Great Qing Dynasty talker

Chapter 161 I release two "loyal dogs" from the capital to Yangzhou
This sentence made many people on the city wall suppress their laughter.

When someone exposes a lie in public, he is not embarrassed at all and looks as normal as usual. This is the basic quality of an official in the Qing court.

Instruct his subordinates to continue shouting:

"Then what else do you want? Evacuate Yangzhou City quickly, otherwise none of you will be able to escape when the imperial army comes."

"We want a promise not to withhold wages and give us cooks a way to survive."

"I swear to God that I will do it."

As a result, Zaoding gathered outside the city and began to evacuate.

This surprised the Yangzhou officials and gentry on the city wall. Are the rebels so easy to talk to?Some people even began to wonder whether they should send troops out of the city to pursue him.

……

While they were having a heated discussion, suddenly there was a gunshot outside the city.

A 6-pound artillery shell streaked across the sky and hit the city wall.

Everyone was so frightened that they crouched down and slipped down the city wall.

"Fight, fight, fight back."

The city of Yangzhou was lively for two hours. The soldiers fired cannons, shot muskets, and fired arrows randomly for free.

In the distance, Li Dahu looked puzzled.

"Are they being emboldened?"

"About it."

"I have reason to suspect that they are deliberately consuming the court's assets."

A few days later, the 800-mile shipment sent by Yangzhou Prefecture to the Ministry of War was urgently sent, and indeed it was crazy that it contained private goods.

Defending the city and repelling the thieves consumed astronomical amounts of cannon, gunpowder, and scrapped guns.On the night of the assassination of the governor, the assassin's accomplices maliciously burned eight official warehouses, causing heavy losses.

All added up, 13 taels were evaporated.

At the same time, Jiangsu fellow Yu Minzhong received 1 taels, and He Shen received 1 taels.

If it's collected, it's a good sign.

As important ministers of the emperor and bosses of the Military Aircraft Department, they know the importance.

The impeachment papers that exposed You Bashi's crimes also flew to the capital like snowflakes.

Fukang'an wrote one and Zhu Gui co-signed it.

Yangzhou Tongzhi wrote a separate copy, and dozens of gentry in Fucheng jointly wrote a copy.

Qianlong was horrified when he saw it, and called out to his confidant, "Why did it become like this?"

They actually deceived the superiors and concealed the truth behind my back, and even engaged in personal scandals.

Even suspected of assassinating the governor?
Two bronze cannons, this is a lot of money. Ordinary Green Camp does not have good equipment. I don't believe it if there is no big shot behind this assassin.

"Investigate, send Yushi Qian Feng to Jiangsu to conduct a strict investigation."

"The servant is bold and suggests that Yu Shi Hu be sent down to act as the acting prefect of Yangzhou."

"Tell me why?"

"Hu Yushi has integrity and is good at guiding the atmosphere and educating the gentry and the common people. Yangzhou's extravagant atmosphere must be curbed."

"I'm sure, the Military Aircraft Department will prepare the order."

……

Qian Feng, the Metropolitan Procuratorate is well-known for being a prick.

In private, he was said to have a dog-like face and did not recognize anyone. No matter who he was, he would dare to join in.

In fact, Qianlong was quite displeased several times.

If he hadn't wanted to maintain the image of a wise king who "listens and understands", Qianlong would have exiled him to Ninggu Pagoda.

Such a minister is best sent to gnaw hard bones.

After Qian Feng received the order, he hurried out of Beijing that day.

The next day, the imperial guard of honor had no choice but to catch up in embarrassment.

Hu Yushi, the moment he walked out of the official department, he was so happy that he couldn't walk in a straight line.

Stand on the street and chant loudly:

"Set up your mind for the heaven and the earth, set up your life for the people, set up a legacy for the sages of the past, and create peace for all generations."

In the restaurant next to the street, several diners by the windows were in awe after hearing this.

