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Capital had changed. The Bannermen carrying cages and birds were gone, and the soldiers of the Jing Camp, who used to lazily bask in the sun under the city gate, finally looked like soldiers. Although some soldiers could be seen yawning, perhaps because of their heavy smoking addiction. However, being able to truly tense up and deal with the current crisis wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
However, there was an indescribable feeling in Ceng Guofan's heart. He did not know how long this superficial excitement would last. The combat power of the Eight Banners was not worthy of praise. As for the combat power of the Green Camp, if the Green Camp could really fight, Ceng Guofan would not have spent so much effort to build the Xiang Army. As for the Capital Army, in theory, it should be the most elite army. However, they had never left Beijing, so only God knew if they could really be of use.
The carriage drove through the streets of the capital. Other than the dust and the smell of defecation, there was only a feeling of desolation. There were few people on the street, and the shops in front of them were deserted. Many shops simply closed down. As for whether it was because there were no customers or because the taxes were too high, Ceng Guofan didn't know.
Ceng Guofan's thousands of guards were stopped outside the capital, and only officials led him to the Imperial City. After exchanging a few words, Ceng Guofan confirmed that the person leading the way was a Bannerman. Because his name was Er Tuhai.
Deputy Chief Commander Ertuhai's waist was thick and sturdy, and his head was shiny and shiny. Looking at Ceng Guofan with disdain in his eyes, Deputy Commander Er Tuhai scolded the group of Han officials who fled from the capital. Ceng Guofan remained unmoved in the face of this indirect scolding. Ceng Guofan knew better than anyone else that the Manchu Qing's system was rapidly collapsing. At the very least, in Huaibei, the officials were swiftly turning into martial men. Starting from Anhui's Inspector-General Jiang Zhongyuan, all of Anhui's current officials were basically martial artists. After a series of defeats on the battlefield, fifty to sixty percent of the officials fled. The rest of them went to Huainan when the Huai army and the Xiang Army counterattacked. In this chaotic time of war, it was normal for dozens or hundreds of people to go missing. Especially when those officials were carrying too much loot from the local area.
However, Deputy Commander Er Tuhai did not seem to care about these practical problems. After scolding the group of officials who had fled, he said loudly, "Lord Ceng, do you think the remaining Han officials are reliable?"
Ceng Guofan's expression did not change as he said, "When the country was in danger, he was able to survive until now. What else is there to be unreliable about?"
Er Tuhai shook his head. "I mean, are they reliable in battle?"
Facing such a question, Ceng Guofan couldn't help but frown.
On the other hand, Er Tuhai did not care about Ceng Guofan's attitude at all. He said loudly, "People say that no more than ten thousand men can defeat a man with more than ten thousand men. At a time like this, we still have to rely on our Manchu people! "
Ceng Guofan had been in the officialdom for a long time, and he had seen too much of human nature. This Er Tuhai's position as Deputy Commander-in-Chief was actually nothing much, and no one had ever heard of him before. At this time, a nobody had come to meet Ceng Guofan. Coupled with Er Tuhai's emphatic statement that the Han people could not be counted on, Ceng Guofan could be sure that the power of the Bannermen in the capital had completely overwhelmed the Han people.
The ruler of the Manchu Qing was a Bannerman. The proportion of Bannermen in China was very small, so the Manchu Qing especially wanted to use Bannermen to suppress the Han people. The central government officials in the Manchu Qing government system had "official vacancies", which were divided into "Manchu vacancy", "Mongolian vacancy", "Han military vacancy", and "Han vacancy". In principle, the official vacancies were filled by their own people, but in reality, the Manchu vacancy could not be filled by Han people. If there was a Han vacancy, of course, Bannermen could fill it. The Manchu vacancy occupied the majority of the important departments and positions. The people of the Eight Banners were less than one percent of the Han people, and the officials of the Eight Banners in the capital outnumbered the Han people by several times.
According to Er Tuhai, the Han officials in the capital had begun to flee in large numbers. At present, how many Han officials were left in the capital? Ceng Guofan felt very pessimistic. As for the imperial court summoning Ceng Guofan, it must be because they wanted to put him in an important position. At the very least, they would attach great importance to Ceng Guofan's opinion. This kind of important position was probably the main reason why Er Tuhai dared to "knock" Ceng Guofan.
Logically speaking, it was very absurd for a mere Er Tuhai to "knock" Ceng Guofan. Logically speaking, it was very absurd for a mere Er Tuhai to "knock" Ceng Guofan. But in terms of the system, it was really not something that could not be understood. The Manchu Qing dynasty was a dynasty where the interests of the Bannermen were the most important. All the seemingly gentle policies were just a way for the Manchu Qing to buy the hearts of the people. The Manchu used words to knock a Han official a little, and that was it. Because the Bannermen were the Emperor's servants, when beating a dog, one must look at the owner.
Ceng Guofan thought that there were two possibilities. One was naturally the instinctive reaction of the Manchu Qing officials. When the Han armies were collapsing, the Eight Banners, which in theory should be the main force of the army, were about to assume the original purpose of establishing the Eight Banners, to fight the war. Right now, the Eight Banners soldiers were extremely uneasy, so they used this method to vent the pressure in their hearts.
The other possibility was that some officials in the Imperial Court were dissatisfied with the Imperial Court's decision to put Ceng Guofan in an important position. Undoubtedly, Er Tuhai was one of the members of this faction.
