Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 383 Human Nature Can Never Stand the Test
Li Yi always understood one thing, that is, never test human nature.

Because human nature can never stand the test.

If you don't want your subordinates to rebel, the best way is to take preventive measures in the first place and not give them the opportunity to rebel from the beginning.

Instead of angrily scolding subordinates for their betrayal after their subordinates rebelled and then suppressing them.

Everyone is ambitious.

The opportunity to go further is in front of you, when this opportunity is within reach.

Very few people can bear it!
After thinking for a while, Li Yi gave instructions personally.

[It is feasible to recruit soldiers locally in Guangnan Province. The recruitment, training, and reorganization of soldiers can be entrusted to the Recruitment Department to dispatch specialists.]

In the end, Li Yi approved the recruitment of local soldiers in Guangnan.

However, the power to recruit soldiers was not given to Chen Yucheng, but to the General Staff.

Let the General Staff Recruiting Department send a specialist to take charge of this matter.

It is about decentralization, but it is more about protecting Chen Yucheng.

Li Yi did not want Chen Yucheng, who had followed him since Guiping, Guangxi, to end up on the guillotine.

After finishing these things, Li Yi stretched and prepared to rest.

But at this moment, Li Liang knocked on the door outside the Yangxin Palace.

"Report, Your Majesty!"

"Li Liang, the director of the Military Intelligence Department, requested to see you. He said he had something important to report."

An attendant came to Li Yi to report.

Li Yi nodded slightly, then ordered Li Liang to come in.

Li Liang pushed the door open from outside the Yangxin Palace, walked to Li Yi's side, bowed slightly, and then began to report.

"Your Majesty, we have received an urgent report from the Nanyang Borneo Special Economic Development Zone."

As he spoke, he handed an urgent report to Li Yi.

Li Yi took the urgent report and began to read it.

Looking at the contents of this urgent report, Li Yi couldn't help but frown.

"Are you sure this has something to do with the Dutch?"

"Is there any evidence?"

Li Liang replied.

"Your Majesty, it should be correct. The Military Intelligence Department has already started investigating in Batavia."

"Based on the clues we have now, many clues point to the Netherlands."

"As for the evidence, it was the so-called real murderer that the Dutch sent to the Concession Police Station, and the thief who attempted to break into the prison."

"The Military Intelligence Department and the Concession Police Station are now stepping up the interrogation. I believe the results will be out soon."

Hearing this, Li Yi couldn't help but narrow his eyes and began to think.

After a long time, he spoke.

"Haha, it seems that the Dutch don't want to sit and wait for death."

Li Liang couldn't help but ask.

"Your Majesty, what do you mean?"

"Whether the Dutch did it or not, they must have done it in the end."

"Originally, I was worried about what reason the Tang Dynasty would have to declare war and completely take over Batavia."

"That's just in time. The Dutch have personally sent me the reasons for declaring war."

Li Liang asked hesitantly after hearing this.

"Your Majesty, should the Tang Dynasty declare war on Batavia now?"

Li Liang knew that the Tang Dynasty did not have sufficient military strength at present.

Although there are almost no large-scale wars at present, it is necessary to send garrisons to the newly occupied territories to stabilize the local situation.

It is also necessary to deploy heavy troops in Shandong and Zhili provinces to deter Shi Dakai's troops, as well as the Eastern Qing and Western Qing outside the Great Wall.

At present, the Tang Dynasty does not have abundant military strength and does not have many mobile forces that can be mobilized at will.

Otherwise, Li Yi would not have failed to send reinforcements to Guangnan Province, but would have let the local area recruit soldiers on its own first.

In this situation, Li Liang didn't know what choice Li Yi would make.

Li Yi pondered for a moment, then spoke.

"Not urgent."

"For now, the Tang Dynasty does not have the spare capacity to send troops to Batavia."

"Interrogate first and get the evidence first!"

"As for mobilizing troops, we will have to wait until next year at the earliest..."

"But we can use this incident as an excuse to put pressure on the Dutch and send more troops to the Batavia concession."

The reason why Li Yi said this was because he planned to complete the reorganization of Shi Dakai's troops within one year.

After completing the reorganization of Shi Dakai's troops, the Tang Dynasty would not only gain an elite force that had survived hundreds of battles, but would also be able to free up the heavy military group stationed in Shandong.

In this way, the Tang Dynasty will have more military forces available to be deployed to Southeast Asia.

The purpose of sending more troops to Batavia was not only to ensure the safety of the concession, but also to pave the way for sending troops to Southeast Asia.

Upon hearing this, Li Liang immediately clasped his fists in response to show that he understood.

……

The next day, Li Yi summoned all the ministers to discuss matters in the Yangxin Palace.

After everyone arrived, Li Yi asked.

"I'm sure you all know about the internal strife and division of the Qing Dynasty outside the Great Wall."

"After the Manchus split and fell into internal strife, they sent letters to the Tang Dynasty." "Among them, the Eastern Qing, which retreated to Liaodong, attempted to redeem Yi from the Tang Dynasty."

"And Xiqing, who stayed in Chengde, submitted a petition to declare himself a vassal, hoping to be canonized by our Tang Dynasty."

"Please discuss this matter with all the nobles. What should the Tang Dynasty do?"

As soon as Li Yi said this, the senior officials of the General Staff began to talk about it.

After a moment, Zuo Zongtang, director of the Operations Department, spoke.

