At the beginning of June, Xianfeng's edict was published in the Di newspaper, and Luzon and Java were formally established as provinces, with prefectures and counties, Luzon with 10 prefectures and 46 counties, and Java with 15 prefectures and 55 counties. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

The news spread, the relatives and friends who immigrated to Nanyang were all excited, and those who were hesitant to immigrate are now ready to move, of course, the happiest thing is the alternate officials waiting to fill the vacancy, for them, this is simply the most exciting news in the world, Nanyang two provinces, twenty-five prefectures and one hundred and one counties, which means that there are at least hundreds of real shortages.

What is the most in the Qing Dynasty? There are many officials, especially many alternate officials, because of the implementation of the system of donating officials, a large number of officials take money to buy officials, however, the officials who spend money to buy are just a job title, not a real shortage, if you want to get a real vacancy, you must wait for an official position to vacate before you can fill it.

How many alternate officers are there in the Great Qing Dynasty? Tens of thousands, in recent years, the imperial court has had a fixed treasury bond and an indefinite national debt, which has greatly reduced the number of donors, but it is impossible to stand up to the accumulation of decades, there is a lack of officials, and the number of alternate officials is still increasing year by year.

The alternate officer is also known as the 'disaster officer', which means that the alternate officer is living to suffer, as if affected by the disaster, because the number of alternate officers is quite large, it is extremely difficult to fill in the last real vacancy, and when the alternate officer, the size is always an official, and it is necessary to maintain the decent pomp of the official, such as hiring a long-term entourage, drinking and eating, and socializing, which is indispensable, which requires a lot of money, and the alternate officer has no actual errand, and there is no income, so it is often impoverished, and even the alternate officer dies of hunger and cold.

Jingshi, Da'er Hutong outside Zhengyang Gate.

Wang Youqian, who is in his early thirties, got up early in the morning, packed up his profits and rushed to the ministry with a long sedan chair, he is a native of Jiangsu, donated a prefect, and waited hard to fill the vacancy in the ministry, waiting for five years.

Although Nanyang hangs overseas, I heard that the territory is really not small, the two provinces of Luzon and Java are as big as the four or five provinces in the south of the Yangtze River, and he is really tired of such endless, it seems that he will never come to the end of waiting, it is difficult to wait, it is difficult to go to the blue sky, waiting for four or five years like him is nothing at all, waiting for ten years, and there are many people who have waited for more than ten years.

Last year, a friend wrote to him that there were more than 4,000 alternate officials in Jiangning, including more than 300 Taoists, more than 300 prefectures and prefectures, more than 1,400 prefectures and counties, and more than 2,000 miscellaneous positions.

He couldn't find a way, and he really couldn't afford to wait, and he would spend a few more years in Beijing, but he was afraid that if he couldn't wait to fill the vacancy, he would starve to death first, so he decided to seize this rare opportunity, Nanyang hangs overseas, and the risk of sailing at sea is not small, and no one should be willing to go.

Hurried to the Hubu Road, the sedan chair saw that the road was actually full of alternate officers in official robes, Wang Youqian's heart was cold, he really didn't expect that in his opinion, no one wanted to go to Nanyang officials were so sought-after, he was hesitant to go over, but he saw a fellow villager of the same age as him, Li Yangyu, the alternate magistrate, beckoned to him, and even walked slowly.

When I got closer, I heard a person say, "...... I haven't heard of the Yi election officer, have you heard of Wu Sangui's western election officer and Nian Qianyao's annual election officer? ”

Hearing this, Wang Youqian was shocked, the officials of the two provinces of Nanyang are Yi Xuan officials? The Minister of Nanyang, the Admiral of Nanyang, the Marquis of the First Rank, and the Grand Treasurer of Yuanqi are content to recommend the election officials?

"You are carrying a pig's head to worship the wrong temple gate, if you want to go to Nanyang to be an official, you have to go to Guangzhou to find Yuanqi's Yida shopkeeper, however, I can kindly remind you that Nanyang is an official, there is a risk." The alternate officer also seemed to know that this was taboo, and after he finished selling it, he arched his hand at everyone, "That's all I have to say, you might as well weigh it carefully." With that, he left straight away.

As soon as he left, a group of alternate officials in the sandwich road began to discuss, "That Ma Yiqing is a Jinshi in the twenty-fourth year of Daoguang, the original thirteen lines of Guangzhou Shuntai Xing Ma Zuo Liangzi, last year was promoted to Jiangsu Changzhen Tonghai Bingbei Road, this year he was promoted to the governor of Luzon, it seems that the official of the two provinces of Nanyang is really likely to be an easy election official." ”

"That's right, otherwise why would the imperial court only appoint the governor and admiral of Luzon, and not mention anything else."

