The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 485: Continue the Northern Expedition
Mo Zibu's adjustments in Henan lasted until the end of March in the lunar calendar, and he mainly did three things.

First, we need to complete the overall framework of equal distribution of land in Henan. No matter how much each person can get, it still needs to be distributed.

Because you have already done this in Hunan and Hubei, even though Henan has less land, it is impossible for it to be completely uneven.

Therefore, in order to prevent famine caused by the weakening of the ability to resist floods, droughts and other natural disasters due to land fragmentation, Mo Zibu has ordered that merchant ships coming from Southeast Asia must carry rice north.

Then, the rice was used to build Guangji Granaries in Luoyang, Kaifeng, Xuchang and other places. Once a famine occurred, the granaries would be opened to release the grain, and the population would be gradually relocated.

Secondly, the power structure between the upper and lower levels was stirred up, and a group of officials and gentry who had originally benefited from the Qing system were replaced by people who defected to the new dynasty after it arrived in Henan. All the gentry from Hubei who fled to Henan were exiled to Southeast Asia.

Finally, he presided over the compulsory planting of corn, sweet potatoes and potatoes on 150,000 acres of land around Kaifeng Prefecture.

Although farming is a matter of life and death, even in the future, forcing the planting of a certain crop may easily backfire, but Mo Zibu must force it on a small scale for now.

The intention was to set an example for the promotion of these three relatively high-yield crops, and also to allow students from the newly established Agricultural Administration Department of the Ministry of Revenue and the Agricultural Colleges of Yingtian and Chengtian Imperial Colleges to participate in the research.

Only after these people and local farmers become familiar with the cultivation of these three crops can they quickly explore and summarize popularizable and relatively standardized cultivation techniques.

“Since the Kong family has already jumped out, we must deal with them thoroughly and harshly.

The ringleader was executed, the core members of the Kong family were exiled to Southeast Asia and outside the Great Wall, and the people who followed the surname Kong were also dispersed and resettled in various places. The people of Qufu were given two mu of land per person.

Mo Zibu whispered to Jinyiwei commander Chen Xu who was about to leave for Shandong that the disturbance in Shandong was actually deliberately caused by Mo Zibu.

Apart from the Kong family, there were not many people in the whole of Shandong who jumped out to cause trouble. Only some people who didn't know the situation were waving flags and cheering, but they didn't dare to actually take action.

Therefore, the Shandong incident can be suppressed with just 10,000 garrison troops. As for the details of conviction and appeasement, the cabinet and the Embroidered Uniform Guard can handle it together. Fighting is secondary. The key is to establish the prestige of the court.

Qian Daxin, Grand Secretary of Wenyuan Pavilion, looked at the emperor. He also knew that this incident was actually caused by the emperor.

On the one hand, he hated the Kong family. As a scholar, Qian Daxin had to admit that the Yanshenggong family was indeed shameless. Not only did they surrender to everyone who came, but they also always wanted to occupy the entire Qufu County.

He was deprived of his hereditary rights as the magistrate of Qufu County by Emperor Qianlong last time and did not repent. Now he deserves to fall into the hands of Emperor Guangzhong.

On the other hand, the emperor still wanted to crack down on Yuan Shoutong's Yuan family.

Because if the Yuan family had taken over Shandong at the original pace, the profit would have been too great.

By then, they will not only be the richest people in Shandong, but also the most powerful gentry in Shandong. If we don't teach them a lesson, the Yuan family may have more influence in Shandong than the imperial court.

Therefore, the emperor took advantage of the situation, seemingly spanking the Kong family, but in fact he was knocking on the head of the Yuan family, asking them to behave themselves.

"Your Majesty, is the Kong family's title of Duke of Yansheng being abolished? Furthermore, the Duke of Yansheng's residence, the Confucius Temple, and the Confucius Cemetery cannot be left unattended.

Even if the Confucius Mansion is in decay, it is still too shocking that no one has worshipped the saint since then! "

When Qian Daxin came, he only mentioned the matter of the Yansheng Mansion, and did not mention the Yuan family, because he knew very well that if the Yuan family was sensible this time, he would appease them well, and the children of the Yuan family would be given important positions in the future.

If the Yuan family doesn't know what's good for them, then Jinyiwei Commander Chen Xu will go, and he won't have to get involved.

"You are right, Lord. However, China has always placed more emphasis on cultural transmission. Confucius's greatness lies in himself, not in his unworthy descendants.

Therefore, the title of Duke Yansheng must be abolished and changed to the title of the Worship Officer of the Great Sage Teacher of the Great Accomplishment. He will be given 10,000 acres of land and be responsible for taking care of the Confucius Temple and the Confucius Forest.

The Confucius Mansion was taken over by the imperial court. Part of it was used to build the Qilu University, and part of it was used as the imperial palace. I personally used the imperial treasury to maintain and repair it.

This worship official will be selected from the Southern School, a smart one, and the Ministry of Works will be responsible for building the worship official's residence, and his rank will be paid according to the second rank.

