There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 238 Sending Troops to Jiangxi
With its military forces depleted, the prefect acting recklessly, the gentry becoming disaffected, and some even acting as internal collaborators, it would be difficult for Jiujiang City not to fall.

Yang Fang easily captured Jiujiang City. Seeing that the situation was hopeless, Fu Hongchang, the prefect of Jiujiang, jumped off the city wall and committed suicide. The Han army's first-stage strategic objective was basically achieved.

Yang Fang immediately sent a telegram back to Jingzhou with the news of the victory that had been delivered in Jiujiang, while also requesting reinforcements from Jingzhou and inquiring about where to attack next.

Jingzhou.

"Jiujiang has been captured," Nie Yu said, putting down the report he was holding.

Liu Jun laughed and said, "Congratulations, Your Majesty! Jiujiang has been captured by our Great Han. This is another step forward in the great cause of our Great Han."

"Your Majesty, I offer my congratulations!"

"Your Majesty, we offer our congratulations!"

Liu Jun started the conversation, and everyone quickly followed suit, bowing and offering their congratulations.

These officials of the Han Dynasty not only offered their congratulations verbally, but they were also genuinely happy, with smiles on their faces.

Although Yang Fang's telegram stated that the Han army had only captured Jiujiang Prefecture, which was still somewhat insignificant compared to the Han's complete control of Huguang, this was still the Han's first battle after breaking out of Huguang and advancing into Jiangnan, making it of extraordinary strategic and political significance.

The original Han dynasty's dominance in Huguang was enough to make the puppet Qing dynasty uneasy, and even Emperor Qianlong, who was very concerned about his reputation, was forced to send people to pacify and negotiate peace.

Now that the Han dynasty has captured Jiujiang, a strategic crossroads connecting seven provinces, the puppet Qing dynasty will surely overthrow the regime on the spot.

Not only is the pseudo-Qing dynasty about to change, but the world itself is likely to change as well.

Nie Yu understood everyone's feelings, and waited until they were satisfied before continuing, "Jiujiang has fallen, and our Great Han has won its first battle in the advance into Jiangnan. The strategic goal of the first phase has been achieved. Yang Fang sent a telegram back, both to ask me for troops and men, and to inquire about the next step: where should we attack next?"

Liu Jun suppressed his smile and answered first: "I believe that now that our Great Han has captured Jiujiang, the next battle should be to take Anqing. Anqing is the capital of Anhui Province and an important town along the river. If we take Anqing, we can advance to conquer Jiangning and cut off the Grand Canal, or retreat south to Jiangxi and control the southern country."

Lin Wenchang echoed in agreement: "I also believe that we should take Anqing first. Once we take Anqing, our Great Han will be only one step away from Nanjing, and the pseudo-Qing court will surely be shaken!"

Gu Jing offered a different opinion: "Your Majesty, since Jiujiang has already fallen, we should take Jiangxi first. Even if we don't take the entire Jiangxi, we should at least take the most fertile lands in northern Jiangxi first."

Dai Yi said, "I second that proposal!"

Yao Hongyi immediately objected: "The most urgent task is to take Anqing first. Without taking Anqing, we cannot take Huizhou or the Huizhou merchants!"

"..."

Today, the King of Han is holding a formal meeting, roughly equivalent to a court assembly, though it's not in the palace and isn't as formal. Therefore, not only the cabinet ministers are present, but also the ministers of various other ministries, including the Ministry of Justice, the Censorate, and the Ministry of Posts and Communications—departments that have almost no connection to warfare.

With more people attending the meeting, more opinions were expressed.

Currently, the debate is mainly divided into two factions. Although their opinions differ, they are basically centered around whether to attack Jiangxi first or Anhui first.

After arguing for a long time, no consensus could be reached and no one could convince the other.

"Cough cough."

Nie Yu suddenly coughed, interrupting the ministers' argument.

The ministers fell silent and turned to face the King of Han.

Since the king has personally intervened, he must have already made a decision.

Nie Yu glanced around and said, "Next, we'll attack Jiangxi."

Liu Jun was startled upon hearing this: "Your Majesty..." Before he could finish the word "Your Majesty," Nie Yu waved his hand to interrupt him, saying, "I know what you're going to say. If our Great Han takes Anhui first, we can then go down the river to attack Nanjing. Once Nanjing is taken, even if our Great Han is incompetent, we can still divide the country with the pseudo-Qing and rule along the river. In addition, Anhui itself is half of the former Jiangnan Province. If we take Anhui first, then Jiangsu, and unite the two, then our great cause can be accomplished."

