Great Qing Dynasty talker

Chapter 183 Entering Beijing!

Li Yu has been very busy recently, visiting many officials intensively.

The first one is naturally the Chief Envoy of Jiangsu, Zhu Gui!

Mr. Zhu did not express his position. Years of experience in the ups and downs of officialdom have made him develop the habit of caution.

If you openly try to force the two Zhejiang salt transport envoys into a corner, they will definitely cause big trouble.

He originally wanted to persuade Li Yu not to be so radical. Even if he was successful for a while, he would definitely be unlucky in the future.

However, after hearing about the scale of the distribution and the amount of tax money promised, he sighed and said nothing more.

Ending the conversation with a cup of tea.

He thought about it for a long time and felt that it was necessary to re-examine this young man and put a big question mark on it.

"It is said that Hu Zhihuang, a guerrilla from the city guard camp, has a close relationship with Li Yu?"

"Back to the feudal lord. Rumor has it that they were once blood-blooded brothers with different surnames, but later they had a big fight over the guarantee of the war horse and broke up."

"true and false?"

"I'll go and inquire again."

Zhu Gui nodded and waved his servant away.

……

However, doubts are doubts.

You can't refuse the money that comes to your door. Mr. Zhu is an upright official and he doesn't bother to share the profits.The 8 taels of Taihu ship tax and salt tax paid by Li Yu were sent directly to the capital.

As the chief envoy of a province, this is his duty.

Fukang'an died and the governor was vacant, so he was the de facto official of the frontier.

After pondering for a long time, he suddenly remembered Huang Wenyun's face again.

Couldn't help muttering:

"Isn't this Li Yu the front-runner for Huang Wenyun?"

People in officialdom can easily have this association.

"Come on."

"What are your orders, Master Fantai?"

"Who is responsible for Suzhou's city defense now?"

"Hu Zhihuang, the guerrilla general of the city guard camp."

"Invite him to see me and tell him it's a matter of military pay."

"As ordered."

Hu Zhihuang made mental preparations on the road to remain unchanged in the face of ever-changing situations.

You can test and dig holes as you like, but I, the Green Camp, are uneducated and can only kowtow and obey orders.

As soon as he entered Fansi Yamen, he knelt down on one knee:
"I will pay my respects to Mr. Zhu."

"General Hu, please get up, sit down, and serve tea."

Hu Zhihuang, who looked flattered, sat down on the stool a little, nodded and bowed.

It was definitely a favor for the chief envoy to give Green Camp Guerrilla a seat.

This means that Zhu Gui is more easy-going. If it were someone else, it would be nice not to let him kneel down to talk the whole time.

The nobles and the military are cheap, and the green camp is even cheaper.

Not to mention a mere guerrilla, even a general is still an idiot.

At least you have the right to speak when you reach the position of Commander-in-Chief.

……

"Hu guerrillas are well trained, diligent and loyal, and have been aggrieved by being a guerrilla for a long time." Zhu Gui said while paying attention to his reaction.

And continued:
"I am going to recommend you to the imperial court for an exceptional promotion to be a deputy general."

Hu Zhihuang knelt down and thanked him happily.

But I heard one sentence:
"I would like to transfer you to Jiangnan to serve as the commander-in-chief of the Chinese Army. What do you think?"

"As ordered."

Zhu Gui was stunned. He didn't expect this guy to agree so readily. He didn't even think about it, right?
"Ahem, Hu Youyi didn't hear clearly. Jiangnan has been rebuilt according to the bid, and I am going to transfer you to be a deputy general. This city garrison will appoint someone else to take charge. You are not allowed to take away a single soldier."

"Your Majesty, I heard you clearly. Thank you Master Zhu for the promotion."

The expression on his face is very accurate, the kind of ecstasy of being promoted and making a fortune.

"Okay, okay, wait until the official order from the Ministry of War arrives before you leave. Go down."

Hu Zhihuang left the Yamen happily, and even the gatekeeper guessed that something good had happened to him.

Zhu Gui said nothing, writing excerpts while writing.

He was really prepared to change the city garrison to a new general.

He also knew something about the relationship between Hu Zhihuang and Li Yu.

Now that Jiangnan is experiencing troubles, he has to make more preparations. This is also due to the influence of Qianlong, who has been exposed to the "containment" thing.

I was just halfway through writing the book when the door was suddenly pushed open.

Zhu Gui was about to get angry when his hand shook and ink dots fell on the paper.

I could only hear the subordinate officer who broke into the door and said happily:

"Great joy, the Jiangbei Canal is dredged."

