Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 744 Zhu Shijun leaves Wuzhou

Just as the big drama in Yulin City was kicking off, and the moon cakes and rewards offered in vain attracted the people of the four counties, and He Xiwen's troops were also gearing up in secret, preparing to go out on the night of August [-]th to surprise Teng County. Gui suddenly led an army of [-] troops to Wuzhou City.

Just after the morning of August [-]th, Hu Youren, the prefect of Wuzhou, led his subordinates, Tongzhi, Tongju, Xuezheng, and the magistrate of Cangwu County, to the wharf outside Nanxunmen with a full set of ceremonial books.Along with him was Xu Guocai, deputy general of the Wuzhou Association.

"My lord! Master Taiwan's official ship has already passed the Longzhou Pond, and it will be there in two sticks of incense."

Hearing the report, Hu Youren led a group of bureaucrats to get up and leave the receiving hall, and came to the shore to wait.The climate in Guangxi in August is hot, and the hot weather seems to be able to burn people.Although the officials with status had servants who kept fanning and wearing parasols over their heads, bean-sized beads of sweat still dripped down their cheeks.

When everyone was drenched in sweat, they saw a magnificent black building slowly approaching from the east. On both sides and behind the ship, there were endless troop carriers like long snakes. Including rice boats, oar boats, fast horses, fast crab boats, fishing boats, etc., the decks of each ship are full of colorful flags, and the momentum is amazing.Such a scene made the banks of the Xunjiang River full of onlookers.

Although Wuzhou had received the bill a long time ago, the scene in front of them still made all the officials including Hu Youren very excited, which is too awesome!

"Fu Zun, Master Taiwan will lead the army, and my Wuzhou Mansion will be safe and sound."

"My Wuzhou has such a large army, no matter how aggressive Zhao Ni is, he will definitely return home in defeat!"

Hearing the elated discussions of the people behind him, Hu Youren couldn't help heaving a sigh of relief, thinking that with this large army, at least Wuzhou City should be safe, and he hoped that He Xiwen's men would retreat in spite of the difficulties.

Ever since Bei Haijun occupied Bobai and quickly captured Yulin Mansion, Hu Youren, the prefect of Wuzhou, hasn't had a good night's sleep.Although he has never faced the Beihai Navy directly, who is not afraid of the Manchu Qing officials all over the world?

Although Wuzhou is located in a remote place in Guangxi, it is located at the confluence of the Xunjiang River and the Guijiang River system, with developed shipping, and business travelers from all directions converge, and the news is very well-informed. The news from Guangzhou can be known within a month.

Speaking of the prosperity of Wuzhou's business in the Qing Dynasty, it can be explained with just one example.

The Qing court divided the state capitals of the world by "missing".That is to say, on the basis of "overwhelming, complex, exhausting, and difficult", four levels of most needed, needed, middle needed, and simple needed are derived.And among the 180 and three state capitals in Guannei today, there are five most in short supply—super fat vacancies, which make countless fourth-rank officials yearn for them.If you can serve as an official, you can basically fill in the shortfalls from being an official before, and you can also become rich in your own life, so that your family will no longer have to worry about money.

The five most important areas are Kuizhou in Sichuan, Guangzhou and Chaozhou in Guangdong, and Xunzhou and Wuzhou in Guangxi.Among them, the annual income of the prefect of Kuizhou in Sichuan is as high as 20 taels of silver, and the annual income of the four prefectures of Guang, Chao, Xun, and Wu is more than 10 taels.

Yes, you read that right, there is no one in Jiangnan, which is known as the land of fatness.The reason for this situation is that the above-mentioned five prefectures all guard the throat of the waterway, and whether it is in eastern Sichuan or Guangdong and Guangxi, the land transportation is too poor, and business travelers can only use the waterway.This is not the case in the south of the Yangtze River. The rivers are like a net, and no government can control all the water systems.

Because of the high income that other states and counties can't match, the prefects of these five vacancies have always been elected for two years.Whoever dares to break the rules and seek re-election will be punished by all four officials.

Hu Youren is heartbroken. In order to get this position the year before last, he gave 10 taels to He Shen alone.Almost half of them were borrowed by him from lenders in Beijing.As the saying goes, three years to clear the magistrate, one hundred thousand snowflake silver, he can earn this amount by staying in Wuzhou for one year.

