【219】Thousands of miles of rivers and mountains open up a new face (23)

Fengzeyuan's office has been newly furnished, the four walls are clean, and only a pair of mottos written by Yao Fan himself are hung: "Heng Mei coldly pointed at a thousand husbands, bowed his head and was willing to be a son of a cow." ”

At this time, it was almost noon, but Yao Fan was still in the office to write new orders.

The reason why Yao Fan chose to send troops on 20 August was because the winter wheat planted in September and October last year in northern China matured in June and July, and Yao Fan hoped that the harvest season would not be destroyed as much as possible and the losses of dry farming in northern China would be reduced.

Since it has just entered September and the late rice in the south of the Yangtze River has already entered the full maturity and harvest period, Yao Fan asked the whole army to step up efforts to support the peasants, stabilize the countryside as much as possible, and not destroy the agricultural production in the newly liberated areas.

"People are wrong for a while, and people are wrong for a year.

Now is the harvest period for early rice, and all units in your front should attach importance to supporting the peasants and grasp it as a top priority as important as the battle. This is the reason why the masses of the people support our basic policy, but in the process of grasping land reform, we must not forget to urge the peasant associations to pay close attention to agricultural production.

The central authorities have now ordered the logistics militia units to transport a large number of steel sickles, as well as a batch of steel hoes and shovels, and the troops should pay attention to supervising the equal distribution of these farm tools. Due to the limited transportation capacity at present, the number of steel tools transported to the south is not large, so priority is given to poor farmers and peasant households with large family populations, and these steel sickles and other agricultural tools are temporarily delivered for free and used for free, and in the future, they will be recovered by the peasant associations and handed over to the village supply and marketing cooperatives for ......sale."

Yao Fan pondered his words, hoping to speak as clearly as possible in the vernacular, when there was a sound of gentle footsteps in the courtyard, the bamboo curtain in front of the door was pushed open, and the golden warbler walked in.

The golden warbler walked to Yao Fan's side, took out a pen from Yao Fan's hand, sorted out the desk and said, "Morning sail, don't be busy, eat." ”

Yao Fan sat still, gently stretched out his arms around the slightly bulging waist and abdomen of the golden warbler, and said with a smile: "You did it?" ”

The golden warbler stretched out his finger on Yao Fan's forehead and said, "My body is more than four months old, can I still cook for you?" It was made by Master Zhu, so I helped shoot a cucumber and peel the garlic. ”

Speaking of this, the golden warbler smirked.

Yao Fan smiled and asked, "What kind of coke is there?" ”

The golden warbler stood in front of Yao Fan, looking at Yao Fan sitting on the chair with a leaning face: "In my life, before I met you, I never entered the kitchen once. ”

When Yao Fan heard this, he stood up and said with a smile: "You think it's unfair, right, well, that's right, I'll take a moment to go back, and I'll show you a hand, make a braised pork, and let you taste my craftsmanship." ”

Huang Jinying smiled: "Don't you dare to ask the chairman to cook for me, if this spreads, I won't be drowned by spittle." ”

Yao Fan took the hand of the golden warbler, walked into the courtyard, and entered the small restaurant in the west wing of the courtyard.

At the dinner table, Huang Jinying said while serving Yao Fan vegetables: "Zao Fan, is Li Hainiu's review over?" The third sister came to me yesterday, crying so much that her eyes were swollen, and I saw that she had lost a lot of weight. ”

Yao Fan didn't say anything, just buried his head in eating. Since Li Hainiu was isolated and examined, the cadres who interceded on his behalf did everything possible to entrust the relationship, some wrote letters to Yao Fan, and some took advantage of the meeting to ask Yao Fan not to punish too severely.

