On June 7, Beijing issued an edict. Ding Baozhen, the political envoy of Shandong, was dismissed from his post and handed over to the Central Committee of the DPRK; Liu Mingchuan, the governor of Zhili, was dismissed, and Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang were strictly reprimanded.

Liu Xian, meritorious on the battlefield, loyal and brave, was awarded the title of Governor of Shandong.

Among all the military and political officials who were caught in this war, Liu Xian was the only one who did not receive punishment but took the opportunity to be promoted.

A few years ago, the 28-year-old Liu Mingchuan was "appointed as the commander of Zhili" by the Qing court, and in more than two years, he ascended to the highest military rank in the Manchu army, becoming the highest-ranking military officer among the generals of the Huai Army at that time. For a time, it was preached to the world.

Now, at the age of twenty-five, Liu Xian has been appointed as the governor of Shandong. More than three years is one year longer than Liu Mingchuan, but Liu Mingchuan is backed by the big tree of Li Hongzhang, but Liu Xian started completely from the grassroots. Speaking of legends, Liu Xian is even more prosperous and Liu Ming is a step ahead.

It can be said that Liu Xian, after June of the third year of Tongzhi, has gained wide popularity throughout China. Most officials know that there is still a person in the world, Liu Xian, who is a person who can fight.

And there are many people who are popular, if there are many people, you have to dig up your private background and understand his ins and outs.

As the background of Liu Xian's origin was opened up a little bit, the vast majority of northern officials knew that this Hanzhong general soldier, who had risen to prominence in the Battle of Shandong, had originally met the real chapter with the Taiping Army's Western Expeditionary Corps and Shi Dakai.

Liu Xian's status has suddenly risen again.

Whether it is the Western Expeditionary Corps such as Chen Decai or Shi Dakai, the weight in people's hearts is greater than that of the Twist Army. Even Ma Rong and the souls of Liu Xian's subordinates are more well-known than Zhang Zongyu in Huguang, Anhui, and Liangjiang.

The name of the British king's heavy general, the real famous general of the Taiping Army is not blind in vain.

In July and August, Liu Xian stopped taking the army to enter the city. On the one hand, it is natural to rest the army and recruit young and strong people to fill the army. On the other hand, it is responsible for the safety of Kaifeng and Guide, and at the same time blocking the old crossing of the Yellow River and the waterway of the Yellow River.

The twisted army galloped across Henan and Hubei, no matter how fierce and excessive the trouble was, it didn't care about Liu Xian's affairs.

That's the story of Liu Ming, who turned into a mad dog.

After Zeng Guofan was bid by Beijing, he put forward a river defense strategy for the encirclement and suppression of the Twist Army. That is: fortification of important towns, drawing river circles, clearing the wilderness, and tracking of horse teams.

He arrived in Xuzhou via Yangzhou and Qingjiangpu. Troops were deployed all the way to block the siege, and along the way, they posted lists to recruit personnel. The Jinling Manufacturing Bureau was moved to Haihongkou, merged with Li Hongzhang's original artillery bureau and the iron factory purchased from the Americans, and added more than 100 machines purchased by Rong Hong to build the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau. Then, in the approval of the Yangtze River Naval Division's permanent charter and camp regulations.

The overall layout is to narrow the scope of activities of the Twist Army, and limit it to the north of the Han River, south of the Yellow River, and west of Anhui and Shandong, which is most of Henan.

However, it is really difficult to track the horse team. After the death of the Monk Lingqin Army, it was difficult for Beijing to come up with an elite cavalry team.

Zeng Guofan immediately stationed in Zhoujiakou, Chenzhou, and supervised the suppression of the army in the capacity of the minister.

Liu Mingchuan, who was removed from his official position but still commanded the thirty battalions of the Huai Army under his command, became a trump card under Zeng Guofan. Crazy as he kept chasing the Twisted Army.

However, the Twist Army had a horse team in hand, and suppressed the Huai Army infantry with horses, and his own infantry army went first, and the horse team followed, and Liu Mingchuan chased hard for three months and failed to make a great contribution.

