Chapter 364

The sudden war report shattered everyone's illusions.

The war had come!

If the Yu Emperor hadn't decided to go to war with them, the Yu troops would not have dared to violate the border on their own.

"Damn Yu people, daring to violate the territory of our Great Viet; this is clearly bullying us, the Great Viet, by thinking we have no one.

Issue the decree: all departments are to immediately conduct a national mobilization; I will personally lead an army of 300,000 to march north and capture the Great Dayu Emperor alive!"

Hu Xinbo, having lost his composure, immediately ordered a national mobilization.

Starting a war out of anger is a major taboo for military strategists, but at this moment, the high command of Annan clearly lacked the capacity for further thought.

Everyone unanimously believed that the Yu Dynasty was going to use force against them.

Annan had reached a moment of life and death, and they had to do their utmost to win this battle.

"Your Majesty, calm your anger!"

"Spring plowing is imminent; mobilizing the whole country at this time will inevitably affect next year's grain harvest.

A few days ago, Yu merchants were constantly purchasing grain in our Great Viet, and the grain price was forcibly driven up by them by double.

Although the imperial court acted in time to prohibit grain exports, the decline in domestic grain stocks has still become a reality.

The current provocation by the Yu troops is deliberately intended to lure us into a trap; we must absolutely not fall for the enemy's treacherous scheme!"

Ruan Xinjie hurriedly advised.

Only after taking charge of the household does one know the cost of firewood, rice, oil, and salt.

Once war breaks out, the one under the most pressure is the Ministry of Revenue.

Financial deficit is not a patent of the Great Dayu; the Great Viet, which followed the Great Dayu's example, was also suffering from a severe deficit.

In previous years, they constantly launched external expeditions and expanded their territory; everyone was glorious, but the mess was left to the Ministry of Revenue.

Regardless of how wealthy the newly occupied areas were, the initial development phase always required the consumption of money and grain.

The biggest problem with the Indochinese Peninsula is that it is too wealthy; the indigenous tribes that were destroyed had no spirit of enterprise, and their development and utilization of the land were very limited.

Over twenty nations were destroyed, and the ones who profited were all the powerful and noble; the spoils of war never entered the Ministry of Revenue.

"Despicable Yu people!"

"They indeed had a premeditated plan; it seems that the damn Yu Emperor has been plotting against our Great Viet for more than a day or two.

The Ministry of Rites shall draft a manifesto denouncing the Yu; I want to expose the despicable conduct of the Yu Emperor and let everyone in the world know that he is a despicable villain!

..."

Hu Xinbo cursed loudly.

When the Yu merchants came to collect grain, he had thought that the Yu State was affected by the war, that its grain production had dropped significantly, and that it urgently needed to purchase grain from the outside world.

In order to make a big profit, he ordered the old grain in the official granaries to be sold to the Yu merchants as new grain at a high price.

In any case, the Great Viet was not short of grain; every year, a large amount of grain rotted in the warehouses of the powerful and noble.

Since there was a sucker willing to pay a high price to take over, it certainly had to be sold.

The Emperor and the domestic powerful and noble cleaned out the excess inventory together, and everyone made a fortune in this international trade.

He had thought he had taken advantage of them, but now it seemed he was a fool.

Thinking of the military grain the Yu Dynasty was using to attack them, which was actually what he had sold them, and then looking at the silk, porcelain, and tea he had received in return, it suddenly didn't smell good anymore.

No matter how angry he was, the matter of sending troops was still shelved until after the spring plowing.

A northern expedition of 300,000 troops required the conscription of a large number of laborers.

Once mobilized, agricultural production would inevitably be affected.

Encountering an enemy like the Great Dayu, the possibility of a quick victory was almost zero; they had to be prepared for a protracted war.

"Provincial Governor, an urgent report from the front line!"

"The Annan people have launched attacks on Zhen'an Prefecture, Siming Prefecture, and other places; the garrison soldiers fought bravely and barely managed to kill and repel the enemy.

Over 3,000 enemy soldiers were beheaded, but we also suffered painful casualties.

Debao County Magistrate Wei Fusheng was unfortunately hit by a stray arrow while inspecting the city defenses and died after emergency treatment failed.

The enemy is coming aggressively; the garrison general has sent a request for reinforcements, hoping you can send 200,000 reinforcements, allocate 2 million taels of silver, 1.5 million shi..."