In order to make enough money in his tenure and firmly control the tax customs, when he took office, he brought more than 200 domestic slaves alone, and it was a lot of money to eat horse chews every day.After a year of busy work, I finally paid back the previous loan. Seeing that the rest of the money will be my own, Bei Haijun is here.

Although the main battlefield between the Beihai Navy and the Qing Dynasty has been outside the customs these years, don't forget that there is still a corner in Jiaodong.As a result, some governance methods and policies of Beihai Town were gradually known to officials from all over the Manchu and Qing Dynasties.

Such as the abolition of slaves and maidservants, reduction of commercial taxes, prefectural and county officials having no other income other than regular salaries, organization of peasant associations in various townships, land reform, etc., one by one, all of which made it impossible for the bureaucratic group of the Manchu Qing accept.The so-called stealing money is like killing parents, Hu Youren is determined to defend Wuzhou for the sake of money.

Hmm. I can't beat it, let's say I can't beat it.

As the big ship from the Heilou got closer and closer, the bright yellow banner on the ship became more and more conspicuous. Under the bright sun, the words on it could be read clearly: Imperial Order Cabinet Bachelor, Prince Taibao, Minister of the Ministry of War, Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, Governor of Guangdong Zhu.

Hu Youren hastily ordered to fire the cannons and play music. In an instant, the cannons exploded three times in succession with "boom tom tom", white smoke curled up, followed by drum music.

When the official ship approached, a military general on the deck had already raised the door curtain, and saw a gray-bearded official walking out of the cabin slowly.This man is not tall, with a big round face of good fortune, with a foot-long beard under his jaw, wearing a stone-blue official uniform with a crane patch, a yellow mandarin jacket, and a ruby ​​root under the crown. Double-eyed peacock feathers.

He is Zhu Gui Zhu Shijun who is known as the "Emperor Master" and currently serves as the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi.

Well, let us welcome the youngest super-scholar who has been a Jinshi since the Qing Dynasty, Chi Chi Chi Chi!

It is said that Zhu Gui is a super scholar because he was admitted as a scholar when he was young, he was promoted at the age of 17, and he was awarded a Jinshi at the age of 18, which attracted the attention of scholars all over the world.In the history of another time and space, if the Daoguang Dynasty hadn't produced an even more awesome Xueba with the surname Lin, who was admitted as a scholar at the age of 9 and a Jinshi at the age of 15, Zhu Gui would definitely be in the top spot.

What are you thinking!Not Lin Zexu.The man's name was Lin Tingxi, and he was from the same town as Lin Zexu.

In the 45th year of Qianlong, 49-year-old Zhu Gui left Beijing to take up the post of Fujian Xuezheng, and has been going around in the south.In the following ten years, he and Yongyan have been keeping in touch with each other through letters. Even though they are thousands of miles apart, their friendship has not diminished in the slightest.Among Xie Yong, Feng Kuan, Zhu Gui, Wang Jie, Liu Yong, etc., Yong Yan and Zhu Gui have the best relationship.

Why did Heshen in history prevent Zhu Gui from entering Beijing after Jiaqing succeeded to the throne?He is not afraid of Wang Jie or Dong Gao, but what worries him most is Zhu Gui's return to Beijing.The latter has a lot of experience in political struggles from the central to the local, from the academic administration, the inspector, the chief envoy, the governor and even the governor!When the time comes to join hands with Jiaqing as a master and apprentice, he will be out of luck if he wants to be the "Second Emperor".

As for Wang Erlie, who is well-known by many people, the relationship is so-so, not as good as it is said in "The Legend of Wooden Fish and Stone", otherwise Jiaqing would not be able to check Wang Erlie's luggage when he was old.

You must know that Guangdong and Guangxi are the second fattest governor in the world, and the money you get every year is 30 taels, and Zhu Gui just happened to be the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi.Taking this kind of money has nothing to do with incorruptibility. Sitting in this position has so much income. Whoever dares to refuse is breaking the rules.

