Chapter 260

Hall of Supreme Harmony.

"This subject impeaches the Jiangnan Viceroy..."

"This subject impeaches..."

……

Early in the morning, as soon as the morning court began, a continuous stream of impeachment sounds rang in Emperor Yongning's ears, most of the firepower directed at the Jiangnan Viceroy.

The reason is very simple: after Pei Yunxuan arrived in Yangzhou after dragging his feet, he just huddled there and didn't move.

He did not immediately organize a large army to rescue Nanjing as everyone had expected.

The several reinforcements sent by the court all stayed in Jiangbei and did not cross the river to Jiangnan to join the battle.

It is understandable for military generals to remain motionless; since the Viceroy has taken office, he must certainly act according to orders.

Without military orders from above, everyone will not take the initiative to look for trouble. Otherwise, even if they win, there will be no place to get money and grain.

"Enough!"

"Pei Aiqing has just taken office and is unfamiliar with the situation in Jiangnan; it is understandable that he needs time to understand the situation.

Everyone needs to be a little more patient and not be startled, so as not to affect the decisions made by the commander at the front line."

Emperor Yongning spoke to excuse him.

He finds the censors and remonstrating officials unpleasant no matter how he looks at them now.

If it weren't for maintaining the persona of humbly accepting advice, he would have long ago learned from the late Emperor and dealt with these eyesores.

Impeaching this one today and that one tomorrow, as if among all the civil and military officials in the court, there are no qualified officials except themselves.

According to the information sent back by the escorting Embroidered Uniform Guards, Pei Yunxuan was very considerate to his subordinates along the way. After arriving in Yangzhou, he was also actively coordinating relationships between all parties.

He is a bit lacking in military affairs, but he has just taken office; one must give people time to prepare for a great battle.

Most of those who came out to fire cannons just now are officials from the prefectures south of the Yangtze River. At this moment, their hometowns are being ravaged by war, so it is normal for them to be anxious.

However, it is wrong to be anxious and use impeachment as a means to put pressure on the Viceroy at the front line.

If he hadn't seen through the essence of the problem at a glance and really believed the nonsense of this group of people, and replaced the Jiangnan Viceroy, then things would really go wrong!

Frequently changing commanders is a military taboo.

With the White Lotus Sect rebellion developing to this point, Emperor Yongning no longer hopes to suppress them immediately.

Fighting steadily and being able to clean up this mess in the next year or two is already quite good.

If they rush to send troops and suffer another big defeat, Yingtian Prefecture will definitely be finished.

"Your Majesty, the issue of the Jiangnan Viceroy can be temporarily shelved.

However, promoting Guangxi Regional Military Commissioner Li Mu to be the Regional Commander of the two Guang provinces does not conform to ancestral rules; please withdraw the order!"

Ding Yushi-in-Chief Du Liangcai immediately fired a shot.

It can be seen that the Censorate wants to make a big move.

Impeaching the Jiangnan Viceroy earlier was just a smokescreen; anyone knows that the court cannot change the Viceroy so quickly.

The real target is still the personnel appointment.

The tradition of controlling the military with civil officials must not be broken. Even when Marquis Wuyang went south to serve as Viceroy, he went as a civil official.

Although Marquis Wuyang didn't pass the imperial examinations, he had a good nephew; the late Emperor directly bestowed the status of Jinshi upon his uncle who had failed the exams repeatedly.

It might be a bit watery, but in the end, it is a Jinshi status; out of respect for the Emperor, he can barely be counted as a civil official.

Li Mu is different; he is a child of the nobility with a red-rooted background, possessing no fame at all, and he became a military general upon entering office.

Out of respect for his military merit, everyone didn't stop Li Mu from rising to the high position of Regional Military Commissioner, but serving as Regional Commander is not allowed.

Usually during wartime, the title of Regional Commander is added after the rank of Provincial Governor, representing the power to govern the military affairs of a province.

Once Li Mu is allowed to serve as the Regional Commander of the two Guang provinces, then locally, he only needs to be responsible to the two Guang provinces.

The restraint power of the equal-ranking Provincial Governor over him is equivalent to directly returning to zero.

One doesn't need to think to know who the military generals within the two Guang provinces will listen to in the future.

It can almost be announced that the Guangdong Provincial Governor and the Guangxi Provincial Governor have lost their military power within the province.

Once this precedent is opened, it is equivalent to opening a gap in the long-term suppression of military generals by civil officials.

Since Li Mu can get it today, other military generals will have the opportunity to get it tomorrow. With this thought in mind, everyone will strive to fight for it.

"Official Du is right; Regional Commissioner Li has served in Guangxi for a long time and is not suitable to be directly promoted to Regional Commander of the two Guang provinces.

This subject proposes promoting Regional Commissioner Li to be the Jiangnan Regional Commander to assist the Jiangnan Viceroy in presiding over the work of suppressing the rebellion!"

Dali Temple Minister Ding Mingyu immediately stepped forward and said.

