scourge the qing dynasty

Chapter 347 Two birds with one stone

(PS: There are only [-] hours left in April, ask for the last monthly pass in April, and book the monthly pass for May.)
Having learned the lesson that Nanjing was almost successfully attacked by the war god Zhang Zhang of the Qing Dynasty, Fatty Lu, who is also somewhat stubborn and paranoid, finally gave up his idea of ​​​​building an army with a small number of elites, and decided to follow the example of cruel exploitation by unscrupulous warlords that have been common in Sikong since ancient times. The people in the south of the Yangtze River, once again expanded the army, planning to expand the army size to more than 18, so as not to repeat the same mistakes last time, because the lack of troops was almost taken over by the enemy.

In fact, this is also a necessary stage for a traveler. As a traveler with the memory of later generations, Fatty Lu is of course deeply impressed by the importance of a streamlined army and streamlined administration and the various harms of redundant troops. What he pursues is the supremacy of weapons and the supremacy of elite soldiers. , try to reduce the heavy burden caused by the large-scale army on the people, and reduce military expenditures as reasonably as possible. This is also the fundamental reason why the Fat Army is sitting in the essence of the south of the Yangtze River, but only maintains an army size of less than [-].

Fatty Lu's idea is of course good, and it is what people in the south of the Yangtze River want, but it turns out that good ideas may not necessarily be applicable to reality. Fatty Lu completely forgot one thing, what he knew and pursued The elite troops, streamlined administration, and a small number of elite systems are based on advanced technologies such as industrial productivity, transportation tools, traffic roads, and communication speeds in the 21st century. However, in this era that Fatty Lu lives in, these prerequisites cannot be solved at all.

For example, the U.S. military, with only 140 million members of the sea, land and air forces, is able to deploy weapons around the world, relying on advanced satellites, aircraft, warships and aircraft carriers. These advanced means of transportation can be used to deploy troops to any corner of the world , can also put bombs and gunpowder in any region of the world, and can watch and spy on every move of any country on the earth at any time. Weapons, ammunition, gasoline and food are sent to the front line. Only in this way can the global deployment of the US military be maintained.

However, in the era that Fatty Lu lived in, the maximum grain yield per mu was no more than three or four hundred catties, and the transportation was all carried by horse-drawn people. There was a bit of waterway transportation in the sky, which was slow and costly on the road; Large-scale and restricted by waterways and water control, it will take four or five days to transfer troops from Gaoyou City, the northernmost line of the Fat Man Army, to Huzhou City, the southernmost line, even if the horses run to death, and at least ten days for normal marching. When it comes to the battlefield, the day lily may be cold.The advanced firearms that the Fat Man Army is most proud of are completely produced by primitive handicraft workshops using the most primitive technology. ?

As long as your soldiers are not enough, the enemy can exchange three lives, five lives, or even ten lives for one of your lives. When your elite soldiers are exhausted and you are finished fighting, you will not be far from death!
Besides, Fatty Lu's ambition is to compete for the world with Kang Mazi and old traitor Wu. Since Fatty Lu has such ambitious ambitions, of course the elite soldier Fatty Lu must use it, as well as the second-rate army and third-rate soldiers. Otherwise, where would Fatty Lu go to find so many cannon fodder to consume with the enemy?Where can we find so many elite soldiers to occupy hundreds of cities, cities and counties?Is it enough to rely on the less than [-] elite soldiers in your hand?Besides, the elite soldiers in the Fatty Army were originally from the Wu Army. I don’t know how much more similar elite Wu Jun is than the Fatty Army. Win Wu Jun?

Fortunately, Prince Zhang Taizhang, who almost succeeded in the sneak attack on Nanjing, sounded the alarm for Fatty Lu, and made Fatty Lu realize his fundamental mistake—from a certain point of view, our Prince Zhang really helped Fatty Lu again. Bundle.So after learning from the pain, taking advantage of the precious time gained after the repelling of the Qing troops from all walks of life, Fatty Lu immediately started the work of recruiting new soldiers, preparing to expand the two corps of Han Daren and Li Tianzhi to more than 4 in each corps In order to meet more cruel and severe tests in the future, the Gaode Jiebing Regiment and Li Guodong's navy expanded to more than 5 people, and the Central Army Corps expanded to more than 6 people.

