Chapter 224: Boomerang

On the pier, a group of civil and military officials from Liangguang and Fujian stood on both sides, quietly watching the fleet about to dock in the distance.

Vaguely, one could see the dissatisfaction in everyone's hearts from their tightly furrowed brows.

Letting an in-law serve as an imperial envoy and concurrently as Governor of the three provinces, in the eyes of many, was simply nonsense.

But thinking was thinking; on the surface, no one was willing to confront the Marquis of Wuyang. Early in the morning, everyone put down their work and waited at the pier.

Among the many officials, Li Mu was the latest to arrive.

It wasn't that he was a prodigal son; it was mainly that commanding the great battle delayed the time.

Giving a meeting gift also required technique.

The time for attacking the city was agreed upon in advance and could not be changed at will. However, the time for occupying the city could be artificially controlled.

For a big city like Guangzhou, the rebel army resisted fiercely, so fighting street battles for a period of time was reasonable.

Under Li Mu's deliberate manipulation, the rebel army in the city was suppressed in a corner of the south of the city, just waiting for the Marquis of Wuyang to arrive before launching the final offensive.

This operation was the biggest victim of Zhu Jingyi, who was escorted to the capital.

If the city was broken earlier, he could still make up for his crimes with merit. If the city was broken later, it could also be accepted.

Only this kind of "card-point" city-breaking became a sharp blade stabbing at Zhu Jingyi.

The officials of the three provinces had impeached him for embezzling military supplies, chaotic command, and deliberately destroying the great cause of suppressing the rebellion.

Just after being punished by the court and replaced by a new Governor, the imperial army immediately recovered Guangzhou, which directly became the best evidence of Zhu Jingyi destroying the great cause of suppressing the rebellion.

He couldn't even cry out for injustice; Zhu Jingyi's series of operations offended the civil and military officials of the three provinces quite a bit.

Even if his "open source and throttle" didn't touch the interests of the civil officials and even increased everyone's income.

But it couldn't stand that under the command of Governor Zhu, various imperial armies kept losing battles.

The only troops without a record of defeat were those that didn't listen to his command.

Continuing to mix with Governor Zhu, not only was the official career "bleak," but one could also lose one's life at any time.

In the face of huge risks, the money that was "floated" (embezzled) was nothing.

Especially for officials on the front line facing the rebel army, everyone would rather not have a single copper coin than have the rebel army suppress them.

As long as one was in the position, there were plenty of opportunities to make money. But if the rebel army hit them, their heads would be hung on the city wall.

For their own interests, everyone tacitly chose to get rid of Governor Zhu.

The fleet docked slowly, and a group of officials hurriedly greeted them. Li Mu walked at the forefront of the military officials without letting anyone else.

Compared to the game between civil officials, the ranking within the military officials was much simpler. Whoever had the bigger fist had the higher right to speak.

After a simple greeting, the Marquis of Wuyang was surrounded by everyone and went straight to the main military camp to rest.

Mixed in the team of officials, Li Mu didn't rush to talk. He knew how bitter the days of drifting at sea were.

Now the Marquis of Wuyang was already exhausted. If he rushed up at this time, he would only ask for trouble.

No matter how enthusiastic the greeting officials were, the smile on the Marquis of Wuyang's face was very reluctant. As for the welcome banquet, he had no interest at all.

"What?

You broke Guangzhou and are launching the final general offensive against the rebel army. Then why are you still standing here? Hurry up and go command the great battle!"

The Marquis of Wuyang couldn't help but exclaim.

When he came, he bluffed the Yongning Emperor, and one of the most important links was capturing Guangzhou City and then recovering Guangdong Province.

Just after arriving at the place, the task was half completed. It was enough to prove that his strategic plan was completely feasible.

As long as Guangdong was recovered, even if there were no greater achievements later, he could explain it to the court.

"Marquis..."

"Commander Li, you tell me about the battle process."

Governor Zhang just opened his mouth and was interrupted by the Marquis of Wuyang on the spot.

Experience told him that if he wanted to know the truest battle situation, he couldn't listen to the civil officials bragging.

He had always kept a high degree of attention to the White Lotus Sect rebellion, which was great in momentum. He was familiar with the big and small victories of the imperial army.

Among them, Li Mu's shadow could be seen in almost all the biggest victories. Although many names were added to the merit book, he knew clearly who commanded the battle.

In this process, civil officials might have played a role, but the Marquis of Wuyang believed that they were just rubbing merit.

There was no other reason, purely because he was familiar with it. His own military merit was all obtained like this.

Choosing to run to this side to take office, besides having his own people, the main reason was that he knew Li Mu could fight.

"Marquis, in order to recover Guangzhou as soon as possible, we contacted the loyal and righteous people lurking inside the rebel army.

The night before last, they opened the city gate and let the main force enter the city.

..."

The plain and unadorned narration, without any embellishment throughout, fell into the Marquis of Wuyang's ears like the sound of nature.

Facts proved that victory could treat exhaustion.

After initially understanding the process of attacking the city, the Marquis of Wuyang, who was originally exhausted, was instantly fully resurrected.

As for the rebel army's desperate resistance, he knew those were all nonsense. It was clearly the old subordinates deliberately controlling the progress of the city attack, waiting for him, this commander, to come over.

Although the acting wasn't high enough, this didn't affect his sharing of military merit.

