Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 186 Minister of Militia of Jiangxi—Cai Bingwen!

The second year of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, mid-September.

Peng Yulin took a boat down the river and arrived at Dashengguan outside Jiangning City.

Hong Xiuquan's newly appointed Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's King Menden came out of the city to welcome him.

"Is the person coming here an envoy from the Tang Kingdom?"

Upon hearing this, Peng Yulin clasped his fists and bowed.

"I am Peng Yulin, the special envoy of the Kingdom of Heaven sent by the Tang Dynasty's Department of Diplomacy. What is your name?"

Upon hearing this, Meng De'en smiled with a slightly smug look on his face.

"I have been blessed to be the King of Heaven."

"Please follow me, Special Envoy. The Heavenly King is already waiting in the Heavenly Palace to receive the Special Envoy. We must not keep the Heavenly King waiting for too long."

The Tianjing Incident had just broken out and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had not yet started to confer royal titles indiscriminately, so the title of King Zan that Men De'en received was still very valuable.

No wonder Meng De'en acted a little proud!
After he finished speaking, Meng De'en led the way and took Peng Yulin to Jiangning City.

After entering Jiangning City, Peng Yulin couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

Even the city of Jiangning withered in the war!
When he was young, he went to Jiangning to study with a few good friends.

Although Jiangning at that time no longer had the status of the Southern Capital as it had during the Ming Dynasty, it still lived up to its reputation as the number one city in the south of the Yangtze River.

It is prosperous, beautiful, simple and profound, full of the humanistic atmosphere of the Jiangnan water town and the cultural heritage of the ancient capital of the Six Dynasties.

Hundreds of thousands of people gathered inside and outside the city, and the streets were crowded with people every day.

Merchants from all over the world gather and disperse here, and tourists from all corners of the world gather on the Qinhuai River to drink and recite poetry.

It is extremely prosperous!
But now?

On the broad stone road in Jiangning City, only a sparse stream of people gathered in some open spaces in the city, chanting sutras in front of a portrait, or listening to the preaching of soldiers dressed in heavenly uniforms.

The passers-by were wearing patched clothes, straw sandals with holes on their feet, and their faces were full of numbness and despair. They were even worse than when the Qing Dynasty was still in power.

Looking at these, Peng Yulin couldn't help but sigh in his heart, the world is in chaos and people's lives are difficult!
The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is too outrageous!
Now he only hopes that his king can put an end to the troubled times as soon as possible and bring peace and order to the people of the world.

Soon, Peng Yulin followed Meng De'en into the Heavenly King's Palace and was able to meet the Heavenly King in the main hall.

"Foreign minister, the Tang Dynasty's Department of Diplomacy has sent Peng Yulin, a special envoy from the Kingdom of Heaven, to pay a visit to the King of Heaven!"

Peng Yulin bowed and kowtowed.

Although he looked down on Hong Xiuquan, the leader of the cult, from the bottom of his heart, he also understood that the current national policy of the Tang Dynasty was to ally with Hong to fight against the Qing Dynasty.

Therefore, no matter how much he looked down on Hong Xiuquan, he would definitely do his best to put on a good show.

Upon hearing this, Hong Xiuquan snorted coldly.

"Humph, your Tang King sent you to my Heavenly Kingdom to form an alliance?"

Peng Yulin nodded immediately.

"The King of Heaven is wise!"

Upon hearing this, Hong Xiuquan showed a very obvious annoyed expression on his face and spoke.

"Hmph, I think that before we discuss the alliance, you, the Tang Dynasty, need to give me and the Kingdom of Heaven an explanation regarding Yang Fuqing's defection from the Tang Dynasty!"

After receiving Li Yi's response that he agreed to the conditions he proposed, Yang Fuqing decisively led his troops to leave Taiping Prefecture and headed for Hunan to join the Tang Dynasty.

When the news reached Tianjing, Hong Xiuquan was extremely angry.

