After the Taihang Column has two bases in Fuping and Pingshan, it does not need to leave too many troops behind. The roads here are all mountainous, which is not conducive to the deployment of large troops. With a thousand people guarding it, no matter how many Qing troops come, they will not be afraid. Besides, the Qing troops are now
There is simply no way to mobilize too many troops.
After Lu Feiyan made arrangements for staying behind, he sent out the troops in multiple directions.
All the way to the north, it points directly to the three counties of Laiyuan, Lingqiu and Fanzhi, occupying Feihu Trail.
Move all the way west to occupy Longquan Pass, advance to Wutai County in Shanxi Province, and then defend on the spot after occupying Wutai County.
This is the arrangement of the Northern Front. From now on, the main enemies the Northern Front will face are the Qing troops in Baoding Prefecture, Xinzhou Prefecture, and Datong Prefecture in Shanxi Province.
The troops on the southern front are centered in Pingshan County and move south to occupy Jingxing County, which is also under Zhengding Prefecture. This is the east entrance of Jingxing Road, and its geographical location is very important.
The southern front will face enemies from Zhengding and Taiyuan in the future.
Move west to occupy Yu County and Pingding County. In this way, the Taihang Column occupied the entire northern Taihang Mountains with lightning speed in the early stage.
The entire base area has Fuping County, Pingshan County, Pingding County and Fanzhi County as its four corners, extending to Feihuxing in the north and Jingxing in the south.
According to the plan designed by the General Staff, Lu Feiyan and the others could only occupy such a large sphere of influence in the early stage. If it were any larger, the Taihang Column would be short on troops and would most likely be defeated by the Qing army one by one.
Lu Feiyan did not rush ahead because of greed, but quickly moved to the defensive stage after completing the set tasks.
This time the Taihang Column treated the landlords and gentry much more harshly than the Huaihai Navy did in the past. The landlords and gentry who did some bad deeds were arrested and tried, and their property was confiscated.
However, the Taihang Column did not commit many crimes. Most of the landowners, gentry and their families were secretly transported to Jiangsu, where they would become part of the huge overseas immigration team.
Through these means, the Taihang Column took control of the few arable lands in the Taihang Mountains.
However, the Taihang Column did not allocate these lands directly to the people. Instead, they built farms one by one. In addition to the original tenant farmers, they also recruited some mountain people into the farms, so that the Taihang Column's militia team could be established.
Once you have the militia, you can liberate the regular troops and continue to expand your territory to the north and south.
As for other common people, mountain people, the Taihang Column abolished various exorbitant taxes and introduced many policies to benefit the people.
For example, setting up a purchase point for mountain products allows mountain people to truly rely on the mountains to eat, and exchange the things in their hands for money, grain, and various daily necessities that they urgently need.
At the same time, 2,000 people were recruited from the mountain people to form a mountain infantry regiment. The salary of each soldier can support a family. This is equivalent to solving the livelihood problems of everyone.
The Taihang Column is not short of supplies for the time being, because it has been planned for a long time. The caravans of the Huaihai Trading Company have already established some secret material strongholds in the mountainous areas. They have used the convenience of the merchants to hoard a batch of supplies in advance. Now they have been handed over to
Taihang Column.
With money, people, and food, the Taihang Column quickly established a firm foothold in the North Taihang Mountains.
…
Beijing Bauhinia City.
News that a bandit army had emerged west of Baoding and occupied the Taihang Mountains finally reached Xianfeng's desk.
This news made Emperor Xianfeng cough violently.
Then bad news came from Tianjin: The Taiping Army was about to run out of ammunition and food, but suddenly they intercepted a Huaihai Company fleet on the edge of the canal and took away all the fleet's supplies.
It transported a large amount of supplies to Beijing, which were said to be New Year's goods for sale in the capital. There were a large amount of cotton-padded clothes, cotton, grain, and food.
"Hermione, do you think Huai Haijun did this on purpose? This Huai Hai Company is Huai Hai Hai's property. Did Dong Shuheng do this on purpose because I sent people to Jiangsu?"
Most emperors had delusions of victimization, especially those who were forbearing like Xianfeng. They were in a state of depression for a long time, and they probably had psychological problems.
"Back to the emperor, what you said is very likely. The Huaihai Company has never suffered losses on the canal. Their ships are towed by steamers, and the speed is faster than ordinary sampans."
"However, there are no weapons in the things that were robbed this time. I have sent people to check, and there are indeed no weapons. If the Huaihai Navy was determined to retaliate against the enemy, why didn't they give the bandits weapons?" Hermione was very confused.
"That's because they don't think it's necessary. What the bandits are most lacking now is living supplies. The previous policy of strengthening the walls and clearing the country that Shengbao and the others implemented was just to trap these bandits. Everything they have done since then has been in vain." Emperor Xianfeng analyzed.
"Your Majesty, this slave is stupid."
"I didn't expect that this Dong Shuheng turned out to be a white-eyed wolf. I gave him a high official and a generous salary, but he didn't want to repay the favor. Instead, he showed his wolfish ambition. The Han people are indeed unreliable."
"Hermione, go and ask Gilhang'a to leave as soon as possible and don't wait until after the Spring Festival. Didn't you say last time that Dong Shuheng could be eliminated? Then you just send someone to cooperate with Gilhang'a. If Dong Shuheng is not eliminated, there is nothing he can do.
Take over Jiangsu."
"It's better to kill the wolf cubs that you haven't cooked enough to eat!" Xianfeng said bitterly.
After a while, Xianfeng summoned the military minister on duty and conveyed some of the imperial edict.
