Chapter 18 Liangjiang

In this case, don’t ask the Military Affairs Office, don’t ask the former ministers and the six cabinet ministers, why did you ask the Nanshu several literary servants? Everyone was surprised and was silent for a while. Erhe Bu bowed and replied, “Emperor, Du Gong’s Ministry of Works during the Tang Dynasty said: Killing is limited, and all countries have their own borders. If they can control invasion, how can they kill more? The words of the sages, I asked the emperor to be careful. Since ancient times, my heavenly dynasty has been based on benevolence and love, and it is not a powerful country. Therefore, I thought that it is better not to act like killing people in the city or the wild things."

"Well, Zhang Zhiwan, tell me, is his words reasonable?"

Although Zhang Zhiwan was the top scholar, he was a kowtower who knew everything from the court and the country. He heard this and lie down and rang out loudly, saying, "The navy's design is related to the national economy and people's livelihood. This situation has long been in the emperor's holy heart, and it is not something that the ministers can say."

The emperor burst into laughter, ignored him, and asked Weng Tonghe again. The latter blinked and wandered for a moment. He suddenly remembered what he said in the mansion, "The emperor's implementation of the new policy without any manpower is to stop him. This artificial is just an intentional use of this to provoke a sign. "I think,... I remember an old thing."

"oh?"

"In the 14th year of the First Emperor, Lu Kun, the Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, reported that the East India Company was disbanded because of his reason. The newly dispatched China business supervisor, Lu Lai, arrived in Guangdong by boat. He dared not regard the dignity of our Celestial dynasty system and condemned people to send letters to the Governor's Office to request business. Such actions were naturally rejected by our Celestial dynasty. He also sent a member to inform the heroes, hoping that the stupidity of the first entry into China would be repentant and obedient. He did not want to ignore it, and sent warships to be docked on the surface of the Kyushu Shali Ocean outside the gate of Humen. Later, the Governor Lu reported to the emperor: The only thing the barbarians are guarding is that the only ships are strong and cannons, the inner sea is shallow, the reefs are in a row, and the barbarians can not be able to do so. As long as we dispatch soldiers and generals, the barbarians will be impressed."

The emperor knew about this, Yi knew about it, and the rest of the people knew about it. When he heard that he was using this old thing, the foundation for what he thought was self-evident. Only Jingyu and Liufu didn't know about it, and each opened his eyes widened and listened to his following.

Weng Tonghe continued to say, "...Who knew that after a few days, the British ships Imojin and Antonro Migu forced themselves into Humen under the order of Lulaobei, heading straight to Huangpu and bombarding the fort. However, our Celestial Navy could not stop it. Although the wooden raft channel was used to make the other party retreat back to Macau, the shortcomings of our Celestial Navy's military preparations were undoubtedly exposed after this battle."

Speaking of this, Weng Tonghe stopped recalling, his eyes flashed, and he said slowly, "Learning from the past, the army of later generations. The British people repeatedly slapped my sea, which was to deceive our heavenly dynasty and had no harm in water and courage, and even succeeded repeatedly. Until the seventh year of Xianfeng, the army was aimed directly at the city of Guangzhou. If the emperor had not been as wise as the sky, and had the enemy's opportunity to talk about the enemy's opportunity, they would only fear that the old things during the Emperor's reign would be reproduced in the present. Therefore, I believe that the navy was not only necessary for our heavenly dynasty to protect ourselves, but also established in a short time to protect our heavenly dynasty people, and long-term peace, so that our heavenly dynasty can be unified and prosperous for a long time!"

The emperor pondered for a while and suddenly asked, "Lao Liu, what do you think about the navy affairs and Weng Tonghe's comments?"

Yi smiled and replied, "My little knowledge cannot escape the priest's eyes. However, I think that Guo Songtao's proposal of the navy is to make every effort to make the country, but it is just a slight impression from his predecessors."

"Oh? How do you say this?"

"I was ordered by the emperor to manage the General Administration Office by the emperor. During the period, I was mostly from Western countries. I talked to them about my leisure time and occasionally heard them talk about it. Western countries also had struggles with each other, and such struggles were mostly naval battles. I thought that because of the demand, there would naturally be gains. Let's talk about the power of this ship? I was taught by the emperor that the British were born in an island country, and their local assets and energy were limited after all, and they were used to going to sea. Therefore, the British had a wide terrain and many other products. I didn't have to care about external things. Naturally, the demands of these warships could not be compared with them."

