Heavenly Emperor's Noble Lineage

Chapter 76 Everywhere is Ablaze

Zhu Jinsong had always been a man of his word. As a man from the hometown of Confucius and Mencius, he valued his promises. He had said he would let Agui and Fu Heng see Fu Kangan alive, and he would not let them see Fu Kangan dead. He had said he would turn the three of them into Jingguan擺件, and he would not let them become ordinary building materials for a Jingguan.

Zhu Jinsong had already decided on the location for the construction of the Jingguan.

Since Fu Kangan had massacred the villagers in Puji Town, the Jingguan would be built in Puji Village, to console the wronged souls of the innocent civilians.

Moreover, not only would this Jingguan be built, but it would also be announced to the world through the "Menglianggu Newspaper," so that everyone in the world would know that Fu Kangan, Agui, and Fu Huan had been made into Jingguan, so that those beasts who "led beasts to devour people" would be put on notice.

As for whether Qianlong, the old dog, would go mad because of this?

Zhu Jinsong thought it did not matter. After all, even if Qianlong, the old dog, went mad, he could only bark a couple of times within the Forbidden City, and Zhu Jinsong would not lose a single piece of flesh because of it.

On the contrary, the development momentum of the Menglianggu rebel group had begun to trouble Zhu Jinsong, the arch-rebel.

This was because Zhu Erdan and Geng Rui had directly led troops to capture the entire Qingzhou Prefecture. At the same time, when Zhu Jinsong had decided to eliminate Fu Kangan, Agui, and Fu Huan, he had also sent a message to Geng Er, who was leading the Fourth Division and the Second Army Headquarters on a forced march to Mount Tai, asking him to attack Jinan Prefecture while its defenses were weak.

And Geng Er had indeed lived up to Zhu Jinsong's high expectations. Not only had he extended the flames of war to Jinan Prefecture, but under the leadership of the Lixing Patrol soldiers, he had directly captured Lixing County town. The Governor of Shandong, Ming Xing, had barely escaped with his life, and he had not even managed to take away the wealth he had accumulated by extorting the "hero of suppressing bandits," Cai.

It should be known that Lixing County town was different from ordinary counties like Zhangqiu and Zichuan, because Lixing County was also the seat of Jinan Prefecture.

As a result, the entire situation in Shandong became that the territory of Caozhou Prefecture was controlled by the Bagua Sect, the territory of Jining Prefecture and part of Yanzhou Prefecture was controlled by Chen Tailai, and apart from Wuding Prefecture, Linqingzhou, and part of Dongchang Prefecture, most of the territory of Shandong was in Zhu Jinsong's hands.

Compared to the Bagua Sect and the White Lotus Sect, which were characterized by their nomadic nature, Zhu Jinsong had always preferred to "cross the river by feeling the stones." Therefore, the most direct consequence of the rapid expansion of territory was the shortage of manpower.

Logically speaking, Zhu Jinsong should not have been worried about the shortage of manpower, because Zhu Jinsong, like the "rabbit," had learned to run night schools and train officials in Menglianggu. He had copied everything he could, but he had not shown it due to the influence of a certain mythical beast.

However, in reality, Zhu Jinsong's subordinates were indeed short of people, even desperately so.

This was not an exaggeration, but a reality.

Many people thought that if they raised the banner of rebellion and then learned from the "rabbit" to do this and that, they would be all set. But these people had definitely not seriously studied the history of the "rabbit's" rise.

This was because these people might not have a clear understanding of what three-quarters of Shandong represented, nor how many officials and clerks were needed to govern such a vast territory.

Perhaps some people felt that since people were defecting to Chen Tailai, Zhu Jinsong, whose rebellion was on a larger scale than Chen Tailai's, would also have people defecting to him. These defectors could be reformed into qualified officials, so why would he be short of manpower?

In fact, those who had such an understanding were purely theoretical keyboard strategists who did not combine theory with practice.

At that time, the "rabbit" seemed to not be short of manpower, but in reality, it was? The reason why the "rabbit" was not short of manpower was that, in addition to the "rabbit" continuously cultivating its own personnel, the numerous schools on the side of the "bald man" had also laid a certain foundation for the "rabbit."

As for my "Great Qing"...

My "Great Qing" wished that all the people in the world were illiterate blind men. The personnel it cultivated were all pedantic scholars, which were of no use at all.

