There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 233 Feng Guozhou

The Han navy was discovered by Chengzi Town on the south bank of the Yangtze River just after passing Wuxuekou.

It was impossible not to notice them; the Han navy was swaggering down the river, openly displaying its Chinese flags, heading straight for Jiujiang.

The fishing boats and merchants moored along the river in Chengzi Town quickly made way for them and hurriedly ran to the town to inform the town inspector.

Upon receiving the news, the town inspector hurriedly led his men to the dock to look out. He saw that the river was full of Han army naval warships, and those that were close enough could even see the dark cannon barrels on the warships.

"Master, a traitor to the Han, a true traitor to the Han!" the servant cried out in trembling fear.

The town inspector said coldly, "What's the panic? I'm not blind, am I? Can't I see this?"

The servant bowed and scraped, asking, "Master, the Han bandits are attacking. Shouldn't we quickly send someone to the county to inform the magistrate?"

The town inspector angrily rebuked, "Notify the magistrate? How can you notify him? That's the most ferocious Han traitor in the land. He couldn't even defeat the governor-general, the admiral, or the provincial governor of the imperial court. They all died at the hands of the Han traitor. Don't even mention me, sir. Even if the magistrate himself came, it wouldn't make a difference."

The servant quickly admitted his mistake: "Master, please calm down, it was a slip of the tongue. But these are Han traitors after all, and Han traitors are fierce. We can't just pretend we don't know..."

The town inspector scolded again: "I'm just a tax collector, a mere ninth-rank official. What business is it of mine if Han traitors come? Besides, what do you mean by pretending not to know? Did I see any Han traitors?"

Good grief, are you just being stubborn and pretending to be blind?
The traitor's naval warships are clearly visible on the Yangtze River, yet he still insists he doesn't know anything about it. He's really treating the county magistrate like a fool.

Well, it's unclear whether the magistrate is an idiot, but he is certainly easy to fool.

why?
Even the county magistrate was afraid of the Han traitors!

Nonsense, who isn't afraid of traitors?
Although these Jiangxi officials didn't know the details of the battle reports from Huguang, they were still aware that a Manchu governor-general, two Huguang commanders, and a Hunan governor had all died in battle.

And many more prefects, generals, and centurions, whether killed by the Han army or the White Lotus sect, were all blamed on the Han Dynasty and on the King of Han.

With such terrifying achievements, who wouldn't be confused and afraid of the Han traitors?
The Han army's navy swaggered past Chengzi Town, and everyone in Chengzi Town remained silent, pretending not to know, not to see, and even if they did see, no one thought to notify the county.

After passing Chengzi Town, the originally narrow waterway begins to widen, and at the same time, it shows the trend of the north and south rivers splitting into two.

"Grand Commander, the next stop is Fengguo Prefecture," said a guide from Wuxue Town.

Lei Dabiao nodded slightly: "I have already seen it. This Fengguo Island is indeed quite large, almost the same size as Xinsheng Island on the north bank of Huangzhou Prefecture. Do you know how many Qing troops are on this island?"

“There are no Qing troops on this continent,” the guide said.

Lei Dabiao was somewhat puzzled: "No Qing troops? I remember that Fengguozhou is located on the north bank of Jiujiang Prefecture. Not to mention that it is a strategic location, if you want to take Jiujiang, you must first take Fengguozhou. Would the Qing troops be unprepared here?"

The scholar shook his head: "Grand Commander, you may not know this, but although Fengguozhou is nominally under the jurisdiction of Dehua County in Jiujiang Prefecture, and is located at the confluence of the three rivers, making it a strategic stronghold of Jiujiang, it is not actually entirely under the jurisdiction of Dehua County. Instead, it is jointly managed by Dehua and Huangmei Counties. The Qing army from Hubei is just a military settlement here. The so-called Qing army is called the Qing army, but in reality, they are tenant farmers and military households."

Lei Dabiao understood: Feng Guozhou was nominally under the jurisdiction of Dehua County of Jiujiang Prefecture, but in reality, it was Huangmei County of Hubei Province that was in charge of military reclamation.

The reason for this strange territorial jurisdiction is related to the repeated changes in the Yangtze River channel itself.

