Chapter 90

Central Army Camp.

Looking at the battlefield in the distance, unable to find even the enemy's tail, Marquis Marquis Wuyang couldn't help but sigh.

"To pursue the enemy, you really need cavalry!

Battalion Commander Li, you've all raised so many retainers, why don't you raise a cavalry unit?"

Hearing the question, Li Mu was very embarrassed.

If he had the ability, who wouldn't want to raise a cavalry unit? The problem was he truly couldn't afford it.

Warhorses were much more precious than soldiers; they couldn't just eat grass; they had to eat grain.

Their food standards were higher than the soldiers'.

The daily maintenance of cavalry equipment was also a significant expense.

Compared to infantry, cavalry were gold-devouring beasts.

In the Great Great Dayu Dynasty, the cost of one cavalryman was about five to ten times that of an infantryman.

The smaller the cavalry scale, the higher the amortized cost.

Not every mission was as lucrative as the Yangzhou trip.

Most of the time, military officers did bitter, thankless work.

For a battalion commander in the Wucheng Military Commission like Li Mu, supporting dozens of infantrymen was easy.

If he supported dozens of cavalrymen, he could be eaten into bankruptcy at any time.

The power of cavalry could only be exerted after reaching a certain scale.

A few individual cavalrymen could only do the work of scouts.

With such a precious branch of service, wouldn't it be heartbreaking if one were lost?

Against this background, except for the Nine Borders military families who fought the Hu people year-round, few military officers raised cavalry as retainers.

Organized cavalry units were mainly funded by the imperial court.

"My Lord, this subordinate is poor!

To build a cavalry unit, individual strength is too small; it requires concentrating the power of the yamen."

Li Mu said with a shrug.

This answer clearly didn't satisfy Marquis Marquis Wuyang, but it was the truth.

For a single military officer, raising a cavalry unit was too difficult.

Even for a yamen like the Wucheng Military Commission, if they wanted to build a cavalry unit, they could only assign tasks to the generals and have everyone complete them together.

For example: the Commander takes the lead in raising fifty cavalrymen, the Assistant Regional Commander raises thirty, wealthy battalion commanders raise fifteen, poor ones raise five, company commanders raise two...

By forcibly apportioning the task, a cavalry unit could quickly take shape.

The price was that the generals' personal income would shrink linearly.

It was very likely to increase the exploitation of merchants in their jurisdiction, affecting local economic development.

If it were a local garrison yamen, without sufficient financial resources, even with forced apportionment, it would be very difficult to raise a cavalry unit.

"The yamen establishment is fixed, and the Ministry of Revenue manages military expenditures strictly.

If you want to increase the cavalry battalion, the imperial court won't approve it.

You can't trouble the Emperor with everything; some things we, as ministers, need to find ways to solve ourselves."

Marquis Marquis Wuyang shook his head.

It was clear he had his eye on the cavalry.

It was just unclear whether it was a whim or if he was really planning to do it.

Li Mu didn't care much about Marquis Marquis Wuyang's thoughts.

There were no vacancies in the Wucheng Military Commission, and his next promotion would definitely take him elsewhere.

If the Wucheng Military Commission built a cavalry unit in the future, that would be a headache for the successor, not something for him to worry about.

"My Lord's instruction is correct; if conditions permit, this subordinate will definitely train an elite cavalry unit for the imperial court!"

Li Mu immediately cooperated.

As a general, no one ever complained about having too many troops.

If he really went to a wealthy yamen, he wouldn't mind building a cavalry unit.

In the Great Great Dayu Dynasty, being able to possess fifty cavalrymen made one the most impressive existence among battalion commanders.

If one possessed five hundred cavalrymen, at the level of Commander, one would be invincible.

If one possessed one thousand cavalrymen, one would at least be a Regional Commander, and one of the most powerful ones at that.

If one possessed five thousand cavalrymen, that would be the most awesome military family in Great Great Dayu.

They would have a certain speaking power in the court and could influence the empire's military decisions.

If the elite cavalry under one's command exceeded ten thousand, that wouldn't just be simple political influence.

Advance, and one could dominate the court; retreat, and one could carve out a territory.

Once at this step, the entire court would have to carefully coax them, and the Emperor would often lose sleep over it.

"You have heart!"

Marquis Marquis Wuyang nodded with satisfaction.

Whether a cavalry unit could be built wasn't important; the key was that the attitude had to be there.

……

Yangzhou City.

Upon receiving the news, Xu Xu Wenyue was angered to the point of death.

The people from the Wucheng Military Commission arrived too quickly, rendering his efforts useless.

Even if they had arrived a few hours later, allowing the document he drafted to be posted, he could have gained significant prestige in the court and the public.

Unfortunately, reality was cruel.

The rebels had been driven away; to talk about living or dying with Yangzhou now would seem too deliberate.

His plans were ruined, yet he still had to bring the gentry to welcome them with smiles.

Grateful for the timely rescue, one could imagine the depression in his heart.

Looking at the high-spirited Marquis Marquis Wuyang, Xu Xu Wenyue gritted his teeth in hatred for this "life-saving grace."

The other party had clearly arrived long ago; appearing at this time was clearly just to watch his joke.

Intuition told him that discovering the rebels disguised as imperial troops last night was also Marquis Marquis Wuyang's doing.

For city guards to recognize wanted criminals from hundreds of meters away was itself a low-probability event.

Fortunately, Marquis Marquis Wuyang refused to enter the city for the victory banquet on the grounds of pursuing the remnants, otherwise, it would have been even more awkward.

"This guy is specifically here to suppress me!"

After sending off the Wucheng Military Commission's army, Xu Xu Wenyue couldn't help but sigh.

"Grand Secretary, no need to be angry over these trifles.

