Most of the older generation of officials in the capital still remember that before Weng Tonghe there was a famous Qingliu leader named Wang Shizheng!
Although the official was not old, he was quite old, and he was still very senior in Qingliu, the capital. When Xiao Letian wrote the strange book "The Journey to the West", these words promoting Western learning completely offended him.
Xiao Letian attended a banquet at Baihualou. A group of die-hard fans of Westward Journey Manji wanted to listen to Mr. Xiao's teachings, but Wang Shizheng ruined the scene before Xiao Letian said a few words.
Representatives of corrupt literati fought against the masters of Western learning. The verbal and legal battle was in full swing back then!
The deadly feud was forged, and Xiao Letian's backhand retaliation was quite vicious. He exposed Wang Shizheng's romantic and scandalous material and directly put a shit basin on his head.
Wang Shizheng is already old, and his beloved Qingming Feather suffered such a blow. He was so angry that he suffered a stroke and fell into a coma!
What happened next was simply shocking and unimaginable. Wang Shizheng's son, Wang Mian, actually molested his aunt in front of her soul, and forced the poor woman to death if she disobeyed her.
Wang Mian even used his father's life to be loyal to the imperial court, trying to use Wang Shizheng's death to arouse the indignation of scholars and force the Confucian scholars to kneel and knock at the palace gate.
What we are actually doing is moral kidnapping!
Although this scheme was of no use to Xiao Letian, Wang Mian's attitude of risking his father's life to show his loyalty made the court very satisfied, so he directly released a foreigner from Henan!
After arriving at the place, Wang Mian naturally looted the land ruthlessly, engaged in corruption, squeezed the people's wealth, and went to the capital to operate when he had money.
There was someone in the imperial court who still had filial piety money in his hands. After a while, he was actually promoted to the governor of Henan and became the most loyal dog in the Qing Dynasty.
However, his loyalty is also selective. Wang Mian's promotion is indispensable to Guiziliu, who has long been a member of the Yixin faction.
This time Prince Gong raised an army, and he was eagerly waiting for Emperor Guangxu's order. When he heard that Yi Xin was worshiping heaven in Xiling and proclaiming himself emperor, Wang Mian was so excited that he enshrined Emperor Guangxu's tablet and incense table in his home.
At this moment, most of the official circles in Henan are under Wang Mian's subordinates. From civil servants to generals, the Japanese have basically been left empty-handed. However, what is strange is that the local army in Henan has not received any orders.
Yixin did not directly ask the garrison in Henan to come north to support him. What is the profound meaning in this? Everyone was very puzzled. The only explanation was that Li Hongzhang was blocking Handan, blocking the only way to go north.
Handan's geographical location is very important. It controls the Taihang Mountains to the west and the Grand Canal to the east. If Henan's army and supplies want to support the Japanese Sixth Army, this is the only way to go.
Otherwise, we have to go around Shandong or northern Shanxi. Not to mention the long distance, and many of the places are not under the influence of the Japanese Six, so the army will definitely be intercepted.
The only option was to go to Handan. Not only was the plain road smooth, but there were even parts of the railway that could be borrowed. However, Li Hongzhang's army was blocked here and could not be defeated, and Yixin had not yet ordered an attack. This made the governor Wang Mian very anxious.
What a great opportunity to pledge allegiance. You can’t establish the new dynasty without taking any credit from yourself, right?
Just when he was so anxious that he went to bed, his son Wang Lin had been helping him coordinate the secret contact with Emperor Guangxu, and many of the dirty jobs were done by his son.
Wang Lin finally brought good news. Emperor Guangxu ordered Wang Mian to immediately go north to transport one million shi of grain to support the army in battle!
"Father, the person we are talking to is Mr. Qin... Prince Zheng's domestic slave, the one with whom I made a fortune by trading stocks. He said that he would go to Feixiang and Yongnian tonight to ensure that he would not be attacked. But you can’t pass the army!”
"Oh? Did he persuade Li Hongzhang?"
"It seems that there is no problem. Mr. Qin said that one million stones of grain will be directly bypassed the Handan Defense Area. Our people will naturally contact us by then!"
"In addition, we must leave 200,000 shi of toll money at the place designated by Feixiang! This will be the rule from now on. When our supplies pass through Li Hongzhang's defense area, we must leave 20% of the toll money!"
"Haha...here! He has to give it even if he wants 30%. As long as we can share the credit, I don't care about anything else. I sent an order to the states and counties in Henan to increase taxes for me. I said that the court wants to suppress the rebellion and needs to increase taxes. Fight with Emperor Tongzhi!"
Hahaha...the father and son suddenly burst into laughter.
Wang Mian and Wang Lin are currently in Anyang County, Zhangde Prefecture, the northernmost part of Henan Province. Tens of thousands of civilians have been recruited, and more than one million stones of grain are piled on horse-drawn carriages, donkey carts, mule carts and rickshaws.
It was just getting dark when Wang Lin ordered the grain transport team to go north, protected by many plainclothes cavalry along the way!
On the mighty Zhili Plain, it has been half a year since we have seen such a large-scale grain transport team. The further north these Henan people went, the more frightened they became.
This winter's disaster did not have a major impact on the south of the Yellow River, but beyond the Yellow River in the Henan border there was still a bit of human smoke.
But after entering Zhili territory, the further north it becomes, the more terrifying it becomes. In the dark night, the light of torches and lanterns forms a fire dragon.
But the villages around the road were in darkness, and many veterans who were familiar with the journey were frightened. There was not even a little light in each of the villages that could be named.
Occasionally there are one or two lights, but once the chaotic sounds of people and horses neighing on the official road are heard, those lights are immediately extinguished.
"Oh... my ancestors... dead people... dead people..."
In the dark, someone stepped on a stone on the side of the road. Then Guang Liang saw what kind of stone it was, and it turned out to be a completely white skull. This frightened a group of people around him and screamed.
The torches and lights came together little by little, forming an independent light source in the darkness. When people took a closer look, the hairs on everyone's backs stood up.
Where is the skull? This is a group of corpses in an entire area of more than ten acres. Corpses of various sizes are piled up in random directions. No one has dug a mass grave for them to bury them.
"There are stab wounds on the bones, and there are broken bones... It seems that they are a group of victims who don't know where they are, and they were poisoned here..."
"Maybe it was two waves of victims setting fire to each other and grabbing food, maybe it was bandits robbing..."
"Haha... Maybe the officers and soldiers killed the people. What a crime they committed, and they didn't even say they should be buried. Even if it's a mass grave, they have to be buried in peace!"
"Everyone remember this location. When you come back after delivering the food... take some time to bury it! Amitabha! Amitabha..."
Just when these civilians were showing kindness, Wang Lin rushed over with his minions, "What the hell are you doing? This is already the Huai Army's defense area, why don't you leave quickly?"
"What's so good about a dead person? Leave quickly...don't linger..."
At this moment, a few miles away on both sides of the official road, lights suddenly brightened, and the faint sound of military horns could be heard!
