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After Zeng Guofan single-handedly controlled the four provinces (Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Anhui, and Zhejiang), he began to lay out the final battle with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="3" >1.1: Clear Zhejiang Inspector Wang Youling</h1>
These four provinces were under the jurisdiction of He Guiqing until Zeng Guofan took over. Many important positions in the four provinces were in the hands of He Guiqing's concubines. Before recovering Anqing, Zeng Guofan only replaced the governors of Jiangxi and Anhui with his own. The inspectors of Jiangsu and Zhejiang were still in the hands of He Guiqing.
Now that he has taken over, the first thing Zeng Guofan will eliminate is Wang Youling, the governor of Zhejiang. It is said that He Guiqing's father was a domestic slave of Wang Youling's grandfather, so when He Guiqing was the governor of Zhejiang, he recommended Wang Youling, who was originally only a ku ambassador, to repay the old favor and let him be promoted to the position of envoy of Jiangsu Province. Later, through "operation" means, Wang Youling became the inspector of Zhejiang.
Wang Youling's previous governor of Zhejiang was Luo Zundian, and when the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom attacked the Jiangnan camp, it used the strategy of "encircling Wei to save Zhao" and sent troops to Hangzhou. At that time, Zhejiang itself did not have many troops, and Luo Zundian immediately asked for help from the Jiangnan camp. He Guiqing had a strong influence on the use of troops in the Jiangnan camp, and together with Wang Youling, he used means to deliberately let the army of the Jiangnan camp stagnate, which directly led to Luo Zundian committing suicide after the fall of the city. He Guiqing and Wang Youling succeeded in their treacherous plan. Wang Youling served as the governor of Zhejiang.
Wang Youling could not imagine that he would be forced to commit suicide by the same method. Zhejiang has not had its own army, defense can not be autonomous, Xianfeng eleven years, Li Xiucheng once again attacked Hangzhou, Wang Youling tasted the consequences of no military assistance, at this time Zeng Guofan had the opportunity to help, but he did not take any measures, at the end of November, Li Xiucheng army attacked Hangzhou, Wang Youling committed suicide. The Governor of Zhejiang was succeeded by Zuo Zongtang of the Xiangjun clique.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="8" >1.2: Clear Jiangsu Inspector Xue Huan</h1>
Xue Huan, like Wang Youling, is a skilled worker. In the 10th year of Xianfeng, the Jiangnan camp collapsed, and He Guiqing, the governor of Liangjiang, prepared to abandon the city and flee, but suffering from no excuse, Xue Huan and others saw He Guiqing's intentions and jointly asked He Guiqing to retire to defend Suzhou. Later, he fled with He Guiqing to Shanghai, and after the Jiangsu Inspector was killed, Xue Huan succeeded him as the Inspector of Jiangsu in Shanghai.
In October of the eleventh year of Xianfeng, the Taiping Army attacked Shanghai, and Zeng Guofan sent Li Hongzhang to create the Huai Army to Shanghai. Soon Zeng Guofan came to the stage and accused Xue Huan of not holding the post of Inspector of Jiangsu, and only seventeen days after Li Hongzhang arrived in Shanghai, the imperial court officially appointed Li Hongzhang as the Inspector of Jiangsu.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="11" >1.3: Sweep away He Guiqing</h1>
When the Jiangnan camp was captured by the Taiping Army, He Guiqing abandoned the city and fled to Shanghai with Xue Huan. At that time, Xue Huan was stationed in Shanghai as the Inspector of Jiangsu, and the Inspector of Zhejiang was still Wang Youling, and the two of them played a multi-party game together to protect He Guiqing and asked He Guiqing to stay in the camp to serve. At that time, it happened that the British and French coalition forces were committing crimes, XianFeng was out of Ben Chengde, and in the midst of internal and external troubles, he did not spare any more effort to deal with him, so that he could secretly give birth in the Shanghai Concession for two years.
He Guiqing
After Li Hongzhang was appointed inspector of Jiangsu, he immediately took the order of Prince Gong Yishi to negotiate with the Shanghai Concession Patrol House, arrested He Guiqing, who was hiding in the concession, and sent him to Beijing. Although there were still many people who protected He Guiqing at that time, Zeng Guofan played a book, which had a very crucial passage:
It is not advisable for the officials of the frontier to take the city guard as a major festival, and it is not appropriate to stop by the words of one of the subordinates; the ministers are convicted by the traces of their hearts, and there is no need to weigh the existence or non-existence of public courtesy.
That is to say, because the feudal officials must stick to the city, this is not only the requirement of the imperial court, but also a big festival for readers, and there is no room for ambiguity. Senior ministers, in order to flee and endure reason, shoot and kill the people, just by virtue of this article is enough to execute, there is no need to investigate whether there is such a public courtesy.
Zeng Guofan's repetition was lofty and strong, and could not be refuted, so he wanted He's life. He Guiqing was soon abandoned. The Zeng Guofan Group finally breathed a sigh of relief.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="19" > summary</h1>
If you want to do something, you must first arrange people well. After Zeng Guofan replaced the key positions in the four provinces with his own people, he entered the final stage of the war against the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.