Chapter 186: Li's Land Calculation Method

The welcoming banquet began, and the two protagonists talked and laughed gracefully, completely without the tension they had expected.

Besides the banquet being slightly poor, there were basically no faults to pick.

As a melon-eating crowd, Li Mu watched the two fight with all his might.

The seemingly peaceful banquet was actually full of swords and shadows.

As the host, Jia Bo tested many times, but it is a pity that Zhang Sihan did not take the move at all.

Intuition told Li Mu that Zhang Sihan, who was demoted, had not admitted defeat and was still planning a comeback.

Such a choice has no problems at all.

At the age of fifty, it is the time to fight.

Even if he was demoted, he is still the military and political master of a province. It is enough to prove that he only lost in the political struggle and did not lose his pants.

There must be someone in the court who spoke for him, otherwise it would not be as simple as demotion.

As long as he can make achievements in Guangxi, he can still return to the capital.

After wandering around in the local area, bringing political achievements back to the court, his development limit will no longer be limited to the position of Vice Minister.

Going further to serve as a Minister of a Ministry, or even directly entering the cabinet, is also very possible.

In an instant, Li Mu thought of "replacing Tusi with appointed officials".

Guangxi was almost beaten into ruins, and the post-war recovery will last for many years. The only thing that can make political achievements in the short term is "replacing Tusi with appointed officials".

Those who can climb out in the officialdom are all elites. They may be greedy and corrupt, or extravagant and licentious, but their vision will absolutely not be bad.

As long as they are willing to put down their posture and deeply understand the current situation in Guangxi, they can perceive the opportunities hidden in it.

Although Zhang Sihan was forced to come to Guangxi, it is precisely because he had no choice that he would put effort into understanding the real situation in Guangxi.

After two great battles, the strength of the Guangxi Tusi has been damaged by eight or nine out of ten, and they are simply unable to continue to resist the imperial court.

As long as the White Lotus Sect rebellion is quelled, replacing Tusi with appointed officials is a matter of course. No one can refuse the political achievements delivered to the door.

Judging from the current situation, Zhang Sihan is not the first imperial court official to perceive the opportunities in Guangxi, nor will he be the last.

Even if it is not discovered now, after the war ends, the big officials in the court will react.

The world is so magical; when opportunities appear, the bitter cold place that everyone fears can suddenly become a fragrant bun.

Qingliu's empty talk misleads the country, not because they really like empty talk. It is purely limited by their own abilities, and there is no way to make political achievements.

Many people are typical theoretical knowledge full, execution is zero. When doing specific things, they do one thing and ruin one thing, and finally have no choice but to become theorists.

Liking to pick faults with officials who do things is partly due to jealousy, but more to brush up on their sense of existence.

Jumping out at a critical moment to perform, in essence, is still proving to the emperor that they are also doing things.

Political achievements cannot be compared with practical officials, but officials who supervise and pick faults usually promote faster than officials who do the work themselves.

"Commander Li, Regional Commander Jing, why don't you speak?"

Perhaps it was because he did not want to play Tai Chi with Jia Bo, Zhang Sihan suddenly opened his mouth and shifted the topic to Li Mu and Jing Yifeng, who were eating melons and watching the show.

Compared to the regular welcoming banquet, this banquet was much colder. Not only was the restaurant grade low and the dishes scarce, but the regular singing and dancing performances did not exist.

Even the officials participating in the banquet were only four people. Two of them were eating melons and watching the show, and the remaining two, no matter how talkative they were, could not avoid the cold scene.

"Provincial Governor, we two are clumsy and not good at words.

If there is any neglect, please forgive me!"

Li Mu smiled and took the conversation.

There is fun to watch, and only a fool would participate in the high-end quarrels between civil officials.

At this time, supporting either side would offend the other.

It is not that he is afraid of offending people, but it is not necessary.

Emperor Yongning has just personally governed, and the situation in the court is in a turbulent period. Major factions are very active, and who can stand to the end is simply unclear.

Wanting to take the great merit of Guangxi's replacing Tusi with appointed officials into his own pocket, working hard in the local area is not enough, but also depends on the changes in the court situation.

Because the faction he belongs to failed in the party struggle, it is common to be usurped by others after working hard until the end and having the peach picked away.

Unless he can beat people to death with one stick, or squeeze the other party out of Guangxi, he will not easily offend people.

"Commander Li is really joking!

Both generals are commanding thousands of troops and horses, galloping on the battlefield, how can they be clumsy.

