Han’s Son is Not a Slave

Chapter 1153: The Wind And Rain In Zhongshan Turn Pale Yellow

Zhenjiang is only 140 miles away from the southern capital. If you walk, you can get there in a day. If you can get there in half a day by carriage, it will be faster if you ride a horse.

Zhou Shixiang likes to ride horses, which has something to do with his previous life as a cavalryman, and nothing can show the commander-in-chief of an army more than riding a horse.

It’s a pity that the Daqing horse that was snatched from Yunlong was killed in the battle under the city of Yangzhou. Although this mount is also a good Mongolian horse, Zhou Shixiang always felt that it was not as good as Daqing horse. Perhaps, in his heart, Daqing Ma is not just a horse, but his comrade-in-arms.

Once upon a time, no matter which trip, Zhou Shixiang would be a cavalry soldier. But this time to Nanjing, Zhou Shixiang chose to take a carriage. One is to keep a low profile, so as not to be “misunderstood” by the outside world; the other is to see the recovery of people’s livelihood along the way.

Since Jiashen, not only have the population declined sharply, but people’s livelihood has also withered. After 20 years, most of the original official roads have become incomplete and disappeared in the weeds. Except for the main roads (leading to provincial capitals and important traffic areas) that have to be repaired by the people, most of the roads are still abandoned.

Guangdong, which is the best developed country, also has a 70 percent rate of abandoned roads in its territory. It is not that the Yamen, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, did not think about organizing manpower and material resources to repair these abandoned roads, but due to the population factor, they could not organize enough road repairers.

For example, Luodingzhou City, which was when the Taiping Army started, is now a ghost town with no one living there, and where can the “Master” come from to recruit and recruit. This is still the case in Guangdong, not to mention other provinces.

The latest provincial population roster has been reported, and the situation is better than two years ago, but the overall situation is still not optimistic.

Among the provinces actually controlled by the Taiping Army, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Hunan have the largest populations. Among them, Jiangsu has 4.7 million Dingkou, Zhejiang has 5.12 million Dingkou, and Hunan has 2.9 million Dingkou. In the remaining provinces, Guangdong had 1.69 million (an increase of 110,000), Guangxi had 1.04 million (an increase of 50,000), Fujian had 1.39 million, and Jiangxi had 1.43 million.

Because Guizhou and Yunnan have just been occupied, the grass-roots government has not yet been fully established and effectively ruled, and there are a large number of natives in the two provinces, so the population data has not yet been counted. Optimistic estimates put the population of Dingkou in the two provinces at around 2 million, of which the Han population may be less than half.

Hubei nominally belongs to the Dingwu regime, but Yuan Zongdi, the governor of Hubei, was born in the loyal camp, and the relationship between the loyal camp and the Taiping Army is also similar to a cooperative ally relationship, so Hubei is a bit unheard of for the Dingwu Central Committee. Listening to the tune, it is very independent, and naturally it is impossible to carry out a “census” according to Zhou Shixiang’s requirements like other provinces.

In addition, Hubei and Hunan originally belonged to the province of Huguang. After the Great Western Army went north to fight against the Qing Dynasty, Huguang has always been the main battlefield of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Years of wars will inevitably lead to a decline in the population. After the Zhongzhen Camp left Kuidong, in order to expand rapidly, it forced the strong people in Hubei and looted it, causing production in Hubei to stop and people scattered. Therefore, even if Hubei was willing and able to conduct a census, the number of people in the territory would never exceed that of Hunan.

Jiangsu used to be South Zhili, and in the early years of Hongwu, the population was as high as 11.29 million. After more than two hundred years of development in the Ming Dynasty, the population was as high as more than 30 million. Now there are only more than 4.7 million, which is not as good as Zhejiang, which had only half of its population. The main reason is that when the Qing army moved south, almost all counties in Jiangsu were slaughtered (especially in the south of the Yangtze River), and some places were slaughtered continuously, making Jiangsu the province with the largest population loss, compared to Sichuan, which has become a “no man’s land”. even more serious.

If other provinces were more or less affected by natural disasters and rogues, which led to a severe population decline, then Jiangsu’s population decline was entirely caused by the Manchu Qing massacre, and Jiangsu’s degree of rebellion against the Manchu Qing was also the highest among the provinces.

Although each province’s character has dropped terribly, even so, the Taiping Army actually controls the province’s population of about 21 million, which is already the force with the largest population of the Ming, Qing, and Wu clans.

The number of people is great, and the population is the cornerstone of a country’s development and strength. Zhou Shi’s emphasis on population recovery is no less than the Northern Expedition to destroy the entire Qing Dynasty. Therefore, after the riots in the south of the Yangtze River subsided, Zhou Shixiang took the opportunity to vigorously promote the construction of villages and townships, replacing the old system in the south of the Yangtze River with a new system, in order to stabilize the local area, restore production, and enable the people who suffered from the war to have better conditions to reproduce.

Most of the Tonglu rioting gentry who participated in the Jiangnan riots were uprooted by the whole family or even their clans, and a large amount of land was stripped from these gentry.

