Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 319 Yi: It smells so good!

Shengbao followed An Dehai to the outside of the Yangxin Palace.

After the announcement, Shengbao stepped in.

As soon as I walked into the Hall of Mental Cultivation, I felt a wave of heat blowing towards me.

When I looked up, I saw Yi sitting on the couch, flipping through a report in his hand with a serious expression.

"Your servant pays respect to His Majesty. Long live the Emperor, long live the Emperor, long, long live the Emperor!"

Shengbao knelt before Yi and saluted respectfully.

Yi slowly exhaled, put down the military newspaper in his hand, turned his head to look at Shengbao who was kneeling in front of him, and asked.

"Tell me, Shengbao, why did you return to Beijing from Tianjin?"

"But what happened during the war in Tianjin?"

Seeing that Shengbao didn't look very good, Yi could only think of the worst.

Shengbao nodded when he heard this and began to describe the battle situation in Tianjin.

He also repeated Cai Bingwen's tactics to Yi in great detail.

After hearing the description, Yi had a thoughtful expression on his face.

After hesitating for a while, he spoke in a deep voice.

"Haha, this Cai Bingwen really has something."

"It's because my brother the Emperor valued him so much when he was still alive."

Seeing this, Shengbao asked cautiously.

"Then Your Majesty, will the court send more troops to Tianjin?"

After hearing this, Yi thought for a while and then shook his head.

"We still need to send more troops, but at most we can just send some newly recruited Green Camp soldiers over. The Eight Banners cannot be moved lightly."

"In addition, while sending more troops to Tianjin, send someone to contact the Tang bandits and try to negotiate with them."

Shengbao asked with some confusion after hearing this.

"Why did the emperor say this?"

He still remembered Yi's rage when the Qing delegation was rejected when they wanted to negotiate with the Tang bandits.

At that time, Yi swore that even if he was hanged on the crooked tree on Coal Hill and died outside, he would never negotiate with the Tang bandits again.

Why does it smell so good now?

Yi exhaled slowly, then signaled Lin Ronglu beside him to hand the military newspaper he had just read to Shengbao.

Shengbao was reading the military newspaper there, and Yi spoke.

"Take a look. This military report has just been sent back from outside the Great Wall."

"General Yinglong from Heilongjiang has an urgent report that our Qing border troops stationed in Yaksa were attacked by the Russian army from the north and suffered heavy losses."

"Moreover, after occupying Yaxica, the Russian army has a tendency to continue moving southward."

"Yinglong urgently reported to the capital, hoping that the court could send reinforcements to the border areas as soon as possible to share the pressure borne by other troops..."

Yi’s meaning was very clear, he wanted to reinforce the areas outside the Great Wall, not Tianjin.

If before this year, the northern border was invaded by Tsarist Russia, the Qing Dynasty would at most send envoys to negotiate.

It is impossible to cross thousands of miles to rush to Heilongjiang for help.

It's not worth sending troops on a long expedition just for a small piece of wasteland outside the Great Wall.

However, the situation now is very different from the past.

After the defeat at Julu, the Qing government blew up the Yellow River dike itself, and the Manchus could no longer stay inside the Great Wall.

Outside the Great Wall is their only way out!
Under such circumstances, the importance of the area outside the Great Wall naturally rises sharply.

Yi could not tolerate the Qing Dynasty's only route of retreat being invaded by Tsarist Russia.

Sending troops to reinforce is the natural thing to do.

However, the Qing court currently had limited elite troops capable of fighting and resisting, and was unable to send reinforcements to both the areas outside the Great Wall and Tianjin at the same time.

In this case, the war in Tianjin can only be slowed down temporarily, and ways to negotiate with the Tang army must be found.

But this does not mean that the Qing government ignored the situation in Tianjin.

Yi chose to send the Green Camp to reinforce Tianjin, and tacitly allowed Cai Bingwen to build a strong camp and fight a static battle, and take a defensive stance against the Tang army in Tianjin. This was his response.

As for whether we can talk?
Yi thinks it should be possible.

The main force of the Tang army is now engaged in disaster relief in Shandong and is unable to continue moving north.

The Tang army that invaded Tianjin numbered only a few thousand. They might be able to occupy Tianjin, but they were definitely unable to invade the capital.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the Tang army is now struggling to fight.

In that case, we can naturally talk about it.

Even if the talks failed, Yi did not think that the Tang army would dare to use thousands of people to attack the capital of the Qing Dynasty.

After reading the military newspaper, Shengbao's face was obviously filled with anger.

"Your Majesty, what does this Tsarist Russia mean?"

"Is there no one who bullies the Qing Dynasty?"

"I am willing to lead a new army of Eight Banners to the north to rush to the aid of Heilongjiang, so that those Maozi can see the power of our Qing warriors."

"I hope the emperor will grant my permission!"

Shengbao did not have the courage to fight the Tang army, but when it came to fighting Tsarist Russia, he was not afraid.

Since Emperor Kangxi was able to defeat Tsarist Russia back then, the Qing Dynasty can do the same today.

After hearing this, Yi thought for a while and then said.

"Yes, but once you lead your army to the border, don't rush into conflict with Tsarist Russia."

"Let's get in touch with that side first."

"If we can talk, let's talk first!"

"The main focus of the Qing Dynasty is still on managing and reclaiming land outside the Great Wall. We do not have the extra energy to start a war and compete with Tsarist Russia for the wasteland in the north."

