Zuo Zongtang knew that it would be more difficult to deal with the Hui army and the Nian army after they united, so he reported to the Qing court Chen Fanglue and said: "The patient I have now is the Nian bandit Hui Nier. In terms of topography, the Central Plains is the most important, and the pass
Long is the light; in terms of pacifying the rebels, it is better to suppress the enemy quickly and to suppress the return slowly; in terms of the order of the deployment of troops, if you want to conquer the western frontier, you must first clear the hinterland, then the guest troops will have no worries, and the pay road will avoid the trouble of being blocked."
He also said: "When marching to Shaanxi, we must first clear out the thieves outside the customs; when marching to Gansu, we must first clear out the thieves in Shaanxi; when garrisoning in Lanzhou, we must first clear out the thieves from all walks of life. Then the pay roads will be open and the divisions will have no obstacles, so we can advance at will."
Suppress it, you can avoid the risk of being tied down."
The core of this strategy is "first twisting and then returning", "first Qin and then Long", and the key is "not to twist and turn back".
In July, nearly 20,000 Chu troops under Zuo Zongtang arrived in Shaanxi in three routes from Fancheng, Hubei Province. According to his established policy of "turning first and then returning", the old Hunan troops under Liu Songshan and the troops under Guo Baochang who entered Shaanxi first
Anhui Army
, the Hunan Army under Liu Houji and the newly arrived Chu Army under Gao Liansheng, a total of more than 21,000 people, attacked the Nian Army to assist Liu Dian's Chu Army and Huang Ding's Sichuan Army, a total of more than 8,000 people were stationed on the Shaanxi-Gansu border.
Deal with the Hui rebels.
The rest of the Chu army, more than 10,000 people, was stationed in Fengxiang, Yijun, Huazhou, Huayin, Weinan, Lintong and other places to coordinate the various armies and to "conquer the Nian division at the same time". The Western Nian army saw through Zuo Zongtang's conspiracy.
They quickly jumped out of the encirclement and, with the cooperation of the Hui army, advanced towards northern Shaanxi. At the same time, the Shaanxi-Gansu Hui uprising army continued to enter Shaanxi from Gansu and joined forces with the Western Nian Army to fight against the Qing Dynasty.
From October to November, the Western Nian Army and the Hui Army achieved consecutive victories in Ansai, Yanchuan, Suide and other cities in Shaanxi Province. Zuo Zongtang was exhausted and had to submit a "self-invitation for strict discussion".
However, due to reasons such as different nationalities and religious beliefs, the alliance between the Hui Uprising Army and the Western Nian Army failed to develop further. It has always been in a loose state of "separating from time to time and joining at times". There is neither a unified organizational form nor centralized leadership, nor a unified organizational form and centralized leadership.
There is no long-term plan to fight together.
Moreover, because the leadership of the Hui Army is in the hands of the upper-class nobles and their strong narrow nationalist ideas, the Hui Army rejects the Nian Army. Mutual attacks and killings between the Hui Army and the Western Nian Army occur from time to time, which makes the Hui Army and the Western Nian Army
The appearance is combined with the spirit.
Later, in order to rescue the Eastern Nian Army, the Western Nian Army crossed the Yellow River from Hukou east of Yichuan and entered Shanxi. The Hui Rebel Army was in the disadvantageous position of fighting alone in Shaanxi.
Zuo Zongtang led the main force of the Qing army into Jin to pursue the Western Nian Army. Under siege by several groups of troops, the leader of the Nian Army, Zhang Zongyu, committed suicide by throwing himself into the river. Most of the Western Nian Army was wiped out, and only a small number of Nian Army remained in Gansu.
At this time, Zuo Zongtang returned to Xi'an after participating in the suppression of the Western Nien Army. He believed that the overall situation in Shaanxi was decided, so he stepped up various purges in Gansu.
First, reorganize the troops.
