Great Qing Dynasty talker

Chapter 575: The hero returns home in glory, the wanderer returns home

The morale of the Qing troops stationed in Xuzhou City was not high, but they could barely fight.

Inside the prefect’s Yamen,
"Sir, now that things have come to this, what should we do?"

Fu Chang'an looked at the loyal old butler and sighed.

For a long time,

Then he said:
"I am a descendant of the noble Fucha clan, and I have no choice but to die in service of my country."

"But the court is unfair to you. The new emperor actually wants to use you as a scapegoat."

Fu Changan smiled. The war had come to this point, and yet that kid Yongyan actually thought that the imperial edict still had meaning?

The soldiers on the front line of Huai'an-Xuzhou only recognize themselves, who would recognize the imperial court?
……

The Qing army made frequent movements inside and outside Xuzhou city.

However, the new army camp in northern Anhui, stationed in Xiao County, dozens of miles away, welcomed an envoy who came to persuade them to surrender - Xu Mancang, an officer of the 2nd Corps.

The leader of the new army, Liu Huangtong from Luzhou, sat at the table, eating so hard that steam came out of his head.

He asked coldly:
"Zheng Hean asked you to come?"

"Yes. I won't hide it from you now. The army will arrive tomorrow. Brother Liu, it's not too late to surrender now."

"If I surrender, what official position will Wu Ting give me?"

"Without an official title, I will go home and farm."

"What if I don't surrender?"

"Brother Zheng said that if he captures Xiao County, no one in the new army will survive."

……

Liu Huangtong drew out his sword and placed it on Xu Mancang's neck.

"Not negotiable?"

"No discussion. Brother Zheng said that even if there were 3000 fellow villagers, we would still kill them. The people of northern Anhui cannot be labeled as disloyal because of you."

"Brother Liu, aren't you afraid that people from your hometown will point at your coffin and scold you?"

For a long time,

Liu Huangtong nodded heavily.

Throw away the saber, and bow:
"Down!"

……

Xiaoxian is the gateway to Xuzhou.

After Liu Huangtong and his 3000 new troops turned against the city, they first killed all the gentry and powerful people in the city, and then turned around and marched towards Xuzhou.

The 2nd Army Corps arrived shortly afterwards, took over Xiao County, and looted all the valuables in the city.

The surrendered new army used the disguise of friendly forces to suddenly attack and capture Suining County and Dangshan County.

As usual,

Kill all the gentry and powerful people.

At this point, all Qing troops outside Xuzhou were wiped out and no strongholds remained.

……

The 2nd Corps was full of murderous intent. Instead of trying to persuade the enemy to surrender, they directly pulled out 30 cannons to bombard Xuzhou City.

This is the traditional skill of the Wu army artillery.

Before attacking the city, suppress the enemy with firepower, and blow the gate towers, arrow towers, battlements, and any place where people can hide into rubble. Then carry the mortar forward and fire the city walls twice.

The infantry then rushed up with ladders, stepped onto the city wall and planted the flags, and the city was considered to be broken.

How much do you get in a month?

Who engaged in street fighting in the 18th century?

Although the people of Xuzhou have been tough since ancient times, Fu Chang'an did recruit a group of local men.

However, under the violent attack of the 2nd Legion, Xuzhou was captured in just one and a half hours.

……

"General Liu Huangtong pays respect to Lord Zheng."

"We are all from the same village, so get up. You and your people should take your severance pay, throw away your weapons, cut off your braids and go home."

Liu Huangtong suddenly looked up and looked at Zheng Hean's sallow face in surprise.

Hesitant to speak.

Zheng Hean was too lazy to talk to him and waved him away.

He is no longer the big brother of the underworld. Over the years, he has gradually realized that things in the world are not as simple as black and white. He must consider both his superiors and his subordinates.

……

Inside the magistrate's office.

Fu Chang'an and his Eight Banners soldiers held their ground and resisted stubbornly, fighting desperately like trapped beasts.

When Wu's army brought in the 6-pound cannon, his resistance became a child's game.

Cannon, break the wall.

The wall was violently demolished with solid bullets, and then the crowd rushing out of the gap was shot at with volleys of gunfire.

The officers of each unit had already received clear orders from the commander.

"No prisoners, only heads."

The surrendered Qing troops, regardless of Manchu or Han, and regardless of official rank, were driven to the banks of the Si River by the soldiers of the 2nd Corps and killed with bayonets.

More than 10,000 Qing army heads, including Fu Chang'an, were neatly laid out, and the flags of various armies and the seals of civil and military officials were spread all over the floor.

Register.

That night, truckloads of wealth were sent back home.

The officers all sighed, thinking that the commander might not live long.

……

There was thunderous cheers around Fuyang, and the three prefectures in northern Anhui were all blessed.

When the money arrived, the local elders with prestige were summoned to explain the purpose of the money. The money could only be used to build schools, buy school land, hire teachers, buy paper and pens, and buy teaching materials.

The villagers’ main goal is to rush to spend the flowers, spend them quickly, and not leave even a single one or two.

Even if the imperial court found out about it later and wanted to recover the stolen money, there would be nowhere to go.

