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

Chapter 191
Losing Guangzhou first, and then Jingzhou, the nation suffered tens of thousands of losses, and the Qing Dynasty's face was really about to be lost!
Qianlong was really annoyed by this now.

Beneath the cold and gloomy face, there was burning anger.

At this time, Qianlong even had an impulse to ask the emperor to personally conquer the country and go south to put down the rebellion of the Ming thieves!
Fortunately, his sanity quickly returned to high ground!

After hearing this, several military aircraft ministers looked at each other and exchanged opinions. Finally, military aircraft foreman Yu Minzhong stood up and spoke.

"Reporting to your Majesty, Agui has sent back a memorial from Yuezhou to plead guilty..."

Qianlong heard this and snorted coldly.

"Excuse me? He, Agui, led the most elite troops of the Qing Dynasty, but he lost the battle of Changsha, so that Changsha fell into the hands of Ming thieves, the war situation in the south was ruined, and Jingzhou was besieged. He did It’s time to apologize!”

"But it's not to apologize to me, but to the Qing Dynasty and the ancestors!"

Ever since the Battle of Changsha, Qianlong had begun to dislike Agui.

Qianlong, Emperor Gaozong of the Qing Dynasty, who had been obedient all his life, could not accept failure!
Especially this kind of major strategic failure!
The consequences of losing Changsha are really too serious.

For example: Jingzhou's dilemma is the result of the Qing army losing its strategic initiative.

He Shen on the side couldn't help crying in his heart when he heard this.

The emperor now thinks that Agui is apologizing for the defeat of Changsha, but the fact is that Agui is apologizing for abandoning Jingzhou...

If this is the case, the emperor will definitely have a psychological gap.

By then, Agui will probably be sad!

However, if the emperor takes Agui now, who should be in charge of the war in the south?
You know, Zhaohui, another famous general of the Qing Dynasty, has been dead for more than ten years.

I'm afraid it's so rotten that only a handful of bones are left!

You can't just drag him out of the grave and let him lead the army again, right?
How scary it would be to lead an army with a handful of bones!
And Shu Hede is a half-empty man in the military. It's okay if you let him deal with ordinary thieves.

But if they were to face off against the elite Ming thieves, their performance might not be as good as Agui!

To put it bluntly, Agui is now much more important to the Qing Dynasty than a Jingzhou city.

When Yu Minzhong heard this, his expression also froze.

But he still had the courage to speak.

"Your Majesty, General Agui is not asking for forgiveness this time because of the defeat in Changsha."

"It's because of the incident in Jingzhou..."

Qianlong frowned subconsciously when he heard this.

"What happened in Jingzhou? What do you mean?"

Yu Minzhong took a deep breath and spoke.

"General A Gui submitted a letter requesting that Jingzhou be abandoned to protect Yuezhou and to preserve the last mobile force of the Qing Dynasty in the south."

"So that the war situation in the south can be maintained!"

When Qianlong heard this, his face twitched and veins popped out on his shiny forehead.

A pair of eyes contained increasingly blazing anger.

Qianlong was extremely angry and laughed.

"Ha ha ha ha ha!"

"Okay, okay, this Agui has really lived up to my trust in him!"

"This Agui is truly worthy of being our No. 1 general in Manchuria. He is so thoughtful!"

"Hahahaha!"

Listening to Qianlong's heart-rending laughter, several military ministers could not help but lower their heads and did not dare to say anything.

I'm afraid of getting burned!
Qianlong's chest rose and fell violently.

"But, since he was so thoughtful, why didn't he consider the nation of Jingzhou?"

"That's more than ten thousand nationalities!"

"If the nation in Jingzhou falls into the hands of Ming thieves like the nation in Guangzhou, how many people in the world will be called emperors and kings!"

Seeing this, several military and aircraft ministers knew that it would be impossible to remain silent.

They all knelt down and kowtowed and said in unison.

"Please, Your Majesty, temporarily suspend the thunderous wrath!"

"Your Majesty, please calm down. Your Majesty, please calm down. Agui has done this with great care. Please give him another chance for the sake of his dedication to serving the country!"

"..."

Several people had a tacit understanding, and it didn't matter that Agui had to preside over the war in the south. Agui had to give Qianlong some advice.

Because they all know something about Qianlong's temper.

If they want to kill Agui, they are definitely right.

But if they want to save Agui, they must not say this.

Otherwise, Qianlong might not have wanted to kill Agui, but would have ordered his death.

Qianlong lived his whole life, but his character flaw was that he was quite arrogant.

In his understanding, no one in this world is indispensable except himself.

If so, then this person had better die!
Listening to the persuasion of several military ministers, Qianlong took a deep breath to regain his composure, and then thought about the possibility of taking Agui by himself.

He soon realized that Agui was now indispensable to the war in the south.

If he captures Agui, the price may be the complete collapse of the Qing Dynasty's southern war.

