Great Qing Dynasty talker

Chapter 448: The Right Balance of Tenderness and Violence

Chapter 448: The perfect balance between gentleness and violence~
Hua County is located in the suburbs of Guangzhou.

It is a typical wealthy small town, with wealthy families living in the city like a multitude of fish.

A lieutenant stood in the hall of the county government office and addressed 52 officials, gentry and merchants gathered like quails below.
Declare loudly:

"The 5th Company of the 2nd Regiment of the 6th Corps of the Wu Army has been ordered to station in Hua County."

"Your Majesty's instructions are as follows. It is good that you former Qing officials and gentry have come to your senses and joined civilization. From now on, you only need to follow the rules of my Wu Court and do things. All previous accounts will be settled once and for all. Wu Court never brings up old accounts, but I hope that you can actively integrate into it and not be two-faced and indecisive."

"Long live the emperor, long live the emperor."

A group of people knelt down in a hurry, feeling secretly happy.

The big rock fell to the ground~
……

however,
The lieutenant continued:

"However, you have committed many misconducts before. If I just let you off lightly, I'm afraid you won't learn your lesson. Therefore, everyone needs to pay a sum of silver for repentance, which is determined by official rank and wealth. The highest is 3000 taels and the lowest is 300 taels. His Majesty has instructed that you should pay according to your own discretion and according to your ability and crime."

Everyone quickly bowed and said yes.

Spending money to ward off disaster is very acceptable~
……

When the lieutenant left,
Suddenly frowned:

"Your braids?"

"Oh oh oh."

The group of people suddenly realized and looked everywhere for scissors.

Soon there were dozens of braids on the ground.

The lieutenant then smiled and left.

……

The rules drawn up by Li Yu himself:
For the cities that resisted, after the city was captured, all officials, gentry and merchants would be liquidated, regardless of whether they participated or not, and their properties would be destroyed.

For any city that voluntarily opened its doors and surrendered, there would be no liquidation of the original officials, gentry, and merchants, and their crimes would not be traced back.

No killing, no confiscating property.

By paying a sum of money as a token of repentance, you can live a wealthy life with peace of mind.

but,
The original official position will be re-selected based on personal performance, and it may not be possible to enter the officialdom.

The news spread,

Everyone was shocked. How could they play like this?

……

It's very complicated here.

Li Yu is testing the "exit mechanism".

The empire needs a safe "exit mechanism", otherwise some things cannot be changed fundamentally.

Try to find a relatively reasonable balance between undermining the enemy's will and maintaining your own political health.

Painless descent to the city is naturally excellent.

Over time,

It would deal a devastating blow to the prestige of the Qing court and also reduce the cost of the war.

but,

If these people cut their braids and put on official robes, they would instantly become officials of the Wu State.

in the end,
The government office just changed its plaque, nothing else changed.

Thousands of soldiers shed their blood to usher in the old country?

Li Yu could not accept this and would rather attack the cities one by one and kill them all.

……

For these insects,

He can make small concessions and even set an example for future generations to follow.

For example,
The chief clerk of Sihui County Government handed in a letter of repentance of more than 5000 words, deeply analyzing his mistakes.

Simultaneously,

Hand over all your assets.

One month later, this person was appointed as the prefect of Chaozhou.

But before taking up the post,
He had to go to Suzhou Dongshan Civil Service School for further education for half a year, and his family had to move to Suzhou Prefecture.

Behind,

Many people followed suit.

But, the effect is much worse after all.

……

Huizhou prefect Chen Jialin attempted to delay time with a paralysis strategy and received support from the Green Camp's Huizhou deputy general.

however,
Wu Ting's "exit mechanism" spread to Huizhou Prefecture, causing a chain reaction.

The gentry, who were originally wavering, chose to side with Wu Ting.

Hold on till you die.

