Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 253 Three War Zones
On October 5, the second year of the Zhaowu reign of the Tang Dynasty, Zhenjiang surrendered.

On the sixth day, Yangzhou surrendered.

After Zhenjiang and Yangzhou surrendered, Li Yi ordered people to build coastal defense batteries and fortress fortifications in Zhenjiang and Yangzhou respectively.

Then an army was left in Nanjing to garrison, and the Jiangnan War Zone was established with its headquarters in Nanjing, with Zhao Xiang as the commander and Li Yiwen as the chief of staff.

Used to suppress the situation in the south of the Yangtze River and to guard against foreign invasions from the mouth of the Yangtze River.

He personally led the main force of the Tang army and embarked on the journey back to Guangzhou!
On the tenth day of October, the Tang army set out from Nanjing, went upstream and headed towards Anhui.

On October 13, the Tang army passed Taiping Prefecture, reached Tongling on the 16th, and arrived in Anqing on the 20th. The army stayed in Anqing for a while to rest.

Afterwards, they set off again on the 22nd and headed towards Jiangxi.

On the 25th, we arrived in Jiujiang without stopping, and then continued westward.

Arrived in Changsha, Hunan on November 9th.

The army stayed in Changsha for a few days to rest. Li Yi then ordered the establishment of the Huguang War Zone, with its headquarters in Changsha. Li Sheng was appointed as the commander of the war zone and Chen Yucheng as the chief of staff, in charge of the war in the Huguang direction.

Afterwards, Li Yi continued to set out from Changsha and turned along the Xiangjiang River towards Guangzhou.

Finally, in early December of the second year of Zhaowu, I returned to Guangzhou after being away for half a year.

When Li Yi got off the boat at the pier outside Guangzhou, cheers rang out from the pier.

"Wan Sheng! Wan Sheng!"

"The Tang Dynasty is victorious!"

"Drive out the Tartars and restore China!"

"..."

All the officials and common people who had received the news in advance and came to the dock to welcome the triumphant army bowed down like wheat waves in the wind.

Li Yi stood at the dock and raised his hand to everyone.

"All the nobles and common people are excused from their formalities and please stand upright."

After everyone stood up, Li Yi continued.

"The army has returned triumphantly from the Eastern Expedition and captured Nanjing. This is cause for celebration."

"But the soldiers are exhausted after the long journey, so we should not stay at the dock any longer."

"Follow me into the city, and then let the soldiers go and rest. Is that okay?"

As Li Yi finished speaking, everyone on the dock spoke in unison.

"The ministers will obey the king's order!"

As he spoke, Li Yi led his men towards Guangzhou city.

After returning to Guangzhou City, Li Yi ordered his men to immediately prepare wine and meat to reward the victorious army.

He also held a banquet in the palace to welcome himself and the generals who were going to the expedition.

Li Yi sat in the main seat and raised his glass.

"My dear nobles, let us toast to all the soldiers who sacrificed their lives bravely and shed their blood on the battlefield during this Eastern Expedition."

"Without the dedication of these soldiers, how could the Tang Dynasty have won this Eastern Expedition?!"

After he finished speaking, Li Yi raised his glass and drank up the wine.

Upon seeing this, all the civil and military officials at the banquet raised their glasses and drank up the wine in the glasses.

Li Yi nodded slightly, then raised the wine glass filled by the waiter beside him again and spoke.

"The second cup of wine is for the generals who led the troops into battle."

"It is a blessing for this king and the Tang Dynasty to have your help in fighting against the demons."

After saying this, he drank the wine in the glass again.

Then, the third toast.

"The third cup of wine is for the ministers in the court."

"If it weren't for you ministers who governed the local areas, raised military supplies and fodder, and supported the army in the battle, our army would have found it difficult to win this Eastern Expedition."

"My dear gentlemen, let us drink this cup together!"

After saying this, Li Yi raised his glass and drank up the wine in it.

After drinking three glasses of wine in a row, Li Yi clapped his hands to signal for singing, dancing and music to begin, and he quietly left the banquet.

Went to the backyard of the palace.

I am going to meet Luo Caiyu and share my lovesickness with her.

When Li Yi returned to the backyard of the palace, Luo Caiyu and Fu Shanxiang were already waiting outside the bedroom.

It was obvious that they had already received the news that Li Yi was coming, so they came to wait outside the hall in advance.

With successive victories in war, Li Yi's power grows day by day in the present-day Tang Dynasty, and no one dares to disrespect him.

The same was true for the two concubines, Luo Caiyu and Fu Shanxiang.

Li Yi saw the two of them waiting outside the bedroom from afar. A smile appeared on his face involuntarily. He stepped forward and embraced Luo Caiyu in his arms, hugging her tightly.

"I'm away at war, and you're in charge of the palace, Caiyu. Thank you for your hard work!"

Upon hearing this, Luo Caiyu just shook her head.

"Your Majesty, you lead the army to fight, expand the territory, and wipe out the Qing monsters for the sake of the world."

"It is our job as women to manage the household and the backyard. How can it be hard?"

Li Yi nodded and hummed softly, then let go of Luo Caiyu, hugged Fu Shanxiang again, and spoke.

"You have worked hard to assist the queen in managing the palace, Shanxiang."

Upon hearing this, Fu Shanxiang just spoke softly.

"The Queen is in charge of everything. I am just assisting her. I am really ashamed."

Li Yi nodded slightly and led the two of them into the bedroom.

Afterwards, Li Yi waved his hand to dismiss the maids, closed the door of the bedroom himself, and led the two women to the bed, holding one in each hand.

