Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 17: Own Considerations
After a secret conversation with his father Zheng Shouren, Zheng Guohui returned to a small independent courtyard on the right side of the front yard to rest. This was where he lived at home.

There is a separate small door in the wall on the right side of the front yard.

After entering, the place is not big, with three south-facing main rooms and two side rooms. There are two large water tanks in front and behind, and a pomegranate tree that is more than 200 years old in the middle of the yard.

The more than ten personal guards who accompanied him were all arranged in the side rooms. Zheng Shunze, the captain of the personal guards who had the rank of Qianzong, went home to visit his relatives. He also lived in Tongzhou City.

Zheng Shun's family has been servants for generations, and it has been five generations now. His father is the manager of the family workshop, mainly responsible for the salt field in Lushi Port, and he only comes back once every few months.

Among the three main rooms facing south, the middle one is the living room for entertaining guests and family members, the right side is the study, and the left side is the bedroom.

When Zheng Guohui came in, Qiao Yue, the maid sent by the lady, lit a stick of sandalwood and was covering the bronze sandalwood burner.

Seeing him coming, she quickly knelt and bowed, "This servant greets the Second Young Master. May the young master be blessed with good health."

"Forget it, are you the only one in the room?"

"Reporting to the Second Young Master, Madam has sent Qiao Yue and Qiao Xing to serve. Qiao Xing has gone to the kitchen to get the osmanthus and lotus seed soup and will be back soon."

"Well, please do as you please."

"As you say, I'll take my leave." Qiao Yue was a pretty girl of fifteen or sixteen years old, with a well-developed figure. Upon hearing the voice, she took her leave with footsteps as soft as a civet cat.

Zheng Guohui sat down on a chair beside the table, tapping the edge of the table lightly with his slender fingers, thinking about his next move.

The most important thing at the moment is getting married, and there is no hope of relying on my family.

The Zheng family was indeed a powerful family in Tongzhou Prefecture, but that was all they could do. At best, they could come into contact with the prefect or co-prefect of Tongzhou, or the famous and scholarly families in counties such as Rugao, Haimen, and Qidong.

Zheng Guohui's vision goes beyond this. Next year, it is possible that His Majesty will issue an imperial decree to appoint him as the second-rank deputy general of Jiangnan, a truly powerful position.

At the age of twenty, few people except the descendants of the Manchu royal family can reach such a height.

In his opinion
The woman's family must be a high-ranking civil official of at least the third rank, such as the Jiangsu Governor or the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner, who can provide strong support for his career.

The military and the government complement each other and can produce an excellent effect where one plus one is greater than two.

As for the family background of the fourth-rank prefect, Zheng Guohui felt that it was too low and simply looked down on him.

What he wanted was a political marriage. The higher the official rank of his father-in-law, the better, and the brighter his future, the better, so that he could get twice the result with half the effort.

As for whether the woman is beautiful, considerate and able to win Zheng Guohui's favor, he doesn't care.

In this era, it is possible to take a concubine. After marrying a virtuous wife, taking a concubine can certainly make up for the regrets. Zheng Guohui is very open-minded about this aspect.

We have already sent people to Southeast Asia to conduct investigations and gain a detailed understanding of the customs, folk customs, population distribution and colonial situation in various parts of Nanyang. This has been going on for more than a year.

If nothing unexpected

It's the right time of year, and it's time to come back before or after the New Year.

In terms of purchasing weapons and equipment, three groups of people have been sent recently, disguised as merchants from different places to contact the British and purchase three batches of arms.

These three batches of arms were all Enfield 1853 rifles, without a single cannon. This shows that British businessmen were extremely cautious and would not easily sell such powerful and heavy weapons as cannons.

These three batches of arms ranged from six to seven hundred rifles to more than 1600 rifles, totaling about 3350 British rifles, costing more than 2 taels of silver.

Before the New Year, Zheng Guohui did not plan to take any further action. He would send people to contact for further purchases after the New Year. His goal was to equip at least 15000 new foreign rifles and 30 to 40 12-pound field artillery pieces.

He kept 4,000 rifles for his own Du Biao Battalion, and the rest were all shipped back to his hometown in Tongzhou for storage.

After staying at home for a few days, Zheng Guohui prepared to set off for Chongming Island to take a look. If there were any unfinished matters, he could solve them at that time.

Today, Chongming Island is a no-man's land, and Songjiang Prefecture has neither the power nor the time to intervene in this remote and barren land.

The same was true for Tongzhou Prefecture, which focused its main efforts on restoring agricultural production and order after years of banditry, clarifying taxes, taking inventory of land and population, etc., and had no interest in the barren island in the middle of the river.

