Qing Yao

Chapter 169 The Qing Dynasty Cannot Be Without Teacher Zhao
Zhao An wanted the Hubei route not only to profit from the war a few years later, but also to get involved with the White Lotus Sect.

Historically, the White Lotus Rebellion fought against the Qing army for eight years without a unified command center, eliminating hundreds of thousands of troops drawn from sixteen provinces by the Qing government. On the Qing side, more than 400 generals, including commanders, admirals, and generals, were killed in action, and the funds used to quell the rebellion amounted to more than 200 million taels of silver.

As a result, the Eight Banners and the Green Standard Army, the two regular armies of the Qing Dynasty, withdrew from the historical stage, and the Qing government was forced to rely on local militias to suppress uprisings.

It can be said that it was precisely because of the heavy blow dealt to the Qing Dynasty by the White Lotus Rebellion that the world saw through the Qing Dynasty's outward strength but inner weakness, which attracted Western powers and also gave rise to the Taiping Rebellion.

Even without Teacher Zhao, the White Lotus Sect is already this powerful. If Teacher Zhao were to give them a few more pointers, the White Lotus Sect could probably drain the old master and his successor dry.

The question is, with the White Lotus Sect so ruthless and the Qing Dynasty having no one left, who can clean up this mess?
The answer is ready to come out.

Who else could it be but Teacher Zhao!
It's not that Teacher Zhao is being modest; he truly could be like Zeng Guofan, Zuo Zongtang, and Li Hongzhang, helping the Qing Dynasty to become great again.

Teacher Zhao is an expert at the trick of keeping enemies around to enhance his own prestige.

Please invite the foreign dignitaries to make the Qing Dynasty kneel down in advance; Teacher Zhao will do the same.

When he gets ruthless, he can spend his own money to hire a mercenary army from the West to bombard Dagu Port.

In short, there's nothing Teacher Zhao wouldn't dare to do, only things the old man couldn't think of.

Zhao An had at least seven or eight pills prepared for the Qing court. No matter which one was taken, it would make the old master and his successor feel like they were in heaven.

To complete the overall strategic plan, it is necessary to establish connections with the White Lotus Sect in advance, support several proxies within the sect, and at least achieve absolute control over a portion of the rebel army's forces. Then, this absolutely controlled force will be used to integrate the rebel army.

Depending on the situation, if there is an opportunity to overthrow the Qing Dynasty, Zhao An will stop pretending and take the lead directly.

If that still doesn't work, then take a roundabout approach: recruit the rebel army under your control into the "official army," and become the biggest warlord in the Qing Dynasty first.

Otherwise, it will be difficult to handle.

Providing unreserved and uncompromising support to the White Lotus Sect could very well end up benefiting others.

Therefore, Zhao An didn't want the Hunan route; he only wanted the Hubei route.

Hubei was the birthplace of the White Lotus Rebellion.

With a legitimate transport fleet and a sales license to sell salt in Hubei, the plan would be highly feasible to secretly import loyal followers into Hubei who only knew Teacher Zhao but not the Old Master to join the White Lotus Sect.

When Zhang Baofa was alive, he said that the three founders of the Canal Gang came from the Luo Sect, which was also called the White Lotus Sect. Therefore, the Canal Gang actually had a great connection with the White Lotus Sect in the Sichuan and Hubei regions.

However, this branch of the Grand Canal Gang was absorbed into the Qing government due to Li Wei's actions.

We are all born of the same root, why are we so eager to harm each other?

There's no reason why the brothers from Hubei should raise the flag while the brothers from Jianghuai just stand by and watch without offering any support.

Demanding an extra 300,000 taels of compensation from the Jiao family was merely a cover for the true intention of needing the Hubei route. As long as the Jiao family relinquished the Hubei route, Zhao An could forgo the 300,000 taels.

To put it bluntly, the 300,000 taels was just a pretext to allow the Jiao family to bargain.

Jiao Zheng had the guards take out the dozen or so bird guns he had secretly kept at home, deliberately so that Ding Jiu and the others could see them.

