Great Qing Dynasty talker

Chapter 470: The 4th Corps, which insisted on armed smuggling behind enemy lines, encountered a situation of being robbed by a thief~
Xiangyang is indeed a strong city.

But there has never been a strong city in the world that will never fall.

The times have changed.

The emergence of gunpowder weapons has greatly changed the military.
Today's Wu Jun,
Some of them are ways to pry open the turtle shell of a fortified city, and they are full of confidence.

but,

According to the planned schedule,

When Li Ergou saw the 4th Army disembarking in large groups,
He would surely be stunned and then furious.

Ask Uncle Liu:

"Why not transfer the 2nd Army? The 5th Army is also good."

……

Yangzhou Prefecture,
It has jurisdiction over 2 states and 6 counties.

People jokingly call it: Yang Bashu.

An infantry company of the 4th Corps is marching, both by land and water.
The speed was a bit slow because the ship carried 500 dan of new tea.

That's right,

This army, composed of small traders from the south of the Yangtze River, was bored and itchy while stationed in Yangzhou, so they started doing amateur business.

Out of tea leaves,
Change to rice.

In troubled times, food prices soared.
Tea is almost isolated from ordinary people.

But it was an absolutely indispensable consumer product for the officials and gentry in the Qing-controlled areas.

The nobles in Beijing have been drinking fine tea for more than 100 years.

Now the supply is suddenly cut off. Only those who have been smoking for more than 10 years will understand how painful it is.

Therefore,
Once these smuggled expensive teas such as Wuyishan Dahongpao, Hangzhou Longjing, Suzhou Biluochun, etc. cross the river, their value will skyrocket tenfold or even a hundredfold.

……

Target: Xinghua County, under the jurisdiction of Yangzhou Prefecture.

The area is densely covered with water networks, most of which are straight streams dug by humans.

In terms of river density, it far exceeds Suzhou.

Xinghua County is both a land of fish and rice and a place prone to floods.

A place can wear two hats of completely different styles at the same time only because of its special geographical environment.

To the west is the province’s famous suspended lake - Gaoyou Lake (essentially the water of the Yellow River).

To the north is Sheyang Lake.

There are more than 30 sluices built around it, which was under the jurisdiction of the Governor of the South River before the war.

When the flood season arrives, the pressure of flood prevention is very high.

Throughout the ages,

They always protect the big ones and not the small ones.

The Grand Canal is "big" and the Lixiahe River is "small".

……

if we assume,
The Lixiahe Plain (in central Jiangsu Province) is the bottom of Jiangsu.

that,
Xinghua County is the bottom of the pot!
Therefore,
Whether the people of Xinghua can live a good life depends on the flood situation of Gaoyou Lake.

Not flooded,

Everyone is living a decent life.

When the flood season arrives, every household prepares a small boat as a flood prevention measure.

The surrounding area is all plains, with not much elevation difference.

Even if the dam breaks, there will not be a turbulent flood! Instead, the water will rise slowly and evenly.

This is very special.

It is totally different from the mountainous provinces.

……

every time,

The upper reaches of the Yellow River flooded, and the Gaoyou Lake sluice gates could not withstand it, so they began to release water.

The people of Xinghua County quietly packed up their things.

Let the women, children, the elderly and the disabled in the family sit at the Eight Immortals Table.

When the water level overflowed the Eight Immortals Table, the nearby creeks were already full, and people could row boats directly into the houses.

The whole family boarded the boat and floated on the water in silence.

Fortunately, ordinary people did not have any valuable belongings. They only had some food, clothes, quilts, and poultry, which they all carried on board.

The villagers rowed boats to take care of each other~
Tie the boat to the top of the tree.

As the flood waters receded, homes were revealed again.

This special flood phenomenon,
The casualties were not too great and the property losses were relatively small.

……

For the locals,
The most terrifying thing is that a few days before the rice was ripe for harvest, Gaoyou Lake suddenly released water.

Caught off guard, the rice fields were flooded and no grains were harvested.

Afterwards, many people died due to lack of food.

If we meet someone with a kind heart, we will allow one day of preparation time and give you a little notice.

