ushernet Chapter 197 Where the Army Goes
Chapter 197 Where the Army Goes
Chapter 197 Where the Army Goes
"He seems to have great ambitions, but forgets them when he sees the benefits. He has neither broad mind nor long-term vision."
Jiujiang County is not far from Luoyang, and the imperial court received the news shortly after Zuo Li received the news.
In the duty room of Prime Minister Yang Biao, Yang Biao was talking with Wang Yun, Huangfu Song and Lu Zhi.
Lu Zhi nodded thoughtfully and said, "Prime Minister, I'm afraid Yuan Shao can't hold Jiujiang anymore. Sun Jian is in danger."
The main forces attacking Jing and Yang provinces were Yuan Shao and Sun Jian.
Yang Biao's fat face suddenly became serious, and he asked, "What countermeasures does the Grand Marshal's Mansion have?"
Lu Zhi glanced at Huangfu Song and said, "The Grand Marshal's Office is considering calling in Gongsun Zan and Dong Zhuo."
Wang Yun's indifferent face immediately turned cold, and he said, "Gongsun Zan is easy to say, can the Grand Marshal's Mansion mobilize Dong Zhuo?"
"Yes." Huangfu Song said with great care for his words.
Compared with Lu Zhi, Huangfu Song's words undoubtedly carry more weight.
Wang Yun looked at him, paused, and said, "Are you sure you can persuade His Majesty to agree?"
After these words were spoken, Yang Biao's expression became even more serious.
"Your Majesty has authorized the Grand Marshal's Office to handle the matter with full authority." Lu Zhi said.
Yang Biao's expression eased slightly, and he asked, "What do you need the Shangshutai for?"
Lu Zhi pondered for a moment and said, "The Grand Marshal's Mansion has a countermeasure for the war in the south. I came to the Prime Minister's Mansion today for Jizhou."
Yang Biao was startled and said, "Didn't Ying Shao, Zhang Liao and others report that the Black Mountain Army had retreated and there would be no problem for the time being?"
Wang Yun suddenly seemed to be moved and asked, "Is there another rebellion in Jizhou?"
Lu Zhi raised his hand and said to the two men, "Prime Minister, Prince, Zhao Yun attacked Yu Du and Bai Rao's lair, robbed them of their money and food, and burned down their stronghold. The two men lost their money and food and were enraged, so they will not give up. The autumn harvest is coming soon, and the Black Mountain Army has been fighting for several months. Their food and grass are running out. Instead of withdrawing, they will become even more crazy."
Yang Biao understood. His fat face was as straight as iron and his small eyes kept blinking.
Although he believed in "doing nothing", he was not really stupid. He understood it immediately and said in a hurried tone, "Tell me the truth. How many people are there in the Black Mountain Army?"
Wang Yun looked serious and nervous, and then said: "The total number of government troops in Jizhou is close to 50,000. Can't they hold on?"
Lu Zhi and Huangfu Song looked at each other, hesitated for a moment, and said, "The Black Mountain Army is a large and diverse force, widely distributed, seemingly allied but not unified, and basically fighting on its own. They act in a disorganized manner and are spread all over Jizhou. Ying Shao is attacked everywhere, and he can neither divide his troops to suppress them nor protect the entire territory."
"Even though Ying Shao, Zhang Liao and others have 50,000 troops, they cannot stop the Black Mountain Army from plundering Jizhou, whether they defend separately or together."
"It's hard for the Grand Marshal's Office to tell exactly how many Black Mountain troops there are. From the intelligence we've seen from various sources, they bring their families with them every time they go out, including men, women, old and young. They claim to have tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of troops. Overall, we can infer that the Jizhou Black Mountain troops should be more than 300,000, with about 80,000 young and strong."
"If you want to wipe out the Black Mountain Army, you need not only money and food, but also a general to help all the places integrate into one, forcing the rebels to gather together and defeat them in one battle."
Wang Yun listened to Lu Zhi's words and blurted out: "Shouldn't we defeat them one by one?"
Huangfu Song said: "The Black Mountain Army always flees at the first sign of an attack by the government troops, hiding in the mountains and forests and defending in dangerous places. The mountains are either easy to defend but difficult to attack, or they have too many people. It will take months or even years to capture them. The court cannot afford to waste their time."
