novelAbuy Page 265
Page 265
It is true that the Taiping Army lasted for a long time and slaughtered the whole city so quickly that Li Hongzhang could not find a suitable person to sacrifice the flag.
As for Mr. An Dehai'an who was sunk in the river, he is greedy for money and incompetent. He has a bad reputation in Beizhili. He is still an eunuch. How can he be used to sacrifice the flag?
So I can only trouble the almighty Xingzhen again.
After swearing to the teacher, Mr. Li is gearing up, ready to mobilize the three armies to go north.
The so-called Northern Expedition of the Huai Army was not about sweeping holes in the courtyard, attacking the city of Beijing, and fighting to the death with the Bannermen.
Although Li Hongzhang felt that as long as the Hunan Army did not intervene and the Chu Army did not interfere with his own ass, it would be easier for the Huai Army to break through the Forbidden City than Tianjing.
But the word "as long as" is the least reliable.
Although facing the Qing government's suppression of the rebellion, they are still as immobile as a mountain, but no one can guarantee what they will do if the Huai army reveals its flaws.
Anyway, is there any agreement such as the king who entered Xianyang first, and there is no genuine Jade Seal of Chuanguo in Beijing, Grand Duke Li doesn't have the heart to smash Beijing.
What's more, there is the ultimate variable of Daming.
If you want to go to Beijing and enter Luo, you must report to the Ming court.
Sitting alone in the ring is like a tiger squatting, and the Rocky Mountains nourish the spirit.
If I don't speak first when I enter Luo, which insect dares to make a sound?
That's probably what it means.
The real targets of Li Hongzhang and the Huai army were northern Jiangsu and northern Anhui.
Nominally, Li Hongzhang was the governor of Suzhou, but Zeng Guofan had not given up the position of governor of Liangjiang to him because of the appearance of Daming to renew his life for the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
However, as Zeng Guofan went north to Henan, Shandong, and Beizhili to suppress Nian, Li Hongzhang had secretly included the southern Anhui area south of his hometown Hefei.
In history, like Seng Gelinqin, Zeng Guofan, a generation of famous marshals overturned in the hands of the Nian army.
The Nian army broke through Zeng Guofan's Shahe defense line and marched into Zhongmou, Henan.
In the end, Li Hongzhang came forward to clean up the mess. Under the bravery of Liu Mingchuan and other fierce generals, he defeated the enemy army with a small number of people. After this battle, the Huai army soared into the sky, replacing the Hunan army as the first army in the late Qing Dynasty.
However, now that the Ming Dynasty is frantically shaking people in Shanghai and other places, shaking away millions of victims who lost their homes because of the change of the Yellow River, the basic situation of the Nian Army has shrunk greatly.
Therefore, the Nian Army in this era was far less ferocious than in history.
For example, Chen Zexin, the general who broke through Zeng Guofan's Shahe line of defense with Zhang Zongyu in history, is now working as the workshop director in the fifth non-staple food grain and oil factory in Xinsui, Ming Dynasty.
With a monthly salary of 20 yuan, I married a He family wife and was pregnant, so I lived a pretty good life.
Therefore, Zeng Guofan faced much less pressure, and the Shahe line of defense has not been breached so far.
Therefore, now Li Hongzhang is not going to the northern expedition to Beizhili and the capital, but to go to the yellow area to catch Nianzi.
Speaking of which, I, Li Zhongtang, am indeed my pure minister.
Even if you are clear about it, you will never forget to wipe out the bandits in the Qing Dynasty.
It may not sound very nice to say that it is catching twisters, but in fact, what Mr. Li intends to do is the same job as the black chief who caught black slaves for Europeans.
Of course, Ming was not a European slave owner who picked slaves like livestock.
Whip and stick don't matter, even necessary killing is acceptable.
But if the Huai army dared to abuse their compatriots, Daming's iron fist was no joke.
Tang Guogong's mansion has just opened, and there are a lot of expenses, and Li Gongye is also short of money.
In the past, it was too slow to rely on porridge sheds to attract disaster victims. In order to get more Ming aid, Li Hongzhang planned to go to the battle to catch twigs and sell them.
