There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 310 Micro-Management Master
Emperor Jiaqing's decision to appoint Wu Xiong Guang as the governor of Henan and Na Yan Cheng as the governor-general of Sichuan and Shaanxi seems to have been a well-considered move.

Moreover, Liu Yong proposed to start from scratch and directly train a new army, while Jiaqing preferred stability. Wang Jie and other veteran officials were also too old-fashioned and did not want to really start a major war.

Therefore, a compromise was adopted.

That is to organize local militias through recruitment, and replenish the Green Standard Army's dilapidated military equipment without affecting the Green Standard Army.

However, this completely disrupted the original strategic deployment in the Sichuan-Shaanxi-Henan region...

In particular, Emperor Jiaqing appointed Na Yancheng and Wu Xiong Guang, and at the same time dismissed many important local officials.

The Governor-General of Sichuan, concurrently acting Governor-General of Shaanxi and Gansu Yi Mian, Chengdu General Qing Cheng, Shaanxi Governor Yong Bao, and Henan Governor Wo Shi Bu were all dismissed from their posts on the grounds of missing a crucial opportunity in the war.

This has suddenly affected a major local artery.

The first and foremost event was the dramatic change in the war situation in Henan, where the Qing army was engaged in a protracted war of attrition with the White Lotus Rebellion army under Liu Zhixie. Although the White Lotus Rebellion was bolstered by religious faith and its members were all fearless in the face of death, even the most fearless could not withstand firearms with their bare hands.

Fortunately, the Han army had the foresight to provide Liu Zhixie with some artillery in advance. The number of artillery pieces provided was small, and they were all obsolete pieces that the Han army would not even bother with.

With these rubbish cannons, Liu Zhixie could barely hold off the Qing army, but he could only hold them off; he was completely unable to launch a counterattack.

The Qing army surrounded the city from three sides: Ruzhou, Henan (Luoyang), and Runing.

Liu Zhixie was stunned by the Qing army and could not escape. He was forced to stand between the Han army and the Qing army and fight to the death.

At this critical juncture, Emperor Jiaqing suddenly issued an imperial edict to replace the governor of Henan.

This left Woshibu dumbfounded and also caused great trouble for the Qing generals on the Henan battlefield.

Although Woshibu did not concern himself with battlefield military affairs, he was in charge of the army's food and logistics.

With his departure, there was simply no one who could replace him, not even the Henan Provincial Governor.

Because this involves military affairs, if the Provincial Governor, as a civil official, dares to interfere, he is overstepping his authority. Only the Governor-General or the Viceroy can temporarily take charge.

Unfortunately, Henan, as a province in the Central Plains, had no governor-general or admiral, only a governor.

Now things have turned out this way. The Qing army was still fiercely attacking the White Lotus Rebellion when they suddenly discovered that their supply lines had been cut off, not by the White Lotus rebels, but by their own supply lines.

With no other option, and in order to avoid being bogged down behind enemy lines and starving due to depleted supplies, the Qing army was forced to retreat, surrendering Ruzhou, which they had so painstakingly recaptured.

Liu Zhixie was completely confused. He was the one being attacked and suppressed, so why did the Qing army suddenly withdraw?

But it doesn't matter. If he can't figure it out, he can't figure it out. It doesn't stop him from seizing the opportunity and taking advantage of the situation to recover Ruzhou.

Ruzhou was captured by the Qing army only a month or two ago, but the people still cared about the White Lotus Sect. The White Lotus Sect was indeed extremely destructive, but they led the people to kill landlords to vent their anger.

The Qing army was different. When they arrived in Ruzhou, they burned, killed, looted, and committed all sorts of atrocities, treating Ruzhou as a place to vent their anger.

The people here had suffered terribly at the hands of the Qing army, and as soon as the White Lotus sect returned, they all eagerly joined the sect.

This is an era of competition to see who is the worst. The White Lotus Rebellion was the worst, but the Qing army was even worse!

The situation in Henan deteriorated rapidly, and that wasn't the end of it.

Upon hearing that the situation in Henan had deteriorated rapidly, the newly appointed governor of Henan, Wu Xiong Guang, rushed to Kaifeng overnight. His first priority was not to restore the supply of provisions and logistics, but to seize power and take away the military power of the generals.

