There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 120 Sitting on the mountain and watching the tiger fight

Feng Xiuyong bowed and said, "General, although Zhang Zhengmo is delusional, the White Lotus Sect's power is not in vain."

The Han army had just marched south to annex three prefectures and one state. Although the casualties among the soldiers were not great, the loss of food and grass was severe. Before waiting for the food and grass reserves to be replenished, it was impossible to march north on a large scale.

Not mobilizing troops does not mean that you cannot get involved and cause trouble.

Feng Xiuyong suggested, "We can refuse the White Lotus' invitation to an alliance. Our Han army is only in name only, not the true White Lotus. If we actually go to the alliance, it will do more harm than good, and we will also lose our righteous reputation for opposing the Qing and restoring the Han. But if we refuse the alliance, we can make three agreements with the White Lotus. They can go north to fight the Qing army and wait for an opportunity to expand eastward. Our Han army will not take the opportunity to attack their rear, but will only expand to southern and eastern Hunan. Both sides will not attack each other and will cooperate to resist the Qing!"

The Qing Dynasty version of "Non-Aggression Policy between the Han Army and the White Lotus Sect"?
Nie Yu was naturally happy about this. Being able to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight was definitely much more cost-effective than directly mobilizing troops. It could also help him attract the attention of the Qing army in the north, allowing him to concentrate his forces south to fight against the Qing army in western Hunan.

"What did the other two families say?" Nie Yu asked.

Feng Xiuyong handed over the telegram and said, "The White Lotus Sect of Jingmen has a simple request. They have captured Dangyang and Yuan'an counties, but not the capital of Jingmen. They only control the towns and villages west of the Zhang River. They now request that the general appoint them as magistrates of Dangyang and Yuan'an counties. They are willing to serve the general as their leader!"

The White Lotus Sect in Jingmen had too small a territory and was too weak to fight against the White Lotus Sect in Xiangyang, nor could it withstand the massive attack of the Qing army.

Therefore, surrendering to the Han army and asking them to appoint them as county magistrates naturally became their best option.

As for defecting to Xiangyang and Yichang, which were also affiliated with the White Lotus Sect? They were just weak, not crazy. If they defected to these two rival sects, they would 99% be swallowed up, and it was hard to say whether they could survive.

It is different if you surrender to the Han army. There may still be a risk of being annexed, but who can blame the Han army for its good reputation?
Zuo Guanlan smiled and said, "General, you can agree to the White Lotus Sect's request in Jingmen. It's just a letter of appointment, and you can even ask the old man in Jingzhou to do it for you. Then explain our Han army's land policy to them and ask the two counties in Jingmen to follow it. Whether they comply or not is not important. If they don't, the general can use this as an excuse to send troops to annex their counties. If they do, that's perfect. The two counties can help the general implement the land policy in advance and win the hearts of the people for our Han army. This is killing two birds with one stone!"

As expected of a scholar! His heart is quite dirty.

With just a letter of appointment, he could get two counties for free. Even if he only obeyed orders and not announcements, they were still the territories of the two counties.

This is equivalent to Jingzhou Prefecture having a free northern barrier. If an agreement is reached with Zhang Zhengmo in Yichang, Jingzhou's rear will always be able to maintain a corner of clean land during the subsequent chaos in Hubei.

When the Han army has dealt with the south, they will be able to free up their hands to deal with Hubei. If the two counties of Jingmen do not follow the land policy, they can use this as an excuse to go north and wipe out the White Lotus Sect in one fell swoop and recover the two counties.

It would be even better if the land policy was followed and the land was distributed to the people. This would help the Han army win the hearts of the people and consolidate its base!

Moreover, Zuo Guanlan had said at the beginning that he could let his father take charge of the appointment and enthronement, but his father was not a general of the Han army.

The power to appoint and confer titles on county magistrates can be possessed or not!

Nie Yu clapped his hands and praised: "Yanchen (Zuo Guanlan's pen name) said it very well. Let's do it this way!"

Nie Yu asked again: "What else?"

Feng Xiuyong said, "General Lu, the commander of the White Lotus Sect in Xiangyang, requests that the general immediately lead his troops north to join forces with the White Lotus Sect to fight against the 200,000 Qing troops led by the Hubei Governor!"

"Bullshit!"

Nie Yu rarely cursed: "Even if we sell off all the money belonging to the governor and provincial governor, we still can't raise enough food and supplies for a 200,000-man army. Where did they get 200,000 Qing troops?"

The governor and provincial governor of a province in the Qing Dynasty had all become ditch vendors. Everyone found it a bit funny after hearing this, and their suddenly tense mood was instantly relieved.

After careful consideration, it is indeed true. Hubei is such a small area, where did the Qing army of 200,000 come from? Even if there were only 100,000 or 80,000 Qing troops, it would be difficult to gather them.

In fact, the information channels on the Han army side were still somewhat insufficient and delayed, because not only did the Qing army boast that they had an army of 200,000, but the White Lotus Sect in Xiangyang boasted even more, directly claiming to have an army of 300,000.

Good, good! Three hundred thousand plus two hundred thousand, that adds up to a total of five hundred thousand troops, the entire Qing dynasty.