In addition to the Chu army under Zuo Zongtang, the Qing army stationed in Shaanxi also included Liu Songshan's Lao Hunan army, Guo Baochang's Anhui army, Huang Ding's Sichuan army, etc.; the Qing army stationed in Gansu was even more complex. Not only did their treatment differ greatly, but also
The establishment is very inconsistent. Some are called a battalion, but actually only have two or three hundred people, and some have several times as many.
In order to be uniform, Zuo Zongtang ordered that the weak ones be eliminated, reorganized according to the establishment of the Chu army, and put under his command. At the same time, new soldiers were recruited on the spot in Shaanxi and Gansu to enchant the world - Jiangshan Hongyan Ding. Zuo Zongtang and Liu Dian directly
The Chu army under its control had fifty-five battalions of infantry and fifteen battalions of cavalry, totaling about 30,000 people.
Second, lure hungry people to surrender their armed forces.
After the Western Nian Army withdrew from Shaanxi and most of the Hui Rebel Army moved to Gansu, the hungry armed forces led by Dong Fuxiang were still active in northern Shaanxi, posing a great threat to the Qing army. Dong Fuxiang had connections with the Hui Rebel Army in Jinjibao and Dong Zhiyuan
, was a major obstacle for Zuo Zongtang to attack Gansu. So
, Zuo Zongtang stationed an army in Yulin, Suide, and Yanchang to block Dong Fuxiang's eastward crossing of the Yellow River; he also sent Liu Songshan to lead his troops to cross the Yellow River from Shanxi, go westward from Suide, and approach Dong Fuxiang's base town of Jingbao.
Liu Songshan induced Dong Fuxiang to surrender by buying off Dong Fuxiang's father, Dong Shiyou.
Liu Songshan collected more than 100,000 of his troops, selected the best from them, and organized them into the "Three Battalions of Dong Zi" according to the Chu army's establishment, with Dong Fuxiang, Zhang Jun and Li Shuangliang each leading one battalion. Dong Fuxiang's surrender not only caused the Hui rebels to lose
An allied force, and directly threatened the safety of Jinjibao and Dong Zhiyuan.
Third, reform the tax mechanism.
In the Shaanxi-Gansu region, we follow the practice of Fujian and set up merchant goods tax, which is a commodity tax. Two percent is charged based on the value of the goods.
Recruit honest and honest gentry to manage the bureau. The amount of commodity tax revenue will be published on a monthly list. A general bureau will be established under the general management of Yulin, the prefect of Xi'an, and the tax revenue will be transferred to the Munitions Bureau.
The % tax system eliminates the long-standing drawbacks of the Cao Grain. The original Cao Grain was discounted and was collected by officials and private individuals. It was stipulated that six taels of silver should be paid per stone of millet.
However, local grain prices have plummeted. At that time, one stone of grain was only worth 400 yuan, and only 2,400 yuan could be exchanged for one tael of silver. Farmers exchanged grain for money, and then exchanged money for silver. After paying for the grain, it was miserable. An annual income
A family with a hundred tons of millet would use up one-third of the grain to pay the public grain in silver, so arrears accumulated day by day.
Zuo Zongtang issued an order to all states and counties to abolish the old regulations. According to the regulations stipulated by the Ministry of Household Affairs, every stone of millet should be paid three taels and four taels of silver, including four taels for land, one tael and three taels for grain, and one tael and three taels for military supplies.
An additional four cents per stone of millet would be collected for county use. Zuo Zongtang asked each locality to increase or decrease the quota based on their own income.
This method not only reduced the burden on farmers, but also increased fiscal revenue. As an agriculturist, Zuo Zongtang saw the shortcomings of water transportation and commercial taxation, and effective reforms restored the vitality of agriculture and commerce in the Shaanxi-Gansu region.
Taxation and farming were Zuo Zongtang's strengths. As for the military-industrial enterprises he founded, they became a heavy burden on the court. He always asked Hu Xueyan to borrow money from foreign banks on his behalf, which was also a major drawback of his official career.
