Chapter 114 Send troops eastward!
On September 15th of the first year of Emperor Xianfeng's reign in the Qing Dynasty, Li Yi and Luo Dagang met outside the city of Pingle Prefecture.
"We haven't seen each other for more than half a year since we parted at Jintian. How is Brother Luo these days?"
Li Yi took the initiative to ride forward and greet him.
Luo Dagang felt a little unhappy when he heard this, and asked with a smile.
"Why, you're still calling me big brother? There's a generation gap between us, right?"
Hearing this, Li Yi scratched his head in embarrassment.
"How are you, father-in-law? I am honored to be your son-in-law!"
After Luo Dagang heard this, his expression improved slightly.
"That's pretty much it!"
The two walked side by side and continued their conversation.
"It is indeed a wise choice for my father-in-law to leave the Kingdom of Heaven and return to Guangxi."
Li Yi spoke up, praising Luo Dagang's decision.
Upon hearing this, Luo Dagang showed an interested expression on his face and asked.
"Why do you say that, my dear son-in-law?"
Li Yi continued.
"Don't underestimate the power of the Heavenly Kingdom. The army is marching straight into the south of the Yangtze River, advancing forward like flowers blooming and oil boiling in a raging fire."
"But in my opinion, this is just a temporary glory. In the long run, I am not optimistic about the future of the Kingdom of Heaven."
"Once the Kingdom of Heaven entered Jiangnan and was seduced by the glamorous world of Jiangnan, that was when the Kingdom of Heaven began to decline."
Upon hearing this, Luo Dagang showed an interested expression on his face and then asked.
"Please tell me more about this, my dear son-in-law."
Upon hearing this, Li Yi did not hesitate to speak directly.
"First, there are external reasons."
"The Heavenly Kingdom worships the God Worshipping Society. This Western religion is seriously inconsistent with our Chinese culture and secular traditions, and it is difficult for the people to accept it on a large scale."
"In addition, wherever the Heavenly Kingdom passes, it destroys temples and burns books, as if it wants to exterminate all Confucianists. It has cut itself off from the literati community and the world."
"Based on what they have done, they will sooner or later provoke a fierce counterattack from the gentry."
"By then, the enemies that the Heavenly Kingdom will have to face will not only be the Qing demons, but also those gentry and militiamen."
"If the Heavenly Kingdom cannot seize the capital at the height of its power and take advantage of its military might, it will destroy the rule of the Qing Dynasty."
"Then once the Heavenly Kingdom's troops are worn out and their offensive momentum fades, they will sooner or later be strangled by the Qing demons and the gentry."
In Li Yi's opinion, if the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom wanted to change its fate of final destruction.
The only way is to carry out secular reforms and gradually dilute its religious influence.
But will Heaven do this?
Or in other words, would Hong Xiuquan do this?
The answer is no, because the foundation of the Kingdom of Heaven is Christianity.
Once secular reforms were carried out, the first person to be killed would be Hong Xiuquan, the Heavenly King.
"The second reason is because of problems within the Kingdom of Heaven."
"In my opinion, the Kingdom of Heaven had already sown the seeds of civil unrest from the moment it revolted."
"The nominal supreme ruler of the Kingdom of Heaven is not the same person as the one who actually holds the military and political power. The separation of nominal power and real power has caused irreconcilable contradictions within the Kingdom of Heaven."
"The Changsha Incident was actually just a rehearsal for a larger-scale civil strife that would break out in Heaven in the future."
"Unless the Heavenly King becomes the one who holds real power, or the Eastern King completely replaces the Heavenly King in the Heavenly Kingdom."
"Otherwise, this civil unrest is inevitable!"
When Luo Dagang heard what Li Yi meant, he took a breath and said.
"My dear son-in-law, are you saying that the Heavenly King and the Eastern King will fight sooner or later?"
"But I don't think the King of the East has this intention, right?"
"The Heavenly King is in name only, and the Eastern King is in reality. Haven't the two always been in harmony?"
Li Yi heard this and said with a curled lip.
