Qing Yao

Chapter 313 Zhao Youlu, a Famous General in Bondservant Form (Supplementary Chapter 1)

On his way to Suzhou, Zhao An did not receive any further urgent reports from Suzhou, presumably because the city was besieged by the White Lotus Army.

Some disaster victims who came from the Suzhou area but did not participate in the rebellion became Zhao An's primary channel for understanding the situation in Suzhou.

However, these disaster victims couldn't give a clear explanation; they only provided two pieces of useful information.

First, the peasant rebellion was indeed instigated and bewitched by the White Lotus Sect, and the main force was the Nian Rebellion from the west, numbering approximately several thousand.

Secondly, Suzhou had closed its city gates a few days before the disaster victims' rebellion, so the White Lotus sect was unable to enter the city.

"My lord, the White Lotus Sect lacks siege equipment. Unless there are White Lotus Sect insiders in the city, it will be very difficult for them to break in."

The speaker was Zhang, the military officer of the Sizhou Green Standard Army. As the highest-ranking general, he felt it necessary to offer his professional advice to the acting provincial governor, who was eager to rescue Suzhou.

The plan was to stay here and wait for the Green Standard Army troops from various regions to arrive and help relieve the siege of Suzhou, instead of foolishly sending over a thousand men to their deaths.

Even if the disaster victims are all a mob, there are still hundreds of thousands of them. What's more, there are many traitors among them. If we rush to rescue them, these thousand-odd people won't even be enough to fill their teeth.

It was a rather prudent suggestion. Of course, the real reason was that General Zhang was afraid of death, a fact that Zhao An was well aware of.

It's no wonder that General Zhang was afraid of battle. In fact, of the more than 600 Green Standard Army soldiers in Sizhou, at most a hundred or so could be called brave soldiers. Most of the others were just there to make up the numbers. Forget about iron armor, there were only 16 pieces of cotton armor in total.

The situation of Hou Feng's Green Standard Army unit in Yangzhou, who volunteered to help Lord Zhao quell the bandits, was not much better. If it weren't for the fact that Zhao An had been too "caring" towards these Green Standard Army soldiers when he was in Yangzhou, making the soldiers feel indebted to him and grateful for his kindness, even if Hou Feng, the battalion commander, was willing to risk his life, these soldiers wouldn't be so foolish.

After all, they were guest soldiers, and their mission was to escort grain, not to quell any bandits.

Even if they come, they just go through the motions and "dawdle."

If we don't hand over Zhao Fantai to the White Lotus rebels, we'll have done right by the Qing Dynasty.

Furthermore, since the founding of the Qing Dynasty, the Yangzhou Green Standard Army has never fought a war. They are happy to suppress local criminal gangs, but it would be difficult to put them to a real fight against rebels.

In summary, their courage is commendable, but their ability is truly lacking.

Ye Zhigui and his more than 700 canal gang brothers were willing to risk their lives for Shaojun. Because they had made a living on the water for many years, they were all very strong and their physical condition was much better than that of the Green Standard Army, which was rotten and addicted to opium. The problem was that their equipment was not even as good as that of the Green Standard Army. If Zhao An had not asked the Sizhou side to plunder their resources and provide more than 300 knives before setting off, they probably would have had to go into battle with oars and bamboo poles.

Overall, it appears that 1700 people can be mobilized, but in reality, a maximum of 1000 people are available.

So how could General Zhang not be apprehensive?

Objectively speaking, his opinion is correct. Zhao An has already issued orders to the Green Standard Army in Huaibei in the name of the provincial governor. In three to five days, at least three to four thousand troops will be able to reach Suzhou. Moreover, with such a big mess in Suzhou, Zhu Gui, the governor of Bozhou, cannot really sit idly by and watch Suzhou "fall". Whether he likes it or not, he has to send elite Green Standard Army troops to Suzhou. Otherwise, if the city falls, he, as the governor, will not be able to escape responsibility.

If Suzhou can hold out, the White Lotus Army outside the city will be "counter-encircled" by various Qing armies. This is much better than Zhao An, the acting provincial governor, leading more than a thousand people to the rescue.

