There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 190 Yichang in Decline
After Nie Yu ascended to the throne as the Prince of Han, the Ministry of War and the Army Commander-in-Chief's Office formulated a formal military deployment plan in the latter half of the second year of the Jiaqing reign.

Because it was time to collect taxes in the second half of the year, the Han army's finances were somewhat relieved, and they were able to afford some small-scale operations.

Well, for the Han army, it was just attacking the rebel armies of Zhang Zhengmo, Lan Jinlong, and Shajin Wang; it was really just small-scale skirmishes.

In a small battle in Anren County last year, the Han army sent only a centurion with five hundred regular soldiers and several hundred laborers, yet they utterly routed the tens of thousands of troops that had killed the king, preventing him from expanding further west into Han territory.

In mid-August, the autumn sky is high and the horses are fat.

The Han army split into two routes: one with 2,000 troops from Dangyang and the other with 4,000 troops from Yidu County.

The Han army in Dangyang was responsible for capturing Yichang Prefecture.

The Yidu Han army was responsible for capturing Changyang County, and the two armies joined forces to sweep away the White Lotus Rebellion forces within the territory of Yichang Prefecture.

On the Yidu Han army side, the commander of the First Division was He Shun'an.

Before setting out with his troops, he first visited the Yidu County government office and paid a visit to Liu Fu, the magistrate of Yidu.

"I'll have to trouble Magistrate Liu to take care of the logistics for this army."

"General He, rest assured, with me here, the army's logistics will not have any problems."

Liu Fu was wearing a brand-new official robe. As a county magistrate of the seventh rank, his official robe was scarlet, rather than the blue robe that was the mainstream for county magistrates under the Han army's rule (ranks five to seven).

This is not because Liu Fu was wearing official robes haphazardly, nor is it because the Han army was too hasty. No matter how hasty it was, Yidu County was the place where the King of Han rose to power, and its bureaucratic system must have been the most complete.

Liu Fu's official robes were sent from Jingzhou Prefecture by the Ministry of Posts and Communications with urgent delivery. It should be said that these were not official robes, but rather ceremonial robes for those with added ranks.

Who can blame them for following the right person?
First she was the steward of the Han King's household, and she accompanied the Supreme King when he was young. Later she gave birth to a daughter, who is now the first concubine the Han King took in. Apart from the Queen, there are only two of them in the harem.

This is practically equivalent to the emperor's father-in-law.

The King of Han was rather stingy; he didn't promote the Emperor's father-in-law, but instead kept him as the magistrate of Longxing County in Yidu County. He did, however, bestow upon him a set of ceremonial robes with an additional title, as was customary, to show the Emperor's father-in-law's noble status.

As for titles?

No one has this yet, and it's not that Nie Yu is stingy; it's just that it's still a long way off. Even civil officials like Liu Jun have hinted and advised the King of Han not to bestow titles yet, but simply to change the official positions.

Granting titles and ranks now could easily breed arrogance among those below, especially the military officers. If they become complacent and indulge in pleasure, then the Han army will be useless.

It was only in the third year of his reign that Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, formally bestowed titles and ranks upon his officials, both civil and military, to establish their ranks and achievements.

He Shunan rested briefly in Yidu County for two days. Once the provisions and laborers were all ready, he marched westward along the Qingjiang River, passing through Jingmen Mountain and Ma'an Mountain, and headed straight for Changyang County.

"General, Changyang County is now empty!"

"what?"

Upon hearing the scout's report, He Shun'an was immediately bewildered and hurriedly asked, "What exactly happened? Where are the White Lotus Sect bandits in Changyang County? And what about their leader, Zhang Zhengmo? Didn't he say he wanted to fight a decisive battle with our Han army?"

The scout replied, "We searched the entire county town and its surroundings, but we couldn't find a single White Lotus Sect bandit. The four gates of the county town were wide open, and the town was deserted. All the grain and valuables had been moved out, and the county government's granary also showed signs of burning and destruction. The area around the county town is now filled with starving people."

He Shunan understood almost immediately after the scout finished speaking.

Damn it, we've fallen for their trap.

