There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 91: Strike the White Lotus Sect First

Lizhou and Yuezhou were captured by the Han army, leaving only Yongding County, an isolated city to protect itself.

Yongding County Magistrate Gu Xingzhang was now extremely panicked and filled with regret, because the troops to his north were the Han army, the vicious rebels who were rumored to have defeated the governor and killed many local officials including the Jingzhou prefect.

If he had known this would happen, he would not have emptied his family's savings to bribe people. He finally passed the imperial examination and got the position of county magistrate, thinking that even if it was not a lucrative position, at least he could make a profit. However, he did not expect to run into a rebel.

Even the prefect died for his country, what can his small Yongding County do to stop it!

Bai Nan, who occupied Lizhou, had not yet moved south along the Lizhou River. Gu Xingzhang, the magistrate of Yongding County, sent an urgent letter almost every two days. He said nothing but asked for help, and kept asking for help.

The letters asking for help sent every two days annoyed Xing Zhao to death. The key point was that he couldn't scold them, because if he scolded them, he would be suspected of condoning the traitors and collaborating with the enemy. He could only reply to the letters one by one to appease them.

It was impossible to send troops, not a single one. He had already lost a thousand Manchu soldiers. If he lost another thousand, he would have no use for the general of Jingzhou. Even the Aisin Gioro surname could not protect him.

Xing Zhao secretly hoped that the Han army would never move south, at least not before the reinforcements from Xiangxi arrived, otherwise he would not be able to stop them.

At the same timeline, in Wuchang Prefecture, Hui Ling had just learned that the Han army was marching southward, successively occupying Lizhou and Yuezhou, and approaching Changde Prefecture.

Huiling really didn't want to know, but there was nothing he could do. Wuchang was right next to the Yangtze River, and the Han army went along the Yangtze River into Dongting Lake, and the civilian boats and merchants along the coast saw it.

The local officials did not dare to delay and almost sent the news to the governor by express boat, and at the same time requested the governor to send troops.

They have been raising money and food to recruit soldiers for several months, and now they hear that the Han army has come out in full force, and the defense of Jingzhou is very weak.

Regarding the local gentry's petition to send troops, the governor, who loves the people like his own children, will definitely not let the people under his rule down, so... write a memorial first!

I must write a memorial quickly. If anyone is to be blamed, blame Yongzheng!

It was Yongzheng who clarified the secret memorial system and gave officials all over the world the right to write secret memorials to report on each other.

The so-called memorials actually refer to the secret memorials from officials that were institutionalized in the Qing Dynasty. Because secret memorials became a fixed system, you could choose not to write secret memorials, but you could not stop your colleagues from writing them.

There are no real friends in officialdom, the only way is to keep climbing up. If you don't write a secret memorial today, you may be dismissed from office for no apparent reason tomorrow, and only then will you find out that it was because your classmates wrote a secret memorial to report your corruption.

It doesn’t matter whether you really committed corruption or not, because the emperor saw your “evidence of corruption” in the secret memorial.

There are always idiots who say that Qianlong was a wise ruler, but they don't know that there were more than 130 cases of literary inquisition during Qianlong's reign, and Qianlong would often curse and criticize officials in his memorials just because he liked.

Today you say that this Han minister dared to call himself a slave together with the Manchu ministers, wondering if he was trying to climb up the social ladder. Tomorrow you say that the Han minister called himself a slave separately, wondering if he looked down on the Manchu ministers of the Eight Banners?

Xing Zhao and Hui Ling, one in Hunan and the other in Hubei, wrote memorials almost at the same time, finding excuses to shift the blame.

Of course, the two were also afraid that Qianlong would really get angry, so they gave a solution in the memorial.

Xing Zhao wanted to request an imperial decree to transfer troops from western Hunan, preferably to let Prince Fukang'an lead the army north to wipe out the bold Han army.

Hui Ling was even more decisive. He simply ignored the Han army and turned his attention to the White Lotus Sect. He said that the White Lotus rebels in Hubei had become too powerful to be eliminated and could no longer be allowed to cause chaos. A large number of troops must be sent to encircle and suppress them, and troops from other provinces such as Henan, Sichuan and Shaanxi might also be needed to join forces to suppress the bandits.

Obviously, Huiling was asking for too much, but this was done at a very good time, because the secret memorials submitted by the provincial officials in the areas west of Hubei where the White Lotus Sect was rampant regarding the White Lotus Rebellion had just been seen by Emperor Qianlong and Emperor Jiaqing.

Forbidden City, Qianqing Palace.

Jiaqing, newly ascended to the throne, showed no signs of emotion. He spoke with a look of shock and fear, "The White Lotus Rebellion! Yichang, Xiangyang, and Yunyang prefectures have been destroyed, leaving only the city itself. How is this possible? How could it happen so quickly?"

Jiaqing had heard his teacher, Zhu Gui, say that the prosperous reign of Emperor Qianlong during the Qing dynasty was not as perfect as it appeared, with corrupt officials everywhere abusing and harming the people. Therefore, this "Qing Renzong" always believed that upon ascending the throne, he would reform the country, eliminate its harsh and malpracticed policies, and punish corruption in the officialdom and court.

Let’s not worry about what Jiaqing was thinking. Just looking at the temple name “Emperor Renzong of Qing”, we can tell that he was basically a failure.

"Cough cough!"

Qianlong seemed very calm. He glanced at Jiaqing who had taken action, pretending to be unintentional, and then spoke to Heshen who was kneeling to present a memorial.

"Heshen, has the White Lotus Rebellion in Hubei become very serious?" asked Qianlong.

