Chapter 71: Aftermath

The existence of doubts is not important; the key is that the siege of Yangzhou is lifted, and the military pressure facing Nanjing is greatly reduced.

No need to worry about the Jianghuai rebel army meeting in Yangzhou and heading straight for Nanjing.

It is a good thing for the overall situation, but for individual officials, it is completely different.

The various departments that had prepared for balancing the accounts suddenly found that the plan could not proceed.

"Minister, since the siege of Yangzhou is lifted, should the strategic supplies issued earlier continue to be sent?"

Yin Dengjia asked uneasily.

If they were actual strategic supplies, whether to recover them now or continue to send them would be justifiable.

But the problem is that the strategic supplies promised by the Ministry of War were only allocated on the books.

There is only such a distance between the two places; if there were really so many strategic supplies, they would have been handed over to the defenders long ago.

Not only this muddled account of strategic supplies, but the reinforcements sent were also paper troops.

Compared to reinforcements, strategic supplies are more troublesome, involving multiple yamens such as the Ministry of War, Ministry of Revenue, Ministry of Works, and the Navy.

The account was out of the treasury, and it was not issued in full in the first place, passing through multiple hands in the middle.

It is not easy to balance the account again.

It can be dragged for a while, but not for a lifetime.

The Wucheng Infantry Division is different from other yamens; the Nanjing Ministry of War cannot influence their promotion, and they are fighting on the road, so they cannot be controlled.

The Marquis of Wuyang has urged several times; if the things cannot be produced, the lawsuit could be brought to the imperial court at any time.

"Hurry and notify the people below to send a portion of the promised strategic supplies, and for the shortfall, just say that the siege of Yangzhou is lifted and the Ministry of War must prioritize reinforcements for other regions.

Send a few eloquent people over, and don't offend them.

That group of guys is now a hero, and they are at their most arrogant; don't cause trouble.

Send someone to notify Grand Secretary Xu that the situation has changed and ask him to come quickly to preside over the overall situation."

Tian Zhisheng exhorted repeatedly.

Now it is the Ministry of War that is at fault; the promised weapons and equipment were not delivered even after the battle was fought.

Added to the bad accounts left by previous officials, it cannot withstand the imperial court's investigation, and low-key handling is the best choice.

Subsequent problems can only be balanced from other places.

Deep in his heart, Tian Zhisheng couldn't help but feel a burst of regret.

If he had known that the Wucheng Infantry Division could fight, he should have changed it to supporting Taizhou and Nantongzhou when balancing the accounts earlier.

However, this kind of thing can only be thought about.

Earlier, the rebel army had not yet made a big fuss, and the strategic status of the two places was not as good as Yangzhou, so even if they were reinforced, the supplies that could be allocated were limited.

The situation has developed to this step; in this round of games between the Qingliu, Eunuch Party, and Noble Foreign Relatives, the Qingliu party has fallen into a comprehensive disadvantage.

If the Pure Stream bigwigs don't come to preside over the overall situation, they will lose their right to speak in the handling of the Lianghuai region later.

……

Huaian City.

"Bastard!"

"Don't think I'm easy to fool!

That group of trash from the Wucheng Infantry Division could defeat the rebel army, so what are we?"

Zuo Guangen scolded angrily.

It's not that he looks down on the nobility; he deals with those noble descendants too often and knows them too well.

They do have some ability, but wanting to defeat tens of thousands of rebels with a few thousand troops is simply too magical.

In terms of combat effectiveness, that group of people from the Wucheng Infantry Division can't even beat the Embroidered Uniform Guard or the Eastern Depot.

As for the temporarily recruited young and strong, they were directly ignored by Zuo Guangen.

A group of farmers who just put down their hoes, without any training, their combat effectiveness might not even be as good as the rebels.

It's barely okay to use them to defend the city, but storming the rebel camp is purely a dream.

"Left Prime Minister, calm down first.

The people below are not intentionally fooling you; the siege of Yangzhou is indeed lifted.

In the hands of the Wucheng Infantry Division, they did indeed cut off quite a few heads of rebel soldiers.

The battle report forwarded by the Marquis of Wuyang is generally true, but the process has hidden the key points.

There is also a share of our credit in this.

During the rebel rebellion, many of the Embroidered Uniform Guard's secret agents hidden in the Lianghuai region took advantage of the situation to mix in.

