There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 232 Let's attack Jiujiang first!
The Han army captured Huangzhou Prefecture in half a day, which was due to both the incompetence of the Qing officials and the overwhelming power of the Han dynasty.

Huangzhou Prefecture alone is truly no match for them.

The Han army captured Huangzhou Prefecture. Although the main officials of the prefecture committed suicide, the officials, clerks, and powerful families who were actually in charge knelt down quite readily.

Huangzhou Prefectural Government Office.

This place has become the temporary command post of the Han army and is temporarily under military control. Yang Fang summoned the surrendered officials and gentry in the city here.

Yang Fang first addressed the surrendered officials, saying, "Among you there are surely corrupt officials who oppress the good and honest. I am busy with military affairs and do not care about the mess behind your backs. Now is wartime, and I do not require you to do anything else but to appease the people and maintain order. If anyone takes the opportunity to cause trouble, you will be held accountable!"

"As ordered!"

The surrendered officials quickly bowed and responded.

Yang Fang then looked at the gentry of Huangzhou who had lined the road to welcome him earlier: "Since you have submitted to my Great Han, I will not pursue your case. However, all rice shops and pharmacies in the city that are involved in the livelihood of the people must not close down, raise prices, or hoard goods for speculation. Otherwise, if even one person starves to death, you will have to think about what to do!"

Upon hearing this, the local gentry and powerful families exchanged bewildered glances.

This Han general is meddling far too much, even interfering in whether their rice shops and pharmacies should close down or raise prices.

They're not stupid; of course they know that hoarding and speculation are definitely out of the question during wartime. Otherwise, they might not even know how they died. But hoarding and speculation are off-limits, while making money through appropriate price increases won't harm people's livelihoods too much.

They've already handed over their land and are willing to submit to the Han Dynasty. Shouldn't they be allowed to take this opportunity to make a small profit to offset their losses?
Seeing that these people remained silent and seemed quite resentful, Yang Fang's face instantly turned cold, and he demanded, "Do you all think that I, the general, am meddling too much? Let me tell you the truth, I am busy fighting the war. If His Majesty gives the order, I can't be bothered with these messy civil affairs. If you have any complaints, you can go to Jingzhou to complain to His Majesty!"

With the Prince of Han brought out, and Yang Fang clearly displaying anger, these local gentry from Huangzhou, who had been somewhat blinded by greed, instantly sobered up.

The gentry hurriedly said, "General, please calm down! We will certainly remember the King of Han's order and not let a single person starve to death."

"Hmph! Get out of here!"

Yang Fang waved his hand, too lazy to be polite anymore, and drove all these people out of the government office.

Once outside the yamen, a local gentryman angrily remarked, "A crude and vulgar brute."

"..."

The others didn't respond; instead, they distanced themselves from him to show that they weren't familiar with him.

Everyone knows he's a crude and uncouth brute, yet he still dares to be so arrogant. It seems I should avoid associating with such brainless idiots in the future.

Yang Fang deliberately adopted the image of a rough and uncouth warrior to intimidate and appease the officials, gentry, and common people of Huangzhou. He then immediately divided his troops into several groups to conquer the remaining seven counties: Macheng, Qishui (Xishui), Huang'an (Hong'an), Qizhou (Qichun), Luotian, Guangji, and Huangmei.

……

Qishui County.

Qishui County was the first to be affected because it was the closest to Huangzhou Prefecture.

The magistrate of Qishui County heard that Huangzhou Prefecture had been easily captured by the Han army in less than half a day, with the prefect and several other officials killed in action, and the governor nowhere to be found, apparently having fled.

Then what's the point of guarding this place? He disregarded his duty as the county magistrate to protect the territory, grabbed a few taels of silver and valuables, and slipped away under the cover of night.

The next morning at daybreak, the clerk discovered that the magistrate had already fled.

With the county magistrate gone, there was no need to defend the county town. The officials, gentry, and clerks in the town joined forces and surrendered.

……

Huang'an County.

This place is quite special in later generations because it is the birthplace of the Red Army, and was even renamed Hong'an County because of this.

Qishui County had just surrendered to the Han army when Huang'an County sent people to Huangzhou Prefecture to request that the Han army immediately come over to preside over the land distribution, specifically the land from Huang'an and Macheng counties.

The land redistribution was a pretense; their true intention was to cling to powerful figures and seek protection.

The Han army's continued victories against the Qing army directly led to a large-scale uprising among the tenant farmers in Huangzhou Prefecture. These tenant farmers, who had been exploited and abused by landlords and gentry in the past, deeply hated all landlords and gentry.

Now that there is an opportunity to rise up in rebellion, people will naturally seek revenge for any wrongs they have. Moreover, rural farmers are simple-minded and believe in eradicating all threats and vengeance, so they often carry out large-scale raids on landlords, confiscating their property and exterminating their entire families.