If you encounter a ruthless person who releases water in the middle of the night, you won’t have time to react.

Anyway,

Even when floods come, this area is much happier than the "traditional entrepreneurial zone at the junction of four provinces of Jiangsu, Shandong, Henan and Anhui" further north.

……

The above situation,

Second Lieutenant Gu Yidao of the 4th Corps knew it all by heart.

His family has been running a small restaurant in Suzhou City for three generations. The business is not big, with only four tables, but their life is much better than that of an ordinary farmer.

He studied in a private school for several years and is a smart person.

As the only knifeman in the kitchen, he joined the legion in order to expand and strengthen the family business.

now,

My parents made a lot of money from the liquor franchise, so they bought a piece of land in the north of the city and built the most popular two-story building in Suzhou Prefecture today.

A letter came from home saying that a marriage had been arranged for her. Her daughter, Xiao Niangyu, had officially entered the family and was spinning at home every day.

Just wait until I go home to visit my family to get married officially.

Anyway,

The days are full of hope.

……

As everyone knows,

The 4th Legion was extremely cautious about its life.

Lieutenant Gu, who has a lot of hope for the future, naturally values ​​his life more.

If I lose my life, my fiancée, my two-story house, and my happy future will all be gone.

Therefore,
The second lieutenant led a full-strength company to support the battle.

Wu Jun's military system

The company has a full strength of 250 people, divided into 5 platoons.

The company led by Lieutenant Gu included a skirmisher platoon, three musket platoons, and a light artillery platoon.

It is clearly a configuration that can be used to clear out the enemy by force in the countryside.

Now it is used for smuggling.

……

should say,
Except for the 4th Legion, no one else dared to get involved in smuggling.

The rest of the legions simply pretended that their shoelaces had come undone while searching for the remaining enemies while they were about to win the battle, bent down to grab a silver ingot and put it in their pockets, then continued the pursuit as if nothing had happened.

A small personal profit.

The 4th Army,

It is an organized armed smuggling operation.

Clear division of labor,

Afterwards, everyone from officers to soldiers was involved.

The upstream and downstream of this smuggling chain are Zhejiang Tea Chamber of Commerce and Jiangbei Cao Gang.

……

"Lieutenant, we are approaching the Fahua Temple ahead."

Gu Yidao, who was of medium build, stood up and said loudly:
"Brothers, be on guard."

The drummer nearby played the snare drum.

To the sound of drums,

All the soldiers in the company changed their previous lazy and frivolous attitude, and quickly went into alert mode, checking their weapons and ammunition.

The soldiers riding on the mule carts jumped off the carts and assembled in formation.

The light artillery platoon on the tea-carrying ship was composed of four people, surrounding a 4-pound light artillery that was specially brought on board.

……

The river under your feet is the Salt River.

In order to facilitate the transportation of salt, the Lianghuai Salt Transport Office dug many small rivers in the eastern part of Jiangsu to connect the various salt fields, which were collectively called Salt Rivers by the people.

The characteristics of the Salt River are limited depth and width.

But the river is straight!
Gu Yidao put on his flying saucer helmet and opened the telescope to observe the enemy situation.

The river ahead,

An island appeared in the middle of the river.

The spire of the pagoda and the long Sanskrit sounds come into view at the same time.

……

Everything is the same as before.
Gu Yidao has experienced this kind of business five times.

but,

He still didn't dare to take it lightly.

I used a telescope that I bought at my own expense to carefully observe the surroundings, from the reeds by the river, to the Buddhist temple, to the situation on the water surface.

At last,
He also looked up at the sky.

A crow flies by
……

A small sampan emerged from the reed marsh, and the members of the Cao Gang finally showed up.

As always, shirtless, paddling alone.

As we approached the ship,
The man pushed the oar hard and jumped onto the deck.

He opened his arms and laughed heartily:
"Hello, Master Gu!"

"Second Master, you look good lately."

Familiar people, familiar places, familiar roads.

……

Lieutenant Gu's uniform was straight and tight, with a wide cowhide belt with a copper buckle.

He wears a sword on the left and a gun on the right.

There was a telescope wrapped in velvet hanging behind his waist.

The military boots on his feet were shiny.

