Chapter 197

Liuzhou Prefecture.

"Regional Commander, the rebels have lost their courage, and almost all the counties under Liuzhou have surrendered at the first sign of us.

From the captives we caught, we learned that the rebel army's puppet capital, Guilin, is empty, with no more than ten thousand defenders.

Since we've already fought our way here, why not strike while the iron is hot, recover Guilin in one fell swoop, capture the rebel leaders alive, and achieve an unparalleled merit!"

Looking at his overly optimistic subordinate, Jing Yifeng rolled his eyes on the spot.

"You believe what the captives say?

We have already fought our way to Liuzhou; as long as the rebels aren't stupid, they will strengthen the defenses of Guilin.

The emptiness of their forces is a thing of the past; by the time we fight our way over, the enemy will have long since made preparations.

News from the rear indicates that the rebels have abandoned the Zhen'an and Xunzhou regions and are withdrawing their troops to the rear.

The strategic objectives of this battle have all been achieved; there is no need to continue taking risks.

Even if we truly wanted to storm Guilin, we would have to wait for the reinforcements behind to arrive.

The rebels' lair is not as easy to attack as Liuzhou.

Without enough artillery, what are you going to use to storm the city?"

Analyzing it purely from a static battlefield perspective, this is indeed a good time to storm Guilin, but unfortunately, war is dynamic.

The enemy will not sit still and wait for death; the number of defenders is constantly changing.

Perhaps there are only ten thousand defenders in Guilin now, but by the time they fight their way over, that number will have increased several times over.

Deeply penetrating with an isolated force and failing to take the opponent's city for a long time would put the army in danger.

Standing from Jing Yifeng's perspective, there is absolutely no need to take risks now.

No matter how great the merit of suppressing the rebellion is, it is difficult for him to advance any further.

"General, this subordinate was only making a suggestion.

You see, the fighting in Liuzhou has come to an end, and just sitting idle isn't the way to go.

Capturing Guilin Prefecture is difficult, but taking a few county seats is very simple.

We can strike in the direction of Guilin and put on a show of storming Guilin to scare the enemy."

Battalion Commander Zhu spoke up again.

Being a soldier in the Great Dayu, the only way to get promoted and get rich is to rely on war.

This raid on Liuzhou allowed him to make a small fortune.

However, he is still a long way from financial freedom.

If we don't work hard to make money in such a favorable situation, are we supposed to count on getting rich in an unfavorable one?

Profit is always the best driver.

Aside from weapons, equipment, and grain being recorded, other assets that are easy to liquidate from the spoils of war are the personal property of the officers and soldiers.

A healthy army must have a perfect system for dividing the spoils.

High-ranking generals get rich, mid-level generals get to drink and eat meat, and the soldiers below can also get a bowl of soup.

"Hmm!"

"What you said is not wrong; we really can't just sit idle.

How about this: let the army put on a posture of launching an all-out attack on Guilin and take the few nearby counties.

Remember to send the scouts further out to guard against the enemy sending reinforcements!"

Jing Yifeng thought for a moment and said.

As a qualified Great Dayu general, he certainly cannot stop his subordinates from making money.

Besides, his own pockets aren't full; the spoils of war he obtained earlier were all used to fill the holes in logistics.

The Guangxi region is poor, and there isn't that much grease to scrape off; if they don't capture more cities, it won't be enough to go around.

……

Nanning Prefecture.

"Provincial Governor, you must hurry and urge the imperial court to send officials over to take over the local administration as soon as possible!"

Li Mu said with a face full of exhaustion.

After receiving the news of the rebels' withdrawal, he became busy.

On one hand, he had to pursue and suppress the remnants of the rebels; on the other, he had to send troops to recover lost territory, and he also had to arrange for people to control the local areas.

Without the cooperation of a bureaucratic system, they could only crudely implement military control.

Although he had previous experience, talent for managing local areas is not like Chinese cabbage.

Aside from a small number of military generals who were capable of local management work, most were just being forced into roles they weren't ready for.

The management style adopted was entirely that of the military, and they were completely incapable of being flexible.

For a time, problems kept popping up everywhere, leaving Li Mu completely overwhelmed.

"Commander Li, please bear with it for a while.

I have already sent people to urge the imperial court, but don't hold too high expectations.

Even if His Majesty can send officials over, they will mostly be people who are not doing well in the capital.

Truly experienced officials with strong governance capabilities are needed everywhere."

Zhang Sihan said with a troubled expression.

Before, he was worried about how to recover lost territory; now, he is worried because too much lost territory has been recovered.

Asking the imperial court for people is not the first time he has done this.

Unfortunately, his influence is not enough, and Guangxi is disliked by the literati, so the imperial court won't be able to assemble that many officials in the short term.

According to the news he received, in order to assemble officials as quickly as possible, the Emperor has already ordered the selection of officials from among the Juren.

Regrettably, there are very few Juren remaining in the capital who have signed up.

It is estimated that even if the news spreads across the country, they might not be able to fill the vacancies.

Unless they are particularly obsessed with becoming officials, everyone will choose to avoid this pit at this time.

