Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 48: The Ship Docks at Weiyang Mansion

Jiangning Provincial Surveillance Commissioner Wu Weicheng visited as scheduled. Zheng Guohui received him politely. The two sides chatted for a while, and then he served tea and sent the guest away.

After seeing off Lord Wu Weicheng, Zheng Guohui asked, "Huanzhang, what is your impression of this Lord Neitai?"

Dong Huanzhang replied, "Since your Excellency has called upon me, I have no choice but to present my humble opinion. I see this man with the eyes of an eagle and the gaze of a wolf, a cold disposition, and even his smile seems fake. I imagine he is a man of deep thoughts and not someone I would be happy to meet."

"Haha... Lord Wu is full of anger, so of course he won't be in a good mood." Zheng Guohui smiled and walked a few steps to the blooming flower tree. He looked at the beautiful scenery in front of him and said leisurely;

"Since ancient times, civil officials have been respected and military officials have been despised. It is a great honor for a third-rank official like Neitai to come and visit me.

When leaving the capital, the minister should give some explanation.

You remember

While I'm away from Jinling, I'll observe more and do less, not express any opinions or take any action. Let's see what this Minister of Justice can do."

"I understand. If something goes wrong in the salt merchant cases being investigated by the prefectures and counties below..."

"Never mind that. If you want to show off, then show your true abilities. If someone bites you back, you can only say they're as stupid as a pig. What's the point of having this garbage?"

“In this way, students will have rules.”

Dong Huanzhang originally had good abilities, and after more than a year of work experience and contact with all kinds of people, he became even more adept.

He walked up to Zheng Guohui and asked, "Sir, your trip to the capital will take at least two months, or three to four. Would you like to take someone with you to serve you?"

"No need. Do I need someone to serve me?" Zheng Guohui shook his head decisively.

Since this time
The wealthy merchants who wanted to please him kept collecting beautiful women and presenting them to him. Even the two salt merchants from Zheng Wang sent four beautiful maids, making a total of more than ten people.

Zheng Guohui left it all to the training of the two maids, Qiao Yue and Qiao Xing, and never asked about it again.

The number of people in the mansion is increasing day by day. No wonder these two little girls are obsessed with each other day and night, and they keep fighting even after being defeated. It turns out that the root of the crisis lies here.

Zheng Guohui smiled indifferently and quickly put these little things behind him.

This trip to the capital may not be smooth sailing. In the handwritten letter from the minister, he revealed his intention to choose a marriage partner of equal status for Zheng Guohui.

Zheng Guohui replied with thanks and did not refuse.

No matter whether it is an important official of the court or a general with a large army, the original intention is to get married and have children as soon as possible, and to stay in the capital.

In disguise, they are considered hostages.

This is like a kite that has been released. There must always be a string to tie it and control it. Otherwise, it will be like a wild horse that has broken free from its reins. How can the court trust it to be used?

next morning
At the pier outside Shuixi Gate
Dozens of officials from the Provincial Administration Commission, the Censorate and the Nanjing Prefecture came to see him off, and the scene was quite grand.

Zheng Guohui was dressed in court robes and a top hat with a peacock feather. He greeted and said goodbye to the officials who were seeing him off at the dock, clasped his fists in thanks, and then boarded the official ship.

The farewell horn sounded, and the boatsman pushed the boat away from the dock with all his strength and went downstream.

Zheng Guohui did not bring his family with him when he went north to the capital this time. He took 120 personal soldiers with him and traveled north on four official ships.

The official ship quickly entered the Yangtze River along the Qinhuai River, raised its sails and went upstream. After only half a day, it arrived at Sanjiangkou, Weiyang Prefecture.

This is the entrance to the northern section of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. The river mouth is wide and the river surface is vast. The two banks are only vaguely visible.

Zheng Guohui stood on the boat and admired the scenery for a while, but it seemed so monotonous that he turned back to the upper room of the ship and picked up some foreign books to read.

Thanks to his work in foreign trade in his previous life, he had no difficulty reading English books, but he was not so good at Spanish, and could only speak a few words of greeting verbally.

Zheng Guohui mainly read books about overseas development and geographical discoveries since the Age of Exploration in Europe, as well as some books on European social humanities and management, from which he drew nourishment and confirmed his memories.

Especially the latter

After reading a few books, I felt I hadn't gained much. Europe was still in a period of numerous feudal kingdoms, with strict class hierarchies and no advanced systems or social management. This was especially true in North Germany, where the numerous and diverse principalities still practiced a system of serfdom dependent on the nobility. It was a state of ignorance and backwardness.

