?
"King Of The East, what kind of title are you going to confer on me?" Vézé wanted to use a serious, expectant, and even a little fearful tone to say this. However, halfway through his sentence, Vézé suddenly laughed happily. Vézé didn't think that it was a big deal to be conferred the title of King or not. It was just that an ordinary 21st-century youth like him had become a King in a certain political system. Vézé's emotions were filled with joy, complacency, and a little bewildered.
Looking at Vézé's expression, Yang Xiuqing laughed heartily. "You must be happy to be conferred the title of King!"
Vézé laughed. "King Of The East, if the King Of The East were to confer the title of King to me, of course I would be happy. However, I would like to ask the King Of The East not to make fun of me because I am too proud. If you suddenly tell me that you are making fun of me, I won't be able to take it! "
Yang Xiuqing stopped smiling and snorted. "If you didn't say that, I would really want to joke with you! Since you said that, I won't tease you anymore. Vézé, with your military achievements, you are still far from being conferred the title of King. However, I want to confer the title of King to you this time because you are the first person in the Taiping army to send food to Tianjing without me saying anything. "
Vézé also stopped smiling and listened quietly to Yang Xiuqing's lecture. He could understand how touched Yang Xiuqing was. As the King Of The East of the Taiping Rebellion, Yang Xiuqing had to manage the affairs of the entire Taiping Rebellion. In the 21st century, enterprises relied on systems to complete their operations. For Yang Xiuqing in 1853, he could only directly order his generals to complete various objectives. Without Yang Xiuqing giving any direct orders to Vézé, Yang Xiuqing suddenly received the food that he urgently needed from Vézé. Naturally, it left a deep impression on him.
In this era, it was possible to survive without money, but without food, one would not last more than three days. If the Taiping Rebellion had lasted, they would not have chased the old, weak, and women out of Tianjing City and made them "reap the harvest" themselves. According to Vézé's intelligence network, after Vézé's first batch of food arrived in Tianjing, the old, weak, and women outside the city were quickly called back to Tianjing to settle down. If the conditions allowed it, no one would want to do that.
"King Of The East, if you had not led the main force to fight against Qing Yao in Tianjing City, I would not have been able to do all this," Vézé replied. This was not a polite remark. Tianjing City had always been the frontline of the Taiping Rebellion. The Southern and Northern Camps of the Qing Army attacked Tianjing City and the nearby Yangzhou and Zhenjiang. It seemed that Vézé was far away from the center, but in fact, Vézé was far away from the flames of war and danger. He could easily develop in the Anhui region, where the Qing Army's strength was the weakest. In terms of credit, Yang Xiuqing should take at least half of it.
"Hmph, it's good that you know!" Yang Xiuqing laughed. "Since you have made the greatest contribution in delivering the food, I will confer you the title of Prince Of Qi."
"Prince Of Qi?" Vézé repeated. He did not have a good impression of this title. In history, all the famous Prince Of Qi had a bad ending. Even a wise ruler like Duke Huan of Qi had starved to death. Sixty-seven days after his death, worms crawled out of the window on his body before he was buried.
Thinking about this pile of historical anecdotes, Vézé's expression was misunderstood by Yang Xiuqing. Yang Xiuqing picked up a piece of paper and wrote the word "Qi". "You don't have to guess. It is this Prince Of Qi."
Vézé collected his thoughts. "Thank you, King Of The East. King Of The East, send an official document to inform the whole army. I will hurry back to Anhui. There are many things to do! "
Yang Xiuqing was amused by these words. He was so angry that he laughed, "Wei Ze! What do you think the title of King is for? Me to send an announcement? How did you come up with this idea?! "
Perhaps Vézé's attitude was too sincere. Yang Xiuqing thought that Vézé would only need to put up a few announcements and be done with it. There was such a huge difference between the two that Yang Xiuqing could not find the words to describe it.
"I will follow the arrangements of the King Of The East! I will do whatever the King Of The East arranges! "Vézé could only reply this way.
During the period of Yongan, the five kings of Tianping were the East, West, South, and North Kings, as well as the Wing King, Shi Dakai. When they attacked Tianjing, there were eight Prime Minister, including Vézé. They were all famous figures in the Taiping Rebellion. Although Vézé was not Jin Tian's brother, he was the first to be conferred the title of King. This conferment was undoubtedly an announcement to the generals that a new round of conferment had begun. As long as one made enough contributions, he would be conferred the title of King as a reward.
Hong Xiuquan did not manage military affairs, but ceremonial affairs were left to him. Vézé's conferment ceremony was presided over by Heavenly King Hong. The Taiping Rebellion did not require kowtowing. Therefore, everyone only knelt down to pay their respects. Vézé was already mentally prepared. Therefore, when he heard Heavenly King Hong reciting his limerick, he focused his attention on his thigh, which was aching from kneeling down. He managed to maintain his manners throughout the entire process.
Vézé even had the time to secretly observe Heavenly King Hong, Hong Xiuquan. However, he saw that Hong Xiuquan did not look exhausted from indulging in women. Vézé heard that Hong Xiuquan had been getting himself wives along the way. After arriving in Tianjing, he even got himself 88 wives. Even if he slept with three wives a day, it would take about 30 days for him to finish each cycle.
Heavenly King Hong looked to be in good condition. Although he was tired, he did not look like he had stayed up all night thinking. In other words, although he looked a little exhausted, the restlessness brought about by his anxiety was very obvious. It was completely different from the exhaustion caused by pure debauchery and the inability to concentrate at all.