Some gentry who did not pass the prisoners but chose to be “neutral” after the riots began were also warned and persuaded to donate food. The gentry who participated in the rioting and rioting, but woke up in time after the riot, and turned to help the government to suppress the religious people, were more or less relieved of their guilt. Wang Shirong, who presided over the anti-revolutionary movement, asked these gentry to pay for the repair of houses for the victims, or to raise funds to build orphanages and homes for the elderly. And those gentry who stood firmly on the side of the Taiping Army got their reward.

After Wang Shirong’s report and Zhou Shi’s blind date approval, more than 200 children of enlightened gentry were recommended to be sent to the Wubei School in Nanjing and the middle schools in Nandu, Suzhou and other places. Roughly the same number of children of enlightened gentry were recruited into the six houses of the yamen and village offices of the prefectures and counties, and honored those gentry, so that they could break away from the original gentry circle and become the most staunch supporters of the Taiping Army.

…………

On the carriage, Zhou Shixiang appraised the memorials sent from various places, while feeling the idyllic scenery outside the carriage. However, he always felt that the scenery outside was a bit awkward. The reason for the awkwardness is that the prefect of Zhenjiang didn’t know which tendon was attached to the wrong head, and it even made people brush all the folks on both sides of the official road with white lime, which was very eye-catching.

Could it be that this is a common problem of bureaucracy?

Perhaps, the prefect of Zhenjiang had a good starting point, and he didn’t want the commander to see too dilapidated houses along the way, but Zhou Shixiang’s kindness was obviously not bought by Zhou Shixiang. It’s just that Zhou Shixiang didn’t intend to trouble the Zhenjiang prefect about this matter, because in his previous life, local officials liked to do this. As if brushing those broken houses with white lime, they look brand new.

Zhou Shixiang was still satisfied with this official road from Zhenjiang to the southern capital. This official road generally still maintains the appearance before Jiashen. The foundations are very smooth along the way, and there are occasional damages, which are also repaired by the people of Zhenjiang and Shuntian.

Compared with other provinces, even Guangdong, which is currently the best developed, the road conditions in the Jiangnan area are excellent, and the degree of perfection is much better. This is mainly due to the fact that when these official roads were built, stone slabs were basically used as the roadbed, and no matter how bad they were, they were paved with stones. Therefore, unlike other places where they cut corners and materials for financial reasons, after the 20 years of war, the official roads in the south of the Yangtze River can still be used. undertake its due mission.

The better the economy, the better the transportation facilities, because this is the demand of business. With convenient transportation, business will naturally be brought in, thereby improving the livelihood of local people. Zhou Shixiang understood this truth. When he was in Guangdong, he wrote a slogan to the Guangdong Governor’s Yamen, “To get rich, build roads first.”

It is a pity that other places cannot be like Jiangnan, after all, there are differences in regional economic development. Now that the population has lost a lot, I am afraid that it will not be restored to more than 200 million people in the heyday of the Ming Dynasty within a few decades. Without enough manpower, even the best idea can only be a castle in the air.

……..

Zhou Shixiang had ordered Yuan Zongdi, the governor of Hubei, to find a way to get King Han from Hao Yaoqi. If the other party can do it, the matter of Hubei’s incorporation into the central government can be slowed down. After all, the factor of the loyalty camp must be taken into account.

If the Taiping Army were to enter Hubei now, I’m afraid that Li Laiheng and the others who were fighting Kaifeng in Henan would really have no way out.

It is Zhou Shixiang’s wish to peacefully resolve the Loyalty Camp, and even Wu Sangui. Compared with the Manchu Qing, both of them are Han people, the former holds the banner of the Ming Dynasty high, and the latter, although helping Zhou to abuse, is now fighting the Manchu **** blood, so from the perspective of the overall situation of restoring China, Zhou Shixiang is really There is no need to go to war with them.

If Wu Sangui is willing to surrender, Zhou Shixiang doesn’t mind letting him enjoy the same treatment as a prince like Li Jinguo and Li Laiheng, and can even choose a piece of land for them in Yongzhen in the future in areas other than the two capitals and eighteen provinces. It can be done in Liaodong, Northwest China, or even overseas. But this does not depend on Zhou Shixiang, but on Wu Sangui and Li Laiheng themselves.

A few days ago, Tang Sanshui, who had taken the responsibility of guarding Kaifeng by accident, sent someone to deliver a letter. In the letter, it was Dao’s grievance, saying how the Loyalty Camp was desperately fighting Kaifeng, and almost broke the city several times. He really lived a long life in the city, and begged Zhou Shixiang to see that he could send troops northward for the sake of no credit and hard work, forcing the Zhongzhen Battalion to retreat back to southern Henan and stay honest. Otherwise, he was really worried that he would not be able to complete the sacred mission entrusted by His Royal Highness King Qi.

Zhou Shixiang couldn’t help this. Brother Sanshui thought it was simple, but Zhou Shixiang really wanted to send the Taiping army north, and Kaifeng would be really dangerous. Because the Loyalty Camp would only regard the Taiping army heading north as reinforcement allies, not as enemies. As long as the news of the Taiping Army’s northward movement reached the city of Kaifeng, the veteran generals of the Loyalty Battalion would definitely have been beaten by chicken blood, throwing their cannon fodder into the city of Kaifeng without life or expense. At that time, Brother Sanshui was really dangerous.

