When Liu Tang, the envoy of the military treasury of the Great General's Mansion who came by boat, he was not surprised to see the cyan water-patterned "Taiping" flag hanging on the head of Jiangling City, because although the Yellow King was the lord of the righteous army, he still had different degrees of autonomy among the large and small rebel troops; There is no shortage of people like this who like to change to a new flag or name after a while.

What's more, Wang Chongyin and Cao Shixiong have already occupied one place, and they are like self-reliant rebel forces. What he needs to think about is how to effectively persuade the other party by relying on his past connections and connections, so that he can continue to act in unison under the banner of the rebels, and contain the offensive of the officers and troops and respond to the actions of the rebels.

After all, with the difficult situation of the great general, it is necessary to gather all the forces that can be used to tide over the difficulties together; Even if it is such a self-supporting rebel army force in Jiangling, or the old Sanjiang Army that has parted ways on the Guangfu side, it is also an object that Yanxia needs to strive for.

In fact, compared with the many peripheral "rebel armies" that are gathered in the local area and are only under a banner and name, this kind of local armed force from the old Henan rebel army is more reliable and worthy of hope one or two. After all, the friendship and origin that have been fought in the army for many years are not so easy to get rid of.

For this reason, not only did the Yellow King give the corresponding Dongting water and land town guards and Jingnan commanders the titles and qualifications with the orders of the General's Mansion; It is also allowed to benefit from the territory of the "rebels" in the vicinity of Ezhou and Hongzhou; As long as they are willing to send troops to attack these places, they can contain the officers and troops in Jiangxi, and relieve some of the restraint and pressure on the general's mansion.

At the very least, the bottom line is also to try to restore Jingzhou's routine supply to the rebel army's main front; And the same principle applies to Guangfu, but that one is more unreachable and much more tricky.

In addition, he had another task by the way, that is, to take the route to cross the border to Xiazhou (now Yichang City, Hubei), Guizhou (now Zigui County, Hubei) and other places, and gather a few remaining West Road Volunteers and horses in the local area; Then they will re-borrow the water and land controlled by Jiangling, and then join up with the main formation in Jiangxi after obtaining supplies on the spot; Therefore, Liu Tang, who was also born in Henan and has always been close to Wang Chongyin, has become the first choice for this negotiation.

In fact, when he approached the city of Jingzhou, he was greatly surprised by the various boats coming and going on the river; Among them, there are ordinary fishing boats and private boats that fish on the river, as well as merchant ships and passenger ships with full sails full of people and goods.

And when he went ashore, he was even more startled by the lively Chengxia Port City, according to his impression, wasn't there still a war in Jingzhou a month ago; In the vast countryside outside the city, a wooden sign representing the enclosure of the tuntian field has been erected, and there are faintly scattered many peasants, cattle and horses who are working in the sun.

This couldn't help but make him amazed, there were not many generals in the righteous army who knew how to take action and put the people in Tuntian, could this Wang Chongyin and Cao Shixiong be influenced by the Guangfu one. Holding this stomach of questions and thoughts, Liu Tang followed the smooth hard road, and arrived at the government in Jiangling City under the opening of the road under the rider holding the flag of the General's Mansion.

After a short wait to enter Tongbing, he passed through several cross-courtyards that looked like they were heavily gated, and only then did he see the goal of this trip in the section hall of the town marshal director, but Liu Tang's expression froze in the next moment, and he was a little dumbfounded.

"You... Be. Void and ... Stay? ”

Because it was not Wang Chongyin, a veteran of the righteous army, who was waiting for him at the top, but the virtual monk who should have actually been in power in Guangfu now; As for Cao Shixiong, who is the No. 2 local person, he also looks like he is bowing down to him; And the other generals and schools listed in the hall and under the hall are also the faces of Yishui.

At this moment, many thoughts had already turned in his mind, and he had made up various situations and the truth of the matter in his mind. Could it be that Wang Chongyin, a fellow villager from Henan, has been replaced by this one who has joined the inside and the outside; In this case, what he wanted to read and what he had calculated before would be completely lost.

"It's been a long time, Liu Ku, but it's okay to come."

Zhou Huai'an looked at Liu Tang with a slight smile, as if he had seen a ghost.

This can be regarded as a person who has had a few routines in Guangfu, but he has no deep friendship and even a little bit of a confrontation because of official duties, no wonder he will be nervous and gaffe like this, if he is really narrow-minded, it is not surprising to take the opportunity to cut him directly.

"I understand what King Huang means, General Cao Lang, you will accept it for the time being. ."

After listening to him stammering and reciting the so-called fate, Zhou Huaian waved his hand.

"It's hard to come from afar, so please ask Liu Ku to go and rest for a while."

When the crowd had dispersed,

"Is this appropriate? After all, we've already. ”

Cao Shixiong said with a hesitant face

"Why not, this is the appointment of the Yellow King to the Lord of the King and you. It's not for me for the Taiping Army. ”

Zhou Huai'an said lightly.

"But anyway, if there is a chance in the future, maybe these names can still come in handy."

For example, with these titles such as Dongting Town Guardian and Jingnan Commander, they justifiably cleaned up the messy rebel forces in Hongzhou and Ezhou; Even the jurisdictions of the Western Road Rebel Army located in Xiazhou and Guizhou can take the opportunity to pull the tiger skin and make a big banner to be incorporated into the name of Jiangling.

Compared with Jing, Fu, Lang, Yue, and Hubei Prefectures located on the Jianghan Plain, the Three Canyon Roads, both Xiazhou and Guizhou, are located in the upper reaches of the Three Canyons, which belong to the barren Xiazhou with many mountains and few lands and limited household registration, so if these rebels want to maintain and even make a difference for a long time, they have to accept the help and infiltration of Jiangling.

