Chapter 137 Li Yi: Do you want to know about wearing Hu clothing and riding and shooting?
Li Yi had a complicated expression on his face when he heard this.
But he could understand why things turned out like this.
Both Xiao Chaogui and Shi Dakai were from the south and had never studied military affairs in depth, but the reason they could fight was because of the experience they had gained from commanding clan fights in the past.
It is precisely because of these experiences that they were able to lead troops and fight in the south with success.
But the problem was that neither of them had ever had experience fighting against large-scale cavalry on the plains.
Suddenly, they encountered the Mongolian cavalry led by Senggelinqin in the flat Henan Province and had no idea how to respond. It was normal for them to be defeated.
Li Liang asked.
"Grand Admiral, how should we deal with this?"
Li Yi looked thoughtful and did not give an answer immediately, but spoke.
"No rush, let's see how the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom reacts first."
"Even if the Qing demons want to send troops to suppress the rebellion, they will fight from the north to the south. The pressure faced by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom now is much greater than that of our Restoration Army."
Li Liang heard this and spoke again.
"General, speaking of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, I have one more thing I want to report."
Li Yi nodded and motioned Li Liang to speak.
Li Liang spoke up.
"This is news from Shanghai. The foreigners in Shanghai are in contact with the Heavenly Kingdom and are preparing to conduct trade and exchange doctrines..."
When Li Liang said this, Li Yi couldn't help but chuckle.
He recalled the historical exchange between the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and foreigners.
In general, that is.
Foreigner: I heard that you also believe in God?
King Hong: Of course.
Foreigner: Then why are your doctrines different from ours?
King Hong: You are wrong. God is my Father and Jesus is my brother. No one understands God better than me.
Foreigner: 6...
Then, the foreign rifle corps appeared on the scene and began to help the Qing government fight against the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
It is impossible to say that this has nothing to do with Hong Tianwang calling himself the Brother of Heaven.
Of course, this would not be the main reason.
Although foreigners attach great importance to religion, to put it bluntly, God is nothing in front of real gold and silver.
Li Yi guessed that the reason why the foreigners chose to stand on the side of the Qing court was probably because the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom also banned smoking.
During this era, the most important commodity for foreigners in China was opium.
As a result, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom banned opium, but the Qing government did not. In addition, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was certainly not able to sell its country as well as the Qing Dynasty, so it was normal for foreigners to choose to side with the Qing Dynasty.
Li Liang didn't understand why Li Yi suddenly laughed, but he didn't dare to ask. He just stood aside with an awkward expression.
Li Yi laughed and continued.
"Let's communicate."
"If I remember correctly, smoking is also prohibited in Heaven. I want to see what those foreigners will do."
Even though the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had many faults, it was always better than the Qing Dynasty in banning opium.
Because, among the teachings of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, there is a prohibition on smoking opium.
This meant that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's position was naturally opposed to that of the foreigners who sold opium.
Li Liang continued.
"General, there is one more thing. Our people have also learned that the Taiping Army is preparing to launch a northern expedition, intending to kill through Jiangsu, Anhui, Shandong and then attack the capital directly..."
Li Yi touched his chin and fell into deep thought.
In his opinion, the Taiping Army's strategy of rashly launching a northern expedition was not smart enough.
Going straight to the heart of the Qing demon sounds pretty good.
But the problem is that it is not that easy to achieve.
First of all, the main force of the Taiping Army was mostly from the south. If they rashly marched north, it would be difficult for them to adapt to the climate and environment of the north.
Secondly, the Qing court did not have much support from the people in the south and its rule was superficial, but in the north, especially in Zhili and Shandong, its rule was still very stable.
Finally, there was the threat posed by the Qing army’s cavalry group.
The vast plains of North China are really suitable for cavalry to gallop.
Otherwise, in history, Zhu Yuanzhang would not be the only one who unified the north from the south.
How did Zhu Yuanzhang deal with the Yuan army's cavalry back then?
The answer is actually very simple, that is cavalry against cavalry.
In the past, the Mongols had numerous horse farms in the south, and the various rebel armies in the south had no shortage of war horses even if they relied solely on captured horses.
Each of them has a strong cavalry force!
Therefore, after unifying the south, Zhu Yuanzhang was able to successfully launch the Northern Expedition by using cavalry against cavalry.
But what about the Taiping Army?
They really have no cavalry.
A group of cousins who came out from Guangxi can operate boats, but they are really bad at riding horses.
I don't have that gene at all!
The Nian Army did have quite a few cavalrymen?
But it will take you some time to recruit them, right?
