Chapter 2540: Gui Zi Juan White Lotus Storm Sweeps the Northland

On June 17, the second year of Wantong, Feng Ziying was appointed by the Ministry of Personnel as the left deputy imperial envoy of the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the right minister of the Ministry of War, to patrol the south of the Yangtze River.

On June 21st, the White Lotus Sect in Gaocheng and Jinzhou on the south bank of the Hutuo River in Zhending Prefecture started an uprising.

On June 24, the White Lotus Sect uprising spread to many prefectures and counties in Wuji, Huolu, Luancheng, and Zhaozhou.

 On June 28, Luancheng County was captured by the White Lotus Cultists. On June 30, Yuanshi County in the west was captured by the White Lotus Rebellion.

Before the court could fully recover, on the first day of July, the White Lotus Rebellion broke out simultaneously in Xiong County, Baoding Prefecture, and Bazhou, Shuntian Prefecture.

Within just three days, it affected Xincheng and Rongcheng in Baoding Prefecture, Wen'an, Baoding (county), Dacheng, Gu'an, Yongqing in Shuntian Prefecture, and Qing County in Hejian Prefecture.

On the second day of July, Feng Ziying arrived in Xuzhou and stayed temporarily in Xuzhou. He did not go directly south to Nanjing, but officially began his career as governor of Jiangnan in Xuzhou.

From the first to the fifth day of July, the White Lotus Rebellion broke out simultaneously in Liaocheng, Dongping Prefecture, Shandong Province, Pingyin and Dong'a, Yanzhou Prefecture, and Changqing, Feicheng, Jinan Prefecture.

 …

 In Xuzhou, Feng Ziying, as the right minister of the Ministry of War, temporarily stopped the last batch of the third battalion of the Northwest Army preparing to go to Dongjiang Town in southern Liaoning.

"Ke Yao, I can't stay in Xuzhou for too long. This is the last thing I can do for Jiangnan and Xuzhou." Feng Ziying looked serious and looked at the old classmates in front of her with her hands behind her back. "The three battalions have 10,000 troops. I think the Northwest Army is enough to deal with all the White Lotus rebels in Xuzhou, so I will leave it to you."

He Fengsheng was also a little nervous.

 He has not been in Xuzhou for a long time and is still in the familiar stage.

Although Feng Ziying had reminded him before that the White Lotus Sect was quite powerful in Xuzhou, especially its close connection with the White Lotus Sect in Duo County, Yanzhou Prefecture to the north, and asked him to be fully prepared in advance.

But after coming to Xuzhou, I was entangled with various things. Although I stepped up my efforts to clean up the White Lotus Sect in various counties in Xuzhou, especially Dangshan, Fengxian, and Peixian counties in Shandong, I encountered many obstacles and made little progress. Not big.

 Various news are now coming from the capital and even Shandong. A large-scale rebellion has broken out in almost the entire White Lotus Sect. Although the canal has not yet been cut off, under this situation, it is only a matter of time before the water transportation is cut off.

 This will also have a huge impact on Xuzhou, which relies heavily on water transportation.

"Ziying, you have to stay in Xuzhou for two more days." At this time, He Fengsheng couldn't care less about his face and took the initiative to plead: "The situation in Dangshan, Fengxian and Peixian is not good. Xiaoxian is better. I have already I have made some preparations, but I don’t have enough experience with this kind of large-scale rebellion, so I still need your help.”

 It is not easy to get to the stage of being the magistrate of Xuzhou. This is the most important step in career advancement in the future. If something goes wrong, it may not only be as simple as delaying the official career for a few years, but may also lead to dismissal and investigation.

"Yeah, but I can't stay for too long, three days at most. Starting today, you will go directly to Feng County to take charge of the situation, and preemptively launch a comprehensive eradication of the White Lotus Sect that has been confirmed or suspected. Ci Bu is not in charge of the troops. Don't worry so much at this time. Let's take them down and wipe them out first..." Feng Ziying paused, "I'll give you two battalions, and leave one battalion behind the stable rear in Xuzhou, just in case something unexpected happens."