"I asked you if you want naval construction, not about the difference between the military power of the two countries."

"Yes, I am about to report to Chen." Yi said, "In the seventh year of Xianfeng, the Westerners used military ships to build our territory. The emperor's plan and the subordinates followed the soldiers' lives. In the end, the battle of Anshan Lake was accomplished. But I thought that when the battle on land was confronted, our Celestial Empire would occupy all the right time, place and people. If we still cannot defeat the invasion, it would be too obvious that our Celestial Empire's soldiers were incompetent. Therefore, there was no place to boast about..."

This was very taboo. Yi secretly looked at the emperor's face without any unpleasant expression. Then he boldly continued to report, "When the water battle was fought, Humen, Huangpu and Guangzhou city, although after years of renovation and solid shore defense, he still retreated in a mess when facing the enemy! It can be seen that the way of shore defense cannot be defended, iron-armored warships must be avoided, and the enemy must be defended outside the national gate is the way for our eternal border and long-term stability in the Heavenly Dynasty!"

The emperor nodded deeply, and did not speak for a long time. Finally, he tapped the table with his hand, "...Weng Tonghe, drafted an order and wrote a letter to Zeng Guofan, the governor of Liangjiang..."

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In the ninth year of Xianfeng, Zeng Guofan took office in Liangjiang and opened his capital to Jiangning. Before leaving, the emperor gave him poems and banquets. The glory of the ministers was no exception. After taking office, he realized that the position of the governor of Liangjiang was admired, but it was not so easy to do.

First of all, after the Guiliang case, the talents in the officialdom of Liangjiang were withered. Take Jiangning Prefecture as an example. The county heads of the prefectures, including Shangyuan, Jiangning, Jurong, and the Taihu Hall, Songjiang Prefecture, Chuansha Hall, Changzhou Prefecture, Wujin, Wuxi, Jinkui, Yangzhou Prefecture, Taizhou Zhili Hall, etc., were all involved in the Guiliang greed case, and took off all the tops from the court. When Zeng Guofan took office, the Liangjiang Land, which was accustomed to the number of officials, was so embarrassed that there was no official to welcome the governor! There was no need to mention the various measures in official affairs, which were complicated and unsuccessful.

In his first year of office, Zeng Guofan was forced to delay the time he had to send memorials to Beijing with exchanges and letters, so he had to report to the central government in telegrams and request the court to select talents and serve in the local area. Therefore, in addition to recruiting officials from nearby Henan, Shandong and other provinces to supplement, officials who have been waiting for distribution in the province for many years were able to use their own teachings, which alleviated the temporary anger.

Before Zeng Guofan took office, the emperor told him that the ability of officials must be demonstrated in office; and the virtues of his subordinates cannot be believed by those who decide in one's words. As the governor of Liangjiang, you should pay more attention to military and political management, especially government affairs. Once you find someone who takes advantage of official affairs, you don't have to care about who he is, nor do you have to care about which yamen involved. You must not let the Liangjiang administration, which has improved a little after thorough investigation of the Guiliang case, and then return to the old view. Zeng Guofan was naturally ordered and agreed one by one.

When he was in office, Zeng Guofan learned that the two rivers were commonly known as the most fertile in the world. It was not without reason. There was no need to mention them. They only occasionally spared political affairs, put on casual clothes, walked on both sides of the Yangtze River, and looked at the large and small merchant ships that were woven on the river, covering the sky and the sun, and then they could see the clues. He ordered the new Jiangning and Jiangsu officials to summarize the various benefits of their posts over the past year, and even Zeng Guofan himself was shocked: the total was more than 30 to 50 million taels!

"Why are there so many?"

