Chapter 228 Luo Xueyan, work hard, you have a chance to become the Governor-General of Liangjiang! ((Please subscribe, please vote)
“Your Majesty, I am guilty. I did not fight well. I have failed your trust. Please punish me.”

On the second day after Senggelinqin and Zeng Linshu arrived in Beijing, in the Palace of Diligent Administration and Virtue in the Old Summer Palace, the simple Mongolian man Senggelinqin was crying and apologizing to Emperor Xianfeng of the Qing Dynasty.

The monk king’s attitude of apologizing was very good. On his way to Beijing, he had already painted a big and delicious pie for Emperor Xianfeng.

Senggelinqin told Xianfeng that he planned to recruit 5,000 Khorchin Mongolian warriors and 15,000 poor Han peasants from Zhili to form a 20,000-strong army to suppress the rebellion!
The core of these 20,000 troops to suppress the rebellion is undoubtedly the 5,000 Khorchin Mongolian warriors who can only be firmly controlled by Senggelinqin and have already been recruited by the Zasaks of the Khorchin banners!

First of all, they are Mongolians, not Han Chinese, and they come from various banners derived from the Mongolian Khorchin tribe, which was the first to surrender to the Qing Dynasty. They are absolutely politically reliable!
Secondly, these 5,000 people were the elite Mongolians from the Khorchin Banners, and all of them were skilled in archery and horse riding. If Senggelinqin used them, he could at least hold back the Taiping Army, not to mention defeating tens of thousands of the Northern Expedition Army.

Secondly, General Guan Wen of Jingzhou, Governor-General of Huguang Zhang Liangji, and Minister of Hunan Militia Zeng Guofan sent urgent documents to Beijing every now and then during this period, all of which were about the Taiping Army’s Northern Expedition to Xiangyang!
If Xiangyang cannot be defended, the Taiping Rebellion will invade the Central Plains!

Henan’s defenses are now weak, and the few Qing troops are loose and disorganized. The generals have no will to fight, the soldiers have no fighting spirit, and the people are in panic.

Once the Taiping Army captured Xiangyang and entered the Central Plains, the court in Beijing would have to immediately send out a group of elite soldiers who could both look and fight. It would be best if they were “real Tartars” and sent to Henan, so that the Han officials, gentry and Green Camp soldiers in Henan would see that the Qing emperor still had Manchu and Mongolian soldiers at his disposal.

In this way, the Han officials, gentry, and Green Camp soldiers in Henan had a backbone, and they could firmly hold on with the belief of “Eight Banners Heavenly Soldiers and Invincible Plains”.

If Emperor Xianfeng could not even come up with this little bit of money, and could only send the Beijing Banner foreign opium soldiers who “would miss the target when shooting arrows and fall to the ground when riding horses” to the south, once they were beaten badly by the Taiping Army’s infantry and cavalry, then everyone in Henan would sing “Welcome Peace”.

Therefore, Emperor Xianfeng, who was kind-hearted by nature, could not bear to punish Senggelinqin, the mainstay of the Qing court and the last military support of the Eight Banners nobles.

“Senggelinqin, I know your difficulties. It’s not your fault that the battle didn’t go well. It’s mainly because the Eight Banners and the Green Camp have been living in comfort for too long in the past hundred years. They no longer have the sharpness of the past! Moreover, the Han people have multiplied too much under the grace of our Qing Dynasty, so that the population of the 18 provinces of Han is too large, there are too many people and too little land, and the food grown is not enough to eat. They have become extremely cruel!
Plus, there is a demon from the West on the Changmao side. This time, the Qing Dynasty has indeed encountered a disaster that has never happened since it established its capital in Beijing! It can be said that internal and external troubles, demonic disasters and human disasters have all come together. But.”

Xianfeng talked a lot, all of which were excuses for the defeat and for the good-for-nothings under him. There was nothing he could do! The Qing Dynasty still had to rely on these good-for-nothings to survive, and as an emperor, what else could he do if he didn’t make excuses for them? Was he going to yell something depressing like “I am not the king who lost the country, but my subjects are all the subjects of the country”?
After making excuses for his subordinates, Xianfeng said “but” and his tone became light.

“Fortunately, the fortunes of our Great Qing are finally turning! First, I have figured out the Taiping rebels’ method of dividing up the land to deceive people, and I have responded tit for tat by giving the land outside the Great Wall to the brave officers and soldiers who are sincerely fighting the Taiping rebels for the Great Qing!

Zeng Guofan, Zuo Zongtang, and Jiang Zhongyuan have submitted memorials to me in recent days, saying that the soldiers under me all think that my method is excellent, and everyone is eager to try it out, wanting to make meritorious contributions to the Qing Dynasty and get some fertile land outside the Great Wall! The number of soldiers in Hunan has increased very rapidly, and there are already 83 battalions with more than 41,000 soldiers! “

When Xianfeng said this, his face turned happy.

The military ministers, Manchu and Han ministers, vice ministers, the eight banner commanders, and several ministers in charge of the imperial guards and the inner court, all knelt below and shouted in unison: “Your Majesty is wise!”

Upon hearing this, Xianfeng glanced at Prince Gong Yixin, as it was actually this person who first proposed the distribution of fertile land outside the Great Wall.

After withdrawing his gaze from the respectfully kneeling Guiziliu, Xianfeng said in a brisk tone: “Moreover, Zeng Guofan and his father have already been raised to the banner, and are our own people. Zeng Guofan’s father Zeng Linshu has also come to Beijing City, and is now outside the Qinzheng Qinxian Hall. Summon him up!”