In other places, a clean prefect can make a hundred thousand silver snowflakes in three years.

Guangxi, which has just been baptized by the flames of war, is estimated to require even the ice and charcoal tributes for superiors to be paid out of one's own pocket.

Some areas that suffered severely from the war have even been turned into no-man's-lands.

Never mind making money, you can't even see a few living people.

Judging from the rough statistics from below, the population in various places is not even half of what it was before the war.

Influenced by the White Lotus Holy Kingdom's policy of "every citizen a soldier," the loss of young and strong men in various places is particularly severe; those left behind are mostly the elderly, weak, women, and children, and agricultural production has been severely damaged.

Aside from these problems, the war has also created a large number of refugees who are waiting for the imperial court to provide relief.

"Provincial Governor, see for yourself!

A rough estimate is that the grain gap in the Guangxi region this year exceeds 1.5 million shi.

What's worse is that most of the common people don't have any money; even if grain merchants transport grain in, they can't afford the high grain prices.

We can't have these people not starve to death under the rule of the White Lotus Sect, only to have hundreds of thousands starve to death under the rule of the imperial court!"

Li Mu said these heart-piercing words on the spot.

Based on his understanding of the Great Dayu bureaucracy, as long as these guys can muddle through, they will absolutely not put in the effort to deal with it.

The literati and officialdom don't care at all about the life and death of the common people at the bottom.

At most, when they are reciting poetry, they will sigh a few times, and that counts as worrying about the country and the people.

The proportion of officials who truly care about people's livelihoods in the imperial court is really too small.

However, these people also have their own weaknesses, which is that they care about their reputation.

No one cares if a large number of people starve to death in secret, but once it is brought out into the open, the situation is different.

No one can bear the political consequences of hundreds of thousands of people starving to death.

Especially for local officials, having hundreds of thousands of people starve to death under their governance means being infamous for ten thousand years.

Once such a vicious incident occurs, their political opponents in the imperial court won't mind taking the opportunity to send them to the guillotine.

"It won't come to that!"

"Things won't come to that point!"

"Commander Li, you can't just say things like that!"

Zhang Sihan hurriedly denied it.

Deep down, he already hated Li Mu to death.

By putting all the problems on the table at once, if they aren't solved, he, the Provincial Governor, will be the primary person responsible.

But wanting to solve the problems requires a massive amount of money and grain.

A grain gap of 1.5 million shi, even if placed in the wealthiest Nanzhili, would be very difficult to raise in a short period of time.

One must know that the total annual tax grain of the Great Dayu Dynasty, when added all together, is only 30 million shi.

Influenced by the war, the grain tax the imperial court can collect this year will drop by at least one-third.

It seems the imperial court still has plenty of grain in its hands, but the imperial court doesn't just have to feed Guangxi.

The salaries of civil and military officials, the military grain for the Nine Borders' strategic garrisons, and the many provinces trapped in war all need the support of the imperial court.

"Provincial Governor, I am not joking with you.

The estimated grain gap does not include military grain.

If you don't believe me, go and disguise yourself as a merchant and go deep into the civilian population to take a look.

Before the White Lotus Sect rebels withdrew, they sealed all the grain shops and warehouses in the city.

The grain that could be taken away was taken away, and what couldn't be taken away was burned to the ground.

The recovered Zhen'an, Xunzhou, and other places are all a complete mess.

Don't hope to use military grain to fill the hole; even if the soldiers don't eat or drink, they can't afford to feed so many mouths.

If we can't find a way to solve it, this general can only withdraw troops from these places and report the matter truthfully to the imperial court!"

Li Mu said coldly.

It's not that he is being aggressive; it's mainly that the local people can't afford to wait.

The rebels' methods were too vicious; relying solely on the people's own stored grain, they wouldn't be able to hold out for long.

Some city residents without stored grain are already waiting for rice to put in the pot.

To stabilize the situation, he is on one hand launching post-war reconstruction through work-relief, and on the other, taking out the captured grain to let the grain shops reopen.

However, this can only solve the immediate crisis; the general trend of grain shortages in Guangxi has not changed.

If measures are not taken in time, the situation in Guangxi will collapse before the end of the year.

"Commander Li, I can only do my best.

It's just that I was demoted to Guangxi and was never well-regarded in the imperial court.

Wanting to persuade the Emperor and the Cabinet to allocate so much grain is almost impossible.

This matter still requires everyone's help to overcome the difficulties."

Zhang Sihan said helplessly.

Facts have proven that none of the demoted officials can get a good job.

Even though he knew beforehand that being the Guangxi Provincial Governor wouldn't be easy, he never expected it to be this thorny.

The rebels' retreat this time was hasty, and they only moved the stored grain in the city, which created a big problem.

If the enemy had more time and had also requisitioned the grain in the countryside, the situation would be even worse.

"I will write to my uncle and father-in-law and ask them to help operate.

But money and grain are managed by civil officials; wanting the imperial court to urgently transfer grain over, their support alone is not enough."

Li Mu said frankly.