Two rivers and two vassals, one is Jiangsu vassals, Guo Songtao, and the other is Jiangning vassals Chu Decan, a native of Shandong, with a courtesy name Xuanyun. He was a Jinshi with the same degree as Chongshi. He was not in the third grade and could not enter the Hanlin Academy. He served as a magistrate in Henan and served as a county magistrate and prefect, and later transferred to Guangxi vassals. Before the Liangjiang incident, the emperor transferred Chongshi to Songjiang Road. When he talked to Chongshi, he decided to transfer him to Liangjiang and serve as the Jiangning vassals.

Guo Songtao was rare and famous, but unfortunately, he was late in the imperial examination, until the 20th year of Daoguang. He and Zeng Guofan were old friends for many years. This time he served in Liangjiang, and they were subordinates of each other. They had many questions and had relationships. The relationship was one step closer than in Beijing. When he heard that he actually said such a childish word, Guo Songtao and Chu Decan looked at each other and smiled, "Sir, why do you say this? Do you still think that you have too much money?"

Zeng Guofan smiled, "I just didn't expect that there would be such a number. In less than a year, all the funds in the two rivers were as large as tens of millions... This is really something I dare not imagine!"

"In addition to Lijin, there are also trading halls opened in Jiangning, Shanghai and Suzhou, which are the first place to leave the capital. When the adults have time in the future, they will go here to take a look and you will know the truth."

Zeng Guofan also knew about the establishment of the trading hall. It was originally for the more and more foreign merchants in Liangjiang and other places to purchase various Chinese specialties nearby, sort them out and facilitate people's livelihood. It is said that when Emperor Nan Xing was in Nan, he summoned Wang Youling, who was working on Songjiang Road at that time and a general office of the Customs Office named Hu Xueyan, and asked them to take the lead in the process. I didn't expect that in less than two years, I would be able to do this so well?

"Isn't that?" Chu Decan continued, "I don't know anything. After Hu Xueyan first took off his job in the trading hall, he immediately resigned from the government's errand, instead of starting a silk tea trade, and started a large money house called Fukang. Within two years, the business has spread throughout the country. Now in Suzhou City, he is a rich man who is known to everyone and everyone knows."

Zeng Guofan was very surprised. Are there such people in the world? He doesn't do anything about the official family and turns to do business? What kind of money house can only be explained by his own ambitions. Thinking about it again, it may not be a bad thing. Is it use to be a great minister and the chief minister in the court like himself? Isn't it because he is still so frightened and decent in the face of a king and father's edict? This thought arises, and it grows like a weed: the emperor has ascended the throne for ten years and the country is rising. It is certainly gratifying, but in addition, the emperor's authority is getting stronger. When he was in Beijing, he always felt nervous when he was in the court. Hey, I don't know if it was a blessing or a misfortune to serve such a master?

He only cared about his own thoughts, and even forgot the existence of the two subordinates in the department. It was Luo Zenan, a staff member in the mansion, who came out of the back hall, which made him wake up, "Oh, I only care about my thoughts, but I'm negligent."

Chu Decan and Guo Songtao naturally said a few polite words. Zeng Guofan turned to look at Luo Zenan, "Brother Zhongyue, do you gain something?"

"This is a draft of the student. If the adults have read it and are available, please copy it and submit it to the public."

Zeng Guofan took it and looked at it. This was the repetition of the Li Guangzhao case. Since Li Guangzhao fled from Beijing in the ninth year of Xianfeng, he had been hiding for some time. He knew that the disaster he caused this time was very serious, and he did not deceive the foreigners from China than before. When the limelight came, he could still remain the same. It can be said that there was no other place for him to establish himself in the Qing Dynasty, so he wanted to go to Liangjiang or Guangdong and Guangxi, and it would be best to hide abroad, which was the most beautiful.

But when he traveled to Guangdong and Guangxi, the journey was long and he might not be able to wait for a place, so he was captured and deported to Beijing. He had to choose the place of the two rivers and find an opportunity to travel there. If there is good luck, he might not be able to take a merchant ship to another country. So he carefully fled from Beijing to Jiangning. Who knew that he had been investigated shortly after he arrived here.

It was also really the case that he was killed. Li Guangzhao and a French merchant agreed to purchase wood in Hong Kong. In fact, he still used a trick of coaxing and cheated more than 30,000 taels of silver from the French merchant, and then disappeared. The French merchant suffered a great loss, but he was in a foreign land and could only admit his bad luck. This time, the Frenchman came to Jiangning to handle the purchase matters. The enemy was narrow and the enemy was narrow. When he saw Li Guangzhao, the two sides immediately fought and reported to the local government. After investigation, Li Guangzhao's appearance was exposed!

