Chapter 200: Another Cunning Plot

"There is no perfect solution, but there is still a clumsy method.

Simply convert the soldiers maintaining local order into the three-class yamen runners, and half of the local difficulties will be resolved.

The remaining vacancies in the yamen can be filled slowly."

Zhou Zhenbang replied, biting the bullet.

The atmosphere had been built up; if he didn't produce a solution, he would lose face.

In a moment of desperation, he had no choice but to offer a bad idea.

"Magistrate Zhou, the Guangxi region has eleven prefectures, nine directly governed departments, and over fifty county cities below them.

Filling the establishment of the three-class yamen runners requires over ten thousand people.

Considering the current special circumstances, to maintain local stability, the personnel allocation must at least be doubled.

This is the critical moment of the great campaign to suppress the rebellion; what exactly is your intention in pulling so many people out of the army?"

Jia Bo immediately questioned him.

Affecting the suppression of the rebellion was just an excuse; what truly angered him was that the aftereffects were too severe.

Having stayed in the army for so long, he was very clear about Li Mu's prestige among the soldiers.

The Guangxi military was already very powerful; if the grassroots officials were also replaced by soldiers, they, the local officials, would inevitably be hollowed out.

By then, regardless of whether it was the Provincial Governor or the Provincial Administration Commissioner, everyone would have to act according to others' whims.

"Magistrate Jia is right. The Bai Lian Sect rebellion has already threatened the foundation of Great Dayu and must be suppressed as soon as possible.

The imperial court has repeatedly ordered us to accelerate the progress of the suppression.

All current measures must revolve around suppressing the rebellion.

Any action that affects the great cause of suppression is not permitted!"

Zhang Sihan's follow-up attack left Zhou Zhenbang in a daze.

He had clearly inquired beforehand that the Provincial Governor and the Provincial Administration Commissioner were mortal enemies who frequently clashed.

Yet the scene before him clearly did not match the intelligence he had gathered.

The Provincial Governor and the Provincial Administration Commissioner were not tearing each other apart; instead, they had united to suppress him, the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner.

Merely proposing the lifting of military control had made him the target of public criticism; this was simply too unreasonable.

"Hmph!"

Unable to figure out the situation, Zhou Zhenbang could only let out a cold snort to express his dissatisfaction.

Deep down, he had already made up his mind to impeach them.

The imperial court had always severely cracked down on such behavior of local officials banding together.

For the Provincial Governor, Provincial Administration Commissioner, Regional Military Commissioner, and Regional Commander to walk together was clearly forming a clique for private interests.

"Gentlemen, let us discuss the Guilin strategy instead!"

Seeing the tense atmosphere, Jing Yifeng spoke up to change the subject.

He could ignore the infighting among civil officials, but it could not affect the frontline war.

Liuzhou was captured by his troops, and the frontline units currently bordering the enemy were also his subordinates.

The rebel army was gathering forces toward Guilin; if a response plan was not produced quickly, the military pressure he would face later would be too great.

"The situation in Yunnan is not looking good. Although the imperial court has opened up the local militia, it will be difficult to form combat effectiveness in the short term.

The enemy is less than a hundred miles from Kunming, and the situation in Yunnan could potentially collapse at any time.

I do not expect to capture Guilin in one fell swoop, but at the very least, we must ignite the flames of war here to share their military pressure.

If we can exert enough pressure on the rebel army to force them to withdraw from the three major battlefronts, that would be even better!"

Jia Bo was the first to state his position.

Grand Secretary Xu did not strictly order the Guangxi side to send troops, but the meaning revealed in his letters was that he hoped they could take action.

As a confidant, he naturally had to carry out the boss's will.

"Commander Li, what is your opinion?"

Zhang Sihan asked Li Mu.

Having personally experienced the legend of the imperial army recapturing Nanning in one day, his recognition of Li Mu's military command ability had greatly increased.

To avoid having his own proposed opinions slapped down later, he simply let Li Mu state his position first.

