Chapter 245

Yongzhou City.

"Holy Emperor, news has just been received that after the rebel army defeated the forces of Marquis Duting in Hengyang, they marched non-stop toward Changsha.

This is an emergency request for reinforcements sent by the General guarding Changsha; please take a look!"

While speaking, Chancellor Wu Zekai handed over the request for reinforcements with a nervous expression.

The situation was much worse than expected.

Marquis Duting, Qi Datou, was also a fierce general who could be ranked in the Bai Lian Holy Kingdom; he had thought he could fight Li Mu's forces for some time.

Never did he expect that on the day of the battle, they would be defeated completely.

That was an army of 100,000; just setting up the formation would occupy dozens of acres. Even if they were 100,000 pigs, they wouldn't be finished catching them in ten days or half a month.

But Marquis Duting's forces were defeated in one day, and after being chased by the enemy for two days, the team was scattered, and the remaining forces gathered were less than 3,000.

Having poked such a big hole and knowing he couldn't fulfill his duty, Qi Datou was also a "bare stick" (unattached person) and simply disappeared with his personal guards.

With the responsible person's whereabouts unknown, there was no way to talk about accountability. The mess left behind, however, needed the Bai Lian Holy Emperor to clean up.

"Trash!"

"All of them are trash!"

"Pass down the order to have all the yamens of the Holy Kingdom hunt down Qi Datou with all their might.

My army of 100,000!"

Shi Rongxuan roared on the spot.

For the Bai Lian Holy Kingdom, which followed the "human sea" tactic, losing 100,000 troops on the battlefield was nothing. The key to the problem was that Qi Datou's defeat came at the wrong time.

At other times, losing was just losing; at worst, they could just recruit more troops. The current controlled areas of the Bai Lian Holy Kingdom were all densely populated places, and they didn't lack that bit of manpower.

But now it was different; the Yongzhou Battle was planned by the Bai Lian Holy Emperor himself. Qi Datou's defeat directly caused the plan to go bankrupt.

With 100,000 fewer troops participating, the Bai Lian Holy Kingdom would be in a comprehensive strategic passive position in the Yongzhou Battle.

Now it wasn't a question of wiping out the enemy, but how to avoid being surrounded and wiped out by the enemy in Yongzhou.

"Holy Emperor, please calm your anger!"

"The defeat at Hengyang was entirely an accident.

Marquis Duting had no precautions beforehand, which is why he was deceived by the enemy's despicable means. As long as we are careful and cautious, there will be no accidents.

..."

The persuasion of the ministers allowed Shi Rongxuan to regain his rationality.

Being able to build such a large foundation, he was not an ordinary person. The loss of composure just now was purely because the political impact caused by the failure of the Yongzhou Battle was too bad.

His current prestige was already unable to suppress the three different-surnamed kings on the front lines. If he was not careful, the Bai Lian Holy Kingdom would collapse.

"Enough!

Failure is failure.

I am not someone who cannot afford to lose; there is no need to look for excuses.

The defeat at Hengyang certainly had the reason of Marquis Duting not listening to commands and being careless, but it was also my fault for misusing personnel.

Now that thief Li Mu has set his sights on Changsha Prefecture again. Compared to Hengyang, Changsha has higher strategic value.

Once Changsha falls, Huguang will no longer be our rear base. The entire Holy Kingdom will be in danger; how do you think we should respond now?"

Shi Rongxuan asked slowly.

The Bai Lian Holy Kingdom seemed to have great momentum, but strategically, it had always been suppressed to death by the imperial army. The controlled area was limited to Huguang and Jiangxi, and the strategic space for maneuvering was very small.

Losing Changsha Prefecture, the fall of multiple prefectures south of Dongtinghu was just a matter of time.

As the flames of war continued to spread to Huguang, multiple prefectures fell under the threat of the imperial army. The originally formulated tax collection plan would also go bankrupt because of this.

A perfect tax system is a sign of a regime moving toward maturity. Those scholars who defected to the Bai Lian Holy Kingdom were now waiting for the results.

