Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 483 Li Yi: Nip the threat in the bud!
As for what Hu Guangde was trying to achieve?
The answer is very simple, it’s just two words: power and profit!

Considering that he didn't even want a share of the profits from his subordinates' corruption, it can be seen that Hu Guangde was definitely not seeking profit.

In this case, there is only one answer.

right!
To put it simply, Hu Guangde was prepared to take advantage of this opportunity to engage in political struggle.

Liang Feng obviously realized this and looked at Hu Guangde with doubt.

The look seemed to be asking.

Are you planning to fuck me?
But Liang Feng soon thought that he did not embezzle the disaster relief supplies, so he had a clear conscience.

How could Hu Guangde possibly get into trouble with him?
Hu Guangde smiled and then said.

"Brother Liang, the embezzlement of disaster relief materials this time is sucking the blood out of the disaster-stricken people in Henan and undermining the court's disaster relief plan. This is an unforgivable crime."

"Thank you, Brother Liang, for joining me in writing to the imperial court, requesting that the court conduct a thorough investigation of this matter and restore order to the people of Henan who have been affected by the disaster!"

The meaning of Hu Guangde's words was very clear, and it was obvious that he was not targeting Liang Feng.

In fact, Hu Guangde’s target was his immediate superior, Zhang Bo’an, director of the Strategic Material Reserves Bureau.

In order to fill the shortfall in Warehouse No. 6, Shi Chongrui and his father-in-law Qian Huan went to find Zhang Bo'an, director of the Strategic Material Reserve Bureau.

They reached a deal with Zhang Boan to transfer grain from several other large warehouses to fill the shortfall in Warehouse No. 6.

After this incident is over, we will slowly make up for the shortfalls in various warehouses.

Although this matter was done at night, it was impossible to hide it from Hu Guangde, an insider.

During the transportation of materials, the corruption and reselling of materials by his subordinates gave Hu Guangde an opportunity and a way in.

So he just went with the flow and acquiesced in the actions of his subordinates.

When the supplies arrived in Kaifeng and he found that the quantities didn't match, that's when he started to make trouble.

Generally speaking, the procedure for corruption and reselling of court supplies is as follows.

The supplies start from the capital, and find a place to unload them along the way and resell them.

The profits will be shared among the white gloves under him, but the biggest share will go to Hu Guangde, the person in charge.

Of course, Hu Guangde did not take the profits for nothing.

In addition to acting as a protective umbrella.

After the supplies arrive in Kaifeng, he will come forward to negotiate with Liang Feng, who will receive the supplies.

Give Liang Feng a portion of the profits, and then ask Liang Feng to sign the material receipt when the quantity of materials does not match.

Then, as supplies were distributed from Kaifeng to various places, officials at all levels who handled the supplies shared the profits layer by layer, and the money flowed through their hands until the supplies were distributed to the victims.

Finally, there is no way to check the accounts!

Because, if we do this, there will be no problem from the perspective of the account books.

After all, it is impossible for the court's auditing officials to catch each disaster victim and ask them how much food they have eaten and how much medicine they have used, right?
However, the situation this time is different.

Because Hu Guangde, the person in charge, did not want profits, but was ready to seek power and engage in political struggles.

As long as the quantity of supplies does not match, it will be reported.

As long as the matter is reported, the court will definitely conduct a thorough investigation even if it is just to make an example of someone. Since this is a year of great disaster,

Even though the deficit in Warehouse No. 6 seems to have been covered up, the shortage of supplies is definitely shortage and it will not appear out of thin air.

As long as the imperial court conducts a thorough investigation, it will not only be the people who resell the relief supplies this time who will be found out. By following the clues, the transactions between Zhang Boan, Qian Huan and others will also be exposed.

By then, Zhang Bo'an will most likely fall under the emperor's wrath, and Hu Guangde, as a hero who reported and exposed the major corruption case involving disaster relief supplies, will naturally be able to go further.

It was natural for him to remove the word "deputy" in front of his official title!
As for what will happen if the white gloves give Hu Guangde away after the case is investigated?
Haha, as the saying goes, to catch a thief, you must seize the stolen goods, and to catch an adulterer, you must catch him in pairs.

Those materials had just been transported away and were probably still in the process of being resold. It would be a long time before the money reached Hu Guangde.

There was no stolen money, and no physical evidence. How could they do anything to Hu Guangde based solely on the testimony of a convicted official?
Even if the imperial court knew about this, not only would they not punish him, but they would also reward Hu Guangde for resisting the temptation of interests, sticking to his original intention, and being irreconcilable with corruption.

