After Huang Qiong said these words, several people present fell into deep thought. After a long time, Huang Qiong raised his head and said: "When I was fighting the rebellion in Longyou, I once heard a folk proverb. When weaving baskets, we have to close the mouth, and it means closing the mouth is the most important thing. This is a rough statement but it doesn't make sense. It’s rough. The more it’s the last moment, the less luck you can have. Any carelessness will kill people.”
Having said this, Huang Qiong raised his head and looked at Yang Jiyuan. After thinking for a while, he raised his head and said firmly: "Yang Qing, if I order you to go south now, you will be fully responsible for the strategy of the Fujian Road and the complete annihilation of the Fujian Road rebels." Cooperate with the Guangnan East-West Second Route in the subsequent counter-insurgency operations. However, the pressure on Cao Rui's side is greater than yours, so I do not plan to mobilize the troops and horses on his side for the time being."
"As for you, I can only give you half of Zhao Wushu's current troops. Also, I can give you all the 10,000 rebels that Zhao Wushu surrendered. And, if possible, order someone to remove a batch for you. Light artillery, and allocate all the Dali horses captured by Cao Rui to you. But to counter the rebellion in Fujian, I can only give you one year at most. Half a year to sort out the surrender, and half a year to put down the rebellion. Do you have the confidence?"
Regarding Huang Qiong's intention, Yang Jiyuan, who was always known for his impatience, rarely answered him. After pondering carefully for a long time, he raised his head and said: "Your Majesty, I am naturally confident that Fujian Road will be pacified within one year. Most of the Fujian Road rebels are former Fujian Road Guards. Those guards are all If you’re used to enjoying it, your combat effectiveness is almost negligible.”
"Zhao Wushu's place, although the main force is either the new army or the original guard troops on the east-west road of Jiangnan, after this year of fierce fighting, those guards are still dying and they are probably beaten. What's more, the 10,000 he surrendered The rebels are all the elite of the rebels, and there is no big problem with their combat effectiveness. In fact, according to what I have seen, the biggest weakness of this rebellion against the king is not the lack of soldiers."
"Judging from the comprehensive battle report, his soldiers are well trained. What he really lacks is generals. His generals have either never been on the battlefield, or they rely on military attachés from the east and west of Guangnan to support him. If it is the four major battalions or the border The military attachés who came out of the army can still compete with each other. But those military attachés of the Guards, it’s not that I look down on them, they can bring trouble to the place, but when they really go to the battlefield, there is no one who doesn’t have diarrhea. "
"I have seen too many military attaches in the Guards, and one by one has already been ruined. Not to mention the Fujian Road, those military attaches are all torn apart. They are just like a monolith. Unless they are completely replaced, even if they are capable in the world, they will not be able to do anything. If you want to straighten them out, no one will have to think about it for three or four years. As for the newly elected military attachés, they are just a group of newbies."
"Attache, if you haven't been on the battlefield for a day, and you have fought with the enemy with real swords and guns, you will always be a chick. What I worry about on weekdays is that if I leave, there will be no one here for Your Majesty. Also , It doesn’t matter where I go to Fujian. But Guangnan West Road is the nest of the rebel king and a place where barbarians are mixed. I suggest that your majesty send a high-ranking civil servant to march with Cao Rui."
"The battle to counter the rebellion on the East-West Road of Guangnan will certainly have to be fought, but the real war will not be too much. It will be more about appeasing the local areas. At the same time, military discipline must be restrained. In the early years of the founding of the People's Republic of China, when the Qi army entered the East-West Road of Guangnan, at that time Under the indulgence of the general who commanded the army, military discipline was too corrupt. He burned, killed, and looted along the way, and robbed the wives, daughters, and property of the local people. This caused the local barbarians to gather in the mountains and forests more than once to raise troops and cause chaos."
