Chapter 365

The Annan threat was placed on the table, and the Guangxi Provincial Governor's request for reinforcements also arrived, so sending troops was put on the agenda.

The officials present had all experienced the White Lotus Sect rebellion and knew very well that military problems could not be delayed.

"Marquis, when are you planning to send troops, and what do you need us to prepare?"

An Qingfeng asked, enduring the pain in his heart.

Stretching the head is a knife; shrinking the head is also a knife.

With the Annan invasion, a massive hemorrhage for Guangdong Province is inevitable.

Rather than being forced to pay money and grain, it is better to propose it actively, which can also establish an image of 'considering the overall situation.'

Once an official position reaches his level, one must consider problems from the overall situation of the Great Dayu.

"Although the situation in Guangxi is dangerous, it can still hold on for some time.

Considering the actual situation, I plan to send troops after the spring plowing.

Before that, the focus will be on preparing money and grain.

The Annan people are not weak; the war cannot be ended in a day or two.

Neither of the Two Guangs is a major grain-producing province; supporting the recovery of Huguang and Jiangxi earlier exhausted the local grain reserves.

Grain prices among the people remain high, so this time we will not raise grain locally, but change to purchasing from the outside world; you only need to prepare military pay.

Prepare three million taels of silver in the early stage; Guangxi will raise 20% itself, Guangdong will bear 60%, and the remaining 20% will be applied for from the imperial court."

Li Mu's answer made everyone breathe a sigh of relief.

Only providing military pay and not having to raise grain and fodder made everyone's pressure much lighter.

The 1.8 million taels to be shared is indeed a large number, but relying on the dividends brought by overseas trade, raising this fund is not impossible to complete.

The way to raise money was paved for everyone by the Marquis of Wuyang earlier; if there is no money, just collect the 'li-jin' tax from the maritime merchants.

Although this wave of operations to a certain extent legalized maritime trade and violated the imperial court's maritime ban policy, special times require special handling.

It is not just them who are collecting taxes; the neighboring provinces of Fujian and Zhejiang are also asking for money from maritime merchants.

If the rebellion is pacified, it is estimated that Nanzhili will also collect taxes from maritime merchants.

The nobility group is not the beneficiary of overseas trade, but they are the beneficiaries of collecting tariffs; this is the motivation for everyone to collect taxes.

The troops under the command of the nobility faction generals have half of their money and grain contributed by maritime merchants; this is the motivation for everyone to collect taxes.

The officials present are all outsiders who privately accepted benefits from maritime merchants, but this is not enough to make them jump out to oppose the general trend.

The profits of maritime trade are rich enough; even if a tax is added, everyone can still make a fortune.

After all, the Great Dayu's commodities are in a monopoly position and possess non-substitutability.

As a participant in overseas trade, Li Mu knows very well what the two words 'Great Dayu' mean in this era.

Regardless of the commodity, as long as it is produced by the Great Dayu, it is a luxury item when it reaches overseas.

Even a night pot used by the common people can be sold at a sky-high price when it reaches overseas, and it is highly sought after by the powerful and noble of various countries.

"Marquis, we can raise the military pay as soon as possible, but I'm afraid we can't buy military grain in a short time.

Now the whole world is short of grain, and the grain of Huguang and Jiangxi must be given priority to supply the rebellion-suppression army.

We used to purchase grain from overseas, but now that Annan has invaded Guangxi, I'm afraid the grain route to Nanyang will also be affected."

An Qingfeng reminded him immediately.

Officials serving in Guangdong have a broader vision than officials in other regions and know very well that there is a vast world outside the Great Dayu.

Purchasing grain from Nanyang is not a secret.

Compared to the Great Dayu where grain prices are constantly rising, grain prices in the Nanyang region are much cheaper.

The most critical thing is that it can be bartered; the Great Dayu's commodities are all high-premium products, and there are rich profits in between.

The imperial army being able to launch a counterattack against the rebels in a short time is also an important factor due to the cheap military grain purchased from outside.

Now that the war has been ignited, the loss of grain input from the Indochinese Peninsula has greatly increased the difficulty of purchasing military grain from outside.

Even if it can be bought, the cost will increase.

An Qingfeng is very worried that Li Mu has underestimated the situation, hasn't bought enough military grain, and will end up apportioning it to them again.

"Don't worry, Governor An; those merchants have a keener sense of smell than we do.

According to what I know, as soon as the Annan envoy case broke out, some people anticipated that the Great Dayu and Annan would definitely have a war and started hoarding grain and fodder in advance.

I sent people to negotiate; they are all loyal subjects of the Great Dayu and are willing to sell grain to the imperial court at a fair price."

Li Mu said with a smile.

Ordinary maritime merchants naturally cannot predict the development of the situation, nor can they judge the accurate time of the outbreak of war.

But the maritime merchants under his command are an exception.