Zuo Zongtang was of Han nationality, given the courtesy name Jigao and nicknamed Xiangshang Nongren. He was already in his fifties and had a thick mustache. When he was young, he failed to succeed in many trials. He had those goldfish eyes and looked sideways at people. Who could stand it?
Zuo Zongtang prides himself on his talent
Dou, there was no one he admired in the world, his temper was eccentric, and he was unique in the official circles of the Qing Dynasty. When the Tianping Heavenly Kingdom was rampant, he won the reputation of "the country cannot live without Hunan for a day, and Hunan cannot live without Zuo Zongtang for a day."
Even his mentor Zeng Guofan had to give way to him. When he was fully fledged, even Zeng Guofan couldn't stand it and wrote a letter criticizing Zeng Guofan, and the two even had a falling out later.
Zuo Zongtang never took bribes, and his family was rich and powerful when he was not an official. It was not that he was rich, but that his family was in a poor condition, and he was a twenty-year-old young man who was not yet married. Instead, he married a man named Zhou from Xiangtan County, Hunan Province.
Zhou Yiduan, a talented woman from a rich family, became a wife
Son-in-law. After their marriage, the couple stayed dormant in "Gui Zaitang" to recite poems and songs, talk about classics and history. They also studied folklore and agriculture together. They spent thirteen years here that were full of ups and downs after failing in three exams. These thirteen years
It was also the thirteen years during which he laid a solid foundation and was ready for success.
The Taiping Rebellion gave Zuo Zongtang a place to play. With his superb commanding skills and extraordinary vision, he became a popular commander-in-chief, governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, and minister of military aircraft from Hu Linyi's staff.
Zuo Zongtang was racking his brains for funds, and at the end of the year, local governments sealed the seals. However, the pay for the Chu Army and the Hunan Army in the second half of the year had not yet been allocated by the court. The new year was about to begin, and the Ministry of War would not accept the old account. This
It is also common practice,
The imperial court would never issue military pay according to the amount in the military roster. At most, it would distribute pay according to nine months' pay. The rules that the Ministry of War had already made made Zuo Zongtang helpless. The number of soldiers under his command was higher than the number on the roster.
More.
"It's difficult! Let's do it the old way." Thinking of paying tribute to the dead soldiers of various ministries, Zuo Zongtang was not in a good mood to herald the New Year with auspicious snow, and he sighed bitterly to his subordinate Wei Guangtao, a Taoist priest in Pingqingjing.
"Commander, we have to celebrate the New Year no matter how difficult it is. The generals have been working hard all the way. They have to prepare good wine and food. I will go and arrange the beautiful bodyguards for the apocalypse first." Wei Guangtao is the framer of the tax reform and has the title of fourth grade.
He was transferred from Hunan to Shaanxi and Gansu by Zuo Zongtang to implement the new tax reform policy.
Zuo Zongtang thought of something and became very angry and asked: "Wei Daotai, where is the escort Li Guolou now? How come I don't even have news about him? Doesn't he use a fast horse to deliver the news?"
Taoist priest Wei Guangtao showed a wry smile and replied: "Commander, don't mention Li Guolou, the escort. He thinks he has done great service to the country. He regards the national property as private property. I sent him a message asking him for the specific figures of the supplies, but he was speechless.
He asked us in Shaanxi Province to provide him with food and accommodation for 2,200 people and feed for 1,000 cattle and horses. This kind of official document is not uncommon, and I have never seen such an arrogant official."
"Hey, he is here to ask for military glory, and the title of baron is vacant. If he does not satisfy his selfish desires, he will strangle my neck and be as virtuous as Li Hongzhang. I will not ask him." Zuo Zongtang said decisively.
It looks like he is not afraid of the sky or the earth.
Wei Guangtao's square face was filled with worry, and he stroked his beard and said: "Commander, the imperial court is very critical of us borrowing money from foreigners. That Li Guolou also said that the customs tariff power should be returned to the national treasury and no longer provide local tariff mortgages.
A guarantee for a foreign bank. I'm afraid he will do it just to vent his anger."
