Late Qing Dynasty Executioner

Chapter 149 The court’s response

A man of great luck, these words touched Jiaqing.

The so-called Son of Heaven is the emperor because he is chosen by heaven. But what’s going on now that a person with great luck has appeared?
Therefore, Chen Gu, the traitor, must be eliminated as soon as possible. Jiaqing thought about it and asked, "Then who do you think should be sent to lead the troops, and how many troops should be sent by each of the three provinces?"

"Well, I, an old minister, will not embarrass myself in this matter. I'd rather ask Liu Shaobao to help Your Majesty solve this doubt!" Zhu Gui threw the question to Liu Yong. After all, when it came to being familiar with court officials, and especially in assessing the abilities of military commanders, Liu Yong could definitely be considered a leader.

If it were a normal time, it would be fine. When the matter was not serious, Zhu Gui could naturally recommend a few of his own people to Jiaqing for selection. But the current situation is that the entire Sichuan is in turmoil. If a powerful general is not sent to lead the army to pacify Sichuan as soon as possible, it will even affect the entire world.

This will further shake the foundation of the imperial court. When the world is peaceful, everyone can fight for power and profit as they please, but when the world is in turmoil, no one can expect to live a good life.

Jiaqing looked at Liu Yong and asked, "Does Lord Liu have anyone to recommend?"

Liu Yong assessed the current situation in his mind and said to Jiaqing: "I think that for now, it should be enough to mobilize the troops from Shaanxi and Guizhou. As for Hubei, it is better not to act rashly for the time being.

First, Hubei has to go upstream to transport food and supplies, and it takes a long time to get to Sichuan. It is difficult for distant water to quench nearby thirst. Second, there are many rebellions in Hubei. If we send more troops out, the rebels may become stronger. "

Jiaqing agreed with Liu Yong's opinion, so he asked again: "Who do you think should lead the troops and how many troops should be sent?"

Liu Yong thought for a moment and said, "The only person who can take on the important task in Guizhou is Chang Lin, the Governor-General of Yunnan and Guizhou. As for Shaanxi, there are many candidates. Yongbao, Songjun, and Mingliang are all suitable!"

The Governor-General of Yunnan and Guizhou was Aisin-Gioro Changlin, the Governor-General of Shaanxi and Gansu was Marat Songjun, the Governor of Shaanxi was Fei Mo Yongbao, and the Commander-in-Chief was Fu Cha Mingliang.

Among the four, the two governors naturally have the highest status, followed by Fei Mo Yongbao, and the lowest rank is the deputy governor-general Fu Cha Mingliang, but he is only a second-rank military officer, and his official position is equivalent to that of a second-rank general, who is still under the command of a prefect.

There was no choice for the Guizhou direction, only Changlin was suitable. As for the Shaanxi direction, Song Jun was actually born a civil official. Even if he was the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, Sichuan and Shaanxi were still at war at that time. In fact, Song Jun was just doing some auxiliary work in gathering food and grass, so Jiaqing directly ruled him out.

As for the Shaanxi Governor Fei Mo Yongbao, Jiaqing felt disgusted when he heard this name, because Yongbao was Lebao's younger brother. Fei Mo Lebao had just been defeated by Chen Gu. How could Jiaqing send his brother to represent him in Sichuan again?

Finally, only one commander-in-chief, Fu Cha Mingliang, was left.

Although Mingliang is only a third-rank military officer now, that is the result of being convicted twice. His resume can actually be said to be brilliant.

Fu Cha Mingliang, now 64 years old, ranked among the top three in the conquest of the Jinchuan Islands when he was in his thirties. Due to this achievement, his portrait was entered into the Purple Light Pavilion. In his early forties, he became the Governor-General of Sichuan. Later, he followed Agui and others to suppress the Hui Muslim uprisings in Gansu several times.

He was successively granted the posts of General of Ili, Counselor of Wushi, Minister of Punishment, General of Heilongjiang, etc. He was extremely honored and favored during the reign of Emperor Qianlong because Mingliang was the nephew of Emperor Qianlong's first empress.

Unfortunately, Qianlong was too old to die, and the heir he finally chose was Jiaqing. Fucha Mingliang was gradually squeezed out of the core of power.

However, the rebellion in Sichuan and Shaanxi kept recurring, and it didn't matter who was sent. Jiaqing had no choice but to re-employ Mingliang, and this old man in his sixties did not disappoint Jiaqing. After going to the front line, he won several beautiful victories. Unfortunately, for someone who had long been squeezed out of the core of power, winning a war was not a good thing, so Mingliang is still a general, and the only military general position.

After hearing the names of the people recommended by Liu Yong, everyone else couldn't help but secretly glance at Jiaqing. The best candidate to send troops to Shaanxi was naturally Fu Cha Mingliang. It depended on whether Jiaqing would use him.

Even though the old man is over sixty years old, when it comes to leading troops in battle, he is definitely one of the best in the entire Qing Dynasty.

Jiaqing did not hesitate for too long and said, "Then let Mingliang lead the troops in Shaanxi, but Shaanxi only has more than 20,000 troops in total. How many troops should we send?"

As for Guizhou, Jiaqing did not even mention it, because the tax revenue of Guizhou province was only 260,000 taels, less than that of Chongqing Prefecture. Therefore, there were no Eight Banners soldiers in such a large province as Guizhou, and even the Green Camp had only 7,000 soldiers. Even if troops were sent out, they could only fight for cooperation.

Shaanxi is different. Although Shaanxi has only more than 20,000 troops, Shaanxi and Gansu are integrated, and Gansu has more than 60,000 troops. If Shaanxi is needed, it can transfer troops from Gansu. Moreover, because of the Sichuan-Shaanxi rebels, there are also 10,000 troops of the court at the border to suppress the rebellion.

Mingliang was the commander-in-chief who led the army to suppress the rebellion.

"The more the better!" said Zhu Gui.

Le Bao's 9,000-strong army has been completely wiped out. With Shaanxi's limited military strength, the more the better!

Jiaqing thought for a moment and said, "Then let Mingliang lead his own 10,000 troops, plus all the elite troops in Shaanxi, to Sichuan, and then transfer another 10,000 troops from Gansu to Shaanxi to garrison there."

Jiaqing did not specify how many troops Shaanxi would send, but instead said that all the elite troops would be sent, and intended to give Mingliang the right to act at his discretion in selecting the troops.

Chen Jue has now become Jiaqing's biggest concern and must be eliminated as soon as possible. In this way, Mingliang cannot be restricted too much. If a general is to be able to display his strengths, he must be given more power.

Moreover, Mingliang himself did nothing wrong. The reason why he was convicted twice was just because Qianlong wanted to pave the way for Jiaqing. After Jiaqing himself appointed Mingliang, he immediately came out of retirement and performed well.

Jiaqing himself was a kind-hearted person. Since he needed Mingliang at this time, he was naturally willing to delegate power to him. He also decided in his heart that if Mingliang could quickly wipe out Chen Jue this time, he would use Mingliang in greater positions in the future.

Because of Chen Gu's threat to Sichuan, the court's response this time was bound to be quick, but the court quickly came up with a countermeasure. How to implement it, and how strong and fast the implementation would be, was another matter.

Moreover, even an urgent document would take more than a few days to convey from the capital to Hanzhong, Shaanxi. It would also take a lot of time to lead the army from Hanzhong to Sichuan.

However, Chen Gu was very strict with time, because Sichuan was too big, and if he wanted to quickly take over as much territory as possible and make money, he had to hurry up.

(End of this chapter)