Chapter 451 Shangguan Hongyuan’s dilemma!

After thinking for a while, Ye Mingsheng slowly asked:
"Huo San, how much value do you think you can get from Gu Shouting?"

In response to Ye Mingsheng's question, Huo Sanxian said very cautiously:

“Your Excellency, although Gu Shouting has been dismissed from the Yan army by Zhao Fuqu, and his former subordinates have also been dismissed, according to our investigation, these people are still very loyal to Gu Shouting.

Among them is Sun Xingcheng, the commander under Shen Zhuo of Jizhou. He was one of Gu Shouting’s old subordinates. He has always been in secret contact with Gu Shouting. We suspect that the Jizhou defense map in Gu Shouting’s hand was obtained from Sun Xingcheng..."

"There are several people in the Yan army who are in the same situation as Sun Xingcheng and Gu Shouting. In addition, although the Gu family that Gu Shouting belongs to has lived in Yuyang for generations, they are also very influential in the entire Youyan area. The Gu family has in-laws with many powerful people in Youyan. This is why Zhao Fuqu later released Gu Shouting from prison."

"Of course, during the conversation with me, Gu Shouting denied that he represented the Gu family and only admitted that he represented himself. However, according to our investigation, Gu Shouting was quite favored by his father, Gu Zhongshi, the head of the Gu family. Even though Gu Shouting's future in Youyan was ruined, Gu Zhongshi still intended to let Gu Shouting take over the position of head of the family. Therefore, Gu Shouting can still leverage the Gu family!"

“In summary, I believe that Gu Shouting still has considerable value and can be used by our army. However, if we use Gu Shouting, we must keep him under surveillance and not give him any chance to take advantage of us…”

Ye Mingsheng had a rough idea of ​​what Huo San meant by this, and immediately ordered:

"There are still two months before entering the customs. There is still time, so don't rush. Don't contact Gu Shouting for now, and then keep an eye on him secretly to see if he has any contact with the Supervisory Department!"

"Yes! I humbly obey my orders!"

Huo San received the order in a deep voice:
·······················
·······················
Luoan, Shangguan Mansion.

"Reporting to the Prime Minister, General Liu Buyi stationed in Chencang has repelled 30,000 Xiliang troops!" Chu Yuanshan, the Minister of War of the Luoan court, bowed and reported to the Prime Minister Shangguan Hongyuan in front of him:

Before, because the young emperor was still alive, Shangguan Hongyuan, as the prime minister, although he held great power and monopolized the government, but in order to avoid being caught, he still insisted on handling government affairs and discussing government affairs with other ministers in the Wenhua Pavilion in the imperial city.

However, the young emperor Jiang Rui had been abducted by Lin Shize to Sichuan, and the two sides were at war. Shangguan Hongyuan naturally didn't bother to pretend, and didn't go to Wenhua Pavilion. He directly summoned ministers to deal with military and political affairs in his own mansion...

Shangguan Hongyuan smiled immediately upon hearing Chu Yuanshan's words. All he had heard recently were bad news. Either Zhao Fuqu was about to reach Jinyang, or Feng Han had sent another letter asking for help, or Li Chengen was struggling in Sichuan and Shu, and had lost many soldiers in the difficult and dangerous terrain, which made him extremely anxious.

Now Liu Buyi finally brought him some good news, repelling the Xiliang army. This way, the pressure he faced would be somewhat relieved!
As soon as Shangguan Hongyuan smiled, Chu Yuanshan said cautiously:
"General Liu Buyi, in addition to delivering the victory report of repelling the Xiliang army, he also wrote a personal letter to you, sir!"

"It is said that the soldiers on the front line have been owed wages for more than half a year. If they are not paid, I am afraid that the morale of the soldiers on the front line will be unstable and the army will change its mind!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the smile that had just appeared on Shangguan Hongyuan’s face disappeared instantly...

Although Shangguan Hongyuan actually only controlled Yunbing, Guanzhong, Hanzhong, Sichuan and other regions before, he was able to support an elite army of 200,000 imperial guards. The reason was all because of the two magic weapons in his hands. One magic weapon was that the young emperor held the emperor hostage to make the princes have a righteous cause, and the second magic weapon was the powerful combat effectiveness of the imperial guards, which no princes in the world could match.

