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On June 20th, 1855, the latest news about Tian Di Hui arrived in Canton. At the beginning of May, after Tian Di Hui withdrew from Canton, the Tian Di Hui troops, which had once numbered more than 40,000, were left with nearly 30,000.
The leaders commanding these 30,000 troops had internal disagreements. Chen Kai and Li Wenmao led the main force to Zhaoqing and rendezvoused with another Tian Di Hui rebel force, Liang Peiyou. Then they led over a thousand warships and sailed up the West River into Guangxi. Along the way, they failed to capture Wuzhou, so they circled around it and broke through Teng County. On June 5th, they arrived outside Xunzhou Prefecture. The rebel force used the "Cave Siege Method" to no avail. They also sent troops to guard the mouth of the Dahuang River, trying to force the Qing Army in Xunzhou to run out of food supplies.
Xunzhou Prefecture governed Guiping, Guixian, and Wuxuan Counties. Under Guiping County's jurisdiction was Jintian Village, where the Taiping Rebellion had erupted. Jintian Village was located at the southern foot of Zijing Mountain, more than fifty li north of Guiping County. This could be considered the Taiping Rebellion's old home. Chen Kai and Li Wenmao's swift movements greatly surprised Vézé.
Chen Xianliang, the leader of the other Tian Di Hui force, also had no intention of choosing Vézé. Taking advantage of the fact that Vézé had broken through many cities along the way without leaving behind anyone to guard them, Chen Xianliang headed straight for Jiangxi. The latest news was that this force had occupied Ganzhou and seemed to be staying there. "Are we that unpopular?" Vézé couldn't help complaining.
"Are we so unpopular?" Wei Ze couldn't help but grumble. Because in Vézé's instructions, the attitude of Tian Di Hui as a potential enemy had been clearly stated. But the originally anticipated situation in which Tian Di Hui would run over to seek shelter did not appear. Vézé once again felt that he was being looked down upon. Luo Dagang hurriedly advised, "Commander, Tian Di Hui was driven away by the landlord's troops. They should have had their own plans a long time ago.
But the originally anticipated situation in which Tian Di Hui would run over to seek shelter did not appear. Vézé once again felt that he was being looked down upon. I reckon they are just acting according to their original plan. "
This was reasonable, and Vézé had no reason not to worry about Tian Di Hui's departure from Canton. Soon, Vézé shifted his thoughts to the current situation. The fact that the Tian Di Hui troops had not been able to seize Wuzhou was news that made Vézé feel much more at ease. For Vézé, Wuzhou was a strategic location that he had to obtain. Regardless of the opinions of this group of Tian Di Hui people, Vézé was determined to get his hands on this city located on the waterway. He asked, "If we send troops to attack Wuzhou now, will there be a problem of not having enough troops to defend Guangzhou?"
Currently, Manchu Qing's military strength is less than one million, and the Taiping Rebellion has about two hundred thousand soldiers. Wei Ze's troops were well-equipped, well-trained, brave, and good at fighting. But after taking everything into account, the number of soldiers that could be used as combat troops was only slightly more than 50,000. The Pearl River Delta covered an area of more than 50,000 square kilometers. More than 50,000 troops were scattered on it. On average, there would be one soldier per square kilometer. It was obviously unrealistic to use military force to suppress the populous Pearl River Delta.
Without powerful basic abilities, Vézé could only occupy a portion of the key positions. There was basically no possibility of failure in attacking Wuzhou, but this also meant that Vézé's forces would be diluted even more. Tens of thousands of Tian Di Hui troops had been beaten by the local masters until they could no longer stand in Guangdong and had no choice but to run to the nearby Guangxi and Jiangxi. Vézé was also worried that if he was careless, in the end, he would make a joke of Guangzhou being surrounded and attacked.
"Our First Army will send a division to attack Wuzhou. After we take it, we will use a brigade to defend Wuzhou. That should be about right, "Wei Changrong replied.
"If Wuzhou cannot become a recruiting base for our army and allow us to gather large numbers of Guangxi troops in Wuzhou, then taking Wuzhou is a meaningless matter," Vézé replied.
"I am willing to go to Wuzhou," Luo Dagang said.
"I am willing to go to Wuzhou," Ruan Xihao also replied.
"Commander Ruan, if I let you go to Wuzhou, will you scare the Tu family to death?" Vézé said. Vézé came from Guangxi and knew very well the intensity of the conflict between the locals and guests in Guangxi. When Vézé considered the education of the troops, he wanted to place the emphasis on the position of the ruler of the conflict between the locals and guests. Vézé was far too familiar with Ruan Xihao's background. It was when Vézé led the troops to battle in Wuzhou and led Ruan Xihao to slaughter the Tu family's Wujia Town. The Guest's local power completely suppressed the Tu family.
After the troops took down Guangzhou, the intelligence personnel had already gone to Wujia Town to make contact. The news they received was quite "inspiring." The Guest village had completely slaughtered Wujia Town and occupied the originally sturdy town. With this as the center, they attacked in all directions. Large numbers of surrounding Guest factions joined in and killed the nearby Tu family until corpses littered the fields and blood flowed like rivers. The Tu family was forced to run away completely.
