Qing Yao

Chapter 224 My lord, we can transfer the ownership.
The commander of the Yangzhou garrison was called Yangzhou Camp Assistant General during the Ming Dynasty. During the Shunzhi reign, he was changed to a third-rank guerrilla general. His garrison was located in the old training ground in the city.

The total number of troops stationed in Yangzhou was not large, less than three thousand. Apart from two thousand stationed in Yangzhou city, the remaining one thousand were scattered in the surrounding prefectures and counties.

There were as many as a hundred or so people, and as few as thirty or forty.

In the Green Standard Army system, a third-rank guerrilla commander was already considered a high-ranking general. The next rank above him was a third-rank adjutant general, a second-rank deputy general, and a second-rank commander-in-chief.

Those above the rank of General were equivalent to First-Rank Admirals.

The Admiral was in charge of the troops of a province, holding a high position and wielding great power. Therefore, in some provinces, the Governor concurrently served as the Admiral. The Qing government established a total of 22 Admirals throughout the country, of whom 13 were Bannermen and only 9 were Han officials.

Jiangsu has a larger garrison than other provinces. If you include the canal soldiers of the Grand Canal Transport Commissioner's Office, the Green Standard Army alone in Jiangsu numbered 40,000. If you add the Eight Banners garrison, the number of troops stationed in Jiangsu should be the largest in the country, even more than Shaanxi and Gansu in the Northwest.

The neighboring provinces of Anhui and Jiangxi combined have only about 10,000 troops stationed there.

The reasons for stationing troops in Jiangsu were numerous, primarily because it was a vital source of revenue for the imperial court and a crucial node for transporting grain northwards. In addition, Nanjing, a sacred place in the hearts of those who opposed the Qing dynasty and sought to restore the Ming dynasty, was located within its borders, thus necessitating the deployment of heavy troops for defense.

Of course, it is also related to the fact that the people of Jiangsu resisted the Qing Dynasty most fiercely in the early years of the dynasty.

Jiangsu was also a major area affected by literary inquisitions.

Zhao Dehan, the current guerrilla commander of Yangzhou, was among the last batch of Han soldiers to be recruited. He bought his position from the Ministry of War, but he knew nothing about military affairs. His only hobbies were composing poems and couplets with a few literati he kept and visiting brothels.

This is similar to that of General Kui Lun of Fuzhou, which may be a common problem among the Manchus.

When the school held a ceremony to prepare for the college entrance examination, Zhao Dehan, as a representative of the garrison, was invited to attend the ceremony. He had a good impression of Zhao An, a promising young professor, so when he heard that Professor Zhao had come, he quickly asked someone to invite him in.

"Lord Zhao is a rare guest at my office; we can't invite him even if we try. What wind blew him here today?"

Zhao Dehan, who was nearly fifty years old, was very amiable. Although he did not understand military affairs, the soldiers under him were all fond of this military officer. This was because the military officer had only visited the military camp three times since he took office. Each time, he did not go to take attendance, but to bring wine and meat to the officers and soldiers.

The soldiers' wages were very low, and since they were stationed in the international metropolis of Yangzhou, these soldiers in Yangzhou all had part-time jobs in private. If it were a stricter guerrilla leader, these soldiers would definitely have been dealt with severely.

Unfortunately, Master Zhao never asked what his soldiers did on a daily basis, leaving them to their own devices. As long as they didn't cause him trouble, that was fine. Who wouldn't want to be close to such a boss?

In terms of interpersonal skills, Master Zhao was impeccable. No one in Yangzhou's official circles spoke ill of him, and the literati praised him to the skies. They called him a scholar-general without exaggeration, and even said that Master Zhao was Guan Yu reincarnated.

In peaceful times, such a general leading troops is nothing special, but in chaotic times, he would definitely be the type to acquire a lot of equipment.

Fortunately, we live in a peaceful and prosperous year.

"I have long wanted to pay my respects to you, sir, but as you may have heard, the court has been adding more and more burdens to my duties, leaving me too busy with imperial orders to attend to everything. I have come today on official business, and I hope you can lend me a hand!"

After a few polite words, Zhao An got straight to the point.

"Business?"

Zhao Dehan was somewhat puzzled, unsure what official business Zhao An was referring to, but this didn't stop him from warmly inviting Professor Zhao to sit down and talk. After Zhao An sat down, he gave a slight bow: "Sir, you must have heard about the canal workers and the canal transport office, right?"

"Have heard a little bit."

Zhao Dehan had tea served and asked with some surprise, "Didn't you say this matter had been settled? What, are those canal workers causing trouble again?"

"No, that's not it,"

Zhao An shook his head and said frankly that before the governor returned to Suzhou, he asked him, the imperial inspector in charge of the grain transport, to secretly investigate whether there was anyone controlling the grain transport workers. After his hard work, he found that there was indeed a criminal gang behind the incident that was "plotting to overthrow the Qing Dynasty".

"These rebels are lawless and tyrannical. Robbing and killing people are commonplace for them. Now they are openly gathering a crowd and hiding weapons to resist the government. If they are not severely punished, they will become a major threat to the court!"

Zhao An presented the governor's troop deployment document, requesting the Yangzhou garrison to cooperate with him, the imperial inspector in charge of transporting grain, in cracking down on the rebels hiding among the grain transport gangs.

With the governor's troop deployment documents in hand, and Professor Zhao indeed being the imperial censor appointed by the court to oversee the grain transport, and given that the grain transport gang dared to interrupt the canal and challenge the grain transport authorities, it was clear that someone was pulling the strings behind the scenes. It cannot be ruled out that some anti-Qing elements were secretly stirring up trouble. For both public and private reasons, Zhao Dehan, as the acting governor, should cooperate unconditionally.

However, Master Zhao hesitated.

The reason for his hesitation was a list that Zhao An had placed in front of him, and on the list was someone he knew very well—Wei Hai.

This Wei Hai is not a relative of Master Zhao, but rather Master Zhao's supplier.

Because Master Zhao was an opium addict.

Not only did he, the magistrate, smoke opium, but at least two or three hundred of his soldiers were also addicted.

The imperial court prohibited the smoking of opium, but the ban was just a formality. Opium had long been rampant in the private sector, and opium den owners tried every means to bribe officials to protect them from being investigated and raided by the government.

Master Zhao was Wei Hai's protector. Every year, he not only received free opium from Wei Hai, but also received a lot of tribute from him.

Given this connection, Master Zhao naturally had to consider why this young Professor Zhao was accused of being a traitor and why he had sent troops to arrest all of Professor Zhao's men and his hideout.

"The evidence against these people is irrefutable. Many of them used their identities as members of the Grand Canal Gang to cover up prostitution, gambling, and human trafficking in Yangzhou. They are all quite wealthy. If we can take them down, we can not only rid the court and the people of this scourge, but also seize their wealth for the country's use."

Based on Zhao An's experience, if a law enforcement officer suddenly shows hesitation or resistance to law enforcement actions, one would inevitably draw a conclusion.

That means this law enforcement officer has a dirty hand.

If you want a law enforcement officer with a questionable background to enforce the law, you have to offer him a huge reward, that is, use enough incentives to shake his bottom line.

"As far as I know, His Majesty is extremely dissatisfied with the recent disturbance by the Grand Canal Gang. If he does not kill a few of the ringleaders, I, as an imperial censor, will not be able to complete my duties."

Without making a sound, Zhao An pointed to two names on the list, "These two thieves have quite a few properties under their names. If you are interested, sir, I can have the local authorities transfer these properties to your name after I have investigated them."

(End of this chapter)