The expansion of the army has nearly doubled in one go. Although the current financial and material resources of the Fatty Army can fully afford it, it is not so easy and simple to achieve this goal in a short period of time. First of all, the selection of qualified soldiers is a big problem , and then there are the distribution of weapons and uniforms, the training and brainwashing of new recruits, the organization and garrison of recruits, etc., and so on, a bunch of headaches.But fortunately, Fatty Lu’s civil and military lackeys are quite capable, experienced and capable. Basically, as long as Fatty Lu gives an order, there will be people to carry out it, so that Fatty Lu can free up time and energy to concentrate on thinking and Another major event was arranged to induce Kang Mazi to conquer the south of the Yangtze River himself.

Trying to make the main fighting and suppressing faction in the Qing court gain the upper hand in the struggle with the main defending faction, which prompted Kang Mazi to make up his mind to conquer himself.It is easy to say, but it is difficult to implement it. First of all, Fatty Lu no longer has an acting spokesperson in the Qing court. Wang Xu was pissed off by Fatty Lu, and Huang Ji rushed to the capital before the news of Fatty Lu's marriage to his granddaughter spread back to the capital. , resigned from the official position early and fled back to Jiangnan for the elderly, and is still waiting for Fatty Lu to become an official in the world before he comes out to become an official. The only remaining brother-in-law of Yao Qisheng, Huang Xiyan, has not yet connected online, so he cannot be manipulated to speak for the Fatty Army.

Secondly, Fatty Lu's notoriety for being scheming can now be said to be famous all over the world, and it stinks ten miles against the wind!False surrender, alienation, counter-infidelity, false report, hypocrisy, bribery, slander, framing, pretending to be a pig and eating a tiger, etc. have been exhausted one by one, and the Qing court has suffered enough. Enough fooled, if you use these tricks now, not only is there little hope of success, but it may even backfire, giving the main defense faction in the Qing court an excuse to overwhelm the main battle and suppression faction, and instead let Kang Mazi Big and small pro-contract ideas.

The third point is also crucial, that is, Fatty Lu knows nothing about the current situation in the Qing court. Just like Fatty Lu himself said, the basis of using tactics is to know yourself and the enemy, and the more you know the enemy, the more likely the strategy will succeed. The bigger it is, the reason why Fatty Lu was able to do everything in the past was entirely based on his understanding of history and historical figures.But now history has been turned upside down by the storm caused by the wings of Fatty Lu, a demon moth. Fatty Lu himself has no idea how history will develop in the future, and other historical knowledge can be used. The characters have basically been harmed, so if Fatty Lu wants to use tricks, it will naturally not be so easy.

"Headache!" Coming back from Huang Ji's mansion, Fatty Lu sat down on the pitiful chair as soon as he entered the office of his pledge room, scratching his half-foot-long hair and lamenting, "Headache, what a pain!" I know what to do, this time I really have nothing to do."

"Boss, didn't you get anything useful from Huang Laoshangshu's place?" Wang Shaobo asked tentatively.

"If I can get something useful, I won't worry so much." Fatty Lu said with a wry smile: "The old Huang Shangshu who promised me his slippery granddaughter used to be considered a high-ranking and powerful man in the Mangou court, but he never I have never entered Kang Mazi's South Study Room, and basically know nothing about the most important South Study Room of the Manchu court. I don't even know, let alone have frequent contact with the empress dowager, the empress dowager who has the greatest influence on Kang Mazi, and understand the old witch's attitude and opinions, so the news and information provided are of no reference value at all."

"So, this matter is really difficult for us." Wang Shaobo pondered: "If the master really can't think of any clever plan to lure Emperor Mangou to continue the main suppression, then the students think that it is best for the master not to do any small tricks. Let it be, and respond to all changes with the same. Otherwise, once the Emperor Mangou finds out the little tricks of the boss, it will only have the opposite effect."

"General, why don't you let the students come forward to feign surrender." Yao Qisheng said hesitantly: "Now that the students have served as military advisers in your shogunate, if you want to come to Man Gou's secret work, you have already spied on them. The reason why the students betrayed Man Gou is the Emperor Man Gou. It should also be mastered, if the students come forward to surrender, Man Gou should be tempted, and the students should be given a chance."

