Chapter 123 Tuogu
Chapter 123 Tuogu
Shao Quanzhong's main goal in fighting the Wuwei Campaign was to preserve Qiao Songnian's position and the organization of the Huai Army, and he did not have high expectations for rewards.
The Battle of Wuwei was fought jointly by the Hunan Army, Huai Army and Shanghai Army. No one could have been won without them. It also required the perfect cooperation of Lin Shaozhang, a powerful and mentally retarded man in the enemy army.
In particular, the heroic efforts of Liu Mingchuan of the Shanghai Army played a decisive role.
The opponent this time, the main general Yang Fuqing is a famous general, and the 20,000 Taiping Army reinforcements are the elite among the elite.
The enemy reinforcement Chen Yucheng was a famous general among famous generals. He was many times more powerful than Hong Renxuan, the opponent in the Zhenjiang victory. To be honest, the victory was very narrow and a lot of luck played a role.
In order to cover up the secret of incorporating the Taiping Army and maintain the rationality of the battle report, they had to report a 60% loss in the battle, and the total casualties reached 80%, which made the battle report look very bad.
It was a tragic victory with 80% casualties. In Shao Quanzhong's opinion, it was good enough that he didn't get beaten. How big a reward could he get?
However, after Eunuch Lu finished reading the imperial edict and mentioned the rewards for other generals, everyone who received the edict was collectively stunned.
The reward this time is still very generous.
In this battle, the 3,500 Shanghai troops defeated the larger enemy with fewer men, beheaded 3,000 people, and routed the 15,000 enemy troops on the south bank of the river. Li Hongzhang was given the title of Prince Taibao and a yellow jacket. Liu Mingchuan was promoted to guerrilla and awarded a flower feather.
Duolong'a is a bannerman, so according to the Qing Dynasty's practice, the reward must be more generous. Although his mission this time is just a feint attack, the one he is trying to contain is the Ying Wang Chen Yucheng, can an ordinary person do it? Nothing to say, he was promoted to the General of the Zhenghong Banner Mongolian Army and the General of Jingzhou.
On the Huai Army side, Qiao Songnian was promoted to Anhui Governor, and was still serving as the Jiangning Provincial Governor stationed in Taizhou, and was also in charge of the grain stations in the south and north of the Yangtze River. Shao Quanzhong was promoted to Fengyang Prefect and concurrently Fengyang Dusi, and was still temporarily stationed in Hailing.
Zhang Zhidong was promoted to the prefect of Taizhou, Liao Rong was promoted to the garrison commander of Taizhou, and You Sihai was granted the status of a juren and was listed as a county magistrate.
Shao Quanzhong kowtowed and stood up. Lu Laifu patted him on the shoulder and said, "Shao has been promoted again and has a lapis lazuli hat. Congratulations, Prefect."
Shao Quanzhong said flatteringly, "I have to thank Eunuch Lu for his kind words."
Eunuch Lu shook his head regretfully, "I am an honest man and cannot take credit for this achievement. Although I did speak well of you in front of the late emperor, now that the late emperor has passed away, all these good words have been wasted."
Shao Quanzhong couldn't take it seriously. "The important officials of the court who presided over the awarding of titles must have followed the will of the late emperor. There is no need to be modest. With the losses I suffered in this battle, I feel ashamed of the court's grace and reward."
Shao Quanzhong is a smart and sensible boy, and Eunuch Lu is very satisfied with him.
"It mainly depends on whether you can fight, Lord Shao. The imperial court has been suppressing the Guangdong bandits for ten years. Among them, the court officials know which team is the strongest. This time the opponent is a tough one. If you can defeat him forcefully, it is normal to suffer heavy losses. Lord Shao, don't worry about it. Instead--"
Eunuch Lu glanced at Zhang Zhidong, who had just stood up after kneeling to receive the imperial edict, and put his mouth close to Shao Quanzhong's ear and lowered his voice, "You have to thank the Zhang family for their help in the court."
Shao Quanzhong understood.
It turned out that Shao Quanzhong's battle report, coupled with Qiao Songnian's polishing, portrayed Zhang Zhidong as extremely brave, which had an unexpected effect.
Zhang Zhiwan was a top scholar in the imperial examination. Although no one from the Zhang family has entered the Grand Council, there are many civil servants who are of the same year and from the same hometown.
It was hard for Zhang Zhiwan to imagine that his well-mannered cousin would fight with a knife and lead people to chop off more than a thousand heads.
