Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 132: Promotion to a higher position
Only one day later

The "Xin" fleet followed suit, docking at Pier 1, Pier 2, and Pier 4 of Guangming Town, bringing back good news.

The missing cargo ship lost its way after experiencing a storm and was encountered by the northbound "Xin" fleet, which brought it back.

Although six crew members were injured and two were missing, fortunately there was no substantial damage to the hull and no loss of cargo, and the ship can still be used after repairs.

For these damaged thousand-stone ships, after evaluation, those deemed unfit for long-distance voyages are generally transferred to river fleets to continue to make use of their remaining capacity.

The Zheng family fleet, which is now growing larger and larger, has no shortage of crew members. There are also many boatmen among the refugees. These are part of the poor at the bottom of society, and most of them are willing to go to Southeast Asia for a bright future.

The more than one thousand crew members sent to North America were carefully selected from these people. They were required to be young and strong and have long-term experience living on the water.

With concentrated training, it is easier to quickly master the work of sailors on Western sailing ships.

Considering that the two fleets had similar departure times, Zheng Guohui simply merged them into one.

21 ships in good condition were selected to form a new "Geng Xin" fleet, led by the Guangming sailing ship, which carried more than 7100 Chinese immigrants and a large amount of supplies heading south at one time and set sail again.

He brought his family and boarded the Qianshifu fleet to Jinling, and successfully arrived at the Xiaguan Wharf, returning to his old nest in Jinling City after more than two months away.

This time he did not bother to bring his wife's dowry furniture with him, but left it in his hometown of Tongzhou. He only took some clothes and valuables with him and traveled light.

Jinling City has everything, even exquisite furnishings from the rebel palace, a Nine-Dragon Cloud Couch carved from a whole piece of red sandalwood, and a graceful bed with a dragon and phoenix playing with a pearl. And there are not just one set, but six or seven sets.

Its origin is no longer traceable, and the lowest-grade ones all belong to the royal palace. It can be said that every part of it is exquisite.

Inside the Drum Tower Mansion

The buildings in the mansion have flying eaves and brackets, the main hall is magnificent, and the inner courtyards are courtyards within courtyards, which is very grand.

Even the ancient apricot tree in the yard is hundreds of years old. It is so thick that it takes three people to hug it. It has experienced countless years of vicissitudes.

As soon as Zheng Guohui returned to Jinling, he heard good news from the capital.

Wang Jincai, a large grain merchant from Changzhou, was convicted of "buying low and selling high, passing inferior goods off as good ones, bribing for military rations, and committing notorious evil deeds". After being reported to the emperor for final decision, he was sentenced to "beheading in prison". All seven adult male members of his family will be taken to the Meridian Gate for execution in the autumn.

The rest of the women and children were sent to the Jiaofangsi, and the other men involved in the same case were exiled a thousand miles away and made slaves of armored soldiers.

There is no further news about Jiangnan Governor Elong, but rumors in the capital say that he is planned to be the governor of Shaanxi, which is a promotion in name only and a demotion in reality.

The three provinces of Shaanxi, Shandong and Henan were the territories where the Nian bandits were rampant. The land was barren and the resources were scarce. They suffered greatly from the war and were not a good place to be.

Shaanxi and Gansu are still the hardest hit areas of the Hui Rebellion. The court has already issued an order to transfer Zuo Zongtang to Shaanxi as governor to investigate and suppress the rebellion. It is estimated that the situation will be full of war again.

The Governor of Shaanxi was also a high-ranking official, second only to the Governor-General.

But who is Zuo Zongtang?

He was a senior official of the imperial court with extremely strong tactics, who had always been in charge of both military and political affairs. Under his command, Elong not only had to be careful in his words and deeds, but also could not be too corrupt, in order to avoid being caught and reported.

It can be imagined that Elong's hard days are yet to come.

this day

It happened that the Left Censor-in-Chief of the imperial court, Lord Lekedehun, was returning to Nanjing. All the military and political officials of Jiangnan Province went to Xiaguan Wharf to greet him, and then went to the Provincial Administration Office together. It was quite a lively scene.

Lord Lekedehun, the Left Censor-in-Chief, was a Manchu minister of the Imperial Censorate. According to the rules, there was one Manchu and one Han official.

He did not come here for the corruption case of the big grain merchant Wang Jincai. This small case would not trouble the Left Censor-in-Chief Lekedehun, and the court would not take it seriously.

He was ordered by the Empress Dowager to go to Huguang to secretly investigate the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's treasures.

More than ten years after the Taiping rebels established their country in Nanjing, they plundered all the wealth in the southeastern half of the country, and the amount was extremely shocking.

Who would have thought that after the city was broken, they only got the Golden Seal of the King of Heaven and very few other spoils. How could the person in the palace be willing to accept this?

Look, this is the fourth batch of cases that has been investigated by Lord Lekedehun, the Left Censor-in-Chief, and no clues have been found so far. It seems to be a confusing case.