Vézé did not have a good impression of Hong Xiuquan because of this. On the contrary, Vézé despised Hong Xiuquan even more. Not using so many wives after marrying them was a great waste of high-quality production resources. He might as well not marry any wives!
Because he was preoccupied, Vézé felt that the entire process was rather quick. After the ceremony, the King Of The East immediately got someone to escort the Heavenly King back to his residence. Vézé had already told Yang Xiuqing that he wanted to stay in Tianjing City for a while longer. However, he was busy with work now. Vézé really wanted to go back to work earlier.
Yang Xiuqing was basically in the same state. He could understand Vézé's anxiety. If Vézé had not sent large amounts of food from Anhui, Yang Xiuqing would have been even more anxious. Therefore, Yang Xiuqing agreed to Vézé's request not to hold a celebratory feast in Tianjing. After the ceremony ended, Vézé prepared to leave Tianjing.
North King Wei Changhui and Wing King Shi Dakai had come to attend the ceremony. The two of them personally congratulated Vézé. Vézé did not dare to refuse. Wei Changhui smiled. "Wayne Brothers are truly a hero of our Wei family."
Unlike Wei Changhui's polite words, Shi Dakai had a proud attitude and pretended to be calm. "Congratulations, Wayne Brothers. Do well in the future!"
Vézé thanked the North King and the Wing King. Vézé was not an eloquent person. Moreover, Wei Changhui and Shi Dakai were not Vézé's type. Wei Changhui gave Vézé the impression that he was too feminine. He always followed the opinions of others. As for Shi Dakai, Vézé felt that he was rather scholarly. He had to act like a model in everything. This was because the Wing King was already a big shot.
In the Taiping Rebellion, Vézé's favorite was Yang Xiuqing. Yang Xiuqing had always been doing things. Everything he did was to help Yang Xiuqing do things better.
As for the Wing King Shi Dakai, Vézé had a very direct feeling that many of the things he did were to strengthen his position as the Wing King and the young military strategist of the Taiping Rebellion. This was not to say that Vézé doubted Shi Dakai's ability. In history, Shi Dakai had defeated the Xiang Army many times and almost forced Ceng Guofan to commit suicide by jumping into Lake Poyang. This was all true ability. But Vézé just did not like Shi Dakai's drive.
Vézé was not familiar with the generals who had stayed in Tianjing City. Moreover, he deliberately did not want to make friends with them. Therefore, after the ceremony, Vézé quickly bid farewell to Yang Xiuqing and set off for Anqing with Qin Rigang.
At this time, Vézé felt that his becoming a king might have something to do with him asking Yang Xiuqing to arrange for Qin Rigang to go to Anqing. After the Taiping army invaded Tianjing City, Qin Rigang was the Prime Minister of the Heavenly Officials, while Vézé was the Prime Minister of the Winter Officials. There was a significant difference in their ranks. If Vézé had not been made a king, Qin Rigang would have been able to command Vézé from Anhui. Even if he could not command them, there would have been inevitable friction between the two.
Now that Vézé had been made a Prince Of Qi, his position was above Qin Rigang's. As an old brother of the Taiping Rebellion, Qin Rigang's qualifications were much deeper than Vézé's. Vézé could not completely subdue Qin Rigang and turn him into Vézé's subordinate. Wei Ze had seen such a pattern of big and small governing each other when he was reading. However, this was the first time he had personally experienced it. Vézé was not angry at Yang Xiuqing. He felt that Yang Xiuqing's handling of the matter had taught him a good lesson.
As a reward for Yang Xiuqing, Vézé told Qin Rigang about the construction process in Anhui.
To Vézé's surprise, Qin Rigang did not criticize Vézé's actions. Not only did Qin Rigang not criticize Vézé's policies, but he also tried to learn from Vézé how to implement the "tax on grain" in Anhui. This made Vézé a little nervous. He was afraid that Qin Rigang would try to take over his position, so he asked Qin Rigang not to touch the newly built bureaucracy in Anhui. After all, the bureaucracy established by Vézé had gone through professional training and targeted government practices. If Qin Rigang really wanted to meddle in this, Vézé would try his best to stop him even if it meant that he would fall out with Qin Rigang.
As a result, as soon as Vézé expressed his stance, Qin Rigang immediately expressed his willingness to support Vézé's work. After a discussion, they decided that Vézé would first let Qin Rigang be stationed in Anqing. Qin Rigang did not come to Anhui alone. Instead, he brought more than five thousand soldiers with him. While stationed, Qin Rigang could send some trustworthy people to receive government training from Vézé. After Vézé confirmed the completion of the training, this group of people would take over the government in Anqing.
As the strength of Qin Rigang's troops increased, Vézé gradually shifted his core forces to the Luzhou area. His main target would be the Huai River. Qin Rigang would control the military and political power in the Yangtze River region of Anhui, with Anqing as the center. He would be responsible for responding to the King Of The East's Yang Xiuqing's demands in the Yangtze River region.
After reaching an agreement, Vézé was greatly relieved. With Qin Rigang as his backing and Yang Xiuqing's demands, Vézé would be able to focus on fighting the Qing Army in the Huai River region. If he could firmly occupy the Huai River and push his base eastward along the river. Once Vézé could occupy Xuzhou with a large army, he would be able to complete the strategy of defending the river and defending the Huai River. The communication between the north and the south of Manchu Qing would be cut off. At that time, the Taiping Rebellion would complete the historical pattern of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, with the two sides confronting each other with the Huai River as the boundary.
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