Chapter 43: Ominous Premonition

  Jiao Liang was thoroughly at a loss with these two living treasures, normally looking like five or six people, but as soon as he heard that he had become an official, he changed into this state. He didn't know that his gaze towards Li Yunzhong also became naked and bare. His subordinates were all magistrates, and he should be at least a governor. In his excitement, he didn't even hear that Li Yunzhong's way of addressing him had changed.

  Li Yunzhong again consulted with Zuo Zongtang and said: "I have determined the ranks of the military officers, the squad leader is ninth rank, the company commander is eighth rank, the battalion commander is seventh rank, the regimental commander is sixth rank, the brigade commander is fifth rank, the division commander is fourth rank, the army commander is third rank, the governor and the minister are second rank, and the first rank will be determined later."

  He added: "Of course, there will be deputy officials, chief of staff and other titles in the future, all from a few products."

  Zuo Zongtang replied: "The military officers have been appointed, what about the civil officials?"

  Li Yunzhong recalled the example of the People's Liberation Army electing grassroots cadres in later generations. He said, "These civil officials, from county magistrates down, were all elected by the people, don't you know? Election means recommendation."

  Ling eighteen shook his head and said: "This recommendation is not a bargain for those landlords, they are tyrannical in the countryside, who dares to recommend others!"

  Li Yunzhong explained: "It's not the landlords who recommend each other, but all the people vote together. Of course, it's a secret ballot, so no one can find out and there's no way to retaliate. In this way, the elected are local people with prestige, making local governance much easier."

  Ling eighteen nodded and smiled, Li Yun continued: "County-level officials, places with war affairs are served by military officers, while counties without war affairs use some demoted officials and surrendered scholars."

  Zuo Zongtang nodded and said: "Your Highness is wise and enlightened. If you demote officials and scholars, they will certainly be grateful to Your Highness and dare not spare any effort!"

  Li Yunzhong said today's heavyweight topic: "Above the county-level officials is the provincial level, and the provincial level has a governor, who is in charge of military and political affairs and is a second-grade official. Underneath, there is a Minister of Civil Affairs, also a second-grade official, who assists the governor in managing civil affairs. In addition, there is a Department of Justice, with a minister also being a second-grade official, responsible for local security and trial cases."

  "Appoint Hu Yihuang as Anhui Governor, Jiao Liang as Jiangxi Governor, Zhang Suimou as Zhejiang Governor, and Meng Shangsheng as Jiangsu Governor." said Li Yunzhong.

  Jiao Liang heard that he was already the governor of Jiangxi, excitedly clenched his fists, and did not expect that Jiao Liang could also become a provincial governor and governor-general. The choice to surrender to the Han King at the beginning was indeed correct.

  Li Yunzhong, seeing that no one opposed, continued: "The central government will initially only set up the Cabinet and the Ministry of War. The Cabinet will be responsible for administrative work, while the Ministry of War will be in charge of military affairs. Zhang Weikun will serve as Minister of War, and Lin Daji will serve as Premier, both holding second-grade positions."

  Report to Your Excellency, Qing general Xiang Rong is leading his troops from Zhenjiang towards Nanjing, the vanguard has already arrived at Xiaolingwei. The messenger soldier came in to inform everyone of the military situation.

  "What! How dare Rong come and attack the city?" Ling Shi Ba angrily said.

  Zhuo Liang said: "It seems that Xianfeng has been forced into a dead end. We spent a month in Nanjing, not attacking Zhenjiang, and Xianfeng couldn't sit still, thinking we would be satisfied with just taking Nanjing... Hmph..."

  Zuo Zongtang suggested: "Why don't we go and take a look outside Nanjing City first, the Xiaolingwei is not far from the East Gate."

  Li Yunzhong nodded in agreement, and let Li Xiucheng lead the First Division as an escort to bring everyone to thirty miles outside the East Gate. Sure enough, they saw the Qing army setting up camp at Zijin Mountain.

  Zuo Zongtang looked carefully and said in doubt: "The Qing army doesn't seem to be attacking the city, but rather building a fort. What's the use of building such a strong camp under Nanjing City?"

  Li Yunzhong thought hard about whether this had happened in history, it was too bold, 80,000 people were stuck under the city of Nanjing, Rong slept restlessly, I couldn't sleep soundly either! Suddenly he thought of the Jiangnan camp, Li Yunzhong said hastily: "This is not good, they are going to besiege Nanjing for a long time! Hurry back to the city and adjust the troops for me to calm down here." After finishing speaking, Li Yunzhong led the way, turning his horse's head towards the city.

