At the beginning of the 21st century, there was a time when it was popular to advocate the nature of wolves in the grasslands. This was something that only people without knowledge or culture would say. Not just the grasslands, but in the Northeast and Mongolia, more than 99% of the independent governments had been crushed by the Central Plains. The reason no one mentioned this was because no one really paid attention to this problem.
Ceng Guofan naturally didn't have the opportunity to look at the problems of the small Manchu Qing court from this angle, but after leaving the borders, the reality of lagging productivity mercilessly taught him a lesson. There weren't many knowledgeable people left in Manchu Qing. The suggestion of a knowledgeable person like Prince Gong Yixin was to continue to control the Mongolian tribes in the west and have the Mongolian princes continue to provide supplies to the Manchu Qing court outside the borders.
As for the Banners outside the borders, they hadn't paid taxes to the court for hundreds of years and now had to bear the responsibility of paying taxes. As for farming, they could also do it appropriately. For example, the Xiang Army and some of the surrendered soldiers of Shandong's Miao Peilin could also be given some land to farm.
These were the methods that Prince Gong Yixin had to use. What he truly cared about was to first understand the situation inside the borders and hope for a great change inside. At that time, the Eight Banners of Manchu Qing could once again kill their way into the borders like their ancestors and take back the world.
When Prince Gong Yixin said this, his voice had a kind of morbid enthusiasm. After Ceng Guofan heard this, he couldn't help but wonder if Prince Gong Yixin was talking nonsense with a high fever. But he didn't dare to really criticize him like this.
Right now, there were two levels of difficulty in finding information inside the borders. It was relatively difficult to find information about the Taiping Rebellion in the northwest. The people there all had long hair. It really wasn't easy to go in with makeup. It was relatively easy to find information about the Liberation Army. The Liberation Army had short hair. The people of Manchu Qing cut off their braids and shaved their heads. After a month, they would have the hairstyle of the Liberation Army. Also, Manchu Qing had soldiers from several provinces so their accents wouldn't be seen through. Ceng Guofan confirmed that the Xiang Army had obtained land near Shengjing and had started farming. At Prince Gong Yixin's request, he sent scouts to the borders to find information.
This was not an easy task. The Manchurians could even disguise themselves as Hebei people. Ceng Guofan's subordinates could only run back to the south. Even if this round trip was very safe, it would still take a long time. In the end, Ceng Guofan wrote a name list of the people he had painstakingly dispatched. Some of them might have joined the Liberation Army, or they might have lost their lives after failing. If he could determine the whereabouts of these people, then he would work hard to establish a communication line of intelligence. From there, they would be able to obtain even more important information.
After sending people out, Ceng Guofan didn't think about these things anymore. But the Manchu Qing court seemed to be in trouble. After Ceng Guofan sent someone to contact people who might be lurking, a group of princes even spent a day debating how to send someone to Nanjing to assassinate Vézé and then destroy the regime of the Liberation Army. Ceng Guofan didn't say a word, but he found it funny. The theoretical core of the Manchu Qing court was orphans and widows. It was said that Vézé now had several sons. Even if Vézé died, his regime would have various fluctuations, but it would not collapse. As long as Vézé's bloodline did not die out, the Liberation Army would have its own core.
He listened to this group of princes talk about how Vézé's death would provoke the Liberation Army to split and kill each other. Ceng Guofan just wanted to leave in a huff. Even if this kind of thing really happened, it would have to be after Vézé was assassinated. At this time, Vézé was still alive and kicking and holding power. What's more, the Liberation Army did not go north, which meant that they must have obeyed Vézé's orders. If Vézé died, it would be a great achievement to go north and destroy the Manchu Qing outside the Great Wall. At that time, the Manchu Qing would probably have no chance to survive. They couldn't even see through this kind of thing. No wonder the Liberation Army could not protect their country.
After waiting for the princes to finally finish talking about their delusions, Ceng Guofan suggested that the small Manchu Qing court put pressure on Goryeo and asked Goryeo to pay tribute to the suzerain of Manchu Qing. This serious suggestion was delighted by the small Manchu Qing court. Goryeo had a higher income than the small Manchu Qing court. If they could get supplies from Goryeo, it would naturally be a good thing. The Manchu Qing court immediately sent messengers to Goryeo, asking Goryeo to fulfill its obligations as a vassal state.
In April, the Goryeo messengers arrived in Nanjing, hoping that the new China's Zheng Mansion could support them to attack outside the Great Wall.
At this time, the central government temporarily calmed down, and Ruan Xihao's attempt to bravely take responsibility completely failed, so he obediently received his education in the cadre school. Chinese newspapers began to further promote the concept of the Chinese nation, China and foreign countries, and national interests. No one mentioned the issue of leaking secrets for the time being.
However, the Spanish fleet near Lanfang was not at ease. In March and April, the South Sea Fleet, which had strengthened its internal monitoring, no longer encountered ambushes, but they saw the fleet from afar several times. The navy flying the Spanish flag did not rush up to fight the South Sea Fleet. After seeing the Chinese Navy's action, they slipped away. Knowing the power of the "Spanish" fleet, the South Sea Fleet's new plan was to stall them first, and then the other warships would quickly come and besiege the enemy. Since the enemy was unwilling to fight, they had no other choice.
At this juncture, the request of the Goryeo government caused some discussion in the Liberation Army. Everyone had grown up in the flames of war, and they understood Goryeo's intentions very well. In a sense, Goryeo wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to gain benefits. Some of the more straightforward comrades wanted to scold the Goryeo messengers, saying that they wanted to gain benefits from China. They were simply blinded by lard.
However, Vézé's decision was interesting. "Tell them that we know."
"Commander-in-chief, what do you mean?" asked Cai Pengfei, the Chief of Staff of the Army. In fact, this kind of question was usually asked by Hu Chenghe, the Commander of the Army, but Hu Chenghe rarely spoke recently, so Cai Pengfei couldn't help but ask.
Vézé replied frankly, "Although the Xiang Army and the Eight Banners are vulnerable in front of us, they are not something that Goryeo can deal with. In that case, if we tell the Goryeo that we know, I'm afraid they will act rashly. At that time, we can just watch the show. "
Cai Pengfei felt that the atmosphere of the recent high-level meetings was not so right. The close friendliness of the past had weakened a lot. Of course, he knew that Vézé was investigating the leak of secrets, and he also knew that many of his old brothers thought that doing so would make them lose face. Everyone was a little angry. Therefore, he could only praise, "Commander-in-chief, you still have the same opinions on things."
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