Only by taking this step could they stabilize people's hearts. Let the people of the world know that they were not just a group of rebels, but a major force capable of contending for the world.

With such a label, they could attract heroes from all walks of life to join. Having gained the support of these people, the rebellion could continue.

The positive cycle was broken, and next, they would fall into a vicious cycle.

Being unable to establish a tax system meant that the Bai Lian Holy Kingdom group did not have the ability to self-generate blood.

Financial income could only continue to rely on looting.

Against this background, the action of slaughtering the gentry had to continue.

The more they killed and the more they looted, the more blood feuds they would create.

One could despise the character and morality of the gentry, but one could not deny that they were the group with the most knowledge in the contemporary era.

Even if 80% of this group were trash, there were still 20% of talents that could be used.

In the era of feudal dynasties, no matter how much one tossed, one could not do without the support of these people.

Changing dynasties was nothing more than one group of scholars overthrowing another group of scholars. With the blessing of time, the victors would become new powerful families.

The only benefit was breaking the class mobility, allowing ordinary people a chance to go against the current in troubled times.

"Holy Emperor, Changsha is too far from us, and it is blocked by the pseudo-dynasty's army in the middle; it is beyond our reach now.

To rescue Changsha, the only way is to draw reinforcements from the front lines of Nanchang, Anqing, and Xiangyang.

Considering that we don't know enough about the situation on the front lines, why not just send someone to forward the request for reinforcements to the three kings and let them handle it themselves!"

Shi Qichuan persuaded tactfully.

Now was not the time to act on impulse; if he forcibly issued a rescue order and the three different-surnamed kings on the front lines didn't buy it, the only one embarrassed would be the Bai Lian Holy Emperor.

If the central government's authority was insufficient, then simply let the people below play freely.

The Bai Lian Holy Kingdom couldn't afford the consequences of Changsha falling, and the three kings on the front lines couldn't afford it either.

For the sake of their own retreat, they had to rescue Changsha no matter what. At the very least, before opening a new situation, they had to take action to save it.

As for them, with just this bit of troops in Yongzhou, sending them to reinforce would just be "sending heads."

"Hmm!"

"If everyone has no other opinions, the task of rescuing Changsha will be handed over to the three kings.

Next, let's discuss where the Holy Capital should move to. Involving the future of the Holy Kingdom, I hope everyone can speak their minds without reservation."

Shi Rongxuan said with a solemn expression.

Compared to rescuing Changsha, their own fate was the most important.

From the moment Hengyang fell, it was destined that Yongzhou was not a place to stay for long. If the imperial army hadn't chosen to attack Changsha, they wouldn't even have a chance to run.

"Holy Emperor, Yongzhou is not the foundation for a king's hegemony; the Holy Capital must be moved out as soon as possible.

However, that thief Li Mu is the most cunning; although he is busy attacking Changsha at the moment, we still cannot relax our vigilance.

A few days ago, a request for reinforcements was also sent from the Chenzhou direction. If there are no accidents, the defenders there shouldn't be able to hold on for long.

Once Chenzhou falls, the 30,000 pseudo-dynasty troops in the Guangdong region will immediately join the siege of Yongzhou.

By then, if we want to leave, it won't be this easy.

In my humble opinion, the top priority is to abandon excess baggage and supplies and withdraw to Dongtinghu via Baoqing Prefecture at the fastest speed.

Whether heading north to Xiangyang to join the Eastern King's forces, heading south to the Yangtze River to join the Southern King, or breaking into Shu from Jingzhou, all are better than being trapped in Yongzhou!"

Mi Yingbo proposed first.

This time he had no selfish motives, and the three plans he proposed were all for the sake of the Holy Kingdom's overall situation.

Theoretically, they could also take advantage of the situation to break into the two Guangs or Yunnan-Guizhou, where the enemy's forces were empty.

But they had already looted the two Guangs once, and if they killed their way back now, there wouldn't be so many gentry for them to loot.

An army of 130,000, plus officials from all levels of the yamen, and the families of the officials, totaled 200,000 to 300,000 people.

With so many people running to the two Guangs, eating would become a big problem.

