On December 1, 1866, the Eight Banners Army left the capital and headed straight for Dezhou. In the records of later generations, it was said that "Beijing's cries shook the heavens."
In comparison, a few months ago, when the Liberation Army sent troops to recapture Luzon, they used the East Sea and South Sea Fleets. Guangzhou, Fujian, Taiwan, and other places held pre-deployment demonstrations. At that time, the city workers, citizens, and representatives from the countryside were invited. In the big cities, more than 800,000 soldiers and civilians participated in the demonstrations. The people beat gongs and drums, shouting slogans such as "Collect the blood debt." The words of the family representatives were passionate and generous, encouraging their loved ones to fight the enemy bravely and make contributions to the country.
Almost at the same time that the Liberation Army sent troops to recapture Luzon, the Nian Army learned that more than 100,000 people in Huoyang had been slaughtered. The Nian Army decided to collect the blood debt from the Qing Army. Before the fierce battle between the Eastern and Western Nian Army and the Qing Army, tens of thousands of soldiers beheaded chickens and burned yellow paper. Everyone knelt down and swore to the heavens that they would not rest until they slaughtered all the Manchus.
Whether it was the joy of the Liberation Army or the grief and indignation of the Nian Army, neither army despaired. They bravely entered the battlefield. When the Eight Banners Army finally attacked, the children of the Eight Banners Army and their parents felt only despair. Mothers held the hands of their sons and cried themselves hoarse. Wives and husbands hugged each other and cried their hearts out. Young children pulled on their father's clothes and cried, not letting him go. This army, created by hardcore farmers and the Manchu Qing system, had long been rotten. Only in the face of war did they remember their duty to fight for their master. One hundred and fifty years ago, this duty fell on the shoulders of the other Manchurian lackeys.
The tragic situation before the troops were naturally reported by the Manchu officials to the two Empress Dowagers. Ci An only said lightly, "In that case, we should work harder to fight. When we return victorious, we will be conferred titles and nobility. Won't our families be happy? "
That one sentence blocked all the subsequent explanations. Yes, since the purpose of establishing the Eight Banners Army was to fight, the court also spent a huge amount of money to buy a large number of weapons from the "foreign devils" on the sea. The Eight Banners sending out troops was not suddenly proposed. The Empress Dowager had been urging the high-ranking officials of the Banners almost all day long to train hard and make preparations for the war.
"Empress Dowager, we have to rebuild the Green Camp as soon as possible!" a prince shouted from the bottom of his heart.
Cixi could understand the prince's thoughts. The Green Camp was the lackey of the Eight Banners. The more lackeys there were, the better. The Empress Dowager was just puzzled by the shame of these Bannermen high-ranking officials. It took a lot of effort for Cixi to maintain her dignity as the Empress Dowager and not let a mocking expression appear on her face.
Only when a large number of Han people are willing to serve Manchu Qing, would Manchu Qing be qualified to consider suppressing the Han officials. Only when Manchu Qing's power and position were still attractive to Han officials, could Manchu Qing have the right to say that everything was the emperor's grace.
When the Han officials in the capital and the local officials began to leave in large numbers, quite a number of Bannermen and high ranking officials shouted the slogan of killing all the Han officials. Now, less than ten percent of the high-ranking officials in the court were Han officials, and the saying of killing all the Han officials was becoming less and less popular among these Bannermen. When Ci 'an forced the Eight Banners to fight, these Bannermen high-ranking officials had the opportunity to lead the "invincible" Eight Banners warriors to kill the enemy and achieve meritorious deeds. Their extreme distrust of the Han officials had basically disappeared.
Now, some princes even talked about rebuilding the Green Camp, but it was useless to talk about it now. The Manchu Qing imperial court couldn't even give the Eight Banners money, let alone pay the Green Camp.
Empress Dowager Ci 'an wasn't as excited as Cixi. At least, she didn't look excited at all. She calmly said, "Rather than rebuilding the Green Camp, why don't we give more rewards to the Xiang Army and Huai army …"
As soon as she said this, the court first quieted down. Then the prince who just asked to rebuild the Green Camp kowtowed like pounding garlic. "Empress Dowager, we can't do that! Now that the national treasury is so empty, where can we find the money to pay the Xiang Army and Huai army? "
Ci 'an said, "Even if we can't pay them, we should at least give Ceng Guofan and Jiang Zhongyuan some rewards. I'm going to make Ceng Guofan and Jiang Zhongyuan dukes, and the subordinates of the Xiang Army and Huai army should also have titles of nobility. Let them know that the imperial court knows their loyalty. "
The important ministers of the Manchu Qing looked at each other. No one dared to support it, nor did anyone dare to oppose it.
Ci 'an glanced at these people and continued, "I'm going to issue an edict to Ceng Guofan and Jiang Zhongyuan. If they can break the bandits, I'll confer them the title of prince."
