Time quietly came to the eleventh year of the Yongli calendar, and if it was according to the Qing court's constitutional calendar, it would be the fourteenth year of Shunzhi. It has been twelve years since May of the second year of Shunzhi, when Azige, the prince of Qing and Shuoying, led a large army to follow the remnants of the Dashun army that had just scared Zuo Liangyu away and entered the northern part of Huguang.

During this long period of time, the pain filled the vast land of Huguang, the Eight Banner Army, the vassal soldiers of the King of Sanshun and the Duke of Xushun, as well as the local and green battalions of Huguang and from all over the country, these Qing troops and the local old Ming army, the former Dashun army, and the former Great Western Army fought for each other, and the battle line was frequently tug-of-war throughout Huguang.

Even now, this is not limited to the southern part of Huguang where the confrontation between the Qin Domain and the Changsha Shogunate is located, and far away in the northwest area of Huguang, the confrontation between the Changsha Shogunate and the Ming army of Kuidong has never stopped for a day. It's just that, limited by the complex terrain there and the weak strength of the various departments in Kuidong, they really can't afford to launch a big counteroffensive like the Yongli 6th year of the Great Western Army and the Yongli 8th year of the Zheng Group.

Just because there is no such war does not mean that there will not be a war. On the contrary, compared to the various units of the Great Western Army and the Zheng group, which had already begun to indulge in battles, the tug-of-war between the Kuidong Ming army and the Qing army in the northern part of Huguang was small in scale but quite frequent. Sometimes one family dispatched, sometimes several joined forces, so that Hong Chengchou had to send Hu Quancai, who had the most military experience in the Changsha shogunate, to Yunyang as governor soon after his arrival, and took on the responsibility of the starting point of the 5,000-mile-long border.

The post of governor of Yunyang began in the middle of the Ming Dynasty because of the increasingly serious problem of displaced people in the Qinba Mountains. Just like the governor of Southern Jiangxi, who was established twenty years later, the governor of Yunyang did not control the military and political affairs of a province, but it did not affect its importance in the slightest. The jurisdiction extends to Huguang Suizhou in the east, Guangyuan in Sichuan in the west, Lingbao in Henan in the north, and Wushan in Sichuan in the south. The prefectures and counties under its jurisdiction include five provinces, including Upper Jingnan Road, Lower Jingnan Road, Guannan Road, Runan Road and Shangluo Road, Yunyang Mansion, Xiangyang Prefecture, Jingzhou Prefecture, Anlu Prefecture, Nanyang Prefecture, Xi'an Prefecture, Hanzhong Prefecture and Kuizhou Prefecture, Junzhou, Yuzhou, Dengzhou, Shangzhou, Jinzhou, Guizhou, Jingmen Prefecture, Yiling Prefecture and Ningqiang Prefecture and other nine prefectures, spanning Huguang, Sichuan, Henan, Shaanxi and other four provinces, it can be said that it is a copy of the governor of Southern Jiangxi in the Qinba region.

The governor's yamen's seat is located in Yunyang Fucheng, which is the front line of the confrontation between the Changsha shogunate and the Ming army of Kuidong - occupying Fangxian and Zhushan, and Hao Yongzhong, the more powerful Yiguo Gong Hao Yongzhong in the thirteen families of Kuidong, frequently attacked Yunyang, Xiangyang and other places, although it is not the strongest, but it is also the closest one to this office, close to the water and downstream, and it can go straight to the city of Yunyang in one or two days!

Hao Yongzhong is already an old opponent of the Yunyang Qing Army, and as the governor, Hu Quancai has worked him. Two years ago, Hu Quancai managed to recruit Xie Zongkong, the chief military officer under Hao Yongzhong who was responsible for guarding Qingfeng Zhaikou Road, and some of the personnel were incorporated into the Qing army, and the rest were sent to their hometowns, effectively disintegrating and weakening Hao Yongzhong's military strength. However, this did not make the Ming army marshal, who was born as the standard-bearer of the Dashun army, stop, but launched an increasingly ferocious attack on the Yunyang area.

Not long ago, Hao Yongzhong's offensive had just been repulsed, and among the yamen of the governor of Yunyang, Hu Quancai recruited a few Confucian scholars who had praised the merits of military affairs, praised them greatly, spoke highly of their suggestions and suggestions, and wrote a report to Hong Chengchou in public, in which they gave them a strong stroke.

