When a financial crisis breaks out, the government forcibly intervenes. This is a very common thing in the 21st century. I believe that no country will see its own economy completely collapse, nor will it allow external forces to do whatever they want. of picking up corpses.
But now is the mid-19th century, the era when the wave of colonialism is at its most ferocious. Those predators with shining fangs have no mercy at all. They are not willing to start wars for profit, let alone such a big cake in Jiangnan.
For a time, bankers in various concessions in Shanghai were agitated. People gathered together to strongly condemn the Qing government's interference in the free market economy. This means that they are not afraid to speak out. Talking about a free economy to a semi-feudal and semi-colonial country is not a joke.
The Commander-in-Chief's Mansion in Jiangning was instantly buried by telegrams of protest. These foreign devils were either showing affection or acting rationally. Some were gesticulating from a hostile position, while others were patiently analyzing from the position of Commander-in-Chief... ...Of course there are those who are arrogant and want to go to Beijing to complain, and there are even those who are clamoring to mobilize the army to punish the Hunan Army.
After overturning the sweet cake, all the gentlemen turned into scoundrels, and all kinds of faces appeared one after another, which dazzled all the generals in the Hunan Army.
But Zeng Guofan's heart was as solid as stone. He remained unmoved in the face of the protests from the great powers, and the ban began to advance with unstoppable momentum.
From the provincial capital to the prefecture, from the prefecture to the county, and then from the county to each village and even every village. There were notices written in the vernacular everywhere, and the Qing Min Daily also published the official version and extra editions, which were distributed free of charge on the streets.
Leveraging the strong execution power of the Hunan Army and the publicity power of newspapers, the Jiangnan ban covered the entire Jiangnan region in just three days.
This is a high efficiency that people in the medieval world could not imagine. Officials at all levels in the Qing Dynasty originally wanted to use the same method of bullying and hiding from subordinates to deal with Zeng Guofan, but they did not expect that this time the Hunan Army stretched out its hands so far, and actually Soldiers were sent directly to post notices in the countryside.
China's feudal dynasties have always insisted that government orders should not leave the county seat. In other words, the emperor's command ends when it reaches the county seat. All matters below the county level are completed through consultation between the county magistrate, local gentry, and large clans.
This gives a lot of flexibility in governance. Many times, people in the county know what new decrees the court has, but the people in the countryside below have never heard of it, and many benefits are deceived and defrauded.
The asymmetry of information has caused the people at the bottom to be at the bottom of the food chain. For example, if the emperor wants to reduce taxes on his wedding, maybe the people of Zhangjiacun and Lijiaji waited until the emperor's son was born and didn't know that such good governance had ever existed.
Because they didn't know, the extra money they paid taxes according to regulations went into the pockets of the officials.
But this time Zeng Guofan issued a death order. When he discovered that someone was secretly destroying notices in some places and spreading disturbing rumors, the commander-in-chief chopped down without warning.
There were actually two masters in Danyang County, Zhenjiang Prefecture who dared to spread rumors. The Hunan Army's cavalry rushed directly to the lobby and kidnapped the two masters in front of the county magistrate. They were thrown to the crossroads without trial and were stabbed twice.
The arrester in Xinghua County, Yangzhou Prefecture, actually secretly violated the ban notice. After being informed by an informant, the fierce general Bao Chao personally led twelve personal guards to intercept him halfway. He was put on trial by the bank of Wugong Lake, and then his head was displayed to the public.
The Grand Master of Liuhe County in Jiangning Prefecture secretly violated the ban and secretly handled the transfer procedures for foreign businessmen, and even dared to put the seal of the county government on it. This is really intolerable. The old farmer personally led a team to capture this dog officer in Jiangning City. The commander personally interrogated him overnight, and finally gave him a heavy blow, and he was immediately sent back to Beijing City after losing his official position.
There are countless such cases. Those foreign compradors who thought they could achieve their own goals through corrupt officials were completely dumbfounded this time.
When the foreign devils in Shanghai saw that Zeng Guofan was not giving him any face, they were so angry that they put pressure on the ambassador in Beijing and strongly demanded that the Qing government stop this ridiculous ban.
At this moment, the Forbidden City was already in a state of explosion. Ever since the news of Ma Xinyi being assassinated in the street reached the palace, Cixi collapsed on the soft couch in fear. "Isn't this weird! Isn't this weird! How could she be killed?" ?How could he be killed?"
Ma Xinyi's death caused Cixi's judgment on the Hunan Army to completely deviate. During the period of relative peace after the Kingdom of Heaven was annihilated, the Zeng brothers' submissiveness paralyzed the court. People forgot that these people all survived the war. The tigers have forgotten what they looked like when they were eating people.
Only then did we see the fierce nature of the Qing Dynasty. Prince Gong Yi, Prince Chun Yixuan, including Cixi and Ci'an, were all stupid at this time. They subconsciously wanted to be tough, but after careful consideration of the resources at hand, they found that they were not able to do anything at all. There is no strength to compete with the 500,000 Hunan Army.
Do you dare to hit Zeng Guofan or scold Zeng Guofan? Do you dare to send troops to eliminate him? If the court becomes tougher and Zeng Guofan becomes even tougher, how should the court respond?
Although the Hunan Army of 500,000 was said to have been disbanded and more than 100,000 were eliminated, and then Zuo Zongtang took away the smaller 100,000, the remaining 300,000 is also a terrifying and astonishing number.
The nature of the Manchus to bully the weak and fear the strong was once again clearly demonstrated. Cixi issued an order to summon Weng Tonghe to the palace. After much deliberation, the most effective way was to suppress the old man with clear water.
In the past, the Han people used the barbarians to control the barbarians, but now the Manchus use the Qingliu to control the Confucian officials. It is really ironic!
While Weng Tonghe lamented the difficulties of the government, he had to send a telegram to Jiangning and go to find out the details of Zeng Guofan in a private capacity. When he received Zeng Guofan's implicit guarantee, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"The Queen Mother, Prince... Marshal Zeng has made it clear that he wants nothing more than a two-month ban. This is his last request to leave Jiangnan. No matter what happens in Jiangnan after two months, he will not I will interfere again!"
"Hey... I think the commander-in-chief just wants to bet on Xiao Letian's luck. Maybe the commander-in-chief still has a little fantasy in his heart?"
With a snap, Cixi slapped off the enamel nail polish on her hand, "Damn it, do you really think that Xiao Letian is invincible? You Han people are simply unreasonable... Do you still imagine that the fate of the Han people is undecided?" "
"Go ahead and dream. You Han people have already exhausted your energy. Even if we, the Manchus, fall, you Han people will still have your energy suppressed by the foreigners! Go ahead and dream about your Spring and Autumn Period dreams. Why are you still doing what Yi Di did? ?Don’t forget that foreign devils are also Yi Di..."
"Okay, okay, let me see what Xiao Letian can do in the end. I will wait for him for two months!"
The war has completely begun at this moment, and all the forces in East Asia have completed their layouts, just like placing bets before the dice cup is about to be opened on a gambling table.
All the gamblers have placed their bets, and the rest depends on how fate, the treasurer, will reveal its cards. The focus of the world was instantly focused on East Asia.
“Buy it and leave it, no regrets for your bet!”
