There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 239 Jiangxi Worthies
Nanchang Prefecture.

Jiangxi Governor Zhang Chengji and Jiangxi Provincial Treasurer Wan Ning were leisurely enjoying tea and playing chess in the garden of the Governor's Office.

"Prefect! Prefect!" Suddenly, Yan Jian, the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner of Jiangxi, rushed in with an urgent report. "Something terrible has happened! The Han bandits from Huguang have launched a surprise attack on Jiujiang. Ruichang has fallen, the city of Jiujiang has been breached, and the prefect has died defending the city. Now the Han bandits' forces have reached Nankang. The prefect of Nankang has written to request reinforcements!"

pat!

Zhang Chengji lost his grip on the chess piece and it fell to the ground. His face was filled with disbelief: "What did you say? Jiujiang is gone!"

Yan Jian nodded anxiously, "Your Excellency, Jiujiang is gone!"

Upon receiving a positive answer, Zhang Chengji was completely bewildered.

Not only him, but Wan Ning next to him was also almost stunned: "Jiujiang is gone? How could it be gone? This is an important town in Jiangxi, a thoroughfare connecting seven provinces. How could it suddenly disappear?"

Upon hearing this, Yan Jian hesitated and could only hand the urgent report to Wan Ning, telling him to read it himself.

He had no idea until he saw it, and upon seeing it, Wan Ning immediately berated Zhang Chengji, "My dear Governor Zhang, what a mess you've made!"

Zhang Chengji was initially somewhat angry, but upon receiving the urgent report from the prefect of Nankang, he immediately calmed down.

There was nothing that could be done; it was indeed his fault. The urgent report submitted by the prefect of Nankang made it very clear.

With its troops weakened, Jiujiang was easily captured by the Han rebels.

The letter from the prefect of Nankang pleaded for help, also mentioning that Nankang had few soldiers and requesting the governor to send troops to its aid immediately, otherwise Nankang might suffer the same fate as Jiujiang.

Wan Ning was truly furious. Although he was only the second-highest ranked official among the three people present, in terms of seniority in Jiujiang, the other two combined did not even amount to a fraction of his experience.

Moreover, back when Zhang Chengji, as the Governor of Jiangxi and concurrently the Commander-in-Chief of Jiangxi, ordered the entire province to gather troops to besiege the bandits in Ji'an Prefecture, he had already advised the other side that even if troops were gathered, more troops should be stationed in important riverside towns such as Jiujiang to guard against Han bandits from Huguang and White Lotus rebels.

Now, the Han traitors have indeed arrived, and they have taken Jiujiang as soon as they arrived.

"Governor, what should we do now?" Yan Jian asked anxiously.

This guy is really unlucky. He only took office at the end of last year. From the end of the Qianlong era to the second year of the Jiaqing era, there have been four Jiangxi Provincial Surveillance Commissioners before him.

All four provincial inspectors from Jiangxi saw the growing power of the Han bandits in Huguang, and quickly used money and connections to get promoted and escape from Jiangxi.

That's when Yan Jian was "promoted for his merits" and became the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner of Jiangxi.

Of course, this guy was also a fool. He was promoted "for his merits", but not only were all his "merits" exaggerated, but they were also basically his subordinates killing innocent people and taking credit for them, and then dragging him along to take the fall and count the money.

While serving as a local official in Yunnan and Guizhou, Yan Jian's subordinates fabricated a rebellion by the Loess people and then beheaded some of them to claim military merit. Yan Jian actually believed it and reported it as a reward.

Afterwards, he took up various posts in different places, with his official position fluctuating between high and low. However, he was almost always deceived by his subordinates, and various wrongful convictions, miscarriages of justice, and the killing of innocent people to claim credit for others emerged one after another.

Emperor Jiaqing could no longer stand it and thought that Yan Jian was too muddle-headed and not suitable to be an official, so he dismissed him from office.

Wan Ning said, "The most urgent task is to get the Green Standard Army in Ji'an Prefecture to return and provide reinforcements immediately."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chengji quickly said, "No, the bandits in Ji'an Prefecture have not been wiped out yet. If we withdraw our troops to reinforce them now, wouldn't all our previous efforts be wasted?"

Upon hearing this, Wan Ning was immediately enraged and said, "The bandits of Ji'an Prefecture are nothing but a minor ailment; the Han bandits of Huguang are the real threat. Jiujiang has already been lost. If Nankang is lost as well, then wouldn't our Nanchang Prefecture be forced to face the Han bandits' army head-on?"

Zhang Chengji instantly realized his mistake and dared not say anything more.

This Zhang governor of the puppet Qing dynasty is quite interesting. Although he only took office in Jiangxi last year, he had previously served as governor in Guangdong and Anhui, and was known for his military achievements in military defense.

This guy first served as the governor of Guangdong, where he apprehended thieves and bandits, accumulating merits. Then, as the governor of Anhui, he focused on the defense of the Yangtze River and guarded against the White Lotus Rebellion and bandits from Hubei and Hunan.

Because of these achievements, Emperor Qianlong took notice of this Han Chinese official and promoted him to a high position, transferring him to Jiangxi as governor to deal with the Hunanese bandits who had fled into Jiangxi.

What Emperor Qianlong didn't know was that all of Zhang Chengji's military achievements were fake; they were all fabricated by killing innocent people and claiming credit for them.

In another timeline, Liu Guang, the prefect of Ningzhou who cooperated with him in killing innocent people and claiming credit for it, sent his son to the capital to file a complaint with the emperor because he did not receive any benefits.

