There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 25 The White Lotus Rebellion

The Tiger Crouching Cannon is practical and easy to cast, but its power is far inferior to that of large-caliber artillery. Even if more than a dozen Tiger Crouching Cannons are mounted on a gun mount, their lethality is very limited.

But Nie Yu had no choice. He didn't know when the Qing army would attack, because the timeline was now too advanced, and even the sixty years of the immortal Qianlong had not passed.

Who knows how many troops the Qing army can mobilize to encircle and suppress this "big rebel" who destroyed the county town and killed imperial officials?
Without time, money and supplies for craftsmen, he could only cast as many cannons as possible. In short, he wanted to ensure that his army had some cannons first.

As Nie Yu spoke, he felt that relying on just a few tiger squat cannons was not enough. He reached out and grabbed a handful of lumpy gunpowder from the gunpowder barrel.

"I said, you guys write it down first."

"I once read a book about gunpowder that said if you add some icing sugar to the gunpowder, mix them together to make a paste, and then dry it and make granules, you can double the power of the gunpowder..."

As soon as he finished speaking, the official in charge of recording the firearms workshop could not help but say, "General, gunpowder is easy to come by, but icing sugar is a rare commodity. Even if we collect it from the entire county, there won't be much left. Moreover, using icing sugar to make gunpowder, let alone whether it can be successfully made, the money lost is not worth it!"

The implication is that sugar is too expensive, and using sugar to make gunpowder is not cost-effective.

Nie Yu had anticipated this. Sugar was very expensive in ancient times because of insufficient productivity and sugar-making technology. However, he had a shopping mall as a supplier of sugar raw materials.

One sulfur, two nitrate, three charcoal, add a little sugar, Big Ivan!

A time traveler must memorize a jingle: in the absence of sufficient land, population, and craftsmen, using sugar and gunpowder to make high-explosive black powder is the most economical and fastest way to form combat effectiveness he can think of.

After all, this stuff was still being used by jihadist forces hundreds of years later, and sugar and other things became national strategic resources.

Nie Yu said, "Don't worry about the sugar problem. I'll find a way to solve it. While the firearm workshop is casting cannons, we'll also try to make a batch of hand-fired grenades and earth mines. Anyway, let's try this sugar gunpowder first to see if it works."

Hand grenades are similar to homemade hand grenades, and earth mines are land mines. These two things have existed for a long time, and the manufacturing process is also very simple. Just fill them with black gunpowder and explode them.

Historically, during the White Lotus Rebellion, this group of religious lunatics could not produce artillery, but they did make a lot of fire mines and earth mines. However, they were not very powerful due to the black powder, so they could only set ambushes in the mountains.

Hearing the general say that he would solve the problem, the official in charge of the firearms workshop didn't say anything more. After all, it was just a trial batch and it wouldn't take much effort.

……

In July, Nie Yu was still preparing for battle in Yidu County to deal with the impending attack of the Qing army.

Changyang County, located in the southeastern border of Yichang Prefecture, was formerly the hometown of Zhang Zhengmo and is also the current base of the White Lotus Sect in Yichang.

Zhang Zhengmo was originally just a martial artist in Changyang County. Because of his family wealth, he was noticed by Bai Peixiang, the leader of the White Lotus Sect in Fang County, and was taken in to teach and join the sect.

So far, the White Lotus Sect has been secretly preaching in Changyang County through the network of relatives, friends and blood ties, and has rapidly developed tens of thousands of believers, among whom there are more than a thousand strong and capable fighters.

The reason why Zhang Zhengmo chose to return to Changyang County at this time was not entirely because of Nie Yu's coercion. Without Nie Yu's coercion, his original plan was to return to Changyang County first, and then attack Changyang, Zhijiang and Yidu counties at the same time, so that he could catch the government off guard in a short period of time.

As long as the three counties were connected, he could rely on religion to quickly mobilize an army of 100,000, then sweep across the separatist Jingzhou and Yichang prefectures, and then go north to seize Xiangyang and Yunyang, and then his great cause would be accomplished.

