Beiguan Barracks, Guangzhou.

Zhu Jishi has changed into the new military uniform of the Jinyi Guards, the gray tweed military uniform, which is not as beautiful as the flying fish suit of the original silk fabric, but it is much stronger, and there is no bells and whistles embroidery, and the production cost is also low - the current Zhu Ming regime is a combination of Chinese and Western roads, most of the civil officials are Confucianists, and the serious civilian official uniforms are also black gauze hats and red official robes in the style of the former Ming Dynasty. The army is completely Westernized, with Western-style drills and weapons, and officers are also trained in Western-style.

Therefore, all troops except the Jinyi Guards are wearing Western-style military uniforms, but the military uniforms of Western countries in this era are not very different, they are personally improved by Zhu Jishi, and they look a bit like the clothing of the Beiyang Army in later generations. So on the battlefield, the enemy can find out the location of the brocade guards at a glance, so that he can judge the approximate location of Zhu Jishi himself! When fighting against the Manchu army, it doesn't matter if the king's position is exposed, but if you encounter the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's religious maniacs or Lao Maozi's army, it will be a bit dangerous - especially the Hodchisky grenade filled with ammonium oil explosives is not monopolized by the Zhu Ming family, if it is bombarded by someone else's Hodchisky grenade, Zhu Jishi will be killed!

So after returning from the last Northern Expedition, Zhu Jishi ordered the training uniform of the Jinyi Guards to be changed to a gray military uniform, and the big red flying fish suit was only used as a dress - in the Ming Dynasty, most of this set of clothes was also a dress, otherwise how could he go out of the country to be a secret agent if he was so stylish?

As soon as the military order of the Second Northern Expedition was issued, the Jinyi Guards were immediately mobilized, and all the officers who had been studying at the Whampoa Military Academy returned to the team. Firing. Tactical training has also been doubled and doubled. The distribution of war materiel also began. In addition to increasing the reserves of the military department. The ammunition base of the units was also issued in accordance with wartime standards. All the preparations for the Northern Expedition are ready!

And Zhu Jishi, Luo Zenan, Su Yuniang and other officers also studied the map day and night, speculating about future changes in the situation.

Because he adopted Zuo Zongtang's strategy of "using the courage of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom", the current situation is really confusing to the extreme. The bravery of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was truly beyond everyone's expectations. In the past few days, news has come from the north one after another. It is said that there are less than 30,000 monks who retreated to Kaifeng, and almost all of their horses, artillery, and baggage have been lost. In addition, Yishan, Yixiang, Sushun, Shengbao, Taqibu, Fu Fang and others will lead more than 10,000 troops to retreat to Jinan. Received by Kong Fanhao and Zeng Guofan, he prepared to cross the sea to Liaodong to join Prince Heshuo Gong and Shengjing General Yixin.

(Emperor Daoguang did not officially canonize Yi Xin as the crown prince, but it was already clear that Yi Xin inherited the throne, and at the same time named him Prince Heshuo Gong and General Sheng Jing, so that he could control the military and political power of the Eight Banners outside the Guanwai.) ）

But north of the Yellow River, there is still no news, there is no doubt that the city of Beijing will fall into the hands of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom sooner or later, but such a super huge castle will not fall in the blink of an eye, right?

A staff officer of the General Staff hurriedly ran in. gave Zhu Jishi a hand-raising salute, and then handed a thick envelope to Luo Zenan.

"Your Majesty. It's Miao Peilin's letter. Luo Zenan took the envelope and took a look, and the inscription on it was "Daming Huaibei Governor Miao".

"What does the letter say?" Zhu Jishi propped up the edge of the map table with both hands, his eyes still staring at a map of China.

"Miao Peilin has recovered Xuzhou, and he is ready to use Xuzhou as the capital of Huaibei Province......"

"Conquered Xuzhou? In this way, Lin Zexu's communication with Shandong was cut off. Your Majesty, this is beneficial to us in recovering Jiangnan. Su Yuniang on the side laughed.

Not only did he recover Xuzhou, but he also expanded his territory to southwest Lu, appeased the local army in southwest Lu, and was assisted by Liu Shuyu, a famous scholar in Yizhou and a six-year jinshi of Daoguang. Miao Peilin also asked for Liu Shuyu in the letter, wanting him to be the political envoy of Huaibei. ”

Zhu Jishi patted the map table: "This Miao Peilin has done a good job, and he has made a big name in Huaibei!" Give Liu Shuyu a political envoy, and then give Miao Peilin a Fengtai Marquis. ”

Zhu Ming does not have the official position of political envoy in the local area, only the deputy governor, but the situation in Huaibei is special, and it does not hurt according to Miao Peilin's wishes.

