These people who were secretly following were no one else, it turned out that it was the disciple in charge of reconnaissance from the Beggar Gang who was eyeing Zeng Guofan.

One of the main tasks assigned by Mai Ke to Xiao Qi is to keep an eye on the landlords and squires in Hunan, detect any changes as soon as possible, and report them at any time. In the past few days, they found that many people had crossed the border to Gwangju on the border of Xiangguang, and they were not ordinary pawn vendors.

So they became vigilant and directly sent the situation to the little gang leader. Xiao Qian attached great importance to this information, and immediately muttered to the stern elder who was in charge of expanding outward. A special team was dispatched to keep an eye on these people.

This stare is famous. It turned out that these people came alone.

This person was the distinguished guest of Ye Mingchen, the governor of Guangdong, and later they also figured out that this distinguished guest was a high-ranking official of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, Zeng Guofan, who was born in a family of landlords and squires in Hunan.

Yan Yan suddenly felt that the matter was not trivial. After consulting the gang leader, he mobilized several people with the strongest martial arts in the gang and followed him closely. When Lao Zeng left Gwangju and returned to Hunan, they followed.

When he arrived in Changsha, Lao Zeng came to the predetermined place for the meeting.

This place belonged to a local gentry, whose name was Jiang Zhongyuan, who later became a famous Hunan army general. But at this time, he was still a magistrate. However, he was born in Hunan, so he still maintains his roots here.

Speaking of Jiang Zhongyuan, his ability has been slightly revealed. In the twenty-seventh year of Daoguang, Yaomin Lei Zaihao rebelled in Langshan in Xinning in the name of the Qinglian Sect, and Jiang Zhongyuan organized a regimental training to suppress the rebellion. In the twenty-ninth year of Daoguang, he was promoted to Xiushui County, Zhejiang Province for meritorious service, became the county magistrate, and began his officialdom career.

However, the promotion did not change his course, but still maintained his love and control of the local armed forces. His deeds actually laid the foundation for the later brave and unparalleled Hunan army, which was really a foundation and pioneering work.

Lao Zeng returned to Changsha, and before he had time to rest, he continued to arrange manpower to inform the expected participants, while waiting for the arrival of those who had been informed in advance. At the same time, continue to think about his fundamental plan to build his own armament.

By this time, Yan and his party had already sneaked up to the vicinity, from where they could see the scouting object sitting under the lights in the house.

Among the masters who came with him, in addition to the long-standing disciples of the Beggar Gang, there was also a special person, his name was Kang Lu. Superb skills and superb martial arts. The best thing is a dart in one hand, which makes it superb.

Zeng Guofan stayed up all night, and these beggars were also keeping an eye on it. A few rooster crows in the distance evoked the resonance of nearby roosters, and when the day was about to dawn, Zeng Guofan walked out in a cloak. The pre-dawn night sky appears even darker.

Under the ancient vines of Tuping, a dark shadow is jumping. It was the newly recruited guard Kang Fu practicing boxing. Kang Fu's steps are flexible, his fists and feet are powerful, Zeng Guofan looked at it, and he was very envious in his heart: it would be good to have some martial arts like Kang Fu in his body, he could use it to strengthen his body on weekdays, and he could defend himself between emergencies and emergencies.

When I was in reverie, I heard Kang Fu suddenly shout: "Uncle bow your head!"

Zeng Guofan hurriedly lowered his head, only to hear a "whoosh" above his head, something flew by, followed by a "pop", and a bright dart was firmly nailed to the wooden pillar behind him.

Conford said, "There are assassins," and he lunged at the arrow, pulling a dart from the pillar. By the candlelight from the room, he saw the word "Lu" engraved on the snow-white dart, and his heart was suddenly shocked: "Oops, could it be my brother here!"

The other guards rushed out when they heard the news and hurriedly helped Zeng Guofan into the house. Tightly guarded. Conford went after the Assassin.