This is not the first time, after each battle, there are always different degrees of reward, and the few Confucian students present are no longer as sincere and fearful as they were at the beginning, and they seem to be talking freely.

“…… This time, it happened that the war came to an end, and the old man held a poetry meeting in Changsha, and the gentlemen could win glory for our eight prefectures and nine prefectures, lest some gentry from other prefectures and counties say that we only know military affairs, but the article has been delayed for thousands of years. ”

"Please rest assured, Master Futai, we will not fail in our mission."

With a salute, a group of people walked out of the governor's yamen hall with high spirits. Seeing everyone leaving, the cover on Hu Quancai's face was gone, and the undue boredom involuntarily came to his heart.

"The ...... of the owner"

A cronie brought from his hometown in Shanxi pushed the door in and delivered a secret letter to Hu Quancai. The content, very simply, is that after Hao Yongzhong's offensive failed to achieve results, the contact with Yuan Zongdi of Dachang, He Zhen of Daning, and Li Laiheng of Xingshan has become increasingly close recently. What exactly he plans to do and when he will do it, everything is still unknown, but it is obvious that this Hao Yongzhong has no good intentions for him.

"Well, don't worry, just after the First World War, whether it is the official army or the thieves, they all have to rest for some time."

"So, those Confucian ......"

Of course, the staff were referring to the Confucian scholars who had just left, who usually praised military affairs in the green camp in Yunyang Mansion, but now they were going to leave south to Changsha to participate in the poetry meeting organized by Hong Chengchou.

"It's fine, I didn't expect anything from them anyway. If they don't come back, they should go up with a new batch and a few more competitors, and it doesn't hurt. ”

Hu Quancai said it lightly, and the staff did not have any accidents, so even if they put the matter aside and assisted Hu Quancai to deal with other military and political affairs.

The official duties of the governor's yamen continued, but at this moment, the Confucian scholars who had already stepped out of the gate of the governor's yamen and met to drink in the Qinglou in the east of the city would never have imagined that the proprietors and staff would be so contemptuous of "military affairs". Here, their interest was completely on the red card girl in the green building.

Of these people, the youngest Confucian was the most absent-minded. He is a native of Jingmen Prefecture of Anlu Prefecture, and that Anlu Mansion is the place where Emperor Jiajing was born here and was named Chengtianfu, since the Qing Dynasty, the word Chengtian is naturally useless, so it was renamed Anlu Mansion, which is to restore the original name of Anlu Prefecture.

The young Confucian scholar was named Zhou Chang, whose name was Peigong, and now at the age of twenty-four or five, his father died early, and his mother died when he was ten years old. The family was in the middle of the road, so he relied on the relationship between his family and his father to be a small official in the state capital, and at the same time prepared to study and take the exam. Originally, it was like this, but he had the identity of a scholar, a few years ago, Hu Quancai, the governor of Yunyang, recruited Confucian scholars to praise the painting of military affairs, he simply took the name of the table, and the right to change his name and surname, and the original identity of the official was moderately cut, and he caught up with this wave of east wind. Nowadays, every time he wins a war, he can get a piece of military merit, which is indeed much better than simply being a small official.

"If it weren't for our advice this time, I'm afraid that the king and general will suffer a big loss."

"Yes, Hao Shaoqi's guy has always been cunning, and it's a loss that we are here." A slightly older Confucian said this proudly, turned his head and asked Zhou Peigong: "Isn't it, Peigong?" ”

"That's nature!"

said this without thinking, Zhou Peigong also showed the same self-satisfaction as his companions. It's just that compared to those who come from the heart, he, who has been a small official, seems much more hypocritical, and he is like this on the face, but he doesn't care about it in his heart.

"The first time I praised the military affairs, I saw that those thieves were menacing, and suggested retreating to the palace to defend the palace, but the general directly launched a fierce attack, and actually repelled the thieves...... I was secretly frightened at that time, but not only did the general forget everything, but even Governor Hu praised my advice in front of others. At first, I thought it was a sarcasm, but I didn't let go until the reward arrived...... But there was a time when I was ambiguous every time I admonished, but every time I was rewarded. What is Governor Hu's thoughts, or what is the plan of that Hong Jingluo, I'm not a nerd, how can I not figure it out? ”

This is especially the case, Zhou Peigong brags in the Qinglou like his companions, but the most is of course a lot of praise for his companions and the courage of the officer - God knows, whether these companions will be admitted to the court and become officials in the future; God knows if that officer will be promoted to admiral and chief soldier in the future. Many friends, many paths.

