Chapter 44 Section 44 Li Hongzhang was provoked by local officials

In winter, Xuzhou is bleak, and the vast expanse of white land is unobstructed, with rain and snow falling from time to time.Looking into the distance, we can vaguely see the villages of different heights and unevenness built by various officials, troops and local yamen, stretching endlessly without end. Except for Liu Mingchuan, the admiral of Zhili, Liu Bingzhang, the top inspector of the third rank, and Zhou Shengbo and Zhang Shusheng, the generals who led the headquarters, have been chasing the Nian army to report to the future, the other generals have already seen Li Hongzhang. Almost at the same time that Li Hongzhang received the imperial envoy, Qiao Songnian, the governor of Anhui, was transferred to the governor of Shaanxi, and Ying Han, the governor of Anhui, was promoted to the governor of Anhui.Li Hongzhang and Wu Tang met for the first time.

Wu Tang is a native of Xuyi, Anhui. His style name is Zhongxuan.During the period when Li Hongzhang served as governor of Liangjiang, the imperial court originally entrusted Wu Tang as governor of Jiangsu. Wu Tang was busy with dredging the Yun and Huai Rivers and was unable to take up the post. Wu Tang remained as Caodu. Wu Tang hurriedly came to see Li Hongzhang, and Li Hongzhang thought it was a routine matter, but Wu Tang had another plan: he wanted to sue Shandong governor Ding Baozhen in front of the imperial envoy. Wu Tang was short in stature, but he had big eyes, deep brows, and a wide mouth, which more or less covered up his shortcoming.His colleagues and subordinates didn't say anything in front of him, but they all called him short-legged handsome behind his back.He was born with a sharp mouth, and he speaks eloquently, full of confidence, but he also likes to talk about people's merits and demerits in front of others, and loves to gossip about people's good and bad behind others.Wherever he went, he was destined to rebel in a few days.But it was such a person who started as a county magistrate, and in sixteen years, he also achieved the position of governor of water transport and became a member of the imperial court.This year, he was already sixty years old, most of his beard and hair were gray, but he was still in good spirits, as if he was in his prime.

After Wu Tang and Li Hongzhang were seated at the ceremony, they didn't talk about water transportation or military affairs, they just talked about Ding Baozhen. "If it is said that Zeng Juexiang's success in suppressing Nian fell short, it was not in the strategy or the use of troops. In fact, it was all in the hands of Ding Zhihuang. Zeng Juexiang decided to build villages, fortify the walls and clear the wilderness. Shandong is the key. But Ding Zhihuang just didn't Take it to heart, and bargain with the old prince. Today I want military pay, and tomorrow I want military rations. I am very busy. Most of the food and salaries that my brother spent so hard to transport were intercepted by Shandong. My brother is afraid that my brother will repeat the old The chancellor made the same mistake, so he came here in a hurry, just to tell my brother that if the suppression of twisting is to be successful, Ding Zhihuang must be moved from Shandong. Since Ding Zhihuang came to Shandong, Shandong's officials can't be worse. When the upper twister makes a fuss, the common people will lose their lives even more."

Seeing Wu Tang talking more and more, Li Hongzhang had no choice but to interject: "Brother talking about Ding Zhihuang reminded me of something. My brother admires Ding Zhihuang's courage." Wu Tang immediately said: "My brother is talking about the fact that he intercepted Xue Shilang's car? Don't mention it, brother, it will happen to him sooner or later. If you don't believe me, just wait and see. Xue Shilang is not someone Anyone can mess with it." Li Hongzhang said with a smile: "Cao Shuai said this, but my brother was puzzled. Ding Zhihuang just searched his car and sedan, and did nothing to him. How can Xue Huan use this excuse to blame him? Ding Zhihuang is not now. Are you okay?"

Wu Tang said mysteriously: "Brother's experience is still inexperienced, and there are some things that you don't know the secrets of. Don't underestimate Xue Huan, he has great powers. Ding Zhihuang is fine now, but no one is involved in him. If someone interferes with him, maybe , Dismissal is easy!" When Wu Tang said this, he gritted his teeth, his eyes gleamed fiercely, wishing he could bite off Ding Baozhen's throat to relieve his anger.After sending Wu Tang away, Li Hongzhang couldn't help but sighed in his heart: "This Ding Zhihuang, who is not good for you to offend, why did you offend this living treasure!"

