There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 336 Celebrities Gather
Tongcheng.

Li Dianhua, along with his wife Zhou and their five children, traveled from Luzhou Prefecture to Tongcheng County, which was under the control of the Han army, after a long and arduous journey.

Logically speaking, a family like theirs, all Qing dynasty people with their hair in pigtails, would certainly not have had an easy time crossing the border between the two prefectures. They would even have been intercepted by the government if they had traveled south from Luzhou to Anqing.

If they're lucky, they might be released; if not, they might be charged with accomplice to theft.

However, times have changed. The Han Dynasty has now basically controlled all the territory south of the Yangtze River in Anhui Province.

Even the provincial capital of Anqing was taken over by the Han army. The three governors of Anhui, Zhu Gui, the provincial treasurer of Anhui, Chen Yongfu, and the provincial inspector of Anhui, Enming, were all captured alive by the Han army.

The only remaining Green Standard Army Qing force in Anhui, stationed in Shouchun Town, had already been decimated by the Han army in the Battle of Anqing.

Li Changgui, the general of Shouchun, had just received an imperial edict from Emperor Jiaqing at the beginning of the month and was now on his way to the capital in a prison cart.

Although Anhui Province, north of the Yangtze River, has not yet been controlled by the Han army, it is only a matter of time before it is. Lu Quan, the prefect of Luzhou, has already given up.

He had only taken office as prefect last year, and before he had even served a year, he encountered all this bad luck.

Moreover, this guy does have some governance skills, but his abilities are all focused on construction and education. He's good at repairing city walls and reforming academies, but he's really not good at defending cities and fighting battles.

The prefect of Luzhou was incompetent, and the Han army had already gained a strong foothold in Anhui. The people's hearts were turning against them, and almost every day people were running away, either fleeing outwards or heading to the bandit-occupied areas.

Li Dianhua originally didn't intend to run away, but seeing his classmates and friends leaving one by one, he thought about it and decided to take his family and leave his hometown as well.

Instead of fleeing Luzhou or Anhui, he simply came to Anqing, intending to go to this area that the government had falsely accused of being occupied by bandits, and see what kind of bandits they really were.
Since ancient times, one can only believe three-tenths of what officials say, and Li Dianhua, as a county scholar, certainly understood this principle.

At the city gate, two Han soldiers stood with swords at their sides.

"Halt! Where did you come from?"

"Please be lenient, gentlemen. This student is a refugee from the north..."

Li Dianhua had anticipated this, since his queue was too eye-catching and he couldn't help but be stopped.

This guy skillfully took out a small piece of silver from his sleeve, intending to secretly slip it to the other person, but unexpectedly, his hand was shoved away as soon as he reached out.

"what are you doing?"

The one of the two Han soldiers who reached out to stop them shouted angrily.

Li Dianhua was stunned by the scolding. He held the loose silver in his hand, unsure whether to give it away or take it back.

Fortunately, the other man quickly restrained the angry man and looked Li Dianhua up and down, saying, "Judging from your queue, you must have come from outside, so we don't know yet. Our Great Han army has strict discipline. Did you see those people who just passed by? They are all military instructors, specifically there to check if any soldiers are accepting bribes or embezzling. You can take your money back now; we won't take it. There is no gate tax for entering the city in our Great Han. If anyone uses the gate tax as a pretext for extortion, you can go to the yamen to report it to the authorities, and someone will stand up for you!"

Hey!
Li Dianhua and the others were stunned. It wasn't just that the other party said there was no need to pay the entrance tax, but also that the other party was clearly just a lowly soldier, yet he didn't want his money.

He was already trying to avoid people and hiding the silver under his sleeve, but the other person almost flung the silver away with a flick of their wrist.

There are actually soldiers in the world who are not greedy for money. Are these the traitors to the Han people that the government talks about?
The Han soldiers explaining at the door, seeing that Li Dianhua wouldn't take the silver back, could only call over a civil instructor.

"Mr. Liu, I can't explain this to this person. You should talk to him!"

"Haha, Xiao Liu, I've said it several times, we're all soldiers, there's no need to call me 'sir,' it just makes us seem distant."

"No way, Mr. Liu, you tell us stories, teach us military songs, and tell us why we fight. You are our teacher!"

"..."

Without exchanging a few pleasantries, Liu Wenjiao turned around and greeted the stunned Li Dianhua.

After some conversation and explanation, Li Dianhua finally understood that the Han soldiers were indeed not greedy. Even if they had greedy hearts, under the strict constraints of military discipline and regulations, they could not take a single penny from the people.

If you take it, you will be subject to military law. Being discharged from the military is considered good; serious cases may result in imprisonment or even execution.

With such strict military discipline, how could the soldiers endure without mutiny?
At first, Li Dianhua found it somewhat unbelievable, but after hearing about the treatment and benefits enjoyed by the Han soldiers, he suddenly realized it was perfectly normal. The Han army could meet all three essential elements of an army's combat strength: pay, food, and training, and in fact, it did so to the best of its ability.

The soldiers trained and drank meat soup every day, and even got to eat meat every few days. Li Dianhua didn't dare to dream too much about such a good life.