This was absolutely unacceptable to Qianlong!
Qianlong was arrogant, but not confused. If someone else told him that Agui was indispensable, he might kill Agui out of anger.

But if he realizes it himself, that's another matter!
He still has a certain tolerance for others!
Especially for Manchu generals like Agui, Qianlong still had a certain tolerance for him.

Qianlong thought for a while and then said.

"Hehe, hehe!"

"Ah Gui, what a wonderful Ah Gui!"

"Li Yu!"

Qianlong called his personal eunuch.

Hearing this, Li Yu walked slowly to Qianlong's side and spoke.

"The slave is here!"

Qianlong squinted his eyes and said.

"You personally go to Huguang for me and tell Agui that there must be no mistakes in Jiangnan and Hubei. Otherwise, let him come to see you."

The meaning of Qianlong's words was very clear. He would not care about Jingzhou's affairs with Agui for the time being, but Agui must keep Hubei and Jiangnan.

Otherwise, Qianlong would have to settle the accounts with him!
By then, even if Agui doesn't die, he will have to be exiled to Ninggu Pagoda or Ili!
When Li Yu heard this, he knelt down and said.

"The slave obeys the order!"

At this moment, Li Shiyao on the side spoke.

"Your Majesty, I think the Qing Dynasty should once again mobilize troops to reinforce the war in the direction of Huguang."

"After the Battle of Changsha, General Agui's troops were severely damaged. If the imperial court cannot provide him with reinforcements as soon as possible, General Agui may only have the ambition to make progress but not the power to make progress."

Li Shiyao has read the battle report about the Battle of Changsha.

While being frightened by the fighting power of the Ming army, Li Shiyao also realized how serious the situation Agui was facing now.

Tens of thousands of soldiers were lost in the first battle, but they were all the elites of the Gansu and Shaanxi Green Battalion and the Sauron Army.

The soldiers in his hands were all lost. It is not surprising that after the battle of Changsha, Agui only dared to defend the city in Yuezhou, but did not dare to go to Jingzhou to fight with the Ming army in the field.

The force Agui currently has in hand may be enough to defend the city, but it is really not enough to sustain it in the field.

With the strength of Agui's troops, if he really fought against the Ming army in the field, he would probably be defeated.If the Qing Dynasty wanted to maintain the war situation in the south, it would have to send more troops to Agui!
As soon as he talked about increasing his troops, Qianlong turned his attention to his beloved and his concubine.

Because if you want to fight, you have to spend money!

As long as there was money, the Qing Dynasty had enough soldiers to move to the south.

And Heshen is his Qianlong's money bag!

Heshen and Qianlong's eyes made slight contact, and he immediately understood what the emperor meant and spoke.

"Your Majesty, the Ministry of Household Affairs currently has 340 taels of silver in reserve, 430 shi of grain, and 120 bolts of cloth..."

Although He Shen is now just a minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, he holds absolute real power in the Ministry of Household Affairs because of the emperor's trust.

When the emperor wanted money, he would not ask Liang Guozhi, the Minister of Household Affairs, but directly ask He Shen.

However, the current situation is that even if He Shen has the ability to gather and search, as the war situation in the south intensifies.

As well as the loss of the important financial and tax areas of Guangdong, Guangxi and Hunan, the Qing treasury was still somewhat unable to make ends meet.

It's only the middle of the year, and there are only more than 300 million in silver in the Qing treasury.

Even including food, cloth and other physical goods, the total value is around 1000 million.

This looks like a lot of money.

However, this money must not only be used to maintain military needs on the front line, but also be used to pay officials, to distribute hard-core crops to the Eight Banners, to maintain the operation of the court, to provide for the daily expenses of the royal family, and to deal with Disaster relief and other emergencies...

So, this money is really not much!

And what you need to know is that the current annual income of the Qing Dynasty is only 6000 to [-] million taels of silver.

And now it’s only the middle of the year, and four-fifths of it has already been used!
The remaining money, let alone continuing to mobilize troops from the north, is far from enough even if it is just used to maintain the needs of the court.

When Qianlong heard this, his face also darkened and he couldn't help but frown.

"The rebel power in the south is corrupt, and the national funds are insufficient. Do you have any ideas to solve this problem?"

For Qianlong now, the most important thing is to make money.

Chongzhen died of poverty back then, and Qianlong could not make the same mistake again.

Li Shiyao heard this and spoke.

"To report to your Majesty, I think that we, the Qing Dynasty, can start to collect additional taxes in areas near the bandit areas to supply the needs of the army to suppress bandits."

What if I don't have money?
Li Shiyao’s solution is simple: increase taxes!

But when Yu Minzhong heard this, he couldn't help but objected.

"Shengdou people's survival is already difficult. If the court raises taxes again, wouldn't it mean that the government is forcing the people to rebel?"

What to do if you have no money? Increase taxes!

I, Daming, thought so too at the beginning.

