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On the 1st of February, 1859, in a restaurant by the West Lake in Hangzhou, a few scholars seemed to have drunk too much and were arguing about recent events. The Minister of Training Zuo Zongtang had defeated Shi Dakai who had attacked Zhejiang in October last year, and then led his Chu army into Fujian. In December last year, he had driven Shi Dakai from Fujian to Jiangxi. At this time, he had accumulated merits and was promoted to Zhejiang's Inspector-General. The flames of war that seemed to be entering the rich plains of Zhejiang finally moved away from Zhejiang. This made the local rich people heave a sigh of relief.
However, the news from Beijing and the announcement of the Liberation Army shocked these rich people. The emperor, who was the most respected emperor, was forced to escape from the capital. The British captured Beijing and forced the imperial court to sign the treaty. Scholars at least knew some history. Such a situation would only appear at the end of the dynasty. Was the Qing Dynasty going to fall at the hands of the British?
But the news spread quickly. It was said that the British were satisfied with the treaty they signed and led their troops out of Beijing. The imperial court miraculously turned the situation around. This news naturally caused the scholars to double their discussions.
"Those traitors from the Liberation Army. If they hadn't rebelled, why wouldn't the imperial court have sent troops to defend Beijing?" a middle-aged man in his thirties said indignantly.
"But the Liberation Army is said to have fought with the British before, but they didn't lose," a young man in his twenties answered uneasily.
"How do you know those rebels haven't lost the battle? They are in Guangdong. If they could stop the British, why would the British attack Beijing? "The man in his thirties said angrily. Now that he was enraged, his aura surged, and the young man didn't dare to make another sound.
Seeing that the young man had been intimidated, the middle-aged man in his thirties continued to say angrily, "Now there's news from Guangdong. The traitors of the Liberation Army have actually issued some kind of land grant order. All the land belongs to them. Those who are bandits who are willing to farm have to get land from them. What's the point of this land grant?"
The young man was suppressed by the middle-aged man's imposing manner, but he still had the rebellious emotions of a young man. He answered timidly, "Mr. Liu, I read in the books that the Tang Dynasty also used the equal field system …"
Mister Liu said angrily, "What kind of books have you read? What nonsense are you spouting! The Tang Dynasty only had the rule of Zhenguan, but our dynasty also had the golden age of Kangxi and Qianlong, which was much better than the Tang Dynasty … "
To the side, a scholar in his forties clearly could not bear to listen any longer. With a faint expression of mockery, he said, "Without the equal field system, where would the prefectural soldiers come from?"
It seemed that this forty-year-old scholar was the most knowledgeable person at the table. As soon as he opened his mouth, no one else raised any objections to the 'equal field system'. The young man in his twenties immediately seemed to have gained some courage, and his back straightened quite a bit. However, the scholar in his forties did not continue this topic. He frowned slightly and said, "Master Zuo is recruiting soldiers. Look at the notice. He wants to recruit people who know arithmetic. But I don't know what Lord Zuo wants to do. "
This problem was far more relevant to the current lives of Zhejiang people than the equal field system. Everyone at the table felt a little confused. Everyone looked at each other and saw puzzlement and doubt in each other's expressions.
Zuo Zongtang, who was being discussed, did not have any doubts. There were a few foreigners in military uniforms sitting in his mansion. Both sides were discussing the issue of war. The foreigner officer said, "Minister Zuo, I have been ordered by the French Empire's government. I hope you can accept our guidance on the establishment of the new army. You've seen the drill. The same cannon, the same shell, can be operated completely differently by different people. "
The translator tried to translate the foreigner's words into a gentler tone, but even so, the foreigner's arrogance could not be hidden. Zuo Zongtang had always been proud and arrogant. If someone had said such things to his face on a normal day, he would have long exploded. But this time, Zuo Zongtang was not angry. He only nodded slightly and said, "But I don't know how long it will take to train the new gunners."
"If the people are okay, it will take three months at the fastest, half a year at the slowest," the French officer said.
Zuo Zongtang was about to say something when the French officer continued, "But they have to learn French first. This is essential."
"Why?" Zuo Zongtang finally frowned. With his lion nose and wide mouth, his eyebrows already had a few wrinkles, and with this frown, he looked even more ferocious.
The French officer did not care about this at all. He replied casually, "The language of your Chinese is not useful. It cannot be used as a military command. It must be used in French to effectively command the artillery. "
"Haha!" Zuo Zongtang sneered. "I wonder which is stronger, the French artillery or the artillery of the Liberation Army?"
If the French were not so arrogant, Zuo Zongtang would not want to use the Liberation Army to refute the French. Since Zuo Zongtang compared himself to "Jin Liang," he was not someone who did not know what was good for him. The equipment and training of the French army were far better than the Qing Army, and also much better than Zuo Zongtang's Chu army. The French bragged about their artillery and even let the artillery learn French. This was all within the range of Zuo Zongtang's tolerance. However, the French actually said that the language of China was not useful. This completely crossed Zuo Zongtang's bottom line. Of course, perhaps the arrogance of the French had long pushed Zuo Zongtang to the edge of his limit. Criticizing the language of China was only the last straw.
