Chapter 167

War is a gold-devouring beast; to recover Guangxi, it is inevitable to increase investment in the Lianzhou direction.

Manpower, financial resources, and material resources—not one can be missing.

The Senior Grand Secretary clearly supported Grand Secretary Xu, and Emperor Yongning had no intention of opposing it, so the difficult problem suddenly fell to the Ministry of Revenue.

"Your Majesty, affected by the war, the tax revenues of Guangxi, Yunnan-Guizhou, Guangdong, and Huguang last year were all withheld by the local authorities.

With the fall of Guangzhou Prefecture, the flames of war will continue to spread.

It is possible that the tax revenues of Jiangxi and Fujian will not be collected this year either.

According to Grand Secretary Xu's strategic deployment, not only must the southeastern provinces provide military pay, but the court also needs to allocate eight million taels of rebel-suppression funds.

If Guangxi is successfully recovered, an additional sum for post-war reconstruction will be needed.

The Ministry of Revenue..."

Before Wan Henian could finish speaking, Emperor Yongning waved his hand to interrupt him.

"As for the problem of money and grain, you must find a way to raise it yourselves.

It is better to cut expenses in other areas than to affect the war on the front line.

The rebels have already captured Guangzhou, and it looks like the Liangguang region is gone.

If we don't find a way to suppress the rebellion, the empire of Great Dayu will be in danger!

It can be said that this White Lotus Sect rebellion is a greater threat than the Northern Barbarians, and we must go all out!"

When it comes to the empire, every emperor will instinctively attach importance to it.

Emperor Yongning, who aspired to become a wise monarch, naturally would not be careless about this.

Even if he doubted Xu Wenyue's ability in his heart, he had to give his full support now.

After all, he was the one who sent him there.

If he were to change commanders in the face of battle, he would be slapping his own face first.

If Xu Wenyue could not clean up the mess, then there would be big trouble.

Among the civil officials, there were many who claimed to know military affairs, but few who were truly capable.

Let alone devising strategies in a tent and winning battles a thousand miles away.

Being able to not add chaos to the front line was already considered excellent.

Xu Wenyue's military ability was not good, but at the very least, his status and position were high enough to shoulder the responsibility.

When encountering problems, he dared to make decisions.

As long as he did not interfere with military command, he was a qualified commander.

If someone else were sent, the southeastern provinces might not necessarily buy it.

Just raising military pay was a huge problem.

"Your Majesty, the gentry are the pillars of the state.

The White Lotus Sect rebels are constantly growing, causing great harm to the local gentry.

Especially the gentry in the Liangguang region, where less than one in ten remain.

In order to curb the continued spread of the rebels, I propose that the court lift restrictions and allow local officials and gentry to raise their own military pay and organize militia groups."

As soon as Yin Zhiming, Libationer of the Imperial Academy, spoke, the expressions of the hundred officials changed instantly.

Militia groups were born at the end of the Tang Dynasty; in order to maintain imperial rule, the rulers allowed the gentry to recruit private soldiers to suppress peasant uprisings.

By the Northern Song Dynasty, it developed into the Baojia system's "Group Training Law," becoming a traditional folk security force.

It played an important role in suppressing rebellions, but the price was the weakening of imperial power.

Since the gentry already controlled the local discourse, if they were to gain control of armed forces as well, the court's control over the localities would inevitably be reduced.

Especially some large local clans, who, after gaining control of militia groups, would directly transform into local tyrants.

If the Song Dynasty had not fallen so quickly, these large and small local armed forces would sooner or later have transformed into warlords.

After the establishment of Great Dayu, they learned the lesson of folk militia groups and tinkered with the garrison system.

It was also a case of the court not spending money to raise troops, but the latter kept the command firmly in its own hands.

"This matter is inappropriate!"

"Lord Yin, it's a pity you are well-versed in history.

Organizing militia groups can curb the spread of rebels in the short term, but the consequences will be disastrous.

Once these folk armed forces fall into the hands of ambitious people, it will be the partition of warlords."

Jing Guoliang could not help but rebuke angrily.

Originally, with the decline of the garrison system, the power of the nobility group had declined severely.

If the civil officials controlled the money and grain, and the local gentry were allowed to control the army, the nobility would become mere decorations.

This was a naked scheme to cut off their roots.

Deep in his heart, Jing Guoliang felt the urge to kill Yin Zhiming for the first time.

He could pretend not to see the internal strife of the civil officials.

But wanting to extend their reach to his own base was something that could never be tolerated.

It can be said that from the moment he proposed this suggestion, Yin Zhiming stood on the opposite side of the nobility group.

"Duke of Cheng, don't be anxious!

