There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 334 Soren's Army Enters the Pass

Three months ago, in Beijing.

When the retired Emperor Qianlong passed away, Emperor Jiaqing seized the opportunity to swiftly overthrow Heshen, and by not purging Heshen's cronies, he initiated a "universal reform," successfully stabilizing the political situation in the court.

Afterwards, he successively changed the governors-general of Sichuan and Shaanxi, the governor of Henan and other important local governors-general. Although the positions of the governors-general and governors were quite high, the overall effect seemed to be acceptable.

As soon as the Governor-General of Sichuan and Shaanxi, Na Yancheng, arrived in Shaanxi, he successfully "annihilated" the local White Lotus rebel army and "recovered" the prefectures in southern Shaanxi.

This put Emperor Jiaqing in a good mood, making him feel that he was indeed good at recognizing talent.

However, this great mood only lasted for less than half a month.

Because something happened in Henan!
Qianqing Palace.

Emperor Jiaqing slammed the battle report from Henan out. His Highness Prince Cheng, Yongxing, and the chief Grand Councilor Dong Gao knelt at the front, followed by Fu Sen, Wang Jie, Liu Yong, and Yinghe.

This Yinghe only joined the Military Affairs Department this month to study and work. His family background is from the Plain White Banner, one of the three upper banners. It is not too illustrious, but it is still quite high.

Moreover, this guy was the youngest among the kneeling people present, having only passed the imperial examination in the fifty-eighth year of Qianlong's reign. The reason he was promoted so quickly was entirely due to the emperor's favor after Jiaqing assumed personal rule.

Because this fellow refused Heshen's marriage proposal, Jiaqing had a very good impression of him. In the same month that Heshen was killed, he was promoted to Grand Secretary of the Inner Cabinet and then appointed Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites.

When the good news from Shaanxi was sent to Beijing, he was then taken to the Grand Council for training, showing great favor from the emperor and a promising future.

"what happened?"

Emperor Jiaqing threw the Henan battle report on the ground, his emotions—for the first time—unconcealed, and completely disregarding his imperial dignity, he roared, “Didn’t I already replace Woshibu and appoint Wu Xiong Guang as the new governor of Henan to oversee military affairs? How come the situation in Henan has not only failed to improve, but has actually worsened? Nanyang and Ruzhou have both fallen, and Xuzhou is on the verge of collapse. Tell me, is the White Lotus Rebellion in Henan really that difficult to eradicate? Two governors have been appointed and it still hasn’t been enough!”

The emperor was furious. Yongxing could no longer remain silent and had to truthfully report the information the Grand Council had obtained: "Your Majesty, please calm your anger! As far as I know, the situation in Henan had already deteriorated before the governor, Wu Xiong Guang, arrived in Kaifeng. After arriving in Henan, Wu Xiong Guang, knowing the situation was unfavorable, not only did he not consider how to eliminate the rebel army and recapture Nanyang and Ruzhou, but he also seized military power from the local generals, causing the Henan army to be poorly commanded and suffer from shortages of supplies. This led to the rebel army defeating them one by one in Henan!"

Yongxing was quite polite in his words, already omitting the fact that Wu Xiong Guang was ignorant of military affairs and had been giving orders to the front-line army to fight haphazardly, while Emperor Jiaqing was constantly making minor adjustments and changing generals on the spot, which directly led to the near-complete collapse of the local command system.

This is what turned the Qing army's initial advantage in the Henan battlefield into a defeat!

Just as Jiaqing summoned them for a meeting, Xuzhou, which was besieged by the White Lotus Rebellion in Henan, was forced to surrender due to its isolation and lack of support.

Emperor Jiaqing placed high hopes on both the Eight Banners and the Green Standard Army in Zhili, but in reality, the Qing army in Zhili deteriorated the fastest. The Qing army there had almost never fought a war, and the troops capable of fighting had already been given away to the Han army by Emperor Qianlong in the previous waves.

Those now stationed in Henan are almost all well-armored and good-looking for show, just like the White Lotus Sect's bandit army—a rabble.

