Turning his head slightly, Wu Feng asked casually as if he had some feelings: "Oh? Your opinion seems to be a bit compromised, let's hear it."
"Now the Taiping Religion is actually mainly concentrated in the Heshuo area. Although Anyuan is the home base of the Taiping Army, it has become an isolated island in our hands. It is easy to subvert it, but you are not willing to spend more damage. But now Heshuo It seems that there is still some momentum, there are still four prefectures in the territory, the population under control is still six to seven million, and the number of troops is still around 400,000. It can be regarded as the elite of the Taiping Army, but there is a very good person here. The fatal problem is that they have serious internal differences on the policy of the Taiping Religion. You Daofang has obviously gone crazy and indulged in those so-called religious fantasies, blindly imagining that he can establish in his so-called Holy Kingdom. An ideal paradise where cultivators have their own land and everyone can be equalized, but this is obviously an ideal thing. There are hundreds of people, all kinds of people. If you want to build such a society where everyone is equal in wealth and poverty, the only way is Building castles in the air can only make society regress, but You Daofang now seems to neither see nor listen to these different opinions."
"But there are also some wise and capable people in the Taiping Sect, such as Bo Jinchen, Tao Bang, Xu Wenzhe and others. They have discovered the deviation of the Taiping Sect's policy in this regard. In fact, when the Taiping Holy Kingdom was first established, At that time, the ideological trend represented by You Daofang had already risen somewhat. However, under the special circumstances at that time, the great achievements achieved by the Taiping Religion covered up this contradiction. However, as the areas controlled by the Taiping Religion gradually stabilized, these ideological trends also gradually stabilized. The clues are gradually emerging, and in the face of pressure from all sides, the weakness of the Taiping Religion has gradually been exposed. How to deal with this drastic change of the situation? A group of radicals and Bo Jin represented by You Daofang, Tang Guotai and Yu Yongzhi Chen, Tao Bang and Xu Wenzhe's conservative faction has increasingly shown a tendency to be incompatible with each other, and their attitude towards the original middle- and upper-class gentry in their control areas has become the focus, and this has also directly affected the stability of the areas they control."
"There is actually an invisible force hidden behind these two factions here. This invisible force is very strong and can even play a decisive role. Its representatives are Cheng Dayou and Yu Yongzhi. They started from it. In terms of inner nature, he is incompatible with the main forces of the two factions just mentioned. Judging from the policies he implemented in Jiujiang, Cheng Dayou should be leaning towards Bo Jinchen's faction, but this guy is quite cunning and has occupied After Jiujiang, he had an independent tendency. When he saw that the power of the Taiping Religion was declining, he already had close contacts with some forces in the empire in some aspects. Some of his methods even imitated your early measures. The ambition is not small, but after all, he is inextricably linked to the Taiping Religion. Even if he wants to get rid of this connection, I'm afraid it is impossible. As for Yu Yongzhi, according to what we know, this guy On the surface, he is a loyal supporter of You Daofang, but on the inside, this guy has changed his character. The large amount of wealth that he and several of his cronies collected in the Heshuo area were secretly stored in several places in the Imperial Capital and Jiangnan. Big money banks even have accounts like ours at Northwest Bank. This guy has a lot of vision. Like Cheng Dayou, he can see that the fate of the Taiping Holy Kingdom is not long. It's just that the two of them have chosen different directions."
"In short, the Taiping Sect no longer has the concerted efforts it had when it was founded in the past, and because the original leader who maintained them, You Daofang, is gradually losing his charisma, his guidance has greatly deviated from the correct historical process. And around the Taiping Holy Kingdom, there are powerful forces like Kaman and our northwest. They no longer have the strength to regain their glory, and it is a matter of time before they are destroyed. Of course, this is the view of the subordinate family."
In one breath, Linghuyi combined his opinions and analysis with the large amount of intelligence information he had as the director of military intelligence. It was so reasonable and well-founded that even Liang Chongxin had to admit that he turned out to be a subordinate of the director of military intelligence. Really good job on the position.
"Well, the analysis is good, but Linghu, can you predict when the Taiping Sect will completely disappear?" Wu Feng asked with an interesting smile.
Shaking his head, Linghuyi was very cautious about this point: "Sir, the rise of the Taiping Religion has its specific historical reasons, especially in the north of the empire. Since most of the heroes who started the empire were from the northern counties, in the empire After taking power, out of the dual needs of winning people's hearts and reducing military power, the emperors in the early days of the empire conferred a large number of meritorious officials and granted land. Most of these meritorious officials and generals also returned to their original hometowns. Therefore, not only did the northern counties There are many meritorious nobles, and most of the land is concentrated in the hands of these nobles. Since the land nobles in the northern counties have conservative ideas and are discriminated against in the development of industry and commerce, the assets of these meritorious nobles are mainly concentrated on land and land income. This is a vicious cycle. Most of their income is invested in continuing to purchase land rather than in industry and commerce, making land more and more concentrated."