The entire Manchu Qing army only had over 600,000 troops, and Xiangyang alone accounted for 500,000. With so many troops gathered together, I'm afraid they could plow through the entire Hubei province. Nie Yu thought for a moment and said, "Have the old man write a letter to the Xiangyang White Lotus Sect personally, asking them to hold on for now. Tell them that our Han army can't march north this year. We have to wait until we have enough food and fodder and have defeated the pseudo-Qing army in western Hunan before we can march north to support the Xiangyang White Lotus Sect."

The Han army's reply to the three White Lotus sects was sent to the Jingzhou government office in the form of telegrams. Old Master Nie Jieren personally wrote three letters and handed them to the three messengers.

When the messengers traveled day and night and returned to their own territory with the letter, only the White Lotus Sect in Jingmen reacted quickly and immediately sent a second envoy to Jingzhou to offer a formal letter of submission, which was written by the military advisor Peng Yanqing.

The other two cities, Xiangyang and Yichang, did not make any movement, because the Han army did not accept their invitation to send troops north to fight against the Qing army. Instead, they made it clear that they were ready to "sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight."

Well, it can't be said to be "sitting on the mountain and watching the tigers fight", because the Han army had no intention of expanding in Hubei at all, but instead conquered a large territory in Hunan.

According to the merchants, even Changsha and Hengzhou were taken over by the Han army, which is almost equivalent to the essence of half of Hunan, which is equivalent to the loss of Wuchang in Hubei.

Yichang Prefecture.

When Zhang Zhengmo read the reply, he almost wanted to lead his troops eastward immediately, capture Jingzhou, the Han army's stronghold, and slaughter them all to vent his anger. However, after repeated consideration, he decided not to do so, because he could not capture Jingzhou, nor could he control the leaders of his sects.

Just two days before Zhang Zhengmo received the reply, the branch manager of the White Lotus Sect of the Tujia people in Laifeng had an argument with the branch manager of the White Lotus Sect in Changle, and the conflict quickly turned into an armed fight between the two families.

Although Zhang Zhengmo discovered it in time and personally stepped in to suppress and mediate, he was still a step too late. The Laifeng natives led their troops to leave the coalition, and the Changle White Lotus Sect also felt that Zhang Zhengmo was unfair.

The White Lotus Alliance of Yichang and Shinan ended in vain!

Now, the Han army has rejected Zhang Zhengmo's invitation. Zhang Zhengmo no longer has any foreign troops to rely on, and it is highly likely that the coalition forces will not be able to hold on.

"King, what should we do now?" Chen Rong asked.

Liu Hongduo said, "Heavenly King, the Han army is unwilling to send troops, and the coalition forces have been attacking Yichang Prefecture for a long time without success. I am afraid it will be difficult to maintain this situation. The only plan now is for us to send part of our army north to respond to Hua Mulan (Wang Cong'er) in Xiangyang and engage in a decisive battle with the Qing army. As long as we defeat the Qing army, the Heavenly King will surely gain unparalleled prestige in the sect. At that time, the name of Heavenly King will naturally be in line with the will of Gu Yuanzhen, and he may even be able to rise to greater heights!"

After hearing this, Zhang Zhengmo pondered for a while and made up his mind, "This is the only way we can do this now. Second Brother, Third Brother, you two go down and gather the remaining brothers in the sect who are still willing to follow us. Together, we will head north to Xiangyang to confront the Qing Demon's dog governor!"

Zhang Zhengmo planned to confront the Qing army head-on. It seemed that after he proclaimed himself the Heavenly King, he gained a strong sense of self-confidence, as if he had really obtained some kind of blessing from heaven and became the so-called Gu Yuan Zhenren Heavenly King.

While Yichang was like this, the reaction in Xiangyang was much calmer.

After reading the letter handed over by Yao Zhifu, Wang Cong'er raised her eyebrows and said, "I thought this Han general was a hero, but he is so afraid of the Qing monsters like a rat."

Yao Zhifu shook his head. "Rumors are often exaggerated. This Han general is just one of them. If it weren't for the Xiangyang Holy Church leading the charge, how could the Han army have a chance to gain a foothold?"

Wang Tingzhao laughed heartily. "Master's Wife, Master's Brother, if the Han army doesn't come, then don't come. We already have a hundred thousand troops anyway. The Qing demons claim to have three hundred thousand, but the brothers in the sect have already inquired and found that they only have fifty or sixty thousand at most. We have one hundred thousand against fifty or sixty thousand. Why would we need the Han army from the corners?"

Liu Qirong also nodded: "Senior Brother Wang is right."

Yao Zhifu said: "It's not a big deal that the Han army didn't come, but they didn't obey orders and didn't even come for such a big event as the anti-Qing army. They must be punished!"

"How to punish?" Wang Cong'er asked.

Yao Zhifu said: "Expel the Han army from the White Lotus Sect and remove their membership in the sect."

Yao Zhifu's idea was simple: he believed the Han army was no longer obedient, so he simply kicked the Han army out of the White Lotus Sect. Once they defeated the Qing army in Hubei, he would move south and annex the Han army as well.

If their membership in the sect is revoked, the Han army will no longer be the brothers and sisters of the White Lotus Sect. It may be troublesome to annex the brothers of the White Lotus Sect as it is not tolerated by the doctrine. However, there will be no problem at all to annex the Han army that is not a member of the White Lotus Sect, and they can even take over Jingzhou, an important city in Hubei.

If Jing and Xiang are united, Hubei will be stable!
It was absolutely perfect. The only problem was that Yao Zhifu had never considered what to do if he couldn't defeat the Han army?
(End of this chapter)