Then Li Zicheng was added, Zhang Xianzhong was added, and the bandits that destroyed the Ming Dynasty were added.

The situation faced by the Manchu Qing Dynasty now is quite similar to the situation faced by the Ming Dynasty at the end of the Ming Dynasty.

Internal worries, foreign invasions, and financial difficulties are all over.

In terms of internal worries, there were bandits in the Ming Dynasty, and there were constant uprisings in various places in the Manchu Qing Dynasty.

In terms of foreign aggression, the Ming Dynasty had foreign invaders, and the Manchu and Qing Dynasties had Ming pirates from Guangdong and Guangxi.

Needless to say, financial difficulties are the same!

At this time, if Qianlong raises taxes again and causes civil unrest, our country, the Qing Dynasty, will really be on the verge of subjugation.

He Shen also spoke.

"For the record, Your Majesty, I am also opposed to raising taxes in areas close to the bandit area!"

He Shen felt that Li Shiyao was mentally ill.

Are you sure you're not cooperating with thieves by raising taxes in areas close to thieves' areas?

Originally, people in the south were not on the side of the Qing Dynasty, and there were many rebellious officials and traitors who missed the Ming Dynasty. The Qing Dynasty increased taxes again.

This is good. It is estimated that some obedient people who originally did not want to rebel were forced to cut off their braids, rebel against the Qing Dynasty and restore the Ming Dynasty, and kneel down to welcome the old master!

In the south, when everyone started to fight against the Qing Dynasty and restore the Ming Dynasty, there was really no psychological pressure at all.

However, what He Shen meant was not that taxes could not be increased, but that taxes could not be increased in places close to thieves' areas.

However, taxes could be increased in places where the Qing Dynasty had strong control.

Qianlong frowned and asked after hearing this.

"What does He Shenyou mean?"

He Shen did not hesitate and spoke directly.

"Reporting to your Majesty, I think the Qing Dynasty can raise taxes in Beizhi, Shandong, Shanxi, Henan and other places."

"We can also open the official positions in the areas where thieves were donated to the gentry and wealthy businessmen, but they are required to bring their own regiment training to take office and assist the Qing Dynasty in regaining the place..."

He Shen's opinion is very simple: increase taxes and sell off official positions!
Although I also sold my official position before the Qing Dynasty, I only sold my official position to scholars with a certain reputation.

But now He Shen’s opinion is that we should just don’t have the face thing anymore!
Official positions are open for sale!

Especially the official positions in the area occupied by thieves!
Anyway, it’s no longer owned by Qing Dynasty, so let’s sell it freely!
And its additional condition, which requires the gentry and wealthy businessmen to bring their own team training to take office, is a suggestion that kills two birds with one stone.

The first is to solve the problem of the court’s urgent military expenditure by selling officials.

The second is to supplement the lack of troops in the frontline army through team training.

In Heshen's view, the current situation in the world is already quite dangerous.

If the Qing Dynasty wants to re-pacify the world, it must rely on the power of the gentry group training!

When Qianlong heard this, he looked thoughtful.

After thinking for a while, he spoke.

“It’s possible to raise taxes and donate money for official positions, but we’d better avoid team training!”

"The current situation in the imperial court has not yet reached the point where we need group training to help pacify the world!"

In the end, Qianlong did not agree to allow his subordinates to start group training on a large scale.

To put it bluntly, the anti-Chinese thinking is still causing trouble!

I was afraid that the Han people would use too much force to oppose the Qing Dynasty!
And the reason why there are still team training in Guangdong and Guangxi even though the imperial court prohibits it is because the Qing Dynasty’s control over Guangdong and Guangxi is really weak, and they can only turn a blind eye to the underlying situation and treat it as nothing. have no idea.

After all, if the gentry of Guangdong and Guangxi had not organized several large-scale armed fights, you would be embarrassed to say that you were a handsome boy from Guangdong and Guangxi.

As for those who fight with weapons, aren't they just group training to put it bluntly?

It’s just that I have no status!

The government really doesn’t dare to take care of these people!

Everyone heard this and said in unison.

"Emperor Shengming!"

After talking about money and food, Qianlong asked again.

"If the imperial court wants to reinforce the war in the south, where do you think the imperial court should mobilize its troops?"

"Ganshan? Outside the Pass? Or Shanxi, Beizhi?"

After Li Shiyao heard this, he stood up and said.

"Reporting to your Majesty, I believe that we, the Qing Dynasty, may be able to issue a decree to recruit troops from the Mongolian vassals, as well as the Eight Banners outside the Pass and more Sauron troops to enter the Pass to assist in the war."

"After the last deployment of troops to reinforce the war in the south, Gansu and Shaanxi are already empty of troops, so it's better not to move lightly!"

"I'm worried that if the imperial court deploys troops from Gansu and Shaanxi again, there will be another chaos in the Western Regions..."

(End of this chapter)