After the First Battle of Hugao Mountain, the Qing court realized that the Taiping army was their strongest opponent, and immediately adjusted the strategy of passing through the Central Plains, combining the two route armies in the north and south into one, concentrating on solving Li Zicheng in the northwest first, and ceding most of Henan and Hubei to avoid engaging the Taiping army. Zhao Qiang ordered Li Gang and Shang Dayong to lead the Taiping army to recover large areas of Henan and Hubei in succession by two routes, east and west, and the Taiping army became more powerful.

Zhao Qiang guarded the general rudder, in addition to dealing with the affairs of the church, but also paid close attention to the changes in the entire domestic situation, the intelligence personnel of the Taiping Sect in all parts of the country transmitted a large amount of intelligence information every day, Zhao Qiang learned about the situation in various places through this information, among which Zhao Qiang was most concerned about the situation in the northwest.

The situation in the northwest was deteriorating dramatically, and after the Battle of Hugao Mountain, the Qing army gathered 300,000 heavy troops to attack Li Zicheng in Shaanxi. Although Li Zicheng gathered 400,000 troops to fight a decisive battle with the Qing army at Tongguan, with the passage of time, there was a serious division within the rebel army, and there were many difficulties.

First of all, there is a shortage of food, because the land in the northwest is barren, the production is not abundant, the rebel army has nowhere to raise food, many soldiers are starving, and the salary has not been paid for half a year, plus winter is approaching, the soldiers have not yet had winter cotton clothes, and their morale is very low. In desperation, some generals relaxed their military discipline and plundered the local people and merchants in order to replenish military supplies, causing resentment in the northwestern provinces. Although Li Zicheng repeatedly reiterated military discipline and punished some soldiers who violated discipline, his prestige at this time was not as good as before, and some generals disobeyed and even openly disobeyed orders, and the entire Dashun army had already deviated from morality.

The second is that the forces of various factions within the Great Shun Dynasty are seriously divided. Li Zicheng's team that had returned from the defeat of the capital took the treasures, supplies and women they had stolen from the capital, and they only squandered it to their own heart's content, refusing to help the local defenders in Shaanxi and the troops withdrawn from all over the country, which caused dissatisfaction and constant friction among the other rebels. After Li Zicheng became the emperor, he divided the hundred officials, and some of the generals of the rebel army gradually formed factions within the Dashun Dynasty in order to compete for power and profit, and several factions attacked each other, causing internal friction.

The third is that the team is seriously attritional, the composition of the Dashun army is very mixed, many people participate in the team is motivated to be promoted and make a fortune, now the situation of the Dashun army is difficult, internal strife continues, many people begin to waver, there are a large number of deserters every day, it is impossible to prevent it. In particular, the Ming army in the ranks who defected to Cheng Cheng caused their dissatisfaction because Li Zicheng implemented a discriminatory policy against the surrender of troops, and most of these troops were originally under Hong Chengchou, and under the division and collapse of the Qing army, many of them had defected to Wu Sangui and Hong Chengchou. Therefore, Li Zicheng claimed to have an army of 1 million, but the number of troops that could really fight was less than 300,000. If this momentum continues, it will be a matter of time before Li Zicheng is defeated by the Qing army.

On this day, Zhang Xiaoping escorted a batch of artillery purchased from overseas back to Wuchang from the south, and after he settled down, he came to see Zhao Qiang at the helm, and the two talked in the study.

Zhang Xiaoping said: "Sect Leader Qiqi, the purchase of armaments this time is very smooth, and the merchants of Portugal have not only made great concessions in price, but also expressed their hope to establish long-term trade relations with us, not only to supply us with weapons and ammunition, but also to buy leather goods and silk from us. ”

"Okay, it's a good thing to be able to establish a long-term cooperative relationship, and to exchange goods and goods, you can cooperate with them to build a trading house and do trade together, and it is best to send our people to them to learn the advanced technology in their hands, such as making guns, gunpowder, etc., and it is more important to exchange technology or not."

"Yes, my subordinates obey. Also, there are rumors in the world that you are going to ascend the throne and become emperor, and even foreign businessmen have heard about it, but I don't know the situation because I've been outside, so I don't know."

Zhao Qiang smiled a little proudly: "Ho, even foreigners know about it!" This is because our Taiping Sect has grown rapidly these days, and the common people also know that we are a real anti-Qing team, so some sect members, gentry and officials have persuaded me to become emperor. To say that the conditions for being the emperor are in place now, and the timing is good, but I haven't thought about it yet, I don't know what you think? ”

"This" Zhang Xiaoping hesitated for a moment, and quickly said: "The sect leader is ordered by heaven, he is the lord of the world, benevolence is far and wide, and he is loved by the world. The leader of the sect is eloquent, far-sighted, has the mind and temperament of the master, looking at today's troubled times, no one can compare with the leader, and his subordinates also sincerely support the leader. ”

Zhang Xiaoping's compliment Zhao Qiang has heard it countless times from other people's mouths, and he doesn't feel that there is anything wrong, but he just feels that what Zhang Xiaoping said is a little insincere.