To put it bluntly, the imperial court did not have enough money and food to support tens of thousands of troops for several months or even longer.
Wang Yun understood this time and asked, "Who does the Grand Marshal's Office plan to send to lead the troops, and when will they go out to suppress the rebellion?"
Lu Zhi looked at him and said, "I wonder how much military pay the Shangshutai can provide?"
"This……"
Wang Yun was stunned for a moment, unable to look directly at Lu Zhi, and turned to Yang Biao.
Yang Biao looked gloomy, took a deep breath, and said, "A few days ago, His Majesty allocated 300 million yuan and 50,000 shi of grain from the Central Government to the Ministry of Revenue."
Huangfu Song heard this and understood after a moment of thinking.
The money and food that his second son robbed must have been used up during this period, and there may be very little left in the palace's treasury.
Wang Yun was silent for a while and suddenly asked, "Zhao Yun raided the lair of Yu Du and Bai Rao. Didn't he get a lot of money? Can't he use it to suppress the bandits?"
Yang Biao's fat face remained motionless. He glanced at him and said, "That money and food is not enough to cover the salary owed by the Imperial Army Camp."
All the more than 100,000 troops in the imperial guard camp were sent out. Although the required money and food were basically borne by the local governments, the actual salaries still had to be allocated by the court.
The court owed more and more salaries for more than 100,000 people, plus various pensions and rewards, which was like a bottomless pit.
Wang Yun's expression gradually became serious and he remained silent.
In recent years, the imperial treasury has been increasingly in trouble, with banditry and rebellion on one hand and sharp reductions in taxes on the other. The already impoverished state, with the support of an army of hundreds of thousands, is undoubtedly worse than ever.
Since last year, the court has tried every possible way to raise money, but up to now, hundreds of millions of dollars have not been returned.
The ever-increasing expenditure is like a flood that has been released from a dam, rushing forward and difficult to contain.
The plan of 'increasing revenue and reducing expenditure' means that increasing revenue is limited, but reducing expenditure is ineffective.
Wang Yun was silent, and Yang Biao couldn't think of a way to find money for a while. He had basically exhausted all the means he could think of and use last year.
Seeing that the two of them were silent, Lu Zhi said knowingly, "Oh, right, Pengcheng Xiang Liu Bei has been found. The Grand Marshal's Mansion has sent a letter ordering him not to go to the capital but to rush to Hanzhong as soon as possible."
Wang Yun frowned, subconsciously thinking that this person was here to ask for money.
"Prime Minister, it's almost time." At this time, the clerk on duty outside the door came to the door and raised his hand.
Yang Biao raised his head suddenly, took a long breath, and said with a smile: "I almost forgot that there will be a big exam at Imperial College and Hongdumen College today, and I have to be the invigilator."
Wang Yun frowned even more, looking at Huangfu Song and Lu Zhi, seeming to be hesitant to speak.
Huangfu Song and Lu Zhi seemed not to notice Wang Yun's gaze. Seeing that Yang Biao was about to leave, they had to stand up.
The four of them left the Prime Minister's duty room one after another and dispersed silently.
After leaving the Secretariat, Lu Zhi and Huangfu Song said, "Grand Marshal, do you want to see His Majesty?"
Huangfu Song had a blank expression on his face, but his eyes were firm as he said, "I want to transfer Huang Zhong from Bingzhou to Jizhou. What do you think?"
Lu Zhi thought about it carefully and said, "Bingzhou... Xiongnu, the Three Qiangs, bandits... It's okay for a short period of time, but it can't last more than three months."
After Liu Bian personally led the army to conquer Bingzhou, major threats within the territory were basically eliminated. Now Bingzhou is relatively stable, and there are no signs of invasion by the Xiongnu, the Three Qiang and others for the time being.
And three months is basically the time until the end of the year.
Huangfu Song looked thoughtful for a while, then said, "Okay. Then Xiahou Dun can be used."
Lu Zhi hesitated and said, "I still don't trust Liu Yu."
From their perspective, Liu Yu had high prestige, but his ability was mediocre. He advocated appeasement of the Xianbei and Wuhuan, but the Wuhuan and Xianbei surrendered and rebelled from time to time, which made Liu Yu exhausted, and the situation in Youzhou was very bad.