"I understand that it is better to kill by mistake than to miss one person. Once a fish slips through the net, the consequences will be endless." He Fengsheng also gritted his teeth and said fiercely.

"Special times, special means, you have to decide for yourself." Feng Ziying pondered for a moment before saying: "People in the Xuzhou prefectural government and various county government offices, don't trust them gullibly. The time you came here is too short. If you feel it is not safe, you would rather serve in the Northwest Army I've said hello to all the people called upon by the Central Committee, and I will fully cooperate with you."

He Fengsheng also knew that the Northwest Army was the old foundation of the Feng family. Feng Ziying said hello, so there must be no problem, and nodded to indicate understanding.

 The situation has reached this stage, which caught Feng Ziying a little unprepared.

Liu Dongyang has just arrived in Taiyuan, and the Northwest Army that is preparing to transfer to Shanxi Town is still marching on the border of Henan. It can be said that the situation in Shanxi has not yet been reversed, Beizhi and Shandong have begun to explode here.

 It was a big move right away, but Feng Ziying knew that it definitely didn’t stop there.

As soon as he arrived in Jining, he received news that something had happened in Liaocheng, Pingyin and Dong'a.

 Fortunately, the news in Jining is still tightening and has not yet been linked up, but it is estimated that it will not take too long, so Feng Ziying also went south under the starry night, arriving in Xuzhou first.

In Feng Ziying's impression, the situation in Yanzhou is definitely worse than that of Dongchang Prefecture and Jinan Prefecture. Several counties in the southern part of Yanzhou Prefecture, such as Shanxian, Jinxiang, Yutai, Tengxian, and Fengxian, Peixian and Xuzhou The connection between Dangshan and Dangshan is too close, and it is impossible not to be affected.

 Feng Ziying had to stay in Xuzhou for a few days.

 First of all, to observe the changes in the situation in Shandong, after all, he still holds the title of Right Minister of the Ministry of War; secondly, if something happens in Yanzhou, Xuzhou will definitely be involved. If Xuzhou is to be solved, Yanzhou cannot be left behind.

There is also the fact that He Fengsheng lacks some experience in dealing with this kind of situation. He has to help the other party in both public and private matters, as well as emotionally and rationally.

Xuzhou's location is too important. It is connected to Guide, Henan Province to the west, Huai'an to the east, Yanzhou to the north, and Fengyang to the south. They are all densely populated but not very wealthy places. It can be said to be the best place for the White Lotus Sect to breed, even if Anyone who is in charge of the White Lotus Sect will choose this place.

 However, the situation developed faster than Feng Ziying expected.

On the eighth, ninth and tenth days of July, for three consecutive days, White Lotus sect uprisings broke out in Juye, Jiaxiang, Wenshang, Sishui, Ningyang and Ziyang in Yanzhou Prefecture.

Although the Rencheng Guards stationed in Ziyang, Yanzhou Prefecture, what is disappointing is that more than 400 of the more than 3,000 Rencheng Guards are White Lotus followers. It is obvious that the Rencheng Guards were infiltrated by the White Lotus Sect. center of gravity.

 The raging rebellion swept through most of Yanzhou in an instant, and quickly spread to Jinxiang, Yutai, and Teng counties adjacent to Xuzhou.

“Where did Liu Baichuan and his battalion go?” Feng Ziying couldn’t sit still.

He even wanted to bring back Liu Baichuan's battalion that had set out for Huguang in late May. The most important thing was to get Liu Baichuan back to preside over the war in the southeast of Shandong.

“Sir, I’m afraid it’s too late.” Wu Yaoqing shook his head helplessly.

Different from the Northwest Army that took the Henan route, Liu Baichuan took the Yingzhou route. It is estimated that they have reached the Sanguan area of ​​​​Yiyang and are preparing to enter Huguang.

At this time, we have to chase Liu Baichuan all the way back. The round trip will take at least more than a month.