Yunnan-Guizhou hadn't been harmed by them, but the two places were poor to begin with. Trying to scrape together enough food to feed 200,000 to 300,000 people was by no means an easy task.

The size of the team determined that they could only move to wealthy places. Otherwise, without the imperial army's siege, logistics alone could drag them down.

"Minister Mi, you make it sound easy.

Everyone knows how treacherous that thief Li Mu is. With so many of us wanting to withdraw, we simply can't hide it.

This person is loyal to the pseudo-dynasty, unlike other military generals who like to hoard bandits to bolster their own power. Once we leave the city, the enemy will immediately bite onto us.

Carrying a large number of non-combatants, the team's forward speed simply cannot be fast.

Once entangled by the enemy, that would be a disaster!"

Shi Qichuan immediately opposed.

Having served as a rearguard general once, he knew very well how powerful the enemy was. Being able to save his life last time didn't mean he could do it this time.

For the pseudo-dynasty generals, capturing them, the rebel leaders, alive was simply too tempting.

Regardless of which general it was, when it came to chasing them, they could explode with 120% of their main force's combat effectiveness.

In contrast, breaking into Shu via Yunnan-Guizhou, although it seemed more difficult, could at least avoid the main force of the imperial army.

They were just borrowing the road this time, not to occupy Yunnan-Guizhou. As long as they hurt the local army, they wouldn't fight to the death to intercept.

As for Li Mu's forces, which posed the greatest threat, they were constrained by Great Dayu's laws. According to the rules, such cross-provincial military operations required reporting to the court for approval.

After tossing back and forth, nearly two months would have passed. Plus the time wasted by the pseudo-dynasty's officials arguing, they might have already occupied Shu.

When it comes to carving out a territory, there is no place more suitable than Shu.

Although it would be difficult to fight their way out, the Bai Lian Holy Kingdom still had the three kings outside, just right to use Shu as a rear base to operate.

"Marquis Gui is right; we indeed need to avoid the sharp edge for now!"

Shi Rongxuan immediately stated his position, not letting everyone play freely.

It wasn't that he was arbitrary, but mainly because going to the front lines to join the different-surnamed kings at this time posed a serious political problem—who should they listen to after joining forces?

Theoretically, the Bai Lian Holy Emperor must be the biggest.

But when they reached the front lines, it would be full of the other kings' trusted aides; wanting to seize power with just the name of a Holy Emperor was probably a dream.

If he couldn't get power, he, the Holy Emperor, would be in danger. In troubled times, if a monarch is sidelined, there is no one who can end well.

From the very beginning, Shi Rongxuan never thought about joining forces with the three different-surnamed kings.

Keeping a distance, they could still maintain harmony on the surface. As long as they didn't pierce this layer of window paper, he could quickly accumulate strength by relying on the name of the Holy Emperor.

Once he led his troops into Shu, he would be a dragon entering the sea.

He could advance to plot for the world, or retreat to carve out a territory.

As for the three different-surnamed kings, let them fight slowly with the court!

"Stop!

Pass down the order to dock and set up camp."

Eighty miles away from Yongzhou, Li Mu decisively ordered to stop the advance.

Having decided to adopt the "fishing tactic," he couldn't startle the fish.

If their tracks were exposed and the rebels huddled in Yongzhou City and wouldn't come out, that would be a big problem.

Long-term siege of Yongzhou was just a political slogan. Even if it were militarily feasible, the court couldn't come up with that much money and grain.

By the time the war reached this point, the money Marquis Wuyang had brought had already been consumed by seven or eight tenths.

When distributing rewards and pensions after the war, it was estimated that they would still have to use the military funds raised locally.

Such a clean and quick victory made it no problem for everyone to pay up. Once there was a long-term siege, there would definitely be criticism in the court.

If the central treasury didn't allocate funds and they relied purely on the three provinces to self-raise, Li Mu didn't think the bit of military pay raised could afford this expense.

Now it was time to compete on patience; with such great pressure applied, Li Mu didn't believe the rebels in Yongzhou City would dare to linger and not leave.

(End of chapter)