Anti-Qing: Starting from the Reincarnation of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 163
For Zhu Jing'an, this was something unacceptable.

Because, in his vision, the next step was that he would personally lead his troops northward and spread the war to the entire Huguang.

This was used to break the Qing Dynasty's grain sack and pave the way for the next step of the army's march eastward to the south of the Yangtze River.

But now, the Ming army's northward offensive has been contained in Changsha, and the Qing army has been blocked south of Changsha.

If not for the good news from Hubei, the White Lotus Sect would continue to coerce the people and expand its power, and would soon corrupt the entire Hubei.

Then I'm afraid Zhu Jing'an's plan will be in vain!
After all, if the Ming army was blocked in Hunan, they would not be able to completely smash the Qing's grain bags.

If the Manchu Qing Dynasty can still have half a grain bag in hand, then the Manchu Qing Dynasty's rule can be maintained in a short period of time and will not collapse for the time being.

Also, if Changsha cannot be conquered, then the Ming Dynasty will not be able to march eastward to the south of the Yangtze River!

To put it bluntly, Changsha is the most important center point in the current southern war situation.

Whoever can win and occupy this central point between the Ming and Qing Dynasties will be able to take the current strategic initiative!

……

In Guangzhou City, the palace of the Ming Emperor!
In the conference room, the generals of the Ming army and the ministers of the court gathered together, lowering their heads and whispering, discussing matters in a low voice.

Zhu Jianzhuo was wearing a dragon robe and sitting on the main seat.

In front of him, there was a sand table.

On the sand table, the current overall war situation in the south is marked in detail.

Zhu Jing'an held a pointer in his hand and explained the current war situation to many senior officials of the Ming Dynasty.

"According to the information currently available, our army's offensives in Guizhou and Hunan have been contained to the east of Guizhou and south of Changsha respectively."

"The war in Guizhou is not bad. As long as He Jin and Zhang Yong can stabilize the current situation, even a temporary strategic stalemate will be acceptable to our Ming Dynasty."

"The key to breaking the situation now lies in Changsha!"

Zhu Jing'an pointed the pointer in Changsha's position and said solemnly.

"Changsha's geographical location is very important. It controls Hunan, connects Hubei, and blocks Jiangxi. It is easy to defend but difficult to attack. It is a hub place."

"If we cannot capture Changsha, our Ming Dynasty's offensive will be contained within Hunan, and we will be unable to go north to Hubei or east to Jiangnan."

"In this case, the grand strategy I formulated before the Ming Dynasty to first capture Huguang and then go to Jiangnan will be stuck in Changsha."

"What Ming Dynasty will face next is wave after wave of military attacks organized by the Qing Dynasty using food from Huguang and finance and taxation from Jiangnan."

"At that time, with the money, food and soldiers of Guangdong and Guangxi, it will be difficult for our Ming Dynasty to compete with the Manchu Qing Dynasty, which occupies most of the world."

After listening to Zhu Jing'an's words, the civil and military officials of the Ming Dynasty were obviously a little solemn.

Zhu Jing'an's control and description of the world's situation made them all feel the pressure.

Zhu Jiazhuo cleared his throat and asked.

"Then what does the prince think our army should do next?"

Zhu Jing'an said with a serious face.

"Get through Changsha as soon as possible!"

"Except for opening up Changsha as soon as possible, I, the Ming Dynasty, have no choice!"

"As long as Changsha is captured, the hinterland of Huguang and the passage to Jiangnan will be exposed to the Ming Dynasty's military front."

"When the time comes, it will be me, Ming, who takes the initiative in this big game of chess in the world!"

When Zhu Jianzhuo heard this, he nodded.

"What the prince said makes sense."

Zhu Jing'an then spoke.

"To inform my father, I want to personally lead the troops north this time to take charge of the war in Changsha."

Zhu Jianzhuo nodded in approval, and then spoke.

"The prince can lead the troops and leave as soon as possible!"

"The DPRK and China will do their best to raise the food, grass and weapons needed for the army to go on an expedition, and will ensure that the army's logistical supply is secure."

When the army goes on an expedition, the most important thing is that there should be no problems with logistics.

The fundamental reason why there was a Tumu Fort incident in Qianming that year was because of the blind command of the foreign students from Wala.

Tens of thousands of people in the Beijing camp went out for the expedition, but it only took half a month to raise food and grass.

There is a risk of running out of food in any minute.

How could nothing happen?
Zhu Jing'an nodded to express his understanding, and then spoke.

"Father, don't worry. I have ordered the Commander-in-Chief of the Five Armies to mobilize troops and prepare for the corresponding expedition. The army will be dispatched soon."

"This battle will definitely open up Changsha City for our Ming Dynasty!"

The fundamental reason why the current Ming Dynasty can go on an expedition is that the Ming Dynasty is now in a wartime state.

Basically the entire country, everything is centered on war and serves the war.

Ming Dynasty has been doing it all the time to raise food, grass and weapons, basically never stopped.

