February 2o, 1852 was the first day of the first lunar month. The Xinwei camp of the Qing army, which should have been a little festive for the New Year, had no celebratory atmosphere at this time. At this time, it was already night, and the lamp was lit early in the big tent of the Chinese army, and the official minister sent by the imperial court to exterminate the bandits in Guangxi was officially seated in the center. Lord Cézanne was naturally facing south and facing north, and on his left hand, that is, to the west, sat a row of people, for the commander of the Beida battalion, and at this time the governor of Guangxi, Xiang Rong, who had been reinstated from his post. There was also a row of people sitting on Cezanne's right hand, in order to join the army Yao Ying.

The two rows of people facing each other did not smile at all, let alone look at each other, and everyone's eyes fell on a small officer kneeling on the ground. The lights in the tent were bright, and the little officer who was kneeling on the ground turned pale. After saying what he should have said, he lowered his head at this time, waiting for these big officials above to fall.

The minister of the Imperial Mission, Cezana, was silent, but his heart was churning. This is the second time that a grain transport team on the official road has been robbed. If the last time the grain transport team was robbed, it can be said that it was careless, but this second robbery is completely different. The robbers first dragged the grain convoy in a small amount of harassment, and the convoy sent people to the outpost in front to ask for help. The outpost sent more than 100 people, but they were ambushed before they could go ten miles.

The robbers almost killed this group of more than 100 Qing troops, and after leaving some almost stripped corpses of Qing soldiers on the ground, the robbers not only did not flee, but also left some people on the side of the road to contain the reinforcements sent by the follow-up of the outpost. Another small group of robbers disguised themselves as Qing soldiers went to deceive the grain team.

The commander of the Qing army's grain team failed to see through the robbers' tricks, and as soon as the formation opened, the robbers entered the military formation of the grain transportation team. The Qing army's grain transport team was attacked by this raid, and the formation was in chaos. The robbers who had been ambushed on the side of the road for a long time took advantage of the situation to swarm out, and under the internal and external attacks, the Qing army's grain transportation team did not run out of a few people. The materials as a reward for the New Year were also robbed by the robbers.

By the time the Qing army sent troops to the outposts before and after, the robbers had already disappeared without a trace. At this time, the Qing army officers at the outpost did not dare to delay, and sent fast horses to send a few Qing troops who had escaped their lives to the Chinese army.

The loss of supplies was heart-wrenching, but what terrified the minister Cezanne was the ferocity of the robbers. Ding Yan, a soldier of the grain transportation team who escaped, said that the group of robbers who disguised themselves as Qing soldiers to deceive the grain transportation team were less than ten people, but they were extremely brave. In particular, the bandit who killed the grain guard with a handcuff made a single knife behead more than a dozen officers and soldiers. And the robbers took off the hats that were buckled to their heads before they could do it. None of them wore braids, but tied their heads up on their heads.

A few days have passed since the last Qing army was robbed, and the three imperial guards also emphasized that the robbers were like "mourning Taoists". Looking at it now, the second robbery should be the same gang last time.

"Take him down and take care of him first!" Cezanne finally spoke. This minister was not a man who was completely inconsiderate, and the petty officer who escaped was of a very low rank, and the men who pressed the grain were always killed, and it was useless to kill this insignificant petty officer.

As soon as he brought this junior officer down, Yao Ying, who joined the army, immediately got up and saluted Cezanne, and then said: "My lord, before moving the camp to Admiral the day before yesterday, he said that moving the camp rashly will only make the rear empty, and if the rebels raid with light troops, the disaster will be unpredictable. At present, the traitors have cut off the grain route several times, robbed the army rations, and thought that they should temporarily retreat to the admiral, and defend the back road first. If the Beida camp is taken away by the rebels after that, it will be an unforeseen disaster! ”

After hearing this, Xiang Rong's face was so ugly and ugly. Yao Ying, who joined the army, was originally standing on the side of Ulantai, and during the day, Yao Ying also complained to Cezanne, saying that Xiang Rong Fei was arrogant and domineering, and he had no superiors, and he actually laid off a thousand brave soldiers. Cezanne said lightly, "This is what I asked Xiang Rong to do." This is what made Yao Ying shut up.

Because of this blow from Cezanne, Yao Ying finally stopped a little throughout the day. But now that there is a matter of robbing grain, Yao Ying is difficult again. Moreover, Xiang Rong actually wanted to move the camp back thirty miles away from the vicinity of the Red Temple, which was seven or eight miles away from Yong'an City. This is unreasonable.

Xiang Rong simply didn't fight with Yao Ying, and looked at the minister Cezanne with blazing eyes. A few months ago, Yao Ying also colluded with Ulantai to suppress Xiang Rong. At that time, the minister of the Imperial Mission, Cezanne, completely obeyed Yao Ying, and as a result, Xiang Rong was hit and wanted to cry, but he didn't have a chance to cry. Here, only Cézanne can really be relied on. As long as you can get the support of Cézanne, whether it is Yao Ying or Ulantai, it is nothing.

