults saw through it, otherwise it would have been a big mistake!"

……

(End of this chapter)