"Indeed, it was admiration.
From the perspective of others, Qianlong, the old dog, must have gone mad to decide to withdraw all the Banner garrisons and hereditary officials from across the empire back to Zhili.
After all, the current situation, while disadvantageous to my Great Qing, had not yet reached a point where rebels appeared in every prefecture.
Qianlong's decision, however, would significantly accelerate this process.
If the current state of my Great Qing was like a heavy cart rolling downhill, then Qianlong's decision would undoubtedly increase the speed of that cart by several notches.
But, what about looking at it from another angle?
When my Great Qing entered the Central Plains, the combat effectiveness of the Eight Banners had not been completely depleted. At that time, everyone in the empire believed that the Eight Banners had been brought in by the Ming Dynasty to counter the dog Shengzi. By the time they discovered the true nature of the Jurchens, Wu Sangui and his ilk had already become the guides.
Therefore, as long as the Eight Banners still possessed a certain level of combat effectiveness, my Great Qing could still barely maintain its footing.
The current situation was vastly different from when my Great Qing entered the Central Plains.
Firstly, there was the sheer number of bannermen and their dependents. The Banner soldiers stationed in each province usually numbered only a few thousand. After being distributed to several garrison posts in different prefectures, a single Banner camp would often have only a few hundred men.
Secondly, ever since entering the Central Plains, the combat effectiveness of my Great Qing's Eight Banners had been declining exponentially. By Qianlong's reign, they were so inept that it was unbearable to witness, and they could no longer be relied upon.
If it were only the Eight Banners that were useless, it would be one thing. But the Green Standard Army had also become useless, even reaching the point of fleeing from battle and surrendering, making them unreliable as well.
Now, even the Solun Guard, the most relied upon by my Great Qing, had colluded with the rebel Zhu. The rampant flames of rebellion everywhere had become an inevitable reality.
Under these circumstances, what use was it for my Great Qing to have the Eight Banners stationed in various localities?
Were these banner soldiers, who were already few in number and only skilled in carrying birdcages, expected to suppress the entire empire?
They likely wouldn't even be able to suppress the Green Standard Army, who were adept at surrendering and handing over equipment.
If these banner soldiers and hereditary officials were not withdrawn to Zhili, the ultimate outcome would be the gradual demise of the Great Qing, and these banner soldiers and hereditary officials would be purged by the rebels in various regions.
After all, Qianlong, the old dog, knew full well what my Great Qing had done since entering the Central Plains.
It was likely for these very reasons that Qianlong, the old dog, had recalled all the banner soldiers and hereditary officials from various regions back to Zhili, and had driven out all the Han people from Zhili.
Since the roots of my Great Qing were rotten, they would be severed and replanted.
After all, land acquired through seizing meant no heartache in discarding it.
Discarding the land would allow them to sit back and watch the tigers fight.
Let us not forget that whenever there was turmoil in the Central Plains, many upstart kings would emerge like in a poisonous insect summoning ritual. These upstart kings would relentlessly attack and devour each other until only one true emperor remained, and stability would once again return to the empire.
However, if one flips through the history books, it is not difficult to discover that whenever a new emperor was being decided, the armies were at their strongest, and the empire was at its most exhausted.
If Qianlong, the old dog, could focus on training troops and cultivating his internal strength while these upstart kings attacked and devoured each other, and then make a comeback when the true emperor was decided, then my Great Qing might still have a chance to regain its hold on the throne.
Even Zhu Jinsong, the arch-rebel who wanted to chop off Qianlong's head at every moment, had to admit that Qianlong's strategy of cutting off the tail to survive was indeed well-played, and it had indeed brought considerable trouble to Zhu Jinsong.
Regardless of anything else, what about those Han people driven out of Zhili by Qianlong, the old dog? Would Qianlong provide them with travel expenses, food, and settlement money?
