Wuchang, Ai Garden. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

In the study, a large pot of charcoal is burning, the whole room is warm, Yi Zhicontent, Bao Shichen is relatively focused and staring at the chessboard, chess to the middle game, the two dragons compete for a lonely place in the center, the fight is extremely fierce, both of them are distracted.

Lin Meilian walked in slowly, and when she saw this situation, she couldn't help but smile, and said slightly, "Master Hou, I'm here, Jiang Zhongcheng, Master Zeng came to visit." ”

Jiang Zhongyuan and Zeng Guofan, who listened, came, and Yi Zhizu raised his head and said with a smile: "It's ..... to seal the plate for the time being." Bao Shichen put down the chess pieces in his hand, took a sip of tea, and then said: "The list of meritorious contributions, Hou Ye really doesn't plan to report it?" This time, it is expected to be a duke...... ”

"Go and ask them to come over." Yi Zhishu gave an order, then picked up the chessboard, and said nonchalantly: "Just a duke, how can you do it?" ”

"Master Hou has to think twice about this." Bao Shichen said slowly: "Since the Qing Dynasty, especially after Kangxi, there are only a handful of Han people who have been crowned dukes. ”

"If the court can seal it, it can also cut it." Yi Zhizhi said: "I really don't want the court to reward him heavily, the court is unfair, and it will be more reasonable for us to withdraw the army." ”

Bao Shichen smiled when he heard it, "It's still the Hou Ye who has seen it thoroughly." As he spoke, he pointed out the door, "Let's welcome it." ”

When the two of them came out of the room, they saw Jiang Zhongyuan and Zeng Guofan enter the courtyard under the guidance of Lin Meilian, and greeted each other slightly, and after entering the house and taking a seat, Jiang Zhongyuan said: "I just received the military report, and the Jingzhou Taiping army was divided into two roads, all the way to Yichang and all the way to Changde. ”

Zeng Guofan hurriedly added: "It is the main force of the Taiping Army led by Yang Xiuqing himself who marched all the way to Changde, and the preliminary estimate is that the strength of the army is more than 100,000, and now the strength of Hunan is empty...... ”

Yi Zhizu sneered: "Even if the troops are sufficient, it will be difficult to hold back. After a pause, he said: "The main force of the Taiping Army returned to Hunan, and it should have the intention of occupying Hunan, and it is likely to attack Changsha ...... again." ”

Occupy Hunan? Attack Changsha again? Thinking of his relatives and children in his hometown, Zeng Guofan's face changed, and he muttered, "How is this good? ”

Yi Zhisuff ignored it and asked, "What about Shi Dakai?" ”

"Shi Dakai is still in Jingzhou." Jiang Zhongyuan hurriedly said: "It was Zeng Tianyang and Hu Yihuang who led the troops to attack Yichang. ”

It seems that the Taiping Army is not going to give up Jingzhou, otherwise it will not be stationed in Jingzhou with Shi Dakai, and he groaned slightly, and Yi Zhizhi said: "What about the reinforcements?" ”

"Gui Liang, the secretary of the military department, has arrived in Xiangyang with 20,000 new troops of the Eight Banners," Jiang Zhongyuan said slowly: "The monk king and Gui Butang are rushing to Wuchang. ”

Hearing that the monk Lingqin and Gui Liang were rushing to Wuchang, Yi Zhizu said slowly: "The monk king is coming, it must be to discuss how to encircle and suppress the Taiping army. ”

Zeng Guofan groaned and said: "The Taiping army attacking Yichang seems to have the intention of entering Sichuan from the west, and if it occupies Hunan and Sichuan, the consequences will be unimaginable...... ”

Seeing him turn around, Jiang Zhongyuan said simply: "Master Hou, we also predict that the Taiping Army is very likely to attack Changsha again, and the only one who can rescue Changsha at the moment is Master Hou, who implores Lord Hou Ye to lead the army into Hunan and enter Changsha." ”

