Chapter 743 What does the Zhu family do as the emperor?
Chapter 743: When the Zhu family becomes emperor, what does the prince do?
When the Manchu general Wang Aixinjue Luo Shikai led his army southward, thousands of miles away in Anqing, an important town on the Yangtze River, Anhui governor Li Zhiying and the commander-in-chief Zhao Bingyi were discussing a major matter.
It's not a big deal, it's just a matter of discussing whether to continue to meet the demands for silver from the Xinghan Army that besieged Anqing.
After Jiujiang and Nanchang fell one after another, part of the remaining Qing troops in Jiangxi fled to Ganzhou, while another group of more than 3,000 people fled to Anqing in embarrassment under the leadership of Governor Haicheng.
Anqing is the capital of Anhui Province and an important town on the Yangtze River. Once it falls, not only will the whole province of Anhui be destroyed, but the gateway to Nanjing will also be opened wide.
There is no room for failure in the Southeast.
Therefore, Li Zhiying, the governor of Anhui, quickly consolidated the province's battalions and handed them over to the commander-in-chief Zhao Bingyi to hold on. At the same time, he rushed eight hundred miles to report to the court.
The imperial court immediately ordered Li Zhiying to escort Haicheng Suo to Beijing for execution. At the same time, Jiangning General Songgui was ordered to lead the Eight Banners garrisoned Manchu army to reinforce Anqing.
The overall command of the war in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River was unified by the governor of Liangjiang, Gao Jin.
The more than 1,400 garrison flag soldiers led by Chief Eldenbao were the first wave of reinforcements from Jiangning. When they arrived in Anqing, they were attacked by the Xinghan Army. Unfortunately, the green battalion soldiers in the city came out of the city to respond, and they had to enter the city.
Afterwards, a count showed that as many as half were dead, injured and missing, and fewer than 700 bannermen actually entered Anqing City.
This frightened the Anqing defenders who had been holding on for more than half a month. If the Eight Banners soldiers who came to rescue were so incompetent, how could Anqing be able to defend it.
Fortunately, Eldenbao brought definite news. More than 10,000 Banner and Han reinforcements led by Jiangning General Songgui were on the way and would arrive by the end of the month at the latest.
Only in this way can the morale of the army be stabilized.
In the past few days, the Xinghan Army's offensive was very fierce. Only yesterday, the Xinghan Army's offensive suddenly slowed down. Then there were envoys entering the city and asking Anqing to pay 300,000 taels of silver. They said that as long as Anqing paid the amount, the Xinghan army that besieged the city would
The Han army will break up the siege and withdraw.
The first reaction of Anhui Commander-in-Chief Zhao Bingyi was furious: "Those thieves are too greedy. I already gave them one hundred thousand taels last time, and now they are asking for money again just a few days ago? It's really untrustworthy to do things like this."
, who will dare to deal with them in the future?"
"This is what I am worried about."
This was exactly what Li Futai was troubled about.
The problem is that people cannot make mistakes. Once they make a mistake, they will leave a clue. This time the thieves dared to ask him for 300,000 taels because they gave him 100,000 taels last time.
"If you don't give it, they will reveal what happened last time. If they don't do anything, our court will take action on us."
As he spoke, the governor sighed sadly and regretted his former behavior.
To be honest, it was really dangerous last time. Who knew that Jiangxi Governor Haicheng would abandon the city and not defend it, and did not warn Anhui in advance. When the Han army came along the river and attacked the city, Anqing woke up from a dream.
But at that time, the defenders in the city only had more than a thousand soldiers from the Green Camp and more than 3,000 defeated soldiers brought by Haicheng. It can be said that the morale of the army was completely lost.
Seeing that Anqing was about to fall, the rebel general suddenly sent someone to ask for 100,000 yuan to delay the attack on the city for ten days.
With such a good condition, you would be a fool not to agree.
Unexpectedly, before the tenth day, the other party came to ask for money again.
It’s really a shame that people’s hearts are not enough.