After all, he was a confidant of Emperor Jiaqing, and since he was sent by Jiaqing, he must have come to gain military merit.

Emperor Jiaqing must have seen the frequent good news from Henan, which is why he sent Wu Xiong Guang, an upright and capable official, to Henan as governor to accumulate experience and prepare for his future entry into the Grand Council.

When Wu Xiong Guang arrived in Kaifeng, he was not in a hurry to fight, but instead he was eager to seize power, which gave Liu Zhixie a rare respite.

Liu Zhixie immediately sent a messenger to Xinye County to buy more firearms and cannons from the Han.

Anyway, he has plenty of money. He won't have peace in Henan until he drives the Qing army away.

This battle in Henan is likely to be quite long!

……

If things are like this in Henan, then the situation in Sichuan and Shaanxi is even more complicated.

Jiaqing had great confidence in Na Yancheng, but Na Yancheng had no confidence in himself at all. Even if his grandfather was Agui, it wouldn't matter.

Na Yancheng was completely incompetent at warfare. Even when he was serving as Minister of Works, he delegated most of his work to Minister Han, and he only made final decisions on key matters.

Historically, when Emperor Jiaqing sent him to Sichuan and Shaanxi to suppress the White Lotus Rebellion, this guy was also incompetent at everything. His military achievements were all due to the old general Mingliang risking his life to fight when he was forced into a corner. In reality, this guy did nothing at all.

At first, Emperor Jiaqing thought that Na Yancheng was quite capable, but then he realized that Na Yancheng was not capable, so he hurriedly issued an edict to recall him, and then dismissed him from his post.

Now, Mingliang died of illness in Xiangyang two years ago, and there are no veteran generals in Sichuan and Shaanxi. They are relying on local militias to hold on.

Given this situation, it's easy to imagine that Jiaqing's decision to appoint Na Yancheng, who was incompetent in warfare, as the Governor-General of Sichuan and Shaanxi was bound to lead to disaster.

In fact, this guy was still on his way to take office when Sichuan and Shaanxi provinces couldn't hold back any longer and exploded!

Unfortunately, Jiaqing was still too young and lacked the composure expected of an emperor. Furthermore, having finally seized power, he naturally wanted to get his hands dirty and try it out. And then…

Emperor Jiaqing felt that the suppression of bandits in Sichuan and Shaanxi was too slow and ineffective, so he dismissed all the high-ranking local officials, such as the governor of Shaanxi and the general of Chengdu.

He certainly got away with it quickly, and he did remove a lot of corrupt officials who were just sitting in their positions without doing their jobs. However, he also turned the military and political systems in Sichuan and Shaanxi into a sieve.

First, let's talk about Sichuan. Originally, we were proceeding steadily and relying on the local militia led by Luo Siju, we successfully blocked the White Lotus Sect in Dazhou. If we had been given more time, we could have completely trapped and wiped out the White Lotus Sect.

As a result, both the General of Chengdu and the Governor-General of Sichuan were dismissed from their posts.

With the commander-in-chief gone, the Qing army's command center was paralyzed.

Luo Siju was indeed a capable and skilled general, a famous Sichuan general who rose from humble beginnings. However, he did not belong to the official military system. Even though he held the official position granted to him by the Governor-General of Sichuan, his rank was strictly controlled, and he could hardly manage a thousand or so people in reality.

Moreover, the local militias organized by gentry and landlords were more powerful than the government troops, especially in mountain warfare, where they could outmaneuver the government troops by a wide margin.

This naturally aroused dissatisfaction among the Green Standard Army and the Eight Banners in Sichuan. Previously, things were better, with the Governor-General of Sichuan and the General of Chengdu restraining and mediating, and with the distribution of sufficient food and pay, so they were able to keep things stable.

But now, the Governor-General of Sichuan and the General of Chengdu have been dismissed, and the prison cart is already on its way to Beijing. The Qing army in Sichuan is suddenly leaderless.

The conflict between the local militia and the Green Standard Army was intensifying. In order to avoid the worst-case scenario, the officers of the three sides unanimously decided to set up camps separately.

The militia training is the militia training, the Green Standard Army is the Green Standard Army, and the Eight Banners is the Eight Banners.

Then there is no more then.

