Wuchang, north of the city. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

On the official road from Huanggang to Wuchang, the convoy of grain was endless, Wuchang recovered, but the grain in the city was swept away by the Taiping army and transported to Hanyang Hankou on the other side, more than 100,000 troops and people in Wuchang City were facing the danger of running out of food, Yuanqi posted a notice to buy grain at a high price to help comfort the people in the city.

The news spread, the grain merchants in various places heard the wind and moved, and they all transported grain to Wuchang, the waterway was cut off by the Taiping army, and the grain merchants in Anhui, Jiangxi Province had to land from Jiujiang and transport grain to Wuchang by land, and the official road was not only a convoy of grain transport, but also many horse-drawn carriages also rushed to Wuchang, most of which were mentioned to go out of the city to escape the war of the gentry and wealthy merchants.

A very inconspicuous two-wheeled carriage was not in a hurry to turn from Gedian to the official road mixed with the convoy transporting grain, Feng Yunshan, dressed in a robe and horse coat, and dressed as a gentleman, sat in the car and staggered and drowsy, he ventured across the river this time to have a good talk with Yi Zhifen, after seeing the combat power of the navy, the top level of the Taiping Army attached great importance to the negotiations with Yuan Qi, and he had to come in person.

It is said that it is a risk, but in fact there is no risk, after all, someone has been arranged to contact Yi Zhicontent, and the consent of the other party has been obtained, and the other party's assurance has been obtained, so Feng Yunshan is not worried.

Although hundreds of thousands of Taiping troops were stationed on the opposite bank, the atmosphere in Wuchang City was not tense at all, just like the peaceful season, allowing free entry and exit from the city, but there were many naval patrols with loaded guns and new military uniforms on the city gates.

The carriage entered the city, Feng Yunshan went directly into the garden under the guidance of his old acquaintance Yin Youcai and was placed in a single courtyard. ”

Feng Yunshan got up and returned the salute, and said with a smile: "The war has stopped, why is the big shopkeeper busy?" ”

"Sir, please be seated." Yi Zhizu stretched out his hand and was polite, and only after sitting down did he say: "The Taiping Army has almost emptied Wuchang City, and the officials in the city have not let it go, and tens of thousands of people are waiting to be fed, so they can't count on the Eight Banners Green Camp to provide relief and appeasement, right?" ”

This is equivalent to pointing at the monk and scolding the bald donkey, Feng Yunshan was a little embarrassed, and arched his hand: "The heart of the big shopkeeper Bodhisattva is really admirable." ”

"Even if a bodhisattva is full of compassion, sometimes he has to use thunderbolts, and besides, I am not a bodhisattva." Yi Zhizhi looked at him and said: "The aftermath of Wuchang is basically handled by Yuan Qi, if there is no Yuan Qi, how many people will die in the future, have you thought about it?" ”

Feng Yunshan's face sank, "We are also forced to be helpless." ”

"Not to accuse you, but to remind you!" Yi Zhishu slowed down his tone and said: "Success is also Xiao He and defeat is also Xiao He, since ancient times, development and growth lie in flow, failure also lies in flow, only know looting, do not know production, no matter how strong it is, it will be a flash in the pan after all, this truth, Mr. Feng should understand." ”

Hearing this, Feng Yunshan said tentatively: "Yuan Qi is planning to use the southeastern provinces as a base? ”

Yi Zhizhi didn't accept these words, lit a cigarette, took a puff slowly, changed his words, and said, "What are your plans?" ”

Feng Yunshan glanced at him and said, "Someone proposed that with a powerful sailor, occupy the Hankou ...... Hanyang." ”

"Who proposed it? Damn it! Yi Zhizhi said in a deep voice: "No matter how many ships of the Taiping Army are, they can't help the artillery bombardment, there is Baishazhou on Wuchang, Tianxing Continent below, and the artillery on the two continents, supplemented by the naval fleet, what will be the result?" ”

Feng Yunshan's back suddenly felt cold, if Yuan Qi really set up artillery in the two continents, the water camp would be over, he immediately smiled, "Why should the big shopkeeper be in a hurry, the Heavenly King and the Eastern King have already vetoed this proposal and decided to return to Hunan." ”

"Except for the Nanyang Navy, the Qing court did not have a decent naval division up and down the Yangtze River, and the Taiping Army's naval division was a great advantage, and you should attach great importance to it." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "Dongting Lake is big enough, suitable for training sailors, and it is also suitable for playing the role of sailors, if the sailors are not destroyed, the Taiping army will be invincible." ”

After a slight groan, Feng Yunshan said: "The Taiping Army focuses on the development of water divisions, so will you have to look up to Yuanqi in the future?" ”

"Don't talk about it in the future, even now, the Taiping Army must also snort at Yang Yuanqi!" Yi Zhizu said in a deep voice: "If Yuan Qi makes an encirclement and suppression, you won't even have a chance to escape, let alone half a year, you won't be able to hold it for three months!" ”

These words were extremely arrogant, Feng Yunshan's face was extremely ugly, and he said coldly: "The big shopkeeper is too confident, the Taiping Army is now hundreds of thousands. ”

"The rabble, one blow will be crushed." Yi Zhi's contented tone was contemptuous.

