Chapter 126: The Bureaucrat's Art of Passing the Buck

After counting the spoils, it was already the Hai hour (9-11 PM).

Looking at the inventory list, Li Mu showed a satisfied smile.

The pirates' hard work in robbing has now all benefited him.

These spoils, roughly estimated, are worth no less than 150,000 taels.

One has to admit that the salt industry is profiteering; it has made huge profits after resuming operations for a few months.

Even though most of the wealth has been transported back, what remains is still a considerable fortune.

In the day's battle, 726 civilians were rescued, and 1,237 pirate heads were captured.

As the protagonist, the cavalry brigade only suffered single-digit casualties, which can be called a complete victory.

"Modify the captured materials; just say that when the pirates fled, they set fire to the spoils.

Other data should also be embellished.

There were only two thousand pirates; where would the Nantongzhou colleagues put their faces?

A mere two thousand pirates dared to besiege our Great Great Dayu state capital; if the imperial court investigates, a large group of people will be unlucky.

Yangzhou cannot afford to toss now; increase the number of defeated pirates to ten thousand.

Increase the number of casualties by two zeros, and increase the number of annihilated enemies as appropriate.

Also, describe the battle situation as more tragic, so that the data looks more realistic."

Li Mu ordered the modification of the battle report with an expressionless face.

As a general, what he hates most is falsely reporting military achievements; this does not conform to his principles of conduct.

But as an official of the imperial court, he needs to consider more problems.

Reporting truthfully, the faces of everyone in the imperial court will not look good.

Not only will the officials of Nantongzhou lose their jobs, but officials in Yangzhou Prefecture, Nanzhili, and the Ministry of War will also be reprimanded.

Some might even be demoted.

If things go on like this, he will offend too many people.

For the sake of the big picture, Li Mu must find a way to reduce the bad political impact.

Since it cannot be that the Great Great Dayu officials are incompetent, then it can only be that the pirates are too powerful.

"My lord, if the battle report is written like this, the risk will be on your side.

If the imperial court sends someone to verify, it will be easy to expose, and then..."

Lan Private Secretary persuaded tactfully.

It's not strange for people in officialdom to sell favors to each other, but this kind of favor with risks is different.

The court is not monolithic; once the party struggle falls into a fierce state, censors dare to dig up any messy things.

If the matter is placed on the table, the situation will be uncontrollable.

"Rest assured, this official has his own plan.

This is Yangzhou; if the imperial court wants to verify the battle achievements, it will also be the Nanjing Ministry of War sending people over.

The Nanjing Ministry of War bears a great responsibility in the Nantongzhou matter, and many officials are suspected of dereliction of duty.

As far as I know, the post-war reconstruction funds allocated by the imperial court were deducted quite a bit by that group of guys in Nanjing.

This general is saving them!

Even for the sake of the capital official assessment, they have to find a way to make our battle achievements real.

Even if the capital makes a fuss and sends someone to investigate personally,

after so much time has passed, who can tell how many pirates there were.

Among the pirates we defeated, there were quite a few salt workers mixed in.

It is very reasonable for pirates to coerce them into fighting us."

Li Mu said calmly.

On this issue, the interests of local officials and him are consistent.

It is equivalent to all parties holding a handle on each other, and it is the kind of mutual destruction.

With such a handle in hand, future cooperation will be smoother.

After this experience, even if he is a military officer, he will be regarded as one of their own by the local civil officials later.

Li Mu dares to be sure that taking this battle report to Yangzhou Prefecture to report victory, all kinds of expenses for this operation will be paid in full.

"My lord has high insight!"

Saying so, but deep in his heart, he was turning over rivers and seas.

Following Li Mu these days, he has seen a lot of darkness in officialdom, and the more he sees, the more confused Lan Lan Linjie is about his future.

If no one protects him, he very much doubts whether he can gain a foothold in officialdom.

For example, this battle report full of artistic sense, if he hadn't listened to Li Mu's explanation, he would have just thought it was a military officer falsely reporting achievements.

He couldn't imagine that behind the battle report, it involved a large group of officials.

No wonder many times, the imperial court clearly knows that the people below are falsely reporting achievements, and the Ministry of War also acquiesces.

It's not that the officials are confused, but because they are too clear, they have to pretend to be confused.

For a time, his desire to enter officialdom faded a bit.

Yangzhou Prefecture.

"Assistant Regional Commander Li sent a victory report; the siege of Nantongzhou has been lifted, and the army is currently chasing the remnants.

I hope we can come forward and urge the Jiangnan Navy to cut off the pirates' retreat; what do you think?"

Gu Youwen asked with a smile.

This victory report is the best news he has received recently.

Nantongzhou is preserved, so this pirate chaos can be defined as local pirate chaos.

Pirates harassing the coast happens every year.

As long as the city is not broken, it belongs to a small problem, and the imperial court has long been accustomed to it.

The situation is within controllable range, so he can be a Prefect comfortably, without worrying about getting political stains.

In this big background, everything else is a side issue.

"Prefect, the Jiangnan Navy is indeed not looking like anything.

Pirates landed from the Yangtze River to invade Nantongzhou; so much time has passed, and they haven't taken any military action.

If it weren't for our heavy investment in building the Yangzhou Regiment, I don't know what would have happened to this chaos.

In my opinion, just follow Assistant Regional Commander Li's meaning and appeal to the Nanjing Ministry of War.

Demand that the Jiangnan Navy immediately send troops to blockade the pirates' retreat to eliminate future troubles!"

Ma Vice Prefect's artistic answer instantly turned the Yangzhou Regiment's great victory over the pirates into everyone's common merit.

Officialdom is the most realistic place.

