Down by Shuangpai Pass.
The great banner unfurls, the weapons are like a forest, and the Qing demons form columns.
Over two thousand men in red plumes and cool hats, wearing vests, some holding spears, bird guns, some with waist knives, or supporting the flags of the Qing green military camp troops, have staggeringly arranged five formations.
Though this formation looks unimpressive from any angle, the soldiers in line are mostly emaciated and look unhealthy, many yawning excessively, it's unclear if they were staying up late gambling last night or if they had a craving for tobacco again? Nevertheless, within the Qing green camp military system, these guys can be considered elite.
They belong to the former Hunan's provincial command, that is, the flagship of the provincial military governor.
The Qing green camp troops consist of two main parts: the garrison troops and the standard troops.
The former is quite scattered, stationed in various places, mainly responsible for maintaining order and suppressing honest people. It's necessary for them to be honest and obedient, otherwise, if the people in two Guangdong are changeable and fight often, or the bandits on the banks of the Henan River often rise up in rebellion, the garrison troops can't suppress them.
And the latter, that is, the standard troops directly under governors, magistrates, generals, general managers and assistant generals are quite powerful. Firstly, they are concentrated under the eyes of senior officials of one or two ranks. If this official cares enough about them, those who lead troops directly under them such as lieutenant generals, act generals and thousand totalists will be more serious and less slack on numbers and drinking money. Secondly, these standard troops are actually fighting against stronger rebels and barbarians. If they are not slightly stricter in training or discipline, they won't be able to meet up with critical demands when needed. Once the emperor is enraged, those senior officials who lead troops will have a tough time.
And the standard troops under the command of General Yu Wanqing... they also seem not very impressive.
However, their morale is still pretty high. At this moment, they are waiting for General Yu to inspect them while discussing some inside information in whispers!
"Did you hear about it? The downfall of Eotang Town was caused by a group of female long-haired bandits from Guangxi. The leader was named Su San Niang, known as the first beauty in the two Guangdong regions!"
"Su San Niang? Yes, I know, she's the... ah, they are! They are the boss of the General Hall of our Tiandihui!"
"She is now the leader of the Long-haired Women's Camp, leading two thousand soft and delicate Guangxi women to attack Eotang..."
"What do you mean by 'soft and delicate'? Those Hakka women with big feet are very fierce!"
"Fucking hell, you old tobacco smoker, still picky and choosy? Having a woman is already something!"
"What does that mean?"
"Of course, whoever captures it belongs to them...... In addition, the silver and copper coins in the old yellow mansion in Eotang Town, which the Lord Huang doesn't want anymore, also belong to whoever captures them..."
"Really? Is there such a good thing? Is General Yu changing his ways?"
"Wu Wu..."
While a group of standard troops are chatting enthusiastically, suddenly they hear the wailing call, and then they hear the officers yelling: "Quiet...... The provincial military governor is coming!"
Now everyone quickly quieted down, no longer discussing, and all stretched their necks to look towards the direction of Shuangpai Town. They saw an elderly man in a neat robe and gown, tall in stature, holding the reins in both hands, riding a tall horse at full gallop, coming like the wind, with another ten or so riders following behind.
It's no need to say, this elderly man who is skilled in horsemanship is Yu Wanqing, the provincial military governor!
Although General Yu's military prowess is not very good and his promotion depends on "sending" gifts, his Wushu exam qualification was earned through his own efforts. He is proficient in horse riding, archery, wielding a large broadsword, and throwing stone weights. Although he has grown old, he has not lost his skills!
"Good..."
"Very good..." The soldiers on the parade ground cheered, just like when people in the audience clap to support a performer.
"Hahaha......" General Yu seems quite satisfied with the applause, laughing heartily and reaching out to grab the reins of his steed, bringing his horse to a halt right in front of the two thousand standard troops under his command. Then he waved his horsewhip and all the standard troops who had been cheering loudly immediately fell silent, forcing themselves to appear attentive and serious.
"Good," Yu Wanqing nodded, "The little brats are quite spirited! Bring some silver up for me!"
"Silver?"
Will he give silver to everyone?
The people below widened their eyes.
Next, we saw ten muscular and sturdy Gushiha lifting five chestnut boxes placed in front of the five formations. When the covers were opened, there was a shining sea of silver, with all inside being snow-white ingots of silver!
General Yu held out his palm, laughing aloud and said: "Here are 5,000 silver taels, collected by the richest man in Daozhou, Lord Huang! Each camp division gets 1,000 taels; each soldier gets 2 taels; the rest goes to the officers..."
