"Dong Weng, the second young master said that because he missed you, he changed his horse to a fast horse in Shaoguan and galloped here with a few personal followers. The large group of people is still led by the eldest young master. There are still a few days to reach Zhaoqing."
The person who was talking back to Wang Fuchen was "the third prince Zhu's brother" Yao Qisheng. Of course, he still doesn't know that his relationship with the third prince Zhu is so close!
This Master Yao Qisheng is now very prosperous. His ability and his "drilling energy" are definitely second to none among the "master group" of Wang Fuchen and Wang Zhongxiao.
Moreover, his business ability is also very strong. He is proficient in criminal matters, money and grain, military affairs, diplomacy (he served as magistrate of Xiangshan County and dealt with foreign devils), copywriting and other matters. He is even proficient in Manchu - he is the Eight Banners of Shaoxing. ! Of course I can speak Manchurian, but with some Shaoxing accent.
In addition, before Yao Qisheng became the master of Wang Fuchen and Wang Zhongxiao, he served as the magistrate of Xiangshan County in Guangdong, and he knew the situation in Guangdong very well. In addition, his original leadership ability was also very strong - in the original history, he mobilized thousands of "Zhejiang Braves" to follow Jieshu to defeat Geng Jingzhong, and finally got involved with the Governor of Fujian!
Therefore, after such a master who was knowledgeable in almost all aspects arrived at the Governor's Office of Guangdong and Guangxi, he was naturally appreciated by Wang Fuchen. He is now nominally Wang Fuchen's "master of memorials", but in fact he is the "master in charge" who helps Wang Fuchen handle military and political affairs.
Wang Fuchen touched his beard and said with a smile: "Since this boy still knows that he misses me as his father, let him wait in the third hall of the hotel!"
"Brother Wang," Kong Sizhen was stunned, "You want Shikai to come to my place? Isn't this inappropriate?"
Wang Fuchen laughed and said, "Sister Zhen, my boss was in charge of the Dongtangzi Yamen at Sticking Branch. Doesn't he still know about our fate?"
Kong Sizhen frowned and said nothing more. Wang Fuchen smiled and waved his hand, and asked Yao Qisheng to pass Wang Zhongxiao into Kong Sizhen's hotel.
"Children, please give my regards to the adults. Please give my best regards to your loyalty and filial piety!"
In the three halls of Dingnan Gege Hotel, Wang Zhongxiao, who had been traveling all the way, finally met his unfilial father and his father's mistress Kong Sizhen.
This unfilial father is also a father. Wang Zhongxiao, a filial son, always has to bow carelessly when meeting his father.
As for the mistress who was unfilial to his father, he was a female lord, so Wang Zhongxiao also took him with him when he paid his respects to his father.
When Wang Fuchen saw this filial son, he didn't ask him to sit down. Instead, he frowned and asked, "Second brother, my father is asking you, is it really the grandson of King Pingxi who was forced to death by you and Brother You?"
When Wang Zhongxiao heard this, he was very unhappy and refused to be polite to him. He stood up straight, pulled up a chair, sat down with a golden sword, and then replied: "Yes, Dad , aren’t you also on the subject of impeaching Wu Yingxiong?”
Wang Fuchen waved his hand, "Can it be the same? Who among the governors in the world has not been on the list? Even your aunt Zhen has been on the title book."
"There are some who didn't go," Wang Zhongxiao said with a meaningful smile, "Neither the Guangxi general nor the Guangxi admiral went."
"Them? Huh, they are all going to rebel!" Wang Fuchen said, frowning again, "No, I'm afraid they have already rebelled. General Sun of Guangxi is occupying Liuzhou, Admiral Ma Xiong is occupying Nanning, and Guangxi's left-wing commander Guo Yi Zhi Si En, plus Ze Qing, the ancestor of Guangdong, took control of the three states of Gao, Lei and Lian! Although they have not openly raised the flag of rebellion, they have already ignored my orders as the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi!"
He glanced at Kong Sizhen next to him: "Yesterday, Mafutai in Guangxi sent a message saying that news from Liuzhou, Qingyuan, Sicheng, Sien, Zhen'an, Nanning, Taiping and other seven prefectures has been cut off. The government offices of the prefecture and the county offices of the counties below them all no longer have contact with the governor’s office, the fantai office, and the government office!
There is also news that these seven prefectures in Guangxi and all the counties under the seven prefectures have been taken over by troops sent by Sun Ehuang, Ma Junmen, and Guo Zongzhen, and the disobedient prefects and county magistrates have been arrested. "
Kong Sizhen, who was next to him, also looked sad and sighed: "Oh, what can we do about this?"
