Chapter 17 The governors of the Ten United Seven Provinces support the restructuring of the Yangtze River Navy

After returning to Jiangning, Zeng Guofan, Peng Yulin, Huang Yisheng, Li Chaobin and others further discussed the permanent retention of the Yangtze River Navy.Zeng Guofan's biggest concern is: changing the regiment training to the teacher of the system is unprecedented, and I don't know if the court will agree. Master Jiehang's so-called "viewing it with the old monk's cold eyes" is only his opinion after all, whether it is the intention of the court, it seems very mysterious.Huang Yisheng and Li Chaobin said, no matter what, let's write an excerpt first.Peng Yulin thought for a long time, and came up with a complete set of ideas: "Regimental training has been changed to a division of the system. There is no precedent to help. If it is an army, this matter must never be mentioned, but now it is a navy, but it is expected to be approved. One is that the imperial court needed to build a sea navy because of repeated invasions by barbarians starting from Emperor Xuanzong. The other is that the Yangtze River navy has been established for more than ten years. It has a ready-made scale and good Western equipment. The conditions of the naval navy. Three things, the reputation of the Yangtze River Navy over the years is better than that of the army, and the imperial court has less suspicion of it."

Huang Yisheng and Li Chaobin, who were the commanders of the Huaiyang Navy and Taihu Navy after the division of the Yangtze River Navy, fully agreed with Peng Yulin's analysis.Huang Yisheng said: "Such a good navy team, presumably the imperial court would not be willing to treat it as a long-term regiment training team." Li Chaobin said: "Changing the Yangtze River Fleet to the Sea Fleet really gave the court a big deal." Zeng Guofan thought: Xueqin's first two are reasonable. As for the third, it is because of his preference. The reputation of the Yangtze River Navy is not much better than that of Jiziying and Tingziying.

Then he smiled and said, "According to Xueqin, it is 100% sure that the Yangtze River Navy will be transformed into a war system division!" Peng Yulin said: "I can't say with 100% certainty, but I can guarantee it with 50%." Huang Yisheng said: "Not only 50%, but at least 80%." Zeng Guofan shook his head and said, "Eighty percent? I don't think there may be, but Xueqin's estimate is safe, about fifty percent." Peng Yulin said: "If you don't take another path, you can only be 50% sure; if you take another path, you can reach 80%."

"Which way to go?" Li Chaobin asked anxiously. "There is a person who has always supported Dizhang and the Hunan Army. It is definitely possible to find him." Peng Yulin said slowly. "Which one?" Li Chaobin blurted out. Huang Yisheng said, "You mean Jia Zhen, a scholar of the Hall of Martial Arts?" Zeng Guofan understood in his heart, but kept silent. "Look for Prince Gong." Peng Yulin answered by himself. "Prince Gong made a comeback. Although he lost the title of King of Discussion, he is still the head minister of the Military Aircraft Department. This shows that the Queen Mother has a barrier to him, but he is indispensable. The Hunan Army has always relied on the full support of Prince Gong to make great achievements; and During the negotiations with foreigners, Prince Gong felt the shame of the country’s weakness, and repeatedly proposed to build a navy and set up factories, so that Xu Tu could strengthen himself. He will definitely fully support the transformation of the Yangtze River Navy into the country’s coastal defense division.”

"Xueqin, you just said that Prince Gong and the Queen Mother still have a gap, not to mention losing the title of King of Discussion. Will the Queen Mother let him be the master of such a major event?" Zeng Guofan asked. "Yes, I've thought about this for a long time." Peng Yulin said, "After the previous setback, Prince Gong will have more concerns in dealing with things, and it is likely that he will not make decisions alone. I have an idea for Prince Gong's sake: Please ask Prince Gong Tell the Empress Dowager that it is a big deal for the Changjiang Navy to change the division system, and it can help the court deal with the old chapters on major issues, and the Military Aircraft Department will issue a document to solicit the opinions of the governors of the provinces before making a decision."