Kangfu jumped up the wall, only to see a dark figure running in the distance. He jumped off the wall and chased after the shadow. About four or five miles away, Comfort caught up with the man. By this time the sky was getting brighter. Kang Fu saw clearly, the assassin was indeed his brother Kang Lu!

Kangfu was very surprised, so he shouted from behind: "Brother, stop, I am your brother Kangfu!"

Kang Lu replied as he ran ahead: "Brother, I have long seen that it is you." You can't talk here, and the people of the Zeng family will catch up. There was a large wooded area around the bend ahead, and we went inside. ”

After running four or five miles away, Kang Lu and Kang Fu entered the woods one after the other. The two brothers stopped and sat opposite each other in the woods. Kang Fu asked, "Brother, what's going on, why are you plotting to assassinate Master Zeng?"

"I'll talk to my brother slowly!" Kang Lu said as he stared at his brother who had been away for a long time in the faint morning light, "More than a month after my brother left home, Dongting Lake rose and the house collapsed. I didn't know where my brother was, so I left home with two other neighbors to make a living. Working part-time jobs outside and selling coolies is also rare.

"Sometimes I think that I have no ability, I am really wronged, don't say that being a man who stands up to the sky and the earth, even if you can't get food and clothing, you can't do it, and it's really sinful to live like this.

"Half a month ago, I arrived in Gwangju and met the current leader of the beggar gang, who treated me like a brother and sister. Especially recently, the beggar gang has undergone earth-shaking changes, and it is no longer begging for food, just to survive, but an organization that fights for the great righteousness and has a lofty goal.

One of the purposes of this organization was to oppose and overthrow the Manchu Qing Dynasty and restore Chinese civilization. And Zeng Guofan is the blocker of this goal, so I want to get rid of this stumbling block. I have martial arts, and as long as I participate in it, I will certainly make more contributions than others, and my life will be more comfortable than it is now.

"But when I think about it, my father has always taught us that we must be upright, we must not take ill-gotten gains, we cannot do things that harm others, and if the beggars really kill people and set fires, rob and plunder as the government says, even if life is good, I cannot be in the same league with them.

"In order to try them out, I changed my outfit and lay down on the side of the road pretending to be sick. At this time, a group of beggars came over to help the disciples. When they saw me, a few beggars immediately came out and came to me to talk about it. Some said the man was sick, others said he might be hungry.

After a while, a man in his forties walked out of the army, looking at his attire, like their leader. The man took out a small flat porcelain bottle from his waist, poured out a few black balls from the bottle, put them in my mouth, and took the gourd from the hand of a little beggar beside him, and poured the water from the gourd into my mouth. It's strange to say, I'm not sick, but after swallowing these black pills, I feel quite comfortable.

"The man asked me kindly, 'Little brother, are you better?' and I nodded. And he said, 'Little brother, if you can walk, it is better to walk with us for a while, and we will sleep tonight in a house not far ahead, and cook in a pot there, and you will have some hot soup and a hot meal, and you will be well from your sickness.' ’

"I thought to myself: They all say that the beggar is not good, why is this beggar so amiable? I walked forward with them.

"A little beggar of my age next to me said to me, 'This is our elder Yan Tang Master,' and I said, 'Elder Yan is so good!' and he said, 'There are many good people in our beggar gang. This stern elder is still the most unkind of person. But it seems to have changed a lot lately'.

"I chatted with the little beggar and learned that his whole family was in the beggar gang, and the beggar gang opposed the corrupt officials and overthrew the Manchu Qing Dynasty so that everyone could have food and clothing.

These words tickled my heart, and I thought: If the world is like this in the future, wouldn't it really be a good day? Such people are so good, and I decided to stay with them.

"When I arrived at the camp, after eating, I found the stern elders and asked to work with them. Elder Yan readily agreed, and asked me what I was capable of. I said sticks, knives and guns, everything, and performed a few hands on the spot.

