In September 1853, there was a major change in the General Staff, and more than ninety percent of the posts were replaced. Whether it's the people who have been transferred, or those who have been transferred in, everyone knows the reason why Weeser did this. Generals who have experience in the General Staff Headquarters can establish a staff system in various units more quickly.

A group of "old guys" went, and the younger wave joined the General Staff. This wave of young people is different from Wei Changrong, Hu Chenghe and other old seniors, and their qualifications are not deep enough. However, these men were the first batch of officers selected through the guò written test and the skill test. Wei Ze believes that what these people need is to honestly learn the rules and regulations set by the last wave of the General Staff. Unexpectedly, the young people here are far more active than they imagined.

A staff officer named Levi offered to Weeser that he could help Weeser's troops contact Brimstone, and this guy Gao Weser had now at least determined that there was a batch of Brimstone that could be purchased at any time.

Wei Ze looked at the young staff officer, and there were some words in his heart that he really couldn't say. If Levi has two hearts for the troops, he really can't be evaluated like this at this stage. If it is a guy with a smooth wrist, even if he prepares for this matter in private, he will pretend that someone else will run this business.

But if Levi's is dedicated to the public, it is even more difficult to talk about. At least in Weeser's view, the sign of a single-minded public service was Levi's ability to propose a plan for the purchase of sulfur within the army system. It should be the troops, the General Staff, not him Levi's, who should have come out for this.

It's just that this is not the time to pursue this, there are opportunities and excuses to deal with Levi, and the most important thing now is whether or not he can get sulfur by chance. With sulfur, the problem of the supply of gunpowder in Weezer was naturally solved. If he couldn't get the brimstone, Weeser would have been able to deal with the obvious undisciplined Levi.

"We can use the channels of Huizhou merchants to get sulfur from Shanghai, from all over the country. Not only sulfur, but also saltpeter, raw silk, and tea, they have a wide range of contacts and can do a lot of things in Anhui. Levi explained to Wees.

"Are you saying that if we want to continue to expand the raw silk and tea business, we might as well find a Hui merchant to buy it from the local government?" Weeser asked. When he said this, Wei Ze's tone was already quite unpolite. Although he has never rejected business, Weeser is not the kind of person who allows other business groups to meddle in Weeser's turf at will.

Levi was not afraid, he said seriously: "Chief of General Staff, we don't produce much silk and tea in central Anhui, and most of these are produced in southern Anhui. In Anhui, it is naturally our Taiping Army that has the final say. But in southern Anhui, why don't we make use of the connections of Huizhou businessmen? ”

Frowning and silent for a moment, Wei Ze suddenly said, "I remember coming, you were in charge of collecting tea and raw silk a few months ago, right?" ”

Seeing that Wei Ze remembered himself, Levi's feelings became even more excited, and he said with bright eyes: "Exactly! The subordinate was ordered to take charge of this. At this stage of military strain, the Chief of the General Staff, you have repeatedly stressed that you must not harm the interests of those who sell tea and raw silk. Just this heart, as well as the rules you set, my subordinates sincerely admire it. ”

Wei Ze didn't have much kindness, the price of tea and raw silk in Anhui was not too expensive, and when Wei Ze sold it to the arms dealer Smith, he didn't worry about transportation, so the purchase price he gave to the supplier was very reasonable. For Weese, as long as there is something to be earned. Normal trading can also expand Wesser's influence in the local area, and the bone-sucking squeezing is not suitable for Weese at the moment.

However, Levi obviously didn't think so, and when he mentioned this matter, Levi praised Wei Ze's benevolence again and again, but after praising a few words, he still couldn't help but clear himself up first, "Chief of General Staff, my subordinates should have reported this earlier, but at that time, my subordinates hadn't received a reply when they contacted their families, so they didn't dare to say anything." I hope the Chief of the General Staff will forgive me! ”

Without Weizer's urging, Levi had already begun to take the initiative to explain his origins. Levi's family was a very traditional Hui merchant. Hui merchants came from Huizhou Prefecture in southern Anhui Province, including She, Xiuning, Wuyuan, Qimen, Yi, and Jixi counties, that is, the ancient Xin'an County. "Huizhou Mansion Chronicles" contains: "Huizhou Baojie Valley, the mountains are according to the original foothills, the fields are barren, the production is thin, most of them are one year old, and they can't support tithes. The small people are more skillful, or those who sell and eat other counties, often nineteen. ”

In the last years of Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty, feudal rule was declining, taxes and donations were increasing day by day, and the situation of Huizhou merchants became more and more difficult. In 1831, the governor of Liangjiang and the governor of Lianghuai salt, Tao Shuge, eliminated the disadvantages of Huai salt, changed to the "ticket law", and the Hui merchants who relied on the patent traces of the salt industry began to decline.

Levi's family began to go bankrupt as one of the Hui merchants. While Wei Ze and his men were fighting all the way from Wuchang to Nanjing, young Levi defected to the Taiping army with anger at the Manchu court. After joining Wei Ze's army, Wei Ze began to buy raw silk and tea from Anhui Province in order to trade with arms merchants.