Before the private secretary could finish, Zhang Sihan was dumbfounded.

He is the Guangxi Provincial Governor, not the Great Dayu Emperor. Where is he supposed to mobilize troops and raise such a huge amount of money and grain?

Not to mention 200,000 reinforcements, he couldn't even mobilize 20,000.

It is not that Guangxi's military preparations were abandoned, but purely that the office had no money.

After the 'reform of the land system,' Guangxi's fiscal revenue achieved a significant increase.

However, this increase was compared to the original low base; the total amount still didn't reach the fraction of the wealthy provinces.

In essence, Guangxi's finances were still in a state of exceeding income, needing to rely on the imperial court's support to cover administrative expenses.

Regardless, being able to increase fiscal revenue was always a good thing.

Unfortunately, the imperial court's finances were in severe deficit; after the Guangxi region returned to peace, the Ministry of Revenue reduced its financial appropriations to Guangxi.

The increased share was not even as much as the reduced appropriation.

So much so that for the various levels of offices to operate normally, they had to rely on the officials to exert their subjective initiative.

"County Magistrate Wei died for his country?"

Zhang Sihan asked with concern.

Reinforcements and money/grain were not things he could handle.

He could only focus his attention on the official dying for his country.

He knew Wei Fusheng; this person was talented, skilled in poetry and prose, but because of his foul mouth, he offended people in the imperial court and was demoted to serve in Guangxi.

After arriving in Guangxi, this fellow did learn some lessons and no longer deliberately provoked his superiors.

Unfortunately, this guy's talent for courting disaster was too strong; he often flattered the wrong way and was very unpopular in official circles.

If one was slightly polite to him, this guy would lose all sense of proportion.

He would criticize the government without any scruples, as if from the Emperor to the ministers, the entire court of civil and military officials was not as capable as him.

If it were just that, it would be fine; everyone is mixing within the system, and without conflicts of interest, they wouldn't take things too far.

Demoted to the frontier, the matter would end there.

The big shots wouldn't lower their status to haggle with a mad scholar.

But this guy was particularly discriminatory against military generals.

Other civil officials looked down on military generals, but they all despised them secretly in their hearts; this guy said it out loud.

He often complained in public that the chaotic state of the world was caused by the incompetence of military generals.

Even big shots with real power like the Marquis of Hanshui and the Marquis of Wuyang were just 'common soldiers' in his mouth.

Facts have proven that offending military generals on the border is more terrifying than offending civil officials.

They don't have such fancy political means, but they can play 'physical elimination.'

Once the war started, County Magistrate Wei was 'made to die for his country.'

Being able to reach this conclusion was because Zhang Sihan had been in contact with Wei Fusheng and knew very well that this guy was a 'keyboard warrior' who would never risk his life to inspect city defenses under fire.

"Yes, Provincial Governor."

"However, the content of the war report is too simple; it does not describe the detailed process, and even the battle damage was glossed over with 'suffered heavy losses,' so there might be something fishy.

My Lord, do you think we should send someone to investigate and verify it?"

Hearing the answer from his private secretary, Bei Tianyou, Zhang Sihan shook his head immediately.

"No need!"

"It is now a time of war, and we need them to sell their lives.

As long as the heads are real, everything else is a side issue.

Polish and embellish the war report, fill in the obvious loopholes, and by the way, apply for a posthumous honor for County Magistrate Wei.

Copy the official document to be sent to the capital and send two copies to the Viceroy's office and the Provincial Military Commander's office respectively."

Whether there was something fishy in the war report, he really didn't want to investigate deeply.

It would be fine if no problems were investigated, but once something fatal was found, the investigators sent would most likely evaporate from the world.

If the matter blew up, no one's face would look good.

The threat of the Annan people was imminent, and he didn't want to confront the military for the sake of an eyesore like Wei Fusheng.

Helping to apply for a posthumous honor was fulfilling his duty as a colleague.

If one were unscrupulous, simply ignoring him wouldn't be a big deal either.

In the past few years, the number of Great Dayu officials who died for their country exceeded three digits, among whom there was no lack of high-ranking officials of Rank Three or above.

A remote county magistrate who was demoted for offending people was simply inconspicuous.

