Chapter 105

In the blink of an eye, three days had passed, and Gu Youwen, having completed the handover of work, was now busy to the point of exhaustion.

Every time he opened his eyes, all he could think about was money and grain.

Upon learning the news that the main official had arrived, the garrison commanders from various places came one after another to ask for money and grain.

"Prefect, please hurry and allocate some money and grain; not only are the prisoners of war about to starve to death, but even the soldiers are going hungry.

If we don't get the money and grain today, we will send all the prisoners to Yangzhou City, and you can handle it yourself!"

After a middle-aged Beijing Garrison commander finished speaking, the other commanders followed suit.

The imperial court had been in arrears with the prisoners' food expenses for more than a day or two.

If it weren't for the fact that everyone had captured a lot of grain and fodder on the battlefield, the prisoner-of-war camps would have long been filled with corpses.

These were everyone's spoils of war, equivalent to using their own property to advance funds for the imperial court.

Officials who could reach this point were absolutely in the extreme minority in the Great Dayu Dynasty.

Regrettably, they were not doing it voluntarily; they were purely forced to advance the money and grain, and they had long accumulated a bellyful of resentment.

When the main official was not there before, they went to the Nanzhili Provincial Administration Commission to make trouble.

Because of the suppression of the rebellion earlier, the Nanzhili province had already taken out a large amount of money and grain, and by this time, its finances were already exhausted.

The salaries of the various levels of government offices last month had not been paid on time.

Encountering a group of fearless guest troops, the Provincial Governor and the Provincial Administration Commissioner could only hide and walk away, fearing being entangled.

As soon as Gu Youwen arrived, everyone knew he had a sum of funds in his hands, and they rushed over immediately.

"Everyone, please bear with it for a moment.

The treasury really has no money right now.

Once there is money, I will definitely pay it in full, ensuring that not a single cent is owed to you!"

Gu Youwen immediately guaranteed.

Unfortunately, the credibility of civil officials in front of military officers had long been exhausted by their predecessors countless years ago.

The crowd did not buy the answer he gave at all.

"Prefect, we can bear it, but our stomachs cannot.

Now in the prisoner-of-war camps, people are starving to death every day.

We cannot bear to let hundreds of thousands of people starve to death.

If you have the heart to make this decision, then just give them a quick end, so as to save everyone from suffering.

How to handle it, you should just handle it yourself!

Anyway, the soldiers need to eat; if Yangzhou Prefecture does not provide money and grain, we will return to the capital.

All the consequences caused will be due to your dereliction of duty!"

The one who threw a tantrum was a burly man with a thick beard; his luck was not very good, and he had not captured any grain and fodder from the rebels.

After the imperial court fell into arrears with the money and grain for the prisoner-of-war camps, they, these commanders, could only find ways to raise grain themselves.

Now there were no-man's lands everywhere, and they could only spend their own money to buy grain from outside for emergencies.

Seeing this posture, Gu Youwen knew that he could not push it away today.

"Assistant Regional Commander Li, how much inventory is still in the grain warehouse north of the city? Can it be taken out for emergency use?"

Hearing Gu Youwen's question, Li Mu frowned.

Now, there was no army in the Huai regions that was not short of grain and pay.

The imperial court was unable to pay the expenses and threw the trouble to the local authorities.

The Nanzhili Provincial Administration Commission and the Provincial Governor's office were also unable to shoulder the responsibility and chose to play deaf and dumb.

Now it was like a test of patience, seeing who could not withstand the pressure.

"Prefect, that little bit of inventory in the grain warehouse north of the city won't be of much use.

Don't forget that there are over a hundred thousand refugees outside the city, all waiting for disaster relief grain to survive; the stored grain can support them for at most one month.

If you want to use it for emergency, I naturally will not object.

However, please take over the disaster relief matter as well.

By the way, please also settle the money and grain owed by Yangzhou Prefecture to the recruited troops and the city defense garrison.

It's almost the end of the year, so we must let the soldiers have a good year."

Li Mu answered unhurriedly, making Gu Youwen angry to the point of near death.

He originally wanted to find someone to share the pressure, but never expected that another one asking for pay would pop up.

Compared to other troops, Li Mu, who controlled Yangzhou City, was the only one among the commanders who had income.

The management fee extracted from the city every month, although not enough to cover military pay, was barely enough to let the soldiers under his command fill their stomachs.

In the Great Dayu Dynasty, being able to let soldiers fill their stomachs could ensure that the troops would not mutiny.

