Chapter 254: Anqing Falls

"What, you didn't find the fake Emperor?"

Li Mu asked in surprise.

The encirclement and suppression plan against the rebel army was very successful; except for a few fish that slipped through the net, the enemy was basically wiped out.

Everything went smoothly, except that the fake Emperor Shi Rongxuan was not found.

Neither alive nor dead, this is the most troublesome thing.

"Yes, my lord.

We searched every corner of the battlefield and found no trace of the fake Emperor.

The Guizhou army also found nothing. We even sent people to ask the chieftains.

The surrounding prefectures have all been strictly controlled, and civilian groups have been mobilized to patrol; if the fake Emperor had escaped, it would be impossible not to be discovered.

Either he changed into a soldier's clothes during the escape and died in the chaotic army, and the body was tossed beyond recognition, or he was hidden by someone."

Xiang Xinghan said affirmatively.

In other matters, local Guizhou officials might be perfunctory. In such a major matter as capturing the fake Emperor, absolutely no one would make a mistake.

In this era where one needs a travel permit to go out, the fake Emperor, who has no foundation in the local area, is impossible to walk out of Guizhou.

"Forget it!

If you didn't catch him, you didn't catch him; send a document to the Guizhou Governor's office, asking them to find the fake Emperor who is wandering outside.

Secretary, in the war report to the Marquis of Wuyang, just say that the fake Emperor is suspected to have died on the battlefield and was burned to ashes by the fire."

Li Mu said calmly.

In the current situation, harboring the fake Emperor is purely a brain problem. He doesn't believe anyone would foolishly rush into such a capital crime of exterminating the family.

Even the local chieftains who do not submit to the king's transformation became well-behaved after his army entered Tongren Prefecture.

Not crossing the boundary is nonsense; the army has always been as convenient as possible, and not a single chieftain along the way dared to say a word.

Because the marching speed was too fast and they didn't carry enough grain and fodder, he sent people to borrow some from local chieftains.

They were exceptionally reasonable, not only taking out wine and meat to entertain the special envoy, but also generously saying: a little grain doesn't need to be returned, just treat it as making a friend.

Afterwards, they specially sent people to send heavy gifts.

Li Mu roughly counted, and the number of gifts received was exactly the same as the number of chieftains nearby, without missing a single one.

The attitude was as upright as it could be. No matter how you look at it, they don't look like they can harbor the fake Emperor.

By comparison, it is more likely that the fake Emperor died on the battlefield.

To put it bluntly, the only ones in the army who have seen the fake Emperor Shi Rongxuan are the captured rebels.

Being forced to go over to identify the body, who knows if they are using their hearts!

If someone has a heart for the old master and cannot bear for Shi Rongxuan to suffer after death, even if they see it, they will say they didn't see it.

In the hot summer, the body cannot be stored for a long time. After calculating the military merit, the rebel corpses were burned with a fire.

Now even if they want to re-verify, there is no chance.

To be foolproof, Li Mu still made two preparations.

If the fake Emperor Shi Rongxuan does not show up for a long time, he was beheaded on the battlefield; if the fake Emperor shows up again, it is the dereliction of duty of the Guizhou local officials.

Anyway, as the general who led the army to suppress the rebellion, he earnestly fulfilled his duties. When it was time to send a document, he absolutely did not muddle.

The court could not hold him, a meritorious official, accountable for such a small matter. Even if the Emperor was unhappy, the ones who were implicated were mostly Guizhou local officials.

The current Guizhou is not the Guizhou developed and perfected in later generations. In the Great Dayu Dynasty, Guizhou is also a place for criminal exile.

These local officials are already marginal characters in the court. With a little background, who would be willing to come to Guizhou to take office!

Even if the Emperor is unhappy with them, the space for demotion is limited. At most, they will be scolded and fined a few months' salary.

Especially the county-level officials; if they were all taken down at once, the court wouldn't be able to find anyone to fill the pit.

After all, the shortage of officials in the prefectures and counties under Guangxi is enough to give the Ministry of Personnel a headache.

Adding another Guizhou, it is even harder to fill the establishment.

……

"My lord, Commander Li refused the invitation and directly withdrew the army and left.

It is said that he received a military order from the Marquis of Wuyang to rush back to participate in the defense of Jiangnan."

Upon receiving this news, the Guizhou high-level officials in the government office all showed expressions of disbelief.

Generally speaking, before the guest army withdraws, they have to make a profit before they will withdraw peacefully.

If the money is not in place, the soldiers below will solve it themselves and will never add trouble to the court.