It couldn't be called falling into a trap. They weren't familiar enough with Zhang Zhengmo to begin with, so naturally they didn't know how he would react to the Han army. Zhang Zhengmo tore up the surrender letter and even vowed to fight to the death. For several days, the Grand Commandant's Office had been frantically formulating battle plans, discussing how to quickly strike Changyang County, destroy Zhang Zhengmo's main force, and prevent the war from further damaging the lives of ordinary people.

The idea was great, but reality was a joke. Before the fight even started, Zhang Zhengmo bluffed and ran away.

They ran away, looted all the grain, and burned down Taicang.

He Shunan led his troops to Changyang County, and just as the scouts had said, or even worse, there were starving people everywhere.

When they saw the Han soldiers coming, they were neither afraid nor did they flee; they just stared blankly.

He Shun'an took a deep breath: "Pass on my military order...open the granaries and distribute the grain."

Deputy Division Commander Deng Jie couldn't help but say, "General, the Grand Commander's orders to us are to first capture Changyang County, then advance rapidly south to sweep through Changle and Hefeng..."

He Shunan shook his head and sighed, "Send a telegram to the Grand Commander's Office! Report the situation in Changyang County truthfully. We probably can't go south for the time being. Changyang County has been ruined to this extent. The strategic plans we made earlier were too optimistic. Changle and Hefeng are also places where the White Lotus Sect is rampant. The situation in these two places is probably not better than that in Changyang. If we ignore everything and go south directly, our food supplies will not last."

After He Shunan explained it to Deng Jie, Deng Jie understood and took out the map he carried with him to examine it carefully.

Heading south from Changyang to Changle and Hefeng, the route veers into the southwestern mountains, where the roads are rugged and difficult to traverse. If the entire region is destroyed like this, the Han army will be unable to fight; the logistical difficulties alone will cripple them.

He Shunan was right. The Han Army's Grand General Headquarters' predictions about Yichang were too conservative, or rather, they were based entirely on the information gathered by the spies sent to Sichuan along the way.

The spies who went to Sichuan have been there for almost a year.

For a year, Yichang Prefecture was under the control of the White Lotus Sect. The White Lotus Sect did not engage in production; they were just a group of cult lunatics. Under their management, Yichang could not even be called management; it was pure destruction.

He Shun'an took out a portion of the military rations and prioritized relief for the starving people of Changyang. He gathered these starving people together and first turned them into laborers for the Han army, then incorporated them into the laborer camp.

Then, a telegram sent the collected information to the Grand Commander's Office.

When the Grand General's Office saw the translated telegram, they were immediately overwhelmed and unable to make a decision. They could only go back and consult the Prince of Han.

After reading the telegram, Nie Yu ignored the officials watching and immediately cursed, "Zhang Zhengmo, that son of a bitch, all of these White Lotus sect members should be killed!"

Below, officials from the Grand General's Office and various departments of the Cabinet all turned a blind eye and pretended not to hear.

After finishing his rant, Nie Yu realized the matter still needed to be resolved. He thought for a moment and said, "Zhang Zhengmo may disregard the people, but our Han army cannot. The First Division can halt its advance and remain stationed in Changyang County, prioritizing the relief and pacification of the starving people. The various ministries of the cabinet should also quickly devise a plan to restore the livelihoods of the people in Changyang County!"

The Han army's expansion into Yichang Prefecture had to be halted before it even began.

Changyang County was so badly damaged that it could not support the Han army's southward advance. Even if the Han army forced its way south, what would happen if Changle and Hefeng were in the same state?
There was no other way but to prioritize comforting and providing relief to Changyang County and try to recover the county as quickly as possible.

As for other counties and prefectures, including Changle and Hefeng, let's put them aside for now!

Officials in the various cabinet ministries were equally speechless.

Although they had made preparations long ago, knowing that war would cost a lot of money, they had only just captured a county and hadn't even started fighting yet, but the subsequent financial expenditures were already clearly arranged for them.

The King of Han was right to scold him!

Zhang Zhengmo is a son of a bitch, and the White Lotus Sect should all be wiped out.

(End of this chapter)