Obviously, not only was Qianlong's treasury lacking funds, but even if Qianlong's treasury were overflowing, he would absolutely not give those Han people a single copper coin or a grain of rice. On the contrary, Qianlong, the old dog, would extort them further before they left Zhili.
Nearly ten million people in the entire Zhili region had lost their homes, land, food, and wealth. Where could they go?
To the north lay Mongolia, and to the east, Liaodong. Would Qianlong, the old dog, allow them to go to Mongolia and Liaodong?
Therefore, these Han people could only go to Shanxi or Shandong. And within Shanxi and Shandong, Zhu Jinsong, the arch-rebel, first established farmers' associations, then distributed land to the common people, and also exempted them from agricultural taxes and levies. How would these people choose?
Or rather, where would Qianlong, the old dog, and the Manchu court wish these people to flee?
That was nearly ten million people. Such a large number suddenly flooding into Shandong would be a severe test for the entire Menglianggu system. Any slight mistake could lead to unrest.
What was truly exasperating was that Zhu Jinsong could not directly march his troops into Zhili at this moment.
Let alone the fact that with each expansion, the manpower resources of the entire Menglianggu rebellion group were already extremely strained. Even if there were sufficient personnel, Zhu Jinsong currently lacked sufficient firearm reserves.
Attacking Zhili, unlike the previous battles fought prefecture by prefecture in Shandong, would not only face the desperate counterattack of the entire Great Qing, but also the Mongol banners to the north of Zhili, who were loyal to the Great Qing, could quickly move south to support them.
In plain terms, they wanted to fight but could not afford to. The current situation had not yet reached the point of mutual destruction. Fortunately, the Manchu government could not drive all nearly ten million Zhili civilians into Shandong at once.
After assembling the leaders of Menglianggu, Zhu Jinsong got straight to the point: "Nearly ten million civilians in Zhili. Even if only half of them choose to flee to Shandong, that would be a full five million people. In my opinion, we must find a way to resettle these civilians."
Liu Huaiwen glanced at Zhu Jinsong, wanting to speak but hesitating.
To persuade?
Persuasion would be useless. The Great Leader surely knew the difficulty of resettling so many civilians, but the Great Leader also would never stand idly by while so many refugees flooded into Shandong.
Liu Huaiwen silently took out his pipe, filled it with tobacco, then silently removed some of the tobacco, and then began to smoke it with a pfft pfft sound.
Since he could not persuade the Great Leader, it meant that the finances of the entire Menglianggu rebellion group were in jeopardy. He, who held the purse strings of Menglianggu, should smoke more sparingly.
Zeng Cheng also glanced at Zhu Jinsong and said with a frown, "If it were a hundred thousand or two hundred thousand civilians, it would be easy to resettle them. Even one or two million civilians could be resettled. But given the Manchu court's behavior, they will surely drive all these nearly ten million civilians to Shandong. This..."
Liu Hemin, the leader of the First Division, also frowned: "Even if our Menglianggu starts expanding its army, it will probably only expand by thirty to fifty thousand. For nearly ten million civilians, that's probably not even a drop in the bucket."
Zhu Jinsong looked at the frowning Liu Huaiwen and the conflicted Zeng Cheng and Liu Hemin, and said with a smile, "Don't worry, I don't intend to directly arrange housing for them, nor do I intend to give them money directly, nor even to issue them food directly. I understand the principle that a little help can lead to greater demands."
Upon hearing Zhu Jinsong say this, Zeng Cheng's eyes lit up, and he asked, "Does the Great Leader mean... work-relief?"
Zhu Jinsong nodded and said, "That's right, work-relief."
"Our Menglianggu army has developed to this day, and we cannot just linger in Shandong. It's time to venture out. As Liu Hemin said, we can select about thirty to fifty thousand suitable individuals from these civilians for military service."
"There are also the workshops in Yizhou. Although the privately run workshops cannot absorb many people, they should be able to absorb thirty to twenty thousand. Coupled with our own workshops in Menglianggu, they should be able to absorb eighty to ninety thousand."
