When Li Zhen arrived in Guangzhou with a large army. It has passed the end of January in the third year of Tongzhi (1858). The two armies were stationed, and Li Zhen took Zuo Zongtang and Zeng Guofan and others into the city. Back at the house, Li Zhen summoned Qi Zhenhai, Wang Xiaoyang, Ye Mingchen, the governor of Liangguang and others, plus Zuo Zongtang, Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang and other army generals, all in the conference room for a meeting.

Li Zhen sat on the main seat, his eyes swept over everyone, and said, "At the beginning of the meeting, I would like to introduce you to the two handsome talents who have recently joined me. Brother Ji Gao and Brother Bohan, let's introduce ourselves. ”

Zuo Zongtang stood up and said: "My name is Zuo Zongtang, the word is Jigao, I am a native of Xiangyin, Hunan, and I am now serving as the commander of the Second Army under the command of Wang Ye, please give me more advice." ”

After that, Zuo Zongtang gave a military salute to everyone before sitting down.

Immediately afterwards, Zeng Guofan got up and bowed slightly, and then said: "The contemptible surname is Zeng Guofan, the word Bohan, a native of Xiangxiang, Hunan. Now serving as the commander of the Third Army under the command of Wang Ye, he rushed to Taiwan with Wang Ye to exterminate the US army. In the days to come, I will work with you, please give me a lot of advice, and please forgive me if there is anything inappropriate. ”

The two of them made a quick introduction.

Li Zhen shook his head and smiled: "Brother Ji Gao and Brother Bohan are too humble, they are still far behind, it is you who guide them, not them who guide you." When Li Zhen's words came out, everyone present showed a surprised expression, secretly speculating about who Zeng Guofan and Zuo Zongtang were, which made Li Zhen value it so much.

Li Zhen continued: "The purpose of introducing Zuo Zongtang and Zeng Guofan to you is to hope that you can get to know them. Both of them have talents from heaven and earth, and it is your blessing to study by their side, and I hope you will get acquainted with them as soon as possible. ”

Li Hongzhang and others sat behind Zeng Guofan, and they also felt honored.

"Zhenhai, let's talk about the current situation facing the attack on Taiwan!"

Li Zhen changed his words and returned to the topic.

Qi Zhenhai stood up and saluted, and said loudly: "Lord Wang, the current attack on Taiwan is not smooth, the situation has always been in a stalemate, and the situation has not been opened for a long time. ”

"What is the reason?" Li Zhen asked.

Qi Zhenhai explained: "The firepower of the other side is not weaker than ours, especially the US military has built fortifications at the port where it landed on Taiwan Road, etc., even if we attack fiercely, we have not been able to open the situation and are in a stalemate." ”

"Hmm!"

Li Zhen hummed and stopped asking.

"Boom! Boom!! ”

The middle finger of Li Zhen's right hand tapped lightly on the conference table, which seemed very abrupt in the silent conference room. After a while, Li Zhen asked in a deep voice, "Can you go ashore with the current firepower?" ”

Qi Zhenhai said: "Yes, but after going ashore, I will be driven down again, and I can't stand firm at all." ”

Li Zhen said: "I will solve the problem of gaining a firm foothold after going ashore, and now I will reorganize the army, dispatch warships, and load the Second Army, the Third Army and some of the soldiers under your command to Taiwan." ”

"Yes!" Qi Zhenhai agreed.

Ye Mingchen said: "Lord Wang, do you want to go in person?" ”

"Of course, it's a must."

"With humble advice, it would be better for the prince not to go. After all, this time there is going to be a naval engagement. As the saying goes, no one can predict what will happen at sea, so it's best not to go out. ”

Li Zhen shook his head and said, "No, I have to go." After a pause, Li Zhen said again: "Don't worry, I won't charge into battle, this is not what I should do, I will only command in the back." So, you don't have to worry about it. ”

After Ye Mingchen heard this, he stopped talking.

