Chapter 302: The Divided Civil Official Faction

As the days passed, the Ghost Fang cavalry, having successfully completed their containment mission, reached the time for their withdrawal.

"The foraging parties outside haven't returned yet. Let's wait a few more days!"

Bashar said, his face expressionless.

"Foraging" was merely an excuse; in reality, the men below had seized too much loot and failed to return on time.

Those sent out to carry out the pillaging missions were the core forces of their three major tribes, so naturally, they could not be abandoned.

"Then shall we stay for another half a month?"

Wuri Mu tentatively proposed.

In the face of profit, those who can remain rational are, in the end, the minority.

The three major tribes were allies of the Tatars, not subordinates tagging along, and possessed sufficient autonomy.

The pre-agreed containment mission had been successfully completed; they could decide for themselves when to withdraw later.

"Unwise!"

"The grassland allied forces are withdrawing from Great Dayu one after another; we are already the last unit to pull out.

If we waste another half a month, the allies responsible for containing the Liaodong Garrison will also have withdrawn, and we will be left to fight alone.

The Great Dayu court still has some strength; once they react, it will be difficult to retreat unscathed.

Especially since we still have quite a bit of loot in our hands.

The later we withdraw, the harder it will be to transport the goods out successfully."

Uligai immediately objected.

Limited by their productive forces, the grassland tribes were poor, one after another.

Having finally made a fortune, they certainly could not run away and leave the loot behind.

The various grassland tribes were terrified of poverty; to them, loot was more valuable than human life.

"Sigh!"

"What a pity!"

"Opportunities for wanton pillaging are not easy to come by.

Our success in this southward expedition was mainly due to catching the enemy off guard.

Having suffered such a great loss, the Dayu people will surely attach importance to the Xuan-Da defense line later on, and it will be difficult to break in again.

Perhaps this time is the greatest opportunity of our lives."

Wuri Mu said with a look of regret.

He had truly opened his eyes during this southward invasion of Great Dayu.

Many commodities that were worth a fortune on the grassland were common goods here.

The loot seized from capturing a single city exceeded the total wealth of their tribe.

If not for the transportation problem, he would have loved to empty Great Dayu.

"There is nothing to regret. If we can break in once, we can do it countless times.

This house called Great Dayu is already old; it might collapse with a gust of wind and cannot stop the footsteps of our tribe's warriors.

With this loot, we can sharpen our weapons and train horses on the grassland, emulating the Tatars to train an elite force.

Once the great army is trained, we can just come back and plunder again!"

Bashar said, full of spirit.

He was not at all surprised that his own tribe could rise.

The Ghost Fang clan did not lack a glorious history; at their peak, they had even established a unified dynasty.

Their history could be traced back to ancient times, far beyond what the newly risen Tatar upstarts could compare to.

Their current decline was merely temporary.

Relying on their population advantage, as long as the Ghost Fang got on the right track, they would surely surpass the Tatars.

The only regret was that the various Ghost Fang tribes were in constant internal strife; the fighting between tribes had never ceased.

The current Ghost Fang clan had no one capable of suppressing internal conflicts and unifying the major Ghost Fang tribes.

Among these tribal leaders, there wasn't one who didn't want to unify the various Ghost Fang tribes.

Yet this was a hellish problem; besides the internal conflicts between tribes, external interference was also a major headache.

Neither Great Dayu nor the Tatar clan would allow the Ghost Fang to unify.

"We'll see about the future when the time comes.

First, let the men below transport the loot back as quickly as possible.

We cannot continue to delay; if we get bitten by the Dayu army, all our hard work will be in vain!"

Uligai slapped his thigh and said.

Whatever grand ambitions there were, in his view, were all fleeting clouds.

Before the Ghost Fang completed unification, they were merely a chess piece in the world's disputes.

Whether it was Great Dayu or the Tatar clan, both were far stronger than them.

"Commander, we just detected a convoy entering the enemy camp; after unloading the cargo, the convoy left again.

