Chapter 241 Li Hongzhang, I will be your devil’s advocate! (Please subscribe and vote)

At the foot of Yufeng Mountain, in the flower hall of a unique Jiangnan garden, a few cups of coffee were wafting with a rich aroma. Luo Yaoguo, wearing the uniform of a fourth-rank civil servant of the Qing Dynasty, without a hat, revealing a big bald head covered with a fake braid, smiled at Li Hongzhang, “Li Zhongtang”, sipping bitter coffee.

“Shao Quan, is it a bit bitter? You can add a piece of sugar.” Seeing Li Hongzhang’s expression as if he had drunk poison, he smiled and pointed to a stack of sugar cubes wrapped in paper on the coffee table that looked like bricks.

Li Hongzhang put down the coffee cup, picked up a candy, tore open the package, and then licked it carefully. After confirming that the foreigner’s candy was also sweet, he gently threw the candy into the coffee cup. He guessed that the foreigner’s candy might take some time to dissolve in the coffee, so he didn’t immediately taste the Chinese medicine-like coffee. Instead, he looked at Qiao Songnian who came with him, and then Mr. Qiao from Suzhou Prefecture talked to Luo Xueyan about business first.

“Lord Luo,” Qiao Songnian said solemnly, “Yesterday we received a report from Zhenjiang that Dantu County was breached by the long-haired Holy Angel fake King Wu! After the rebels breached the city, they did not stop, but went south along the east bank of the canal and headed straight for Wujin, the capital of Changzhou.

In addition, the governor’s office recently received news from Jurong and Yizheng that the entire city of Jiangning had been captured, and all the Eight Banners in the city had been slaughtered! The total number of Taiping troops in the Jiangning area was over 100,000, and they were too powerful to be resisted!”

Luo Yaoguo nodded slightly, his face becoming serious: “I wonder what Lord Yi means? Do you need me to lead the new army to Suzhou?”

If he could enter Suzhou, Luo Yaoguo would stop pretending and just wipe out all the Qing leaders in Jiangsu!
“That’s not necessary,” Qiao Songnian said with a smile, “Lord Yi has long been prepared for the Taiping rebels to come down the river. He has hired thousands of Chaoyang warriors through his old friends in Guangdong, and purchased two to three thousand foreign rifles from Hong Kong. Together with the standard-bearing soldiers of the Jiangsu governor and the local militia in Suzhou, there are enough troops to defend Suzhou City. It’s just that an isolated city can’t last long.”

“Oh.” Luo Yaoguo was a little disappointed. If he could enter Suzhou, he would have the confidence to incite the Chaoyong uprising – these Chaozhou people had no loyalty to the Qing Dynasty. They had just been fighting for a long time and had gained experience. In addition, their hometown was too poor to support so many people, so they had to go out to get military pay.

But Chaozhou also has the Tiandihui! So in history, the Chaoyong in Suzhou almost started an uprising, but it was discovered and suppressed by Qiao Songnian. Well, the main reason is that the Tiandihui was not careful in planning. If it was the God Worshipping Society, it would have succeeded nine times out of ten!
Seeing that Luo Xueyan was just holding the coffee cup and not saying anything, Qiao Songnian thought that he was waiting for him to make an offer, so he smiled and said, “Lord Luo, what Yi Futai meant is that if Suzhou City is an isolated city, it will most likely not be defended. If you want to defend it, you can only connect Suzhou City, Kunshan County, and Taicang Prefecture City into a line, just like the Changshan snake. If you hit its head, its tail will come, if you hit its tail, its head will come, and if you hit the middle, both the head and the tail will come.

Only in this way can we stop the Taiping rebels from going south and invading Shanghai. As long as Shanghai is in our hands, we can get foreign guns and cannons continuously, and we can also maintain contact with the imperial court by sea. We can save a corner of Jiangnan! As long as the Taiping rebels cannot pacify Jiangnan, they will not be able to go north with all their strength.

If Lord Luo is willing to take over the defense of Kunshan and Zhenyang, Lord Yi, Lord Sheng, and Lord Su can jointly report to the Emperor and request that your city of responsibility be changed from Jiangning Prefecture to Taicang Prefecture. “

“Jiangnan Salt Administration and Taicang Prefecture?” Luo Yaoguo’s eyes lit up and he asked.

Qiao Songnian nodded: “How?”

Of course!

This is called conquering the enemy without fighting!

I don’t know what the upper limit of Luo Xueyan is. Can he become a governor or governor-general?

Just as he was thinking, Qiao Songnian spoke again: “Lord Luo, Lord Yi, Lord Sheng, and Lord Su are willing to recommend you for the title of Censor!”

Censor, a third-rank official!

The governor is also the second rank
Luo Yaoguo now felt that “Luo Xueyan”‘s official luck was a bit too good! Could it be that the name “Xueyan” was a good choice? The main official luck?

“In addition,” Qiao Songnian smiled and took out a thick stack of “licenses”, “These are twenty Juren licenses and twenty seventh-rank official licenses. They are given to you by Lord Yi to raise funds and reward people.”

Twenty Juren licenses and twenty seventh-rank official licenses? These could fetch a lot of money!

Examinations in Jiangsu have been difficult since ancient times!

There are many scholars and top students in this place. It is not easy to pass the junior high school entrance examination and the college entrance examination, so the candidates for the imperial examination are naturally valuable!
As for the seventh-rank official certificate, he can arrange his own people to be officials!
Isn’t that how he got here?
A candidate for the seventh rank can be a county magistrate. There are many counties in Suzhou, Songjiang, and Taicang! Now the society is turbulent and there are many assassins of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. It is normal for someone to shoot him in the head and dismiss him while he is sitting in the lobby.
However, Luo Yaoguo still did not show any joy.

