Chapter 329

Wuchang Prefecture.

"The rebel army is gathering heavy troops in Jiujiang, and our total military strength is less than 100,000, among which there are 20,000 new recruits.

Wanting to quickly fight a decisive battle and take this strategic location, I'm afraid it's difficult!"

Li Yuan said with worry.

Recovering lost territory is a good thing, but while recovering lost territory, it is also inevitable to divide troops to garrison various places.

The longer the battle line is drawn, the less mobile troops can be used in hand.

These 20,000 new recruits were just recruited after recovering Wuchang and have no combat effectiveness at all.

With the battle line advancing to Wuchang, the imperial army is a bit unable to fight. If the enemy's reaction is slow, they can take Jiujiang Prefecture.

It is just that the Wu Chu States both attach great importance to Jiujiang. In a short time, 100,000 troops gathered locally.

As the side defending the city, having so many troops makes the side attacking very desperate.

If they really attack hard, even if they can take Jiujiang, the imperial army will also suffer heavy losses.

"Uncle, if we can't fight a quick decisive battle, then let's fight a protracted war.

The current situation in Huguang is very favorable to us. Using the opportunity of the enemy mobilizing troops, it is just right to take the opportunity to recover lost territory.

Having recovered the Huguang land, we don't have to worry about food. If the enemy army wants to consume, just accompany them to consume.

The Wu Chu States together have over a million troops, which are not so easy to feed.

In a short time, they can still support themselves by relying on the supplies looted before, but after a long time, logistics will definitely have problems.

Especially the Chu State; they fundamentally cannot afford to feed so many troops.

Once they enter a state of war, it won't take half a year to exhaust their stored grain!"

Li Mu shared calmly.

Relying on the government's strong means, the Huguang public bond was promoted very smoothly.

The silver that arrived alone exceeded 1.5 million taels, and there were 800,000 shi of various grains.

The amount the gentry promised to subscribe to was several times higher than this figure.

Even if only half is redeemed in the end, it is still a huge profit.

The imperial army's logistics pressure is greatly reduced, and they even have the spare energy to form a new army.

In another two months, it will be time for the spring grain harvest.

Although affected by the war, Huguang's grain production has decreased, but after deducting the private use of the people, there is still quite a lot of surplus.

On the contrary, the Chu State side, having lost its own granary, has had a difficult time.

The situation in the Wu State is slightly better, but they are spending a lot of money to form a cavalry.

The Northern Barbarians are not short of gold and silver; if they want to obtain warhorses, they can only exchange them for strategic materials like grain and cloth.

Under this background, the grain that can be taken out to support the Chu State will certainly not be too much.

Fighting a war of attrition, Li Mu is not afraid at all.

"Indeed, the one who should be anxious now is the rebel army.

Wei Ni doesn't want to be dragged to death by us, so he can only fight a quick decisive battle.

Then in the coming days, we will divide the work.

You are responsible for dealing with the main force of the rebel army, and I will lead the troops to recover the lost territory."

Li Yuan thought for a while and said.

Following all the way here, acting as a spectator the whole time, he had long wanted to make a move.

It is a pity that his strength is limited, and he cannot get involved in high-end games.

Now the rebel army is divided into two, and the troops in those prefectures are not many, and they are in a state of panic.

Sending troops to recover these prefectures at this time is the best time to bully the weak.

The army raided all the way and finally arrived under Jiujiang City.

Looking at the Wu army flag fluttering on the city wall, Wei Wang Weijiarui breathed a sigh of relief.

"The mouth of the three rivers, the thoroughfare of seven provinces."

Jiujiang is not only a strategic location to block the imperial army from going south, but also the gateway to Jiangxi.

He had been thinking about this place for a long time, but because Jiujiang was in the hands of the Wu army, he couldn't make a move for the sake of the great cause of opposing the Yu.

The Wu State also knew that Jiujiang was being thought about, so they stationed heavy troops here.

However, "thinking about" is a thing of the past; having experienced the fall of a large area of Huguang territory, Wei Wang Weijiarui had long lost the idea of peeking at Jiujiang.

