The capital has changed. The flagmen who carried the cages and birds were gone, and the Beijing camp that used to bask in the sun under the city gate finally had the appearance of being a soldier. Although some of the soldiers can be seen yawning long, perhaps it is a big smoking addiction. But being able to really get nervous and deal with the current crisis is not a bad thing.

However, Zeng Guofan had an indescribable feeling in his heart, and he didn't know how long this apparent excitement could last. The combat effectiveness of the Eight Banners is really not worthy of compliment, as for the combat effectiveness of the Green Battalion soldiers, if the Green Battalion can really fight, Zeng Guofan will not have to go to great lengths to form a Hunan army. As for the Jingying, it should theoretically be the most elite troops. However, they have never been out of Beijing City, so whether they can really come in handy, only God knows.

The carriage drove through the streets of the capital, except for the smell of dust and feces, the rest was a feeling of depression. There are few pedestrians on the street, and the front door of the shop is full of birds. Many shops simply closed their doors. As for whether it was because there were no guests, or because the taxes were too ruthless, this was not something that Zeng Guofan could know.

Zeng Guofan's thousands of guards were stopped outside the capital, and only officials led him to the imperial city. After chatting casually, Zeng Guofan determined that it was an official from the banner man who came to lead the way. Because his name is Etuhai.

The deputy commander-in-chief, Lord Etuhai, has a thick waist and a shiny head. Looking at Zeng Guofan with contemptuous eyes, Deputy Chief Soldier Etuhai first scolded the Han officials who fled from the capital. Faced with this attitude of pointing at Sang and scolding Huai, Zeng Guofan was not moved at all. The Manchu system was collapsing rapidly, and Zeng knew better than anyone else. At least in Huaibei, officials have begun to rapidly militate. Starting from Jiang Zhongyuan, the governor of Anhui, all the current officials in Anhui are basically from martial arts. After a series of defeats on the battlefield, civilian officials fled five or six times out of ten. The rest of them went to Huainan for a time when the Huai army and the Hunan army counterattacked, and then there was no more. In this time of chaos, it is normal for dozens or hundreds of people to go missing. In particular, the officials were carrying too much of the belongings they had looted from the area.

However, Deputy General Etuhai didn't seem to care about these extremely real problems, and after he finished scolding the fleeing Beijing officials, he said loudly: "Lord Zeng, do you think the remaining Han officials are reliable?" ”

Zeng Guofan's face did not change and said: "Can you stay until now at the time of national disaster, what is unreliable?" ”

Etuhai shook his head, "I mean, are they reliable in fighting?" ”

Faced with such a question, Zeng Guofan's brows finally couldn't help frowning.

And Etuhai didn't care about Zeng Guofan's attitude at all, he said loudly: "People say that there are no more than 10,000 people, and more than 10,000 people are invincible." At such times, it is up to us to do it! ”

Zeng Guofan has been in officialdom for a long time, and there are really not too many leaks of various human natures. The official position of this deputy chief soldier of Etuhai is actually nothing, and I have never heard of this number before. At this time, such an unknown person came to pick up Zeng Guofan, and with the statement that "the Han people can't count on it" emphasized by Etuhai, Zeng Guofan was able to determine that the current power of the Touqiren in the capital has completely overwhelmed the Han people.

The rulers of the Manchu Qing were from the banner people, and the proportion of banner people in the Chinese population was very low, so the Manchu Qing especially wanted to use the banner people to suppress the Han people. In the Manchu Qing bureaucratic system, there were "official vacancies" for central government officials, which were divided into "Manchu vacancies, Mongolian vacancies, Han army vacancies, and Han vacancies". The majority of official vacancies in important departments and positions are filled. The people of the Eight Banners are less than one percent of the Han people, and the number of Beijing officials in the Eight Banners is twice that of the Han people.

The Han Beijing officials mentioned by the deputy chief soldier of Etuhai began to flee in large numbers, and how many Han officials are left in the capital right now? Zeng Guofan felt very unoptimistic. As for the imperial court summoning Zeng Guofan, I think it is to be reused, at least it will attach great importance to Zeng Guofan's opinion. This kind of reuse is probably the fundamental reason why Deputy General Etuhai dared to "knock" Zeng Guofan.

It is very ridiculous that a small deputy general soldier dared to "knock" Zeng Guofan. But institutionally, this is really not something that cannot be understood. The Manchu dynasty was a dynasty in which the interests of the banner people were paramount. All the seemingly moderate policies of the Manchus were just an attempt to buy people's hearts. The Manchus beat the Han officials a little with words, and that was also a beating. It is impossible for Han Chinese officials to punish Qirendi with this charge of "disrespect". Because the banner man is the emperor's minion, it depends on the master to beat the dog.

Zeng Guofan believed that there were two possibilities for this, one of which was naturally the instinctive reaction of Manchu officials. When the Han army collapsed and collapsed, the Eight Banners, which should theoretically be the main force of the army, were about to assume the original intention of forming the Eight Banners and be responsible for fighting the war. The Eight Banners Army was extremely uneasy at this time, so they used this way to vent the pressure in their hearts.

On the other hand, it may make some officials in the imperial court dissatisfied with the imperial court's preparation to reuse Zeng Guofan at this time, and Etuhai is undoubtedly one of the members of this faction.

With the kung fu of self-cultivation, Zeng Guofan didn't seem to hear these words that would affect his mood at all. After Deputy Chief Etuhai said it himself, he saw that Zeng Guofan completely ignored it, although he dared to say this, he only dared to say it. Let him drag Zeng Guofan and question, he still doesn't dare. After saying these words, he could only keep his mouth shut.