No matter whether they can hold on or not, everyone will suffer serious damage at best, or even death and destruction of the clan at worst.

under these circumstances,

The Tongzhi of Huizhou Prefecture, who had been secretly in contact with Wu Ting, contacted many allies and persuaded most of the officers of the Huizhou Green Camp.

after all,

The Wu army could be at the gates of the city at any time, and everyone seemed very reasonable.

……

3 days later,

When a battalion of Wu troops, which were ordered to take over the city, arrived outside the city, they raised their military flags.

The group immediately opened the city gate and lowered the drawbridge.

The prefect Chen Jialin cursed loudly, then climbed up the battlement crying and wanted to jump off the city wall to show his loyalty, but the deputy general of Huizhou, who was eager to repent, grabbed his official robe and pressed him against the bricks of the city wall.

All I could hear was,
The fellow shouted loudly to the Wu army below the city:
"Brothers, come up quickly. I have captured the prefect and I want to turn the tables."

The next day,

The two were tied up and taken to the downtown area, along with dozens of men.

Out of caution,

Wu's army also beat some of the "neutralists" in Huizhou city to death.

There is injustice here.

but,

Since they did not participate in the Tongzhi's internal and external collusion plan, and did not sign the "letter of loyalty", it was not too unfair to them.

So many gentry and businessmen in the city have put their fingerprints on it, and only a small group of you want to stay out of it?
……

Common people can remain neutral, but officials and gentry are not qualified to be neutral.

Choose a side and you may die.

Those who sit on the fence will not have a good death.

This is like a hunter driving into the grassland.

Ants can live their lives as usual, as long as they don't get run over by wheels.

All large animals on the grassland, whether herbivores or carnivores, will respond.

Can't avoid it~
Under severe torture and deliberate instigation.

The Huizhou prefect and the Huizhou assistant general, knowing that they were doomed to die, frantically attacked the "neutral gentry" in the spirit of "dragging as many bastards as possible to go to hell together".

The military judge nodded repeatedly and issued an arrest warrant.

Five gentry families and two businessmen were sent to the execution ground in one go.

……

The Wu army was a civilized army. Even when gunpowder was relatively scarce, they still generously chose the most civilized method - execution by shooting.

After the gunshot,

First, it reduces hidden dangers, and second, it increases revenue for military expenditures.

The war of changing dynasties,
Countless lives were lost, and countless families were reduced to ashes.

There were so many soldiers injured or killed, and so many civilians died.

Who is innocent? Who is guilty? It is hard to tell, let alone distinguish!

It's nothing more than relying on one's own ability and leaving the rest to fate.

Either choose a side and fight to the death.

Either seek shelter or curry favor with the rich and powerful.

of course,

Crossing the ocean and getting away from the conflict is also an option.

……

The 5th Legion was sending out small groups of troops, busy taking over the territory.

The main force of the Guards finally arrived.

The chariots rumble and the horses neigh, the spear is on the shoulder and the knife is in the sheath~
After entering the city,
The soldiers entered the barracks to rest, the quartermaster was busy replenishing ammunition and supplies, and the military doctor was purchasing medicines and evacuating the sick.

Guangdong and Guangxi Governor's Office,
All officers above the battalion level stood straight and solemn.

Li Yu walked into the meeting room:
"sit."

Everyone sat down in unison and took off their military caps.

……

After looking around, Li Yu said loudly:
"The scale of the conflict between the natives and the Hakkas is getting bigger and bigger, and the process is getting more and more brutal. All of this is caused by the Qing government. They want to leave Guangdong in a war-torn state, so that I will be afraid to act rashly."

"The empire needs a stable and peaceful Guangdong. For this reason, I have decided~"

The officers all stood up and accepted the order.

"The scout camp will be dispatched immediately to find out the latest news about the Cantonese militia in the four counties and the Ke Yong in western Guangdong."

"Tomorrow, the artillery will set out first and enter Gaoming County."

Li Yu paused and said hesitantly:
"Heavy artillery is also carried."

