"This servant thinks that it would be more appropriate to send the Chu army from Jiangsu and Zhejiang. They are the closest and will be more convenient to suppress the rebellion!”
From a practical point of view, the Gong Prince felt that Zuo Zongtang's Chu army was the most suitable to go south to quell the chaos.
In history, after the Taiping Country was destroyed, the remaining Taiping Army went south into Guangdong and Guangxi. The Qing court indeed sent Zuo Zongtang to quell the rebellion.
"En, what you say makes sense. This widow also thinks that Zuo Zongtang's Chu army can go south to quell the chaos!”
Empress Dowager Cixi, who had been silent all this while, spoke first.
After all, she was the Empress Dowager of the West Palace, so she had the right to speak on such a major military matter.
Even if she didn't know much about these things, she still had to express her opinion.
Otherwise, she would have less and less of a say in future discussions.
Although Empress Dowager Cixi was not as brilliant as Empress Dowager Ci 'an, she was not stupid at all.
She was even more eager for power than Empress Dowager Ci 'an!
Empress Dowager Ci 'an glanced at her upon hearing her words.
Then he said to the Gong Prince,"The Chu army's general Zuo Zongtang is a loyal and brave person. It is naturally not a problem to send him south to quell the rebellion."”
"However, after the Chu army leaves, the Military and Political Affairs Office will have to take responsibility for the defense of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Whether it is using bannermen or training the new Green Army, in short, the court must have its own army that can be mobilized and can fight.”
Compared to Empress Dowager Cixi who only agreed with Prince Gong's proposal, Empress Dowager Ci 'an first gave an affirmative answer and then added her own point of view.
Moreover, her way of thinking was far from what Empress Dowager Cixi could compare to!
"This servant understands. The Military and Political Affairs Office is planning to buy firearms and cannons from the foreigners to build a powerful new army. As for the generals of the new army, they will naturally be handed over to the people of the Eight Banners.”
Because it concerned the core interests of the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty, Gong Prince Ge Xin strongly agreed with Empress Dowager Ci 'an's opinion.
The Taiping Country rebellion made them realize the corruption of the Eight Banners and the decay of the Green Camp.
Ever since the Qing Dynasty entered the pass, the control of the army had always been firmly in their own hands.
It was also because of their powerful military strength that they were able to defeat the Han people and successfully seize and stabilize the country.
But now, with the fall of the Green Camp and the Eight Banners Army, their armies could no longer be put in an important position. The court had to rely on the Han army instead.
Currently, there were three Han armies that were not under the control of the court and the Bannermen.
The existence of this army made the rulers of Manchu restless.
The rebellion of Wu Sangui and the other Han people was still fresh in their minds, and now they could not guarantee that these Han generals would be 100% loyal to the court.
Back then, Emperor Kangxi dared to cut off his vassal state because the Qing army was still better at fighting.
Although the Eight Banners quickly decayed after entering the pass, the Green Camp's combat power was at its peak. Relying on the Han people in the Green Camp, the Qing court suppressed the rebellion of Wu Sangui and the others!
At this time, because of the long period of peace, not only had the Eight Banners fallen, even the Green Camp had decayed.
This caused the Manchu nobles to panic. Without the protection of the army, relying on the loyalty of the Han people was equivalent to handing their fate to others.
How could they be at ease?
Therefore, after realizing that the Han army was too powerful, the Qing court began to suppress them and establish their own new army.
In this day and age, the most direct way to train soldiers was to buy firearms from foreigners.
As long as they had the money, they could even hire foreign officers to train the new army, let alone foreign guns and cannons.
The Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions were already very rich, so it was undoubtedly the most suitable place to train a new army.
Thinking of this, the Gong Prince suddenly thought,
Empress Dowager Ci 'an agreed to dispatch Zuo Zongtang's Chu army south to quell the rebellion. Was she planning to take over the Chu army's territory?
The more Chang Xin thought about it, the more likely this was. With his understanding of Empress Dowager Ci 'an, this was indeed the other party's trick!
"Not only the Chu army, the Xiang and Huai armies can't just sit around. As an important official of the court, Zeng Guofan should share the burden of the court!”
As expected, after scheming against the Chu army, Ci An did not let the Xiang and Huai armies off.
"Empress Dowager, what do you mean?"
The Gong Prince Chi Xin heard a trace of killing intent from Empress Dowager Ci 'an's tone and thought,
Could it be that the Empress Dowager wanted to make a move on Zeng Guofan and the others?
This could not be allowed!
The Qing Dynasty's own army was now rotten and had no combat power. If they attacked Zeng Guofan's Xiang Army now, they would definitely force Zeng Guofan to rebel.
At that time, if Zeng Guofan led hundreds of thousands of Xiang soldiers to attack the capital, how could they resist?
"Isn't there a Nian Army in the north? Send the Xiang and Huai armies north to quell the Nian rebellion!”
Hearing this, the Gong Prince was stunned for a moment before he couldn't help but cheer in his heart!
High!
It was really high!
Empress Dowager Ci 'an's move was exactly the same as the one she used to deal with the Chu army!
The foundation of the Xiang army was the Huguang and the Liangjiang areas. Transferring them to the north was equivalent to cutting off their foundation.
Losing their foundation, the Xiang Army became rootless duckweed.
At that time, they would need to rely on the Qing government's support, whether it was financial or military resources.
And the Qing government could totally reduce their military expenditure, forcing them to reduce their military strength and carry out a disarmament!
On the one hand, the Qing court's new army was rapidly increasing in strength, and on the other hand, the strength of the Xiang army was weakening.
In less than five years, the threat of the Xiang Army would completely collapse and no longer pose a threat to the Qing government!
"Empress Dowager is right, this servant knows what to do!”
The Gong Prince kneeled on the ground and said in admiration.
At this moment, he was truly in awe of Empress Dowager Ci 'an!
……
"Tsk!"
Zeng Guofan, who was far away in Tianjing City, sneezed wildly.
"Marshal, are you alright?"
The generals below asked with great concern. Everyone was very worried about Zeng Guofan's health.
Ever since the unidentified warship bombarded the Xiang Army and took away the Taiping Army prisoners on River Heart Island, Zeng Guofan fell ill.
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