"Your Majesty, in my humble opinion, the Tang Dynasty may be able to agree to Xiqing's request for enthronement."

"As for Dongqing's request to release Guiyi, we must never agree to it!"

Hearing this, Li Yi showed a thoughtful expression on his face, and then continued to ask.

"Tell me, what is the reason?"

Zuo Zongtang spoke.

"In reply to your Majesty, the reason why I say this is because the current strength of Dongqing is stronger than that of Xiqing."

"It has been almost two years since Gui Liang, an important official of the Eastern Qing Dynasty, was sent by Yi to manage the areas outside the Great Wall. During these two years, Gui Liang not only reclaimed a large area of ​​land outside the Great Wall, but also integrated Liaodong."

"But what about Xiqing? There is only one city, Chengde, and more than 10,000 remnant soldiers of the Eight Banners. Even the Mongolian tribes around Chengde may not obey Xiqing's orders."

"That is to say, Xiqing's strength is far inferior to Dongqing's!"

"If our Tang Dynasty releases Yi again and gives Dongqing a legitimate name, then Xiqing will definitely not be a match for Dongqing."

"Once the Eastern Qing conquers the Western Qing, the Manchu Qing, which was divided after the internal strife, will be reunited by Yi again. This is definitely not a good thing for our Tang Dynasty."

"But if the Tang Dynasty can support the Western Qing, it will inevitably cause internal strife in the Qing Dynasty again. In this way, the Qing Dynasty that retreated to the outside of the Great Wall will inevitably be weakened again."

Upon hearing this, Li Yi nodded approvingly.

"Zuo Qing is right."

"At present, the Tang Dynasty must focus its main energy on the affairs within the Great Wall. It is unable to mobilize troops outside the Great Wall in a short period of time. But because of this, it is even more necessary to find ways to weaken the Qing Dynasty outside the Great Wall as much as possible."

"To pave the way for the future northern expedition of the army and to sweep the fields and plow the earth."

"And differentiation and disintegration is a good idea."

"Just do as Zuo Qing thinks!"

"Don't pay attention to Dongqing's request. Send a message to the secretariat and ask them to immediately prepare the imperial edict to confer the title of New King of Xiqing..."

Well, although Li Yi still feels uncomfortable with the Qing Dynasty.

But as a mature politician, Li Yi's personal likes and dislikes will not affect his final decision.

Also, although Li Yi has accepted Xiqing's surrender and issued an edict to confer the title of New King of Xiqing.

But this does not mean that he will not take action against Xiqing in the future.

As a qualified politician and a qualified feudal emperor, being ruthless and unfeeling is the most basic trait.

Upon hearing this, everyone in the staff said in unison.

"My emperor is wise!"

Li Yi nodded slightly, and then discussed the Tang army's next expansion plan with everyone.

With the current strength of the Tang army, it is even struggling to guard the interior and stabilize the local area.

Not to mention that after unifying the interior of China, they began to expand outward.

Li Yiruo wanted to continue external expansion after completing the war of unification.

Then, expanding the military is a very necessary thing.

Li Sheng, the new director of the Recruiting Department, stood up and spoke, holding a report.

"Your Majesty, according to the current statistics of the General Staff."

"The Tang Army now has 19 reorganized infantry divisions, 3 reorganized cavalry divisions, and 15 artillery regiments."

"The total force is about 400,000!"

"As for the navy, it is divided into three fleets: the South China Sea Fleet, the East China Sea Fleet, and the Bohai Sea Fleet."

"Among them, the South China Sea Fleet was established the longest and is the most powerful. It has a total of 5 steam ironclad ships, 12 sailing battleships, armed merchant ships, small warships such as red single ships, and nearly transport ships."

"We have nearly 10,000 sailors and marines!"

"The East China Sea Fleet has three steam ironclad ships, thirty small warships and transport ships such as red single ships, and three thousand sailors."

"The Bohai Fleet was formed not long ago. It has a total of one steam ironclad ship, a number of small wooden ships and transport ships, and a total of about a thousand sailors and soldiers."

Well, the reason why there is such a big gap in strength among the three fleets is mainly because the South China Sea Fleet was formed the earliest, and they are in the South China Sea and need to face the pressure from the Western Barbarians.

Therefore, many resources, including newly launched warships, will be given priority in their supply.

Therefore, the South China Sea Fleet is the strongest.

The Bohai Fleet was formed not long ago.

Li Yi issued the order to form the Bohai Fleet when he visited Tianjin a month ago.

The fact that they were able to gather people in such a short time and transfer a steam-powered ironclad ship from the south to serve as the flagship is already a testament to the extremely high administrative efficiency of the Tang Dynasty.

If it were the Qing Dynasty, it would be impossible to build a fleet from scratch without a year or two.

After saying this, Li Sheng went on to report on the military expansion plan.

"According to the relevant plans of the Recruiting Department, within the next year, our Tang Dynasty will continue to expand its military."

"The first phase goal for the Army is three artillery regiments, one cavalry division, and five infantry divisions."

“A total of about 10.7 people.”

"The expansion of the navy is mainly in the number of warships. The South China Sea Fleet is expected to add five steam ironclad ships next year, and the South China Sea Fleet and Bohai Fleet will each add three, for a total of eleven."

Hearing this, Li Yi touched his chin and asked.

"Can the imperial government finances support the military expansion plan?"

(End of this chapter)