In the battle to recover Wuchang, the Taiping army was indeed defeated with one blow under the powerful artillery bombardment, but being so despised by the other party, Feng Yunshan couldn't stand it, and immediately said coldly: "It is not the elite of the Taiping army who stays in Wuchang. ”

"Even if it's the elite, the result is the same."

"Naval artillery is really powerful." Feng Yunshan said in a deep voice: "But the artillery moves slowly, and it can't be defeated, so we can always escape, right?" ”

"As I said, you don't even have a chance to escape." Yi Zhizhi said without hurry: "The navy is not the Eight Banners New Army, you should know that the Eight Banners New Army was trained with the help of Yuan Qi, you might as well tell you the truth, the navy is not more difficult to fight the Eight Banners New Army than the Taiping Army, if you are not completely sure, how can Yuan Qi help the imperial court train the new army?" ”

Feng Yunshan was a little skeptical about this, although the navy had an obvious huge advantage in artillery, but the muskets were the same, why did it say that the Taiping army couldn't even escape? He is not interested in asking, he knows very well that even if he asks, there will be no answer, this kind of military secret, the other party will not disclose it, and the Taiping Army does not want to be an enemy of Yuan Qi at all.

The purpose of his coming today was to form an alliance with Yuan Qi and win Yuan Qi's support, and after calming down and thinking for a moment, he said slowly: "To open up a base in Hunan and establish a small paradise, we need to occupy the provincial capital of Changsha, and we need to break the encirclement and suppression of the imperial court officers and soldiers. ”

Yi Zhixiang glanced at him and said, "You have looted in Wuchang, Hanyang, and Hankou, you should have gained a lot, right?" Buy it with silver! ”

Feng Yunshan said without thinking: "How can you ——, trade?" ”

"Guangdong and Hunan border, occupy southern Hunan, convenient for trading." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "If you occupy Guangxi and open up the passage with Annan, it will be more convenient to trade." ”

Feng Yunshan couldn't help but sigh, "How did this come in time?" ”

"Without Yuanqi's support, wouldn't you still capture Wuchang?" Yi Zhizu said slowly: "Now the Taiping Army is strong and strong, just a Changsha, what is it?" ”

Feng Yunshan stared at him for a long time before he said, "Didn't the big shopkeeper draw cakes for us to satisfy our hunger?" ”

"Every family has a scripture that is difficult to read, and Yuanqi also has the difficulties of Yuanqi." Yi Zhizu took a puff of cigarette and said slowly: "You are barefoot, Yuan Qi is shoeed, you have many scruples, you can't let go of many things to do, and you can't be cautious in your arms deals." At present, not participating in the encirclement and suppression of you is the greatest support for you. ”

At least for now, when the Taiping Army did not establish a solid base area, he was unwilling to take risks before the situation was unclear, and besides, the strength of the Taiping Army has increased greatly, and he does not need to worry about the Taiping Army being wiped out, but also about the Taiping Army expanding too quickly.

The Taiping army captured the Hunan provincial city of Changsha and then captured the Hubei provincial city of Wuchang, although it was quickly recovered, but the Taiping army took the people of Wuchang into nothing, and the strength of the army increased to 500,000, and Chen soldiers Hanyang Hankou, and the officers and soldiers across the river confronted, the news spread, the government and the opposition were shocked, Jiangxi, Anhui, Jiangsu and other provinces were all panicked, the grass and trees were soldiers, for fear that the Taiping army would go down the river.

The strongest reaction is naturally not the prefectures and counties west of the Yangtze River in Hubei Province - Huangzhou, Anlu, De'an, Xiangyang, Yichang and other prefectures can be said to be all soldiers, and a number of prefecture and county officials have spared no effort to recruit villagers to form regimental training for the sake of their own lives, hoping to hold on for a few more days and wait for reinforcements when the bandits attack the city.

Jingshi, Forbidden City, Qianqing Palace, Xinuan Pavilion.

Xianfeng turned over the folds of the three people of Seng Lingqin, Qi Shan, and Yi Zhishu in turn, and looked at it again, the victory of recovering Wuchang was true, but his heart was heavy, the Taiping army went east from Yuezhou, but 100,000 people, it was able to capture Wuchang in ten days, and now Wuchang has been defeated, but the strength has increased to 500,000, is it not easy to conquer the city?