But this is good, because it shows that the band of rebels is not where Cheng Qihou is. As long as the court responds in time and the governors from all over the country work together, it will only take a matter of time to save the situation.
Li Zhiying himself was not familiar with military preparations, so the heavy responsibility of defending the city fell entirely on the commander-in-chief Zhao Bingyi.
Both of them were also from the Zhengbai Banner of the Han Army.
However, Mr. Futai was a man of real talent and learning. In his early years, he entered the official position as the first person in the Chengde Literary Examination, and he was appointed as a scholar of the Hanlin Academy to teach editing and editing.
Before becoming the governor of Anhui, Mr. Li served as the salt administrator of Lianghuai for seven years. He was extremely fat. It was rumored that his family fortune amounted to tens of millions.
I'm afraid only the person involved knows whether the rumors are true.
One thing that seems to corroborate this rumor is that he bought Mr. Li's position as governor from the former Minister of Military and Aircraft Yu Minzhong for 700,000 taels.
If you can spend 700,000 taels to buy a governor, your family fortune may not be tens of millions, but probably several million taels.
The Lianghuai Salt Administration was the most fertile vacancy in the Qing Dynasty.
Even if a Qingtian man is placed in this position, his annual income will be hundreds of thousands of taels.
"I really regret it. If I had known this, I should have decisively killed the thieves and promised them nothing. Today I was held hostage by thieves. I really can't live up to the emperor and the Qing Dynasty!"
As he spoke, the dignified Master Futai actually covered his face and shed tears.
General Zhao quickly expressed some words of relief, and then after thinking about it, he said: "Sir, please don't do this. It's better to give it to me in exchange for his thieves to relieve the siege. Once the reinforcements arrive, you don't need to be afraid of them anymore."
Li Futai worriedly said: "If the thief spreads this matter and lets the court know about it, you and I will not only die from the thief, but also from the national law!"
"There is no proof, it is just sowing discord!"
Zhao Bingyi believed that guarding Anqing was the best evidence to prove their innocence.
"That's true."
Li Futai felt relieved when he thought of this, and his heart moved.
Three hundred thousand taels is too much, but Anqing is the provincial capital and the feudal lord has no less than one million taels of silver, so he can still get it out easily.
Then he comforted himself that if he could spend hundreds of thousands of taels of silver to protect the lives and property of the entire city, it would be a good deal no matter how he looked at it. Even if his official reputation was damaged, it would at least be worthy of the court and the people, and it would be better than a ruined city.
It would be better if everyone is devastated after that.
At that moment, he no longer hesitated to hand over the matter to Zhao Bingyi, but he was still a little worried and told Zhao Bingyi to make it clear to the thieves. Even if he gave the money this time, don't expect them to give any money again.
"If the thieves are still greedy and stupid and think that this place is Shen Wansan's cornucopia, then I will fight with them or die to repay the country and the emperor for his kindness!"
Mr. Futai was a little emotionally unstable, so he changed the topic and warned that no information about this matter should be leaked, especially since Eldenbao, the leader of the Eight Banners Council, who could not be called in for reinforcements, knew about it.
Zhao Bingyi responded one by one, secretly took out 300,000 taels of silver from the vassal treasury with the governor's order, loaded it on a carriage, and transported it to the city gate under his control.
But only 250,000 taels were actually sent outside the city.
The other 50,000 taels were the hard-earned expenses of General Zhao, not raised by him himself, but raised by the other party.
Last time, a family of 100,000 people gave him a kickback of 20,000 taels.
This is not considered collaboration with the enemy, because he, General Zhao, was loyal to the Qing Dynasty and actually led troops to protect the soil, water, and people of Anqing.
As long as the result is right, the process is not important.
The person who blackmailed Anqing City was Zhou Linwang, the commander of the Sixth Army who had just been appointed by the Xinghan Army.
This man was originally Qian Zong of Huguang Green Camp. He later rebelled and surrendered to the Xinghan Army, helping them to attack the city and seize territory. He also led the army to attack Yuezhou and the battle of Changsha. He also led troops under the leadership of Bayan San, the governor of Hunan who surrendered to the Qing Dynasty.