"We must fight, but I feel that a frontal assault on Guilin does not have that much value.

Currently, we hold most of Guangxi in our hands, and the rebel army has already retreated into a corner.

The enemy is busy strengthening the defense of Guilin, which has made the defenses in other places increasingly empty.

According to convention, before Guangxi is recaptured, we will not attack other regions.

Judging from the rebel army's troop deployment, the enemy clearly believes in this convention.

My intention is to break the convention; while feigning an attack on Guilin, we should concentrate our main force to attack Guangdong.

If we can recapture Guangzhou, the two Guang regions will be shaken, and the rebel army's morale will surely be dealt a heavy blow!"

As he spoke, Li Mu reached out and pointed at the map, drawing everyone's attention to Guangzhou Prefecture.

Both belonging to Lingnan, the influence of Guangdong and Guangxi were not on the same level at all.

Especially in terms of economic value, the fiscal revenue contributed by a single Guangzhou Prefecture could top the entire Guangxi province.

Even if affected by the war, Guangzhou Prefecture remained the wealthiest prefecture in the hands of the rebels.

According to what Li Mu knew, some daring merchants were smuggling supplies to Guangzhou to trade with the rebels via sea routes.

Capturing Guangzhou Prefecture would be equivalent to cutting off the rebel army's maritime trade route.

"Commander Li, we are officials of Guangxi; recapturing Guangxi is our duty.

Guangdong is not our jurisdiction; according to the Great Dayu law, without an order from the imperial court, we have no right to cross the border to send troops.

Even if we really want to recapture Guangdong, we must wait until after capturing Guilin, or have an imperial edict from His Majesty!"

Zhou Zhenbang said, seizing the initiative.

Having finally had the opportunity to attend a military meeting, he could not play deaf and dumb.

It was not that he did not understand the big picture, but he, the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner, had arrived too late, and he hadn't managed to scrape up any military merit from the previous battles.

If they were to march on Guangdong now, the military generals could still behead generals and seize flags, and he, the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner, would completely lose the opportunity to intervene.

Even if they captured the entire Guangdong, it would have nothing to do with him.

Involving his own vital interests, he naturally had to strive to fight for it.

"Magistrate Zhou, that is incorrect!

We are officials of Great Dayu; what does it matter if it's Guangdong or Guangxi? Aren't we all serving the Emperor?

I think Commander Li's suggestion is good: first recapture the Guangdong region where the rebel army's strength is weak, and compress the rebel army's activity space.

Finally, we will wipe out the rebel army in one fell swoop!"

Jia Bo immediately opposed him.

Although he was the Guangxi Provincial Administration Commissioner, he was also an Army Supervisor appointed by Grand Secretary Xu.

No matter where the Guangxi field army fought, the military merit obtained would not lack his share.

Not affecting his own interests, he could naturally consider the problem from the overall situation.

If they could really capture Guangzhou and recapture a large territory of Guangdong, his weight in Grand Secretary Xu's eyes could increase even further.

"Magistrate Jia, His Majesty's order is to recapture Guangxi as soon as possible.

As subjects, we should act according to orders, not act on our own initiative!"

Zhang Sihan said with a livid face.

The military generals below were already not very obedient to his commands.

Once the great army entered Guangdong, his speaking power as the Guangxi Provincial Governor would be even lower.

If things went wrong, the imperial court might issue an order to keep the army in Guangdong.

Compared to the wealthy Guangdong, the barren Guangxi clearly could not keep people.

Although he often found Li Mu and Jing Yifeng unpleasant, he had to admit that these two were truly capable of fighting.

To suppress the Bai Lian Sect rebellion, Great Dayu had mobilized hundreds of thousands of troops.

Among the many suppression armies, these two had the most illustrious battle records.

Once the two were transferred away, the situation in Guangxi, which had just improved, could potentially reverse at any time.