The French naturally knew how to speak, and of course, he could hear the meaning behind Zuo Zongtang's words. Not to mention, the meaning behind Zuo Zongtang's words was too obvious. After a slight pause, the French officer showed an unhappy expression. After listening for a moment, the French officer said, "Minister Zuo, if you can get the artillery training manual of the Liberation Army, I will not object to you using the language of China as a tactical language. But I think you know very well that the Liberation Army is our common enemy. Our goal is to eliminate the rebel forces in your country, so using French as the tactical language of the artillery is the best choice right now. "
Although the French was still stubborn, he no longer made any comments about the language of China. This gave Zuo Zongtang a way out. He just nodded silently and did not continue to argue with the French.
After discussing the formation of a new army, Zuo Zongtang sent the French away. The feeling of being looked down upon was too bad. Zuo Zongtang returned to the study with a gloomy face. His subordinates saw that Zuo Zongtang was so unhappy, so no one dared to come over and say anything to Zuo Zongtang.
Zuo Zongtang sat behind the desk and thought for a long time with his mouth pursed. Finally, he opened a box on the desk and took out a letter from the stack inside. It was a letter that Jiang Zhongyuan had sent to Zuo Zongtang a few days ago. The letter contained Jiang Zhongyuan's views on the recent situation. Jiang Zhongyuan was very distressed about the failure of the imperial court. But this pain was the pain of Jiang Zhongyuan not being able to defeat the foreign devils, and Jiang Zhongyuan was still loyal to the Manchu Qing imperial court. Therefore, in the letter, Jiang Zhongyuan suggested that Zuo Zongtang "learn from the foreigners' strengths to control them." Now Britain and France were willing to sell advanced weapons to the Manchus, and at the same time, they were willing to help the Manchus build a new army. Jiang Zhongyuan sent Li Hongzhang to Shanghai to invite foreign instructors to help the Huai army train the army. Jiang Zhongyuan also suggested that Zuo Zongtang use the advantages of Shanghai to learn the foreign devils' "strong ships and cannons," endure hardships, train a new army, quell the Taiping Rebellion and recover the Commander-in-Chief's Office. Then counterattack and drive the foreign devils out of China.
In fact, there was no need for Jiang Zhongyuan to say this. Zuo Zongtang had already begun to do so. The French consul in Shanghai took the initiative to contact Zuo Zongtang, hoping to cooperate with Zuo Zongtang to build a new army. Zuo Zongtang was more informed. He knew that he was actually not the foreign devils' first choice for cooperation. The foreign devils first went to Jiangnan and Jiangbei Barracks to try to cooperate, but Jiangnan and Jiangbei Barracks did not dare to make such a big decision themselves. They immediately reported the matter to Emperor Xianfeng. Emperor Xianfeng, who was still living in Chengde at this time, certainly did not want the foreign devils to extend their hands into the territory of the Green Camp. He did not dare to refuse the "good intentions" of the foreign devils, so he asked Jiangnan and Jiangbei Barracks to send the foreign devils to Zuo Zongtang.
Zuo Zongtang was not opposed to training the new army. He accepted the foreign devils' request for cooperation. But the negotiation between the two sides did not go smoothly. The foreign devils did not completely want to help Zuo Zongtang train the new army. For example, the French demanded that Zuo Zongtang's new army be fully equipped with French equipment and trained by French instructors. But the French demanded that their instructors have the right to appoint and dismiss personnel in Zuo Zongtang's army, which was mercilessly refused by Zuo Zongtang.
In today's negotiation with the artillery, Zuo Zongtang made a great concession and allowed the French instructors to be in charge of drawing up the military training plan. That was also the day before yesterday and yesterday. The French army and Zuo Zongtang's Chu army operated the cannons and conducted a series of exercises such as shooting and marching. The Chu army lost to the French army in every competition. Only then did Zuo Zongtang have to admit the truth and reluctantly accept a certain degree of authority from the French.
Zuo Zongtang looked at Jiang Zhongyuan's letter and felt the heart-wrenching pain in the letter. That was the true feeling of Jiang Zhongyuan, who was loyal to the Qing Dynasty. On the inside, there were powerful rebel forces such as the Taiping Rebellion and the Recovered Commander-In-Chief's Office. On the outside, there were the foreign devils who attacked Beijing. The empire of the Qing Dynasty had truly reached a point where it was on the verge of collapse. The foreign devils attacked Beijing and robbed the Old Summer Palace. They also plundered outside Beijing for more than twenty days and plundered the Imperial Plantation outside the capital. When Jiang Zhongyuan mentioned this, almost every word was filled with tears of blood.
Zuo Zongtang, on the other hand, was not so excited. He was a self-proclaimed bright man, but he was also very picky when it came to his ruler. Moreover, at the end of October, the Liberation Army sent someone to meet Zuo Zongtang with great difficulty through their connections. The Liberation Army did not directly express that they wanted to recruit Zuo Zongtang, but when they mentioned the "great crime" of Manchu Qing's inability to protect the country, Zuo Zongtang somewhat agreed. They deserved to be beaten up because they couldn't protect their own court.
In Zuo Zongtang's view, if a talent like him really wanted to make a career, he must build a powerful army and eliminate the rebels. But even so, Zuo Zongtang still needed to read Jiang Zhongyuan's letter. After feeling Jiang Zhongyuan's grief, Zuo Zongtang could barely suppress the humiliation of being looked down upon by the French.
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