Chapter 271 Demanding Compensation to Make Up for Losses

Only needing one look, Liu Rengui immediately understood why Gao Yuan had broken his usual pattern and not sent troops to drive Gao Hu out of Jiameng Pass in one go.

Continuing to fight would certainly drive Northern Liang and Western Kang out of Jiannan Circuit, but it would inevitably leave his own forces severely weakened. How would he be able to resist the Imperial Court's main army when it arrived?

Now, Gao Yuan was stopping while he was ahead. Besides preserving his strength, he also needed to keep the enemy alive to maintain his own importance.

Only when the Nanyue Army's deterrent power was sufficient, and Jiannan Circuit was seen as a "chicken rib" (something of little value but hard to discard), would certain people in the Imperial Court not have such a strong desire to reclaim Jiannan Circuit.

Liu Rengui pondered for a moment, but still voiced his concerns:

"My Lord, remaining in Jiannan Circuit is not a major issue, but This humble general still hopes that my Lord can provide strong support."

Gao Yuan nodded and laid out his plan:

"I intend to establish the Jiannan Corps, with you as the Governor, concurrently serving as the chief clerk, in charge of all military and political affairs in Jiannan Circuit. Wu Ban and Cao Xing will serve as your deputies. It will be organized into four divisions, with a total strength of 33,000 troops."

"I will transfer one brigade each from Diannan Circuit and Lingnan Circuit, and one division from Zhongnan Circuit to serve as your core foundation. Before that, the Central Corps' First Division will temporarily remain stationed in Jiannan Circuit."

"Thank you, my Lord!"

Having received Gao Yuan's support, Liu Rengui left and immediately began the work of building his team.

The next day, Gao Yuan issued the order, transferring the former Beiwei Army Second Division Commander Xue Linfeng to serve as the Governor of the Bagan Corps, and transferred Mu Shun to replace Wu Ban as the Deputy Governor of Diannan Circuit.

At the same time, he announced the establishment of the Jiannan Corps, with Liu Rengui as Governor and chief clerk of Jiannan Circuit, and Wu Ban and Cao Xing as deputies. The corps would be organized into four divisions, with a total strength of 33,000 troops.

The order was subsequently issued to the four borders. In addition to transferring two brigades each from Diannan and Lingnan, and one division from Zhongnan Circuit, over a hundred young officers were also drawn from various locations.

At the same time, Gao Yuan also used Wang Mian's hand to report his bill to The Emperor, Zhao Ji, who was far away in the Capital City.

Seeing Gao Yuan's bill, The Emperor nearly vomited three liters of blood on the spot.

Xiao Yu and Cui You and others were terrified, but when they saw the memorial, they also nearly vomited blood.

In Gao Yuan's memorial, besides the standard formalities and buttering up The Emperor by saying that winning the battle was due to The Emperor's protection, the rest was nothing but complaints about how difficult it was to win this battle and how great the losses were.

The memorial also stated that he hoped the Imperial Court could provide compensation for the consumption incurred in helping the Imperial Court pacify Jiannan Circuit, otherwise the border would easily become unstable. The specific amounts were as follows:

30,000 soldiers, preferably with their families sent over to guard the border, 20,000 sets of iron armor, 5,000 warhorses, 10,000 powerful bows, 500,000 arrows, 1,000,000 shi of grain and fodder, and 500,000 guan of money.

There were other demands such as plow oxen and beautiful women. Xiao Yu and Cui You dared not read any further, fearing that they would be unable to catch their breath and end up bleeding on the spot.

What left them most speechless was that for such a huge price, what they got in return was not the entire Jiannan Circuit, but only half of it. Long Prefecture and Wen Prefecture were in the hands of Northern Liang, while Song Prefecture and Yaizhou were in the hands of Western Kang.

These two forces had suffered such a big loss, they would certainly want to take them back. How many troops would have to be sent in to fill that void?

The Emperor calmed down after a while, then looked at the trusted ministers standing in the study:

"You tell me, what should we do next?"

Minister of Personnel Li Sheng stepped out and said:

"Your Majesty, I believe that Gao Yuan is just asking for an exorbitant price. Moreover, how can one demand payment for sending troops for the Imperial Court? Your Majesty should issue an imperial decree to rebuke Gao Yuan and order him to withdraw his troops."

Everyone looked at Li Sheng as if he were an idiot. Finally, Cui You could not stand it anymore and retorted:

"What if Gao Yuan directly moves all the people, grain, and supplies out of Jiannan Circuit? What use would the Imperial Court have for an empty Jiannan Circuit?"