After hearing Yongxing's explanation, which mainly involved the other party shifting the blame onto Wu Xiong Guang, Jiaqing's anger subsided slightly. He said, "Wu Xiong Guang, the governor of Henan, disregards national military and political affairs and only cares about his own personal gain. His official hat and peacock feather are to be removed immediately, and he is to be escorted back to the capital to await trial!"

Good heavens, a single defeat and they were wiped out completely. The people kneeling before His Highness were all startled.

Of course, this is just a scare now. In a few months, when they find that Wu Xiong Guang has been reinstated, they will understand how "benevolent" Emperor Jiaqing really was.

However, that's not the problem right now. The real issue is that the governor of Henan has been in office for less than three months and is already being replaced again.

It's not a problem to change governors so frequently under normal circumstances, but we're at war now, and we're not even sure we can defeat the White Lotus rebels. It's only been three months and we're already changing governors again. You can't be so shrewd with micromanagement!

Liu Yong hurriedly and earnestly advised, "Your Majesty, the war situation in Henan is still unsettled. Although the Henan governor, Wu Xiong Guang, has made mistakes, he can be allowed to remain in office and atone for his crimes through meritorious service. It will not be too late to remove his official hat and punish him after the White Lotus rebels are wiped out..."

These words really provoked Jiaqing. Because of previous events, Jiaqing already disliked Liu Yong. Now, hearing that Liu Yong was contradicting him and even wanted to protect Wu Xiong Guang, he was even more upset.

Removing Wu Xiong Guang was not only an impulsive decision made by Jiaqing in a fit of rage, but also an attempt to cover up his misjudgment of Wu Xiong Guang as a capable minister shortly after assuming power.

"Shut up!" Jiaqing shouted angrily at Liu Yong without any mercy. "When Woshibu was in power, although Henan was at a stalemate, we managed to recover Ruzhou. Now that Wu Xiong Guang is gone, we're almost losing Xuzhou too. You dog slave, you still want him to atone for his crimes by suppressing the bandits? If we let him continue fighting, are we going to hand over Kaifeng to the White Lotus rebels?"

Liu Yong immediately knelt down and kowtowed: "This servant dares not! This servant only..."

"Just what?"

Emperor Jiaqing, too lazy to listen to his further ramblings, directly set the record straight: "Wu Xiong Guang has served as governor for three months, allowing the White Lotus Rebellion to grow in power and endanger Kaifeng. He is hereby dismissed and investigated immediately. The position of governor of Henan will be taken by Suo Chuoluo Yinghe, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, accompanied by Liu Yong, Grand Secretary of the Hall of Literary Profundity, who will serve as his advisor on military affairs!"

Upon hearing that Emperor Jiaqing wanted to transfer him, Liu Yong became anxious: "Your Majesty..."

Jiaqing gave him no chance and continued, "In order to suppress the White Lotus Rebellion in Henan, I have decided to transfer 10,000 Eight Banners troops from Shengjing back to Beijing from outside the Great Wall, and 2000 Solon troops from Butha in Heilongjiang back to suppress the rebels. Once the Henan rebels are completely wiped out, we will immediately join forces with the troops from Sichuan and Shaanxi and march south to attack the Han rebels!"

What a grand gesture! They actually dared to mobilize 10,000 Eight Banners troops from Shengjing and 2000 Solon soldiers from Butha.

This number of people may seem small, but you have to look at where they came from. The entire Eight Banners forces under the jurisdiction of the Shengjing General number only a little over 10,000.

By doing this, Jiaqing essentially drained the Eight Banners military force from Shengjing. Butha's 2000 Solon soldiers were almost the strongest Solon troops the Qing Dynasty had outside the Great Wall, and they lived in the harshest environment. It's hard to say how effective they were, but they were definitely brave and fierce warriors.

The White Lotus sect in Henan is going to suffer!
Emperor Jiaqing originally did not want to act so quickly, and did not even intend to launch an attack on the Han Dynasty as the next step. However, Anqing Prefecture was captured, and even his teacher Zhu Gui was taken prisoner by the Han Dynasty.

These news reports were delivered to Beijing by General Fu Chang of Jiangning using his own orders and a fast horse, traveling along the Grand Canal.

No wonder he was in a hurry!

