Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 733

A few days later, at noon on July 1794, 7, Zhao Xin and Deng Fei arrived in Kaiyuan County together, accompanied by the entire Eastern Front Headquarters.

At present, the two regiments of the Northern Navy have crossed Tieling and built fortifications on the north bank of the Pu River, more than 30 miles north of Shengjing.Another three regiments marched westward along the north bank of the Liaohe River, and removed many fortresses and castles established by the Qing army on the north bank of the Liaohe River one by one.Their ultimate goal was to occupy the Juliuhe post station a hundred miles west of Fengtian, and deploy defenses on the west bank of the Liaohe River to prevent the Shengjing Qing army from fleeing towards Guangning, and at the same time prevent the [-] cavalry composed of Horqin and Karaqin from the north from supporting Fengtian.

When the group arrived at Anyuan Gate in the north of Kaiyuan City on horseback, Zhao Xin, who was very interested, proposed to go around the city wall, and Deng Fei readily agreed.

Kaiyuan was actually called "Kaiyuan" before the Ming Dynasty. In the Jin Dynasty, it was affiliated to Xianzhou Road, and in the Yuan Dynasty, it was affiliated to the Tokyo Xingzhongshu Province, and the level of administrative construction was very high.In the 21st year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty, after the Ming Dynasty unified the Northeast region, it became the belly of the Ming Dynasty. In order to avoid the taboo of Zhu Yuanzhang's name, the word "Yuan" was changed to "Yuan", so it got its name.

At that time, Kaiyuan City was the stationed army city of the generals on North Si Road, the capital of Liaodong. a pass.The famous "Thirty Thousand Guards" was established in Kaiyuan 21 years after Hongwu.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the Liaodong area suffered from repeated wars, and many cities were severely damaged and dilapidated, and Kaiyuan City was the same.When Qianlong visited the east in the 43rd year, he saw that the city wall was so dilapidated, so he allocated 10,000+ taels of silver to rebuild the city, which took three years to complete.The new city largely follows the old site of the Ming Dynasty, and the city gate also follows the previous name.

After the Ninggu Pagoda was laid down in Beihai Town, Shengjing raised the two-foot-four city wall to three feet, reinforced three corner towers and 24 forts, and at the same time opened the original four-foot-wide moat to the outside. It widened to five feet, and the water depth exceeded three meters.However, the irony is that in the eyes of the Qing court, the impenetrable fortress was useless against the artillery fire of the Northern Navy washing the city walls.

Zhao Xin walked up to the top of the city, looking at the hills from Weiyuan Castle to Ying'er Gate in the north, undulating like a giant snake.To the southeast lies the remnant of the Changbai Mountain, with luxuriant forests; to the west is the rolling Liaohe River, which flows southward like a silver dragon.He couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "Gu Yanwu once said that this place is the edge of the border, a town with wings, located in the upper reaches of the Liao Dynasty, and a dangerous stronghold in the eastern frontier. When I saw it today, it really lived up to its reputation."

Deng Fei nodded and said: "Yes! The north gate of Liaodong. This place is a treasure land. It needs mines and grains, and Lao Chen and the others are busy. By the way, do you think it is necessary to build a canal? Connect the water system of the Liaohe River and the Songhua River?"

Zhao Xin thought for a while, then shook his head decisively and said: "Don't worry about it, it's serious to repair the road first, and then the railway will be connected. And the Liaohe River is not easy to deal with, there will be a flood every few years, no If we spend a lot of effort to rectify it, we will have endless relief in the future. The Manchus are gone, and this burden can only be carried by us.”

Deng Fei laughed and said: "This is not right. Take down Shengjing and let those tens of thousands of captives build roads and embankments!"

In the Qing Dynasty, the most important natural disaster in the entire Liaoning area was floods.Historically, in the 175 years from the first year of Qianlong to the end of the Qing Dynasty, there were 294 floods in the Liaohe River Basin.

Similar to the problem of the Yellow River, the sediment concentration of the rivers in the Northeast is relatively high, especially in the lower reaches of the Liaohe River and the Xiaolinghe River. Due to the continuous elevation of the river bed due to sediment deposition, it is very easy to flood.

