Zeng Lichang did abide by the agreement, at least he did not take away or burn all the rations of the Yangzhou people in the granary. The vanguard troops entering the city quickly took control of the state capital, the granary and various important intersections.
The young man who was responsible for guarding the city on the city wall also surrendered his weapons voluntarily under the persuasion of the old man in the city.
Some young men were sent to the city to work with the militia to repair roads damaged by trenches.
At about ten o'clock in the morning, Dong Shuheng led the army into Yangzhou City from the east gate.
Today he specially dressed up in the Huai Navy uniform. The soldiers also changed from combat uniforms to regular uniforms. They all wore armed belts and were in great spirits.
Mr. Lu led a group of elders and stood respectfully at the gate of the city with drinks in their hands according to the etiquette of welcoming Master Wang.
Dong Shuheng rode at the front of the team. Beside him was a group of guards, and behind him was the cavalry battalion of the teaching regiment. They rode horses and carried carbines behind them. They wore armed belts, and they were all handsome.
young man.
Although Dong Shuheng did not have the courage to ask the troops to cut off their braids, his soldiers were required to cut their braids short and coil them inside their military caps. Therefore, the soldiers no longer had to drag their braids behind their backs. This not only made it easier to fight, but also made the soldiers more comfortable.
Seems more energetic.
The cavalry battalion lined up in four columns and walked towards the city gate, stopping twenty meters away from the city gate.
Dong Shuheng dismounted and walked to a group of Yangzhou elders, bowing and saluting.
"Boy, I'm late, and I've made all the Yangzhou elders suffer."
"You...you are the second son of the Dong family, Shu Heng." An old man in the crowd said excitedly. He was a little embarrassed because of his surprise. This man and the old man of the Dong family were also friends in the mall, and they saw the general who saved Yangzhou.
After he turned out to be his old friend, he was very excited for a moment.
"It was the boy who, as my son from Yangzhou, let Yangzhou fall into the hands of tigers and wolves. It was my fault. Shu Heng is ashamed of all of you uncles."
Ludli was interrupted for a moment, and then he came to his senses: "God will not destroy my Yangzhou, so that Yangzhou can produce talented people like Lord Dong. Only now do I understand that, as your Lord said, Huai Haijun is my soldier in Yangzhou. I
I will thank you for rescuing the people of Yangzhou from the fire and water."
Everyone also reacted and thanked Dong Shuheng together.
What followed was a mighty march into the city. The shocked Yangzhou people stood on both sides of Yangzhou's east-west avenue to welcome Huai Haijun into the city.
Behind the cavalry were infantry phalanxes. The soldiers carried their guns on their shoulders and walked through the street in neat steps. Their footsteps made a crisp sound on the stone pavement of Yangzhou Street.
The militiamen also formed several square formations to follow the army into the city. This is nearly 20,000 troops entering the city. This morning was an eye-opener for the people of Yangzhou. In the past, when the army came, everyone would try to hide at home and pray that the rebels would not
Get it on your own head.
I have never seen an army enter the city and let the people come to review it. This is the king's army as sung in the opera!
However, something that the common people did not expect was yet to come...
Dong Shuheng went directly to the government office. Yangzhou is a big and prosperous city, so the government office has a large area. The huge back garden alone can rival an ordinary private garden.
The system of men's halls and women's halls established by the Taiping Army in the city completely destroyed the urban ecology of Yangzhou City. Now that the Taiping Army suddenly withdraws, the people in the city are bound to be at a loss, and measures must be taken immediately to stabilize the city.
The people in the city.
Ludley and other gentry also rushed to the government office.
Dong Shuheng asked everyone to elect ten gentry with high moral standing and excellent reputation to form a temporary management committee of Yangzhou City. The main function of this management committee is to issue decrees, handle disputes in the city, and assist the work of the General Administrative Office that is about to move in.
Why should we set up such a department? Can't we just let the courts handle disputes directly?
This is really not possible, because Dong Shuheng will issue a series of decrees next, which will inevitably cause a large number of property disputes, which must be handled by local people.
Dong Shuheng issued several decrees to the Management Committee:
"Article 1: Abolish the men's hall and women's hall system, and return the private property to the people." Of course, the private property here mainly refers to real estate. Those gold and silver financial properties were taken away by the Taiping Army, and of course they cannot be returned. Of course, Dong Shuheng will not tell them these properties.
Most of them were captured by themselves.
Even if you want to return it, you cannot calculate how much was robbed from you. Only the real estate in the city can be calculated clearly.
"Article 2: To re-register the household registration in the city, the management committee recruits a group of scholars in the city to complete the household registration statistics before tonight, restore the original individual's real estate according to the household registration, and distribute 20 kilograms of grain per person per head.
For emergency purposes."
"Article 3: Establish the Yangzhou Police Department, select 500 people from the militia to serve as police officers, and be responsible for the public security management in Yangzhou City."
"Article 4: The Yangzhou City Construction Company is established. Every Yangzhou resident can sign up to work in the company and receive a certain salary every day. The company invests 500,000 taels of silver in the reconstruction of the old city of Yangzhou City and urban repairs."
"Article 5 Yangtze River Bank provides 5 million taels of low-interest loans to merchants who have suffered losses in Yangzhou City to help various workshops resume production. Huaihai Machinery Factory helps each workshop to carry out mechanization transformation in the form of installment payment."