Therefore, in Li Yi's view, the Taiping Army's Northern Expedition was nothing more than a strategic gamble, the kind that put most of one's chips on the line but did not necessarily have much chance of winning.
There is really nothing good about it!
If Li Yi were Yang Xiuqing or Hong Xiuquan, he would never rashly launch the Northern Expedition.
Instead, after completely wiping out the major camps in the south and north of the Yangtze River, they would launch a western or eastern expedition, using their main forces in Huguang and Jiangnan to wipe out the remaining Qing troops in these places and allow the Heavenly Kingdom to gain a firm foothold.
Then we will find a way to subdue the Nian Army. Once we have the Nian Army and the help of cavalry, that will be the best time to march north and attack the capital.
But unfortunately, Li Yi was ultimately unable to command the Taiping Army.
It could not change the fate of this main force of the Taiping Army heading north to die.
In addition, it is worth mentioning that in the original historical line, the Taiping Army actually launched a westward expedition while fighting in the north.
Shi Dakai commanded Hu Yihuang, Lai Hanying and other generals to lead the army westward to attack Jiangxi, Hunan and other places.
Although the war was hindered and failed to completely break the deadlock, it did relieve a lot of pressure on Tianjing City.
But now, because of the Changsha Incident, Shi Dakai fled with Xiao Chaogui, so the Taiping Army only launched the Northern Expedition, but not the Western Expedition.
In this way, the pressure that Tianjing will face will be even greater!
……
The next day, Li Yi summoned the generals of the Restoration Army to the Grand Marshal's Office and held a meeting.
Prepare to discuss the next move of the Restoration Army.
Fan Xiyuan, Ye Zhisheng, Li Sheng, Wang An and other senior executives arrived one after another.
After everyone was seated, Li Yi spoke.
"The Governor has called everyone here today to announce the following matters."
"First, it is about expanding the military."
"This Governor has decided to expand the army greatly in the next period of time."
Seeing everyone's eyes focused on him, Li Yi continued.
"This Governor intends to expand the army by three reorganized infantry divisions within two years."
"We will also start to conduct rotational training for each unit of our army, eliminate the old and weak, and select the best soldiers." The reason for expanding the army is that the current strength of the Restoration Army is only 40,000 to 50,000 people. These 40,000 to 50,000 people are not enough to defend the original territory, let alone continue to expand outward.
Therefore, military expansion is imminent.
The training was necessary because the various units of the Restoration Army were of varying quality.
The composition of the current Restoration Army is relatively complex. It includes soldiers recruited and trained by itself, various rebel forces that have been incorporated, and surrendered Qing troops.
These people have different levels of training and fighting abilities, and there are even many opium addicts among them.
Li Yi did not have time to reorganize the army before, but now that Guangzhou has been captured and the Restoration Army has been temporarily stabilized, it is time for Li Yi to start reorganizing the troops.
After that, Li Yi continued.
"The conscription department must do its best to recruit soldiers. Three divisions, that is, about 60,000 people. I will only give you two months."
"The task is arduous, but I believe you can accomplish it."
"And the Logistics Department and the Ordnance Department must also do their corresponding work."
"Logistics Department, prepare 100,000 sets of new military uniforms for this Governor within two months so that newly recruited soldiers and various units of our army can change into new uniforms."
Originally, the Restoration Army did not have a unified military uniform. Some of them wore the uniforms of the Taiping Army, some still wore the uniforms of the Qing Army's Green Camp, and some even had no unified uniform at all.
It all depends on a headscarf to distinguish between friend and foe!
In such a situation, it might work for a short period of time, but it certainly won't work in the long run.
Without a unified military uniform, it is not conducive to building a unified military spirit and soul!
Therefore, Li Yi planned to take advantage of this major military expansion to complete the equipment replacement as well.
Anyway, the Restoration Army has just seized the Eight Banners and Thirteen Hongs in Guangzhou, so they are not short of money and food.
Of course, there is no need to make do with it anymore!
As for the style of the military uniform, Li Yi designed it himself with reference to the style of the German military uniform during World War II.
Top and pants, stand-up collar, center button, with leather belt.
Pockets are designed at several locations such as the chest and hem of the clothes to facilitate storing some things.
The color is gray and black.
The reason for this is that the dyeing cost of gray-black fabric is relatively low, and it is cheaper to mass-produce military uniforms.
The second reason is that the gray-black color is not very obvious when stained with blood. Even if someone is injured, the overall morale of the army will not be affected by the large amount of blood.
The third reason is that the gray-black color is not very noticeable on the battlefield, so in the upcoming era of breech-loading guns, it will not become a sitting duck, and it will also be more convenient for night raids.