It was with the help of these two magic weapons that Shangguan Hongyuan was able to raise taxes from wealthy areas such as Jiangnan, Huainan, and Central Plains to support the army. However, Lin Shize's counterattack now can be said to have dealt Shangguan Hongyuan a severe blow that penetrated his bones!
Lin Shize took the little emperor away, turning Shangguan Hongyuan's advantage in righteousness into a disadvantage. He went from being the prime minister of the Great Zhou who intimidated the world to a treacherous villain who disrupted the government and plotted evil. In addition, Lin Shize also took away tens of thousands of imperial guards, and occupied Sichuan, an important financial pillar of Shangguan Hongyuan...

Under Lin Shize's multi-faceted attack, Shangguan Hongyuan, who had lost his advantage of righteousness and whose military advantage was also severely damaged, could no longer collect taxes from other places. Without the support of these taxes, the more than 200,000 arrogant soldiers under Shangguan Hongyuan's command suddenly became a huge time bomb!

Shangguan Hongyuan had thought about downsizing the army and establishing farming to reduce his own financial pressure, taking a relatively safe approach. However, he could not let go of his ambition and always wanted to use the army in his hands to give it a try. As long as he captured Sichuan and killed Lin Shize first, and then snatched the little emperor back, he would be all set, and his prestige and power might even reach a new level and reach the pinnacle.

Secondly, although Shangguan Hongyuan enjoys extremely high prestige in his own forces and his words are law, disarmament is undoubtedly a matter that is very easy to offend people in a military group like his. Everyone will laugh when you share the benefits, but if you want everyone to give up the benefits, that would be a very difficult thing to do.

Moreover, now is a critical moment for our survival. We need to unite as one to overcome the difficulties, and disarmament will undoubtedly destroy internal unity...

In the end, Lin Shize, the old fox, did not give him any chance at all. He took advantage of the financial difficulties of the Luoan court and directly joined forces with Zhao Fuqu and King Qin. The three parties sent troops to jointly contain Shangguan Hongyuan and did not give Shangguan Hongyuan any chance to solve internal problems.

Shangguan Hongyuan had no choice but to be forced to fight, and eventually he was in the current dilemma. In order to ease the financial pressure, Shangguan Hongyuan has increased the tax revenue in Guanzhong and Hanzhong, the two old places he has run for many years and won the support and support of the people. Ten years later, the people are resentful!
Even though Shangguan Hongyuan paid such a huge price, 200,000 imperial guards were too many. Relying on the people's wealth plundered from Guanzhong and Hanzhong, it was simply not enough to support so many people. Therefore, Shangguan Hongyuan could only judge the situation and choose to give priority to Li Chengen's troops who were attacking Sichuan, hoping that they would be grateful and take over Sichuan as soon as possible to change their current predicament.

As for the other troops except Li Chengen's, they have been owed at least three months' salary, and some like Liu Buyi have been owed for half a year...

The current Luoan court can continue to exist, largely due to Shangguan Hongyuan's personal prestige accumulated over decades. However, if this situation of expenditure exceeding income continues, no one knows how long Shangguan Hongyuan's prestige can be maintained!

Facing Chu Yuanshan's inquiring gaze, Shangguan Hongyuan just said indifferently:

"I know about this."

Feeling Shangguan Hongyuan's attitude, Chu Yuanshan was complaining in his heart. Liu Buyi's letters came every few days, and each one was more severe than the last. Now he was just about to put a knife on the neck of the Minister of War to ask for money, but his Ministry of War didn't have even a tael of silver. According to the previous rules, the Ministry of Revenue would give the Ministry of War a sum of money every year as the annual expenses, but now, not to mention the Ministry of War, even the Ministry of Revenue has no money. Now the finances of the Luoan court are personally controlled by Shangguan Hongyuan!

Although he was a little worried about offending Shangguan Hongyuan, Chu Yuanshan was more worried that those poor soldiers would set his house on fire, so after hesitating for a while, he still carefully advised Shangguan Hongyuan:

"Master Prime Minister, could you please give me a little more money? If you don't, I'm afraid something will happen below..."

Shangguan Hongyuan, who was already upset because of the money issue, couldn't help but frown when he heard Chu Yuanshan's words and instructed Chu Yuanshan:

"I know what's going on with this matter, you don't have to worry about it anymore!"

Although he wanted to persuade Shangguan Hongyuan again, but hearing Shangguan Hongyuan's unfriendly tone, Chu Yuanshan wisely closed his mouth, bowed and retreated.