"Due to the topography and climate and the fact that they have never paid attention to farmland infrastructure construction, the northern counties have always relied on the weather. The unstable harvest has made these nobles increase their rents even more. The lower class people are eager to get a better life because of their hardship. Life. The Taiping Sect has moved with the times, taking advantage of the consecutive years of famine in the northern region to continue to develop believers. It has laid a deep foundation in several northern counties of the empire and has achieved success in one fell swoop. In recent years, the northern region has been relatively moderate in comparison. The weather is good and ordinary people can get by. Except for some fanatical Taiping believers, many lower-class people are not so fanatical about this aspect. However, once a natural disaster occurs, the lower-class people cannot survive and will inevitably develop a desire for Taiping. The longing and longing for the doctrines preached by the church, this kind of thinking will become a sweeping wave of peasant uprisings as long as someone is instigated. Even if it seems that the Taiping Religion may be extinguished due to the attack of various forces, this is only superficial. The open fire has been extinguished, but the sparks are still hidden. As long as the opportunity is ripe, it may rekindle at any time. Therefore, the collapse of the Taiping Holy Kingdom is inevitable, but it is not easy to eradicate the root cause of the chaos caused by the Taiping Religion. Unless we start from Fundamentally change the living conditions of the lower class people in the northern counties."
Linghu Yi's analysis made Wu Feng and Liang Chongxin nod at the same time. This is not a problem that can be solved in a short time. The infrastructure in the northern counties is too poor and they are completely dependent on the weather. And it is precisely in these counties that the land aristocracy is the most powerful. In these areas, cruel oppression makes the farmers in these counties barely able to provide enough food and clothing even in normal times. When a disaster occurs, a large number of bandits and bandits will appear. When a major disaster occurs, the situation will be even more fierce. Once there is a fire, line, it is very likely that the situation like when the Taiping Rebellion occurred, especially now that the various teachings of the Taiping Religion are widely circulated among the lower classes in the northern counties.
"The issue of the Taiping Religion is indeed a complex one. There is a deep historical background behind it. If we want to resolve the various disasters it brings, it is difficult to rely solely on military crackdowns and suppression. The social foundation of its existence must be Only by completely eliminating it can we truly resolve this scourge." Wu Feng said thoughtfully.
"Yes, but the civil strife in the Taiping Religion is imminent. There is intelligence that Bo Jinchen and Xu Wenzhe have become very close during this time. I suspect that Bo Jinchen may have some ideas." When talking about this issue, Linghu Yi was a little confused. Hesitant.
"This is very likely. Bo Jinchen is a top figure in the Taiping Sect and was also You Daofang's original chief think tank. However, the relationship between the two is now not as good as before, and Bo Jinchen is also a person who is unwilling to let the Taiping Sect go like this. A declining figure, and Xu Wenzhe also has considerable military strength in the Heshuo area. If Bo Jinchen wants to cause trouble, he can only deal with Yu Yongzhi by joining forces with Xu Wenzhe. However, You Daofang is not a good person, although his thoughts are somewhat deviated from the norm. However, he is no weaker than anyone else in wielding power. If Bo Jinchen wants to do something, he may not be able to succeed." As a close neighbor of the Taiping Army, Liang Chongxin has always been very concerned by the people of the Taiping Religion, whether it is the Military Intelligence Bureau or the He would ask for a copy of the information about the Taiping Religion collected by the Intelligence Agency's intelligence system for his own analysis.
"Chongxin, regardless of whether Bo Jinchen and Xu Wenzhe can defeat You Daofang together, it is only a matter of time before the Taiping Religion splits, and both sides have considerable military strength. Once a conflict occurs, the Taiping Religion is likely to Suddenly collapsed, the surrounding wolves will not give up this opportunity. This is the case for the Kaman people. Situ Jun and Situ Lang may also be waiting for this opportunity, including us of course." Wu Feng smiled lightly and said, "This is An opportunity, now let’s see who can seize it.”
"Sir, do you mean to wait for the Taiping Sect to kill each other, and then wait for an opportunity to send troops?" Linghu Yi also nodded.
"Well, now we have to wait and see when this opportunity will come." Wu Feng nodded, "Heshuo is a land of dominance. No one will give up this fertile land easily. The Kaman people are like this, and Situ Lang and The same is true for Situ Jun. Of course we cannot give up easily and hope that something will happen in the second half of the year according to our planned plan."
Liang Chongxin and Linghu Yi also nodded heavily, "What your Excellency said is true."
Liang Chongxin, who was somewhat sensitive, then asked, "Are some of the things you said related to the large amount of grain harvesting in Guanxi and Northwest China?"