The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 333: The Qing Dynasty can still learn from the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom! (Request for subscription and votes)
"Du Han, if you have any ideas, just tell me. The Qing Dynasty is already like this, is there anything I cannot bear to hear?"

When Xianfeng saw that his "senior brother" seemed to be hesitant to speak, he was delighted.

He hesitated to speak, which meant he was about to use a big move!
"Your Majesty is wise, so I will say this," Du Han said, "I suggest that the court refer to the new policies implemented by the Taiping in the south!"

"What? Learn from the Taiping rebels?" Xianfeng's eyes suddenly lit up. "You mean to distribute the land and fight against the local tyrants?"

Nothing makes money faster than robbing!
"No," Du Han corrected him hastily, "dividing the land and fighting against the local tyrants offended the scholars and officials of the world. This is the reason why the Taiping Rebellion was doomed to fail. Our dynasty must never follow suit."

Xianfeng also knew that "dividing the land and fighting the local tyrants" was simply not feasible for the Qing Dynasty, because he, the emperor, and the princes, beile, and high-ranking officials in the court were all big local tyrants!

How is it possible to hit yourself?

Du Han then asked, "Your Majesty, do you know that the Taiping Empire has a "Land System"?"

"Isn't this just dividing the land?" Xianfeng frowned.

"Not entirely," Du Han said, "I have carefully read the Tianchao Tianmu System and found that in addition to the distribution of land, there are many measures to promote industry and commerce and encourage mining and logging to take full advantage of the land.

After reading the "Compilation of Situation on Bandits" sent to Beijing by Zeng Guofan, Zhang Liangji, Luo Bingzhang and others, I found that some of the measures in it have been implemented well in Hunan.

For example, after the Taiping Rebellion occupied Daozhou, it lifted the ban on mining. First, it awarded the mines in Daozhou to several Tiandihui bandit leaders who helped it seize the city as a reward for their merit.

Later, as the territory expanded and there were more mines, they sold the mining rights to businessmen. Not only could they collect a large sum of money at one time, but they could also collect mining taxes over a long period of time in the future, and it could also allow many poor people to have food to eat.

Later, after selling all the mines, the Taiping rebels in Hunan began selling the right to cut down trees. They contracted out the hills in the area that were densely forested and easy to cut down to businessmen, allowing them to cut down and sell the trees. The effect was similar to selling mining rights.

In addition, three months ago, the Taiping in Huguang sold casino and brothel licenses in Changsha, Wuchang, Hankou, Hanyang and other places. This is another large sum of money.

What Du Han was talking about was actually only part of the policy of promoting the development of industry and commerce in accordance with the guidance of the Tianchao Tianmu System, which was implemented by Feng Yunshan, Xiao Chaogui and Zhu Jiutao in their respective territories. In addition to these, there were many other policies to stimulate industry and commerce and support small farmers.

For example, the Hunan Official Silver Bank and the Hubei Official Silver Bank were established to manage the money industry in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's jurisdiction over Hunan and Hubei, guiding interest rates downward to help merchants and farmers obtain financing.

For example, "industrial zones" were set up in major cities such as Changsha, Hengyang, Wuchang, Hanyang, and Hankou to encourage gentry and landlords who had fled from the rural areas of Hunan and Hubei to invest their spare money in handicrafts.

Another way is to rely on county farmers' associations to help small farmers sell agricultural products and grow cash crops to obtain higher income.

Feng Yunshan even invited many craftsmen from Guangdong through his connections with the Tiandihui, opened an official arsenal and shipyard in Hengyang, and sent people to search for minerals throughout the jurisdiction.

However, policies to stimulate industry and commerce and support small farmers took a long time to take effect, and certainly did not make money as quickly as "selling, selling, selling", so the Qing court did not pay attention to it.

When Emperor Xianfeng heard about the way the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was making money, his eyes lit up: "Banning mining and selling forests is a good idea!

Our Qing Dynasty is vast and rich in resources, with many mines. In the past, we were afraid that the strong and capable would gather together, so we banned it. Now we don’t care so much, just sell it! There are even more mountains and forests. Especially the old forests outside the Great Wall are so vast that they can’t be cut down! It’s a pity that gambling houses and brothels have always existed. Why didn’t our ancestors know to ban them? " "Your Majesty, there are also foreign cigarettes!" Du Han reminded, "Now the foreigners are forcing us to lift the ban, and we need them, so we might as well open it up, but we can’t open it all the way. We can set up an opium monopoly. Each province will have a monopoly envoy, each prefecture and direct-controlled state will have a deputy envoy, and each county will issue several monopoly licenses. In addition, the import of opium or self-cultivation of opium must also be managed by the opium monopoly envoy, and special licenses are required to plant and import.

There are three advantages to doing this: first, the monopoly license can make a lot of money at first; second, it can be used to collect tobacco taxes in the future; third, the salt monopoly makes people eat less, and the opium monopoly should have the same effect. "

"Okay, okay!" Xianfeng said "Okay" three times in a row, and then smiled and said: "Duanhua, Duhan, the Military Affairs Council will first draft a regulation on the ban on mining, the sale of forests and the opium monopoly.