The first one was given to Shengbao and Senggelinqin, asking them to seize the time to exterminate the bandits in Tianjin and not to let the bandits circulate again. Due to the military expenditures diverted from the south, Shengbao and Senggelinqin now have
The number of troops reached 40,000 to 50,000. Xianfeng was full of confidence in both of them.
The second letter was to the governors of Zhili and Shanxi, asking them to mobilize their own troops to encircle and suppress the bandits who had fled into the Taihang Mountains and find out their origins. Xianfeng felt that since this group of people stayed in the mountains, they must be timid small-scale wanderers.
Bandits, otherwise why would they only dare to operate in mountainous areas? He didn't know that this group of cowardly bandits he mentioned had occupied seven or eight counties around Taihang in just a few days.
The third letter is to the Ministry of Punishment, asking the Ministry of Punishment to investigate the Huaihai Company's fornication and ganging, and to order all localities to strictly investigate and deal with it. The Ministry of Internal Affairs in the capital is taking the lead, and the Shuntian Prefecture is cooperating. The Ministry of Internal Affairs is the royal dog, and this dog has been
It’s been a long time since we went out to look for food. How could this be allowed?
As soon as these pieces of news came out, the entire imperial court was shocked. Why would His Majesty the Emperor, who has always been tolerant and tolerant, make such a decision to punish a large local force based on mere speculation?
Beijing Station Director Xu Yuanhong was anxious in his residence.
"How is it? Has the news spread?" Xu Yuanhong grabbed an intelligence officer and asked anxiously.
"Everything has spread, and the trading company only had time to transfer the valuable materials and money. Most of the goods are still in the trading company."
"The president has used flying pigeons to send the information back. I believe there will be a response soon."
"Stationmaster, what should we do next?"
"Move to the backup intelligence station. The trading houses ask them not to take care of the goods in the shops, and just leave the locally hired guys to take care of the shops. All our own people have evacuated to Tongzhou, and there is a Qinggang guarding the dock.
, being close to the canal is also convenient for evacuation. I believe the president will send the navy to meet them."
…
At the Duanhua Mansion of Prince Zheng.
Sushun, who had been seriously ill before, had not left home for a long time, but for some reason he came to Prince Zheng's residence today.
"Third brother, I'm afraid the emperor is going to take serious action against Huai Hai Hai this time. Should we get involved? Huai Hai Company is a big piece of meat!" Sushun said.
"Old Six, let's not move this time. Those who are greedy and rush to the front may be the ones who die the worst in the end."
"Lao Liu, don't be greedy. Let's wait and see how it gets better. Don't look at the big commotion His Majesty has made this time. In the end, he may not even know how it will end." Duan Hua squinted his small eyes and looked.
Looking at his sixth brother, he whispered.
…
In Prince Chunjun's Mansion, Yixuan was dodging back and forth in the hall excitedly. He accidentally bumped into a little maid who was serving tea.
"Hey, go away, you don't have eyes!" If it had been the same, Yixuan would have ordered this maid to be dragged out and beaten to death, but he was in a good mood today.
"Changgui, go find the people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Aren't they handling the case of Huaihai Company? Tell them that the people from Huaihai Company can be arrested, but the car dealer has my shares, and I bought the shares of Huaihai Company."
The car dealership is a chicken that lays golden eggs. Now he can monopolize the car dealership. As for negotiating the price with the Ministry of Internal Affairs, it will be much easier. As long as those dog slaves are fed, even if he pays a hundred
Two, they will transfer the remaining shares.
This time, the Shuntian Prefecture in the capital and the Ministry of Internal Affairs were dispatched together, and the speed was astonishingly fast, changing the previous procrastinating style of doing things.
A group of government officials from Shuntian Prefecture and soldiers from the Ministry of Internal Affairs rushed into Huaihai Trading Company with swords in their hands.
"I was ordered to seal down the Huaihai Trading Company. Everyone squatted on the ground and was not allowed to move!"
With that said, a group of people rushed towards the backyard.
"Deputy General Manager, I didn't find the shopkeeper of the firm, only a few clerks and a few customers." A soldier reported.
"Hmph... If you can run away, the monk can't run away from the temple. Take away all the people here, leaving a team of people to guard here, and the remaining people will go to the next shop."
In one day, the Huaihai Trading Company, which was very popular in Beijing, was all closed down. The car dealership even changed its owner, and now it is completely Chun.
…
Dong Shuheng originally wanted to spend the New Year peacefully at home. In the past few days, the matchmaker has almost completed the process. He will get married to Wei Yuzhen next year.
Hui'er has been out of sorts lately. Dong Shuheng knew that the little girl hadn't adapted yet, so he simply gave her some time and space to think slowly.
An urgent message from a carrier pigeon came from Beijing, completely breaking his New Year rhythm.
All the ministers and officials who had been preparing for vacation were summoned to the Presidential Palace for a meeting. Even Wei Yuan, who had never cared much about government affairs, was present.
"President, this dog emperor has been flushed with yellow urine and is dizzy. Our instructors are asking to go north to the capital to help the dog emperor wake up." Liu Qingnan, who has always had a hot temper, stood up first and said.
He happened to come back to report on his work in the past few days, so he was called over.
"President, my subordinates feel that this incident is strange. Xianfeng is not the only one who knows about our affairs. Why didn't it happen earlier or later? We chose this time to know that our Taihang column has already exposed its whereabouts. At this time, Xianfeng should be
It is only right to use all our strength to deal with the crisis in the north!" Prime Minister Zeng Xianfeng said.
"The Prime Minister's speculation is reasonable. Emperor Xianfeng was good at forbearing, but this kind of person is the most likely to go crazy after being forbearing for a long time. How can you speculate on the mind of a lunatic?"