When the flood came, it was followed by a food crisis and a major epidemic.Banditry was rampant in Northeast China at the end of the Qing Dynasty. Of course there were other social backgrounds and economic factors, but frequent floods were also the main catalyst for the emergence of banditry.

At present, Beihai Town is extremely short of water conservancy talents, and Zhao Xin has already planned to recruit some from another time and space.In addition, people from the Intelligence Bureau also contacted a water control expert named Guo Dachang in Huai'an, but unfortunately he was rejected by the other party.Thinking about it, people are very familiar with the situation in Huanghuai, but when they arrive in the Northeast, they are completely blinded, not to mention that the cold outside the pass is not something everyone can bear.

The Eastern Front Command, which moved to Kaiyuan City, set up its headquarters in the Temple of God on the north bank of the Jinxian River in the city.Don't get me wrong, this "God" is not that "God", but the Taoist Emperor Zhenwu, the God of the North, also known as "Xuantian God".So the official name of the Temple of God is "Xuanzhen Temple".

In the early Ming Dynasty, it was the vassal residence of Zhu Song, the No. 20 son of Zhu Yuanzhang, King of Han.Afterwards, the second generation of Han Wang Zhu Chongyu lived here for 15 years, and later it was renamed Pingliang.

Because of Zhao Xin's lesson in Qitai Guandi Temple, the guard battalion of the headquarters simply drove most of the Taoist priests in the temple to the nearby Town God's Temple, leaving only an abbot and a Taoist boy.

When Zhao Xin walked into the temple, before he could pay his respects to the golden body of Emperor Zhenwu, the staff officer in charge of communication handed him a telegram and said softly, "Anping Port, Director Xu is calling."

Zhao Xin took it over and took a look, good guy, the telegrams are densely written.When he took a closer look, it turned out that it was Xu Dayong who asked for instructions about He Shen's conditions.He glanced roughly at ten lines at a time, handed it to Deng Fei with a smile and said, "Look, you and your lord have made a fool of yourself again."

Deng Fei took a few glances at it, and said in surprise, "It's really a lion! I don't see a rabbit or a hawk."

Zhao Xindao: "Don't look at his incompetence in military affairs, but he is very good at calculating economic and political accounts. He has already seen that our current military strength is insufficient and we can't take care of Yunnan and Guizhou, so he wants to follow Wu Sangui as the king of Yunnan."

Well, although He Shen has a choice in mind, if he thinks that he will willingly hand over the money in this way, it would be too small for "Master He".On the second day after the meeting with Xu Dayong, he asked Liu Quan to send a letter, detailing the conditions proposed earlier.

As soon as He Shen came up, he said that he could give 5000 million taels, but he could only pay half of it first, and Zhao Xin could only pay the rest after Zhao Xin helped him gain a firm foothold in Yunnan.

First of all, the Northern Navy will send troops to Guangdong and Guangxi within one month, and open up the water passages from Lianzhou to Nanning Prefecture, and from Nanning Prefecture to Yunnan before the end of the year.The reason why Lianzhou was chosen instead of Qinzhou to the west was that there was a customs office there.In the first year of Qianlong's reign, the Qing court established Lianzhoukou Customs in Lianzhou Town, Hepu, which was a branch of the Guangdong Customs Hai'an General Gate.

He Shen, who is in charge of the transfer department and is well versed in economics, knows very well that Yunnan-Guizhou Mountains has many fields but few fields, and there are many dry lands. Even in a good harvest year, the output is only enough for one year, and there is no surplus food left.In addition, due to the high number of green battalion soldiers in Yunnan and Guizhou, and a large number of miners from other provinces, the annual food shortage is about 1600 million shi, and the shortage is even worse in wars.Take the Qing-Myanmar War as an example, with 12 soldiers, [-] shi of rice was consumed every day, which was [-] shi in ten months.