"really?"

"Imperial envoy Qian sent people to report on flying horses that water transportation has been restored. He ordered all provinces to transport grain without delay and to start shipping as soon as possible."

……

Zhu Gui quickly took the bamboo tube and took out the lacquered letter inside.

After taking it apart, it turned out to be true.

Qian Feng was probably too excited, and his handwriting was a little sloppy.

"Haha, okay, God bless the Qing Dynasty. Quickly inform all yamen and the canal gangs. The first batch of canal ships will set sail tomorrow morning. There will be no delay. Anyone who disobeys the order will be killed."

"Yes."

"Let all the officials from the prefecture's Yamen be dispatched to sound the gongs along the street to tell the people the news and calm the people's hearts."

"Yes."

After Zhu Gui finished arranging all this, he sat back on the chair.

Looking at the ink spots on the folded book, I couldn't help but shake my head. I wanted to change a piece of paper so that I could think about it and fix it.

So I put pen to paper on the ink dots, which happened to become part of the characters.

Qian Feng’s letter also mentioned the reconstruction of Jiangnan Green Camp.

Admiral, we need someone from the imperial court.But if you raise the bid, you can build it first.

With the 2000 dare-to-fight green battalions he mobilized from Jiangbei as the backbone, he recruited another 2000 young people, and it took shape in a few months.

That night, Li Yu also found out.

I was in a daze for a moment, it was so sudden.

If Lao Hu went to Jiangnan to raise a bid and stationed in Songjiang, would he be happy or sad?

The water transportation machine is starting again. Should you just watch or continue to cause trouble?
Will the court put the matter of shipping grain on hold or continue it?

2000 Jiangbei Lvying crosses the river. Should we continue fighting?If he hits again, he will surface.

There are too many variables, and one uncertain thing happens one after another.

……

Rebellion is a complex, dangerous, precise and systematic project that affects the whole body. It is most afraid of variables and can easily lose control.

You are like a house decorator.

While continuing to renovate wildly, dig out the basement and create three bedrooms and one living room.

Turn on three speakers!

If cracks are found in the wall, they are quickly plastered and filled up.

Occasionally, neighbors came to protest, so they were dragged in and filled with cement piles.

The house was crumbling, and there were occasional huge cracks in the walls. It couldn't be covered up, so I hung a painting just to keep out the light.

Until one day, the wall suddenly collapsed.

The woman next door was stunned, looked at her, screamed "Someone is coming", and went to call someone.

He could only smile honestly and walk over.

A hammer~
Then open the wardrobe and display various weapons.

Call the brothers: "Crooked, you're exposed. Come here. Remember to wear a helmet on the road."

……

Xishan Island Combat Conference Room
Everyone brainstormed and discussed how to respond next.

Fan Jing was a little excited, so he suggested that he just take advantage of the situation and do the opposite.

"Lord, it's easy to capture Suzhou City, and Songjiang Mansion won't be too difficult either."

"My subordinates are expected to have their first battle with the main force of the Qing army from Jiangning Prefecture on the ground in Changzhou Prefecture. We have a great chance of winning."

"However, there is something that must be done before this!"

"What's the matter?"

"The Eight Banners at Jingkou should have arrived in Jinshan County. I am afraid that the two sides have already exchanged fire. We must eat these more than 1000 cavalry, otherwise they will be a big trouble for us if they escape."

Li Ergou also nodded:

"The cavalry can run very fast. If they cheat and don't fight head-on, we won't be able to kill them."

Fan Jing added:

"If we encounter someone with an insidious style who is good at running around and refuses to fight or leave, he can turn our rear area upside down and make people panic."

Hu Zhihuang also came. As a professional, he also said:

"We are not afraid of attacking the cavalry head-on. The worst we can do is exchange our money and waste our energy. But we must keep them out of our territory and not let them in."

Everyone suddenly thought of one thing: Jiangnan Defense Line!
The Lord is indeed no mortal, and this line of defense must be repaired.

Li Yu found another piece of rice paper and drew a temporary diagram.

"Everyone, please see, to the north is the Yangtze River, which can be used as a natural barrier. The premise is that Liu Wu and your navy must be strong enough to defeat the Qing navy and gain control of the river."

"To the west, we need to push the front to the east of Anhui and capture Jiangning Mansion and Xuancheng. Only then can we block the Qing army."

"To the south, we need to capture Hangzhou and guard two or three mountain passes on the periphery of the Hangjiahu Plain to block the Qing army from southern Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Anhui and other provinces from advancing straight in."