"I've reconsidered this plan carefully, and I think it's still too taken for granted." Fatty Lu shook his head, and said weakly: "Let's not say that it will implicate your sister and brother-in-law, the military advisor, but let the Emperor Kang Mazi trust you." You, think that you can provide him with full assistance during his personal conquest, it is definitely not that easy. I have cheated Kang Mazi too many times, and he is not an idiot. He has suffered so many losses and been fooled so many times Now, at the critical moment when he is hesitating whether to change his counter-insurgency strategy, and you suddenly jumped out and surrendered, expressing your willingness to respond internally, even if he is tempted, the first thing he will consider is—is this my strategy again?"

"Indeed, if I were Emperor Mangou, I wouldn't trust my boss even if I said anything." Zhu Fangdan echoed: "Emperor Mangou has been tricked so many times, no matter how stupid he is, he will learn to behave. I guess what the boss will say now Whatever you do, the Emperor Mangou has to listen and judge in turn."

"That's the truth." Fatty Lu pressed his thumbs on his temples, and said distressedly: "So if I try to trick Kang Mazi now, no matter how perfect the arrangement is, the Emperor Mangou will not be easily fooled. Even In the end, it took ten times more time and energy to be fooled than usual!"

"Huh?" Zhu Fangdan suddenly had an idea, and hurriedly said: "Boss, speaking of this, the student has an idea. Since Emperor Mangou will definitely not trust you anymore, he will listen to you and judge you instead. What you have done, then why don’t you do the opposite? You deliberately let Emperor Mangou think that you are hoping that he will not take the imperial conquest, and that you are hoping that he will change his counter-insurgency strategy and stop continuing the main battle?"

"Acting in the opposite direction? How could I be so stupid that I didn't think of this?" Fatty Lu's mung bean eyes lit up, he quickly sat up straight, and murmured: "Yes, since Kang Mazi will never trust me, then I Why don't you let him think that I don't want him to come and conquer?"

"This strategy is feasible." Yao Qisheng also came to his senses, and said, "With Emperor Mangou's arrogance to strengthen his character, and his deep-rooted hatred for you, the general, it must be that the more you don't want him to do anything, the more he will definitely do it." What are you going to do! No matter what you say, you will not be satisfied with the general!"

"Don't talk, let me think about it." Fatty Lu waved his hand to tell everyone to shut up, blinking his small eyes and thinking for a long time, Fatty Lu suddenly said something nonsensical, "It's time to buy Mingzhu to serve as an internal response for our army .”

"Wonderful!" Yao Qisheng applauded and praised: "The general has a quick mind. Mingzhu is indeed the best breakthrough point. He is the Yehenala family of the full dog. He is the general who you handpicked. Even if the Dog Emperor doesn't say anything, he must have doubts about him in his heart. If he starts to attack him, even if Mingzhu has any doubts, he must immediately and take the initiative to stab the matter in front of Kang Mazi! Otherwise, he will grow up. A hundred mouths can't tell."

"High! My master is really tall!" Shaobo Wang, who had been completely led by Fatty Lu, came to his senses. He gave Fatty Lu a thumbs up, and then suggested: "But my master, the envoy sent to contact Mingzhu must do a good job. If you can't come back, you have to be prepared. It has to be enough to convince Mangou, and you have to let him do errands for you wholeheartedly. You can't run away because of fear and timidity. That is to say, boss, you must make a sacrifice this time. The mind of a loyal warrior is ready."

"Let officer Hong Xi go." Fatty Lu said in a low voice without batting an eyelid.

"Officer Hong Xi?" Wang Shaobo, Yao Qisheng and the others were all taken aback, and hurriedly reminded in a low voice: "Boss, Officer Hong Xi is your personal soldier, with excellent skills. Isn't it a pity to sacrifice like this?"

Fatty Lu smiled, and said after a while: "It is precisely because Xiguan is good at skills that he was sent there. At least, he has the hope of breaking out of the siege and coming back alive."

