Chapter 142: Guangxi Rebellion

Capital, Taihe Hall.

"Since the outbreak of the Liaodong Great War, the Ministry of Revenue has successively allocated 3.8 million taels of silver, 360,000 shi of grain..."

Shangguan Yu totted up the accounts in front of everyone.

The Minister of Revenue of Great Dayu is not easy to be; the income of the imperial court is only so much, but there are countless places to spend money.

Military expenditure is the big head, and the Nine Borders are all gold-swallowing beasts.

As long as the war is ignited, it is like spending money like water.

Coincidentally, this year also caught up with the death of Xiao Sect, and the funeral was a huge expenditure.

The late Emperor requested everything to be simple, but the Empress Dowager didn't agree!

It was sad enough for the white-haired to send off the black-haired; how could she tolerate her son's funeral being done hastily.

The new emperor is filial, so he naturally wouldn't disobey his mother in such matters.

The regents couldn't open their mouths either; the late Emperor having no son was already miserable enough, and no one was embarrassed to mention cutting expenses.

This part of the expenditure had just begun; the Tianyuan Emperor died young, and the imperial mausoleum was not yet completed.

Now the remains are still placed in the imperial palace, and they have to wait until the imperial mausoleum is completed before they can be buried.

The new emperor ascended the throne, and a series of ceremonies followed, and the expenditure was not small either.

This year's problem is solved.

Next year, the Emperor will have a grand wedding, selecting showgirls from the country, another huge expenditure.

No matter how tight the finances are, these expenses cannot be saved.

Hearing Shangguan Yu's exposition, Ji Ji Zhao Shun's face was terribly gloomy.

Today's scene was completely prepared for him.

The root cause of all this is only because at the grand ceremony of ascension that just ended, he imitated the wise monarchs of ancient times and announced the exemption of this year's autumn tax.

The surprise attack play not only caught the regents off guard but also won the support of countless gentry.

The price was that the imperial court's financial revenue this year decreased by 40%, and a financial hole of over 10 million taels was placed in front of everyone.

Ji Ji Zhao Shun, who knew he had caused trouble, was panicked in the face of the angry eyes of the officials.

Deep down, he cursed Yin and Zuo, who gave the idea, to death.

Inciting him to find an opportunity to resist the monopoly of the eight regents, but didn't tell him how serious the consequences of doing so were.

Fortunately, he had scruples in his heart, only saying to exempt the autumn tax, and didn't stupidly announce tax exemption for three years.

Otherwise, it wouldn't be a financial gap of over 10 million, but directly announcing Great Dayu's bankruptcy.

After the problem was pointed out, Taihe Hall fell into silence.

The hole poked by the Emperor was too big; this was no longer a problem that could be solved by arranging for someone to take the blame.

Involving specific problems, the Pure Stream Party members chose silence; making money was not what they were good at.

In the past, when there was a financial gap, the Eunuch Party was responsible for finding ways to make money, and they were responsible for picking faults on the side.

After the new emperor ascended the throne, the situation changed.

Knowing that they were not liked by the new monarch, the Eunuch Party group, except for instinctively participating in party struggle, had no other actions.

Originally working hard to make money, that was instructed by the Tianyuan Emperor.

Now the master was gone, no one urged them to make money, and the Eunuch Party headed by Zuo Guangen naturally subsided.

Losing the support of the Eunuch Party, the reform faction, which originally had low speaking power, was squeezed out of speaking power.

The other seven regents, two military representatives, were certainly not suitable for doing this kind of work.

The five cabinet ministers were all civil officials; this kind of work destined to offend people needed to consider their own reputation.

Even if they had ideas.

Before holding power over the world, they didn't have the ability to push reforms and get enough money from the people.

Unable to bear the eyes of the crowd, Ji Ji Zhao Shun bit the bullet and said:

"This matter is my mistake, ignoring the financial predicament of the imperial court.

But the monarch has no jokes; since the words have been said, there is no way to go back on them.

How about this, I will take out 5 million taels of silver from the inner treasury, and the remaining problems will be left to everyone to solve!"

Ji Ji Zhao Shun, who had never suffered, clearly didn't know how hard it was to make money.

The family foundation that the late Emperor had worked so hard to accumulate was suddenly taken out by him for the most part.

"Man is not a sage, who can be without fault.

His Majesty being able to realize the mistake and correct it in time already has the bearing of a wise monarch of ancient times.

This is a fortunate thing for my Great Dayu; if you ministers have wonderful strategies, please speak freely."

Pang Hengsheng said helplessly.

The first edict after the new monarch officially ascended the throne, he couldn't force the Emperor to take it back.

Ji Ji Zhao Shun being willing to take out 5 million taels from the inner treasury already exceeded his expectations.

Originally, he thought the Emperor would only take out tens of thousands of taels symbolically, and then throw the difficult problem to them.

Now it seems that the current monarch still has a sense of responsibility.

It's just that he is young and ignorant, easily swindled by others.

"Chief Grand Secretary, this matter is difficult to handle!

The funding gap is truly too large, and it is impossible for the imperial court to get such a huge sum in a short time.

For the current plan, we can only think of ways to save.

The Ministry of Revenue should first list the items with the largest expenditure and see if a part of the expenditure can be cut."

Second Grand Secretary Lu Shoutong said slowly.

Although today's matter was tricky, it was also an opportunity that the regents had been waiting for.

If the Emperor didn't make mistakes, how could they highlight their importance.