Unless the imperial court raided the schools, took away the children's paper and pens, and sold the school land.

But it's obviously impossible.

It doesn't matter if it hurts the feelings of the folks in northern Anhui, but it will never be good to hurt the morale of the 2nd Corps.

……

The 2nd Corps, in accordance with the commander's will, divided its troops into five routes and launched attacks in different directions.

Since the commander is willing to take the blame, his subordinates should be more understanding.

All the troops rushed forward, sweeping away the local forces wherever they passed. Taking advantage of the war to throw away the children and the foot washing water together, the unity and unruliness of the Anhui people were once again fully demonstrated~
However, Zheng Hean was still rational and ordered his troops not to attack Qufu. The life or death of Duke Yansheng was not decided by the 2nd Corps.

The military judge wrote down the facts in the report, and they would not hide anything for Zheng Hean. But the reports went back and forth, which bought time.

……

Luzhou Prefecture.

The report from the military judge and the report from the Ministry of the Interior's spies arrived at the imperial desk almost at the same time.

Li Yu threw the military newspaper on the spot and became furious.

"What does this bastard Zheng Hean want to do?"

"Lu Zhou, take my order and go to the front line to remove him. You will temporarily take over the Second Army."

"Your Majesty, after taking over, should I continue the attack?"

"No! Withdraw the 2nd Corps first and send it to Henan to clear out and resettle the refugees. Let the newly formed 10th Corps take over the 2nd Corps' offensive route."

Everyone was afraid to say anything, wondering what was wrong with Lao Zheng? Is that money you can touch?

After Guard Lu Zhou walked out of the room, he could still hear His Majesty yelling angrily:
"My money!"

Nowadays, money is needed everywhere in the world.

Zheng Hean allowed his troops to seize the land in Jiangsu, Shandong and Henan, and even brought the money he collected back to his hometown for charity, which offended Your Majesty.

……

The 2nd Corps was worthy of being the veteran elite of the Wu Army. It advanced with light troops and killed many people in Guide Prefecture in Henan, Caozhou Prefecture in Shandong, and Huai'an Prefecture in Jiangsu.

The last unlucky one was Cao County, Caozhou Prefecture.

More than 100 gentry and powerful people who were taking refuge in the county town were overjoyed when they saw the Wu army’s flags. They quickly opened the city gates and knelt to welcome the royal army.

What responded to them was the gleaming bayonets.

The 2nd Legion will not show mercy to anyone except their fellow countrymen.

They were keen on killing people with bayonets, so new bayonets needed to be supplied after each battle.

This is the exact opposite of the 4th Army.

The 4th Army never asked for logistical bayonets. Recently they have been busy asking for fuel, under the pretext of popularizing civilization.

Fire is a symbol of human civilization.

Arson is the popularization of civilization.

How can civilization come about without burning those lush and wild frontier lands?

……

After entering Cao County, Warrant Officer Xu Mancang stepped on the corpses and shouted:
"Quick, check the reverse birth."

"We take one truckload at a time, and load the valuable items first. The money we get is ours."

On that day, one cart of gold ingots and one cart of silver ingots were sent away.

The next day, when the first golden rays of morning sun shone over Cao County again, the military order arrived. The cavalry shouted:

"Your Majesty has ordered that the entire Second Army Corps return to their base and assemble in Xuzhou. On the day the order arrives, all units will return immediately. Anyone who disobeys will be considered a traitor."

Xu Mancang approached with a shy face and asked:
"How is Commander Zheng?"

The messenger sneered:
"There's a change of commander. The new commander's last name is Lu."

……

Luzhou Prefecture.

"Your Majesty, Zheng Hean has been escorted back."

"Bring him here, I want to ask him face to face what he wants to do." Li Yu was still furious.

however,
The guard hesitated for a moment and replied in a low voice:

"Your Majesty, Lord Zheng is ill again. The doctor said it is contagious. Your Majesty is worth a million dollars~"

"Ok?"

"Your Majesty. Several military doctors have examined it and they said~"

"say what?"

"They all say that Lord Zheng won't live long. His old illness hasn't healed, and he's now infected with typhoid fever. He's almost exhausted, and he won't live long enough to see the spring."

Silence, Li Yu sighed.

Looking at the snow outside the window, he turned his back to the guard and ordered:
"I don't want to see him. Go and ask him what his last wishes are and try to satisfy them."

"Yes."

……

Fuyang County, Zhengjiawei.

Amidst the snowy sky, we welcomed our long-lost friend.

A disheveled young man ran over in the snow, shouting:

"I'm coming."

Everyone perked up and stood up straight, shaking off the snowflakes.

The most prestigious Third Grandfather of Zhengjiaxu, with his short grey hair fluttering in the cold wind, smiled with his toothless mouth:
"Drums and gongs, firecrackers, make some noise."

"We need to let Xiao Anzi feel the care and love of our fellow villagers."

Half a mile away,

Zheng Hean suddenly heard loud gongs and drums and firecrackers. He opened the curtain of the carriage and saw his fellow villagers standing in the snow. His eyes instantly became moist.

……

2 days later,

The snow is still falling.

