Chapter 147: Japanese Pirates Arrive from the East
Chapter 147: Japanese Pirates Arrive from the East
The Huai Army stationed in Shouzhou was indeed clearing mines.
Laying mines is fun, but clearing them is a nightmare. It would take months to clear more than 100,000 mines.
Shao Quanzhong also annexed 1,500 elite troops of the Linhuai Army and formed the Fourth Battalion of the Right Wing of the Huai Army Infantry.
Nie Shicheng was appointed as the battalion commander, and the soldiers still had to be disbanded and reorganized.
As the number of combat troops increased, the corresponding logistical troops also had to be increased. In addition, soldiers were sent to southern Anhui to establish an insurance team, and the organization of the Huai Army was greatly readjusted.
They had to recruit soldiers, arrange officers at all levels, and contact the British to purchase another 4,000 quick-firing rifles.
Shao Quanzhong himself also had to supervise the payment of salaries and the retraining of new soldiers after they were mixed with old soldiers. Emery went to Berlin, and he had to pick up the classes at the Huai Army Camp Military Academy in person, and he was instantly very busy.
Ten days passed in a flash, and one day, Wu Ziyi came to Shao Quanzhong angrily.
"Sir, something has happened. The soldiers we sent to build a security team in the newly pacified territory in the southern half of Anhui have all been driven back by Li Xuyi."
Ah? This "bastard" that An Dehai mentioned really started to cause trouble for him, and he hit the weak spot of the Huai Army with his first move.
The insurance team was the foundation of the Huai Army's control over the territory. After Anhui was pacified, the Huai Army celebrated, thinking that their territory had been expanded. But in the end, it was all in vain, right?
Shao Quanzhong suppressed his anger and asked, "Why didn't Li Xuyi let our people set up the insurance team?"
"After he took office as the governor of Anhui, he quickly discovered the benefits of our insurance team. He followed suit and also set up a Hunan Army insurance team in the new territory, sending his Hunan Army soldiers to guide and manage it."
Well, this is difficult. He is the governor of Anhui and has the power to decide the administrative affairs of his own area. Even Mr. Qiao, the superior, cannot dictate how others govern the local area from the stove, right?
"Expelling the people we sent is only the first step. Our intelligence agency's spies in Anqing learned that Li Xuyi's next step is to expel the insurance teams in Chuzhou, Hezhou, and Bozhou. Except for the four prefectures of Fengyang, Yingzhou, Lu'an, and Sizhou, which are directly under your jurisdiction, all other territories will be handed over to the Hunan Army."
It turns out that our territory is getting smaller and smaller, and it seems that there are only four prefectures left in Anhui, right?
Li Xuyi, you are such a loser. After the Battle of Anqing, Zeng Guoquan and Bao Chao rushed straight to Nanjing and wanted to capture Hong Xiuquan alive. Zeng Guofan couldn't stop them.
You are satisfied with being a governor, you don't fight, you go to Anqing and become the governor of Anhui. You are the governor, but you are trying to snatch our territory and cut off the roots of our Huai Army. How can you tolerate this?
Hu Liuniang was very excited, "Yuting, should we have another fight with the Hunan Army?"
Shao Quanzhong slid around with his hands behind his back and said, "No. This time, Li Xuyi's actions are justified. If we use force to seize the territory, we will not be in the right. Once Zeng Guofan supports him and the court investigates the cause of the conflict, even my godfather will be passive."
Hu Liuniang scratched her head, she couldn't understand this.
"It's alright. If you can't resort to force, then resort to words. Lord Qiao can't be promoted to the Governor of the Grand Canal for nothing. The Anhui Governor bullies me, the prefect. It's time for Lord Qiao, the backer, to do something. Sixth Lady, record the telegram to godfather!"
Hu Liuniang, Shao Quanzhong's personal bodyguard and secretary, went to send a long telegram.
A month and a half later, the imperial court issued an edict.
In order to facilitate the preparation of food and wages by the grain stations in the south and north of the Yangtze River, and to manage the grain transport affairs, the administrative divisions of Anhui are adjusted as follows.
Hezhou Prefecture, Chuzhou Prefecture, Anqing Prefecture, Luzhou Prefecture, Sanzhou and Bozhou were merged into Fengying Liusi Dao, which was renamed Wanbei Dao, covering the area north of the Yangtze River in Anhui.
Well, the reason is sufficient, and it is indeed the authority of Lord Qiao, the Governor-General of the Grand Canal.
Lord Qiao cannot control how Li Xuyi governs Anhui, but he can take the upper-level approach and adjust the administrative divisions of Anhui on the grounds of work needs.