"The remaining civilians can be arranged to build roads or build schools."
"After all, these civilians will not all flood into Shandong in one day. Some will come today, and some will come tomorrow. We have enough time to cope."
"The biggest problem now is how to guide these civilians."
"The farmers' associations and county offices in various regions, especially those close to Zhili, must be well-prepared in advance. We cannot be caught off guard when the civilians from Zhili arrive."
As soon as Zhu Jinsong mentioned the farmers' associations and county offices, Zeng Cheng immediately nodded in agreement and said, "Great Leader, rest assured. I will go there in a few days to supervise, and there will be no mistakes."
...
Ever since the news spread that Qianlong, the old dog, was recalling those banner soldiers and hereditary officials, the Bagua Sect and Chen Tailai, who could have jointly attacked Fuk'ang'an, began to look at each other unfavorably.
After all, as the saying goes, one mountain cannot accommodate two tigers. The Bagua Sect and Chen Tailai's territories were adjacent. The Bagua Sect wanted to spread its teachings into Chen Tailai's territory, and Chen Tailai wanted to bring Caozhou Prefecture under his control. How could that situation be good?
As the saying goes, a thousand toasts are not enough for a bosom friend, and half a sentence is too much for those who do not hit it off.
When the Great Qing court was still in existence, it was somewhat manageable. Now that the Great Qing court was gone, factions like the Bagua Sect and Chen Tailai, who had fundamental conflicts of interest, could only first fight to the death.
Of course, Hou Shang'an, the acting leader of the Bagua Sect, and Chen Tailai, who declared himself the Governor of Jining Prefecture of the Great Ming, were somewhat aware of the situation. After all, Zhu Jinsong occupied the largest territory, possessed the strongest strength, and controlled the channels for firearms. Therefore, they tacitly confined the conflict to their respective territories.
However, Hou Shang'an and Chen Tailai clearly had not heard the play "The Orphan of Zhao Marches West," otherwise they would have known what it means to say: "A person has no intention of harming a tiger, but a tiger has the intent to injure a person."
Zhu Jinsong had also long been displeased with the Bagua Sect and Chen Tailai.
Although the Bagua Sect was currently flying the banner of rebellion against the Qing and had indeed rebelled against the Qing, its original intention was to amass wealth. Its founder, Liu Zuochen, had joined various sects such as the White Lotus Sect, the Yellow Heaven Dao, and the Heaven and Earth Gate in his early years, focusing on wealth accumulation and becoming a rich man.
As for Chen Tailai, who had declared himself the Governor of Jining Prefecture of the Great Ming, he was not solely focused on amassing wealth. Instead, he was wholeheartedly bent on sitting on the dragon throne in the Forbidden City. His methods were all about winning over local gentry, corrupt scholars, and the gullible masses, as well as levying taxes.
It was fine before when everyone was united against the Manchu Qing. But now, the Great Qing court had not yet perished!
Moreover, with nearly ten million civilians about to flood in from Zhili, I, Zhu, am so busy I can't even remember scratching my head, and I don't even have time for my new wife. Yet you two factions are only thinking about tasting the flavor of sitting on the dragon throne and ignoring the suffering of these civilians?
Damn it all!
Zhu Jinsong, the arch-rebel, was very angry about the behavior of the Bagua Sect and Chen Tailai, who only cared about sitting on the dragon throne and not the lives of the common people. Zhu Jinsong was angry, and the consequences were severe.
Zhu Jinsong directly convened the leaders of the First and Second Armies of Menglianggu: "Erdan and Geng Rui will lead the Second Army north, attack Wuding Prefecture, and directly capture Wuding Prefecture. Then, they will advance westward and capture Deping, Dezhou, Dongchang Prefecture, and Linqing. Ergou and Geng Er, you two will lead the Third and Fourth Divisions southwest and eliminate Chen Tailai and the Bagua Sect."
ps: The first update is served. The remaining updates will be in the afternoon or evening. I will continue to update ten thousand words today.