This is the case in troubled times, and human lives are as precarious as paper, but compared to the suffering of the people in the yellow area in history, it is the best result to be sold to Daming now.
But after the swearing-in meeting, Mr. Li's hunting team hadn't started yet, and he was hit by a blow.
My family knew about my family affairs, and Li Hongzhang still knew what was going on with the Huai Army.
This is a mountainous army, relying on clan, teachers and students, family status, blood relationship, fellow countrymen, etc. to twist the troops together.
It is Li Hongzhang's personal prestige on the one hand, and the more important thing is the interests that keep these hills from falling apart.
Such an army naturally does not have any ideals and beliefs. It is not so much an army as it is a military-business complex with mixed fish and dragons, good and bad.
How can the army do business well?
But it is impossible not to do business. Mr. Li himself took the lead in doing business, and he is the biggest labor dealer and bright goods agent.
Therefore, the Huai army was mixed up and messed up, and Mr. Li also recognized it. After all, this is the lifeblood of his life.
But he never expected that his lifeblood would be so rotten!
Before the army set off, Li Hongzhang sent his confidantes down to check the whole army. After three checks, the number of people reported each time was very different.
In the end, he personally led the team, one battalion head to another, and was shocked into a cold sweat.
On paper, the Huai Army now has a total of 10 troops.
Among them, Li Hongzhang's confidantes, who bought bright guns and cannons, were Mingziying, Dingziying, Shuziying, and Shengziying, with a total of 18000 people. Among them, the 5500 people in Mingziying led by General Liu Ming were the most elite.
Other second-line camps such as Qingzi Camp, Kaizi Camp, Qizi Camp, Songzi Camp, Xunzi Camp, Huazi Camp, etc., totaled more than 8 people.
However, after this point, Li Hongzhang discovered that the Huai army was already riddled with holes!
主力部队还算有点分寸，刘铭传的铭字营5500额员实际还有5000人，潘鼎新的鼎字营5000人剩下4000人，张树声的树字营3000人剩1700人，周盛波的盛字营1500人还剩700人。
It's normal to eat empty rates.
As for why the four battalions, even if they are all full, add up to only 5500+5000+3000+1500=15000, but they said before that there are 18000 people in the Mingzi camp, Dingzi camp, Shuzi camp, and Shengzi camp...
Naturally, Mr. Li himself has already taken the lead in paying the 3000 people.
As a regiment, the Huai Army's military salary is not low. In addition to self-financing, the imperial court also allocates payment, although it has been in arrears for a long time.
For Li Hongzhang, if he piled up more people, on the one hand, he could ask for more money and food from the court, and when asking for food from the squires, he could also ask for more three melons and two dates; , to intimidate colleagues.
Drink the blood of soldiers, don't knock it down.
There are 27000 people, 3000 are eaten by themselves, and 2600 are eaten by the generals of the battalions. There are still 2 to thousands!
Judging from Li Hongzhang's experience in the officialdom for so many years, this can be regarded as the first-class teacher of integrity and mighty teacher in the Qing Dynasty!
For this level of false reporting of troops, Mr. Li is completely acceptable, and even a little relieved.
But when they arrived at the Qingziying, Huaziying and other second-line troops, the situation was horrible!
More than 7 soldiers and horses were checked, and there were only less than 3 soldiers left!
Fully half of the soldiers and horses disappeared from the paper!
If it was the green battalion in the early years, it would be normal for half of the soldiers and horses to eat empty wages.
But this is the Huai Army!
Although the imperial court also paid for food and salaries, it was mainly paid by Lao Li himself!
He drank the blood of the soldiers below, and it was his old Li's blood, and Lao Li felt sorry for him!
And now it's not a peaceful age, the soldiers and horses in his hands are the capital to settle down, not to mention that he, Li, wants to go further.
Without soldiers, who will attack the city for him?
Without soldiers, who will add a yellow robe to yourself?
It's too much to eat one's own lifeblood like this!
Li Hongzhang was furious and quickly investigated the matter thoroughly, and sent several generals to prison in one breath.