Zeng Guofan was transferred to Nanzhili to serve as governor-general. Zeng Guoquan had long been forced to resign as governor of Jiangnan. Now he was living in the mountains and was no longer a member of the court.

It is said that the court intends to appoint a new governor of Huguang, and the candidate is still being screened.

This new Governor of Huguang must also be responsible for the secret inspection of the treasures of the Heavenly Kingdom. That is dancing on the edge of a knife, which makes people sweat for him.

Lekedehun was smart. He just took a quick walk around the periphery of Huguang Road and wasted several months on it. He didn't dare to investigate in detail, otherwise he would have lost his life on Huguang Road.

This is not alarmist talk, but a real and huge danger.

After a brief conversation at the Provincial Government, a banquet was held to welcome Lord Lekedehun.

The Governor Elong, the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner Wu Weicheng, the Deputy General of Jiangnan Zheng Guohui, the Prefect of Jiangning Cao Yucheng, the Defense Lieutenant Zheng Shouye (fourth uncle) and other military and political officials were all present, and the scene was full of joy.

After the banquet is over, everyone returns to his home.

Zheng Guohui returned to the inner house with a red face. The strong smell of alcohol could be smelled from a distance, which made his wife laugh and cry.

He quickly ordered, "Hurry up and bring the pineapple juice over to help the master sober up."

Dongmei came hurriedly with pineapple juice. Zheng Guohui took the bowl and drank it all in a few big gulps. He put the bowl down, wiped his mouth and said, "Refreshing."

Ruqin had already brought a hot towel and gently wiped Zheng Guohui's hands clean. She then changed to another hot towel and helped the master wipe his face clean.

Now, all these personal service jobs are assigned to Ruqin and Dongmei. These two pretty maids are also the bed-warming maids that the master has favored. They are paid 20 taels of silver per month, and each of them has a special maid to serve them.

This treatment is much better than that of the other six maids.

In the mansion

The status of a bed-warming maid is second only to that of a concubine, or a concubine, and higher than that of all other maids.

Among the eight pretty maids who were married into the mansion at the same time, Ruqin and Dongmei were one step ahead and won the master's favor, so their value naturally doubled.

"Master, why are you so happy today? You drank too much outside again." Zheng Li sat on the chair beside him and asked.

Zheng Guohui chuckled, picked up the dragon fruit on the table and took a bite, feeling comfortable chewing and said;

“This time, the Left Censor-in-Chief came and had a very pleasant conversation with this general, which inadvertently left Elong in the cold.

"Didn't you see his expression? It was as if I owed him 300 strings of cash. Just looking at it made me feel relieved and encouraged. This old man is a rabbit with a long tail. Wouldn't it be a wonderful thing to defeat him?"

"Master, why are you still so childish? Don't you know that the way to cultivate your mind in an official career is to not be happy with things, not be sad with yourself, not be troubled by your heart, not be confused by your emotions, and not judge heroes by their gains and losses? It is difficult to last long if you have clear likes and dislikes." Zheng Li persuaded gently.

"Madam is teaching me..."

As Zheng Guohui spoke, he reached out to grab his wife's delicate hand, but was immediately pushed away and given a big roll of the eyes.

Wouldn't such a reckless act be laughed at?

The lady is not very old and always maintains a dignified demeanor. Her delicate face is extremely adorable and still childish.

If he was only in high school in his previous life, he would have looked like a little adult.

Zheng Guohui didn't care when his hand was shaken off. He chuckled and said, "Just like my second uncle, who is like a clay and wooden statue of a Buddha, he examines himself three times a day. It's really boring. I prefer to be more lively."

"You! You really can't do anything about the master." Zheng Li sighed and shook her head, looking like "I tried my best."

This absolutely beautiful face was full of spirit whether she was acting coquettishly, sighing, or even angry. Zheng Guohui's heart was moved by it and he couldn't help but reach out to pinch her delicate cheeks.

Zheng Li had a tacit understanding. When she saw the master's strange look, she stood up first and avoided the wolf's claw.

She hurriedly stood up and left, saying, "I'll go see to the soup in the kitchen. Ruqin will wait on the master for a while. I'll be right back."

After saying that, he left as if escaping.

She was most afraid of this trick of the master. Beating her wouldn't work, scolding her wouldn't work, and she wouldn't listen to any advice. If she was caught, how could she save her face in front of the servants? She would be so ashamed.

I could only flee in panic and avoid this incident temporarily.

Zheng Guohui stood up and said as he walked over, "Ruqin, Dongmei, the two of you come to the study and serve me."

After saying that, he strode forward. The two pretty maids, Ruqin and Dongmei, looked at each other helplessly, packed up the teacups, fruits, hot towels and other things, put them on trays and followed him in.

No one knew what tricks the master was up to. Maids like the two of them had to satisfy any excessive demands the master made and could not avoid them.

After a while
The two pretty maids, Ruqin and Dongmei, came out of the study with red faces and lowered heads, and quickly hid in their own rooms, closing the door and not coming out again.

In the study

Zheng Guohui took a sip of hot tea feeling refreshed, then turned his attention to the document in his hand and began to review it.