As the saying goes, a rotten ship also has three catties of nails, and although Levi's family is bankrupt, the surrounding Hui business circle is still there. After receiving the news from Levi's, the Levi's family immediately went into operation. Although it is not a big profit, there is a chance to make a comeback.

After listening to Levi's introduction, Wei Ze said with a smile: "When we meet a figure like Brother Li, it seems that we have found a treasure." ”

Levi replied: "Chief of the General Staff, my subordinates didn't want to be businessmen in the first place. Being a Hui merchant is my family's livelihood, and my subordinates follow the chief of the general staff, so they are only willing to fight with the chief of the general staff. ”

"Where is there security in doing business in war. Brother Li, although you are now in the staff department, the staff officer may not be a staff officer forever, and you will have to continue to fight when the rotation comes. If you have three strengths and two weaknesses on the battlefield, we can't explain it to your family. Weeser began to persuade Levi to leave the staff. He had thought that Levi was a dangerous presence in the army, but now he didn't think so. At the moment, when Wei Ze can't find other cooperation for the time being, the Levi family is equivalent to some kind of Cheng Dù's "franchise businessman", and there is a steady stream of orders from Wei Ze, and the Li family already has a great opportunity to breathe a sigh of relief. Since the Li family has gained benefits from the cooperation with Wei Ze, before this interest relationship becomes an unbearable burden for the Li family, the Li family will probably not abandon this interest relationship with Wei Ze.

Although it is unlikely that the Li family will betray, Wei Ze does not want a high-ranking soldier with commercial backing in his army at all. Interest groups are the most annoying, and if Levi has two forces behind him, who does he choose to work for? And Levi's presence in the General Staff means that it has shown many brothers that there is another path to choose from. You don't have to work hard to get the same treatment by relying on some of the interest chains behind it.

Therefore, no matter what Levi said, Wei Ze contacted Levi's position in the combat department of the General Staff and sent him to the logistics department, which was specifically responsible for liaison with Hui merchants.

Regardless of Levi's own thoughts on this disposition, Wei Ze soon realized that the Hui merchants, as a business group with a long history, were quite capable. They were able to get a lot of sulfur from the coast, and a lot of sulfur was imported from Japan to China.

It was not Levi's family that was involved in the sulfur trade, but quite a few Hui merchants behind it were involved in the business. Weser didn't believe that the Levi family had the ability to get 30,000 catties of sulfur in less than two months. Taking advantage of this incident, Wei Ze summoned all the main generals of the army and asked them to conduct a thorough investigation of the principal personnel at all levels of the army under the arrangement of the political department.

Wei Ze said in front of a large number of troop commanders, "People say that many friends have many paths, and this is done for fear that some brothers will be buried." Knowing everyone's background is conducive to our more contact with the heroes of the three mountains and five mountains. ”

However, when facing the senior generals, Wei Ze said very clearly, "Whether these people want to follow us, or want to borrow our power to serve their families, we can't figure out this question immediately." Therefore, it is necessary to find out the bottom of politics. ”

This theory of origin, which was clearly based on the theory of class struggle, did not seem to be immediately understood by the senior generals, and even Wei Changrong, who was closest to Wei Ze, raised some questions. "Fourth uncle, what waves can just a few people make? You're being too careful. ”

Wei Ze didn't want to bring up something at this time that everyone couldn't understand at all, he just ordered: "Let you check, you check." What will be there, you will know after looking it up. ”

When the troops were conducting internal inventory, the logistics department also did an excellent job. More than 30,000 catties of sulfur produced nearly 200,000 catties of granular gunpowder. For Weese's troops, it was barely enough at this stage.

On January 11, 1854, Yang Xiuqing, the king of the East, finally arrived in Luzhou in an official document, in which he ordered Wei Ze, the king of Qi, to immediately go north to rescue the Northern Expeditionary Army led by Lin Fengxiang and Li Kaifang. Since the General Staff had already discussed the matter, when everyone saw this order, they only felt that it came too late.

Before leaving, according to the results of the inventory of the Ministry of Political Affairs, Wei Ze left all the soldiers who were landlords and merchants in the army in the base area. The 11th, 13th, and 14th units were all old brothers who had been tested by war, as well as a group of local people in Anhui who volunteered to join the army for their families.

During the pre-war mobilization, Wei Ze told the whole army, "Why do you want to help the Northern Expeditionary Army, because if the Northern Expeditionary Army can't be saved, the Qing Demon will come from the north." At that time, everyone was afraid that their current life would not be able to go on. If anyone thinks that the present day is not as good as the previous one, please say it directly. I will never let such a brother go to the Northern Expedition with us. If you think that the current life is stronger than before, and you hope that the current life can be maintained as long as possible, then please follow me to the north. I, Wesser, will take everyone to the north, and I, Wesser, will also take everyone back from the north! ”rg

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