There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 229 The Expansion Plan Should Be Moved Up
June.

Nie Yu has returned to Jingzhou. His original plan was to inspect Yifu in Hunan for a few months and at the same time contact various rebel armies around Hunan.

However, plans can't always keep up with changes.

"The local people of Weixi, Yunnan, have rebelled?" Nie Yu asked, looking at the translated telegram in his hand.

Liu Jun nodded: "It is indeed the opposite. The source of the information is our Han Dynasty's resident envoy in Zhongmiao, Guizhou, and it has been repeatedly confirmed."

Nie Yu continued to peruse the urgent telegrams. The details of the uprising by the local people of Weixi were rather vague, only stating the general scope of the uprising and who the leaders of the uprising were.

"Hengzha bang, la zhe bu?" Nie Yu muttered in confusion.

He had never heard of these two names in his previous life. Did these two people rebel during the Jiaqing era?

Yes, there really is, and it's caused quite a stir.

Hengzha Beng and Lazhebu belong to the Lisu ethnic group from Lancang River in Weixi County, Yunnan Province. According to the original historical timeline, they should have waited another three years before launching an uprising due to severe drought and snow disasters, coupled with the triple oppression from the Kangpu chieftain, the Lijiang government, and Tibetan Lamaism, which they could no longer tolerate.

Now, the Lisu uprising has started earlier than planned, by a full three years. This is all a chain reaction triggered by Nie Yu's arrival. The continuous victories of the Han army against the Qing army have brought a strange sense of confidence to various rebel armies and people of all ethnic groups, while also exposing the fact that the Qing army's combat strength is weakening.

This resulted in the local Qing regime struggling to survive under the dual pressure of the Han Chinese and the White Lotus Rebellion, and it was no longer able to suppress anti-Qing forces outside of the Han Chinese.

Thus, the Guizhou Zhongmiao rebels, who should have collapsed within a year, resisted for two years under the fierce attacks of the renowned general Le Bao. Not only were they not wiped out, but they also gradually gained confidence and became increasingly difficult to deal with.

Le Bao was indeed a famous general, but even the best general can't cook without rice. The elite Qing troops in Yunnan and Guizhou had all been wiped out on the Xiangxi battlefield, and he had no troops left to use. He could only rely on Ji Qing, the governor of the two factories, to send troops to help him. But Ji Qing hadn't even finished putting out the fire in his own territory, so how could he have the spare energy to deal with the mess in Yunnan and Guizhou?

In order to continue suppressing the rebellion, Le Bao chose to impose taxes and grain levies on Yunnan and Guizhou, using the money to recruit soldiers to suppress the Miao.

Then, Yunnan was bombed.

Nonsense. Yunnan was originally a poor place. Under the guise of peace and prosperity during the Qianlong era, Yunnan still experienced nine Lisu uprisings, each one bigger than the last.

Now that Zhong Miao in Guizhou has rebelled, Le Bao will definitely not be able to collect taxes and grain from Guizhou, so he can only impose additional taxes on the people of Yunnan.

Here we need to explain Yunnan's unique terrain. Although the Qing dynasty underwent the violent reform of the system of replacing officials with civil servants during the reign of Emperor Yongzheng, the overall situation remained largely the same. Emperor Yongzheng still made compromises regarding the Tusi system in the southwest.

The Tusi system was not actually abolished; it was simply transformed into Tuguan (local officials). Later, the imperial court established appointed officials to manage the civil service, while the Tuguan managed the local people, thus creating a hierarchical system of governance.

The Tusi (chieftains) did not lose any of their privileges; on the contrary, because the Qing court had deprived them of many benefits, they could only take them back from the common people.

And coincidentally, the Kangpu chieftain, who ruled over the Lisu and Naxi peoples of Weixi, suffered a severe blow in the first year of the Jiaqing reign.

The female chieftain He Niang of Kangpu clashed with the chieftain Chawalong of the Tibetan lamas. Kangpu was not strong enough to resist Chawalong and was forced to cede most of its territory's taxes in exchange for Chawalong's withdrawal of troops.