As for the arrears of grain and pay, that was a common phenomenon, and everyone was accustomed to it.

Clearly, on the issue of considering the big picture, Assistant Regional Commander Li did not have enough awareness.

He had no intention of taking out money and grain to tide over the difficulties together.

"Something is better than nothing, Assistant Regional Commander Li, Prefect Gu has already agreed.

Just give us a location; you don't need to send people to deliver it, we will bring our own people to take it!"

While speaking, Zhao Yawei also gave a hint with his eyes.

Receiving a request for help from a colleague, Li Mu, who was helpful, naturally would not refuse.

"The stored grain north of the city belongs to Yangzhou Prefecture; since Prefect Gu has agreed, I naturally will not refuse.

The sign of the grain warehouse is very obvious, it is near the military camp north of the city; you have trained soldiers there before.

This is my official order; you can just take it and go to collect the grain!"

Li Mu feigned ignorance and threw out a token, making the group of officials in Yangzhou Prefecture furious.

The disaster relief grain was gone, and that would be a big deal.

Thinking of the scene of those hundred thousand refugees outside the city asking them for grain, everyone felt terrified.

Yet, no one dared to come out to stop them; the refugees outside the city could eat people, and this group of soldiers in front of them was not to be trifled with either.

If pushed too hard, these guys would send all the prisoners to Yangzhou City and just run away.

That terrifying consequence could also cost them their lives.

After watching the group of commanders leave, Gu Youwen glared fiercely at Li Mu and said unpleasantly:

"Assistant Regional Commander Li, how could you agree to them? You must know..."

"Prefect Gu, Prefect, open your eyes and take a good look.

If I hadn't reacted quickly just now, whether your heads would still be on your necks is now an unknown.

You just arrived in Yangzhou and don't know the situation; if you went to the prisoner-of-war camps in various places, you wouldn't say such idiotic things.

Ever since the Imperial Envoy returned to the capital, the imperial court stopped issuing money and grain, and everyone has been struggling to support themselves.

The prefectures and counties below have all been destroyed in the flames of war; where else can everyone raise money and grain?

If you don't believe me, go out of the city and walk around to see how much tree bark and grass roots are left within a radius of dozens of miles.

This is still Yangzhou City, where the situation is the best; the situation in other places is even worse.

You must know that when people are hungry, there is nothing they cannot do.

Every few years in our Great Dayu Dynasty, there are a few self-righteous idiots who die in soldiers' riots for pay.

You are all smart people; I assume you wouldn't let the worst situation happen, right!"

Li Mu interrupted unceremoniously.

Public is public, private is private; he understood this very clearly.

When encountering public affairs, when it is time to be tough, one must be tough.

Without establishing a strong image, the things that follow simply cannot be done.

Military officers, being a little bit arrogant, that is also understandable.

"Assistant Regional Commander Li, please calm down; Prefect Gu did not mean to blame you.

The current situation is difficult, and we need to work together even more.

Those guest troops will eventually leave, and the problems of prisoners of war and refugees will ultimately have to be solved by us."

Vice Prefect Ma's words, seemingly persuading the fight, were actually an implicit warning.

The guest troops were going to leave, and they, these local officials, could do nothing about them.

But Li Mu, this Yangzhou Assistant Regional Commander, was going to be stationed here for a long time, and there would be many places that needed to deal with each other later!

"Vice Prefect Ma, the problems of prisoners of war and refugees are your business.

I am a military officer and cannot interfere in local affairs; there is no need to discuss these things with me.

However, the money and grain owed by the government office must be given an explanation.

I will not make things difficult for you all; it would be best if you can take out money and grain.

If there is really no money, then use things to offset it.

There is plenty of ownerless land in Yangzhou Prefecture; I will suffer a little loss and first carve out 300,000 mu of land as military grain fields.

Of course, the land is still the imperial court's; I am just managing it for a period of time, and you can take it back after the treasury is full in the future."

Li Mu said with a lion's mouth wide open.

He knew very well that such harsh conditions were impossible for everyone to agree to.

There were plenty of people sharpening their knives at Yangzhou's land, and no one had taken action yet because they were influenced by the doctrine of the mean and did not want to be the first bird to be shot.

If such a big piece of cake was cut away all at once, everyone would go crazy.

"Assistant Regional Commander Li, this is impossible; the conditions are too harsh!"

Assistant Prefect Zhou was the first to object.

According to this method of division, there would be no need to collect taxes in Yangzhou Prefecture in the future.

