Chapter 182: Everyone is Having a Hard Time

Capital.

"Good!"

Looking at the victory report in his hand, Emperor Yongning said with excitement.

This victory report came too timely; the capital was preparing for his wedding, and receiving the news of the victory in the Guangxi Campaign at this time was undoubtedly a great omen.

The speed at which the White Lotus Sect rebels grew was too fast, bringing heavy political pressure to him, the new monarch. He feared that the situation would further deteriorate, leading to the collapse of the country.

Various rumors about him among the people had never stopped.

In an era that practiced the interaction between heaven and man, large-scale rebellions in local areas were a manifestation of the emperor's loss of virtue.

Coupled with several operations after he ascended the throne, he offended a group of auxiliary ministers, and the cabinet did not help him whitewash it.

For Emperor Yongning, who valued reputation, the decline of his own reputation was undoubtedly unacceptable.

At this moment, he had realized the goodness of the Factory and Guard.

If these two secret service agencies were still there, even if the people criticized the emperor, they would not dare to compile so many jokes.

Although there was no evidence, he also knew that most of the rumors were released by officials in the court.

It was too late to regret now; the hundred officials welcomed the abolition of the Factory and Guard with both hands, and the difficulty of wanting to re-establish the Factory and Guard was not just a little bit.

Among the hundred officials and the clan, there was no one who supported it.

At the very least, before he personally governed and held power, he had no way to restore the Factory and Guard.

"Your Majesty, the victory in the Guangxi Campaign is just a beginning; Grand Secretary Xu is planning a large-scale counterattack.

If it goes smoothly, the White Lotus Sect rebellion can be suppressed within the year!"

Minister of War Yi Chuanliang said in the trend.

Speaking so hard for Xu Wenyue, besides the fact that the Guangxi Campaign was led by military generals, which did not conform to the strategy of governing the military with civil officials, it was mainly a political need.

When the late emperor was on the throne, he was a member of the reformist faction; because he cooperated with the Eunuch Party many times, he was labeled as a member of the Eunuch Party politically.

After Zuo Guangen fell, the political power of the Eunuch Party group collapsed. In order to escape the fate of being liquidated, Yi Chuanliang leaned toward the Qingliu group.

If an ordinary official played like this, it would definitely be a dead end. With the degree of disgust the Qingliu had for the Eunuch Party, they would not accept their surrender at all.

Yi Chuanliang's situation was different; he was not only a fellow jinshi with Xu Wenyue, but also had a good private friendship, and was also the Minister of War of the imperial court.

Considering the gold content of the Minister of War, plus Xu Wenyue personally coming forward to guarantee, he suddenly changed from a member of the Eunuch Party to a patriot who infiltrated the Eunuch Party for the Qingliu group.

The favors owed always have to be repaid.

"Grand Secretary Xu, truly a pillar of the country!"

Emperor Yongning said with satisfaction.

A few days ago, he was still scolding Xu Wenyue as a piece of trash, and in the blink of an eye, he became a pillar of the country again.

Regarding the emperor's rapid change of face, the ministers did not say anything.

These are the normal operations of the Great Dayu monarch; capable ministers are pillars of the country, and those who cannot do it are trash.

The evaluation standard is just so simple and crude.

"Your Majesty, since ancient times, troops and horses have not moved, and grain and grass have gone first.

If a large-scale counterattack is launched, the money, grain, and military equipment required are all a huge expenditure.

The anti-rebellion funds pre-allocated by the imperial court are afraid that they will not be able to cover the military expenditure."

Yi Chuanliang added immediately.

What he was waiting for was Emperor Yongning's approval of the plan, so it would be convenient to ask for money next.

Although it was still a group of auxiliary ministers presiding over the government, the emperor was about to get married, and he was only one step away from personally governing.

At this juncture, everyone naturally did not want to offend the emperor. So much so that Emperor Yongning's speaking power in the court became heavier and heavier.

"The imperial court reserved eight million taels of anti-rebellion funds at the beginning of the year; how could it possibly not be enough?"

Emperor Yongning asked in disbelief.

In order to raise military expenses for suppressing the rebellion, even the specifications of his wedding were downgraded.

However, it had only been a few months, and he was suddenly told that the money was not enough, which really made Emperor Yongning unable to bear it.

"Your Majesty, besides military expenditure, the imperial court is also responsible for relieving refugees and organizing local people to restore production.

Taking the Guangxi Campaign as an example, the imperial court spent a total of over two million taels of silver before and after, only then did we have the current victory report.

Among them, direct military expenditure only accounted for one-third, and the rewards for the three armies and the pension for the fallen soldiers accounted for two-tenths.

The remaining expenses were mostly used to relieve refugees and post-war reconstruction.

Feeding prisoners of war and rebel family members is also a not-small expense.

