There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 43: The Demonic Monk Becomes the Co-governor

The end of November in the sixtieth year of Qianlong's reign.

The capital of Jingzhou fell to the White Lotus rebels. Hubei Governor Hui Ling and Jingzhou Manchu Right Deputy Commander Cheng De fought bloody battles, with more than half of their men killed or wounded. They managed to break through with a few Manchus.

Jingzhou prefect Cui Longjian died a heroic death for his country!
The person is dead, so even if you want to shift the blame, you can't go too far. You have to give some face to those Han officials and ministers, and allow Emperor Qianlong to take the opportunity to show his favor and magnanimity as an emperor.

But although Cui Long could be considered a "martyr for his country" after his death, other living people were not so lucky. Except for a few who died for their country, all the officials of Jingzhou, including the Jingzhou Tongzhi and Jiangling County Magistrate, followed the bandits.

The Governor of Huguang Bi Yuan and the General of Jingzhou Xing Zhao are even more to blame.

Before Huiling and Chengde arrived in Wuchang Prefecture, they had already written a joint memorial, together with the families of the Manchus from the Eight Banners who had broken out of the city with them, to impeach Governor Bi Yuan for harboring the rebels and leaving Jingzhou with no soldiers available, which led to the rebels' sudden attack and the destruction of the city, resulting in countless casualties (Manchus).

Nie Yu had no time to care about what these people were doing. He was busy holding a knife and going from house to house to force the wealthy people in the city to cut their braids.

Such a coercive and harsh approach naturally made many wealthy people angry and resentful.

But after the anger was over, there was nothing else. We couldn't really let them pick up knives and fight the Han soldiers who were fully armed, right?
Moreover, not all wealthy families thought that the Han soldiers were rebels. Some courageous families keenly noticed that the Han soldiers had a disciplined military appearance and excellent weapons and armor, and were obviously not an ordinary peasant army.

In addition to the current world situation, not to mention other places, just take the two lakes area. The Miao rebellion in Hunan has not been quelled yet, but has become more and more serious. There are more and more refugees in various provinces, and now the White Lotus rebels in Hubei are taking advantage of the chaos.

With such complicated and chaotic changes, could it be that the fate of the Qing Dynasty is really coming to an end?

Feng Xiuyong felt that Nie Yu could accomplish things, and naturally there were also wealthy people who thought the same thing, that perhaps the Han soldiers could really accomplish things!

The main reason is that there is no choice. Once the braids are cut, it will take at least a year or two to grow them back. As long as the rebels stay, they will not be able to grow braids anymore. So what can they do?
For a time, except for a few wealthy families with too much property who chose to go their own way, the rest of the ordinary wealthy families mostly remained silent, and a few of them simply gritted their teeth and chose to take the initiative to join.

The fact that the Han soldiers were able to defeat the Qing army and capture the provincial capital was itself a testament to their strength.

There is never a shortage of adventurers and ambitious people in troubled times. Even King Chuang has gentry joining him, not to mention Nie Yu's Han soldiers who are obviously very powerful!

Nie Yu was naturally generous to these families who volunteered to serve him. He immediately asked each of them to send a few legitimate sons to work in the government office.

No, it should not be called the government office now, but the new general’s mansion.

After getting the wealthy families to cut their braids, the next step was to preside over the land distribution and settlement in Jingzhou Prefecture, as well as recruit soldiers to expand the army.

Thanks to Jingzhou's previous role as a military supply transfer point for the Hunan battlefield, there is so much money and food here that it is almost impossible to eat it all. If the city is really sealed and defended, and the deception fails, it is estimated that it will be impossible to take it down in a short time.

With money and food, it is much easier to recruit soldiers and expand the army.

The General's Mansion.

Nie Yu sat at the head of the table and said, "Mr. Feng, this general is now officially establishing his government in Jingzhou. You will serve as the shogunate's assistant secretary. I will also select a few sons of wealthy families to form a secretariat with you. They will be answerable only to this general and will be solely responsible for military and political affairs!"

Feng Xiuyong immediately bowed his hands in thanks: "Student... no, I thank the general for the honor. I will definitely live up to the general's trust!"

Strictly speaking, Nie Yu is neither an emperor nor a prince now, so he has no right to have the relationship between the monarch and his subjects, but Feng Xiuyong insists on flattering him.

In his opinion, it was only a matter of time. As for the position of secretary, in his opinion it was equivalent to the Grand Council of the Qing Dynasty today, but he held great military and political power and was the true confidant of the general.