"You have to pursue us even if you can't come back." Feng Ziying shook her head, "The changes in the situation in the south of Shandong are one thing. Even with the three battalions of the Northwest Army in Xuzhou, I am not worried. What I am worried about is returning. The two mansions of Dehe and Daiming.”

Wu Yaoqing was shocked, "Sir, do you have any directions?"

"I'm afraid Yucheng and Xiayi counties in Guide Prefecture are not optimistic, and Daming Prefecture has more problems. When I was still in Shuntian Prefecture, the clues of the White Lotus Sect found involved Daming, Shunde, and Guangping Prefectures. This I'm afraid that the situation in Sanfu is not much better than that in Baoding and Zhending, but it just hasn't exploded yet."

Guide Prefecture belongs to Henan, while Daming, Shunde and Guangping belong to Beizhili.

“Are you worried that the three prefectures in the southern part of Beizhi may also be involved?” Wu Yaoqing was also a little unsure.

“It’s not possible, but inevitable.” Feng Ziying has determined that this round of White Lotus Storm will definitely affect the entire Northland, and will even affect Southern Zhili and Huguang. No one will be spared.

"If you are sure, sir, then these three battalions of the Northwest Army going to southern Liaoning will have to stay, and Sir Liu's battalion will be added to form a temporary Xuzhou Army." Wu Yaoqing said while thinking: "Climb You have already sent a letter to the Lai army, asking them to be prepared. It is estimated that the Ministry of War has also issued an order at this time, but I am afraid that the Denglai army alone cannot cope with it. To prevent the Bailian rebellion from spreading to the south of Zhili, we need to We need to put up good fences and fences.”

“That’s what I think about it, first of all, we have to build fences in Fengyang, Xuzhou, and Huai’an.” Feng Ziying nodded, “In addition, we will help the neighbors clear weeds.”

Now it is not easy for Feng Ziying to interfere too much in affairs outside of Southern Zhili. Although he has the title of Right Minister of the Ministry of War, it is an additional title after all, not the actual title, so he must be careful. He has already been assigned to Zhang Huaichang and Sun Chengzong. Letter, let them pay attention to the situation, and recall Liu Baichuan here. It is considered to be a decision first, but it is also reasonable.

Feng Ziying originally planned to stay in Xuzhou for only three days, but changes in the situation in southern Shandong forced him to stop and further observe the changes in the situation.

By June 15th, small-scale rebellions in Feng County and Pei County had been quelled. At the same time, the Northwest Army also began to operate along the canal. The area from Teng County to Zhaoyang Lake already belonged to Shandong territory, but the Northwest Army still Cross-border operations were launched, defeating multiple groups of White Lotus rebels in succession, and helping Teng County stabilize the situation.

Just when Feng Ziying was about to go south, rebellions broke out again in Yucheng and Xiayi in Guide Prefecture, and Dangshan under the jurisdiction of Xuzhou was also affected. The Northwest Army once again put down the rebellion in Dangshan, so Feng Ziying was unable to go south again.

 Following this, rebellions broke out in Nanle, Qingfeng, and Kaizhou in Daming Prefecture, and the situation became increasingly turbulent, which put Feng Ziying in a dilemma.

On the one hand, Gu Bingqian of Nanjing was urging him to go south, and on the other hand, although the situation in Xuzhou was stabilized, the situation around Xuzhou was deteriorating. Moreover, where these battalions of the Northwest Army would go, and who would take charge and arrange the follow-up, was also a problem.

 The lack of reply from the court also made Feng Ziying quite anxious.

His suggestion to the Ministry of War was to move the entire Jingxiang Town to Xuzhou or Yanzhou and rename it Jiangbei Town. At the same time, the three battalions that were originally planned to be transferred to Liaonan to enrich Dongjiang Town were directly incorporated into Jiangbei Town.

This suggestion is a bit outrageous, and seems to be following the old path of Chen Jixian, but the situation has developed so much that it has to be like this.

 Feng Ziying believes that she has no selfish motives and has a clear conscience.

 (End of this chapter)