If you ask Hu Guangde if he is afraid that he will have no one to rely on after he comes to power in the future because he breaks the unspoken rules like this?

Haha, as I said, what the Tang Dynasty lacks the least now is people who want to be officials.

As long as Hu Guangde can climb up and hold power, he will not be afraid of having no subordinates willing to follow him.

What will be the fate of those white gloves used by Hu Guangde?
Haha, as a victim of political struggle, there is no need to say much about the outcome.

Of course, although these people are being exploited, they are not actually worthy of sympathy.

If they did not think about making a fortune by reselling supplies, but instead conscientiously did their job well and honestly transported relief supplies to the disaster area.

Even if Hu Guangde wanted to use them and then destroy the bridge after crossing it, he couldn't do it!
Since they are driven by greed, they should be prepared to pay the price for their greed.

Hu Guangde's current actions are just going with the flow.

Of course, Hu Guangde did not do this alone.

There are more people in the court cooperating with him!

Not to mention anything else, just the position of Qian Huan, the Deputy Minister of Industry, has so many people eyeing it!
That’s a real position of power!
When Liang Feng heard this, the expression on his face changed and his eyes flashed with complex light.

At this moment, he seemed to understand what Hu Guangde wanted to do!
The role he plays now is that of a sharp knife that Hu Guangde uses to stab his political enemies.

But does he have a choice?

The answer is obvious, no!
It is an established fact that there is less relief supplies this time and some of them have been embezzled. Liang Feng’s attitude cannot change anything.

Even if he did not cooperate with Hu Guangde, Hu Guangde could still report the matter.

At that time, Liang Feng will be forced to become a corrupt element.

He cooperated with Hu Guangde to make this matter a reality, and was rewarded by the court for being an honest official who was sworn enemies of corruption.

Or he was forced to become a corrupt official and was punished by the court.

Liang Feng still has this bit of decisiveness.

He took a deep breath, stared at Hu Guangde without blinking, and then said.

"Brother Hu, we will report this matter to the court and ask the court to uphold justice for the people in the disaster area!"

When Hu Guangde heard this, a smile appeared on his face involuntarily, and he said with a smile.

"Brother Liang is so righteous. I admire him..."

……

Beijing, Old Summer Palace.

Jiuzhou Qingyan, Li Yi was flipping through a piece of information in his hand.

In front of him, Zuo Zongtang, the current head of the Grand Council of the Tang Dynasty, was standing waiting for instructions.

This intelligence came from North America. It was an intelligence officer stationed in North America by the Tang Dynasty Military Intelligence Department, who sent back confidential information from North America.

According to the information contained in this intelligence, the outcome of the US election is now almost clear.

Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln had a clear advantage in the election and could almost be identified as the next president.

As the election situation becomes clearer, the Republicans are already preparing to push for the abolition of slavery in Congress to be implemented throughout the United States. Then they will free the black slaves from the farms in the South and send them to their factories to be used as consumables.

This undoubtedly greatly affected the interests of the southern states.

This intelligence detailed that the southern states had been secretly colluding and planning armed independence.

In order to withstand the military pressure from the Northern states after independence, the Southern states have begun to contact major world powers such as Britain and France in advance.

Hope to gain recognition and even military support from the great powers.

The Tang Dynasty, as an emerging power that had just defeated Britain in India and even forced Britain, the world hegemon, to cede territory and pay compensation in exchange for peace, was naturally also a target of contact for the southern states.

Of course, it wasn’t just the southern states that were in contact with the Tang Dynasty; the northern states were the same.

Today, the northern states are frequently contacting the Tang Dynasty's ambassador to the United States, promising benefits and hoping that the Tang Dynasty will not stand on the side of the southern states.

Li Yi slowly exhaled, then closed the information in his hand and looked at Zuo Zongtang in front of him.

"What do you think of the situation in North America?"

"Or, in other words, which side do you think the Tang Dynasty should stand on?"

After hearing this, Zuo Zongtang thought for a while and then spoke.

"In reply to your Majesty, in my humble opinion, the Tang Dynasty should stand on the side of the Southern States regarding the situation in North America."

"As the saying goes, the way of heaven is to reduce the excess and make up for the deficiency. As the empire of heaven, our Tang Dynasty should naturally act in accordance with heaven..."

Zuo Zongtang said a lot of nonsense, but Li Yi can simply summarize it.

The South is weaker, support the South!