The next day, Li Hongzhang received his first imperial edict after coming to Xuzhou. The imperial decree is preceded by a large official article as usual, and the real intention is revealed at the end: "The former imperial envoy Zeng Guofan, the first-class Yiyonghou, built a village, built walls and cleared the fields, and dug moats along the canal, Shahe River and the south bank of the Yellow River for defense. How? It is a matter of success or failure in the suppression of twisting. After Li Hongzhang received the order, he followed the route Zeng Guofan announced along the way... Zou Ming, without delay!"

It was already very late when the messenger was sent away. Li Hongzhang sent an order to close the gate, and then went to the inner room for dinner.After the meal, Dongmei waited on Li Hongzhang to burn his feet, and was busy beating Li Hongzhang's back and rubbing his shoulders, trying to make Li Hongzhang happy, but Li Hongzhang was unhappy. Dongmei was puzzled, and asked in a low voice, "My lord, what's wrong with you all the time? Could it be that the servants are not serving you well, making you so angry?" Li Hongzhang smiled wryly: "You women, you only know what is wrong with your own family, but you really don't know the heart of a man. I received an embarrassing imperial edict before dinner, how can you make me happy?"

When Dongmei heard this, she immediately felt relieved, and she said seriously: "My servant heard from Second Mistress that if a man gets angry outside, he must find a way to get it out. If not, the man's feet will It will give birth to countless big diced meat, which is amazing!" Li Hongzhang laughed out loud at Dongmei's words. He pointed to Dongmei's nose and said, "You little girl, Second Mistress was telling you a joke, but you took it seriously. There are many people who are unhappy in officialdom." , if it is true what you said just now, there might not even be a servant in the yamen."

Dongmei asked puzzledly: "My lord, if the people in the yamen don't work in the yamen, then what are they doing?" Li Hongzhang said with a smile: "They all have big feet, and they are lying on the bed, how can they go to the yamen!" After hearing what he said, Dongmei couldn't help laughing. After joking for a while, Li Hongzhang asked Dongmei to make a pot of tea and served it, and he took the imperial decree again.Li Hongzhang put the imperial decree away, and while drinking tea, he said to himself: "Building villages and digging moors along the river for defense is a strategy that my teacher has spent countless thoughts on, and the court actually raised questions!" Mei was tidying up the bed, so she changed the subject and said, "Dongmei, put away the things you're doing first, and pack my luggage for me. I'm going to go to a few places tomorrow to take a look at the defense."

Dongmei stopped her hands and said, "Your Excellency is going out on an errand, do you want slaves to follow?" Li Hongzhang waved his hand and said, "I'm here to inspect the defense. How decent is it to be with a woman by my side? Just stay here, and I'll be back in a few days." After breakfast the next day, Li Hongzhang asked Zhaoqing to set up half of the troops in the pro-barracks, and left Xuzhou to inspect the defense along the south bank of the Yellow River. At this time, the Nian Army had been divided into two. The leaders of the Nian Army, Lai Wenguang and Ren Huabang, led half of their troops to about 50,000 people, and continued to operate in Shandong and the Central Plains. They were called the Eastern Nian Army in history; Half of the troops, about 50,000, went to the Shaanxi-Gansu area to develop, and were known as the West Nian Army in history.The two Nian armies formed horns and supported each other. In fact, it was mainly a contingency strategy for Zeng Guofan's encirclement and suppression strategy of "building villages, strengthening walls and clearing fields, and digging moors along rivers".Although they were lucky enough to break through the line of defense, the combat strategy formulated by Zeng Guofan did make them suffer.