"What if the governors of various provinces have different opinions? Wouldn't it be a big mistake?" Huang Yisheng said. Peng Yulin smiled and said, "Chang Qi's concerns are reasonable, but he didn't analyze them in detail. I have speculated about the governors of the other seven provinces other than Liangjiang.Liu Changyou, governor of Zhili, is out of our Hunan army and will never object to anything that is beneficial to the Hunan army.Not to mention Yang Yuebin from Shaanxi-Gansu, Mao Hongbin from Guangdong and Guangxi was the same year as Dizhang, Lao Chongguang from Yunnan and Guizhou, a village sage from Hunan, an old friend of Dizhang, and Luo Bingzhang from Sichuan, who have raised hundreds of dollars for the Yangtze River Navy over the years. None of the three of them would object to ten thousand taels of payment. The ones who were a little troublesome were the official documents from Huguang and Zuo Zongtang from Fujian and Zhejiang. "

These are indeed the two key figures.Everyone paid attention to Peng Yulin's analysis: "Guan Wen is a very complicated person. He is both hostile to the Hunan Army and also has the honor of the Hunan Army. If it wasn't the victory of the Hunan Army, how could he have a first-class earl? He is a smart man. According to Dizhang, the last time he came to Jiangning, he framed him behind his back. On the surface, he was respectful to Dizhang, and even said good things about the Hunan Army. He will stand by your side if he does something good. I would like to give the queen mother and the emperor a note, and simply suggest that the commander of the Yangtze River Navy after the reform should let him do the official work, and we will all be his deputy. He will be happy. "

Zeng Guofan remembered that since he founded Xiangyong, he had always adopted the method of introducing a Manchu to take the lead, and he praised Peng Yulin's plan very much: "Xueqin, your method is very clever." Peng Yulin smiled happily: "I learned this from you." Li Chaobin said: "Guan Wen doesn't understand the shit of the navy, how can the brothers obey him!" Huang Yisheng said: "Don't worry, he just has an empty title." Li Chaobin said: "What if he wants to interfere randomly?" Peng Yulin said: "He is so smart that he is so smart. He knows that he doesn't understand the navy, and he will be happy as long as he has this title. He doesn't understand everything about Qian Liang Xing Gu, but he has been the governor of Huguang for more than ten years, and he was promoted to a bachelor degree. You call him an idiot?

His cleverness is precisely reflected in the fact that he doesn't care about anything, he only cares about eating, drinking, having fun, enjoying himself, and begging his concubine.In his nominal duties, if he has credit, he is the first; if there is a mistake, it is the specific person in charge.This is the trick of being an official. " The words hit the nail on the head like this, and everyone laughed happily. "As for Zuo Jigao, with his temperament, he is likely to oppose this move. However, Zuo Jigao is not an official after all. He understands the overall situation, has foresight, and understands the importance of Jianhai Waterproof Division. I think, as long as Tell him clearly, and he won't object blindly. If he insists on saying that we are selfish, don't be afraid, everyone agrees that his power alone is limited after all."

"Xueqin's idea is very good, but I can't take this example. I proposed to abolish the Hunan Army, and said that no one should be left. Now I say that the Yangtze River Navy should be changed into a military division. It's hard to justify it. I still invite Xueqin Give the queen mother and the emperor an account." Zeng Guofan looked at Peng Yulin and said, "What do you think?" "Okay, I will directly ask the Queen Mother." Peng Yulin answered happily. "It's better to send someone to Prince Gong's Mansion, some things are inconvenient to write clearly." After a while, Zeng Guofan remembered another thing.The past when Kang Fu was sent to Beijing came to his mind, and he sighed that Kang Fu was dead, and there was a lack of such a talented person with both civil and military skills.

