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"Can the Eight Banners fight?" This is a very interesting question.
In theory and in practice, the Eight Banners have all kinds of military training. Even if this training is very traditional, such as drawing bows and shooting arrows, training is still training. If the Eight Banners are sent to slaughter the common people, perhaps they can do it.
But after Empress Dowager Ci An received Ceng Guofan, she asked Prince Gong Yi? If the Eight Banners can fight, Prince Gong Yi? Was tongue-tied for a while, unexpectedly unable to answer. On the battlefield, one must face life and death. If it is just some insignificant battle, it is fine to lose some Eight Banners personnel. But now is the battle to decide the fate of the Manchu Qing court. If the Eight Banners suffer a devastating blow, the foundation of the Manchu Qing court will be shaken.
But facing Ci An's calm but firm gaze, Prince Gong Yi did not dare to not answer. He hardened his heart and said: "Reporting to Empress Dowager, this servant feels that the Eight Banners can fight."
Prince Gong Yi? It is true that the Eight Banners are the foundation of the Manchu Qing court, but in the current situation, if the Eight Banners cannot fight, they can only let Ceng Guofan and the other Han officials lead the troops to fight. But the opposing Vézé and the other forces are also Han. If the Han officials feel that they cannot hold on and surrender. The Han people will naturally accept this group of Han. But what will happen to the Banners? Nanjing Banners, Suzhou Banners, Fujian Banners, and Xi 'an Banners. These Bannermen were wiped out after the area was lost. If the Banners do not even have the chance to surrender, then they will die in battle. If the Han people are completely unreliable, then when the Qing perishes, the Banners will be buried together with them.
Ci An simply does not care about Prince Gong Yi? Hearing the answer that the Banners can fight, Ci An replied: "Then order the Eight Banners to send out their troops. The Manchu people do not exceed ten thousand. At this time, if the Banners cannot fight, then who else can we use? "
Prince Gong Yi? After meeting Ceng Guofan, Ci An evaluated Ceng Guofan as a loyal official. But now he said that the Banners cannot fight, then the court has no one to use. This is clearly contradictory.
This time, Ci 'an did not ask Cixi to help explain. She directly said what she thought, "The foundation of the Qing Dynasty is the Bannermen. If the Bannermen can fight, the Han officials and soldiers will have confidence. If Bannermen can't even fight, how can the Han be loyal to the court? "
"Empress Dowager is wise!" He hurriedly praised.
Ci An had an oval face. Although his eyes were not big, they were very delicate. At this time, Ci An's face was solemn and her eyes were wide open. There was a hint of heroic spirit in her delicate appearance. She calmly said, "The bandits are wreaking havoc in Zhili. If the Eight Banners can't even protect Zhili, there will be more dissension in other places. Unexpectedly, Miao Peilin of Shandong wanted the imperial court to bestow him the title of Prince Of Qi, and to enfeoff Shandong. In fact, this was already the opposite. If not for the Imperial Court's constant use of the Han army, would such a thing have happened? "
Speaking of Miao Peilin, Prince Yi His expression turned extremely ugly. He never thought that this guy would be so bold. If he couldn't beat the Liberation Army and surrendered, that would be fine. Miao Peilin asked the imperial court to bestow him the title of Prince Of Qi. This was even more terrible than surrendering. If the imperial court agreed, it would set an extremely bad precedent. The officials who still belonged to the Great Qing would definitely follow suit. Henan could ask the imperial court to bestow him the title of Prince Yu. Shanxi could naturally ask the imperial court to bestow him the title of Prince Jin. There was no need for the Liberation Army to attack. The armies with ulterior motives would first divide up the Great Qing.
"Prince Gong, as I said before, if the Eight Banners can't fight, then we don't really need to count on the Han people. If the imperial court falls, can the Banners of the Eight Banners become Han people? It didn't matter if he died early or late. Then why wait for others to kill their way to the door? " Ci An calmly stated her opinion. Although the gentleness of a woman was difficult to express that kind of feeling that made people's blood boil, but Prince Yi? Could still feel a kind of determination.
After understanding Ci An's attitude, Prince Yi? Knelt on the ground. "This servant obeys the Empress Dowager's decree!"
The Eight Banners were going to war! This news completely ignited the emotions of the Banners in the capital in August. For the Banners, although there were jobs like driving carriages that could only be done in the capital, it was only a small number of employment opportunities. Hardcore crops were the only source of income for most of the Banners. The Banners were not stupid. They also knew that their fate was closely tied to the Great Qing. From the news from various places, the Taiping army, the Nian Army, and the Liberation Army would kill any Banners they caught. If the Great Qing Jiangshan was really destroyed, the Banners would also be finished.
Starting from when the areas south of the Huai River were all lost, the training of the Eight Banners also began to become strict. When the Nian Army began to wreak havoc in Zhili, the Banners also knew very well that the Eight Banners sending troops to war was inevitable. Deputy Commander Er Tuhai was one of the people who had a deep understanding of this. The reason why he dared to make irresponsible remarks to Ceng Guofan as a Deputy Commander was largely because he knew that he would inevitably have to go to war.
That night, Deputy Commander Er Tuhai drank with several Bannerman officers. After drinking several cups of wine, his blood flowed even faster, and Deputy Commander Er Tuhai's face became even more oily. In a loud voice, he said, "Brothers, we still have to rely on us old Manchus to fight the war. Who in this world is truly loyal to their master? Not those Han people, but us old Manchus! "
There was an institutional gap between the Banners and the Han people. Even among the Banners, the gap still existed. The so-called Eight Banners were not all Manchus. There were also Han Banners among the Eight Banners. These were all Han people who had sought refuge with the Manchu Qing when the Manchu Qing rose to power. Therefore, the 'real Eight Banners' looked down on non-Manchus Banners.
The people who came to drink with him were all 'old Manchus'. When they heard Deputy Commander Er Tuhai's bold words, they also agreed with him. "That's right, the only people in this world who are truly loyal to the imperial court are the old Manchus!"
After boasting about the loyalty of the old Manchus, Deputy Commander Er Tuhai shouted, "When our Eight Banners entered the Pass, which one of us did not kill hundreds, thousands of Han people? The Manchus do not exceed ten thousand, we cannot defeat more than ten thousand. Right now our Eight Banners have two hundred thousand men, we can definitely kill all those rebellious Han people. In my opinion, what's the use of keeping the Han people alive? I think we should kill all the Han people, then our Great Qing's world should belong to the Eight Banners! "
In any case, after drinking a lot of wine, when the mood was high, they could say anything. Deputy Commander Er Tuhai and the 'old Manchus' brothers were in high spirits, they talked about their expectations for the future. When the mood was high, some people could not restrain tears from brimming in their eyes. They felt that right now they were shouldering the heavy responsibility of ruling the world.
However, although they were in high spirits, the wine was finished very quickly. Ever since they lost the south, the grain from the south could no longer enter the Capital, the price of grain began to skyrocket. Brewing wine required grain, so the price of wine doubled. Even Deputy Commander Er Tuhai did not have any way to get wine that could make everybody drunk like mud.
Their emotions, stimulated by alcohol, were hanging by a thread. Everybody's passion slowly turned into another kind of emotion. One of the Banner Leaders of the small Eight Banners suddenly said, "I am not afraid of dying, but I am afraid that after I die, who will raise my mother?"
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