Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 594
While Zhao Xin was talking to Cao Peng, the "Jiaodong Detachment" of the Northern Navy had just conquered Wendeng County, and another battalion had already crossed the Muzhu River west of Wendeng, entered the Kunlun Mountain Pass, and was heading for Muping City.

In the eyes of many people in later generations, the fighting power of the green battalion in the Qing Dynasty was very rubbish, but it was divided into time and region.In history, the real reason for the corruption of the green battalion in the Qing Dynasty was not only the indiscriminate system, but also related to military politics.

In the first few years when Fukang'an was inspecting the green camps in Shandong and Henan, he said that the performances of the green camps were like monkey shows, and the combat effectiveness was too bad, but this was not unique to the Qing Dynasty. It has been like this since the Ming Dynasty, and it has just been passed down from generation to generation.

The so-called "no distinction between jobs and operations" means that many green battalions not only maintain local law and order, suppress smuggling and thieves, but also undertake military training and take charge of combat and defense tasks; The work of the green battalion turned the green battalion soldiers into slippery and lazy yamen servants.This is also the reason why the green battalion was unusable during the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and finally all regions organized their own group training.

In terms of military politics, although the green battalion usually trains like a trick, as long as there are frequent battles, it can still turn the fictitious into the real, and turn it into a whole. Many shortcomings in peacetime are often made up in war; And the Shaanxi-Gansu Green Battalion, this is the local army most used by the Qing court.

But Shandong Green Camp is really not good!Politically, He Shen was in power, bribed the public, corruption became common, and the military administration also corrupted.In the military, they have not fought for many years, and their combat effectiveness is terrible; often, the green battalion over there collapses as soon as the Beihai Navy fires a few shots.

Fifteen years after the Shunzhi period in the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the central plains were settled, there was nothing to do in Shandong, and the inland defense was tilted towards coastal defense. At that time, the general officer of Yizhou Town was transferred to Jiaozhou and changed to Jiaozhou Town; To Dengzhou, changed to Dengzhou Town.In the 15nd year of Kangxi, Jiaozhou Town was abolished and changed to Jiaozhou Association in Dengzhou Town.

When Beihai Town fought Rongcheng four years ago, the entire Shandong green battalion included Governor Tibiao, Dengzhou Town, Yanzhou Town, and Donghe soldiers affiliated to the Governor of Hedao, with a total strength of 17504.

From the 54th year of Qianlong, the Ministry of War felt that Shandong's military strength was insufficient. Only because Dengzhou Town could not resist the attack of the Northern Navy, it went to Qianlong to ask for the addition of Yizhou Town and Qingzhou Town, which also governs the land route, to defend Laizhou. Bay, and can provide support to Dengzhou Town.The two towns have three battalions in the middle and south, each with [-] troops; among them, Qingzhou Town is stationed in Gaojiagang Town, Qingzhou, and Linqu, and Yizhou Town is stationed in Yishui, Yizhoufu, and Rizhao.

The so-called things are fixed and soldiers are kept, and soldiers need food and pay.The Ministry of War has a good idea, but the problem is that after all these years of fighting with the Beihai Navy, the Manchu Qing has already used up the Ministry of Households' treasury silver.As of December 53, Qianlong, there were only 9805 million taels of silver left in the household department of the Qing court, more than 100 million taels of sealed silver in the inner treasury, and more than 8805 million taels of silver in the outer treasury; The treasury revenue collected is [-] million taels, and the available ones are [-] million taels.

From the perspective of expenditure, the annual disbursement silver of each province is more than 500 million taels, the department treasury disbursement silver (including Eight Banner salaries) is more than 400 million taels, the military supply silver for the Jilin front line is more than 400 million taels a year, and the river management The annual wages are also 800 million taels, plus the [-] million taels of exemption and deferment of the disaster-affected localities, and in the end there will be less than [-] million taels left.

At this time, the Qing court was already in great financial difficulty, so it had to make donations and lose money if the salary was not enough.

