There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 66 Shouldn’t be a traitor!
Shishou County is located on the southeast coast of the Yangtze River and is also the southernmost tip of Jingzhou Prefecture.

He Shunan spread out the map in his hand, and his finger extended along the direction under his feet, all the way south, through the Taohua Mountains, where was Huarong County, Yuezhou Prefecture, Hunan.

How about that? Does it sound familiar?

Zhuge Liang's wisdom in the Battle of Huarong, Guan Yu's righteousness in releasing Cao Cao.

This classic story collection in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" mentions the Huarong Ancient Road, which refers to the Taohua Mountain Range that divides Huarong and Shishou counties, and one of the ancient mountain paths that runs through the two counties (Zizhi Tongjian·Notes by Hu Sanxing of the Southern Song Dynasty).

"Is it very close? Is the commander going to attack Huarong County?" A captain who came to the camp to discuss matters asked while staring at the direction of the map on the table.

He Shunan didn't deny it. "Why not? Our army has already taken Shishou County. As long as we cross the Taohua Mountains, we can march directly to Huarong County. The Qing troops in Huarong County will definitely be unprepared. Moreover, except for the 500-man battalion left behind in Gong'an County, the rest of our army has never fought a major battle and has suffered no casualties. We have ample food and fodder, so we are fully capable of fighting."

A captain couldn't help but speak out, "Commander-in-Chief, this won't do! The general only ordered us to work with Commander Bai to first capture Gong'an, Shishou, and Jianli counties. He didn't order us to march south to Hunan."

He Shunan shook his head and said, "No, you don't understand what I mean. I'm not going south for a decisive battle now. This time we are only trying to recapture three counties, but we're sending out two armies, more than 4,000 Han soldiers."

"What's it for? It's just training."

"But now, Gong'an and Shishou counties have surrendered without a fight. Naturally, this army cannot be trained, but we can't just send troops out like this. Now, since we still have enough food and grass, and we are so close to Huarong County, why not take the opportunity to go south and test the waters, and also train the courage of the new soldiers!"

Courage to train soldiers?
After hearing such an outrageous reason, the captains in the tent all looked at each other, and it was a long time before someone spoke.

"If it's just to train the soldiers' courage, it's not impossible."

Wow, as soon as these words were spoken, not only did no one object, but they all nodded secretly, obviously thinking it was feasible.

This is the general atmosphere among the senior generals of the Han army today, because they all fought head-on with the army of the pseudo-Qing governor, killed all 300 Manchu soldiers, and then successfully feigned a break-in and captured the city, and then took down the entire city and massacred it.

It can be said that almost all of these Han army captains, from thousand-man commanders to captains, had their hands stained with the blood of Qing and Manchu soldiers.

What the Qing Dynasty is invincible, what the Manchurian soldiers are invincible, it's all bullshit!
They're all just two shoulders supporting one head, so just kill him!
……

Hunan, Yuezhou Prefecture, Huarong County.

Luo Shixuan, the magistrate of Huarong County, was busy recruiting soldiers and raising food at this time. Of course, he was not recruiting soldiers privately, but was ordered to do so by the prefect.

"How is it? Is the collection of money and grain going smoothly?" Luo Shixuan asked the registrar who came to report.

The Registrar nodded and bowed hurriedly, saying, "Your Excellency, those wealthy families were reluctant at first, but we have the support of the Prefect and the General of Jingzhou. Even if these wealthy families are not afraid of us, they must be afraid of the Prefect and the General of Jingzhou!"

Luo Shixuan nodded slightly. "Well, the prefect has already agreed with this county in advance. The one coming this time is a close confidant of Lord Fu, Prince Fu, and a true Manchurian Eight Banners general who has killed many Hunanese warriors. As long as we can get in touch with him, we won't be linked to Lord Fu, but it will also be beneficial to our future career."

"Don't mess this up, this may only be your chance in a lifetime."