However, Li Hongzhang did not know the fact that the Nian Army had been divided into two, and his focus at this time was still Shandong, Henan and other Central Plains areas. After Li Hongzhang left, he walked for fifty days before returning to Xingyuan outside Xuzhou City.After checking all the way, Li Hongzhang was even more convinced that Zeng Guofan's strategy of "building villages, strengthening walls and clearing fields, and digging moors along the river" was correct and brilliant.Li Hongzhang even believed that there is no other way to do this. Li Hongzhang decided to still follow Zeng Guofan's established method. The difference was that he asked the court to expand the cavalry, and at the same time sent a secret letter to Yan Jingming, the servant of the household department, asking Yan Jingming to speak to Prince Gong at the right time, and whether Wu Tang could be transferred. From Caodu, he was sent to a province far away from the Central Plains. In addition to the 60,000 Huaiyongs under Li Hongzhang's current command, there are also Xiangyong, Lvying, Bannerying and even cavalry. There are many factions and it is extremely difficult to lead them. .Soon after, Wu Tang was removed from the post of Caodu by the imperial court and transferred to the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang. Only now did Li Hongzhang let out a sigh of relief, and devoted himself to encircling and suppressing the Nian army.But Ding Baozhen, the governor of Shandong, was really disrespectful to Li Hongzhang, the imperial envoy, and he didn't buy it.Ding Baozhen had his own reasons for not taking Li Hongzhang seriously. Ding Baozhen came in earlier than Li Hongzhang, and was three years older than Li Hongzhang. This is where Ding Baozhen was not convinced by Li Hongzhang. Ding Baozhen, courtesy name Zhihuang, was born in Pingyuan, Guizhou, and was a Jinshi in Xianfeng. He was known as a capable member.He began to be the county magistrate in the fourth year of Xianfeng (1854 AD), and was not awarded the magistrate of Yuezhou Prefecture, Hunan Province until the 10th year of Xianfeng (1860 AD).At that time, Li Hongzhang was awarded the title of Fujian Yanjian Shaodao according to the rank of inspector.In the third year of Tongzhi (1864 A.D.), Li Hongzhang was already well-known as the governor of Jiangsu, while Ding Baozhen was appointed as the inspector of Shandong, and moved to the governor of Shandong the following year.If Yan Jingming, governor of Shandong, hadn't been transferred to Beijing to serve as the servant of the household department, he might still be nailed to the post of chief envoy and could not be moved. When Li Hongzhang took office as the imperial envoy Guan Fang, he ordered the provinces along the route to continue to follow the strategy set by the former imperial envoy Zeng Guofan. The construction of ditches and fortifications along the river should not be stopped, but should continue to be implemented. After Ding Baozhen received the article, he quickly sent an order to the states and counties along the river: "The construction of villages depends on the local conditions. If there is money, it can be repaired, and if there is no money, it can be done. It is only necessary to strictly guard the border and prevent the Nian bandits from entering the country. " Li Hongzhang's biography is equivalent to a dead letter in Shandong, and almost no state or county is willing to follow it seriously.He then wrote to the provinces and pointed out: "The conscripts for the army are urgent, and the local officials must purchase and store them in advance, and they can be used at any time at the price provided by the battalion. Only then can they focus on chasing thieves, and there is no wrong time. The governor's office writes and the states and counties handle it." For." After Ding Baozhen received the order, he sneered at a group of aides: "This Li Shaoquan, he is shaking. He has been an imperial envoy for less than a year, and there are orders and orders. It seems that we have never seen an imperial envoy. Is he here to suppress Nianzi, or to suppress local officials in various provinces?" A favored staff member interjected: "Accordingly, his order is nothing new, it's just an old-fashioned official document. The local government pre-purchases and stores military rations, and the battalion will provide them with a price at any time. Which time the army is raised to ask for thieves is not How to do this? He is the only one who can create problems!" Ding Baozhen squinted his eyes and said: "The Ministry said that he pulls the flag to make tiger skins! If there is grain in the prefecture and county, buy it. If you can't buy it, should you let him steal it?" Seeing that he was getting more and more angry with his words, the staff stopped talking and let him make excuses to continue. Ding Baozhen stuffed the imperial envoy's order into the case file, and said: "He asked the magistrate to sell food to him, but the headquarters couldn't write it down. If you don't believe him, tens of thousands of Huai troops will starve to death in Shandong!" This word soon spread from the provincial capital to the states and counties.Shandong is a small province, not rich, and it has been drought for two consecutive years. It is difficult to buy food. In addition, the military camps always pay on credit before paying for food from the government.Now with the words of Futai, the states and counties have become more slack in handling grain, and some have simply stopped handling it. No matter how many people the government and army send to buy grain, they will only be given one that has no grain to sell. In just a few days, Li Hongzhang's desk was full of official documents urging food from the various commanders in Shandong to suppress Nian because they could not buy food in the local yamen.