On June 11, Shouzhou was finally captured by the Huai army. When Jiang Zhongyuan, the founder of the Huai Army and the governor of Anhui, entered Shouzhou with his troops, he was shocked by the tragic situation in Shouzhou.

The walls were almost soaked with blood. Everywhere there were human stumps, fragments of internal organs. As for the houses in the city near the city walls, the shelling caused the fire that burned only some bricks and stones. The Huai army broke through the city wall, and the remnants of the Taiping army in the city continued to resist under the cover of the houses in the city, and the Huai army adopted the tactics of artillery bombardment and arson, and the entire Shouzhou city was turned into a scorched earth.

Shouzhou is in the mountains, and there is no way to break through it with acupoint exercises. The Huai army had infiltrated south of the Huai River a few years earlier, but they were helpless against the city. It wasn't until there were flowering bombs that the Huai army found a feasible way to siege the city. After capturing Shouzhou, the Taiping Army's Huaihe River defense line finally came to an end, and the Taiping Army had been operating Luzhou for seven or eight years, but Jiang Zhongyuan was very confident in taking Luzhou.

Leaving Shouzhou, which had been almost completely destroyed, Jiang Zhongyuan arrived in Lu'an on June 15 to reunite with his old friend Zeng Guofan. The two were separated in the year, and although they exchanged letters closely, 8 years have passed since the last time they met. Zeng Guofan was born in 1811, Jiang Zhongyuan was born in 1812, and the last time they met was in 1853, when Zeng Guofan was 42 years old and Jiang Zhongyuan was 41 years old, still high-spirited middle-aged. After eight years of bloody battles, Zeng Guofan was 50 years old and Jiang Zhongyuan was 49 years old, and both of them entered the old realm.

The meeting of old friends is naturally different, just a simple meal, two old friends, and two small wines. Pouring a glass of wine for Zeng Guofan, Jiang Zhongyuan smiled heartily: "Brother Disheng, when I went to your house in the capital to eat and drink, now I think about it like yesterday." ”

Zeng Guofan is very Confucian in front of others, but here Jiang Zhongyuan he is lively. Picking up the wine glass and saluting Jiang Zhongyuan, Zeng Guofan drank half a mouthful very casually, took the chopsticks and ate it, and then said, "Yes." That was 16 years ......, not 17 years. ”

In 1844, Zeng Guofan had long known that Jiang Zhongyuan, who had entered Beijing to take the exam, sent the bodies of his teachers and friends in Hunan back to Hunan for burial twice, which was really famous in the capital. But Zeng Guofan heard that Jiang Zhongyuan was a prostitute and a gambler, so he was unwilling to associate with Jiang Zhongyuan. As a result, Jiang Zhongyuan took the initiative to visit Zeng Guofan. At that meeting, Jiang Zhongyuan predicted that the world would be in chaos.

In 1848, Jiang Zhongyuan formed a regiment in his hometown and eliminated several large-scale local rebellions in succession. It created a precedent for making meritorious contributions with private soldiers and becoming a feudal official. Zeng Guofan's Hunan army took over the channel that Jiang Zhongyuan left in Hunan, and Zuo Zongtang's current Chu army except for the 5,000 old team taken from Hunan, the roads they took were all imitating Jiang Zhongyuan without exception.

At this time, Jiang Zhongyuan was the governor of Anhui for eight years, Zeng Guofan was the governor of Hubei, controlling the military affairs of the four provinces, and Zuo Zongtang also served as the governor of Zhejiang for four years. Through the Huai Army, the Hunan Army, and the Chu Army, a large number of people from Hunan have become high-ranking officials and dignitaries in the provinces of the Yangtze River Basin. Investigating the reason, everyone admits that Jiang Zhongyuan created a precedent. Even Zuo Zongtang, who was arrogant and looked down on Zeng Guofan at all, respected Jiang Zhongyuan very much.

Zeng Guofan couldn't look down on Jiang Zhongyuan, and he was very emotional when he recalled that the two met in the capital 17 years ago.