The first sentence sounded normal to everyone, but the second sentence directly exploded in the imperial court.

Everyone agreed to oppose Li Mu's promotion to Regional Commander of the two Guang provinces, but you actually only oppose him serving as Regional Commander of the two Guang provinces and turn around to nominate him to serve as Jiangnan Regional Commander.

There is far more than one backstab; as soon as Ding Mingyu's words landed, Li Mu immediately received nominations for Sichuan Regional Commander, Huguang Regional Commander, and Min-Zhe Regional Commander.

They were all nominations from officials in their household registration places; controlling the military with civil officials is indeed important, but the threat of the rebels is more painful.

There is still a long way to go before military generals become too powerful. But the threat of the White Lotus Sect rebels is already close at hand.

After military generals become too powerful, it affects the power in their hands; after the rebels become too powerful, they directly want their lives.

Although they are very safe in the capital, the Great Dayu Dynasty is a clan society. Behind every official in the imperial court, there is a large group of relatives.

Putting aside family affection, most of the money they make in the officialdom is also transported back to their hometowns for storage.

Once the rebels reach the local area and cause trouble, the accumulation of half a lifetime will be gone.

Thinking about the losses their own families need to bear, everyone suddenly feels that the impact of promoting Li Mu to Regional Commander is actually not that scary.

At first, the civil official group exerted force together, which really gave Emperor Yongning a fright. Then, the internal chaos among the civil officials gave him another good show.

It was the fierce competition among the civil officials that made Emperor Yongning realize Li Mu's importance in the war to suppress the rebellion.

Counting the great victories achieved by the imperial army before, it seems they were all completed under Li Mu's command; he is definitely a general's talent.

After figuring all this out, Emperor Yongning directly made up his mind not to change the personnel appointment anymore.

The Emperor also needs face; how can he change orders because of some thoughts of his subjects.

As for suppressing the rebels, Marquis Wuyang did a very good job earlier. It is estimated that it won't be long before Zhejiang will also stabilize.

Stabilizing the four southeastern provinces and then sending troops to recover Huguang, Jiangxi, and other places is also a matter of course.

Even the specific combat schedule was made by Marquis Wuyang. As long as Sichuan and Jiangnan can hold on, the White Lotus Sect rebellion will soon be quelled.

……

Li Mu could not feel the fighting in the imperial court at all; at this moment, he was busy reminiscing with his wife.

It's not easy!

Not long after his wedding, he led his troops on an expedition until now. In later generations, having been separated for so long, one wouldn't know what color their hat had turned.

The feudal dynasty has many dross, but it does quite well in this regard.

Those who dare to mess around are directly put in pig cages.

The great clans have even stricter rules, with maids and matrons following them at all times, and there is no opportunity to meet male outsiders alone.

In his previous life, Li Mu couldn't understand why there were so many rules. Being in the midst of it, he finally understood the importance of avoiding suspicion.

Marriage is not just a matter between two people; it also represents the friendship between two surnames. Once a problem occurs, it will inevitably affect the political alliance between the two families.

The price that needs to be paid is too high, and no one can bear this kind of loss. The best choice is to use rules and systems to constrain, eliminating risks at the source.

If the rules cannot be maintained, it means the family is heading toward decline, and the day of destruction is not far off.

"Husband, are you really not planning to return to Yangzhou?"

Seeing Li Mu remain unmoved by the conditions offered by Yangzhou Prefecture, Jing Yaqing asked with concern.

Compared to the strict rules of the public mansion in the capital, those days in Yangzhou were the happiest for her.

She was the master of her own house, could sleep until she woke up naturally every day, and didn't have to learn needlework. In the social circle of ladies, she was also held up by others.

"Can't go back!"

"The chaos in Jiangnan is actually not a difficult matter. If one really wants to suppress the rebellion, it actually doesn't take much effort.

The key is the endless fighting in the imperial court; Jiangnan is too close to the power center, and I am too young.

It is better to settle down in the two Guang provinces for ten or twenty years; it won't be too late to go to Nanzhili or the capital to take office then."

Li Mu said with a hint of sadness.

In fact, the nobility group didn't care about the White Lotus Sect causing chaos in Jiangnan at all, and more of them held a mentality of watching the fun.

Just look at the performance of the Capital Battalion in the war to suppress the rebellion; it was typical of doing work without putting in effort. Having been south for so long, they didn't have a single record that could be brought out.

Earlier, he took quick action to kill the pseudo-emperor to stabilize people's hearts. Since the overall situation was stabilized, it was naturally time to watch the fun.

Having been suppressed by the civil official group for over a hundred years, the nobility also accumulated a belly of anger.

In the past, there was no way to deal with these scholar-official families. Now that the rebels are helping everyone take revenge, the nobility is too happy to be happy.

It is not just the nobility group; the Nine Borders' military families hold the same attitude. On the issue of suppressing the rebels, everyone is not that active.