Like the later puppet Qing dynasty, since they had signed unequal treaties and had to cede territory and pay reparations to the enemy, they could only make up for it by exploiting their own people.

The common people are like leeks; they grow back after being harvested.

The Governor-General of Yunnan and Guizhou, Le Bao, ordered local officials to increase their troop deployments and raise funds to recruit soldiers to suppress the Miao people. Meanwhile, officials in Lijiang took the opportunity to join forces with the chieftain of Kangpu to ruthlessly exploit the Lisu and Naxi people of Weixi.

Hengzha Beng, a Lisu shaman, had not yet considered rebellion at this point. Unable to pay the taxes demanded by the government, he chose to borrow grain from the Kangpu chieftain to ensure the survival of the Lisu people, and would then slowly devise a solution.

Then, something bizarre happened. Not only did the chieftain of Kangpu refuse to lend grain, but he also felt that Hengzhabeng was too prestigious, so he falsely accused Hengzhabeng of wanting to "rebel and declare himself king".

Hengzha Beng was completely bewildered. He was simply fulfilling his duties as a Shani, leading his people to borrow grain from the Shisi. And now this was being accused of rebellion?

Seeing that the chieftain of Kangpu was so inhuman, Hengzha Beng, persuaded by his friend Lazhebu, immediately raised the banner of "borrowing grain to survive" and led the Lisu people to launch an uprising.

At the beginning of the uprising, people of all ethnic groups, including the Naxi, Han, and Bai, along the banks of the Lancang River responded to the call.

In just over a month, the city of Weixi was captured by the rebel army. The chieftain of Kangpu fled in panic, and the chieftain of Gusha was killed by the angry rebel army of various ethnic groups. The rebel army quickly occupied the Jianchuan Lanzhou (Lanping) area.

Le Bao was caught off guard. Before he could even quell the rebellion in Guizhou, trouble broke out in Yunnan.

Zhong Miao of Guizhou only noticed something amiss when he saw the unusual troop movements of the Qing army, and that's when he learned of the Lisu uprising in Weixi, Yunnan. Judging from the timeline, Le Bao was currently out of troops, and even with a quick reaction, he would at best be struggling to cope.

It was impossible to control the rampant corruption of the local militia in Weixi; he was already considered a genius in military strategy if he could hold onto even a few prefectures.

After reading the details of the Yunnan-Guizhou Uprising, Nie Yu circulated the translated telegram among the others.

Some of these cabinet members have read it, while others haven't read it in detail yet.

Liu Jun had already seen it and said, "Your Majesty, the local people in Weixi, Yunnan, have started an uprising, and the Zhongmiao rebels in Guizhou are supporting them. The Zhongmiao rebels are allies of our Han Dynasty, so the Qing army in Yunnan and Guizhou is no longer a threat to our Han Dynasty!"

Wang Ruoyu nodded: "The uprising of the local people in Weixi, Yunnan, may seem far removed from our Great Han and have little to do with it, but their uprising is the final straw that breaks the back of the puppet Qing's situation in the southwest. At this point, the puppet Qing government is no longer able to restrain our Great Han in Yunnan, Guizhou, and the Qing army in Guangdong and Guangxi is also delayed by the Yao people and various rebel armies, and is simply unable to advance north. The White Lotus Sect exists in Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Henan. If the Qing army ignores the White Lotus Sect and sends troops to harass our Great Han's rear, then these three provinces will surely be in ruins!"

Lin Wenchang suddenly declared loudly, "Your subject requests permission to send troops to Huangzhou and unify Huguang!"

Lin Wenchang's words immediately drew surprised looks from everyone around him.

This guy's past image was so deeply ingrained that he was practically always complaining about being poor. He had no choice but to complain, because the Han Dynasty's wars, shipbuilding, firearms production, and even the recruitment of officials to the provinces all had to go through the Ministry of Revenue's accounts, which put Lin Wenchang, the Minister of Revenue, under immense pressure every day.

It's truly unprecedented that they've now taken the initiative to request permission to send troops to Huangzhou!

