There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 76 Current Situation
In the first month of last year, the Miao people in Guizhou, Hunan and other places launched an anti-Qing uprising, and jointly elected the Wu brothers as the Miao kings and the Shi brothers as the Miao generals.

The Qing army responded quickly. In just two months, it mobilized heavy troops from seven provinces, including Huguang, to suppress the rebellion. It also ordered the Governor-General of Yunnan and Guizhou, Fu Kang'an, the Governor-General of Sichuan, He Lin, and the Acting Governor-General of Liangjiang, Fu Ning, to jointly lead the troops to suppress the rebellion.

The war lasted for more than half a year, and finally at the end of last year, the Wu brothers, the Miao King, were killed, leaving only the Shi brothers still resisting stubbornly.

Well, that's how it should have been, because the Wu family Miao people had already been wiped out, and the Shi family Miao people alone could not hold on and would definitely not be able to withstand the continued encirclement and suppression of the Qing army in seven provinces.

But now, the situation is somewhat different. The timeline of history has shifted. Bi Yuan, the governor of Huguang, who was supposed to be in Changde Prefecture managing military supplies and food for the Qing army that was suppressing the Miao people, estimated that the prisoner carts would have arrived in the capital by now.

The key point is that Qianlong pushed Bi Yuan out to take the blame, but did not appoint a new governor of Huguang. Instead, he continued to maintain the normal situation in Hunan.

Qianlong's idea was very simple. He had just abdicated the throne, and although he had made arrangements to continue to hold power as the emperor, he must not be too greedy in the first two or three months. He had to give the filial Jiaqing some time to experience the power. Later, he would use Jiaqing's lack of experience as an excuse to take back all the power, and he could even call it paving the way for his son to become regent.

It can be said that he wanted both face and substance. No wonder Jiaqing couldn't wait to decide the temple name of Gaozong as soon as Qianlong died.

Gaozong, this is a good temple name, at least it was before Wanyan Gou, and Qianlong himself publicly mocked Wanyan Gou's "minister emperor" behavior.

It was February, and the Banquet for a Thousand Elders had just ended in Beijing.

Although the newly ascended Jiaqing felt that it was somewhat against etiquette for the retired emperor to continue living in the Qianqing Palace after his abdication, as a filial son, and since Qianlong had abdicated the throne to him, he did not feel too uncomfortable out of gratitude.

Anyway, he is already the emperor, so there is no big problem in letting the emperor stay in the Qianqing Palace to enjoy his remaining years.

Jiaqing had no idea that his three-year puppet nightmare as the Qing emperor was about to begin.

The report on the White Lotus Rebellion in Hubei had been sent to the Grand Council more than half a month ago, but without exception, all of them were rejected by Heshen.

Heshen did not have any big purpose. In his opinion, the White Lotus Sect was just a mob, because the memorials submitted to the local government had clearly stated that they were a group of evil cults that incited foolish men and women to cause chaos. The cult leader even had a woman, so there was no need to worry.

By suppressing the memorial, on the one hand, they could whitewash the situation and please the retired emperor, and on the other hand, they could suppress the local officials first. Even if the White Lotus Sect took the opportunity to grow stronger, it would not matter. The court could just mobilize troops from seven provinces in Hunan to encircle and suppress it.

These are heavily armed troops from seven provinces. Even the Miao people couldn't resist them, let alone a group of poor Han people?
And his brother Helin is now following Fukang'an as the deputy general of the army. He can now gain another wave of military merits. He can also take this opportunity to place people in the army and the court to eliminate dissidents and further consolidate his "He Family Army" (don't argue, it's definitely not He. I wrote it this way for your convenience).

Heshen's cover-up actually had a positive effect, giving Nie Yu and the Hubei White Lotus Sect a rare chance to catch their breath and develop.

At the same time in Changde Prefecture, Hunan, Fu Zhinacai, the general commander of Zhenxiang Town, arrived at Changde Prefecture with his troops.

General Xing Zhao of Jingzhou and the prefect of Changde, Hu Wenquan, personally came out of the city to greet him: "General Hesheli (General), you are finally here!"

Xing Zhao and Hu Wenquan were extremely humble in the face of Fu Zhina, and it was not entirely because of their official rank.

Although Fu Zhina was the general of Zhenxiang Town, he had no actual title. Hu Wenquan did not mention it, as he was just the prefect of Changde. However, Xing Zhao was the general of Jingzhou and a member of the Aisin Gioro clan, which made him more than one level higher than Fu Zhina. The reason why he was so polite to him was that he was Fu Kang'an's man.