If it weren't for the fact that the Heavenly Kingdom was not facing a good situation and needed the Tang Dynasty as its ally to help share the pressure, Hong Xiuquan would even have thought of killing Peng Yulin, the Tang Dynasty's special envoy, to vent his anger.

Peng Yulin heard this, but he was not panicked at all.

"Your Majesty, I think that the Tang Dynasty does not need to explain Yang Fuqing's defection to the Heavenly Kingdom. Instead, it is the Heavenly Kingdom that needs to thank the Tang Dynasty."

When Hong Xiuquan heard this, he almost laughed out of anger.

So, you, the Tang Dynasty, kidnapped an elite force from my Heavenly Kingdom, and I should thank you?

So shameless!

Seeing the anger on Hong Xiuquan's face, Peng Yulin did not continue to beat around the bush, but spoke directly to deceive him.

"The Heavenly King may not know that after the Eastern King unfortunately passed away in the Tianjing Incident, Yang Fuqing wanted to raise an army several times to attack Tianjing and avenge the Eastern King."

"He even wrote a letter to our king personally, inviting the Tang Dynasty to join forces to march into Tianjing."

"If it weren't for the fact that our king was concerned about the friendship between the two sides as anti-Qing righteous armies, he would have earnestly advised Yang Fuqing in his reply letter to put the overall situation first and not do things that would hurt his loved ones and please his enemies."

"They also promised to accept the homeless Yang Fuqing's troops and give them important tasks."

"Perhaps, Yang Fuqing has already led his troops to the city of Tianjing."

"Tell me, Heavenly King, should Heaven express its gratitude to the Tang Dynasty?"

Although Yang Fuqing had no intention of sending troops to Tianjing to defend the king, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had no way of verifying this matter.

After all, Hong Xiuquan couldn't just send someone to ask Yang Fuqing if he wanted to rebel, right?
So, Peng Yulin just started talking nonsense here.

When Hong Xiuquan heard this, his face changed from gloomy to bright.

But there is no way to deny that what Peng Yulin said was possible. Yang Fuqing was Yang Xiuqing's confidant. After Yang Xiuqing died, it made perfect sense for him to lead troops to avenge Yang Xiuqing.

Taking a deep breath, Hong Xiuquan knew he was in the wrong and snorted coldly.

"In that case, let's just leave it at that!"

"Next, let's discuss forming an alliance to fight against the Qing monsters."

Peng Yulin heard this and immediately spoke.

"My Lord, my king believes that the alliance should remain as it is."

"Both parties will continue to follow the agreement in the previous alliance. We will send troops together, advance from the east and west, attack the Qing demons from both sides, meet in Jiangxi, and cut off the Yangtze River waterway."

The most important purpose of Peng Yulin's visit to Tianjing was to make Hong Xiuquan continue to abide by the alliance and for both sides to jointly attack and cut off the Yangtze River.

When Hong Xiuquan heard this, although he was willing to do something, he did not agree immediately. Instead, he spoke.

"You can ask Heaven to cooperate with the Tang Dynasty to attack the Qing monsters along the Yangtze River, but I think we need to discuss the distribution of the spoils of war."

"Since both sides sent troops together, the results of the battle should be divided equally."

"How can my Heavenly Kingdom only take Anhui and hand over the entire Jiangxi to your Tang Kingdom?"

Unlike Yang Xiuqing, who had a certain strategic vision and a clear mind, and knew that the alliance was something he needed help from others.

Hong Xiuquan was a bit crazy and extremely arrogant.

He believed that as the son of God, everything in the world should revolve around him.

No matter who you are, you have to make concessions when facing yourself!
Upon hearing this, Peng Yulin immediately retorted.

"Your Majesty, what you said is wrong. The reason why the alliance between the two sides can be carried out according to the previous agreement is that our king values ​​trust and promises and is unwilling to go back on his word."

"Otherwise, according to the outsiders, the terms of this alliance should be reconsidered!"

"You know, the alliance between the Tang Dynasty and the Kingdom of Heaven was initiated by the Kingdom of Heaven, and the alliance between the two sides to fight against the Qing demons is more important to the Kingdom of Heaven than to our Tang Dynasty."