Moreover, now that the Taiping Army is being reorganized, there is no way to send troops north. In response to Tang Sanshui’s temperament, Zhou Shixiang happily continued to draw a big cake for him. In the letter, he said that the brother’s hard work, the younger brother did not know, so when the big event is completed, the prince will reward him.

Tang Sanshui wrote a letter asking for help, and there was a letter from Wu Chongshan, but what he said was different from Tang Sanshui, the straight road to Kaifeng was solid, and there was no danger of falling. As a result, Zhou Shixiang was even more unlikely to send troops north. Instead, he sent an order to Jiang He to raise a batch of rations to send to the Zhongzhen Camp, lest they could not survive in Kaifeng.

In addition, there was one thing that Tang San said in the letter that Zhou Shixiang took seriously.

Tang Sanshui said in a letter that Aobai sent a group of captured Wu army generals to Kaifeng, among them Wu Sangui’s fierce general Gao Dajie. When he was sent, he was half-dead, so he was placed in the Kaifeng prison. Henan Governor Jia Hanfu wanted to behead Gao Dajie and others directly, and then sent their heads to Beijing, but was stopped by Tang Sanshui, because he knew that Zhou Shixiang was bribing Wu Sangui’s subordinates, so he felt that if he could save these captured Wu generals , may be useful in the future.

When he heard about Wang Pingfan’s death that day, Zhou Shixiang couldn’t help sighing, and in his reply, he told Tang Sanshui to rescue the captured Wu generals no matter what, and then find a way to send them out of the city, and the people from the Military Intelligence Department would take them back to Jiangnan. . In any case, these people were generals who fought against the Qing, and Zhou Shixiang couldn’t bear to see them executed by the Qing court.

At Wu Sangui, he is still in a stalemate with Ao Bai.

Although Wu Sangui’s troops and horses are still stronger than Aobai, they have suffered consecutive defeats, the army’s morale has fluctuated, and the transportation of grain and grass in the army is also difficult. It is difficult to launch a major offensive again in the short term.

Now, in addition to being busy transporting grain and grass from Shaanxi and Gansu to Henan to support the war, Wu Jun is also splitting troops into Shanxi, trying to attract Aobai to divide his troops.

However, Aobai was not fooled. Sony and Suksaha, who presided over the government, entered the palace together to meet the Empress Dowager, and then asked him to lead his troops to Shanxi to defend against the enemy without Dunbai’s knowledge. Dunbai was furious, but did not dare to go against the will of the Empress Dowager, so he could only take a few thousand Beijing Eight Banners to Shanxi.

Zhou Shixiang felt that Wu Sangui would not have a big harvest in Shanxi because he was not Li Zicheng back then.

When Li Zicheng annihilated Sun Chuanting, the last heavy-armed group in the Ming Dynasty, it was really smooth sailing. Wherever he went, the Ming army all surrendered to the wind. But now, Wu Sangui has not been able to annihilate Aobai, the last heavy force of the Qing army. For the Qing court and for those Qing army generals, they still have hope, so it is impossible to be the same as the Ming army who surrendered to Li Zicheng. The criticism was directed towards Wu Sangui.

The premise of peaceful resolution of Wu Sangui is that Wu Jun can no longer win victory on the battlefield, and even face the crisis of internal collapse. Only in this way can Wu Sangui completely dispel his ambitions and turn to Zhou Shixiang to admit defeat.

Therefore, Zhou Shixiang certainly did not want Wu Sangui to win. Otherwise, he would not drag him down and send troops to Yunnan and Guizhou, and now he ordered the third theater to prepare to go out of Sichuan and enter Shaanxi to fight.

Shandong side ~ www.readwn.com ~ Yu Qi Uprising Army has hit a high tide. Huang Wu, the governor of Shandong and the Duke of Haicheng, who was appointed by the Qing court, couldn’t stand it at all, so he could only put the hope of pacifying the chaos on Beiletuntai. Tun Tai’s department has now arrived in Dezhou, and they should pounce on Denglai at the latest by the end of the month.

Zheng Mingjun, a naval master from the East China Sea, sent a battle report. The sailor had entered the waters of Laizhou, but he was not attacked by the Chiang Rai water camp, not even resisting. After discovering the large ship of the Ming army on the sea, the deputy general of the Laizhou water camp did not even want a boat, so he took his subordinates to flee the water camp in a hurry.

At present, the East Sea Division is deploying the defense line at the Laizhou Water Camp, leveling the wharf, and at the same time sending people to contact the Qiyi Army.

This is good news.

After taking his eyes back from the car window, Blind Li’s voice sounded outside: “Master, Nandu is here.”

“Is it there?”

Zhou Shixiang stuck his head out of the car window. In front of you is the Zhongshan Mountain – the yellow Zhongshan Mountain from the wind and rain.

……………………………………