Chapter 335 There is no food left in God’s house! (Please order and vote)
In Qingjiangpu, Huai'an Prefecture, a group of people dressed as businessmen stood on the dam, watching a small steamboat emitting black smoke "chugging", slowly approaching a long row of cargo boats and passenger ships in reverse. Soon,
The stern of this small steamer is close to a
It was several times larger in size and was a cargo boat loaded with coal. The sailor on the cargo boat didn't wait for the small steamer to stop, and threw a hemp rope as thick as a bowl over. It was caught by a sailor on the small steamer.
He caught it steadily and tied it to a stake on the small steam wheel.
A thin young man in Taiping Army uniform spoke Anhui Mandarin and said to this group of businessmen with great joy: "With this kind of steamer tugboat bought from Shanghai, not only the travel time is shortened by half, but also the travel time is shortened.
Can you save manpower and money?
Mr. At present, there are more and more steam tugboats of this kind on the canal south of the Huaihe River. I heard that Shanghai Governor Luo Xueyan also invited foreign brothers who knew how to build ships to be master craftsmen and opened a Jiangnan Shipbuilding Bureau in Shanghai.
, specializing in the production of small steam wheels."
Next to this thin Taiping soldier, a young man in his twenties with thick eyebrows and big eyes, an imposing appearance, wearing a silk gown and pigtails on the back of his head asked curiously: "Brother, look at your clothes, could it be that
Chief...:.\n.\nIs it the Taiping Army?"
"Yes! I am a member of the Taiping Army. My surname is Ding. I work as a farmer in Lujiang. This year there was a severe drought, and the landlords and the government pressed hard. I really couldn't survive anymore, so I went to Anqing with a few fellow villagers to join the Taiping Army.
.”
This Taiping soldier surnamed Ding did not hide it at all. The Ming Dynasty generously admitted that Master Yiyi was the Taiping soldier who was forced by the government and the people to rebel!
After he finished speaking, he smiled and asked the young man with thick eyebrows and big eyes: "What's your last name?"
"My surname is Weng," the young man introduced himself, and then asked, "Brother Ding, since you are a Taiping soldier, how did you end up on the territory of the Qing Dynasty?"
The Taiping soldier surnamed Ding smiled and said: "It's okay to tell you this. His Highness Dong Wang sent an edict to Anqing and asked for some new brothers who can speak Anhui dialect to go to Yangzhou's Dong Wang's Mansion. So I was sent to Yangzhou by Shangfeng. I thought
The King of the East wants to march into Anhui, and we are here to lead the way.
Unexpectedly, the Dongwangfu has opened a boat shop, and they want to do business with the Anhui people under Marshal Zeng of Huai'an, so I want to transfer some Anhui people to the boat shop."
"Aren't your Dong Wang and Marshal Zeng enemies? Why are they still doing business?" the young man surnamed Weng asked with a confused look on his face.
"Isn't it because there is no money?" The Taiping soldier surnamed Ding spread his hands and said with a smile: "The demon king of the East has tens of thousands of brothers who need food and drink, and the king of the East still has great ambitions. He wants to conquer the Central Plains in the north and kill many people."
As a pure demon, you are not allowed to recruit troops, buy horses, and buy foreign guns and cannons?"
When the young man surnamed Weng heard what the Taipingjun surnamed Ding said, he didn't know how to respond for a moment, so he looked at a young man next to him who was about the same age as the Taipingjun surnamed Ding. This boy had a white face and narrow eyes, and he looked a little gloomy.
At this time, Zheng Zheng frowned slightly and twitched the corners of his mouth.
This group of people was Ronglu, the messenger sent by Xianfeng and Concubine Yi, his attendant Weng Tong, and their servants.
Among them, Ronglu, the messenger, was nominated by Concubine Yi. After all, he had some relationship with Concubine Yi, and he recognized Wanzhen, so he was indeed suitable to be a messenger to meet Luo Xueyan.