In August, the Twist Army Brigade went south to Hubei and defeated Song Qing, the general soldier of Nanyang. Zeng Guofan took the opportunity to establish a "Shahe Baili Defense Line" from the west of Zhoujiakou to the Luohe River, in an attempt to take advantage of this trench to trap the army in southern Henan.

Liu Xian also received the first order in more than two months, and went south from Kaocheng to Chenzhou.

Zeng Guofan's mouth opened, how dare Liu Xian disobey.

On the fifth day of the ninth month, more than 10,000 troops, together with more than 5,000 Changfu and nearly 20,000 troops, marched south from Kaocheng.

The rumbling sound of horses' hooves shook Liu Xian's ears. With a team of more than 2,000 horses, the Liu Xian military horse team, which has been changed into a cavalry battalion, is far superior to the Liu Mingchuan military horse team at this moment.

With 1,000 ordinary horses and 500 Sanmeng and Heilongjiang horses, with the original 800 horses, the cavalry battalion of Liu Xian's army already had five cavalry brigades.

Fortunately, Kaocheng is located at the junction of the four provinces of Henan, Anhui and Sulu, and there are many people who can ride horses in the north, and the basic strength of the twist is developed in Anhui and eastern Henan.

Chen Tianzhu's third battalion was restored to 2,000 troops, and all the vacancies of Liu Xian's subordinate units were recruited, and the extra people also trained him a new battalion of 2,000 or 3,000 people.

Ten years ago, the diversion of the Yellow River brought too much damage to Henan, Shandong, northern Anhui and northern Jiangsu. More importantly, the war-torn Manchu Dynasty was unable to consolidate the river and collect the victims, and the newly diverted Yellow River flooded every year, differing only in the size of the river and the number of people who suffered.

Liu Xian wants to recruit thousands of young men in the city in two or three months, so isn't that a hand-to-hand capture?

The soldiers and horses arrived at Huaining, the capital of Chenzhou, and Liu Xian settled down a little, and then went straight to Zhoujiakou, forty miles away, with hundreds of guards.

This is one of the most famous cattle and horse markets in eastern Henan, because it is close to the Shahe River, there are advantages of water transportation.

The camp of the Zeng State was stationed here, and thousands of elite Hunan troops had turned it into a large military camp.

This is the biggest official and most famous person Liu Xian has seen in more than three years. The leader of the Hunan army, the pillar of the Manchu Qing Dynasty.

A pair of triangular eyes, two hanging eyebrows, and the triangular edge is very prominent, although the eyes are a little scary, but the face is really not flattering.

is less than the height of Liu Xian's chin, and he is also a third-class cripple in the next life, and it is estimated that it is more than one meter and six points. The back is still a little hunched, and the body is thin.

Liu Xian didn't feel the majesty and momentum of commanding thousands of troops and horses and holding the power of the world from Zeng Guofan, he was like an ordinary old man and a scholar.

But the more this is the case, the more Liu Xian behaves in front of Zeng Guofan.

Because everyone knows what a powerful character Zeng Guofan is. Such a big man, in the first person he saw, the 'suddenly' of the expression Xiàn was not as powerful as he imagined, it was definitely not that Zeng Guofan was really not powerful, but that he went further, not like Liu Rong, who was full of officialdom, and 'returned to the basics'.

"The old man knows you."

There were no outsiders in the room, and Zeng Guofan's tone of speech was not like a subordinate talking about business, but a heart-to-heart conversation.

"Liu Xiaxian, Liu Rong, told the old man about you."

Liu Xian, who was listening with his head hooked, suddenly heard Liu Rong's name, and his head was confused, Zeng Guofan didn't want to take revenge on his old friend, right?

Enduring the panic, Liu Xian kept silent and continued to listen.

If Zeng Guofan wants to blame himself, it is useless for him to defend himself, not to mention that Liu Xian did have selfish intentions in the original matter.

If Zeng Guofan didn't blame himself for this, he just did a beating, then he was in a hurry to defend himself, but he fell into the lower echelons.

Liu Xian was conceited that he had the title of admiral, and Zeng Guofan couldn't kill himself no matter what, so he listened to his words wholeheartedly.