Ordinarily, as Jiaqing's most valued imperial teacher, Zhu Gui should have gone to the capital at this time, promoted to a bachelor, and joined the military aircraft department.Just after the funeral in Jiaqing, Zhu Gui was summoned to Beijing.However, by coincidence, He Xiwen landed from Lianzhou with his troops before the imperial decree arrived in Guangzhou.

In recent years, there has been no good candidate for the position of governor of Guangdong and Guangxi since Li Shijie's death. In the past few years, Guo Shixun, the governor of Guangdong, served concurrently.Last year, Guo Shixun was very ill and it seemed that he was going to die. After Qianlong received the memorial, after thinking about it, he asked Zhu Gui, who was the governor of Anhui, to go to Guangdong to serve as the governor and concurrently the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi.

Even though Zhu Gui had never led troops to fight, what Qianlong wanted was his reputation for being upright and honest for the people, and to stabilize the situation in Guangdong and Guangxi through group training.In recent years, the Qing government has suffered repeated defeats in the north, and those Tiandihui members and Bailian believers who are dormant among the people are also ready to move.

Zhu Gui knew very well that if he went to Beijing without hesitation, the regiments training troops from all over the country would have no leader, and Guangdong and Guangxi would inevitably become a mess, and the Guangdong Customs, the emperor's pocketbook, might not be safe.General Fuchang of Guangzhou is a wimp, and the Eight Banners soldiers and the Green Battalion are useless. If you want to resist the offensive of the Beihai Navy, you can only rely on regiment training in addition to supervising and raising bids.

So he immediately sent an expedited memorial for Liubaili to Jiaqing, stating the emergency situation in Guangdong and Guangxi, and requesting to stay in office temporarily.He had been waiting in Zhaoqing for those days, just waiting for the reunion of the regiment training army in eastern Guangdong.

It is said that since Zhao Xin and Liu Sheng repelled the Qing army's attack on the Thunder God and bombarded the Xiangshan Association, Sun Shiyi, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi at the time, gave a performance to Qianlong, requesting to recruit young and strong people from the gentry and people in the counties of the Pearl River Delta, and form a village brave, so as to Resist Beihai Town's attack from the sea.Qianlong didn't agree at the beginning, fearing that it would be difficult to control once the opening was opened, but after Zhao Xin led a dozen people to turn upside down half of Guangzhou City, the large-scale formation of regiments became imminent.

No problem, Guangzhou's Eight Banners and Green Camp are really unreliable, while Guangdong's group training actually has a long-standing foundation, and it is relatively easier to operate than other regions.

Since the early years of Yongzheng, with the economic development of the counties in the Pearl River Delta, the problem of land shortage has become increasingly serious. The local gentry had no choice but to compete with water for land and build fields from sand, which caused a sharp increase in the area of ​​Shatian.In the process of reclamation of Shatian, politics, economy, and military force are all indispensable, otherwise they will be seized by people every minute; and after the reclamation of Shatian is completed, the force of self-defense must be retained, otherwise the harvest will not be preserved.

Although the Beihai Navy doesn't like these sandy fields and harvests, and won't grab them at all, but the common people don't know.Under the vigorous propaganda of the Manchu government, the North Sea pirates were more vicious than pirates, and Zhao Xin's name could even make children stop crying.

After Li Shijie took office, he worked hard to complete one of the most important things. He established the "Tuan Training Convention" in Xiangshan, Shunde, Xinhui, Dongguan, Panyu and Nanhai.During Guo Shixun's tenure, he expanded it to Zhaoqing, Huizhou and Chaozhou.

The content of the "Tuanlian Convention" is simply that each township draws funds according to the field, [-] yuan per mu of land per year, half of the main tenant, and two handovers each year, which are used to recruit and train brave men; Water fences, gun piers, and blockhouses were set up at the pass, guns and artillery were built, and civilian ships were hired; the "commanders" of each township were held by people with good conduct and people who were convinced.

After the formation of regiments in each township is completed, the governor's office in Guangdong will send a special person to review and review them together with the army's military and prefectures and counties.If the North Navy invades on a large scale or there are bandits in the local area, the commanders will be ordered to fortify the wall and clear the field, and at the same time gather and practice for battle.The governor's office of Guangdong and Guangxi and the governor's yamen of Guangdong will distribute food and rewards during the process of regiment training and combat, and reward meritorious squires with sixth-rank titles.