  Li Yunzhong, on the road, thought of the Qing army's historical precedent in Yangzhou, Jiangbei, where they amassed a large number of troops and established the Jiangbei Grand Camp. The Jiangnan Grand Camp responded in kind, surrounding Tianjing tightly, immediately putting the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom at a strategic disadvantage. The two grand camps played a decisive role in the annihilation of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

  Zuo Zongtang advised: "Your Highness must not lose the big picture because of a small matter. At present, Jiangxi, Sunan and Subei have not been conquered yet. As the saying goes: 'Those who come are not good, and those who are good do not come.' If we gather our troops to attack the government's camp outside the city, it will inevitably take a long time, and Nanjing's grain supplies will all rely on Anhui. Moreover, the Yangtze River water army is currently no match for the imperial court's several major fleets. When the time comes, our supply lines will be blocked, and we will have to surrender with tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians."

  Ling eighteen angrily rebuked: "You, this bookworm, how can you only boost the enemy's morale and destroy your own prestige? Don't wait for His Highness to take action, I will lead the Fifth Army of several thousand men to trample the large camp outside the city."

  Among several brothers, only Lin eighteen is the military commander, with the smallest official seal. He must be unhappy in his heart. Although all the brothers know that Lin eighteen is boasting, they cannot reprimand him and add fuel to the fire.

  Li Yunzhong did not think that Zuo Zongtang was being alarmist, and for a time he could not make up his mind whether to divide his troops to attack the city and gain some territory or to concentrate his forces to annihilate the Jiangnan Camp.

  Zuo Zongtang said solemnly, "I implore Your Highness to think thrice. Destroying the large camp outside the city is not an overnight task. The purpose of the Qing court in building the large camp is to hope that Your Highness will deploy all your troops around Nanjing to protect Jiangnan."

  Li Yunzhong said, "It's really a word that wakes up the dreamer. I almost made a big mistake. Napoleon once said: Never do what your enemy wants you to do. Didn't the Qing army want me to attack the outer camp? I just can't let them have their way."

  All the governors, commanders and division commanders did not understand who Napoleon was, but when Han Wang wanted to issue orders, they all listened with bated breath, afraid of revealing a single word.

  Li Yunzhong looked around and shouted loudly: "I order, the Second Army to immediately cross the river and attack Yangzhou, focusing on defending the line from Chuzhou to Yangzhou."

  Luo Dagang replied: "Yes sir, I'll take Li Shixian and Tan Shaoguang to the Second Army's camp."

  Li Yunzhong looked at Ling Shipo and said, "After the navy transports the Second Army to the north of the river, the Fifth Army will take a boat down the river, capture Zhenjiang and Changzhou, and cut off the retreat route for Rong's troops outside the city."

  "Your Highness can rest assured, the Fifth Army has captured two prefectures and will soon take them prisoner."

  Li Yunzhong saw Ling Shiba exit the great hall, hesitated for a moment, and then threw down his duties as commander-in-chief and general to chase after him. At the entrance of the Wang estate, he called out to Ling Shiba, seeing that there were no people coming or going in any direction, saying: "Third Brother, I know you're feeling wronged, but do you know why among several brothers only you were allowed to become a general?"

  Ling Shi Ba patted his chest and exclaimed: "I, Ling Shi Ba, followed the lord to rebel not for wealth and glory, but because I detest the Manchu Qing dynasty, and it is for the people of the world to live a good life that I rebel."

  Li Yunzhong sighed, "I don't know when it started, but we brothers have also become estranged. You no longer call me Seventh Brother, whether there are people around or not, every day it's 'Your Highness' this and 'Your Highness' that. Do you know how hard it is for me..."

  Ling eighteen said: "It wasn't until we were in Hunan that big brother found us and said: 'Seventh brother, you are the King of Han, it's not suitable for us to call you seventh brother anymore. On one hand, it damages your authority, on the other hand, it makes us seem arrogant, so we decided to change our address."

  Li Yunzhong sighed and said: "Big brother is really something, hurting the feelings of all the brothers for nothing."

  "I, Ling Shiba, am just a rough man, I don't think I can assist Seventh Brother in achieving great things like the other brothers. What I'm best at is fighting and killing, if you let me be the army commander, I'll already be satisfied, but what I fear is that if I lose a battle, it will be a disappointment to your kindness, so just let me be the brigade commander instead, that way I can feel more at ease."

  Li Yunzhong advised: "Nonsense, the two superiors I chose for you, Chen Chengyao is clever and resourceful, good at both offense and defense, Lin Shaoshang is also a versatile talent, with meticulous thinking. These two people will be greatly used by me in the future, and they will be placed under your command. They will thank you when they are promoted in the future, Third Brother...you should listen to their opinions more often." For some reason, Li Yunzhong had an ominous premonition, and tears were about to flow out unknowingly.

  Ling eighteen saw the patrolling general walking by, and smiled: "Your Highness, don't worry, I won't say it but I will do it anyway. I will definitely conquer the entire Jiangnan, making you happy." After finishing speaking, Ling eighteen walked out of the palace and headed towards the military camp.

  Li Yunzhong finally shed tears after holding them back for half a day.