As the saying goes, the imperial power is not lower than the county, no matter how chaotic the bandits are in the countryside, local officials can turn a blind eye, get by, and whitewash the peace, but once the county seat is captured, it is a great event, and no one dares to hide it!

Bozhou twist bandits Zhang Luoxing, Gong Deshu and others gathered 10,000 people to capture Yongcheng, Henan! This news was soon reported layer by layer, and the officials of the prefectures and counties in northern Anhui and northern Jiangsu, which are adjacent to Yongcheng, were all frightened one by one after after reporting to the authorities, and recruited the people to form a township to strengthen the city's defense, for fear that the bandits would come to attack. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

Anhui, Anqing, Governor Yamen.

Governor Luo Bingzhang was stunned, although Yongcheng is from Henan, but the leaders of the twist bandits Zhang Luoxing and Gong Deshu are from Bozhou County, Yingzhou Prefecture, Anhui Province, and Bozhou County is adjacent to Yongcheng, will Zhang Luoxing lead the twist bandits back to Bozhou City?

In that place in northern Anhui, he knows very well that there are many disasters and famines, the people are fierce, and there are many twists, if nothing happens, once something happens, I am afraid that it will soon form a prairie fire, a bad one, he will be dismissed as the governor again, and he must send troops to encircle and suppress as soon as possible, and then be dismissed, and the chance of recovery is small!

However, he has no confidence in the officers and soldiers of the local green battalion at all, he does not want to repeat the mistakes of the past, the Taiping army was gradually strengthened under the repeated encirclement and suppression of the officers and soldiers of the green battalion, to exterminate the bandits in northern Anhui, and also rely on the Yangtze River water division, settle down, he quickly picked up the pen and wrote a letter to Yi Zhicontent.

After writing, he pondered for a while, and then took up the pen and wrote an excerpt, detailing the serious turmoil in northern Anhui and western Henan, and imploring the imperial court to urge the Yangtze River Naval Division to send troops to northern Anhui to exterminate the turmoil as soon as possible, so as not to form a prairie fire. Thinking about it, he was still not at ease, and wrote another letter to Li Xingyuan, the governor of Liangjiang.

Shanghai, Zhenhai Mansion, Changle Book House.

Bao Shichen put the letter on the coffee table very casually, and asked slowly: "Twist bandits may become a climate?" ”

lit a cigarette, Yi Zhizhi said slowly: "The twisting party is a plate of scattered sand, and the Taiping Army cannot be compared. However, northern Anhui, northern Jiangsu, and western Henan have always been empty of troops, and most of the elite green battalions in several provinces have been transferred to Hunan to encircle and suppress the Taiping army, so there are still opportunities. ”

After a slight groan, Bao Shichen said tentatively: "Is the big treasurer planning to take this opportunity to send troops to the provinces?" Or do you actively encircle and suppress and eliminate the twisting problem? ”

Yi Zhixiang smiled and said, "What do you think, sir?" ”

"If the bandits can become a climate, it will be conducive to the expansion of Yuanqi's power to the northern provinces such as Henan, Shandong, and even Shanxi and Shaanxi. It can also further contain the imperial court, so that the imperial court has no time to take care of the expansion of Yuanqi. Bao Shichen's tone changed when he said this, "However, once the twisting bandits become a climate, it is very likely that they will be like the Taiping Army, easy to release and difficult to collect, and it will take a lot of effort to exterminate them in the future."

What is even more worrying is that Hunan and Anhui are only separated by one Hubei, and once the twisting bandits begin to form a climate and join forces with the Taiping army, the situation will be more difficult to control. In addition, the banditry is strong, and it will inevitably cause great losses to the agricultural and commercial population of the northern provinces. The old man thought that it was enough to contain the imperial court, and the Taiping army. ”

The Twist Army is a typical rogue, or a cavalry-based rogue, transferred to Anhui, Shandong, Henan, Suzhou, Shaanxi and other more than ten provinces and regions, lasted for more than ten years, the blow to the Qing court is no less than the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the damage to the northern provinces is also quite large, this point, Yi Zhicontent is quite clear.

He knew very well that in the next half century, the whole world would be in turmoil, and wars would continue to be fought -- the Crimean War, the American Civil War, the Italian War of Independence, the Franco-Prussian War, the Zulu War, the Anglo-Egyptian War, the Spanish-American War, ......

It can be said that this half century is the most precious golden time for the Qing Dynasty, if it also falls into the quagmire of war, it is not only a missed opportunity to rise, but also a missed opportunity to fight for hegemony!

"Sir's concern is not unreasonable." Yi Zhizu nodded slightly: "There is really no need to condone the development and growth of the twist bandits, it is undoubtedly worth the loss, but the past two years are the most critical moment for Yuanqi, and it is not without benefit to let the twist bandits mess up." ”

After a pause, he continued: "The outbreak of the twist chaos is conducive to Yuanqi's garrison along the railway line, at least to Jinan, Shandong, Anhui, Henan, and Shaanxi can also take this opportunity to station, so that it will be beneficial for Yuanqi to open branches in various provinces, and Yuanqi Bank needs enough force to back it up."