"Even the local Han people gathered troops everywhere to become enemies of our army. At one time, except for the capital Jingjiang Prefecture, none of the prefectures and counties in the entire road were controlled by the imperial court. The local garrison could not even take a step out of Jingjiang Prefecture. Five If less than a hundred soldiers and horses leave the city, don't expect to come back alive. It only took one year to capture Guangnan West Road, but it took five years to truly pacify it."
"Even some rebellions were not completely suppressed until the reign of Emperor Taizong. If military discipline could be restrained at that time, at least there would be no large-scale destruction of military aircraft, burning, killing, and looting. The pacification of Guangnan West Road would not be that difficult. , so much money and food was spent. Now that Guangnan West Road has been occupied by the rebel king's government for hundreds of years, it may be even more difficult to win over the people."
"So, you must be fully prepared before entering Guangnan West Road. Guangnan East Road was blocked by our army because of Emperor Taizu's massacre of the city when he first besieged Guangzhou Prefecture. It took three years to pacify the entire Guangnan East Road. When our army pacified the entire Jiangnan area, it did not take as long as the Guangnan East and West Second Road, or any of the other roads."
"And with the lengthening of the front, the transfer of food and supplies also requires a capable man to coordinate. Although I am confident in the military discipline of the four battalions of elite soldiers, some things cannot be generalized. When marching to the east-west road of Guangnan, I believe that military discipline is the only thing that matters. This is the top priority. After that, there is the coordination of food and grass. Therefore, I suggest that your Majesty send a senior official, no lower than the second rank, to go together."
"Also, if Cao Rui chooses Guangnan West Road next, the cavalry will be of little use. Our horses, whether they are Dangxiang horses or Khitan horses, are northern horses and are not adapted to the weather in the south. Right now Summer is about to begin in the south, and the weather is likely to get hotter all of a sudden, which will make it even more unbearable for the horses in the north. Moreover, after passing Ganzhou Prefecture, the cavalry will be of little use."
"In the past dynasties, the southern expeditions to the east and west of Guangnan were all based on infantry. I suggest that given the current battle situation, at least half of the cavalry under Cao Rui's command can be withdrawn. Or they can be transferred north to Yu Mingyuan. Or stationed in Hebei as the second line of defense for Yanshan Mansion. Of course, these are just some suggestions from the minister. It is up to His Majesty to decide exactly how to do it."
Before Yang Jiyuan finished speaking, Fu Yuanshan on the side already understood what he meant. Fu Yuanshan and Yang Jiyuan, one was the magistrate of Yanshan Prefecture and the other was the defense envoy of Yanshan Prefecture. They are all stirring things up in the same pot, but they are actually old acquaintances. Don't look at the fact that the two of them often quarrel over some things. When they took office in Yanshan Mansion, the two of them quarreled all day long.
Now that everyone has become a first-class official, that habit has not changed. But between the two of them, it wasn't that Fu Yuanshan wanted to quarrel with him. Fu Yuanshan was born into a second-ranked Jinshi family. How could he quarrel with a rude martial artist like him? Now that he has become the prime minister, he has enough self-cultivation in his belly. It's just that Yang Jiyuan didn't like each other in the past, but now, they've just gotten used to arguing over the years.
When there were disagreements on official matters, Yang Jiyuan, who had always advocated easy negotiation and negotiation, took the initiative to argue with Fu Yuanshan. But that was just for official business. In fact, the two people below didn't understand each other very well. The quarrel was over, and no one held grudges. When Yang Jiyuan was ostracized and took up his official position when a person was at his best, Fu Yuanshan wrote to him many times to comfort him.
Although Yang Jiyuan was recommended by Yu Mingyuan, the person who recommended him to Yu Mingyuan was Fu Yuanshan, who had been quarreling with him for almost half his life, but had great appreciation for this guy's ability. And Yu Mingyuan, who also knew that this guy's temper and temperament were like a stubborn donkey, was somewhat hesitant at the beginning, fearing that if he came up and ignored him, he would talk nonsense and make it impossible for the Crown Prince Huang Qiong to step down.