The Guangxi army came to chase the rebels, although they were not invited by them. But if they came, they came, and the local government had to express it.

In a sense, Li Mu's action this time also saved their official careers.

If it weren't for the Guangxi troops coming quickly, relying on their own strength, they wouldn't be able to stop the enemy's offensive.

By then, losing Loushan Pass and letting the rebels enter Shu, the court would hold them accountable, and they wouldn't even know if they could keep their heads.

"Since Commander Li is high-minded and noble, then the money raised will be used to pursue and suppress the rebel remnants.

The main force of the White Lotus Sect rebel army has been wiped out, but there are still a small number of defeated soldiers wandering in various parts of Guizhou.

Among them, there are many rebel high-level officials, and even the fake Emperor may be mixed in. Next, everyone must find these rebels and return Guizhou to a bright and clear world!"

Governor Wu Zekai said righteously.

Deep in his heart, he was not calm at all at this moment.

Mixing in officialdom, officials in the same echelon, in cases not involving their own interests, will give each other face.

Now he had prepared a banquet, but he didn't invite anyone. It was clear that the other side looked down on him and had no intention of making friends with him.

As a provincial governor, he was actually ignored by a military general. If it spread out, it would be a joke.

Anger is anger, but Wu Zekai knew very well that he couldn't do anything now.

His governor position in a marginal location didn't have as much speaking power in the court as some prefects of large prefectures.

The Guangxi troops were in a hurry to leave; regardless of whether it was a real crisis or just an excuse, he had to treat it as the former.

"Governor, in the battles of the past few days, our army has suffered heavy losses.

The number of deaths alone exceeded 20,000, and there are 8,000 wounded who need treatment; we urgently need the Governor's office to issue a pension."

Regional Commander Xiao Xianrong immediately complained.

In the process of intercepting the rebels, the Guizhou army also paid a painful price. Although the number of deaths was not 20,000, there were still 6,000 or 7,000.

Considering that the allocation from above likes to cut budgets, he could only falsely report casualties.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, he cleared up the bad accounts of eating empty pay in the past.

The great merit of wiping out the rebel central government, although the Guizhou army only rubbed a little, it did not affect him taking it out to talk about things.

"The casualties of the troops are so large, then the pension gap is too large.

Now the court is not rich, we need to share the worries for the Emperor, and you also need to be considerate of the court.

The Governor's office will allocate 50,000 taels of silver to you to handle the aftermath of the fallen soldiers first.

The remaining pensions will be reissued when the court's finances are rich."

Wu Zekai's answer made Xiao Xianrong vomit blood with anger.

When the rebels killed their way over before, it wasn't said like this. Now that the enemy is gone and there is no need to use troops, the face changed instantly.

According to the rules of the Great Dayu Dynasty, after a soldier falls, a one-time compensation of three years' full military pay is given, and then it is halved. It ends until the parents and wife pass away and the children become adults.

If there is a military position, the eldest son inherits the position, so only funeral expenses are given.

Undoubtedly, the pension treatment that has developed to now has long existed in name only.

If the general has a conscience, he will try to fight for one-time compensation. As for the subsequent pensions, it depends on the court's allocation, which is basically impossible to get.

If the general is greedy, he will directly swallow the pension, and the soldiers will die in vain.

Now it is not a question of whether Xiao Xianrong is greedy or not, but that the Governor's office does not want to give money.

A mere 50,000 taels of silver, just the funeral expenses for the fallen soldiers, plus the medical expenses for treating the wounded, spent seven or eight out of ten.

"Governor, what is the use of such a little money?

According to the Great Dayu Law, the funeral expenses + pension for each soldier shall not be less than 30 taels of silver.

Plus the medical expenses for the wounded, as well as the military merit rewards for the soldiers, it will be at least 900,000 taels!"

Xiao Xianrong decisively bargained.

According to the numbers he reported, the expenditure of 900,000 taels is really not much.

War itself is a gold-swallowing beast; not only do strategic materials such as military equipment and grain need money, but the pensions and rewards after the war are also a huge expenditure.

Great Dayu's financial tension is largely dragged down by the war. No matter how much money encounters this gold-swallowing beast, there is a time when it is exhausted.

"900,000 taels?

Xiao Xianrong, are you joking with me!

To tell you the truth, all the treasuries of the various levels of government in Guizhou added together cannot make up 900,000 taels of silver.

At most 100,000 taels, not a single word more!"

Wu Zekai decisively cut the price.

There are not many government offices in the entire Great Dayu Dynasty that can take out 900,000 taels of silver at once, but Guizhou will certainly not be among them.