Having obtained the exact news, if they didn't hurry to hoard grain, it would be too unreasonable.

With the grain prices in the Guangdong region, even selling grain at a fair price still has rich profits.

Besides the maritime merchants arranged by Li Mu, some maritime merchants who followed the trend also hoarded a lot of grain.

Sending people out to negotiate was mainly aimed at these maritime merchants.

In wartime, one can never have too much grain.

The negotiation went very smoothly; the Great Dayu Dynasty is an official-standard world, and everyone's greatest pursuit is always to become an official.

After some friendly consultation, these people became Li Mu's grain-raising officials.

Not only maritime merchants, but some maritime pirates with good reputations were also secretly recruited by Li Mu.

In order to eat up the Annan State, he had secretly started making preparations two or three years ago.

After the official business was handled, everyone lost their interest and left in twos and threes.

"Be careful!"

Seeing his wife walking over with flying steps, Li Mu reminded her hurriedly.

Compared to a few months ago, Jing Yaqing's belly was already showing.

"What's there to be afraid of walking a few steps? Common women can still work in the fields when pregnant!"

Jing Yaqing said playfully.

These are facts; pregnant women in the Great Dayu Dynasty are far less delicate than in later generations.

The bottom-level people are all struggling to live and simply don't have the conditions to nourish the fetus.

Occasionally being able to eat an egg is the treatment only available in rich peasant families.

Wealthy families are not short of materials and life is more comfortable, but they also have to follow the rules of etiquette.

The Marquis of Hanshui's mansion is an exception; there are no direct elders above, and the two of them are the rule-makers.

How to take steps, what the demeanor must be—these rules that constrain the ladies and misses of the back mansion were not taken seriously by Li Mu, and Jing Yaqing also chose to pretend not to know.

Compared to her former close friends in the boudoir, her days were the most worry-free.

While she expressed refusal on her lips, she was still very receptive to Li Mu's concern in her heart.

"You, you're just naughty."

Seeing this scene, Li Mu stretched out his finger and poked his wife's forehead lightly.

He didn't continue to argue about this issue; reason told him that reasoning with a woman during pregnancy would not have a good result.

"I heard that Annan is in trouble again; how long will you stay at home this time when you come back?"

Jing Yaqing asked with concern.

Being in the Marquis's mansion, it is destined that one cannot be separated from politics, even if the inner mansion must keep an eye on the situation in the court.

Annan invaded, and Li Mu, this Two Guangs Provincial Military Commander, bore the brunt; rushing to the front line was only a matter of time.

"I can probably stay until the spring plowing season; it still depends on the development of the situation.

If I'm lucky, I can see our child born."

Li Mu said with slight embarrassment.

This war was arranged by him single-handedly, and all aspects were considered, except for the birth time of the child.

From the intelligence gathered, the Annan people would choose to send troops after the spring plowing next year, but the war had to be prepared in advance.

It was impossible to wait for the enemy's army to strike before starting preparations.

Fortunately, there is a difference in climate between the two places, and the spring plowing time in Guangdong ends slightly earlier; otherwise, even the spring plowing would be too late.

In fact, Li Mu could also choose to act in advance and not give the enemy a chance to spring plow.

But the garrison of the Two Guangs is the biggest landlord, and the two or three million soldiers and civilians below all rely on the land to eat.

Once the farming season is missed, the garrison's self-sufficiency system will be broken.

Moreover, he is counting on the troops to be able to eat from the enemy to reduce the army's logistical pressure.

If the Annan people's agricultural production is affected, then even if the army strikes, they won't know whose to rob.

"Being able to stay at home for the New Year is already not bad.

In the few years since we got married, most of the time, I have spent the New Year alone."

Jing Yaqing said in a low voice.

The outside world only sees her infinite glory after marriage and her comfortable life, but the bitterness within, only she knows.

If she were in the capital, she would still have her family and friends around, but this is Guangdong.

Li Mu is not at home, and the officials who come to pay New Year's greetings all send people to put down gifts and leave.

The connection between the back mansions, because of the gap in status and position, everyone who approaches her has a purpose, and it is very difficult to become true friends.

Staying in the mansion all day, no matter how big the Marquis's mansion is, it will eventually be boring.

"Don't worry; we won't be separated again in the future.

After fighting Annan, the frequency of me leading troops to conquer personally will decrease, and I will have more time to accompany you and the child."

Li Mu comforted her immediately.

The plan to plot against Annan belongs to high-level secrets, and currently, only a few participants know about it.

For the sake of safety, even his own wife must be kept in the dark.

Especially since Jing Yaqing is pregnant, if she knew about this, he didn't know what she would think.

After all, compared to the prosperous capital, Annan is a remote and desolate place.

Being able to return to the capital, no one is willing to go to Annan.

Even in developing Annan, Li Mu didn't pin his hopes on immigration in the early stage, but was prepared to use exiled criminals.