And Weng Tong has not yet passed the No. 1 Scholar examination, he is just a civil servant. Not long ago, there was a tearful sale of the official shop of the Great Qing Dynasty. His father, Yin Weng, the Minister of the Ministry of Industry and the Shuntian Prefecture, seized the opportunity and bought him a false position as an additional director of the Ministry of Accounts.
.
Later, Weng Xiancun heard that Ronglu was going to Shanghai to meet Luo Xueyan, so he recommended his son to "lead the way" for Ronglu. Weng Xiancun was both from Changshu County, Suzhou Prefecture, and his family was a big landowner in Changshu. Weng Xiancun's third brother, Weng Tongjue, stayed in his hometown.
He has used his family's extravagance to go to Shanghai to buy a house and land. So Weng Tong is now half Shanghainese, and he just happened to lead Ronglu on his way to the Luo Xueyan Shogunate..\n.\n.\n.
\n,
However, Weng Tongzai and Miao Peilin, who was under the influence of Zeng Guofan, discussed the plan to pass the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's ruling area, disguised as a businessman,
Under the protection of Miao Peilin's nephew Miao Changchun, he took a boat directly from Qingjiangpu in Huai'an Prefecture to Shanghai Beach.
But what Weng Tong never expected was that the passenger boat arranged by Miao Changchun for him and Ronglu was actually hung on a small steamer belonging to the East Palace of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Moreover, this small steamer and several others belonged to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
On the cargo ship of Dongwangfu, there were some Taiping soldiers wearing military uniforms - they were too lazy to pretend!
What has become of the southeastern half of the wall now?
When Weng Tong and Ronglu were inexplicably surprised, a white-faced scholar with a smile on his face had already negotiated the price with the bow of a passenger boat hanging behind the small steamer, and walked quickly towards Weng Tong and Ronglu.
He cupped his fists and said: "Zhonghua, Shengfu, we have already negotiated...,
There are four hotels in total, they only stop in Yangzhou and Suzhou for half a day each, and you can get to Shanghai in five days."
Weng Tong frowned and asked, "Brother Bushai, is there any problem along the way?"
This white-faced scholar is Miao Peilin's nephew Miao Changchun, and "Bu Mourning" is his nickname.
Miao Changchun waved his hand and said with a smile: "Don't worry... everything has been arranged, there will definitely be no problem!"
There will definitely be no problem? If so, the problem seems to be bigger, right?
Ronglu's face turned even darker, but Weng Tong breathed a sigh of relief and turned back to Ronglu and said, "Zhonghua, let's get on the boat."
Let’s take this opportunity to take a look at the territory of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom!”
Ronglu shook his head, threw his braids forward, and lifted them up with his hands: "Both Shengfu and I have this, is there really no problem?"
Miao Changchun shook his head and said with a smile: "It's okay, we are businessmen from the north...\n.\n. We can just pay the braid tax and go shopping!"
Yangzhou Geyuan, Baoshan Building,
"His Royal Highness Dongwang, these are the accounts of our Dongwangfu Kuihao for three years."
Lu Xianba, the chief minister of the East Palace, held an account book and walked quickly to Yang Xiuqing, who was playing with a French-made Migne rifle with his head lowered.
"How is it? How much surplus is there?"
Yang Xiuqing asked casually.
"No, not much..." Lu Xianba said with a dark, simple face.
"How much is not much?" Yang Xiuqing put the rifle in his hand on the table, then turned to look at Lu Xianba.
"His Royal Highness Dongwang, there are still more than 825,300 taels of cash in the account of Dongwang Mansion...\n.\n:.\n.\n" Lu Xianba reported the amount.
Yang Xiuqing's face darkened: "How come you only have such a small amount of money? I remember that when I filed the accounts last year, there was more than one million. We have acquired so much territory this year, why is there still less money in the accounts?"