There is no such thing as a confidant. It's just that Nie Yu has no scholars who can be used. Now he lets Feng Xiuyong do the job only because the other party is willing to serve him and help him to continuously offer strategies to capture the city and alienate the governor and governor of the Qing court.

This is a great achievement. If the army is defeated, the death penalty will be a serious crime. Who else can I trust if not him?

Nie Yu remained silent and continued to confer awards on others: "He Shunan, Bai Nan, Chen Younian, Xu Sanlang, the four of you come forward and receive your awards!" "I am here!"

The four of them stepped forward in unison and clasped their fists in response.

Nie Yu waved his hand and said, "I hereby promote you from the rank of Qianzong to Commander. A Commander can command four battalions, commanding two thousand soldiers, and have fifty personal soldiers!"

"Thank you, General!"

The four of them knelt on one knee, their faces filled with excitement.

Nie Yu then added, "The Secretary's Office is fully responsible for recruiting soldiers. We must make it clear what our soldiers are treated like. We must recruit soldiers from good families and not ruffians."

"I obey your command!" Feng Xiuyong understood and stepped forward. He knew that this was the general's attempt to further consolidate power.

Recruiting soldiers, training soldiers, armour and logistics were all taken away, and only the generals were allowed to train together and command the troops in war. This would not affect the combat effectiveness of the army, but would gradually transform the rebel army from the generals' lackeys into real Han soldiers.

The four newly promoted commanders below could naturally see it, but no one deliberately pointed it out.

Rules and formalization are progressing smoothly with tacit cooperation.

Nie Yu gave enough. The soldiers were given land and enough food, and the generals also gave them more rewards.

This rebellion is like a business. Soldiers will follow you and fight for their lives. At the beginning, it is definitely not for any lofty ideals. They just simply want to have enough food to eat, have land to farm, get promoted and make money, and have titles for their wives and children. If these conditions are met, they will follow you wholeheartedly and fight for their lives.

After the generals were rewarded, it became very easy for the Han soldiers to fight. All those who participated in the war were rewarded with land, and those who achieved success were promoted and given money according to their merits.

Nie Yu now has enough money, like a nouveau riche, and he doesn't have to be as stingy as the people in Yidu County. It is already difficult for them to just provide the soldiers with full meals with meat and vegetables. Now he can fulfill his promise and pay the soldiers real military pay.

When distributing money, Nie Yu took the time to sit in front of the stage and put out a large pile of baskets filled with copper coins and broken silver.

Then, without getting tired of it, he spent almost a whole day to distribute the money to every Han soldier, and let them know who was paying them and allocating land to them so that they could have land to farm.

The position of general was newly established, but there were many officials in it. Because Wang Shuxun, the co-governor of Jingzhou, took the lead in surrendering, many people still raised their hands to surrender.

Some of the officials surrendered, but were still killed by the Han soldiers because of their excessive corruption and evil deeds. In order to appease public anger, some of them survived.

What confused Nie Yu the most was Wang Shuxun, the Tongzhi of Jingzhou. As the deputy of the "Qing" prefect, he could understand that this guy might not have done many evil things, but he never expected that this Tongzhi of Jingzhou in the Qing Dynasty was actually a monk who bought his official position?

"Monk? You said you were a monk before? Not an official of the pseudo-Qing Dynasty?" Nie Yu was shocked.

Wang Shuxun said, "I dare not lie to the General. I was once a monk at Guanghui Temple in the capital, and I befriended many dignitaries. Later, I was convicted of murder and returned to secular life. I then served as a guest in the office of the Shandong Governor, Yi Jiang'a. Later, the Governor donated money to me and I became the magistrate of Shandong. I then served in the military camps of Shaanxi and Hubei. Due to my meritorious service and the influence of the court, I was retained in Hubei and became the co-magistrate of Jingzhou Prefecture."

Wei Yao, the magistrate of Jiangling, who was reporting the incident, did not forget to add insult to injury, "General, not only that, but this evil monk's students also impersonated and donated money. Not many people know about this."

Interesting, so interesting.

Is this the officialdom during the prosperous reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty?

It’s amazing. It’s really amazing.

　From the Qing Dynasty imperial memorials to the Grand Council: "In May of the 1815th year of the Jiaqing reign (), the Imperial Censor Shi Chengzao reported to the court that Wang Shuxun, the former prefect of Xiangyang Prefecture in Hubei Province, who had been introduced to the capital, was a convicted monk who had returned to secular life and donated money to become an official. He requested an imperial decree to investigate and prosecute him."

　　
　
(End of this chapter)