Chapter 184: Pressure

Thang Long Prefecture.

"Your Majesty, after winning the Guangxi Campaign, the Yu Dynasty people quickly recovered one-third of Guangxi's territory.

The White Lotus Sect rebels are not as strong as expected; counting on them to overthrow the Great Yu's rule is afraid there is not much hope.

The strategy we formulated before was too optimistic and needs to be adjusted significantly."

Chancellor Cui Ziyan said with a solemn expression.

According to their plan, with the help of the White Lotus Sect rebellion, they would provoke internal chaos in Great Dayu and let the world fall into a war between warlords.

Then gradually encroach on the Liangguang region, then swallow the Huguang region, and finally seize the Great Dayu's ten thousand miles of mountains and rivers.

The plan had just proceeded to the first step when it faced the risk of premature death.

Religious insurgent armies are originally super fierce in the early stage, and once they suffer a major defeat, they will gradually perform poorly later.

The peak period of the White Lotus Sect lasted too short a cycle and simply could not shake the rule of Great Dayu.

"We invested so many resources in the early stage without seeing a return; we cannot let the White Lotus Sect collapse so quickly!

Compared to Great Dayu, our Great Viet Kingdom is still too small. If we cannot take advantage of their weak period to go against the trend, once they recover, we will be in big trouble.

During Emperor Tianyuan's reign, he wanted to rebuild the Jiaozhi Provincial Administration Commissioner. If it weren't for his early death, maybe our Great Viet Dynasty would have already fallen into the flames of war.

Emperor Yongning is his younger brother and will definitely inherit his brother's will."

Viet Emperor Hu Ruiyang's firm tone carried a trace of panic.

Being neighbors with Great Dayu is not a good thing. In the past years, the Great Viet Dynasty has always been walking on thin ice.

Fearing being targeted by the Yu Dynasty people and turning them back into the Jiaozhi Provincial Administration Commissioner.

To change all this, after Hu Ruiyang ascended the throne, he began to sharpen his weapons and horses, constantly developing the military strength of the Great Viet Dynasty.

After more than twenty years, he finally annexed several regimes in the south and occupied most of the Zhongnanbandao.

Even so, facing this behemoth of Great Dayu, he still did not have the confidence to stand up straight.

The only means of confrontation is: do not pay tribute.

It is a pity that their weight is not enough; missing one vassal state paying tribute does not affect the strength of the Great Dayu Empire at all.

"Your Majesty, the Great Dayu Empire is still strong and has not yet reached the time when its rule collapses.

If we intervene directly in Great Dayu's internal chaos, they will definitely send troops to retaliate.

Two hundred years ago, our predecessors were able to protect their ancestors' foundation by bribing the civil officials of the Yu Dynasty, but that does not mean it is the same now.

So many years have passed, and it doesn't matter if we endure them for a few more years.

Must not be impulsive!"

Cui Ziyan hurriedly persuaded.

The strategic adjustment he proposed was to temporarily abandon the unrealistic strategic plan of swallowing Great Dayu, not to go to war with Great Dayu.

In the past years, countries that were enemies of the Central Plains dynasty gradually disappeared in the long river of history.

The Great Viet Dynasty could survive, not because their military strength was strong, nor because the climate of the Zhongnanbandao was harsh.

The Yu Dynasty people were willing to give up the Jiaozhi Provincial Administration Commissioner mainly because of the internal struggle between civil and military officials. The civil official group, in order to suppress military generals, was unwilling to waste money and grain on the remote Jiaozhi Provincial Administration Commissioner.

After so many years of development, the development of the Zhongnanbandao is more mature than before. Especially the Hanoi region is a rare fertile land.

Once the Yu Dynasty people discover that the Jiaozhi Provincial Administration Commissioner, which was once tasteless, hides a large amount of fertile land and has the hope of becoming the second Jiangnan.

Stimulating the desire for land in the bones of the Yu people, conservative scholars can also become radical main-war factions.

Relying on external expansion to transfer the social contradictions accumulated internally, there is no lack of precedents in history.

"Forget it!"

"Let the Yu Dynasty people go for now; when the time is ripe in the future, we will settle the score with them."

"However, the support for the White Lotus Sect needs to continue to increase. Didn't they want to buy grain and artillery a few days ago? Sell them all."

"From now on, no matter what they want to purchase, as long as we have it, sell it all to them!"

Hu Ruiyang said with unwillingness.

Originally, these were means to control the White Lotus Sect; now he suddenly discovered that the teammate's strength was not strong enough, so he had to milk them well, making these means all useless.

They didn't even need the White Lotus Holy Kingdom to come to the door and offer better conditions; they would take the initiative to sell artillery and grain themselves.

Economically, it was still a blood profit, but the political value shrank significantly. Wanting to force the White Lotus Sect to cede land was even more hopeless.