The Grand Marshal's Office had always been worried that Liu Yu would be defeated and that the Xianbei and Wuhuan would launch large-scale border invasions.
Youzhou has almost no strategic locations to defend. Once the Xianbei and Wuhuan enter the country, they can march straight in all the way to Jizhou!
Huangfu Song was about to speak when he saw Xu Yan coming hurriedly. In his panic, he dropped the memorials in his hand one after another, and then hurriedly picked them up, looking flustered.
Lu Zhi stepped forward and asked, "Who is this, Huangmen Xu?"
Xu Yan was holding a pile of memorials in a mess, and asked hurriedly: "Grand Marshal, is Lord Lu going to enter the palace?"
Lu Zhi nodded and said, "Jiangdong and Jizhou are in chaos, and we are about to enter the palace."
Xu Yan shook his head repeatedly and said, "Empress Tang in the palace is about to give birth. You two should not enter the palace at this time."
Huangfu Song and Lu Zhi were both stunned. When Cai Wenji gave birth, the heaven and earth shook. They actually just found out that Tang Ji was going to give birth.
Xu Yan didn't say much and hurried away.
After walking a few steps, he turned back and said, "By the way, Grand Marshal, Lord Lu, the governor of Yanzhou, Ding Yuan, is coming to the capital. What should we do with him?"
Ding Yuan impeached Wang Lang and wanted to target Wang Yun, but Yang Biao made some moves and Ding Yuan was "transferred to another position" in Beijing, but he was not given a specific official position.
Lu Zhi put his hands behind his back and said, "Shouldn't the Shangshutai be responsible for the placement?"
Xu Yan was holding a pile of memorials, feeling a little unsteady. He raised his thigh and said, "The Shangshutai suggested the position of Taifu. The Yushitai has a vacancy for Yushi Cheng. Does the Da Sima Mansion need one?"
Lu Zhi immediately understood, glanced at Huangfu Song, and said, "The Grand Marshal's Mansion is not short of staff for the time being."
"The villain knows."
After Xu Yan finished speaking, he shook the memorial in his arms, turned around and left quickly.
Not long after he left, he hurried back and said with a wry smile, "I am confused."
As he spoke, he awkwardly lowered his head to search for something, pulled out a memorial, handed it to Lu Zhi, and said, "This is the memorial of General Cao Cao of Wuwei."
Lu Zhi reached out to take it, and Xu Yan walked away without stopping.
Huangfu Song and Lu Zhi watched him walk around the corner, then they lowered their heads to look at the memorial in their hands.
After reading it, Lu Zhi asked, "Cao Cao asked for permission to send troops to Jizhou. What does the Grand Marshal think?"
"Not allowed." Huangfu Song said.
Lu Zhi seemed to be thinking about something. As he walked, he said, "Gongsun Zan has stationed his troops in Ruyin. Can he be a match for Zhang He?"
Zhang He has become famous recently. With only 10,000 men, he blocked Yuan Shao's 30,000 troops in Jiujiang for nearly half a year. He also blocked Sun Jian, who took the opportunity to launch a surprise attack, and pushed him back to Wujun. Now he has completely driven Yuan Shao out of Jiujiang and Jiangxia, shocking the court and the public.
Gongsun Zan had not been doing well in the past two years. He had been very powerful and had made great achievements in fighting the Xianbei, Wuhuan and Xiongnu, but after entering the interior, he not only failed to achieve anything, but suffered repeated defeats.
Especially the defeat to Ju Yi, which caused great damage to his reputation. There was a lot of criticism from both the government and the public, who believed that he was "only famous in name only".
Huangfu Song nodded and said, "Give him another chance and order him to join forces with Yuan Shao and march to Jiujiang."
As they talked, they walked into the Grand Marshal's Mansion together.
At this time, a large group of people gathered in Yong'an Palace.
From inside the door came Tang Ji's loud screams, while outside the door, Empress Dowager He, Liu Bian, and Cai Wenji who was holding Liu Shao were all staring at him worriedly.
Compared to the last time Cai Wenji gave birth, this time, everyone was not so nervous, but hearing Tang Ji's screams of pain was still heartbreaking.
Sorry, I'm a little late. Someone came to see the house early in the morning and delayed me for a while.
First update, please give me a monthly ticket~