If it had been engaged in "donation and loss" before, the Manchu and Qing courts would have had to show some face and paid great attention to methods and methods.For example, if the rich households being persuaded have savings but donate little or are unwilling to donate, the magistrates will come to persuade them in person, treat each other with courtesy, follow the temptation, and impress the other party with the friendship of the country or the retribution of yin and yang. Anyway, in the end, it will be revealed Everyone is happy.

But since the Northern Navy launched the "Outer Mongolian Offensive" and the Qing court sent troops northward to "resist the enemy", everything changed.Be persuasive?stop talking!
At present, donations have become the performance indicators for the imperial court to assess the governors of various provinces.At the beginning, I said a few nice words, and then threatened and intimidated; those who were unable to report the donation could only bribe the guards to avoid the donation, and those who were worried about donating too much bribed the officials so that they could donate less.So much so that Ruan Yuan lamented in his secret letter to Beihai Town: "It's called a persuasion donation, but it's actually a donation. For wealthy households and those who are only well-off, the price ranges from 2000 to [-] taels, down to hundreds of dollars and tens of dollars. Seeking selfishness for selfish interests, disregarding accumulating grievances for the country, so that the mourners are almost devoid of reason!"

With the fall of Wendeng City, the news of the North Sea pirates finally spread to Dengzhou and Laizhou.At the same time, Ninghai Prefecture, Fushan, Haiyang and other places issued emergency documents one after another, saying that green-clothed northern pirates had been found in their jurisdictions, which made Denglai Qingbing Beidao Cao Zhitian confused and unable to judge The movement of the Northern Navy.

Cao Zhitian knew that it would be difficult to repel the North Navy with only the strength of the three places in Denglaiqing, so he immediately sent a letter to Jiqing, governor and admiral of Jinan, requesting to transfer Yizhou soldiers and Yanzhou soldiers to support Denglai; The deputy general ordered him to lead the troops to Dengzhou and Laiyang to assist in the defense.

Don't look at what was said before that the Shandong Green Camp has nearly [-] troops, but even if the governor agrees, not many troops will come, and Deng Laiqing has to figure out a way by himself.

Here is an explanation of the military system and the functions of the green battalion.

The hierarchical division of military regions in the Qing Dynasty can be divided into five levels: the first military region, the second town, the third standard, the fourth association, and the fifth battalion.In each military region, "town" is the foundation, and each town has a general officer, who is the chief general of the town; Defensive, Qian Zong, Ba Zong.

The troops led by the commander-in-chief are called "Biao", the troops led by the deputy general are called "Xie", and the troops led by the generals, guerrillas, capital divisions, and garrison are called "battalions".The pacesetters are specially prepared for dispatching battles, the coordinating soldiers are for defending important areas, and the battalion is only defending one city and one city.In other words, the guards in Jinan City, Laizhou, Jimo, Wuding, Andong, Ningfu, and Shoule could not go out of their jurisdiction to fight, but could only defend the local area.What can really be mobilized in various parts of Shandong are pacesetters and co-ops.

In addition, all province-wide military operations have never been a matter of one province, and the surrounding provinces have also sent troops to assist in the suppression. Therefore, the practice of the Manchu Qing Dynasty is to send a university scholar to lead the overall situation (refer to Qingshui to teach Wang Lun's rebellion, in addition to sending a university soldiers, and [-] Imperial Guards were transferred from the Jianrui Battalion and the Firearms Battalion.)
For Cao Zhitian, who served as Denglai Qingbing's preparation, although leading the army to fight was the job of the commander-in-chief and deputy general below, it was his responsibility to formulate a strategy to retreat from the enemy, and to supervise the battalions and counties along the coast.Once there is a mistake in Dengzhou Mansion, he will be the first target of the court's operation, and he will be cut off directly, and his head will be lost if it is serious.

Cao Zhitian arranged all the things at hand overnight, and took his men on board the boat from Haimiaokou, north of Laizhou, early the next morning, and arrived in Dengzhou late that night.As soon as he entered the city, he didn't care about being tired all the way, so he immediately went to the General Army Yamen to convene a meeting of Dengzhou civil and military officials to discuss countermeasures.