"Exactly. Furthermore, there are two jackals eyeing Jiannan Circuit at this moment. How many troops do you think the Imperial Court should send to garrison it?"

Previously, the tens of thousands of troops of the Left Martial Guard and Right Valiant Guard had been completely wiped out. According to their estimates, without 100,000 or 80,000 troops, it would be impossible to hold Jiannan Circuit.

To fight, to restore the vitality of Jiannan Circuit, it would cost money, and a lot of it. Given the situation of the Great Qian Imperial Court, it could not afford such sustained consumption.

Xiao Yu thought for a long time and proposed a plan:

"Your Majesty, I think it would be better to follow the example of Jia Prefecture and prefecture, and let Gao Yuan collect taxes from Jiannan Circuit himself to make up for the losses. At the same time, the Imperial Court can require him to hand over enough money and grain every year."

As soon as he finished speaking, Cui You immediately echoed:

"Chancellor Xiao's plan is excellent. This way, not only can we use the Nanyue troops to block Northern Liang and Western Kang, but the taxes we receive will not be small either. This is a plan that kills two birds with one stone."

Since Xiao Yu and Cui You had taken the lead, others naturally would not object, and they all echoed in agreement.

The Emperor felt so aggrieved. He knew this was equivalent to handing over Jiannan Circuit to Gao Yuan on a silver platter, but he could not bear to part with the money and grain to exchange for an empty Jiannan Circuit.

After thinking about it, he finally compromised with reality:

"Since that is the case, then let it be as Chancellor Xiao proposed. However, we must keep Yuzhou in our hands; otherwise, if Gao Yuan refuses to return it later, we will have no way to deal with him."

"Understood!"

Although he was addicted to enjoyment, The Emperor still had some ambitions; he still hoped that one day he would be able to recover and reclaim Jiannan Circuit.

It was just that he ultimately underestimated the greed of Xiao Yu, Cui You, and the others.

Gao Yuan bought all the farmland, servants, and maids of the major Powerful Families families in Jiannan Circuit at a high price, and promised to give them an extra 10% of tax revenue every year, which directly made these families give up the idea of keeping troops in Yuzhou.

In name, Yuzhou was not under Gao Yuan's jurisdiction, but the Imperial Court did not station troops there, and Gao Yuan sent troops to occupy Baidi City, which effectively meant he controlled Yuzhou in reality.

As for those losses, Gao Yuan naturally had ways to make up for them.

The Left Martial Guard and Right Valiant Guard, plus the captives of the Jiannan Army, were exchanged by Gao Yuan using the captives of the Northern Liang Army and Gao Bing.

For these soldiers, being able to escape the devil's clutches naturally made them grateful. Upon hearing that Gao Yuan would send people to pick up their families, one by one they tearfully swore to be loyal to Nanyue Kingdom, to Zhao Xiyao, and to Gao Yuan.

As for the pitiful Wang Mian, Gao Yuan did not make things difficult for him and ceremoniously sent him out of the territory.

After this battle, Gao Yuan not only did not bring back any profit, but also needed to borrow money from the bank to clean up the mess.

Looking at the loan application for 700,000 guan in front of her, Yang Xin nearly fainted. She stood with her hands on her hips, glaring angrily at Gao Yuan:

"Gao Yuan, explain this to me. Didn't you say that when the cannons roar, gold is worth ten thousand? How come you didn't bring back a single cent from this battle, and on top of that, you need to take out such a large loan?"

Gao Yuan apologized with a smile, gently stroking the woman's soft chest:

"Calm down, calm down. Didn't I spend money to buy the legal rights to Jiannan Circuit? It's all an investment, it's all an investment. We will earn it back in the future."

"Earn it back? I heard that you promised an extra 10% of tax revenue every year. Can this be earned back?"

"Haha, an extra 10%? That's not even enough to fill the gaps between my teeth."

Speaking of this, Gao Yuan was still very confident:

"Don't forget, we have improved seeds. With the fertility of the Sichuan region, can the annual tax revenue be low?"

"Hehe, I hope our great General Gao won't end up losing money and being unable to repay the loan, and end up being declared bankrupt and liquidated by me."

"Can't you wish me some good luck?"

"No."

"This is impossible to talk about. Alright, alright, it's time to get off work. Let's go home."

As soon as he returned to Panyu, Gao Yuan went to the bank before even having a chance to go home. He was incredibly looking forward to seeing his newborn son and daughter.