The great war next, still needs the two generals to contribute, to wipe out the rebels in Guangxi cleanly.

I won't talk nonsense about the extra content.

For the sake of the imperial court, for the sake of the Emperor, please give me advice on the upcoming rebellion suppression war!"

After Zhang Sihan finished speaking, Li Mu and Jing Yifeng had not yet reacted, and Jia Bo on the side could not stand it first.

The seemingly simple flattery is actually aimed at the army's command power.

Now Li Mu and Jing Yifeng are both Guangxi officials, although their ranks are not lower than Zhang Sihan, Great Dayu adopts the strategy of governing the military with civil officials.

According to the rules of the imperial court, the Regional Military Commissioner and the Regional Commander must be responsible to the Provincial Governor.

At this moment, Zhang Sihan wants to exercise the power of the Guangxi Provincial Governor, and no one can pick out any faults.

However, after doing this, the status of Jia Bo, the army supervisor, suddenly became awkward.

Theoretically speaking, he has the great power to supervise all the actions of the main army, and even bypass the main commander to forcibly take over the army's command power when necessary.

But these powers are all limited to theory. If he really runs to grab the class and seize power, the military officers below can treat him as a rebel spy.

Once the main army belongs to the Provincial Governor, the speaking power of him, the army supervisor, will shrink significantly.

If the other party eats ugly, personally running to the army to sit in town, he can completely be shelved.

"Provincial Governor Zhang, you just arrived in Guangxi and are not familiar with the situation here.

Regarding military affairs, it is better not to intervene, so as not to disrupt the Grand Secretary's strategic deployment and affect the imperial court's great cause of suppressing the rebellion!"

Jia Bo interrupted unceremoniously.

Involving the power in his hands, he absolutely cannot make concessions.

Opening his mouth to move Grand Secretary Xu to press over, and then using righteousness to kidnap.

"Magistrate Jia, don't worry, I have a count in my heart.

I know what should be done and what should not be done!"

Zhang Sihan responded with a smile.

As a demoted official, he is very clear that he definitely does not have as much weight as Jia Bo in Grand Secretary Xu's side.

However, he also has his own advantages; the Guangxi Provincial Governor himself has great power.

Even if he does not intervene in military affairs, there are many things in other aspects that can be taken out to make articles.

Officials at the level of Provincial Governor have already entered the high level of Great Dayu, and personnel appointments need to pass through court discussion.

As long as he does not make mistakes himself, no one can easily take him down.

At present, what he needs most is not to fight for power and profit, but to first restore Guangxi's bureaucratic system and quickly establish his own team.

A Provincial Governor with the support of the bureaucratic system is the real frontier official.

The small episode ended, and the atmosphere in the room suddenly became awkward.

Theoretically speaking, at this time, as long as someone mediates in the middle and gives both sides a step down, the matter will pass.

It is a pity that this step does not appear.

Li Mu and Jing Yifeng, who were eating melons, directly turned into crazy dry-rice people, ignoring the embarrassment of the two.

Vulgar military generals, not understanding the high-end quarrels of civil officials, is completely reasonable.

Affected by the tense atmosphere, the welcoming banquet ended quickly.

Early the next morning, the temporary Provincial Governor's office was hung and established in Lianzhou Prefecture.

In order to restore the operation of the government office as soon as possible, Zhang Sihan directly stuffed his private secretary team into the government office.

Acting for the missing officials, handling the long-accumulated government affairs.

The expected picking of faults did not happen; the Provincial Governor's office issued official documents to retroactively recognize all kinds of special measures taken during the war.

As if yesterday's conflict never happened, there was no intention to make things difficult at all.

A punch hit the cotton, making Jia Bo very irritable.

Previously defeated the rebels and recovered a large area of lost territory.

Regardless of what policy was introduced, as long as it was related to this, it belonged to the expediency of the war; if you delve into it, it is not considering the overall situation.

The pit was dug, but the other party simply did not jump.

Failing to buckle the hat of not considering the overall situation on Zhang Sihan, his subsequent plans simply could not continue to unfold.

Waiting for the other party to stand firm, it would not be easy to drive people away again.

Knowing that the army supervisor was in a bad mood, Li Mu did not go up to him.

While eating melons and watching the show, while reorganizing the army and preparing for war, he was also busy organizing people to rush to harvest spring grain.

"Commander Li, how is the spring grain harvest?"

Jia Bo asked with concern.