Marquis Marquis Wuyang is indeed annoying, but that's all he can do; he doesn't count as our true enemy.

If you waste too much energy on him and ignore the Eunuch Faction hiding in the shadows, that would be the real failure!"

Hou Hou Huaichang stepped forward to remind him.

Imperial relatives and civil officials didn't get along, but that was mostly for show. Taking things to this extent was still very rare.

Combined with the current situation, he had reason to believe that Marquis Marquis Wuyang's provocative behavior was to provide cover for the Eunuch Faction.

Once their attention was focused on Marquis Marquis Wuyang, their focus on the Eunuch Faction would inevitably decrease.

The one who initiated the salt administration reform was the Emperor, but the one responsible for specific execution was the Eunuch Faction.

Imperial relatives and nobility were just helping out and getting a share of the pie.

Marquis Marquis Wuyang's performance was suspected of being a deliberate attempt to attract attention.

If they mistook the primary contradiction for the secondary one and kept entangling with Marquis Marquis Wuyang, they would fall into the enemy's trap.

"Despicable Eunuch Faction, they actually dared to plot against this old man!

No wonder that bastard Zuo Zuo Guangen didn't come to Yangzhou; he had already made arrangements, just waiting for this official to fall into the trap.

If nothing unexpected happens, the Eunuch Faction has already extended its tentacles to the salt fields.

These changes in Yangzhou City were just deliberately stirred up by them to hold this official back.

Entering Yangzhou is easy, leaving Yangzhou is hard.

If I leave now, in the eyes of the outside world, it will look like this official was scared by the rebels and didn't dare to stay in Yangzhou.

The Eunuch Faction is truly vicious!"

Upon being reminded, Xu Xu Wenyue reacted instantly.

His conflict with Marquis Marquis Wuyang was nothing more than a dispute over face, and more of an emotional outburst.

Salt administration reform was the focus of the struggle between the major power groups.

One careless move, and he fell into the enemy's trap.

He only thought about Yangzhou being the main trading place for salt, but ignored the major salt fields.

"Grand Secretary, it's not too late to discover it now.

You entered the Two Huai region alone; not being able to compete with the Eunuch Faction in salt production is only to be expected.

We made a mistake before, but we can find ways to make up for it later.

Regardless, salt is produced and always needs to be sold.

Geography determines that future salt trade cannot do without Yangzhou.

Keep a close eye on the reform of the Salt Administration Yamen and insert our people into it; this trip south won't be considered a failure!"

Hou Hou Huaichang advised tactfully.

In political struggle, temporary wins or losses don't count for much.

As long as the final result is good, the failures in the process can be completely ignored.

However, Xu Xu Wenyue was clearly not as optimistic as him.

According to the old way of playing, controlling Yangzhou City meant controlling the lifeline of the salt industry.

The situation was different now; salt administration reform was imminent.

If the rules of the game changed, Yangzhou, the largest salt trading place, would inevitably be affected.

As a monopoly business, the imperial court could completely use administrative orders to determine the location of salt trade.

From the standpoint of the Eunuch Faction, changing the rules of the game to exclude them was completely worth it.

……

"Clatter, clatter, clatter..."

The sound of approaching hooves made the earth tremble.

"The enemy's cavalry is here!"

Realizing this, Huang Huang Renliang, who was running with his troops, felt so depressed he wanted to vomit blood.

If he had known the imperial army had a large cavalry force, he wouldn't have ordered a retreat.

On the plains, two legs could never outrun four.

Facing the enemy's pursuit, the army had been running for over three hours, and the soldiers were all exhausted.

Leaving their backs exposed to the enemy cavalry at this time was completely irresponsible toward their own lives.

"Pass the order: the entire army is to stop advancing; push the large and small vehicles in the army to the front and form a vehicle formation to resist the enemy cavalry!"

Huang Huang Renliang ordered, biting the bullet.

Reason told him this wasn't a good choice.

A vehicle formation could resist a cavalry charge but couldn't block enemy infantry.

Once the enemy infantry caught up from behind, it would be hard for them to run.

But there was no other way; continuing to run would only lead to death faster.

With their backs exposed, the enemy only needed to follow and hunt them down slowly to wipe out their entire army.

Now they could only hope that the enemy infantry would come slowly, allowing them to resist for a while longer.

The soldiers under his command were the elite veterans of the rebel army. As long as there was a glimmer of hope, Huang Huang Renlong would do his utmost to rescue them.

Dragging it out until the main force arrived to fight a decisive battle with the enemy would still offer a glimmer of hope.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."

Huang Huang Renliang's order was ultimately a step too late; the soldiers lagging behind were pierced through by arrows.

Those lucky enough to dodge the arrow rain were then greeted by cavalry lances.

Under the massive impact, they were sent flying.

The screams made the already chaotic formation even more disorganized.

Driven by panic, the soldiers couldn't care about executing orders and fled wildly in all directions.

Realizing the situation was lost, Huang Huang Renliang could no longer care about the troops and fled with a few trusted followers.

……

"Reinforcements are here!

Hurry up; if we're this slow, all our hard work will be for nothing!"

Seeing the cavalry pass by, Zhao Zhao Yawei urged anxiously.

The main attack mission wasn't easy to grab; he finally grabbed one, only to find he hadn't even touched the enemy.

If word got out, he would be laughed at.

Although from the current situation, they were unlikely to beat the cavalry.

But as long as they were fast, there would always be some gains.

After all, this battle was the Wucheng Military Commission's battle to clean house.

If they didn't participate and let the friendly forces finish it all,

Marquis Marquis Wuyang wouldn't be able to save face, and he, the one leading the main attack, would certainly be looked at differently.

Deep down, he only hoped his colleagues from the capital battalion would give him some face and leave some heads for him to cut off so he could go back and report.

(End of chapter)