Even Li Zhaoqing, Li Hongzhang's own younger brother, had two whips broken by Mr. Li himself, kicked him back to his hometown in Hefei, and thought about it behind closed doors.
"There are 13 main battalion commanders in the Huai Army, and I have to dismiss four of them. There are 31 deputy battalion commanders in total, and I have to dismiss nineteen of them...
I am heartbroken!
I would like to advise you, Daming's money is all fictitious, and the water is very deep here, you can't grasp it!
You all turn out your heart, lungs and intestines, dry them in the sun, wash them, and tidy them up!
……
If we are a bit rotten, the Huai army will be rotten!If you are all dead, I will have to go to Daming to eat railway stock dividends!
Come to think of it, it has only been a few years since President Lincoln was shot, forget it!Zhu Fugui's double guns are still staring at you every day!
......"
……
Li Hongzhang angrily reprimanded the officials in the Duke's Mansion for an hour and a half.
But it's useless for Mr. Li to be annoyed, because after finding out, even he himself couldn't convince himself.
Because these disappeared Huai army soldiers were not dismissed, but were secretly sold to Daming by the generals of each battalion and banner.
It's not that the brothers are unfaithful, it's because the money is so fragrant!
If you can't grasp it, you have to try it!
They sold the soldiers to Daming, and Daming paid by the head, which was the first money.
After selling a person, you will be paid for nothing. This is the second silver.
If you think that these generals only earn these two pieces of money, you are very wrong!
They also have a third source of silver.
Chapter 400 Penang
Due to the relevant agreement between Daming and the Huai Army, Daming cannot recruit Huai Yong to board the ship.
This agreement is mainly to protect the Huai army, otherwise Li Hongzhang would not have dared to station troops in Shanghai.
Then you can't sell yourself for the whole camp?
But this agreement also has loopholes.
Although Daming didn't recruit Huaiyong to board the ship, the retired Huaiyong could still be recruited.
As long as a letter of guarantee issued by the general of the Huai Army is provided, Daming will recruit "retired Huai Yong" to Daming.
Therefore, in addition to the first two sums of money, the generals of each battalion also received a rather generous "redemption money".
It's like the girl in the Qinlou Chu Pavilion who saved a sum of money to redeem herself.
If Huaiyong wanted to cross the sea to Daming, he had to pay a sum of money to the chief.
Facing one pot, three meals, a lot of real money, which general will not be tempted?
Even Mr. Li himself couldn't help thinking that I would vote too.
However, the father-in-law is the father-in-law after all, and his knowledge is not comparable to those ignorant people.
If you sell all the soldiers, what do you want the generals to do?What do you want him to do as a father-in-law?
This is equivalent to burning an ax to keep warm in cold weather. How stupid!
Is that what the ax is for?
Axes are for chopping wood!
Similarly, is Huaiyong for sale?
Huaiyong is used to catch twisters!
Li Hongzhang beheaded and ransacked the houses of several excessive guys, and explained the pros and cons and the principles of long-term flow to the generals of the battalions with earnestness.
After half a month of rectification, the Huai army really set off, ready to embark on the road of the Northern Expedition to catch twists.
Of course, Li Hongzhang certainly didn't say that in name.
What he said to the sages and gentry in the village was that the reason why Prime Minister Cao Cao was able to stand out from the heroes at the end of the Han Dynasty and achieve a hegemony was that the cornerstone was that he pacified Shandong in the third year of Chuping and recruited Qingzhou Huangjin as Qingzhou soldiers.
Today, I, Mr. Li, is Minggong, but I am... ahem, I am also Minggong...
But you know, I, Li, went north to the north of Jiangsu and Shandong, and the Shandong Nian bandits were the Qingzhou Yellow Turbans back then, and I, Li, also wanted to train them into a strong army to protect the environment and the people.
Southern Jiangsu was originally rich, and there were many people doing business with Daming.
Among them, there are many progressives, but there are also many conservative landlords.
In their eyes, no matter how you look at it, Daming's behavior has the shadow of the former Cantonese bandit Jun Tian and his wife, so they hope to find a strong man to protect themselves.