Chapter 132: Each Shows Their Magical Powers

Yangxin Hall.

The war situation ahead is tight; after receiving the request for reinforcements, Emperor Tianyuan had to draw troops to prioritize reinforcing the coastal three guards.

In this way, the troops originally used for the decisive battle with the Northern Barbarians were reduced by quite a bit again.

Having learned the lesson of the previous failure, everyone was much more cautious this time.

Without sufficient superior troop strength, the Ministry of War and the Grand Governor's Office firmly opposed sending troops, and Emperor Tianyuan also had no bottom in his heart.

According to the current situation, Great Dayu is now more than enough for defense but insufficient for attack.

Nominally, there are many troops on the register, but the mobile troops that can really be used are very limited.

The key to the decisive battle with the Northern Barbarians is cavalry; Great Dayu nominally possesses 100,000 iron cavalry.

Among them, 20,000 cavalry are dispersed into the various armies of the empire in small groups.

This part of the cavalry doesn't need to be counted on; they are too scattered to be used centrally.

As a big empire, Great Dayu's enemies have never been just the Northern Barbarians.

Besides the emerging Northern Barbarians, they also have to guard against the Guifang, Oirat, and Samarkand Khanate.

The west and south are also not peaceful, holding back quite a bit of Great Dayu's troops.

These regions alone hold back one-third of the empire's cavalry.

In a short time, the cavalry troops that the imperial court can concentrate, besides the 15,000 in the Capital Camp, are only the 30,000+ in Liaodong.

It seems the number is not small, but Great Dayu has a tradition of eating empty pay.

Paper data can be used to inspire people, but as a ruler, one cannot be fooled by it.

The 15,000 cavalry in the Capital Camp have a real troop strength of only about 10,000.

The moisture in Liaodong's cavalry is even greater; they are all calculated by adding people and livestock together.

Nominally there are 30,000+, but in reality, there are only 10,000+ elite cavalry.

In a feudal dynasty, 20,000+ elite cavalry is already a very powerful military force.

If this force can be used well, supplemented by infantry, it is not impossible to defeat the coalition formed by the Northern Barbarians and Guifang.

The problem lies in Great Dayu having a tight spell of governing the military with civil officials, and the generals below cannot play freely at all.

Even if the Champion Marquis were alive, facing the situation of being tied hands and feet, he could only sigh in vain.

In this regard, the generals on the front line have the most say; before the rise of the civil official group, everyone didn't suffer much loss when dealing with grassland tribes.

Occasionally, when they had a whim, they could run to the grassland to loot and improve their lives.

Including the Northern Barbarians who are now in full swing, they were just small shrimps who could only crawl at everyone's feet and shiver in the past.

Later, the imperial court gradually attached importance to border defense and sent civil official governors.

Taking the initiative to go out and loot grassland tribes, this immoral behavior was strictly prohibited.

The strategy of creating contradictions on the grassland, guiding grassland people to kill each other, and suppressing whoever is strong was also suspended.

In short, stability is the priority, and war is absolutely not allowed to be ignited on the border.

After the border was peaceful for more than ten years, the offensive and defensive situation of the two sides reversed.

The grassland people who were bullied by Great Dayu turned over, and they came south to loot every few days.

The Northern Barbarians, who were never valued by the imperial court, became a heart-and-mind trouble for Great Dayu.

Everyone knows there is a problem, but they are powerless.

Because the national policy of governing the military with civil officials indeed suppressed the power of military men, allowing the Emperor to sleep peacefully.

Even if the Nine Borders military families have a trend of feudal townization, they are still held firmly.

"Everyone is here; let the Ministry of War talk about the situation on the front line first!"

Facing the Emperor's question, Minister of War Yi Chuanliang stepped forward and said:

"Your Majesty, the situation on the Liaodong front line is generally stable."

"Except for the coastal three guards being surrounded by heavy enemy troops and the troop strength being slightly tight, all other places are guarded flawlessly."

"Since the start of the war, except for losing some fortresses, all core cities are in the hands of the imperial court."

"If the current situation continues, it won't be long before the enemy retreats."

"What is worth noting is that other forces around the empire are also not peaceful recently and are likely to take advantage of the fire."

"Especially on the Datong line, the Guifang people were incited by the Northern Barbarians, and many tribes marched south to harass the border."

"The Northwest region is also not peaceful; the Oirat people are taking advantage of the fire and want the imperial court to open iron trade."

"The situation in the Jiaozhi Provincial Administration Commission is the most serious; after swallowing Vientiane, the ambition of the Li Dynasty is growing."

"As of now, the Li Dynasty has not paid tribute to the imperial court for 20 consecutive years, and its ambition is clear."