At this point, all the ministers nodded in agreement, because it was indeed true. Taking over Anhui and Jiangsu and unifying them would indeed make the great cause a reality.

With its wealth, manpower, and grain, it was only a matter of time before the Han dynasty overthrew the Qing dynasty.

"But……"

Nie Yu suddenly changed the subject and said, "Have you all considered what the puppet Qing would think if our Great Han were to march into Anhui now?"

What else could one think? With the loss of Huguang, the granary of the nation, the Qing dynasty was already facing a severe shortage of funds and supplies. Fires even broke out in granaries across the country, enraging Emperor Qianlong, who had initially intended to cover it up. He then investigated and punished several local officials.

There was no other way; we had to investigate. The Qing dynasty's grain reserves were insufficient, and we had to punish corrupt officials to stabilize public sentiment.

This is only the result of losing Huguang. If Jiangnan were to be lost as well, the problem would be much bigger.

In other words, once the Han Dynasty revealed its intention to attack Anhui and Jiangsu, the Qing Dynasty would definitely not even bother fighting the White Lotus Rebellion, but would first gather its national forces to wipe out the Han Dynasty.

The Great Han will inevitably have to fight the puppet Qing dynasty sooner or later, but certainly not now. At the very least, it needs time to develop and accumulate more strength, allowing the White Lotus Sect and other rebel armies to share the burden of the Qing army.

If we attack Anhui and Jiangsu first, the puppet Qing will definitely react strongly, and may even transfer all the Solon troops to fight a decisive battle with the Han.

If we attack Jiangxi first, things will be different. Jiangxi is also very important, and the puppet Qing dynasty will definitely be shaken, but the magnitude of the shock will be much smaller. There will be many concerns about deploying troops to suppress it.

Because the White Lotus sect was putting a lot of pressure on the puppet Qing dynasty, with the White Lotus sect rampaging in Shaanxi, Sichuan, and Henan, in addition to the ethnic minority militias in Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, and Guizhou.

Nie Yu clearly sensed that his civil officials had become somewhat complacent, even radical.

They wanted to attack Anhui first, ostensibly for the Han dynasty's cause of overthrowing the Qing, but more so for Nanjing, the imperial capital, a place where tigers crouch and dragons coil.

Nie Yu thought for a moment and then added, "The battle report sent back by Yang Qing said that the reason why the Qing army in Jiujiang was so weak was because the Qing army in Jiangxi was focused on suppressing the bandits in Ji'an Prefecture. These bandits in Ji'an Prefecture are old acquaintances of our Han Dynasty. When our Han Dynasty swept through Chaling, we did not achieve complete success. Now that these bandits in Chaling have fled into Jiangxi, we cannot let them go unpunished, otherwise it will be the people who suffer in the end."

In the end, the conversation circled back to the common people, leaving the officials somewhat helpless.

This King of Han was good in every way, except that he was too benevolent. He was not benevolent to officials and gentry, but to the common people. He was willing to offend the gentry by distributing their land to the people, and he also enacted a new tax law, all with the aim of reducing the burden on the people and enabling them to pay less tax.

The same applies to war and expansion. Even with such powerful military force, expansion is still slow, and after a major battle, it takes a whole year to recuperate.

There's no other reason than to allow the people to rest and recuperate, so that everyone can take a break.

This year, the expansion has been accelerated somewhat because almost the entire territory of Huangzhou has surrendered, so there has been almost no loss of military supplies and manpower, which has given us the strength to advance towards Jiujiang.

Nie Yu made the decision, and even if the civil officials had different opinions, they could only submit and obey, while also preparing for the subsequent conquest of Jiangxi.

The plan to conquer Jiangxi was finalized, and the officials were about to take their leave.

Nie Yu suddenly added, "By the way, the cabinet should draft a military regulation when it returns, stipulating that all military instructors will no longer be allowed to lead civilians into battle, and if they want to leave, they can only follow behind the regular Han soldiers."

"As ordered."

Upon hearing this military regulation, the cabinet ministers were somewhat puzzled, but they still bowed and accepted the order.

(Going to sleep now, goodnight, damn it)

(End of this chapter)