Yi Zhizhi is content where he is willing to go to Hunan to wade in this troubled water, when he said: "The Taiping army has now become a huge disaster, encircling and suppressing the Taiping army, can not care about the gains and losses of a city and a place, if the Taiping army attacks Changsha and occupies Hunan, it is a great thing for the imperial court, which is conducive to the imperial court to gather a large army and exterminate the Taiping army with the smallest loss and price." ”

After a pause, he continued: "Now that the Taiping army has not many troops in Hubei, and reinforcements have arrived in Xiangyang, the navy will withdraw from Wuchang in these two days, and we must try to avoid external and internal troubles from breaking out at the same time. ”

Hearing this, Jiang Zhongyuan was disappointed, "Hou Ye can't bear to let Changsha fall into the hands of Changmao again?" ”

Yi Zhizhi said in a deep voice: "It's a good thing that the Taiping Army is staring at Changsha!" ”

Jiang Zhongyuan and Zeng Guofan listened to it, and even Bao Shichen was puzzled, and when he saw the expressions of the three people, Yi Zhizhi said slowly: "The Taiping army is staring at Changsha, which is conducive to the imperial court mobilizing troops to prevent the Taiping army from entering Sichuan, if the Taiping army enters Sichuan, it will be even more troublesome to encircle and suppress!" ”

After a pause, he continued: "Changde is only more than 300 miles from Changsha, and it can be advanced by land and water, and Wuchang is more than 700 miles away from Changsha. Even if you want to rescue, it is not easy, Changsha will withdraw if you can't hold it, and organize the people to withdraw together! The Taiping army coerced many people in Hubei, and resettlement should not be a problem. ”

Seeing off Jiang Zhongyuan and Zeng Guofan, Yi Zhizhi was not in the mood to play chess, lit a cigarette and was silent, Bao Shichen said slowly: "Lord Hou is worried about the Taiping army entering Sichuan?" ”

Yi Zhishu nodded and said, "When the Taiping Army enters Sichuan, for us, it loses the value of use. ”

"Master Hou, don't worry." Bao Shichen took a sip of tea and said in a relaxed tone: "For Liukou, entering Sichuan is to seek his own death, Sichuan is easy to defend and difficult to attack, but it is not easy to get out of Sichuan, Hong Xiuquan and Feng Yunshan are both talents, they should know very well the fate of Zhang Xianzhong, and they will not enter Sichuan ...... in a big way unless they have to." ”

Before she finished speaking, Lin Meilian walked in quickly and said, "Master Hou, the Jingshi is in a hurry for eight hundred miles." ”

Yi Zhishu originally thought it was sent by the court, but he didn't want it to be a private letter from Lin Zexu, and when he opened it, he couldn't help sneering: "Xianfeng also has a good calculation." As he spoke, he handed the letter to Bao Shichen.

After reading the letter, Bao Shichen couldn't help but smile and said: "It is much better to appoint Hou Ye as the minister of the Qin Mission to encircle and suppress the Taiping Army than to appoint Chen Hongming as the governor of Hubei and let the navy prepare for the construction of the Yangtze River Naval Division.

However, if we can control the military and political affairs of the nine provinces, including Hunan, Hubei, Guizhou, Sichuan, Shaanxi, Henan, Anhui, Jiangxi, and Guangxi, it is not impossible to consider. ”

Yi Zhizhi smiled contentedly, "This is a lion's big mouth, I have to frighten them." ”

Bao Shichen said unhurriedly: "These nine provinces are all adjacent to Huguang, and now the Taiping Army can at least claim to be a million people, and mobilize the troops of the nine provinces to encircle and suppress, it is not a lion's mouth, otherwise, how can Hou Ye refuse?" ”

"If you can't do it, please be smart." Yi Zhicontent said without thinking: "Now that the Taiping Army has become a climate, we don't need to look at the face of the imperial court anymore, and refuse straightforwardly, so as not to be annoyed all the time." ”