Li Guangzhao is the main criminal of the Qin case and must be brought to the court. He will be handed over to the provincial magistrates for trial. After confessing the past events one by one, he will be deported to Beijing. At this time, Luo Zenan came forward to persuade Zeng Guofan, "Sir, what crime should Li Jian deal with his actions?"

"Using clever words and concealing the court is nothing more than a crime of beheading." Zeng Guofan was once a minister in charge of the Ministry of Justice. Even if he was not as proficient in the laws and regulations as Zhao Guang and others, he still knew a little.

"So, according to the Lord, should Li Guangzhao stay in Jiangning and execute him immediately after the imperial edict arrives, or should he take him to Beijing and then be interrogated by the Ministry of Justice before disposing of the measures?"

Zeng Guofan's heart moved, and this is not to be asked. How could Qin's murder case be confused and dealt with nearby places where he was arrested? In fact, there are also some, but that situation generally refers to criminals who have wandered around the world and committed many evil deeds, and other gangsters have never been brought to justice. The court is afraid that there will be any mistakes on the way to deportation, so that they will be dealt with cheaply. Li Guangzhao is completely incompatible with the above situation. Why did Luo Zenan ask this? After thinking about it, he roughly understood, "Brother Zhongyue said that if he was taken back to Beijing, after the inquiries, it would be difficult to deal with all kinds of obstacles?"

As soon as Li Guangzhao's case broke out, since the Huanghuang edict was strictly handled, how could the person who brought in the hands be unresponsible? Therefore, Chen Yi, the Censor of the Huguang Road, and the Yizheng of Jiangsu Province, first attacked, and strictly impeached the Minister of the Interior Department to "deception and punishment for the matter". Then in the same year of Chen Yi, Sun Fengxiang, the Censor of Jiangnan Road from Weixian, Shandong, submitted a memorial saying, "...Li Guangzhao requested to submit Mu Zhi to Mu Zhi, and this time the submitted Mu Zhi was all in the office of the current Minister of the Interior Department Mingshan. The officer missed the manuscript and submitted it to the court and committed fraud with Li Guangzhao. Please punish it strictly.

These two memorials have been submitted to the Ministry of Personnel for review by the emperor, and the punishment is inevitable. At the same time, Li Guangzhao pretended to serve, but because of his own selfish interests, it has become news that has spread throughout the nine cities. Some people say that it will be a matter of time sooner or later to stop, but even the merchants of the garden workers cannot stop and watch the scenery. This matter is not only unlucky for the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but the emperor is also very tired, making his liver more and more intense. For several days, he was listless when he called the ministers. Wen Xiang and Yan Jingming saw it, feeling both distressed and funny.

Luo Zenan nodded in admiration, "Sir, please think that Li Guangzhao's actions are certainly unavoidable to escape the national law. If you ask me in the future, you will reveal your interactions with the people of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. You are obviously doing the job for the court, but you offended the servants of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for no reason. How unprofitable would it be?" He said, "Now, as long as you write a memorial, you can protect the face of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and make friends with each other. The relationship between the people is just right. Wouldn't it be beautiful?"

Zeng Guofan was born in Neo-Confucianism and a gentleman was in charge of the court. He was very reluctant to deal with the servants of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but he had to admit that Luo Zenan's words were right: it is better to offend gentlemen than villains. If he was still in the Military Affairs Office, he would naturally be afraid. When he went to other provinces, he would always have to deal with officials in the capital well. This thought was speechless for a while, "Okay, let's take a look first."