Although this boy is ugly, he has great ambitions and should not be underestimated.

Unexpectedly, the sister in her arms burst into laughter.

The diner was displeased. He was also an imperial examination enthusiast and asked:

"Girl, you know how exquisite and magnificent Zhang Zai's four sentences are, and how many subtle words and great meanings are condensed."

"The Nu family doesn't think it's that complicated. I've eliminated the complexity and simplified it. I translated it into just four words."

"What?"

"I want to be an officer."

The diners were stunned for a long time and nodded silently.

"Girl, your family background is not simple. Your pearls are covered in dust, and you are underestimating your talent here. I need a concubine to settle accounts. She has 10 taels of silver per month, food and lodging included, long-term contract, not tired. The back house ranks this time My wife, I wonder if you are willing?"

"The servant is willing."

After hearing this, the restaurant owner couldn't help but sigh, knowledge changes destiny.

……

From being an official in the capital to becoming the governor of Jiangnan, this step can be described as difficult and difficult.

Hu Yushi didn't know why pie would fall from the sky. He was in a happy mood and wished he could fly to Yangzhou to take office now.

however,
His nightmare had just begun, as he had to walk a lot of joints before taking office.

After expressing gratitude in the Forbidden City, the Six Ministries visited and gave gifts.

Military Aircraft Department, Liubu Tangguan, Civil Affairs Bureau Minister, Langzhong, subordinate official~as well as the same year, colleagues, and fellow countrymen~
It won't work without one.

Hu Yushi's family was poor, and he had been in Qingshui Yamen for many years in Beijing, so the cost of food and accommodation was high, which led to famine.

Soon, he began to sweat on his forehead.

Without 6000 taels of silver, he could never pass the level!

And thousands of miles away,
In the Water Transport Governor's Mansion, Mr. Hu, who couldn't write two Chinese characters in a single stroke, had it much easier. He had no shortage of money, rich family background, and often had extra money.

Moreover, he has been in high spirits during happy events recently.

With unremitting efforts, the Hu clan in Huizhou finally accepted him.

A hundred years later, he could finally be buried in his ancestral grave.

In addition to his operation to destroy Qingfeng Village and restore peace to the mountains where the ancestral tombs are located, he also actively donated 2000 taels of silver to purchase righteous land for the clan.

In short, a stone fell from Master Hu's heart.

However, another stone was thrown at him.

"That boy Li Yu, do you want to be my bedfellow?"

Hu Ling'er said nothing. It was not her daughter's family's turn to make the final decision on this kind of matter, her parents had the final say.

Master Hu rarely hesitated for a long time, and finally couldn't help but ask:

"Ling'er, what do you think?"

"Dad, you shouldn't ask me this kind of thing."

Master Hu couldn't help but laugh. Yes, as the leader among Shaoxing masters, he actually lost his sense of proportion.

Making decisions in everything is nothing more than calculating gains and losses and probabilities.

If Li Yuruo wins, he will make a profit of [-] yuan or [-] yuan.

If you lose, your body and your clan will be destroyed.

As for integrity and loyalty, he didn't think about it. After all, he was not favored by the Qing court.

……

"As a father, I agree to this marriage and see you through as soon as possible. As for the dowry, I can still get it for thirty-five thousand taels."

"My daughter feels that she values ​​your wisdom more."

Master Hu was in a good mood and took a sip of Jiangsi Wenhuang wine:

"I'm not boasting about my father, but he's still a bit immature in terms of his understanding of the Qing Dynasty."

"When you get married and he encounters a problem, I will give you some advice, which will be the best aid to you."

"Thank you, Daddy."

There was trouble in Yangzhou Mansion in the south, and Zao Ding destroyed the Yangzhou camp.

Qingjiangpu is an important hub and cannot be missed.

The Grand Canal, the Huaihe River and the Yellow River meet here, making it a commercial center where ships from the south to the north are shipped.