"In this way, the hinterland of Jiangnan is safe and can be basically protected from war. Only industry, agriculture, and mining can provide continuous support."

……

On the drawing, Li Yu drew the mountains in shadow.

Jiangsu's terrain is the most single, the Great Plains.

The northeastern part of Zhejiang is the Hangjiahu Plain, and the rest is mountainous and hilly.

Anhui is complicated. Northern Anhui is a plain, western Anhui and southern Anhui are steep mountains, and the areas along the Yangtze River and the Huaihe River are also plains.Everyone looked at the map and pondered in silence.

Li Yu spoke:

"Everyone, if you want the base area to be safe, you must attack instead of defend. Before the Qing court completes its preparations, advance the northern, western, and southern fronts to the positions I mentioned."

"I expect this window period to be at most one month."

"Three local battles were carried out at the same time, and they were all won. Everyone, are you confident?"

Everyone did not dare to answer, and they were all fiercely calculating whether the troops were sufficient.

Li Yu smiled:

"Too risky, right?"

"Yes. As long as there is a battlefield failure, we will not be able to plug the loopholes. Moreover, the troops distributed on the three fronts will not have time to support." Fan Jing also realized the uncertainty in this.

Li Yu pointed at the map with a pencil:

"I've actually deduced it countless times, but I can't make up my mind. Maybe I'm not good at being a gambler?"

Hu Ling'er smiled. This man's style of doing things was unpredictable.

Sometimes it's scheming, sometimes it's a card push.

Don't assume that he is a cautious person and you don't dare to take risks.

His favorite way is to fight within the rules and then suddenly break through them.

Endless routines, unpredictable people's hearts.

"Fan Jing, where is the progress of your Jiangnan defense line design?"

"Not even half of it."

"Liu Qian has gone to Hubei. You are temporarily responsible for this. First, take out the design drawings of the inner circle defense line."

"Subordinates obey."

……

This job is difficult because it requires on-site inspections.

The maps of the Qing court were for reference only. They were too abstract and too extensive. It can even be said that the errors reached an unacceptable level.

Li Yu's comments can only refer to the names of places and mountains and rivers, and the rest cannot be trusted.

It's even more unreliable than what the Zhuan family said.

Fan Jing excused his wife's illness and did not go to the Yamen for half a month. In the name of paying a lot of money to visit famous doctors, he wandered around Changzhou in the west and Songjiang in the south.

Everywhere he goes, he first spends money to find local elderly people, and then conducts on-site visits and draws maps.

According to Li Yu's requirements, one grid is approximately 5 miles.

Although it is said that these five miles are only based on human perception, it is not accurate.

But conscious science is better than unconscious romance.

Especially the width and depth of the river must be found out from the mouths of the elderly nearby.

If it is too outrageous, it needs to be verified on the spot.

Take a boat and hang down to the bottom of the river with an iron wire.

In fact, in addition to Fan Jing's group, there are also people from the Caobang group.

Li Yu ordered Tan Muguang to explore the inland water system from Taihu Lake to the Huangpu River, and from Taihu Lake to the East China Sea (Jinshanwei Pier).

Based on the standard that a thousand-material flat-bottomed boat can be navigable,
All river sections whose width and depth do not meet the standards are marked.

He will send people to dredge and widen it as soon as possible in the name of water transportation.

It is very important to open up the land, sea and water transportation circulation and realize the rapid mobilization of troops.

To fight in the south of the Yangtze River, we must make good use of water transportation logistics support and warship fire support.

This is called: home field advantage!
……

Dongshan regiment training, strong expansion of 500 troops.

All are men who farm, and they receive food and accommodation, and a monthly salary of 1 tael and 5 yuan.

Even in the prosperous Jiangnan, there are many people who have no food to eat.

Recruiting troops is easy.

Whether you are working on official wages or on private wages, it is a head-grabbing job.

The recruitment site was even placed outside the city.

This swaggering attitude makes people confused.

Huang Wenyun will not say anything. They are secret allies.

Zhu Gui was shocked and talked to Huang Wenyun for a long time. When he left, he seemed to have an unpleasant conversation.

After returning home, he wrote a secret note and asked his close family members to take it to the capital.

The content, no one knows!
Li Yu hesitated again and again, instead of ordering the messenger to be killed, he let him go.

Gambling always involves some risks.

And Zhu Gui actually asked someone to bring him a sentence:

"You are a smart person, don't let others use you as a weapon."

After reading this, Li Yu actually felt a little guilty.Old man Zhu is such a kind person!