Emperor Jiaqing was furious and ordered a thorough investigation, which led to the discovery of the shady dealings in Zhang Chengji's past achievements.

Emperor Qianlong misjudged the situation!

He appointed Zhang Chengji as the governor of Jiangxi and Yan Jian as the provincial judicial commissioner of Jiangxi. His hope was to use Zhang Chengji, a governor who was "knowledgeable in military affairs," to pacify Jiangxi, and Yan Jian, a provincial judicial commissioner with a clean record of governance, to stabilize Jiangxi. In addition, there was Wan Ning, a Manchu provincial administration commissioner, to check and balance the two Han officials, the governor and the provincial judicial commissioner.

In this way, Jiangxi will certainly remain as stable as Mount Tai.

...Ji'an Prefecture.

Despite the fact that the King of Shajin was still locked in a stalemate with the Qing army in Jiangxi, his army was ultimately slightly inferior to the Qing army in terms of combat strength.

Because in the battle of Chaling, although King Shajin escaped, his old camp suffered too many casualties.

To replenish his troops, he had no choice but to recruit able-bodied men from Jiangxi to serve in the army.

The Qing army in Jiangxi, having mobilized the entire province's forces for the encirclement and suppression, could muster at least tens of thousands of troops. Even if most of these tens of thousands were poorly trained, they were still regular soldiers, certainly more capable of fighting than able-bodied civilian laborers.

However, King Shajin also learned his lesson. If he couldn't win a direct confrontation, he would simply leave the city and engage in reckless battles.

His previous defeat at the hands of the Han army in the field battles of Hunan and Hubei had made him realize that the army's low combat strength could not be compensated for by fighting a few bloody battles.

This guy simply followed the example of the Han Dynasty, imitating the Han's military organization and training, and killed the big landlords to distribute land to the people to cultivate.

Although he still owned the land, the rent was much lower than under the Qing dynasty, and he was exempted from various taxes and levies owed by the Qing government.

This haphazard attempt at imitation actually won over the people of Ji'an Prefecture, who greatly supported this out-of-province bandit who called himself the King of Slaughter.

As soon as the Qing army from Jiangxi arrived in Ji'an Prefecture, the local people immediately informed Sha Jinwang and his men. Some even enthusiastically joined the army to help Sha Jinwang and his men fight. Even the landlords and gentry secretly provided the bandits with money and provisions.

Because the King of Slaughter only killed large landowners and gentry, he not only spared the local gentry but also treated them with great respect, refraining from robbing or looting their grain. In fact, when bandits initially robbed and killed, the King of Slaughter publicly reprimanded them.

These actions perfectly matched the "imperial appearance" in the minds of landlords and gentry.

The Qing army was disgusted by the fact that the king had the "appearance of an emperor."

They launched a fierce attack on the bandits' city, but the people helped the bandits defend it. When they went to the countryside to collect grain, the local gentry and common people tipped off the bandits and their soldiers about the grain supply routes, allowing the bandits to launch surprise attacks and plunder the supply lines.

The king even had a knack for it without a teacher; after plundering the grain routes, he immediately returned the surplus grain to the people and gentry.

As the tide turned, the Qing army encountered setbacks everywhere in Ji'an Prefecture, and their battles were extremely unsuccessful. Despite being local soldiers helping the local people fight against bandits from other provinces, they ended up looking like bandits themselves.

At this time, Lotus Hall City was the headquarters of the King of Slaughter.

The main force of the Qing army besieged this place, but it was more like a standoff than a siege.

Because the Qing army could not stop the killing of the king at all, the supply lines were repeatedly raided and plundered by the king's troops outside the city.

The Qing army was already struggling to hold out, while on the other hand, the people of Shajinwang's side were united as one, with almost everyone who could move, men, women, and children, climbing the city walls to help defend the city.

"Your Majesty!"

"Your Majesty!"

"..."

King Shajin climbed the city wall to inspect the area, and all the able-bodied militiamen who passed by bowed to him.

King Shajin nodded slightly, but felt exceptionally pleased.

He never expected that he would gain such support from the people by only learning a little bit of what that guy surnamed Nie did.

Even the gentry and landlords who had no money to burn and whom he had let go no longer regarded him as a bandit or outlaw. Some scholars even risked their lives to seek refuge with him and set up tents for him.

"Have the officers and soldiers made any unusual movements?" Sha Jinwang asked.

The soldier shook his head: "Your Majesty, not yet."

King Shajin nodded, then gave a few more instructions before entering the city gate with his advisors.

Inside the city gate, the advisor said, "Your Majesty, the current situation is such that the government troops and Your Majesty have been locked in a long stalemate. The government troops have been fighting for a long time without success and will surely be tired of fighting and homesick. As long as our army continues to hold the line and we also contact the militias in Anfu and Yongxin counties, we can launch a three-pronged attack from within and without at the critical moment and surely defeat the government troops!"

“What you say is true, sir.” King Shajin nodded.

The suggestion to defend the city was made by his advisors, and the king agreed without hesitation.

He had been awakened by the Han army and knew that he was no match for the government troops in terms of combat strength.

King Shajin listened to his advisors' words, but then asked, "I'm no longer worried about the government troops. The problem now is the troublemakers and 'winged tigers' of Anfu and Yongxin counties. They have already broken away from us and become independent. Although they agreed to join forces to attack the government troops this time, what will happen after we defeat them?"

(End of this chapter)