"At the end of last year, the Chinese Army only had two corps, the First and Second Corps, with a total strength of only more than 20,000, and including the female battalion, it was only more than 30,000. Now the Chinese Army has expanded to five corps, with a total strength of 60,000
There are so many people, including the women’s camp, there are almost 100,000 people!
Although these 100,000 people do not receive military pay, they have to pay for their food and clothing. Every year, they have to pay for the Ascension Festival of Heavenly Brother, Baoye Festival, Ascension Festival of Heavenly Brother and Heavenly King, Father’s Advent Festival, Brother’s Advent Festival, and Angel’s Advent Festival.
A reward, a reward for winning a battle...\n. Last year, a reward worth millions was given out in just six festivals, and another million was given out for winning a battle, and the reward alone was given out.
Two million!
In the past two months, the East Palace received another 10,000 foreign guns, 50 foreign cannons, 10,000 barrels of gunpowder, ten small steamers and a batch of ammunition, and spent another three to four hundred thousand.
Your Highness, the King of the East, after you captured Yangzhou, the Heavenly King's Mansion sent people to collect money every month, and you issued an order to give 50,000 yuan every month.
You also spent 500,000 taels to buy grain from Prince Xi's Mansion, 300,000 taels to buy cloth, satin, and cotton from Prince Wu's Mansion, and 150,000 taels to buy horses.
In addition, last month you also issued an order to give 50,000 taels to Zhang Lexing in Huaibei, and another 50,000 taels to Tang Zhengcai on the Yangtze River...\n.\n.\n.
Hearing the series of numbers reported by Lu Xianba, Yang Xiuqing's head felt a little big.
The only place where he can "make money" now is Yangzhou Prefecture, and he earns a lot. One salt tax plus one canal toll can always make more than three million a year, but there are too many places where he can't bear to spend money.
!
And even though the money was being spent like water, the Northern Expedition had not yet begun!
If the Northern Expedition is really going to start, and if you want to ensure victory instead of casually risking your life, you have to prepare more than 100,000 elite soldiers, right? For a year or two of fighting, just for food, clothing, rewards, and armaments, you need to prepare at least 10 million.
Two?
This does not include mobilizing a large number of people to transport food thousands of miles!
In fact, if the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom wanted to launch a serious Northern Expedition instead of a rogue-style Northern Expedition, the supplies they would need to prepare would be an astronomical number. Yang Xiuqing wanted to support a large-scale expedition with just Yangzhou Prefecture.
The Northern Expedition is nothing more than a foolish dream.
Seeing Yang Xiuqing's frown getting tighter, Master Lu suggested in a low voice: "His Royal Highness the Eastern King, it seems unlikely that he will really launch the Northern Expedition next year...::::
Yang Xiuqing raised her hand and waved, and said leisurely: "You don't have to say it, I know it all. But the Northern Expedition still needs to be done, because only through the Northern Expedition can we get enough money and food to use the Jianghuai area...
.\n.\n.
It turns out that what Yang Xiuqing wanted was not the Northern Expedition to the Central Plains at all, but to use the banner of the Northern Expedition to absorb enough resources from Luo Yaoguo, Xiao Chaogui, and Shi Dakai, and then eat up the entire Jianghuai region, and then win over the people in Huaibei.
, by then,
He can overwhelm Luo Yaoguo, Xiao Chaogui, and Feng Yunshan, and become the most powerful faction in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom again!
Lu Xianba said: "But...:.\n. When Governor Ji came down to earth last year, he said, 'The Yellow River collapsed, and the Qing Dynasty fell.' However, the Yellow River would not collapse until the next year.
King Luo Wu and King Xiao Xi can definitely push the date of the Northern Expedition to the year after tomorrow!"
Yang Xiuqing snorted softly: "Then tell me, who is greater, Governor Ji or God?"
Lu Xianba frowned: "But Angel Luo and King Xiao Xi can work together...\n.\n
Chapter completed!