"With you tonight, let's entertain Liu Ku's envoys."

Thinking of this, he said to Cao Shixiong again:

"Although I can't count on the Yellow King's side at the moment, it's not a cadre who used to be a member of the righteous army. Even if others are unkind, I can't be unjust, otherwise what kind of righteous army would I call myself?"

"Of course. In the long run, the more the Yellow King's conquest career is successful, and the more officers and troops are defeated and contained along the way, the more beneficial it will be to the situation of our Taiping army. So if you have the opportunity to help, you should try your best to help."

"In addition, I am also quite interested in the current situation of the Yellow King, so I just asked him about it. I'll call Shui Wanghan from the Negotiation Section to assist you, he's the best at eating, drinking, and having fun: I'll walk around for a few more days, and try to let him talk as much as possible. ”

"I understand, I'll arrange it."

Cao Shixiong said with a somewhat complicated and convincing expression.

However, in the afternoon of the next day, new unexpected news came.

"There is a fleet of ships on the river that is coming towards Gangneung?。。"

Zhou Huai'an said with some surprise.

"What's going on?"

Then he came to the head of the city, where the water gate was, and saw many dense boats of all sizes coming from the river, which almost blocked most of the wharves in the south of the city; Among the many people who came down the boat, there were also many people who carried their burdens and carried their families and even their families to help the old and the young.

Later, a rebel general wearing an ochre-colored robe and turban was brought to Zhou Huai'an.

"Guo Yan, the general of the villain hall (rear) army, was ordered by Yang Junshi, the commander of the back road, to escort the old and weak people who broke through the siege of Jiangzhou and came to join him."

The thin eyes and thin face in the next life are quite refined, but they are quite low-profile and respectful.

"I also hope that your ministry will take in and settle one or two for the sake of the same rebels, and I will be very grateful."

"It's Yang Junshi,。。"

Zhou Huai'an was a little embarrassed, remembering a somewhat handsome figure with a goatee; Yang Shigu, the deputy military advisor of the Righteous Army and the secretary of the army, can be regarded as one of the few people in the military government who are more like-minded and have a good appetite, and have a good daily relationship. Then he said:

"How many people have you come, how many boats have brought how many things. What was the situation in Jiangzhou at that time, give me one by one. ”

"Back to the noble officer, there were tens of thousands of people when Xunyang broke through the siege and left, but after fleeing all the way, chasing and blocking by officers and soldiers, and robbing and killing of local regiments along the way, there are less than three or four out of ten left."

Speaking of these, Guo Yan couldn't help but say in a somewhat gloomy tone.

"Among them, there are 1,4670 guards and soldiers who are still in good condition, and more than 6,700 wounded and sick soldiers on the same ship; In addition, there are more than 18,000 old and weak women and children in the city, dependents in the army, and husbands who operate ships. ”

"In addition, there are more than 347 river boats and river boats of all kinds. Among them were one hundred and sixteen ships of military supplies and goods that were brought out of the city. I am willing to be the capital of everyone's life, and please don't hesitate to smile at it. ”

"In that case, let's settle down."

After a few flashes of thought, Zhou Huai'an smiled again, and looked at him with a little surprise and appreciation;

"Since they are all colleagues of the rebels, they should not be trapped in hunger and cold in my place. But.. ”

He said meaningfully.

"I have my own rules and regulations, as well as corresponding arrangements, and I hope you can know and follow them."

"I am already grateful for the help I received, and I should tell my brothers to be cautious."

Guo Yan said without hesitation.

Although this Yang Junshi accidentally gave himself a "problem" and "burden"; But after all the personnel and materials related to the old rebels were delivered to their own hands, do you want to be able to return them again in the future? At least for the time being, the Taiping Army is still quite short of people in the Tuntian and local reconstruction undertakings around Jingzhou.

And this rear chamber general Guo Yan, since he was able to break out of Xunyang City, Jiangzhou, with such a large number of exiles with old and weak women and children, and all the way to Jiangling after hundreds of miles to keep the team roughly unscattered; This kind of organizational efficiency and leadership should not be unknown in the history of the Eight Classics.

It is completely worth having an in-depth understanding in the next step of getting along to decide whether to tie and entrap. It is Zhou Huai'an's generous face to say:

"Now there happens to be an envoy from the military government in the city as a guest, and I have a banquet in the palace in the evening, just in time to talk to you at the same table."

"So good. Very good. ”

It's just that when a military envoy came, this Guo Yan couldn't help but show a certain embarrassed and complicated look on his face, and the expectation became a little dry and reluctant.

However, it is like the truth that the tree wants to be quiet and the wind does not stop. Before the reception banquet in the evening, another urgent secret letter from Canton was sent to Gangneung through the pigeon passing through the mountains and the clipper relay on the waterway.

"It's this kind of routine and trick again."

It's just that Zhou Huai'an couldn't help sneering when he saw it. However, another Chinese envoy from the sea arrived in Guangfu by boat, and almost fanfare sent the conditions of the imperial court to recruit peace again.

However, on the basis of the promise of the original secret envoy Li Hanping, he was promoted to the inspector of the imperial history, and added the titles of General Ning Yuan under the five grades of Xun Shouzheng, General Zhonglang of the Right Jinwu, Doctor Zhongsan, Quan Annan Economic Envoy, and Tongjiaozhou Assassin History; In addition, he was allowed to use the two military titles of the Qing Navy and the Zhenning Army.

It seems to be a bit of a timely trend to increase the stakes; However, compared to the current situation, it is obviously still a little late.

Moreover, the premise of all this conferring officials is to take the initiative to send troops to attack and expel other rebels entrenched in Jiangxi, Hunan and other places, thinking that it is a retributive measure to return to the imperial court anyway.