Late Qing Dynasty Executioner

The Huaxia tribe and the Qing court not only fought relentlessly on the front battlefield, but were also busy in the war of public opinion.

However, their political systems are different. The Huaxia tribe cares more about the hearts of ordinary people, while the Qing court cares more about the ideas of the gentry and the powerful.

Relatively speaking, it is easier to please the gentry. Just give them local power. In any case, the imperial power in every dynasty never went down to the countryside, and the court itself could not get the most basic power.

As for the lives of ordinary people, it doesn't matter. Anyway, the production of corn, potatoes and sweet potatoes is particularly high at that time, so ordinary people will not starve to death.

However, this kind of decentralization has a disadvantage, which is that it can easily allow local governments to become too powerful, resulting in strong branches and weak trunks. If you encounter a wise and tough monarch, it's fine, but if you encounter a benevolent and weak monarch, you're doomed.

For example, Jiaqing, who was neither as ruthless nor as smart as Kangxi, Qianlong and Yongzheng, always felt that he was overwhelmed. He spent a lot of money and energy, but always failed to get things done.

If Kangxi, Qianlong, and Yongzheng were in Jiaqing's current situation, let alone how they would deal with the Huaxia tribe, at least they would have killed many people in their own ranks. The foundation of the Qing Dynasty was actually based on power.

What to do if you have no money? Your family will be confiscated and your entire clan will be exterminated!
What should we do if the local forces become too powerful? Confiscate their property and exterminate their clans!
What to do when there are too many people and too little land? Confiscate the property and exterminate the clan!
As for the reason? Isn't that simple? It's best if you have a reason. If you don't have a reason, there's still the literary inquisition!

During the reign of Emperor Qianlong alone, there were more than 130 cases of literary inquisition, an average of two or three times a year. As long as enough people were killed, any problem could be solved.

Not only did it solve the problems of too many people and too little land and the expansion of local forces, but the court also made money. By killing enough people, it could also deter some people with ulterior motives. Even the trend of corruption would be curbed a lot.

Unfortunately, Jiaqing was made stupid by Zhu Gui, and his head was full of Confucian morality. All the civil and military officials in the court knew that Jiaqing was kind, so everyone wanted to bully the emperor and gain more benefits for themselves.

As a result, corruption among officials became rampant, and the people were forced to work, leading to constant rebellion. The twenty years of financial information seized from Heshen's home did not allow him to hold out to the end, and the Qing Dynasty's finances collapsed.

Compared to pleasing the gentry, pleasing ordinary people is not so easy. After all, there are only so many resources, and when distributed to each person, there is actually not much, while human desires are endless.

In fact, it cannot be said that Chen Gu was trying to please ordinary people. He was just protecting their basic right to survival. What he was actually doing was optimizing the distribution structure.

At the moment, the effect seems to be quite good. At least everyone supports the Huaxia Department. Everyone is willing to go into battle and kill the enemy at the command. Even though the joint defense team only has simple cold weapons, everyone still comes to the front line without hesitation.

Maybe Lao Piao was afraid that Chen Gu would cause trouble for him, so he ran away with 10,000 main forces. When Chen Gu and others entered Wuchang City, Lao Piao had already left Wuchang by boat. As for the 10,000-strong joint defense team originally allocated to him, he didn't want it anymore.

This made everyone laugh and cry. Zheng Ming smiled and said, "If you don't want it, then don't want it. When the time comes, we can send some officials from various departments to him, and let him form a joint defense team in the local area."

It is actually not difficult to form a joint defense team. As long as the land is distributed equally, the people will spontaneously protect the Huaxia tribe, because only in this way can they keep the land they have been allocated.

The establishment of local armed forces became inevitable, so when the joint defense team was formed, the local people were quite active.

Although the joint defense team was only equipped with cold weapons, a small number of bombs and detonators, and some captured muskets, it seemed that their combat power was not strong, but it also depended on who they were compared with. Compared with the regular army, the joint defense team was indeed not strong, and the joint defense team was not used to deal with the regular army of the court, but mainly to prevent the counterattack of the landlords' armed forces.

Generally, after conquering a city, the Huaxia Tribe would suppress and eliminate the local landlord armed forces to a certain extent, and then form a joint defense team, which could basically prevent the landlord armed forces from resurfacing, thus stabilizing the rule of the Huaxia Tribe.

At the same time, the joint defense teams that have undergone certain military training are also the best source of soldiers. As long as the elite are selected and given a little shooting training, they can basically go to the battlefield. After experiencing one or two battles on the battlefield, they will become veterans.

Although the Huaxia Department only has more than 100,000 main forces on the surface, due to the large number of joint defense teams, its war potential is actually very huge. As long as the armaments can keep up, the army can be expanded at any time.

This is also the main reason why everyone wants to limit the number of Laopiao’s military equipment, because the Huaxia Department needs to store a large amount of military equipment in preparation for military expansion at any time, so naturally there can be no waste.

Lao Piao ran away, and Chen Gu could not do anything about him for the time being. After thinking for a while, he said to Yun Hua who rushed to Wuhan: "Since Lao Piao does not want the joint defense team, then you can take an extra 10,000 joint defense team to Hunan!"

"No need!" Yun Hua shook his head and said with a smile: "Hunan is just a piece of cake. Ten thousand main forces and ten thousand vassal troops are enough. It is better to leave more troops in Wuhan.

After we leave, the imperial army in Hanyang will probably become desperate, and they can also get reinforcements from the north, so the leader actually needs more troops to deal with it."

Chen Gu thought about it and it was true. Hunan was fine, but Lao Piao's attack on Jiangxi was definitely a challenge to the imperial army in Hanyang City, because it meant that the role of their garrison in Hanyang was greatly weakened, or even useless.

In this way, even if they did not dare to attack Chen Gu in Wuchang City, they would definitely find a way to attack Lao Piao.

Lao Piao only took away 10,000 main forces, Yunhua took away 10,000 main forces and 10,000 retainers. As a result, Chen Gu still had 15,000 main forces, 20,000 joint defense forces and 15,000 retainers, totaling 50,000 troops.

The number is not small, but the vassal army was not very strong before they were equipped with new equipment. As for the joint defense team, they could only play a supporting role. Only the 15,000 main station troops were able to fight.

It is definitely enough to defend Wuchang City, but it is a bit beyond one's ability to prevent the imperial army from sending troops to encircle Lao Piao.

"What do you think the General Staff thinks are the chances that the imperial army will split up and encircle Lao Piao?" Chen Gu asked Zheng Ming.

"According to the analysis of the General Staff, after the imperial court learned that our army had divided its forces to attack Jiangxi, it would 100% send troops to intercept Yang Yuanfeng's troops, or at least send troops to Jiangxi for defense.

Otherwise, they will not be able to explain to the Qing emperor and the court, and their garrison in Hanyang will lose its meaning!" Zheng Ming said with certainty.

Chen Gu nodded and said to Lao Nian, "The Intelligence Department should pay close attention to the troop movements in Hanyang City!"

(End of this chapter)