"Wing King, I have killed almost forty brothers last month, and I have scolded hundreds of brothers with a rod. It's not a way to go on like this. At the beginning of August, Yang Fuqing made a very tactful suggestion to Shi Dakai with a rather embarrassed expression. At the beginning, Yang Fuqing was also a hardliner, shouting to kill those who shook the morale of the army. After the real execution, looking at the more and more resentful eyes, and feeling the various evasions of the middle and low-level old brothers, Yang Fuqing felt that people's hearts were rapidly collapsing. This feeling is exactly the same as after his defeat all the way in the Fujian war.

Shi Dakai didn't speak immediately, and the reaction of the entire army was different from what he originally thought. In Shi Dakai's opinion, since he has been following the kingdom of heaven for so long, and the old brothers have at least divided the land now, no matter how you look at it, they have begun to become households in the northwest. These old brothers still want to go back to their hometown so much, which is indeed a bit beyond Shi Dakai's expectations.

Shi Dakai also knew that some people in the army were sending letters to other brothers, but no matter how they asked, everyone said they didn't know. In the middle of the night, someone suddenly threw a letter into the yard, or woke up and opened the door, and there was a letter in the crack of the door. Shi Dakai didn't believe this at all, how could there be such a master of flying eaves and walls. If the Guangfu Army really had such ability, wouldn't they be able to directly wipe out the upper echelons of the Taiping Army. It is obvious that the brothers below are covering each other.

Strict punishment was naturally useful, and those who took the initiative to ask if they could go back to their hometowns and insisted on going home were dealt with. Everyone else kept silent, but keeping silent did not mean that they agreed with Shi Dakai's idea in their hearts. People's hearts are separated from their stomachs, and they can't feel that people want to go home, so they kill them with a knife. Shi Dakai really dared to do this, and the brothers dared to rise up and overthrow Shi Dakai if they were afraid.

If this matter is stopped, it will be tantamount to abandoning the previous achievements. If this matter continues to be investigated, it will only stir up greater resentment. Yang Fuqing had the feeling of betrayal and separation, and Shi Dakai simply experienced rebellion and separation in Guangxi, and the 200,000 army ran away more than 100,000 in the blink of an eye. That feeling is something Shi Dakai never wants to experience again.

Thinking about how to prevent this kind of thing from happening again, King Li Xiucheng came to ask for a meeting. After seeing Shi Dakai, Li Xiucheng said directly: "Prime Minister, I found something in the army. ”

Originally, although the status of the prime minister in the Taiping Army was high, he was under all kinds of people with titles. Now that the prime minister has finally returned to his traditional status in China, there are only two prime ministers left in the imperial court, and their status is higher than that of other officials. was called the prime minister by Li Xiucheng, although Shi Dakai didn't feel very used to it, he didn't care. "What happened?" he asked. ”

"Many people in the local army in Shaanxi have recently taken leave to go home. There are even those who say goodbye. I have also inquired carefully, and many people in the Shaanxi army said that we were going to fight the Guangfu army, and everyone was worried that the Taiping army would not be able to defeat the Guangfu army. If the Taiping army is defeated, they join the Taiping army, and the land in their homes is afraid that it will be confiscated by the Guangfu army. Therefore, the hearts of the Shaanxi soldiers are floating. ”

When the Taiping army arrived in Shaanxi, there were nearly 200,000 people, and these people occupied most of the official positions in the Taiping army. Although there are many people in the northwest who have joined the army, most of them are only soldiers. Even so, many of the 200,000 Taiping troops are now only petty officers. Locals in the northwest are already quite dissatisfied with this. Without thinking about it, Shi Dakai could guess that this was Wei Ze's tricks.