Only with Jiujiang Prefecture in the hands of the Wu State can Fu Fu Haoxuan send troops to participate in the great battle with the imperial army.

If there were no worries about Jiujiang, whether the Wu State would send troops to participate in the war would become an unknown.

From the distance, it is much closer from Jiujiang to Nanchang than to Nanjing.

If they lose Jiujiang Prefecture, the Wu State can still hold Anqing Prefecture.

The Chu State will be tragic; the capital defense war may break out at any time.

Along the coast of Poyang Lake, the most prosperous land in Jiangxi is gathered.

Once the imperial army is allowed to kill in, their losses will be huge.

Losing the Huguang granary and then losing this land of fish and rice, competing for the world will have nothing to do with him.

"Your Highness, the Wu army envoy invites you to enter the city, what do you think?"

A middle-aged civil official stepped forward to ask.

"Tell the envoy that on the battlefield, speed is precious; we must rush to Wuchang as soon as possible, so we won't disturb them."

Wei Wang Weijiarui decisively refused.

Now is not the White Lotus Holy Kingdom period; everyone is no longer brothers eating from the same pot.

In the competition for hegemony in troubled times, allies also need to be guarded against.

In case someone harbors evil intentions and he delivers himself to their door, it would become a joke.

In fact, at the beginning, he thought about rushing to Wuchang directly from the land route and not passing through the Wu State's sphere of influence.

Later, considering that his own strength alone was not enough to take down the imperial army, he came over to join forces with the Wu State.

Of course, factors in logistics were also an important consideration.

Even if borrowing the road from Jiujiang Prefecture, in fact, the army still walked the land route, just handing over the logistics to water transport.

It is not that Wei Wang Weijiarui rejects water transport, mainly because the number of ships is not enough to transport so many troops at once.

It is true that water transport in the Jiangnan region is developed, but the owners of slightly larger ships are either rich merchants or landlord gentry.

Hearing that the rebel army is coming, these people will not forget transport tools like ships when they flee for their lives.

The current transport fleet is the family foundation that Wei Wang Weijiarui slowly accumulated after occupying Jiangxi.

"Your Highness, we still have to fight jointly next; a direct refusal is too stiff.

It is better to set up a banquet in the camp and invite the Wu army generals to come over for a talk."

Chancellor Chang Junyi persuaded.

Going over himself has too much risk; inviting the other party to come over is much safer.

Once they arrive on their own turf, they are the ones setting up the Hongmen Banquet for others.

"Hmm!

Then arrange it like that; the Ministry of Rites is responsible for arranging the reception work well, and don't let people laugh at us for not understanding etiquette."

Wei Wang Weijiarui ordered immediately.

The more humble the origin, the more one values etiquette after reaching a high position.

The value of etiquette has never been etiquette itself, but the Confucian culture behind etiquette.

Loyalty, filial piety, benevolence, righteousness, etiquette, wisdom, faith, forgiveness, and fraternal love—these eight characters represent the Confucian thought that feudal rulers have always liked the most.

After reaching a high position, they will subtly promote it to consolidate their own power and status.

"Your Majesty, rest assured, the Ministry of Rites will definitely handle this matter well."

Seeing that there is work to do, the Minister of Rites on the side hurriedly agreed.

No matter how much etiquette is promoted, in wartime, utility is still the priority, and the Ministry of Rites' sense of presence in the court is relatively low.

Having finally encountered an opportunity, one must definitely show it.

It is a pity that his idea is destined to fail.

Wei Wang Weijiarui's mind is full of how to recover Huguang, and he has no heart to toss about anything else.

Chengdu Prefecture.

"Wei Ni is coming aggressively; do you colleagues have any countermeasures?"

Xu Xu Wenyue asked with concern.

The expansion of the White Lotus Sect's faith is not going well, but the situation in the Shu region has inevitably moved towards deterioration.

The government's extortion and the gentry's taking advantage of the fire created favorable conditions for the rebel army to develop and grow.

