There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 470 The Manchu Retreat

On the 28th day of the tenth month of the third year of the Xinghua era of the Han Dynasty, winter had fully arrived in the north, and Emperor Nie Yu of the Han Dynasty returned in triumph.

To be precise, only the emperor returned with his personal guards and accompanying secretariat.

Before returning to Nanjing, he gave the newly appointed Duke Yansheng, Kong Guangbiao, a special warning, instructing him to cooperate well with the government in Qufu County, register households and people, and appease the people of the north, and not to emulate the exterminated Northern Kong clan and have any wicked thoughts.

This was the price. Nie Yu issued an edict to execute the Northern Confucius Duke and nearly wiped out the entire Northern Confucius family, leaving only a few survivors.

Scholars may be weak-willed, but if the emperor went so far as to kill people, they would certainly harbor resentment. The succession of the Southern Duke Yansheng was intended to appease their resentment and prevent them from causing trouble behind the scenes, while also undermining the sanctity of the Duke Yansheng.

If the emperor so desired, even if the Duke of Yansheng made a mistake, he could be killed or his entire clan exterminated. There was no precedent that descendants of saints could be exempt from death.

Once the north has been pacified, Nie Yu will definitely move the Duke of Yansheng out of Qufu County. Moreover, he cannot move him to the interior; he must at least move him to the border regions such as Liaodong, Xinjiang, and Tibet to educate the people.

Qufu was left with the Duke Yansheng, the emperor returned to Nanjing with his personal army, and the remaining Northern Expeditionary armies were all assigned their own orders.

The Second and Fifth Divisions, as the main forces in the campaign against Shandong, remained stationed in Shandong for the winter. The former was stationed in Jinan Prefecture to assist in maintaining military control and order. The latter was stationed in Linqing Prefecture, along the Grand Canal, to guard against a desperate Qing attack on Shandong from the south.

The 13th Division was moved to Wuding Prefecture (Huimin) to assist in the defense and support of the main forces of the 2nd and 5th Divisions.

The military supplies and provisions for the three divisions were all provided by Shandong Province and the Grand Canal.

The 11th Division remained stationed in Daming Prefecture, the 7th Division in Zhangde Prefecture, and the 12th Division was transferred to Huaiqing Prefecture, respectively to guard against the Qing army's southward advance from Shanxi and Zhili, which would pose a threat to Henan. The army's provisions were also transported north via the Grand Canal and then transferred to the Yellow River for replenishment.

The Ninth Division remained in Henan to suppress the remaining bandits and outlaws.

Henan has been corrupt for too long, and it's rotten to the core. Not only are there many followers of the Lotus sect, but many others who couldn't survive there also ran away to the mountains to become bandits and brigands.

Furthermore, with the great battle just over, both the White Lotus sect and the Qing army had been expelled from Henan. Many members of the White Lotus sect and remnants of the Qing army neither surrendered nor fled; instead, they became bandits and outlaws. In fact, they were bandits and outlaws to begin with, but they took up the banners of the government troops and the White Lotus sect.

This would be a good opportunity to have the Ninth Division in charge of suppressing bandits, and also to let the new recruits see blood, serving as a practical training exercise.

The Eighth Division was stationed in Shanzhou, while the Tenth Division moved south to Yunyang Prefecture in Hubei Province to guard against the White Lotus Rebellion, which had already entered Shaanxi, from returning to Han areas to cause trouble. Their military rations were supplied by the Hubei granaries.

Most of the Tianli Sect militias in Shandong and Henan provinces, as well as the Green Standard Army militias in Shandong who surrendered in time, have been disbanded and returned to civilian life.

Henan has been severely damaged, with at least half of its population lost. Such a large population gap requires replenishment and restoration.

As long as they are not from the Eight Banners, they can all be treated leniently, which can at least save a lot of financial expenditure on immigration.

After all, the Han Dynasty was not the Manchu Qing Dynasty. The Manchu Qing Dynasty's immigration was purely voluntary, with no regard for the lives of the immigrants. They would continue to immigrate even after everyone had died, until the surviving immigrants filled Sichuan.

The funniest thing is that the blame for the massacre in Sichuan was still pinned on Zhang Xianzhong.

Indeed, Zhang Xianzhong was certainly not a good person, but he was not stupid either. He slaughtered Sichuan and then fought the Manchus with a hammer.

Moreover, battle reports can be deceiving, but battle lines cannot. Zhang Xianzhong emptied Sichuan, yet he was still able to withstand the repeated back-and-forth battles with the Manchus for more than a decade, and even once pushed back into Huguang.

Even if I rubbed the undead staff until it was smoking, I still couldn't do it!

In short, at this stage, the Han Dynasty's plans for Shandong and Henan provinces are primarily focused on restoring people's livelihoods.

In the first year, the focus was solely on suppressing bandits and distributing land to the people, allowing Henan and Shandong provinces to resume production. If food supplies were insufficient, they were diverted from the south.

The following year, Shandong residents were slowly migrated to Henan to resume the reclamation of abandoned land and to produce as much grain as possible.

