Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 287: The Great Changes Unseen in Thousands of Years
After the allied forces withdrew, Li Yi convened a meeting at the Tang Palace in Guangzhou.

He summoned the top leaders of the Tang Dynasty to discuss the Tang Dynasty's next development plan and military deployment direction.

In the conference room, senior officials from the Tang Dynasty's Ministry of the Interior and the General Staff sat on both sides, and Li Yi sat in the main seat.

After everyone arrived, Li Yi spoke.

"The peace treaty is signed and the coalition forces withdraw."

"Now that the foreign invaders have been driven out, the Tang Dynasty should focus its main efforts on stabilizing the country."

"The war of unification has been suspended for half a year, it's time to continue!"

"Pass on my military orders!"

"The three major war zones, namely the Guangdong-Guangxi War Zone, the Huguang War Zone, and the Jiangnan War Zone, are fully prepared for war."

"Telegram to the Guangdong-Guangxi War Zone, ordering the Guangdong-Guangxi War Zone to launch an attack from Chaozhou Prefecture towards Fujian."

"Cooperate with our naval fleet by land and sea, advance northward along the coast, capture Zhangzhou, Quanzhou, Fuzhou and other places, and force Fujian to surrender."

"Send a telegram to the Huguang War Zone, ordering its main forces to launch an attack along the Yangtze River toward Jiangxi, sweep across Jiangxi, and annihilate the troops of Jiangxi Governor Zhang Fei. There must be no mistakes."

"I sent a telegram to the Jiangnan War Zone, ordering it to send troops from Zhenjiang, go downstream, attack Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and wipe out Jiangnan."

"We will launch the war on all three fronts at the same time. Within this year, I hope that the entire southeastern half of China will be flying the Tang flag!"

"any questions?"

Upon hearing this, all the generals in the conference room responded in unison.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty. I will complete the task!"

Li Yi nodded slightly, very satisfied.

There were many reasons why he ordered the three major war zones to move together and launch a general offensive against the entire South.

One reason is that after the peace talks with the coalition forces, the Tang Dynasty was no longer threatened by external threats.

Now that there are no external threats, it is natural to start dealing with internal troubles.

The second reason is that since the main force of the Qing Dynasty was annihilated in Jiangning in the Battle of Jiangning last year, the Qing Dynasty no longer has any troops capable of fighting south of the Yangtze River.

Moreover, until now, the Qing government has not sent elite troops across the river to reinforce Jiangnan.

Therefore, the current South is no different from being undefended for the Tang Dynasty.

Faced with the emptiness of Jiangnan, Li Yi naturally would not miss this opportunity to expand his territory.

After giving orders on military matters, Li Yi turned his attention to the Ministry of the Interior and said.

“As for the Ministry of Interior, the main task this year is still to develop industry and commerce first.”

"The development and construction of industrial parks in all provinces must be put on the agenda and accelerated."

"In addition, we need to increase investment in education, infrastructure, public security and other areas..."

After giving instructions for these daily matters, Li Yi said again.

"By the way, the Organization Department needs to select a group of officials and prepare them to go to Manila and Batavia to manage the concessions of the Tang Dynasty in Manila and Batavia."

"If you are selected to be an official, your official rank will be raised by one level..."

Now that the concession was in our hands, we naturally couldn't just leave it alone. Selecting officials and organizing a management team was also a natural thing to do.

And, in order to prevent no one from being willing to sign up.

Li Yi also waved his hand and directly raised the rank of the dispatched officials by one level as a reward.

Even in the future, when the Tang Dynasty takes over Manila and Batavia, when appointing local chief officials, it will give priority to promoting those from the first batch of officials sent abroad.

Of course, the latter point is a hidden benefit and will not be stated openly.

For Chinese people these days, overseas is not some paradise with sweet air or a holy land of freedom.

It is a barren land full of native barbarians who eat raw meat and drink blood.

What's the difference between sending people to serve as officials overseas and exile?
No, it would be better to be exiled.

Exile at least remains within the country, but serving as an official overseas means literally leaving one's homeland.

How could officials be willing to go if they were not given enough benefits?
Upon hearing this, Qin Si, Director of the Organization Department, spoke immediately.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty. I understand!"

Li Yi nodded slightly and then said.

"In addition, the Education Department has immediately started preparations to offer another Enrolment Exam this year."

"And in this special examination, we will further promote the reform of the imperial examination system!"

Since the Tang Dynasty conquered Guangzhou, the imperial examinations have been held quite frequently.

It's not an exam every three years, but one every year.

The reason for this is that the Tang Dynasty is really short of officials.

It is more for political considerations!

The imperial examination was the sharp sword that Li Yi wielded against the Qing Dynasty, a sword second only to military means.

Every time he held an imperial examination, it was like putting all his strength into cutting a blow to the lifeblood of the Qing Dynasty.

At least it’s a cut as strong as the one given to new users of Pinxixi.

Take the following Jiangnan Campaign as an example.

If you want to attack Jiangnan, you can't just attack Jiangnan.

In this war, the importance of the imperial examination was even greater than that of military operations.

Jiangnan has never been a place where tough battles can be fought.

It has been like this since ancient times. As long as you use the imperial examination to control the gentry in Jiangnan, Jiangnan can be conquered by a single order!