Also holding a wait-and-see attitude are the gentry of the northern provinces. The Jiangnan bureaucratic group holds the imperial court, and they also have grievances in their hearts.

Originally, there were North and South lists, but unfortunately, with the growth of the Jiangnan bureaucratic group, loopholes gradually appeared.

Children of officials serving in the capital could also participate in the North List examination. Suddenly, a large group of competitors was inserted, squeezing out the quotas of northern scholars.

Having grievances is useless; in the imperial examinations, they truly couldn't beat these guys.

Now the opportunity has come; everyone's goal is the same, hoping to use the rebels' hands to weaken the Jiangnan gentry group.

From Guangxi all the way to Nanjing, it looks like the rebels fought their way there, but in fact, they were also driven there by the imperial army.

Although the parties did not connect, their actions were surprisingly consistent, all pushing the waves behind the scenes.

The rebels are addicted to robbery and are completely using genealogies to carry out cleansing. Except for a few who ran fast and luckily escaped, the rest either surrendered or enjoyed the clan elimination game.

From the results, the great clans of the two Guang, Huguang, and Jiangxi provinces have now successively suffered heavy losses.

The great clans of Zhejiang and Nanzhili are on the verge of danger.

Smart people have started to run, but the great clans have too many industries and cannot transfer them at all.

Even if they run, they only send their direct descendants away. More people remain in place, hoping that the imperial army can defeat the rebels.

It is not that they lack courage, but mainly because the great clans have too many people. Even those who can be on the genealogy number in the hundreds or thousands; if they really want to migrate, the price that needs to be paid is too high.

Household registration alone is a big trouble; local officials still want these great clans to contribute to defending the city and will not easily let them leave.

Once a great clan runs away, the hearts of the people within the territory will scatter, the common people will also run, and the last hope of defending the city will be gone.

Losing the city and territory means local officials will lose their heads. Involving their own lives, no one's face is useful.

Even if they can handle the government, losing the clan's industries and wanting to feed several thousand or even ten thousand people is also very difficult.

People are cheap when they leave their hometown.

When they were in their hometown, they were local bullies, not only possessing a large amount of land but also monopolizing multiple industries.

Once they change places, it is someone else's home field. Wanting to snatch food from the tiger's mouth is almost impossible.

It is highly probable that they will be visited by mountain bandits and robbers on the way to migration.

They have played similar tricks themselves and are truly too familiar with them.

Theoretically, against this background, they should contribute money and effort to organize civilian groups to resist the rebel invasion.

Unfortunately, most of these guys hold a fluke mentality. Only a few are willing to contribute money and gather troops to resist the rebels.

Even in the eyes of many, those who exhaust their family wealth are fools.

Without contributing money and grain, the imperial army might be able to block the rebels. Those who contributed money and grain have all thrown it into the water.

If the imperial army fails to block the rebels, their ending will be even worse.

The rebels have already spoken: anyone who contributes money and grain to support the imperial army will have their nine generations implicated, and they have fulfilled their promise.

On the contrary, not contributing money and grain to support the imperial army still leaves a glimmer of hope.

Most gentry are betting on that glimmer of hope.

It was precisely seeing the faces of these people that Li Mu determined that the Jiangnan gentry were rotten to the core and decisively chose to abandon Yangzhou.

Since everyone can play so well, let's just play a big one.

Just as his uncle said in the letter: all their current behaviors are scraping bones to remove poison for the Great Dayu.

The destruction caused by the rebels is only temporary. This is the pain during the detoxification process and belongs to the price that must be paid.

From Li Mu's perspective, if the plan is successful, the Great Dayu Dynasty can continue for another hundred years.

It is equivalent to completing a regional dynasty change within the empire. Private debts are largely passively cleared, and social contradictions are significantly reduced.

After the war, the land and mineral resources hidden by the gentry will surface again; as long as the court survives the recent years, fiscal revenue will increase significantly.

"Oh!"

Jing Yaqing said with slight disappointment.

Li Mu's statement almost determined the fate of the Jiangnan region next.

The Yangzhou region has her friends; under the overturned nest, there are no whole eggs, and the future fate of these people will likely not be very good.

Involving many factors and knowing that things are not as simple as they appear on the surface, she decisively gave up the idea of persuading him.

"Guangxi is actually not as bad as the legends say; after so many years of development, it has long since ceased to be the wild land it once was.

Although the economy is not as good as the capital, almost everything that should be there can be bought here.

Some scarce items can also be purchased from Guangzhou. Because of the coastline, overseas trade is developed here, and there are many Western gadgets.

Looking at the entire Great Dayu, Guangzhou's prosperity can also be ranked.

Compared to the capital, the climate here is more comfortable. Especially in winter, the feeling will be even more obvious."

Seeing that his wife was not in high spirits, Li Mu immediately changed the subject.

From the prosperous Yangzhou to the Guangxi that is waiting to be rebuilt, the gap between the two places is too wide, and a psychological gap is inevitable.

……

(End of chapter)