"The rest of the infantry units will rest on the spot and wait for orders."

"Yes."

……

Intelligence keeps coming in.

In addition to the scouts of the Guards Corps, the 5th Corps also sent scouts to Enping, Xinhui, Xinning, Kaiping, Heshan and other places.

Li Yu, Miao Youlin, Fu Cheng and others were discussing matters behind closed doors.

"Your Majesty, I think even if we can stop this fight, I'm afraid it will be~"

"Stir the water to stop it from boiling?" "Yes."

Miao Youlin said with a sad face,
Li Yu smiled and drank some herbal tea.
Leisurely said:
"I know that stirring the pot to stop it from boiling is only the first step. First stop the war and establish your authority, and then we will give each of you a date."

Fu Cheng couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Then he quickly apologized.

……

Li Yu glanced at him:
"You will be stationed in Guangzhou in the future. I cannot see you, but I want to see your achievements. If you don't do well, you two can go back to Suzhou to eat, drink and have fun."

"Yes. Your Majesty's kindness will be engraved in my heart."

Fucheng,

He was appointed as the prefect of Guangzhou and concurrently the supervisor of Guangdong Customs.

There are many reasons:

First of all,

He and his son once worked in the Guangdong Customs, so they knew the inside story and were familiar with the people.

Secondly,

Fucheng Wanku is suitable to be placed in the bridgehead with the most open atmosphere, and his temperament suits the situation.

At last,
Fucheng's identity helps to appease the hearts of old officials, gentry and merchants.

To stabilize Guangdong, we must stabilize people's hearts.

The Cantonese gentry in western Guangdong and the Chaoshan clan merchants would probably feel more at ease when they saw such a master in charge.

Li Yu thinks that

In fact, no one is more suitable to be placed in Guangdong than these two men.

……

Zhaoqing Prefecture, Gaoming County.

The artillery of the Guards Corps arrived first, at an incredible speed.

This is also thanks to the 1200 war horses left behind by the Eight Banners stationed in Guangzhou.

but,
The variety is not very good and the size is small.

The Guards Corps selected 400 of them, plus 600 requisitioned strong mules, to tow the artillery.

Fortunately, there are official roads along the way and the road conditions are good.

The pontoon battalion built a bridge over the water and crossed it first, followed by the infantry.

In the Xijiang section,

Several artillery positions were temporarily built to prevent the Qing army's warships from going upstream and attacking them halfway across the river.

really,

Half a day later,
Two fast crab boats from Nan'ao Town appeared downstream. After watching for a long time, we did not dare to go forward.

Both sides are at peace~
There is no fighting in western Guangdong.

But this made the Guards Corps quite unhappy and felt passive.

……

During the march, scouts continued to send back intelligence.

inside the carriage,
After reading it, Li Yu's face became solemn, and he ordered the urgent transfer of 5 infantry battalions from the 7th Corps to accompany him.

The Siyi coalition forces and the Hakka warriors from western Guangdong have already started fighting.

Both sides adopted the tactic of adding fuel to the fire.

"Your Majesty, please take a look."

On the map,
Two small tributaries eventually flow into the Xijiang River.

The two sides in the fight stationed their troops and fought between these two tributaries.

……

"What weapons did both sides use?"

"The Siyi coalition army has a lot of firearms, and every battle must be led by muskets. The Keyong firearms mainly rely on swords and shields, so they will take a wave of losses first and then engage in hand-to-hand combat."

"Has one side made a breakthrough?"

"The scouts said it was a see-saw battle. In fact, both sides won a few times before, but were pushed back later."

"Is the information accurate?"

"There are villages in the rear, and the scouts learned this directly from the people in the guise of passing merchants."

……

Li Yu was about to ask back, aren't you wary of strangers entering the village?

Suddenly I realized that I had overestimated these farmers.

