Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 95 Lu Xun once said
Of course, it’s just that we can’t kill him now.

When Li Yi gains a firm foothold and becomes emperor in the future, he will have plenty of ways to find Zhang Erhe or even the Tiandihui to settle the score.

We will drink together from the golden cup, and never spare each other with the sword!

Old Zhu had already prepared the sample back then, so Li Yi wouldn't be able to copy the homework badly.

Well, in Li Yi's opinion, Zhu Yuanzhang's four major cases in the early Ming Dynasty were not simply anti-corruption or paving the way for his grandson.

Zhu Yuanzhang's intention was more to clean up the bureaucracy.

He purged the court of the large number of former Yuan officials who had surrendered when he was conquering the world, and replaced them with disciples of the emperor who had passed the imperial examinations.

In this way, a true "change of dynasty" can be achieved.

At the very least, the first three of the four major cases in Hongwu should be like this.

Because the first three of the four major cases in the Hongwu period occurred when Zhu Biao was still alive.

With Zhu Biao's ability and prestige, he did not need his father to purge the bureaucracy in order to secure his throne.

As for the Lan Yu case that occurred in the second year after Zhu Biao's death, Zhu Biao was cleaning out the Huaixi meritorious officials group that was difficult to get rid of. This was truly paving the way for his grandson!

Li Yi actually understands this.

Because he was prepared to do so.

When you are fighting for the world in the early stages, don't be too cautious when it comes to recruiting surrenders and betrayals.

Try to gain as much power as you can!

Make more friends and fewer enemies.

There is certainly nothing wrong with that.

It won’t be too late to deal with them after we have conquered the world, using the excuse of anti-corruption.

As Lu Xun once said, "When killing corrupt officials, if you kill all of them, there will definitely be some innocent people, but if you kill every other one, there will definitely be some who slip through the net."

As long as Li Yi wants to kill someone, corruption is an accurate excuse.

There are basically no exceptions!

If so, Li Yi would only be happier.

It's so hard to find a non-corrupt official among a group of corrupt officials. Wouldn't it be great if you could expose him and make him a role model?
There's no need to get into a fight with these one or two people, right?
……

It was dark, and the artillery fire from the Restoration Army outside the city came to a temporary halt.

Members of the Tiandihui in Wuzhou City received the call from the incense master and went to the hall to meet up.

Liu Yongfu's uncle Chen Liang was a small leader of the Tiandihui in Wuzhou, and he also received orders from the leader of the hall.

When Chen Liang went out, Liu Yongfu, who was visiting his uncle's house, followed him and followed the crowd to the Tiandihui hall.

A large courtyard with a sign of a carriage and horse business hanging.

When they arrived, there were already dense crowds of people gathered inside and outside the compound.

The hall master was distributing weapons to everyone, as well as red cloth to identify friend and foe.

Chen Liang tied the red cloth on his right arm, turned around and gave instructions to Liu Yongfu who looked very interested.

"Yongfu, remember to follow your uncle later and don't run around. Otherwise, your uncle may not be able to take care of you."

"If anything happens to you, I won't be able to explain to your mother."

Upon hearing this, Liu Yongfu nodded vigorously to show that he understood.

After everyone got their weapons and tied the red cloth, Liu Yongfu looked up into the courtyard.

Soon, a big man with a horse face walked out of the yard.

Zhang Erhe looked around and said loudly.

"Brothers, when our Tiandihui was first established, we swore a great oath to overthrow the Qing Dynasty and restore the Ming Dynasty, and to recover our Han territory."

"Since the Tartars came to rule the Central Plains, countless people of our Tiandihui have launched uprisings and sacrificed their lives for the ideal of restoring our Han territory."

"Now, first the Taiping Army rose up in Jintian, and then the Restoration Army raised its flag in Cenxi. Guangxi was shaken, and the southern country was shaken. It can be seen that the Mandate of Heaven of the Tartars has come to an end."

"Now, the Restoration Army has arrived outside Wuzhou City. Under the heavy artillery attack, the Wuzhou Qing monsters have lost their courage. The city is about to fall. How can we brothers of the Tiandihui be content to be alone?"

"Brothers, are you willing to join me in raising the flag against the Qing Dynasty and supporting the Restoration Army in its battles?"

As soon as Zhang Erhe finished speaking, the Tiandihui members in front of him shouted in unison.

"Anti-Qing! Anti-Qing!"

"Anti-Qing! Anti-Qing!"

"..."

Compared with the top leaders who are full of thieves and prostitutes and calculating their own interests, the lower-level members of the Tiandihui are more pure.

They have a considerable degree of enthusiasm for anti-Qing affairs!

Upon seeing this, Zhang Erhe nodded immediately.

"very good!"

"Master Niu, Master Ma, you two lead your troops to raid the Wuzhou government office."

"Try to capture the Wuzhou prefect alive!"

As soon as Zhang Erhe finished speaking, the two leaders of the Tiandihui, one fat and one thin, immediately stood up to receive orders.