Yang Fuqing even scolded: "Wei Ze is so ruthless, why didn't I see it before!" ”

Shi Dakai didn't join in cursing Wei Ze, he asked Li Xiucheng, "King Zhong, how do you think we should deal with it?" ”

Li Xiucheng was naturally inclined to Lin Fengxiang, but he did not look for Lin Fengxiang directly this time, but came to find Shi Dakai. After listening to Shi Dakai's question, Li Xiucheng replied: "If you do something against the Shaanxi soldiers at this time, the morale of the army will only be more chaotic. If you really want to break the current situation, you can probably only strike first, take action against the Liberation Army, and fight a few big victories. The morale of the army can naturally be stable. Otherwise, I'll wait here to do something to my brothers, who are disgruntled. As long as there are one or two defeats, the old brothers can say that the locals in Shaanxi are afraid that they will run away. ”

Whether it was Shi Dakai or Yang Fuqing, they all considered this method. The Liberation Army is pressing forward step by step, and what everyone relies on behind it is that everyone thinks that the Liberation Army will win against the Taiping Army. The top brass of the Taiping Army said that if they failed, they would lose the power and status that they had so hard to gain until now. But the thinking of the middle and lower echelons of the Taiping Army is completely different, since no matter how they fight, they will only fail, why should everyone lose their lives in vain.

Shi Dakai did not immediately respond to Yang Fuqing and Li Xiucheng. In the past three years, he has been willing to easily move the system set by Hong Xiuquan, the most important of which is to worship God. If the Worship of God is still there, even if everyone has no possibility of fighting for hegemony and seizing national power. But the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom still has a slogan of the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. This statement can be linked to defending the homeland and the country.

If the worship of God is completely abandoned, then the only thing that can unite the hearts of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is to fight for hegemony in the world. Fighting for dominance in the world depends on the situation, and if the situation is favorable, naturally everyone will have to intervene and make a contribution to the future promotion. If the situation is very unfavorable at first glance, this Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is just the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of a group of princes and ministers, why should the brothers below give the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom a burial?

Wei Ze obviously saw this problem, and he did not persuade the upper strata to surrender, but to incite the lower strata. The princes can be majestic, relying on these soldiers and horses under their command. If the soldiers and horses are scattered, the princes are actually more dangerous than ordinary officers and soldiers, and their heads can be exchanged for high rewards. From this point of view, Shi Dakai saw through Wei Ze's insidiousness. In the past few years, Shi Dakai has not thought of taking the upper route, by calling Wei Ze a vassal in exchange for the power to divide the locality. Wei Ze himself did not take the initiative to mention this matter, and when the Taiping Army sent someone to negotiate, Shi Dakai just pushed back, obviously not wanting to talk about this issue. At most, it is recommended that the Taiping army go to Xinjiang after handing over the northwest. After seeing that the Taiping army refused to accept such harsh conditions, Wei Ze came to disintegrate the Taiping army from below. This method really wants to uproot the Taiping Army from the roots!

If you want to re-condense the morale of the Taiping Army, there is only one way, and that is to prove to all the officers and men of the Taiping Army that the Liberation Army is actually not so terrible, and the Liberation Army can be completely defeated and eliminated by the Taiping Army. This reason is very simple, but Shi Dakai really has no confidence.

Li Xiucheng is also a very strategic person, the reason why he didn't go to Lin Fengxiang but came to Shi Dakai was because he knew that with Lin Fengxiang's current attitude, he was afraid that he would not take the initiative to attack the Guangfu Army. Lin Fengxiang has outstanding ability and high character, which Li Xiucheng admires very much. However, at this life-and-death juncture, Lin Fengxiang will consider the Taiping Army soldiers even more. To put it to the extreme, if Wei Ze said that he would kill Lin Fengxiang alone, he would accept that the entire Taiping army would be treated better, but he was afraid that Lin Fengxiang would not frown, so he would agree and die willingly.