"Guangnan Prefecture, Zhen'an Prefecture, Siming Prefecture, etc., are suffering from the harassment of local chieftains."

"The Guangxi Governor has written many times, hoping that the imperial court can strengthen control over the Southwest, so as not to repeat the disaster of the Northern Barbarians."

The border trouble problem of Great Dayu has never been either not erupting or erupting all together.

It's not that everyone agreed to make trouble together; the division in physical distance makes it difficult for all parties to coordinate even if they want to join hands.

Except for the Northern Barbarians who clearly set up horses and fight against Great Dayu, other parties are mainly probing.

Once it is determined that Great Dayu has really declined, then the enemies on all four sides will pounce and eat up this big empire.

It's not that Great Dayu can attract hatred, mainly because the pressure of the unified dynasty in the Central Plains on the four neighbors is too great.

Taking the Li Dynasty as an example, if it weren't for problems within Great Dayu.

In order to suppress military generals, the civil official group gave up Jiaozhi.

The current Li Dynasty would be a subordinate prefecture of the Jiaozhi Provincial Administration Commission.

I'm afraid that on the Indochina Peninsula, several more provinces would be added.

The situation of other parties is similar; wherever the Great Dayu official document set up a government office, it was a target of expansion.

Even if these institutions have mostly existed in name only, they have not been revoked in the imperial court's official documents.

Can't get it now, doesn't mean it can't be gotten in the future.

Keep the legal basis, and in case a revival ruler appears, you can recover the lost territory.

Even the civil official group that dislikes war the most is full of interest in expansion.

Opposing the launch of war is just opposing the launch of war in bitter cold places.

As long as it is determined that the local land is suitable for agricultural production, the scholar-officials will be interested.

Political stance is not worth mentioning in front of interests.

"Better than I expected."

"According to the news from the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the Northern Barbarians sent envoys to these forces."

"One by one, they are probing, not really launching an invasion; it seems the Northern Barbarians' diplomatic ability still needs to be improved."

Emperor Tianyuan said mockingly.

Probing proves that these forces still fear Great Dayu.

If they really had no scruples, they would have sent troops directly at this moment.

Facing the Emperor's mockery, the Cabinet ministers were very embarrassed; this is a pit left by their predecessors.

Once Great Dayu had the ability to solve these unstable elements.

But at that time, it was in the most intense stage of the civil-military confrontation; in order to suppress the military generals, the civil official group chose to stop fighting externally.

This stop of fighting gave those dying alien races a chance to breathe.

After the civil-military struggle ended, those ants that were once inconspicuous had already gained a foothold.

Considering the investment and return of the war, everyone tacitly chose to shelve it and left the problem to future generations to solve.

Very unfortunately, in their generation, these shelved problems began to erupt.

The Northern Barbarians were the first to rebel, but they will definitely not be the last.

"Your Majesty, these forces are owed a lesson, but now is not the time to take action."

"Our primary enemy is the Northern Barbarians."

"I suggest sending envoys first to stabilize these forces."

"After solving the Northern Barbarians, this big enemy, and the imperial court has freed up its hands, it won't be too late to clean up these guys one by one!"

Pang Hengsheng took the lead and said.

As the Chief Grand Secretary, he must find a way to clean up this mess.

Misfortune and fortune!

In his view, this series of messes is both trouble and opportunity.

With Great Dayu's strength, as long as the Northern Barbarians are solved, cleaning up other miscellaneous fish is completely a matter of hand.

With the setting off of predecessors, cleaning up these messes well will definitely be recorded in history with thick ink.

No one can refuse to leave a name in history.

"Hmm, if everyone has no other opinions, then do as the Chief Grand Secretary proposed."

"The Ministry of War and the Grand Governor's Office, according to the worst situation, make a plan."

"In case these forces are persuaded by the Northern Barbarians and participate in this war, the imperial court cannot be unprepared!"

Emperor Tianyuan said with worry.

The fault tolerance rate of a big empire is high, which is established on the premise of being prepared.

If there is no preparation at all, local failure will evolve into overall failure, and what is lost is the national destiny.

"The subjects obey the decree!"

Yangzhou Prefecture.

Looking at the official document submitted by Li Mu, Gu Youwen's hands trembled.

Rebuilding the Yangzhou Navy, no matter how sufficient the reasons given, in his eyes, it turned into two words: 'want money'.

Wanting to open his mouth to reprimand, but the words couldn't come out when they reached his mouth.

As the Yangzhou Garrison Commander, restoring the armed forces within Yangzhou is Li Mu's own duty.

Although in normal times, Li Mu has never paid attention to it.

But duty is duty and will not disappear because of whether one pays attention to it.

Bringing the official document to discuss with him, without directly reporting to the imperial court, is giving him, this parent official, face.

