At the court, neither the Queen Mother nor Prince Gong said what to do next, and other ministers also understood that the three of them were going to have a small meeting.
So everyone stopped arguing, and there was nothing to argue about. Nanjing City had been captured.
Wait until everyone retreats.
Prince Gong came to the harem and found the two queen mothers.
"I see the Queen Mother of the East and the Queen Mother of the West."
Cixi: "Prince Gong, please tell me how to reward Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang for their victory this time."
Prince Gong was silent for a while and then returned: "I believe that merit must be rewarded. The two generals have contributed to our Qing Dynasty. Not rewarding them is not enough to calm the morale of the army."
Ci'an: "Rewards should be given. After all, they have served the court well, but how should they be rewarded?"
Cixi: "Both of them are not our Manchus, and both are Han. If the reward is too high, I'm afraid the civil and military officials in the court will not accept it."
In fact, what Cixi was thinking was that the two Han people had too much power and were afraid that their high achievements would shock the emperor.
Ci'an and the others also understood, but it was difficult to say this clearly.
Prince Gong frowned tightly. What Cixi said was not unreasonable. Zeng Guofan had already been promoted from the first rank. How could he be promoted again?
Li Hongzhang was also a second-rank official, and his official position was not low. Li Hongzhang was not yet forty years old, and his official position was too high. All the officials in the court must have opinions.
Prince Gong: "How do you reward the two empress dowagers according to their wishes?"
Cixi: "I don't think they will be rewarded with official positions. We can give them titles."
"Zeng Guofan made the greatest contribution. Zeng Guofan was the crown prince's Taibao, a first-class marquis, hereditary, and was rewarded with a pair of flower feathers."
Because Zeng Guofan was too old and had enough merit, he was given many more titles.
Only first-class marquis and hereditary substitution are of some use.
Prince Gong and Empress Dowager Dong had no objection to this. Although this was not high, it also left Zeng Guofan speechless.
Prince Gong and Queen Mother Dong continued to look at Cixi and asked her to continue.
"As for Li Hongzhang, his official position remains unchanged. He will be given the title of Prince Shaobao, first-class earl, hereditary, and will be rewarded with flowers and feathers on his eyes and a yellow mantle."
"Other generals of Huaiyong and Xiangyong will be rewarded according to their military merits, and ordinary officers will be rewarded with silver and fertile land."
"The Liangjiang area was seriously damaged by the Taiping Army, and there was a lot more fertile land. The land was re-measured, and those with owners were returned to them, and those without owners were rewarded to the soldiers, which can also save the court a lot of money."
Prince Gong said that there was no problem with this. Cixi was really smart and the arrangements were reasonable.
This reward left Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang and others speechless.
Prince Gong continued to ask: "What about Yang Xiuqing and Hong Tianfugui?"
Cixi: "Both of them have been transported back to the capital. I want to see if they have three heads and six arms, causing our Qing Dynasty Eight Banners and Green Camp to suffer repeated setbacks."
After setting a reward, several people began to order people to go to Nanjing to deliver the message.
Now there is basically no population in Nanjing. Those who can escape are those who will die.
This time it was Li Lianying, the eunuch beside the Empress Dowager Cixi, who came out to deliver the message.
Li Lianying has not reached the peak of his life yet, and there is Ande Hai in front of him who keeps pressing him.
Without Anderhai, it was time for him to soar into the sky.
This little plum arrived at Nanjing City under the escort of the Forbidden Army.
Zeng Guofan and the others had been notified long ago, and the imperial court sent people.
Everyone was prepared in advance to receive the order.
As soon as Xiao Lizi arrived, Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang quickly came forward to say hello.
Zeng Guofan: "Eunuch Li, long time no see. I'm here to say hello to you."
Little Lizi: "Master Zeng, you can't do this. You can't do it. I'm a little eunuch. How can I be so virtuous? How can I be so virtuous?"
Zeng Guofan: "My father-in-law is joking. Who doesn't know that Eunuch Li is a famous person next to the Queen Mother of the West? We still have to look up to our father-in-law's photos."
