Because Prince Rui innovatively proposed the concept of "new peace thinking" to solve the Huguang problem, the entire Hubei battlefield has remained stable since the twelfth lunar month.
That is, there is no major offensive from both sides, only small frictions in local areas.
All the rumors on the front line about Prince Rui being afraid of fighting and being passive in fighting have long since disappeared under the favorable reality of the Qing army.
There are two versions of public opinion.
One theory is claimed by the "Frontline News" run by General Wang Xingyuan.
Under the wise command of Prince Rui, the official army of the Qing Dynasty successively recaptured several important towns and mobilized several surrender troops, which greatly dealt a blow to the arrogance of the rebel army and forced the rebel army to shrink its front line. They huddled on the front line of Wuchang and did not dare to act rashly. They were trapped.
The power of the beast.
The report also said that based on the current situation, Hubei should be able to regain the entire territory in March next year. At that time, the heroic officers and soldiers of the Qing Dynasty, under the command of Prince Rui, will launch a final offensive against the gangs in Hunan and Jiangxi, thus
Complete the reunification of the Qing Dynasty.
"Frontline News" is a special newspaper of General Wang Xingyuan. It has a small circulation of only more than a thousand copies and is mainly for internal reference.
In principle, it is not distributed to the outside world, and the newspaper is only distributed to the military attache level, the county magistrate level, civil servants in various ministries, and influential local gentry.
As for why a newspaper should be run in the camp, the public statement given by the camp is to let the officers and soldiers understand the current battle situation in more detail and know the high-level decisions, so as to know why we fought, how we fought, and where we have reached.
This is undoubtedly a major innovation that has never happened in the military in previous generations, and it is also a powerful measure for Prince Rui to implement the New Deal.
After the newspaper was published, it was extremely popular among military officers.
It is said that Prince Rui originally wanted all his soldiers to read newspapers, but because the literacy rate of the officers and soldiers remained stable at 3%, this idea had to be aborted.
In order to solve the problem of literacy difficulties among soldiers, Xingyuan recently established a "Literacy Office" to promote rapid literacy methods in various units.
Start small and easy.
Prince Rui instructed that every soldier should learn one word every day and be able to read "Hundred Family Surnames" in one year.
Therefore, this project is also called the "Three Ones" project.
The bank allocated 50,000 taels for the "Three Ones" project.
However, due to limited funds and limited teaching materials and teaching staff, the "Three Ones" project is currently only promoted in the Green Camp Army and the Three Jiangjun Towns. It will be promoted to the Eight Banners Army when subsequent funds are sufficient.
Compared with the "Frontline" statement, another theory is that the bandits are gathering strength, secretly mobilizing troops, and preparing to launch a major offensive after the Spring Festival. They may concentrate heavy troops to directly fight to the death with the center army led by Prince Rui.
A credible theory is that the bandits would spread a large number of smoke bombs before the war, and their target was not the Eight Banners Army in the middle commanded by Prince Rui at all, but the Shaanxi Admiral Wang Deyong's Department.
In this way, the elite troops of Shaanxi and Gansu can be eliminated, and Prince Rui's arm can be cut off. Secondly, the grain and grass passage between Prince Rui's army and Sichuan and Shaanxi can be cut off from the side, forcing Prince Rui to divide his forces to resist, which will affect the strategy of the Qing army.
situation.
This statement mainly comes from folk gossip, various rumors, and the opinions of scholars from various places. It has not yet been officially confirmed.
It was Prince Rui himself who repeatedly stressed in military discussions that we should not make the mistakes of the past. What mistakes?
In the late Ming Dynasty, Yang Hao's army led a four-pronged attack on Hetuala, the land of Longxing in the Qing Dynasty.
Specific to the current battle situation, we must beware of the traitor army's "Let you come in three ways, I will only go in one way".
For this reason, a large number of spies were active in various places, working together on the inside and outside, in order to report the movements of the bandits to Prince Rui's desk as soon as possible.
But no matter which way you say it, Prince Rui's outstanding commanding talents and achievements are undeniable.
In view of Prince Jianrui's great achievements, under the strong protest of Kuini, the Minister of Etiquette, who also served as a military officer, and Asha, the Minister of Personnel, and other important ministers, the court led by the old rich man had to make a corresponding statement.
On the 21st of the twelfth lunar month, a decree from the capital was quickly delivered to Zhongxiang.
In addition to commending the soldiers of the Southern Expedition, the decree ordered Prince Rui to prime minister the military affairs of the three provinces of Hubei, Hunan and Jiangxi, to report meritorious service and discuss edicts, and to double the number of ministers. In addition, the minister of political affairs, the prime minister, the camp, field and water conservancy, and the leader of the forbidden army of Huqiang Camp were appointed.
Doubling the ceremonial guard is considered an honor and has little actual benefit.
It is to increase the number of Prince Rui's current honor guard from 120 to 240, although in fact Prince Rui's traveling guard will never be less than 500.
But no matter what, it is an honor.
