Chapter 94

The dark night is the best cover; facing the rebels pouring out continuously, the limited imperial army simply cannot kill them all.

Especially the old, weak, women, and children who escaped, kneeling and begging for mercy as soon as they came up, which seriously affected the speed of the imperial army's actions.

Knowing full well that these people were covering for the young and strong to escape.

The young officers who still had moral bottom lines still ordered them to accept their surrender.

As time passed second by second, the dawn of the morning appeared from the horizon, and the big battle gradually came to an end.

"Report to the Commander, last night the East City Battalion captured and killed more than 3,000 rebels and captured more than 20,000 rebels."

"Commander, last night the West City Battalion captured and killed more than 2,800 rebels and captured more than 20,000 rebels."

"Commander, last night the Middle City Battalion captured and killed more than 2,000 rebels and captured more than 16,000 rebels."

……

Hearing that all four Battalion Commands had rich gains, Marquis Wuyang, who had fought a comeback battle, had a smile on his face that never stopped.

Although the rebel leader was not captured, Taizhou City had already been taken.

The face of the Wucheng Military Commission was preserved, and the face of him as the commander was also preserved; the rest were all side issues.

Huang Renlong is the actual rebel leader, but because of political needs, the officially wanted rebel leader of Taizhou is the Zong family members.

The Zong family members died in the internal strife of the rebels; after a little artistic processing, it became the battle achievement of the Wucheng Military Commission.

"The battle was fought well; send someone to notify Grand Secretary Xu and the Six Ministries of Nanjing, and let them immediately send someone to take over Taizhou City."

Marquis Wuyang ordered with a smile.

At this time, Taizhou is an empty city, and there is nothing to receive, but the captured prisoners are a big trouble.

The four Battalion Commands cumulatively captured nearly 70,000 enemy troops, more than 90% of whom were old, weak, women, and children, basically all rebel family members.

It won't work not to deal with them; to take them all out and chop them up, he couldn't bear to do it.

Unable to find a way to kill two birds with one stone, the best choice is to throw away the burden.

Governing the place is the responsibility of the civil officials; they must take this pot.

"Commander, when cleaning up the rebel remnants, we found captured... in the city."

Before Battalion Commander Zhao finished speaking, Marquis Wuyang's face suddenly turned black.

"It must be that your people saw it wrong!

The nobles of my Great Dayu are all people with iron bones; how could they be reduced to rebel prisoners?

I suppose it must be someone impersonating them, wanting to ruin their reputation.

Encountering such despicable villains, just deal with them directly, so as not to dirty the eyes!"

One or two soldiers being defeated and captured would be fine, but a group of noble and relative disciples being captured is a huge joke if it spreads out.

For each family, having such a disciple who ruins the family style alive is worse than letting them die.

At the very least, dying in battle for the country can still win the imperial court's commendation.

From the moment they were sent out, these guys who were reduced to abandoned sons were already dead in the hearts of those in power.

To put it bluntly, if all these guys were killed, the public security in the capital would improve significantly, and the crime rate could be reduced by at least 30%.

"The Commander's lesson is correct; these are all the rebels' conspiracies.

Unable to beat us on the battlefield, they attempted to use this despicable means to slander our colleagues who died in battle!"

Zhao Yawei hurriedly made a remedy.

The short conversation decided the fate of a group of playboy disciples.

Among the people present, not one spoke up for this group of unlucky guys.

Standing from the perspective of the empire, this kind of cleaning is actually far from enough.

If all the playboy disciples in the world could be cleaned up, the national destiny of the Great Dayu Dynasty could be extended by at least thirty years.

Most of the unjust, false, and wrong cases among the people were caused by this group of guys.

Without these pests, the quality of the ruling group could at least be raised by a grade.

With the end of the meeting, the trip of the Wucheng Military Commission to the south also came to an end.

The right to govern the place is a taboo for military generals and certainly cannot be intervened in.

Marquis Wuyang is not qualified to directly intervene in the salt administration reform, and a small Battalion Commander like Li Mu has even less right to speak.

Making a fortune following along is about enough.

This big cake of the salt industry is the dish of big shots, and he doesn't miss it at all.

After becoming idle, Li Mu began to consider the road ahead, which is also the common trouble of the generals of the Wucheng Military Commission.

For the needs of the war, everyone expanded their troops in private.

Now that the battle is over, the excess soldiers are a not-so-small trouble.

Dismissing them directly, everyone is reluctant in their hearts.

As military generals who may go to the battlefield at any time, having a battle-ready force in hand is precious.

