Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 358 Tang Jingsong

Tang Jingsong was born in 1841, with the courtesy name Weiqing, from Guanyang, Guangxi. In the fourth year of the Tongzhi reign (1865), he became a Jinshi, was selected as a Shujishi, and was appointed as a deputy director of the Ministry of Personnel.

After serving as a minor official in the capital for 16 years, he felt frustrated and unhappy. When he heard that war had broken out in northern Annan, his ambition was rekindled. After being reprimanded by the Qing court and exiled to Annan, he became completely disappointed with the Qing government and decided to join the Nanyang Army to establish some achievements in Annan.

"The Qing government is cowardly and afraid of the enemy. It cannot resist the Western white barbarians and cannot protect the country and the people. Although Tang is just a minor official, he is unwilling to work for them. Now I have been demoted to Annan. I hope Lord Mei will take me in."

As soon as the two met, Tang Jingsong put himself in a very humble position and humbly expressed his intention to surrender to the Han State.

"The Qing government is corrupt and incompetent. They knew that Lord Tang was a man of great strategic potential, but they did not employ him. Losing Lord Tang is a heavy loss for the Qing government. My Great Han Empire has gained a wise and capable minister. Mei is very happy!"

Mei Dongxing smiled and helped Tang Jingsong up, saying, "The French are pressing forward step by step. I wonder what the local garrison in the southwest will do?"

"Before Tang left Beijing, the Qing court ordered the transfer of four training battalions to the Red River border area in Yunnan, and ordered the alternate governor Shen Shourong to go to Lin'an to recruit eight training battalions on the spot for deployment.

At the same time, he also ordered Sichuan to draw 20 taels of military pay every year to be delivered to the Yunnan border troops, and in Guangdong and Guangxi, he appointed Xu Yanxu as the Prime Minister of Defense against the Enemy, commanding more than people from the Green Camp and militia in Guangxi, and deployed them along the Guangxi and Annan lines. ..."

"The Qing army deployed a large army in the border area, luring them away but not moving them. I'm afraid they are not just defending against the French."

"Your Excellency can see clearly that the Qing court is extremely wary of the Nanyang Corps under the command of Your Excellency. In 1872, after Feng Zicai, the governor of Guangxi, was dismissed and returned to his hometown, he once reported to the court that the armed forces of the Chinese in Annan were strong and suggested that the Qing court send troops to eliminate them as soon as possible. However, because Feng Zicai was of low rank at the time and his words were not taken seriously, he did not get along with the successor, Huang Guilan, the governor of Guangxi, so Feng Zicai's suggestion was not adopted by the Qing court.
However, since your majesty proclaimed himself emperor in South America and established the system two years ago, the Qing court has become increasingly suspicious of the Chinese armed forces at home and abroad. Many noble ministers of the Eight Banners wrote to the Qing court, strongly demanding that the local Han people be deprived of their power to supervise and support. However, Empress Dowager Cixi kept it in her hands and did not publish it. Later, several Han generals in the southern coastal areas instigated their soldiers to riot over pay and took advantage of the chaos to loot the mansions of several bannermen in the city. The incident became a big deal and was reported to Beijing. Seeing that the local Han people were in a strong position to supervise and support, Empress Dowager Cixi issued an order to refute the suggestions of the noble officials of the Eight Banners, and the matter was temporarily suppressed. "

"The greater the conflict between the Manchu court and the local Han Chinese supervisors, the better it will be for the development of the Han Empire."

Mei Dongxing nodded.

"It is just as you said. The Han Chinese governors and governors in the southern coastal areas and the officials and generals below them have taken control of the local military training and militias. Over the years, they have used their armed forces to smuggle goods and weapons and made a lot of money. How can the Eight Banners nobles not be jealous when they see the local Han officials making so much money?"

After the Second Opium War, the mainland opened its doors to foreign countries.

The southern and northern coastal areas suffered from the impact of Western industrial products, and the local economy suffered severe damage, but the local officials and compradors who cooperated with foreigners made a fortune.

They either collected taxes from commercial transactions between China and the West, or used the government's monopoly to obtain cheap goods from Europe, America or the Han Dynasty, and then distributed them to the forces affiliated with them, indirectly engaging in smuggling activities. The activities of secretly transporting arms, goods and refugees to the Han Dynasty enriched the Han officials in the southern and northern coastal areas. After they had money, officials or generals with connections would take out part of the proceeds and then purchase weapons of varying quantities from the trading companies controlled by the Han government at prices below the market price to strengthen the combat effectiveness of their armed forces.

In areas where Han officials are dominant, activities such as commodity smuggling, arms smuggling, and refugee transportation have formed a complete industrial chain. From the highest level of a provincial governor to the lowest level of patrol soldiers, all are in this industry chain and have profits to varying degrees. The Eight Banners aristocratic officials only see that a small number of local Han officials have made a lot of money, but they are unaware of the wide-ranging beneficiary class hidden beneath them.

Cutting off someone's financial resources is like killing someone. The rejection of the suggestions of the Eight Banners noble ministers and even the failure of the Qing government's swift and vigorous ban on overseas immigration two years ago all have deep-seated reasons. This is because the entire interest chain has formed a huge interest community. Even if the Han officials above are forced to execute orders under pressure from the Qing court, they will encounter opposition from the middle and lower interest groups and ultimately fail.

The Qing government's rule on the mainland had been riddled with holes by the European and American powers and the Han Dynasty. Tang Jingsong and some compradors who had been sucking blood from the Qing government saw the hopeless nature of the Qing government and chose other forces as a way to realize their own ambitions or simply to get promoted and make money.

The two chatted in the room for more than half an hour. From mutual testing, Mei Dongxing determined that the other party did not seem to be a spy or traitor sent by the Qing court, so he temporarily let down his guard against him and introduced him to the main generals of the Nanyang Corps.

"Tang Jingsong, formerly the alternate director of the Ministry of Personnel of the Qing Dynasty, is now the temporary staff officer of the Nanyang Army of the Great Han Kingdom. After I report the situation to the mainland, I will assign Brother Tang a formal position."

Mei Dongxing invited Tang Jingsong to sit down and said with a smile, "Brother Tang's family is on their way to Annan and will arrive soon. Considering that our army will launch an attack on the French army in Beiban in the near future, it is not safe for Brother Tang's family to stay in Quang Ninh Province. Why not move to Songkhla with the families of the brothers in the army, and wait until the Annan war is over before taking a ship to the South American mainland?"

"But I will follow Governor Mei's arrangements."

Tang Jingsong bowed with a hint of hesitation on his face.

"Brother Tang, are you worried about the threat from French warships?"

"The French have strong ships and powerful guns. I am a little worried."

"That is quite unnecessary."

Mei Dongxing waved his hand and said with a relaxed expression, "According to the orders from the mainland, the South Pacific Fleet has already set out a month ago. It will arrive at Halong Port in three to five days. By then, with the help of the South Pacific Squadron, although it cannot be said that we can defeat the French Cochinchina Fleet, it is not difficult to gain at least a month's maritime advantage before the French expeditionary fleet arrives in Annan."

In order to allay Tang Jingsong's concerns, Mei Dongxing gave him a brief introduction to the strength of the South Pacific Fleet and the number of regular troops in the Nanyang Corps, but he did not let him know about the crucial military weapons and equipment as well as strategic and tactical arrangements for the time being.

(End of this chapter)