"Elder Yan laughed when he saw it, and immediately said: 'Good boy, your ability is very high, you have followed me for the past few days, and when you have made meritorious service, I will promote you to be the helmsman and hall master. ’

"This is the first time I've worked for the Beggar Gang, in order to keep track of Zeng Guofan. When we arrived in Changsa, we lived in the surrounding area. That Elder Yan was also very simple, and when he saw the rare opportunity, he ordered him to give him a dart, so that he would not die but be seriously injured. If it weren't for your brother, I would definitely have made a great contribution.

"Now the other beggar disciples are still there to surround Zeng Guofan, and Elder Yan is very powerful. This time, we must deal with this Manchu official Zeng Guofan.

"After I fired the first dart, I wondered to myself, why is my brother here? Since my brother is here, I won't send a second dart. If it weren't for his brother's presence, Zeng Guofan would have died today. Brother, how did you come to Zeng's mansion?"

Kang Fu told his younger brother about what happened since the separation, and advised his younger brother: "Brother, I don't think Zeng Guofan is the kind of corrupt official who cruels the people and harms the country, he is a good official who is knowledgeable and knowledgeable, how about you join Zeng Guofan with me?"

Kang Lu said: "Brother, what you said is wrong. Zeng Guofan is a corrupt official or a clean official, you don't know, let's not talk about it. The Qing Dynasty built by the Manchus was an out-and-out bad court. My brother has told me this before. Zeng Guofan worked for the Manchus and oppressed us Han people, do you say you should be killed or not?

"Brother Kan still left him with me and went to the beggar gang to find another job. With my brother's skills, in a few years, I can be a hall master, an elder or something in the beggar gang. ”

The brothers fought back and forth, but neither could convince anyone. Kang Fu was worried that after a long time, Zeng Guofan would arouse his suspicions, so he said: "Since ancient times, there have been many brothers who have different ways, since you can't persuade you as a brother, then let's go our own way! ”

"That's what my brother said. I'm gone, brother is more cherished, and there will be a period later. ”

After that, the brothers broke up. It wasn't until he couldn't see his brother's back that Kang Fu turned around and ran back to Zeng Guofan's station. He was relieved to come after his younger brother because he knew that Lord Zeng's guards were very powerful, far more than what he saw on the surface. And the most powerful are the four master guards. Compared to them, Kangfu can only be relegated to fifth place.

Here Kang Fu negotiated with his younger brother, and Yan Yan also had a good time with the rest of the guards. As soon as Kang Fu left, he rushed into the house stern and killed Zeng Guofan directly.

Just as he was about to succeed, a ring knife slashed at his arm, and a fat monk jumped out.

Yo he!

Yan Yan knew that the other party was also from the monk's sect, and of course, as soon as his arm turned, he took it to the back of the knife. The monk saw that his opponent had anticipated his own sword path, and he also knew that he had met an expert. At the moment, he guarded the door and waved a ring knife impenetrable, not only blocking Yan Yan from his body, but also sealing several other beggars.

The beggar disciples on the periphery still had to forward to support, only to hear a sound of footsteps, from far and near, a group of people rushed to come.

Seeing that it was difficult to succeed, Yan Yan did not hesitate, and with an order, he led the beggar disciples to quickly withdraw from the other direction.

Kang Fu arrived first, and when he saw a big monk turn around and lead him, he knew that there was no big danger, because this monk was ranked first among the four major guards, but he was the last.

At this time, the crowd had already appeared, and the one who walked in front was an elegant general, his steps were fast, but he was not panicked, he came to Lao Zeng, and said in a steady voice, "Chang Yu is late, let the adults be frightened, I hope the adults will forgive their sins!"

Lao Zeng really has a super strong mentality, his life is in danger, there is no emotional fluctuation, and he smiled at the comer, "Chickens and dogs and thieves, why worry about it! Zhongyuan doesn't have to be polite." Now that everyone has come, let's start our deliberations. ”

Then they went into the house and sat down around the table. These elites of the future Hunan army had to prepare in advance to deal with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom with the participation of people who had traveled through it, and this change was also unexpected by Mai Ke and others.