Phi-Fic Chapter 852 Wail
Chapter 852 Wail
In reality, the time when the soldiers of the Beijing Garrison were truly able to enjoy this standard of food was only a few decades in the early years after the founding of the People's Republic of China!
As time went on, the food for the soldiers in the Beijing garrison deteriorated. Initially, they were given three meals of fine rations a day and only one meat meal every ten days.
Later, they only ate refined grains three times a day and no meat.
Later, it became three meals a day of porridge, barely enough to fill my stomach.
Three years ago, the food rations in the Beijing garrison had been reduced to two meals a day, and the vast majority of soldiers were not getting enough to eat.
The reason for this situation is that the generals in the Beijing garrison are greedy and embezzle soldiers' rations and pay, resulting in most soldiers going hungry!
Because the generals in the Beijing garrison often came from prominent families in the capital, the soldiers dared not speak out against their anger.
It was precisely because of the corruption and embezzlement of these Beijing garrison generals that Yang Zheng was able to defeat the Beijing garrison army so easily!
However, the crushing defeat of the Beijing garrison did not teach the officials and powerful families in the capital any lesson. The rebuilt Beijing garrison did not restore the previous food standards, and the generals remained extremely greedy!
During the reconstruction of the Beijing garrison, the soldiers who were conscripted still only had two meals a day, and they ate thin porridge, so thin that they could see their own reflections in the rice.
In addition, the weapons and armor issued to the soldiers were mostly old and dilapidated items that had been dug out of the warehouse.
Moreover, military commanders were embezzling salaries on a massive scale. The three major military camps in the capital, with a full quota of 60, actually only had 20 soldiers. A full two-thirds of the troops disappeared from the payroll...
In other words, although the Beijing garrison nominally had 600,000 troops, the actual number of soldiers was only 200,000!
The million-strong army that the imperial court sent to conquer Yuzhou was far more exaggerated than people imagined.
The million-strong army actually numbered only 60!
Of these, 500,000 were civilian laborers, and only 100,000 were regular soldiers drawn from the operations. Moreover, these 100,000 regular soldiers were soldiers who were usually underfed, had almost no training, and carried tattered weapons and wore tattered armor...
How can such an army fight a war?
After understanding these points, it is not difficult to understand why the imperial army was defeated!
The 100,000 soldiers were already outnumbered by the peasant coalition army in Yuzhou. These soldiers were often underfed and neglected in training. In addition, their pay was embezzled, so their fighting spirit was almost nonexistent.
It would be a miracle if this kind of army could even fight!
"Traitors are in power!"
Inside a teahouse in Haizhou.
A man dressed as a scholar slammed his hand on the table and roared, "At this critical moment of life and death, how dare the officials in the court act like this? It's outrageous!"
Teahouses were considered high-end establishments in the Xia Kingdom, so those who could afford to dine there were often wealthy scholars.
As soon as the man finished speaking, the other scholars in the teahouse chimed in in agreement!
"This court is so corrupt! It's truly unbelievable!"
"Those officials in the imperial court are all corrupt and incompetent! They are disgusting!"
"The capital garrison has 600,000 troops, but in reality, it only has 200,000 soldiers. It has been paying the salaries of 400,000 soldiers without actually serving them. How greedy are the officials in the court!"
"The officials in the court are so corrupt, yet the Emperor turns a blind eye and does nothing about it?"
"His Majesty? His Majesty is probably enjoying himself with his concubines in the deep palace! He has no time to care about such things!"
"..."
The teahouse was filled with righteous indignation towards the scholars of the imperial court, and they denounced the officials in the court.
Meanwhile, the rebels throughout Kyushu were overjoyed!
"Hahaha! The imperial court is so incompetent! I think this court is doomed sooner or later!"
"Hahaha! With the court so incompetent, isn't that perfect for our important mission?"
"Once I storm the capital, I will make sure that old emperor and all those powerful officials know of my wrath!"
"..."
The rebels were all in high spirits upon learning of the imperial court's crushing defeat.
To be fair, they had previously harbored fear of the imperial court.
After all, the Xia Dynasty had ruled the Nine Provinces for three hundred years. Even though it was rapidly declining, it was still a case of "a lean camel is bigger than a horse." Compared to the dynasty that had ruled this land for three hundred years, the peasant rebellion was inherently much weaker!
Just look at how the imperial court rebuilt the Beijing garrison. Even after suffering several major defeats and losing many soldiers and generals, the court was still able to come up with a huge amount of money and grain to rebuild the Beijing garrison. This is enough to show how deep the imperial court's resources were!
Therefore, most peasant rebels lacked confidence when facing the imperial court.
However, as news of the imperial court's latest defeat spread, the people's awe of the court vanished instantly!
The imperial court is indeed wealthy, but it is obvious that with corrupt officials in the capital manipulating things, the court cannot build a fighting army.
Moreover, after this major defeat, it's questionable whether the imperial court can even afford to build up an army.
Without an army, the imperial court would naturally find it difficult to suppress these rebellious peasant armies!
As a result, peasant armies in various places seemed to see hope in overthrowing this corrupt dynasty, and they fought even more fiercely, as if they had been injected with chicken blood!
Of course, what they need to face now is not the imperial army, but... opponents who are also peasant armies!
Although rebellions are rampant throughout the Nine Provinces, there is no force like the White Lotus Sect or the Yang Family Army that truly controls an entire province.
Most of the other states are in a state of chaos, with various rebel forces fighting and annexing each other, like raising a venomous insect. Only the strongest venomous insect can stand out and become the ruler of a state.
…………
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As time passed, news of the imperial court's crushing defeat spread further and further, plunging the Nine Provinces into turmoil. The fighting between rebel armies in various provinces intensified, making life increasingly difficult for ordinary people. Countless people lost their lives in the war, countless children were displaced, and countless women suffered brutal abuse as a result of the war...
In short, the land of Kyushu is now in chaos, with rebel forces from different provinces fighting each other endlessly, causing irreparable harm to the people living on this land.
"God, please give us a way to survive!"
"War is raging everywhere. Where can we escape to find a way to survive?"
"My loved ones are all dead, what's the point of my life!"
"Hahaha! When will this end? We just want to live a good life, why is it so hard!"
"..."
The cries of the people echoed throughout Kyushu. Having suffered greatly from the ravages of war, they desperately hoped that the war would end as soon as possible so that they could live in peace.
While the outside world was in chaos, Qingzhou and Liangzhou were unusually quiet, which puzzled many people.