Actually, over the past two days, Huang Shijie has been busy mobilizing resources and has managed to gather a total of 10,000 silver taels. Yu Wanqing took only half of that, giving 5,000 to the people below... This is a pretty good position.
"Thank you, General Yu!"
"Long live General Yu, your honor!"
"General Yu will be ennobled soon..."
The big shots below are all money-loving, and of course, they are all very happy to get some money.
General Yu waved his horsewhip and told the men below to calm down. Then he raised his voice and said: "Youngsters, don't get too excited just yet, there's more good news! This officer has already found out that all the Long-haired bandits in Eotang Town are women... women from Guangxi with big feet. Whoever captures them will get them! But first, anyone who catches Su San Niang will have to give me a bribe of 1,000 taels of silver. I will also promote him to a thousand totalist!"
"Understood!"
"Okay!"
"Cha!"
The Qing army below became even more noisy and jubilant.
"Long-haired men, no one dares to mess with them."
But the courage to mess with female long-haired bandits, everyone not only has it, but they also have a very large amount of it!
Yu Wanqing waved his horsewhip again: "There's more! There's still good news... The Huang scholar in Eotang Town said that he has stored 50,000 taels of silver in his big mansion and pawnshop in Eotang Town! Fifty thousand taels! Most of this silver was distributed by Su San Niang to the poor in Eotang Town... The Yellow scholar doesn't want this silver, so whoever grabs it is free to keep it! Once you conquer Eotang Town, loot money! Loot women!"
"This is really unruly!"
Fifty thousand taels!
And it's a free-for-all... This is what the scholar and head of the local elite, Huang Shijie, of Eotang Town has allowed to be robbed!
In other words, they will even plunder Eotang Town to ruins, and no one will go to the provincial capital to file a complaint.
"Loot money! Loot women!"
"Rob, rob, rob..."
"General Yu, let's go attack!"
"Attack..."
Seeing that the morale of the troops had been boosted, Yu Wanqing finally thought the time was right and waved his hand grandly, saying, "Divide the silver, divide it all up. After dividing it, get back to camp and pack up. We'll leave at dawn tomorrow... Send troops to Eotang Town! All of you, make sure you bring enough opium and smoke it to your heart's content before charging!"
"Cha..."
......
"Are... are you eating?"
"No!"
"Are... are you wearing anything?"
"No!"
"Are... are you owning any land or a house?"
"No?"
In the Zhangwang village near Eotang Town, a man named Wang Yan, known as Wang Huoxiu, given the name by Luo Yaoguo, has completed Luo Yaoguo's night rapid training and finished reading Volume One of "The Counter-Classics." Now he is officially on duty as a temporary lecturer, teaching the "true principles" to a poor man who has had his queue cut off and is kneeling before the tablet of "Hao Tian Shang Di" (Emperor of the Heavens).
Only to see him biting his teeth and asking, "Who made you have no food to eat, no clothes to wear, no land to farm, and no house to live in?"
The poor, bitter man replied: "It was Huang Shijie, the Huang scoundrel!"
"What else?" Wang Yan clenched his fist, looking fierce as if he was about to fight.
The poor man's teeth were almost bitten off as he said in a low voice: "What else? The Manchu Xianfeng, the evil emperor. All of his ancestors brought the Manchu army to invade our land, took away our land and women, causing me to be an old man without even being able to marry a wife!"
"That's right!" Lecturer Wang Yan nodded vigorously, "What should we do?"
"Rebel! I have no money, no wife, and can't even eat. What's the point of staying? I want to join the Taiping Army, I want to rebel!"
Wang Yan turned around and pointed to the tablet of Hao Tian Shang Di (Emperor of the Heavens) in front of it, "This is the Hao Tian Shang Di of our Taiping Army. If you want to join us, you must worship Hao Tian Shang Di. After worshiping, Hao Tian Shang Di will be our heavenly father and will bless you!"
The poor man's emotions had been thoroughly inflamed, so he bowed his head against the tablet of Hao Tian Shang Di (Emperor of the Heavens) three times with a loud bang, nearly causing blood to bleed from his forehead!
"Good! Zhang Ada, you indeed believe in the Heavenly Father Emperor!"
At this point, the angel Luo Yaoguo nodded contentedly, gesturing to a poor man named Zhang Ada: "Come over here. I'll give you land right now!" He then took a deed of ownership from a tray held by Wang Xi'er, who had already changed into the dress of female soldiers in the Taiping Army, and handed it to Zhang Ada: "This is the gift of heavenly father emperor! Five mu of irrigated farmland! Follow the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the True God Worship Association carefully. Let's work together to recover the Han people's homeland!"