Unfortunately, plans could not keep up with changes. Nie Yu launched an uprising ahead of schedule, which not only caught the Yidu County government off guard, but also caught Zhang Zhengmo off guard.

By mid-August, the frequent White Lotus gatherings in Changyang had quickly attracted the attention of the Changyang County government. Meanwhile, merchants and travelers from neighboring Jingzhou had reported that rebels had emerged in the area.

No one can explain the specific situation clearly, and it is mostly based on rumors. It is also said to be related to the White Lotus cult that was cracked down on and banned by the court.

The magistrate of Changyang County did not dare to be careless. Adhering to the principle of rather killing the innocent than letting the guilty go, he sent officers to urgently arrest Zhang Zhengmo and others who held frequent gatherings.

Seeing that his deeds were exposed, Zhang Zhengmo did not sit idly by and killed all the officers who came to arrest people.

Then they raised the banner of the White Lotus Sect, claiming that "a black wind will blow first, and countless people will die." They also spread the prophecy that "Mu Yi and Mu Zi, Mao Zi and Jin Dao... Li Quan'er (Liu Zhixie) from Shanxi is a god who has descended to earth, and is protected by the surnames Yang, Zhang, Nie, and Liu... He will establish a career in Hubei... The Miao bandits in Hunan are also people who assist Li Quan'er," and officially launched a rebellion.

Because they had been well prepared, the Changyang White Lotus Sect gathered hundreds of people in just half a day. They used white cloth as flags, took out secretly made weapons, and rushed towards Changyang County.

When the Changyang County Magistrate heard the news, he was horrified and hurriedly sent people to the provincial capital to deliver the news. He also forcibly conscripted young and strong men to defend the city.

Having personally witnessed the fall of Yidu County in one day, Zhang Zhengmo, who had seen through the government's strengths and weaknesses, was finally not forced to retreat by the government as happened in history.

On the day of the uprising, hundreds of White Lotus soldiers surrounded Changyang County.

The fluttering white flags and the uniform white turbans of the White Lotus soldiers under the city frightened the young and strong civilians who were forcibly conscripted into the city so much that they almost fled. It was only when the county magistrate personally went up to the city to appease the people that a major chaos was avoided.

On the second day of the siege, White Lotus Sect members lurking in various places in Changyang County heard the news and quickly rushed to join the besieging army. On their way, they also absorbed and took the people along the way.

The number of White Lotus soldiers besieging the city increased to more than 2,000 in just one day.

On the third day of the siege, the White Lotus attacked the city.

The two sides fought bloody battles for half a day. Although the magistrate of Changyang County went up to the city wall in person to boost morale, he was outnumbered. In addition, the White Lotus Sect set fire in the city to disturb the people.

The city of Changyang was quickly captured, and the county magistrate committed suicide by jumping off the city wall in despair.

After the White Lotus army broke into the city, they completely let themselves go. No matter if they were wealthy families or ordinary people in the city, all were ransacked and slaughtered by the chaotic army.

Zhang Zhengmo naturally knew that this wouldn't work, but he couldn't stop them, nor did he dare to. Once the rebel army broke into the city, they became like crazy, killing anyone they saw and burning any house they saw, just like wild beasts.

The rebel army burned, killed and looted for three days. The entire Changyang County was burned down, and corpses were everywhere.

Only after the rebel army had killed and looted enough did Zhang Zhengmo come forward to clean up the mess and formally establish the slogan and status of the uprising.

Zhang Zhengmo proclaimed himself the Grand Marshal and respected Nie Jieren of Yidu as the leader of the sect. He established the "Tianyun Army" with seven military departments under it, each headed by Liu Hongduo and Chen Rong. At the same time, he called on other White Lotus leaders in Hubei to join him in the rebellion against the Qing Dynasty.

The White Lotus Sect in Changyang County rose up in rebellion against the Qing Dynasty, which was like a stone that caused a thousand ripples in the previously calm officialdom of Hubei.

"What? The Changyang White Lotus Sect murdered officials and rebelled, and they remotely revered Nie Jieren of Yidu as their leader? When did this happen?"

　Smokeless gunpowder cannot be made, even if there are materials! Because there is no experience, no people, and no money.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)