He falsely opened the city of Jiujiang and was promoted to commander-in-chief based on his merits.
Because of his bravery in combat and the large number of troops under his command, he became the vanguard of the Xinghan Army in attacking the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.
But even though half of his troops were from the former Huguang, Jiangxi, and Hunan camps, and their combat effectiveness was relatively high, Zhou Linwang still had a very difficult time facing the important town of Anqing. He could not attack the city for more than ten days, and had to surrender to Gu Jiujiang.
The young marshal asked for help.
A few days ago, Jiujiang informed that Ba Jinglue was about to arrive with reinforcements.
This Ba Jinglue is the former governor of Hunan, Manchurian Ba Yansan.
After being captured in Hunan, he immediately rebelled and made suggestions for the Xinghan Army. He first captured Jiujiang and then Nanchang. Jiangxi Province was almost captured by the Ba manager alone, so his status in the Xinghan Army gradually increased.
This time, he was awarded the Yangtze River Strategy by Gu Shidao, the commander of the Xinghan Army, to control the Jiangxi armies including Zhou Linwang's Sixth Army, with only one strategic purpose - to capture Anqing and march into Nanjing.
When he learned that Ba Jinglue was coming, Zhou Linwang felt that he might not be able to delay it any longer, but instead of thinking about reorganizing his troops and participating in the ensuing Anqing War, he sent someone to quickly knock out another sum of money.
As Zhou Linwang expected, Anqing was afraid that the incident would come to light, so they obediently sent the money.
"The military commander is really wise, but those honest officials are as timid as mice."
The person who spoke was Zhou Linwang's division commander Yu Zhenglong. He was originally the captain of the personal soldiers of Huguang Green Camp General Zheng De. He rebelled with Zhou Linwang that day and surrendered to the thieves. Now he has become the number one general under Zhou. His troops and horses are mainly controlled by Hunan.
The gang from Green Camp surrendered.
But just as he was talking, he saw Zhou Junshuai suddenly have a stern face, and then reprimanded him with an unhappy look: "What Junshuai, call me your lord!"
Yu Zhenglong was startled for a moment, then immediately corrected his attitude, slapped his sleeves and said respectfully: "General, I will see you, Lord Commander!"
"Um."
Zhou Linwang showed a satisfied look on his face, his smile rose again, and the lines on his forehead were squeezed together.
The call of the Commander-in-Chief was not made randomly, but was organized.
The latest secret letter sent from the meeting notified Zhou Linwang as the chief military officer of Anhui, and the corresponding appointment procedures would only be completed after General Wang arrived with his army.
"Leave 50,000 taels of silver sent to be divided among the brothers. The rest must not be touched. It is wrong to hand it over to Mr. Jia. You should call the prince."
Zhou Linwang nodded slightly and said meaningfully to Zhenglong: "You can't earn enough money. Don't be greedy. If your job is broken, it will be worth the loss. Now we are holding an iron rice bowl. As long as the Qing Dynasty survives,
If the prince will not treat us badly, then our rice bowl will not only be strong, but everything we eat will also taste delicious."
"What if the Qing Dynasty died?"
"What we serve is the rice bowl of the prince, not the rice bowl of the Qing Dynasty. We will have food to eat if the Qing Dynasty does not fall. We will also have food to eat if the Qing Dynasty falls. Do you understand?"
"I understand, I understand, I understand!"
Yu Zhenglong had a smile on his face. Mr. Zhou Qian had already become a general officer. No matter how bad he was, he could still be a deputy general. If he worked harder in the future, he might even be able to make his wife a Marquis of Yin.
The more I think about it, the more beautiful and energetic I become. No traitor in any generation has managed as well as they did. It’s really a good time!
Suddenly something occurred to him and he hurriedly said: "Sir, I heard the news that Chen Huizu had found a descendant of Zhu Ming named Zhu Shaogong, and was going to persuade Gu Shuai to support Zhu Shaogong as the emperor in Wuchang and command the world. If this happens, what will our prince do?