"If the Tang Dynasty cannot form an alliance with the Heavenly Kingdom, we will have no choice but to attack Jiangxi alone."

"But if the Heavenly Kingdom cannot form an alliance with the Tang Dynasty, it is unknown whether it can defend Tianjing from the counterattack of the Qing monsters."

"If I am not mistaken, the Qing demon camps in Jiangnan and Jiangbei that were previously destroyed by the Heavenly Kingdom should be about to make a comeback, right?"

"Back then, the Kingdom of Heaven was able to break the Qing demons' Jiangnan and Jiangbei camps, but now, the outsiders can only wish the King of Heaven and the Kingdom of Heaven good luck."

When Hong Xiuquan heard this, his old face turned pale and blue, and his expression kept changing.

Because he knew that what Peng Yulin said was true.

Just a few days ago, the main force of the Jiangbei Camp of the Qing demons that had retreated to Huai'an went south again, captured Yangzhou, and began to rebuild the Jiangbei Camp.

The Jiangsu Governor Jirhang'a, who had retreated from Songjiang Prefecture, as well as Qing army generals such as Zhang Guoliang and He Chun also began to reorganize their troops and launch a counterattack against Suzhou Prefecture.

He was planning to make a comeback and rebuild the Jiangnan camp.

All this put Hong Xiuquan under tremendous pressure!

Lao Hong is good at internal fighting, but when it comes to handling military and political affairs, he is really at a loss.

After careful consideration, Hong Xiuquan gave in.

"In this case, let's just follow the previous covenant."

"But I want to know if the Tang Dynasty can launch an offensive against Jiangxi in advance? Since the Tang Dynasty has conquered Hunan, it should advance into Jiangxi as soon as possible while the Qing monsters are still not able to react."

"Your king is really too slow in deploying troops!"

Hong Xiuquan knew that the current situation facing the Heavenly Kingdom was somewhat dangerous.

Therefore, he was eager to launch a westward expedition against Anhui and Jiangxi, in an attempt to ease the military pressure on the city of Tianjing caused by the Qing army's Jiangnan and Jiangbei camps.

Peng Yulin heard this and said with a twitch of his mouth.

"Your Majesty, you may not know that our Tang Dynasty has already made plans to send troops to Jiangxi this time."

"We have already started preparations for weapons, food, logistics, and other aspects, so it is not appropriate to change the time at will."

This is the difference between the Tang Dynasty and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

The Heavenly Kingdom could fight whenever it wanted, but the Tang Dynasty could not.

When the Tang Dynasty used foreign troops, the Operations Department of the General Staff had to come up with a battle plan first. Then, the logistics, conscription, and military law departments had to formulate their own regulations, make action plans corresponding to the battle plan, and begin to make corresponding preparations for the army to go to war.

Only at the very end will the army be dispatched!

All we can say is that both sides have their own advantages.

The advantage of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's military deployment process is that it is fast-paced and suitable for roving warfare. The disadvantage is that there is no action plan and no logistical preparation. It can only fight wherever it can, and there is too much uncertainty. If it is operated well, it means that it will advance straight into the enemy's territory, fight thousands of miles away, and defeat the enemy. The most typical example is the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's Eastern Expedition.

They fought their way from Hunan to Jiangning in one breath and captured the city of Jiangning. They were invincible and their eastern expedition almost shocked the whole of China.

But if the operation is not done well, the whole army will be wiped out without any chance of rescue.

Well, the most typical example is the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s Northern Expedition in history.

At the beginning, they fought very fiercely, even reaching Zhili at one point, but what was the result?
They were surrounded by the Qing army, cut off from water and food, suffered countless casualties from freezing and hunger, and were eventually wiped out.

There is not even a chance to make amends!

But the situation on the Tang Dynasty side is much more stable.

Before the army was dispatched, action plans for all aspects had been prepared.

Even if there is a slight setback on the front line, it can be remedied in time according to the plan to minimize the losses.