Wang Fuchen stroked his beard and glanced at Kong Sizhen, and said tentatively: "Sister Zhen, don't be afraid. Your Guangxi general, Sun E's son-in-law, sounds very powerful, but in fact he doesn't have many soldiers at all, except for his own barracks. , only one Liu Qingxie was passed down from his father, with a total of 1,700 troops.
Ma Xiong, the governor of Guangxi, had a little more people. He added a Nanning garrison to the original number, for a total of 4,500 troops. Guo Yi, the commander-in-chief of the Guangxi Left Wing, had this model soldier plus a Sinan Xie on hand, for a total of 3,020 troops. The three of them together make up 9,400 people.
And the new army I have on hand plus the pacesetters total 15,000! Zhenmeizi, your vassal army has fifteen assistants and a total of 3,000 people. There are 2,000 in Guangxi Right Wing Town in Xianchengren. There are 1,500 pacesetters of Governor Ma. There are 1,200 in Xunwu Association. There are also 1,000 in the Guilin garrison. Five hundred, Zhaoqing and the navy battalion of one thousand are also under my control. These alone make 24,200 people!
As soon as we send out troops, the strength of your son-in-law, Sun E, will be over at any time."
Wang Fuchen looked so proud when he spoke!
He is now the biggest warlord in Guangdong and Guangxi!
His own troops alone numbered 16,000. If he annexed Kong Sizhen's army, he would have more than 20,000 troops, more than Shang Kexi!
When Kong Sizhen heard that Wang Fuchen was about to attack Sun Yanling, he quickly stopped him and said: "No! Never!"
"No?" Wang Fuchen chuckled, "Sister Zhen, are you afraid that Sun E's consort will go to Wu Sangui to move reinforcements after his defeat? How about we also contact Prince Xi?"
"What?" Kong Sizhen was shocked and looked at Wang Fuchen with a pair of big eyes, "You, you want to take refuge with Wu Sangui? Wu Sangui's direct grandson was forced to death by your son!"
As she spoke, she turned to look at Wang Zhongxiao, who had a gloomy expression, "Shikai, what do you think?"
Wang Fuchen didn't wait for his son to speak, then smiled and said: "Shikai, Prince Xi is not unreasonable. You forced Wu Shilin to death because you had no choice but to do it. If you don't do this, Wu Shilin will also die."
You unfilial father! Want to trick me? no way!
Wang Zhongxiao sneered: "Father, you are so confused!"
"Why am I confused?" Wang Fuchen was a little unhappy, "Second brother, don't you understand the current trend? King Xi's rebellion has become a trend!"
"Father, you are right," Wang Zhongxiao nodded, "Wu Sangui has indeed become the climate. But the Qing Dynasty will not be finished in a while. No matter how capable Wu Sangui is, he is not as good as Zhu Hongwu, right? No matter how useless Emperor Kangxi is, he will A little better than Emperor Yuan Shun, right?
No matter how ugly the Qing court was, it was still much better than the chaotic court at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, right? With Zhu Hongwu's ability and the chaos of the Yuan court, it took more than ten years to go from capturing Jiqing Road to capturing Dadu! How old is Wu Sangui now? Are there more than ten years left? If Wu Sangui is gone, who can take over? Will there be any brother-in-law fighting? Isn’t it a little early for us to seek refuge now?
In addition, do we have enough capital now? Wu Sangui is almost blown up in the limelight right now. If we take refuge in him, what good price can we get? "
"I, I have sixteen thousand soldiers and horses!" Wang Fuchen glanced at Kong Sizhen again and said with a smile, "Your Aunt Zhen still has thousands of elite soldiers! Can't we find a way to stabilize, pacify and continue the three vassals? From now on, your brother Jiqing will be the king of Guangxi, your eldest brother will be the king of Guangdong, and you will be the king of Chaozhou. Is this a good arrangement?"
The arrangements were good, but the Pingnan Palace and the Xushun Palace were not arranged, and there was no Guangxi general Sun Yanling!
And what’s even better is that Wang Zhongxiao became a Chaozhou king after working for a long time?
According to his original plan, if there was a rebellion in Guangdong, Wang Fuchen could become the "King of Heaven", and he himself wanted to be the "God"! Is there a Teochew King now? How is this possible?