To want immigrants to flock in voluntarily, either the world must be in chaos, or the drought in the north must further worsen.

Otherwise, it is difficult to leave one's homeland, and even with the best conditions, it is difficult to attract enough immigrants.

Ordinary people are like this, not to mention Jing Yaqing, who has been pampered since childhood.

Even if she reluctantly agrees on her lips, it is difficult not to complain in her heart.

Letting her imagination run wild during pregnancy is very easy to cause problems.

Not only his own wife must be kept in the dark, but Li Mu's group of subordinates and clan disciples were all bluffed onto the war chariot.

After the plan succeeds and the imperial court issues the imperial decree, the scapegoat will be carried by the Emperor.

The imperial order cannot be disobeyed; this reason is enough to convince everyone.

When the benefits are distributed later, everyone will take root in Annan, and the foundation will be stable.

Li Mu has studied history; when the Great Dayu lost Jiaozhi back then, the civil-military conflict was just the fuse.

The fundamental reason was still the lack of supporters locally.

Local gentry failed to integrate into the Great Dayu system and were regarded as a barbaric land by the imperial court and the hundred officials; very few disciples could enter the court to become officials.

Sharing no power and obtaining no political status, naturally, there is no sense of belonging.

The upper-class society was not won over, and the ordinary people below also did not obtain benefits.

Although the Yu army went over and killed the perverse warlords, it did not touch the social system.

The lives of the bottom-level people did not undergo substantive changes.

In any case, they were all struggling to survive; to them, it was the same whoever was the Emperor.

The right to speak was in the hands of the local gentry; once instigated by them, the neutral common people soon stood on the opposite side of the Great Dayu.

Realizing where the problem lay, naturally, one had to find a way to change it.

The price to pay for winning over local gentry was too great, and Li Mu couldn't afford this benefit.

Moreover, the group of protégés following him couldn't go over and work for nothing; everyone had to eat meat.

Just driving away the Annan King was not enough; one also had to clear out the vested interest group to have enough cake for the protégés to share.

Let his own protégés eat meat, and then let the local people drink soup; the first step would be considered a success.

The next step is to vigorously immigrate, increase the proportion of Yu people, and encourage ethnic integration.

The cultures of the two places are similar, and the gap in living customs is not large, so the resistance will not be too great.

After decades, they will be indistinguishable.

If there are enough immigrants, this progress can also be accelerated.

Guilin Prefecture.

"Provincial Governor, good news!"

"The Marquis of Hanshui has returned from the front line to Guangzhou and will personally preside over the upcoming major war.

This is the battle plan sent by the Provincial Military Commander's office; according to the requirements, we only need to raise 20% of the military expenses, totaling 600,000 taels of silver."

Jia Bo said with a face full of joy.

Having dealt with Li Mu for the longest time, his confidence in Li Mu was also the greatest.

The Annan people claim to raise an army of a million; even if the number is halved, it can still pose a fatal threat to Guangxi.

If someone else presided over the war, he wouldn't be at ease; only Li Mu is an exception.

"Oh!"

"The Marquis of Hanshui is back; it seems the previous rumors were true.

The imperial court intends to have the Marquis of Hanshui act as the Viceroy of the Two Guangs and preside over the major war against Annan.

This war is to protect Guangxi; logically speaking, letting us raise 20% of the military pay is not excessive at all, but these 600,000 taels are not easy to handle!"

Zhang Sihan said with a frown.

Letting Li Mu act on behalf of the Viceroy of the Two Guangs, he was not jealous at all.

The war broke out suddenly, and the plan to transfer away failed; he only felt at ease with a capable commander at the front.

The task of raising pay assigned to him also took into account the actual situation of Guangxi, but he was still worried.

Guangxi is different from Guangdong and did not eat the dividends of maritime trade.

Even if the ports were opened secretly, the maritime merchants who settled here were still few and far between.

Especially after the war with Annan started, the trade route to the Indochinese Peninsula was cut off, and there wasn't even a chance to act as a transit station.

Tariffs couldn't be collected much, and the mineral resources in the province were also packaged and sold out early; unfortunately, Guangxi's land was barren, and it was the source of the rebels, so he didn't dare to increase taxes on the fields.

Wanting to complete the task of raising pay in a short time was not generally difficult.

"Provincial Governor, the problem of grain and pay can always be scraped together if you think of a way.

As long as Guangxi can be preserved, paying a certain price is also worth it."

Zhou Zhenbang said righteously.

Provincial Governor, Provincial Administration Commissioner, and Provincial Surveillance Commissioner have always been the three giants in the province.

Because of the different division of work, the task of raising pay is mainly pressed on the Provincial Governor and the Provincial Administration Commissioner, and it is not his turn as the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner to worry.

He didn't have to do the work himself, so naturally, he didn't feel cowardly when speaking.

(End of chapter)