The food, fodder, and weapons needed for the army to go on an expedition have been stored for a long time. When the army goes out for an expedition, it can be retrieved directly.

In this way, it will naturally save trouble!

……

At the same time, the troops and horses of the Qing court to reinforce the war in the south were about to arrive in the south.

Due to the intense war in the south, the Qing government did not delay at all in dispatching troops.

Before the New Year, before the twelfth lunar month, Qianlong ordered Agui to take the Sauron soldiers who arrived in the capital and the Xishan Jianrui camp in the capital to go south.

Qianlong's imperial edict to Agui was to first take Suolun Bing and Jian Ruiying to Luoyang.

After joining the Northwest Green Camp starting from Gansu and Shaanxi in Luoyang, we will then go to Ruzhou and Nanyang to enter Hubei.

Then, he first started to help the Hubei authorities to wipe out the White Lotus Sect forces and calm down the situation in Hubei.

When the situation in Hubei stabilizes, the army will go south to Hunan to wipe out the Ming thieves!
Qianlong knew that Hunan was still easy to fight, and it would most likely be the main battlefield between the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

It will be difficult for the Qing Dynasty to take back Hunan in a short time.

Therefore, Hubei must be controlled by the Qing Dynasty.

Otherwise, once Huguang is completely destroyed, the water transportation in the capital will really be cut off!
Shu Hede, who was appointed prime minister for the suppression of bandits in the southern provinces, left earlier than Agui.

As soon as the imperial meeting ended, Qianlong asked Shu Hede to go south to the south of the Yangtze River with the imperial edict without stopping.

To coordinate and dispatch the troops and horses of various provinces to stabilize the war situation in Jiangnan.

To prevent bandits from escaping into the south of the Yangtze River and destroying the Qing Dynasty’s important financial and taxation center!
Now, Shu Hede has already arrived in Jiangnan and has begun to coordinate the military forces of several southern provinces to consolidate the defense of Jiangnan.

As for Agui, after arriving in Luoyang, joining the Gansu and Shaanxi Green Camps, and making some repairs, he also began to lead his army southward.

Now, the main force of the Qing army led by Agui is about to enter Hubei.

The current general trend of the world is really a storm that is about to come!
Another large-scale decisive battle between the Ming and Qing Dynasties is about to begin.

……

It was the tenth day of the second lunar month in the first year of Xuanwu in the Ming Dynasty.

Guangzhou City!
People who get up early are having morning tea at the tea stalls along the streets, and the air is filled with the aroma of tea and food.

Amid the smoke and fire in the world, the prosperity and stability of Guangzhou City can be seen with the naked eye.

How should I put it? With tens of thousands of elite Ming troops stationed there, who would dare to cause trouble?
It's not like looking for death!
It’s hard to think of Guangzhou as unstable.Chen Asi came out of the stall early and was busy in full swing.

"Sir, please use the Shaomai and fragrant tea you requested with caution."

Chen Asi brought all the food requested by the guests and went to tend the fire without stopping.

Although there is obvious fatigue on his face, he works with enthusiasm and moves quickly without any delay.

Since the Ming Dynasty occupied Guangzhou and opened and closed in Guangzhou, it promoted the development of maritime trade.

The city of Guangzhou is becoming increasingly prosperous!

Even a small vendor like Chen Asi is having a much easier time.

The reason for this is, firstly, that after the Ming Dynasty occupied Guangzhou, most of the people in the Tiandihui became official.

With the formal establishment of the court, people from the Tiandihui will naturally no longer do things like collect protection fees from small traders and reduce prices like this.

Without the exploitation of Tiandihui, the life of small traders has improved visibly.

The second reason is that with the Ming Dynasty opening and closing in Guangzhou, merchants from the entire Guangdong and Guangxi, and even Fujian, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Hunan, and Guizhou are running to Guangzhou.

Of course, although these businessmen are running to Guangzhou, it does not mean that they choose to betray the Manchu Qing Dynasty and side with the Ming Dynasty.

These businessmen are simply making money because of the switch in Guangzhou.

Anyway, the Ming Dynasty was quite tolerant of doing business. Except for a customs duty and a braid tax on merchants coming from the Manchu-controlled areas, it was fine.

It didn’t say that they had to cut their braids.

It is precisely because of this that after the opening of Guangzhou, more and more businessmen took the risk to come to Guangzhou to do business.

And with the influx of a large number of wealthy businessmen, there will naturally be more people eating morning tea.

Although Chen Asi has been a little busy recently, seeing as he earns more and more copper coins every day and his pocket becoming more and more bulging, he is full of energy in everything he does.

I really answered that sentence, Ming Dynasty is back, good times are coming!
The only thing that made Chen Asi a little dissatisfied was that the court did not allow them to dump garbage on the streets at will, and they would be fined if they were caught.

They are not allowed to place tables, chairs, stoves and other sundries more than three feet above the roadside. If caught, they will be fined.

Moreover, these merchants are also responsible for sweeping the front of their respective stores to keep them clean and tidy.

If anyone is lazy and does not clean, if he is caught, not only will he be fined, but he will also be punished by cleaning the entire street for ten days.