There won’t be a situation where the whole country will collapse after just one defeat!
To put it simply, the difference between the two is that one has an upper limit determined by individual ability, while the other has a lower limit determined by collective ability.

Li Yi knew his own abilities, so he set about forming a general staff.

Prepare to use collective strength to make up for their own shortcomings in military affairs.

……

Jiangxi, Jiujiang Prefecture!

Outside the gate of Jiujiang government office, Cai Bingwen knelt in front of an incense table to receive the imperial edict.

After Changsha fell, he fled to Yuezhou with Zeng Guofan.

After Zeng Guofan was escorted back to Beijing by the imperial envoy sent by the Qing court, Cai Bingwen and the Yuezhou prefect took on the responsibility of guarding Yuezhou.

But under the fierce attack of the Tang army, Yuezhou could not hold out for long and fell.

After the fall of Yuezhou, Cai Bingwen fled eastward all the way to Jiujiang, Jiangxi, where he settled down temporarily.

In front of him was a young eunuch wearing a yellow jacket.

"Changsha prefect Cai Bingwen received the order."

Upon hearing this, Cai Bingwen suppressed his anxiety and bowed.

"Your Majesty, Cai Bingwen accepts your order!"

The young eunuch cleared his throat and spoke.

"In obedience to the Emperor Tian Cheng Yun, I hereby proclaim: Hunan is in a state of war and chaos, and no loyal people are seen serving the country. There is also the traitor Zeng Guofan, who is a traitor who appears loyal but colluded with the Tang thieves and fled without fighting, leading to the fall of Changsha and Hunan. His crimes are unforgivable."

"Fortunately, there are still loyal people in the world. Changsha prefect Cai Bingwen accepted the order in a time of crisis. He was fearless and led the army to fight the enemy. He was not afraid of power and was impartial. He dared to speak out and directly criticize Zeng Guofan's crimes. He can be said to be a loyal and upright minister."

"Today, I have specially appointed Changsha prefect Cai Binwen as the Minister of Jiangxi militia, responsible for commanding and training the Jiangxi militia to resist the rebellion."

"Appreciate this!"

After hearing the imperial edict, Cai Bingwen was so excited that his whole body was shaking and he kowtowed hard immediately.

"Thank you, my humble servant, for your grace!"

Cai Bingwen was really excited.

He would never have imagined that after the fall of Changsha, he, the prefect of Changsha, was not imprisoned but promoted instead.

Don’t even mention how excited Cai Bingwen is right now!

The reason why Xianfeng promoted Cai Bingwen was very simple.

Because among the group of Han officials in the south, the only one he could trust was Cai Bingwen.

Before Cai Bingwen was sent by Emperor Xianfeng to serve as the prefect of Changsha, in Xianfeng's eyes, Cai Bingwen was actually just a chess piece he arranged to contain Zeng Guofan.

Not important!

However, when Changsha fell, Hunan fell.

Cai Bingwen's status has changed.

Because, after the fall of Changsha, Cai Bingwen sent Zeng Guofan and his entire family away in a secret letter.

You know, the reason why Zeng Guofan was able to sit in the position of Minister of Hunan Militia was not only due to Emperor Xianfeng's appreciation, but also the support of the Jiangnan civil service group.

After Zeng Guofan was removed from office, Cai Bingwen not only gained the trust of Emperor Xianfeng, but also broke off relations with the Jiangnan civil service group.

Xianfeng wanted to form a militia, but did not want the Jiangnan Civil Service Group to become too big. So Cai Bingwen, who was loyal enough and had a strong relationship with the Jiangnan Civil Service Group, was his best choice.

It is worth mentioning that Cai Bingwen was also the person responsible for escorting Zeng Guofan's entire family from Hunan to Beijing for imprisonment and interrogation.

After receiving the imperial edict, Cai Bingwen stood up from the ground, brushed the dust off his knees, walked forward, took out a few silver bills from his arms, stuffed them into the hands of the eunuch who came to deliver the imperial edict, and said.

"Your Excellency has come a long way, so you can't make a wasted trip. This is my invitation to tea."

