Thinking of this, Huang Qiong sighed. He should think of ways to make up for what those officers and soldiers did after the fact. But now with the destruction of Nanning City, this kind of looting must not happen again. When Cao Rui arrives, I have to give him a good beating. Otherwise, if it really causes a large-scale rebellion among the barbarian tribes, it will take an unknown amount of money to suppress it.
Suddenly lost Huang Qiong who continued talking to Liu Jinli. After giving Kou Zhun a few words, especially telling him not to rush for success and that these things could be done slowly, he handed over the rest of the discussion to Kou Zhun. He and Lu Mengzheng walked to the palace garden and talked about some government affairs while walking. In particular, the future use of the gold and silver paid by Liu Jinli will also be discussed.
There is also the matter of further handling the aftermath on Guangnan West Road after the main force of the rebels has been wiped out. Especially a series of things to appease those barbarian tribes. Thinking of the aftermath, Huang Qiong had another headache. Lu Mengzheng, on the other hand, said confidently: "Your Majesty, there is no need to worry too much. There are hundreds of thousands of acres of mature paddy fields on Guangnan West Road."
"In addition to these paddy fields, there are also hundreds of thousands of acres used to grow sugar cane, as well as fruit fields and 200,000 acres of tea gardens. These cultivated lands are all high-quality paddy fields. Originally, these hundreds of thousands of acres of paddy fields were still There are sugarcane fields, orchards, and tea gardens, which were originally owned by the Guilin County Prince. Due to the soil and water, although the quality of the tea here is not as high as that produced in the south of the Yangtze River, it is not too bad when I drink it."
"In our territory, although we may not be able to compete with the tea leaves from Jiangnan and Fujian, under the circumstances of trade, it is still good to fool those Westerners. Moreover, a considerable part of these tea leaves are supplied to the Tubo people or Southeast Asian countries. It is made in China. Some of it is even exported to Goryeo and Japan, and the whole is not worried about sales. Those sugarcane fields produce hundreds of thousands of high-quality icing every year."
"These icings are worth thousands of gold when sold to various roads. And although there are more venomous snakes here, they are also full of rare medicinal materials needed by the Central Plains. Your Majesty, what Guangnan West Road lacks now is not financial resources, but People. The Yi people here are not good at farming. This place was originally a place full of miasma in the eyes of the world, and it has always been a feared place for the migration of Han people from the interior."
"Even though the Guilin County Prince has spent more than a hundred years recruiting Han people to cultivate and plant on Guangnan West Road, there are still only a few hundred thousand Han people, and the number of Han people is extremely slow. Even if the puppet emperor has spent huge sums of money to recruit refugees in order to rebel. , but they also recruited less than 500,000 people. Taken together, there are less than a million people. A large part of them were recruited by the puppet emperor."
"Now the entire Guangnan West Road is short of people who are good at farming. Your Majesty, as long as there are enough people to plant these fields and sugarcane fields, it will not take a few years for the Guangnan West Road to recover. The headache now is that those barbarians Human tribes. I am now preparing to call out the Yi tribes who have moved to the mountains and forests to avoid the rebellion. I will teach them to work carefully and move the Han people in."
"Those barbarians, many tribes still practice slash-and-burn farming. What is lacking is the farming level of our Han people. Your Majesty, in fact, for Guangnan West Road, the so-called aftermath is actually more to appease those barbarians. Maybe it is right or wrong. Our people must have different plans. The Guilin County Prince has been in charge of the Guangnan West Road for hundreds of years, but he only blindly oppressed the barbarians and refused to teach them farming."
"I intend to do the opposite. In addition to finding ways to relocate the Han people, I also want to recruit Yi people out of the mountains. At the same time, encourage intermarriage between Han and Yi people. However, when these officers and soldiers entered Guangnan West Road, many Yi tribes were killed because they attached to the puppet emperor. They were killed and their families were wiped out. The other Yi tribes are now quite afraid of the government troops, including the government. Some from several prefectures in the north even went to Huguang South Road."
"Your Majesty, this is the biggest headache for me now. The officers and soldiers are really bad at handling many things? I also know that it is no wonder that the officers and soldiers are responsible for this. They carried their heads and fought for the imperial court for three whole years. The armies are exhausted, and there are casualties. At this time, the more the military discipline reaches this time, the more it becomes uncontrollable, which is actually quite normal."
"Actually, our Da Qi armies have always been like this. When fighting within the court, they can still barely control it. Once they fight outside the territory, or fight outside the eyes of the court, there are many things that can be done to make a fortune. Even When the Qi Dynasty was founded, the Qi army captured the East and West Routes of Guangnan and captured them along the way. Not to mention what Emperor Taizu did on the East Guangnan Road?"
Although Lu Mengzheng's words were very cryptic, Huang Qiong actually heard that Lu Mengzheng was trying to persuade him in disguise not to pursue those officers and soldiers. In fact, this has been the practice since the founding of Da Qi. In addition, on Guangnan West Road, the sky is high and the emperor is far away, and it is mainly populated by barbarians. After three consecutive years of fighting, these officers and soldiers arrived at Guangnan West Road, and military discipline became like this.
It's not that unusual. If this matter is pursued, the implications will be too great. It has a huge impact on military morale and morale. At least for more than a hundred years, the Qi army has been like this when fighting outside the territory. Although Guangnan West Road was not outside the territory, it was still under the rule of the Daqi Dynasty. But for those officers and soldiers, the mountains here are high and the emperor is far away. In the eyes of the officers and soldiers, it is basically the same.