He heard the implication that the day Guangzhou City was completely occupied would be decided by him, this imperial envoy.

"Good!"

"Good!"

"Good!"

"General Li is truly a famous general of our dynasty!"

"Everyone, you are all the pillars of our Great Dayu!"

"And the loyal and righteous people who infiltrated the rebel army, I will also reward them heavily!"

In a few words, the Marquis of Wuyang praised everyone. It could be seen that he was in a very good mood now.

The group of officials who were brought along also showed smiles at this moment. Since the imperial envoy was satisfied, the old accounts in front would probably pass.

Compared to Governor Zhu, this Marquis of Wuyang in front of him was obviously much more difficult to deal with.

It wasn't that he feared his power and strategy, mainly because he couldn't figure out how deep his relationship with the Emperor was.

In the officialdom of the Great Dayu, the shadow of imperial relatives rarely appeared. It wasn't that the Emperor didn't reuse in-laws, purely because these people couldn't be supported.

The Marquis of Wuyang was a complete exception. Under normal circumstances, it was difficult for talents to be born among in-laws.

When the Emperor chose concubines, officials would screen out potential stocks in advance. Not only did they have to choose from small families, but they also required the brothers' abilities to be mediocre.

Those with slightly bright performances were excluded in the first round. Subsequent selections also had to be screened, cutting off the possibility of in-laws growing stronger from the source.

As a result, political strongmen were extinct in the in-law group of the Great Dayu, but there were a bunch of political idiots. They often caused trouble, letting the Emperor be responsible for wiping their butts.

Not tossing around in the officialdom was a qualified in-law. If one didn't bully men and women, one was an excellent in-law.

Under such a harsh system, the birth of an in-law like the Marquis of Wuyang was completely beyond many people's expectations.

Fortunately, this kind of in-law was just a single seedling. Other in-laws were still at a normal level, either causing trouble or on the way to causing trouble.

At the same time as the imperial army recovered Guangzhou, another change occurred on the Huguang battlefield.

Zhu Jingyi, who learned that he was about to be held accountable, chose to let go and fight at the last moment. Before the imperial edict arrived, he forcibly ordered the army to leave the city and fight a decisive battle with the rebel army.

As a result, he accidentally fell into the rebel army's ambush, causing the two recruited armies in Huguang to suffer heavy losses, making the already dangerous Huguang battlefield completely collapse.

The originally strong Wuchang was captured by the rebel army in one battle. A large amount of strategic materials hoarded in the city all fell into the hands of the rebel army.

The situation collapsed too quickly, and many gentry hadn't reacted yet when the rebel army's butcher knife fell on their heads.

The rebel army, which had obtained a large amount of material replenishment, didn't stop after capturing Wuchang Prefecture.

On one hand, they waved their troops to the north, pointing directly at the Heluo land; on the other hand, they went down the Yangtze River and joined forces with the army that had killed into Jiangxi, aiming at Jiujiang.

The rapidly deteriorating situation made Xu Wenyue, who received the imperial edict, furious.

The hot potato he finally threw away had returned to his hands so quickly.

Without any hesitation, he naturally refused the Emperor's imperial edict.

It wasn't that he didn't want to serve the country, purely because the Emperor was too unreliable.

Even if it was to change people, it should wait until the new imperial envoy arrived, took over the power, and then held people accountable!

Such an important personnel appointment was actually discussed in the court. Before the imperial edict was issued, people received the news one step ahead.

With power in hand, few people would be willing to be slaughtered. Zhu Jingyi, who didn't want to die, chose to let go and fight, which was completely reasonable.

Relatively speaking, Governor Zhu was still okay. Even if he let go and fought, he was taking the army to fight with the rebel army, without raising the banner of "clearing the monarch's side."

If it were a commander with deep roots in the army, maybe he would directly raise the banner of rebellion, and the consequences would be even more terrifying.

The Emperor who poked the hole, besides scolding in his heart, Xu Wenyue couldn't do anything.

"My lord, the rebel army has already marched north, and Xiangyang Prefecture will soon become a battlefield.

The hearts of the people in the city are panicked, and the Prince of Xiangyang has brought the officials and gentry in the city to invite you to come out and preside over the overall situation!"

The old housekeeper's words made Xu Wenyue's eyes go dark.

It's over; this hot potato couldn't be thrown away at all.

In the blink of an eye, the rebel army was about to kill his hometown. He was in the mourning period and couldn't run away at all.

There were two paths in front of him: either accept the Emperor's "seizing of feelings" (forcing an official to return to work during mourning) and serve as the rebellion suppression Governor again; or wait at home for the rebel army to kill them, and the whole clan would gamble their lives together.

No matter which choice, Xu Wenyue didn't look favorably on it.

The rebel army killed without blinking, especially liking to slaughter the gentry. Even if they surrendered voluntarily, they might not be able to save their lives.

Accepting the "seizing of feelings" was also useless; the family foundation had been ruined by Zhu Jingyi. Now serving as the rebellion suppression Governor, the resources he could use were really too few.

The gentry of Xiangyang all placed their hopes on him. The problem was that the Huguang elite had been lost, and relying only on some remnants, it was really too difficult to defeat the rebel army.

The only benefit was that accepting the "seizing of feelings" now belonged to the true sense of being ordered in a crisis, and no one would criticize him for mourning.

"Tell them, I will be there later!"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 225 =====