The beautiful iron helmet was buckled over, and three small stones were placed on the edge, which turned into a small picnic pot that could be used for both cooking and shabu-shabu. In the eyes of the Jiangbei Cao Gang, the 3th Corps of the Wu Army was simply a master of pretense.

Not to mention those coveted flintlock rifles.

Today's Jianghu,
If someone has 10 brothers like this, they will dare to find a crossroads or market town far away from the city to collect taxes and become bigger and stronger.

……

Due to the tug-of-war,
Today, most areas of Jiangbei are out of control.

The Qing government only dared to retreat to a few large cities, led by Huai'an and Xuzhou.

The Wu army occupied the two cities of Yangzhou and Yizheng and had no intention of expanding its territory.

Jiangsu Governor Fu Chang'an was pleased with this.
Then a strange scene appeared.
No one wants to disrupt the current situation, so everyone is very restrained and maintains tacit understanding.

The Lixiahe Plain, located in the middle of the confrontation between the two sides, has become a completely lawless area.

The Qing government did not dare to station troops there, and Wu Jun had no intention of intervening.

The original gentry class was wiped out by Lin Huaisheng during the Battle of Jiangbei, and those who luckily escaped were so scared that they moved away with their families.

The idle Jiangbei Cao Gang abandoned their boats and went ashore, stealing the position of the original gentry class.

In the countryside,
They are the kings.

They even began to openly collect grain and assign labor service.

……

Among the several counties in Lixiahe today, only the county seats are still in the hands of the Qing government.

The group of scholars who passed the Shandong Enke examination served as county magistrates.

but,

They also knew that the order could not be issued beyond the county.

Outside the county town is a vacuum.

The 4th Legion is the king, and the various gangs are the lesser kings.

……

Take this year's spring grain as an example.

The Cao Gang followed the original Qing court's collection standards. After collecting the revenue, 30% was presented as a tribute to Yangzhou Prefecture (Wu) and 30% was presented as a tribute to Huai'an Prefecture (Qing).

Keep the rest for yourself.

The Cao Gang had an extremely easy life.

Not long ago, everyone lost their jobs due to the collapse of the canal transport system, but ended up getting a better job.

Anyway,

Both the Qing and Wu factions knew what the Jiangbei Cao Gang was.

Both sides are breathing ~
But it doesn't matter.

……

"Master Gu, I heard that you are going to relocate?"

"You shouldn't ask about military secrets."

"Yes Yes."

The fleet was anchored at the shore, and the soldiers were on guard with guns, watching the unarmed men of the Cao Gang carrying the goods.

New tea is in short supply.

Once transported to the capital, it can be sold at more than 20 times the previous price.

The Cao Gang dared to take a share of this kind of business, so they must have some big shots backing them up.

Yu Yunhe, the grain supervisor of Huai'an, was one of them.

And maybe there are others too.

Governor Fu Chang'an also received a share of the profits, but he was not directly involved.

The three-no principle: don’t support, don’t oppose, don’t know.

The children of the Fucha family understand justice and governance.

Anyway,

War does not ruin business.

It seems ridiculous, but in fact it is everywhere in history.

People who are not well-versed in the world think that history is all white, but after entering society, they think that history is all black.

In fact, history is a pile of gray~
……

"Master Gu, isn't 500 taels a bit expensive?"

"Is it expensive?"

The second in command didn't dare to argue and just smiled and lowered his head.

Delivery completed.

Lieutenant Gu took the list and suddenly said:
"This batch of rice is needed urgently. You should deliver it to Yiling Town, east of Yangzhou, tomorrow."

The second in command laughed along:
"Yes Yes."

……

The 4th Legion worked tirelessly mainly to conceal their tracks if the Cao Gang was forced to cede territory outside the city of Yangzhou every time.

Then over time,
The news is bound to leak out and cause trouble.

The 4th Army thought carefully and concluded that smuggling rice into the country would be beneficial to the Wu State as it could stabilize food prices.

It also shows loyalty to the country and can minimize trouble.

Even if some people know,
They will also pretend to be deaf and dumb so as not to be exposed.

after all,

Food prices are the overall situation at the moment.