"What about the Yi Xuan Officer? Will Yuan Qi still rebel? ”

"It's hard to say, who would have thought that the three feudatories would rebel back then?"

"I said, you think too much, do you serve a full term, or be promoted or transferred, if Yuanqi rebels or not, what do we have to do? It's not like you can make up for it, right? ”

"This is reasonable, as long as Yuan Qi does not rebel in our office, it has nothing to do with us."

"Don't bother, whether the Nanyang officials are good or bad, it has nothing to do with us, there are not four thousand or three thousand alternate officers in Guangzhou, but they are close to the water and get the moon first."

Hearing this, many people's hearts were cold and cold, from Beijing to Guangzhou, it would take a month to get there, and when they arrived in Guangzhou, I was afraid that even the daylily would be cold.

Wang Youqian pulled the corner of Li Yangyu's clothes, and the two paced to the remote place at the other end of the road, and when they saw no one, Li Yangyu said: "Brother Yizhi, are you going to go to Guangzhou to give it a try?" ”

"This is an opportunity, how can you be willing not to give it a try?" Wang Youqian said slowly: "I don't know if I stay in Jingshi until the Year of the Monkey and the Moon, I don't want to continue to spend ...... here." ”

"It's ......" Li Yangyu hesitated and said, "When we rush to Guangzhou, is it too late?" ”

"From Beijing to Shanghai, and then by steamer to Guangzhou, half a month is enough." Wang Youqian said slowly: "Although there are many alternate officials in Guangzhou, but there are not many who can make Yi Hou Ye look at them, Nanyang immigrants, Yuan Qi spent a lot of money, I pondered, the officials who go to Nanyang to take office must be young and knowledgeable and love the people like children, I am afraid that there are not many qualified candidates among the candidates, how to say, let's give it a try." ”

Li Yangyu lowered his voice and said, "Brother Yizhi is not worried about Yuan Qi? ”

Hearing this, Wang Youqian smiled slightly, and said: "Yuan Qi really wants to rebel, it is not known who is in this world, why bother with such idleness?" ”

Li Yangyu's eyes lit up, this was really to the point, and he immediately nodded and said, "Go together!" Without further ado, pack up, and we'll leave tomorrow. ”

As soon as the newspaper arrived in Guangzhou, there was a lot of traffic outside the gate of Xiguan Lei Garden, and the alternate officials in the city rushed over, scrambling to deliver the post, hoping to see the easy contentment side, Mao then recommended himself to Nanyang as an official, after all, he was waiting for a shortage in Guangzhou, and no one knew what year he would have to wait for? There can be a ready-made gap to fill it, even if the conditions are poor, it is not a real shortage, and it is better to change places after a full term than to wait for a candidate.

In Lei Garden, Changle Book House.

Hearing that the street in front of the door had been crowded by alternate officials, Yi Zhizhi glanced at Bao Shichen and said with a smile: "There are so many alternate officers in Guangzhou City?" ”

Strictly speaking, Yi Zhishu himself is actually a donor official, but his situation is a little different, he is a businessman, he is a four-grade top gift from Daoguang himself, and he has not experienced a vacancy, he belongs to the emperor Jian Ba, and he directly taught Shanghai Dao, Bao Shichen knows that he doesn't understand the situation.

After a slight sigh, he said: "The number of local officials is relatively fixed, and each official position is selected and awarded by different departments according to its importance.

The alternate officials concentrated in the provincial capital belong to the governor and the governor, and the one concentrated in the Beijing division belongs to the other two categories, there are many alternate officials, there is a real shortage, there are more monks and less porridge, and after a long wait, ten or eight years is not too late, Nanyang established a province, set up a government and a county, and the rumor of the big treasurer recommending the election of officials should also spread, because Nanyang officials are not subject to the above three types of restrictions, so they rushed to try their luck. ”

Speaking of this, he stroked his short beard under his chin and said with a smile: "This is the beginning, in a few days, the alternate officials of Guangxi, Hunan, Jiangxi, Fujian, Jiangsu and Zhejiang will come one after another, for them, this is equivalent to an extra opportunity, and they will not let it go easily." ”

Yi Zhizhi said: "I don't dare to use these alternates, I'm afraid I'll let them down again." ”

"There are 25 prefectures and 100 single counties in the two provinces of Nanyang, and there are thousands of official vacancies." Bao Shichen said slowly: "How does the big shopkeeper plan to recommend the election officer?" ”

Yi Zhisuff pondered and said: "There is no precedent for privately hiring scholars as officials, and the imperial court is estimated to not agree, I plan to recommend young talents to the academies of schools and prefectures in coastal provinces, and then donate official ...... to them." ”