"Let the court know the difficulty and retreat." Bao Shichen said slowly: "Moderate the nine provinces, and then ask for huge military spending, and save Lin Xiang from being difficult to reply, after all, he is only twenty years old, and his blood is strong, if he openly turns his face with Yuan Qi, it is not conducive to the follow-up plan." ”

"That's what the gentleman said." Yi Zhizhi said with a full jaw: "It's not yet time to openly turn his face with the imperial court, then according to Mr., reply like this, however, the withdrawal of the army can not be delayed any longer, and the preparation for the construction of the Yangtze River Water Division should not be delayed any longer, and the monk and the king will inevitably have to persuade each other hard." ”

At the wharf of the Yangtze River outside Dongcheng, a group of neat naval officers and soldiers lined up in a long line and boarded the steamships in an orderly manner, and the officials of all sizes in Wuchang City came to see them off, and Qi Shan, the governor of Huguang, the governor of Hubei, and Zeng Guofan, the right attendant of the military department, although they were a little unhappy, they still came to see them off, after all, the follow-up encirclement and suppression of the Taiping army still relied on Yuan Qi in terms of guns and ammunition.

In addition to the officials, there were also many gentry, businessmen and ordinary people gathered on the riverbank along the wharf outside the city, and they were pressed in a large area, pointing and whispering: "The long hair has not been eradicated, why did the navy withdraw its troops?" ”

"Who knows about the affairs of the imperial court?"

"I heard that the long-haired sailor is entrenched in Dongting Lake, and the navy has withdrawn, won't the long-haired come and go freely, will he come to fight Wuchang again?"

"I heard that reinforcements were coming, and the imperial court sent 20,000 new troops from the Eight Banners."

"What Eight Banners New Army, can it be compared to the Navy?"

"What I said is that the navy is also a little ugly in this coat, not only can it fight but also has good military discipline, and it sweeps the streets in its free time, during this time, our city is much cleaner."

"What's the gown? This is a military uniform, a foreign thing, much more pleasing to the eye and more spiritual than a gown. ”

"That is, if you can't speak, don't speak, what does it mean to be able to fight? The navy is called unparalleled in combat power, when recovering Wuchang City, the cannon bombarded the sky and the earth was dark, a bag of cigarettes repelled the long hair, and 5,000 people dared to gallop through the starry night Jingshan, and the 20,000 new army of the 20,000 banners was rescued. ”

"Hey..... now that the navy is gone, we are afraid that we will all open our eyes when we sleep at night, and we don't know when the long hair will go down the river again."

"Buzz ——。" The whistle sounded on the river, and Yi Zhishu smiled at everyone: "Everyone, you must say goodbye to you for a thousand miles, you cherish it!" ”

"Congratulations to Master Hou!"

Yi Zhisuff arched his hand and turned around and strode towards the dock, but Jiang Zhongyuan followed, and said step by step: "Don't forget what Master Hou promised." ”

"Brother Minqiao rest assured, I will discuss with them when I return to Shanghai, and reply as soon as there is news." Yi Zhizhi said as he walked: "In addition, the country is the time to employ people, Brother Minqiao should take care of himself, do not risk his life, encircling and suppressing the Taiping Army is not a matter of overnight." ”

"Hou Ye's golden and jade good words must be remembered in the future." Jiang Zhongyuan followed him onto the dock, and when Yi Zhizhi was content, he got on the springboard before he arched his hand and said, "Master Hou has a good journey." ”

After getting on the boat, Yi Zhizhi turned around and arched his hand: "Brother Minqiao cherishes." As he spoke, he said goodbye to the officials on the shore.

Seeing the fleet slowly sailing away from the dock, Qi Shan sighed secretly, the withdrawal of the navy, encircling and suppressing the Taiping army will undoubtedly be much more difficult, he really doesn't understand what Xianfeng and Mu Zhang'a think, obviously they have already reported that Yi Zhizhi will withdraw the army, but he doesn't want to find a way to keep it, now it's okay!