It is suspected to be the enemy's raiding party transporting loot back to the main camp; it seems the harvest should be quite substantial."

Wu Dage said with a look of joy.

He understood his master's style very well.

Hiding in the city and letting the enemy act freely must mean there was another plan.

Otherwise, after the main force of the Northern Barbarians withdrew, the King-Saving Army should have killed their way out to engage the enemy in a decisive battle.

Dragging it out for more than half a month, only consuming a few thousand auxiliary troops, was completely unlike Li Mu.

In his view, the loot the enemy was seizing outside the city was all being pre-stored there by his master.

This kind of "black eating black" tactic was not the first time.

The wealth plundered by the White Lotus Holy Kingdom earlier had eventually fallen into their hands.

Although the territory occupied by the enemy outside the city was not large, they acted more ruthlessly than the White Lotus rebels, almost digging three feet into the ground.

Even the iron pots in the homes of ordinary people had not been spared by these people.

This was a cognitive gap caused by the different scales of value measurement between the two sides.

The common people living within the pass could not imagine that an ordinary iron pot was more valuable than an ox.

"Continue to send men to monitor, and report immediately if there is any unusual movement.

Notify the generals in the army to come to the commander's tent this afternoon to discuss matters."

Li Mu ordered slowly.

Although he was responsible for military affairs, it did not mean the Marquis Wuyang was unimportant.

Mixing within the rule-based system, one must maintain sufficient respect for superiors.

The Liangguang King-Saving Army had performed too brilliantly in this great battle.

If they were to win a complete victory next, it would surely arouse the Emperor's suspicion.

Having the Marquis Wuyang stand in front to shield him from the wind and rain was beneficial and harmless to him.

Especially after the Liaodong Garrison grew strong, the court's wariness of the generals below increased, making it even more necessary to have someone to shield him.

Deep down, Li Mu had already made up his mind that once the White Lotus rebellion was resolved, he would immediately ignite a great war on the border.

A military general's value lies in war.

Only by igniting the flames of war could one become irreplaceable.

The Capital.

"Pei Yunxuan is a piece of trash; he lost Nanjing, and I haven't even settled the score with him yet, and now he can't even hold Jiangbei.

Reinforcements!

Reinforcements!

All he knows is how to ask for reinforcements!

If I had reinforcements, what would I need him for!

..."

Looking at the official document in his hand, Emperor Yongning could not help but curse in anger.

According to the game rules that generals and ministers should not be insulted, under normal circumstances, the Emperor would not curse directly like this.

However, a Viceroy of Jiangnan who had lost Jiangnan was no longer worth Emperor Yongning's face.

The White Lotus Sect was powerful in the Jiangnan region, and the fall of the prefectures on the south bank of the Yangtze River had long been expected by everyone.

Even when Nanjing fell, Emperor Yongning still held fantasies about Pei Yunxuan.

Suddenly, Yangzhou was also lost, which exceeded his capacity to bear.

The Lianghuai salt industry was the court's most important source of fiscal revenue; the flames of war reaching Lianghuai meant that the court's fiscal revenue would shrink sharply again.

Having been Emperor for a few years, Emperor Yongning had deeply experienced what it meant for a hero to be stumped by a single penny.

In a sense, the Great Dayu court's finances had already gone bankrupt during the Northern Barbarian invasion.

Military pay could not be issued, officials' salaries were in arrears, and various infrastructure projects of the court had come to a standstill.

If not for the deep-rooted official-oriented ideology, where people didn't rely on salaries to live, the court would have stopped functioning.

Even if officials could go without salaries, the Great Dayu court was already in a perilous situation.

The political system could be maintained because of the welfare system, but the army had no support.

The traditional Guard system had long since rotted, and the mainstream now was recruitment.

If the court couldn't find a way to feed these people, there would be great chaos.

"Your Majesty, calm your anger!"

Seeing the Emperor's anger, the ministers hurriedly persuaded him.