Moreover, these military attaches at all levels who participated in the war accounted for nearly half of the military attaches capable of fighting in Da Qi. If dealt with, this means that almost half of the military attaches who can fight will be dealt with strictly. This was really too much of a loss to the imperial court. This can easily lead to military disunity. As long as they don't continue to be so unscrupulous and continue to burn, kill and loot like this, it's better not to pursue them.
After all, the current rebels, except for a few stragglers, have all been wiped out. If this continues, it will really lead to a large-scale popular uprising. When the time comes, those tribes will gather in the mountains and forests, and it will be even more difficult to annihilate them. After hearing Lu Mengzheng's consolation, Huang Qiong fell silent. After pondering for a long time, he finally nodded: "In this way, after Cao Rui arrives."
"I won't see him for now, and let him dry out for a few days. You talk to him first. You talk to him about some things first. As for when I will see him, I will wait and see what his attitude is. When talking to him, you Don't be shy, say everything that needs to be said, and say it thoroughly. I don't know what to say about this guy. He is not cautious where he should be cautious, and he is cautious where he should not be cautious."
After Huang Qiong finished speaking, Lu Mengzheng, who understood what Huang Qiong meant, thought for a moment and nodded slightly. And just as Huang Qiong and Lu Meng were walking and talking. After deciding on some things, he looked at the thin Lu Mengzheng. But Huang Qiong said: "You, you still have to pay attention to your health. Things are never finished, just work hard. Only with a good body can you do more things for the country and the people."
"You must know how to use people freely. The soldiers I have selected for you can be said to be elite soldiers and strong generals, so there is nothing you can't use freely. As the envoy responsible for the aftermath, you just need to grasp the general direction and supervise it. If so, I have to do everything personally, and I can’t finish it even if I am exhausted. I also know that everything is difficult at the beginning, and only begins after the aftermath. There are many things going on now, so you have to keep an eye on them to feel at ease."
"But I still say that things can't be done, and you can't do everything by yourself. Remember, your body is not only your own, but also belongs to all the people in the world and your family. You are mine. My dear minister, if you collapse from exhaustion, where will I find capable men like you? There are three gangs of heroes. I cannot govern the world by myself, and I need your help."
Huang Qiong's persuasion, coupled with some distressed words, made Lu Mengzheng only smile bitterly. But it is easy to say this, but it is difficult to do it. The aftermath of the Guangnan West Road incident can be described as complicated. Just as Huang Qiong said, everything is difficult at the beginning. Appeasing the barbarians, dealing with the so-called inverse production, the tens of thousands of troops on Guangnan West Road, and the transportation and collection of military rations are all top priorities.
You need to take the lead in handling these matters, and there is no room for delay in that regard. The officials who followed him south were indeed capable officials. But after all, they are all young and have little experience in dealing with things. Even if some things are assigned, you still need to take the lead. The most important thing is that we are facing the huge Guangnan West Road. There were not enough officials to follow him south.
Nowadays, the officials on Guangnan West Road do not even have half of their daily salary. There are only three soldiers in place. Among the officials at the state level, only the palm seal officers are barely equipped, and half of the Tongzhi and government magistrates are not fully equipped. Officials at the magistrate and county level are only equipped with 40%. There was only one official to handle the affairs of the barbarians. However, the matter of Fu Yi right now is the top priority.
Now the prefect of Jingjiang Prefecture is acted by Lu Mengzheng himself. The original prefectural magistrate was transferred to Pingle as magistrate by Lu Mengzheng. The only official in Jingjiang Mansion now is the magistrate Kou Zhun. Hearing Lu Mengzheng's helplessness, Huang Qiong pondered for a long time before saying: "I will give Fu Yuanshan an order to select smart and capable people from the six ministries and the officials in the capital."
"Tell those people clearly that if they come to Guangnan West Road and serve for one term, they will be promoted first after being inspected by the Ministry of Personnel. After serving two terms, if there are vacancies in the six departments, they will be promoted to two levels to fill the vacancies. There are so many yamen and divisions in the capital, and there are so many idle officials. , would rather guard the Qingshui Yamen in the capital than come to Guangnan West Road. What is the use of the imperial court raising these officials? The imperial court does not have that much money to support freeloaders."
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Huang Qiong said with a ferocious look: "I will tell Fu Yuanshan that those who are selected and refuse to come, no matter who is involved, will be dismissed from their posts and punished on the spot regardless of who is standing behind them. Three generations of descendants are not allowed to take part in the imperial examination or the selection of officials. This year happens to be the year of the great competition, and I will also send you a group of new scholars who are down-to-earth and hardworking and uncomplaining."
"From my perspective on their government affairs, they should not be placed in the Sixth Department of the Capital. If they are placed on Guangnan West Road, I don't see any difference. As for the other things you mentioned, I will now detain them on Jiangnan West Road and Huguang South Road. All the captives will be sent back to Guangnan West Road. As for the recruitment of refugees, please come up with a charter. I have seen it, there is no big problem, and I will immediately issue an edict to the world."
"In addition, you are solely responsible for recruiting the barbarians to work in the mountains. If officials at all levels do not cooperate, you, the official, can be dismissed on the spot, or even beheaded first and then punished. When I leave, I will give you a sword of Shangfang. . Since you are subordinate, all officials are at your disposal. I know you are a good person, but in some matters, you must not be merciful or soft-hearted."
"Besides, when Cao Rui comes, you tell him, and I will give you my best advice. After all, what happened before happened for a reason, and I don't want to pursue it too much. From now on until he returns to the capital, let him restrain his subordinates. If it is those under his command, If the officers and soldiers act recklessly and plunder wantonly from now on, then I will go on a killing spree. When the time comes, don't blame me for not showing mercy to him."