The court was so quiet that even the sound of a pin dropping on the ground could be heard. When the important ministers regained their ability to breathe, their heavy breathing seemed to set off a storm. The prince, who was kneeling on the ground, kowtowed to Ci 'an in pain and cried sadly, "Empress Dowager, we can't do that! Back then, the three border defenses were in chaos because we put the Han army in an important position. If we let the Han army gain the upper hand now, we won't be able to escape in the future! Empress Dowager, please reconsider! "
The noises continued. The princes and ministers knelt down one after another. Their faces were full of fear. They kowtowed as if they were pounding garlic and wailed, "Empress Dowager, please reconsider! Empress Dowager, please reconsider! "
The so-called listening from behind a curtain meant that the Empress Dowager sat behind a bead curtain or a bamboo curtain. Cixi was now very envious of the Empress Dowager of ancient times because she had to spend a lot of effort to prevent her face from showing any obvious expression. 'What the hell are these princes?' Cixi didn't know how to deal with her anger. If these princes could personally go into battle and kill the enemy, there would be no need for Ceng Guofan and Jiang Zhongyuan to do anything at all. When the life of the Manchu Qing was on the line and had to rely on Ceng Guofan and Jiang Zhongyuan to maintain it, they couldn't even accept the empty title of prince.
So what if they were princes? Ci An led Cixi in a coup. Among the eight ministers killed were princes. Su Shun, who had recommended Ceng Guofan, Zuo Zongtang, Hu Linyi, Guo Songdao and other Han officials to the court, was the Grand Council Minister. Before the execution in the market, he cursed loudly. The executioner told him to kneel but he didn't. With two strikes of the hammer, Su Shun's legs were broken. Didn't he still kneel? As long as the Qing Dynasty could be preserved, what were Ceng Guofan and Jiang Zhongyuan? There were ways to get rid of them. Were these princes so narrow-minded that they couldn't even tolerate the tip of a needle?
"I've made up my mind!" Ci An didn't argue with the princes and ministers. She simply said this sentence and then announced, "Court is dismissed!"
After the court, Cixi couldn't help but ask Ci An, "Sister, those princes really won't do anything in private?"
The Empress Dowager couldn't compare to the Emperor and couldn't go everywhere. This was a very troublesome matter. Although the Emperor couldn't go wherever he wanted, the inconvenience of action also affected his control of the court.
Ci An chuckled, "If they really have the ability to move against Ceng Guofan and Jiang Zhongyuan on their own, they can serve the country on the battlefield. But when did Sengrinchen and the others who went to battle say that they were going to deal with Ceng Guofan and Jiang Zhongyuan? There's nothing to be afraid of. Send them to lead the troops into battle. "
Cixi couldn't help but nod slightly. She found that she was inferior to Ci An in this aspect. Cixi loved to scheme. Although Ci An didn't rely on schemes to deal with people, when Ci An used the court to act, the ministers were really powerless to resist.
What happened next was as Ci An expected. When the two princes who were the happiest received the news that they were to prepare to lead the troops into battle, they immediately shut their mouths. Ci An's reasoning was very simple. When the country was in trouble again, if Bannermen could fight as well as Han officials, the court would naturally put Bannermen in important positions. Even if Bannermen weren't as good at fighting as Han officials, the court would never let Bannermen be worse than Han officials in terms of rewards. The only thing was that Bannermen had to go to war.
Bannermen going to war, just this alone made this group of princes and nobles scared out of their wits. The war lasted for fourteen years from 1852 to 1866. Basically, only one out of twenty Bannermen who had the courage to go to war survived. In every major city, there were "Man Cities" that were full of people. As the major cities were taken away one by one, there were no more people in the Man Cities. Whether it was the Liberation Army or the Taiping army, they were all dealt with in the same way. Fierce enemies, merciless killing. With such a tragic fact in front of them, the Manchu Qing princes didn't think that they had the choice to surrender, but they also didn't have the courage to enter the battlefield.
Soon, a wonderful news suddenly began to spread in the capital, and it spread at an astonishing speed. "Vézé is dead!"
Vézé rose to fame in 1853. In the past thirteen years, his reputation had become more and more resounding, to the point where everyone knew him. In this feudal era, the leader of a regime was often seen as the regime itself, the foundation of the regime. In the eyes of the people in the capital, after Vézé died, the incomparably fierce Liberation Army would collapse.
Too many people wanted to believe this news, too many people were willing to believe this news. The news of "Vézé is dead" seemed to have grown wings, flying over the mountains, across the plains, across the rivers, and spread throughout the Manchu Qing controlled area. In January 1867, it even spread to the Tianjing Chang 'an, where the Taiping Rebellion was taking place.
When Hong Xiuquan heard this news, he was stunned at first, but his face immediately revealed a happy expression. In the entire world, among the people who most wanted Vézé to die, Hong Xiuquan ranked no lower than anyone else. When the King Of The East, Yang Xiuqing, was still around, Hong Xiuquan had heard too many words about Vézé supporting Yang Xiuqing and opposing Hong Xiuquan. When Yang Xiuqing was preparing to confer the title of Long Live, Hong Xiuquan received the support of the other kings and formulated a plan to kill Yang Xiuqing. However, what Hong Xiuquan feared the most was not the subordinates of the King Of The East in the city, but the tens of thousands of invincible elites under Vézé. Even if he successfully dealt with the subordinates of the King Of The East in the city, as long as Vézé gave the order to march into Tianjing, Hong Xiuquan would still be dead.
Who knew how many times Hong Xiuquan had woken up from the nightmare of Vézé attacking Tianjing. Now that he learned of Vézé's death, how could he not be excited?
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