Zuo Zongtang spent a lot of money on troops in the west, often spending more than a million dollars in silver. The household department was unable to survive, so the "Fukang Bank" of the official businessman Hu Xueyan came forward to borrow money from several foreign banks and banks such as "Standard Chartered Bank of the United Kingdom"
, that is, using local customs duties and taxes as a guarantee for repayment. If all local customs duties and taxes are nationalized, the local governor will lose a large financial subsidy, and he will not even have flexible money.
Wei Guangtao warned Zuo Zongtang that the consequences of falling out with Li Guolou would be terrible. If you don't give him a piece of cake, he won't make it easy for you. Everyone will break up. If Li Guolou is not given the chance to be awarded the title of baron, he will definitely take revenge.
Yes, and there is definitely more than one method. He is standing in the court, and he can stir up trouble even if he has nothing to do.
Zuo Zongtang looked at the huge model of the Shaanxi-Gansu region. He had too many responsibilities on his shoulders, and his perverse and domineering face gradually became peaceful. He knew how to adapt, and he even showed filial piety to the eunuchs when he went to Beijing to meet the saints. The two palaces
The Empress Dowager never forgets to kowtow to the Bodhisattva who should be filial during her birthday ceremony. He is also a disciple of Prince Gong Yixin and also belongs to the Westernization sect.
People from the same faction also invaded each other. The Qing Dynasty had an ancestral system that "no title can be awarded without military merit." That's why Li Guolou was so vicious that he brought nearly a thousand soldiers to escort military supplies. He had already planned to deliberately make things difficult for Zuo Zongtang. See the dagger in poverty.
Zuo Zongtang pondered for a long time, his ups and downs of mind calmed down, he showed a mature and prudent expression, and stroked his beard and said: "Wei Daotai's words are reasonable. Tanhua Lang is dedicated to serving the country, and I should encourage him. Send a message to the chief envoy, Mr. Lin, to escort him. Li Guolou's grain and fodder must be properly arranged. Then send an official letter to Li Guolou, asking him to transport the supplies directly to Dong Zhiyuan's front line and directly deliver them to Xu Zhanbiao's headquarters in Guoyong camp. The war is urgent, and he hopes that the escort can be used as a national affairs It is most important that the soldiers see the power of the invincible divine cannon as soon as possible."
"Commander, if I give so much military supplies to Xu Zhanbiao's command, I'm afraid that other troops will cause trouble." Wei Guangtao couldn't believe it. The 12th Battalion of Xu Zhanbiao was a guest army from Sichuan, not Zuo Zongtang's direct descendant of the Chu army.
"Hey, Wei Daotai, you don't understand this. It's better to use Sichuan rats to attack fortresses. If you want Xu Zhanbiao's troops to die, you must treat them as your own. Only in this way will Li Guolou not have a big sale and buy everything in Shanxi. , I will give you a batch of military supplies to deal with you. Now that he is looking at my statement, I will give him face. When Prussia imports supplies, he will not make things difficult for me by saying that coastal defense is more important than border defense. Those tricks of the Han people There are only a few tricks for the intestines, you have to learn a little bit."
The forts on the high loess slopes and the terrain in the Longdong area restricted the Qing army from launching large-scale offensives. To build each fort, the military barriers needed to be filled with life, and they also needed to climb the fortifications. The small and flexible mountain people " "Sichuan Mouse" has been an expert in mountain warfare since ancient times, so this time Dong Zhiyuan's frontline command was handed over to Xu Zhanbiao, the commander-in-chief of the Sichuan Army.
Wei Guangtao smiled casually and said: "The commander is still smart, Li Guolou is just a clown, the prime minister is capable of holding a boat, and he is not as knowledgeable as him."
Zuo Zongtang's old face couldn't help but smile. The strategic layout was already clear in his mind. In the winter, small groups of troops were interspersed to prevent the enemy from escaping. In the spring, the soldiers pressed the border and recaptured Dong Zhiyuan in one fell swoop. .