To put it bluntly, the next imperial examination was prepared by Li Yi for Jiangnan.

He is expressing his attitude to Jiangnan through the imperial examination. I, Li Yi, am willing to give you an official position, so come and join me!
Upon hearing this, the Director of the Education Department nodded in agreement.

Then, Li Yi said to Guo Songtao.

"In addition, the Tang Dynasty's envoys to various European countries must also depart as soon as possible." "We must start building embassies in various European countries and establish diplomatic relations..."

After saying this, Li Yi said with great emotion.

"The world today is undergoing a major change that has not happened in thousands of years!"

"This world is no longer the same as it was in the past dynasties, when China was the center of the world and all around were barbarians."

"Since the Jiashen Rebellion, China has been in a state of decline for more than 200 years, and has been closed to the outside world for more than 200 years. Under the scourge of the Qing Dynasty, China's national strength has continued to decline, and now it has reached its lowest point."

"And the Europeans took advantage of China's decline to establish their own hegemony through the great voyages of discovery and the Industrial Revolution, and moved to the center of the world stage."

"In today's world, except for China, which can still guarantee its autonomy, almost all the land on the earth has become a colony or semi-colony of Europeans."

"It has become their pasture, mine, commodity dumping market, and source of cheap labor..."

"That is to say, the world situation that our Tang Dynasty will face in the future will no longer be the situation in which the Central Plains dynasty dominated after the Qin and Han dynasties."

"It is similar to the situation of the struggle for hegemony among the various countries during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period!"

"Our Tang Dynasty is not the only one, but just one of the many strong ones."

"Under the current world situation, the main task of the Department of Diplomacy is to properly handle relations with Western countries, develop industry and commerce for our Tang Dynasty, and buy time and seek opportunities to move toward the ocean."

"Director Guo, the responsibility on your shoulders is very heavy!"

Upon hearing this, Guo Songtao nodded solemnly to show that he understood.

After doing all this, Li Yi waved his hand and said.

"The meeting is dismissed!"

……

Guangzhou, Xinhui!
After finishing the official business at hand, Weng He looked up outside. The sun was setting in the west and it was already late.

He put down the paper and pen in his hand, stretched himself and prepared to go home after work.

He walked out of the yamen gate, nodded to the yamen runner who greeted him at the door, then led the donkey and walked towards his home.

When passing by a cured meat stall on the street, Weng He smelled the fragrance and ordered a roast goose.

Passing by a restaurant, he ordered another pot of wine.

Carrying the roast goose and wine, Weng He returned home leisurely.

His was not a manor house, but just an ordinary courtyard with three blue brick and tile houses.

Still renting!

Although Weng He passed the imperial examination, his family had no connections in the court.

Therefore, one can only serve as an official according to the routine.

Now he is just the head of a county’s household registration office.

Although he had considerable power and was in charge of tax collection in the county, he was not even an assistant official.

If it weren't for the Tang Dynasty's reform in which officials and clerks were integrated, he would at most be considered a clerk now, and his position would not be very high.

At the very least, the imperial court would not provide houses for officials of his level, so he had to buy one himself.

Although the Weng family is rich and can easily buy him a mansion, he is an official after all.

Different levels have different treatments. So many colleagues are watching you, so it’s not good to be too ostentatious.

So, life became simpler.

With the sunset glow all over his body, Weng He walked to the door of his house. As soon as he stopped, he heard the sound of talking and laughing coming from his own courtyard.

When he pushed the door open, he saw his younger brother playing with his six-year-old son.

When Weng Tong heard the door open, he turned around and saw Weng He coming in with something.

He reached out, picked up his little nephew, and greeted Weng He.

"Big brother is back!"

"Why are you so late today?"

Weng Tong came to visit his elder brother this time at the time when he was on duty at the yamen.

Unexpectedly, I had to wait for a while before Weng He came home.

Weng He smiled, picked up the roast goose and wine in his hands, and said.

"I have a lot of things to do, so I can't leave them overnight, so I finished them before leaving. I smelled roast meat on the way, so I bought a roast goose, so I'm a little late."

"Second brother, you came at the right time. Let's have a drink together."

Weng Tong responded with a smile.

"Okay! It just so happens that I haven't had a drink with Big Brother for a while."

As they were talking, the two brothers returned to the house and sat opposite each other at an octagonal table.

The old lady in the house brought the roast goose, helped them cut everything, and prepared to stir-fry a few dishes.

Weng He poured a glass of wine for his younger brother, then poured himself a glass, and the two brothers raised their glasses and drank together.

After finishing the wine in the glass, Weng He spoke.

"Second brother, you came at the right time today. I have something to discuss with you."

Weng Tong put down his wine glass and asked.

"Brother, are you in trouble? Tell me what's going on. If I, as your younger brother, can help you, I will definitely help you."

Weng He shook his head and said.

"That's not it."

"The thing is, recently the imperial court sent down an official document stating that after the imperial court defeated the invading foreigners, it rented a concession in Manila and Batavia in Southeast Asia."

"We are planning to recruit a group of officials from the imperial court to manage the concessions in Nanyang. I would like to sign up and give it a try..."

(End of this chapter)