Chapter 154 Li Hongzhang disbands the Ever Victorious Army
Changzhou and Danyang were defeated, and Li Hongzhang summoned Li Hezhang, Liu Mingchuan, Guo Songlin, etc. to discuss the dismantling of the Everlasting Victory Army.
Li Hongzhang said: The ever-victorious army consumes fifty to sixty thousand taels of silver every month, and its demands are huge and capricious, so it must be withdrawn immediately.
Guo Songlin said: Our foreign gun and artillery team is almost the same as theirs; without Gordon's foreign gun team, our army can also destroy the city and take out the stronghold.
Liu Ming preached: Ding Richang's artillery bureau has been able to produce a variety of explosive shells to supply our army, which is more than enough.
Li Hongzhang said: The camp affairs office replaced the prefect Ding Richang and went to the Changsheng Army Office in Kunshan to negotiate with Gordon about the abolition of his department.
After receiving the order, Ding Richang went to Kunshan to meet with Gordon and explain his intention.
Gordon said, "I also have the same intention. Please report to Li Futai as soon as possible, and the dismissal will be carried out immediately."
Ding Richang said: Mr. Gordon, are you so happy without any conditions?
Gordon smiled and said: Only by collecting money can we eliminate the disaster. Please forward the 190,000 redundancy expenses to Li Futai.
Ding Richang said: Mr. Gordon, Mr. Parkes, your country’s consul in Shanghai, do you still want to make an announcement?
Gordon said: Of course, Mr. Hurd of the Customs Department will also inform you. I will go to Shanghai to discuss this matter.
After Ding Richang said goodbye, Gordon's close friend and military doctor Magani said: Mr. Gordon, once this army is abolished, we will no longer be able to make money with guns.
Gordon said: Li is too cunning, and we are no match for him. Instead of letting Li slowly weaken and leave in despair, it is better to take advantage of the current situation and put forward more conditions for abolition. And our army is becoming corrupt and disorganized. The Chinese say that if you miss this village, you will never have this shop again.
Li Hongzhang was overjoyed when he heard the news. He quickly raised 190,000 yuan and worked with Gordon to bypass Parkesli and Hart. Within ten days, more than 3,000 victorious troops would be disbanded. Twelve foreign officers, three Li Hongzhang took all the 100 foreign gunmen and 600 artillery troops as ordered.
After the Evervictorious Army was disbanded, Li Hongzhang was in a good mood and said: "In order to disband the Evervictorious Army, we have handled various situations in the past few days. I followed the order to review the situation and prayed to the Holy Spirit for enlightenment."
After Changzhou was captured and recovered, it was decided to disband the Ever Victorious Army. I attached a note to state this on April 7th, and immediately supervised Ding Richang and others to handle the matter as quickly as possible.
Xuanfeng sent an order on April 14th: Gordon led a team to assist in the suppression, and now Changzhou has been captured. The foreigner did not say anything about attacking Jinling, but was willing to demobilize first to avoid many complications in the future. This is an opportunity that cannot be missed. The Fuzi should take advantage of the situation and dispatch them appropriately. If Gordon compromises his troops' arrangements and all foreign officials return to China, then Gordon is sincere and consistent. Just awarding flag merit medals will not only not reward them for their hard work, but may also not satisfy their desires. That is, Li Hongzhang ordered Ding Richang, Li Hengsong and others to deal with Gordon properly. As soon as everything is ready, we will tell you how to reward Gordon again. Admire this.
Look up and see that the Holy Spirit is thoughtful and considerate, and is gentle and far-sighted in taking precautions. According to Ding Richang's report back to the province, and according to Gordon and Li Hengsong's report, the demobilization process has been completed on the 25th. I would like to present the details to my emperor.
The Everlasting Victory Army originated from Wall, an American. It initially had less than a thousand soldiers, but gradually increased to more than 4,000 soldiers. Food, wages, and ammunition can only be done according to one's wishes, and there is no way to reduce them.