The imperial court said that it was for the sake of the city appearance of Guangzhou and the construction of spiritual civilization of the Ming Dynasty.

Chen Asi didn't understand these silly things, but he knew that his arms couldn't twist his thighs, so he just had to do whatever the court asked him to do.

I don’t want to offend the imperial court!

How can ordinary people like them fight against the officials?
The only thing that made Chen Asi feel resentful was that almost all the government officials responsible for supervising small traders like them were familiar faces.

Well, they were the same group of people who collected fees, membership fees, and protection fees from small traders like them.

The only difference is that after the Ming Dynasty regained Guangzhou, these people from the Tiandihui wore official skins.

But in this regard, Chen Asi said that he was not envious.

The official robes of these men of the Tiandihui are not for nothing. When the Ming Dynasty attacked Guangzhou before, the Tiandihui made great efforts.

In that battle, many people from the Tiandihui died. I heard that hundreds of carriages were used to pull the corpses.

Even if God gave Chen Asi another chance to choose, he would not dare to risk his life to fight for wealth on the battlefield.

He still has his parents, wife and children to take care of at home, but he doesn't dare to risk his own life.

What if I get killed on the battlefield? What will my family do?
He, Chen Asi, will spend his whole life guarding his own tea stall.

What does the world become easier or the change of dynasties have to do with him?

At the tea stall, Cai Yongjian ate a shaomai, took a sip of tea, chewed heavily, and filled his stomach.

Opposite him sat a man wearing a melon cap and a money rat tail.

This is his business partner, a native of Jiangxi, surnamed Jin, named Jin Changming.

Such dressing up is not uncommon in Guangzhou today.

Although the Ming Dynasty regained Guangzhou, it did not force the people of Guangzhou to cut their braids.

Instead, they only advocated cutting braids and restoring Han attire.

Although most people in Guangzhou chose to cut off their braids to express their determination to join the Ming Dynasty.

However, some people could not see the formality clearly and still believed that there was a possibility of the Manchus coming back and refused to cut their braids.

For such die-hards, Ming Dynasty did not shout or kill them, but only imposed a pigtail tax.

Of course, more people who keep dressing up like this do not do it because they want to be Manchu, but because they have no choice but to do so.

For example, some businessmen who need to travel between the controlled areas of the Qing Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty to do business.

Because of the rules in the Manchu and Qing Dynasties, if they wanted to go back and forth to do business, they couldn't cut off their braids.

Otherwise, your life will be lost.

This is exactly the case for Jin Changming. He needs to travel frequently between Jiangxi and Guangdong to sell goods, so he must keep his braids.

Therefore, he supported Ming Dynasty’s pigtail tax policy with 1 people!

Isn't it just a braid tax?
He paid it willingly!
"Shopkeeper Jin, how much goods did you bring when you came to Guangzhou this time?"

Cai Yongjian swallowed the food in his mouth and asked.

Jin Changming raised two fingers and said.

"Five hundred pieces of high-white blue and white flowers produced in Jingdezhen, and Jiangxi tribute paper worth a thousand dollars, are all good products."

"I wonder if Shopkeeper Cai can afford it?"

Cai Yongjian picked his teeth and continued.

"It's easy to talk to. To be honest with shopkeeper Jin, brother, I recently caught up with Wu Jiayi and the line. I can eat no matter how much goods there are."

Although the Ming Dynasty abolished the privileges of the Thirteen Lines franchise, it chose to completely switch to Guangzhou.

But Thirteen Lines is the pioneer after all, and a skinny camel is bigger than a horse.

Starting a sea trade business is definitely much more convenient than those small trading houses with no connections.

Therefore, for a small businessman like Cai Yongjian, it is really a great honor to be able to join Yihexing.

When Jin Changming heard this, he also took a breath of air.

"Shopkeeper Cai is so resourceful that he actually got on the path of Yihexing. Won't the future glory and wealth be rolling in?"

When Cai Yongjian heard this, he just waved his hand and said very humbly.

"Hey, nothing is so easy."

"Now, although the Thirteenth Bank has absolved its previous sins and saved its family business by donating military expenses to the Ming Dynasty, it has also lost its monopoly position and its momentum is not as good as before."

After saying this, Cai Yongjian changed his tone and said with emotion.

"But it's also a good thing for us small businessmen. If the power of the Thirteenth Industry hadn't been reduced, how could we small businessmen be able to catch up with other people's Thirteenth Industry?"

"I'm afraid people won't even look at us!"

"I still have to thank the Ming Dynasty!"

With the Ming Dynasty's switch, Guangzhou's sea trade developed more and more prosperously. Although the total trade volume was rising steadily, the share belonging to the Thirteenth Line was visibly reduced.

Although the Thirteenth Bank has a first-mover advantage in maritime trade, no matter how large the first-mover advantage is, it is easier to obtain than not having a monopoly.

However, Zhu Jing'an will not allow the Thirteenth Industry to continue to monopolize sea trade no matter what!
(End of this chapter)