Sometimes, the changes in the world situation are really unexpected.
Zeng Guofan had a deep understanding of this point.
In the battle of Tianjia Town, Zeng Guofan lost his troops and almost wanted to die. But then Shi Da suddenly came to withdraw his troops, and then the Tianjing Incident happened that shocked the world.
Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing, the two leaders of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, both died suddenly. Zeng Guofan was overjoyed by this incident.
He immediately realized that his opportunity had come.
Taking advantage of the current situation where the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom army is demoralized, it is the best time to recruit new troops and attack Nanjing in one fell swoop.
But he was only happy for a few days, and soon Nanjing and Guangzhou issued a joint statement at the same time.
The Tianping Heavenly Kingdom officially changed its flag, joined the Ming Empire, and accepted the orders of the Ming Hongwu Emperor.
At the same time, his military power, territory, and food and grass were not controlled.
In layman's terms, it is a military alliance that listens to the tune but not the propaganda. Of course, this military alliance is dominated by the Ming Empire.
Upon hearing the news, Zeng Guofan was as if a basin of cold water was poured on his head, and he was completely chilled.
Since then, what else is he going to fight for?
But the worse news was yet to come.
Just after the establishment of this military alliance, both sides issued statements at the same time again, strictly cracking down on opium, cracking down on local armed tyrants, and cracking down on illegal and criminal activities. All local forces are not allowed to recruit private troops without permission.
Zeng Guofan was struck by lightning when he heard the news.
He instantly realized the seriousness of the matter.
This so-called ban on smoking was an old trick of the Hongwu Emperor. This was the prelude to his attack on the gentry.
If we don't think of a solution quickly at this time, I'm afraid it's the only way to die.
"Everyone, this is a critical moment for the survival of the Hunan Army!"
"We are in Nanchang, and we happen to be sandwiched between Ni Ming and the Taiping rebels. It would be too passive to stay here."
"We have to find a way to change this situation!"
"How about going back to Hunan?"
Someone said: "Zhu Hongwu sounds ferocious, but it is said that he is very disciplined in doing things. As long as we keep to ourselves, do not violate the rules he set, do not do anything illegal, and at most we will hand over part of the land, there will be no real consequences."
Worry for life."
Zeng Guofan's expression did not change after hearing this, but he sighed secretly in his heart.
How could he not see that these people had strong local ties and were reluctant to leave their hometowns?
But..., there are some things that really can't be helped.
If you don't leave, you will have no choice but to surrender.
In these troubled times, how could he be willing to be a rich man who was just waiting to die? He also had his own political ideals and ambitions.
Besides, he is still a minister of the Qing court, a third-rank court official, and even a governor. He does not think that Zhu Yuanzhang will really not cause trouble for him after he is discharged and returns to his field.
"When I return to Hunan, I can only become a piece of fish on the pallet and be slaughtered by others!"
Zeng Guofan glanced at everyone below one by one, seeing the hesitation and uneasiness in everyone's eyes.
"Let me make it clear! We are going to make a big strategic shift next!"
"Go north to Anhui."
"That is the hometown of my disciple Li Hongzhang. He comes from a wealthy family in the same place. With him as the mediator, we will soon be able to take root there!"
"After that, I will continue to organize and train the new army. When the army is ready, we will fight back!"
Zeng Guofan paused here and then said: "Of course we are all fellow villagers. If anyone doesn't want to go and wants to go back and be slaughtered, I have no problem with it."
After he finished speaking, he stared majestically at everyone below.
In the end, due to Zeng Guofan's lustful power, no one dared to make any move.
"very good!"
"I'm very happy to see that everyone is determined to go north with me!"
Zeng Guofan's expression became solemn again when he said this: "But I'll start with my ugly words. Since the decision has been made tonight, if anyone dares to disturb the morale of the military again, I will engage in military law..."
At the same time that Zeng Guofan was coercing and luring the Hunan army to move north, a siege war was going on in Shanghai.
"Let me say it again, this is the territory of our Ming Empire. Foreign personnel are not allowed to hold guns and are not allowed to set up concessions. If I give you the last quarter of an hour, immediately put down your weapons and raise your hands to surrender. In a quarter of an hour, our Ming Army will launch a general offensive.
At that time, all armed personnel will kill without mercy."
"Don't say you didn't predict what you said."
"Dear officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty, this is a concession assigned to us by the Qing government. We have the right to hold firearms to protect ourselves. Your use of such violent means will affect the friendship between the British Empire, the French Empire and the Ming Dynasty. We
I would like to advise you all, don’t let the small things cost you the big things!”
When I heard the Ming army shouting below, a foreigner on the tower followed suit and started shouting with a tin trumpet.
"Do we have any friendship with the English or the French?"
This time, Xu Da, the commander of the Ming army, frowned, suddenly raised the rifle in his hand, and pulled the trigger with a snap.
"Bang!" A shot hit the tin speaker, and the rhythm of the shouting on the other side was immediately interrupted.
"Good marksmanship!" Li Xiucheng praised with a smile.
Xu Da smiled and said: "Little general, what do you say now?"