In order to raise funds for suppressing the rebellion, additional levies became an unavoidable fact.

It is just that in the process of execution, the Yamen at all levels added layers of weight.

A levy of one coin of silver grew ten times below, forcing the people to sell their sons and daughters.

When everyone could not bear the burden, the White Lotus Sect rebel army just happened to kill them, and rebellion became a matter of course.

The faster the rebel army grew, the more fiercely the government levied, and the higher the people's enthusiasm for rebellion became.

The continuous vicious cycle, by the time Xu Xu Wenyue arrived in Chengdu, the situation in Shu had already moved towards rot.

Before he could take countermeasures, the rebel army was about to kill Chengdu Prefecture.

Thinking about it, he felt depressed; it seems that since he served as an assistant minister, his official career has become bumpy.

First it was the Viceroy of Five Provinces, then it became the Viceroy of Huguang, and then it became the Viceroy of Sichuan.

The rank has not changed, and the main task has not changed, but the real power in his hands is getting smaller and smaller.

It is fine that power has shrunk, but the situation is getting more and more dangerous.

At the beginning, the imperial court's finances were still okay, and they gave strong support.

In the early great battle of suppressing the rebellion, he also achieved considerable results.

If it weren't for the pig teammates dragging him down, the task of suppressing the White Lotus Sect rebellion would have been completed in the first term.

After the subsequent mourning period and taking up the post, he began a career of cleaning up the mess.

Although the situation was dangerous at the time, he still persisted and waited for the imperial army's great counterattack.

Just as the entire Huguang region was about to be recovered, the Northern Barbarians invaded the north, and the Emperor issued an imperial decree for the world's troops to come to the rescue.

The improving situation moved towards collapse again.

Struggling to hold on until the end of the rescue war, the imperial court finally had the ability to clean up the situation in the south, and he was thrown into the Shu region by an imperial decree.

Watching the great counterattack in Huguang, he only had the share of being greedy.

Local forces in Shu huddled together seriously, and the authority of him, this Viceroy, was seriously challenged.

If it were another point in time, he would definitely let these local officials know what the authority of a Grand Secretary is.

Not now; the rebel army is about to arrive at the city, so it is not suitable for internal fighting.

"Grand Secretary, the most elite troops in Shu were lost in the previous great battle.

Now to resist the rebel army, I'm afraid it is indispensable to borrow the troops from Yunnan-Guizhou.

However, their appetite is too big, and the Provincial Governor's Yamen cannot come up with so much money and grain for a while."

Lu Lu Junliang said with a bitter face.

If he had known that the situation would deteriorate so quickly, he shouldn't have saved that little money and grain when suppressing the rebellion before.

Although the Provincial Governor's Yamen is not rich, if they grit their teeth and scrape together, they can still meet the military needs.

The allocation of money and grain was not in place, and the imperial army, which originally occupied the upper hand, was hungry.

After several urges for grain failed, the soldiers on the front line mutinied and joined the rebel ranks.

To avoid the imperial court's accountability, the matter of forcing the imperial army to rebel was jointly covered up by a group of officials.

However, the battle report can be fooled, but the battle line cannot deceive people.

The rebel army advanced all the way, and seeing that Chengdu Prefecture was about to be unable to be protected, at this moment they all panicked.

With the messy things they did in the Shu region, the heads on their necks are the sharp tools to appease the people's hearts.

Once they fall into the hands of the rebel army, I am afraid they will not even have a chance to surrender.

"What about the troops in Shu?

This Viceroy remembers that there are two towns of elite soldiers in Shu.

Even if they lost the battle, they couldn't have been wiped out, right?"

Xu Xu Wenyue questioned immediately.

The core backbone of the Great Yu Dynasty's imperial army is the retainers of the military generals.

Even if they lose troops and generals, as long as the retainer team is there, they can use this as a backbone to quickly pull together a troop.

Train for three to five months, and then take them to fight a few battles, and a troop will be trained successfully.

"Grand Secretary, you don't know.

In the previous great battle, the generals personally led their personal guards to charge and kill, successively losing several fierce generals.