Since the Yangzhou Regiment has shown good combat capability, their attitude towards the Yangzhou Regiment must change.

In any case, the Yangzhou Regiment is a troop in their jurisdiction, and Yangzhou Prefecture contributed to its formation.

Now that the Yangzhou Regiment has formed combat capability, for everyone, it is a political achievement delivered to the door.

"Prefect, Ma Vice Prefect's words are reasonable.

Pirate invasion, the Jiangnan Navy must give us a reasonable explanation.

If they don't take action again, we will jointly impeach them for inaction!"

Zhou Assistant Prefect added a knife.

The Jiangnan Navy is not their target; both sides have no grudges, so there is no need to beat them to death.

Biting the Jiangnan Navy at this time is purely aimed at the Nanjing Six Ministries, or more accurately, the Nanjing Ministry of War.

Lower-level government offices attacking higher-level government offices is normally a big taboo in officialdom.

It's just that the situation in Great Great Dayu is different; there are two sets of teams running in the court.

They are people promoted by Grand Secretary Xu; previously when Grand Secretary Xu was in Yangzhou, he was pitted by that group of bureaucrats in Nanjing.

If it weren't for the changes in the situation later, allowing the three Imperial Commissioners to reach a reconciliation in private, Grand Secretary Xu would have been stuck in the mud and couldn't climb out.

The boss was pitted, so the younger brothers naturally want to find a way to get back the field.

Now that the opportunity has been delivered to their door, if they don't take action, they are too uninteresting.

As for whether Li Mu's battle report mentioned the Jiangnan Navy, it doesn't matter at all.

It's just an excuse; the real purpose is to expose the black curtain of the Nanjing Ministry of War embezzling military pay by biting the Jiangnan Navy to death.

In the face of the imperial court strengthening military equipment, if such a thing happens, Emperor Tianyuan will definitely kill the chicken to warn the monkey.

As long as the matter is placed on the table, a large number of officials in the Nanjing Ministry of War will pay a painful price for this.

Lightly, they will lose their jobs; heavily, they will be prosecuted and exiled.

It might even implicate other departments; this is the price of offending a powerful Grand Secretary.

Nanjing Ministry of War.

Receiving the victory report of the Yangzhou Regiment, Tian Zhishan showed a happy smile.

The good mood didn't last long, and then he was angered by the report from Yangzhou Prefecture.

It seems to be attacking the Jiangnan Navy's inaction, but in fact, the content of the official document is everywhere implying him, the Minister of War.

Knowing that it was aimed at him, Tian Zhishan could only pretend not to know.

From the surface, the Jiangnan Navy should indeed be responsible for the pirate invasion of Nantongzhou.

It is understandable not to discover it in advance, but the enemy has been tossing in Nantongzhou for half a month, and they haven't taken military action, which is too much.

This time the pirates only attacked Nantongzhou, and the impact was limited; what if they changed to attack Nanjing next time?

Even if they don't attack the city, letting pirates act recklessly on the Yangtze River shipping route is also full of risks.

"Pass this official document to Duan Duan Ganhong and tell him that no matter what, he must leave all these pirates behind.

If the thieves are allowed to run away, let him bear all the responsibility himself.

If there is any mess, don't blame this official for being impolite!"

Tian Zhishan said coldly.

Letting subordinates take the blame is the most normal thing in the Great Great Dayu officialdom.

As the Minister of War, even if it is a near-idle Nanjing Ministry of War, it is still a ceiling-level figure in the Great Great Dayu Dynasty.

Even if the imperial court wants to prosecute him, it must be discussed at the court meeting before dismissal can be carried out.

During this period, if he wants to clean up a weak General, he has a hundred ways.

"My lord, the Yangzhou Prefect is Grand Secretary Xu's proud student; we offended Grand Secretary Xu before.

Now that they have our handle, they definitely won't let it go.

Duan Duan Ganhong is slippery; I'm afraid he won't submit easily.

The evidence we hold is too far-fetched to convict him.

If he is forced, if he pokes everything out, no one will have a good time.

It's better to use both coercion and inducement to trick him into throwing out one person to convict, and define the responsibility within the Jiangnan Navy.

..."

Yin Yin Dengjia suggested.

He doesn't want to pit colleagues either, but he previously embezzled navy funds and got a share of it.

Now that the Yangzhou Prefecture officials intend to dig deep into this matter, for his own safety, he must find someone to carry the responsibility.

As the Regional Commander of the Jiangnan Navy, Duan Duan Ganhong is undoubtedly a good candidate to take the blame.

"Good!

This matter is left to you to handle, but don't act rashly for the time being; wait until the war is over and then see the situation. 【126-1

Although Duan Duan Ganhong is a bit unruly, he still has talent.

Looking further west, the situation in the Western Regions is now also in turmoil.

The Samarkand Khanate occupying Central Asia is attacking cities and seizing land everywhere, and who knows when they will move east.

The Tibetan region adjacent to the Western Regions is also not peaceful now.

The Guangxi Tusi (chieftains) bestowed by the imperial court cannot suppress the scene at all.

If it weren't for the prestige of Great Great Dayu, who knows if those Tibetan living Buddhas would run to rebuild Tubo again.

On the Indochina Peninsula, wars have occurred frequently in recent years.

The Jiaozhi Administration Commissioner now only has a name left, and most of the land has been eroded by vassal states.

If it weren't for being dragged down by the northern border, with Emperor Tianyuan's style, he would have used troops in the south long ago.

The situation in the southeast region looks the most stable, but the pirates occupying the coast are also a threat that cannot be ignored.

The imperial court is planning to recover Liaodong, which is a time for using troops, so it must ensure the stability of the military officer camp.