If he hadn't died at the hands of the Annan people as evidence of the Annan invasion, his name wouldn't even have been brought up separately.

The fleet slowly sailed into the port, and the pier was already crowded with people.

Looking around, one could vaguely see that these people were mostly nearby officials and gentry.

As for the wealthy merchants, on such a special occasion, they were not qualified to stand in the front row.

Accustomed to big scenes, Li Mu had already learned to adapt to this high-standard welcome.

Mixing in official circles, in a situation where the official ecology cannot be changed, one must learn to 'harmonize with the light and dust.'

If someone arranges a reception, then follow the process.

The welcome banquet is held as usual, and the gifts sent are accepted.

If this didn't happen, everyone wouldn't be at ease.

Although the imperial court's appointment hadn't come down yet, those with well-informed sources all knew the result.

Acting on behalf of the Viceroy of the Two Guangs is also the Viceroy of the Two Guangs.

When the Marquis of Wuyang served as Viceroy, he had put them through enough trouble. The maritime merchants felt it the most, having been alive-skinned for a layer of oil.

Changing to Li Mu, this military strongman, no one knew how the 'three fires' of a new official would burn.

The only thing everyone could do was to ensure the etiquette was in place first and not offend anyone.

After a few daily pleasantries, the venue for the evening banquet was changed from a restaurant in the city to Li Mu's Provincial Military Commander's mansion.

For such a small matter, naturally, no one would reject the face of their future superior.

In the evening, the Provincial Military Commander's mansion was brightly lit.

"Provincial Military Commander, urgent military intelligence from Guangxi."

The sudden war report made the originally noisy banquet fall into silence.

"Everyone continue; eat and drink as you please.

I have military affairs to attend to, so I will take my leave first!"

Li Mu said to the crowd with a smile.

The war report arriving so coincidentally was naturally arranged by him.

The changes that occurred in Guangxi were all a pre-arranged script, and the people below were just executing it according to plan.

There was no way around it; the officials and gentry of Guangdong were too enthusiastic.

Even with his status and position, no one dared to force him to drink, but he still drank quite a bit.

If it continued, he would definitely get drunk.

Fortunately, this was in the mansion; everyone had scruples in their hearts, so many entertainment items were not arranged.

If it were in a restaurant, and a group of courtesans proficient in zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and poetry and prose appeared to urge him to drink, Li Mu wouldn't want to challenge his own 'soft rib.'

If he got carried away, that would be a big trouble.

No one knew whose secret agents these professionally trained women were; keeping them by his side was like a bomb with the remote control in someone else's hands.

Although Li Mu told everyone to be at ease, the officials tacitly put down their wine glasses and left the banquet, leaving the gentry stunned in place.

Receiving urgent military intelligence from the front line in front of a superior naturally requires showing concern; everyone had at least that much political awareness.

Opening the official document and glancing at it, except for the addition of a 'lucky' county magistrate dying for his country, everything was going according to the script.

The Annan army invading naturally didn't exist; the people over there were currently in a state of confusion.

The heads obtained were all the result of the border troops taking the initiative to attack.

The dead Annan soldiers were not wronged either; before Li Mu took office, friction often occurred in the border areas.

The Annan people colluded with the Guangxi indigenous chiefs and often harassed the border areas; the local offices reported it to the imperial court many times to no avail.

After Li Mu reorganized Guangxi's military preparations, friction also occurred between the two sides, but the border troops, having changed their 'roots,' were no longer polite.

If anyone dared to cross the border, the border troops dared to kill.

After suffering losses several times in a row, the Annan people finally settled down.

Picking them to attack now is reasonable and fair.

"The Annan people have invaded the border; the border troops have suffered heavy losses, and even a county magistrate has died for his country.

The war has come!

Guangxi cannot hold on, and the Guangxi Provincial Governor has sent a request for reinforcements; everyone can look at the specific content themselves!"

After finishing, Li Mu handed the official document to the Guangdong Provincial Governor nearby.

The nearby officials spontaneously gathered around; seeing this scene, An Qingfeng read the official document aloud in front of everyone.

After learning the content, everyone's faces looked bad.

Since ancient times, there has been a saying that the Two Guangs are one; if war breaks out in Guangxi, Guangdong shouldn't think it can stay out of it.