Luo Zenan understood and went to work the job. Today he came to the hall, which was for this. This was written in this article. "... The criminal pretended to be a supervisor of the garden worker, cheated everywhere, and wrote a contract to foreign merchants, which was enough to make a laugh and insult. The nucleus was consistent with the article of "the deceitful envoys and the deceitful envoys, and should be executed according to the deceitful envoys and the deceitful envoys and the deceitful envoys and the deceitful envoys and the deceitful envoys and the deceitful envoys and the deceitful envoys and the deceitful envoys and the deceitful envoys and the deceitful envoys and the deceitful envoys and the deceitful envoys and the deceitful envoys and the deceitful envoys and the deceitful envoys and the deceitful envoys and the deceitful envoys and the deceitful envoys and the deceitful envoys and the deceitful envoys are executed in the autumn."

Although this article is very short, it has a profound idea! First of all, Li Guangzhao was ordered to conduct strict investigations and punish them as usual, and he was an imperial prisoner. After the fact is found out, he should be sent to the Ministry of Justice to be convicted, and he was directly qualified as a provincial chief and was convicted as a death sentence. Moreover, the text did not ask for instructions, and did not convict according to the law of "fakely calling the inner envoy's law", but the intention of returning to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to protect the Ministry of Internal Affairs was vividly displayed on paper.

At that time, the emperor had already taken the opportunity to go west and reported the memorial. The emperor understood at a glance that this was because, if the crime was proposed according to the previous law, Mingshan and others would not be separated from the relationship with him. However, convicted according to the latter, it would be the fault of one person and not involve others. In fact, it would not work at all. Foreign merchants were not the people of the Qing emperor and did not have the obligation to obey the edict. Even if Li Guangzhao was "fixing the edict" in order to "pass the edict", it would have no effect. From this perspective, it is not a false statement to say that Li Guangzhao is not guilty.

The emperor smiled bitterly when he received a report from Liangjiang. The emperor did not need to be too careful when the emperor and his ministers were in a sensation. However, in the words of Zhu's comments, he still couldn't stand the little ones and stabbed Zeng Guofan a few words, "Look. According to the discussion, I have been in the province for more than a year and have made clear official duties, which comfort me very much. This kind of achievements in doing good to others have made progress every day, which makes me admire."

Zeng Guofan was so scared that his face turned pale, but he felt helpless. Could he still be able to post another chapter and apologize to the emperor? Let's wait until the next year. However, Luo Zenan didn't care. "The wise and wise emperor are not inferior to the emperor. Students never thought about blinding the Holy Lord. In fact, in the eyes of the students, this kind of practice is what the emperor thinks, but he can't ask for words and deeds. What's the matter?"

He asked and answered, "In May of the last year, Sushun returned to Beijing, and he wished the emperor a long life with his class. He advocated that the emperor would make a big change in the Old Summer Palace. Later, he made a mess of Li Guangzhao's affairs. The Ministry of Internal Affairs, or even the emperor himself, became the laughing stock of the people in the Beijing people, and the garden workers had to pause it. Think about it, the emperor was very happy, but for no reason, it was like pouring a basin of cold water on his head, and it was impossible to get into trouble. How could he feel depressed?"

"...This time Li Guangzhao was arrested, and the emperor asked for punishment under his rule. The emperor did not say anything, but he recognized it in his heart. Why? Because once Li Guangzhao was taken back to Beijing and collusion with the Ministry of Internal Affairs broke out, the great construction of the Old Summer Palace would not be achieved - for this reason, the emperor would also beg for what the adults asked for."

"Then, why is this red text?"

Luo Zenan smiled, "Isn't this simple?" he said, "Are you suspicious that you are good at it?"

Zeng Guofan was stunned. If he had let himself go to Liangjiang and leave such an impression with the emperor, it would be extremely unfavorable. "Then, Brother Zhongyue, what should I do?"

"Students are foolish in their opinion, the lord doesn't have to do anything. As I said just now, the emperor agreed to what he asked for; the only thing he didn't understand is this way of doing things. But lord, please think that if the emperor handed over the two rivers to the lord, if he asked for orders everywhere and reported everything in the future, why would he need a military minister like a military officer to leave the capital to serve?" Luo Zenan said with a smile, "When lord comes to Beijing to report his duties in the future, you might as well report this to the emperor. I think that the emperor's great talent and strategy should be given advice and will never punish him."

"Your words are not unreasonable. I am just afraid that someone in the court will make decisions on the grounds that he is good at the ministers..."

"As for this level, you have to rely on yourself to grasp it!"
Chapter completed!