At this time, the little emperor of Xianfeng was not yet ten years old, and the original name of this little emperor was Qixiang, which was drawn up by the eight ministers of Gu Ming. In 1861, after the Empress Dowager Ci'an and Prince Gong launched a coup d'état with Prince Gong, they eliminated the Sushun Eight Ministers Group and changed it to Tongzhi. It means "the monarch and the minister rule the Qing Dynasty together", and some people say that it means "the empress dowager of the two palaces (the queen mother of the east and west) governs the Qing Dynasty together".

From the year name, you can see the power of this little emperor, and it was not a court meeting to meet Zeng Guofan, so the little emperor of Tongzhi did not appear at all. A small group headed by Ci'an, Cixi, and Prince Gong sat on the main seat. Zeng Guofan stepped forward and kowtowed. The Empress Dowager Ci'an rewarded Zeng Guofan with a seat, and after Zeng Guofan sat on the stool with half of his butt in accordance with the rules of officialdom, Ci'an asked how to deal with the ravages of the Twisted Army.

"Queen Mother, today's plan is to protect the armor. The twisted army came and went like the wind, and if the officers and soldiers chased after them, they would run away immediately. And the grain and grass of the Twist Army were all looted on the spot. If the provinces and localities can adopt the method of protecting the armor, all villages and towns can protect themselves, and the army will not be able to get food, and the officials and soldiers will be able to recover it. Zeng Guofan gave his own strategy.

"Do you want to leave the Twist Army without food?" The Empress Dowager Ci'an was thoughtful.

Looking at Ci'an's expression, Zeng Guofan couldn't help but think of the phrase "why not eat minced meat" in his heart. Although it is indeed a nonsense requirement to expect a queen mother to know how to march and fight, even if it is not a war, ordinary people have to eat every day.

Just thinking of this, Zeng Guofan forcibly withdrew his thoughts. Zeng Guofan knew that any distrust of the imperial court at this time was inappropriate. After learning that the Guangfu Army had started a comprehensive land reform on its territory, including Hunan, and implemented the policy of equal land distribution under the land state ownership system, this outstanding representative of the landlord class determined his position of fighting the Guangfu Army to the death.

Zuo Zongtang knew that the Guangfu Army was vigorously building schools, and Zeng Guofan naturally knew it. Zuo Zongtang relatively agreed with the Guangfu Army's action of establishing education, but what Zeng Guofan saw was that the Guangfu Army was completely ignoring the landlords and gentry, and used the group of people he had educated to serve as local officials at all levels.

The Manchus were able to use the landlords and gentry as the basis for their rule, and although the new officials would fight against the local landlords after they arrived at the local level, in the long run, the relationship between the two sides was not one of fire and water. Those who graduated from the Guangfu Army School practiced the will of the Guangfu Army after becoming local officials, and never had any kindness to the landlords and gentry.

Since the Guangfu Army wanted to destroy the landlords and gentry, Zeng Guofan had no choice but to fight to the death with the Guangfu Army. At this time, any questioning of the Manchu court would only shake Zeng's resolve, which Zeng could not accept. No matter how layman Ci'an was in military affairs, Zeng Guofan demanded that he not disagree with Ci'an in the slightest.

At this moment, Cixi said to Ci'an: "Sister, people are iron and steel, and if you don't eat a meal, you will be hungry and panic. What Zeng Guofan said is also very reasonable. ”

Hearing Cixi's popular explanation, Ci'an also suddenly realized, and she replied: "I see. ”

Ci'an asked some other questions, and Zeng Guofan answered them one by one. After the Q&A was over, Ci'an asked Zeng Guofan to step down for the time being. Prince Gong Yixun asked Ci'an, "Queen Mother, what do you think of Zeng Guofan?" ”

Ci'an calmly replied: "This person is very respectful, and it seems that he is a loyal minister. ”

Prince Gong was stunned, he didn't expect Ci'an to give Zeng Guofan such a high evaluation. However, Ci'an is a person who never likes to talk much, and when Prince Gong was thinking about how to ask further, Cixi opened her mouth and said: "Prince Gong, it is impossible for the Queen Mother not to understand Zeng Guofan's words, but the Queen Mother wants to test Zeng Guofan." If it is the kind of person who is not convinced by the court in his heart, it will definitely be revealed. Zeng Guofan, this person is only respectful. This is what a loyal servant looks like. ”

Prince Gong suddenly realized. He was actually a little strange, it was impossible for the Empress Dowager Ci'an not to understand the combat method of cutting off the army's food. But Ci'an didn't seem to understand this. Listening to Cixi's explanation, Prince Gong Yixun understood Ci'an's meaning. After having an idea, Prince Gong couldn't help but admire Ci'an greatly in his heart. The purpose of recruiting Zeng Guofan this time is to make great use of Zeng Guofan. If it is an ordinary person of power, the first thing to consider is the ability of Zeng Guofan. Ci'an didn't understand military affairs, so she first tested Zeng Guofan's loyalty and Zeng Guofan's attitude towards the monarch. In this critical autumn of survival, if someone who has disrespect for the court is allowed to hold power, I am afraid that the result will be a tragedy.

"Then does the Queen Mother want to use Zeng Guofan?" Prince Gong asked.

Ci'an didn't answer directly, she asked Prince Gong instead, "The Eight Banners have also been rectified for so long, can they still fight?" ”R1058