After Chu Yuanshan left, Shangguan Hongyuan sighed slightly. He had been leading troops in battles for so many years, and he knew the situation on Liu Buyi's side more or less without Chu Yuanshan telling him. But the problem was that there was only so much money now!

Shangguan Hongyuan still has more than 200,000 taels of silver in his hand. Although this amount of silver seems to be a lot, it cannot last for long with the current progress of Sichuan and Shu. If these 200,000 taels of silver are gone, he will really have no silver in his hands, and it will be impossible to collect taxes from the people. The taxes have been collected for ten years. If more taxes are collected, the people in Guanzhong and Hanzhong will rise up in uprising...
Thinking of this, Shangguan Hongyuan made a decision in his heart. A ruthless look appeared in his eyes, and he ordered the guards on both sides:

"Find Chen Jingyu for me!"

"Yes!"

A stick of incense later, the commander of the Supervisory Office, Shangguan Hongyuan's number one henchman, appeared in front of Shangguan Hongyuan.

Chen Jingyu came over and was about to greet him, but Shangguan Hongyuan asked:

"How are the sales of Tongfu Trading Company's bonds going?"

Hearing Shangguan Hongyuan's question, Chen Jingyu hesitated for a moment and shook her head and said:
"It's not selling very well. We have raised more than 70,000 taels of silver so far!"

"Snapped!"

Shangguan Hongyuan, who was furious at what he said, slammed the table hard and said with a smile:
"Very good, very good! I treat you so well on weekdays, but now that we are in a critical situation, these bastards are only willing to use 70,000 taels of silver to fool me?"

Faced with his own financial problems, Shangguan Hongyuan thought of many countermeasures to solve or alleviate this problem. When he learned that Ye Mingsheng had raised one million taels of silver from all walks of life in Liaoyang by selling bonds, Shangguan Hongyuan, who was in trouble, was a little reluctant to borrow money for the sake of face, but it must be said that as a qualified hero, Shangguan Hongyuan is naturally adaptable!

Faced with the financial crisis, he quickly copied Ye Mingsheng's method of issuing bonds and raising money, and regarded it as an important means to solve the current financial difficulties...

In Shangguan Hongyuan's opinion, Ye Mingsheng, a small scoundrel who had just won a few battles, could raise one million taels of silver by selling bonds in a place as poor as Liaoyang. For him, the prime minister who had been feared by the world for decades, it would be easy for him to raise money by selling bonds in Guanzhong and Hanzhong, the central centers of the country, and make several million taels of silver, right?
However, the reality now has dealt a severe blow to Shangguan Hongyuan. Compared with Ye Mingsheng's soft and hard approach on bonds, Shangguan Hongyuan seems too idealistic. He just thinks that as soon as he shows up, others will definitely buy it. However, the reality is so cruel.

Seeing Shangguan Hongyuan so angry, Chen Jingyu continued to introduce:
“During this period, people from Tongfu Company have searched all the officials from various ministries. Although everyone donated some, most of them only donated twenty or thirty taels. Only the ministers and vice ministers of various ministries bought the most. Among them, the Minister of Personnel Cao Shanchang bought the most, but he only bought one thousand taels of silver…”

"Hmph! Twenty or thirty taels of silver? Are they paying beggars?"

"Since you refuse to accept my toast and insist on drinking the penalty wine, don't blame me for being ruthless and merciless!"

Shangguan Hongyuan asked Chen Jingyu in a deep voice:
"How's the investigation I asked you to do?"

Although Shangguan Hongyuan did not say anything specific, Chen Jingyu immediately realized what Shangguan Hongyuan was asking. She hesitated for a moment, nodded, and said:
"Basically everything has been investigated!"

Upon hearing this result, Shangguan Hongyuan waved his hand and ordered:

"Then there is no need to hesitate, let's do it now!"

Chen Jingyu nodded subconsciously, and after he finished speaking, he hesitated for a moment and then carefully suggested:
“Sir, these people are the pillars of our Luoan court. Should we think twice about this…”

Shangguan Hongyuan snorted coldly upon hearing this and said in a deep voice:
"What is there to think twice about? As long as I am here, the world in Luoan will not change! Just do it with confidence. I could have turned a blind eye to it before, but now that it has come to this, since you are not on the same page with me, why should I keep you around?"

(End of this chapter)