The money and grain of the guard troops mainly rely on self-raising.

The situation in Guangxi is special, so the imperial court allocated money and grain to temporarily support this army.

Subsequent money and grain will still be provided by the imperial court, but this amount will inevitably be discounted.

The imperial court's anti-rebellion pay is limited, so being able to raise one point by oneself is one point.

"Very bad!

I have never seen such barren land since I was born; the yield per mu is afraid it is less than one shi."

Looking at the Provincial Governor and army supervisor who came together, Li Mu said with feigned anger.

Low grain yield is inevitable.

During winter plowing, it was already a bit late for the season.

In order to rush for time and plant more land, there was no time to use fertilizer.

Playing is wide planting and thin harvesting, and the yield per mu is naturally pitifully low.

"The yield per mu is actually so low!"

Zhang Sihan's face changed greatly.

I have long heard that Guangxi is a bitter cold place, but I never thought it would be so bitter to this extent.

Such a low grain yield is undoubtedly a disaster for him, the Provincial Governor.

"Provincial Governor, why make such a fuss.

Lingnan has been a bitter cold place since ancient times; the land is mostly mountainous, and low grain yield is normal.

However, in this way, the military grain of the guard is afraid that it is not enough for self-use, let alone supporting other places.

It seems that next, we still have to rely on the imperial court to transfer grain from outside.

Provincial Governor, I will ask the imperial court for military grain.

The rations for refugees and war criminals will have to trouble you to solve!"

Jia Bo said with schadenfreude.

Before Zhang Sihan took office, these annoying things all relied on him to solve.

The disaster relief grain allocated by the imperial court was simply not enough.

As a last resort, he could only falsely report some troop numbers to get through the difficulties.

Now these troublesome things were all transferred to the local area, so it should be Zhang Sihan, the Provincial Governor, who is responsible.

"Magistrate Jia, did you not organize corvee to collect taxes?"

Zhang Sihan asked with worry.

Asking the imperial court for money and grain is a bitter errand.

The bureaucratic system that even dares to deduct military pay will only deduct disaster relief grain more severely.

What was allocated on the surface was good rice, but when it reached the local area, it became chaff.

If you cannot raise a portion of grain from the local area and rely entirely on the imperial court's allocation, people will really starve to death.

"Provincial Governor, are you joking!

These prefectures are all newly recovered; the people have suffered from the rebels' poison and are in the most embarrassed time.

Go and see near the villages below; how much grass roots and tree bark are left.

People are going to starve to death among the people; how could I take advantage of the fire to rob at this time.

As early as last year, I reported to the imperial court to exempt the people of Guangxi from taxes for three years."

After listening to Jia Bo's answer, Zhang Sihan was almost broken by anger.

Knowing that he could not hold expectations, he never thought that the situation would be worse than he expected.

Being able to let officials take the initiative to give up collection can only prove that there is really no oil and water to squeeze among the people.

Looking at Li Mu, who was wandering outside the sky, he decisively dispelled the idea of transferring grain from the guard.

Intuition told him that if he made this excessive request, his Provincial Governor would be over.

"People's livelihood is difficult!"

After sighing, Zhang Sihan said with difficulty.

"According to the Great Dayu Law, rebel family members and prisoners of war, besides the leaders who need to be beheaded, the rest are to be exiled and sent to the army.

Guangxi has been an exile place since ancient times, and Great Dayu cannot find a place more remote than here.

Commander Li, I will make a judgment on these people in a few days; at that time, I need you to take over.

The funding given by the imperial court is limited, and the Provincial Governor's office can only provide you with limited subsidies.

The gap part can only be supplemented after the government office's finances improve."

Rebel family members and prisoners of war were originally handled by Li Mu's people.

It is just that the eating and drinking of these people were borne by the local government according to the rules.

Guangxi local government did not exist; in the early stage, Li Mu thought of ways to pay for it, and later after the army supervisor arrived, he supplemented part of the expenses.

After Zhang Sihan, the Provincial Governor, took office, these burdens were logically thrown to him.

Theoretically, he could ask the imperial court for help, but this takes time.

What Jia Bo transferred to him was only disaster relief grain; the expenses for rebel family members and prisoners of war mainly relied on falsely reported military grain to fill the pit.

Clearly, only four guards' establishment were restored, but the money and grain allocated above were according to twelve guards, plus thirty thousand recruited soldiers.

Placed on the table, it certainly does not conform to the rules, but special times are handled specially.

