Chapter 324 Huguang Public Debt

Yuezhou City.

Ever since the failure of receiving reinforcements from Wuchang, the city has been shrouded in panic.

“Reinforcements can’t be counted on.

There were three thousand government troops blocking the gate outside the city. The garrisons of several nearby prefectures were not numerous and did not dare to come over.

There was sufficient food and grass in the city, and with the gathered defeated soldiers, the number of defenders in the city had exceeded 10,000.

As long as we work together, we will be able to hold out until reinforcements arrive.”

Xiao Laosi said with a lack of confidence.

They did not suffer many casualties when they went to meet the reinforcements from Wuchang.

Because of the gathering of the remaining soldiers, the number of defenders in the city increased instead of decreased.

Unfortunately, it only increased the number of people but not the combat effectiveness.

The fact that a government army of 10,000 was blocked in the city by 3,000 government troops is enough to explain many problems.

The capture of Yongzhou, Hengyang and Changsha by government troops was just a rumor to them, which was completely different from seeing it with their own eyes.

The Yuezhou defenders did not engage in battle with the Third Town, but the defeated soldiers from Wuchang that he gathered witnessed the enemy’s strength with their own eyes.

He received more than 3,000 defeated soldiers and successfully conveyed the mood of panic to every defending soldier.

As a grassroots general, Xiao Laosi had no idea how terrible the spread of panic was.

From beginning to end, no action was taken.

When the panic spread, he, the defending general, was also affected.

“General Xiao, there are 20,000 civilians in the city, and they will also be given to you to train.

While the government troops have not yet attacked the city, we must seize the last moment to restore the morale of the troops.

It shouldn’t be a problem for 30,000 troops to hold out for a month.

The government troops outside the city were too arrogant. A mere three thousand people dared to block the gate.

Our forces are ten times theirs, so why not annihilate them first and dampen the enemy’s morale?”

Magistrate Ding’s suggestion made Xiao Laosi very angry.

Bullshit 30,000 troops, there are clearly only 10,000 of them, and the other 20,000 militiamen haven’t even been trained yet!
Even if they had conducted military training, there were not so many weapons in the city for them to use.

The defenders can’t even do a simple task of equipping each person with a bamboo spear.

What’s the difference between a soldier with bare hands and a free gun?

He led a troop with no morale and most of the soldiers without weapons out of the city to fight against the government troops.

It’s not about dampening the enemy’s morale, it’s clearly about giving them a victory.

The enemy troops outside the city were the most powerful troops he had ever encountered.

The murderous aura could be felt from afar.

The hanging flag with the word “Li” on it was regarded as a death warrant by countless rebels.

Without the protection of the city walls, he had no doubt that the enemy would be able to defeat his troops with just a single charge.

Facts have proved that Confucian scholars are unreliable when it comes to leading troops in war.

The more familiar a Confucian scholar is with military books, the more easily he will be led astray by theories and often ignore the actual situation of both sides.

“Prefect Ding, don’t worry about the war.

As long as you can stabilize the people’s hearts in the city, it will be a great achievement, and the prince will speak well of you.”

Xiao Laosi said unhappily.

He was already upset, and after this discussion, he became even more upset.

Yuezhou Prefecture is not only a barrier to Wuchang, but also the last passage connecting the western prefectures.

If he lost Yuezhou City, the Great Chu would be divided into two by the government army, and the King of Chu would definitely not forgive him then.

He didn’t know how Changsha City fell, but since it fell so quickly, it must have been due to the contribution of internal support.

In an instant, the look in his eyes when he looked at the several civil servants present changed.

These people have come here one after another in recent months.

Before joining the rebel army, they were all gentry from Huguang, and some of them had served as officials in Dayu.

He had been a loyal minister of Dayu for most of his life, and had only followed the King of Chu for a few months.

Without having shared hardships with the Chu State, no one knows how loyal he is.

If the government troops had planted spies in the city, these people would be suspects.

“General, rest assured. I will appease the people!”

Noticing that Xiao Laosi’s face looked strange, Magistrate Ding immediately made the assurance.

The other civil servants were trembling with fear.

The Chu State is ruled by military men, and it is extremely difficult to be an official here.

If you don’t do anything well, you will be scolded by the warriors.

If you argue for a few minutes, you might even get beaten.

Complaining to the higher authorities will have no effect.

Those who dared to attack them were all close confidants of the King of Chu.

Even though his official position was not high, the face he enjoyed with the King of Chu was beyond the reach of these “double-faced ministers”.

After taking refuge with the King of Chu, he was given a high position and generous salary, but was also guarded against.