If the Minister of Militia Wen Yuande could organize 10 troops at a high level and move them as if they were at the fingertips of his arm, the Wu army in Guangdong alone would have to fight for at least three years.

and,

The scouts just need to not speak Cantonese or Hakka.

It's not difficult to go into the village and give some change, get some food and drink, and find out some information.

Li Yu fell into deep thought.

He couldn't understand why the fight was so balanced. It didn't conform to military common sense.

Generally speaking,
Seize a victory and then pursue and expand the results.

Unless the enemy has an ambush, we will definitely be able to advance dozens or even hundreds of miles in one breath.

……

Heshan County,
Shuikou Village-Dalingtou line.

The camps of the Siyi coalition forces were densely packed and stretched for dozens of miles.

More than 2 people equipped with standard weapons were at the forefront.

There are at least 10 people in the scattered villages behind, regardless of gender, age or status, mainly to make up the number.

Traps were dug at the entrance of every village.

Every village also organized militia.

of course,

Their main task was to provide food, fresh water and accommodation for the wounded to the people in front.

……

The line of Geshui, Changgang, Qingxi and Meizigang is the camp of the Hakka people in western Guangdong.

The layout is the same as the enemy.

In front are the able-bodied men.

Behind them were a large number of women, children, the elderly and the weak, who were producing and supporting the front line, and they also dug many trenches.

If you look down from the air,
It doesn't seem like two armies, but more like peasant rebels fighting against peasant rebels.

The two sides fought a round every two or three days.

Sometimes, there were local fights involving hundreds or thousands of people.

When the battle was big, tens of thousands of people entered the battlefield, waving flags and shouting. Of course, the ones who directly fought were still those tens of thousands of people.

Wen Yuande, the Minister of Militia of Guangdong, had dinner at the same table with a group of clan militia leaders and scholar officers, and summarized their recent combat experiences.

inside the account,

There are also more than 20 former Green Camp officers, the lowest being a captain and the highest being a guerrilla general.

but,

These former Green Camp officers did not have a high status in the army, and were like the "gun and stick instructors of the 80 imperial guards."

……

Wen Yuande is a new soldier and a veteran civil servant.

He knows too well what it means to occupy the magpie's nest~
These soldiers were suppressed tightly, and apart from imparting experience and training them, they were never given command authority.

Military power must be firmly grasped.

On the one hand, we use the friendship between fellow villagers to build unity and win over the clan.

On the other hand, he used Confucianism to win over the scholar-official officers by using their loyalty to the emperor and their service as generals or ministers.

He was very glad that this was Guangdong.

No matter how different they are, they are nothing more than Cantonese, Hakka, Chaoshan, and Leiqiong.

The Cantonese people are very united.

……

If it were Jiangsu, I can’t imagine what this group would be like.

Those Jiangsu people wanted to frame the words "If you are not from my hometown, your heart must be different" into a plaque and hang it at the city gate.

Just across a small river, you dare to say that the other side of the river is a foreign place.

Just because there is a river between us, you dare to say that the other side of the river is a foreign country.

Wen Yuande estimated that
Just the name of the group training will cause Jiangsu people to have several fierce negotiations, and the naming rights will inevitably be decided by how much money is paid.
and,

Such a team full of internal friction was sent to the battlefield.

After the war breaks out, there is a high possibility that the artillery shells from the neighboring prefecture will fall on your head, and then the people in the neighboring county will gloat over your misfortune.

……

A sturdy man ran into the tent in a hurry.

Get down on one knee.

"Mail, my lord, the guest bandits have started fighting again."

"Where? What's the scale?"

"Da Lingtou, 4000 combat soldiers."

……

Dalingtou,
It is a salient part of the Siyi militia defense line.

"Humph, the guest bandits have a big appetite. Fight them!"

Wen Yuande grabbed his sword and left the tent, muttering:

"If I can't defeat Wu Jun, can I still defeat you guys?"

A group of key members immediately followed, either riding horses or mules to the front line to supervise the battle.