Fu Kang'an, born into a prominent family of imperial relatives, was a celebrated military hero and the only person in the Qing dynasty to receive the title of Beizi despite being a non-Qing emperor. This level of honor is unimaginable to others, and it's no wonder some people claim Fu Kang'an was Qianlong's illegitimate son (?).

Fu Zhina was not completely without emotional intelligence. Seeing that the General of Jingzhou and the Prefect of Changde had both come out of the city to greet him, he quickly dismounted and stepped forward to return the greetings: "You are both too polite. I am only a general-in-chief, and I have come here under the order of His Majesty to help Hubei suppress the White Lotus Rebellion!"

"Okay, okay." Xing Zhao and Hu Wenquan breathed a sigh of relief. It would be good if he was someone who was easy to talk to and knew when to advance and retreat.

The three of them entered the city talking and laughing, while the prefectural magistrate and the assistant prefect who followed them entered the city one after another.

Outside, the Magistrate of Wuling (affiliated to the city) was like a slave, eagerly arranging for Fu Zhina's soldiers to go to the temporary military camp to rest.

After entering the city, there was no excessive small talk, and they went to the government office for a banquet first.

After three rounds of wine and five dishes, they finally got down to business.

"What is the current situation of the rebellious army in Hubei?" asked Fu Zhina.

Xing Zhao shook his head and said, "I'm not entirely sure. I just heard that the White Lotus Cult first launched an uprising in Yidu, and then successively captured Zhijiang, Songzi and three other counties. Hubei Governor Huiling was defeated, and the civil officials of the Jingzhou prefecture were passive in defending the city, which led to the fall of Jingzhou. Only Governor Huiling and the Manchu Right Commander Chengde managed to escape, and the Manchu Eight Banners in the city suffered heavy casualties!"

"..."

After briefly listening to the situation in Hubei, Fu Zhina couldn't help but look strange. He always felt that there was something fishy going on, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Moreover, Xing Zhao on the opposite side was obviously unwilling to say more.

Fu Zhina was silent for a moment, and just as he was about to speak again, a Manchu soldier suddenly came in from outside: "My lords, urgent military information has been sent from Yuezhou Prefecture!"

The city of Changde is now under military control, and all of its areas, including Chenzhou and Changsha, have been transformed into logistical supply lines for the Miao battlefield.

There was no way. Jingzhou was lost, and the food and supplies from Hubei could not be transported here. Even if they could be transported here, they had to be used to support their own suppression of the rebellion first, and they could not support Hunan.

Therefore, Jiang Sheng, the Hunan Governor in Chenzhou, and Zheng Yuanjun, the Hunan Provincial Governor in Changsha, can only hold on for now. His Majesty has not appointed a new Governor-General of Huguang, and now Hunan and Hubei are separated. They can only find a way to solve the problem themselves.

General Xing Zhao of Jingzhou could actually make the decision, but he didn't have the courage to do so. Bi Yuan, who had worked with him for more than half a year, was pushed out to take the blame, and he was also reprimanded by the minister sent by the emperor to announce the decree.

Who would still want to take responsibility at this time? Do you really think that you can avoid being beheaded just because you have the surname Aisin Gioro?

Xing Zhao quickly took the military intelligence document, unfolded it, and exclaimed, "How is this possible?"

Hearing Xing Zhao's exclamation, Fu Zhina was a little curious and asked, "But what happened? Could there be a rebel..."

Fu Zhi was just saying it casually, but Xing Zhao's face was full of seriousness. "General Hesheli guessed correctly. The White Lotus rebels from Jingzhou have raided Yuezhou Prefecture and lost Huarong County. Now Yuezhou Prefecture is in imminent danger. The Yuezhou prefect is sending an urgent letter to me asking for help!"

"What!?"

My goodness, this is really alarmist!
It is clear that after He Shunan captured Huarong County, he did not leave, but he also did not continue to advance. He just sent people back to Jingzhou Prefecture to report the news and apologize, and at the same time asked for people, food, and officials to come and help the people of Huarong County divide the land.

Only a few days after they occupied the county town, the villagers here were about to kill all the landlords. Even He Shunan was shocked by their madness and had no choice but to send troops to stop the crazy mob.

It’s fine to kill the big landlords, but why kill the small landlords and self-cultivating farmers? If they are all killed, will the general still want Huarong County? Will he continue to fight for the world?

　Push the progress.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)