Cezanne didn't answer Yao Ying's words at all, he turned his head to Xiang Rong and said, "Admiral Xiang, what do you think those rebels are coming from?" ”

This posture of completely putting Yao Ying aside made Xiang Rong overjoyed, and he hurriedly got up and told Cezanne what he thought. Cezanne waited for Xiang Rong to finish speaking, and then asked another middle-aged civil official in his thirties and forties sitting next to Xiang Rong, "Minqiao, what do you think?" ”

The name of this civil official with the character Minqiao is Jiang Zhongyuan, he has bright eyes, a beard on his chin, and wears the official uniform of Tongzhi. Tongzhi is the deputy of the prefect, is five products, set up for things, each house has one or two people, and there is no fixed number. He is responsible for local salt, grain, theft, river defense, maritime frontier, river engineering, water conservancy, cleaning up military registration, and pacifying the people. If it is in the capital, the Tongzhi of these five products is nothing, but in Guangxi, Tongzhi is also a figure in the officialdom.

Listening to the question of the minister of the Qin Mission, Jiang Zhongyuan smiled slightly, although he was a civil official, there was no lack of freedom and ease in his resolute expression, but he had the style of a martial artist. He is Chu Yong's team training. In repeated battles with the Taiping army, Jiang Zhongyuan was one of the few officials who achieved the record of killing hundreds of Taiping troops. Because of this merit, Jiang Zhongyuan made great contributions to Tongzhi Zhili Prefecture and was awarded Hualing.

Cezanne's style made Yao Ying completely desperate, which was already a clear expression of Ceishan's distrust of Yao Ying. Yao Ying just sighed slightly and didn't say anything more.

The solution proposed by Xiang Rong is very simple, send cavalry to patrol back and forth on the pipeline, and as long as there are suspicious people, he will immediately notify the outposts in front and behind to send troops to encircle and suppress. There is nothing particularly new about this method, it can only be said to be a very proper way to deal with it.

However, Jiang Zhongyuan's opinion is more special, he thinks that since those robbers have robbed tens of thousands of catties of things this time, they will definitely try their best to transport these things back to Yong'an. The Qing army's northern and southern battalions sent many sentinels to closely monitor the roads leading to Yong'an. After this group of robbers, don't make a noise for now, but carefully determine the path the robbers will take. They set up an ambush on the road they must pass, and when the robbers pass by, they can send a large army to surround and suppress them, and they can wipe out this bandit.

Cezanne frowned slightly, Jiang Zhongyuan's plan sounded very right, and he asked, "I don't know how many soldiers and horses are needed?" ”

Jiang Zhongyuan replied seriously: "My lord, the sentinel needs the cooperation of the northern and southern battalions. If it is a siege and annihilation, it is necessary to use three or four thousand soldiers and horses. Jiang Zhongyuan was afraid that Cezanne would think that this was not cost-effective, so he continued to explain: "My lord, this group of bandits should be the elite of the traitors, as long as they are wiped out and their bodies are thrown in front of Yong'an City, the thieves in the city will definitely be hit hard, and they will no longer dare to come out to rob the grain." It's just that now it takes more effort, but there is no need to densely cover the official road with sentry agents. It can also deter rebels, and the use of soldiers here cannot be saved. ”

"How long will that take?" Cezanne continued to ask Jiang Zhongyuan.

Jiang Zhongyuan was not exaggerating, he replied: "The time is not certain. It can be as little as five or six days, and as much as ten days. But now we have to send troops and horses, if we wait, I am afraid that those robbers will run back to Yong'an City first. ”

Cézanne glanced at Xiang Rong, and Xiang Rong looked cooperative. looked at Yao Ying again, and Yao Ying said nothing. At this time, Cezanne already understood that Yao Ying was resolutely unwilling to let Xiang Rong dominate the situation of the northern and southern camps. The depressed minister could only change the topic.

This awkward situation was finally temporarily ended when Cézanne announced that the deliberations would resume tomorrow. Jiang Zhongyuan did not immediately return to his residence, but stayed at the door of the big tent. Xiang Rong invited Jiang Zhongyuan to his residence first, Jiang Zhongyuan knew that Xiang Rong was going to woo him, so he replied politely: "I will definitely go to harass the Admiral tomorrow." ”

After Xiang Rong left, Jiang Zhongyuan stopped Yao Ying, who was about to leave.

Yao Ying deliberately left the big tent later, and this time she was left out in the cold by Cezanne, and Yao Ying was very discouraged. Seeing that Jiang Zhongyuan took the initiative to come over, he naturally couldn't let it go. The two arrived at Yao Ying's residence, and as soon as they sat down, Jiang Zhongyuan said: "Lord Yao, I admire Lord Yao's defense of Taiwan very much!" ”

Yao Ying served as a Taiwanese soldier, held Taiwan in the First Opium War, and repelled the British attack. After the signing of the Treaty of Nanjing, the British demanded that Taiwan be held accountable for "resisting the British army".