The Prime Minister's Yingtian Water Conservancy means that Prince Rui will be responsible for land consolidation and water conservancy construction matters in the war zone besides the war.
This is not interesting, it is mainly a matter handled by the local governor.
It is interesting to lead the forbidden troops of the Tiger Spear Camp. As we all know, the forbidden troops of the Tiger Spear Camp belong to Prince An's lineage.
However, the old rich man blatantly assigned the Tiger Spear Battalion directly to Six Sons of Xiandi in his decree. He was clearly poaching Prince An and inciting the masses to fight against the masses.
"The struggle in Beijing has begun. Fuzhongtang is overtly and covertly forcing me to take sides."
Jia Liu snorted slightly, he would not fall for the old rich man's trick and get this Tiger Spear Camp.
In terms of blood relationship, if his surname is Jia, Uncle Se is his direct cousin.
If his surname is Ai, Uncle Se and he are also relatives who have not yet entered the fifth server.
You, Mr. Zhangjia, have neither married your daughter to me nor promised me your granddaughter, so why should you want me to fall out with my relatives?
Therefore, someone was sent to inform the second cousin Ursi Balan that the Tiger Spear Battalion was nominally a personal soldier promoted by Prince Tarui, but the actual command power still belonged to the second cousin.
None of the above was beneficial to Jia Liu. The only thing that made his eyes shine was the promotion of the minister of political affairs.
Because the minister of political affairs held a high and powerful position in the early days of the country, it was also the highest honor for ministers. During the reign of the Holy Ancestor Kangxi, Ao Bai and others assisted the government as ministers of political affairs, and thus became domineering.
However, after the Holy Ancestor Kangxi took office, the ministers of political affairs only existed in name, and the actual power was transferred to the ministers of the interior and the imperial ministers. After Yongzheng, it was transferred to the minister of military aircraft.
The so-called meeting of kings and ministers who discuss government affairs after Kangxi actually does not exist at all. They are large court meetings attended by officials above a certain rank and ministers who discuss government affairs.
Jia Liuqian proposed to convene a meeting of kings and ministers to discuss political affairs, and the proposed participants were ministers, governors, governors, and ministers.
Since the Qianlong Dynasty, many important ministers have been given the title of minister of state affairs, but none of them have been given to royal princes.
Therefore, Prince Rui's being awarded the title of Councilor Minister is truly a great honor for Prince Rui himself, and it also further improves his political status, because from now on he can call himself the Councilor King.
According to the customs established a hundred years after the founding of the People's Republic of China, the most noble prince is the regent, the second most noble is the councilor, and the third is Heshuo and Duoluo.
As for the general king, it is just a special appointment created under special circumstances and is an exception.
There are only two of them at present, and they are positions that can be dismissed once used, not serious civil servants.
So, looking at the Qing Dynasty, besides Prince Rui, who else was there to discuss political affairs in the Qing Dynasty?
"No!"
Director Ji gave his affirmation very honestly.
Jia Liu was immediately elated, and happily said to his attendants: "It seems that I am no longer as simple as sitting on the rostrum. According to legal principles, ethical order, axioms, and people's hearts, does the prince have to be ranked behind me?"
"
It seemed that he was asking the left and right, but actually he could tell that the prince's tone was affirmative, not inquiring.
So they all said in unison: "Your Majesty is wise!"
In fact, Jia Liu's understanding makes sense.
First of all, in theory, Qianlong, the fourth puppet emperor, is still the eldest, but Jia Liu, the political king, is the second eldest, and the prince and crown prince is the third eldest.
In fact, the Fourth Lao, the Jaap Boss, Jia Liu, the Second Lao, Se, and Rich Brother are tied for the third.
The reason is that Mr. Se is only Prince Heshuoan, not Prince Heshuoan.
Although the old rich man is the head military minister, his actual title is not even that of a bogeyman.
When it comes to military power, the combined bargaining chips of the two of them are not enough to equal Jia Liuyi.
If he hadn't been afraid that like Yuan Shikai, he would usurp the throne and become the emperor, which would cause a swarm of opposition from the governors of the north and south, leading to civil war, severely damaging the vitality of the country and displacing the people, Jia Liu would have kicked Qianlong out of the board of directors and become the legal representative himself.
Thinking of something, he asked Ji Yun: "Old Ji, you are a great professor, you are very knowledgeable and know a lot. Can you tell me whether this political king has a veto power?"
Ji Yun was puzzled: "What is the veto power?"
Jia Liu didn't know how to explain it, so he could only say: "Whatever the emperor has in mind, I won't do it if I say no."
"Well, in principle, there is no problem."
Ji Yun's answer was a bit imitative.
"There is no problem in principle, but what if it is not in principle?"
Jia Liu has all kinds of bad things, but the only good thing is that when something happens, he must break the casserole and get to the bottom of it.
Institutional matters are very important.
Lao Ji's eyes flashed, as if he was deep in thought, and finally he said bluntly: "Your Majesty is now the general and king of political affairs. In terms of territory, Sichuan, Zhili, and if there is Hubei, there are already three of the eighteen provinces in the interior."
