Inside King Ying's Mansion in Luoyang, the Taiping army was making their last stand. More than 2,000 of the 15,000 Huai army soldiers were stabilizing the artillery carriages and adjusting the positions of the cannons, preparing for the final attack. Corpses were strewn all over the ground in front of King Ying's Mansion. They belonged to the Taiping army soldiers who had been killed.
Other than Li Hongzhang's 500 guards who were closely protecting their lord, the other 10,000 Huai army soldiers under the leadership of the White Hats were killing the Taiping army scattered in the city. The leader of the White Hats kneeled piously in front of Li Hongzhang and said loudly, "Your Excellency, I was bewitched by the Cantonese bandits in the past and thought that the imperial court was not on our side. Later, I found out that we were disrespectful to the imperial court in the past and provoked the imperial court. The Cantonese bandits did not give us a way out! "
Li Hongzhang looked at the leader of the White Hats sobbing. His face was calm, but he was sneering inwardly. Sengrinchen was a coward. Although his Mongolian Eight Banners had won the battle against the Eastern Nian Army, they had also suffered great losses. The Manchu Qing believed that the Taiping army had been operating in Luoyang for several years and would not be easy to take down. However, Li Hongzhang could see the key point. He contacted the local White Hats, and these White Hats cooperated with Li Hongzhang like rain after a long drought.
Chen Yucheng's departure from Luoyang was a secret, but the White Hats found out about it. Li Hongzhang led his troops to attack Luoyang from Hulao Pass. When the Huai army was still more than 10 miles away from Luoyang, the White Hats had already launched a surprise attack on the Taiping army. The Huai army did not delay outside the city and directly attacked the city.
With the White Hats leading the way, the elimination of the Taiping army went very smoothly. So what if the Taiping army had been operating here for several years? They were still wiped out by Li Hongzhang in one fell swoop. This contribution was not only to recapture the famous city of Luoyang, but also to reverse the strategic situation of the Manchu Qing.
If the Taiping army occupied Luoyang, they would be able to wreak havoc in Henan and march into Zhili. Now that Li Hongzhang had recaptured Luoyang, the imperial court could once again block the Taiping army's eastward advance. According to the edict issued by Empress Dowager Ci 'an, although it was not to the extent of conferring the title of Prince, conferring the title of Duke or Marquis should not be a problem.
Suppressing his complacency, Li Hongzhang helped the leader of the White Hat Army to his feet and said seriously, "It's good that you know this. Since you are willing to forsake the darkness for the light and serve the court, the court will not mistreat you."
"Thank you, my lord!" The leader of the White Hat Army knelt down again.
This time, Li Hongzhang didn't help the captain up. He said in a stern voice, "Since you know that the Cantonese bandits are brutal, will they let you go if you join them? Do you understand this point? "
The leader of the White Hat Army paused for a moment before saying, "Sir, please rest assured. This lowly one and the White Hat Army will follow the Imperial Court with all our hearts. Wherever the Imperial Court points, this lowly one will fight."
With the leader taking the lead, the other leaders of the White Hat Army also knelt down one after another. They shouted with all their might, "Sir, please rest assured!"
This was what Li Hongzhang wanted. He helped the leader up again and said with a hearty smile, "The lair of the Cantonese bandits, Chen Gou, will be broken soon. When the time comes, I will have to trouble you to go in and clean up the Cantonese bandits!"
The leader said happily, "Sir, if this lowly one has an order, this lowly one will die a thousand times."
Li Hongzhang smiled with satisfaction and said, "Then take some people with you."
Seeing the leader leading the White Hat Army away in high spirits, Li Hongzhang was also very happy. Once the White Hat Army massacred the Ying Prince's Mansion, there would be no possibility of them turning back. In this turbulent era, it was common for a force to change sides for the sake of its own interests. But after massacring Chen Yucheng's Ying Prince's Mansion, there would be no room for negotiation between the two sides. They could only fight to the death.
