The three rebel armies of Jianzhou, Huai'an, and Hanzhou each had thousands of troops, and together they numbered over 10,000.
The Song army that attacked them was more numerous and had better equipment and training in all aspects, so they immediately won a complete victory and pacified three states in just over half a month.
Then the commanders of the three Song armies did the same thing as Lu?
The city was massacred, the families of the rebels and their followers were massacred. The mountains of corpses and blood flowed into rivers. The three places were originally densely populated areas around Chengdu. The rebels took away a group of people in a wave of chaos. The Song Army came. Another group of people were taken away, resulting in a direct loss of a large number of people.
Of course, this does not matter to the Song Army generals and Song Army soldiers. These are all their trophies, whether they are people or property. They vent their accumulated feelings through killing and looting. Resentment towards the superior.
It doesn't matter whether the superiors beat or scold them at will. What matters is that they have money to take, people to kill, and women to do whatever they want.
In this way, the commander who was originally as ferocious as a ferocious beast actually became kind-hearted in their eyes.
They have been completely succeeded by the Song Army's oppressive system.
They are already complete killing machines.
They even felt that the officers were with them, the same people as them, and they were companions who could fight side by side.
So on the battlefield, they became more and more strict in their orders and prohibitions. The generals said whatever they said, and their combat effectiveness and will to fight increased.
Outside the battlefield, they are just a group of inhuman beasts. They kill people when they see them, rob property when they see them, burn down houses when they see them, and destroy fields when they see them. They are just like an army of natural disasters.
They are indeed outstanding in battle, and they are indeed unscrupulous.
The Song Dynasty's war against the rebels began in mid-February of the seventh year of Hongwu. By mid-March, the Song army had successively pacified Longzhou, Meizhou, Jianzhou, Hanzhou, Huai'an Army, Pengzhou, and Jiading Prefecture. He Tongchuan Prefecture also achieved relatively good results, with impressive results and a great situation.
Military reports of victory in the war flew into the "Imperial Palace" and Privy Council in Chengdu like snowflakes in a steady stream. Zhao Buxi could not keep his eyes open as he watched the military reports of victory one after another.
The Great Victory at Longzhou, the Great Victory at Meizhou, the Great Victory at Hanzhou, and the Great Victory at Huai'an.
One victory after another continued to stimulate his emotions, making him more and more emotional, more and more happy, and more and more eager for greater victories.
If this continues, will the entire war need to last three months?
Maybe, as he estimated, it could be done in two months.
His plan to send troops in four directions was indeed right. Wu Lin was old, too cautious, and a little behind the times.
In his opinion, asking for rewards from the soldiers has become a matter of course. Even Wu Lin is asking for rewards for the soldiers who have won successively.
"The soldiers traveled long distances, fought for days, fought hard and won, and made great military exploits. The court should reward the meritorious soldiers generously, so as not to undermine the soldiers' dedication to the court and their loyalty to His Majesty."
Of course Zhao Buxi understands this truth. Merits must be rewarded and demerits must be punished. This is the best way to establish the majesty of the superior.
When a soldier wins a battle, his capture is one thing, but the reward from the court is another.
So he discussed with the civilian court how to reward meritorious soldiers.
Promotion of position is a matter of course, everyone thinks so, but promotion of position can be considered after the entire war is over. It is also normal to promote position in one fell swoop after the war is over.
However, when the results are obtained in stages, periodic rewards to the army are also a good way to strengthen the subjective initiative of the army and improve the morale of the army, and it is also a matter of course in the eyes of the army.
When the Song Army was fighting, they would fire three times before the battle and then wait for rewards. Now that the Song Army has achieved such great results, if there are not enough rewards, the soldiers may feel unhappy and passively avoid them. There is no doubt that there will be a war.
Zhao Buxi could not watch such a situation happen in front of him, so he proposed to give adequate rewards to the soldiers.
