After killing this Qing army, the entire Hui Provincial Government fell into the control of the Han army.
However, this was not the end. After taking down Hui Provincial Government, the Han army continued to attack the east.
On the 18th of July, the 1st regiment in the north conquered Yongan City, while the 2nd regiment in the south conquered Lufeng City.
Under Lin Yu's leadership, the third regiment crossed the Great South Mountain and conquered Puning, Chaoyang, Jieyang, Haiyang, and other counties, sweeping through the entire Chaozhou Prefecture.
On the 22nd of July, the soldiers of the 1st Regiment, who had conquered Jiaying Prefecture, met up with the 3rd Regiment in Dafu City.
At this point, the Eastern Expedition Army's military operations had basically come to an end.
After more than half a month of fighting, the three regiments of the Eastern Expedition Army had fought more than a hundred battles against the Qing army, killing more than 8,000 Qing soldiers and capturing 6,000.
They seized more than 5,000 guns of various types and more than 20,000 catties of lead bullets.
In addition, they also seized more than 200 cannons of various specifications and calibers, and more than 30,000 catties of gunpowder.
In addition to the weapons and equipment, the Eastern punitive expedition army also seized a large amount of food and money from various treasuries.
In the investigation of the corrupt officials and Banner people in the three prefectures, the Eastern punitive expedition army seized a total of six million taels of silver, more than 400,000 taels of gold, and a large number of gold, silver, and jewelry.
These items were estimated to be worth around three million taels of silver. In total, the Han army had seized about nine million taels of silver and four hundred thousand taels of gold.
In addition to these hard currency, the Eastern Expedition Army also seized a large amount of food.
The Guangdong and Guangxi regions were located in the tropics. Rice was mainly grown here, and some areas had the habit of growing early rice. In July, the early rice had just been harvested.
Therefore, the granaries in various places were filled with a large amount of grain. From the warehouses of the three prefectures, the Eastern punitive expedition army seized a total of more than 50,000 tons of grain.
These grains were originally prepared by the Qing court to be transported to the Qing army in the north as rations for the rebel army.
After all, many places in the north had been destroyed by the suppression of the Taiping Country and the Nian Army. The farmers in various places had fled from famine, and the fields had been abandoned without people. Naturally, there was no food.
Under such circumstances, the transportation of grain from Guangdong and Guangxi to the north was of utmost importance to the Qing court.
Throughout the war years, the tax burden on the Guangdong and Guangxi regions became heavier year by year.
This grain was originally prepared for the Qing army in the north, but unexpectedly, it benefited the Han army.
Lin Yu naturally accepted this large amount of food.
After learning that the Eastern Expedition Army had conquered the three prefectures in the east, Hong Ren Xin immediately ran to the east with Princess Yi Mei to cooperate with the Han Army to take over the territory.
After all, military occupation was only the first step. If he wanted to turn these places into his own territory, he had to establish effective governance in the local area.
This time, the Eastern Expedition Army had liberated 3 provinces and 23 counties from the hands of the Qing government.
The population under his rule had increased from 6 million to 13 million, and the area under his control had also exceeded 110,000 square kilometers.
To manage such a large population and such a large area, it was obviously impossible to rely on their current manpower.
Therefore, Hong Renkao suggested that they select talents from the people and enrich their troops so that the Han army could establish effective rule in their own territory.
"Your suggestion is not bad. Right now, our top priority is to consolidate our rule and establish a governance system. Otherwise, we will be like raiders who disrupt the local governance system without establishing our own system.”
During the late Ming Dynasty, Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong, and the others basically robbed one path after another in the early days of the battle.
They did not care about the lives of the local people at all. Therefore, wherever they passed, the local governance system was severely damaged. As a result, more farmers could not survive and became refugees.
This also made the suppression of the Ming Dynasty ineffective. The number of raiders increased as they fought, and they could never be killed!
The Nian Army, which was active in the north, was similar to the raiders of the late Ming Dynasty. They did not have their own fixed territory and roamed everywhere to commit crimes.
The Qing army had a headache over how to encircle and annihilate them. After all, if they were to escape to another province, they would cause a lot of damage to that province, making the originally chaotic and broken imperial court even more overwhelmed.
However, the Taiping Army in the south was different from the raiders.
After the Taiping Army reached Tianjing, they immediately established their own governance system. They had their own officials to help them manage the land and people under their rule.
Compared to the Nian Army, the Taiping Army was more like the regular army of a country.
Hong Renhao was born in Taiping Country and had rich experience in managing a country.
Therefore, in his opinion, after the Han army conquered these places, the next most important task was to establish their own governance system.
This required a large number of educated people who could read and do things.
However, how to find these talents became a difficult problem.
"My Lord, in the eyes of the people, our Han Army is no different from those rebels. Even the mighty Taiping Country was destroyed by the Imperial Court. In their eyes, it is only a matter of time before we are destroyed.”
"Moreover, the Qing court has already sent the Chu army south to attack us. This makes it even more difficult for these educated people to choose to join us!" Hong Renjiu said with a bitter expression.”
Lin Yu nodded his head in agreement when he heard Hong Renjiu's words.
"You're right. They feel that we won't be able to hold on under the Imperial Court's attack, and that the current commotion is just a flash in the pan. Under such circumstances, they will naturally choose to play safe and not take such a risk to join us and become traitors!”
"Yes, scholars are all smart people. They know how to seek benefits and avoid disadvantages. If we can't show and prove our strength to them, I'm afraid they won't rely on us for the rest of their lives!”
Upon hearing Hong Ren Xin's words, Lin Yu smiled and said,"
"In that case, let them see our strength. Zuo Zongtang's Chu army has already entered Xing Hua Mansion. They will arrive in Zhangzhou in half a month at the latest. At that time, you can organize those scholars to come and watch.”
Lin Yu said confidently. The reason why he personally led the Eastern Expedition was to control the eastern border of Guangdong Province and Fujian Province as soon as possible.
This way, the Han army would be able to establish a solid line of defense before Zuo Zongtang's Chu army arrived.
Next, they just had to wait for Li Xiucheng and the Western Expedition Army to complete their conquest of the western part of Guangdong Province. Then, they would lead the army to support the eastern line and join forces with him to fight against the Chu army together!
The battle between Zhangzhou Prefecture and Chaozhou Prefecture would determine the fate of Guangdong and Guangxi.
If the Han army won, then for at least half a year, the Qing court would no longer be able to stop the Han army from ruling Guangdong and Guangxi.
If the Chu army won, then the Han army would most likely be wiped out like the other uprising troops!
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。