With the power of the White Hat Army, Li Hongzhang believed that he could hold on in Luoyang. It was true that he respected his teacher, Ceng Guofan, and admired his superior, Jiang Zhongyuan. But Li Hongzhang had followed them for so long and contributed so much. There was no longer any possibility of him being promoted. As long as they took Luoyang, Li Hongzhang would be able to build up his own armed forces. At that time, Li Hongzhang would have sufficient space and freedom to move around. No one would be able to suppress Li Hongzhang.
The news of the recapture of Luoyang reached Beijing at an extremely fast speed. This news was even more shocking than Sengrinchen's heavy losses to the Eastern Nian Army. Luoyang's geographical location was so important. Taking Luoyang meant that the Manchu Qing's strategic situation would be greatly improved.
Prince Gong Yixin practically scrambled into the palace to report to the Eastern and Western Empresses. Kneeling on the ground, Prince Gong Yixin even forgot the rules. He looked directly at the Eastern Empress Dowager Ci An and reported this great news.
After listening to Prince Gong Yixin's report, Ci An also seemed to be quite excited. Her phoenix eyes were wide open, and with great difficulty, she suppressed her excitement. Even so, Prince Gong Yixin could still hear that when Ci An spoke, her voice was slightly trembling. Ci An asked, "Li Hongzhang is Jiang Zhongyuan's subordinate and Ceng Guofan's disciple, right?"
"Yes!" Prince Gong Yixin replied in a loud voice.
Ci An thought for a moment, then said, "Issue an edict. Li Hongzhang will be the prefectural magistrate of Luoyang."
After making the personnel arrangements, Ci An slightly closed her phoenix eyes. She used a lot of thought to make a decision. She continued, "Grant Li Hongzhang the title of third-rank duke!"
Prince Gong Yixin was stunned. She didn't expect Ci An to be so decisive. She didn't grant Li Hongzhang the title of marquis, but jumped directly to the title of duke without any excess. Although the dukes of the Qing Dynasty were also divided into ranks, the third-rank duke was the lowest of the dukes. But for a Han official, this was a rare reward.
Thinking of the waves of opposition that might be set off in the court, Prince Gong Yixin hurriedly advised, "Empress Dowager, this servant thinks that it is possible to grant Li Hongzhang the title of second-rank marquis first?"
Ci An almost stubbornly shook her head, "No, just grant him the title of third-rank duke!"
Seeing Prince Gong Yixin's awkward expression, Ci An said, "At this time, if we can't wipe out the bandits in one go and let them recover, there will be no end of trouble in the future. Sengrinchen is already an imperial prince. The title is hereditary and can't be conferred again. But Ceng Guofan and Jiang Zhongyuan are both Li Hongzhang's division commanders. When they saw Li Hongzhang being conferred the title of third-rank duke, they naturally knew that the imperial court didn't hesitate to reward meritorious subjects with high positions, so they naturally fought to the death. Besides, Li Hongzhang is Jiang Zhongyuan's subordinate and Ceng Guofan's disciple. When Ceng Guofan's subordinates saw Li Hongzhang being conferred the title of duke, what would they think? "
Prince Gong Yixin could naturally understand what Ci An meant. With Li Hongzhang's' brilliant jade in front ', the Huai army and the Xiang Army's generals naturally wouldn't be willing to fall behind. But Empress Dowager Ci An only considered the feelings of the Han officials and didn't consider the feelings of the Manchu officials. If the relatives of the princes, dukes, and nobles made a ruckus, it wouldn't be easy to deal with them.
Looking at Prince Gong Yixin's expression, Ci An couldn't help but sneer, "If our Manchu men aren't convinced, then let them go to the battlefield and make contributions. The country has reached this stage, there are many opportunities to make contributions. If someone says anything, tell them that if the Manchu men can make great contributions, the imperial court won't hesitate to grant them the title of imperial prince. "
Seeing Ci An's firm attitude, Prince Gong Yixin knew that he couldn't change Ci An's order. Moreover, Prince Gong Yixin was also extremely dissatisfied with the Manchu people's cowardice. Thinking of this, he kowtowed and said: "Empress Dowager, this servant will go to the Ministry of Appointments to pass on the edict."
