There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 63: Unification of Jingzhou

On the first day of overtime work in the new year, the Han army made the strategic decision to unify Jingzhou first.

But although the decision was made, Nie Yu did not mobilize his troops immediately.

Because it takes time to prepare food and fodder, and a large number of civilians, ships, and mules must be recruited to transport military supplies and logistical equipment.

Don't even think about it. Nie Yu doesn't have that much money to engage in automobile transportation. Automobile transportation has indeed dealt a dimensionality reduction blow to ancient warfare, but it would be difficult for him to get one to drive himself.

Not to mention whether these ancient people could drive, even if they could, were the road conditions in ancient times suitable for cars to drive?

Nie Yu was busy recruiting laborers, boats, and mule carts. He wasn't wasting his time recruiting. Those who could serve were given rations, and they didn't need to provide their own. They were paid for the days they worked. There were enough boats, as they had been captured from the Qing army and hadn't been returned to the merchants. The remaining mule carts were also paid at market price.

As soon as the order to recruit civilians was issued, the people rushed to sign up.

Because the Han army distributed land to them, helped them fight against local tyrants and landlords, reduced taxes for them, and gave them a way to make a living. Now, even when they need to recruit civilians for war, they don’t have to provide their own food and can even be paid.

The people rushed to sign up to be laborers, which was not only a show of support and trust in the Han army, but also a way to earn extra wages and food in their spare time.

Haha, that’s right. In the eyes of the common people, fighting with the Han army was not about risking their lives, but about earning food and wages.

The recruitment of logistics laborers went smoothly, and the procurement of grain was also progressing steadily. Because half of Jingzhou was taken over very early, the autumn grain had not been delivered. In addition, Jingzhou was an important military supply transportation center for the Hunan battlefield.

The food, weapons, gold and silver stored in the Jingzhou treasury were enough to last even if the city was besieged for a year.

It is just right to use it for war now, and it also saves the grain from rotting in the treasury.

During this period, Nie Yu readjusted the local administrative divisions, mainly because there were too many refugees settling down and receiving land distribution. The population of some villages and towns had exceeded the upper limit, and there was not enough land to be distributed, so new immigrants had to be resettled.

Moreover, Chen Xinghuai, the regent of the General's Office, also specifically calculated the current financial expenditure of the Han army.

It seemed to be enough, because a lot of floating wealth was seized during the previous house searches, and together with the wealth and savings of the Jingzhou treasury and the eight banners of the Manchus, the total amount was a huge financial income.

But in fact, the financial expenditure of the General's Mansion has been in deficit from last year to this year, and the deficit is very large.

Part of it was military expenditure (buying weapons and stab-proof clothing), and the other part was officials' salaries. Nie Yuda promoted the distribution of land and settlement, the division of family property, and also created real village and town administrative divisions, and brought out many grassroots officials.

There are many scholars among these officials. The good thing is that Nie Yu’s makeshift team is not so makeshift anymore. At least it has become an established organization. The bad thing is that the financial expenditure is even greater than that of the Qing Dynasty.

Why did the Qing Dynasty experience the decline during the Jiaqing and Daoguang periods?
The direct cause was the White Lotus Rebellion, and the main reason was that with the population growth, the Qing court officials found it difficult to control the increasingly large rural towns.

Imperial power does not extend to the countryside, and even the Qing Dynasty is no exception.

The only people who were suppressed in the city were the gentry, landlords, and local bureaucrats. The real gentry and landlords could not be controlled or defeated. This was also the limitation of Yongzheng's policy of equalizing the land tax. The equalization of the land tax only allowed the court to collect taxes, and the people would only become poorer.

It can be said that the villages and towns created by Nie Yu were unprecedented in terms of administrative divisions, and in terms of the depth of power, they were also more powerful than any previous dynasty.

The disadvantages are also obvious. Fiscal expenditure has become larger, but the current fiscal deficit is not obvious because the surplus from previous wars is still sufficient.

Now, Nie Yu was more eager to prepare for war. He used to think he was very rich, but now he found that he was still very poor.

It took half a month to adjust the administrative divisions and transfer grassroots officials.

Most of these grassroots officials were responsible for surveying and dividing the land and apportioning the properties to the large families and clans. Now that the land and property division has been completed in all counties, villages and towns, many officials have nothing to do. It is just right to transfer them to the newly occupied territories.

No officials complained about this. Instead, they were all very excited. They had been reluctant before, thinking that the Han army was a rebel and asked them to distribute land to the people, which offended the landlords. If the Han army was destroyed, they might be held accountable.

But after waiting for half a year, the Han army was not destroyed, but became stronger and stronger.

The prefect of Jingzhou is gone, the governor of Hubei was driven away by the Han army, and even the eight banners in Jingzhou were slaughtered. Isn't the court still unable to do anything until now?
There are many scholars among these grassroots officials. They failed the imperial examinations and were frustrated. Instead of continuing to waste their time in this way, they would rather tie their heads around their waists and join the Han army to give it a try.

Nie Yu called these people back to the provincial capital, and without making any big promises to them, he took out the high-quality imitation imperial seal and showed it to them.

It is a high-quality imitation of the imperial seal, but it is still an imperial seal. If it were placed in front of Emperor Qianlong, he might not be able to tell whether it is real or fake. But when you show it to these local scholars who have never even left Hubei in their lives, it is clear that the Mandate of Heaven is with the Han Army!
Regardless of whether you believe it or not, with the imperial seal in hand, you have the capital and confidence to dominate the world.

After presenting the imperial seal with promises, Nie Yu continued, "This general has decided to send troops to unify Jingzhou Prefecture. Once Jingzhou is unified, you will go to Gong'an, Jianli, and Shishou counties to oversee the land distribution and the division of property among the landlords and gentry. I won't make promises, but I can guarantee that as long as the land distribution is carried out properly, the people are not abused or exploited, and there is no corruption or bribery, you will be promoted according to your merits."

"You have seen the imperial seal. This general will not give you any empty talk about being given the Mandate of Heaven. I will only tell you my ambition. It is not to establish a separatist regime or to become the Yelang Kingdom. Instead, I want to truly overthrow the Qing Dynasty and restore the Han Dynasty, expel the Tartars, and restore our Han dynasty!"

This is the key point. He is telling these people directly that when his Nie family takes the throne one day, they will be his meritorious followers and will be able to ascend to the throne and become prime ministers, and their names will be recorded in history!
If things go well, you will have wealth in your lifetime and fame after your death.

No, it won’t work, it won’t work!
As a real man, you have at least followed the "hero" and fought for it, so your life in this world is not in vain.

In early February, the Qing army did not arrive, but the Han army set out first, and the troops were divided into two groups.

He Shunan led the troops all the way, first crossing the river, then following the Hudu River, heading straight for Gong'an County. They were accompanied by a group of officials and a letter of persuasion that had already been sent.

The other group was led by Bai Nan, whose mission was more demanding: to march upstream along the Yangtze River and capture Shishou and Jianli counties. He also brought with him his entourage of appointed grassroots officials.

Xu Sanlang, Chen Younian and Nie Yu's Han army, plus the artillery battalion and grenadiers battalion that were still in training, all stayed behind to garrison the city.

The war to unify Jingzhou did not cause much noise, but the number of troops and civilians mobilized was much greater than that of the attack on the provincial capital last year.

　My hand is still swollen, nice
　　
　
(End of this chapter)