Maoshan World: The young marshal starts!

Chapter 49 A month in a hurry

Welcomed by Wang Ruhai and Nalan Yuanshu, the Guan family successfully took over the Governor's Office in the provincial capital of eastern Guangdong.

Guan Zongtang also officially announced that he would take over the post of Governor-General of Guangdong East, openly submitting to the Qing court and obeying the appointment and dispatch, taking charge of the military and political affairs of Guangdong East.

Shortly after the Guan family took control of the provincial capital and Guan Zongtang officially announced that he would take over as the Governor-General of East Guangdong, Wang Ruhai, the Minister of State in Guangdong, left East Guangdong and went to West Guangdong on the pretext of doing business.

But anyone with a discerning eye could see clearly that Wang Ruhai obviously did not want to confront the Guan family so he chose a strategic retreat.

After all, although the Guan family openly admitted to submitting to the Qing court, everyone knew the specific situation. The Guan family was a newly emerging super warlord, and a major warlord that the Qing court had to appease. In this case, the Guan family was completely a local tyrant in eastern Guangdong, so how could they truly submit to the Qing court?

In this case, if Wang Ruhai, the Minister in Guangdong, does not leave eastern Guangdong, he will probably become a thorn in the eyes of the Guan family in eastern Guangdong.

Under such circumstances, it is understandable that Wang Ruhai chose to retreat and leave eastern Guangdong.

After all, the Guan family’s power is now too huge, with more than 50,000 soldiers and horses. Who else in eastern Guangdong can compete with the Guan family?

After Wang Ruhai left eastern Guangdong.

Admiral's Mansion.

"Sir, Lord Wang has already left Guangdong."

Nalan Yuanshu remained silent for a long time after listening to his subordinates' report on Wang Ruhai's departure.

As soon as Wang Ruhai left, Nalan Yuanshu felt uncomfortable.

Because in the original eastern Guangdong, Wang Ruhai was the most important minister of the Qing court, followed by Nalan Yuanshu, the admiral of land and sea. The two of them were in charge of politics and military affairs respectively, and if there was anything that needed to be dealt with, they would deal with it together.

But now that Wang Ruhai is gone, Nalan Yuanshu has to support eastern Guangdong alone, and the key is to deal with the Guan family.

"Sir, now that Lord Wang has left, what about Governor Guan?"

Seeing that Nalan Yuanshu remained silent for a long time, the personal guard beside him couldn't help but speak.

"No need to say anything more."

Nalan Yuanshu raised his hand to interrupt the guard. He naturally knew what the guard was going to say, which was that now that Wang Ruhai was gone, he would be the only one to deal with the Guan family in eastern Guangdong.

In the telegram sent by the court a few days ago, it may be a secret message to him and Wang Ruhai to closely monitor the Guan family and take them down if there is a chance.

Unexpectedly, Wang Ruhai just ran away.

In addition to dealing with the Guan family, he also needs to be responsible for dealing with the rebels in eastern Guangdong.

Nalan Yuanshu felt a headache just thinking about it.

But now that the matter has come to this, he can only take one step at a time.

After thinking for a while, Nalan Yuanshu finally spoke.

"Next, we will continue to focus on cleaning up the rebels. We will consider the Guan family's affairs later."

"Yes."

At the same time, in the Governor's Office, Guan Zongtang and his son Guan Shaoqing also received the news of Wang Ruhai's departure.

"Wang Ruhai is a fast runner." Guan Zongtang couldn't help but laugh when he heard this. "The only one left is Nalan Yuanshu. I just wonder if Nalan Yuanshu can run away."

"Nalan Yuanshu probably won't do that. As a martial arts master, Nalan Yuanshu must have his own pride. Moreover, he has more than 10,000 Qing soldiers under his command. It would be difficult for him to escape."

Guan Shaoqing continued.

Nalan Yuanshu was the admiral of land and sea in eastern Guangdong, who was granted the title by the Qing court. He had more than 10,000 Qing court soldiers under his command. It was not easy for him to escape, after all, he had more than 10,000 soldiers under his command. How could he run away and where could he run to? Moreover, as a martial arts master, Nalan Yuanshu must be a proud man. Even if he faced the Guan family, he would never flee without a fight.

"If that's the case, then the Marshal and the Junior Marshal must get rid of this person. He is a member of the imperial court and commands over 10,000 Qing troops. Keeping him in eastern Guangdong will always be a hidden danger for the Marshal and the Junior Marshal."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Xian immediately said that he was one of Guan Zongtang's trusted subordinates and also had the talent to command troops.

"How can I allow others to snore while I'm drunk? If my Guan family wants to completely control eastern Guangdong, we naturally cannot allow other troops to exist. However, my Guan family has just taken control of the provincial capital and eastern Guangdong, and has just received the Qing court's amnesty and enfeoffment. It is not appropriate to take action against Nalan Yuanshu right away."

"In my opinion, the most urgent task for our Guan family is to reorganize the army and disperse and absorb all the armies of the other major warlords who were originally surrendered. Once we have a thorough control of them, we can then find a way to eliminate Nalan Yuanshu."

Guan Shaoqing nodded slightly when he heard this.

