Chapter 368: Passing the Buck

Coming out of the Office of the Provincial Military Commander, the heads of the group of pirates were still buzzing.

Was the amnesty completed just like that?

It seemed that apart from a promise, they had received nothing.

Wanting to reappear in the sunlight, they had to rely on themselves to fight with their lives.

In this process, the government did not pay a single cent.

If problems arose, they would also have to bear the responsibility themselves, which had nothing to do with the court.

For all their actions, the Great Commander Li would not bear any responsibility.

"Boss Zhu, isn't this amnesty of ours a bit too hasty?"

A middle-aged strong man asked the doubt in everyone's hearts.

Although they had never been amnestied, they had heard stories about amnesty.

Generally, such things would involve extreme tug-of-war for a long time, reaching an agreement through a series of negotiations.

Coming to meet the Marquis of Hanshui, they were all prepared to rush to a Hongmen Banquet.

As a result, they met the person, but the way it opened was different from what they expected.

Li Mu directly gave the amnesty plan, notified them, and that was the end of it, not giving them any chance to bargain.

After less than an incense stick of time of communication, they were dismissed.

"Boss Duan, what else do you want?

A big shot like the Marquis of Hanshui, willing to take time to see us, is already giving us face.

Wanting to negotiate conditions with him, who among us is worthy!

You haven't been in the army, so you don't know how much power he holds.

To tell you the truth, big shots of the noble system like the Marquis of Hanshui have influence that has never been limited to one place.

With just one order from him, the imperial army from south to north will move.

In the Great Dayu Dynasty's million-strong army, there are only a few people standing at the center of power.

Besides the Emperor, they hold the most power!"

Zhu Zhongxuan's words, although containing exaggeration, were indeed facts.

With the noble system regaining power, the power content of the positions of a group of noble system big shots also rose in a straight line.

Except for a group of direct-line younger brothers, other Great Dayu troops also had to give them some face.

Participating in court factional strife, everyone might hesitate.

If it was just to target a certain pirate, everyone could issue an order with their eyes closed.

The gap in levels was simply too large.

Not mixing in officialdom, there was no intuitive feeling.

Once accepting amnesty, it was like a mayfly seeing the blue sky.

Without accidents, under normal circumstances, they would never deal with each other in their entire lives.

The founding emperor killing meritorious officials was not because they really wanted to cross the river and tear down the bridge, but because these people had too much influence in the army, threatening the empire's rule.

Facing the continuously growing noble system, the Yongning Emperor was also extremely wary, but the Great Dayu now needed these people to support it.

If one wanted to weaken power, one had to wait until the world was peaceful before slowly operating.

The crude way of directly raising the butcher's knife, by the middle and late stages of the dynasty, simply wouldn't work.

There was also an exclusive term in history books—destroying the Great Wall oneself.

As long as the emperor dared to move, the country and society would dare to perish.

……

Just as the group of pirates left, a group of officials from Guangdong Province came to the door.

"Marquis, you met with pirates in private; have you ever put the law in your eyes?"

Kuang Xingxuan took the lead in attacking.

As a Ding Yushi, he had suppressed himself for too long and finally found an opportunity.

The risk of investigating the illegalities of local civil officials was simply too great.

It would be fine if one could bring someone down all at once, but if one could not bring them down, being an official in the same court later would be a big trouble.

In comparison, it was more cost-effective to find trouble with the nobles.

Everyone was not in the same system, so it was hard for them to find trouble with him.

As long as one was in the right, just spray directly.

If one accidentally angered the other party and got beaten up, one could also obtain the reputation of not fearing the powerful.

"Official Kuang, don't be anxious; if there is something, sit down and talk slowly.

Someone, serve tea to the lords!"

Li Mu responded with a smile.

The Censors of the Great Dayu Dynasty were a group of sprayers who liked to court death.

Even the emperor was often made unable to step down, so he would not spray with this group of guys.

Winning would lose decorum, and losing would be even more embarrassing.

"Marquis, tea can be eaten at any time, but things must be solved immediately.

Pirates are all vicious people; colluding with them is really not a blessing for the country and society!"

Kuang Xingxuan continued to fire.

Compared to the initial questioning, after being diverted by Li Mu, the momentum dropped significantly when pulled back.

It could be seen that although this Ding Yushi wanted to be famous, he still had concerns in his heart.

"Ding Yushi Kuang, you cannot listen to hearsay and jump to conclusions.

What kind of thing are pirates, and what is my status?

Collusion, are they worthy?"

Li Mu immediately asked back.

On the issue of amnestying pirates, he had always been doing it secretly.

