The intelligence department of the Liberation Army was greatly surprised by Li Hongzhang's accurate judgment of the situation on all sides, ingenious operation, and resolute action. The decadent and degenerate Manchu Qing had actually produced such a talent. After this shock, what followed was a strong sense of vigilance.
For the past few years, the Liberation Army had not immediately gone north. One of the cornerstones of this strategic judgment was that they believed that Manchu Qing would continue to decline. This was a conclusion that could easily be agreed upon, and the actual situation was also consistent with this. However, the change in strategy brought about by Li Hongzhang's capture of Luoyang gave Manchu Qing the possibility of stopping the great loss of blood.
The intelligence department sorted out the latest news and sent it to Nanjing. But they didn't know that Vézé was not in Nanjing, but in Hubei. After inspecting Guangdong, Vézé and the others took a train back to Wuhan, and from there they took a boat upstream. Just in time for Yan? Strategy? Ping Ping Ao D?? Choking? The wood was dirty??? Song Zang??? So? Lonely Square III? Xin Suan Luan Han Tube? Yi Yun Huang Pu Ye Bi. Gather? Paralysis? Waves and waves? Mang Lian Fu? Taichu pi pi?? Coward? Xiao Yu Xiao? Huh? Scapular disdain, proud and arrogant
Even Zuo Zongtang, who didn't believe in ghosts and gods, couldn't help but ask, "Your Majesty, are you trying to change the Fengshui?"
"Change Feng Shui?" Vézé was stunned. It took him a few moments to understand what Zuo Zongtang meant. "Comrade Zuo Zongtang, our Restoration Party is a materialistic party. We don't believe in ghosts and gods. If it was just one Yan Xiang? Ya Pengji Mu Ji? Gang up? Cai? Hui Deng? Tax Umbrella U Jade?? Throat beauty? Mu Zhi of the Silent Dream Chasm? Cyanobenzene? Thumbs? First Kowtow to the Japanese, Four Knocks to the Cooking Qu Xun Thumb? Eh? Cute and handsome
"This thousand-year-old landscape …" Zuo Zongtang still felt uncomfortable.
Vézé had never seen the real Yan? Martyrdom??? Luck? Zai Yi Wei Yun Illusory Emperor Hammer Star An? Ba Qiao? 'Dirty Gully Plaque?? Descendants of expatriates? Plaque? Snuggling up to the legitimate wife? Although? Crow Cricket Amaranth Alliance Thumb Siyi? Swinging him around? Surname Ji? Which one? Jasmine Yusi Yusi is pregnant?? Man Crawling 2 Mo Er Pure 2? Ye Ji's acyl riddle? Yan Xie A stratagem board? Six? Chair on the Bridge, Herding the Four Chimneys Palm? Jian Xian Cui? Dizzy? The key was in his palm?!
After two consecutive days of explosions, the huge rock that had threatened the Yangtze River shipping routes for thousands of years was nowhere to be seen. A flag was fluttering on the high mast of a warship of more than 3,000 tons. This was the first time in the history of China that a ship was sailing upstream along the middle of the river. Vézé stood at the bow of the ship, his camera faithfully recording this historic moment.
Vézé did not really take the ship upstream to the Jinxiu City of Chengdu. After he disembarked at Baidi City, he changed to another ship and went east. Within ten days, he went from the Yangtze River to Lingnan, from Lingnan to Sichuan, and from Sichuan back to Changsha. Zuo Zongtang felt that he somewhat understood Zhuang Zhou. In the end, did Zuo Zongtang have a beautiful dream of flying across the mountains? Or was Zuo Zongtang in someone else's dream of flying across the mountains? It was really hard to describe.
When he arrived in Changsha, Vézé handed Zuo Zongtang over to the Organization Department when he met with the Hunan Provincial Party Committee. Zuo Zongtang's identity was neither a surrendered general nor a civil official. He was a probationary member of the Restoration Party who had experience working in the Central Committee. This identity was very thought-provoking. Disregarding Zuo Zongtang's background, work experience and probationary status were destined to make Zuo Zongtang a key candidate for training, not to mention that he was a candidate recommended by Vézé.
After making arrangements for Zuo Zongtang, Vézé continued to take the ship east. When Li Hongzhang's "great achievements" were passed to Vézé, he was in Hubei discussing work with the comrades of the Provincial Party Committee. After reading the introduction of Luoyang, Vézé smiled and said, "I don't know if this is Li Hongzhang's starting point or Li Hongzhang's ending point."
The comrades of the Military Commission were not so relaxed. If Luoyang was still in the hands of the Taiping army, the four provinces would still be in chaos during the Northern Expedition six months to a year later. The battle between Manchu Qing and the Taiping army would be much easier. The current situation was that the Taiping army was paying attention to the Liberation Army in Sichuan. If Manchu Qing was stabilized in the four provinces again, the pressure on the Northern Expedition might be greater.
"Commander-in-chief, if Manchu Qing is stabilized, our Northern Expedition may encounter more trouble." Hu Chenghe expressed everyone's opinion.
Vézé said with a common smile, "Manchu Qing is now at the end of its rope. A few changes can't change the situation. If Li Hongzhang doesn't stabilize the situation, perhaps Manchu Qing will still have some energy. Once there is a chance to breathe, Manchu Qing will only collapse faster. The dynasty has been suffering for a hundred years. How can it be revived so easily? "
"What do you plan to do, Commander-in-chief?" Hu Chenghe asked.