According to reports from Guangxi, as of the middle of last month, the prisoners captured exceeded one hundred and fifty thousand, and the rebel family members detained also exceeded one hundred thousand.

Because there were too many people, the Guangxi side had to leave behind a guard of troops responsible for guarding these criminals."

After listening to the explanation of Minister of Revenue Pang Chengjie, Emperor Yongning fell silent instantly.

These are all realistic problems.

As an emperor who wants face, he cannot say words about giving up relieving refugees.

The prisoners of war and rebel family members captured cannot be killed now either.

The rebellion has not been suppressed yet; killing at this time is forcing the rebels to fight to the end.

Once the rebels are forced to a dead end, the combat power the enemy can erupt with will definitely not be just this little bit.

The post-war expenses cannot be moved, and the military expenses cannot be touched even more.

The officers and soldiers on the front line are fighting bloody battles; if their treatment is reduced, and the troops mutiny, it will be big trouble.

When the Guangdong Campaign broke out, similar cases appeared. Although they successfully managed the military generals, the price was the fall of Guangdong.

"Cabinet, do you have any strategy?"

Emperor Yongning asked expectantly.

War is really too expensive.

The Guangxi Campaign consumed over a quarter of the funds, and the expenses of the other armies were also not low.

It's just that there were no battle achievements to show for the time being, and no lost territory was recovered, so wanting to ask the imperial court for money lacked confidence.

"Your Majesty, for the current plan, we can only first divert funds from other places.

Delay the payment of salaries to officials, nobles, and the clan, and wait until the imperial court's finances improve to fill the gap.

Considering the living problems of officials, the income of officials below the sixth rank is relatively low, so we will not forcibly deduct salaries.

For officials from the sixth to the third rank, salaries will be paid in half. For officials above the third rank, salaries will be temporarily suspended!"

Pang Hengsheng replied slowly.

He knew that his proposal was very hateful.

But for a while, the imperial court could not produce money, and taxes could not be increased at this time.

Delaying salary payments became the only solution to solve the predicament in the short term.

In order to reduce the resistance from below, he also specifically excluded lower-level officials, only letting middle and high-level officials, nobles, and the clan pay the bill.

Anyway, these officials had high gray income, and the salaries issued by the imperial court were just a little daily pocket money.

For those who lived extravagantly, the salaries they received each month might not even be enough for one meal.

"Grand Secretary Pang, this matter is inappropriate!

The hundred officials, nobles, and the clan are not wealthy either; if salary payments are suspended, how will everyone live?"

A middle-aged censor took the lead in opposing it.

Money is a small matter; the key is that this precedent cannot be opened.

Once the emperor discovers that when financial difficulties arise, he can find ways from officials, it will be big trouble.

When the late emperor was on the throne, the several major cases he launched earned a lot of money every time.

Such a flashy operation must not be learned by the new monarch.

"Alas!"

"The imperial court is having a hard time!"

"The Ministry of Revenue has no money now, but suppressing the rebellion cannot stop."

"Forget it!"

"Forcibly stipulating it is indeed a bit difficult for people; let everyone donate voluntarily."

"I, as the Chief Grand Secretary, will set an example first and donate half a year's salary to fill the military use."

Pang Hengsheng said with feigned difficulty.

He did not want to do things that offended people either.

If the hundred officials did not oppose it, pushing it forward would be fine.

Since someone stood up, he could not insist on his own opinion.

Realizing that the opposition in the court was strong, he decisively chose to settle for the second best.

Change forced salary arrears to voluntary donations.

With the current foreshadowing, if the imperial court has no money later and the Ministry of Revenue cannot issue salaries, it will not be his responsibility.

"Grand Secretary is wise!"

The chorus of the hundred officials made Emperor Yongning's eyebrows full of cold light.

From beginning to end, they did not ask for his opinion as the emperor, which was really too arrogant and domineering.

Guangxi.

After the great battle ended, Li Mu became busier and busier.

The imperial court had not yet sent enough civil officials to take over the local area, and the officials who had already been appointed, upon hearing that they were going to Guangxi to take office, all scrambled to pretend to be sick.

Everyone knew that this was a mess.

After the war, it was a ruin; not only could they not make money, but they might also have to pay money into it.

They also had to suffer the threat of the rebels, and if they were not careful, they would be chopped by the rebels.

No matter how much they wanted to be officials, before the White Lotus Sect was wiped out, Guangxi was a forbidden place for the hundred officials.

Civil officials did not come, so local affairs could only be temporarily under military management.

Jing Yifeng had no interest in the work of governing the local area, and the pressure was all on the commander Li Mu and the army supervisor Jia Bo.

The two carried out a strategic division of labor; relieving refugees and restoring production were all the responsibility of Jia Bo.