If you don't understand, then you only need to consider two simple questions to get the answer:

Why was the imperial power of my "Great Qing" court not extended to the villages? Why did the county magistrates of my "Great Qing" always feel like useless individuals who couldn't live without their advisors?

Even if you search through the historical records of all dynasties, only the county magistrates of my "Great Qing" needed the help of advisors. The terms "broken home county magistrate" and "exterminated family prefect" were actually used to describe the county magistrates and prefects of the Ming Dynasty, and had nothing to do with the magistrates and prefects of my "Great Qing."

This was because most of the officials of my "Great Qing" directly took office after succeeding in the imperial examinations or bought their offices, and they had no real experience in governing.

In the Ming Dynasty, passing the imperial examinations only granted the qualification to become an official. To become a county magistrate of a region, the prerequisite was that these Jinshi scholars had to work in the Six Ministries for half a year, learn from their seniors in the Six Ministries for half a year, and after passing the assessment, they would be appointed as local officials.

It was precisely because of this that the county magistrates of the Ming Dynasty did not take the local gentry and scholars seriously. While colluding with the local gentry and scholars was one thing, if these local gentry and scholars wanted to usurp the power of the county magistrate, the result would only be that they would be played to death by the county magistrate.

In contrast, my "Great Qing" officials were completely ignorant of the art of governance. Before they learned the art of power and intrigue, they were appointed as county magistrates, so how could they do without the help of advisors?

Moreover, it was true that many scholars defected to Chen Tailai, but how had Chen Tailai's territory been ravaged into such a sorry state? The livelihoods of the common people were even worse than when they were ruled by the officials of the "Great Qing."

This led to a large number of scholars defecting to Zhu Jinsong, which was also of no use. If these people were directly appointed as local officials, Zhu Jinsong would be considered good-tempered if he did not directly hack them to death!

If you still don't understand, then go and read Volume 3, Page 811, and Volume 1, Page 109 of the "Dragon Slaying Techniques."

Therefore, Zhu Jinsong's subordinates were indeed short of people.

Of course, the shortage of manpower was not without a solution. The solution was to continue to expand the scale of the Menglianggu night school and the official training classes, and to extend the Menglianggu night school and the official training classes to the entire Shandong. As long as there was sufficient time, this problem could be solved.

However, just as Zhu Jinsong was preparing to focus on his internal cultivation, Qianlong, the old dog, who was far away in the capital, went mad.

Because Zhu Jinsong had turned Fu Kangan, Agui, and Fu Huan into Jingguan擺件, and had publicized the consequences of "leading beasts to devour people" in the "Menglianggu Newspaper," this had completely stimulated Qianlong, the old dog!

Stimulated, Qianlong, the old dog, did not just bark fruitlessly in the Forbidden City as Zhu Jinsong had expected, but instead, he unhesitatingly prepared to mobilize the "Great Qing's" strongest fighting force in his mind.

In Qianlong's mind, the Straight Capital Eight Banners and the Straight Capital Green Standard Army, which had participated in the campaigns against Burma and the Jinchuan campaigns, were not the strongest fighting forces. The truly strongest fighting forces were still the Solon soldiers and the Outer Manchurian Eight Banners and Mongolian Eight Banners.

Originally, Qianlong, the old dog, had intended to eliminate Zhu Jinsong, the rebel leader, without using these troops. However, after his beloved Fu Kangan was made into a Jingguan擺件, Qianlong, the old dog, unhesitatingly prepared to mobilize the Solon soldiers and the Mongolian Eight Banners.

Qianlong, the old dog, wanted to avenge Fu Kangan.

Of course, if it were only like this, Qianlong, the old dog, would at most have been stimulated to the point of mental confusion, and would not have reached the point of going mad.

However, what happened next completely drove Qianlong, the old dog, insane—

Ten thousand Straight Capital Green Standard Army, plus ten thousand Eight Banner cavalry and twenty thousand Eight Banner infantry, were dispatched to suppress Zhu Xiaosong. The result was that the ten thousand Green Standard Army was routed, and the thirty thousand armored Eight Banners were made into Jingguan, along with Fu Kangan, Qianlong's favorite illegitimate son, Fu Huan, Fu Kangan's nominal father and Grand Secretary, Agui, the Imperial Commissioner and Chief Grand Secretary of the Hall of Martial Valor, all turned into Jingguan擺件.

