Dominate the Country

[The first chapter on Monday, please add it to your collection. Thanks to ‘Mo Shui Lan’ 1888]

Wuchang, Huguang Governor’s Mansion, the atmosphere is depressing.

Because the owner here, Governor Ding Chang, who holds most of the power in Hubei and Hunan, has been bedridden for many days. Since the news came that Chen Ming led his troops south along the Han River, Ding Chang, who had been ill for a long time, could no longer support himself and fell on the bed.

But Ding Chang fell, but Chen Ming did not. The Fu Han Army that went south from Xiangyang successively captured Zhongxiang and Qianjiang, and then Chen Ming led his troops westward, pointing his spearhead directly at Jingzhou.

Jingzhou is on the north bank of the Yangtze River. The Yangtze River turns a big bend in the shape of a '九' at Jingzhou Prefecture. As the saying goes: The Yangtze River is dangerous in the Jingjiang River, so there are floods here all year round. Jiangling City has been flooded by the Yangtze River many times in history. Now it is winter, the dry season of the Yangtze River. Jiangling City certainly does not need to worry about being flooded, but can the defenders of Jiangling really defend anywhere?

"Where is Alyajiang?" Lying on the bed, Ding Chang was also worried. He knew that Xue Shiyan should have arrived in Jiangling by now, but he was more concerned about the Hunan Green Camp led by the Governor of Huguang.

The Governor of Huguang had five towns under his jurisdiction. Hubei had two towns, Yunyang and Yichang, and Hunan had three towns, Zhenxiang Town, Yongzhou Town, and Suijing Town. There were also Fenghuang Tun, Yongsui Tun, Qianzhou Tun, Guzhangping Tun, Baojing Tun and other military camps. Among them, Zhenxiang Town and Zhenxiang soldiers were brave and good at fighting. They were famous since the Ming Dynasty and stood out among the sixty-six town green camps in the early and middle Qing Dynasty. Even the Gansu and Shaanxi Green Camps could not suppress the Zhenxiang soldiers.

Al Yajiang was originally the governor of Guangdong, but was urgently transferred to Huguang. Before becoming the governor of Guangdong, Al Yajiang had been in Hunan for thirteen years. He was promoted from a fourth-rank commander to a lieutenant general, and from a third-rank lieutenant general to a second-rank deputy general, and then the general of Yongzhou Town. He had seen people from the provinces surrounding Huguang, so Al Yajiang was the most suitable person.

Al Yajiang lived up to the high expectations of the Qing court and rushed to Hunan from Guangdong. In two months, he really raised troops from the three towns of Hunan, the Green Camp, Fenghuangtun and other places, and even some local soldiers of the Miao family, with a total force of more than 20,000 people. The west route went out of Wuling and the east route went out of Xiangyin.

The west route army out of Wuling must have passed Lizhou at this time. If it was faster, Ding Chang thought that the west route army could reach Jiangling. The east route army went out of Xiangyin and passed Baling, which is Yueyang in later generations. Ding Chang hoped that the east route army could reach Wuchang as soon as possible.

However, Ding Chang's exhausted energy was not enough for him to keep an eye on every piece of news. Before asking this question, Ding Chang had just fallen asleep for more than two hours. The military situation of Hubei government has now been taken over by Fan Shishou.

Ding Chang took the initiative to give up power, but he did not submit a letter of resignation to Beijing, because Ding Chang knew that Hubei was a crater with boiling magma at the moment. He was in the position of governor, and Fan Shishou could still handle the military and political affairs of Hubei with all his heart and responsibility. But if Ding Chang recommended Fan Shishou to take over as the governor of Huguang at this juncture, Fan Shishou would think that it was a scapegoat for him. The seriously ill Ding Chang would not only have to endure the counterattack from Fan Shishou, but his descendants would also be hated by the Fan family for several lifetimes.

Although Ding Chang was born in the Irgen Jueluo clan, the Manchu Zhenghuang Banner, and his family was prosperous. Although Fan Shishou's family was only a Han army flag, the Fan family has been passed down for five generations [Fan Shishou is the grandson of Fan Wencheng], and the family is also very prosperous. In addition to Fan Shishou, there are Fan Shiji, who is of the same generation as Fan Shishou, Fan Yiheng and Fan Yiqing, who are younger, and Fan Jianzhong, who is of the fifth generation, all of whom hold high positions. On the other hand, Dingchang's own branch, the Irgen Jueluo family is still prosperous, but Dingchang's branch is about to decline.