The death of his parents when he was young made Zhou Peigong more helplessly precocious than his peers. Even now, he is much better than his peers in terms of mental age, even those who are a little older than him.

It was precisely because he thought through that Zhou Peigong naturally accepted the arrangement of Governor Hu Quancai without pressure. Let Zan draw military affairs, and he will go to help deal with some cases, and deal with errands with two ambiguous words by the way; asked to participate in the poetry meeting, and he followed everyone over to make two poems at Hong Chengchou's place, showing his face. At first glance, it may seem like a bit of a mess, but he knows exactly what it takes to make a name for himself.

"Either you are admitted to the Jinshi, or you try to be a big man as a staff member, just like Chen Kai, the governor of Guangdong in the puppet dynasty. Otherwise, the name of the intellectuals that have accumulated now will be of little use except for bragging in front of those prostitutes, prostitutes, and nerds in the Qinglou and tea shops. ”

Since he obeyed the arrangement as usual, Zhou Peigong naturally rushed to Changsha with everyone. Yunyang is the northernmost province of Huguang, while Changsha is located south of Dongting Lake. The two places are far apart, but fortunately, the lake and the water network are longitudinal, and the Yangtze River, the Han River, the Xiang River, the Dongting Lake and those tributaries connect the whole lake and Guangzhou. Since Hong Chengchou took office, the Changsha shogunate has also made great efforts in water transportation, because they know that only convenient transportation can send troops to various points as quickly as possible, and time directly determines life and death.

As far as they were concerned, the poetry meeting was organized by the Yamen of the Southwest Economic Strategy, and Hu Quancai simply transferred the official ship to send them over, and waited until the poetry meeting was over to pick them up. It is also a pleasure to visit the lakes and mountains along the way, but the only thing that needs to be spent is to make some poems that can be used, and to "win glory" for Hu Quancai.

They just went all the way, and on the Changsha side, the preparations were very familiar, because not only Hong Chengchou, but also the officials of the entire Changsha shogunate seemed to have a unique hobby for organizing poetry clubs. Not only is it wide-ranging, but the number of poetry meetings is also very frequent, and it has to be organized almost every once in a while.

All the way to Changsha by boat, the poetry meeting was held outside the city, and it also had the meaning of stepping into spring. Zhou Peigong followed a group of familiar Confucian scholars into the middle, among which the leader was a sociable person, and he naturally wanted to go up and say hello, even if there was no intersection, as long as he learned the identity from others, he had to go over and talk about it. Once born, twice cooked.

"The former guard Yongzhou Dao Dengzhou Peng Ershu, Youxian Juren Liu Ziye, Shanhua Gongsheng Zhou Yingyu, Xiangyin Luo Junpin, Sichuan Dianjiang Zhusheng Wang Zhong...... In addition to these new faces, there are many of those old people, and most of them who are not here are also released to be officials, or to do things outside. This Changsha shogunate is really getting stronger day by day. ”

Praise the merits of painting military affairs, as well as the poetry club, what thoughts did Hong Chengchou report, in fact, Zhou Peigong had already seen the way. In the final analysis, it was necessary to demonstrate the status of the Qing court's orthodox dynasty and show the Confucian scholar class in Huguang that the Changsha shogunate was their kind, so as to isolate the Ming army and reduce the support of the Ming army.

Zhou Peigong couldn't say anything about class theory against nationalism, and it was estimated that Hong Chengchou might not have the heart to summarize this Laoshzi. However, the principle is the same, and with every poetry meeting, every reward, more and more Dr. Hu Guangshi began to turn to serve the Qing court, even if he did not do so, he was still a remnant in his hometown, and his antipathy to the Qing court was also declining, and his support for the anti-Qing movement was gradually decreasing.

Speaking of which, it's not that he hasn't thought about what he has thrown himself into, but it's a pity that he has no way out, and he really doesn't have anything to do to be able to get the blue eyes of a character like Hong Chengchou.

However, Zhou Peigong was not in a hurry, in his opinion, the war was still in the confrontation stage, and no one on the Ming and Qing sides could help anyone. Even if it was the Chen Kai over there who looked menacing at first glance, but this time it was only the result of one for one in front of Hong Chengchou. He is still young, and there is still time to learn, not necessarily without opportunities.