"King Yi already gave instructions when he came, and everything is at the discretion of the general!" Li Xiucheng respectfully saluted Xu Da.
He has already seen that the Ming Dynasty's army is indeed not in vain. These people have strict discipline and luxurious weapons and equipment, which is far from comparable to the Taiping Army.
Even though some of the Taiping Army are now equipped with foreign guns, the gap between them and the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty is still visible to the naked eye.
"fire!"
Xu Da gave an order, and the artillery roared. On top of the city of Shanghai County, the allied forces of foreigners and Manchus immediately began to fight back.
The opponent also has artillery.
"Boom, boom, boom!" However, soon, the navy led by Chang Yuchun sailed into the Huangpu River and joined the siege.
This time the other party suddenly began to be unable to withstand it.
Li Xiucheng looked at the Ming Dynasty's naval battleships, his eyes full of envy.
They don't have a single paddle-wheel warship like this.
"General Xu, when will we attack the city?" Li Xiucheng asked eagerly.
"A direct attack on the city will cause too many casualties. Anyway, there is basically no fighting south of the Yangtze River. Let's besiege them for a few days first before we start!"
Xu Da paused for a moment, then explained: "I have fought against foreigners several times, and I know their character very well!"
"Today's Shanghai County is an isolated island. The river has been blocked by our Ming fleet, and we are besieging the city here. As long as we continue to put pressure on them, they will surrender in a short time."
Speaking of which, Xu Da's original mission was only to capture Fujian and take charge of the overall situation from Fujian. However, the plan could not keep up with the changes. The Tianjing Incident directly led to the establishment of a military alliance between the Taiping Rebellion and the Ming Dynasty.
Throughout the south of the Yangtze River, the two rebel forces merged into one, and their strength suddenly increased.
Therefore, Xu Da changed his mission and changed it to clearing the foreign concessions along the coast to prepare for the ban on opium in the entire south.
And the Shanghai he is attacking now is the last gathering place for foreigners that he wants to remove on his way north.
Once this stronghold was established, there was basically no war in the entire south of the Yangtze River.
It can be said that the situation is very good.
In the original history, due to the Tianjing Incident, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom fell into political strife for two or three years. In the end, Yi Wang Shi Dakai even took his own troops and directly broke away from the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom sequence.
This caused the Qing army and the Hunan army, which had been beaten to death, to regain a breath of blood. Later, although Li Xiucheng and Chen Yucheng also captured some places, the situation was over. At the same time, the foreigners began to turn to support the Qing government.
In the end, Hong Xiuquan ran out of ammunition and food, and Zeng Guofan led his army to conquer Nanjing. The Taiping Rebellion failed.
But the current situation is much better than the original situation.
First of all, because of Zhu Yuanzhang's intervention, although one more king died in the Tianjing Incident this time than in the original history, the effect was better.
At least in history, political struggles that lasted for several years ended as soon as they began.
At the same time, what was revealed this time was the rebellion of Northern King Wei Changhui, not the fight between the Heavenly King and the Eastern King.
The result of this was that the two men's cronies united under Shi Dakai and liquidated Wei Changhui with the same hatred.
Therefore, the entire Taiping Heavenly Kingdom did not damage its vitality too much. At most, it could only be regarded as a strain on its muscles and bones.
On the other side, because Zhu Yuanzhang occupied Guangdong, although the Taiping Army had been attracting firepower for Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Yuanzhang also relieved a lot of pressure from the side for the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
You must know that Ye Mingchen has been the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi throughout history. The final encirclement of Nanjing also had a share of credit for him as the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi.
In addition, in the past few years, the Ming Dynasty has been constantly encroaching on the surrounding areas. Not only Guangxi and Fujian have been brought under its command, Hunan and Jiangxi are also threatened by it. The consequence of this is that the living space of the Manchu and Hunan armies is getting smaller and smaller.
The pressure is increasing.
This is why Zeng Guofan's first reaction after hearing that the Taiping Army and the Ming Army were joining forces was to withdraw north.
If these two forces did not fall into internal fighting, the Manchu Qing Dynasty south of the Yangtze River would have no chance.
Originally, if Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing were alive, it would be possible to turn around and attack the Ming Dynasty. After all, they are both politicians now, and they know who is the greater threat to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
But now that they both died, leaving Shi Dakai, a hardcore anti-Qing man, Zeng Guofan lost all hope.
In this way, once the Hunan Army, the most capable force in the entire south, withdrew, there would be no enemies south of the Yangtze River.
Next, we only need to clear out the local gentry, inventory the land in the world, release the demographic dividend, and allow the country to industrialize in an orderly manner.
Speaking of which, the current situation is actually very similar to that of the late Ming Dynasty. The only difference may be that the power of foreigners has become countless times greater than it was hundreds of years ago.
But Zhu Yuanzhang could stay here for more time.
He has plenty of time to slowly deal with those foreign devils.
Of course, one thing that is different is the Taiping Army. This force can only be regarded as a merger on the surface now. It also requires Zhu Yuanzhang to spend some thought to transform them into his own armed forces bit by bit, instead of like now
Listen to the tune but not the propaganda.
Zhu Yuanzhang was extremely familiar with this kind of thing.