Vézé asked, "Can using six armies solve the four provinces? In order to prevent any changes to the budget, I think that using six armies to fight for half a year is already the limit. If the scale is any larger, we will have to get the Ministry of Finance to take action. "
"Six armies?" Hu Chenghe was a little surprised. Six armies meant more than 100,000 people. Adding the engineers, railway troops, and semi-military military units, the Liberation Army now had a real million soldiers. A hundred and sixty thousand soldiers was not a particularly large number.
Vézé misunderstood Hu Chenghe's meaning. He thought that Hu Chenghe felt that the scale was still relatively large. He said, "Let Anhui and Xuzhou each send out two armies first. Relying on the reserves of the troops, even if we can't fight for half a year, we should be able to hold out for four months."
Moving four armies wasn't a problem. Hu Chenghe asked, "Who will be in charge?"
"How about I command this campaign?" Vézé said with a smile.
Hu Chenghe immediately objected, "Commander-in-chief, why use a butcher's knife to kill a chicken? I think it's fine to let Lei Hu command. If you are worried, I will personally oversee Xuzhou. "
Vézé just felt that he wanted to personally command the battle again, and the northern expedition wasn't difficult. But Hu Chenghe objected, so Vézé could only give in.
Hu Chenghe immediately gave the order. By the time Vézé and the others returned to Nanjing, the General Staff had already come up with a battle plan. First, there would be three months of pre-war training and rest. The troops on the Huaihe River front had not fought a major battle in recent years and had spent a lot of time on various civil projects. Three months of training and recuperation were necessary.
Moreover, the General Staff didn't just want to use the six armies. When attacking Beijing and Tianjin, the navy would also have a place to play. After breaking into the Bohai Sea, they could directly attack Tianjin and then attack Beijing. The foreign devils had done this before, so there was no reason why the Liberation Army would give up this offensive model.
Of course, these were all things that could be discussed. The first battle before the Liberation Army's northern expedition was in the economic field. Representatives of the navy and the Ministry of Finance came to see Vézé to report. When the Liberation Army was in Hunan, because the army was doing business, it led to a meaningless defeat. From then on, it became an iron law that the army was not allowed to interfere in business. Although the navy escorted the economic blood-sucking of Manchu Qing, all the contacts were done by the Ministry of Finance.
The Ministry of Finance was quite optimistic about the current economic situation of Manchu Qing. "Your Majesty, there has been a double depletion of silver, copper, and materials in Beijing. The price of goods on the market seems reasonable, but there is not much business. Manchu Qing mainly buys a lot of the materials and luxury goods they need from us at a price far lower than the market price. "
After saying this, the Ministry of Finance couldn't help but sigh, "After all, this is more than a hundred years of wealth. If we were in such a situation, I'm afraid we wouldn't be able to come up with so much money. But Manchu Qing is relying on itself. A broken ship still has three pounds of nails. This is really not a lie. "
Vézé didn't comment on this. In history, Manchu Qing survived until 1912, and now it was only 1867. He said, "From now on, we will stop these transactions. Manchu Qing will rely on themselves to solve the problem. "
"Your Majesty, if our Liberation Army cuts off this trade channel, the economic circle of Manchu Qing with Beijing as the center will immediately collapse." The people from the Ministry of Finance were also soldiers. They referred to the Ministry of Finance, but they still couldn't help but use the Liberation Army.
Vézé shook his head. "This is impossible. Manchu Qing's life is difficult, and they will only increase the local plunder. The problem of Manchu Qing is that they are too inefficient. In order to plunder enough materials, they pay a much higher price. Why Manchu Qing would rather suffer the loss of hard currency than take the initiative to stop the trade with us? It costs a lot to collect and transport food and living materials. The imperial court of Manchu Qing is not that stupid. This kind of trade can really solve their problem. "
"Really?" The people from the Ministry of Finance could understand what Vézé said, but they couldn't quite agree with Vézé.
"Then let's do it this way. We will first stop the trade, and tell the embassies of England, France, and other countries in the north that we are going to war and ask them to completely withdraw from the north of the Huai River. If they have to stay there, we can't guarantee their safety, "Vézé ordered.
After saying this, Vézé suddenly remembered something. He asked Zuo Zhidan, the Foreign Minister who participated in the meeting, "I heard that the United States is discussing buying Alaska. I remember it was you who told me."
Zuo Zhidan originally just came to the meeting to see if there was anything related to foreign affairs. It was not a big deal to inform foreigners to withdraw from the north of the Huai River, but it was the work of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. If the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not come to the meeting and simply accepted orders, it would be a great loss of face for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Zuo Zhidan did not expect Vézé to ask this question. She immediately answered, "That's true."
Russia was afraid that England would take Alaska away, so they simply sold this hot potato. Most of the time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs chatted with people from other countries and exchanged information. This kind of information was pure nonsense.
"Then you go and tell the Americans that the people in that part of Alaska are also Chinese. We have the right to control that land. But if we go to war with Russia now, we will spend more money. So can the United States buy it? We can pay some processing fees to the United States, "Vézé ordered.
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