Generally speaking, this kind of request to restore the original establishment will be approved by the imperial court.

As for whether money and grain can be allocated, that is another matter.

After all, those responsible for the audit of military establishment and those in charge of financial allocation are two different groups of people.

The money and grain given by the imperial court are insufficient, so local government assistance is needed.

On the issue of the Yangzhou Camp's military pay, after being pitted by Li Mu once, Gu Youwen was already a bit afraid.

"Assistant Regional Commander Li, the consumption of the navy is not low."

"Rebuilding the Yangzhou Navy Camp, the cost of building ships alone will not be stopped without tens of thousands of taels."

"What's more, the navy needs sailors; now we have nothing!"

Gu Youwen frowned and said.

How much the warships cost, Li Mu didn't list, but he still roughly knows the selling price of merchant ships.

Not expecting to restore to the peak level, even if only half the level is restored, the required expenses will not be small.

"Prefect Gu, the consumption of the navy is large, I naturally know."

"But now the Jiangnan Navy is unusable, and the imperial court cannot spare time to rectify it for the time being."

"In order to guarantee the safety of Yangzhou Prefecture, rebuilding the Yangzhou Navy Camp is imperative."

"The navy consumes more than the land army, but it also has its own advantages,"

"Besides the imperial court's allocation, it can also go out to sea to fish in normal times, slightly making up for the expenses."

"There are many islands in the coastal area; although the land on them is a bit barren, it can also be cultivated."

"As far as I know, there are many pirates occupying these islands and farming on them."

"If the navy can take these places back, not only can it eliminate the pirate threat, but it can also subsidize military use."

"Calculating this way, rebuilding the Yangzhou Navy Camp, the cost in the early stage is relatively large."

"As long as the generals are capable, after entering the stable period, the navy can solve most of the military pay expenses by itself."

Li Mu said deceptively with a calm face.

Relying on the navy to be self-sufficient, there is only one way, and that is to collect taxes at sea.

Undoubtedly, this kind of life-threatening thing must not be mentioned.

Otherwise, Prefect Gu would turn his face on the spot.

The imperial court wanted to open the sea to collect taxes, but it didn't succeed.

Local officials dare to touch this taboo, so don't think about leaving alive.

Fishing to subsidize expenses is barely operable.

Farming on islands is purely drawing a cake.

There are many islands near Great Dayu, but there are few with large areas, and they are occupied by pirates.

The newly established Yangzhou Navy Camp is not bad if it is not bullied by pirates, let alone seizing the enemy's lair.

What's more, these pirates are involved in unknown forces, so how can they be easy to move.

However, for the plan to go smoothly, Li Mu can only temporarily put down his integrity.

The imperial court is busy with the great war; even if the above is willing to support, it will at most provide help in personnel.

Don't count on money and grain; the Ministry of Revenue has no such budget at all.

Military pay depends entirely on self-raising, so the opinion of the local government is crucial.

Obtaining the full support of the Yangzhou Prefecture, there is a chance to strive for the support of the Governor's Office above.

"Assistant Regional Commander Li, I don't oppose rebuilding the Yangzhou Navy Camp."

"But on the issue of money and grain, the prefecture treasury can support at most 30,000 taels."

"I will at most write to the imperial court with you to apply for the imperial court's allocation."

Gu Youwen said after pondering for a while.

Not supporting is not possible; not to mention whether the cake is fragrant, the pirate threat is real.

Although the matter in Nantongzhou was quelled in time, the negative impact caused still affected their official careers.

In the results of the Metropolitan Evaluation, not a single civil official, including him as Prefect, received an 'Excellent' rating.

The Provincial Governor and Provincial Administration Commissioner above were likewise implicated.

Without the Jiangnan Navy to take the blame, the Nanjing Six Ministries, who had diverted military funds, became the biggest victims.

Multiple officials, including the Minister and Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, received 'Unqualified' ratings in the Metropolitan Evaluation.

Demotion and dismissal were the lighter punishments; officials who reached out to grab money have already been arrested by the Embroidered Uniform Guard and are currently on the way to the capital under escort.

One can only blame their bad luck; if these matters had been exposed at a different time, they could have gone to the capital to pull strings and strive to turn a major issue into a minor one.

Now it is different.

In order to ensure the smooth flow of military supplies, the court is intending to kill the chicken to warn the monkeys, so as to intimidate the hundred officials.

Having offered themselves up as the chicken, they naturally must be dealt with strictly.

They already had many problems to begin with; once the Embroidered Uniform Guard investigated deeply, there were loopholes everywhere.

The specific situation has not yet been made public, but in any case, the illicit money confiscated required several ships to transport.

It is quite possible that the Nanjing Minister of War will become the highest-ranking official executed during the Tianyuan reign.

(End of chapter)