Even if you pledge your allegiance, you are still inferior to others.

“Report!”

“General, something terrible has happened. Many new government troops have arrived outside the city.

The enemy also launched artillery, and it seems that they are preparing to attack the city!”

The bad news brought by the captain of the personal guards broke the awkwardness in the room.

The enemy is at the gates, now is not the time to engage in intrigue.

Once the government troops broke through the city, the ones who suffered the most would not be the rebel generals, but the civil servants who betrayed Dayu.

Some children of noble families have secretly planned a retreat, and the government troops quickly recovered the lost territory, proving that Dayu’s kingdom has not yet come to an end.

According to historical experience, a great unified dynasty does not die immediately after its decline.

Before the collapse of a dynasty, there was never a shortage of loyal and righteous people who went against the tide in an attempt to turn the tide and continue the country’s destiny.

Perhaps the content of the letter needs to be reconsidered.

Unfortunately, that bastard Li Mu was too good at fighting, so the imperial court gave up the idea of ​​recruiting him, and they didn’t even have the capital to negotiate.

Returning to the Dayu camp now would come at a heavy price.

The new governor of Huguang is a vampire. The conditions he set for making amends for crimes are completely designed to squeeze people dry.

This is a huge amount of money to buy their lives, which they definitely cannot afford by themselves, so the family behind them can only find a way to solve the problem.

After all, rebellion is a crime that can punish the entire clan.

Once the investigation gets deeper, the whole clan will be doomed.

However, these people are distant branches of the clan, and have cost the family a huge sum of money, so their lives will definitely not be easy when they return.

Hesitation, confusion, uneasiness, fear, a series of complex emotions continue to play out in everyone’s hearts.

“Pass the order, the whole city is under martial law.

From now on, no one is allowed to walk on the street, and anyone who violates this rule will be killed without mercy!”

Xiao Laosi gave the order decisively.

He didn’t care about what everyone was thinking, he only knew that Yuezhou Prefecture could not be lost.

Otherwise, the King of Chu would definitely not be able to survive here and would have to join other rebel forces.

Changing jobs is not an easy task. It will be ten times more difficult to gain the trust of a new boss than it is now.

“General Xiao, if we impose martial law on the entire city, what will happen to the livelihoods of the people in the city?
Once the people run out of food, there will be chaos!”

Zhang Tongzhi on the side hurriedly persuaded.

If the whole city is under martial law, it would be difficult for them to carry out any small actions, as it would be equivalent to cutting off their retreat.

However, this reason cannot be brought up for discussion, and we can only use the people as an excuse.

“Then distribute food and firewood to each household to ensure …”

Halfway through his words, Xiao Laosi immediately realized the problem.

He himself came from the bottom of society and was very clear about the government’s style.

Chu might be slightly better than Dayu, but this improvement is quite limited. The rationing system was adopted, and the officials who were responsible for its implementation were bound to take advantage of it.

By then it is very likely that some people will have mountains of food and firewood in their homes, while more people who really need food will be starving at home.

Apparently, their loyalty to the King of Chu was not enough to repay him by starving the people to death.

The families were all starving, and the young and strong men who were conscripted became unstable elements.

Once the government spies are misled, chaos will immediately break out in the city.

“What do you think we should do?”

Xiao Laosi turned around and asked.

“General, we have recruited all the young and strong men in the city. The rest are old and weak and cannot cause any trouble.

The livelihood of the people was affected, so some money and food were given to the young and strong men who were conscripted to support their wives, children and the elderly, in order to stabilize people’s hearts.

The businesses in the city keep them running normally and ensure the daily lives of the people.

Normally, as long as we strengthen patrols, there won’t be any problems.”

After Zhang Tongzhi spoke, a number of officials from aristocratic families began to speak in agreement.

When disaster strikes, you always have to think about yourself.

“Okay, I’ll leave the city affairs to you.

But I will send someone to keep an eye on you. If anyone dares to do anything, don’t blame me for being ruthless!”

While accepting the advice, Xiao Laosi also issued a warning.

Obviously, he didn’t trust these officials that much.

However, the Chu State was established too recently and did not have its own talent training system, so it had to rely on these old bureaucrats.

……

Changsha city.

As the number of troops in his hands increased, Li Mu began to gradually delegate power.

Apart from the major strategic layout, which he had to do personally, he rarely personally intervened in the specific battlefield command.

The government troops on the front line surrounded Yuezhou and entered Wuchang Prefecture, but his command center did not follow.

Anyway, the rebels only have so many troops, they definitely cannot defend the city. It is just a matter of how long they can hold out.