Zhengjiawei held a large open-air banquet with more than 100 tables.

It’s a buffet, eat as much as you want.

After you finish eating, you can still take some. The big basket on the side is full of white steamed buns, so you can put a few in your arms and take them home when you leave.

For this buffet, Zheng Hean took out more than 1 taels of his savings.

Jiang Chun, the general merchant who was supervising production at the Huainan Coal Mine, also came when he heard about this. He also brought 5000 kilograms of anthracite and 500 jars of old wine as a friendly sponsorship.

……

Open-air banquets are a rural feature.

On one side were 30 large steaming iron pots with spatulas flying.

On one side, there were more than 100 bustling tables where diners were enjoying their meals, completely ignoring the snowflakes falling overhead.

The women were shuttling back and forth.

The diners in front will leave quickly after eating so that the diners behind can take up their places.

Keep eating.

No matter where they are from, whether they are farmers or beggars, old people or children, from this village or from the neighboring county, as long as they come, they can be seated at the table.

If there are not enough tables, we have to eat while squatting.

In short, it does not affect the appetite.

……

Zheng Hean was wearing a black fox fur and sitting at the head table.

A childhood playmate in ragged clothes came over with a wine bowl in his hand to toast.

I walked closer and took a look, and couldn't help crying.

"Master Zheng, why are you so thin? Aren't you a high-ranking official?"

Zheng Hean was calm. He stood up, picked up the wine bowl and clinked it with his own:
"A person's fate is determined by heaven. Why are you crying on such a happy day?"

"Come on, do it!"

After finishing the wine in the bowl, Zheng Hean put his arm around his childhood playmate's shoulders and whispered:

"Eat as much as you want, drink as much as you want, and take more when you leave."

"If you don't take it, I won't be happy."

……

After sending away more than a dozen acquaintances in a row, Zheng Hean's face became unusually rosy.

He picked up the wine bowl:
"Mr. Jiang, thank you very much."

Jiang Chun, who was sitting below him, quickly raised his coarse porcelain wine bowl:

"Master Zheng, you are too polite. I heard that it is lively here, so I came here to join in the fun and ask for a glass of wine."

They both drank it in one gulp.

The plainclothes guard next to him couldn't help but whispered:

"Commander, please drink less. Your health is very important."

"Nonsense, come with me for a bowl?"

Zheng Hean's calmness actually made the third uncle who was sitting at the table lose his guard.

With red eyes, he held Zheng Hean's skinny hand:
"Xiao Anzi, our good days are just around the corner, so what, what~"

……

On this day,

Zheng Hean met countless familiar faces and got drunk.

The next morning, he did not wake up.

then,

According to his will, the banquet must not be stopped and must continue until all the food is eaten up.

The only difference is that the red silk was replaced with white cloth.

A mourning hall was also set up.
Zheng Hean never revealed his true feelings until his death, why did he suddenly rebel against His Majesty?
You must know that since its establishment, the 2nd Legion has never disobeyed Your Majesty's will and is extremely loyal.

……

After the Huguang Campaign, he temporarily left the army and thought about many things he had never thought about before during his time of recuperation.

If we want to make our hometown prosperous, we must rely on education and industry.

Minister of Industry Du Ren revealed that there will be two super-large coal mines in northern Anhui, but the prospects are limited to this. In addition, the river will definitely be regulated, but it is hard to say when.

So, we can only rely on education.

And developing education requires a lot of money.

It is impossible for Emperor Wu to allocate special funds to northern Anhui. This is unrealistic.

So, when the doctor diagnosed that he would die soon, Zheng Hean became more open-minded and decided to use his last breath to seek some benefits for his fellow villagers.

People are not killed for their own sake.

Even if Your Majesty is furious, he cannot blame a dead person. The most he can do is not to posthumously honor himself.

Zheng Hean had no sons, only several daughters, so it seemed that this posthumous title was really insignificant. With a large number of officers from northern Anhui in the army, no one dared to bully them.

……

Zheng Hean never told the above to any of his confidants until his death. Instead, he asked his confidants to swear to be loyal to the emperor forever.

He has his reasons!

He didn't dare let his brothers harbor even the slightest resentment towards the court or even towards His Majesty.

Once resentment arises, it will breed and grow wildly.

Once the loyalty of the 2nd Legion is no longer pure, great disaster will befall.

The 2nd Legion and the 4th Legion are different after all.

Everyone knows that the 4th Legion is a bunch of bastards. But everyone also knows that these bastards have no other thoughts except making money.

Such an ending is probably the best outcome for himself and the 2nd Legion.

……

After the general merchant Jiang Chun left, he sent another 100 pigs, 300 stones of flour, 50 carts of cakes and vegetables, 200 jars of wine, and 1000 kilograms of oil, salt, sauce and vinegar.

Therefore, the Zhengjiawei buffet lasted for 31 days, and people from the surrounding areas and refugees flocked to the event.

Many people were impressed by how beautifully Mr. Zheng handled the funeral.

Large scale and long-lasting impact.

If nothing else,

Thirty or fifty years from now, people will still remember him, not because of the banquets, but because of the schools.

(End of this chapter)