The poetry meeting was held as scheduled, and a number of high-ranking officials such as Hong Chengchou and Huang Zhixuan came in person, and the Confucian scholars who participated in the meeting were also in high spirits. One poem after another is constantly being born, and some of the best ones can be sung among Confucian scholars, and even sent to Hong Chengchou and Huang Zhixuan for comment in front of their cases.

The atmosphere, as happy as the previous times, Zhou Peigong was a small official in his early years, and his ability to fight against Baguwen and poetry is not comparable to others, and every time he is prepared in advance, he should be on the scene at that time. On their side, with Hu Quancai's encouragement, they did produce two good poems, which have been passed on to Huang Zhixuan's side, and one of them was directly handed over to the famous prostitutes in the city to play and sing, and he made a ruthless face.

Zhou Peigong sat in the middle, and compliments were naturally indispensable. It's just that after sitting down, no more than others who are indulging in poetry and songs, he has a pair of ears, and vaguely hears two Confucian students not far away who seem to be chatting quietly, until he vaguely hears Chen Kai's name, he is even more engrossed.

What kind of person Chen Kai is, of course Zhou Peigong knows, and he also knows that this guy from the staff has now grown into a great enemy that even Hong Chengchou has to deal with carefully. At this time, Zhou Peigong closed his eyes, and all his energy was devoted to distinguishing the voice, and those conversations were faintly presented in his mind.

"The Guangdong Consultative Bureau, it is said that it has begun to work now, occupies the original Jingnan Palace, which is bigger than the governor's yamen......"

“…… I heard that Chen Kai is a retro restructuring this time, and I think this is more in line with the spiritual concept of the rule of three generations. ”

"What is the rule of three generations, he didn't make it up. Still, whatever he is, I think it's good for us. ”

"How so?"

"Have you heard of the Fusha? I think Chen Kai is now tossing a resumption of the society in Guangdong. ”

"Isn't he afraid of being pinned down in the future?"

"I don't think so, that guy is the master who even scratches his head at Hong Jingluo, since he dares to toss like this, he must have thought it through. Hey, in fact, even if it's clamped, what does it have to do with us. The best thing is that this council can really succeed, and ...... when the time comes."

"Do you think the imperial court may set up this advisory bureau in our Huguang?"

"Whether you do it or not, it's not up to them. If the imperial court didn't set up an advisory bureau, someone would naturally be able to sell Huguang to Chen Kai. In the final analysis, this is a great wealth, as long as you can sit firmly on the identity of the councilor, money, fame, power, whatever you want, you don't have to worry about the danger of falling into the middle of the family if one or two generations can't go out of school. ”

The Confucian students from other mansions were still chatting quietly, and Zhou Peigong vaguely heard that it seemed to be the accent of Chenzhou Mansion, and one of them looked familiar, as if yesterday was the gregarious guy who was with them the day before yesterday and pointed it out to him. It's just that once he remembered that Chenzhou Mansion, Zhou Peigong was suddenly shocked. He praised the military affairs for a long time, and he still knew something about the map of Huguang. That mansion was originally under the rule of the governor of Southern Jiangxi, Yamen, but now most of Southern Jiangxi is occupied by the Ming army, and Chenzhou Mansion has to be assigned to Huguang. There, but it is connected to the area controlled by the Ming army!

Since the poetry club is to organize the well-known gentry in the province and the Confucian scholars who have already served the Qing court, it will naturally not stop for just one day. There were still two days left, and Zhou Peigong originally planned to take out one of his most proud poems the next day, but now he had no thoughts. All that was new to the council was in my mind, and I heard more and more similar discussions.

On the last day, the guests and hosts enjoyed themselves at the banquet, and the Confucian scholars frequently toasted Hong Chengchou. However, in Zhou Peigong's eyes, this is just a superficial phenomenon, because sitting in the middle of it, what he hears in his ears is no longer the discussion of poetry, or the praise of Hong Chengchou, and the topic in private has been led astray by the advisory bureau, and the following groups of people are all talking about Chen Kai and his advisory bureau.

Hong Jingluo set up a stage and wanted to sing. As a result, the stage was set up, but Chen Kai sang the play. ”

Such a thought popped up in his mind, and Zhou Peigong was suddenly startled. It was only after this surprise that he was immediately stunned by another, even more frightening thought.

"Perhaps, in the future, you don't need to be admitted to the Jinshi, and you don't need to be a staff member for the big guys, there is still a way to get ahead."

(Volume 4, Saffron Everywhere, End)

(Full text, to be continued)

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