The fourth reason is because this thing is really cool!
Although the project of Little Mustache was unfinished, its aesthetics are really amazing.
As for Li Yi's promotion of the new military uniform, would it cause dissatisfaction among the army and the people, and would people say that he was also following the Qing Dynasty's example of shaving his head and changing his clothes?
In fact, it will not, because Li Yi's new military uniform is only promoted in the military, while the public is still mainly promoting the revival and simplification of Hanfu.
Also, do you know about Hu clothing and horse riding?
Our ancestors two thousand years ago had already laid the template, so Li Yi wouldn't be able to copy the homework without understanding it.
After that, Li Yi continued.
"The ordnance department must also complete the relocation of the arsenal as soon as possible. After the arsenal moves to Foshan, it must properly utilize Foshan's large number of mature workers and industrial chains to expand production capacity."
"After the arsenal is relocated, we will strive to achieve the established goals of increasing military equipment production capacity by 30% within one month, doubling it within three months, and quadrupling it within half a year..."
Cheng Jingyuan, head of the conscription department, Ye Zhisheng, head of the logistics department, and Zhao Ke, head of the ordnance department, all stood up and clasped their fists in response.
"I promise to complete the task!"
Li Yi nodded slightly, motioned for everyone to sit down, and then talked about the second thing.
"The second thing is that I am going to hold an imperial examination in Guangzhou to select officials for my governor's office."
"Although our Restoration Army has occupied many state capitals and counties, we are seriously short of officials, and many places are under military control."
"In the short term, it may work, but it is not a long-term solution. It is urgent to hold imperial examinations and select officials."
"Let Mr. Fan handle this matter!"
Li Yi turned and said to Fan Xiyuan.
Upon hearing this, Fan Xiyuan felt inexplicably excited. As a scholar, he understood too well the significance of holding imperial examinations to select scholars.
As long as a regime begins to hold imperial examinations to recruit scholars, it means that they are beginning to get on the right track and are trying to gain the support of the literati.
And this is exactly what Fan Xiyuan hopes to see.
The reason why he surrendered to Li Yi was not to follow a thief, but to follow the Lord of Destiny, to establish a new dynasty, and to leave his name in history.
In his opinion, Li Yi is now walking on this path and moving forward.
In Fan Xiyuan's opinion, Li Yi has great hope.
He has outstanding military ability, sufficient strategic vision, lives a simple life and does not like extravagant enjoyment. He has a generous and open personality, and he is also respectful to the wise and humble, and knows how to use people well...
There is absolutely no problem with his personal ability or moral character.
More importantly, Li Yi is extremely lucky and can be said to have a destiny.
Isn’t this the most typical template of a founding monarch?
Following such a person, Fan Xiyuan felt that his life was full of motivation and he was full of energy in doing his work.
After listening to Li Yi's instructions, Fan Xiyuan asked.
"Grand Commander, may I ask what the Restoration Army will test this time? And how many people will be selected?"
After hearing this, Li Yi pondered for a while and said.
"The four subjects are divided into eight-part essay, policy essay, arithmetic, and Western studies. The difficulty of the questions can be appropriately lowered."
"As for the number of candidates, let's tentatively set it at 200 per subject, for a total of 800."
To put it bluntly, Li Yi's move is to relax the rules in the imperial examination.
He wanted to try to gradually lower the threshold and value of the imperial examination, laying the foundation for the future reform of the imperial examination into a civil service examination.
Of course, Li Yi's move also had the intention of buying something good for the gentry class.
Well, although I, Li Yi, want to divide your land, I will also give you an official position, right?
In this way, the gentry class's resistance to the Restoration Army can be greatly reduced.
Especially those small and medium-sized landlords who own at most a few hundred acres of land.
Once Li Yi's policy of relaxing the imperial examination system is announced, they will most likely stop resisting.
It is definitely right to unite the small and medium-sized landlords.
Upon hearing this, Fan Xiyuan asked hesitantly.
"Grand Commander, with so many candidates being selected at once, wouldn't the selected candidates be of mixed quality?"
Li Yi shook his head and said with a wry smile.
"My Restoration Army is really short of officials now."
"To put it bluntly, even if the candidates are of mixed quality, it is better to have one than to have none."
After hearing this, Fan Xiyuan finally responded.
"I understand the humble position!"
Li Yi nodded slightly and then said.
"The third thing is to reorganize the Grand Military Governor's Office, add the Department of Internal Affairs and the Department of General Staff, and implement the policy of separation of military and political affairs."
I will update one chapter first and code the next one.
(End of this chapter)