In the autumn and winter of the first year of Tongzhi, orders were transferred to help suppress Jinling, but the expedition could not be carried out, which led to Bai Qiwen's change. After repeated discussions with the British admiral and consul in Shanghai, the regulations were finalized. The number of soldiers was reduced to 3,000, and the monthly salary was increased to more than 70,000 yuan. For the purchase of arms, rewards and shirts, and miscellaneous expenses, a monthly allowance of 100,000 yuan is required.
After Gordon took over, the ministers were more attentive to control, and they were still subject to discussion when encountering problems, but they were impatient and suspicious, and they repeated themselves every time.
Since Jintan and Yanku lost twice this spring, Gordon feels quite discouraged. In the battle of Changzhou on March 22, the city was destroyed and could not be climbed in. Gordon witnessed the victorious army's inability to succeed. On April 6th, he launched another attack on the city. Gordon immediately invited our army to be the front enemy and the ever-victorious army to be the rear. He knew that he was not as good as our army.
Changcheng was restored, and the foreign gun team was about to be transferred back to Kunshan. Ding Richang was sent to discuss the evacuation. Gordon was very pleased. On the 15th, he received the report from Pasha Li to discuss the matter of the Chang Sheng Army. It must be known that The British officer stationed in Shanghai forwarded it to the minister stationed in Beijing for review and processing.
According to Hart's letter, it was stated that although Jiangsu province had been cleared, bandits in Jinling and Huzhou were still in danger. He cited what happened ten years before Xianfeng as a warning, and said that the ever-victorious army should not be cut off suddenly. There are many metaphors, and Gordon seems to have done what he said. move.
Ding Richang and others went back and forth to enlighten them, sometimes welcoming and sometimes rejecting them. Still wanting to cater to the opinions of Parkes and Hart, they left 600 artillery troops and more than 1,000 gun troops.
Ding Richang explored his situation again and said: "You helped in the suppression of the Chinese army, returned home successfully, and became famous both at home and abroad." If it is not abolished at this time, if the successor in the future, like Bai Qiwen, causes trouble, wouldn't it be a burden to your reputation? Parkesli and Hurd were outsiders, and they believed that the ever-victorious army was very reliable, so they refused to cut it suddenly. Why don't you analyze the actual situation of the army's recent ineffectiveness, so as not to burden others with your own reputation.
Gordon was convinced and rushed to Shanghai on the night of the 17th. At that time, Hart had already gone north, so he argued with Parkes again and again, and Parkes finally felt relieved. However, as this is an important area in Shanghai, please allow me to send capable troops to garrison it bravely at my discretion. Gordon conveys this information.
Gordon returned to Kunshan to tell his story, but Ding Richang was afraid that foreigners' temperaments were fickle, or that they might change again. That is to say, Gordon was asked to keep a piece of paper with his own written words in foreign characters to prevent Parkes and Hurd from making excuses. He also asked Gordon to abbreviate the translation and send it to Gordon and others in a letter.
When I read the Q&A with the Ba chieftain, I first said that most of the soldiers in the foreign gun team were not regular soldiers and were not familiar with the art of war. They drank wine day and night, and the soldiers came and went as they pleased. When trouble comes, he goes against the officers and soldiers. He only wants to increase his rations and does not want to do anything. Therefore, several layers were inappropriate, so Gordon decided to persuade him to send them away. Next, I said that Pasha's ceremony was for the sake of local China and was not troublesome. His subordinates did not need to be vindictive with him.
I have already prepared a letter to reply to the Pasha ceremony. In order to explain the two-year war, the Evervictorious Army will join the official army and the official army will attack and suppress it alone. The recent details of the Evervictorian Army are discussed. According to the current method, we will retain 600 people in the artillery team, 300 people in the gun team, and dozens of people in the marine ships, which is one-third of the original amount, and it is not a full layoff.
In addition, heavy troops were stationed at all the key passes of the enemy in front of them, so there was no danger for Shanghai to sneak in from the rear to defeat the threat of the Ba chieftain and others. On the one hand, they ordered Gordon, Li Hengsong, and Ding Richang to quickly comply with the instructions, and quickly urged the agent Guan Dao Yingbao to raise some silver coins and hand them over to the prefect Jia Yiqian to be sent to Kunshan. According to the reports, they were paid for several days, and uniforms and guns were collected. They were demobilized one by one, and all were demobilized on the 25th.