As for asking Luo Xueyan, Zeng Guofan and Zuo Zongtang to submit a memorial together. Duanhua and Du Han, you are all familiar with Zeng Guofan, so write him a letter first and have a good discussion with him to see how to submit the memorial most appropriately.

Once you have reached an agreement with Zeng Guofan, I will send a secret order to Luo Xueyan and Zuo Zongtang!"

Huai'an, the headquarters of the Governor-General of the Grand Canal.

This largest government office in Huai'an Prefecture has now become the temporary office of Zeng Guofan, Minister of Hunan Militia, Assistant Minister of Jiangbei Camp, and Vice Minister of the Ministry of War.

Although Zeng Guofan's official position was merely the Minister of Militia in Hunan and the Assistant Director of the Jiangbei Camp, as he was in charge of the Ministry of Grain Transport, he was now the number one official of the Qing Dynasty in Jiangbei.

Qishan, the former imperial commissioner of the Jiangbei camp, took the blame for Prince Gong and was dismissed from office and sent home to enjoy his old rice. Yiliang, the former governor of Jiangsu, was also dismissed due to the fall of Suzhou Prefecture, where he was stationed. As for the governor, provincial judge, governor-general of Jiangnan, and governor-general of Jiangbei of Jiangsu, they either died for their country, disappeared, or were dismissed by Emperor Xianfeng.

Today, the officialdom of Jiangsu is almost empty, with only Zeng Guofan and Luo Xueyan, two important officials who cannot be easily moved.

These two have soldiers and money!

Luo Xueyan had more than 10,000 Nanyang New Army soldiers, all of whom were foreign riflemen! He also controlled Shanghai, where "gold was everywhere", and collected 700,000 to 800,000 taels of tax a month, making him extremely wealthy.

Zeng Guofan was the leader of the Hunan Army. Although he was defeated by Yang Xiuqing and surrendered to the canal last time, he managed to save most of the Hunan Army under his command. Yang Xiuqing was in a hurry to seize Yangzhou City and did not pursue Zeng Guofan. After he fled to Gaoyou Prefecture, he got the help of his fellow villager Wei Yuan, gathered the landlords' militia in Gaoyou, and added the Huai Army of Li Wenxuan and Miao Peilin, gathering more than 10,000 people and retreated to Huai'an.

After entering Huai'an, Zeng Guofan sent his disciple Huang Shijie to lead a battalion of Daozhou soldiers, under the pretext that Yangzhou salt merchants were colluding with bandits, to raid the Huai'an branch of the Lianghuai Salt Transport Bureau and take control of the Lianghuai salt administration.

Afterwards, he ordered Zeng Guoquan and Luo Zenan to lead the Hunan Army to search Huai'an for the big salt merchants and forced them to donate two million taels of silver!
Afterwards, he ordered Zeng Guobao to lead a battalion of Hunan Army to control Gaojiaba in Hongze Lake. Today, Hongze Lake is a hanging lake on the ground, a sword hanging over the heads of millions of people in northern Jiangsu.

Once Zeng Guobao blows up Gaojia Dam and releases the water from Hongze Lake, the Huainan area of ​​Huai'an Prefecture and the northern part of Yangzhou Prefecture will be flooded!
After this operation, Yang Xiuqing, who had temporarily "satiated" himself in Yangzhou, temporarily stopped going north and began to patiently manage the territories of Yangzhou Prefecture, Tongzhou, Haimen Hall and Jiangbei area of ​​Jiangning Prefecture. This also gave Zeng Guofan a chance to breathe!

At this time, Luo Bingzhang and Luo Raodian, who stayed in Hunan, sent him several thousand Hunan troops, while Miao Peilin and Li Wenxuan helped Zeng Guofan recruit a group of Huaiyong troops. In addition, British merchants in Shanghai transported a batch of foreign guns and cannons to Haizhou, so Zeng Guofan's military momentum was revived.

However, Zeng Guofan and his confidants Guo Songtao, Huang Shijie and his brother Zeng Guoquan, as well as Li Wenxuan, Miao Peilin and others who were hiding in the Grain Transport Inspectorate's Office at this moment knew in their hearts that once the Taiping Army launched a large-scale Northern Expedition, it would be difficult to defend the territories of Huai'an, Haizhou and Xuzhou.

"Di Zhang, throughout history, Xuzhou and Huai'an have always been the key points of the struggle between the North and the South! If the Southern Dynasty gets Huai'an, it can rely on Huai to defend the Yangtze River and protect itself. If the Southern Dynasty gets Xuzhou, it can turn defense into offense and manage the Central Plains. Therefore, Xuzhou and Huai'an must be the primary targets of the Taiping Rebellion. If we hold on to Xuzhou and Huai'an, I'm afraid we will become the court's meat shield!"

The person who was giving advice to Zeng Guofan was Miao Peilin. He knew the situation in Huai'an and Xuzhou very well!
Zeng Guofan squinted his triangular eyes, stroked his beard, said nothing, and no one knew what he was thinking.
"Master," Miao Peilin whispered, "in the past, Chagan Temur occupied Shandong, Bolo Temur occupied Shanxi, and Zhang Liangbi, Li Siqi and others occupied Shaanxi. I wonder which one you want to emulate?"

(End of this chapter)