"Article 6, Huaihai Company invests 500,000 taels to build the country's largest commodity trading center in the east of Yangzhou City, on the bank of the canal, to prosper Yangzhou's commerce."
"Article 7: Build a large orphanage, a juvenile military academy, and a large nursing home in Yangzhou."
…
The Yangzhou elders who were present were very excited. They had never seen the army enter the city without asking for money, not grabbing money, and even giving money to help the city recover and build.
"Master Dong, you are young, but you have the heart of a Bodhisattva. You will definitely give birth to Buddhas in every family. I, the people of Yangzhou, will die without being able to repay your kindness."
"Everyone, I am also a descendant of Yangzhou. These are what I should do. Next, I have to work hard to implement these things one by one. Time is running out, so go ahead and implement it."
Notices were posted one after another near the Men's and Women's Halls, where they used to live together. The people in Yangzhou were excited. Everyone walked out of the Men's and Women's Halls, and their families reunited, hugging each other and crying. There is nothing better than being together with the whole family.
It was a happier time together, and many people deeply felt the importance of family at this time.
Humans are inherently social group animals. The Taiping Army's male-female separation system did play a role in improving the combat effectiveness of the troops when they moved to various places, but when they established themselves and established their own bases, they could not
We should continue to use this inhumane system. Dong Shuheng did not know that in history, Hong Xiuquan would abolish this system in one or two years.
Looking at the following policies to benefit the people, the hearts of the people of Yangzhou were completely settled. Dong Shuheng's name was therefore completely imprinted in the hearts of every Yangzhou people. They firmly remembered that Dong Shuheng was their reborn parent.
The Yangzhou area has a developed economy, the people have a gentle personality, and their education level is relatively high compared to the country. After seeing the notices one after another, he took the initiative to register his family information at several points in the city. The information registered this time was very detailed. Not only did he
My own situation, my own specialties, and family relationships, including information about relatives in other places. There was not a single incident of taking the opportunity to cause trouble.
In the afternoon, Zeng Xianfeng led a group of staff from the General Administration Department and rushed to the government office in Yangzhou City. They did not expect that Yangzhou City would be captured so quickly. And it was still so well-preserved.
When they saw the first batch of decrees issued by Dong Shuheng, they were full of admiration. Their president was not only good at running the military and fighting, but he was also a good hand at governing.
Dong Shuheng handed over the political affairs at hand to Zeng Xianfeng and hurried to hold a military meeting.
The capture of Yangzhou City was only the first step. A city as big as Yangzhou cannot be without barriers around it.
In the temporary war room, all the military generals were present.
"Everyone, although we have captured Yangzhou City, the battle is still not over. I know that everyone in this battle was not happy. But now being able to capture a complete Yangzhou is the result I want most."
"You haven't experienced a hard battle, so I won't give you time to rest."
"President, everyone has worked up their nerves, just give the order!" Chief of Staff Liu Qingnan said. The commanders of each department also puffed up their chests.
"Okay, now we order the teaching regiment and the 101st regiment to march to the west of Yizheng. The army will be stationed all the way to Pukou to eliminate all Taiping forces in Jiangbei."
"The 102nd Regiment, with 10,000 militiamen, advanced southward to Guazhou, stationed there, and built forts along Guazhou to the mouth of the canal. The foundations were built first, and the upper towers were built after the construction materials transported by the canal fleet arrived. 2.
The regiment built fortifications along the river to ensure the safe progress of the project."
When the second regiment commander heard that his troops were going to repair the fort, his face suddenly showed disappointment.
"Second Regiment, your task is very heavy. The Taiping Army Luo Guangyang Department opposite you is only across a river from you. It has a strong combat capability and has a navy. It may attack you at any time. You must be careful when building fortifications.
Pay attention to repairing artillery fortifications."
After hearing what Dong Shuheng said, Zhang Yang Bingchun, the commander of the second regiment, felt relieved. If he, the regiment commander, could not win the battle, the soldiers below would have to stab him in the back.
"The defense of Yangzhou City is temporarily handed over to the second column of the militia. At the same time, the second column must also dedicate manpower to help restore order in the city."
After receiving the order, each department set off separately, while Dong Shuheng wanted to go to Peking University Camp.
In the evening, Wei Yuan finally arrived at Yangzhou City, and he finally lived up to his name as the prefect of Yangzhou.
As soon as Wei Yuan arrived in Yangzhou, he rushed to see Wenchang Pavilion. He was worried that the books in Wenchang Pavilion would be ruined by the Taiping Army. Fortunately, the Taiping Army did not do such things that would harm others and not benefit themselves.
Dong Shuheng found Wei Yuan in Wenchang Pavilion.
"Master, these books are here and they won't run away. Can you please deal with the political affairs first?"
Wei Yuan said: "You can't handle the political affairs. I feel relieved. Let me see again. When I came to Yangzhou, the Wenchang Pavilion was my favorite place."
"Master, after we take over Yangzhou City, we must go to the governor of Qishan to report our victory."
"I don't want to see that stupid official."
"Hey..." Dong Shuheng was really speechless in front of a master. No wonder he was still a county official even after he retired.
He could only go back to Zeng Xianfeng to figure out how to give Qi Shan a reward. The distribution of credit was very particular and had to be carefully considered.