Moreover, the twist chaos is also conducive to promoting large-scale immigration to the northwest, and the most important point is that Yuan Qi can take the opportunity to suppress the twist chaos to expand the army on a large scale, and the outbreak of war in the northwest will be in this next year, which can be said to be imminent. ”

Bao Shichen glanced at him and said suspiciously: "Is the big shopkeeper sure that he will eradicate the twist within two years?" ”

"No problem." Yi Zhizu nodded and said: "Now that the imperial court is issuing large amounts of money and official bills, the evil consequences will gradually become prominent this year and next year, which is suitable for Yuanqi to build a banking network in all provinces across the country, and after the eradication of the twisting chaos, it is just right to directly wave the northwest." ”

After staring at him for a long time, Bao Shichen said: "Could the twisting chaos be manipulated by the big shopkeeper?" ”

Yi Zhizhi smiled contentedly, "How can I have such great ability." ”

Old Summer Palace, Fangbi Cong.

"A wave has not settled, and a wave has risen." Xianfeng sighed lightly, and slowly closed Li Xingyuan's fold, the Taiping army in Hunan has not been wiped out, and there is a twist in Henan, and the twist in Henan and Anhui provinces is still very serious, and the situation of Hongyang rebels in Guangxi is very similar, if it is not exterminated as soon as possible, once the trend of burning the prairie is formed, the consequences are unimaginable.

However, let the Yangtze River Navy Division send troops to encircle and suppress the bandits, he felt a little uneasy, and sighed slightly, before he said: "Where is Lin Zexu now?" ”

Lin Zexu was ordered to go to Fengbei to block the breach of the Yellow River, and he had already closed the dragon before the Taohuaxin, and Xianfeng did not let him return to Beijing, and he concurrently served as the governor of the Donghe River, inspected the river, in order to prevent the occurrence of the embankment burst again, and asked him to strictly investigate the corruption and dereliction of duty of the river officials in recent years.

Xianfeng suddenly asked at this time, obviously planning to use Lin Zexu as the Qin to encircle and suppress the bandits! Mu Zhang's mind is spinning fast, the relationship between Lin Zexu and Yi Zhizhi is obvious, Xianfeng's attitude towards Yuan Qi seems to have changed now, if Lin Zexu returns to Beijing after exterminating the twist, whether he, the chief military plane, can be saved, I'm afraid it's hard to say!

After a slight groan, Mu Zhang'a bowed down and replied: "Back to the emperor, Lin Zexu broke his son a month ago, and on the grounds that he was unwell, he asked to send additional officials from the Criminal Department to Jining to assist in the investigation of the case, and I think he should still be in Jining." ”

Feeling unwell? After he reminded him, Xianfeng also remembered that there was indeed such a thing, Mu Zhang'a glanced at him quickly, and said cautiously: "Your Majesty, Hong Yang's rebellion was in Jintian, Guangzhou, and there were only more than 10,000 people, and Henan and Anhui have been in turmoil for a long time, if they can't be eradicated in time with lightning speed, there is a ...... of rapid spread, the local green camp is useless, and the imperial court's finances are also stretched. ”

Hearing this, Xianfeng couldn't help but sigh secretly, it's just that the local green camp is unbearable, the key is that there is no silver! After pondering for a long time, he said: "Passing on the decree, Chen Hongming, the commander of the Yangtze River Naval Division, dispatched the officers and soldiers of the Naval Division to the nearest place to encircle and suppress. ”

Xuzhou, railway station.

"Uhhhhhhhhhh As soon as the door opened, a group of officers and men with loaded guns quickly got down from the train and lined up on the platform to assemble.

Yin Youcai walked slowly onto the platform, glanced at it, and waited for the battalion commanders to come to report before he said in a deep voice: "Order all departments to quickly advance to Yongcheng, and be sure to arrive and recover Yongcheng within three days." ”

From Xuzhou to Henan Yongcheng is only more than 200 miles, with the speed of the troops, it can be reached in two days, and it is really not a difficult thing to recover Yongcheng in three days, Yin Youcai is full of confidence in the officers and soldiers he has trained single-handedly, although many of these soldiers are recruits recruited last year, but the middle and low-level officers are basically transferred from the Nanyang Navy, and many of them are veterans trained by the Yuanqi Regiment, not to mention the little-known twist bandits, that is, the Taiping Army, he did not pay attention to it.

Yongcheng, county office, flower hall.

Gong Deshu, who was in his early thirties, hurriedly walked into the county office, because he was short-sighted, and was known as 'Gong Blind'....... Henan, Anhui north twist party a lot, but is a plate of scattered sand, lack of a unified organization, in this regard, far from catching up with the Taiping army, now, Zhang Dangjia captured Yongcheng, will inevitably summon the court officers and soldiers to encircle and suppress, it is best to be able to convene the nearby prefectures and counties of the twist party, blood alliance, so that in order to form a strong force, and the officers and soldiers to confront ........ ”

Gong Deshu entered the door, and saw Zhang Lexing Erlang holding a teacup and listening energetically, opposite was a man of about thirty, very capable, this person he naturally recognized, named Fang Yougui, this time they led troops to besiege Yongcheng, it was this Fang Yougui who led people to kill the officers and soldiers guarding the gate of Dongcheng to open the city gate.