Because only in this way can America, the emerging power in the New World, be divided in this war.

Only in this way can the Tang Dynasty eliminate in advance the opponent who may compete with the Tang Dynasty for the right to speak in the world in the future.

America’s locational advantages are so great and so prominent.

It is rich in resources and isolated on the other side of the ocean, so it has almost unlimited development potential.

Once the great powers in the Old World are at war and have no time to take care of other things, the United States in the New World may take advantage of the situation and stand at the top of the world at any time.

And this is exactly the case in history.

During the two world wars, the United States, relying on its geographical advantages, was the last to reap the fruits of victory.

The result was that after the two world wars, the United States replaced Britain as the world hegemon.

Such a country posed too great a threat to the Tang Dynasty, which aspired to become the global hegemon.

With the victory in the Battle of the Bay of Bengal, the Tang Dynasty was no longer the Celestial Empire that could only confine its influence to a corner of the East.

Today, the Tang Dynasty has the key ticket to move towards the deep blue and compete with the whites for the right to speak in the world.

Under such circumstances, the Tang Dynasty would naturally try to eliminate as many opponents as possible that might pose a threat to itself.

Even if this opponent is from the future.

As long as he poses a threat, he must be killed!

Therefore, the attitude of the Tang Dynasty is self-evident.

Li Yi heard this, his expression remained unchanged, and Zuo Zongtang continued.

"Your Majesty, as far as I know, the British are also interested in participating in the American Civil War."

"In my humble opinion, the Tang Dynasty may be able to join forces with Britain to interfere in the situation in the Americas..."

Obviously, it is not only the Tang Dynasty that wants to suppress the threat.

The same goes for the UK!
After hearing this, Li Yi finally nodded slightly.

"Okay, let's talk to the British."

"Also, the Military Affairs Council must formulate relevant plans in advance and be prepared to intervene militarily in the situation in America if necessary..."

Although the Tang Dynasty had just fought a life-and-death battle with Britain in India, the ceasefire had not lasted long.

However, this does not prevent the two gangster leaders, Britain and the Tang Dynasty, from joining forces to bully the United States, a decent woman, after seeing the benefits.

Upon hearing this, Zuo Zongtang could not help but look at the emperor in shock.

In his vision, the most the Tang Dynasty could do with regard to the situation in America was to provide some military assistance.

Moreover, the military aid is certainly not given for free, the southern states must pay some money.

And then that's it!

After all, that is a matter of the New World, and the Tang Dynasty can get involved if it has nothing to do.

Just think of it as a matter of trying your best. Even if things fail in the end, the losses will be limited.

But if it succeeds, it will eliminate a huge threat to the future of the Tang Dynasty in advance.

But there is no need to send troops to fight...

After all, it is the New World, more than ten thousand miles away from the Tang Dynasty. Is it really necessary for the Tang Dynasty to get involved?
Well, Zuo Zongtang’s current thoughts coincide with those of the British in history!

But seeing that Li Yi's expression was serious and he didn't seem to be joking, Zuo Zongtang could only bow in response and then turn around to leave.

But in his heart, he was quietly thinking about how he could persuade the emperor to change his mind...

Watching Zuo Zongtang's back gradually disappearing into the distance, Li Yi's expression became slightly complicated.

In fact, he didn't want to get too involved in the situation in the New World.

But there is no way!

Unlike people of this era who are limited by their current vision, Li Yi has a long-term vision.

He really realizes the threat posed by the United States as a country!

In Li Yi's opinion, the threat from the United States is even greater than that from the United Kingdom.

From the perspective of development potential, the United States is the only possible opponent that could compete with the Tang Dynasty for world hegemony in the future.

When faced with such an opponent, we must stop at nothing and kill it before it develops!
In Li Yi's opinion, it is highly likely that the Tang Dynasty will not be fighting alone this time.

Historically, Britain did not ultimately win the Civil War.

But that was probably because the Crimean War had just ended, the Indian rebellion had just been quelled, and the British army was deeply involved in the Second Opium War with the Qing Dynasty.

In addition, if Britain were to engage in a Civil War, it would most likely fight alone, which is inconsistent with the character of the British troublemaker and the old silver coin.

Therefore, Britain did not end up like this!
But this time it is different. If Tang Dynasty and Britain stand together, Britain will most likely be in trouble.

By then, the United States would surely feel honored to be served by the two great powers of Tang and Britain...

……

PS: The monthly votes are already 400, so I have to add another chapter.

Now I owe four chapters again...

(End of this chapter)