After saying this, Zhang Erhe continued.

"Master Wang, Master Liu, you two take your men to raid the prison in the city and release the prisoners."

"We should disrupt the situation in Wuzhou as much as possible, so that the Qing troops defending the city will be unable to take care of themselves."

Hall Masters Wang and Liu also accepted the order immediately.

Seeing this, Zhang Erhe continued to speak.

"And this incense master will personally lead people to raid the gate of Wuzhou City and welcome the Restoration Army outside the city into the city!"

"..."

……

Wuzhou government office.

In the study, the light is dim.

Ning Quan, the prefect of Wuzhou, was writing an urgent letter asking for help.

After finishing writing, Ning Quan ordered someone to fetch his prefectural seal to stamp the letter, then put it into an envelope, sealed it with wax, and ordered someone to send it to the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi in Guangdong.

After doing all this, Ning Quan leaned back in the chair and let out a long breath.

To be honest, he had never imagined that the battle situation in Wuzhou would become so tense.

At first, when the news came that the bandits had captured Teng County, Cenxi, Ning Quan did not take it seriously.

Because in his opinion, the bandits would just take advantage of the opportunity to attack a few county towns.

As long as the Qing court reacts and sends troops to help, the rebellion can be quelled quickly.

Not to mention that the bandit soldiers were still "fighting the local tyrants and dividing the land."

Isn't this a grave offense to the gentry and wealthy families?
Based on this point alone, Ning Quan dared to conclude that it would be difficult for the bandits to gain a foothold.

Even though this group of bandits may be arrogant for a while, they will be wiped out by the government sooner or later.

When the news came that the bandits had captured Pingnan and Xunzhou, Ning Quan began to get a little nervous.

Because Xunzhou is not a small city, the fact that the bandits were able to capture Xunzhou, even if they took advantage of the opportunity, shows that they are of a certain level.

But I'm just a little nervous!

In Ning Quan's opinion, Wuzhou is located in a strategic location, has strong city defenses, and is supported by Zhennan Pass.

How could it be compared with Xunzhou, which had been invaded and exited by bandits several times and was almost like a sieve?
Well, the fact that Li Yi led his army to capture Xunzhou three times was actually no secret in the officialdom of Guangxi.

It’s just that no one would go out of their way to expose Cai Bingwen.

Cover the lid, everyone does this.

Anyone who dares to lift the lid will arouse public anger.

However, when the main force of the bandits really arrived at the city of Wuzhou, Ning Quancai realized that he was wrong.

Not only is it wrong, it is extremely wrong!

This thief soldier is really not simple.

Not to mention anything else, just the dense artillery fire outside the city today made his scalp tingle.

No, you are a bunch of bandits, where did you get the cannons?
It would be fine if there were only one or two.

But this time, the bandits used at least dozens or even hundreds of artillery pieces.

And there are quite a few heavy artillery pieces weighing two to three thousand jins! This is so damn, Ning Quan couldn't help but doubt that even if the Eight Banners of Guangzhou were emptied, they couldn't come up with so many cannons.

Then, Ning Quan realized the threat.

The bandits only fired cannons for half a day today, and the defenders of Wuzhou were about to collapse.

If we continue to allow the enemy's artillery to bombard Wuzhou City for a few more days, the city will be finished.

The only thing that made Ning Quan feel relieved now was that he had already received a letter from the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi.

The Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi will soon lead his troops through Wuzhou and enter Guangxi to suppress the bandits.

I believe it won’t be long before the army arrives to reinforce the battle in Wuzhou.

Otherwise, Ning Quan really had no confidence in being able to defend Wuzhou City.

Just as Ning Quan stretched and prepared to rest.

There was a sudden noise outside the government office.

"Kill!"

"Kill the dog official, kill the Qing demon!"

"Where is the dog official? Take your life! Chase him quickly, don't let him get away!"

"..."

Soon, there was the sound of blades clashing and screams.

A trace of panic appeared on Ning Quan's face involuntarily, and he subconsciously hid under the table.

With a creak, the door of his study was pushed open.

"Hurry... run! The Tiandihui in the city has rebelled. Lord Prefect, run..."

One of Ning Quan's close followers rushed in from outside and shouted in panic.

But he had just said half of his words when half of the tip of a knife appeared in his chest.

In an instant, blood surged out like a fountain.

The follower opened his mouth, and a large amount of blood gushed out of his mouth, and no sound could be uttered.

Several heroes from the Tiandihui rushed into the study and soon found Ning Quan under the shaking table.

On the other side, there was a fierce fight.

With a creaking sound, the north gate of Wuzhou was opened from the inside.

A torch was lit, first making a circle, then swinging up and down and left and right, sending a signal to the Restoration Army outside the city.

The next moment, there were loud shouts and screams from the north of Wuzhou City.

The soldiers of the Restoration Army lit torches, raised their swords and guns, and rushed towards Wuzhou City.

If you look down from the sky, you will see an extremely spectacular scene.