When Fengguozhou was first formed, the main channel of the Yangtze River flowed away from the north bank of Fengguozhou, so it was naturally under the jurisdiction of Jiujiang Prefecture, and the important port town of Xiaochi was established there. However, with the deposition of silt brought by the Yangtze River, the area of ​​Fengguozhou gradually expanded, and the people along the river built dikes and cultivated the land, which gradually stabilized Fengguozhou into fertile soil.

During the Qing Dynasty, the main channel of the Yangtze River had been completely diverted to the south bank, the flow on the north bank had been greatly reduced, and the riverbank had become extremely narrow, making it almost impossible for ships to navigate.

Fengguozhou was nominally under the jurisdiction of Dehua County, but in reality, military reclamation and taxation had been transferred to Huangmei County in Hubei Province. Xiaochi Town Port, located at a strategic point on the three rivers, was still divided between Dehua and Huangmei counties.

In addition, there are Sangluo Township and Xiaogushan, both of which are Jiangxi's territories north of the Yangtze River and are adjacent to Anhui. Geographically, this means that Jiangxi forcibly took away a lot of fertile land along the Yangtze River from Anhui.

This awkward administrative situation among the three provinces persisted until the fall of the Qing dynasty and the establishment of the Republic of China, when it finally began to change.

The Republic of China's solution was simple and brutal: demarcate the area along the river.

Fengguozhou was assigned to Huangmei County, while Sangluo Township and Xiaogushan were assigned to Susong County.

This demarcation resulted in Jiujiang losing almost all of its territory north of the Yangtze River, causing great dissatisfaction in Jiujiang Prefecture, especially among the local gentry in the area north of the Yangtze River.

Geographically, the area north of the Yangtze River is closer to Jiujiang, Dehua, and Pengze, and farther from Huangmei in Hubei and Susong in Anhui. Moreover, the diet and lifestyle in the area north of the Yangtze River are similar to those in Jiujiang, but very different from those in Anhui and Hubei.

Unfortunately, the opposition was ineffective. Jiangxi had already declined significantly during the Republic of China era. Several railway construction projects did not pass through Jiangxi, causing its development to fall behind rapidly and losing its voice.

Meanwhile, the Han navy sailed down the river without encountering any obstacles and quickly approached Fengguo Island.

Just as the guide in Wuxue Town had said, there were indeed not many Qing troops in Fengguozhou; the Qing troops here were all tenant farmers and military households.

The Han army's naval warships arrived and anchored on the west bank of Fengguo Island.

When the fishing boats moored along the coast saw the Han army's warships, they all hurriedly rowed away to make way, and some fishermen ran to report to their superiors.

By the time the Han army began its large-scale landing, a Qing army captain finally arrived with his troops.

Although they were called commanders, they only wore slightly more presentable military uniforms. The rest of the soldiers were Qing soldiers from military households, carrying various "weapons" including ram's forks. They couldn't even gather a complete set of uniforms.

"Who...who are you people?" The captain swallowed hard and asked the Han soldiers who had landed.

Before the officer in charge could speak, the instructor stepped forward and said, "We are the First Division of the Yangtze River Navy of the Great Han Dynasty. I have already inquired about your situation. You were all forced to settle here under military rule, nominally soldiers but actually tenant farmers. Now that the Great Han Dynasty has arrived, you no longer need to risk your lives for those corrupt Qing officials. Register yourselves, get your land distributed, and live peacefully farming lives!"

Upon hearing these words from the Han army instructor, the puppet Qing officer hesitated at first, then immediately knelt down and wept bitterly: "Your Excellency has mercy, we are willing to obey your orders and be distributed land as commoners."

The instructor then looked at the other hesitant Qing soldiers and said with a smile, "Not only you, but everyone on this island in the middle of the river is innocent. You are all common people. Settle down and cultivate the land properly. You don't need to worry about being bullied by officers anymore."

Danglanglang!
Having said that, the Qing soldiers finally stopped hesitating, put down their weapons, and obediently ran over to line up to register.

Meanwhile, someone went back to report that the Han army's heavenly troops had arrived, and their heavenly ruler had come!

(End of this chapter)