The entire Guizhou province's annual fiscal revenue is not 900,000 taels of silver. Its contribution to Great Dayu's finance is less than three-thousandths.

Even if the tax is saved, it cannot fill this hole.

What's worse is that in the previous defeat of the Yunnan-Guizhou coalition, the Guizhou Governor's office had already paid a huge pension once.

Plus the expenses of fragmented wars, the current Governor's office is also really out of money.

In fact, this is also why Guizhou officials wanted to spend money to operate and wipe out the rebels in Huguang before.

War is too expensive; even if it was just intercepting the rebels, the expenditure on the Guizhou Governor's office's bill exceeded 400,000 taels.

Plus the aftermath expenses, it couldn't be done without 700,000 or 800,000 taels.

"Governor, please have pity on those wounded and the families of the fallen soldiers!

They sacrificed for the court, so we can't cut off their way of life!"

Xiao Xianrong immediately sold misery.

Dead friends, not poor Dao.

Everyone knows the court is poor, but this money must be paid. Otherwise, if the soldiers make trouble, it will be a big deal.

Deep in his heart, he had already made up his mind. If the Governor's office refused to give money, then let the soldiers' families carry the coffins to make trouble.

Guiding the contradiction to the Governor's office is better than letting the soldiers hate themselves and shoot cold arrows at him on the battlefield.

Xiao Xianrong could no longer take care of the bad political influence caused by this.

He only knew that the military camp was now a powder keg; without handling the aftermath well and reissuing part of the owed pay, he couldn't sit firmly in the position of Regional Commander.

……

Stepping on the way home, everyone's mood was quite good.

Although the fake Emperor was missing and the suppression of the rebellion was not fully successful, the harvest of this trip was too rich.

The soldiers were all carrying big and small bags; anyone with eyes could see that they had made a fortune this time.

Being in a hurry to take the army away was largely because they had looted too much. Staying in the Guizhou territory for a long time was prone to long nights and many dreams.

Having done such a big deal, confidentiality was impossible. Once the news spread, it would inevitably attract jealousy.

Human nature is the most uncontrollable; driven by interests, there are too many people doing stupid things.

To reduce unnecessary trouble, it was better to take the soldiers back to Guangxi to rest. By the way, place the harvest from the battlefield back in the old nest.

No matter how envious and jealous the outside world is, no one has the guts to run to the old nest of tens of thousands of elite troops to snatch food from the tiger's mouth.

At most, be sourly scolded by others, and suffer impeachment from the censor for a while. Li Mu's mentality is good enough; as long as he didn't hear it with his own ears or see it with his own eyes, he could pretend nothing happened.

It's not just him who makes a fortune from war. The Guangxi Army is not a grassroots team; it is filled with a large number of noble children.

If they couldn't keep the wealth they got, then the entire noble group would become a laughingstock in officialdom.

Even if there is impeachment from the censor, those fathers in the capital will help clean up the mess.

In the past two years, Great Dayu has been full of smoke, and the noble group's speaking power in the court has also risen quite a bit.

After the war ends, the dozen or so high-level generals under his command, even if they can't become Regional Commanders or Regional Military Commissioners, can also get a position as Deputy Regional Commander or Regional Military Commissioner.

All of them are generals with real power; scattered all over the country, with Li Mu as the head, the noble young faction is considered to have initially taken shape.

Even compared to the Nine Borders generals, they can hold their own.

"Commander, something big has happened!"

"The Governor's office sent a 600-li urgent message; ten days ago, Anqing was captured by the rebel army, and the safety of Nanjing Prefecture was seriously challenged.

The Marquis hopes that after you end the Guizhou war, you will immediately rush back to Guangzhou to discuss countermeasures."

Hearing this news, Li Mu's face did not change at all.

Failing to suppress the White Lotus Sect rebellion in time, and the situation in the Jiangnan region becoming rotten, was an inevitable result.

Not to mention the large number of refugees pouring into the Jiangnan region, just for the sake of raising military pay before, they repeatedly apportioned money and grain to the Jiangnan region.

If it was strictly executed according to regulations, it wouldn't be a big deal. Unfortunately, there was a problem in the execution; the gentry who should have borne the apportionment not only didn't pay money but took the opportunity to make a big profit.

They transferred the taxes they should have borne to ordinary people. The court added a cent of silver, and it increased three to five times when it reached the local level.

Many people who shouldn't have paid money were also forced to bear high taxes.

Officials and gentry looted money wantonly, making the local people miserable. Even without the White Lotus Sect rebel army, there would be other rebel armies appearing.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 255 =====