Too little?
Qiao Songnian thought to himself, “Luo Xueyan, you are really evil! You have already reached the third rank. I was a juren at 19 and a jinshi at 20, and it took me more than ten years to reach the fourth rank!”

As he was thinking, Luo Yaoguo finally spoke: “Master Qiao, since I have brought troops to Kunshan, of course I have to deploy defenses in Kunshan and Zhenyang. However, the Taiping rebels are now powerful, and only when the army and the people are united can we fight. And I am busy with the new army and have no time to take care of the local areas, so I want to recommend one person to be the governor of Taicang and one person to be the magistrate of Kunshan. I wonder if Master Yi can arrange it?”

“Well,” Qiao Songnian asked, “Who does Lord Luo want to recommend?” “Can Wang Bowen of Hengzhou Prefecture be appointed to Taicang Prefecture? As for Kunshan County, can Cheng Zengyi, the son of Cheng Zhijun who died in Wuchang, be appointed? Cheng Zengyi has already been appointed as a candidate for the seventh rank, but he is in mourning now.”

Qiao Songnian thought for a moment and asked again, “Then Brother Xueyan’s duty is still in Jiangning?”

Luo Yaoguo nodded and said seriously: “Sooner or later I will be able to enter Jiangning!”

“Okay!” Qiao Songnian said with a smile, “I will go back and tell Lord Yi that Lord Wang will be appointed as Taicang Prefecture and Master Cheng will be appointed as Kunshan County. Now the officials of these two places are eager to resign! As long as Lord Yi approves them, there will be vacancies immediately, and then Lord Yi can let Lord Wang and Master Cheng serve as acting prefects and county magistrates.”

When a vacancy occurred in the position of a local official under his jurisdiction, sending someone to act as the deputy governor was one of the powers of the governors-general of the Qing Dynasty!
If you make up for it for a year or two, you can make a lot of money!
However, usually only the reserve officials from the province can be appointed to fill the vacancy. Wang Kuiyi is an official from Hunan, and Cheng Fupei is still in mourning, which is not in accordance with the rules.

But the situation in Jiangsu was special, and the Taiping Army could attack at any time. It was normal that the candidate officers under Yiliang were unwilling to die, and it was understandable that they reported this to Emperor Xianfeng.

Qiao Songnian’s problem was finally solved. Now it was Li Hongzhang’s turn. The “alternate prime minister” bowed to Luo Yaoguo and said with a smile, “Lord Luo, Lord Su heard that a book called “The Great Prophecy Book” has been circulating in the Shanghai business circle recently. It is said to be written by the demons from the Taiping Rebellion. Is it true?”

Oh, that’s what you came for!

“Yes!” Luo Yaoguo nodded, and then took out a copy of the “Great Book of Prophecy”, “This is it!”

Li Hongzhang asked: “I wonder what it predicts?”

“They are all about what will happen in the West this year.” Luo Yaoguo said with a smile, “So no one in Hunan is interested. Only I came back from Southeast Asia and know a lot about foreigners, so I asked people to collect this book and bring it to Shanghai.

Shaoquan, this is a copy. I have also translated it. Foreigners who understand English can read it directly. I will give it to you to take abroad!”

Li Hongzhang quickly took the “Great Prophecy Book” and put it away as if it were a treasure. Then he asked, “Lord Luo, is the prophecy on it true?”

“It’s very effective!” Luo Yaoguo said with a smile, “Sir Li, when you take it to Europe, you can show it to the Archbishop of the Roman Church, the Emperor of France, and the Queen of England. After they see it, they will definitely believe that there really is a devil here!”

Li Hongzhang bowed and said, “Thank you very much, thank you very much!” He thought for a moment and then asked, “Lord Luo has done a great job in foreign affairs. I admire you very much and would like to ask you for some advice. I wonder if you are willing to give me some advice?”

“Okay, okay,” Luo Yaoguo nodded and said with a smile, “If Shaoquan wants to learn about foreign affairs, I have some ideas.”

“Appreciate further details.”

“To run foreign affairs well, you must first be able to speak foreign languages!” Luo Yaoguo said, “Shaoquan, if you can’t speak foreign languages, you won’t be able to talk directly to foreigners when you meet them, and communication will be quite inconvenient, and your work will be twice as effective.”

Makes sense!
Li Hongzhang was taught again and nodded humbly.

Luo Yaoguo was thinking, after you learn English, you can be an excellent “devil’s advocate”!

I have to arrange for you to find a teacher to teach you English. Thinking of this, Luo Yaoguo said, “Fortunately, Shaoquan, you are known as a child prodigy, so learning English should not be difficult. I also know a good teacher who teaches English. When you arrive in Shanghai, I will introduce you to him.”

“I wonder who this gentleman is?” Li Hongzhang asked again.

“His surname is Wang, his given name is Libin, and his courtesy name is Lanqing,” Luo Yaoguo said with a smile, “He is a scholar with a good academic record, and is well versed in both Chinese and Western learning. He is currently working at the Morrison Education Society in Shanghai. Didn’t Lord Yi give me twenty certificates of status as a juren and a seventh-rank official? I’ll give him one of each when I get back, and let him accompany Shaoquan on his overseas voyage as my staff member.”

(End of this chapter)