Chapter 101

Time flies; in the blink of an eye, only a tail of autumn remains.

The drop in temperature has brought new trouble.

"Have the winter clothes for the soldiers been prepared?"

Li Mu asked with concern.

Although the army provides clothing, resources like cotton-padded clothes, which are expensive, cannot be issued every year.

When the court's finances were good, they were issued once every three or five years.

After the finances fell into a predicament, don't even count on it.

Even on the Nine Borders front line, only the elite border troops can guarantee one cotton-padded coat per person.

More garrison and guard troops take turns wearing them when patrolling outside.

For ordinary families, wearing a cotton-padded coat for ten or twenty years is a common phenomenon.

Compared with troops in other places, the Five Cities Military and Horse Division, which has been stationed in the capital for years, is considered a wealthy office.

The soldiers' income is decent, and if they save a little, they can still afford it.

However, when they came, it was summer, and no one knew they would stay for so long, so neither cotton-padded clothes nor quilts were brought.

As a good general, Li Mu must definitely consider these problems.

"Commander, all winter supplies are ready.

According to your requirements, we have handled them according to high standards.

It's just that because of this, our expenses have exceeded the budget, and the days ahead are afraid to be difficult."

Lan Student Lan Linjie reminded tactfully.

The military budget is limited, even when fighting outside, the court has clear regulations.

Li Mu's battalion itself is in an overstaffed state, and with him, the chief officer, not knowing how to be frugal, daily overspending is the norm.

If it weren't for the fact that when the Marquis of Marquis Wuyang was in charge of Yangzhou, he pre-allocated a year's budget, relying on the funds allocated by the court, it would be impossible to maintain daily expenses.

"It doesn't matter; Yangzhou's trade is returning to normal.

Starting next month, we can carry out business normally.

Referring to the situation in the capital, the daily collected fees are enough to maintain the troops' expenses.

What is truly thorny is the refugees outside the city.

Work-for-relief has reached its end.

The relief grain allocated by the court is getting less and less now.

If they are not persuaded to return as soon as possible, they will miss the winter plowing.

Sending people away at this time, with the few coins in their pockets, most people won't be able to hold on until the spring grain matures.

Local officials are late to arrive, and these problems are not solved by anyone!"

Li Mu said with a depressed face.

Once the world is peaceful, the nature of Great Dayu's bureaucrats acts up again.

The one sitting in Yangzhou before was either the Marquis of Marquis Wuyang or Grand Secretary Xu.

Facing the two big shots, few officials dared to mess around.

Because of the problem of untimely allocation of materials, several officials in the Nanjing Six Ministries were dismissed from office.

After changing to Li Mu, this deterrent power obviously decreased.

Materials are indeed being allocated, but the quantity is obviously decreasing.

On one hand, it is because the court is poor; on the other hand, some people cannot help but reach out.

"My Lord, I'm afraid we can't count on local officials.

Yangzhou Prefecture was not lightly harmed by the rebels, and the gentry in the prefectures and counties also suffered disasters.

Wanting to find a way from the local area, there is almost no possibility.

The treasury is empty, and taxes cannot be collected, so Yangzhou Prefecture has no money either.

If local officials want to do things, they can only find a way from above.

Before, when raiding homes, the court did harvest a huge sum of money, but there are many places in the world that need money.

I guess the moment it was transported to the capital, it had already been divided up by the various offices in the capital.

If you want to solve the funding problem, I guess you can't avoid selling land by then.

However, part of this money has to be turned over to the court, and I'm afraid there won't be much left in the local area."

Lan Student Lan Linjie said with rich experience.

As a member of the gentry group, he is not familiar with the way of officialdom, but he knows the local situation very well.

The court selling land is a division of spoils by officials and gentry.

What status can buy how much land is all based on unspoken rules.

No matter how good the land is, it cannot be sold at a good price here.

Only those rotten lands that everyone looks down upon might flow out and be sold to wealthy merchants.

"Draft a memorial for me and urge the Ministry of Personnel again.

No matter how you do it, without the cooperation of local officials, refugee resettlement cannot proceed.

By the way, send someone to notify the Nanjing Branch of the Ministry of Revenue and ask about refugee resettlement."

Li Mu said helplessly.

Acting as Yangzhou's affairs is fine, but the boundary between civil and military is, after all, a chasm that cannot be crossed.

What's more, the prefectures and counties below are also under military control at this time.

There are not a few military officers left behind who are higher in rank than him.

Asking them to pay money and grain to resettle refugees is purely dreaming.

Compared with a group of colleagues, Li Mu's situation is still considered good, at least the trade in Yangzhou City recovered quickly after the war.

Even if there is still a big gap from the peak period, it can provide an income.

Other places won't work; except for a few prefectures and counties on traffic routes that are slightly better, the remaining areas are all blank slates.

Everyone doesn't have many refugees, but they still have a group of prisoners of war to raise.