The White Lotus sect wasn't stupid. When they saw that the Qing army besieging the city had split into so many groups and wasn't communicating with each other, they could easily see that there was some internal strife within the Qing army itself.

After all, the White Lotus Sect, which was besieged in Dazhou at the moment, belonged to different branches and remnants, so they could easily see through the intricacies of the situation.

Although it's unclear why the Qing army suddenly fell into internal strife, none of that matters. What matters is that the White Lotus sect in Dazhou City is at its wit's end, and given the chance, they are truly willing to leave the city and fight to the death.

One dark and windy night...

The White Lotus sect in Dazhou launched a surprise night raid to break through the encirclement.

Caught off guard, the Qing army had no choice but to hastily engage in battle.

Zhang Zhengmo, who was infiltrating the White Lotus sect in Dazhou, had already figured out the difference in the Qing army's combat strength over the past few months.

The local militia and local militias in Sichuan were the strongest and most difficult to fight, followed by the Green Standard Army, and then the Eight Banners.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Zhang Zhengmo led his troops to charge into the Eight Banners army camp, following the banners of the three camps he remembered from the daytime.

As expected, the Qing army's Eight Banners suffered a major defeat, and the collapse of the Eight Banners led to the collapse of the Sichuan Green Standard Army as well.

With the Green Standard Army and the Eight Banners forces already in decline, Luo Siju did not hesitate for a moment and immediately led his local militia to retreat.

Luo Siju was able to organize local militias to suppress bandits because he saw the strength of the government and wanted to make a name for himself. If the government were to fall, he would not hesitate in the slightest.

Ultimately, Luo Siju was a famous general from Sichuan, but he was also a member of the Sichuan gentry and landlord class. If he were to side with anyone, he would side with the Sichuan gentry and prioritize preserving his own strength.

Luo Siju escaped unscathed, the Green Standard Army and the Eight Banners were defeated, and the siege of Dazhou was lifted.

In this battle, Zhang Zhengmo almost single-handedly turned the tide.

Taking advantage of this great victory, Zhang Zhengmo re-established the White Lotus Society alliance, and then abolished the original title of "Ancient Yuan Zhenren Tianwang" and changed it to "Great Han Sichuan Anti-Qing Grand Commander", leading and rallying the various White Lotus sects and anti-Qing righteous armies in Sichuan.

Zhang Zhengmo finally learned his lesson and realized that deceiving people with cults would not work, so he resolved to break away from the White Lotus Sect and establish his own foundation.

His self-proclaimed title of Governor of Sichuan under the Great Han Dynasty, and his abandonment of the original title of True Man Heavenly King of the White Lotus Sect, naturally aroused dissatisfaction among various rebel armies of the White Lotus Sect.

In response, Zhang Zhengmo did only two things:
First, he distributed land. Don't misunderstand, he wasn't distributing land to the common people, but rather to his own treacherous soldiers to win over the hearts of the people.

Second, they held a grand banquet, inviting leaders of various White Lotus sects to discuss matters. Then, during the banquet, they suddenly smashed a cup as a signal, killing all the other White Lotus sect leaders and annexing their followers.

In this back-and-forth, within a month, Zhang Zhengmo completely controlled the White Lotus Sect in Dazhou.

After capturing Dazhou, Zhang Zhengmo did not continue to conquer other cities and territories. Instead, he immediately sent messengers eastward through Kuizhou to present a memorial to the Han Dynasty to pledge allegiance, while also purchasing firearms and cannons.

Although he defeated the Qing army in this battle, the Qing army's use of firearms had caused him considerable losses.

Zhang Zhengmo had realized that in this chaotic world, it was impossible to fight a war without firearms.

As for whether the Han army would sell it to him, Zhang Zhengmo was not worried about it. In the struggle for the world, interests always come first.

To demonstrate his sincerity, Zhang Zhengmo not only agreed to become a vassal, but also offered to join forces with the Han army to attack Kuizhou Prefecture and cede it to the Han Dynasty.

Kuizhou Prefecture is the gateway from Sichuan to Hubei. If he cedes this gateway to the Han Dynasty, the Han Dynasty has no reason to refuse.

This was a deal: Zhang Zhengmo offered to formally submit to the Han Dynasty and cede the land of Kuizhou in exchange for the Han Dynasty selling them firearms.

(End of this chapter)