The intention was to show that the Jiao family also had the strength to "fight," hoping that the Canal Gang would not be too aggressive.

The intention turned into a choice between having more guns or more people. A dozen or so muskets fired at the same time could only injure a dozen or so people at most, but the poor thugs from the outer canal gang numbered in the thousands.

Even though Jiao Zheng was known for his ruthlessness in his youth, he had no choice but to bow his head at this moment.

The consequences of firing a shot would be far more severe than the Canal Gang drawing lots for his death at his doorstep.

Ding Jiu, representing Zhao An, gave the Jiao family half an hour to consider. During this time, members of the Jiao family who had escaped from the docks were constantly detained by the Canal Gang. Several of them, who were leaders, were ordered by Zhao An to be sent to the Jiao family.

Upon learning of the crushing defeat at the docks and that his men had been utterly thrashed by the Canal Gang, Jiao Zheng knew that his family no longer had the strength to fight the Canal Gang.

His entire family is now hostage of the Grand Canal Gang. If Jiao Zheng dares to say no, the price will be the extermination of his entire family.

Jiao Zheng, who had been arrogant his whole life, had no choice but to sign the agreement in front of the government office, agreeing to give up the Hubei route to the canal gang and pay a one-time compensation of 300,000 taels of silver.

Having been in the transport business for decades, the Jiao family was very confident. They didn't even need to go to a money exchange to withdraw 300,000 taels of silver; they simply had their servants move it out of their home storeroom.

It's likely that the Jiao family still has a cellar where they store silver.

This is almost a common problem among the wealthy. They are fine in times of peace, but in times of chaos, they all become rich and powerful.

Under Zhao An's correct leadership and command, the battle against the Jiao family, a group of criminal gangs representing the canal transport merchants, achieved an initial victory.

The matter of the route operation qualification will be handled by Ding Jiu and the Jiao family. Today, the Cao Gang has demonstrated sufficient cohesion and strong strength. If the Jiao family regrets their decision and refuses to accept it, then they should not blame the Cao Gang for truly wiping out their entire family.

The Jiao family themselves arranged for a carriage to deliver 300,000 taels of silver to the canal gang's branch headquarters, and Zhao An kept his promise and took Zhang Baofa's coffin away.

Back at the incense hall, an excited Ding Jiu asked Zhao An how to distribute the compensation money given by the Jiao family. He meant that since Shao Jun had done a great job and had previously given 15,000 taels of silver to the gang members out of his own pocket, he was determined to give Shao Jun 50,000 taels this time.

"I don't want the money."

Zhao An shared his thoughts, noting that he had seen many of the second and third gang members living in shacks along the canal, where conditions were not only dirty and chaotic but also posed a risk of flooding and fire.

The intention was to use all the "compensation" given by the Jiao family to buy land and build houses for the gang members, one house per family, with bricks and tiles, three rooms and two kitchens.

The brick and tile house was the best ordinary house of this era, consisting of three rooms plus a kitchen and an outhouse.

The second and third gangs number around 30,000 people. If each gang has one set and the cost is around 15 taels per set, the total cost would be 400,000 to 500,000 taels.

However, this is large-scale housing construction, so the cost will definitely be much lower; 300,000 taels should be barely enough.

Furthermore, houses can be built in batches, first for the most needy members, and then for the others.

Duoli now has two operating routes, so money is not a problem.

Upon hearing Zhao An's plan, Ding Jiu was deeply moved. He nodded and went outside, shouting loudly to the gang members who were excitedly recounting the day's events: "Brothers, listen up! Young Master said that the money given by the Jiao family will not be taken by the gang. Instead, it will all be used to build houses for you brothers, the best brick and tile houses, with three rooms and two kitchens for each family!"

"."

After a brief silence, the two or three hundred gang members gathered in the incense hall knelt down on one knee in unison and shouted in unison at Zhao An, who was walking out: "Young Master, you are so righteous!"

(End of this chapter)