In addition to the White Lotus Sect in Hubei, the Bagua Sect in Caozhou Prefecture, Lin Shuangwen of Great Ryukyu, Tian Wu of Gansu, and the various other rebels in the provinces surrounding Shandong were all making a great fuss...

The prestige and dignity of my "Great Qing" court were lost overnight, and were completely trampled into the mud!

To put it plainly, all the people in the world had seen through the true face of my "Great Qing" court as strong on the outside but weak on the inside.

If such a thing happened in India, it might not be much, after all, in India, it was believed that one would be reincarnated into a good family in the next life.

But in the Central Plains, it was different. The Central Plains emphasized "He can take my place" and "A true man should be like this."

Since my "Great Qing" court could not even deal with the Shu rebels and Chen Tailai and the Bagua Sect who were close to Shandong, could it not deal with places further away from the Straight Capital?

If the surname Zhu can rebel, then I can rebel too.

In other words, this time, the rebels involved were not just Zhu Jinsong, Chen Tailai, the Bagua Sect, the White Lotus Sect, Lin Shuangwen, and Tian Wu. Nearly a hundred rebel forces emerged overnight, mainly in the areas south and west of Shandong.

Basically, except for the areas north and east of the Straight Capital, rebels could be found everywhere else.

Under these circumstances, the provincial governors and viceroys stationed in various places also began to have ulterior motives.

After all, the emperor was far away, and Chen Tailai was blocking the Grand Canal. The rebels in various places were also making a big fuss. Therefore, these provincial governors and viceroys continued to collect money as usual, but the treasury of my "Great Qing" and Qianlong's personal treasury lost a large source of income.

Of course, my "Great Qing" emperors had always been popular, and the governors and viceroys in various places were also Qianlong's confidants, so the provincial governors and viceroys were still loyal to my "Great Qing."

However, loyalty to my "Great Qing" did not seem to have any necessary connection with whether taxes were remitted to the treasury or not?

Loyalty was certain, but money was definitely not remitted to the treasury.

In addition, these provincial governors and viceroys who were loyal to my "Great Qing" were really not very capable. They could not compete with those who had malicious intentions, to the point that Qianlong's imperial edicts became waste paper once they left the Forbidden City, and the orders of those provincial governors and viceroys who were loyal to my "Great Qing" could not even leave the yamen.

In any case, this was how these provincial governors and viceroys replied to Qianlong, the old dog.

My "Great Qing" court sent巡查御史 (inspecting censors)?

What the heck were inspecting censors?

If their attitude was good, they would be politely sent back, with the reason that there were rebels everywhere, and the money collected could not be remitted to the capital for fear of being intercepted by the rebels.

If their attitude was bad, they might be killed by those rebels. In any case, the world had become chaotic, and who knew where a rebel force might be hiding.

What made Qianlong, the old dog, even more desperate was that the Green Standard officers and soldiers stationed in various places truly lived up to their reputation as trash. They were all very eager to ask the court for military pay and provisions, and they were all ruthless in extorting the common people. However, as soon as they heard the word "suppress the bandits," they were finished. From the soldiers below to the generals above, they all began to suffer from illnesses, such as sore fingernails or itchy scalp, in short, they were unwell and could not depart immediately.

Imperial Commissioners...

Imperial Commissioners had the same treatment as inspecting censors. If their attitude was good, they would be politely sent back; if their attitude was bad, they would inexplicably die at the hands of the rebels.

This made Qianlong, the old dog, particularly desperate.

Even during the late Sui Dynasty, there were still generals and soldiers loyal to Yang Er in the world. But when it came to Qianlong, the old dog, he couldn't even find a loyal minister?

Qianlong, the old dog, believed that the root of all this was the rebel Zhu Jinsong.

If it weren't for Zhu, the rebel, repeatedly defeating the government troops' suppressions, others would have to think carefully about the consequences of rebellion when they rebelled.

If it weren't for Zhu, the rebel, creating the "Menglianggu Newspaper" and distributing it everywhere, those "mud rats" would not have remembered the bad things that my "Great Qing" had done.

Therefore, Qianlong, the old dog, completely went mad.

Since the problem stemmed from Zhu, the rebel, it would be solved by Zhu, the rebel.

ps: The first update is served. Today, I will continue with a 10,000-character update, striving to update 15,000+ characters.