Jia Liu didn't know what Ji Yun wanted to say, but he had to correct him: "It's not three, it's eight."
Ji Yun was stunned, wondering where eight of them came from.
"Shandong Governor Cathay and the Admiral are the only close friends of mine. The Shandong camp soldiers are very kind to me. Governor Leerjin of Shaanxi and Gansu and Bi Yuan, the governor of Shaanxi, also have a very close relationship with me. Wang Tingzan, the governor of Gansu, and Wang Danwang, the governor of Zhejiang, are from the meeting.
, Tianjin Governor Xu Ji and I burned yellow paper.”
Jia Liu is not without pride. He has no other merits except having many friends.
The first and second leaders in these eight provinces are either joint members, mutual aid members, or dual members.
As long as Jia Liu holds heavy troops and takes the lead in overthrowing the imperial court, the eight provinces will definitely send congratulatory messages to the great Emperor Shikai as soon as possible and send a message to the whole country to respond.
"Well"
Lao Ji's face was as wet as a chicken's blood, "According to this, it's not eight, but ten!"
Now Jia Liu was puzzled. He had only developed eight provinces so far. How could he have ten provinces?
Lao Ji reminded Jia Liu not to forget the two provinces of Hunan and Jiangxi that were occupied by the Xinghan Army.
Jia Liu shook his head: "My father-in-law is a bit conservative, so he might agree to my surname being Zhu."
"That doesn't matter,"
Lao Ji rolled his eyes and said, "The prince now controls eight of the eighteen provinces in the mainland. He controls half of the country, and has tens of thousands of elite soldiers. The spirit of reform has filled the country, and his prestige has reached the extreme. Since ancient times, the ministers of autocratic countries have made unparalleled achievements.
As a result, there are only two ways to go: one is Yue Wumu, who dies and the country is in danger; the other is Cao Mengde, who is favored but cannot stay at home. If the king kills the minister, how will the prince be punished if the minister kills the king?"
Jia Liu was confused when he heard this: "Old Ji, if you speak plain language to me, you don't know that I have only attended flag school for three years."
Lao Ji hurriedly said: "What I mean is that the prince might as well explain the prince's ambition to Gu Shuai. It would be better if we can join forces and return to the capital to seize the treasure. If we can't join forces, please ask Gu Shuai."
Watch the fire from the other side. After the prince becomes the lord of the world, whether it is war or peace, we can always decide it with one vote."
"Old Ji, you always can touch my heartstrings,"
Jia Liu looked thoughtful, and picked up the special edict from the capital. He saw that there was another line at the end, but upon closer inspection, it read: "The present state of our ancestral country depends entirely on Prince Rui. Prince Rui's civil and military skills can help me to bring peace to the world. I feel that I am a sage king and a wise minister."
We have met each other for thousands of years, and now we have it between Prince Rui and me."
"What do you mean?"
Let Lao Ji translate it.
"Your Majesty, what the Emperor means is that you are the most virtuous king in the world today. He hopes that the Prince can assist him well and achieve the eternal story of mutual respect between king and minister. Oh, isn't that right?"
That's not right.
Lao Ji thought something was wrong, and Jia Liu also thought something was wrong.
It's about whether this decree was written by the old rich man or the fourth devil.
If it was written by an old rich man, just give him some false honors. He would just write nonsense about the relationship between the king and his ministers, and it is impossible for the old rich man to say that he, Jia Liu, is the most virtuous king in the world.
Because, what kind of virtue Jia Liu is, everyone in the world has it hidden in their bones, even when they are old and rich, they also have a clean family.
But if it was written by the fourth devil, then the problem will arise.
How could the old rich man allow the fourth devil to distribute red-headed documents at will without his permission?
"The old rich man is in cahoots with the fourth devil?"
Jia Liu frowned deeply and shook his head for a while, thinking it was impossible.
The old rich man and the old four devils hate to steal their wives.
Ji Yun came up with another guess: "Your Majesty, could it be that Prince An and the Fourth Japs are getting along again?"
"Um?"
Jia Liu felt that it was impossible, because the Fourth Japs fell into the situation he was in today entirely because Uncle Se betrayed him midway.
On that day, there was a change in the palace. If Uncle Se's imperial army with yellow flags hadn't rebelled collectively, even if Jia Liu led his troops into the palace, he probably wouldn't have been able to pull the Fourth Japs down so easily.
This is a deep hatred even more abominable than the hatred of seizing his wife.
"My lord, you once said that there are no permanent enemies and no permanent friends in this world."
Ji Yun felt that he needed to remind the prince, "The safest place is the most dangerous place. No, the most dangerous place is the safest place."
Baozhu, who was napping on the chair next to him, also woke up at this time. Hearing Director Ji's words, he curled his lips and said, "Sir, I'm talking about the possibility that the fourth devil did some ideological work behind your back.
How about dragging Fuzhongtang and Prince An over?"