The eunuch who delivered the imperial edict felt the thickness of the silver note, his face instantly smiled like a chrysanthemum, and he began to speak.

"Oh, Master Cai is so polite!"

"Where to make it."

Cai Bingwen continued with a smile on his old face.

"After you return to the capital, please speak a few good words for me in front of the emperor."

Upon hearing this, the eunuch nodded and agreed.

"Okay, okay. The emperor told me that among all the Han officials in the south, he values ​​you the most, Mr. Cai."

"Otherwise, you wouldn't be able to take the position of Jiangxi militia commander, right?"

After saying this, the eunuch who delivered the imperial edict spoke up again.

"We won't accept this money for nothing. We'll give it to Master Cai as a tip."

"The Qing Dynasty's main military deployment will be in Jiangnan. The court is preparing to suppress the Taiping rebels first, and then concentrate its forces to suppress the Tang bandits."

"After forming the Jiangxi militia, Mr. Cai should have made some choices in what he did, and prioritize supporting the war in Jiangnan. As for the war in Huguang, he could put it aside for a while..."

"This is the decision of the Military Affairs Council of the court, but it cannot be clearly stated in writing. Lord Cai should just keep this in mind and don't spread it to others."

The reason why it is not allowed to be spread is mainly because people are worried that the officials in Huguang will be disheartened after the news gets out.

Therefore, it is best for this matter to be spread by word of mouth among senior management.

Upon hearing this, Cai Bingwen was filled with emotion, thinking that the money was not wasted.

"Thank you for your advice, eunuch!"

……

The first year of the Tang Dynasty’s Zhaowu reign, early October.

In the early morning, the red sun rises in the east and the sky is completely bright.

A fleet set out from Changsha and sailed southward along the Xiangjiang River.

With the advancement of the imperial examination and land distribution work, the situation in Hunan was temporarily stabilized.

Li Yi did not stay in Changsha for long, but left Changsha and prepared to return to Guangzhou.

He had been away from Guangzhou for such a long time, and a lot of military and government affairs had piled up, which urgently required Li Yi to return and deal with them.

Although important matters will be transferred to Changsha via an 800-mile express, routine matters will be handled by the Ministry of the Interior.

But Li Yi still wanted to try it himself.

In addition, Li Yi couldn't wait to go back to Guangzhou to see his wife and children.

When his eldest son was born, Li Yi, as a father, was not around and couldn't even make it to the full moon banquet.

Now that the hundred-day banquet is approaching, Li Yi, who has become a father for the first time, can't help but want to see his child.

Therefore, as soon as the situation in Hunan stabilized, he chose to lead his troops back to Guangzhou without stopping.

On the sixth day of October, Li Yi led the team from Changsha and began to head south.

On October 12, the army arrived in Hengyang and after a brief rest continued to move south.

On October 20, the team returned to Guangdong via Chenzhou, Yizhang and other places.

After the army arrived in Shaozhou, Li Yi ordered the army to set up camp and rest on the spot.

That night, after Li Yi finished dealing with the official documents at hand, he was about to hug Fu Shanxiang and go back to the room to vent his excess energy.

A team of fast horses went straight into Shaozhou City and headed towards Li Yi's residence.

"Your Majesty, urgent news from Guangzhou!"

Li Liang dismounted from his horse and after passing through layers of inspections, he came to Li Yi and reported.

Li Yi put down the pen in his hand and asked with a frown.

"Emergency news from Guangzhou? But what happened in Guangzhou?"

Li Liang replied immediately.

"In reply to your Majesty, the situation is like this. The patrol officers at the Guangzhou docks uncovered a case of smuggling tea seedlings."

"After the Military Intelligence Department got involved and followed the clues, they uncovered several large-scale smuggling cases, and implicated many people..."

……

PS: My cold is a little better today, so I tried my best to write 5,000 words, but I really can’t write any more after that.

I'll try to resume normal updates tomorrow and see if I can add more...

It feels so bad to owe updates!
(End of this chapter)