The Beihai Navy was about to hit their doorstep, and none of the civil and military officials in Dengzhou wanted to sleep. Due to the local principle of non-comparison of civil and military, everyone was waiting for the soldiers to prepare for Dao Cao.

Everyone met in the flower hall first, and Cao Zhitian and Enthemo sat facing each other. Others, including the prefect, Tongzhi, Penglai county magistrate, Guerrilla, Dusi, and other civil and military officials, sat at the bottom (according to the Qing system) , Si Dao sees the admiral, and the admiral sees the governor in the same way. If the admiral brings a first-grade Spyker, the governor faces west, the admiral faces east, and the rest meets the enemy body.)
Cao Zhitian asked as soon as he came up: "The previous report said that the North Sea pirates have more than 2 soldiers?"

Enthemer, the commander-in-chief of Dengzhou Town, shook his head and said: "I'm afraid there are no 2 people. However, the last general sent his soldiers disguised as fishermen to investigate in Chengshanjiao five days ago. According to the news they brought back, there are only There are 24 giant ships anchored in the fish pond, and according to the estimate that each ship can seat 300 people, there will always be 7000 people."

Lan Jiazan, the magistrate of Dengzhou, said: "The servants sent by the strong squad of the government government have reached Ninghai Prefecture as far as possible. According to the news sent back in the afternoon, it was rumored that the North Sea pirates appeared in the county, and no one has seen it with their own eyes. Because the distance from Yang is too far, it is estimated that there will be no definite news until tomorrow."

Cao Zhitian was heartbroken after hearing this, and the six or seven thousand Beihai Navy is not something that the soldiers and horses in Denglai Qingsan Prefecture can deal with.The most troublesome thing is that the sea is one mile north of Dengzhou Fucheng. If the big ships of the Northern Sea Pirates come, no matter whether it is Shuicheng or Fucheng, they will all be within the range of the opponent's cannons.So he quickly asked: "Where are the town bidders currently stationed?"

Enthemo said: "The last general was also worried about the cannons of the Northern Sea Pirates, so he ordered people to withdraw from the water camp. At present, all the people in the town are camping in the south of Yanzhi Hill, which is close to the county seat, and it is convenient to transport rice and grain. Send troops to support without disturbing the people. The warships from Shuiying are arranged to go to Sang Island."

"How's the situation in Chengshan Camp? Where's Wendeng?"

Lan Jiazan said: "The low-level officials sent people from the Fuya Kuaiban to go to Haiyang sentry, and I didn't see a single person from the Chengshan camp. There were more than 200 people who escaped from Wendeng. I heard from the people who escaped that Beihai The cannons and quick guns of the thieves were so fierce that as soon as they met each other, more than 100 people disappeared."

Cao Zhitian thought for a while, and said to everyone present: "From your point of view, what is the intention of the Northern Sea Pirates entering Shandong this time?"

Everyone understands immediately when they hear it. What Cao Daotai means is that the Northern Sea Pirates are here to occupy territory or steal people?If it's the latter, then it's okay, people, we have plenty in Dengzhou.But if it is the former.
It was the prefect Lan Jiazan who answered, and he said: "From the news from Rongcheng, the North Sea pirates directly occupied the county government office this time, counted the grain in the Changping warehouse, and issued public notices for the safety of the people. There is nothing like before. This time I mentioned the matter of recruiting refugees."

As soon as Cao Zhitian heard it, he knew that the trouble was serious, he sighed, and told about his writing about Qingzhou Town and Jiaozhou Association, and everyone felt at ease.But then I thought about it, even the tens of thousands of troops of the imperial court were no match for the North Sea Pirates. Even if all the soldiers from Shandong came, there were only more than 2 soldiers.The Jiaodong area is long and narrow from east to west, and narrow from north to south. If the North Sea Pirates sent gunboats to patrol the north and south, the tens of thousands of Qing troops would not be able to move along the line between Kunlun Mountain and Rushan Mountain.