Now the powers are separated, and Jia Bo obviously will not take out military grain to solve the trouble for his competitor.

Zhang Sihan, who had no choice, could only run the procedures in advance and make judgments on prisoners of war and rebel family members.

According to the Great Dayu Law, after criminals are exiled and sent to the army, the prisoners have to rely on their own labor to support themselves.

Exile in normal times usually exiles three or five people, and when there are many, it is not more than a hundred people.

Major cases involving more people may not be encountered for decades.

Having free labor delivered to the door, and subsidies issued by the government office, the guard military officers naturally have no opinions.

But suddenly there are more than twenty thousand free laborers, and without enough subsidies, it turns from productivity into a burden.

Typical risk transfer method.

However, Zhang Sihan is sure that these burdens cannot crush Li Mu.

The money and grain allocated by Grand Secretary Xu to the Guangxi side are public information themselves.

Money and grain are controlled in Jia Bo's hands; he has no way to ask for them, which does not mean Li Mu cannot ask for them.

The soldiers guarding the granary are all troops under Li Mu's command.

He, the Provincial Governor, went to ask for grain, needing the army supervisor's approval slip.

If it were changed to Li Mu, the main commander, moving the granary empty, the army supervisor might not even discover it.

"Provincial Governor, according to the Great Dayu Law, I naturally have no opinion.

However, in the past years, Guangxi military land was wantonly enclosed by local clans, seriously affecting the survival of the army.

The resistance to clearing in the past was too great; now the resistance no longer exists, and we must clarify it as soon as possible."

Li Mu replied calmly.

Such a way of handling is certainly not satisfying to the army supervisor, but this is the choice that best fits his interests.

In the eyes of the outside world, rebel family members and prisoners of war are trouble, but in his hands, they are precious labor.

Letting these people do other things may have problems, but arranging for them to farm and mine will absolutely have no problems.

When he was in Yangzhou, he accumulated rich experience in handling criminals; now it is just a larger scale.

"Commander Li, is there an account book for military land?"

Zhang Sihan asked with concern.

Military land was not enclosed by his family; now returning it to the guard is returning it.

Anyway, the gentry clans were all harmed by the rebels, so doing this will not offend anyone.

"Provincial Governor, you are joking.

If the military land account book was not burned, the imperial court would not have such difficulty in clearing military land.

However, although I don't have the guard military land, I have the civil land accounts registered by the government.

There are three types of land on the Guangxi land: the first is military land, the second is civil land, and the third is Tusi land.

The Tusi's controlled area is designated by the imperial court, and can be calculated directly according to the official boundary.

After deducting the two, the rest is naturally the guard's military land."

Li Mu said nonsense with a straight face.

Although he is also a member of the aristocratic family, Li Mu still expresses shame at the behavior of aristocratic families hiding land and stealing taxes.

Now that the opportunity has been delivered to the door, not eating black and black is sorry for the opportunity given by God.

"Commander Li, calculating like this is afraid it is a bit inappropriate!"

Zhang Sihan instinctively opposed it.

After so many years of founding, how much land is hidden among the people, no one can tell clearly.

In the province of Guangxi, the black land hidden is afraid there are several million mu.

Such a big piece of fat, how can it be easily sent out.

However, hidden land cannot be said on the table. If the Emperor knows, this is a disaster.

"Provincial Governor, the situation in Guangxi is different from other provinces.

Many lands are in the hands of Tusi; the cultivated land in the area controlled by the imperial court is not as much as you expected.

Not to mention how barren the land here is, you can see it.

In terms of value, ten mu of dry land here cannot catch up with one mu of paddy field in Jiangnan.

You stuffed so many people to me, you can't let everyone starve, right?

You must know that this is just the beginning; after the rebellion is quelled, the number of criminals exiled will increase sharply!"

Li Mu bluffed without changing his expression.

How much cultivated land there is in Guangxi, no one can tell clearly now.

The data on the official registration is only ten million mu of cultivated land, of which military land accounts for one-fifth, and Tusi land accounts for four-tenths.

Undoubtedly, such data is definitely insulting to intelligence.

With the Chinese nation's love for land, it is impossible that there has been no increase in more than two hundred years since the founding of the country.

Looking at the population can explain the problem; the population at the beginning of the founding was about 1.4 million, and the total population was not less than 4 million before the rebellion broke out.

With the current grain production capacity, the ten million mu of land in Guangxi is very difficult to support 4 million people.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 187 =====