"Don't worry, sir. I will keep an eye on it myself and will never let those clerks under my command overreach and cause trouble for you." The registrar hastily made the assurance.

"Go down!"

"..."

That evening, Luo Shixuan, as usual, was busy until late. He wasn't busy with business, or perhaps he was busy with "business." He was calculating how much he had made since taking office as magistrate, and how much he still needed to earn back the money he had spent on his position.

There is nothing that can be done about it. Even though Luo Shixuan considers himself to be relatively clean and is willing to do some practical work for the local area, there are some things that are beyond his control.

In such a court where everyone is corrupt, you cannot get a high position without being corrupt. The lucrative positions are all in the hands of the Manchus and the Eight Banners, and the Han officials are only fit to eat what the Manchus and the Eight Banners masters have left over. Even the biggest corrupt official in the Qianlong Dynasty was the Emperor Qianlong, the Tatar Emperor.

In such an officialdom, you still want to stay clean and untainted? What a joke!
If you dare to be as honest as water today, the memorial impeaching you for corruption and abuse of power will be sent to the Emperor, er, the case of the retired Emperor tomorrow.

How does that sentence go?

If you don't take it and I don't take it, how can the superiors take it? If the superiors don't take it, how can you expect His Majesty to take it?
Luo Shixuan counted the accounts for a whole day and found that he was actually losing money. He had not recovered any of the money he had paid as bribes to buy official positions, and he had to spend a lot more.

Because in order to maintain the network of personal connections in an official career, one needs to spend money, and a lot of it. Even if one is really greedy, one still has to give money to the governors above him, as well as to the mentors who have promoted him and the classmates who have helped him. All of this requires some "reciprocity".

As the saying goes, "A generous gift is never a bad idea." If he had not given money to the prefect every year as a tribute, he would not have known so early about the military secrets that Fu Zhina's army set out from Changde and passed through Huarong County.

Luo Shixuan closed the account book and was about to get up and go back to the inner courtyard to rest when the registrar, who had already gone home, suddenly ran into the yamen in a hurry.

"Sir...Sir, something bad has happened!"

Because he ran too fast, one of the registrar's shoes fell off, and he looked quite embarrassed.

Luo Shixuan was somewhat displeased, and said with his hands behind his back, "What happened? You're so flustered, it's not proper."

The official lost all his usual flattery and didn't even bother to straighten his clothes. He gasped and said, "Sir... Sir, there are rebels outside! There are rebels outside!"

After saying this, the Dianshi's face was filled with unconcealable fear.

Luo Shixuan was about to teach him a lesson when he suddenly realized, "Wait, what did you just say? Traitor? Where are the traitors?"

The Dianshi replied in panic, "No, I don't know. It's too dark, but I can vaguely see a lot of people and horses outside, and a large flag with something written on it..."

Luo Shixuan almost subconsciously thought of the Han thieves in Jingzhou Prefecture. Because Yuezhou Prefecture was too close to Jingzhou Prefecture, the two prefectures could be said to be neighbors, so the Han army's reputation had long been spread to the northern part of Yuezhou Prefecture.

He defeated the governor, massacred the entire city, forced the prefect of Jingzhou to die for his country, and gave him the evil name of a traitor to the Han Dynasty.

If such a ferocious bandit really went south, Huarong County would be unable to stop him.

Luo Shixuan did not lose his composure immediately, not because he was brave, but because he felt that it should not be the Han thieves, because there was no information at all. The Han thieves were from Jingzhou Prefecture, not the rebels from Hunan.

These Han bandits are fierce, but they shouldn't be so foolish as to run south to attack them in Huarong County!

After all, Huarong County belongs to Yuezhou Prefecture, next to Dongting Lake, and can be directly connected to Changde Prefecture in Hunan.

The Han thieves arrived and gathered the imperial army in Changde, ready to destroy them at any time.

(End of this chapter)