Turning them all into retainers to raise is another heavy economic burden.

If the next position is a fat job, it's fine; if one goes to a poor office, raising soldiers is a troublesome thing.

Except for a very small number who were scared by the war and wanted to return to the capital to take office, more people became busy.

Various human relationship networks were operated one after another, and letters flew around for a while, just to seek a good destination.

As the thigh that everyone can easily reach, Marquis Wuyang's camp was even more crowded.

Li Mu keenly discovered that the atmosphere in the camp had changed.

The trip of the Wucheng Military Commission to the south became a military merit production machine.

Any officer has dozens or hundreds of heads under his name.

According to the Great Dayu Law, everyone undoubtedly met the basic requirements for military promotion.

With so many generals waiting for promotion suddenly pouring out, the imperial court's vacant high-quality positions are certainly not enough to divide.

Moreover, besides the Wucheng Military Commission, the Capital Camp is also the base camp for noble disciples.

The gains here are rich, and the battle achievements there are even more powerful.

Everyone is a person with connections, and the competition will only be more intense.

It's fine for those with few family disciples; as long as they show a certain potential, they can get strong support from the clan.

The most miserable are those with many brothers; brothers, cousins, uncles, and nephews all serve in the military, and they happen to face the need for promotion at the same time.

Limited resources cannot cover everyone, and the imperial court does not allow one family to dominate, so someone is destined to make sacrifices in their official career.

Brothers of the same clan will still affect their private relationship because of their personal official career.

Former colleagues and friends suddenly became competitors in their official career, and the impact received was even greater.

Compared to most colleagues, Li Mu's situation is considered good.

Although he is not a direct descendant of the Marquis Mansion, he showed enough potential and was valued by the Marquis of Zhenyuan.

The distribution of family political resources depends on bloodline, but also on the potential of the disciples.

Who to give to and who not to give to, the head of the family has a great right to speak.

Prioritizing the cultivation of the most outstanding disciples in the clan is in line with the overall interests of the family, and others have nothing to say.

As the first-merit minister of the Wucheng Military Commission, he represents the face of the office to a certain extent, and also represents Marquis Wuyang's personal inclination.

When the Ministry of War and the Governor's Office consider personnel appointments, they will certainly consider these factors.

As for which specific position, it still needs to be played behind the scenes, but at least it won't be too bad.

While everyone was scrambling to drill, Li Mu was idle instead.

Even the operation to capture Huang Renlong was shelved indefinitely.

It is not that he is derelict in his duty; it is purely that the military has its own rules.

Without the commander's authorization, subordinate generals have no right to mobilize the army.

Moreover, the limited clues in hand cannot guarantee capturing the rebel leader.

Volunteering but failing to complete the task is a big taboo in the officialdom.

Especially at the critical moment near promotion, it is better to have one less thing than one more thing; no fault is merit.

……

Yangzhou City.

Grand Secretary Xu, who received the good news, only felt his head was big.

Having been in the south for so long, not a single good thing fell to him, but troublesome things came one after another.

The imperial army recapturing Taizhou City is a great happy event, but the 70,000-plus prisoners of war left behind are a hot potato.

The military generals didn't kill the surrenderers, so he, the Qingliu leader, couldn't do it even more.

Amnesty is impossible; no matter how gentle, there is no reason to amnesty rebels.

According to past practice, the imperial court mostly exiled and sent those who were coerced into rebellion to the army.

After all, those who can rebel are young and strong; the old, weak, women, and children died in the war long ago.

It's a pity to kill them directly; it's better to use waste and reflect the imperial court's benevolence.

The prisoners captured by the Wucheng Military Commission this time are special; not many young and strong ones were captured, but a pile of old, weak, women, and children were caught.

Exiling and sending to the army, I suppose they will all fall down before they reach the place.

Even if there are lucky ones who survive, the border army will not want them.

"Huaichang, how do you think these people should be dealt with?"

Xu Wenyue put down the official document in his hand and asked.

"Grand Secretary, there is no precedent for this kind of thing in our dynasty.

Ultimately, they are rebels; if dealt with lightly, it cannot be explained.

People in the world sympathize with the weak; if dealt with heavily, it will damage your clean name.

It would be better to lock people up first and report to the imperial court to ask the Emperor to decide!"

Hou Huaichang said with slight hesitation.

The Qingliu party members are not favored by the Emperor, largely because they often throw the pot to the Emperor when they encounter thorny problems.

Natural and man-made disasters are the Emperor's lack of virtue, the imperial court's financial deficit is the Emperor's extravagance and waste, the front-line defeat is the Emperor's failure to use virtuous ministers...