If his Guan family wanted to completely control Guangdong, they would certainly not allow other troops to exist. They would not only want to eliminate the Qing Dynasty troops, but also the foreign forces in Guangdong, especially those in the concessions. However, his Guan family had just entered the provincial capital and controlled Guangdong, and most of their troops were surrendered troops from other warlords and had not yet fully returned to their loyalty.

The most urgent task, Guan Shaoqing felt that his Guan family should first deal with these surrendered troops.

"What Shaoqing said makes sense. Nalan Yuanshu is not in a hurry. The most urgent task is to digest the troops that surrendered this time and consolidate our strength."

Guan Zongtang nodded in agreement with Guan Shaoqing's words, and then asked Guan Shaoqing for his advice.

Guan Shaoqing did have an idea in mind a long time ago. He felt that he could take this opportunity to thoroughly reorganize the troops under the Guan family, just like he had reorganized his own troops. The military system and training plan would be reorganized in accordance with the later generations.

Then Guan Shaoqing directly expressed his thoughts.

After some discussion and consideration with Guan Shaoqing, Guan Zongtang also agreed.

After this is confirmed.

In the following period, Guan Shaoqing and Master Guan Zongtang carried out drastic reforms to the Guan family army.

Guan Shaoqing took five steps to reform the army.

The first step is to purge the team. In this era, there are all kinds of people serving as soldiers. In the past, there was no selection condition. As long as someone was willing to join, they would accept anyone. But now that the Guan family has unified eastern Guangdong and has more than 50,000 soldiers under their command, they are qualified to be selected. Naturally, they cannot accept everyone. Some bad apples must be eliminated.

Guan Shaoqing's plan is to develop the Guan family's army in an elite direction in the future, focusing on quality rather than quantity. This will not only increase the army's combat effectiveness but also reduce some unnecessary military expenditures.

The second step is to improve welfare. What is the purpose of joining the army in this era? Isn't it mainly for money, food and family? As long as these aspects are done well, there is no need to worry about not fighting hard.

Therefore, Guan Shaoqing planned to improve the army's welfare system, especially the pension system for sacrificed or disabled soldiers, so that the soldiers under his command would have no worries and could even produce hero certificates like those in later generations.

The third step is the promotion system. When a man goes to the battlefield, which man doesn't want to make achievements? Therefore, a complete and good promotion system is also very important. For example, if you make meritorious service, you can be promoted. This can greatly enhance the enthusiasm of soldiers to make meritorious service.

The fourth step is to divide the overall construction framework of the army and formulate corresponding management and training plans.

The fifth step is to continue recruiting soldiers from outside to expand the army, but only those who meet certain conditions will be admitted on a merit basis.

Even after the army completes its reform, Guan Shaoqing plans to start knowledge training lectures for officers in the army in the future. Because the cultural literacy is too low in this era, many soldiers are still illiterate and lack cultural knowledge. If these shortcomings can be made up through learning, it will definitely greatly improve the overall quality of the army.

In the following time, Guan Shaoqing also reorganized the army according to his own plan.

The whole process lasted about a month.

A month later.

It is now July.

Guan Shaoqing completed the reorganization of the army.

After the rectification was completed, the number of troops of their Guan family did not decrease, and there were still more than 50,000 troops. Although Guan Shaoqing dismissed many people when he purged the troops at the beginning of the rectification, he later recruited many more people due to the expansion of recruitment and good military welfare. As a result, the number of troops remained basically unchanged.

Guan Shaoqing reorganized more than 50,000 people into an army, which was divided into five divisions. Each division had more than 10,000 people and each had a division commander to command the entire division.

Guan Zongtang was appointed as the army commander, commanding the entire army as the supreme commander.

Guan Shaoqing served as deputy army commander and concurrently as commander of the Fifth Division. His status was second only to Guan Zongtang, and the entire Fifth Division was directly commanded by Guan Shaoqing.

At the same time, the Fifth Division had a deputy division commander, Guan Wendang, under Guan Shaoqing. Under him, there were three brigades: the first brigade commander was Wu Chenglong, with Wu Chenghu as deputy brigade commander; the second brigade commander was Sun Ze, with Li Wu as deputy brigade commander; and the third brigade commander was Lou Dalong, with Gao Fu as deputy brigade commander.
As Guan Shaoqing completed the reorganization of his army.

The Guan family army also officially got back on track.

It also means that the Guan family has completely absorbed the other warlord forces that they had previously annexed and consolidated their current power.

As the month went by, Guan Shaoqing had a comprehensive understanding of the relationships between the various forces in the provincial capital of eastern Guangdong.

In the capital of eastern Guangdong Province today, in addition to the Guan family forces where Guan Shaoqing belongs, there are also the Qing court forces represented by Nalan Yuanshu, and then the concession forces of foreign powers such as Britain and Russia, and then there are various organizations such as the White Lotus Sect and a mixture of gangsters.

To sum it up in one word - chaos.

However, although the power structure in the capital of eastern Guangdong is complex, the Guan family is now considered to be the top power with an exceptional status. Basically, no one or any force dares to provoke them easily, not even the great powers.

Even during this period, as the Guan family officially took control of the provincial capital of eastern Guangdong and gained a firm foothold, many powerful countries took the initiative to send representatives to contact the Guan family to express their goodwill and seek cooperation.

The principle of Guan Shaoqing and Guan Zongtang, father and son, in this regard was to cooperate whenever possible without harming the national interests.

(End of this chapter)