"They are all scattered, and they all go back to the government on errands." Qi Shan gave an order and walked slowly to the dock.

On the dock, Jiang Zhongyuan stood alone and looked at the fleet in the distance, listened to the movement, turned around, and saw Qi Shan, he let out a long sigh, not knowing what to say, Qi Shan smiled slightly, and said: "Don't be frustrated, Yi Guocheng is okay, quickly inform the governors of the provinces along the Yangtze River, and the naval fleet will withdraw." ”

Jiang Zhongyuan was stunned, and then said happily: "My lord, this is ......" ”

"The withdrawal of the navy is not only our Huguang Governor." Qi Shan said slowly: "They know what to do. ”

The news of the withdrawal of the naval fleet from Wuchang, Hubei Province soon spread, the governors of the two rivers, and the officials of the prefectures and counties along the Yangtze River were all shocked, and the Taiping Army is now prestigious, and the scale of the naval division is huge, even the naval fleet has to avoid its edge, and now the naval fleet has withdrawn, and the Yangtze River Naval Division is still on paper, thousands of miles of the Yangtze River, and the Taiping Army Naval Division is allowed to run vertically and horizontally, which means that the Taiping Army can float down the river at any time, which is not just about the official hat on the head, but directly related to the life of the family, how can one not be in a hurry?

Li Xingyuan, the governor of Liangjiang, Luo Bingzhang, the governor of Anhui, Lu Yinggu, the governor of Jiangxi, and Fu Shenxun, the governor of Jiangsu, knew that it was the governor of Huguang who pulled them into the water, but they also had to cooperate.

Beijing Division, military aircraft duty room.

Mu Zhang'a got up and walked to Lin Zexu's desk, gently put down the fold of Huguang Governor Qi Shan, and said, "It's a big trouble!" ”

"It's not small." Lin Zexu nodded, handed him Yi Zhi's letter, and then opened Qi Shan's fold, and after reading Yi Zhi's reply, Mu Zhang'a couldn't help but be dumbfounded, this requirement is not enough to describe that the lion is wide open, and the military and political power of the nine provinces is controlled, and the military expenditure is 30 million taels of silver, which is impossible at all! Even the great general king is not so outrageous! Moreover, there was no room for negotiation and bargaining, and the troops were simply withdrawn directly, and the troops were withdrawn without following the order!

After a while, Lin Zexu said: "The letter to Yi Guocheng, Mu Xiang saw it with his own eyes and sent it by the court. ”

Seeing that he was in a hurry to take himself out, Mu Zhang'a smiled bitterly and said: "Yi Guocheng is bold and reckless, who doesn't know, you have to think about it quickly, how to redeem it." ”

Save? Lin Zexu rolled his eyes, "Why did Mu Xiang ask knowingly?" ”

"Let's talk about it later." Mu Zhang'a said and picked up the fold and walked out of the duty room, he really didn't expect Yi Zhishu to be so unscrupulous, this is to Xianfeng without any face, obviously, this is to force the imperial court to hand over the Yangtze River Navy to the navy to prepare, I don't know how Xianfeng will react.

Temper the military and political power of the nine provinces, and spend 30 million taels of silver on the military! This kid really dared to mention it, and when he saw Lin Zexu walking out quickly, he stopped and said in a deep voice: "How about giving him the Governor of Huguang?" ”

Lin Zexu snorted coldly, Hunan and Hubei are now beaten by the Taiping Army, Yi Zhixin is willing to take this mess? Seeing that he was silent, Mu Zhangapi said with a smile: "Or, recommend an important minister with high moral integrity and close relationship with Yi Guocheng to Huguang to preside over military affairs?" ”

Lin Zexu naturally knew what his idea was, but even if he went to Huguang, Yi Zhixiang might not sell his account, so he immediately shook his head and said, "The relationship between the monk king and Yi Guocheng is well known, what is the result?" After a slight sigh, he said: "The last words of the first emperor, Mu Xiangke still remembers?" ”