Heshen knelt on the ground and did not stand up. He said respectfully: "In reply to the Emperor, I have just learned about this. I did not expect that the White Lotus Cult could actually deceive ignorant men and women and cause such a huge commotion in the remote province of Hubei." It seemed that he did not know anything about it, but in just a few words he described the White Lotus Uprising as a group of cult leaders who deceived ignorant people and caused chaos.

The difference before and after is huge!

Qianlong seemed to understand, but he was too lazy to intervene and continued, "I remember that Fu Kang'an was sent to Fu Zhina to quell the rebellion, wasn't he?"

"This..." Heshen looked embarrassed.

"What happened? I pardon you."

Qianlong was somewhat displeased. He actually saw through the trick in the date of the memorial, but he deliberately turned a blind eye to it. Heshen was too useful, even more useful than Li Shiyao before. Such a useful tool for making money could not be killed casually.

Heshen saw that Qianlong was a little angry, so he decided to withdraw while he was ahead. He quickly said, "General Fu Zhina of Zhenxian was ambushed by the White Lotus rebels in Jingzhou. He was outnumbered and his entire army was annihilated (Xing Zhaorun's pen). The White Lotus rebels took the opportunity to march south and annex Yuezhou and Lizhou. In addition, Xiangyang, Yunyang, Jingmen, Yichang, and Shinan have now become places where the White Lotus rebels are causing trouble."

After hearing Heshen's answer, even the calm Emperor Qianlong was a little surprised. He thought that the White Lotus Sect was just fooling the people, but he never expected that in less than half a year, it had almost occupied half of Hubei, and even Hunan had been infiltrated by the White Lotus Sect.

Qianlong hurriedly took the memorial and read it himself. The more he read, the more frightened he became.

This is not some ordinary cult deceiving the people; it is clearly a gang of traitors who have been plotting a rebellion for a long time.

"Most of Hubei is almost lost, and I, the retired emperor, am the last to know about it!" Qianlong cursed angrily and threw the memorial in his hand at Heshen.

"Your Majesty, please calm down! Don't damage your body for a group of evil cult rebels." Heshen didn't dare to hide at all. He just knelt on the ground and buried his head even lower.

Jiaqing didn't care about the great opportunity to overthrow Heshen at this time, and hurriedly said: "Khan Ama, the White Lotus Sect is wreaking havoc in half of Hubei. We should send troops to suppress it immediately. We must not sit idly by and watch the White Lotus rebels grow stronger!"

No matter how much he cursed, it was definitely not possible to ask Qianlong to kill Heshen. This guy was the money bag of the Qing Dynasty and he could not be killed.

Qianlong cursed Heshen several times and scolded him again before changing the subject: "The White Lotus Sect is wreaking havoc in half of Hubei. Heshen, what are your thoughts?"

It was Heshen who came up with the idea of ​​sending Fu Zhina to suppress the White Lotus Sect. There was definitely nothing wrong with the idea itself, because Fu Zhina was Fu Kang'an's trusted and beloved general. The only problem was that Fu Zhina actually lost the battle and even died in the battle (Xing Zhao's guess).

When Heshen heard Qianlong's request for advice, he knew he had already revealed it. After careful consideration, he said, "In reply to the Supreme Emperor, I believe that the White Lotus rebels in Hubei may appear powerful and difficult to control on the surface, but in reality, they are weak and have shallow foundations. Judging from the memorials submitted by the various prefectures in Hubei, these White Lotus rebels may appear to be aggressive, but they lack the ability to capture the prefectures and major cities. If the imperial court deploys a large force to encircle and suppress them, the rebels can be wiped out in a snap."

It is not clear whether this statement is correct or not, but Qianlong agreed with it anyway, because the memorial did not mention that any prefecture or city had fallen, it only said that the prefectures and cities requested the court to send troops to rescue and suppress the rebellion.

This shows that the White Lotus rebels had no ability to attack cities.

Jiaqing questioned, "What about the Jingzhou rebels?"

He Shen smiled faintly. "Your Majesty, these Jingzhou rebels are just a branch of the White Lotus Sect. This has already been mentioned in the memorial from the Hubei Governor. Moreover, compared to the Jingzhou rebels, the White Lotus Sect in Xiangyang is still the most serious threat to the Qing Dynasty in Hubei."

Speaking of Xiangyang, Heshen's smile faded and he said seriously, "Your Majesty, the Xiangyang prefect recently submitted a secret memorial stating that the Xiangyang White Lotus Sect has merged with the Yunyang White Lotus Sect. Hundreds of thousands of White Lotus followers from the two prefectures, led by a widow named Wang, are approaching the city of Xiangyang."

"Once Xiangyang is captured, Hubei will be..."

He didn't say anything else, but Qianlong already knew the importance of the matter.

Huiling and Xingzhao fought each other through secret reports, but Huiling was the winner in the end.

The Han army of Jingzhou, which numbered only more than 10,000 people at most, faced the combined forces of the White Lotus Sect from Xiangyang and Yunyang, which numbered hundreds of thousands. Of course, they had to attack the White Lotus Sect first!
Even if we remove the exaggeration and the elderly, weak, women and children, there are still hundreds of thousands of troops left in the White Lotus Sect.

An army of over 100,000 troops placed on the Hubei battlefield where there are few elite troops is simply a natural disaster nightmare.

Compared with Xing Zhao, who was only under pressure from the Han army, his pressure was no match for the hundreds of thousands of White Lotus troops in Xiangyang, which put even greater pressure on the court.

Qianlong even thought that Xingzhao was deliberately making excuses to shift the blame to Fu Zhina and himself.

(So ​​sleepy!)

(End of this chapter)