That the matter was exposed so quickly was indeed a bit beyond his expectation.

However, this also proved from the side that someone among that group of pirates had contact with local officials in Guangdong, otherwise the leak would not have been so fast.

If the meeting time had not been short, they might have been blocked by them.

Although the exposure of such things could not shake his status, it would seriously affect his personal reputation.

Since no one was caught red-handed, at this time, naturally, he could not admit it.

For those in power, as long as one did not admit it, it was equivalent to it not happening.

Not to mention that Li Mu did not lie; he indeed did not collude with pirates.

The amnesty matter had already been reported to the Yongning Emperor in a secret memorial.

If things were done in the future, he would not be afraid of people digging up old accounts.

If the amnesty failed, then just pretend nothing happened.

Essentially, this action was mainly to borrow the pirates' hands to clean up the vested interest groups in the Annan country.

Without these guys' help, he could do it himself.

It is just that doing it personally and getting covered in too much blood is not conducive to the future governance of the Annan region.

"Marquis, then the people who left the Office of the Provincial Military Commander earlier, you haven't seen them?"

Seeing that Kuang Xingxuan was not an opponent, Surveillance Commissioner Wu Qiyu immediately joined the battlefield.

The seemingly simple question actually hid mysteries.

If Li Mu had not seen that group of pirates, it meant someone in the Office of the Provincial Military Commander was colluding with pirates.

The Surveillance Commissioner had the duty to supervise local officials; if such a thing happened, he would definitely have to intervene in the investigation.

Once a case was filed, the nature would change.

At best, a scapegoat subordinate would be thrown out, and at worst, it would become a collective political incident of the Office of the Provincial Military Commander.

"Naturally, I have seen them!"

"These people have a grudge against the Annan King; hearing that I was going to conquer Annan, they wanted to bring people to join the war.

Considering their unknown origins, I politely declined them.

By the way, before they left, they also sponsored a sum of military pay for the Office of the Provincial Military Commander.

The Great Dayu law does not stipulate that one cannot accept private donations, right?"

Li Mu's sophistry made everyone feel as uncomfortable as if they had eaten a fly.

They wanted to grab his handle so they could seize the initiative later.

Never expected that from beginning to end, people were prepared, just waiting for them to jump out.

There was no way; who let Li Mu be the acting Viceroy of the Two Guangs, belonging to their superior.

A sentence of unknown identity and origin revealed the pirate problem.

What specific content both sides discussed, Li Mu did not say it himself, and they were not qualified to force him.

Just having seen pirates could not become evidence of a crime.

Even if they caught the pirate leader and got the person's confession, it would still not play a role.

The gap in status was too disparate; let alone the pirate's confession could not do anything to Li Mu, even if these officials reported it with their real names, it would be hard to play a role.

The Annan invasion was imminent, and the situation in the Two Guangs was precarious; Li Mu was the most suitable person to clean up the mess.

During this period, as long as it was not a matter of principle, the court would pretend not to see it.

The word "official" has two mouths; whoever has the greater authority has the greater speaking power.

Pirate gifts do not exist; that was military pay sponsored by people.

The one accepting the donation was the Office of the Provincial Military Commander, representing the Great Dayu court, not Li Mu personally.

"Marquis, calm your anger!"

"Accepting donations is naturally no problem."

"We came here mainly because we received reports from sea merchants, worrying that pirates would be unfavorable to you.

Now that nothing has happened, it seems that the reporter has bad intentions, intending to provoke strife in officialdom.

Marquis, rest assured; when we go back, we will strictly interrogate the reporter and drag out the mastermind behind all this!"

Determining that it was an adverse situation, An Qingfeng hurriedly came forward to define the matter.

Following the superior with the inferior was originally a taboo in officialdom.

If one could be in the right, it would be fine, but if even the reason was lost, it would be a major political incident.

Letting the Ding Yushi charge, that was because the Ding Yushi had the power to hear the wind and play, and raising issues could be exempted from responsibility.

The Surveillance Commissioner who participated in the war later also had the authority to supervise local officials.

Both were within the scope of their duties, questioning Li Mu, their superior, and had not yet risen to the height of political struggle.

However, theoretically it was so, but in reality, they still lost face today.

Similar things could only happen once.

In the future, when encountering similar events, wanting to make trouble like this would be impossible.

The failure of the civil-military struggle was undoubtedly a major blow to An Qingfeng, this Provincial Governor.

Everyone's unconditional support was based on everyone's civil official status, needing to express their political stance.

However, this kind of operation only happened once; realizing that he, this Provincial Governor, was unable to check and balance the Viceroy, everyone had to reconsider the issue of standing in line.