The breach of the dam and the death of Yang Fuqing's troops might have been caused by my cousin. The head was most likely chopped off by Lin Buer, that crazy subordinate of Shao Quanzhong, and the credit was attributed to my cousin.
In short, this is Qiao Songnian and Shao Quanzhong showing goodwill to the Zhang family. Officialdom is about people carrying people in fancy sedan chairs, so we should return the favor, right?
The opinions of the civil servants reached the ears of the bigwigs. This was the voice of the masses. After all, the rewards were given by the court. When the new emperor ascended the throne, there was good news here, so he should be rewarded handsomely, right?
Shao Quanzhong took in Zhang Zhidong and now has someone in the upper echelons.
As for the casualties in the war - in the eyes of the court, the lives of the common people are not lives, they serve the existence of the court, and the court leaders don't care much about how many people died. My Qing Dynasty still has a population of nearly 30 million, there are plenty of leeks, it doesn't matter if we cut more, what's important is how many enemy troops we destroyed.
Ahem, Zeng Guofan was the only one who had nothing to do with the reward this time, but this was not actually a warning from the court to him.
Zeng Guofan was Duolong'a's direct superior, so he should be rewarded. But his rank was too high, so such a small achievement was not worth it, and all the achievements must be accumulated to be rewarded with a big one.
In modern terms, people who receive an annual salary and year-end bonuses would not look down on the bonus from a single project.
Qiao Songnian was slandering Zeng Guofan in the battle report. This was a "normal" confrontation between Qing officials. The bigwigs in the court had seen it a lot and would not do anything to a super bigwig like Zeng Guofan because of such a small matter.
Zeng Guofan suppressed the Huai Army, and Qiao Songnian fought back. Actually, they were all acting in front of the court, and the court leaders knew it. They said that you acted very well, you are all smart people, and we are very satisfied, that's all.
If the Huai Army really merged with the Hunan Army, they would be like a pair, and the imperial court would not be able to sleep well.
Shao Quanzhong was completely stunned by this series of rewards. It was such an unexpected surprise.
Why did Shao Quanzhong have no motivation to overthrow the Qing Dynasty?
Although the Qing court is now corrupt and incompetent, and is unable to cope with the rapidly developing outside world, it is still qualified as a feudal dynasty.
Those who have made contributions will be rewarded, especially those who have made military achievements. A complete system of rewards, punishments and promotions has been established.
Shao Quanzhong thrived in this system and was promoted steadily. Smashing all the pots and pans and starting over was laborious and risky, and from the perspective of an old warlord, it was not worth it.
It doesn't mean that we won't do it anymore. We'll wait until the melon is ripe before studying it again.
The gold was gone when Eunuch Lu came to deliver it last time, so Shao Quanzhong quickly ordered, "Siwen, send Eunuch Lu two thousand taels of silver."
Eunuchs are greedy and will definitely accept money, no matter how much you are offered.
Waving his hand to ask the eunuch behind him to take away the silver, Eunuch Lu patted Shao Quanzhong on the shoulder again and said, "We have had a pleasant cooperation with Lord Shao. Unfortunately, this is the last time we will leave the capital to convey the emperor's will."
"Father-in-law——"
Lu Laifu looked gloomy, "A new emperor appoints new ministers. After we return to Beijing, we will have to guard the late emperor's body and will not be able to leave Dingling."
Hai Qing, who was listening in, looked unhappy. You old man, why didn't you say it earlier? You only said it after you received Cheng Yi. Isn't my second brother giving me two thousand taels for free?
Lu Laifu looked sad, and tried to smile at Shao Quanzhong, "However, my family is a very particular family, and we can't accept your gift for nothing."
He turned around and called out, "Come over here, little bastards, to greet your new master."
Eight eunuchs who were about the same age as Hai Qing filed in from outside the door. When they saw Shao Quanzhong, they bowed on one leg and said, "Your Highness, the prefect."
Eunuch Lu looked at Shao Quanzhong with a smile, "These eight tigers are all our adopted sons. If our family loses power, they will not have a good ending. They are still young, and it would be a pity to waste their whole lives following us to guard the coffin. We will drive them out of the palace, and let them work for the prefect in the future."
Shao Quanzhong grinned, feeling embarrassed. Why do I need so many eunuchs?
Eunuch Lu had a dejected expression, "These guys are quite capable. Did you see the yellow jackets they are wearing? They are all skilled and brave eunuchs in the palace. I hope you will take good care of them in the future."
(End of this chapter)