"You still have to recruit young and strong, and order all townships and villages to help defend."

Lan Jiazan said: "I have already sent people to send orders to the counties to recruit young and strong leaders. In addition, the people have taken refuge in the city these days. Penglai County has also recruited many people and is stepping up the drill. It's just that the food and salary are not enough."

Cao Zhitian said to Enthemo: "The donation from Dengzhou hasn't been sent to the feudal clan yet, right?"

"No."

"I remember forty-one thousand and eighty-five taels?"

"The old man's dog has a really good memory!" Enthemo cursed in his heart, showing a bitter face and said, "I have been in arrears for the bid for nine months. Master Cao, look at it."

"Let's send it out for two months first, everyone is in the same boat, bear with it! I will explain it to the vassal yamen."

After Cao Zhitian finished speaking, he stood up and bowed his hands to everyone in the hall, saying: "Everyone, the most important thing right now is to protect Dengzhou's capital, and we must not let the North Sea Pirates take the water camp easily. Once Penglai is lost, the North Sea Pirates will use this as their base , the north can attack Lushun, and the west can go straight to Dagukou, and what happened in the next year will repeat itself! My personal life and death are minor matters, and the safety of the emperor and the capital is the major issue!"

"At present, the patients are not because of our weak strength, but we must have the determination to be united and united with the enemy! Although the thieves have invaded on a large scale, they can go deep into the Jiaodong mountainous area, and they must get food locally. Before that, the emperor issued an edict, strictly ordering the coastal states and counties, if Beihai When thieves come and invade, we should fortify the walls and clear the wilderness, so that the enemy has no way to eat; we, as the officials who guard the land, shall swear to live and die with the city! Those who abandon the city and flee will be killed without mercy! You should encourage the soldiers and the young and strong, and boost the morale!"

Enthemer was a bit puzzled: "Master Cao, you must know the situation of the green camp's military equipment. The Northern Sea Pirates, both officers and men, are armed with rapid-fire guns, which can shoot several times in a flash. Even if there is a large army gathered, Recruiting young and strong men, but how can swords, guns, bows and arrows defeat the enemy?"

"Oh! What about Ian's opinion?"

"Well." Enthemo glanced at Lan Jiachan, and the other party answered immediately: "Master Cao, I discussed this matter with Chief Ensemble En before I was appointed, and I think it is feasible, but I need you to make a regulation."

Cao Zhitian felt very unhappy when he heard his hesitation, and interrupted: "Master Lan, what exactly do you want to say? Why not speak up!"

Lan Jiazan was heartbroken, thinking that if Dengzhou Mansion was really lost, he would also have to die for death, let's go through this first and then talk about it!

"Folk Guns"

Ok? !Cao Zhitian's eyes lit up immediately, and he twitched his beard for a moment and said, "Okay, let's do it like this! Tomorrow morning, we will send people to summon the common people hunters according to the book, and anyone who has a firecracker at home will be called!"

Enthemo said: "I'm afraid that the nitrates are not enough, and the iron bullets also need to be made by someone."

"It doesn't matter. Tomorrow morning, my official will ask someone to take a handwritten letter and go back to Laizhou to gather."

　The green battalion system in the Qing Dynasty was established by dividing military areas.The military region is different from the provinces in the administrative region. Its establishment is based on the regional terrain; any terrain with auxiliary vehicles will be divided into a military region, such as Liangjiang, Fujian and Zhejiang, Huguang, Shaanxi-Gansu, Guangdong-Guangzhou, and Yunnan-Guizhou.In the early Qing Dynasty, Zhili, Henan, and Shandong were one big military region. After a hundred years of no incident, Shandong and Henan became the belly of the Central Plains, so they became independent respectively. The same is true for other places such as Shanxi and Sichuan. .In addition, in the organizational system of the military camp, the patrol battalion of the capital is dedicated to suppressing places, similar to the police in later generations, and has no task of guarding, so it is called a battalion instead of a town, and there is no standard and association on the battalion.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)