The two chatted for a while, Zhang Xiaoping said goodbye and wanted to go back to Wuchang City to visit Zhang Xiaodong, and Zhao Qiang hadn't seen him for a long time

When he arrived at Zhang Xiaodong, he also wanted to visit, so he decided to go into the city with Zhang Xiaoping, he didn't want to alarm too many people, so he took a sedan chair, wore civilian clothes, and took Xiaoshanzi and a few other guards to set off.

Entering Wuchang City, Zhao Qiang looked at the scenery on the street through the sedan curtain, the street was bustling with people, a prosperous and lively scene, and some Taiping soldiers could be seen wandering along the street in the crowd.

The sedan chair passed through an intersection, and Zhao Qiang saw several Taiping soldiers carrying a few bundles of cloth coming out of a shop, and a guy from a shop came out and pulled with the Taiping soldiers, and was kicked to the ground by a soldier. Zhao Qiang saw the Taiping soldiers beating people, frowned secretly, quietly got off the sedan chair, squeezed into the crowd, and saw that the guy was pulling a soldier of the Taiping Army and begging: "Master Jun, you can do it, give me some money, otherwise our boss will have to kill me when he comes back." ”

A small leader of the Taiping army shouted: "Don't talk nonsense, Lao Tzu is killing Tartars in front, that's the messenger with his head pinned to the waistband of his trousers, we are bleeding and sweating in front, you guys are hiding in the rear and making a fortune, is this reasonable?" If you take a few pieces of cloth, you will die or live, provoke Lao Tzu, and burn down your shop, don't fucking be wordy, hurry up and get out of here! ”

The fellow threw himself on his knees and cried, "I said, Master, I know that it is not easy for you to kill the Tartars in front, but we can't make a few dollars in our small business, and besides, we have paid the taxes in full, so you can't strangle us anymore." ”

"Hey, you're reasonable, tell you, let Nanjing take all the taxes and silver you paid, Lao Tzu is a copper and don't see it, our Taiping Army has no money, and we don't pay salaries, we don't ask for you, let Lao Tzu wear single clothes for the winter, freeze us to death, who will kill you Tartars, cut!" The small leader of the Taiping Army said forcefully.

The guy was speechless, so he had to beg vigorously: "Master Jun, you can do it, the shopkeeper must kill me when he comes back." ”

was in chaos, only to hear a commotion outside the crowd, it turned out that it was the officers and soldiers of Wuchang City who were guarding the street, and found that a large group of people had gathered here to watch, so they came to intervene.

An officer and soldier separated the general from the crowd, and scolded and shouted: "What's the matter? What's wrong? When the crowd gathers in the street to make trouble, are you going to rebel! ”

When the guy saw that it was the official army coming, he crawled to the foot of the general, pointed to the Taiping soldiers and said: "Official, these Taiping soldiers forcibly took a few pieces of cloth from our store, didn't give money, and beat people, you have to be the master of me." ”

The soldiers of the Taiping Army looked at the general of the official army with fierce eyes, and did not open their mouths to explain, which was regarded as acquiescing to the fact of robbing the cloth, but they did not mean to be timid at all.

The guy frowned, kicked the guy in front of him in disgust, didn't say a word, turned around and left, the guy got up and grabbed the sleeve of the boss and said, "Boss, why are you leaving?" You've got to call the shots! ”

The onlookers also asked: "Alas, you patrol the streets and don't care about this!" ”

The boss suddenly turned around and said angrily: "Lao Tzu is a fart!" Even Governor Zhang can't take care of it, you have grievances to complain to Lord Zhang, it's useless to pester me. ”

The soldiers of the Taiping Army couldn't help but be proud, and they were about to leave, Zhao Qiang hated the soldiers the most to bully the people, and really wanted to go up and kick them a few feet, the little mountain saw it, pulled Zhao Qiang's sleeves, and signaled Zhao Qiang to go first, and he stayed to deal with this matter.

Zhao Qiang also felt that he couldn't show up to deal with this matter, so he beckoned Zhang Xiaoping to get into the sedan chair and leave, and the voice of Xiaoshanzi reprimanding those soldiers came from behind him.

Zhao Qiang and Zhang Xiaoping arrived at the Hubei Governor's Yamen, Zhang Xiaodong personally went to the door to welcome Zhao Qiang in, and after greeting several people, Zhao Qiang told Zhang Xiaodong what he had just seen on the street, and asked why the officers and soldiers did not dare to care.

Zhang Xiaodong hesitated for a moment and said: "Lord Zhao, now that the Taiping army is killing the enemy in blood on the front line, and there is no Yulu from the imperial court, it is really rare, even if there is a small nuisance to the place, I don't think I have to take it too seriously, otherwise I am afraid that it will affect the morale." So I ordered my subordinates to avoid such things as much as possible, so as not to cause misunderstandings and conflicts. ”

Zhao Qiang looked at Zhang Xiaodong with a cautious look, completely without the generosity and outspokenness of the first acquaintance, and couldn't help but say angrily: "Isn't this a trivial matter, disturbing the place, extorting people's money, and bandits, if it goes on like this, won't my Taiping Army want the people to lose their hearts, and talk about what to talk about for the country and the people, and these black sheep must not be tolerated, Brother Zhang, you and I are my own brothers, what should I do if something like this happens, if anyone dares to stop it, you can go directly to me to talk."