"Your Excellency, you can send Xue Fucheng there." Huang Yisheng said, "This man is smart and flexible, and his elder brother is a famous doctor who specializes in treating princes and ministers. It is most appropriate to send him there." Yes, Xue Fucheng is a suitable candidate. Although he lacks Kang Fu's martial arts, but in the capital, relying on his elder brother's special status, he is much more advantageous than Kang Fu back then. "Is Zuo Jigao writing a letter, or sending someone there?" Zeng Guofan said to himself, his expression seemed a bit embarrassed. "Zuo Jigao is currently in Hangzhou, I'll go for a walk by myself." Peng Yulin volunteered, "I haven't seen him for several years, I still miss him a lot!" "Great! For the other governors, I will write letters. Xueqin takes care of the affairs of the Yangtze River Navy, which is much better than me." Zeng Guofan was relieved. He admired Peng Yulin's talent in latitude and longitude, and was grateful His generosity. Peng Yulin personally wrote a booklet for the restructuring of the Yangtze River Navy.First briefly describe the process of the Yangtze River Navy from its establishment to its growth, and enumerate its major military exploits over the past ten years; He then wrote that the Yangtze River Navy is well-organized, has many generals, is well-equipped, and has strong combat effectiveness. Hard work, come out of the mountain again, do your best, and die.The entire memorial is upright and impeccable, full of loyalty for the country and sharing the worries of the king, and there is no selfish distraction to preserve an armed force of its own.Zeng Guofan praised after watching it.He felt that this memorial was so outstanding that it was beyond the reach of all his own memorials.With such an excerpt played, who can have any reason to prevent the restructuring of the Yangtze River Navy?He mused over the memorial for a long time, but he still couldn't make out one of two conjectures: whether Peng Yulin was extremely smart and good at covering up his private goals with the most high-sounding reasons, or did he really have a heart full of concern for the country and the people? Righteousness, is it inspired by the most affection to become the most literary?However, there is one thing that Zeng Guofan confirmed in the end, that is, no matter whether it is because of the former or the latter, he is inferior to himself! Zeng Guofan was inspired by Peng Yulin's memoir: If the history of the foreigner's engagement with us at sea since the middle of Daoguang period is truthfully arranged and used as an annex to this melody, it will teach those who read this melody a painful lesson. He was more aware of the necessity of establishing a navy, and had to agree with the restructuring of the Yangtze River Navy from the bottom of his heart. The Shogunate of the Governor-General of Liangjiang has a lot of talents in this field, and the compilation office headed by Wang Shiduo was immediately formed.They worked hard for seven days and seven nights, and finally compiled a 40,000-word "Memorabilia of the Thirty Years of the Huayi Sea War" and copied it in two copies.One copy was saved, and the other was sent together with Peng Yulin's memorial to Prince Gong's Mansion in Beijing by Xue Fucheng himself. Sure enough, as Zeng and Peng expected, this memorandum and its attachments attracted great attention from Prince Gong Yixin, Minister of Military Aircraft Wen Xiang and others, and even the empress dowagers of the two palaces were moved by it.King Gong suggested that, for the sake of prudence, he ordered the Military Aircraft Department to send Peng Zuo and the "Chronicles of Events" to the governors of Zhili, Shaanxi-Gansu, Sichuan, Fujian and Zhejiang, Huguang, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Yunnan-Guizhou provinces, asking them to express their opinions on this matter.At this time, Peng Yulin also went to Hangzhou to lobby Zuo Zongtang. Contrary to Peng Yulin's expectation, Zuo Zongtang immediately stated his position after hearing his statement: he fully agrees with the adaptation of the Yangtze River Navy as the court's master of economics.As for the construction of the navy, Zuo Zongtang advised Peng Yulin not to worry.The first step is to take this good opportunity to rectify the Yangtze River Navy, eliminate those who are incompetent, and let the shortage be better than abuse.The second step is to do a good job of patrolling both sides of the Yangtze River, guarding the navigation of inland merchant ships and civilian ships, and earnestly training talents.The third step is to use Langshan Town as the base to prepare offshore naval forces to defend the sea and resist foreign invaders.Now for the first step.And said that he would use this to repeat the military aircraft department.Peng Yulin was moved by Zuo Zongtang's bright and bright mind, and when he parted, he held his old friend's hand tightly and said: "In the future, I ask for your guidance in the rectification and establishment of the Yangtze River Navy." Zuo Zongtang did his part. Nod in agreement. Official documents also sent letters to Zeng Guofan and Peng Yulin, saying that the Qing Dynasty should have built a navy a long time ago, and the Yangtze River Navy is already the prototype of a navy, and it should be changed to a division of the economic system, which will exist forever.He also said that he didn't know much about the navy, and if he really became the commander of the navy in the future, it would be a great honor. He also asked Zeng and Peng Duoduo to help him create great achievements together. Zeng Guofan and Peng Yulin smiled knowingly