Hermione's answer made Xianfeng exhale a long breath. In any case, Dong Shuheng had not rebelled yet, so there was still room for redemption.
After all, Dong Shuheng was far away in Jiangsu, and the Taiping Army was his primary enemy.
Xianfeng regretted why he attacked the Huaihai Navy before destroying the Taiping Army. But he was the emperor, and the emperor could not admit his mistakes.
"Your Majesty, Lord Gilhang'a met Lord Qishan in Yangzhou. He reported that Lord Qishan was unable to see anything due to illness. The soldiers of the Jiangbei camp are now in the new camp in Pukou. Later Lord Gilhang'a went to Pukou.
There is no news. The current guard at Pukou is Dong Shuheng’s general Liu Qingnan.”
This news made Xianfeng fall silent. From this point of view, he had been deceived by Huai Haijun for so long. In fact, Huai Haijun had the final say in Jiangsu. With Qishan's appearance, he had probably been ignored for a long time. Xianfeng
I re-evaluated the strength of the Huai Navy in my mind.
"Hermione, go down and get the fifty pieces yourself. You have disappointed me so much this time." In Xianfeng's view, it was Hermione's inability to do things that led to the failure of his plan.
But after all, Hermione is the person around him and she is absolutely loyal to him. Even if he kills Hermione now, he can't find a suitable person to help him with his errands, so he should spare Hermione's life first.
After changing his clothes and tidying up his mood, Xianfeng came to the Yangxin Hall.
Several military ministers are already waiting here. They know that the emperor must have important things to decide when he leaves them.
"Sixth brother, you have a heavy burden this time, but now we are in a national crisis. I love the people of the Xinjieluo family to be responsible. This mobilization in the capital involves many hereditary princes. Only you can control it.
Stay." Xianfeng comforted Prince Gong from the beginning.
"It is my duty to share the Emperor's worries," Prince Gong said, cupping his hands.
"Everyone, the food crisis in Zhili in the capital this time was caused by the Huaihai Trading Company. I was instigated by villains, so I asked the Ministry of Internal Affairs to investigate and deal with this matter. Unexpectedly, the minions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs got greedy and took care of it.
It’s a wrong case. I’ve already asked someone to arrest the director of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.”
"To untie the bell, you must tie the bell. Can any of you here go to Jiangsu and explain this matter to Huai Haijun. No matter what, we must temporarily relieve the food crisis in the capital."
The several military and aircraft ministers below all lowered their heads and said nothing. No one wanted to be a peacemaker. This job was to find someone to slap someone in the face, and no one sitting here could take away this face.
"Du Aiqing, I think it's better for you to make the trip!" Emperor Xianfeng directly called Du Han's name. Du Han is the newly promoted military minister and a Han official, so it is most appropriate to send him.
"Your Majesty, Master Shao Can is still in Jiangsu. He is very close. It would be faster to let Master Shao go there." Du Han didn't want to go either, so he thought of Shao Can.
After Shao Can arrived in Jiangsu, he spent all day working on the river works, and he would have been forgotten now. If he hadn't reported the situation of the river works in Jiangsu to the court from time to time, Xianfeng would have forgotten that this person was still in Jiangsu.
"Okay, then send a fast horse to deliver the message to Shao Can and ask him to meet Dong Shuheng and express his condolences. Isn't that Dong Shuheng injured?"
There is no way to tell the ministers here about an assassination, especially when an emperor sends people to assassinate a minister. It would be too cheap to talk about it. But others don't know, and Dong Shuheng, who is the person involved, should know.
Therefore, if Xianfeng now wants to reconcile with Huai Haijun, it is useless to just send personal condolences. He must give real benefits to Dong Shuheng.
Therefore, Xianfeng thought for a while and continued: "Didn't Wei Yuan resign as governor of Jiangsu before? I sent Gilhang'a to take over. There were some accidents on the way, maybe he encountered bandits. Now that the governor of Jiangsu is vacant, what do you think?
?”
"Your Majesty, please judge!" everyone said, not daring to make random suggestions at this time.
"Your Majesty, Jiangsu is currently an important place in the fight against bandits. We cannot be short of people to take charge of the overall situation. Your Majesty, please appoint people as soon as possible." Ruilin stood up and suggested.
In fact, everyone has probably guessed who His Majesty the Emperor is going to choose, after all, there has been so much foreshadowing. But the court is like this, sometimes you know it in your heart, but you have to continue to act on the surface.
Why is it said that politics is hypocritical and politicians are all actors? People who can’t act will be eliminated at the starting line.
"Well, Jiangsu is now an important area for banditry. The first condition for a governor is to know military affairs. I would like to let Dong Shuheng, the commander of the Huai Navy, take over as governor of Jiangsu. What do you think?" Xianfeng asked after scanning the area with his eyes.
"Your Majesty, this Dong Shuheng was just a boy before, not even a scholar, and he was also a merchant, so I'm afraid it's inconsistent with etiquette." Peng Yunzhang was born in the Han Dynasty and was relatively conservative in his thinking. Although he didn't want to offend Xianfeng, he still regarded himself as
expressed his doubts.
"Hey... My dear, these are troubled times, and the imperial court must use talents in an eclectic way. The problem you mentioned is easy to solve, so I will give him the status of a student of the Imperial College." Xianfeng waved his hand and said.
"Your Majesty!" Peng Yunzhang bowed his hands and stepped back.