Yao Fan swallowed a mouthful of food and said: "He is so bold, he bypassed the Military Commission to give orders to the troops, this kind of behavior is enough to be shot, I just want to dry him now, but now so many people can't hold their breath and jump out." ”

Huang Jinying gave Yao Fan a bowl of pork rib soup and put it on the side to cool, and said: "Li Hainiu is an old man who follows you, you just have a good idea in your heart, he is a straightforward person who can fight, but he doesn't have many eyes, and he is a good person." ”

Yao Fan said: "If he had a lot of eyes, I would have killed him a long time ago." Don't talk about these things at the dinner table in the future. ”

Although Yao Fan did not allow Huang Jinying to mention this matter again, in the afternoon he decided to immediately issue a decision on the handling of Li Hainiu, erase his post in the army to the end, keep the party for inspection, and arrange for the newly established Urban Construction Bureau in Beijing to serve as the director. Yuan Guanghai, the former commander of the 15th Army, was removed from his post in the army, punished with a major demerit in the party, and transferred to Zaozhuang City, a newly planned and organized city, to serve as secretary of the prefectural party committee.

This punishment is not insignificant, but it is not severe.

As the supreme ruler, and in the period of war and chaos that turned the dynasty upside down, Yao Fan had no compassion for people outside the party, and would only put the interests of the party and the state first. Although Yao Fan was disgusted with Li Hainiu killing people for the third sister's anger, he would not dwell on this matter. However, the severity of this problem lies in the fact that Li Hainiu was ordered in the name of the Military Commission without concealing it from the Military Commission and Yao Fan, and this kind of behavior is unforgivable in the feudal dynasty of thousands of years in Shuo and the civilized era of the 21st century, and both sides can meet the standard of killing heads.

At this time, the main force of the advance force of the East India Company had already arrived in Hong Kong, and the 18th Regiment of the Royal Irish Wing, the 49th Bengal Wing, and the Bengal Engineer Regiment, which were the vanguard units, a total of more than 700 people, hurried to Shanghai, and together with 200 men of the 5th Infantry Regiment of the Calcutta Wing and 150 British sailors, which were originally stationed in Shanghai, the total strength reached more than 1,000 people.

The British Consul General in Shanghai, John McWarto, was in the British Consulate General west of the Bund in a discussion with Yu Shaofu, the Taoist of Shanghai Road.

"Now that the invincible warriors of the British Empire have arrived in Shanghai, you can rest assured that if those robbers from the north dare to enter the Shanghai Concession, they will definitely pay the price. Of course, the British Empire cannot protect you in vain, and you should urge the gentlemen who are under the protection of the British Empire in the concession to give up gold and silver, so that the warriors will be happy to serve. ”

Yu Shaofu's face was sallow, and his eyebrows and eyes were very sad.

"Lord Consul Mai, those thieves from the north have occupied Yangzhou, please send troops to rescue Nanjing as soon as possible. The military salary is wrapped up in me, and I will definitely be able to raise 5,000 taels of silver for Lord Mai today. ”

Mai Huatuo thought about it in his heart, and said dissatisfiedly: "Five thousand taels of silver are only worth a thousand pounds, which is not enough at all!" The warriors of the British Empire each received thirty pounds a month, and for the time being, you had to pay the gentlemen a hundred thousand taels of silver. The money must be paid within a week, otherwise we will evict all the refugees from the territory. ”

Yu Shaofu asked worriedly: "After receiving 100,000 taels of silver, Lord Mai will send troops to Nanjing?" ”

Mai Huatuo shook his head and said: "No, Nanjing is too far away, and Shanghai can only send troops after the armies of various countries have arrived, and I can only guarantee the safety of the Shanghai concession at present." But rest assured, Hong Kong is currently mobilizing troops, and in addition to the 6,000 troops originally stationed, we have drawn another 4,000 troops from India and the South Seas.