In the early days when Marquis Wuyang served as Viceroy, both sides also fought once.

Because Guangdong had not been completely recovered at that time, most of the leadership team was vacant, and the local area was in a state of military control.

The dispute had just begun, and the Provincial Governor was directly sidelined.

It was not until Marquis Wuyang went to the front line that local power returned to the Provincial Governor's Office.

It is a pity that An Qingfeng's luck was bad; not long after he gained real power, he had another "mother-in-law" on his head.

After planning for months, just after taking the first step, he fell into a trap.

After today, there must be many local officials leaning towards Li Mu, this acting Viceroy.

"Official An, you overstate it!"

"Everyone is for the country and society; a little misunderstanding is fine once explained.

The Annan people are ambitious and launched an invasion, which will certainly not be limited to military affairs, and will mostly provoke contradictions in the rear.

There have been dozens of battles in the Guangxi front line, all relying on the garrison to fight for their lives to frustrate the enemy's conspiracy.

The more it is this time, the more cautious we must be.

It won't be long before I go to the front line to preside over military affairs, and the rear still has to rely on everyone.

In the coming days, I hope everyone will keep their eyes open and don't let the Annan spies take advantage!"

Li Mu warned without changing his expression.

Putting the blame on the Annan people was not only giving everyone a step down, but also a form of invisible warning.

Who was an Annan spy was not decided by the Annan people, but by Li Mu, this acting Viceroy.

In the subsequent cooperation, whoever did not cooperate with the work was an Annan spy.

Evidence, after annihilating the Annan country, would naturally appear.

Knowing it was a threat, everyone had to take this step down.

Today's matter was handled too crudely.

Wanting to use a group of pirates to handle a high-ranking official was really too childish.

But there was no way; Li Mu was simply too clean.

Besides being outside the government office, he was at home.

Occasionally going out to inspect the military camp, he also stayed in the camp.

Wanting to grab his handle was extremely difficult.

Finally finding a loophole, one must try hard to grab it.

"Respectfully follow the Marquis's teachings!"

Everyone responded in unison.

No matter what they thought in their hearts, at the moment, they had to bow their heads.

Some smart people had already discovered something wrong at this time.

Today's matter seemed like a flaw deliberately exposed, luring them into the hook.

Li Mu could be strong because the military's power had penetrated into every corner of the Guangdong territory.

Besides the troops on the surface, the clerks in government offices at all levels were mostly retired soldiers.

These people seemed inconspicuous, but in reality, they held real power.

Once both sides clashed, their orders would likely not be able to leave the government office.

Seeing the situation clearly, they became even more afraid to move randomly.

What civil-military struggle, in the final analysis, was not a struggle for interests.

Group interests were not equal to individual interests.

The smarter people were, the more they knew how to plan for themselves.

If you can't beat them, join them; since military power occupied an advantage in this land of the Two Guangs, then joining it was fine.

If transferred to other positions in the future, it would not be too late to return to the civil official camp.

Mixing in officialdom, there were only eternal interests, no eternal camps.

……

Capital.

Surrounded by a series of victory reports, the Yongning Emperor finally had a good year.

It is a pity that the good days did not last long; just after the beginning of the year, the situation changed.

After the Guanzhong rebel army suffered a blow from the frontier army, it could not withstand the pressure, took the initiative to jump out of the encirclement, and killed its way into the Shanxi territory.

Involving cross-provincial military mobilization, it required the court's approval to act, so the Shaanxi encirclement and suppression army stopped at the border.

Such an action pitted the colleagues in Shanxi.

The two provinces started a buck-passing mode; Shanxi officials impeached the Shaanxi Provincial Governor for dereliction of duty, accusing the Shaanxi side of deliberately driving the rebel army into Shanxi.

The Shaanxi side officials were not to be outdone, insisting that they had notified the Shanxi side in advance, asking them to help block the rebel army.

Claiming that it was the colleagues in Shanxi who were derelict in their duties, not mobilizing troops in time to cooperate with the suppression of the rebellion, which allowed the rebel army to break through and triggered subsequent disasters.

The lawsuits of the two provinces were fought all the way to the Yongning Emperor, both sides had their own reasons, and who was right and who was wrong had become a mess.

"My beloved ministers, what do you think about the dispute between the two provinces of Shanxi and Shaanxi?"

The Yongning Emperor asked helplessly.

The lawsuit had been fought, and he, as the emperor, could not pretend not to see it.

If accountability was pursued, then the officials of one province would definitely be reshuffled.

The Yongning Emperor, who had suffered in this regard, had become cautious in personnel appointments.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 369 =====