Taxes from the gentry and wealthy clans could not be collected, and don't even think about collecting taxes on land that fell into the hands of arrogant military officers like Li Mu.

If it was all apportioned to the common people, there had to be owner-farmers to do it.

If it was all caught and harmed the tenant farmers, even if they were squeezed dry, there wouldn't be many drops of oil.

"Assistant Prefect Zhou, I am not talking nonsense.

According to the Great Dayu Law, every military household in the garrison is granted 50 mu of land.

The expenses for recruited troops are greater than those for garrison troops; this is a well-known fact.

I am only making requests based on the treatment of garrison troops, and it absolutely does not exceed the standard.

I know you want to say that the imperial court allocated military pay.

The problem is that the imperial court only gives 50,000 taels every year, and the rest all depends on the local government offices to coordinate pay.

I have worn out my shoes running to the Nanzhili Provincial Governor's office and the Provincial Administration Commission's office, and only then did I think of this method.

You don't need to worry about procedural trouble; I have official documents given by the Provincial Administration Commissioner and the Provincial Governor, you can all take a look!"

Li Mu said calmly, bluffing.

The official documents were definitely real; he went to ask for pay every day, and the Provincial Administration Commissioner and the Provincial Governor were both harassed by him to the point of fear.

However, the specific amount of land was not written on it, only requiring Yangzhou Prefecture to arrange it at its discretion.

The mystery lay in this discretion; theoretically, as long as Yangzhou Prefecture was willing to give, the province could accept it no matter how much.

A typical way of kicking the ball, very much in line with the daily operations of Great Dayu bureaucrats.

"Assistant Regional Commander Li, the number of 300,000 mu is really too much.

Even if we dare to approve it, there will be endless trouble later.

How about this, let's each take a step back, with 20,000 mu as the limit.

We can let the Yangzhou Garrison lend you another 30,000 mu!"

Gu Youwen gritted his teeth and said.

Most of the land in Yangzhou Prefecture is paddy fields, and the annual grain yield per mu is about 300 kilograms.

Calculated according to a 50-50 split with tenant farmers, the harvest of 50,000 mu of land is about 15,000 tons, equivalent to about 10,500 tons of rice.

Grain prices in the Jiangnan region are cheap, and calculated at 0.5 taels of silver per shi of rice, it is exactly more than 50,000 taels of silver.

If it is a bumper year, one can collect a little more, which is just enough to buy 1,000 bolts of cloth and 10,000 shi of rice.

From this point of view, this Prefect Gu in front of him is still a kind person and did not randomly suppress prices.

"Prefect, I also understand your difficulties.

How about this, let's each take a step back.

I don't ask for any 300,000 mu, and you don't mention any borrowing of garrison military fields; just directly allocate 100,000 mu of land.

Half of it is the coordinated pay of Nanzhili province; anyway, there are official documents issued by the Provincial Administration Commissioner and the Provincial Governor, you can just deduct it directly from the annual taxes."

Li Mu said, bluffing hard.

There is no way; in the Great Dayu Dynasty, asking for money from the government office is really too difficult!

Not taking advantage of the special situation now, being able to make requests to the government office, and quickly solving the matter, it would be difficult to open one's mouth later.

"The number of 100,000 mu is too large, 80,000 mu at most, otherwise it will be difficult to handle later.

In addition, Assistant Regional Commander Li must also help us settle 10,000 refugees, ensuring that no trouble is caused!"

Gu Youwen thought for a moment and said.

Now the affairs of Yangzhou cannot do without the cooperation of the army.

That group of guest troops will leave sooner or later, and what can be used is still the battalion under Li Mu.

If the problem of military pay is not solved, this troop is the biggest destabilizing factor.

"Since Prefect Gu has said so, I will naturally cooperate fully.

For the convenience of management, these lands must be near the military camp.

In the future, they will all be under military control, and the government office cannot interfere too much.

In addition, please ask Prefect Gu to allocate some funds for us to use to settle the refugees.

If the speed is fast, we can even take advantage of this time to complete the winter plowing!"

Li Mu said, setting an ambush without changing his expression.

Taking land is just incidental; wanting mines is the goal.

The mines are enclosed inside, and no matter how they are handled, he has the final say.

"Good, I agree to this matter.

Assistant Prefect Zhou, the matter of temporarily lending land will be handed over to you and Assistant Regional Commander Li to connect."

Gu Youwen nodded and said.

(End of chapter)