There is no need to spend too much energy on a destined victory.

“Once the news is released, how many noble families do you think will be willing to accept my kindness?”

Li Yuan asked after hesitating for a few steps.

As a nobleman, he had no good feelings towards civil servants.

However, Huguang had suffered greatly from the war and was unable to provide taxes to the governor’s office in a short period of time.

The government troops were advancing triumphantly on the battlefield, and all these military victories were built up with countless money and grain.

If the Governor’s Office has no money, then there will be no way to solve a series of subsequent problems.

Marquis Wuyang also serves as the Governor-General of Jiangnan, so the next strategy will definitely give priority to Jiangnan.

After recapturing Wuchang Prefecture, the troops from Guangdong and Guangxi will turn to recapture Jiangnan.

As the governor, he would have to find a way to recover the remaining prefectures in Huguang.

Military problems are easy to solve.

There are still some available people in the local Huguang troops, and together with the people poached from his nephew, it is enough to complete the subsequent tasks.

The tricky part is money and food.

We are all family, so when we take joint action, it won’t be a problem to get some supplies from Guangdong and Guangxi.

Once you separate, you’ll have to figure things out on your own.

Li Mu also left a portion of the spoils captured by the government troops for his uncle, but it was still a drop in the bucket.

“Uncle, there is no need to worry about this issue, smart people will make the right choice.

The main reason now is that the time is too short, and their children who serve in the court have not received the news yet.

After some time, they will naturally send someone to contact us.

Especially those officials who hold important positions, they are reluctant to give up their current wealth.

Even if the clan has no money, these officials in office will find ways to raise money.

Of course, it is also possible to use other resources to trade with you.

For example: other provinces contribute funds to Huguang, or the Ministry of Revenue directly allocates funds to you.

Or they could arrange for some businessmen to pay for them.

If you don’t mind the trouble, you can issue bearer Huguang bonds and let them buy them with money and grain.”

Li Mu said with a smile.

It is the court that has no money, not the officials.

With great power in your hands, you will never be short of money.

Including Li Yuan, the Governor of Huguang, if he wanted to make money, someone would come to him.

But now the Governor’s Office is short of money, which is embarrassing.

The morals of the Dayu Dynasty had long been corrupted.

Merchants would rather give huge amounts of wealth to individual officials than pay a single copper coin to the government.

Local gentry also like to cooperate with officials personally, and they will present generous gifts to local officials when they take office.

The government wants money, but there is no way.

The reason for all this is “a society based on personal relationships”.

By bribing individuals, you can build relationships with them, and once you become one with them, you can gain many conveniences.

Paying money to the government is just asking for trouble.

Not only will they fail to gain any benefits, but they will also leave traces and will easily be targeted by the imperial court as a fat sheep.

“If you borrow money, you have to pay it back!”

Li Yuan said with a frown.

He was not a corrupt scholar and did not think it was beneath decorum for the government to borrow money from the people.

Issuing bearer bonds does make it easier for people to pay.

But the money that was agreed to buy the life suddenly turned into a debt, which became a burden for the local government.

It is easy to borrow debt but difficult to repay it.

Unless the imperial court allowed Huguang to withhold taxes for a long time, repayment of the debt would be a distant dream.

“Uncle, you are destined not to be the Governor of Huguang for long.

It is estimated that once the White Lotus Rebellion is quelled, the three governors-general will have to return to Beijing to take up their posts.

As for the debt problem, let the civil servants who take over worry about it!

If you are worried about being scolded, just let the governor in Beijing take the blame.

Directly issue public bonds to the outside world in the name of the Huguang Governor’s Office.

In essence, it’s just a fig leaf.

You have done this and saved their face. Those involved in the case may even thank you.”

Li Mu gave a bad idea without changing his expression.

With an extra layer of cover, the gentry involved in the case no longer felt pressured to pay.

But at the same time, it also left a debt to the Dayu court.

When Marquis Zhenyuan was in office, he had the leverage over them, so naturally no one dared to ask for money.

Once the court changed, the situation changed.

Other officials don’t have any leverage over them, so you can come and collect your debts with confidence.

If the successor officials fail to fulfill their debts, the credibility of the Dayu court will be damaged.

If the debt is to be fulfilled, where the money will come from becomes a new problem.

In a sense, this is laying a minefield for the next one.

But this mine was planted openly to raise military funds to suppress the rebellion, and no one could find fault with it.

If problems arise after a change of personnel, Emperor Yongning will simply think that the successor is incompetent.

(End of this chapter)