In the third year, Shandong and Henan provinces regained their food self-sufficiency and were able to provide some food and labor for the troops stationed at the front.

To accomplish so much in three years is quite fast compared to the Qing Dynasty, which took over a century of migration to restore Sichuan.

The Han Dynasty's rapid progress was due to both the new policies and reforms, as well as the technological advancements of later generations.

It's nothing more than using chemical fertilizers to double the yield per acre.

The fertilizer here is not provided by the mall, but is made entirely by hand using traditional chemical methods. The specific principle is to use traditional methods to refine coking coal and then use sulfuric acid solution to produce ammonium sulfate fertilizer containing ammonia.

Coking coal is easy to obtain, and sulfuric acid solution is not difficult either. Chinese alchemists had already learned how to prepare sulfuric acid solution (green vitriol and copper sulfate) as early as the Han Dynasty for use in alchemy.

The original fertilizer produced in this way is certainly not as effective as modern fertilizer, but it is the chemical fertilizer that current technology can produce.

Modern chemical fertilizer production lines are too technologically advanced, requiring high-temperature and high-pressure production conditions, which are basically difficult to achieve in the current era.

To put it another way, if the Han Dynasty could develop a high-temperature, high-pressure production line that meets the requirements of modern industrial fertilizer production, then it would basically be able to build submarines.

To put it more bluntly, North Korea still did not have the ability to produce fertilizer independently.

Moreover, in addition to traditional chemical fertilizers, Nie Yu also has a complete set of traditional methods for producing fertilizers, using only manure and urine.

The output is large enough and cheap enough that ordinary people can produce it themselves using traditional methods. The effect is not as good as traditional chemical fertilizers, but the advantage is that there is no need to establish a systematic fertilizer production line.

During the Ming and Qing dynasties, it became increasingly difficult to expand China's arable land. The lack of more arable land meant that grain production could only fluctuate around a fixed figure.

Now, with the dual benefits of increased production from both primitive chemical fertilizers and traditional fertilizer methods, the Han Dynasty has more surplus grain and can naturally accomplish more. Moreover, speaking of fertilizers, Nie Ning has also set his sights on overseas markets. He clearly remembers that before the development of a systematic industrial fertilizer industry, the most fertilizing fertilizer was bird fertilizer.

As the name suggests, guano is actually formed from birds, specifically seabirds that stop over islands to rest, creating a special natural fertilizer over many years.

The fertility of this fertilizer is very close to that of industrially produced fertilizers, but without the side effects of industrial fertilizers.

Most encouragingly, the islands containing guano reserves are located in the South China Sea (Dongsha Islands).

Historically, this area was seized and developed by the Japanese, who then sold it at high prices to people in Taiwan and mainland China, reaping their wealth.

Nie Yu saw it by chance and was deeply impressed by it.

The official ship of the Han dynasty, ordered to go out to sea to collect manure, has arrived at Guangzhou port and is preparing to set sail next spring to search for the "Guanju Islands" in the South China Sea, which are rich in guano.

……

Beijing city.

Prince Yongxing, the leading Grand Councilor, has been promoted to Minister of State Affairs, assisting the Empress and the Third Prince Miankai in overseeing state affairs.

The Grand Councilors, the Manchu and Han ministers of the Six Ministries, and several Grand Secretaries had all arrived at the Forbidden City for a meeting. Yongxing ultimately did not dare to be too presumptuous and instead convened the meeting directly at Jiaqing's Yuanmingyuan Garden.

Yongxing began by asking, "With Yinghe and Liu Yong suffering consecutive defeats, and Shandong and Henan lost, what should our Great Qing do next?"

No one spoke.

The defeat in Shandong not only resulted in the death of Yinghe, but also the loss of 50,000 Manchu Eight Banner troops, 10,000 Shengjing Eight Banner troops, and 3,000 elite Solon troops.

These were some of the few core military forces of the Qing Dynasty, and they were all wiped out in one fell swoop. Not even prisoners were spared; their heads were turned into yo-yos and thrown to the border of Tianjin Prefecture and Hejian Prefecture.

To put it bluntly, after this battle, the Qing Dynasty was basically doomed to fail, and it would be difficult to even hold onto its current territory.

Because Yongxing was promoted to Minister of State Affairs, the veteran minister Dong Gao, who had returned to the Grand Council, suddenly said: "Shandong and Henan have been completely lost, and Zhili is flat and indefensible. The urgent matter is not what to do, but how to retreat and where to retreat to?"

Saying they were withdrawing troops was actually a way of encouraging them to run away.

His Highness and his ministers were all quite surprised when they heard this, but after their surprise, no one dared to voice any objection.

A few months ago, if anyone had dared to suggest fleeing, even if he was a veteran official like Dong Gao, he would have been relentlessly attacked and impeached by the other officials.

Although the Qing dynasty was already in decline at that time, it still held 100,000 Zhili Eight Banners troops, more than 10,000 elite Eight Banners troops from outside the Great Wall, and several thousand strong Solon troops.