Yesterday, Caodu, Nanhedu, and the Huai'an prefect met to discuss increasing troops and setting up resisting horses at important intersections.

At the same time, scouting horses were sent out in all directions. Once a thief appeared, the city gates would be closed.

Master Hu looked at the messy pacesetters and muttered:

"Could it be that my virtuous son-in-law did this strange thing?"

Hundreds of miles away, Li Yu sneezed.

He suspected that he was cursed, after all, the things he had done recently were one after another.

Li Dahu and Wang Liu took a large number of kitchen servants hostage, and they expected to arrive at Yizheng.

Once the Yizheng Canal is blocked, water and salt transportation will be temporarily suspended.Test the Qing court's response mechanism and organizational capabilities.

I just squatted and watched, watching the excitement.

One thorny matter after another, Fukang'an should be able to forget about troubling himself for the time being, right?

……

"Master, Fucheng is here."

"Who?"

"Your sworn brother, Fucheng, is waiting at Lijiabao now."

Li Yu was stunned for a moment, and then he felt something was wrong.

"Prepare the ship, I'll go see him."

It is impossible to receive outsiders on Xishan Island because there are too many secrets.

An hour later, Li Yu saw this sworn brother whom he had not seen for a long time.

"Brother, you miss me so much. Why are you here?"

"The imperial court appointed me as the supervisor of Xushuguan, so I didn't stop for a moment and rushed here as fast as possible."

Li Yu was stunned for a moment, then laughed:

"This is a good thing, Fei Que."

"During the time I left, I heard that many changes had occurred in Suzhou City."

"The world is turned upside down, but it doesn't matter. If we brothers join forces, no one in Suzhou City dares to trick us."

Fucheng laughed loudly, this was what he wanted to hear.

He has realized that this sworn brother is no longer a creature in the pool.

In the past, the white paper fan used to sell business is now a famous figure in Suzhou. It is black and white, and the white is black.

While eating the food, the two chatted about their views on Fukangan.

Fucheng said:
"This guy is very unpopular in the capital. No one likes to play with him. But the emperor likes him, so that's okay." "Whatever, come and join in. I'm doing water transportation."

"Hey, what a great deal."

"Do you still want to participate in the private salt business that we participated in before?"

"of course I remember."

"You Bashi is about to collapse, and I'm going to take advantage of the chaos to operate the private salt market in Su Songchangtai's fourth house. What do you think, take a share?"

"Have you taken care of the Yangzhou salt merchant?"

"more or less."

Li Yu smiled brightly, and Fucheng remembered a sentence: treat each other with admiration after three days apart.

This brother is like a dragon swimming in the shallows, swaying upwards when encountering water.

"Brother Li, I am a government official and have never been an official. You said that when I take office as the supervisor of Xushuguan, how can I make the first fire?"

"Liwei."

"How to stand up?"

"Kill a group of people, withdraw a group of people, confiscate a group of houses, and benefit the country, the people, and yourself. Only then can you replace your own team with your own team, and then you can firmly take the position of customs supervisor. Among them, in the Qing Dynasty, being an official is the easiest The essence of a profession is just two words: employing people.”

Fucheng took off his warm hat, pointed at the red tassel on it and said:
"No wonder, it's this color."

……

Yizheng County, Yangzhou Prefecture,

Adjacent to the Yangtze River, the location is strategic.

Guazhoudu was originally the intersection of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and the Yangtze River.As time goes by, the Yangtze River brings a large amount of sediment and accumulates here.

Gradually, Guazhou Ferry is no longer suitable for sailing.

To the west, the imperial court re-excavated the Yizheng Canal, also known as the Salt River.

If the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal is an artery, then the Yizheng Canal is the only capillary connecting it to the Yangtze River.

Li Dahu and Wang Liu led thousands of kitchen workers to the outside of Yizheng County.

The four gates of the county town were closed tightly and it was very tense.

"Are we going to attack the city?"