In the past few years after the establishment of the regiment, although the North Navy did not come, there were still small groups of South China pirates invading the inland.Ever since Deng Fei and Wang Yuanfang led the army to wipe out Mo Guanfu and Chen Tianbao, and then occupied Hoi An and Gan Ling Ao, the small group of pirates in the South China Sea were terrified. .Comparing the two, some people feel that it is safer to plunder coastal ships and villages.

However, to the surprise of this group of poor and crazy pirates, as soon as they entered the inland, the regiments from all over the country rang the gongs and bells to call the police. We can't even get off the boat, let alone go ashore for supplies.After a few years, the bandits in the outer seas and inland rivers of Guangdong disappeared and were completely wiped out.

When Zhu Gui stepped off the springboard, Hu Youren immediately snapped off the horseshoe sleeves, and led everyone present to perform the court attendance ceremony for subordinates to meet their superiors, and said in a tone of respect and a little excitement: "Hu Youren, who is humble , lead the civil and military officials of Wuzhou to meet the master of Taiwan!"

"Brother Hu, please get up! Everyone, please get up!" Zhu Gui smiled and raised his hand to help, then he clasped his fists at the officials and gentry who were welcoming him and said, "This time, everyone who came with me, except for the supervision department, There are also four thousand regiments from various townships in Zhaoqing Prefecture and Guangzhou Prefecture. If there is any trouble, please look at it for the sake of this official, and don’t take offense.”

"Don't dare! The words about making a stage are too outlandish."

"Zaotai personally led the army to come here this time, it really saved [-] people in Wuzhou from fire and water, how can it be called a nuisance."

"Exactly, in Guangdong and Guangxi, the spirit is the same, they are all a family, as the saying goes, a family does not speak two languages."

"Mr. Shi Jun's reputation spreads far and wide. Seeing him today is enough to fulfill my life's wish!"

The officials and gentry present had heard Zhu Gui's name for a long time, and seeing his sincerity and lack of arrogance, they all admired him in their hearts.No way, the governor's reputation is too great, and when they meet each other, he is three points short, and he unconsciously puts the other party in a high position psychologically.

With a smile on his face, Zhu Gui remained calm, and then introduced the civil and military officials who accompanied him to Wuzhou to everyone present.Among them are the chief soldier of Zuoyi Town who is in charge of regimental training affairs, the Guangzhaoluo sub-road patrol in charge of supervision and food and payment affairs, the deputy general of the Chinese Army who supervises the bidding of the Zhongying, the deputy general of the Zhaoqing Association, and the general of the Zhaoqing Navy Battalion.

After the welcoming ceremony was over, Zhu Gui declined the reception banquet in the reception hall, and went directly to the Wuzhou government office in eight large sedan chairs.After washing and changing clothes, he went to the signing room to talk with Hu Youren.He came up without any nonsense, and directly asked about the donations of Wuzhou gentry.

Now the treasury of the Qing court is empty, and the silver in the treasury of Guangdong Fan is far from enough.The soldiers and horses have not moved, the food and grass go first, and there is no money to reward, who will work for you?

There is no shortage of grain in the Guangdong and Guangxi regions, and the autumn harvest has just passed, and there is enough grain in the warehouses in various places, but Zhu Gui is very worried about the lack of money.Guangdong Customs did have silver, and merchants from Thirteen Bank and Guangzhou City also donated a few 10 taels, but it was for Guangdong, and it didn’t make sense to use it in Guangxi.

Hu Youren wiped the sweat from his brow, and said with shame on his face: "Reporting to the platform, I have sent out donations five days ago to several big merchants and gentry in the city, and now I have received a total of 3 taels."

"Only [-]?" Before Hu Youren could finish speaking, Zhu Gui's complexion darkened, and he interrupted, "It's too far away. This time, we have brought [-] soldiers and [-] warships. How can this amount of money be enough?" ? I heard that the richest man in Wuzhou is called Huang Genyun, known as Huang Wanwan, how much did he donate?"

"8000 taels."