To kill the donkey after the millstone is removed—that would have to wait until after the millstone was removed; now was the time when the donkey was needed to work hard.

Even if he was dissatisfied in his heart, he only complained in private and did not take any substantive targeted measures.

"Provincial Governor, you have misunderstood His Majesty's meaning.

His Majesty wants us to suppress the rebellion quickly.

As long as it is conducive to the suppression, it is acceptable to attack Guilin first or Guangzhou first.

If you are worried about His Majesty blaming us, then I will take full responsibility for this matter!"

Jia Bo said heroically.

The entire imperial court was watching the suppression; as long as the rebellion could be suppressed, Emperor Yongning wouldn't care where they attacked first.

Purely from a political influence perspective, recapturing Guangzhou was more significant for Great Dayu than recapturing Guilin.

The most critical point was that the rebel army's attention had been attracted to Guilin, and they did not attach enough importance to Guangzhou Prefecture.

A sudden surprise attack on Guangzhou—even if they couldn't capture the prefectural city, they could turn around and recapture Guanghai Guard, Gaozhou Prefecture, and Leizhou Prefecture.

It was all military merit anyway, just a matter of size, and they wouldn't be working in vain.

Showing a sense of responsibility at such a time, the risk factor was almost negligible.

"Nonsense!"

"State affairs are not child's play; how can you take full responsibility at every turn?

If a mishap occurs, can you afford to take the responsibility?"

Seeing more and more civil officials joining the battlefield, Li Mu pulled Jing Yifeng and quietly exited the room.

"Seventh Uncle, how long do you guess they will argue?"

Li Mu teased with a smile.

More people meant more trouble.

In the past, the number of Guangxi officials was small, and discussions were crisp and decisive.

But now it was different; the imperial court had sent over a dozen civil officials in one breath, and each of them held important positions.

It looked like the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner was performing, but in reality, it represented this group of newly appointed officials demanding power from them.

The military meeting just now was entirely a bait thrown out by Li Mu and Jing Yifeng, with the purpose of testing the bottom line of these civil officials.

"If you want them to unify their stance, I guess they won't reach a result even after ten days or half a month of arguing.

If you simply want them to stop arguing, just remove the tea and snacks; once they argue until they are tired, they will naturally stop.

However, we must agree beforehand: attacking Guangdong is just a feint; don't you go playing for real!"

Jing Yifeng said, feeling uneasy.

Having witnessed Li Mu's imaginative use of troops, he highly suspected that Li Mu could turn the fake into reality.

"Whether or not to send troops to Guangdong depends on whether the rebel army cooperates!

According to past conventions, in such multi-person military meetings, news will spread everywhere before a decision is even made.

If the rebel army strengthens its defense of the Guangdong region after receiving the news, we will continue to attack Guilin.

If the enemy makes no move and continues to strengthen the defense of Guilin, it wouldn't be a bad idea to turn around and attack Guangdong!"

Li Mu said with a half-smile.

Strengthening the defense of Guangdong sounded easy, but if it were really put into practice, the first difficulty the rebel army would face was insufficient troops.

Guangdong's coastline was too long, and there were no shortage of coastal prefectures.

Deploying thirty or forty thousand troops in one place meant ten or twenty thousand troops would be scattered out.

Not to mention whether such a defense could be foolproof.

Just having so many troops would affect the Bai Lian Holy Kingdom's strategic deployment.

Currently, both sides were mainly in a strategic stalemate; every time troops were pulled from the frontline, it was a tightrope-walking act.

If one was not careful, and a problem occurred in any link, it could lead to a total collapse.

If the rebel army didn't take action, they would have to worry about Guangdong falling.

After all, Great Dayu didn't just have one Guangxi field army.

As long as a gap appeared in the Guangdong defense line, the Fujian field army, which was passive and lazy on the battlefield, would also quickly pounce on it.

With elite troops clearing the way in front and miscellaneous troops following behind to seize territory, the two Guang regions would change hands once again.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 201 =====

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