Chapter 159 An unexpected war 1
After these rounds of maneuvering, Zhao Xiaofei's control over Jiangnan was essentially secure. With the exception of Sichuan, provinces south of the Yangtze River resumed tax collection and official appointments. Central government orders could be passed down to every county, though whether they could reach the townships was unclear.
As the saying goes, imperial power did not extend to the countryside, not because it did not want to, but because it could not. Due to insufficient resources, once the order reached the county, local gentry would be in charge of village affairs, including taxation, corvee labor, conscription, and other tasks.
This gives the government a lot of room for maneuver. For example, if the state wants to collect 10 taels of silver in tax, the local gentry will demand 20 taels. Ten taels goes to the state, and the rest goes to the gentry. Of course, the amount I'm talking about is small; the actual amount is probably several times higher. Otherwise, wouldn't there be so many bandits?
Furthermore, in ancient times, officials and clerks were separate. The imperial court feared that officials would rebel in their hometowns, so officials were assigned to positions in other places. For example, if you were a Beijing native, passed the imperial examination, and wanted to be a county magistrate somewhere in Beijing, you'd have to go to Hebei Province. Sorry, because they were afraid you might rebel! Clerks, on the other hand, could be considered clerks. They didn't take exams; they inherited the position. For example, a yamen runner or a constable might have a father who was a constable, and when they grew up, they inherited his father's position. In ancient times, if you were a clerk, you were a clerk for life; you couldn't become an official. This was especially true after the Tang Dynasty! During the Tang Dynasty, clerks could be promoted, but for unknown reasons, this became impossible.
Therefore, when officials arrived at the local area, they had to have the support of the local people in order to collect taxes and complete the tasks assigned by the higher authorities. Therefore, those clerks and gentry became quasi-officials in the village.
After Zhao Xiaofei secured half of Jiangnan, he began preparing to crack down on the officialdom. He first instructed Shi Kefa to form an inspection team within the central government to inspect accounts and punish corrupt officials throughout the country. However, he could only crack down on the big tigers, as a comprehensive crackdown would leave no officials left to be assigned to the local government. Ninety-eight out of every hundred officials were corrupt, making it impossible to eliminate them all.
Unless he could train a new civil service, and without hundreds of thousands of grassroots officials, that wouldn't be enough! So he had no choice but to send Shi Kefa to fight the big tigers, and he even gave him the Imperial Sword. Officials below the fifth rank could be executed first, with permission later. He also had him bring 5,000 Ke Nan troops with him as backup. Any disobedience would be met with death! Simple and brutal!
Of course, this was the result of his discussion with the cabinet. He obtained the Imperial Sword when he was fighting the epidemic in the capital, and now it has become Shi Kefa's sword.
Shi Kefa also liked this job very much and wanted to investigate all the corrupt officials in the world. However, Zhao Xiaofei specifically instructed that he should arrest the big ones and let the small ones go.
Meanwhile, Zhao Xiaofei consolidated his resources and began conducting business with foreign nations. He sent invitations to the Portuguese, Dutch, Spanish, British, French, and even the Vatican, offering them the opportunity to establish embassies in Nanjing and unify trade issues. However, all this was still a matter of waiting; after all, other countries besides the Portuguese were too far away.
Zheng Zhilong learned of this and resorted to various tactics. Zhao Xiaofei's religious vases were very popular in Europe. He also translated a book about China into Latin and French and sent it to Europe, hoping to attract trade between Europe and the Ming Dynasty.
But whether Europa can receive these letters, books and things is another matter!
At the same time, they increased their cooperation with Zheng Zhilong, encouraging him to sell more products, especially perfumes, glass, soaps, cosmetics, and plastic jewelry. These products were extremely profitable, and Zheng Zhilong had almost exhausted his gold reserves. He could only collect gold from the mainland and Southeast Asia to pay Zhao Xiaofei. As for rice from Southeast Asia, almost all of it was unloaded near Nanjing. This formed a golden triangle, with goods purchased from Nanjing and shipped to Southeast Asia and India. In India and Southeast Asia, gold and rice were purchased and then shipped back to Nanjing.
Zheng Zhilong called this route the Golden Waterway, which brought him and Zhao Xiaofei huge profits. Otherwise, where would Zhao Xiaofei get the money to support so many officers and soldiers for the court?
Zhao Xiaofei was incredibly busy. The situation in the north was still good. After dealing with Xu Dingguo, the only remaining opponent was the traitor Liu Zeqing. However, he was very obedient and didn't dare to make any moves. This allowed him to prepare his army for war. He trained the troops daily with Wanshan, and Fang Xinyu had received word that Qin Liangyu's White Spear Soldiers were almost ready. Then, they could enter Sichuan and challenge Zhang Xianzhong.
Li Zicheng suffered heavy losses after the Battle of Shanhaiguan and retreated all the way to Xi'an, leaving Zhang Tianlin, Chen Yongfu, Yuan Zongdi and Liu Si to defend Shanxi, while Ajige led his troops to attack Datong, but ended in failure.
The Jianlu ordered Duoduo, who had already arrived in Xuzhou, to return to Shanxi to provide assistance. This sudden defeat had completely sobered Dorgon up. Dorgon had originally planned to split his forces into two groups, with Ajige heading west to Shanxi while Duoduo led Kong Youde, Geng Zhongming and others south.
A Dashun army marched out of Tongguan and headed eastward, reaching Huaiqing. Jianlu commander-in-chief Jin Yuhe led his troops into battle, and a battle ensued in Huaiqing.
Liu Rukui was ordered to attack Huaiqing Prefecture and hold it. With his 20,000-man army, Liu Rukui advanced with unstoppable force, taking Huaiqing Prefecture in a matter of seconds.
Inside Huaiqing Mansion, Liu Rukui sat in the center. A lieutenant general said, "General! Our spies report that a Qing army is heading south, headed straight for us. Should we attack them?"
"We are already exhausted from the eastward expedition. Let's wait and see when the opportunity arises!" said Liu Rukui.
"Yes! General!" all the generals answered in unison.
Outside the city, Jin Yuhe's face was filled with sorrow. No one had expected the Jian Lu to unify the country. But they were too short-staffed, and now Dorgon was demanding a division? Dorgon was being too arrogant!
Unfortunately, who would listen to him, a traitor from the Wanli era? Facing the Dashun Army of Huaiqing, Jin Yuhe stroked his beard and said to his men: "Attack the city!"
His own troops were all Han army flags, and their fighting spirit was at its strongest. Previously, he had been criticized and called a traitor. Now that the world was unified and he was a founding father, who wouldn't be the first to fight?
The siege was indeed brutal, as there were few artillery pieces. After a few shots, a manpower assault began. Seeing the Jianlu attack approaching, Liu Rukui's well-rested Dashun army began to attack with their prepared supplies.
The Qing troops tried hard to climb the city walls, but were repeatedly beaten down by the Dashun army. The casualties on both sides gradually increased, with the Shun army's casualties reaching a ratio of 1 to 6. The Jianlu suffered heavy losses!
"Admiral, withdraw your troops! It's not too late to attack tomorrow! We have nowhere to get reinforcements in this area!"
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