The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 354: Weng Tonghe, Director of the Nanyang New Army’s Beijing Office (Requesting Subscription and Vote)

Of course, promoting the new Eight Banners Army could not be accomplished solely by Ronglu's gossip and a letter to Concubine Yi. Things in Beijing were not that easy to handle.

So after mentioning this to Ronglu, Luo Xueyan invited a group of subordinates and aides who could give him advice to Dianchuntang the next morning, and asked them to make plans for him while they drank tea.

"What? Marshal Xue, you want to push the emperor to set up a new army of eight banners? That's impossible, right? Those opium-smoking bastards are really capable of carrying foreign rifles and fighting the Taiping Army head-on with rifles?"

The person who spoke at this moment was Yu Wanqing, who had just returned to Shanghai from his hometown Jinhua Prefecture yesterday. He was sent to Zuo Zongtang's army a few months ago to "clean up", not from black to white, but from dead to alive. This is really a strange story in the Qing officialdom! I wonder if Xianfeng would suspect that Sai Shang'a, Xiang Rong and other loyal martyrs of the Qing Dynasty are still alive after knowing this?

But no matter what Xianfeng would think, Yu Wanqing had to live because Luo Xueyan needed him to go to his hometown, Jinhua Prefecture, to recruit soldiers.

Jinhua not only produced ham, but also Yiwu soldiers. Yiwu is a county under Jinhua Prefecture. There are no small commodities in that area now, but there are many privately opened and abused gold, silver, copper and coal mines. They are not large mines with rich resources, but they still support many miners.

Since mine bosses and miners often fought for territory, and the miners were better organized than farmers, over time, the customs of the people in Yiwu became a bit tough.

Although Yiwu's strength is not very impressive in Hunan, Guangxi and Huaixi, it is indeed a rare source of soldiers when looking at the southeast.

Therefore, Yu Wanqing, who had a lot of connections in Jinhua, first followed Zuo Zongtang to "clean up his reputation" and then went to Jinhua to recruit soldiers. In total, he helped Luo Xueyan recruit 10,000 people, and only in the past few days he took a boat to Shanghai.

With these ten thousand new recruits, Luo Xueyan’s Third Regiment of the Nanyang Army can open for business!

The Nanyang Army now has two regiments. Luo Xueyan personally controls the first regiment, Zuo Zongtang controls the second regiment, and with the addition of the third regiment, the Nanyang Army will have three regiments of elite troops. The first regiment is already fully equipped and staffed, with a total of more than 13,000 people.

In addition, King Wu Luo Yaoguo had four armies of the Taiping New Army, numbered the First, Second, Third, and Fourth Armies.

The organization of these four new Taiping armies is actually exactly the same as that of the three Nanyang towns, all of which are "division-level" field troops. They are led by Li Shoucheng, Wang Dalong, Zhu Ba, and Zeng Lichang respectively. However, these four armies are not yet fully staffed, with a total strength of around 40,000.

In other words, after the establishment of the Second Regiment of the Nanyang Army, the number of troops that Luo Yaoguo could control would reach as many as 63,000 to 64,000!
A truly powerful faction!
If the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom could really launch a Northern Expedition according to "Ji Du's oral instructions" - the route of the Yellow River collapsing and the Qing Dynasty falling, it is estimated that in another three or four years, Luo Yaoguo would be able to lead his army to "enter Beijing for the exam."

So now is the time to cultivate enemies for yourself!

The enemy cannot be raised too strong. It is best to be fat but not strong. When you bite him, your mouth will be full of oil. That is a good enemy!

"How is the new army trained by Senggelinqin in Wanping?"

Luo Xueyan did not discuss with Yu Wanqing whether the Eight Banners soldiers could carry rifles and fight against the Taiping Army, but instead asked about the Wanping New Army.

This new army was organized after Senggelinqin returned from his defeat in Hunan, and it has been a year now.

Luo Xueyan turned his gaze to Weng Tonghe. He came from Beijing. If he had intended to join Luo Xueshuai from the beginning, he would definitely collect more information from inside and outside Beijing.

Weng Tonghe met Luo Xueyan's gaze and said, "General Xue, before I left Beijing, the monk king's new army recruited 37,800 people, including more than 30,000 infantrymen, all of whom were able-bodied men recruited from Zhili. They were paid one ounce and five cents of silver and five dou of rice and flour per month. The gunpowder and bullets that were wasted during training, as well as the clothes, trousers and cloth shoes that were worn out, were all reimbursed by the court."

Luo Xueyan nodded, this treatment was acceptable!
Now the basic monthly salary of the Nanyang Army and the Taiping Army is only three silver dollars and five dou of rice. Of course, the training expenses are also paid from the public account.

"As for the cavalry, they all come from the Khorchin grassland and are the direct descendants of the monk king!" Weng Tonghe added, "There are about 7,000 to 8,000 people, divided into regular soldiers and auxiliary soldiers. Among them, there are 5,000 regular soldiers, each with two horses, and two cavalrymen are accompanied by an auxiliary soldier.

The monthly salary of a regular soldier is two taels of silver, plus one tael and a half of horse feed for a warhorse, and the monthly salary of an auxiliary soldier is also one tael and a half. In addition, the regular and auxiliary cavalry soldiers also receive five dou of rice and flour per month, and a warhorse is given three hundred kilograms of fodder per month. "

"Old Wu, do the math."