Seeing the ferocious smile on Fatty Lu's fat face, Yao Qisheng shivered with Wang Shaobo and others, only then did he understand Fatty Lu's sinister intentions - Fatty Lu had long been extremely dissatisfied with the Tiandihui members in Fatty's army, Not to mention secretly communicating with Zheng Jing, it is still a huge hidden danger when Fatty Lu and Zheng Jing turn against each other, and Tiandi will send two insiders in Fatty's army. Fang Shiyu is an illiterate fool who is easy to manipulate and guard against It's completely different from Hong Xiguan, who is quite scheming and a bit inkling in dealing with it.That is to say, it would be best to send official Hong Xi to the death room, and it would be best if he could come back alive. If he couldn't come back alive, he could also borrow the knife of the Qing court to eliminate this hidden danger for Fatty Lu.

Thinking of this, while secretly admiring Fatty Lu's ruthlessness and killing two birds with one stone, Wang Shaobo and the others quickly nodded and bowed their heads and replied: "Understood, the students will arrange it now."

........................

When Fatty Lu formulated the countermeasures, Tu Hai, who shouldered the heavy responsibility, had already embarked on the road to return to the capital, but unfortunately, because the Yellow River diverted and affected the canal, the middle section of the canal was either blocked here or silted there. , Tu Hai’s boat back to Beijing was not fast, and it was not until it passed the Luoma Lake Canal channel that it barely got down to normal, and the boat could speed up and drive at full speed.So when Tu Hai returned to Beijing, where he had been away for several months, it was already the fourth day of April in the 14th year of Kang Mazi.

It had only been five months since he left the capital, and when he entered the city, Tu Hai was already a little afraid to recognize the city. The streets of the capital, which used to be bustling with brocade, are now deserted, and the shops on both sides are basically closed. Most of the passers-by were disheveled and their clothes were old, and the number of beggars had increased significantly.The only bustling place was the grain shop and rice shop, but after quietly inquiring about the price of rice in the capital, Tu Hai's face turned pale again, and a bucket of rice actually cost one tael or five renminbi!That is to say, an ordinary bannerman's salary of one tael or five renminbi a month can only buy a bucket of rice!
"Too bad." Tu Hai secretly said in surprise, "I never thought that the price of food in the capital has risen to this point. This time, I'm afraid it will be even more difficult to persuade the master to give up the plan to retake Jiangnan."

Worried about getting back on his horse, Tu Hai did not directly enter the palace or return to his mansion, but rushed to Yue Le's Prince An's mansion, while sending his confidant soldiers to the city post to inquire about Zhou Peigong's whereabouts.But after Tuhai went to Prince De'an's mansion to hand over Yue Le's family letter, and also presented Yue Le's secret book to Yue Le's Sanfu Jin and entrusted her to pass it on to the old witch of Xiaozhuang, the soldiers flew to report that they had found it. After leaving Zhou Peigong, he is now living in the posthouse on Qipan Street in the capital. Tu Hai was overjoyed when he heard the news, and hurriedly thanked Yue Lefujin for his kind stay. Regardless of the darkness of the sky, he hurried to Qipan Street to meet Zhou Peigong.

When it was completely dark, Tuhai went to the post house on Deqipan Street and handed the famous thorn to Geshha in front of the door. After a while, Zhou Peigong in a Confucian robe greeted the gate in person, and knelt down to Tuhai without saying a word. , said excitedly: "Slave Zhou Peigong, please greet Enxiang. I haven't seen you for many years, can Enxiang be well?"

"It's okay, it's okay." Tu Hai swollen his face to look like a fat man, and reluctantly nodded. When he looked closely at Zhou Peigong's appearance, Tu Hai couldn't help feeling sad and jealous. Not seeing him for two years, Zhou Peigong not only didn't look old at all, but also became more and more mature. He is handsome and elegant, handsome and natural and unrestrained, with thick, black and bright eyebrows that are set apart, revealing a sense of pride and spirit.Looking at his wrinkled hands and gray beard again, Tu Hai couldn't help but sighed in his heart, "People are different."

"Enxiang, Enxiang, please come in quickly." Zhou Peigong hurriedly led the way again, and asked affectionately: "Enxiang must have not eaten yet, right? This servant will ask someone to arrange a meal for Enxiang."