"With a mob and few heavy artillery, it is unrealistic to attack the city." Although Li Dahu is young, he is experienced.

This is because he witnessed countless artillery trainings on Xishan Island and understood the power and performance of artillery.

Small cities can be directly bombarded with 12-pound guns.

As long as there are multiple hits, the city gate will be destroyed.If the city gate is not blocked in advance, the city will be destroyed.

In a big city, it is useless to bombard the gates because there is still a urn inside.

And you may not even be able to find the right angle to bombard the city gate from the front!
We can only slowly blast the crenels, enemy towers, horse faces, and archery towers, killing and injuring the defenders along the way.

Once the city walls were flattened and the defenders had no place to hide, the firepower would naturally be weak.Our own side can use the human sea tactic and board the city first.

The above is common knowledge that all officers above the captain of Xishan Island know.

……

"Yizheng County, listen carefully. We are passing through your county and we don't want to cause any killings. If you are wise, prepare some food. Brothers are hungry and can't walk."

After a while, someone poked his head out from the city wall:
"You mean what you say?"

"We are smugglers of salt. This turtle bastard, You Bashi, ruined our jobs and went to Yangzhou Prefecture to find his bad luck."

"Oh, it turns out it's you guys from the Salt Gang, wait a minute."

After a while, some cooks and ingredients hung from the city wall.

The Yizheng gentry was afraid that their impatience would lead to a big conspiracy, so they sent down all the cooks and other people in the city's restaurants.

The trembling cooks began to cook under surveillance.

Li Dahu told them:
"It's done, let everyone take a bite first."

"Don't worry, heroes, don't dare."

In order to send away the god of plague, the gentry spent a lot of money, including good wine and delicious food, all of which they had never seen before.

The cooks didn't dare to think that a dish of "Wensi Tofu" could be made so exquisitely.A piece of tofu, cut into thousands of shreds, was swaying in the soup.

I didn't dare to move my chopsticks, so I just held it and drank.

……

And the fist-sized lion head makes people unable to stop eating.

The three sets of duck were so delicious that the duck bones were chewed up and swallowed.

After a hearty meal, everyone kept their promise and continued south.

"Brothers from the Salt Gang, walk slowly."

"Yizheng is kind-hearted. As long as you don't pursue him, we won't kill anyone."

"Don't worry, don't worry, but we will fire off guns later, so that we can explain to the superiors more easily."

"Understand."

After half an hour, I could only hear gunfire and loud gongs and drums behind me.

The magistrate of Yizheng County, holding up the scribe's sword, jumped on his feet and shouted, "Kill the thief!"
The soldiers responded loudly, shouting in unison to kill the thieves, and wildly fired arrows and cannons at a big willow tree outside the city.

The people in the city trembled and prayed for the power of the officers and soldiers to stop the thieves.

The battle was fierce and the sound of gunfire lasted for half an hour. Only then did the magistrate go back to write the book with satisfaction.

Defending the city and defeating a large number of thieves, this merit can be learned from the sun and the moon.

The gentry are all their own people, so naturally they will not mention the matter of giving food and drinks to thieves.

The cooks all received double wages and were warned many times, so naturally they kept silent.

……

Siltation is an unavoidable problem for shipping.

The Yizheng Canal is manually dredged every year.

Li Dahu gave the order, and everyone took over the dock, as well as some ships that were slow to respond.

"Brother Six, where are we going?" asked the cooks.

"There is no place for us in Jiangbei. Let's go to Jiangnan."

Some people actually regretted it and left the team quietly, returning home or hiding.

In the end, only more than 1000 people followed.

Wang Liu finally realized that most coolies did not have the courage to confront the government head-on.

"Kneel down and protest" is what they want in their hearts. Occasionally, when anger drives away reason, they will stand up and tear up.

In everyone's eyes, this is considered a rebellion.

"Brothers, I, Wang Liu, can't help you. I wanted to ask for wages, but that dog officer sent troops to kill me."