Li Mu was responsible for presiding over the work of pursuing and suppressing the remnants of the rebels, as well as managing prisoners of war and rebel family members.

It seemed to be biased toward military affairs, but in reality, it was more about people's livelihood.

Clearing out the remnants of the rebels was simple; the scattered rebels simply could not form a climate.

The Tusi, whose vitality was severely damaged, were also unable to resist the butcher knife of the imperial army.

In just over a month, Li Mu successively eradicated dozens of Tusi camps.

The Tusi forces under his rule were directly swept away.

The imperial court's policy of "replacing Tusi with appointed officials" had not yet been released, but because of their participation in the rebellion, the Tusi forces east of the Dajiang River passively completed the land reform ahead of schedule.

The mastermind was chopped off, but the remaining villagers needed careful screening.

Which ones belonged to the rebel family members and which ones were victims under the oppression of the rebels all needed people to be arranged to characterize them.

After completing the work of catching people, the next step was land revolution.

According to Li Mu's own wishes, it was naturally to directly distribute the Tusi's land to these villagers, solving the problem once and for all.

It is a pity that this way of playing was not allowed by the gentry group.

Or rather, any act of equalizing land was a heresy in the eyes of the gentry and had to be fully suppressed by the gentry group.

Knowing the severity of the problem, Li Mu, who could not withstand the pressure, could only choose land nationalization, not touching the bottom line of the gentry.

The village slave became a tenant farmer; his political status improved, but his living standard did not significantly improve for a while.

The rent collected by the government seemed to be much lower, but in the process of specific implementation, the clerks below would still peel off a layer.

Whether they could get benefits, no one could tell clearly.

After all, there were not a few people who were forced to ruin their families and forced to go up the mountain by clerks every year.

The bottom-level people had their own simple logic; without seeing tangible benefits, they naturally could not gain their support.

Coupled with some unstable elements who were inclined to the Tusi lurking, it brought very big trouble to the governance work.

In order to avoid rebellion under his rule, Li Mu could only split these people and settle them in various places.

After a swap between various prefectures, the acquaintance society originally based on villages was broken, preventing the possibility of gathering crowds to rebel.

But such a large-scale population migration was also a big project.

Not only did it cost a lot of manpower, financial resources, and material resources to help them move, but it also tested organizational ability very much.

It made the military officers below almost become local government offices, busy dealing with miscellaneous affairs all day long.

Besides the large migration, so many prisoners of war and rebel family members could not be idle either.

The work of resuming farming was also unfolding hotly on the land of Guangxi.

A lot of energy was tied to people's livelihood, and military affairs inevitably slowed down.

Besides resuming the establishment of local guards step by step, Li Mu did not take any big actions.

"Commander Li, Regional Commander Jing, the Grand Secretary intends to launch a strategic counterattack in the summer.

Our task is to capture Guangxi and raid the rebels' lair.

If possible, it is best to cooperate with the imperial army in Jiangxi and Fujian to recover Guangzhou Prefecture."

After Jia Bo finished speaking, Li Mu and Jing Yifeng looked at each other and smiled bitterly.

It was really looking too highly at them.

Although in recent days, the scale of the guard troops under Li Mu's command had expanded rapidly, and the total force had broken through the forty thousand mark.

But an increase in troops did not mean that combat power had increased.

The troops that could really fight were still the original Yangzhou Camp and Huai'an Camp.

The guard troops recruited first had just reached the third-line level.

When they reached the battlefield, they were not necessarily the opponents of the White Lotus Sect elites.

The troops just recruited were purely a group of mobs.

Let alone letting them go to the battlefield, even acting as auxiliary troops to transport materials, they could only do the work of corvee labor.

"Magistrate Jia, you are clear about the situation in Guangxi.

We have a large number of prisoners of war and rebel family members who need heavy troops to guard, and the people below have not returned their hearts to the imperial court either.

If a great war is launched, the mobile troops we can use will not exceed twenty thousand.

Because the battle line is stretched, the troops that can actually fight will continue to shrink.

Attacking one or two rebel prefectures alone can still be barely done, but attacking multiple places at the same time is courting death!"

Li Mu immediately complained.

Although after the Guangxi Campaign, the imperial court allocated a lot of money and grain, these were all exchanged with their lives.

War is about people dying; even if you win the battle, some people will still fall.

The war has been going on until now, and the attrition of the Yangzhou Camp and Huai'an Camp has exceeded one thousand each.

Some fell on the battlefield, and some were unaccustomed to the water and soil, and lay down as soon as they arrived at the place.

The troop gap is easy to supplement, but the combat power of old soldiers and new soldiers is completely different.

It was hard to welcome a rest period, and now they have to fight again, which is really difficult for people.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 183 =====