Nearly half a year has passed since we set out from Guangzhou in the middle of the year to launch the Eastern Expedition.

Li Yi had been eating vegetarian food for such a long time and had not smelled any meat. He was already craving for it.

Now that he finally returned to Guangzhou, he naturally would not endure it any longer. He was so absurd that he dragged the two concubines to the bed together. They kept doing it until night fell, and Li Yi finally fell asleep with the two women, who were exhausted.

……

At dawn the next day, Li Yi, who had had a good rest, got up refreshed.

He kissed each of the girls on the face, then changed his clothes, washed up, and had breakfast with the help of the maid.

After breakfast, Li Yi ordered the establishment of the Guangdong-Guangxi War Zone, with its headquarters in Guangzhou, and appointed Wang An as the commander of the war zone and Feng Zicai as the chief of staff.

The reason why Li Yi set up these three war zones was mainly to prepare for the next war.

According to the latest news Li Yi received from Masali, the foreign expeditionary force had arrived in India a month ago and was now resting. It was estimated that they would soon depart from India, cross the Malacca Strait, enter the South China Sea, and then head for Guangzhou.

Before the foreigners arrived, Li Yi had to be prepared to meet the enemy.

Li Yi’s strategy of setting up three major battle zones was to deal with the situation.

Among them, the Guangdong-Guangxi war zone mainly dealt with the enemies in the South China Sea, preparing to block the landing of foreigners on the Guangzhou front line and engage in a battle with them.

The Jiangnan war zone was used to guard against possible invasions by foreigners from the mouth of the Yangtze River.

The Huguang War Zone served as a mobile force, ready to move eastward to reinforce Jiangnan, or move southward to reinforce the war in Guangdong and Guangxi at any time, depending on the situation on the battlefield.

After finishing this task, Li Yi began to review government affairs and handle some daily documents.

Halfway through, there was a knock on the door outside the study.

Li Liang stood at the door of Li Yi's study and spoke.

"Your Majesty, urgent news from the capital."

Li Yi stopped what he was doing, looked up and said.

"Come in!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Liang pushed the door open and came in front of Li Yi.

Li Yi raised his hand to motion Li Liang to sit down, then asked.

"Urgent news from the capital? What happened in the Qing Dynasty?"

Li Liang nodded and said.

"In reply to your Majesty, something big has indeed happened in the Qing Dynasty."

"The spies arranged by the Military Intelligence Department in the capital have sent back the latest news. The Manchu Tartar chieftain Xianfeng was assassinated by a gunman while watching an execution at the West Caishikou in the capital. He then died of his wounds in the Qianqing Palace."

"Afterwards, Prince Gong Yiling succeeded to the throne and changed the reign title to Qixiang."

When Li Yi heard this, the expression on his face was obviously shocked.

"Xianfeng is dead? Is this true?"

Li Liang nodded and said.

"I have confirmed this several times with the relevant spies who passed on the information, and it is indeed true."

Hearing this, Li Yi couldn't help but take a breath and frowned, wondering who did this.

After thinking for a while, Li Yi had no idea and decided to ask directly.

"Do you know who did it?"

Hearing this, Li Liang's mouth twitched and he spoke with a complicated expression.

"In reply to your Majesty, according to the news from the capital, it seems that it was done by our Tang Dynasty..."

Li Yi: ???
Why doesn't he remember giving instructions to assassinate Emperor Xianfeng?
Could it be that the subordinates did it on their own initiative?
This shouldn't be the case. It's such a big thing. Even if it was the subordinates who acted on their own initiative, why didn't they come and ask for credit for what was done?
The assassination of the Qing emperor was a success. If this achievement is confirmed, Li Yi will definitely be awarded the title of marquis.

Li Yi asked in an unconfident tone.

"If I remember correctly, I didn't give the order to assassinate Emperor Xianfeng, right?"

"Could it be that you or your subordinates acted on your own initiative?"

Li Liang heard this and shook his head.

"In reply to your Majesty, I guarantee with my life that without your order, no one in the Military Intelligence Department would dare to do such a big thing."

"Moreover, as far as I know, with the current number of spies in the capital, the Tang Dynasty does not have the ability to assassinate the Qing emperor."

Li Liang’s meaning was very clear, this was not something we did.

Li Yi frowned.

"Could it be that the Qing high-ranking officials are fighting among themselves and are blaming the Tang Dynasty for this?"

In fact, Li Yi had thought about the possibility that Shi Dakai was the one who did it.

However, Shi Dakai’s power in the capital is probably not as strong as that of the Tang Dynasty.

What the Tang Dynasty couldn't do was even more impossible for Shi Dakai.

After eliminating all the impossibilities, the only option is internal strife within the Qing Dynasty.

Li Liang heard this and spoke.

"Your Majesty is right. This possibility does exist."

"The Military Intelligence Department has already sent people to investigate. I hope there will be a result."

Li Yi nodded first, then asked about Li Liang.

"By the way, how is the matter of minting silver dollars and big coins for the Qing Dynasty that I asked the Military Intelligence Department to do?"

Li Liang thought for a while and reported.

"In reply to Your Majesty, the coin molds, machines, and labor are all in place, and we have begun casting. So far, we have cast about 300,000 silver dollars worth of Qing silver dollars and large coins."

"Also, we have already begun trying to arrange for the distribution of goods to the areas ruled by the Qing Dynasty!"

Li Yi nodded slightly, then continued.

"Be careful to do this in secret, and try not to let anyone know that the Tang Dynasty was involved in this."

Although there would be someone to take the blame even if the truth was revealed, Li Yi thought it would be better not to expose such things if possible.

He is such a shameless person!

……

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(End of this chapter)