Now these generals are many newly promoted, so..."

Administration Commissioner Li Li Yongliang explained.

Military generals can be promoted, but not all military generals have retainers under their command who can fight.

Except for the nobility and military families, the number of retainers kept by other military generals is very limited due to their own financial resources.

Lacking backbone strength, even if promoted to a high position, they cannot quickly pull together a troop.

Even military bigwigs like the Marquis of Zhenyuan and the Duke of Cheng, when forming an army, also dug corners from Li Mu's side.

It is not that they have no one to use in their hands, mainly because the grassroots backbone strength is not enough.

There must be a sufficient proportion of veterans to allow the newly formed troops to form combat effectiveness in the shortest time.

"Trash!"

"Since there are no troops in the Shu region, what are you hesitating about? Hurry up and let the reinforcements from Yunnan-Guizhou go up.

As for the problem of money and grain, you find a way yourselves.

As long as you want to raise money, you can definitely raise it.

If there is really no way, then take your own savings to pay for it.

Don't talk nonsense with this old man; how much family foundation you each have, this Viceroy has understood before coming.

If the rebel army really breaks in, no matter how much wealth you have, it can only be a wedding dress for the enemy.

Instead of losing both money and life, it is better to spend money to save your life.

Start organizing the evacuation of the people today, carry out a scorched-earth policy within a radius of fifty miles, and create as much trouble for the enemy army as possible.

In addition, recruit 30,000 young and strong men to join the garrison team, and this old man will personally supervise their training.

The big households in the city should also be mobilized.

Those with money contribute money, those with strength contribute strength.

From now on, whoever drags my feet, I will pluck off whoever's head!"

Xu Xu Wenyue said with murderous intent.

In troubled times, use heavy codes; the previous civil official politics can no longer keep up with the times.

This time coming to take up the post, he is not alone.

When he was in Huguang, he trained a supervisory standard.

Although the total military strength is only three thousand people, they are all veterans who have been on the battlefield.

To defeat the rebel army, relying on this team alone is not enough.

But it is very easy to use it to clean up disobedient officials.

Now just waiting for some idiots to jump out, so as to "kill the chicken to warn the monkey" and deter the hearts of the officials and people in Shu.

Jiujiang City.

"Marquis, the Prince of Chu refused to enter the city and invited you to meet in the camp."

Hearing this news, Marquis of Weiyuan Yin Yin Mufeng showed a look of disdain at the corner of his mouth.

"It seems that Wei Wang Weijiarui is old after all, actually not even daring to enter the city.

Everyone is a brother in the sect, there is still some incense fire feeling, yet he suspects that I am setting up a Hongmen Banquet for him.

He doesn't even think about what the situation is now.

If we fight internally again, what will we use to resist Li Ni?"

The most stable alliance is always interest binding.

The rebellion-suppression army led by Li Mu is the enemy of all rebel armies.

Without kicking away this stumbling block, let alone competing for the world, it is difficult to even keep the current territory.

Out of strategic considerations, the Wu Chu States now also have to join hands to resist the strong enemy.

"Marquis, His Majesty has great talent and bold vision, which the Prince of Chu is naturally incomparable to.

Even if he becomes the master of a country, he still cannot hide his petty spirit.

However, regarding the Prince of Chu's invitation, will you attend?"

The middle-aged civil official asked in a flattering tone.

"Next, we will fight jointly, so we must meet and communicate.

Send someone to tell the Prince of Chu that I will attend on time.

Pass the order down to strengthen the guard in the city.

Before I return, no one is allowed to enter or leave without authorization.

Especially those who have followed the Prince of Chu, focus on them.

Once someone is found to be colluding in private, catch them first!"

Yin Yin Mufeng ordered coldly.

Confidence is confidence, but the necessary precautions cannot be less.

He is a normal person; he cannot guarantee that his allies are also normal.

The rebel army was built from a grassroots team; many people's thinking transformation is not that fast, and it is normal to have a few who don't follow the rules.

(End of chapter)