However, Wang Zhongxiao does not have enough capital to be a "god" now. He has just arrived in Guangdong, and has not yet integrated and developed Guangdong's Tiandihui, Reform School, Jingwu School and other forces, nor has he yet supported Guangdong Customs. It did not take control of a large amount of local political power in Guangdong, and certainly did not start the land equalization movement within the Guangdong New Army.
If the Guangdong New Army is not given equal land, then the Guangdong New Army is not the armed force of the Tiandihui, but the armed force shared by the Qing Dynasty and Wang Fuchen.
It’s not the right time to rebel against the Qing Dynasty now!
Thinking of this, he glanced at Yao Qisheng, "the third prince's brother" Yao Qisheng: "Xizhi, you must have figured out the strength of each mountain in Guangdong and Guangxi, right? Let's talk about it. We are following Wu Sangui in the rebellion. capital?"
"If we go back to our young master's house, we still don't have enough money."
Yao Qisheng actually didn't think there was anything wrong with this topic and really started to analyze it!
There are two eras now and before the Battle of Daguan Town. At least in Guangdong and Guangxi, times have changed!
Revolting against the Qing Dynasty and restoring the Ming Dynasty is no longer something far away, but something that is happening right now!
Therefore, Master Yao Qisheng should naturally give advice to his boss. Should he fight against the Qing immediately, or should he wait and see?
"Dong Weng, Shaodong's family," Yao Qisheng said, "Sun Yanling now has nearly 10,000 elite soldiers. If we add Zu Zeqing's Gaoleilian Town and Gaozhou Navy Camp, there will be more than 13,000 elite soldiers. Got it!
The Prince of Pingnan also has fifteen elite soldiers under his command, and also controls five general soldiers including Guangdong Left Wing, Right Wing, Shunde, Shaozhou, and Jieshi. The actual number of troops on hand is estimated to be more than 15,000!
The three people who are about to take office, Zhu Guozhi, Li Lan, and Chen Shikai, will also control 8,000 Green Camp troops in total.
In addition, Xushun Gongfu has five assistants and a thousand elite soldiers. Chao Zhen Commander Liu Jinzhong has 2,000 troops. The sons of the late Raoping Commander Wu Liuyi still have 1,500 men on hand. (an association), Guangdong Navy Town is huge, with 6,000 soldiers, and Qiongzhou Town has 2,000 soldiers. Plus some other "associations" and miscellaneous troops such as city garrison camp and navy camp, there can be about Twenty thousand for a small one.
In other words, the total number of vassal troops and green battalions in Guangdong and Guangxi is now about 80,000, while the number of troops Dong Weng can control is only 16,000 to 20,000, accounting for only 20% to 25% of the total strength of Guangdong and Guangxi. "
Wang Zhongxiao immediately continued what Yao Qisheng said: "Father, have you heard? Our troops only account for 20% of the total strength of the armies of Guangdong and Guangxi!" Wang Zhongxiao said, "And the Green Camp New Army is mostly new soldiers, and they are new to Guangdong. How many people who are unfamiliar with this place can follow us wholeheartedly?
In addition, how much territory do we have now? Regardless of Guangxi, Guangdong alone has 13 state capitals and 89 counties, departments, and scattered states. How many do we know?
Without land, our more than 10,000 troops would be rootless. It would be difficult to raise military supplies and civilian support, war casualties could not be replenished, and gunpowder and equipment could not be purchased. Once something goes wrong, you will be like a beast! "
Wang Fuchen's ears were a bit soft to begin with. Historically, he rebelled against the Qing Dynasty and restored the Ming Dynasty and defected to Wu Sangui. At the same time, he was deceived by Zhou Chang and then returned to the Qing camp. He made himself miserable by going back and forth.
Now after listening to the analysis of Yao Qisheng and Wang Zhongxiao, the originally weak rebellious attitude has shrunk a lot.
After Wang Zhongxiao finished speaking, he glanced at Kong Sizhen. Kong Sizhen hurriedly said to Wang Fuchen: "Brother Wang, Shikai and Master Yao are right. We should not be anxious about rebelling against the Qing Dynasty and restoring the Ming Dynasty. We are not reckless now with nothing, but A man with a lot of troops in his hands!
Now that the imperial court and Wu Sangui are constraining each other, neither of them can spare much power for Guangdong and Guangxi. We just happen to be slowly grabbing the territory of Guangdong and Guangxi. With the territory, population, and wealth of Guangdong and Guangxi, you will be able to get whatever you want in the future?