"In addition, Qi Shan is seriously ill and cannot be a director. I will allow him to return to Beijing to recuperate. The position of governor of Liangjiang will be temporarily filled by Dong Shuheng." Xianfeng continued, and no one came forward to raise objections this time.
The Liangjiang area used to be a land rich in wealth. Appointing a governor would have required huge quarrels. Now it is a powder keg and no one is willing to touch it.
"Then let's draw up an edict and agree to Wei Yuan's resignation as governor of Jiangsu. The emperor gave Dong Shuheng the status of Imperial College Supervisor and made him governor of Jiangsu and acting governor of Liangjiang. He ordered the Huaihai Navy to step up the attack on the bandits and at the same time quickly transport grain northward through the canal. The Huaihai Company is in Beijing
All shops in the sale will be returned immediately."
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty," everyone said, this bell was originally from the Xianfeng system, and now it is up to him to untie it.
Prince Gong also secretly laughed in his heart. This time Xianfeng had completely lost his majesty as an emperor. Huai Haijun had already given in before he launched an attack.
Emperor Xianfeng's decree had two meanings. The first was to give Dong Shuheng some benefits, which was equivalent to compensation, which could be regarded as resolving this knot. The second was that the price Huai Haijun had to pay was equivalent to the reward he demanded for Dong Shuheng's official position.
Except for the territory controlled by Huai Haijun, the other territories in Liangjiang are basically in the hands of the Taiping Army. The purpose of Xianfeng's move is to make the two tigers compete.
In this way, we can buy a few years for ourselves. As long as there is time, the imperial court can gather and train hundreds of thousands of troops in the north. At that time, they can move south with thunderous momentum to eliminate all disobedient forces.
Xianfeng believed that Huai Haijun would definitely accept this condition. In the past, no matter how high his rank was, Dong Shuheng was only a military commander. Now that he is directly made a civil servant and a local official, he must be satisfied.
In fact, Xianfeng thought wrong again. Dong Shuheng really didn't care about this. He only believed in the soldiers, horses and guns in his hands.
Dong Shuheng is a pragmatic person. He knows that as the world becomes more and more chaotic, the Manchu officials will become less and less valuable.
With things in Jiangsu almost settled, Dong Shuheng was ready to leave secretly for a visit to the north. He didn't want to stay in the presidential palace all the time.
The three armies dispatched before advanced in an orderly manner and did not encounter much resistance. Huai Haijun now still carries the sign of the Governor-General of Liangjiang. Anhui and Jiangxi are both under the jurisdiction of the Governor-General of Liangjiang.
The Huaihai navy only took over local power to suppress bandits. This was different from the Taiping rebellion. Some local officials handed over their power without any burden.
If he did this to the Taiping Army, he would be colluding with bandits and would kill the nine tribes.
Just as Xianfeng and everyone were discussing how to appease the Huai Navy.
The main force of the Taiping Army arrived outside Tongzhou City. Lin Fengxiang first looted the canal dock outside Tongzhou City, where there were also a large number of warehouses.
Lin Fengxiang asked people to quickly occupy the warehouse area and count the materials inside. Although last time, people from the Operation Bureau burned all the food.
However, there was still some surplus grain in the warehouse area, as well as a large amount of other supplies. The Taiping Army was afraid of poverty, and they would not refuse any supplies that came.
There were also many refugees outside Tongzhou City. Lin Fengxiang sent some holy soldiers recruited from the north to recruit the refugees.
More than 20,000 people gathered at once. These people did not receive good relief, and they followed whoever gave them food. Most of them were skinny. Although they had little fighting power, they made the Taiping Army a lot stronger.
.
Lin Fengxiang distributed part of the food collected from the dock to the refugees, which quickly won the hearts of the people. In addition, the Taiping Army itself had a set of methods to deceive people.
All these refugees, regardless of gender, were incorporated into the Taiping Army. Just like the current Taiping Army fought from Guangxi to Tianjing.
Lin Fengxiang now wants to walk the same path again. He has made up his mind not to stay under the city of Beijing for too long this time. Beijing is a big city, and he does not have many artillery in his hands. If he wants to capture Beijing in a short time and
not easy.
He planned to attack Beijing and then move. Even if he failed to capture the city, he could at least boost the morale of the Taiping Army. It could also let the world see that the Qing Dynasty was exhausted, so that more people would join the anti-Qing ranks.
.
People in Tongzhou City are now panicking. Tongzhou is not big. It is just a small city that grew up because of commerce. As a transit point for goods entering Beijing, there are a lot of merchants gathered here.
Before the Taiping Army arrived, many large merchants in the city had already fled.
There are not many soldiers in Tongzhou City now. After the Taiping Army gathered the refugees outside the city, the number suddenly expanded to more than 50,000.
Flags outside Tongzhou City blocked out the sun, smoke billowed, and Taiping soldiers wearing red scarves poured towards the city wall like a torrent.
In the past, the Taiping Army liked to dig tunnels and blow up city walls when attacking cities. Now, in order to rush for time, Lin Fengxiang has used the ant attack method for the second time in a row.
The refugees naturally rushed to the front. Their main function was to attract the defenders' firepower and consume the defenders' arrows, gunpowder and physical strength.
Lin Fengxiang is neither a saint nor a gentleman. At heart, he is just a general of the peasant army. To achieve his goal, he can ignore the loss of these innocent lives.
After piling up a thick layer of corpses under Tongzhou City, the Taiping Army finally invaded Tongzhou City.