However, personal emotions are insignificant in the face of the great cause of rebellion.

Tan Muguang personally led the team and escorted the grain northward.

This is his duty as the eldest brother of the Soviet Gang, and there is no reason to shirk it.

There are more than 60 watercrafts, the smallest one costs 1000 materials, and the largest one costs 2000 materials.

Hanging the Caobang flag and the imperial dragon flag, they set off in a mighty manner.

The first boat also hung the flag of "Tian Yu Zhenggong" to show its identity.

If this flag is flown, the water ship will be the overlord on the Three Thousand Mile Grand Canal, second only to the water transport officer.

……

Any merchant ship or civilian ship that sees it must dodge.

Otherwise, if you collide with the ship and cause damage, you will go to jail.

In a sense, this also belongs to "pulling the tiger's skin to pull the flag."

On the first boat, standing next to Tan Muguang was Li Xiaowu.

He temporarily resigned from the post of captain of the personal guard and joined the water transport journey.

The purpose is self-evident, to investigate and collect intelligence along the way.

With the cover of the Caobang identity, there is almost no risk on this trip.

Last time, the information on the Grand Canal came from the "fake Siris Mission" and was not detailed enough or comprehensive enough.

This time, Li Xiaowu will complete this information on the basis of his predecessors.

To this end, three assistants are equipped, respectively responsible for sounding, recording, and lookout.

"Boss Tan, how many days does it take to get to Tongzhou?"

"Estimated 20 days."

"After delivering the food, do we have to return immediately?"

"You can stay for a few days, but not for too long. Otherwise, the Cangchang Governor's Office will drive people away."

"Why?"

"The berths at the pier are limited, so space must be left for the boats behind."

"Will the government make it difficult for inspections along the way?"

"After passing Qingjiangpu, you need to go ashore to the Caoyun Yamen to go through the formalities and get rid of the little devil."

……

The canal in the Jiangnan section is in good condition, and the fleet has a smooth journey.

Speaking of which, this is also due to Li Yu, who dredged it last winter.

Entering the Yangtze River, Tan Muguang was much more nervous.

Constantly observe the wind strength, wind direction, and waves.

The Yangtze River is not a small river ditch!There were countless boats capsized inside.

Li Xiaowu also became seasick and vomited once.

His sight saw a mast that was half a foot above the water, and he was very shocked.

"Shipwreck?"

"Correct."

"Just leave it alone?"

"No matter what, it is too difficult to fish a boat in the Yangtze River. Once the boat sits on the bottom, it will be sucked by the mud. Even ten boats cannot be pulled out. All we can do is wait for it to fall apart on its own." Tan Muguang turned his head and told his subordinate Caoding, " For the record, there is a large shipwreck 2 miles east of the mouth of the Jiangnan Canal and about 4 miles away from the river bank. Be careful when sailing."

After another half an hour, we finally saw the south bank of the Yangtze River, and everyone cheered.

The Yizheng Canal was actually opened by Qian Feng!

The fleet carefully sailed into the river, then lowered the sails, slowed down, and dropped anchor.

The petty officer in charge of the river sluice stood on the bank and shouted:
"Boss Tan, come ashore for a drink. We have to wait a while after passing the gate."

Li Xiaowu was stunned: "How did they identify it?"

Tan Muguang pointed to the flag on the mast:

"The Cao Gang has many branches, and each gang has a different flag. The flag of our Soviet Gang is easy to recognize. They guard the canal and have long memorized it by heart."

He first threw down a thick bamboo penny and floated it on the water.

Then he held a thin bamboo pole, jumped out of the boat, and stepped on the bamboo pole.

Thin bamboo poles paddle the water left and right, and people move forward slowly.

Li Xiaowu was dumbfounded. He was also a boatman, but he had never seen such a light skill floating on the water.

"Hehe, our boss's move is called crossing the river with a reed."

Tan Muguang and his subordinates were obviously old acquaintances, and they went to a nearby thatched tavern while chatting and laughing.

Needless to say, he was the one footing the bill.

The locals love to eat salted old goose, so naturally they want a portion.

Relying on the water to draft, a few fish must be eaten freshly caught.

Here's another jar of rice wine, it's all ready.

After eating and drinking, my face becomes hot and I talk too much.

The subordinate came over mysteriously:

"Old Tan, I think you are an honest person. Let me tell you a secret, but you must not tell it."

Tan Muguang tore the goose meat into pieces, dipped it in garlic soy sauce, and asked:
"What?"

(End of this chapter)