Now he has more than 2 troops under his command. He received a document from the Ministry of War, promoting Zheng Guohui to the general of Jiangning, still a second-rank soldier, and clearly commanding the "Jiangning Town", which is the Green Camp soldier guarding the local area.

The imperial court granted Zheng Li the title of Second Rank Lady, awarded her a gold book and jade disc, and bestowed her with imperial beads and official uniforms.

Generally speaking
The imperial court was divided into regions. The governor-general was in charge of the military affairs of a province and was the highest commander of the Green Camp soldiers. The Manchu garrison generals were not mentioned for the time being.

There are several key areas under the province where generals are stationed, called "towns". "Towns" are the highest-level military units of the Green Camp soldiers.

Each town was further divided into "associations", led by deputy generals.

The garrison units of the lieutenant general, guerrilla general, commander, and garrison below the rank of deputy general are called "battalions". The troops sent by Zheng Guohui to Xuzhou, Huai'an, Weiyang, Zhenjiang, and Tongzhou are "battalions".

Take Anhui Province as an example;
There are only two towns in the province, namely Shouchun Town and Wannan Town.

The general of Shouchun Town commanded two battalions of the town flag, and also had jurisdiction over six other battalions, including Lu'an. The town flag had one guerrilla commander, the right battalion had one commander, the central army of each battalion had one garrison commander, four thousand commanders, nine battalion commanders, and fourteen external commissioners.

The Lu'an Camp has one lieutenant general and one garrison commander in the central army.

The Yingzhou Camp has one guerrilla, and the left and right armies each have one garrison. The Longshan Camp has one guerrilla, and the left and right armies each have one garrison. The Sizhou Camp, Luzhou Camp, and Bozhou Camp each have one commander.

In Jiangnan Province, there are two towns: Jiangning and Gusu.

Zheng Guohui is the general of Jiangning, and Zhang Shusheng, the general of Suzhou, is now in Henan Province suppressing bandits. He has been gone for more than a year and there is no sign of his return.

It will probably take two or three years before I can come back.

Because of his meritorious service in defending the territory and suppressing the southern invasion of the Nian Army, the list of promotions and rewards proposed by Zheng Guohui was successfully approved by the Ministry of War, and he received the green light from Prince Gong Yixin. This is the benefit of having a powerful backer.

Three people, including He Ruolin, the former Xuzhou Defense Captain, Zheng Jiabao, the Huai'an Defense Captain, and Zheng Shouye (fourth uncle), the Jiangning Prefecture Defense Captain, were all promoted to the rank of lieutenant general, given higher positions and titles, and brought honor to their ancestors.

some of

Zheng Shouye did nothing but help Zheng Guohui protect the family business in Jinling, so he was promoted again. It was a typical case of one person's success bringing prosperity to everyone around him.

But this is the situation in the current officialdom. In addition, six people including Hu Zuqing and Dong Huanzhang were promoted to guerrilla generals, and 6 people were promoted to garrison positions. Everyone is happy.

These people are all Zheng Guohui's close confidants, or they are from the same blood clan. When the time comes to punish them, none of them can escape. They are all tied to the same rope.

Zheng Guohui's promotion this time was due to his resolute counterattack against Jiangnan Governor Elong a few years ago, which greatly boosted the morale of Prince Gong's party. Now is the time to reward them.

Prince Gong just tilted his pen slightly and got the position of General of Jiangning. It was so cool!

In front of his wife, Zheng Guohui could hardly hide his excitement. This was like a shot of adrenaline for his plan to go south!

The provincial-level officials in the imperial court were collectively referred to as "dufu, zhizhan, and zhen". "du" was the governor-general, "fu" was the governor-general, "zhi" was the admiral, and "zhen" was the general-in-chief, and they were respectfully called "junmen sir".

Zheng Guohui now deserves the title of "General" without any exaggeration.

Zheng Guohui was entrenched in Jiangnan Province, holding a large number of troops. Through the private salt, grain and cloth businesses, he secretly colluded with various prefectures and counties, helping each other and building a huge network of relationships.

After defeating the Wang family grain merchants, the Zheng family grain merchants became the only dominant ones in the Jiangsu and Anhui regions. Their business became more and more successful, and their scale expanded like a snowball.

In fact, there is not much profit in running this grain business. Apart from taking care of various government offices, the profit a year is only a few hundred thousand taels of silver.

All branches of the Zheng family invested in it, and the manpower and material resources consumed were enormous.

Each family would only receive about ten thousand taels of silver. After deducting the share given to relatives and friends who contributed, it would be good if they could get four or five thousand taels.

The key is that this business requires a large number of people. Zheng's fleet alone has more than 400 large ships, employing more than 13000 boatmen. The number of laborers employed at the docks along the river is as high as tens of thousands, and its influence is huge.

When the grain transport fleet returned, they would always carry some refugees with the cargo, which served to bring people together.

This is crucial to Zheng Guohui's plan to develop Southeast Asia and is an indispensable part.

(End of this chapter)