“Announce Zenglin’s letter to the palace!” Following the eunuch’s hoarse voice, Xianfeng saw a “burly Zeng” with his arms swinging and swaggering, walking in with a minister in front of the emperor.

The title of the Imperial Minister in the Qing Dynasty sounded very important, but in fact it was just a “guard with a sword in front of the emperor”, which was higher than the first-class guard. However, the Imperial Minister who brought “Da Zeng” in was a skinny and smoky-faced nobleman of the Eight Banners. If an assassin from the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom really entered the Old Summer Palace, Emperor Xianfeng would probably die immediately if he relied on this person to protect him.

And with his contrast, “Da Zeng” looks even bigger!
“Your servant Zeng Jia Lin Shu respectfully wishes His Majesty the best of health!”

Zeng Linshu was not only big, but also had a loud voice, like thunder. When he came to pay his respects, he shocked Emperor Xianfeng so much that he couldn’t even speak for a while. After a long while, he nodded and said, “Okay, okay, it’s true that a tiger son will be like a dog father! Linshu, did you have any achievements before you came to Beijing?”

“In reply to the emperor, before I took up the post, I was devoted to the imperial examination. Unfortunately, my eight-part essay was not good, and I failed the provincial examination seventeen times. I was only a Tongsheng.”

“What a pity.” Xianfeng thought for a moment and said with a smile, “Linshu, I see you look like a brave warrior, do you know any martial arts?”

“Your Majesty, I started learning martial arts at the age of three and literature at the age of five. Although I have practiced for decades, it is a pity that I have achieved nothing in either literature or martial arts.”

Xianfeng nodded and thought, “Writing is already difficult, and you want to learn martial arts? How can you learn it? If you focus on martial arts, you would have already become a military scholar, and maybe even an admiral.”

“Linshu, you are now a servant of the Bordered Yellow Banner!” Xianfeng said with a smile, “I will appoint you as a second-class guard and let you walk around the Qianqing Gate!”

The second-class guards were officials of the fourth rank, while the Qianqingmen walkers were allowed to “walk outside the Qianqingmen”! If Emperor Xianfeng worked in the Forbidden City, usually in the Qianqing Palace, how much trust did Zeng Linshu have to have to “walk” outside the gate of Emperor Xianfeng’s office? And this “walking” is not just a literal meaning, it also means serving outside the Qianqingmen – in layman’s terms, it means being the Qianqingmen security guard!
“The second is Luo Xueyan from Shanghai. Although he was born in Southeast Asia, he is a real talent. He learned the essence of Western military science overseas and helped Luo Bingzhang, Zuo Zongtang and others train their troops. A while ago, he led 800 Hunan warriors to Shanghai to buy foreign guns and cannons, but… “

After assigning Zeng Linshu a post as the gatekeeper of Qianqing Gate, Emperor Xianfeng began to praise Luo Xueyan again. He spoke eloquently for a while, almost praising Luo Xueyan as the Chagan Temur of the Qing Dynasty!
There was no other way. The situation was critical and people were worried. We had to say some good news to boost their morale. Although Luo Xueyan did not make any achievements, he at least got the support of foreigners and formed a “foreign rifle team” of several thousand people in a short period of time!
Xianfeng’s tone became more and more excited. He announced with a smile: “I have asked the Ministry of Personnel to check and found this person! He is indeed on the list of recommendations submitted by the Hunan Governor’s Office. He is a seventh-rank deputy county magistrate. For such a talent, a seventh-rank deputy county magistrate is really too small!”

It’s not that Xianfeng was stupid and didn’t do any “background checks”, but the problem is that Luo Xueyan was indeed on file in the Ministry of Personnel and was a genuine father of the Qing people. Moreover, his file in the Ministry of Personnel completely matched the persona he created in Shanghai.

A “rich man” who came back from Southeast Asia, who could speak English with an Oxford accent, and who fooled the consuls of England, France, and the United States. How could such a person be associated with the “rich-hating” Taiping Army leader?

Moreover, he did not appear alone with 500 elite soldiers. He also went to Shanghai with Wang Kuiyi, the governor of Hengzhou Prefecture, who was a Qing Dynasty civil servant who passed the imperial examination twice! Cheng Fupei, the son of Cheng Yancai, a loyal and heroic man of the Qing Dynasty, was also an old acquaintance of him. The Cheng family had three governors and Cheng Fupei was the son of a loyal and heroic man. How could this be the Taiping Army?

“Your Majesty,” Prince Gong Yixin also felt that Luo Xueyan was fine – his confidant Shengbao also said so, so he took over Xianfeng’s words, “I suggest that Luo Xueyan be promoted as an exception, and let him serve as the Jiangnan Salt Administration and the prefect of Jiangning. The Jiangnan Salt Administration is in charge of the Jiangnan salt administration, which is conducive to raising funds. And the post of Jiangning prefect can encourage this person to relieve the siege of Jiangning City!”

“That’s exactly what I want! Let Luo Xueyan be the Jiangnan Salt Administration Commissioner and the Prefect of Jiangning!”

Xianfeng nodded, raised his voice, and began to make promises again: “As long as he can lift the siege of Jiangning Prefecture, no, as long as he can recapture Jiangning in the future, I will make him the governor of Jiangsu, or even the governor-general of Liangjiang!” He paused, “If Zeng Guofan, Zuo Zongtang, Jiang Zhongyuan, or anyone else can lead troops to recapture Jiangning, Wuchang, and Changsha, I can make them governors-general or governors-general!”

(End of this chapter)