"Even if the King of the East really doesn't have this idea, what about the soldiers and generals in the East Palace?" "If the King of the East doesn't make progress, how can they make progress?"
"Even for their own advancement, they have to push the King of the East forward!"
"Wasn't it his subordinates who set up the Chenqiao mutiny of Emperor Taizu of Song? If he doesn't mutiny, his subordinates will turn against him."
Upon hearing this, Luo Dagang had to admit that what Li Yi said made sense.
So he continued to ask.
"Then my dear son-in-law, when do you think the civil strife in Heaven will break out?"
Li Yi heard this and shook his head.
"Hard to say!"
"It's hard to guess what the Heavenly King and the Eastern King are thinking."
Upon hearing this, Luo Dagang sighed inwardly and realized that he was indeed suitable for leading troops in battle.
When it comes to politics, my brain really can't handle it!
"So what is the son-in-law going to do next?"
Li Yi heard this and smiled.
"Go east, attack Guangdong, and merge Guangdong and Guangxi!"
……
On September 20th of the first year of Emperor Xianfeng's reign in the Qing Dynasty, Li Yi returned to Wuzhou City with Luo Dagang's troops.
At this time, Wang An, Zhao Xiang and Li Sheng also arrived in Wuzhou with their troops.
The Restoration Army gathered heavily inside and outside Wuzhou City.
The army rested for a day. Li Yi briefly reviewed the troops outside Wuzhou City and then ordered the army to march east.
The next day, Li Yi beheaded Xu Guangjin, the governor-general of Guangdong and Guangxi of the Qing Dynasty, and used his head as a sacrifice.
Afterwards, he led nearly 50,000 restoration troops, claiming to have an army of 100,000, and set out from Wuzhou, advancing eastward along the Xijiang River and heading towards Guangdong.
Since the Taiping Army's wars in Jiangnan and Huguang are going quite smoothly, Li Yi cannot let the Taiping Army take all the credit.
It’s time to implement the long-planned eastward strategy!
After the army marched eastward, the war went quite smoothly.
On September 25, the Restoration Army went down the river and reached Deqing Prefecture.
Li Yi ordered his men to persuade the enemy to surrender.
Deqing Prefecture refused to surrender, and Li Yi mobilized heavy artillery to bombard the city. Half an hour later, with the cooperation of the Tiandihui forces in Deqing Prefecture, the Restoration Army captured Deqing Prefecture.
Later, they successively captured Jiuguan, Yuecheng, Meizi and other places, and arrived at the city of Zhaoqing on the evening of September 30.
……
After Xu Guangjin was defeated and captured in Wuzhou, Ye Mingchen, the former Governor of Guangdong, was urgently promoted by the Qing court to Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi to replace Xu Guangjin.
The post of Governor of Guangdong was taken over by Bai Gui, who came from the Eight Banners of Mongolia.
Guangdong General's Mansion.
After learning that the enemy troops were advancing eastward, Guangdong General Mutten urgently summoned Ye Mingchen and Bai Gui to the general's residence to discuss matters.
"Something bad has happened. The bandits in Guangxi who call themselves the Restoration Army are marching eastward from Wuzhou and into Guangdong."
"Now, Deqing has fallen, and the enemy soldiers have reached Zhaoqing. Zhaoqing is in danger. You two should think of a solution quickly. What should we do?"
Muttern asked anxiously, his big face full of fear and anxiety.
Zhaoqing is the western gate of Guangzhou Prefecture. Once Zhaoqing is captured by the enemy troops, they will be very close to Guangzhou.
Upon hearing this, Ye Mingchen and Bai Gui looked at each other in surprise.
After a moment, Ye Mingchen spoke.
"Zhaoqing cannot be defended. Our army can only prepare for the battle in Guangzhou in advance while the enemy troops have failed to capture Zhaoqing..."
After the Battle of Wuzhou, all the elite Qing troops in Guangdong were lost.
The remaining troops now may not be able to defend the city, let alone take the initiative to attack and engage in a field battle with the Restoration Army.
This is not the way to give away your life!
There are only 6,000 today, I can’t code it out…
(End of this chapter)