The reason warlords could appear was that the previous dynasty neglected the control of militia groups.

We only need to limit the scale of the militia groups, and after the rebellion is suppressed, immediately order them to disband.

All these hidden dangers will cease to exist.

Is it possible that a mere militia of a thousand people could threaten the foundation of the empire?"

Yin Zhiming explained calmly.

Being able to enter the imperial court was entirely due to Emperor Yongning's strong recommendation.

After obtaining his official position, their situation did not improve.

Libationer of the Imperial Academy sounds good, but this is not the early years of the founding of the dynasty.

With the birth of a large number of Juren and Jinshi, the court rarely selected talents from the Imperial Academy to enter officialdom.

Even if one studied at the Imperial Academy, one still had to take the imperial examination to be considered a legitimate entry into officialdom.

Especially with the entry of a large number of children of privilege, the quality of the students was lowered.

So much so that this largest official educational institution had very few students who passed the Jinshi examination each year.

The probability of passing the Jinshi examination was not even as high as some private academies.

Serving in such a "clear water" yamen made Yin Zhiming feel very stifled.

Especially with a Senior Grand Secretary above him who was deliberately targeting him.

In normal times, he dared not make any moves, for fear of being caught by the other side.

"Lord Yin, you speak lightly.

Once large and small militia groups blossom all over the empire, how can they be disbanded just by saying so!

Limiting the quantity is also nonsense.

A militia group is not a regular army establishment; pulling a group of young men from the people is a militia group.

Some large local clans would not find it difficult to pull out tens of thousands of people.

For someone as virtuous and prestigious as Lord Yin, even pulling out ten or twenty thousand troops would be no difficulty."

Li Yuan openly applied eye drops.

Touching the core interests of the nobility group, he, as the number two figure, had to state his position.

"Virtuous and prestigious" is a good word, but if someone who holds military power is virtuous and prestigious, that is a matter of life and death.

Just looking at Emperor Yongning's changing expression, one could tell that at this moment, he felt wary of Yin Zhiming, who had proposed the suggestion.

A single militia group is inconspicuous, but a thousand or eight hundred gathered together, coupled with a leader famous throughout the world, could subvert an empire.

"Marquis, you overstate it!

Lord Yin's planning is entirely out of public spirit.

The gentry of our Great Dayu are not like the powerful clans of the two Jin dynasties; how could they have the ability to pull out tens of thousands of troops.

Moreover, the court will strengthen supervision, and it will be used at most in areas near the battlefield, and immediately disbanded after the war ends.

It will absolutely not allow militia groups to run rampant and threaten the empire's rule!"

Zuo Hongjiang explained, biting the bullet.

Deep in his heart, he greeted the ancestors of his partner Yin Zhiming for eighteen generations.

He had never seen him come up with a proper strategy to solve problems, but bad ideas came one after another.

In order to bring down the Eunuch Party, he caused the White Lotus Sect rebellion, which affected several provinces.

Now, in order to suppress the rebellion, he offered the policy of militia groups, which had endless hidden dangers.

He didn't know what the specific effect would be, but he knew that being tied to Yin Zhiming was the biggest wrong decision he had ever made.

Even if he denied it strongly, what the Marquis of Zhenyuan said was the truth.

For large local gentry clans, pulling out a militia group composed of tens of thousands of young men was not difficult.

At the very least, his Zuo family could do it, and with his influence, gathering ten or twenty thousand troops was possible.

It looks like they have strong strength and seem to be able to influence the situation of the world.

In reality, it is purely nonsense!

A large number of people does not equal strong combat effectiveness; a thousand cavalrymen could chase and hack at a rabble of over a hundred thousand.

As long as the court sends out a few thousand regular troops, they can easily wipe them out.

Showing off this family foundation has no substantive meaning other than causing the Emperor's wariness.

When the Emperor truly wants to move against them, those local gentry who originally supported them will defect faster than anyone else.

In the face of imperial power, no matter how great the influence, it is all empty.

The Emperor only needs one imperial decree, and the local county magistrate can take them down.

The reason why the powerful clans of the two Jin, Sui, and Tang dynasties were strong was that they had private soldiers and retainers.

Unlike them, these "castrated" families, whose talents were all focused on reading, had long since separated from military affairs.

In the Great Dayu Dynasty, the court strongly supported the transition from military to civil.

Wanting to transition from civil to military is a game of "nine-clan elimination."

"Alright, the matter of militia groups will be discussed later; I am tired now!"

Before the hundred officials could open fire, Emperor Yongning decisively called a halt to this court discussion.

Experience told him that if the debate continued, his newly promoted confidants would be driven out of the imperial court again.