In the past, in order to make up for the shortage of food in Yunnan and Guizhou, the Qing government and local governments would allocate or purchase food from other provinces every year.Now that he has betrayed the imperial court, it is impossible to even think about buying grain from neighboring provinces.But if the Beihai Navy can help open up the transportation from the coast to Yunnan, then he can buy a large amount of low-priced rice from Annan or Siam, and then transport the grain to Nanning Prefecture, and then pass through the Youjiang River system of [-] miles, Ship directly into Yunnan.

The problem is that if you want to buy food to support the soldiers and the people, you must have enough money.So he immediately proposed that Beihai Town should provide him with better mining equipment and smelting technology to increase Yunnan's copper production.

Today, the annual output of copper in Yunnan province exceeds 1000 million jin, and the highest level in history has reached 400 million jin.Although the production of copper mines in Shunning Prefecture in the west has gradually increased since the 38th year of Qianlong, Dongchuan Prefecture in the north of Kunming is still the most important place for copper mines.

Heshen has been in charge of the Shangyu Reserve Department for so many years, and has sent a large number of spies to conduct all-round spying on Beihai Town.Although there is very little intelligence on the military, there is still a lot of intelligence on the economy and people's livelihood.Among other things, the 300 million-ton "super-large" steel plant in Khabarovsk alone can't hide it if you want to.

When he figured out what the concept of "ton" in Beihai Town was, the shock in his heart was beyond words.Looking back at the imperial court, 1000 million catties of copper per year sounds like a lot, but it is only 6000 in "tons".Although He Shen did not understand the mining and smelting technology used by Beihai Town, it was definitely more efficient than the technology used by the imperial court.

Copper in these years is almost equal to money. As long as the smelting is completed, money can be minted immediately.Copper coins from the Manchu Qing Dynasty circulate throughout Asia. As long as you have money, what can you not buy?

In addition to the above two requirements, He Shen also put forward a more important requirement, which must be endorsed by Zhao Xin himself, and that is about his future.

He Shen means that as long as you give me enough arms aid, he can help Beihai Town take over northern Myanmar.But the problem is that Zhao Xin must give him and his family a guarantee like a "gold medal for avoiding death", and Yunnan will be handed over to him for 20 years.

Deng Fei returned the telegram to Zhao Xin, with a playful expression on his face, and said: "He is going to build an independent kingdom! I remember you said that his son-in-law is still a clan. With the copper mine, 5000 million yuan will be sold in a blink of an eye. earn it back.”

Zhao Xin shook his head and said: "My lord had a good idea, but you think he made Qianlong into such a trap, can Yongyan and Fukang'an spare him? The copper mine in Dongchuan Prefecture is too important to the Qing Dynasty, so that's okay. It's all money!"

"Do you think Fukang'an will send troops from Sichuan?"

Zhao Xin walked slowly to the entrance of the main hall, looked at the statue of Emperor Zhenwu surrounded by cigarettes with his hands behind his back, thought for a moment, and said, "The combined strength of the Green Camp in Yunnan and Guizhou exceeds [-]. He Shen thought he could buy everything with money. But he forgot that Fukang'an's prestige in the Qing army is too high."

"Seventy thousand?!" Deng Fei showed a surprised expression after hearing this number.

"Yes." Zhao Xin then gave Deng Fei a rough explanation.These situations were obtained by the Beijing Intelligence Station from a handwritten note from the Department of Officials Clearance in the Arsenal of the Ministry of War.

It is said that after the San Francisco Rebellion, although the Manchu Qing did not station the Eight Banners troops in the Yunnan-Guizhou area, due to the complicated ethnic situation and the location at the border, they have always maintained a huge green battalion force.In particular, during the Yongzheng era, the unprecedented scale of reforming the land and returning to the natives, in order to suppress those Miao and Yi chieftains who were unwilling to reform, and maintain stability on the frontier, the number of troops soared to 8000.

You must know that under the rule of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, 11 governor-level "military regions" were established in various places in the pass, including Zhili, Shandong, Shanxi, Henan, Liangjiang, Fujian and Zhejiang, Huguang, Shaanxi, Gansu, Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, and Guangdong and Guangxi. 66 towns, 1169 battalions, and a total of 64 soldiers.The military strength of a single Yunnan-Guizhou area exceeds one-tenth, so it can be said that it is not taken seriously.