However, the governor of Guangdong, Qiying, sent a letter to a minister in Kyoto, claiming: "If we don't kill Taiwan's town, our generation will have no place to stand." When the news came, the government and the opposition were in an uproar, and Yao Ying was unhappy. When Yao Ying was detained in Kyoto, more than 30 famous people, including Zeng Guofan, rushed to Changxindian, a suburb of Beijing, to greet her. Yao Ying was imprisoned in the prison of the Criminal Department, and was rescued by friends and released from prison after six days of detention. Even after suffering such treatment, Yao Ying did not have too many complaints.

Yao Ying knew that Jiang Zhongyuan was talking about this, and she was quite relieved in her heart. Seeing Jiang Zhongyuan so goodwilled, he replied: "Jiang Tongzhi, you took the coffin three times and sent your teacher and friend back to Hunan, and the world was shaken. I know that you are of high character, so I have something to say to you. It's not that I have any personal grudges against Admiral Xiang Rong, after Admiral Xiang recovered, he changed his past, used soldiers, and raised the army to make great progress. However, his use of war is indeed inferior to Ulantai......"

Yao Ying said what he said sincerely, he didn't want to kill Xiang Rong, but really hoped that Ulantai would preside over military affairs. was treated so coldly by Cezanne, Yao Ying also felt extremely wronged.

Jiang Zhongyuan's original intention was to persuade Yao Ying and Xiang Rong to work together, but he didn't expect Yao Ying to insist on her own opinion at this time. Jiang Zhongyuan also tried to persuade a few words, but Yao Ying's train of thought was still in his set, Xiang Rong couldn't do it, he had to listen to Ulantai.

As a reckless person, Jiang Zhongyuan knew that his idea could not be realized, and Yao Ying would adhere to the attitude of Ulantai no matter what. Taking advantage of Yao Ying's space to speak, Jiang Zhongyuan interjected: "Lord Yao, this time to exterminate that small group of bandits, we must work together in the north and south camps, who is the master, can this matter be let go first?" ”

Listening to Jiang Zhongyuan's words, Yao Ying narrowed her eyes slightly. In this situation, if Yao Ying has the slightest concession, it must be Xiang Rong who is in charge. Thinking of this, Yao Ying began to wonder if Jiang Zhongyuan was originally inclined to Xiang Rong, and now he is here to be a lobbyist for Xiang Rong. With this thought, Yao Ying's words also began to flicker, and there was a gun and a stick inside.

Jiang Zhongyuan is from a high background, so he can't hear the meaning of Yao Ying's words. He originally wanted to mediate the matter. Now she is suspicious of Yao Ying, and she can't even say the normal truth.

Leaving Yao Ying's residence, Jiang Zhongyuan let out a long sigh. He was a reckless man and a free and easy person, so as a fellow intellectual, he dared to try to mediate the conflict between the two governors. Seeing that the matter had not worked out at all, Jiang Zhongyuan was discouraged, he made a decision, he would leave the Xinwei camp tomorrow, and after returning to Chu Yong's station, Jiang Zhongyuan wrote a letter of illness and took Chu Yong back to Hubei.

Confirming the idea of leaving, Jiang Zhongyuan remembered the group of Taiping bandits he was going to deal with. If the Qing army besieging Yong'an could really unite, Jiang Zhongyuan was sure that he was at least eighty percent sure that he would annihilate them. But in this situation, the minister Cézanne does not understand military affairs, let alone the way of the emperor. The internal fighting of the Qing army was more fierce than the war, and it was definitely impossible to set up an ambush to annihilate the bandits who robbed the grain route.

"You're in luck!" Jiang Zhongyuan said silently in his heart. However, Jiang Zhongyuan actually knew why he was quite concerned about this traitor. From the news obtained from all sides, this bandit turned out to be bundled, which could not help but make Jiang Zhongyuan curious. Thinking of this, Jiang Zhongyuan interrupted his train of thought, some things can't be thought about too much.

As Jiang Zhongyuan expected, Wei Ze was planning a plan to rush back to Yong'an as much as possible at this time. The grain transport team that attacked the Qing army won a complete victory, Wei Ze led his troops to completely control the battlefield, and all the transportation materials of the entire Qing army fell into Wei Ze's hands.

Although there were more than 2oo subordinates, because of the proper tactical arrangement, the troops did not suffer any casualties. But Wei Ze and his gang seized more than 20,000 catties of things, and the troops couldn't take them all away, so Wei Ze could only move the materials to the place where the things were hidden.

If Jiang Zhongyuan's strategy can really be realized, needless to say, Wei Ze will encounter some dangers.

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