It just so happens that this group of virtuous ministers only is responsible for discovering problems and never goes to solve them.

"Not appropriate!"

Xu Wenyue shook his head in disappointment.

As a cabinet minister from the Qingliu, Xu Wenyue is naturally not a simple Qingliu party member.

Compared to a group of colleagues, he has political aspirations.

He cannot do "devote all one's life to the cause", but within his power, he still wants to do things.

When encountering problems, throwing the pot to the Emperor is the easiest, but this will also make him lose the Emperor's trust.

Emperor Tianyuan is not a master who is easy to fool; the several Qingliu big shots who did this before all went home to farm.

"Grand Secretary, if you don't report to the imperial court, then you might as well wait and see.

Prisoners of war are not only here with us, but there are also plenty in Huai'an Prefecture.

We can watch how the Eunuch Party does it first; if it is appropriate, we can follow suit.

Even if it causes adverse effects, when necessary, we can design to let the Eunuch Party take the blame!"

After listening to Hou Huaichang's new suggestion, Xu Wenyue nodded with satisfaction.

Throwing the pot to colleagues is much safer than throwing the pot to the Emperor.

Even if the matter is leaked, the Qingliu party members will insist that it was done by the Eunuch Party.

"Send a message to Marquis Wuyang and let him take care of the prisoners of war first; I will send someone to send him the grain and fodder needed as soon as possible.

Send someone to urge the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue and tell them to hurry up and raise grain; I will give them at most seven more days.

If after the deadline, 300,000 shi of grain have not been raised, then just go home directly.

The imperial court does not raise useless officials!

Tell the Minister of Personnel that if there is no suitable candidate, this cabinet minister will report to the imperial court to recommend him to serve as the Yangzhou Prefect."

Xu Wenyue said coldly.

The Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Personnel are the departments with the highest power content in the Great Dayu, but that is the Ministry of Revenue and Personnel in the capital, not the retirement spare tire office in Nanjing.

As a cabinet minister, it is not difficult to clean up retired officials who are marginalized.

Also climbing up step by step, Xu Wenyue understands the thoughts of these officials best.

Delaying to see movement is nothing more than everyone not wanting to take responsibility.

If the people below do not take responsibility, then the responsibility will be transferred to him, the imperial envoy.

The current trouble is essentially that these two departments are not doing their jobs, which caused the trouble to find him.

If a vacancy appeared in the local prefecture and county office, and the Nanjing Ministry of Personnel appointed officials, then these things could be thrown to the people below to deal with.

As an imperial envoy, he only needs to watch the people below work.

If it is messed up, it is the subordinate's responsibility; he only needs to bear the supervision responsibility.

Where is the need to be like now, where all sizes of affairs must be done by himself, and he also carries a pile of responsibilities.

……

Taizhou City.

After ten days of cleaning, the corpses in the city were finally cleared.

Stepping into this ancient city, the eyes were full of scars and trauma, and Li Mu's eyes could not help but get wet.

The destructive power brought by the war is truly too great.

A rebellion forcibly destroyed a prefecture.

Wanting to restore the prosperity of the past, without decades of recuperation, it is difficult to recover.

"Battalion Commander, in several camps next door, the number of sick prisoners is increasing sharply.

Many people have started vomiting; hearing from the military physician, it may be an infection of the plague!"

Hearing the news brought by Lan Linjie, Li Mu's face suddenly turned black.

The Battle of Taizhou was fought by the other four Battalion Commands, and they were also responsible for guarding the captured prisoners.

Deep in his heart, Li Mu had already greeted the whole family of his colleagues.

In this era with backward medical conditions, the lethality of the plague is no weaker than war.

Knowing that the plague is powerful, they did not take prevention and control measures in time.

Even he received the news; the plague appearing in the camp is definitely not a matter of one or two days.

Whether it is a lack of experience in dealing with the plague or being busy striving for promotion and ignoring camp management, Li Mu does not know.

In short, he knows that the Wucheng Military Commission is in big trouble.

The prisoner-of-war camp is mostly old, weak, women, and children; the lethality of the plague to these people is also the greatest.

If the prisoners of war die in large numbers, the censors who are busy picking faults with the hundred officials will certainly not let go of this opportunity to make trouble.

"Pass the order down; from now on, forbid anyone from drinking raw water, and all food must be cooked.

If patients are found, isolate them for treatment immediately.

Tell the soldiers not to go out and visit people when they have nothing to do, especially not to go to the military camp where the plague has occurred."

Li Mu ordered immediately.

(End of chapter)