Chapter 72: Scapegoating

Yangzhou City.

Since defeating the rebel army, this ancient city has once again become bustling with traffic.

Except for the lack of salt merchants throwing money around, nothing else has changed.

The Yangzhou gentry who stood on the right side are rejoicing at their own wit.

Panic has dissipated, and the flow of people on the streets has instantly returned to normal.

The arrival of the Five Cities Infantry Division did not make this ancient city better, nor did it worsen the situation in the city.

Compared to the nearly intact city, the impact below was much greater.

Several county towns belonging to Yangzhou Prefecture are still in the hands of the rebels.

The impact on the people is even greater; countless villages have turned into ruins, and a large number of refugees have gathered outside the city.

……

"The refugees outside the city continue to increase; do you have any solutions?"

The Marquis of Wuyang's question clearly hit everyone's shortcomings.

The Great Dayu Dynasty executes the separation of civil and military governance very strictly; except for very individual border areas, there has never been a military general serving as a key local administrative official in other regions.

The taboos that the Emperor does not allow, the noble group naturally will not provoke.

In everyone's family education, they were taught to lead troops to fight and were taught the art of power, but they were never taught how to govern the local area.

"Regional Military Commissioner, governing the local area is the business of civil officials.

As military generals, we defeated the rebel army; subsequent affairs can be handed over to civil officials.

We can send people to notify the Nanjing Ministry of Personnel and ask them to send people over immediately to start dealing with the refugee problem."

A standard proposal, without any highlights, but also without needing to bear any risks.

Military generals avoiding political affairs; no one can pick any faults.

"Company Commander Zhao, you think too simply.

This Marquis has already written to the Nanjing Ministry of Personnel, but that group of old official oil-slickers who just eat and wait for death promised well, but there was no actual action at all.

Their efficiency, I think everyone has experienced it.

The strategic supplies promised earlier, less than one-tenth have been delivered so far.

According to the regular official selection procedures, dragging it out for three to five months is a basic operation.

The most hateful thing is that group of idiots actually asked this Marquis to release the officials of Yangzhou Prefecture and give them a chance to make amends for their crimes!"

Once the Marquis of Wuyang's explanation came out, everyone instantly became united in hatred.

Investigating the officials of Yangzhou Prefecture was one of the contributions of their group.

Giving these people a chance to make amends means overturning the previous case files.

In officialdom, slapping one's own face will affect one's official career.

"Regional Military Commissioner, this matter must not be agreed to.

Those who rebel are unforgivable.

The officials of Yangzhou Prefecture have colluded with the rebels; releasing them is harming the country and the people.

The person who proposed this suggestion must be a person harboring evil intentions.

This subordinate suggests a thorough investigation of this person!"

Tang Jincheng's murderous proposal represented the aspirations of the generals present.

Earlier they were pitted by the Nanjing Ministry of War, and now the Nanjing Ministry of Personnel is coming to cause trouble; no one could stand it.

As an Imperial Envoy, the Marquis of Wuyang's power can be interpreted infinitely.

If evidence can be found, officials of the Nanjing Six Ministries can also be pulled down.

"This Imperial Envoy will not let this matter go, but that is a subsequent matter; the urgent need is to deal with the refugee problem.

Just the refugees outside the city, Yangzhou Prefecture can still cope.

The tricky thing is that the number of refugees is constantly increasing, and relying solely on the treasury for relief will inevitably be very expensive.

Next, we have to recover the lost territory, which will increase a large number of refugees.

Without a proper handling method, it is easy to cause trouble."

The Marquis of Wuyang frowned and said.

In dealing with the refugee problem, he considered himself to have done a very good job.

He ordered the opening of granaries for food relief early on and sent people to build temporary settlements.

But he couldn't stop the refugees from gathering more and more, and soon it exceeded the camp's capacity limit, and all kinds of chaos emerged one after another.

"Regional Military Commissioner, opening granaries for food relief can only solve the urgent need.

A large number of refugees gathering will inevitably lead to problems.

The only way now is to adopt work-for-relief, first letting everyone have a livelihood, so that people's hearts can be stabilized.

It just so happens that the moat needs to be dredged, which can accommodate a large amount of labor.

However, in this way, expenses will inevitably increase.

According to the 'Great Dayu Law', large-scale work-for-relief must be approved by the imperial court and jointly executed by multiple yamens supervising each other.

The Nanjing Six Ministries are all a group of cowards and will definitely not take responsibility on this issue.

The capital is too far away, and distant water cannot quench near thirst.

However, the Directorate of Ceremonial Seal-holding Eunuch Zuo and Grand Secretary Xu of the Cabinet are both in the Lianghuai region.

Ask them to send people to supervise the implementation of work-for-relief together, and the imperial court can also be accounted for."

Li Mu proposed cautiously.

Behind every bizarre decree, there is a bizarre story.

The Great Dayu Dynasty is strict on work-for-relief, purely because they were forced by the local bureaucrats below.

Good policies, once they reached the local level, became a means of grabbing money.

These alone are nothing; the key is that decades ago, there was a case of "wearing the imperial robe" triggered by work-for-relief.

To prevent micro-precedents, the imperial court directly added patches.

The attitude of officials towards work-for-relief also took a big turn.

Including opening granaries for food relief, everyone's management of refugees is also very loose.

They would rather have chaotic public security than let the censors impeach them for plotting rebellion.

"Work-for-relief, this is very tricky!"

The Marquis of Wuyang frowned and said.

Being able to organize refugees to work, one can organize refugees to rebel.

In the eyes of those censors, as long as similar things happen, it is plotting rebellion.

Most of the time, the Emperor does not believe the content of the censors' impeachment.

But there are exceptions.

If the Emperor thinks too much, for the officials executing it below, it is disastrous.

Multiple yamens jointly supervising execution, seemingly a restrictive system, is actually a way to avoid responsibility.

The Marquis of Wuyang's status is special; encountering such taboo things, he also needs to think twice before acting.

Including Li Mu, who made the suggestion, he also advocated pulling more people over to cushion the back.

Only when the Qingliu, Eunuch Party, Foreign Relatives, and Nobles all participate, will the censors not dare to babble blindly.

"Regional Military Commissioner, actually we can change a way.

Didn't Nanjing send people over? Just detain them.

Implement work-for-relief in the name of the Six Ministries, and then pick a few deputy envoys from the yamen to assist from the side."

Hearing Company Commander Su's proposal, Li Mu suddenly discovered that his skill was still not enough.

He only thought about solving the problem through the right path and didn't think about finding scapegoats to isolate his own risks.

Even if problems arise later, everyone has plenty of excuses to shirk responsibility.

"Well said, governing the local area should be the responsibility of civil officials; we just assist from the side.

This matter is decided; those scattered officials in the yamen can't just collect salaries without doing work, so just give them a nominal title!"

The Marquis of Wuyang made a decision on the spot.

With someone in front to carry the pot, he is very willing to contribute to the country.

……

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 73 =====