Recovering the Two Guangs from the rebels—it had only been a few years, and now another major war had arrived.

Everyone's first reaction was not how to use troops, but where the money and grain would come from.

The imperial court clearly couldn't be counted on; even if the Emperor were willing to allocate funds, it wouldn't catch up with this major war.

Guangxi is too poor; facing a huge gap in money and grain, they could at most raise two or three out of ten themselves.

The remaining gap could only rely on neighboring provinces to coordinate military pay.

At this moment, the imperial court is busy recovering Nanjing, and the financial resources of all provinces are tilting toward that side.

In a short period of time, the burden of raising money and grain could only fall on Guangdong.

The imperial court's arrangement was clearly also prepared to have Guangdong Province pay this money.

Having experienced the bitterness of raising money and grain, everyone really didn't want to do it again.

"Marquis, the Annan people are raising an army of a million to attack; wouldn't that be too exaggerated?"

Ma Cunyi couldn't help but question.

There was no need to dwell on the issue of the war breaking out.

The Annan heads beheaded by the front-line officers and soldiers, and the roster of fallen soldiers, all could explain the problem.

Moreover, the Annan envoy provoking the Great Dayu was also an open secret among the officials.

The war must definitely be fought; the key now is how large the scale of this war is.

The Provincial Administration Commissioner manages the money and grain of a province; if military pay is to be raised, he will be the first to bear the brunt.

"The million-strong army is what the Annan people themselves are promoting; how many troops the enemy actually has is temporarily unknown.

However, when our dynasty pacified Jiaozhi back then, the population in the Annan region already exceeded three million.

After so many years of expansion, the Annan people's territory has increased several times, and the total population under their rule is probably in the tens of millions."

Li Mu immediately bluffed.

Population growth and territorial expansion being synchronized seems very reasonable, but in reality, it is pure nonsense.

Don't look at how the territory controlled by the Annan people is not small; in reality, the developed land only accounts for a small part.

More than half of the country's population is concentrated in the Red River Delta plain, and other areas are still traditional tribal systems.

These scattered tribes nominally belong to the Annan State, but in reality, they are still in an independent state.

People live in deep mountains and old forests, and the Annan King has no way to go in to collect taxes.

From the intelligence gathered, the current Annan State has a total population of about five to six million.

To conquer Annan, now is the best time.

If their agricultural level advances one step further and they welcome a new round of major population growth, then it won't be possible to eat them up.

Of course, Annan's registered population is still over three million.

In this regard, it is about the same as the Great Dayu; in order to escape the poll tax and corvée, the gentry have all learned to hide the population.

The Annan State claims to the outside world that it has over 300,000 troops, which can only scare scholars who don't know military affairs.

Li Mu felt no pressure at all from this set of data.

After all, the total number of registered troops in the Great Dayu Dynasty is as high as over 2.8 million.

And this number is still growing continuously with the expansion of recruitment.

If one day it exceeds three million, Li Mu wouldn't find it strange.

But when it comes to specific combat, it is extremely difficult for the Great Dayu to mobilize 300,000 troops.

The master is so miserable; the disciples who follow the learning don't have much better situations.

The Great Dayu looks weak, but that is just bad luck, having caught up with the Little Ice Age.

If it weren't for the continuous natural disasters that led to smoke and fire everywhere in the country and consumed a large amount of national strength, the mere Northern Tatars would be nothing.

"A mere tiny country, yet it has so many people.

It seems the ambitious Annan State has become another heart-trouble for our dynasty after the Northern Tatars!"

Ma Cunyi said in shock.

Any regime with a population of over ten million is a major force that cannot be ignored.

The total population of the Two Guangs region added together is now less than ten million.

Beside the bed, how can others be allowed to snore!

Don't look at how everyone is degenerate in ordinary times; the sense of worry is not lacking.

The group of officials led astray by Li Mu's bluffing had their concepts of the Annan State change quietly.

Originally, they only wanted to fight a small battle to teach the Annan people a lesson; now it has become 'eliminate them and then be happy.'

Seeing this scene, Li Mu felt a joy in his heart.

Since the officials of Guangdong could be bluffed, then the hundred officials and the Emperor far away in the capital would be even easier to bluff.

Recognizing the threat of Annan, anyone with a little political brain would not allow this strong enemy to continue to grow.

(End of chapter)