"It's ridiculous. If the Northern Sea Pirates break through Wuzhou, will Huang Wanwan use his millions of wealth to honor Zhao Ni?" Zhu Gui thought that Huang Wanwan must be taken down. As long as this person takes the lead, 10,000+ taels of silver will not be difficult to get .

As soon as these words of condemnation came out, Hu Youren hurriedly explained: "For Taiwan, Huang Genyun said that it is okay to ask him to donate more money, but there is a small request, but the humble official dare not agree."

"What request does he have?" Zhu Gui's gaze became sharper, making Hu Youren feel like a thorn in his back.

"Huang Genyun, he wants to ask the producer to write a letter of congratulations to his father's Xiangxian Temple. For this, he is willing to donate 5 taels."

Cunning!Zhu Gui cursed in her heart.He has heard about the Huang family in Wuzhou for a long time. Their business reaches Nanning in the west and Guangzhou in the east.

Hu Youren saw Zhu Gui's displeasure, so he said: "Huang Genyun's donation of [-] is a bit low, but as long as he takes the lead, other gentry and merchants will donate more. When combined, it should not be less than [-]. It's just that they all hope The imperial court can reward them."

"That's natural. I will report to the emperor afterwards and invite rewards for them."

Zhu Gui nodded and said.An article can be exchanged for [-] silver. Although it takes some risks, there is no other way right now.Afterwards, he asked Hu Youren about the situation of the Xian Temple in Huang's hometown.

Why did the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi come to Wuzhou?Coincidentally, like He Xiwen, he also planned to play tricks.It's just that He Xiwen was playing bluff, taking advantage of the mid-autumn festival to sneak a thousand miles away, while Zhu Gui had other plans.

In fact, from learning that the Northern Navy landed in Lianzhou and then attacked Yulinzhou, Zhu Gui guessed that He Xiwen must not have come to fight Guangdong, but to fight Nanning.

Why?Because Zhu Gui knew the inside story of Heshen's defection, Jiaqing made it clear in the secret letter summoning him to return to Beijing.As a political opponent for many years, Zhu Gui knows He Shen's character very well, and he knows that the other party will never give up on He Lin.Now there are spies on the land and water routes from the north to the south, all looking for traces of Heshen, and if the latter wants to go to Yunnan to join his younger brother, the closest way is to go to Guangxi.

So when the Beihai Navy landed from Lianzhou, Qinzhou, which was close to the left, and Leizhou, which was on the right, did not fight, but went straight to Yulinzhou. Zhu Gui immediately understood what was going on, so he dared to take the supervisor and The training regiment from eastern Guangdong left Zhaoqing, planning to give He Xiwen a visit and buy time for Fukang'an in Sichuan.

However, Zhu Gui would not dare to fight the Beihai Navy face to face.His plan is to take advantage of the unique climate of Xunjiang, specifically the fog.

It is said that the topography of Guangxi is high in the west and north, and low in the center, east and south, resembling a basin with gaps on both sides in the southeast.After the cold air blowing from the South China Sea enters the warm and humid Guizhong Basin, it will quickly condense into water vapor, causing either rain or heavy fog.

Of course, people in the Qing Dynasty in the [-]th century certainly didn't understand these things, but the old sailors who sailed on the Xunjiang River and the Pearl River had experience, and they knew it when they asked someone.

In addition, when Zhu Gui set off from Zhaoqing, he had already sent someone to send orders to Peng Chengyao, the admiral of Guangxi who was in Xunzhou, to block the Northern Navy in Xunzhou.

　30. In the late Qing Dynasty, Ouyang Zhaoxiong specifically mentioned in his book "Water Window Mengbai": "The Governor-General takes Liangjiang as the most, with 1856 a year, followed by Guangdong, Guangxi, and Sichuan. Guangdong and Guangxi both exceed 39. Zhejiang has only [-], while Sichuan, Shaanxi, Shandong, and Shanxi Pingyu have the most, and Di and Dingju also..." Second, Lin Tingxi and Lin Zexu are only fellow villagers and have no relationship. In [-] (the sixth year of Xianfeng), Du Wenxiu of Yunnan Province rebelled and led the Hui people to attack Dali City. Lin Tingxi, who was in charge of Yixi Road at that time, died in the rebellion at the age of [-].

　　
　
(End of this chapter)