If you're busy, just write a note to inform me, how can I allow them to be so nonsense! ”

Zhang Xiaodong observed his words and looks, and saw that Zhao Qiang didn't seem to be a fake, so he said: "Don't hide it, my lord, this kind of thing has happened more than a dozen times in the past month, and I can't handle it without authorization, so I have written to you a long time ago, but there has been no reply. ”

"Oh? There is such a thing! How come I didn't know at all? Zhao Qiang asked in surprise.

Zhang Xiaodong asked suspiciously: "Didn't you receive it?" Is it because your teacher has made a mistake in the transmission of documents, or is it that subordinates think that such trivial matters do not need to be handled by adults themselves? ”

Zhao Qiang pondered and said: "This is not good, I'll go back and investigate it thoroughly." But today, I said it to my face, you don't have any scruples in the future, just punish these people according to the rules, and I will support you. ”

Zhang Xiaodong got up and bowed and said: "Your Excellency is high, your country is busy, you are so sympathetic to the place, benevolent and loving the people, and I thank you for the people of Wuchang." ”

Zhao Qiang felt that this former brother seemed to have a deep estrangement from him, he suddenly felt an inexplicable loss, and sighed softly and said: "What's the matter, Brother Zhang, do you know me, have I changed, or have you changed." ”

Zhang Xiaodong's lips moved, but he didn't say anything.

That night, Zhao Qiang returned to the helm, and Xiao Shanzi rushed to report to him the results of the matter, Xiao Shanzi said: "Sect Master, the few people who made trouble today are from the Fifth Squadron of the Third Brigade of the New Barracks, and these people turned out to be a group of bandits in Henan, who defected to the Taiping Army last month. They went to grab cloth under the banner of the Taiping Army, and prepared to use these cloths to make cotton clothes for the winter. ”

Zhao Qiang asked, "What did you do with these people?" ”

Xiao Shanzi said: "I ordered them to return the looted things to the shopkeeper, apologized to the guy in public, and when I came back, I informed the new barracks to lock up these people, and what to do next, and asked the master for instructions." ”

Zhao Qiang said angrily: "Do you want me to ask about these things personally?" Our Taiping Sect has religious rules, and the Taiping Army has military regulations, can't we just do it according to the rules! ”

"This" Xiao Shanzi hesitated, straightened up and said: "Sect Leader Rongqi, I also said this to the battalion officer of the recruit battalion, but the battalion officer said that these recruits have been here for more than a month, and they have not been paid silver, and it is said that in the future, all recruits will not be paid silver, and many recruits have emotions, if the handling is too strict, I am afraid it will affect morale." ”

"Fart! Recruits are not paid silver? Who said this? How did I not know? Besides, even if you don't pay money, you can't rob the people's things, who is this battalion officer, I will be removed tomorrow, these people will be escorted to Wuchang City tomorrow, each with forty military sticks, and then give me a flail at the gate of the government for three days. Order the whole army, and if there is a nuisance in the local area to extort people's money, all will be killed! Zhao Qiang was furious.

Seeing that Zhao Qiang was angry, Xiao Shanzi said in a loud voice: "Yes, yes, this subordinate will do it immediately tomorrow." ”

Zhao Qiang's anger subsided a little, pondering that the new army's suspension of military salaries seemed to be a real matter, and said secretly: "Why don't I know anything about such a big thing?" Is there something I don't know about? He thought that Zhang Xiaodong had not received the letter to him, and realized that the problem was serious.

Zhao Qiang thought for a moment and said to Xiaoshanzi: "You go and find the quartermaster of the chief rudder, and say that I want to interrogate." ”

After a quarter of an hour, the quartermaster was ordered to come to the meeting. Zhao Qiang asked: "I heard that the soldiers in the new barracks do not pay silver, why do you hear that?" ”

The quartermaster replied: "Sect Master, the team has developed too fast in recent months, and the materials we have accumulated in the early stage have consumed a lot, and the silver taels earned from the business in the sect are not needed. ”

"Shhh Why didn't I see Tian Jingming write a letter mentioning this matter? Zhao Qiang pondered, he remembered that almost all the reports he had seen in the recent period were good news, and none of them reflected the following problems. On the issue of claiming to be the emperor, there is also a voice of praise in the church, there is no objection, about this matter, Li Gang has not expressed his position, it stands to reason that such an important matter, Li Gang should not be silent, is he silent or did he write that he didn't see it? In the end, how many things are still hidden from themselves, it seems that today's events are not isolated incidents, and there must be someone in the middle of this who has done something to deceive himself!

"There are spies around Lao Tzu!" Zhao Qiang suddenly became alert, he felt that the problem was already very serious.