Shao Quanzhong's Fengying Liusi Dao was renamed Wanbei Dao, and his territory doubled. All the territory north of the Yangtze River in Anhui was under his control. Shao Quanzhong occupied two-thirds of Anhui's area, and bullied Li Xuyi, the governor of Anhui, to the south of the Yangtze River.
What made Li Xuyi even more angry was that even Anqing Prefecture, where he, the governor of Anhui, was in charge, became Shao Quanzhong's territory, and his decrees could not leave the governor's office in Anqing Prefecture. This is called the higher the official, the more powerful he is. If you don't obey, the leader has plenty of ways to deal with you.
This was actually a dispute over territory between the Hunan Army and the Huai Army. The court supported the Huai Army this time because the Hunan Army's territory was too large and the court wanted to play a check and balance game.
Zeng Guofan was worried that the court would suspect him of having rebellious intentions, so he did not dare to resist. He pretended not to know and endured it.
…………
Hailing Bilingual Middle School.
The entrance to the middle school was crowded with people sending their children to school, causing a huge traffic jam. It was basically the same as the entrance to modern schools. The traffic conditions had advanced by more than a hundred years.
Who can go to middle school without the rich? Every child goes to school in a sedan pulled by three donkeys. They are too embarrassed to say hello to others when they go out.
Not to mention, there are also people who walked here instead of taking a car, such as Song Laoer.
The wounds that Song Lao Er suffered when he was beaten by Wang Lao Hu in the Lu Family Ancestral Hall have been healed. Today, he brought his eldest brother's child Song Qi to attend school.
The eldest brother is an honest farmer and doesn't dare to show up. After all, Song Laoer is the head of Lu Village.
The Song family was the richest family in Lu Village, and the eldest brother's children had some education. However, they did not want to become scholars. They were satisfied with being able to read and calculate money and become a village head in the future.
But my third brother sent back an urgent letter from the Fengyang military camp, insisting that my nephew be sent to middle school.
The third brother was a capable person from the old Song family and Shao Yuting's most trusted confidant. He insisted, and the eldest and second eldest brothers of the Song family discussed it and finally agreed.
Song Lao Er first took his nephew to Shao's house, where he saw the world. No wonder the third brother was so anxious, it turned out that this middle school was a hot commodity.
In Shao's house, there were already three children who wanted to go to school with Shao Quanzhong's godson Li Yongxian. Shao Quanzhong brought them back from his hometown himself, saying that Shao Quanzhong would pay for them to go to school in the United States in the future.
One was Jiang Chunlin's son Jiang Jianfeng, and the other was Chen Jucheng. From what they whispered, he was the younger brother of the traitor Chen Yucheng, who had defected to Shao Quanzhong in Shouzhou. Oh my God, what did I hear that I shouldn't have?
There was another person who was not a direct descendant of the Shao family, but his background was so great that Shao Quanzhong was embarrassed to refuse him. He was Kong Ziyuan, a illegitimate son of the Nan Kong family in Quzhou.
There was a war going on in Quzhou, with the Chu army led by Zuo Zongtang and Li Xiucheng's troops fighting back and forth in Quzhou. If the Taiping army, who believed in foreign religions, occupied Quzhou, what good would happen to the descendants of Confucius? They took their families and fled to Shanghai to seek refuge.
After seeing the power of the foreigners in Shanghai, the Kong family, as a family that has stood for thousands of years, had a keen sense of smell and immediately sent a concubine's son to Hailing to learn a foreign language in preparation for sending him abroad for further studies.
Just now, Jiang Jianfeng, Song Qi, Kong Ziyuan, and Chen Jucheng were led by Li Yongxian, the young master of the Shao family, to enter the school. These four people may become the people who will make a fortune together with the next generation of the old Shao family. Song Laoer finally understood the good intentions of his third brother.
Alas, the name that the old gentleman from Panjia Village gave to my nephew is a bit difficult to pronounce. When he grows up, I will give him a more pronounceable name. Hmm, it will be similar to Ziyuan, the child of the saint's family...
A three-masted clipper docked at the pier near the middle school, and Song Laoer's eyes suddenly widened. Japanese pirates!
More than fifty people walked down from the boat one after another, each of them wearing a moon-shaped haircut, kimono, and equipped with a Japanese sword and a pair of katana. They were definitely genuine Japanese pirates.
These pirates looked gentle and refined. The leader was only in his twenties. He didn't shave his head, but kept short hair and had a long horse face. After landing, he looked around and walked to Song Laoer.
The Japanese pirate bowed 90 degrees to Song Lao Er and spoke in standard Chinese. "My name is Takasugi Shinsaku. We are a delegation from Fuso. We are visiting the Qing Dynasty on the Chitose Maru. We are here to pay a special visit to Master Shao of Hailing. Excuse me, how do I get to Shao's house?"
(End of this chapter)