The highest position of his three sons is only a six-department deputy minister, and there is not even a doctor who can support the table. Dingchang's passing the blame at this time has broken the rules of the officialdom, and it is very likely that his descendants will be affected in the future. Such a choice is unwise. Dingchang, who is seriously ill, has no future, so why bother to cause more trouble.

To put it bluntly, even if Wuchang is lost, Dingchang will leave his life in Wuchang City, and no one in the city can say anything. The news of his illness was not an absolute secret, and many people knew about it.

"Old man, the Western Route Army has arrived at Gong'an. Zhang Zhentai has come to report that his troops will definitely reach Jiangling within three days." Zhang Zhentai is Zhang Rui, the general of Zhengan Town. Gong'an and Jiangling are very close. If it were not for the Yangtze River, they would probably reach there in two days. The Eastern Route Army just passed Yangloudong and entered Chongyang. It will take some time to reach Wuchang. The commander of this team is Alyajiang himself.

"Where is Xue Shiyan? Has he arrived in Jiangling?"

"Old man, General Xue has already arrived in Jiangling."

"Where are the bandits? Where is Chen Ming?"

"I haven't received the report from the Jiangling army yet. I guess..., they should have arrived at Jiaohu."

When they arrived at Jiaohu, they were separated by Taibai Lake and across from Changhu Lake. Walking to the end of Changhu Lake was Jiangling City. This was already very close, but Dingchang seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and felt relieved. "Okay, okay, it's good that we haven't reached it yet..."

This frontier official who was transferred to be the governor of four provinces and the governor of Huguang has now reached such a point. Ding Chang did not see the pitiful look of his long-servant standing at the head of his bed.

...

Chen Ming was standing by the Chang Lake at this time, admiring the beautiful scenery of the sunset.

This third largest lake in Hubei Province is located at the junction of Jingzhou, Jingmen and Qianjiang. It is a long river depression lake formed by the transformation of the ancient Yunmengze in the late Song Dynasty. It starts from Zhujiachang and Tianxingguan in Jingzhou in the south, Longhui Bridge in Jingzhou in the west, Hudiezui in Shayang in the east, and Hougang and Maoli in Shayang in the north. It is more than 80 miles long from east to west and more than 40 miles wide at the widest point from north to south.

Since ancient times, this place has not only been the golden waterway connecting Jingmen and Jingzhou to the Yangtze River and the Han River, but also has pleasant scenery, including the "Three Terraces and Eight Scenes" such as Panjia Terrace, Wangjia Terrace, Moon Terrace, Liugang Mudi, Changhu Yuanfan, Fisherman's Song Early Singing, Fairy Bridge Night Moon, Sunset Reflection, Book Pavilion Falling Rain, Fengshan Xiaozhong, and Baiyu Pojin.

But at this moment, only Chen Ming has the leisure and elegance to appreciate the beauty of Changhu. I believe that Xue Shiyan and Jingyi Shidao in Jingzhou City, as well as the prefect of Jingzhou and the magistrate of Jiangling, as well as the thousands of bannermen and bannermen in the city, all feel a sense of burden as if Mount Tai is pressing down on their heads.

"Why rush to attack the city? We came to Jingzhou not only to capture this city, but also to divert the Qing army's forces. The Hunan Green Camp has never fought with us, and this reinforcement is mainly composed of garrison soldiers. Will they shrink and avoid us and prioritize entering the city?"

"Does the Grand Commander mean to deal with the garrison soldiers outside the city?"

"As long as that Zhang Rui arrives, we will do our best to defeat them in one battle."

Chen Ming looked around at the surrounding battalion officers, many of whom were unfamiliar faces, and he had only become familiar with them in recent days. They were the leading generals of the expeditionary army - battalion officers, and each of them was promoted on the front line. Chen Ming had heard of some of their names, such as Gao Pingshan, who was of moderate build but strong and powerful. He knew that this man was a brave general, a member of the Gao family, and was very brave in fighting from the front.

Ever since he decided to lead the troops on an expedition, Chen Ming was destined to say goodbye to Chen Erbao, Chen Wenzan, Chen Hongtao, Huang An, Gao Jinghui, Lu Long and others, because he couldn't possibly pull away all the experienced officers in the team, so everywhere he looked around, he saw newcomers!