After watching for a while, I felt tired.

Zheng Guohui closed the book, walked to the bed, pulled open the quilt and rested, and soon fell into a deep sleep.

Objective evaluation

These foreign books are indeed good for helping you sleep, and they also help you understand the current world situation, which is their greatest use.

It was already late at night when the fleet arrived at Weiyang Prefecture. After mooring at the pier, more than a dozen local wealthy businessmen sent their leaders to wait there, respectfully submitting letters requesting a meeting.

After the report was submitted, the accompanying aide Zheng Guotai came out to have a brief conversation and accepted all the visiting cards, but refused to accept any gifts.

It was said that we would wait until the next morning, after the general got up, to make a decision. So everyone could go back.

After sending these people away, Zheng Guotai flipped through the notices and found that a group of local bureaucrats including Weiyang prefect Qiu Jirong, Jiangdu county magistrate Liu Xiu, Yizheng county magistrate He Jintao had also submitted notices requesting a meeting.

This shows that the news from the capital has spread.

It is probably no secret that Zheng Guohui is going to be awarded the title of "Deputy General of Jiangnan", promoted to the second rank, and granted with a double-eyed peacock feather. It has already been spread.

The court of the Qing Dynasty was like a sieve, there were no secrets at all.

The key lies in the word "Jiangnan", which covers the entire Jiangnan Province and is under the jurisdiction of the Jiangnan Deputy General.

Comparison
Wu Changqing, the deputy general of the Huai Army stationed in Changzhou Prefecture, did not have the prefix "Jiangnan", which greatly reduced its value.

If he went to the capital to be promoted and given a tribute of 10 taels of silver, at least 7 taels of silver were the two words "Jiangnan", and the deputy general at the back was only worth 3 taels.

There's a big difference here
From last autumn till now, the old general Zeng Guofan has been ordered to fight and suppress the Nian Army for more than half a year, but he has been defeated repeatedly and almost squandered the prestige he had accumulated in previous years.

The imperial court had no choice but to reappoint Li Hongzhang, the Governor-General of Liangjiang, as the chief commander in the encirclement and suppression of the Nian Army.

It was said that the Huai Army was about to mobilize the troops of Deputy General Wu Changqing and the troops of General Zhang Shusheng stationed in Gusu Prefecture to march north, "accumulate troops, attack the east and the south, and win the battle in one go to drive out the enemy in the northwest."

That is
The main force of the Huai Army stationed in Jiangnan Province will soon be mobilized north to participate in the war to encircle and suppress the Nian Army.

Once you leave, you won’t be able to come back for one or two years.

Even if the war to encircle and suppress the Nian Army was over, it would be a big question whether General Zhang Shusheng's troops could return to the prosperous and wealthy Jiangnan Province.

As for the field army, it will naturally be transferred to wherever the court needs it.

In recent years, the imperial court has been plagued by banditry. After suppressing the Nian bandits, there was the Hui rebellion. After suppressing the Hui rebellion, there were other rebellions.

The southeastern half of the country was in chaos, and the northwest was once again plagued by banditry. Life was truly hard for the common people, and wouldn't they rebel if they couldn't make ends meet?
The title of "Deputy General of Jiangnan" is different. It is a bit similar to Jiangning General Xianghou. The mission area is only within Jiangnan Province and belongs to the local garrison force.

Even if they were deployed to fight, they would have to return to Jiangnan Province after the battle.

Zheng Guotai accepted the visiting card, glanced at the dark dock illuminated by the lanterns, and then turned back to the cabin to rest.

This is an official ship, so there is no need to worry about its safety. The general brought 120 musketeers on this trip, but in fact there were more than 60 plainclothes servants, all of whom were dressed as swordsmen and shieldmen.

There are at least 20 people on each boat for night duty, which is enough to deal with enemies several times more numerous than them.

The northern section of the Grand Canal was not peaceful. After passing Xuzhou Prefecture and entering the territory of Jining Prefecture in Shandong Province, especially the section of the Grand Canal from Liaocheng to Dezhou, it was an area where the Nian Army was rampant.

The Grand Canal Governor's Office had more than 13,000 grain transport soldiers stationed in the Liaocheng to Dezhou section of the Grand Canal, but it could only control important towns, and attacks on canal ships were heard from time to time.

This was also the original intention of the general to lead his troops north. Without sufficient defense, bringing so much silver north would be like sending a fat sheep into the tiger's mouth.

Fortunately, the actions were carried out rigorously and no information was leaked, making it extremely difficult for outsiders to find out such confidential matters.

(End of this chapter)