Your Excellency, you should also do your best to organize an army, which can be sent to the Shanghai Concession and trained by the officers of the British Empire, and you only need to pay for food and munitions. ”

Yu Shaofu said with a bitter face: "Lord Li Henian, the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, is currently training troops in Jiaxing, and I heard that the officers who are training are Americans, and these soldiers are not under my control, so I will go back and tell Lord Li Henian's words." ”

Mai Huatuo said: "You sue Governor Sù Li Henian that he has trained too few soldiers in Jiaxing, and he only purchased 7,000 British Enfield 1853 rifles, which is far from enough. According to the information we have received from the Nanking Church, the rifles of the Northern Army seem to be very advanced, and they have about 10,000 to 20,000 troops near Yangzhou, so that your 7,000 men have absolutely no hope of victory. ”

Yu Shaofu said: "Master Li also bought more than 2,000 of these 1853 rifles from the Americans, adding up to about 10,000 people. Although the guns in your country and the United States are second-hand, they also cost 20 taels, and Lord Li does not have enough money in his hand at the moment. ”

McWartuo said: "I can introduce you to British bankers, and you can borrow money from them. However, the interest rate on loans in times of war is relatively high, at least 20 percent, and sufficient collateral must be provided. ”

……………………

Under the mobilization of Britain, Russia, Japan, France, and the United States all said that as long as Britain paid for the military, they were all willing to enter the war, but the number of troops that each country was willing to send was very different, because although Britain agreed to pay part of the military spending, the countries still took the risk of war, and what really tempted them was the post-war partition plan proposed by Britain.

However, after discovering that Yao Fan had sent troops to the northeast, Russia decided to attack Yao Fan's regime from the land while participating in the landing operation, so as to achieve the effect of encirclement on all sides. The plan was submitted to the British side and was agreed to by the United Kingdom.

Diplomatic personnel in the Far East are in a state of extreme activity, with sail clippers carrying people from all walks of life between Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tokyo, Vladivostok, Manila, and Singapore, and conspiracies and plans are brewing.

Russian Minister to China Bützer even left China and personally rushed to Vladivostok, where there are already more than 6,000 Russian troops stationed, more than 6,000 in the Irkutsk region of northern Mongolia, and more than 3,000 in the northwest of Xinjiang.

After Butzer's letter reached Moscow, Tsar Alexander II approved the dispatch of troops, but considering that the war with Turkey had been planned for a long time, Russia was not willing to invest too much energy in the expedition to China, and was only willing to expand the sphere of influence in northeast China as much as possible, and at the same time supported the rebellion in Xinjiang and tried to cut northern Xinjiang into Russian territory.

Considering that Yao Fan's regime was about a republican democratic regime, which was incompatible with the monarchy of Russia, coupled with the desire for land, Alexander II finally decided to send 2,000 troops from Vladivostok in the Far East to attack the Yanbian area on the premise of continuing to support the rebellion in Xinjiang, and send another 4,000 men to be transported by Russian Far East transport ships to participate in the landing plan of the British Far East Fleet. At the same time, Russia decided to send troops from Irkutsk to loot the princes of Mongolia, in order to gain as much advantage as possible in Mongolia when the Qing country was in chaos.

The United States also decided to send 300 troops, which was basically the majority of the American troops stationed in the Japanese concession.

France decided to draw 2,000 colonial infantry from Vietnam.

After consulting with his ministers, Emperor Meiji of Japan saw this as a great opportunity and asked Britain to get Korea from the Qing Kingdom after the victory. Japan was required to send at least 10,000 troops. The British were very harsh on Japan in terms of military spending, and only promised to be responsible for logistics of grain and grass, gunpowder guns, and sea freight, and at the same time promised to give Japan a one-time subsidy of 3,000 pounds sterling after the war, of course, if Japan was excellent, this amount could be increased as appropriate. So the Meiji government gritted its teeth and decided to put together 10,000 troops. In the eyes of Meiji and his ministers, in addition to the acquisition of Korea, the post-war balance of interests was also fat, and it is conceivable that the new unequal treaties would further weaken the Qing state and even collapse it, while at the same time allowing Japanese merchants to make more profits in China.

This 10,000 people was not a small number for the Meiji era, and in the 1873 Southwest War in Japan, the government managed to muster together more than 50,000 troops, of which only about 30,000 were regular troops with relatively strong combat effectiveness, and the rest were local militias.