4 Legion has always had a big picture view~
……

in fact,

Ten days ago, the corps received the transfer order and was preparing to set off.

The soldiers were in a hurry, busy packing.

In Yangzhou City,

Anyone with a little common sense can see that.

The Cao Gang obviously has spies in the city.

……

"Lieutenant, when are we going to set out?"

"You can stay for three more days at most. You must board the ship."

"I really don't want to leave this beautiful place, Yangzhou. It's almost like being at home. I don't know if I can ever come back."

Everyone expressed their regret and reluctance.

After they left,

The 1st Corps stationed in Jiangning will temporarily take over the defense.

It is said that

A group of new Hakka soldiers from Guangdong stationed in Chongming will also come.

……

Huang Si, commander-in-chief of the 4th Army Corps, has been very busy recently. He first took a boat to Suzhou Prefecture to listen to His Majesty's instructions, and then was busy making preparations for departure.

There are so many things to do that I am busy to the point of collapse.

You need to count, arrange the order, coordinate land and water, predict the time, and leave redundancy~
Fortunately, we have the assistance of the advisory team.
otherwise,

The difficulty will increase 5 times.

……

The next day at noon,

Gu Yidao's face changed drastically. At the agreed location, Yiling Town, located on the east side of the city, he did not see the grain fleet that had arrived as promised.

"Little red guy!"

"Brother Gu, what should we do?"

The merchant in charge of transporting the grain was horrified, realizing that he was being robbed by a gang, and he panicked.

"Don't panic, it's a small matter."

Gu Yidao immediately rode back to Yangzhou City.
Found the busy Huang Si:

"Your subordinate greets the commander-in-chief."

"Your troops will be the last to leave the next morning. Are you ready for departure?"

"No problem at all."

"Anything else?"

"There is a small group of people in Jiangbei who are talking nonsense when they see that my army is going to change guard. I want to take my brothers out of the city and punish them."

……

Huang Si stopped writing and looked up:
"Don't miss the time to board the ship, otherwise you will be subject to military law."

"As ordered."

After receiving the military order, Gu Yidao began to mobilize troops that night.

First, he spent 200 taels to borrow two inland warships, one large and one small, from the city's defense division, and then borrowed artillery and gunners from the neighboring camp.

Another 50 taels were spent.
I bought information about the Cao Gang from the intelligence personnel under Xi Gongshu, the leader of the Huaiyang Intelligence Team.

The next day, it was bright and clear.

The fleet sailed out of Yangzhou city.

Murderous~
The 4th Legion hates people who break contracts the most.

……

The information bought for 50 taels shows:

There are two headquarters of the Jiangbei Cao Gang, one at Weishan Lake on the border between Jiangsu and Shandong, and the other at Zhangjiaduo near Xinghua County.

What is the difference between these two places?
The former is spiritual and the latter is practical.

The Weishan Lake headquarters enshrines three ancestors. There are temples on the ground, boats in the lake, and incense is always burning.

Zhangjiaduo,
It is the gathering place for the core members of the Cao Gang and also a transit station for smuggled goods.

……

Xinghua County,

For defensive purposes, only one city gate is opened on a daily basis.

County Magistrate Kong Renyi, from Qufu, Shandong,

Although his surname is Kong, he has nothing to do with being a descendant of a saint.

but,

Ji Yun, the chief examiner of the special examination, passed the candidate on the spot just based on his surname and hometown, without even asking about his essay or looking at his appearance.

The surname Kong is correct at first glance~
Then, he was sent to the front line of the war zone to serve as a precarious county magistrate.

Ji Yun’s intentions are also difficult to understand.

……

Kong Renyi is very pedantic in his speech.

But my heart is as clear as a mirror.

He received a salary from the Qing Dynasty, but he had to serve Wu's army when it came, and he also had to serve Qing's army when it came.

Fortunately, people from both sides never go into the city together and cause embarrassing accidents of bumping into each other.

This is like an adulterer and a current husband.
If we don’t meet each other, we can pretend not to know.

If you encounter this, if you don't do anything extreme to defend your dignity, it will be really embarrassing if the news gets out.

(End of this chapter)