He opened his mouth to persuade and did not show that he really cared about Li Zhen, but just did his duty to remind Li Zhen.

"Step! Trample!! ”

There was a sound of footsteps, and a soldier walked up to Wang Xiaoyang and whispered a few words. In an instant, Wang Xiaoyang's face changed greatly, and his face also showed a look of panic, and he said in a deep voice: "Lord Wang, there is news from the Wei Mansion that the old man has reached the point of dying. ”

"What?"

Li Zhenhuo Ran got up, was stunned for a moment, and then spread his feet and ran towards the outside of the conference room.

In the conference room, a group of stunned people were left behind.

Zuo Zongtang asked, "Governor Wang, who is Old Man Wei?" Zeng Guofan was also confused, guessing that Old Man Wei might be Li Zhen's relative, otherwise he wouldn't let Li Zhen run out so out of shape.

Wang Xiaoyang shook his head and said: "Old Man Wei is the person in charge of the Kyushu Daily under the command of Wang Ye, his name is Wei Yuan, I believe you have all heard the name of Old Man Wei." When it came to Wei Yuan, Zuo Zongtang, Zeng Guofan and others were in awe, but they didn't expect it to be Wei Yuan.

It's a pity that Wei Yuan has reached the point of dying.

Wang Xiaoyang said: "Let's go, go and send Old Man Wei on his last journey." He also got up and left the conference room, Zuo Zongtang, Zeng Guofan, Ye Mingchen and others followed behind, rushing towards the place where Wei Yuan lived.

Li Zhen came to the mansion where Wei Yuan lived, asked people to lead the way, and went straight to Wei Yuan's bedroom.

When they came to the bedroom, the people in the bedroom were surprised, they didn't expect Li Zhen to rush over so quickly. Wei Yuan's family members were very moved when they saw Li Zhenwei hunched his back, gasping for breath, and the slightest hint of white air bubbling above his head. In this case, it must be Li Zhen galloping all the way, otherwise it would not be hot on a cold day.

"Go down, I'll have a few words with the prince!"

Wei Yuan, who was lying on the bed, saw Li Zhen and commanded.

It's just that Wei Yuan's voice is hoarse and old, revealing a sense of fatigue, which gives Li Zhen an unsustainable feeling, as if Wei Yuan will not be able to hold on after this sentence is finished, which makes Li Zhen feel unspeakably uncomfortable.

"Lord Wang!"

Wei Yuan gritted his teeth and wanted to get up and salute, but he couldn't raise his strength at all.

"Old Wei, lie down and don't move!"

Li Zhen hurriedly asked Wei Yuan to continue to lie down.

Wei Yuan lay on the bed, staring at Li Zhen, a smile appeared on his face, and said, "I thought that the old man would never see the prince when he died. I didn't expect to see it, the sky treats me well! The old man has lived all his life and done a lot of things, but the happiest and most proud is to follow the prince to found the Kyushu Daily. Now that the scale of Kyushu Daily has risen and continues to develop, it can be expected that the future achievements will be achieved, and the old man will have no regrets when he dies! ”

Li Zhen held Wei Yuan's bony hand, felt the cold feeling coming from Wei Yuan's hand, felt lost in his heart, and said in a low tone: "Old Wei, on the way I came, I have already asked people to notify the doctor, and the doctor will come soon." You take good care of your illness, I'm still waiting for Wei Lao to support me in the overall situation! ”

A flush appeared on Wei Yuan's face, and the whole person suddenly came to his senses, and said loudly: "I know my illness!" The old man has lived so long, enough is enough! It's a pity that not more people saw the Kyushu Daily, didn't let more people understand the outside world, and didn't see the day when the Qing Dynasty stood majestically in the world. ”

Li Zhen wanted to interject to speak, but Wei Yuan waved his hand to stop him. He seemed to feel that he really couldn't get the last breath, so he wanted to say it all at once.

ps； The first shift;