In fact, with the situation rotting to this point, everyone's hearts were collapsing.

Many people couldn't understand why the perfectly fine Great Dayu court had suddenly decayed into such a state.

"Humph!"

"You all tell me to calm my anger, then stop reaching out for money?

Money is needed here, and money is needed there.

The Ministry of Revenue always has two words—no money!

The court has no money, can I conjure it up?"

Emperor Yongning could not help but rebuke angrily.

Except for the time when he first ascended the throne, the rest of the time, he had been worrying about money.

Against the backdrop of a shortage of money, any court factional strife was just a minor issue.

As long as money and grain could be supplied, Great Dayu would still be that Great Dayu.

The current chaos could return to peace in less than a year.

"Your Majesty, the situation in Jiangnan is rotting; we must send capable officials to turn the tide.

I recommend Marquis Wuyang to serve as Viceroy of Jiangnan and preside over the work of recovering Nanjing.

As long as Nanjing can be recovered within the year, the current predicament can be easily solved!"

Grand Secretary Wan Junhui was the first to propose.

It wasn't that he wanted to trap Marquis Wuyang, but the court really didn't have many people to use.

An invasion by the Northern Barbarians had taken away a Viceroy of Xuan-Da, leading to the imprisonment of the Liaodong Commander.

The Viceroy of Jiangnan, who had looked good originally, was now finished too.

Regardless of their abilities, at least they knew military affairs and were higher in level than 99% of the officials in the court.

The threshold for commanding thousands of troops was very high.

Previous failure cases proved that when it came to leading troops in battle, if you couldn't do it, you couldn't do it.

Civil officials with military experience were rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.

Those who talked big were basically fakes.

Even if they really had the level, it wasn't enough; they still needed to have troops in their hands.

The Liaodong Garrison, heavily supported by civil officials, wouldn't listen to orders at all.

The military forces the court could rely on now were basically in the hands of the nobility faction.

If Marquis Wuyang wasn't sent, only the nobility could be sent; others going there might not be accepted by the troops below.

"Unwise!

Marquis Wuyang holds multiple posts; if he were to concurrently serve as Viceroy of Jiangnan, the pressure on him would be too great."

Emperor Yongning refused decisively.

After all, he was his own uncle, and he didn't want to trap him like that.

Not to mention that this "Number One Viceroy in the World" had become a hot potato.

Just holding military and political power over multiple provinces was a life-threatening matter.

Power being too concentrated was not good for the court or the individual.

Sometimes, when power reaches a certain level, even if there is no problem, people will create one.

Considering the civil officials' hostility toward the maternal relatives, Emperor Yongning felt this was a conspiracy concocted by the civil officials to kill Marquis Wuyang with praise.

"Your Majesty, if he is too busy holding multiple posts, he can resign from the Viceroy of Liangguang and Viceroy of Min-Zhe and focus on serving as Viceroy of Jiangnan."

Wan Junhui spoke to persuade him.

Heaven and earth as witness, he really had no intention of trapping Marquis Wuyang at this moment.

With the world situation rotting to this point, if they couldn't turn the tide, the dynasty would change.

As the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, he bore direct responsibility for the current situation.

If not for the fact that the Northern Barbarians hadn't fully withdrawn and someone was needed to take the blame for cleaning up the mess after the war, his political enemies would have already pulled him off his horse.

Recommending Marquis Wuyang at this time was both for the sake of the big picture and to save himself.

"Grand Secretary, the current Viceroy of Jiangnan only has one prefecture left.

How many days it can hold out, no one can say for sure.

To have Marquis Wuyang resign from the Viceroy of Liangguang and Viceroy of Min-Zhe and transfer him to serve as the Viceroy of Jiangnan, which is just an empty shell.

When the time comes, with no troops and no money, what will you have him use to suppress the rebellion?"

Li Yuan immediately retorted.

As a political ally, he couldn't watch his own people be led into a trap.