Gordon used the bravery of his soldiers to threaten foreigners to show his self-respect. Once the foreigners provoked them, the soldiers would obey them and act unscrupulously. He first removed the foreign soldiers and gave generous rewards to Sichuan capital. They were limited to leaving the city within three days. Violators would be severely punished. . Next, the Chinese soldiers and brave men were dismissed. According to the distance of the journey, the depth of the year, and whether they were injured in the battle, they were given money and ordered to leave the city. They were not allowed to stay and cause trouble. They all left safely.
One hundred and four foreign soldiers were investigated, and many of them were injured. In addition to monthly salary, they were also given a reward and travel expenses according to their names, ranging from 75 yuan to 4,000 yuan. In addition to monthly salary, brave men received a total of 2,288 rewards, ranging from two yuan to one hundred yuan. On the sea ships, gunboats, gunboats, and other people, they were rewarded with a total of 122,800 yuan in severance funds and zero, and a monthly salary of 60,000 yuan was added.
All ordnance, foreign guns, tents, uniforms, boats, and artillery positions, large and small, were all submitted for acceptance. There are currently 600 artillery troops left. The minister appointed deputy general Luo Rongguang to take charge of the Huguan outside the city. Eleven foreign soldiers are left to help their fellow soldiers train and obey the orders of the leaders and restrain them. It has been discussed with Gordon that if he is subsequently evacuated and returned to the country, he will only be given one month's rations.
Three hundred members of his gun team stayed temporarily in Kunshan and were handed over to Superintendent Li Hengsong to lead the patrol. They also left a foreign soldier to accompany them to suppress them, so as to prevent hooligans from various countries from pretending to cause trouble. Each soldier changed to wear Chinese uniforms, and the monthly rations were estimated to be 10,000 taels, which were still provided by Guandao. From then on, I gradually learned to control myself, so as not to create new problems.
The sharp weapon of Chang Sheng's army lies in artillery fire, but Yang Bian is greedy, his soldiers are brave and arrogant, and his bad habits are deep, which has long been a hidden danger in Jiangsu Province. In the past two years, every time I thought about taking advantage of the opportunity, I only used military methods and difficulties. It was controlled by outsiders and it was not easy to deal with it.
Now that Su and Chang were being eliminated and Gordon resigned, he was actually willing to preside over the withdrawal meeting. Although Parkes and Hurd blocked it, Gordon tried to resolve it in many ways and still contributed to me. For more than ten days, they were sent to stay separately. There is a lot of waste, but the processing is very fast, and you can avoid endless worries later. It is better to be sincere and consistent.
Since he refused to receive the cash register, he should ask for an order and give him a good reward. Hearing that Gordon seems to want to reward him with a yellow mantle as an honor to return to his country, this shows his admiration for China.
Since the spring of last year, Cha Gordon has led the victorious army, coordinated with the officers and soldiers to conquer Fushan, relieved the siege of Changshu, recovered Taicang, Kunshan, and Wujiang, defeated the bandits from Yangku, and captured the capital city of Changzhou. These are all extraordinary efforts and great achievements. Wei, can you specially award a yellow mantle?
Further, according to a letter from Shanghai, Parkes thought that the victorious army had been dismissed, and he wanted to find a new way to coach and maintain it forever in accordance with foreign regulations. Their intention is still to seize my military power and consume my financial resources.
The minister plans to deploy several additional battalions to garrison near Shanghai. They should be dispatched by the minister, and it is inconvenient for British officials to intervene. Gordon seemed to agree, but he didn't know whether Parkes and Admiral Ying had any objections. In addition to waiting for the chief and others to argue the case and then take the opportunity to deal with it, all the reasons for the deployment of the ever-victorious army were clearly stated one by one and presented to the emperor for inspection. Fu begged the empress dowager and the emperor for instructions and instructions. I would like to play.