Countless soldiers of the Restoration Army holding torches formed a long dragon and charged towards Wuzhou City, which was lying on the north bank of the river like a wild beast.

Trying to swallow up Wuzhou City!
……

"Grand Commander, Wuzhou City has been captured!"

Li Kang came to Li Yi with a happy face and told him the good news.

Upon hearing this, Li Yi nodded with satisfaction.

"Not bad!"

"Now that Wuzhou City has been taken, our strategy of keeping the enemy out will be largely accomplished."

After a pause, Li Yi continued.

"Let our army start deploying defenses with Wuzhou as the center as soon as possible, and prepare to fight against the Qing monsters from Guangdong advancing westward."

Upon hearing this, Li Kang clasped his fists again in response.

Li Yi waved his hand to send Li Kang away, and then continued to ponder the current situation.

At present, there are mainly two anti-Qing forces in the south.

One is the Taiping Army, and the other is the Restoration Army led by Li Yi.

Apart from this, the other rebel armies were of little use.

Here, the Taiping Army marched north to Hunan. If Li Yi guessed correctly, the Taiping Army would go straight to Nanjing next.

In order to suppress the Taiping Army, the Qing army will inevitably concentrate its main efforts in Jiangnan.

By then, we will definitely not be able to take care of Guangdong.

Li Yi knew that as long as he could defeat the invading troops of Xu Guangjin, the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi.

Then, my plan to go east to Guangdong will be smooth sailing!
Xu Guangjin is the only stumbling block standing in front of Li Yi at the moment.

All Li Yi needs to do now is to move it away.

Get it out of the way at all costs!

As long as he can win this battle, Li Yi's Guangdong-Guangxi strategy will be fully activated.

At that time, Li Yi will let the Qing Dynasty know what the hell is the power of industry!
……

After the Restoration Army captured Wuzhou, the news that Wuzhou had been lost spread like wildfire towards Guangdong.

It took only two days for the bad news to reach Guangzhou on July 16.

It was passed on to the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi Xu Guangjin, the Governor of Guangdong Ye Mingchen, the General of Guangzhou Muten and others.

Arriving almost at the same time was a letter asking for help from Ning Quan, the prefect of Wuzhou.

Mutten flipped through Ning Quan's letter for help, and his expression couldn't help but look a little solemn.

"Master Xu, Master Ye, do you think the contents of the letter from the prefect of Wuzhou are true?"

"There are hundreds of artillery pieces, including some heavy artillery pieces that are as powerful as the Red Cannons. Are they bandits or government troops?"

"Even the government troops can't produce so many artillery pieces at once, right?"

Muttern is really fed up now.

I feel like Ning Quan is talking nonsense!
Xu Guangjin made some guesses after hearing this.

"Ning Quan is just a scholar, not familiar with military affairs. Maybe he mistook some homemade cannons for artillery?"

"Guangxi people are tough and it's normal for them to have some homemade artillery. I don't think it's a big deal."

Xu Guangjin did not take the Restoration Army seriously.

It was Ye Mingchen on the side who spoke up.

"Sir, the bandits called the Restoration Army should not be underestimated."

"During this period, they first attacked Cenxi, then Tengxian, and then they successively conquered Pingnan, Xunzhou and other cities, and then they attacked Wuzhou and conquered it. They rarely suffered defeat along the way, and they can be said to be fierce bandits."

"Your Excellency should be careful when leading the troops westward."

Xu Guangjin was a man who could listen to what was said and nodded slightly.

"I know."

After finishing his words, Xu Guangjin spoke again earnestly.

"This time, I am leading the main force of the Guangdong army westward. Seeing that the Qing Dynasty has few troops in Guangdong, the British and French may take the opportunity to cause trouble and bring up the matter of entering the city again."

"When the time comes, you two will have to carefully handle the Guangzhou matter. Be careful and make sure to avoid another war."

Ye Mingchen nodded immediately.

"Don't worry, sir. I understand!"

Mutten also spoke.

"Master Xu, rest assured. With this general here, the British will never be able to enter Guangzhou!"

Upon hearing this, Xu Guangjin nodded in satisfaction.

Although after the Opium War, with the signing of the Treaty of Nanjing, the Qing Dynasty and Britain reached an agreement on trade in the five ports of "Guangxia, Funing and Shang".

However, the Guangdong people are more stubborn. Out of hatred for the invaders, they do not listen to the Qing court.

You can trade, but you can only do business outside the city. Guangzhou City does not allow you British to enter.

As a result, many troubles arose between the Qing Dynasty and Britain.

Fortunately, Xu Guangjin, the then Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, was a capable man. He properly handled the Huang Zhuqi Incident and the Macau Incident and prevented the British from entering the city.

That’s why no major incident occurred!
However, as Xu Guangjin led the main force of the Qing army in Guangdong westward to Guangxi to fight, no one knew whether the British would take the opportunity to cause trouble.

But now Xu Guangjin has no other choice but to pray that Ye Mingchen and Mutten can really handle Guangzhou affairs properly...

(End of this chapter)