It is indeed time to attach great importance to it and change the encirclement and suppression strategy, today's Taiping Army is no longer Wuxia Ameng, 500,000 troops, at least 100,000 elite soldiers, this is no longer something that tens of thousands of Eight Banners Green Battalion can encircle and suppress, he groaned slightly, he raised his head and commanded: "The ministers of military aircraft on duty are here. ”

After speaking, he picked up Yi Zhicontent's fold, and Yi Zhishu directly denied the way of tail chase in the excerpt, and suggested that the heavy army should be besieged, and the scope of activities of the Taiping Army should be gradually compressed by static braking, and he emphasized the decentralization of power, delegating power to local governors and ministers, and not reducing the guilt or changing the rules and strings based on the gains and losses of one city and one place or the temporary setback.

How to delegate power, what power to put it, Yi Zhixin didn't say, Xianfeng estimated that it was nothing more than military power, financial power, and personnel power. The repeated failures of the encirclement and suppression of the Taiping Army made the Taiping Army flee from Guangxi to Hunan and then to Hubei, and the strength of the army snowballed bigger and bigger, and he also realized that the local governors were indeed constrained, otherwise, the Taiping Army would not have had a chance to develop to the point where it is now.

However, delegating power to local governors is easy to release and difficult to collect, and if one is not good, it will form a situation of separating the feudal towns, and there will be endless troubles in the future! Now that the imperial court is beyond the reach of Nanyang, how can it tolerate such a situation in Hunan and Hubei?

Not long after, a group of military ministers led by Mu Zhang'a rushed in, knelt down in turn after seeing the salute, Xianfeng glanced at everyone, and said in a muffled voice: "All are exempt from courtesy, and they are flat." Everyone who was waiting got up, he knocked on the table with his fingers, and said, "What do the ministers think about the encirclement and suppression of Hong Yang's rebels, they all discuss." ”

In the past two years, the Taiping army has become stronger and stronger, and last year it could not attack the siege of Guilin, the capital of Guangxi Province, for several months, and now it has fallen in 10 days after attacking Wuchang, the capital of Hubei Province, and its strength has grown rapidly like blowing up balloons.

Seeing that no one was silent, Lin Zexu said slowly: "Hong Yangzhi's rebellion started in Guangxi, and the eight banners of the green camp in several provinces have been chasing and intercepting for two years, and they have repeatedly broken through the encirclement and flowed. Historically, the best way to resist the rogue is to wait for work at ease, limit the river, guard the important town, and gradually narrow the encirclement. ”

Before the words fell, Qi Liaozao said: "Huguang has always been a large grain-producing province, and Jiangnan is a wealth-rich place, and it will never tolerate the flow of bandits. If the two lakes are eroded, the consequences are unimaginable! ”

"The fact that the rebels are located in the two lakes is indeed not conducive to encirclement and suppression." Mu Zhang'a said slowly: "Jiangnan is a place of great wealth, and it must also be ensured, and it is even more necessary to prevent the bandits from going north to seize Xiangyang and enter Henan.

Now that the heavy troops are guarding Wuchang, the possibility of the rebels going down the east of the river has been cut off, and the minions secretly think that when the troops of the two rivers should be mobilized to defend Anqing and Hefei, and the troops of Henan and Shanxi should be mobilized to guard Xiangyang and Suizhou, they should advance slowly to drive the rebels out of the Lianghu Plain, and then find an opportunity to exterminate them. ”

Shu Xing'a, who was newly on duty in the military aircraft, pursed his lips and said loudly: "Your Majesty, the capture of Wuchang, the rebels and bandits coerce the people, expand the troops, although the momentum is numerous, but it is a rabble, known as 500,000, and the elite soldiers are only 100,000. ”

Hearing this, Xianfeng's heart moved, now that Yi Zhishu has recovered, and led the army to Wuchang to participate in the encirclement and suppression, there is no need for the Beijing Division to defend the Eight Banners New Army and the Beiyang Naval Division, these 30,000 horses are going south, why can't they destroy a group of rabble?

Thinking so in his heart, he didn't rush to express his position, and instead said: "Do you have any objections to the officials recommended by Seng Lingqin and the others?" ”

Monk Greenqin recommended Luo Bingzhang as the governor of Anhui, Qi Shan recommended Jiang Zhongyuan as the governor of Hubei, and Chen Hongming as the governor of Hubei.

Without waiting for Mu Zhang'a to speak, Lin Zexu said: "Your Majesty, at an extraordinary time, when you don't stick to one pattern, now Hubei and Anhui are mainly war-oriented, although Jiang Zhongyuan is only a fourth grade, but when encircling and suppressing the rebellion of Hong Yang, he has repeatedly made military exploits and promoted to governor, which is not indispensable." ”

Xianfeng did not object to Jiang Zhongyuan's governor of Hubei, and immediately asked, "What about the governor of Hubei?" ”

"Your Majesty." Lin Zexu said in a deep voice: "The scale of the anti-bandit sailor division is not small, up and down the Yangtze River, there is no rival sailor, only the Nanyang naval fleet is stationed in Wuchang, which can prevent the anti-bandit sailor division from going east along the river, besides, to recover Wuchang, Chen Hongming's achievements are not small." ”