But Li Xiucheng is not this kind of person, in a sense, he and Shi Dakai are the same kind of people. For his own sake and for the group to which he is loyal, Li Xiucheng doesn't care how many officers and soldiers below die. If the Taiping army is now 200,000 old brothers dead, it can be exchanged for defeating Wei Ze and seizing the world. Li Xiucheng's eyebrows will not wrinkle. After conquering the world, there will be as many subordinates as there are. But there is only one in this world.

Seeing that Shi Dakai was silent, Li Xiucheng said: "Prime Minister, there is nothing to say at this time, you must fight when you should fight." At this time, the prime minister had just been rectified, and the brothers were quite aligned. If it drags on, you don't dare to rectify it again, and the brothers below are afraid that they will look down on the prime minister. ”

"But what if you lose?" Shi Da asked.

"We don't want to make a big deal about this troop, and we don't want to talk to our brothers about victory or defeat. Let's wait and see what happens. If it wins, the Guangfu Army will naturally not dare to come to us again and talk nonsense. If ......we are defeated, we will say that the Liberation Army will attack us and kill our brothers, and they will say that they promise our brothers to go home and see us. Just to trick us and wait. ”

Yang Fuqing saw Li Xiucheng talking calmly, and he was a little impressed by this loyal king of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Playing this kind of conspiracy, Li Xiucheng didn't feel any uneasiness at all. If he really did what Li Xiucheng put forward, he could stop the Guangfu Army's attempt to divide and disintegrate the Taiping Army in the short term. But people who have no long-term worries must have near-term worries, no matter whether they win or lose, the Taiping army will be attacked by the Guangfu army, and it will be a long-term attack. What then?

Li Xiucheng continued: "If we can win, then we will fight, and if we can't win, we will go to Xinjiang." King Qi has been forcing us to go to Xinjiang, if he really wants to conquer Xinjiang by himself, he doesn't have to bother with it. As long as we get to Xinjiang and then confess to the king of Qi and say some soft words, we should be able to breathe a sigh of relief. Anyway, it's a big deal, it's a death, and if you want to live or die, you will talk about it then. But there's another way. ”

"What's the solution?" Yang Fuqing hurriedly asked.

Li Xiucheng looked at Shi Dakai and replied, "If you don't want to fight, you can simply surrender the King of Qi now." As long as he didn't tear his face, King Qi always had to save some face for himself. It's just a battle or a surrender, but we can't wait any longer. The King of Qi has always used his troops to make a decision, but once the King of Qi has made up his mind, it will not work for us to say anything. ”

Shi Dakai listened quietly, in fact, what he was thinking was exactly the same as Li Xiucheng. Moreover, Shi Dakai planned more thoroughly than Li Xiucheng, his original plan was to take the lead in gathering the troops in the northwest, and if he wanted to start a war with Wei Ze, he would simply fight. But Wei Ze's actions were one step faster than Shi Da's, not only inciting the old brothers of the Taiping army, but now even the Shaanxi soldiers began to incite. If Shi Dakai forcibly assembles now, one is that it is too late in time, and the other will definitely encounter great resistance.

Lee's proposal made up for the problem, as long as the brothers were convinced that Wei Ze was the first to strike, the assembly would become more effective. Thinking of this, Shi Dakai asked, "Who does King Zhong think can take on the heavy responsibility of sending troops?" ”

"This can only be dispatched by the prime minister's soldiers. If it is someone else's soldier, I am afraid that Brother Lin will not agree. Li Xiucheng replied.

Shi Dakai actually wanted Li Xiucheng to send troops, but it was not unreasonable for Li Xiucheng to prevaricate. In recent years, although the army leaders still commanded their own troops, the general staff was gradually established. If it was Lin Fengxiang's soldiers and horses sent, he would definitely not be able to hide it from Lin Fengxiang. Shi Dakai is not a person who is afraid of war, since he has reached a conclusion, he said categorically: "When this battle has a result, it is still necessary for King Zhong to come out and speak." ”

"Of course I know that!" Li Xiucheng also replied very simply.