Since the new monarch ascended the throne, there had been people in the court clamoring for them to return power to the Emperor.

Originally this was nothing, they were not heroes, and transferring power in advance was acceptable.

It's just that the new monarch's performance was disappointing; he only thought about taking back power but didn't take out benefits for exchange.

Even if he conferred a few empty titles and slightly appeased everyone, the situation would be vastly different.

Whether the new monarch is "unrighteous" is unknown, but "thin grace" is certain.

Recognizing the reality, everyone had to consider themselves.

"No need to embarrass Shangguan, the largest expenditure of the imperial court has always been military expenditure.

But military expenditure is a necessary expenditure; the soldiers on the front line are still fighting hard, so we can't let them fight the enemy with empty stomachs.

If you want to cut military expenditure, then cancel the previous decisive battle plan and adopt a defensive strategy on the Liaodong front line."

As soon as the words of Left Commander Jing Guoliang landed, the hall became lively.

Those who supported and those who gave up each occupied half, and the two sides argued directly.

Both sides had their own reasons, and neither could convince the other.

"Quiet!"

"Duke, what is the chance of winning if we fight a decisive battle with the Northern Barbarians at this time?"

Pang Hengsheng asked with concern.

For this decisive battle, Great Dayu had already invested too much manpower, financial resources, and material resources, in order to solve the Liaodong border trouble in one fell swoop.

Suddenly canceling the decisive battle, seven or eight out of ten of the resources invested before would be wasted.

"The level of winning chance depends entirely on the money and grain that the imperial court can provide.

If money and grain are sufficient and can be supplied on time without interruption.

The imperial court does not require the time of the decisive battle, handing the initiative to the front-line generals, then our winning chance is at least 90%.

If the imperial court's financial resources are insufficient, and we have to urge the front line to send troops to find the enemy's main force for a decisive battle, then the winning chance is less than half!"

Jing Guoliang said frankly.

These were the results evaluated by the Metropolitan Command, considering factors from all aspects.

From the planning stage of the strategic plan, the Metropolitan Command opposed a quick decisive battle in Liaodong.

This was based on the experience of fighting with grassland ethnic groups, and only after in-depth analysis was this conclusion reached.

In the eyes of ordinary people, defeating the enemy on the front line is a victory.

Those who truly know soldiers know that encountering grassland ethnic groups, a simple defeat has no meaning.

Unless you can annihilate or severely damage the enemy's main force, otherwise, after the great war ends, it is the beginning of trouble.

People can abandon their old nests and keep circling on the grassland; it is difficult for the imperial court's army to go deep into the grassland to pursue and kill.

If you can't annihilate them, you have to suffer long-term harassment from the enemy.

If the imperial court can continuously invest high military expenditure, then these attacks are trivial problems.

Once military expenditure is reduced, the remnants who escaped before may return to kill at any time.

"Duke Cheng's words are not bad; the key to the victory of this war is money and grain.

Once the decisive battle begins, it is not something that can end in a few months.

Even if the enemy's main force is defeated, we must be prepared to spend the next five or ten years in Liaodong."

Right Commander Li Yuan followed up.

Launching this war before was mainly a political need.

With the determination of the new monarch, the political significance was gone.

Considering the imperial court's financial problems, now appropriately reducing the scale of the war and reducing financial expenditure is the best choice.

The military felt there was no need to fight, and the civil officials were even more so.

Ji Ji Zhao Shun on the dragon throne wanted to speak, but after the words reached his mouth, he swallowed them back.

He poked the hole himself, everyone was busy cleaning up for him, and jumping out to dismantle the stage now was too much.

"Report!"

"Six-hundred-li urgent report from Guangxi, the White Lotus Sect has rebelled!"

Hearing this news, the noisy hall stopped discussing.

It rains when it pours.

At this time, the outbreak of the White Lotus Sect rebellion was undoubtedly stabbing another knife into the sick Great Dayu.

As Emperor, Ji Ji Zhao Shun saw the urgent report first.

"Humph!"

"The Guangxi Provincial Governor reported.

The mining tax supervisor beat three miners to death in Sichengzhou and sold their wives and daughters into brothels, which aroused public anger locally.

The Sichengzhou Magistrate came forward to stop it and was whipped.

The White Lotus Sect saw the opportunity, incited the local people to beat the tax supervisor to death, and raised the rebel flag.

The local guard troops went out to suppress it, but suffered a crushing defeat in the battle.

The rebel army is taking Sishui as the center and constantly spreading to surrounding prefectures.

The situation has signs of getting out of control, and the Guangxi Provincial Governor implores the imperial court to send reinforcements to suppress this rebellion.

..."

Listening to the Emperor's narration, Zuo Guangen, who was sitting in the position of regent, kept sweating on his forehead.

At this juncture, such a fatal thing happening is simply pitting the ancestors.

Having finally gained the upper hand in the party struggle, he was considering the aftermath, and suddenly a shocking thunder exploded for him.

The mining tax supervisor is an agency specially established to solve the financial predicament of the imperial court.

The main officials are all served by eunuchs, a proper Eunuch Party direct line.

Now that the mining tax supervisor has poked a hole, for the Eunuch Party, which is at the critical moment of party struggle, it is undoubtedly a fatal blow.

Vaguely, Zuo Guangen sensed the smell of conspiracy.

This rebellion came too coincidentally, as if it were prepared specifically for him.

If the occasion wasn't wrong, he would have ordered the Embroidered Uniform Guard to investigate the case thoroughly.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 143 =====