If they sent Ruan Xihao to Wuzhou and after Wuzhou was taken down, Ruan Xihao would raise his arm and call for help. Presumably, the Guest would immediately flock to respond. The final result would certainly be that the Guest, with the support of the Liberation Army, would dominate Wuzhou and do whatever they wanted. If such a result occurred, Vézé would rather Wuzhou temporarily remain in the hands of Manchu Qing.
Vézé thought for a moment and then said, "Comrades, what we want to defeat is Manchu Qing, not the Tu family. What we want to establish is a strange world. Whether it is the Tu family or the Guest, they can all live well. It is not to kill all of the Tu family, or to have the Guest ride on top of the Tu family. If it becomes like that in the end, what difference is there between us and Manchu Qing? "
Different from the hundreds who responded to a single call in the past, the civil and military officials of the Governor's Office were momentarily silent. After a long while, Wei Changrong spoke. "Governor, we Guests have suffered so much from the Tu family and had so many killed by them. I feel that the Tu family cannot be relied on."
Vézé smiled bitterly. "I say, Comrade Changrong, how many Tu family members have we killed? Other comrades may not be clear, but the two of us should be clearer than anyone else, right? If we return to our homeland, I feel that the Tu family will feel that we cannot be relied on. "
Vézé and Wei Changrong had been the rising martial stars of the Guest and had taken too many lives at their hands. The two of them had killed too many people, but they did not have the ability to rely on their own strength to completely reverse the difference in power between the local Guests near their homeland. The government had offered a heavy reward for the heads of Vézé and Wei Changrong. The Guest was unwilling to fall behind. Not only did they offer a reward, but they also organized a team specifically to capture and kill the two of them. Although the local Guest would not go so far as to betray the two of them, they did not dare to accept these two gods of death.
When Vézé's position was completely on the side of the Guest, this result might have been considered an honor for the two of them. Now that Vézé was the future ruler of Guangdong and Guangxi, this identity was rather awkward. If there were no more changes in the army and they continued to lean towards the Guest's position, it would only set off an even more ferocious storm of slaughter in Guangxi.
Vézé originally thought that he could take his time in political education, but he did not expect that politics was deeply integrated with society. Just because Vézé deliberately avoided political problems, he would not encounter political problems.
Left with no choice, Vézé could only start political education. Before starting this work, Vézé felt a strong sense of ridiculousness. Originally, he thought that conquering the world depended on great strength, but now it seemed that a considerable part of great strength was advanced political ideas. However, at this time, Vézé felt that he still had a better environment. At least there were no landlords in the army, and the ideas of landlords had very limited influence in Vézé's army.
The biggest difference between the new China and foreign countries was that the new China believed that every one of its citizens was a reserve army for the future ruling class, so the curriculum was completely based on ruling class education. The new China was afraid that its citizens did not understand politics enough, so it set up political classes from junior high school until graduate students had to take a political exam. This was completely different from the national education in foreign countries, which was like raising pigs.
Vézé once saw a piece of news. The hardcore old right wing in the 60s and 70s in the United States lamented that with the political situation in the United States in the 21st century, they, the most loyal defenders and builders of the capitalist system in the 60s and 70s, had become complete traitors. In the 60s and 70s, the United States had to admit that there were class contradictions. The supporters of the capitalist system believed that the capitalist system was the only way to solve the social contradictions. But in the 21st century, the political standard in the United States was simple and to the point. Whoever admitted the existence of class contradictions and class struggle was undoubtedly a traitor.
Vézé was very familiar with Guangxi. Guangxi was a place where the productivity was not high enough. There were many different levels of productivity, and many systems that were suitable for the level of productivity existed at the same time. Although it was a sad thing that slavery still existed in Guangxi, China in 1855, it was much easier to teach politics with facts as a basis.
In the 21st century, China was in a period of rapid industrial development. The theory that productivity was the greatest driving force of society was very easy to accept. Vézé began with the backward productivity of the Yao people in the mountainous areas and the slave system that corresponded to this productivity. Then he talked about the various corresponding productivity levels and corresponding social systems and customs in the mountainous areas.
After all, Vézé's army had traveled thousands of miles. There were soldiers from Hebei, Shandong, Henan, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Hunan, Hubei, Guangdong, Guangxi, and a small number of soldiers from Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan provinces. From the mountainous areas to the plains, from the south to the north, from the Yellow River to the Yangtze River, and from the Yangtze River to the Pearl River. It was really like reading books from ten thousand miles of road. As a reserve army of the ruling class who had received a full set of examination-oriented education, Vézé had a lot of content to teach.
As the so-called integration of theory with practice, although the content of Vézé's course was actually very deep, there were a lot of examples. People had seen too many things with their own eyes and experienced too many things. The speed at which the higher-ups accepted Vézé's ideas was much faster than expected. At least the relationship between productivity, production relations, and social systems was very easy to accept.
With this foundation, Vézé didn't need to guide himself at all. Naturally, a problem arose. Which class would the Restored Commandery established by Vézé become? Would it represent the interests of the landlords, the tenant farmers, or the small and middle peasants? Would it represent the interests of the Tu family? Or would it represent the interests of the generally oppressed Hakkas?
Even if Wei Ze didn't want to talk about this complicated issue, the members of the Viceroy's Office realized that they had to find a position for themselves after he described the true nature of the world. Otherwise, their powerful military force would now be alone outside of this society.
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