He held no hope for the integrity of the civil officials.

Mistreating meritorious officials was not something that hadn't happened in the Great Dayu court.

"The Marquis worries too much.

If the Viceroy of Jiangnan has no troops under his command, then draw them from other places.

Have the various provinces assist with military pay; there will always be a way!"

Speaking lightly, Wan Junhui was equally anxious deep down.

Drawing troops was easy, but counting on the various provinces to assist with military pay was difficult.

Unless it was an emergency, the efficiency of local government offices had always been pitifully low.

Unless it was a strong official, it was difficult to raise enough money and grain from below.

Urging was useless; if they didn't have money, they didn't have money.

If pushed too hard, they would resort to extortion, and in the blink of an eye, they could create chaos.

"If things were as easy as the Grand Secretary says, the court wouldn't have to worry about money and grain.

Now that the flames of war are everywhere, there are very few provinces that can stay out of it, and they simply cannot bear this burden.

Marquis Wuyang seems to manage four provinces, but in reality, only Fujian province has guaranteed tax revenue.

The wealthiest Zhejiang is in the hands of the rebels, and Liangguang was just recovered from the rebels.

To save the King, I'm afraid they've already emptied their family coffers; why be so obsessed with them!"

Jing Guoliang said unhappily.

Seemingly spraying Wan Junhui, he was actually reminding Emperor Yongning that the nobility faction had already done its best.

If they continued to let the civil officials mess around, the country would be finished.

"My dear ministers, do you have any other suggestions?"

Emperor Yongning asked, rubbing his forehead.

Anything could be linked to factional strife, which made him very helpless.

Yet he had no choice; to keep the balance below, he had to have the various factions fight each other.

"Your Majesty, I propose recalling Grand Secretary Xu to the capital, having Marquis Zhenyuan serve as Viceroy of Huguang, and Duke Cheng serve as Viceroy of Min-Zhe.

After Marquis Wuyang resigns as Viceroy of Min-Zhe, he will serve as Viceroy of Jiangnan and Viceroy of Liangguang, with the three Viceroys jointly presiding over the recovery of Nanjing."

After the Minister of War Wan Yuxuan finished speaking, the court immediately exploded.

Putting two big shots of the nobility faction on foreign assignments at once directly broke the convention of civil officials controlling military officials.

Such a proposal that pierced the sky was bound to be polarized.

Supporters and opponents argued in a group.

Without the slightest hesitation, a group of censors took the lead in spraying, directly labeling him as someone who harmed the country and the people.

Facing the accusations and curses of the crowd, as the protagonist, Wan Yuxuan showed an innocent expression.

It really wasn't that he wanted to make big news; he was completely forced by the situation.

The main armed forces in the south were all in the hands of the nobility faction; to exert the greatest combat effectiveness, only the nobility could be sent.

As for the sequelae, he couldn't care less right now.

Nothing else could be guaranteed, but at least such an arrangement could recover Nanjing in the shortest time.

If a civil official Viceroy were sent, it was unknown if they could clean up this mess, but just the selection of candidates would be enough to make people anxious.

Smart people wouldn't stand out at such a time, and sending fools would only make the situation worse.

"Quiet!"

"This is the imperial court; you can make suggestions, but this is not a place for you to act recklessly.

Those who lose their composure before the Emperor, go to the Ministry of Rites to receive punishment yourselves!"

Emperor Yongning flared up immediately.

The intricate situation made it difficult for him to make up his mind.

The division within the civil official faction was even more beyond his expectations.

He had originally thought that such a proposal should be met with collective opposition from the civil officials, but the reality was just the opposite.

Except for the professional spraying censors, the most intense opposition came from military officials, and the voices of support within the civil officials were actually tied with the voices of opposition.

Especially officials from Jiangnan, Huguang, Shandong, Henan, and other places almost unanimously stood up to support it.

The eerie change left Emperor Yongning at a loss.

(End of chapter)