Fu Chang, the Jiangning General, was also a confidant of Emperor Jiaqing. He was transferred to Jiangning in March of this year to replace the original Jiangning General.

As a result, before they could even settle in, the situation in Anhui took a sharp turn for the worse.

By the time he received the news, Anqing, Chizhou, and Huizhou prefectures had all fallen, and even the Anhui governor, Zhu Gui, had been captured.

He was sent detailed military intelligence from Anhui, and it was Chen Yongfu, the Anhui Provincial Governor, who sent a fast horse to ask him for reinforcements.

Fu Chang dared not send troops. He could only investigate thoroughly and, after confirming the situation, urgently send a military report to Beijing to avoid being implicated. At the same time, he immediately wrote a letter to Ai Long'a, the general of Xuzhou, telling him to stop worrying about the Grand Canal and the Yellow River and to quickly lead his troops south to first secure Jiangning!
If Jiangning cannot be defended, all will be lost!

Zhu Gui, Jiaqing's tutor and governor of Anhui, was captured, and two of the three provincial governors of Anhui were gone. The reason there were only two was that the surviving educational commissioner of Anhui was stationed in Jiangning, which is why he escaped the massacre.

But it was only by escaping this calamity that the Anhui Provincial Education Commissioner was able to achieve his post. If there were no Anhui, what would be the point of being the Anhui Provincial Education Commissioner?

Although present-day Anhui has only lost the area south of the Yangtze River and Anqing Prefecture, the area south of the Yangtze River still represents the majority of Anhui's essence.

If everything south of the Yangtze River is gone, what's left of Anhui?

Moreover, what truly terrified Jiaqing was that his Jiangnan region had already lost half of the essence of Jiangxi and Anhui, so would Jiangning be the next target?
The Han traitors acted too quickly; this is not how you conquer the world. In just four years, the Qing Dynasty had already lost the entire territory of Huguang and Jiangxi, and even half of Anhui.

Henan, Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu, Guangdong and Guangxi, Yunnan and Guizhou were also full of rebels. How did the great Qing Dynasty become like this?

In Jiaqing’s vision, after he took personal control of the government, he would “engage in reform” and the world would soon return to a peaceful and prosperous era, instead of the current chaotic world that was getting worse and worse, with signs of national collapse.

The group slowly withdrew from the Qianqing Palace.

As soon as Yongxing stepped out, he asked Dong Gao, "Prime Minister Dong, what does His Majesty mean by this?"

He at least said a few words, while Dong Gao, the senior minister in charge of military affairs, frowned the whole time and didn't say a word.

Dong Gao shook his head: "The Emperor's mind is in turmoil. The unfavorable situation in Henan and Anhui has already caused the Emperor to lose his composure. At this time, it will be useless for anyone to persuade the Emperor."

Yongxing frowned: "Then..."

Dong Gao said, "With the Eight Banners of Shengjing and the Solon Camp entering the pass, the overall situation of the war in Henan should be settled. The key still lies with the Han traitors..."

Yes! The Han traitors are the key issue.

Leaving aside the Eight Banners of Shengjing, the Solon soldiers were renowned throughout the world, but that was many years ago, and the Han traitors used firearms.

Under firearms, all beings are equal.

Even the most elite Sauron warriors would perish if they encountered firearms.

The two looked at each other and shook their heads before leaving the Qianqing Palace.

This imperial council meeting was less of a formal discussion and more of Jiaqing venting his frustrations and announcing his decision to send Solon troops into the pass.

The Sauron army is formidable; if they can truly defeat the rebels, then all will be well.

But what if it can't be solved...

Yongxing and Dong Gao, the two leaders, left. Fu Sen and Wang Jie, who were left behind, exchanged glances and also hurriedly left.

Only Yinghe, unable to contain her joy, still approached Liu Yong respectfully, showing that she wanted to humbly learn from him.

He was probably the biggest beneficiary of this imperial summons. He did nothing, said nothing, just knelt down, and got the position of Governor of Henan.

Unfortunately, Liu Yong had no interest in watching his "performance," and after giving a few perfunctory replies, he simply turned and left.

Yinghe's expression changed, but he still didn't say anything and returned to the Ministry of Rites.

(End of this chapter)