"Brother Wei, the brothers of the Northern Expedition really don't want to fight Beijing anymore." Lin Fengxiang and Wei Ze walked side by side, talking as they walked. Beside them was the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, where the troops of the Taiping Northern Expeditionary Army began to withdraw after joining up with Wei Ze.

"It's been ten months since you all came out, and it's really amazing that Brother Lin can bring his brothers to this point." For people who are not his true cronies, Wei Ze has always been lenient with others and strict with himself. And that's more lenient than treating everyone more leniently.

Lin Fengxiang smiled bitterly, "If it weren't for being surrounded, the brothers wouldn't be like this." ”

"Brother Lin, brother, I'm not joking. If my soldiers are surrounded, I don't know how they will be. Wei Ze said seriously.

Lin Fengxiang originally relied on fortune-telling to make a living, and he was definitely no less than Wei Ze compared to speaking, and he also smiled: "Brother Wei, then it will be your turn to be surrounded first." In my opinion, it's not easy to surround you. ”

Seeing Lin Fengxiang like this, Wei Ze simply stopped joking half-truths and half-truths, and he said with a straight face: "It's not easy to surround me, it's not easy to say." However, Monk Lingqin's men were all cavalry, and they traveled like the wind on this great plain. I'm worried that they're trying to beat us when we withdraw our troops. ”

"We also have cavalry!" Lin Fengxiang is very self-conscious about this. When the Northern Expeditionary Army retreated, it brought out 13,000 soldiers and horses, including more than 5,000 old brothers from Guangxi and 3,000 or 4,000 old brothers from Hunan. These people are the backbone of the Taiping army. Weeser was very happy about this. And this army of about 13,000 people also had more than 2,000 cavalry. And Lin Fengxiang seemed to think that his cavalry could defeat the cavalry troops of Seng Lingqin.

"Brother Lin, you're welcome to talk to you. Our Guangxi and Guangdong places are not a good place to raise horses, Yunnan horses are okay to transport goods, you really have to ride Yunnan horses to fight, that's really not good. The Mongols in the north have grown up on horseback since childhood, just as our Liangguang boat army has grown up on ships since childhood. If it is a water battle, our boat army can fight ten Mongolian cavalry. But it's really better than cavalry, and the Mongolian cavalry can probably beat us three or four. Besides, how many cavalry do you have, and Monk Lingqin must have at least tens of thousands of cavalry under him, and it will definitely not be possible to fight with him. ”

Lin Fengxiang heard Wei Ze's morale extinguish his prestige for the first time, and he was a little unconvinced, he asked: "Then if you retreat by the canal, can you prevent the cavalry of Seng Lingqin?" ”

Wei Ze smiled: "There is no way for the cavalry of Seng Lingqin to forcibly swim across the canal, we rely on the canal, at least only on the defensive side." Monk Greenqin can't carry out a large-scale strategy to lure the enemy against us. ”

"In that case, why did you arrange for a pontoon bridge to be erected over the canal at night?" Lin Fengxiang asked.

"This was for the next few days of marching. If we can get accurate information about the enemy, we can take the guò pontoon bridge to the other side of the canal before resting. It may not be entirely effective, but it can at least make the enemy worry about how to cross the canal. It is completely impossible for the Qing army to fight with us for infantry, and the first thing we have to guard against now is the infantry of the Qing army. ”

On March 9, the Northern Expeditionary Army arrived in Linqing. After the two forces converged, there were more than 45,000 people, and this large army was about to be full. Naturally, the news also spread to the capital.

Although Linqing is in Shandong, it is not far from Zhili. The Qing court was frightened by a series of bad news about the destruction of the army, so it sent a large number of scouts to pay attention to the movements of the Taiping army. After learning that the two Taiping armies finally converged in Linqing, many courtiers secretly breathed a sigh of relief. From a normal point of view, the Taiping army sent out in front was frustrated when it tried to attack Beijing, and the receiving troops chose to retreat after joining up with the vanguard troops, and the possibility of them suddenly killing a horse gun was greatly reduced. Nine out of ten of the more than 40,000 Cantonese bandits are going south and returning to Jiangning.