Now every place is asking the imperial court for money and grain, but the Great Dayu's finances are not wealthy.

Both the palm and the back of the hand are meat; every place is important, and the high-level officials are also in a difficult position.

"As for Grand Secretary Xu, I will be responsible for talking to him.

Our performance on the battlefield is not bad, so it shouldn't be difficult to get his support.

However, a gap of 1.5 million shi is too large; if the Grand Secretary can provide us with an extra 500,000 shi, that would be pretty good.

Aside from finding ways through the imperial court, Provincial Governor, you should take more measures to encourage merchants to transport grain to Guangxi."

Jia Bo said with a grave expression.

Knowing the severity of the issue, this time he did not kick someone when they were down.

However, the solution he gave made Zhang Sihan particularly headache-ridden.

Encouraging merchants to transport grain to Guangxi sounds simple, but the problem is that the Guangxi business community now only has a few small cats and dogs left.

These people can solve a gap of a thousand or eight hundred shi.

Expecting them to solve a gap of hundreds of thousands of shi is purely making things difficult for people.

The main thing is that Zhang Sihan has no money in his hands!

The conditions he can offer now are all just drawing big cakes.

Having served as an official in the center for many years, he knows that there is a lack of connection between grain in different places, and both sides lack sufficient trust.

"Many thanks to both of you for your support!

I will issue an edict immediately: as long as one transports over 10,000 shi of grain to Guangxi within the year, they will be granted a merchant permit.

From then on, they will be given preferential treatment for doing business within Guangxi!"

Seeing the big cake Zhang Sihan drew, Li Mu was somewhat dumbfounded.

With such a crude promise, it would be strange if merchants bought it.

The current situation is not just about transporting grain over; it's also about ensuring it is sold at a low price.

Calculating this account purely from an economic perspective, doing this business is a complete loss for them.

"Provincial Governor, merchants are the most profit-driven; your promise is not tempting enough.

Instead of issuing a public notice, it would be better to send people to contact the big merchants in the Southeast region and privately promise them a favor.

You don't need to pay too much; if each family transports a ship of grain over, more than half the problem will be solved.

If the Provincial Governor is willing to outsource the government-run mines, this general can persuade the merchants of Nanzhili to solve the gap of 500,000 shi."

Li Mu said tentatively.

The profitability of the Great Dayu's government-run enterprises is a complete mess.

If he hadn't checked the accounts himself, no one would believe that the highly profitable Nanning silver mine only contributed a profit of a little over 3,000 taels to the imperial court annually.

The total profit contributed by dozens of silver mines of all sizes in the entire Guangxi region is less than 10,000 taels.

If even the highly profitable silver mines are like this, the profits contributed by other mineral resources are even less.

That they haven't appeared as losses is the result of the rectification during the Emperor Tianyuan era.

Rather than fattening those bureaucrats, it's better to outsource them yourself, and the imperial court can also save on supervision costs.

However, if he does this, the pressure will be on Zhang Sihan.

Being impeached by the Censor is only a matter of time.

"Commander Li, I'll trouble you to operate in the middle.

I can take out Guangxi's mineral resources for outsourcing, but the rent must be paid in grain.

However, since it's outsourcing, we can't let the imperial court suffer a loss.

At its peak, the total profit of mineral resources in the Guangxi region was over 30,000 taels, so let's calculate it based on 30,000 taels.

Adding taxes and various apportionments, let's just say 50,000 taels.

I remember that the price of rice in Jiangnan has always fluctuated around 5 qian/shi, the price of coarse grain can be half as cheap, and bran is even cheaper.

Considering the high grain prices now, as well as the increased transportation costs.

According to a mix of 30% coarse grain and 70% bran, give me 300,000 shi of grain annually as rent.

As long as they transport 900,000 shi of grain over within the year, I will take the initiative to contract these mineral resources to them for three years.

And I guarantee that during this period, the yamen will not have any tax apportionments!"

Zhang Sihan hardened his heart and said.

If the imperial court's allocation of money and grain is not enough, then he can only find a way himself.

As for the fact that doing this violates the interests of the Ministry of Revenue and the Tax Supervisor, he can no longer care about that much.

"Commander Li, the situation in Guangxi is special; those who can afford grain are in the minority.

If you use all good rice for relief, no amount of grain will be enough to fill this hole.

After mixing in bran, the grain originally used to relieve one person can save..."

"Provincial Governor, no need to say more.

You have more experience than I do in local governance, so just do as you see fit.

For the sake of the people of Guangxi, this general will definitely do his best to facilitate this matter!"

Before Zhang Sihan could finish explaining, Li Mu interrupted directly.

He originally thought that exchanging grain for bran to relieve disaster victims was the original creation of that Lord He, but now it seems there was clearly a precedent.

But thinking about it, it's normal; the money and grain allocated by the imperial court are not enough, and they can't let a large number of disaster victims starve to death.

Taking extraordinary measures is also a last resort.

Zhang Sihan's approach can be considered open and aboveboard; at the very least, he didn't make money at a time like this.

(End of chapter)