The matter wasn't as difficult as Prince Gong Yixin thought. At this time, there were no Han officials in the Ministry of Appointments. The Manchu officials didn't hesitate to carry out Ci An's order. The Minister of Appointments ordered people to write the document and prepared the official seal. The Ministry of Appointments' Title Examination Department also handled the matter of the title of nobility very quickly. This group of people didn't question the arrangement of the official positions and the title of nobility. Instead, they asked if the imperial court could send troops to Shaanxi after seizing Luoyang.
Hearing this not a stupid question, Prince Gong Yixin smiled and said: "Right now, the most important task is to exterminate the bandits. As long as the bandits are exterminated, the imperial court will naturally take back Shaanxi. "
After handling this matter, Prince Gong Yixin returned to the Palace. Ci An had already ordered people to draft the edict. Other than the edict for Li Hongzhang, the edict for Jiang Zhongyuan and Ceng Guofan had also been written. Using the matter of Li Hongzhang to provoke these two people was Ci An's plan.
Zhili wasn't far from Zheng County. It only took three days for a fast horse to arrive. Li Hongzhang's victory document took two days to arrive in Beijing. The imperial court displayed unprecedented efficiency. Within a day, the official positions and titles of nobility were settled. Therefore, on the 21st of April, Ceng Guofan received the imperial edict. The imperial edict was very polite. It only informed Ceng Guofan of Li Hongzhang's achievements and the imperial court's reward. The imperial edict told Ceng Guofan that he had taught such a good disciple and that he was a meritorious official. Li Hongzhang was conferred the title of duke. Ceng Guofan also had glory. Finally, it encouraged Ceng Guofan to also work hard.
This was the way of speaking in the officialdom. Everything was understood without words. Zheng County wasn't far from Luoyang. The Xiang Army had already known of Li Hongzhang's capture of Luoyang. This caused quite a stir in the Xiang Army. Now that the generals of the Xiang Army learned that Li Hongzhang had been promoted, they didn't feel happy for Li Hongzhang. On the contrary, they were extremely displeased.
After seeing off the imperial envoy who delivered the imperial edict, Bao said sourly, "If we hadn't supported Li Hongzhang from behind and blocked the bandits in Zheng County, how could he have reached Luoyang so easily?"
These words revealed the thoughts of the generals of the Xiang Army. Ceng Guoquan snorted coldly. "Exactly. We've traveled hundreds of miles, but the imperial court didn't even send us a message. This is too much favoritism."
With the two generals taking the lead, the generals of the Xiang Army also began to speak.
"Li Hongzhang originally came to help. Why did our Xiang Army help Li Hongzhang instead?"
"Li Hongzhang didn't tell us his plan at all. Is he looking down on our Xiang Army?"
"Commander-in-chief, that brat Li Hongzhang only cares about his own benefits and doesn't care about our hard work!"
After learning about Li Hongzhang, Ceng Guofan wasn't very happy, but he wasn't very unhappy either. Before this, Li Hongzhang had told Ceng Guofan all the plans and volunteered to let the Huai army do all the hard work.
Taking the risk to chase after the Nian Army and raid Luoyang seemed easy, but it wasn't so easy when the decision was made. Therefore, Ceng Guofan waited for everyone to finish complaining and said loudly, "Everyone, after Li Hongzhang takes Luoyang, he will be made a duke. This is the imperial court's encouragement. As long as you have meritorious military service, you will be rewarded generously. Right now, the bandits are still here. After we destroy the Nian Army, I will definitely recommend to the imperial court that you will all be made marquises at the very least! Do you have the determination to do so? "
Hearing Ceng Guofan's question, the generals of the Xiang Army fell silent for a moment and then began to clamor. "Commander-in-chief, we will definitely destroy the bandits!"
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