If we are in a hurry now and rebel and fail, all our efforts will be wasted and we will have nothing! "
Wang Fuchen touched his beard and asked thoughtfully: "But how to manage this territory? If there is no rebellion, how many counties can I, the governor, control?"
"Dad, I took advantage of the imperial court's opportunity to sell officials and titles to raise military pay. I have already purchased six prefectures and twelve prefectures. The prefects can also act as county magistrates! In other words, we can control up to eighteen counties!" Wang Zhongxiao calculated. "We will try our best to capture the coastal counties of Zhaoqing, Huizhou, Guangfu and Gaozhou.
Coastal counties have a large amount of abandoned land due to coastal relocation. This land can all be sold out! Our own new army can share some, or we can share some with the local heroes in Guangdong. In addition, these seaside counties are now very poor, and there are many pirates, which are hard for ordinary local officials to live in, and it is easy to get them. "
Wang Fuchen glanced at Yao Qisheng: "Master Yao, how many counties are there like this?"
"Dongweng, Guangfu has six counties: Xiangshan, Xinning, Xinhui, Xin'an, Shunde and Dongguan; Zhaoqing has one county of Yangjiang; Huizhou has two counties of Haifeng and Guishan; Gaozhou has Dianbai and Wuchuan. There are eleven in total. Counties. In addition, we had better capture Gaoyao, the first county of Zhaoqing, Qiongshan, the first county of Qiongzhou Prefecture, Huilai, which borders Chaozhou and Huizhou, and Qujiang, which guards the gateway to Lingnan."
Wang Zhongxiao said: "With these fifteen counties, plus Uncle Ba's Zhaoqing Prefecture, my son's Guangdong Customs Road may have two or three prefects or prefects, and we can start to operate our own base!"
"Still operating?" Wang Fuchen frowned, "How to operate?"
"The first step is, of course, to recruit talented people to the governor's yamen and the prefecture and county yamen we can control!" Wang Zhongxiao said, "There are always too few officials in the Qing Dynasty where they are needed. !
Apart from anything else, in your governor's yamen, father, you are the only one who is not an official. Even the master of the sixth department is not an official. If we want to truly and effectively control the territory, we need more officials and officials! "
It’s not that the Qing Dynasty didn’t have redundant staff, there were a lot of redundant staff in the Ministry of Internal Affairs system! However, there are too few local officials. A county often only has one "official" chief seal official. Even in a large county, at most it is given a county magistrate or a chief registrar and an envoy. These three and two assistant officials are reluctant to collect them all. Therefore, it is often enough for a county to have two officials!
There are not enough staffed officials, so of course local government affairs can only be handled by the officials' "staff and family members" and local powerful people. The former are hired by the officials themselves with their own money, while the latter come from the gentry or gentry who have controlled the place for a long time. They're hooligans.
This official spent his own money to hire people. Not just one or two people! But at least one or twenty, and even as many as one or two hundred! Where does this money come from? No corruption allowed?
As for the local gentry and local ruffians, why do they work as "petty officials" with little money?
"But the court's system" Wang Fuchen frowned, "and where can we find so many talents?"
"Now that the imperial court is busy fighting Wu Sangui, how much more can it care about Guangdong's affairs?" Wang Zhongxiao said with a smile, "We can let it go! As for where are the talents? Aren't there Reform Schools and Jingwu Schools? We have to run them If you want a good site, you must run these two schools seriously!”
"But it costs money to run a school?" Wang Fuchen said, "Now these two schools have just been opened, and they have already spent a lot of money. If they really want to run a big school, they have to spend one or two hundred thousand a year? Where does the money come from? Come?"
"Silver." Wang Zhongxiao smiled and said, "Father, there is a child here! The child is the Guangdong Customs Road and other customs roads have been opened, and there is a lot of money to collect!"
"Shaodong's family," Yao Qisheng reminded, "the waters of sea trade can be deep. And the Yi people who are entrenched in Hao'ao are not easy to deal with. They have people in the court and have friendship with the Pingnan Palace. The successive governors of Guangdong and Guangdong and the governor of Guangdong have all It’s hard to step in.”
Wang Zhongxiao laughed and said: "That's because others can't do it, but I can do it! I dare not say that there are too many, but there is no problem in making hundreds of thousands or millions from the customs a year!"
"Are there really that many?" Wang Fuchen's eyes lit up, "If there are really that many, then our troops will be more than 16,000, and it is possible to double them!"
Wang Zhongxiao said confidently: "Father, just take a look!"
(End of chapter)