It was not that the White Lotus Sect was tough externally, but purely that the promises they made would not be recognized by the Great Dayu imperial court.

The change in the Annan Kingdom did not escape Li Mu's sight. The Factory and Guard warriors who defected handed over the intelligence of the Annan people doing business with the rebels early on.

After a slight hesitation, Li Mu chose to suppress the news.

The emperor's wedding was approaching, and everyone was busy celebrating. Handing such news up to add trouble to the emperor was too lacking in vision.

Even if Emperor Yongning knew that the Annan people were colluding with the rebels, he would at most issue an edict to reprimand them, which could not solve the problem at all.

Before suppressing the White Lotus Sect rebellion, the imperial court simply had no energy to seek trouble with the Annan people.

"Commander Li, the gift you prepared for the Emperor's wedding is too simple, isn't it?"

After looking at the gift list, Jia Bo asked with full of doubts.

The emperor's wedding is a big event; even if Emperor Yongning issued an edict to keep everything simple, the hundred officials still had to express their intentions.

The value of the gift is not stipulated, but it must exist; this is a matter of attitude.

In fact, having the qualification to send gifts to the emperor is also a manifestation of status and status.

Ordinary people, even if they want to send, do not have this qualification.

Having just crossed this threshold, Jia Bo, who lacked experience, originally wanted to borrow Li Mu's experience, but was stunned when he saw the gift list.

They were all local specialties of Guangxi; besides the large quantity, there was nothing valuable, and the total value did not exceed fifty taels.

Sending these things to the capital with great fanfare, the value of the goods themselves was not enough for the freight on the way.

"Magistrate Jia, what is the problem with this?"

"On the day of the Emperor's wedding, the hundred officials will all send congratulatory gifts; at that time, it will definitely be a competition of rare treasures from all over the world."

"I am busy with war and have no time to collect rare treasures, so I can only offer some local specialties."

After listening to Li Mu's explanation, Jia Bo was instantly speechless.

It was clearly perfunctory, but he actually said a bunch of big truths.

However, there was one point he understood: the gifts sent up could not stand out among the hundred officials, so mediocrity was fine.

No new ideas also meant no mistakes.

With so many people sending gifts, besides the individual outstanding ones, the emperor simply couldn't remember the rest.

"Thank you, Commander Li, for the reminder; I have learned!"

Jia Bo said calmly.

There are too many people who want to flatter the emperor; at this time, it is better not to be in the limelight.

If you really become the brightest cub, you will fall into the target of public criticism instead.

He is just Grand Secretary Xu's confidant, not Grand Secretary Xu's son.

If he poked a hole, his backer would not save him unconditionally.

Time flies, and with the end of the emperor's wedding, Great Dayu began to enter a new era.

According to practice, auxiliary ministers gradually transferred power to the emperor.

However, ministerial power and imperial power are a muddled account; nominally the emperor is supreme, but in actual operation, the power of the ministers is not small at all.

Because the cabinet ministers below had all served as auxiliary ministers, the cabinet's power was unparalleled for a time.

Even after Emperor Yongning completed his personal governance, when dealing with state affairs, the cabinet still occupied very heavy speaking power.

Several times he wanted to make decisions on his own, but he bumped into a nose of gray.

When it comes to playing with politics, Emperor Yongning is simply not an opponent.

The power struggle in the court had nothing to do with Xu Wenyue for the time being; at this moment, he was busy implementing the summer campaign.

Combining the strength of multiple provinces, mobilizing a total force of nearly one million, and dividing into six routes to besiege the rebels with provinces as units.

Such complex military dispatch, even famous generals of the past, could not play it well.

For Xu Wenyue, who came from Qingliu, it was even more of a challenge.

In order to implement his will, he sent army supervisors to each route of the main army to unify the dispatch of the six routes of troops.

Without any accidents, trouble still happened.

On the issue of suppressing the rebellion, the positions of the six provinces of Huguang, Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, Fujian, and Jiangxi were not exactly the same.

The resources everyone invested in this campaign were also not the same.

Huguang, where Xu Wenyue personally supervised the battle, was naturally the most active and completed preparations first.

The situation in other provinces was more complex.

Besides suppressing the rebels, Guangxi also had to face the threat of the Annan Kingdom.

Although they were actively participating in preparations, the troops that could be invested in the great war were limited.

Yunnan and Guizhou provinces, because of insufficient local financial resources, had difficulty raising military grain, which directly affected the progress of preparations.

Fujian, because its geographical location belongs to a place that military strategists do not fight for, the threat faced by the rebels was not serious, and the enthusiasm for participating in the war was not strong.

The jurisdiction of Xu Wenyue, the Viceroy of the Five Provinces, did not include Fujian.

If it weren't for the face of his cabinet minister, the Fujian side might not have sent troops.

After all, in the last operation to suppress the rebels, they completed a flat account.