At that time, it will bring some trouble to this guy. In the end, it was Fu Yuanshan who finally made the decision with his persistence. It was because of years of understanding that Fu Yuanshan understood this guy's meaning as soon as he opened his mouth. Fu Yuanshan has been the prefect of Yanshan for so many years. How could he not know what those officers did when the frontier army was fighting Beiliao?
When the Northern Liao Dynasty went south to clear grass valleys, they were indeed burning, killing, looting and plundering the population. But when those frontier troops fought back, they did well as long as they reached the territory of Beiliao. Once living outside the Yongguan Pass, no herdsmen from the Northern Liao could be found within more than thirty miles of the Northern Liao territory. Fu Yuanshan once saw a section of the frontier army attacking outside Jizhou City in Yanshan Mansion. They escorted back more than 300 Khitan women and children and drove back thousands of cattle and sheep.
Sheep are not uncommon in Daqi. However, the cattle produced in Beiliao are very popular in Daqi. Daqi has strict requirements for the slaughter of cattle, whether they are farm cattle or not. Even farm cattle that have died of illness need to be protected by land guards before they can be slaughtered. Otherwise, both the cattle owner and the butcher will be severely punished. In the county magistrate's annual official assessment, the number of cattle is the biggest assessment criterion.
The most severe punishment for those who slaughter cattle privately is to be directly exiled to Longyou. Ordinary people can't afford beef, and of course they don't dare to eat it. The cattle from Bei Liao will not have these things when they enter the territory of Da Qi. In addition, the cattle in Beiliao are all grazed. There is basically no labor and the meat quality is quite good, so the price of Beiliao cattle is very high in Daqi.
Cattle brought from Beiliao can make a lot of money in Daqi. The price of a cow obtained from Beiliao and sent to Daqi is at least one hundred guan. Therefore, every time the border troops leave the Great Wall, cattle are the most important plunder targets. Of course, the women of Northern Liao were too stout compared to Han people. Except for those who can't get a wife, generally no one buys it back.
Except for those ultra-low-end brothels that just want to be cheap and don't care about beauty, even brothels don't want these Northern Liao women. However, these Khitan women are strong and good at work, even better than the average thin men. I bought it back and used it as a rough servant, but she was also very popular. Although most of them are not very good at farming, these people are very powerful.
Those Khitan women are strong and strong, and they have no problem carrying a sheep alone. Therefore, although those Khitan women are not valuable, they can still make some money. Those red-eyed border troops plundered every time they attacked. Each time a large number of Khitan women and children were escorted back. A large number of cattle had to be driven back. As for the worthless sheep, they were snatched back to improve the food in the military camp.
Fu Yuanshan had seen this kind of thing many times during his tenure in Yanshan Mansion. However, these people did not do it within the territory of Daqi, and there are unspoken rules in the military, and some things are too difficult to interfere with. Fu Yuanshan also knew that although the salary of the border army was higher than that of the guard army. But their pockets are far less powerful than those of the guardsmen and military attachés from the mainland. The military attachés of the Mainland Guards had many different ways of making money.
Except for a few individuals in the border army, such as the son of Princess Xincai, who openly harbored smuggling. Most of the border military attachés still have to live in a much more miserable life. Fu Yuanshan is strict, but he is not the kind of dogmatic person. He still understands the truth that when the water is clear, there will be no fish. As long as those military attaches didn't go too far and didn't smuggle anything prohibited by law, he would basically turn a blind eye.
But those things that the border troops can do can be done in the enemy's territory. But Guangnan West Road is within the territory of Daqi, and the people and residents there are also the subjects of Daqi. If these officers and soldiers do the same thing when they arrive at Guangnan West Road, I am afraid that the imperial court's public support on Guangnan West Road will be completely lost. For Guangnan West Road, the key is to win over the people's support.