Jiang Zhongyuan drank boldly, he just drank the wine in his cup in one gulp, and poured himself another glass at this time, no matter how much Zeng Guofan drank, the two touched the wine glass again, and Jiang Zhongyuan drank the wine in the cup. Then he sighed: "But when the rich are free of worries, who will pity the poor for hunger?" Once the poor are driven by hunger, how can the rich be in peace? Brother Disheng, I said this 17 years ago, but I still want to say it 17 years later. Shouzhou City has been taken, and our army can attack Luzhou. However, as far as I know, the reason why the people of Huainan followed the Cantonese bandits was because the Cantonese bandits did not allow the landlords to forcibly collect land rent. We aspire to help the country through the world, which is the law of the world to inhibit mergers and fight against the powerful. But I don't know what Brother Disheng thinks. ”

With Zeng Guofan's cleverness, he did not take this stubble, but said: "The Yue bandits will not be destroyed, and Wei Ze will not die." I can't talk about it yet. ”

Hearing Zeng Guofan talk about Wei Ze, Jiang Zhongyuan fell silent, he fought with Wei Ze, and knew that Wei Ze's subordinates were brave and good at fighting. Fortunately, after the Tianjing Incident, Wei Ze led his troops south to Liangguang, otherwise, with the situation that Wei Ze continued to penetrate north of the Huai River at that time, the Huai army was only afraid that it would be driven out of northern Anhui within a year or two.

Zeng Guofan drank the remaining wine in the cup, and then poured himself another glass, "Wei Ze is insidious and cunning, now he only occupies several intersections from Lingnan to the Yangtze River, but does not enter Hunan. I know that Wei Ze means that he wants me to wait until I destroy the Cantonese bandits first, and after we have lost our troops, he will go all the way north to pick up this ready-made bargain. Although I knew Weezer's plan, I had to do it. Hey......"

Jiang Zhongyuan didn't accept this stubble, he continued his own topic, "Now the whole Huaibei has to support the Huai army, and the people are almost unable to live. I'm very anxious about it......"

"Those riotous people are killed, why talk about it?" Zeng Guofan said categorically, "Brother Jiang, I admire you very decisively." But why are you confused again? At this time, it is a troubled time, and you should act in accordance with power. At this time, the extermination of the Yue bandits and Wei Ze is the key, and they miss the chaotic people, so they are in chaos one after another. Such rebellious people should be killed immediately, otherwise they will only become more and more chaotic. After the world is calm, we will follow the strategy of helping the country through the world. At this time, if you only think about the chaos and the people are suffering, then the world will be in chaos, and the people will only become more and more miserable. ”

Jiang Zhongyuan sighed, but took out a list and handed it to Zeng Guofan, "I don't know if Brother Disheng has ever seen such a list text." ”

Zeng Guofan took it and took a look, but saw that there was an article written in the vernacular on the list. That's the list that Wei Ze has posted in the Jiangnan area since this year. The content is a discussion of the causes of rebellion and the difference between rebellion and revolution.

At the end of the article, Wei Ze emphasized that the Liberation of the Governor's Mansion was a revolution, and called on the people to join the revolution of the Liberation Governor's Office and the Liberation Party to build a new China.

After reading the discussion of the land issue and the "settling accounts" of the Governor's Mansion, Zeng Guofan's face gradually became hideous. He slapped Bang Wen on the table and said angrily: "What nonsense! Because of the exertion, the wine glass on the table jumped on the table, and a few drops splashed on the surface of the water, and then a circle of small ripples rippled in the glass.

Jiang Zhongyuan nodded, "Brother Disheng, I think so too. However, Wei Ze was completely different from the Cantonese bandits who believed in what God worshipped. This person can have such insight, but he is the great enemy of the imperial court. Moreover, the imperial court has been defeated by foreigners several times, but Wei Ze has defeated foreigners several times......"

Zeng Guofan saw that Jiang Zhongyuan seemed to be deceived by Wei Ze's example, and he said loudly: "Brother Jiang, I heard that someone called me Zeng to shave my head, saying that I didn't count killing people, and cutting off my head was like shaving my head. But how do these people know that if there are no rules in the world, there will only be chaos. I kill the rebels to maintain the current rules, and this is a heart of compassion. If you don't do this, the world will ......"

As soon as he said this, someone outside asked to see him. Zeng Guofan's personal soldiers brought one of them in and handed Zeng Guofan a thick letter. Zeng Guofan opened it, and it turned out to be a list article, since it was a list article, it was not a private matter, and there must have been many people who had seen it. Jiang Zhongyuan also leaned over to look, but saw that it was the simplified Chinese characters used in the list of the Liberation Army, and the writing was also in the vernacular. Jiang Zhongyuan looked at it for a moment, then froze. R1058