Raising his eyes to catch a glimpse of Gong Deshu coming in, Zhang Lexing stretched out his hand to interrupt Fang Yougui's words, and said, "Something?" ”

Gong Deshu said in a deep voice: "I just received news that a large number of officers and soldiers of the Yangtze River Water Division have arrived in Xuzhou and are rushing to Yongcheng. ”

"Yangtze River Sailor?" Zhang Lexing, he doesn't just know how to dig in the soil, footprints can not be out of the county's soil buns, his Zhang family can also be regarded as a local rich family, there are hundreds of acres of fertile land, as well as workshops and shops, after the brothers separated, he because of his generosity, like to make friends with the rivers and lakes of high rollers, the share of the family property is scattered, simply gathered his subordinates and a group of homeless people to sell illicit salt, although it is not a generation to go south and north, but the news is also very well-informed, and the knowledge is not bad.

He is not worried about the Yangtze River Naval Division, which he has heard of, and it is said that it is a new army that was only prepared by the Nanyang Navy, and the combat power of the musket is far from being comparable to that of the Green Battalion, and there are many people in the Yangtze River Naval Division in northern Anhui, northern Jiangsu, and eastern Henan, and the officers and soldiers of the Green Battalion come to encircle and suppress, and he is not worried, but when the Yangtze River Naval Division comes, he can't help but beat a little drum in his heart.

After a while, he asked in a deep voice, "How many people?" ”

"One or two thousand." Gong Deshu said.

"How did you recruit the Yangtze River Sailor?" Zhang Lexing muttered softly.

"Zhang's house." Fang Yougui said slowly: "The Yangtze River Sailor is strong, there is no need to touch hard, and there is no need to defend it, it is better to go back to northern Anhui first, at the beginning of the incident, you must first unite people's hearts and stabilize morale, a losing battle, people's hearts will be dispersed, and the team is not easy to lead." ”

"Brother Fang's words make sense." Gong Deshu agreed, "Let's go back to our own territory first, even if the officers and soldiers chase after us, we have room for maneuver, and Yongcheng will definitely not be able to defend it." ”

Zhang Lexing nodded and said, "Insightful, pass the order, and withdraw to Bozhou in two hours." As he spoke, he raised his hand and said, "Brother Fang has extraordinary knowledge, and continued." ”

Fang Yougui groaned for a while, and then continued: "Forming a bloody alliance with various prefectures and counties can not only strengthen the strength, but also invisibly expand the room for maneuver, the larger the territory, the greater the room for maneuver, and the less likely it is to be surrounded and suppressed by officers and soldiers, Yongcheng is a place where the four provinces meet, northern Anhui, eastern Henan, northern Jiangsu, and western Luxi, if you can unite these four provinces, you will definitely be able to get like a fish in water." In addition, you can also try to get in touch with the Taiping army in Hunan, if you can echo each other, it will be better. ”

Zhang Lexing said with a smile: "Brother Fang has a broad vision and extraordinary knowledge. After a pause, he said, "How could we provoke the officers and soldiers of the Yangtze River Naval Division to come to encircle and suppress?" ”

"It's not surprising." Fang Yougui said with a smile: "The Taiping army started in Guangxi, that is, the green battalions of the provinces went to encircle and suppress, and as a result, the Taiping army suppressed more and more, and the momentum of the twisting party in the past two years was not small, and the imperial court was afraid of repeating the mistakes of the past, so it sent the Yangtze River Navy Division to encircle and suppress, hoping to exterminate us as soon as possible, so as not to have too many dreams at night." ”

Zhang Lexing frowned and said, "Then how should we deal with it?" ”

"If you can't win, can't you win?" Fang Yougui said in a relaxed tone: "Eat persimmons and pinch them softly, let's take them by the nose and run, and take the time to make a single order." ”

Three days later, Yin Youcai led his troops to recover Yongcheng without bloodshed, although he knew that Zhang Lexing led his troops to retreat to Bozhou, he did not pursue, but ordered to garrison Yongcheng on the spot.

Two months later, Zhang Lexing summoned the eighteen heads of nearby prefectures and counties to gather blood in the Pheasant River Jishan Hall in his hometown of Bozhou, tore the flag and set off cannons, and openly erected an anti-flag.

The northern part of Anhui can be said to be a village with a twist, Zhuangzhuang has a twist, all the state capitals and counties have a twist party frequent activities, Zhang Lexing this open erection of the anti-flag, the nearby twist swarmed to vote, in a short time gathered 40,000 people, the momentum was greatly boosted, Zhang Lexing immediately led the crowd to attack Bozhou, because of the lack of siege equipment and weapons, the attack was not taken for a long time, and then led the troops to Luyi County.

When the news spread, officials from the border prefectures and counties of the four provinces urgently reported to the authorities, and the four provinces of Henan, Anhui, Jiangsu, and Shandong were shocked.