When Emperor Kangxi went on an expedition to Yaksa, the army had to go through a long and arduous expedition to maintain logistics. You have to know that the Qing Dynasty had just entered the Great Wall not long ago, and the area outside the Great Wall had not yet been completely deserted.

At this time, when Kangxi was on an expedition to Yaxica, he was able to transfer grain from outside the Great Wall to the front line.

But even so, the Qing Dynasty could only mobilize a few thousand people to fight against Tsarist Russia in the Battle of Yalu River.

But now?

The area outside the Great Wall was almost completely deserted, and the Qing Dynasty lost the ability to supply the front line from outside the Great Wall.

If the Battle of Yalu River were to be fought again now, the cost the Qing government would have to pay to maintain the logistics of the army would be even greater.

In this situation, if negotiations were possible, Yi did not want to have a conflict with Tsarist Russia.

Otherwise, even if the war could be won, it would slow down the Qing government's progress in developing areas outside the Great Wall.

Upon hearing this, Shengbao immediately clasped his fists in agreement.

……

Heavy snow fell on the earth.

Overnight, the whole world was covered in silver and white.

It was not until the next morning that the wind and snow gradually subsided.

Crunch!Crunch!
The crunching sound of people stepping on the snow continued to be heard.

A path was trampled out through the thick snow.

Along the banks of the Yellow River, disaster victims are braving the severe cold and pushing carts to transport construction materials to the Yellow River embankment for repairing the embankment.

"Hurry! Everyone, work harder!"

"The construction site is just ahead. There's hot ginger soup waiting for us there..."

The disaster-stricken leader shouted at the top of his lungs.

Upon hearing this, everyone responded in unison and continued to push the construction materials towards the levee.

Although the weather was extremely cold, the victims were working enthusiastically.

Building the Yellow River embankment is a matter that concerns the practical interests of everyone.

If the Yellow River embankment is not repaired during the winter dry season, there will probably be another flood when the water level rises next year.

At that time, the ones who will suffer will be the victims living along the Yellow River.

Soon, the victims arrived at the Yellow River embankment.

A few minor officials came forward and briefly checked the building materials, and then gave each of the victims an engraved bamboo slip as a certificate.

With this certificate, they could go to the local government to collect food, clothing, wood, coal and other supplies needed for the winter.

They could even use the certificates to exchange the right to use unowned land from the government.

When the Tang Dynasty provided disaster relief in Shandong, it certainly would not be as simple as providing porridge.

Although Li Yi cared about the victims, he did not want to use the people's money of the Tang Dynasty to support lazy people who just wanted to eat free rice.

The Tang Dynasty government’s free porridge was only provided to disaster victims who were starving to death.

Generally speaking, the porridge distribution period is only one month.

To put it simply, the imperial court provided the victims with free porridge for a month, which was considered a welfare benefit.

After a month of free porridge, people can no longer stay in the refugee camp and eat for free.

The model of disaster relief changed from distributing porridge to work-for-relief.

From this point on, the victims need to participate in the repair project of the Yellow River embankment.

This is exchanged for food and supplies needed to feed their families.

And, exchange the right to use the unowned land in the hands of the imperial court.

Shandong is a densely populated area in the north, so there should be no unowned land.

However, after a man-made or natural disaster, the people in the disaster area suffered heavy casualties, and naturally a lot of unowned land was left vacant.

Therefore, Li Yi began to make use of these ownerless lands.

Used to mobilize the enthusiasm of disaster victims to participate in post-disaster reconstruction work.

As for whether there are people who are unwilling to work and just want to eat for free and fleece the imperial court?
The answer is yes.

Some people are just lazy and would rather eat half-full relief from the court every day than work to fight for a better life for themselves and their families.

But it doesn’t matter. The Tang Dynasty also has ways to deal with such people.

Do you know about corvee labor?
What Li Yi said was only that the disaster-stricken areas would be exempted from taxes for three years. He never said that corvée labor would be exempted in the disaster-stricken areas.

It would be best if the disaster victims were willing to accept work-for-relief.

Li Yi was happy to win the support of the people for the Tang Dynasty in this way.

But if you don't want to, haha...

I'm sorry, but I can only ask you to perform labor service.

Anyway, the repair of the Yellow River embankment cannot be delayed.

All the people in the disaster area must participate in it; no one can escape.

The victims took the bamboo slips and kept them carefully.

Each of them drank a bowl of hot ginger soup that had almost been diluted into water, then pushed the cart and continued to work.

The Chinese have been very hardworking since ancient times. As long as they are given a little hope, each of them will be more hardworking and persevering than oxen and horses.

What's more, what Li Yi is giving now is not just hope, but tangible benefits.

Whether it is daily necessities or land use rights, these are real and tangible benefits.

Although there was a strong snowstorm last night, the Yellow River embankment construction site is still working in full swing today.

Amid the cries of the victims, the towering Yellow River embankment is taking shape bit by bit.

Standing on the Yellow River embankment and looking around, you can see dots of green under the white snow.

It is a wheat field covered with snow. Under the test of wind, snow and severe cold, the wheat is absorbing nutrients from the soil bit by bit, looking forward to the thriving growth of winter wheat next year.

In this land once swept by floods, something called hope is brewing under the snow...

(End of this chapter)