Regardless of whether they were useful, they were ultimately his teachers and represented his face.

……

Lianzhou Prefecture.

Since receiving the news that the rebels were preparing to send troops to Lianzhou, the original plan to send troops to recover lost territory was completely scrapped.

At this time, the more lost territory recovered, the more places that would need to be defended later, which was not conducive to concentrating troops.

Compared to taking the initiative to attack the enemy's heavily guarded passes, waiting for the enemy to come out themselves while resting was clearly much more likely to succeed.

"Commander Li, Regional Commander Jing, the rebels have already begun to assemble; how is the training of the new recruits coming along?"

Jia Bo asked with concern.

Grand Secretary Xu gave a clear reply, and his address to Li Mu and Jing Yifeng changed accordingly.

As a well-connected person, as long as this battle is won, the acting position will definitely become a substantive one.

As for qualifications and such, those are just constraints for ordinary people.

"Barely usable, it's just that the weapons and equipment are too poor.

The armor and weapons promised by Grand Secretary Xu have not yet been transported here; we can only use the weapons captured from the rebels for the time being."

Li Mu replied calmly.

He was mainly training the new recruits; the Regional Commander Jing Yifeng could only command the Huai'an Camp.

Recruiting soldiers is not like garrison soldiers; they need to be paid.

Grand Secretary Xu was still raising military pay, and Jing Yifeng's family foundation was limited; he had no ability to pay military expenses in advance.

The garrison soldiers under Li Mu were mainly relying on "empty promises."

Except for the soldiers of the Lianzhou Garrison who were allocated land, the other garrisons were all empty promises.

No new tricks were played; it was just restoring the initial treatment when the garrison system was established.

Each soldier was allocated fifty mu of land, provided with seeds, farm tools, and housing; as for draft oxen, they were still owed for the time being.

Everything was done according to the rules, and the land allocated was also garrison military land; no one could pick any faults.

As for the amount of military land being slightly more by a tiny bit, those were all small problems.

Land not registered by the court that fell into his hands became garrison military land.

If asked, it was: "Wasteland reclaimed by garrison officers and soldiers."

This is a muddled account.

Even if the owner is still alive, they would not dare to come and claim it.

Concealing land is a serious crime.

If done quietly, no one will investigate it deeply.

Once placed on the table, concealing fifty mu would lead to one's home being raided and one's head being lost.

The Guangxi gentry were already weak and had been ravaged by the rebels once.

Whether the lucky ones who survived could keep their registered land was an unknown.

The number of people who dared to jump out and cause trouble would definitely not be many.

"Regarding the military equipment problem, the Grand Secretary has already submitted a memorial to the court.

I think it won't be long before the Ministry of War allocates it.

However, the rebels are coming aggressively; do you really not need reinforcements?"

Jia Bo asked with insufficient confidence.

Even after expanding the army, the number of imperial troops in the Lianzhou region was only over thirty thousand.

Compared to the forty thousand rebels claimed by the enemy, the numerical gap was more than ten times.

For Jia Bo, who had not experienced war, this numerical comparison was truly too frightening.

"Lord Jia, the money and grain allocated by the court are limited; it simply cannot afford to raise too many troops.

Now the supplies in the Lianzhou region all rely on transportation from the rear.

The grain transport fleet was provided by the Nanzhili Provincial Governor's Yamen, and some of the ships were borrowed from merchants; they have been urging us to return them.

If more reinforcements were sent here without sufficient money and grain, logistics would be a big problem.

The enemy claims to have an army of forty thousand, but the actual number will definitely be greatly discounted.

Even if the rebels really have an army of forty thousand coming, there is actually no need to be afraid.

Limited by geographical conditions, they simply cannot deploy their formation, and the number of troops that can be directly put into battle cannot be too many.

We only need to wear them down; the grain and fodder supplies alone will be enough to drag the enemy to death.

If it is convenient, please trouble Lord Jia to ask the Grand Secretary to come forward.

Draw a batch of craftsmen from shipyards in various places to expand on the site of the old Lianzhou shipyard for ship maintenance.

Incidentally, issue an official document to Nanzhili to directly assign this temporarily borrowed fleet to my command for use."

Li Mu bluffed without changing his expression.

As a person with credibility, one naturally cannot do things like "borrowing without returning."

If it were an imperial envoy who ordered the requisition, then it would have nothing to do with him.

Keeping this fleet, plus the warships of the Yangzhou Navy that are gradually entering service, his naval power will be greatly improved.

"These are things that should be done!"

Jia Bo replied calmly.

The reason was too sufficient; he could not find any reason to refuse.

……

(End of Chapter)