Zheng Guohui was so bold as to settle more than 20,000 people on Chongming Island without leaking any information. The key point was that Chongming Island was isolated in the middle of the river.

How could the news be leaked if there were no ships traveling back and forth?
Only with the current imperial court instability have the Han Chinese governors and governors-general of the southern provinces exploited this opportunity to expand their power. Secret connections have become rampant, and countless individuals have exploited this opportunity to expand their power, though this is a tacit understanding. The Manchu court's fate is over. This is not just the consensus of the court's senior officials, but also the consensus of most knowledgeable people in the public. It is no longer a new fact.

After such a long period of hard work, the Jiangnan Governor's Battalion had been transformed into an all-foreign-style rifle army, and its training and combat effectiveness were comparable to those of the foreign-style rifle team.

Invisibly, they are one level higher than the Green Camp troops in various places.

All he needs to do now is to equip the Du Biao Battalion with Western-style weapons and train it into an elite force. This powerful army is Zheng Guohui's confidence.

It goes without saying that the atmosphere in the imperial court at that time, from top to bottom, was that everything was based on "Westernism."

What is "Westernism"?

In areas that foreigners are concerned about, such as industry and military, the more foreign the better. Whatever foreigners say is right, which is a one-sided "Western-only theory".

If the standard is applied to the military, the higher the proportion of troops equipped with foreign rifles, the more attention they will receive. For example, the Huai Army and the Nanjing Green Camp soldiers are elite troops in the eyes of court officials.

As for the Hunan Army, they were nothing more than a bunch of country bumpkins living in the countryside.

There are not just a few people who hold similar views, but it is the consensus of important Manchu and Han officials in the court, which is of great significance.

To be honest
Given the current state of the Jinling Dubiao Camp, it is impossible for it to radiate its influence to Zhenjiang Prefecture, Changzhou Prefecture and other places in the south of the Yangtze River. That would be a typical move in collusion with Yue.

There are tens of thousands of Huai troops stationed in Gusu Prefecture and Changzhou Prefecture. After defeating the Taiping rebels, what do you, the Green Camp soldiers of Nanjing, have to do with them?
Many times, this is a confusing matter.

Is it wrong for the Green Camp soldiers of Nanjing to follow the military order of the Jiangnan Governor and send troops to suppress the bandits?

It is within the court's responsibility both morally and logically. The court cannot allow passionate people to be neglected, and at the same time it has to maintain the court's rules. It is likely that it will mainly try to smooth things over.

Often, this is the crucial time to test your foundation.

All military actions of the Jiangnan Governor's Camp were officially approved by the Jiangnan Governor's Office and were legal and compliant, so no one else could find any fault with them.

Try it on someone else. It would be easy to punish you without even charging you with the crime of "disregarding orders from superiors and acting on your own."

Don’t expect too much from military achievements or anything like that.

This is the difference between having someone in power and having no one. Even though Zheng Guohui is a local hero, he had to join the Fuzhu family. This is enough to show my belief.

In such an environment, do you still want to go against the will of heaven?
There was a gentle knock at the door, and a pretty girl came up to him, carrying a tray. She bowed and saluted, thinking it must be the pretty maid Qiaoxing.

As expected, the maid Qiao Xingying bowed and said in a sweet voice, "Second Young Master, the freshly made osmanthus and lotus seed soup is served to you. Please enjoy it."

Please have a meal?

This cannot be said casually. Zheng Guohui looked at the maid Qiao Xing with a smile. This little girl bowed gracefully, and he thought she was pretty no matter how he looked at her.

The two maids, Qiao Yue and Qiao Xing, are the best selected from the Madam's room. Not only do they have outstanding looks, but they also have gentle personalities and clever words. They are both one in a million.

Zheng Guohui reached out and caressed Qiao Xing's maid's delicate face, and couldn't help but say;
"Some things can't be said casually, little girl. If others hear them, it will be a serious crime and you might even lose your head.

Don’t use the word “meal” anymore.

I see you haven't reached the age of marriage yet, how old are you now?"

"In reply to Master, Qiaoxing is already 14 years old."

"Oh……"

Zheng Guohui responded and didn't ask any more questions.

Nowadays, the word "Yuechan" can only be used by the royal family and clan nobles. If it gets to the ears of someone with ulterior motives, it will be suspected of treason.

In the early days of this dynasty, there were several "literary inquisitions" in the Jiangnan region that shocked the court and the public, and countless people lost their heads for this. It is better to be cautious.

(End of this chapter)