"Brother Six is ​​right, we are selling smuggled salt in the south of the Yangtze River. We killed the officers and soldiers because the salt transportation yamen cut off our livelihood." Li Dahu also followed suit.

"If you go to Jiangnan, will you have a way to survive?"

"We robbed several salt merchants along the way. If we have money to buy our way, the officials in Jiangnan will not pursue us."

After coaxing and deceiving, he finally stabilized the morale of the army.

However, before boarding the ship, one big thing needs to be done: completely destroy the Yizheng Canal! !
Although construction is difficult, destruction is easy.

But destroying such a long stretch of river is quite tricky and requires professional knowledge.

……

"Dig the embankments."

"The ship sank."

Everyone put forward suggestions, but none of them were ideal.

When Tan Muguang arrived, he laughed as soon as he heard it.

As a senior member of the Cao Gang, he knows very well how to destroy rivers.

"Do you know why these 10 miles of rivers are so winding?"

"Because the water level of the Yangtze River is always higher than the water level of the canal. It's better now in early spring. In summer, the height difference can even reach several meters. Once the sluice is opened, the river water pours back and the impact is extremely strong. If it is a straight river, the ship will capsize. Curved river , can reduce the water velocity.”

"There are three locks in the Yizheng Canal to control the water level. They are only opened at fixed times and are closed immediately after the fleet waiting in line has passed."

"To destroy this section of the canal, all you have to do is let the water rush in."

"But this is a major event that shocks the world. Is it the Lord's order?"

"Exactly."

"Then hurry up, I'll lead the way."

Since Tan Muguang has taken refuge in Li Yu, he no longer worries about the consequences of the water transportation blockage.

An expert can do damage a hundred times better than an outsider.

He ordered people to destroy the green stone embankment at the bend of the river. When the river water hits, the river bank will collapse in large pieces.

He then took a boat and completely destroyed the two sluices upstream. The Green Camp soldiers stationed there had long since escaped without a single blow.

Finally, we came to the sluice near the Yangtze River.

There are green battalion soldiers stationed here to strengthen the flood control, which is quite responsible.They held shields, swords, bows and arrows to defend themselves, but they were vulnerable to the Li Army's elite musketeers.

In just one stick of incense, the Li army, equipped with rifled rifles and Mini bullets, annihilated this enemy force.

Everyone opened the sluices and allowed their own ships to leave the canal and sail into the Yangtze River.

Then close the sluice, and after the ship has sailed far away, use the only two 2-pound cannons to directly bombard it.

A full 15 rounds were fired, and the lock was completely shattered.

Under the influence of gravity, water from the Yangtze River pours in crazily.

……

The riverbanks began to collapse everywhere.

The ships that were scuttled also became accomplices, driven by the current and running rampant.

Wang Liu suddenly thought of a question:
"Why bombardment? Isn't it the same if the floodgates are open and the water is released?"

"Is it easier to rebuild a floodgate? Or is it easier to close a floodgate?" Tan Muguang revealed the secret.

Everyone was speechless and sailed away silently.

The water from the river is pouring back, and the speed is not slow, but it is not as fast as the flood.

By the time the Yizheng magistrate knew about it, it was already too late.

A ten-mile radius of the river was flooded, but few people were drowned because the water level rose slowly.

Later, as the water level difference decreased, the water flow became slower and sediment began to accumulate and block.

Guazhou Ferry is also soaked in stagnant water, referring to the principle of the connector.

When the news reached Qingjiangpu, the Governor of Nanhe was stunned, and the Governor of Water Transport rushed over.

The damage to the Yizheng Canal would have far more serious consequences than the loss of several county towns.

This means that all water transportation in the provinces south of the Yangtze River has been suspended.

Not a grain of grain from Hubei, Jiangxi, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang can reach the capital.

It is equivalent to a severe lumbar disc herniation that compresses the nerves and temporarily makes it impossible to walk upright.

……

(End of this chapter)