The land dedicated to the saint is capped at 10,000 mu and is permanently exempt from taxes, but it is never allowed to be increased, and the land cannot be divided."

"Your Majesty is wise!" Qian Daxin flattered him. This solution was not much different from what he had expected.

"Also, you should summon Meng Guangjun, a doctor of the Five Classics, to rebuild a temple dedicated to the Second Sage in his hometown of Zouping. Allocate 8,000 mu of land to serve as an official dedicated to the Second Sage, and his rank will be the same as the second rank." Mo Zibu thought about it, and then arranged for Mencius to be involved.

After all, the Kong family's Yansheng Dukedom had existed for eight hundred years, and it was suddenly abolished. Mo Zibu was still a little worried that some scholars who did not know the truth would make wild guesses.

Moreover, at this moment, the culture of the East to face the new era has not yet been formed, and the old culture must still be followed.

But soon, Mo Zibu thought that it was not appropriate to praise Mencius too highly.

Because his remarks were so damn advanced, he was extremely unpopular with rulers of all dynasties. Confucius was promoted to King Wenxuan, and Mencius was even deposed as the Second Sage by Emperor Wanshou.

Even Mo Zibu was a little scared. Europe was already clamoring for natural human rights and about to launch a revolution. If he were to promote Mencius now and put the idea that the people are the most important and the country is second, and the monarch is the least important, wouldn't he be asking for trouble?

In particular, Mencius said in the "Ten Thousand Chapters and Verses": "If the ruler has a serious fault, he should be remonstrated. If he does not listen after repeated admonitions, he should be replaced."

For feudal monarchs, this thing is like a nuclear explosion and a big traitor.

China has always been much more brutal towards its aristocrats than France. If Mo Zibu praises Mencius too much, his direct descendants will probably be confused.

After thinking for a while, Mo Zibu said to Qian Daxin, "In addition to the title of Sub-Sage, I also intend to posthumously confer the title of Duke on Wang Shouren. The elders should organize people to discuss the title and posthumously confer him the title of Sage. As for the Confucian title, it would be best to give him the title of Sage."

After instructing Qian Daxin, Mo Zibu turned to Jinyiwei Commander Chen Xu and said, "In addition, I have heard that Wang Shouren's descendants, Wang Tong and Wang Hui, are living in Kuaiji.

Then appoint Wang Tong as the director of the Chongwen Academy in Yingtian Prefecture, and appoint Wang Hui to the palace as a tutor for the princes."

The Director of Chongwenyuan was the Deputy Director of the Imperial Library, a position that was quite suitable for the descendants of Wang Yangming.

Emperor Mo was still very cunning. In order to cushion the impact of the dethronement of Duke Yansheng, he praised the second sage Mencius.

However, the Second Sage's remarks were a bit too dangerous at this time, so Wang Yangming was brought in to provide some buffer. After giving his instructions, Mo Zibu said to the surrounding civil officials, "The wisdom of the various schools of thought passed down from the First Warring States period still illuminates us, the descendants today.

But in the current Second Warring States Period, the world situation has become more complicated and the competition has become more intense.

Therefore, our descendants, especially the followers of Confucianism, are required not only to draw nourishment from the wisdom of their ancestors, but also to bring forth new ideas from the old and become great Confucian scholars of the new era.

If my Dayu can produce another Wang Shouren, I will not hesitate to bestow titles and rewards upon him."

After hearing this, all the civil officials bowed their hands in greeting and expressed their determination to keep up the good work. The slight resistance they had in their hearts towards Mo Zibu's dethronement of Duke Yansheng immediately diminished a lot.

Everyone was thinking in their hearts that the emperor was not dissatisfied with Confucianism, but was dissatisfied with its stagnation and its tendency to only look for the words of the ancients in piles of old papers.

. . . .

On the 22nd day of the third lunar month, the southeast trade wind starts to rise. Although it is still weak, once it comes, it will quickly become stronger in the following period of time.

So Mo Zibu immediately began to mobilize troops to the north, first luring the Qing army on land to cover the navy's direct attack on Huanglong.

On March 24, Mo Zibu left Hakka Minister Yi Chaodong as Governor of Henan and Brigadier General Song Jun as Admiral of Henan, while he personally led 45,000 troops across the Yellow River from Chenqiao Town and began the Northern Expedition.

At this time, it was very convenient to advance from Henan to Hebei, because there was a river from the north of the Yellow River to Tianjin that could accommodate large inland ships of dozens or hundreds of tons - the Wei River.

This river originates from the southeast side of Taihang Mountain in Shanxi. After the Yongji Canal, which is part of the Grand Canal, was dug in the Sui Dynasty, it became the most important river in the North China Plain, without a doubt.

The Wei River originates from the Taihang Mountains, flows through Xinxiang and Anyang in later generations, merges with the Zhang River in Guantao in Handan, Hebei, then merges with the Grand Canal in Linqing, Shandong, and finally flows into the sea through the Haihe River in Tianjin.