Naturally, those who hold this point of view are Beijing officials, and what they need first is to keep the capital from losing, and the second is to keep the direct subordinates from losing. As for how the other provinces were ravaged by the Taiping army, it was a local matter. For these officials in the capital, it is possible to think in the long run.

However, Emperor Xianfeng did not have such calmness, looking at the appearance of some ministers who were almost happy to go to the congratulatory table because of the Taiping army's southward movement, Xianfeng made a face. And the ministers below also took care of themselves, and put away their joyful expressions.

Xianfeng asked coldly: "I want to ask you and wait, even if the Cantonese bandits go south, the capital and Zhili have no worries, but these Cantonese bandits are all after a hundred battles, especially those who bundle the Cantonese bandits, and since they are enemies of the imperial court, they have repeatedly broken the army and killed generals, the situation in Jiangnan is already like this, and when they return to Jiangnan, how far will they go?" ”

The ministers looked at each other, and immediately someone came out to tell him, thinking that Monk Greenqin was afraid of the enemy like a tiger and did not dare to fight with the Cantonese bandits. The monk Lingqin should be strictly ordered to attack the Cantonese bandits and eliminate the Cantonese bandits. Since there was only such a mobile force as Seng Lingqin in the entire Zhili and even Shandong, the firepower of the attack went straight to Seng Greenqin.

In addition, there were those who transferred the green battalion of Gansu, Shaanxi and Ningxia from the northwest to fight, and there were those who transferred the Eight Banners outside the pass to fight in the pass. In short, these Beijing officials uphold the consistent style of Beijing officials, and the affairs of other provinces are the fault of other provinces. The problem of the direct subordinate is the fault of the officials below and the executors. As for the Beijing officials, they are not responsible.

Facing such a group of people all day long, Xianfeng has long been enough. He only felt dizzy and exhausted, and glanced at the eunuch, who already understood what Xianfeng meant. Seeing that no official was ready to speak, the eunuch shouted: "Retreat!" Kneel! ”

Xianfeng stood up from the dragon chair, and all the officials in the court knelt down. As long as Xianfeng left the main hall, the officials could get up.

However, Xianfeng looked at these cultural relics officials condescendingly, and a wave of anger couldn't help but rise from Xianfeng's heart. It has been more than two years since the Taiping Army rebelled, and Xianfeng has gradually become accustomed to the Taiping Army's existence at this time. When most of the Taiping army could win every battle, these people in the court couldn't come up with a way at all, and the local guys were even more defeated in every battle. These people in the court were either the children of the Eight Banners of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the loyal servants of the emperor, or the talented people who climbed up step by step by relying on the imperial examination.

But such a group of high-ranking officials and eunuchs, in the face of Wei Ze, who was only 17 years old more than two years ago and was messing around in the ravines of Guangxi, was beaten and killed several times, and nearly 20,000 officers and soldiers were wiped out in three days. It's better to have this group of things than to have that Weze!

Thinking of this, Xianfeng stood straight in front of the dragon chair and did not move. According to the rules of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the emperor did not leave, and the eunuchs could not let these ministers finish their salutes. When the ministers could not finish the salute, they had to bow their heads and kneel on the Jinluan Palace. At this time, it is a great disrespectful sin to raise your head to see if the emperor is really gone.

The kneeling posture of bowing their heads and pouting was quite uncomfortable, and a group of young officials were better. And the older officials knelt like this for less than five minutes, and they were a little unbearable.

Seeing these people trembling, and even a little staggering, Xianfeng finally breathed a sigh of relief. He snorted heavily and left the Golden Luan Hall with his hands behind his back. Listening to the footsteps of the emperor as he left, all the officials breathed a long sigh of relief in their hearts. Most officials have the same idea in their hearts, "A difficult day is over again!" ”

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