after reading it. Yang Yuebin was very excited after receiving the message from the Military Aircraft Department, and ordered his staff to draft it overnight, and supported the matter with the firmest attitude.He also said that it will be an unprecedented event in China, and it will definitely make Emperor Xuanzong and the first emperor smile in Jiuquan.He also said that he would rather not be the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, and would like to serve as a partial general in the restructured navy. Liu Changyou, Luo Bingzhang, and Mao Hongbin all clearly expressed their approval of this matter.Only the aged Lao Chongguang was rather vague. He not only expressed his agreement, but also said that he should be cautious. After reading the whole article, I don't know whether he agrees or disagrees.However, Lao Chongguang's status among the seven governors was only comparable to that of Mao Hongbin, and they all belonged to the category of no military exploits, far inferior to Zuo, Yang, Guan, Liu, and Luo, not to mention that he did not clearly object. The Yangtze River Navy was changed to the Division of Economics and Regulations, and it passed smoothly.The empress dowager accepted Zuo Zongtang's suggestion to suspend the construction of the navy and put the navy in order first, with patrolling the Yangtze River as the main duty.What made them even more excited was that the imperial court appointed Peng Yulin as the commander, without an official name, and the well-known academician was overjoyed. Peng Yulin discussed with Huang Yisheng, Li Chaobin and others day and night, and drew up a charter: set up two admirals under the command, with Huang and Li in charge; build five towns in Yuezhou, Hanyang, Hukou, Guazhou, and Langshan. There are five soldiers in total; twenty-four battalions, seven hundred and seventy-four warships, twenty-four battalion officers, seven hundred and seventy-four sentry officers, and twelve thousand soldiers.In view of the fact that there are many naval officers who have been rewarded with great titles, but the actual battalion sentry officers are only around 800, and there are too many monks and too little porridge to allocate enough, Peng Yulin came up with another idea: use big titles to make up for small vacancies.Arranged according to rank, and those with the same rank are ranked according to seniority.In this way, many ranks as high as generals and guerrillas can only be the generals and generals.Although they feel a little wronged, they are also happy.The title is empty, but the job is real. Although the general manager and the general manager are low, they are much better than those who have a title but no job.The Yangtze River Navy originally had 20,000 people, but Peng Yulin reorganized this force.Those who have no military exploits, those who are tired, those who smuggle, those who smoke opium, and those who are suspected of forming a party will all be abolished.The Yangtze River Navy began to have a new look.Zeng Guofan was completely assured of Peng Yulin's rectification, and he himself focused on the administration of officials. He has always followed Wang Yangming's view that "it is easy to destroy the thieves in the mountains, but it is difficult to destroy the thieves in the heart". He believes that it is more difficult to straighten people's hearts, cultivate customs, and reverse the world style than to break the long hair and go to Jinling, and the quality of the world depends mainly on those in power.The highest ruler takes his own personality and talent as an example, silently practices in the abyss and indifference, slowly attracts people around him to follow suit, and then promotes it to officials at all levels in the country, so that a powerful force can be formed.With this power, people's hearts can be decent, and customs can be honest.Therefore, he tried his best to lead by example, trying to infect the staff around him, cultivate them into good seeds, spread them to Liangjiang and three provinces, and influence the officials in various prefectures and counties, thus gradually turning the atmosphere in Liangjiang.To this end, he himself worked more diligently than before.All homicide cases in prefectures and counties must be finally adjudicated by him, and he often sends aides to investigate officials and the people's situation.After Yuqi, several corrupt officials who were very angry with the public were removed and replaced by those who have both morality and ability in the staff. At this time, Yung Wing returned from overseas, and a large number of machine base machines purchased from Britain and the United States were also transported to Wusongkou.Zeng Guofan highly commended Rong Hong's loyalty and talent, and arranged for him, Yang Guodong, Xu Shou, Hua Hengfang, Li Shanlan and others to organize the General Administration of Machinery Manufacturing in Shanghai, and moved most of the machines of Anqing Nei Ordnance Institute there, while a small part was kept in Shanghai. Next, as a branch of the Shanghai General Administration. The emperor thought of the heroes, and made a special decree to add the word "Yi Yong" to Zeng Guofan's first-class uncle, Zeng Guoquan's first-class uncle to add the word "Weiyi", and Li Hongzhang's first-class uncle to add "Weiyi" The word "Su Yi" made Zeng Guofan happy in his heart. While Zeng Guofan was working hard for the revitalization of Liangjiang, shocking news came from the front line of the battle between the Qing army and the Nian army.This news disrupted his overall plan, forced him to return to the battlefield, and finally turned him from a winner to a loser.