Luo Xueyan said to Wu Jianzhang with a smile.

After Luo Xueyan rectified the Jianghai Customs and formulated a set of money collection rules for mutual supervision among the Military Governor's Office, Jianghai Customs, and HSBC, Wu Jianzhang became the supervisor of Jianghai Customs again, and also the chief steward of the Shanghai Military Governor's Office. It was right to ask him to settle accounts. "I've calculated it," Wu Jianzhang said, "just counting the expenses of soldiers and war horses, the Wanping New Army needs 73,750 taels of silver a month, about 190,000 buckets of grain, and 3 million catties of fodder. If the grain and fodder are discounted, the Wanping New Army will spend at least 110,000 to 120,000 taels a month. If the various expenses of officers, equipment, ammunition, battalion commanders, carriages, and civilians are added, the Wanping New Army will spend at least 150,000 to 160,000 taels a month, which is nearly 2 million taels a year.

In addition, to recruit these 37,800 men and equip them with horses, guns and cannons, it would cost at least 2 million taels at once.”

The one-time expense is two million, and the annual maintenance fee is another two million!

That is to say, Xianfeng had already spent at least 4 million taels for this new army. If the southeastern source of wealth still existed, the Qing court would have been able to squeeze out this money by tightening its belt. But now the southeastern source of wealth of the Qing Dynasty has been divided among Luo Yaoguo, Yang Xiuqing, Hong Xiuquan, Zuo Zongtang, and Zeng Guofan.

It is no wonder that Xianfeng wanted to touch the crops of the Eight Banners masters. If he didn’t do anything, he would not be able to survive!

"How can the emperor be at ease if the Wanping New Army, which has been trained with so much money, cannot be firmly controlled by the bannermen?" Luo Xueyan smiled faintly, "Don't say that Senggelinqin is a royal relative. So am I! Zeng Dizhang even raised the banner! As for the Mongols and Manchus being one family, if I remember correctly, Senggelinqin is a Borjigin, right? It seems that the Mongolian Khan can do it!
So isn't it appropriate to incorporate the young men of the Beijing Banners into the new army of Wanping, and use the Eight Banners soldiers to supervise the training of the troops in Zhili and the grasslands? Shengfu, what do you think? "

"Marshal Xue is right!" Weng Tonghe nodded. "In fact, many people in the court are already worried about Marshal Xue, Lord Zeng, Lord Zuo, Lord Jiang and other senior officials who lead the troops."

"Who are they?" Luo Xueyan asked.

"Most of them are people who claim to be upright," Weng Tonghe said, "and some are relatives of the Manchu nobles."

Luo Xueyan smiled and said, "They all have a good relationship with your father, right?"

Weng Tonghe and Weng Tongjue's faces changed when they heard this.

In fact, their father had also submitted a similar memorial to Emperor Xianfeng, asking him to be wary of Luo Xueyan.

"It's okay," Luo Xueyan said with a smile, "I am a figure similar to the King of Pingxi, so you can say whatever you want! However, Kangxi was able to pacify the Three Feudatories because the Southern Ming Dynasty had long been gone, and Kangxi still had an Eight Banners Army that was still capable of fighting, as well as new forces like the Gansu and Shaanxi Green Camp.

If Kangxi only had Wu Sangui, Shang Zhixin, and Geng Jingzhong under his command."

He suddenly paused and looked at Weng Tonghe: "Shengfu, can you go to Beijing for me and talk to the gentlemen in Luozhong about this?"

"I dare not." Weng Tonghe stood up quickly.

Luo Xueyan waved his hands: "What is there to be afraid of? I asked you to go and tell them. Am I afraid of these things now? I am just being domineering! My Nanyang New Army eats Luo Xueshuai's food and wears Luo Xueshuai's clothes! In fact, it is not only the Nanyang New Army that is like this, but also other families! It is okay to make this matter clear to the court as soon as possible.

Shengfu, in the past, the Tang Dynasty's vassal states had a Jinzouyuan in Chang'an, and the Three Feudatories had a royal palace in Beijing, but I have nothing in Beijing. I want to open a hall in Beijing, can you help me preside over it?"

Weng Tonghe quickly bowed and said, "I am willing to go for Marshal Xue."

Luo Xueyan smiled and nodded. He attached great importance to this famous official of the late Qing Dynasty!

Although his reputation in later generations is not very high, it was very difficult to handle things in the late Qing Dynasty. How many people could leave a good reputation? Weng Tonghe was actually a pretty good talent.

"Okay!" Luo Xueyan said with a smile, "Shengfu, when you go to the capital this time, besides opening a memorial hall for me, there are three things you need to do."

"General Xue, please give me your orders." Weng Tonghe said respectfully.

Luo Xueyan smiled and said, "First, give Senggelinqin some more eye drops! I will arrange the funds for you later. I will give you 200,000 silver dollars first, and you can ask me for more if it is not enough! Second, brag about me, Lord Zeng, Lord Zuo, Lord Jiang and I in the capital city about how domineering we are! Third, arrange the wedding for me. Let the whole of Beijing see how Wanzhen gets married in a grand manner."

(End of this chapter)