When the Marquis of Wuyang sent people to launch a night raid, our people also took advantage of the chaos to stir up a brawl in the rebel camp, finally triggering a camp panic.

It just so happened that their luck was good; the sneak attack team they sent out plunged in and bumped into the rebels' granary."

Gu Yuansong's understated explanation made Zuo Guangen even more depressed.

The process of war is not important; the imperial court only cares about the final result.

Regardless of whether the Wucheng Infantry Division fought with strength or obtained victory by luck, it does not affect obtaining this military merit.

A foreign relative, the Marquis of Wuyang, leading a group of noble descendants and the few thousand troops of his own unit, could defeat tens of thousands of rebels.

He, this eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, had more troops in his hands and was besieged by the rebels for many days, finally relying on the capital battalion to lift the siege.

Comparing the two, it set him off as too incompetent.

In the Great Dayu Dynasty, foreign relatives and eunuchs rely on the Emperor's favor to hold great power.

Both are tools used by the Emperor to balance the court, and there is also a competitive relationship between them.

Because the Marquis of Wuyang's status is special, the means used to strike at competitors in the past cannot be used now.

With the blessing of military merit, plus the Emperor's support.

It's possible that after this battle, the long-silent foreign relative group will also make their own voice heard in the court.

And the noble group will definitely take the opportunity to fight for positions for their own descendants and strengthen their basic market in the court.

The Lianghuai salt case, which was stirred up at great risk, has not yet been benefited by the Eunuch Party group, but instead, the cooperating nobles and foreign relatives have eaten the meat.

"You Embroidered Uniform Guards are really capable; why didn't I see your people exert force when Huaian was besieged before!"

After complaining, Zuo Guangen's anger had dissipated by more than half; this matter really couldn't be blamed on the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Cooperating with the imperial army to strike the rebels is their duty.

The game of the high level is a complete secret to those below.

On the surface, the eunuch group and the noble foreign relatives are political allies.

At least in dealing with the Lianghuai salt administration problem, everyone is standing together.

"This Prime Minister just spoke out of turn; don't take it to heart, brother."

"Those noble relatives are just born lucky, unlike us poor wretches who have to fight and scramble for everything ourselves."

It is normal to have good luck on the battlefield.

Since they defeated the rebels, let them make persistent efforts and quickly send troops to work with the capital battalion to quell the rebellion!"

Zuo Guangen's metaphysical explanation instantly gained everyone's approval.

Luck is something that really can't be helped.

If you are born in the right place, you win ninety percent of your life.

The remaining three percent depends on hard work, and seven percent is destined by heaven.

……

Capital Battalion.

Since lifting the siege of Huaian, the capital battalion hasn't fought any decent battles, chasing behind the rebels' butts every day.

The rebels who suffered a big loss are now frightened birds and simply don't fight them.

Encountering such an opponent made the capital battalion lose its temper.

They are fighting locally and are much more familiar with the terrain than them.

Those who couldn't run died on the road, and those who survived became long-distance running champions under the threat of death.

"Brother Jing, the morale of the thieves has leaked, and now they are fleeing in all directions.

They are all small groups of enemy troops; even if we catch up, it's hard to achieve decent results.

Rebels in other regions are waiting for us to suppress them; these remnants of the thieves should simply be handed over to the local government to handle!"

The proposal of Li Yuan, the Marquis of Zhenyuan, startled the Duke of Cheng, Jing Guoliang; yesterday he said to eliminate evil, and he changed his position so quickly.

However, thinking of that battle report from Yangzhou, he instantly understood.

After the Wucheng Infantry Division defeated the rebels outside the city, they would definitely take the initiative to attack.

Even if they didn't want to move themselves, all parties would force them to send troops.

What kind of quality their own descendants were, they, the elders, knew best.

Defending a big city like Yangzhou might not be a problem, but going out to fight the enemy in the field would definitely suffer.

Ants can bite an elephant to death; once trapped in the enemy's heavy encirclement, those few retainers wouldn't be of any use.

Those who have been baptized by the flames of war and those who have not seen blood are completely different concepts.

Noble descendants who can defeat the rebels on their own are already worth their increased investment.

Not to mention cultivating world-famous generals, but cultivating a batch of talents exceeding the average level of Great Dayu military generals is still very hopeful.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 72 =====