These forces were the foundation of the Qing Dynasty's stability. They might not be able to defeat the Han army, but it was impossible for them to run away before the battle even started, and Jiaqing would not be willing to accept that.

But things are different now. Emperor Jiaqing is seriously ill and can no longer get out of bed. More than 50,000 of the 100,000 Eight Banners troops in Zhili have died. If you include the Eight Banners troops sent south in previous years, at least 70,000 to 80,000 are gone.

Ten thousand elite troops from the Shengjing Eight Banners and the Solon Battalion were wiped out in a single battle in Shandong, with even the governor-general Yinghe dying in the fighting.

Seeing the silence of the officials below, and Dong Gao staring intently at him, Yongxing remained silent for a long time before finally sighing and saying, "Lord Dong is a wise and experienced strategist. The Southern Dynasty, which is a puppet Han, is powerful and cannot be subdued overnight. Now that our Great Qing is declining, we cannot risk our ancestral legacy for the sake of the mere face of the court."

"The Councilor is wise!"

The ministers immediately slapped the horse in unison.

Yongxing, flattered, immediately asked Dong Gao, "Lord Dong, where do you think our Great Qing should retreat to?"

Dong Gao said, "We can retreat to the Baoding and Tianjin line first. Although Henan and Shandong have been captured by the Han army, these two provinces are severely damaged and cannot provide food for the army at all. As long as the Han army dares to move north to Baoding and Tianjin, the pressure on the supply lines will be unbearable."

I won't go into the rest. The Qing dynasty was no longer capable of fighting and could only try to force back the Han army's attacks by extending their supply lines. Trying to find an opportunity to counterattack was just a pipe dream.

Yongxing thought Dong Gao would at most make him retreat a little, but he didn't expect that this retreat would go all the way to Baoding, and behind Baoding is Beijing.

Yongxing was at a loss for a moment and wanted to ask the opinions of the Manchu and Han ministers, but they all evaded the question.

After much discussion, it was still up to Yongxing to make the final decision.

Since that's the case, let's just leave it at that and retreat to Baoding if that's how it is!

In any case, after the major defeat in Shandong, the Qing government really had no fighting power left. Even if they didn't retreat to Baoding, the flat plains of Zhili couldn't stop the Han army.

"What does Your Majesty think?" Yongxing asked the Empress and the Third Prince, who were acting as regents, as a final, symbolic question.

Empress Niohuru, with her young third son Miankai by her side, smiled and said, "Prince Cheng is the Prince Regent, and he is naturally capable of making decisions on state affairs!"

The grand strategy of retreating to Baoding was thus finalized, and Baoding and the Zhili prefectures south of Tianjin were strategically abandoned by the Qing Dynasty.

After the meeting adjourned and the court was dismissed, Yongxing secretly met with another person.

Yongxing asked, "Pang Wencai, what's the latest news from the pseudo-Han Southern Dynasty?"

Pang Wencai replied, "For the time being, there's nothing wrong. It seems the puppet Han regime doesn't plan to fight again next year. This year's battle has already depleted their strength, and the devastation in Henan and Shandong is too severe. It's estimated that it will take a long time to restore and recover."

He learned this information from Han spies who told him on their own initiative, and it wasn't anything too important a military secret.

The Han army simply did not intend to continue its high-intensity northern expedition. If the Qing army dared to take the opportunity to move south, the Han army could still defeat them decisively.

Yongxing knew this well, and also knew that he certainly wouldn't be able to go south in the short term, so he stopped worrying about these military affairs and then asked, "The things I want... cough cough, are they all prepared?"

Pang Wencai quickly smiled obsequiously and said, "If Your Highness has any needs, this humble subject will do everything in my power to satisfy them. This humble subject has already prepared everything here, all of it the best of the best."

Yongxing nodded slightly and finally smiled: "You've handled these things well. You'll be rewarded handsomely later."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

"..."

After sending Pang Wencai away, Yongxing habitually touched the person beside him, and a servant eunuch hurriedly presented him with a bronze tobacco gun.

Good heavens, this guy and Emperor Jiaqing are practically brothers!

Yongxing was in his palace, about to lie down and rest.

Suddenly a palace maid entered and said to Yongxing, "Your Highness, Her Majesty the Empress requests your presence!"

Yongxing merely raised his hand: "Xiao Dezi, prepare the sedan chair. I wish to enter the palace to speak with my sister-in-law!"

In just a few words, he completely disregarded the hierarchical distinctions between imperial uncles and aunts in my Great Qing Dynasty.

"Whoo!"

The personal attendant, the eunuch Xiao Dezi, quickly bowed his head and agreed.

The palace maid responsible for relaying the message simply lowered her head and remained silent, pretending that she hadn't heard anything.

You get used to it after seeing it so many times; it's just the norm.

Although it is unofficial history, Emperor Xianfeng did indeed have few children, only two sons and one daughter, and he had them born in rotation each year, which raises serious questions.

(End of this chapter)