In the early days of Qianlong, due to the problem of food consumption, the green camp in Yunnan was slightly reduced. However, with the outbreak of the Qing-Myanmar War in the mid-term and the emergence of Beihai Town later, the scale of troops in Yunnan-Guizhou, especially Yunnan, increased again, properly exceeding 5 5000 people, and Guizhou has also increased to [-]; Among them, Yunnan has three sub-districts, six towns, five associations, and fourteen battalions, while Guizhou has four towns with one sub-standard.

In the six years from the 53rd year of Qianlong to the 58th year of Qianlong’s reign, the Beihai Navy wiped out nearly [-] green camps in Ningguta, Jilin, Hunchun, six northern towns, and Jiaodong, and it was the most effective part; so Yunnan-Guizhou The [-] troops in the area are definitely a very important military force for the dying Manchu Qing Dynasty.

Regardless of He Lin being the governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, the Manchu Qing system of restricting the power of the feudal officials was quite mature. The governor had no independent financial and civil rights, let alone military power.Among the 5000 troops, only Dubiao, Kunming City Shouying, Qu Xunxie and Xunzhanying were directly under his command, with a total of more than [-] people.Without the emperor's order, the governor and admiral can completely ignore him.

By the way, Ma 83 led people to the front station this time, in addition to notifying He Lin, the other thing was to win over local officials and the commanders of the towns.

After listening to Zhao Xin's analysis, Deng Fei frowned and said: "If this is the case, the battle plan of Guangdong and Guangxi must not only be advanced, but also greatly revised. Do you plan to let Lao Wang or Xiao Ding be responsible?"

Zhao Xin pondered for a long time, and said: "Bacheng is too important, someone must guard it, and must keep an eye on Manila. Lu Qi started a war with the Spaniards in Jinmen, and Manila will take action sooner or later.

India. We still have to maintain a heavy army. We all know the virtues of the British. As long as the treaty is not signed, there are still variables.And the Danish territory hasn't been taken down yet!

Sigh~~ I originally promised Luo Fangbai that they could return to their hometown this year, but now it seems that it will be postponed.Let He Xiwen go, Lan Heying's people should have been trained almost, and some of them will be transferred from Zheng Wenxian's fleet. "

At this time, some of the several staff officers following the two suddenly said: "Chief, there is something I haven't had time to report to you. The Kaiyuan county magistrate who surrendered was an official in Guangxi before."

"Oh? What's that man's name?"

"Liu Daguan."

　[-]. The number of soldiers per battalion of the green battalion in the Qing Dynasty did not have a unified fixed establishment.The determination of the number of troops in each battalion is not based on the names of Xie, Ying, and Xun, but according to the needs of defense and changes in the war.[-]. The organizational characteristics of the green battalion system are as follows: In addition to the various standards, the green battalion has a three-level organizational system of association, battalion, and flood, but it is not neat. "Xie" means to help guard the key points of the town. In other words, only at the traffic hubs will there be Xie, and its chief is the deputy general.Under each association, there are several camps or no camps.Some battalions are under the association, and some battalions do not have an association-level organizational system, and are directly under the jurisdiction of the supervisor or bidder, the bidder, and the township bidder.However, the dominion relationship between the battalion and the bid supervisor, or the bidders, the bidders, and the town bidders did not remain unchanged for a long time.Some battalions have a system similar to that of the association, and there are two or three battalions below; battalions set up in important places also govern one or several smaller battalions.The commander of the battalion under the concurrent jurisdiction has a lower rank.The battalion officials include generals, guerrillas, chiefs, guards, and even generals and generals. "Flood" is separated from the association or battalion, and is responsible for flood control and part-time maintenance of the place.In some flood seasons, there is no association and battalion system, and the troops are stationed separately by the General Manager Qian, the General Manager, and the Foreign Committee, and there are dozens of soldiers in each flood season.The general soldiers of Xun led by President Qian were more than the battalion led by the president.In addition to patrolling the entire flood area, the flood soldiers also sent some soldiers to defend the "ponds" set up in various places. The number of soldiers in each pond was one to several.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)