But at this time, Jiang Fu, who was in charge of the Ministry of Household Affairs, told Zhao Buxi with an ugly look on his face that the imperial court might not be able to spend much money to reward the soldiers.
"How could it be? Didn't you say before that you could supply 50,000 troops with food and wages for five months? At the current rate of counterinsurgency, why five months is needed? Since five months are not needed, can't the remaining food and wages be used? ?”
Zhao Buxi was very dissatisfied and said angrily: "What do you, the Minister of Household Affairs, do for a living?"
Jiang Fu shook his head depressedly.
"Your Majesty, I said this before because the summer grain harvest will be harvested if the army fights until the summer. By then, if we collect taxes on the summer grain, we might be able to support it for two more months, but now we are really stretched thin and can't come up with the money. coming."
Zhao Buxi was silent for a moment and ordered the ministers to retreat, leaving only Jiang Fu alone.
"It's impossible for the imperial court to have no money at all, right?"
Zhao Buji looked at Jiang Fu angrily: "How did you become the Minister of Household Affairs? You don't think I would let someone else do it!"
"Your Majesty, there is indeed some money and food, but this is all reserved for the army to fight against the bandits."
Jiang Fu said bitterly: "Moreover, the original plan was to march in two directions, but now it has become a four-way march. Food and salary are being consumed faster than expected, and it is already difficult to support it until now.
If it can be delayed until summer, we can still use summer grain to deal with it, but if we reward the army now, the remaining money will be difficult to sustain until summer, unless we continue to increase taxes..."
"Is this still my fault? It was I who asked for the four-pronged invasion of troops! Do you mean to say that this is all my fault?"
Zhao Buxi became angry, pointed at Jiang Fu and scolded: "I asked you to be the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue to solve problems for me and the court, not to find problems. If you can't solve problems and only know how to find problems, then what do I want from you?" What use does the court want from you?!"
Jiang Fu was frightened and trembled in his heart. He quickly knelt down and said sadly: "I do my best to serve the court and your Majesty. I don't dare to be negligent or slack off for a day. I have been careful to maintain the situation. I have actually done my best." Work hard, your Majesty, please be careful!"
Zhao Buxi thought back to the past days and realized that although Jiang Fu passed the blame to him, he was indeed careful and trying to maintain the situation in major national affairs.
Regardless of personal ethics, the professional level is still there. The national finance is still faltering and not lying down. This must be said to be the credit of Jiang Fu.
So Zhao Buxi snorted coldly.
"Having said that, since you can solve the previous problem, why can't you solve the current problem? The Secretary of the Ministry of Finance exists to solve problems internationally. If you can't solve the problem, what use do I need from you?"
"It is difficult for a clever woman to make a meal without rice. I have tried my best, but there is really no more way."
Jiang Fu said with a bitter face: "The money in the treasury will not be changed for no reason. Your Majesty, please be careful. If it is just a reward to boost morale, forget it. The key is that many soldiers have received rewards, and the amounts of these rewards are relatively large. , and there are many soldiers who have made great achievements, the treasury really can’t come up with this money.”
Zhao Buxi felt depressed.
Lack of money, lack of money, lack of money, lack of money all the time. Ever since I became emperor, there has never been a moment when I was not short of money.
He suddenly felt that the emperor said that he was rich all over the world, and that everything in the world belonged to the emperor, but in actual practice, how could the emperor have any world?
There is also a shortage of money here and there, and everyone can complain to the beggars.
As a former financial worker, Zhao Buxi certainly knew that it was not easy to make money and that officials were corrupt, so he took advantage of Ma Yongkang's initiative to force a group of senior officials to resign their salaries as a means of easing finances.
But there are still too many places to spend money.
After thinking about it, Zhao Buxi felt that the army must reward him, and the treasury really had no money. In this case, there was only one last option left.
He asked all other officials to go back, leaving only Jiang Fu alone.
"Since there is no money in the treasury, let's open the Jiaozi and use the Jiaozi to deal with the army first. After dealing with it for a while, let's talk about other issues."