There was another reason that Zhang, the military officer, was too embarrassed to say: suppressing rebellions and fighting traitors was the governor's business, and it was none of his business as a provincial governor in charge of civil affairs.

For a normal person, wouldn't it be better to stay as far away as possible?

If Zhao An hadn't possessed the Ebilun sword bestowed upon him by the old master, do you think Zhang, the military commander, would have been willing to obey orders?

Zhao An remained noncommittal, only telling Zhang, the military advisor, to rest first. He then summoned Hou Feng, Ye Zhigui, Zhuang Yingjiu, Qing Yao, and others to the room. He directly and truthfully told them about the situation in Suzhou, and then shared Zhang's opinion, asking for their thoughts.

Hou Feng hesitated for a moment and said, "Sir, the rebels are easy to deal with, but those Nian rebels are probably not so easy to deal with."

The implication was that they supported General Zhang's opinion: wait until all the reinforcements arrived before making a decision, because more people means more strength.

Upon hearing this, Qingyao nodded quickly and said it would be best to wait for reinforcements to arrive before taking action, as it would be too risky to send such a small number of people to rescue Suzhou.

Zhao An wasn't angry; he looked at Ye Zhigui and the others and asked, "What do you have to say?"

Zhuang Yingjiu and Ren Chaoyang were "inheritors" of the Grand Canal Gang. They had been hanging around in the main gang before and knew nothing about fighting. They looked at each other and didn't say a word.

Deep down, we were all quite scared.

Seeing this, Ye Zhigui scoffed, "What's so hard about dealing with the Nian rebels? They're all human. Do they think they have three heads and six arms? I've heard that the Nian rebels farm at home during the busy season and come out to rob and plunder during the off-season. To put it bluntly, they're just bandits who bully the weak and fear the strong. How tough can such scoundrels be? If you want to fight, sir, I, Ye Zhigui, will fight for you!"

Because Hou Feng and the guard Qing Yao were present, Ye Zhigui and the others dared not address Zhao An as "Young Master".

Zhao An nodded slightly. Before the Nian people became the Nian Army, they were just bandits and had no nationalistic righteousness against the Qing Dynasty. They bullied the common people a lot.

Only after coming into contact with the Taiping Army and being transformed by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom did it become a true anti-Qing armed force, and its combat effectiveness and combat mode underwent earth-shattering changes.

“You’re right. There’s nothing to be afraid of with the Nian rebels; they’re just a bunch of bandits. The White Lotus Sect only infiltrated Anhui last year and may have recruited some Nian rebels as followers, but in my opinion, most of the Nian rebels are not necessarily for the White Lotus Sect’s use. Even if the two are temporarily united, it’s only for their own benefit.”

The slightest setback will cause the Nian Rebellion and the White Lotus Sect to become disloyal. Therefore, our real target is the White Lotus rebels, while we can use a combination of suppression and appeasement to deal with the Nian Rebellion.

Zhao An's judgment was basically correct. Based on the intelligence provided by Liu Bao, he judged that the White Lotus sect members who started the uprising in Suzhou did not actually have the consent of their leader Liu Zhixie. Therefore, the White Lotus sect members in Suzhou were "going it alone," meaning that there were very few true fanatics.

The reason why such a large-scale disturbance occurred was simply because a large number of disaster victims suddenly gathered in Suzhou, which provided the "soil" for the White Lotus Rebellion.

The lack of siege equipment meant that the White Lotus Rebellion in Suzhou was all bark and no bite. Once the Qing army reacted, these people would not succeed.

Therefore, he had to fight this battle; he absolutely could not hide in the background and let Zhu Gui steal the limelight and regain the old master's trust.

To put it bluntly, this battle was fought for the old man's benefit.

It is a political battle that must be won, and it must be won spectacularly.

The old man needs to know that Zhao Youlu is not only capable of getting things done and making money for him, but also of fighting enemies for him.

There were still three years until the first year of the Jiaqing reign. In that year, Fukang'an and Hailancha both died, and the Qing Dynasty could not find a third capable general among the Eight Banners.

We can only look among the pro-CCP and pro-DPP groups.

Having no other choice, Zhao An had to present himself as a renowned general in the bondservant class.

(End of this chapter)