Historically, the Wei River was eventually cut off from navigation because of the Communist Canal, the most failed water conservancy project in the history of the Republic.

At that time, a large amount of Yellow River water was diverted to Xinxiang, Anyang and other places on the north bank. The huge amount of silt could not be cleared away and gradually blocked the Wei River. After 1960, it could no longer serve the purpose of navigation.

But at this time the Wei River was still intact. With the Wei River's penetration effect, it was extremely easy to fight from the north bank of the Yellow River to near Beijing.

Of course, the Qing Dynasty Regent, Emperor Qianlong's sixth son Yongrong, also knew the importance of the Wei River.

So, at the suggestion of the few remaining banner generals, Yongrong appointed Iletu, a member of the Bordered White Banner, the commander-in-chief of the Bordered Red Banner Mongolians, the Minister of War, who had followed Fuheng into the war in Burma, as the commander-in-chief.

A member of the Plain White Banner, General Xi'an was revived. A Han Plain White Banner member who had left and then joined the Zhili Banner, with General Zhengding, Dong Guo, as his deputy general, led 30,000 Eight Banner troops south.

At the same time, Yongrong, in the name of the Ten Directions Ascended Heavenly Emperor, called on the divine soldiers of Zhili to march south to defeat the Dayu Dynasty established by the evil demons.

At this time, these weird guys were completely tied to Yongrong's interests and were quite concerned.

After receiving Yongrong's order, the leaders of various sects, both large and small, organized more than 100,000 people to march south within three months.

And you know what, since they have a good mass base in Hebei, their food requisitioning and military discipline are actually acceptable.

Although it certainly cannot be compared with the Xing Tang Army, it is not much worse than the so-called Eight Banners Army under Yongrong, which only has three or four thousand veterans and most of them are new recruits.

In early April, Mo Zibu personally led the Xing Tang Army to capture Xinxiang County on the north bank of the Yellow River, Chengji County of Weihui Prefecture, Neihuang County of Zhangde Prefecture and other places. On April 5th, they arrived at Guantao County where the Zhang River and Wei River meet.

The Qing troops stationed in Guantao County did not dare to fight and continued to retreat.

On the seventh day of April, the 5,000-man vanguard of the Xing Tang Army arrived near Linqing. The Qing army could no longer retreat because Linqing Prefecture was where the Grand Canal and the Wei River converged.

If Linqing Prefecture was lost, the Xing Tang Army could transport supplies from Jiangnan directly to Linqing Prefecture through the Grand Canal, and defeat the Qing army just by spending money.

At this time, the Qing army occupied Linqing Prefecture, so they could use the White Lotus Sect members spread throughout Linqing Prefecture to block the Grand Canal and attack the grain ships.

In Linqing Prefecture, the Qing army commander Yiletu naturally knew that Linqing Prefecture could not be lost, so he placed his two thousand most elite troops in Macun, eight kilometers southwest of Linqing Prefecture, and deployed a large number of small boats on the Wei River to form a navy.

Iletu attempted to rely on the trenches, breastworks and artillery built by Macun to stop the Xingtang army, and wait until the Xingtang army's old soldiers were tired, and then come out for a decisive battle.

However, seeing that everyone around him looked worried, Iletu had no good ideas and could not encourage anyone.

Because this group of the Qing Dynasty's most capable fighters suffered more than 6,000 casualties in the four wars against Burma.

Then, in the second battle of Jinchuan, another six or seven thousand were lost.

Finally, in the Battle of Beihe five years ago, more than 20,000 Eight Banners soldiers went to the battlefield, but only 3,000 to 4,000 of them returned, and the entire army was basically wiped out.

The entire Eight Banners elite of the Qing Dynasty consisted of about 35,000 people. During the eleven years, more than 30,000 of them died in battle or from illness.

There are only about one million bannermen in total, and most of those who can fight are dead, so there is no way to replenish them.

Especially in terms of generals, Aligun and his son, Agui and his son, Fuheng, Fuling'an, Mingrui, Mingliang, Guanyinbao, Erdeng'e, Zalafeng'a, Wenfu, Shang Weisheng and others were all killed in battle or died of illness.

The only surviving Hailancha surrendered to Dayu, and Fukangan fled outside the Great Wall.

Other Han generals loyal to the Qing Dynasty, such as Ha Guoxing, Gan Guobao, Ye Xiangde, Tan Wuge, Xu Shiheng, etc., were also killed in battle.

It can be said that before Mo Zibu entered Guangdong, the main force of the Qing Dynasty had been defeated. This was also an important reason why Mo Zibu was not in a hurry to launch the Northern Expedition to expel the Qing Dynasty.

If it were a Han dynasty, there would be endless potential to be tapped, but after all the Manchus died, they were really finished.

Iletu was very pessimistic about the future. Now even someone of his level could serve as the commander of an army. What was there to fight for?

It was in Linqing Prefecture that our ancestors sacrificed their lives for the Qing Dynasty they founded.

(End of this chapter)