"By the way, did Miao Peilin's letter say about the situation in Zhili and Shandong?" Zhu Jishi then asked about the situation in the north. Now the Second Northern Expedition is imminent, but the Ming Dynasty is not very clear about the situation in the north, and there is really a feeling of a blind man touching an elephant.

"He doesn't know the situation of Zhili, the situation in Shandong said, now Kong Fanhao and Zeng Guofan are in charge, Yan Shenggong has been frightened by the momentum of the Taiping Army, and he can't wait to give up the governor of Shandong to Zeng Guofan. Miao Peilin also said that he was going to send Liu Shuyu to Jinan to appease Kong Fanhao, hoping that the king could make Kong Fanhao the Holy Duke of Yan and the governor of Shandong. ”

Heroes in troubled times rise from all directions, Zeng Guofan is a hero, Miao Peilin is a hero, Li Hongzhang is also a hero, but Kong Fanhao is not a hero, and he is forced to put himself in a position where only heroes can sit, and he can only be frightened all day long - not to mention the fierce Taiping Army, that is, the army on the ground in Shandong and the rebels of the White Lotus Sect, this Confucius will not be able to deal with it after that. Now Miao Peilin took advantage of the opportunity of Saishan'a and Guanwen's retreat to Liaodong to take Xuzhou, and also wantonly appeased the "banner army" under the banner of opposing the Qing Dynasty and restoring the Ming Dynasty, and extended its tentacles to Shandong.

This Kong Fanhao is so anxious that he doesn't know what to do, maybe he will really take refuge in Daming, right?

"The Qing Dynasty shouldn't die, right? Disheng, Qing Dynasty...... Isn't it dead? ”

Just when Zhu Jishi's Jinyi Guards swore in the Northern Expedition on November 12, 1848, and left the camp in Beiguan, Guangzhou. The governor of Shandong in the Qing Dynasty and the admiral of military affairs, Kong Fanhao, the prince of Yansheng, stood on the tower of the Huibo Gate of Jinan City, looking at the ocean a few miles north of the city, and kept muttering words of great rebellion. If these few words alone had been listened to by the Imperial Historian a few months earlier, the title of the Holy Duke of Yan would have to be changed. But now, the Shandong Provincial Superintendent Yushi is standing behind Kong Fanhao, and he is also sighing and crying. Even Fu Fang, the deputy commander of the White Flag of the Eight Banners New Army, and Su Shun, the deputy commander of the Blue Flag, only sighed when they heard this.

Seriously, whether the Qing Dynasty is dead or not, the two of them don't know what to do, but whether the Qing Dynasty will die in the near future, they are very confident in their hearts - the Qing Dynasty will die!

According to the data held by the two of them, in the first battle of Huaxian, the loss of the Eight Banners New Army, the pillar of the Qing Dynasty's armed forces, exceeded 110,000! More than half of the total strength of the Eight Banners New Army! All six flags participating in the battle were defeated!

In the entire Qing Dynasty, there is no force that can stop the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, not to mention that there is a Zhu Ming in the south whose strength is not under the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom!

"Brother Bohai, the Qing Dynasty will not die, the Cantonese bandits will not succeed for a while, and the imperial court is the right thing in the world after all, and the people's hearts are wanting...... So it won't die. Zeng Guofan looked at the surging yellow water outside the city, and said nonsense that he didn't believe in himself. Even the trick of digging the Yellow River to replace the army with water to block the enemy has been used, can you still not lose the country?

"Won't die yet?" Kong Fanhao glanced at Zeng Guofan, who was full of confidence, and said in his heart, "If you don't die, why did you come to Jinan?" The dignified governor of Henan is not fighting with the Cantonese bandits in his territory, and takes the army to Shandong to avoid trouble, if the Qing Dynasty does not die, you should die! ”

"I have the blessing of heaven in the Qing Dynasty, and the emperor is blessed with all the blessings of the sky, even if there are millions of Cantonese bandits, they can be leveled with one drum. However, this Cantonese bandit believes in the religion of Christ, destroys the Temple of Literature, kills Confucian students, burns classics everywhere he passes, and wants to destroy the foundation of my famous religion in everything, and he will not let go of Shandong, the hometown of saints. If we want to protect the famous religion, we must die to protect Shandong, protect the hometown of the saint from being invaded by evil demons, and protect the descendants of the saint and Miao from being harmed by Cantonese bandits. ”

Zeng Guofan's words are in Kong Fanhao's arms, he doesn't care who is the emperor, but Confucius, the great god, can't be smashed, and the privileges of the Kong family are best preserved. But this Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has made it clear that it is not all the way with Confucius, and if they really want to get to Shandong, probably everyone surnamed Confucius will be killed by them, right?

Kong Fanhao suddenly made a somewhat surprising request at this time: "Brother Disheng, please come to the house tonight, there are a few ancient books in my brother's house, and I want to ask Brother Disheng to take a look." (To be continued......)