Using his self-restraint, Ceng Guofan acted as if he did not hear these words that would affect his mood. After Er Tuhai spoke, he saw that Ceng Guofan was completely ignoring him. Although he dared to say these things, he only dared to say them. He still did not dare to grab Ceng Guofan and question him. After saying these words, he could only shut his mouth.
At this time, the young Emperor Xianfeng was not even ten years old. This young Emperor's first era name was Qixiang, which was decided by the eight ministers. In 1861, Empress Dowager Ci 'an and Prince Gong launched the Xinyou Coup d' état and uprooted the Eight Ministers of Sushun. After that, it was changed to Tongzhi. It meant 'Ruler and officials rule the Great Qing together'. Some people also said that 'Empress Dowager of the two palaces (Eastern and Western Empress Dowager) rule the Great Qing together'.
From the era name, one could see the power of this young Emperor. The audience with Ceng Guofan was not a court meeting, so the young Emperor Tongzhi did not make an appearance. Ci 'an, Cixi, Prince Gong? The three of them sat in the main seats. Ceng Guofan stepped forward and kowtowed. Empress Dowager Ci 'an rewarded Ceng Guofan with a seat. After Ceng Guofan sat on the chair according to the rules of the court, Empress Dowager Ci' an asked how to deal with the Nian Army's rampage.
"Empress Dowager, the current plan is to protect the armor. The Nian Army comes and goes like the wind. If the Imperial Army pursues, they will immediately run. And the Nian Army's rations will be plundered on the spot. If the provinces can adopt the method of protecting the armor, each village and town will be able to protect themselves. The Nian Army will not be able to obtain rations, and the Imperial Army will be able to capture them. "Ceng Guofan gave his own strategy.
"You want the Nian Army to have no rations to eat?" Empress Dowager Ci 'an said thoughtfully.
Seeing Empress Dowager Ci 'an's expression, Ceng Guofan couldn't help but think of the saying, "Why not eat minced meat?" Although it was a rather nonsensical request to expect an empress dowager to know how to march an army and fight a war, even if it wasn't a war, ordinary people still had to eat every day.
But thinking of this, Ceng Guofan forcibly withdrew his train of thought. Ceng Guofan knew that any distrust of the Imperial Army at this time was inappropriate. After learning that the Liberation Army had begun a comprehensive land reform in its territory, including Hunan, and had implemented a policy of equal distribution of land under the state system, this outstanding representative of the landlord class had decided to fight to the death with the Liberation Army.
Zuo Zongtang knew that the Liberation Army was vigorously establishing schools, and Ceng Guofan naturally knew as well. Zuo Zongtang relatively approved of the Liberation Army's initiative to establish education, but what Ceng Guofan saw was that the Liberation Army completely disregarded the landlords and gentry, using the group of people they had educated to serve as local officials at various levels.
In any case, the Manchu Qing could still use the landlords and gentry as the foundation of their rule. Although the new officials would have to fight with the local tyrants after they arrived, in the long run, the relationship between the two sides was not like that of fire and water. People who graduated from the Liberation Army school and became local officials followed the will of the Liberation Army and never had any goodwill toward the landlords and gentry.
Since the Liberation Army wanted to destroy the landlords and gentry, Ceng Guofan had no choice but to fight to the death with the Liberation Army. At this time, any questioning of the Manchu Qing court would only shake Ceng Guofan's determination, which was unacceptable to Ceng Guofan. No matter how amateur Ci An was in military affairs, Ceng Guofan asked himself not to disagree with Ci An in the slightest.
At this time, Cixi said to Ci An, "Sister, people are made of iron and rice is made of steel. If you don't eat, you will be hungry. What Ceng Guofan said is also very reasonable. "
Hearing Cixi's popular explanation, Ci An suddenly realized and replied, "I see."
Ci An asked some other questions, and Ceng Guofan answered them one by one. After the question and answer session, Ci An asked Ceng Guofan to leave for the time being. Prince Yi? She asked Ci An, "Empress Dowager, what do you think of Ceng Guofan?"
Ci An calmly replied, "This person is very respectful. It seems that he is a loyal minister."
Prince Yi? Stunned, he didn't expect Ci An to give Ceng Guofan such a high evaluation. However, Ci An was a man of few words. He was congratulating Wang Yixin. While thinking about how to ask further, Cixi said, "Prince Gong, it's impossible for the Empress Dowager not to understand Ceng Guofan's words. It's just that the Empress Dowager wants to test Ceng Guofan. If it's the kind of person who is not convinced of the court in his heart, he will certainly show something. Ceng Guofan is only respectful. This is what a loyal minister looks like. "
Prince Yi? Prince Yi? In fact, he was a little surprised just now. It was impossible for Empress Dowager Ci An not to understand the method of fighting that cut off the Nian Army's food supply. But Ci An's expression seemed that she couldn't understand this. Listening to Cixi's explanation, Prince Yi? Only then did he understand what Ci An meant. After having an idea, Prince Yi? Prince Yi? Couldn't help but admire Ci An greatly. The purpose of recruiting Ceng Guofan this time was to use Ceng Guofan. If it was an ordinary person with power, the first thing they would consider was Ceng Guofan's ability. Ci An didn't understand military affairs, so she would first test Ceng Guofan's loyalty and attitude towards the ruler. In this critical period of life and death, if someone who didn't respect the court was in power, the result would probably be a tragedy.
"Then does the Empress Dowager want to use Ceng Guofan?" Prince Yi?
Ci An didn't answer directly. She asked Prince Yi? "The Eight Banners have been reorganized for so long. Can they still fight?"
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