Don't assume that a scholar can live a life of luxury with plenty of food and drink. A true scholar still has to work hard to make a living.

After being persuaded by Liu Wenjiao, Li Dianhua finally put away the loose silver.

Compared to the Han army's pay, his silver coins were indeed too small, not worth the great risk the other party would take to embezzle such a small amount of money.

Liu Wenjiao then said, “Since you have fled from Luzhou, if you intend to settle in our Great Han for a long time, you should find a place in the city to get a haircut as soon as possible. The gold-rat tail braid is still not acceptable. Wearing it all the time may cause trouble. I will write you a certificate to prevent you from being suspected because of your braid after entering the city.”

Li Dianhua sincerely clasped his hands in thanks: "Thank you, Mr. Liu!"

After Li Dianhua brought his wife and children into Tongcheng County, he realized just how much the place had changed.

Despite having just been conquered by the Han Dynasty this year, Tongcheng County is already showing signs of prosperity. Vendors can be seen everywhere along the streets, hawking their wares. Compared to the lifeless atmosphere of the past, the stall owners' faces clearly show some vitality and hope.

Li Dianhua arrived at a stall, intending to buy some daily necessities and inquire about some information from the vendor.

"Fellow villager, I come from another prefecture. I am new to Tongcheng County and do not know the price of rice here." Li Dianhua did not ask about the prices of other goods. He was afraid of being ripped off if he asked about the prices of other goods. It was easier to ask about the price of rice and the risk of being ripped off was much smaller.

The stall owner was not wary of Li Dianhua's queue. Anqing Prefecture had only been restored for a few months, and the people had not long since cut off their queues: "Are you a gentleman from another prefecture? Then you have come to the right person. Tongcheng County has also changed its government. Putting aside everything else, the price of rice has dropped from 50 wen per liter to less than 25 wen per liter."

"The price of rice has dropped so much?" Li Dianhua was surprised.

The stall owner said, "At first, we didn't really believe it either, but this new county magistrate is a real benevolent official! In order to suppress the price of rice, he arrested a lot of unscrupulous grain merchants. The price of rice, which was 50 wen per liter before, was reduced to 25 wen per liter by this new benevolent official."

A nearby stall owner couldn't help but chime in, "Our village is discussing whether or not to erect a longevity tablet for this new upright official. We ordinary folks work hard all year round and still can't get much white rice. Without this new upright official, our village is afraid we'll have to eat wheat bran and rice husks this year, and even then, a few people might starve to death."

Upon hearing this, Li Dianhua was filled with awe; this was truly a meritorious act that saved the lives of ordinary people!
Whether they were rebels or not, saving countless lives was a remarkable achievement. If the original Qing government were still in power, they would be considered honest officials if they didn't collude with merchants to hoard goods and speculate during the famine.

Li Dianhua continued to inquire about the situation in Tongcheng County, and felt that this one place, Tongcheng County, already showed signs of great order.

"Great chaos is followed by great order, and great order is followed by great prosperity! The ancients were right."

Li Dianhua muttered to himself. He didn't ask any more questions. He had already made up his mind about this trip. He would stay with the Han Dynasty.

You can teach here, or you can pass on your family's tradition of farming and reading; you can do whatever you want.

Li Dianhua had a clear understanding of the situation. With such a prosperous and thriving new dynasty, the Han dynasty was bound to conquer the world, while the pseudo-Qing dynasty was already a skeleton in a tomb, and its complete decay and collapse was only a matter of time.

Nie Yu, far away in Jingzhou, was unaware that he had seemingly done nothing, but by simply flapping his wings a couple of times, he had almost recruited all the future pillars of the pseudo-Qing dynasty.

Who is Li Dianhua?
Later generations may not know much about him, and even Nie Yu has no impression of him, but his grandson Li Hongzhang is very famous.

Although his reputation is mixed, and it's said that a person's fate is sealed after death, and this guy's fate remains unresolved to this day, it's undeniable that he played a crucial role in the future trajectory of the pseudo-Qing dynasty.

Without Li Hongzhang, it's hard to say what the future of the pseudo-Qing dynasty would have been.

No, this pseudo-Qing dynasty in this timeline probably has no future either.

Zuo Zongtang's father, Zuo Guanlan, is now the prefect of Nanchang under the rule of the Great Han, while Li Hongzhang's grandfather, Li Dianhua, has also come to the Great Han to settle down.

Even Zeng Guofan's father, Zeng Linshu, had just enrolled in Xiangxiang County Middle School last year, preparing to study mathematics, physics, and chemistry.

There was another relatively unknown man named Ye Wenfu, who had already been granted the official position of magistrate of Jiande County (Dongzhi County) for his merit in surrendering Anqing and helping to govern and pacify Anqing Prefecture.

His son, Ye Kunhou, was not very famous either, but he was a ruthless figure who worked alongside Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang to suppress the Nian Rebellion.

This is a gathering of real celebrities!
(To be honest, the fact that these famous figures and bigwigs of the late Qing Dynasty could come from such close hometowns, and even have teacher-student or friend relationships, proves that the Qing Dynasty was indeed rotten to the core, and could only rely on the gentry in the south to suppress the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Nian Rebellion.)
(End of this chapter)