Participating in the great war at this time, the benefits that could be harvested were limited, but the risks assumed were infinite.

If they lost the battle again, causing the military strength in the province to be severely damaged, the rebels would not mind taking them down by the way.

The situation in Jiangxi was slightly better; the local finances were wealthy and had the ability to support the great war.

But they could not withstand the lack of elite troops in the province.

The Jiangnan region not only has fertile land, but the folk economy is also relatively developed, and the people have more choices.

It is just that the treatment of the Great Dayu army is poor, and it is difficult to recruit enough high-quality soldiers.

Coupled with the corruption of the bureaucratic system, daily training is also perfunctory, which directly affects the combat power of the Gan Army.

Preparations went very smoothly, but when it came time to go to the battlefield, no one wanted to lead troops.

Looking at the news gathered from all over the place, Xu Wenyue was almost vomited blood with anger.

Seeing that the time for the summer campaign was approaching, everyone was complaining, which made him very angry.

"I, regardless of how many reasons you have, in short, the summer campaign must be launched on time.

The summer campaign is the key to suppressing the rebels; this battle is only allowed to win, not allowed to lose!

Whichever main army drags my feet, I will ask the Provincial Governor for guilt first."

Xu Wenyue ordered coldly.

The potential of bureaucrats is all forced out.

Without giving a death order, there will always be various excuses.

Unable to solve the problems one by one, he could only let the people below solve them themselves.

If they cannot solve it, then replace them with people who can solve the problem.

At this moment, he had already made up his mind that even if he offended more people, he had to force the task down.

He, the imperial envoy, only needs to put pressure on the Provincial Governors of each province.

When it reaches the local level, the Provincial Governor will naturally follow up and put pressure on the people below.

Difficulties certainly exist, but involving the official hat, I think they can still be overcome.

Besides "only allowed to win, not allowed to lose" being a bit difficult for people.

Other tasks, as long as the officials carry forward subjective initiative, can all be solved.

"Grand Secretary, the battlefield is ever-changing, who can guarantee......"

Before Yu Xiuwen could finish speaking, Xu Wenyue threw the case file over.

"If you can't guarantee it, you have to find a way to guarantee it.

The imperial court raising you is to let you solve problems!

Don't ask me about everything; if I finished all the things, what do I need you for?

The others are the same; bring my words to the Provincial Governors of each province without changing a word.

Whoever messes up the errand, I dare to guarantee that when the imperial court asks for guilt, it will definitely take his head off!"

The Guangxi Provincial Governor on the side was very embarrassed; he had not yet taken office, and he first had the risk of losing his head.

Wanting to open his mouth to explain, just intimidated by Grand Secretary Xu's majesty, made him swallow the words back.

It is not easy to be the Guangxi Provincial Governor; the bureaucratic system is in a state of suspension, and he, the Provincial Governor, is a bare pole.

The few guards that have just been restored, the personnel are all drawn from the Yangzhou Camp.

The recruited Gui Army, the personnel come from the Huai'an Camp.

They are all the direct descendants of Li and Jing, and there is no room for him to intervene at all.

Rushing over to take office, he can only live under others.

A Provincial Governor having to look at the faces of military generals to act, for Zhang Sihan, this is undoubtedly unacceptable.

Choosing to come to Wuchang Prefecture first was to seek support.

It is a pity that the support was not obtained, but instead, he received a huge trouble.

Other Provincial Governors can press the task down, but he doesn't even have subordinate officials in the Provincial Governor's office, so he doesn't know who to press if he wants to press.

"Provincial Governor Zhang, do you have different opinions?"

Unable to withstand Xu Wenyue's sharp eyes, Zhang Sihan hurriedly replied.

"No!

The Grand Secretary arranged it properly, and I will definitely complete it with all my strength!"

Regardless of whether it can be completed, he can only agree to it.

At this time, being transferred from the position of Vice Minister to Guangxi as Provincial Governor, it all shows that he failed in this round of power struggle.

As a loser, he is not qualified to say "no" to Xu Wenyue.

"Hmm!"

"Everyone don't have to worry; if things are messed up, there will be punishment, and if things are done well, there will naturally be no lack of rewards.

No matter who it is, as long as they make contributions in the anti-rebellion war, I will report to the Emperor for heavy rewards.

Assistant Regional Commander Li of the original Yangzhou Camp and Assistant Regional Commander Jing of the Huai'an Camp, because of their meritorious service in besieging the rebels, were recommended by this imperial envoy to the Emperor and were exceptionally promoted to Regional Military Commissioner and Regional Commander.

Jia Bo, who served as the army supervisor, was also promoted by one level.

As long as everyone can work for the imperial court with heart, I will absolutely not be stingy with rewards!"

Xu Wenyue immediately drew a big cake.

Setting an example in front was for now.

He wants everyone to know that working for him, Xu Wenyue, can get generous returns.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 185 =====