While it was unprecedented, Lin Wenchang's words were all based on strategic considerations. The Han Dynasty wanted to expand into the south of the Yangtze River, and Huangzhou Prefecture, the last piece of the Hubei puzzle, had to be captured.

The Shian Prefecture in Hubei Province, with the assistance and mediation of the Tujia and Miao people of Hefeng, has voluntarily submitted to the Han Dynasty. The Tujia and Miao people of Hefeng are now busy selecting a concubine for the King of Han, choosing the most beautiful Tujia girl.

Because of the acquisition of Shi Nan Prefecture, the Han Dynasty did not fight any wars, and the loss of money and grain was not significant. In addition, with the tax collection in the second half of this year, the Ministry of Revenue had the confidence to take the initiative to propose to launch wars to expand its territory.

Nie Yu didn't make a decision on a whim, but instead asked for the opinions of the others: "What do you all think?"

Lü Zhihong said, “Your Majesty, I am not very knowledgeable about military affairs, but I do know the importance of speed and seizing opportunities. At present, there are righteous armies in Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangdong, Guangxi, Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Henan that are holding back the Qing army, so our Han Dynasty has no worries about its rear. Moreover, after more than half a year of recuperation, our Han Dynasty has sufficient money, food, and military equipment. If we do not hurry up and fight now, it will be too late to regret it if the situation changes next year!”

Yao Hongyi also said, "Your Majesty, I agree with Minister Lü's view. As the Minister of Works and concurrently in charge of the Commerce Department, although I do not have a clear and specific source of intelligence, I can see the grain prices in the Jiangnan region under the pseudo-Qing regime. In the past three years, the grain prices in Jiangnan were okay in the first year, with little fluctuation, but in the second year, they increased by 20%, and this year they have increased by 30%."

The rise in grain prices in Jiangnan is due to two factors: firstly, the severe disasters suffered by the Qing regime in the past two years, and secondly, the loss of Huguang, a major grain-producing area, which has made the Qing regime somewhat unable to cope.

Because the splendor of the Qianlong era concealed too much local corruption and darkness, and many local granaries were either empty or filled with rotten grain.

When the Huguang granary still existed, the Changping granary didn't have too many problems. Now that the Huguang granary is gone, the problems with the Changping granary are being exposed rapidly.

The puppet Qing dynasty was starting to experience food shortages in some areas!

Gu Jing said, “Your Majesty, once we capture Jiangnan, our Great Han can either follow the example of the former Ming Emperor Hongwu, launch a northern expedition to expel the Tartars and recover the Central Plains, or retreat and divide the country with the pseudo-Qing along the Yangtze River. Moreover, once Nanjing falls, the legitimate rule of the world will also belong to our Great Han!”

The implication is that Nanjing contains the former imperial palace of the Ming Dynasty, and if Nanjing is captured, the Prince of Han can declare himself emperor.

Nie Yu understood, so he didn't rush to reply. After pondering for a moment, he asked Zuo Guanlan, who was on duty beside him, "Does Minister Zuo have any thoughts?"

When the King of Han inquired about his secretary, the ministers were not surprised. After all, this secretary was one of the key figures in the "harmonious relationship between the ruler and his ministers," so it was only natural that he would be favored by the King of Han.

Without hesitation, Zuo Guanlan replied, "I believe Minister Lin is right!"

"Why?" Nie Yu asked.

Zuo Guanlan replied, "Because Your Majesty is the King of Han, while the pseudo-Qing is a barbarian."

It seems like he said nothing, yet it also seems like he said everything.

Nie Yu was the Prince of Han, and the puppet Qing dynasty was a barbarian. The contradictions between the two were irreconcilable. Anyone could surrender and escape death, but Nie Yu, the Prince of Han, was the only exception.

Therefore, the Han Dynasty has no need to worry at all; seizing the opportunity to take over Jiangnan as soon as possible is the best course of action.

Once the Jiangnan and Huguang regions were conquered, the Mandate of Heaven would belong to the Han Dynasty, not the pseudo-Qing Dynasty!

(End of this chapter)