"I haven't eaten." Tu Hai nodded, and said: "But I came to you today because I have something important to discuss with you."

"That's just right, the servant hasn't eaten yet, and the servant asked someone to arrange dinner and wine, how about we talk while eating?" Zhou Peigong asked again hastily.

Seeing Tuhai nodding, Zhou Peigong hurriedly explained, and personally led Tuhai to the back hall, served tea for Tuhai with both hands, bowed his head and kept asking for warmth, his respect was exactly the same as when he was in the Tuhai shogunate.After a while, the exquisite wine and dishes were brought into the back hall, and Zhou Peigong drove away the soldiers and servants in the room, and then invited Tu Hai to the table, and sat across from Tu Hai, and personally poured wine for each cup, Tu Hai continued to be humble thank.

After a long time of hypocritical politeness and greeting each other, Tuhai finally realized that Zhou Peigong also came to the capital just the day before yesterday, and he had already met Kang Mazi once, and when he asked about the situation during his meeting with Kang Mazi, Zhou Peigong did not answer directly, but instead asked Said: "Enxiang, do you know that the master already has the idea of ​​driving the Jiangnan battlefield?"

"That's why I came back." Tu Hai said with a wry smile: "At the end of February, the master issued an ultimatum to Prince An, ordering Prince An to come up with a record that satisfies the master before March 23, otherwise , the master is about to personally conquer."

"Enxiang, has Prince An completed the mission assigned by the master?" Zhou Peigong asked.

"If it's done, I won't come back to the capital." Tu Hai's smile was even more bitter, and he hurriedly introduced the situation of Yue Le's attack on three fronts and four fronts, but failed on three fronts and three fronts.

"Oops!" Zhou Peigong slapped the table, and repeatedly complained: "Prince An's battle has ended like this, the master must make up his mind to go to the conquest by himself!"

"We must not allow the master to conquest himself!" Tuhai shook his head quickly, and was about to communicate with Zhou Peigong. When he agreed on the tone, there was a report from Zhou Peigong's soldiers outside the door, "Tutang, Mr. Zhou, there are people coming from the palace!" , is Li Yinzhi, Eunuch Li, the Chief Eunuch of the Empress Dowager’s ancestral palace.”

"Please." Tuhai and Zhou Peigong were overjoyed together, and hurriedly got up and went out to greet them. As soon as they walked to the front hall, Li Yinzheng, the personal eunuch of the old witch of Xiaozhuang, hurried into the hall and sang before he could salute: "The old ancestor of the empress dowager Orally, Tuhai and Zhou Peigong kneel to accept."

"The slave is here, the ancestor is a thousand years old." Zhou Peigong and Tu Hai quickly knelt down together.Li Yinzheng sang: "The Empress Dowager's ancestor, Junzhi, wrote Tuhai and Zhou Peigong and followed Li Yinzheng into the palace to see your Majesty. I respect you."

"Slave complies with the decree, and our ancestors will be a thousand years old." Tu Hai and Zhou Peigong happily agreed, saying that it would be great if they could see the empress dowager's ancestors, as long as she can stand by our side, things will be easy too much.

"My lords, please get up and go with the slaves, the ancestors are still waiting for you in the palace." Li Yinzheng urged.Tu Hai and Zhou Peigong agreed, and just about to get up, there was a new voice of singing and shouting outside the door, "Eunuch Zhang, the chief manager of the Hall of Mental Cultivation, has arrived."

Immediately afterwards, without waiting for Tu Hai and Zhou Peigong to react, Zhang Wanqiang, Kang Mazi's personal eunuch, walked in quickly, and sang directly: "The emperor's lord ordered: Tu Hai and Zhou Peigong will immediately enter the palace to meet you. Hereby."

"How does the emperor know that I have already entered the capital? Do you know that I am here with Zhou Peigong?" Tu Hai cried out again in his heart, and secretly said: "Too bad, to see the ancestors of the emperor and the empress dowager at the same time, there are many things that cannot be agreed in advance, the emperor And being so eager, maybe tonight, the emperor's master will decide whether or not to take the imperial conquest himself."

(End of this chapter)