The landlords of Huang'an and Macheng counties were terrified. Having barely managed to hold onto their county seats, they naturally rushed to request the Han army to come and protect them.

The Han army demanded land, and they were given it!

After all, the Han army only wanted their land, but those tenant farmers who started the uprising were rioters who would really wipe out the landlords' entire families, not even sparing their dogs.

...Luotian County.

The fighting had just ended, but the tenant farmers' militia attacked the city, while the officials and gentry of Luotian County defended it.

The two sides fought for more than a month, and it almost turned into a tug-of-war.

The first thing the Han army did upon arrival was not to attack the city and fight, but to act as peacemakers and persuade both sides to make peace.

Fortunately, the Han army was renowned, and the tenant farmers trusted it, dispersing to await the distribution of their land. Upon seeing the tenant farmers' militia disperse, the officials and gentry of Luotian County quickly welcomed the Han army into the city.

……

Qizhou County was captured by tenant farmers long ago, and the county magistrate was killed in battle.

The arrival of the Han army was just in time to take over the county town and help the tenant farmers redistribute the land.

Food and drink from Guangji County.

Huangmei County joyfully welcomes the victorious army.

The Han army swept through the land like autumn leaves in less than half a month, and the entire territory of Huangzhou Prefecture was submitted to the Han Dynasty, thus unifying the vast land of Hubei and Hunan.

……

Jingzhou.

Nie Yu was holding the telegram reporting the victory from Huangzhou when he convened a meeting of the cabinet ministers.

Liu Jun cupped his hands in greeting: "Congratulations, Your Majesty! Congratulations, Your Majesty! The entire territory of Huangzhou has submitted, and Huguang has finally come under the control of our Great Han!"

Wang Ruoyu laughed and said, "Now that Huguang has been unified, and so quickly at that, we should consider where to attack first?"

Lin Wenchang said, "Let's attack Anhui first! Anhui and Jiangsu were once called Jiangnan Province during the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty. This is the real financial essence of Jiangnan. At its peak, it could account for one-third of the national tax revenue. If we take Anhui and Jiangsu, then our Great Han will not lack money and food."

Yao Hongyi chimed in, “Anhui Province is the stronghold of the Huizhou merchants. Wang Xingyao is now an inside agent for our Great Han. With him mediating among the Huizhou merchants, if our Great Han attacks Anhui, we will surely achieve twice the result with half the effort. We can also take over the Huizhou merchants’ trade channels, which will be good for our Great Han’s future overseas trade.”

Gu Jing then said, “Anhui and Jiangsu are indeed important financial centers, but our Han Dynasty is already rich in Huguang. Compared with the wealth of Anhui and Jiangsu, Jiangxi, a land of culture, should not be underestimated.”

Lü Zhihong said, "Jiangxi's cultural heritage is important, but is Nanjing unimportant?"

Dai Yi suddenly interjected: "Minister Lü, don't forget Zhang Tianshi from Jiangxi and the Southern Confucian scholars from Zhejiang."

"..."

Everyone chimed in with their own opinions, and the debate continued unabated.

"Cough cough!"

After listening to the discussions, Nie Yu finally stepped forward and said, "My ministers, please calm down. Jiangxi and Anhui are both in the Jiangnan region, and we will definitely have to fight them. But I believe that the first battle our Han Dynasty will fight after leaving Huguang must be to take Jiujiang!"

"Your Majesty is wise!"

Liu Jun clapped his hands and exclaimed, "Jiujiang Prefecture is located at the confluence of three rivers and is a thoroughfare connecting seven provinces. Whether we attack Anhui first or Jiangxi first, we must take Jiujiang. If we do not take Jiujiang and seize control of the Yangtze River waterway, then all talk of imperial hegemony is just empty talk!"

Gu Jing echoed, "Your Majesty is wise!"

"Your Majesty is wise!"

The ministers shouted in unison.

The initial disagreement about whether to attack Jiangxi or Anhui first was quickly resolved into a consensus.

It doesn't matter which province we attack first. The most urgent task is to attack Jiujiang Prefecture. We must take Jiujiang Prefecture and control the Yangtze River waterway before we can talk about the Han Dynasty's hegemony.

The military order to attack Jiujiang was passed unanimously, with no one objecting.

Upon receiving the telegram order, Yang Fang, who had already made strategic plans in advance, did not feel rushed. He immediately launched a combined water and land attack, heading down the river to attack Fengguozhou and Xiaochi Town.

Jiujiang Prefecture is located at the confluence of three rivers, and Fengguozhou and Xiaochi Town are at the confluence of Jiujiang.

To conquer Jiujiang Prefecture, one must first conquer Fengguozhou and Xiaochi Town.

(So ​​sleepy!)
(By the way, the group has been revived!)
(End of this chapter)