Li Hongzhang: "Yes, we still have to hope that my father-in-law will take care of us."
…
Xiao Lizi: "My lords, you are welcome. I am here today. We have come to tell you the good news in accordance with the orders of the Emperor, His Majesty and the Queen Mother of the two palaces."
"Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang, Zeng Guoquan, Bai Tao... take the order!"
"By God's will, the emperor decreed that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's teleportation has been going on for fourteen years since the first year of Emperor Xianfeng's reign, and as many as sixteen provinces have been affected."
"Now the governor of Liangjiang, Zeng Guofan, led the governor of Anhui, Li Hongzhang... to destroy the Taiping Army and recover Nanjing."
"I specially ennoble Zeng Guofan, the governor of Liangjiang, as the crown prince's Taibao and a first-class marquis. He can be hereditary and replaceable, and he will be rewarded with a pair of flower feathers."
"Li Hongzhang, the governor of Anhui, is specially appointed as the Prince's Shaobao, a first-class earl, hereditary and irreplaceable, and is rewarded with a pair of flower feathers and a yellow mantle."
…
"Female Huaiyong General Bai Tao as the Inspector, Second Class Viscount."
"Female Huaiyong and Zhang Ruijin as a general."
"Confer Liu Mingchuan the title of Governor of Zhili."
…
After the reward was over, Zeng Guofan entertained Xiao Lizi well.
The next day, someone was sent to escort Xiao Lizi back to Beijing, and Hong Tianfugui and Li Xiucheng were also escorted to Beijing.
Not many Taiping soldiers surrendered this time.
Hong Xiuquan's sister Hong Xuanjiao and his female generals fought to the end, and were killed by gunpowder.
This time, all the meritorious generals were rewarded, and ordinary soldiers were also given land. It can be said that everyone was happy.
Only a few major generals felt a little uncomfortable.
Take Li Hongzhang and Zeng Guofan for example, their actual power has not increased at all, and now they still face the problem of what to do with the troops and horses they have.
The imperial edict did not say what to do with the soldiers and horses in their hands.
Zeng Guofan decided to disband his troops and let them go back wherever they came from, or live in Nanjing.
After all, they just acquired a lot of land.
Another reason is that the current Hunan Army is no longer the Hunan Army it once was.
After many years of fighting, there are no real elites left, and many of them are descendants recruited later.
The combat effectiveness is really incomparable with that of the earliest Hunan Army.
This time they conquered the city of Nanjing, but the Huai army did not invade the city.
However, the Hunan army set fire to and looted the city.
A lot of money in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's holy treasury was robbed by them.
The other two, Li Hongzhang and Zeng Guofan, divided a lot. (Originally in history, Zeng Guofan transported hundreds of boxes of gold and silver treasures back to his hometown.)
All the others were also escorted to Beijing and presented to the Queen Mother as filial piety.
Zeng Guofan's main fear was that his great achievements would shock his master, and the court would punish him because of the military power in his hands.
Therefore, Zeng Guofan later abolished the Hunan army, leaving only 30,000 people. He had many generals, and it was not a big problem for each of them to lead several thousand people.
Li Hongzhang had more than 40,000 soldiers in total, and there were thousands of casualties in this battle.
There is also the fact that Li Hongzhang has not yet reached the heights of Zeng Guofan.
If the sky falls, a tall man will hold it up.
Li Jingxiao once told him that the annihilation of the Taiping Army was not the end, and asked him to guard against the Nian Army.
So it's a problem that he doesn't have many troops.
Secondly, Li Hongzhang and Zeng Guofan have very different personalities.
Zeng Guofan believed in Neo-Confucianism throughout his life, kept himself clean, cherished feathers, and had high requirements for his own moral standards.
Even if he knew that the Qing court had the intention of "when the birds are gone, the good bows are hidden, the cunning rabbits are dead, and the lackeys are cooked", he could only do it.
He was unwilling to embarrass the Qing court over disarmament, thus affecting his image in the Qing court.
Li Hongzhang believed in practical politics throughout his life, and adopted whatever strategy was beneficial to him.
As for whether this strategy can be accepted in the elegant hall, he can't control that much.