Bao Shichen nodded slightly, although it costs a lot of silver to donate officials, but in order not to break the rules of the imperial court, in order to be recognized by the imperial court, he groaned slightly, he said: "The old man thinks that a group of candidates should be selected from these alternates, so that the imperial court has nothing to say, the imperial court appoints thirty percent, the alternate officials appoint thirty percent, and the remaining forty percent are recommended by the colleges of the coastal provinces, so that the imperial court looks better." ”

Hearing this, Yi Zhizhi smiled, "It's too early to discuss at the moment, I have already instructed to go down, and notify the academies of the five provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, and Jiangxi separately, and set to reply before the fifteenth of next month, and first see how many scholars are willing to go to Nanyang as officials, and then discuss." ”

"I guess it will disappoint the big shopkeeper." Bao Shichen said: "After all, Nanyang is hanging overseas, and it is a newly built province, deserted and simple, I am afraid that not many scholars are willing to go to be officials, besides, there is no precedent for this move, and a group of masters and scholars should be suspicious of this, afraid that they have no courage." ”

After a little hesitation, Yi Zhizhi said: "It's only a month, and here we will first find out the alternate officers and conduct a preliminary selection." ”

Before the words fell, Lin Meilian walked to the door and reported: "Lin Da'an is out asking to see." ”

"It seems that there is movement in Guangxi." Yi Zhizhi said and ordered, "Let him in." ”

For the Taiping Army, Bao Shichen is also very concerned, if the Taiping Army can attract more attention from the imperial court, it is undoubtedly a rare good thing for Yuan Qi, when he said: "From the perspective of the big shopkeeper, the Taiping Army is likely to break through this time?" Or is there a greater chance of being wiped out? ”

The reason why Bao Shichen asked so is naturally based on the previous intelligence, after the Taiping army occupied Yong'an, the Qing army quickly surrounded Yong'an City, however, the siege was besieged, but the Qing army was not in civil strife, and a group of generals did not contribute to the work, passively slacking off the battle, besieging but not attacking, and the Taiping army did not break through.

There is rotten intestinal grass in Yaoshan area, its medicine is the most poisonous, the Qing army purchased more than 10,000 catties before and after, put it into the river that passed through the city, saw no effect, and recruited people to secretly bring water into the city and sprinkle it in the city, in order to poison the Taiping army.

When the poisoning failed, the Qing army made a splint letter box, placed tap fire and white instant medicine in it, and exploded when the lid of the box was opened, and Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing were written on the box in order to blow up the two people.

If it didn't work, the Qing army sent many spies into the city, pretending to surrender to Chengcheng, looking for an opportunity to assassinate Hong Xiuquan when he met him, or instigating the coerced gentry and merchants in the city to carry out internal and external attacks, but after all the spies entered the city, they were like mud cattle into the sea, and there was no news.

The most successful is the rebellion, Zhou Xineng, the military commander who was sent by Yang Xiuqing to go out of the city and return to his hometown to recruit troops, was successfully plotted to rebel and rebel, and then returned to Yong'an, preparing to rebel against more Taiping troops and help the Qing army seize the city, but was recognized by the careful Yang Xiuqing, and then pretended to be the Heavenly Father to go down to earth to expose his conspiracy.

Yong'an City has been fighting for half a year, and strange tricks have come out one after another, and the Yi Zhizhi who only watched it fell with a smile, but after half a year of siege, the Taiping army was also greatly injured, and the grain and grass could still hold on, but the salt and ammunition were exhausted, and because of the plague, the non-combat attrition situation was also very serious.

Xianfeng finally couldn't bear such a mild war situation in Guangxi, and issued an order to severely reprimand Cezanne, and warmly encouraged Xiang Rong, the governor of Guangxi, who pretended to be sick, finally cheered up, reorganized the camp and attacked Yong'an City with Wu Lantai.

The Qing army and the Taiping army fought a series of bloody battles around the strategic stronghold near Yong'an City, and both sides suffered heavy losses, however, the Qing army had a steady stream of reinforcements, but the Taiping army was one less than one dead, and the troops were seriously depleted, and the information obtained before, the Qing army besieging the city still had 40,000 people, and the Taiping army in Yong'an City had more than 30,000 people when they entered the city, and now the rest is not even 10,000.

It was because he heard that there was news in Guangxi, Bao Shichen asked like this, but he was extremely unoptimistic about the Taiping Army, in his opinion, the Taiping Army should have chosen to break through a long time ago, just a state city, what is the nostalgia?

Yi Zhixiang replied without hesitation: "The Taiping army will not die just yet, and it will definitely be able to break through!" ”