The court has been slow to give a handling result, and Li Mu seriously suspects that the group of civil officials wants to use this winter to starve and freeze that group of prisoners of war to death.

The idea is a bit dark, but it is very realistic.

Regardless of whether they were passive or actively participated in the rebellion, the families of these people all died at the hands of the court.

Leaving these people is a huge hidden danger.

If someone among these people rebels again in the future, the official who made this decision will have to bear political responsibility.

Lightly, they will be dismissed from office; heavily, they will lose their heads.

Executing them all does not conform to the Confucian thought of benevolent governance.

Ordering exile and military service will inevitably lead to heavy casualties and will be attacked by that group of defenders of the faith.

Anyway, no matter how it is handled, it will leave a huge hidden danger for oneself.

Meeting a weak monarch, everyone pushes the problem to the Emperor, and that's the end of it.

Meeting the Tianyuan Emperor, the trouble cannot be pushed up, so they can only take it themselves.

Civil officials are unwilling to bear responsibility, so they just drag it out first.

People are locked in the prisoner-of-war camp; if an accident happens, it is also the responsibility of the guarding general.

After people die almost enough, they intervene to handle it, finding any reason to muddle through.

The cause of death of prisoners of war recorded in history books in the future will either be military corruption or the plague.

However, whether the civil officials' abacus can be fulfilled still depends on the court's game.

Knowing that they are going to take the blame, military generals are not fools either.

Even Li Mu knows to urge, and other generals I think won't be idle either.

……

In the Imperial Palace.

"Your Majesty, Grand Secretary Song has just passed away!"

Receiving this news, the soup in the Tianyuan Emperor's hand spilled all over the floor.

"He's gone just like that!"

In the eyes of many, Grand Secretary Song, this First Grand Secretary, is a good old man and a wall-plasterer.

But for the Tianyuan Emperor, this wall-plasterer has even more important significance: maintaining balance and stability in the imperial court.

In normal times, Grand Secretary Song's sense of presence is not high.

Once encountering a big change, he can always step up and stabilize the situation quickly.

The failure of a series of reforms pushed by the Tianyuan Emperor did not cause big trouble; Grand Secretary Song contributed a lot to it.

"Grand Secretary Song has made great contributions to my Great Dayu in his life; his funeral cannot be sloppy.

Issue an edict to set the posthumous title 'Wending'.

Bestow one thousand taels of silver, one hundred bolts of cloth, three thousand hu of grain...

Tell the officials to stop the court for one day.

Guang'en, you go for me to mourn Grand Secretary Song."

The Tianyuan Emperor said, looking slightly tired.

He has always been generous to the dead.

Whether it was the princes and nobles who died accidentally before or Grand Secretary Song who died in office, he gave them mourning honors.

Perhaps there is an element of acting, but the political arena is originally a big stage.

No one cares whether it is sincere or fake; as long as it can be performed continuously, the fake can also become real.

The First Grand Secretary is dead; the situation in the court, which was finally stabilized, will inevitably change.

Grand Secretary Wang left before, and now Grand Secretary Song has also left; there are only three cabinet ministers left in the cabinet, so entering new people is a must.

Every struggle for entering the cabinet is the peak arena of Great Dayu's party strife.

Civil officials qualified to participate in the competition will do their best.

The Tianyuan Emperor doesn't care who wins or loses.

As an arbitrator, he only needs the court to maintain balance.

The current situation is very bad; lacking Grand Secretary Song's mediation, the following party strife will inevitably be more intense.

It just so happens that his body as an Emperor is not good, and he doesn't have so much energy to handle government affairs and balance party strife.

"Obey the edict!"

"Your Majesty, you must take care of your health!

Leave some unimportant things to the officials to handle!"

Zuo Guang'en said with worry.

The Emperor's poor health can be hidden from the officials outside, but it cannot be avoided from those around him.

Watching the Tianyuan Emperor in pain, he is truly worried.

"Rest assured, after these annoying things are handled, I will recuperate."

Similar words, the Tianyuan Emperor has said more than once.

Unfortunately, the messy things in Great Dayu have never stopped.

This side hasn't been handled well, and that side has caused new trouble.

The ministers look okay, but that is based on the premise of power balance.

Once power is unbalanced, it is hard to say whether the people below will be so obedient.

……

Pang Mansion.

"Grand Secretary, I just received news that Lord Song has passed away!"

Hearing this news, Pang Pang Hengsheng was stunned on the spot.

"What, Song Haidong is dead?"

The mountain pressing on him was suddenly gone; Pang Pang Hengsheng did not feel happy, but a burst of sadness.

Compared to the deceased Grand Secretary Song, he was not much younger.

The old rival left first, which was also telling him that he was old.

"Order the servants to prepare; I want to send him on his final journey!"

Pang Pang Hengsheng sighed and said.

(End of chapter)