Receiving the words handed over by Zheng Guokui, Gao Yongkuan was moved.

Gao Yongkuan is Zheng Guokui's fellow countryman, and naturally he is also from Hubei. Most of his subordinates are soldiers from the Lianghu and Anhui regions, and they are not within the scope of the "old brothers" of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, so they will inevitably encounter some differential treatment in terms of supply and rewards. Now that Suzhou is being attacked by the two armies of Xuanhuai and the outer walls and forts, he has already felt that Suzhou will not be able to hold it, and the luck of the kingdom of heaven will not last long.

In this case, why not take advantage of the heavy army to bargain with the imperial court and ask for a future for yourself and your subordinates? After all, most of the defenders of Suzhou are their troops.

This idea was decided, so he sent someone to reply to his "fifth uncle" in private. Gao Yongkuan has such a meaning, it is a big thing, Zheng Guokui did not dare to specialize, and immediately went to Mudu to report to Guan Zhuofan, and then brought Guan Zhuofan's words to Gao Yongkuan. After two trips like this, Gao Yongkuan finally expressed his willingness to go to Mudu in person to meet Guan Dashuai to show his sincerity.

came with Gao Yongkuan, the third child in the "Nine Tai Sui", King Kang Wang Anjun. The two of them changed into an ordinary black cloth jacket, without an entourage, accompanied by Zheng Guokui, at a small ferry called Fengjing outside Suzhou, took the steamboat of the Xuanjun Navy Division, and came to Mudu at night.

The two of them dared to enter the camp alone, and Guan Zhuofan was quite impressed by such courage, and at the same time, it could be seen that they did have the sincerity to surrender.

Guan Zhuofan's Chinese army is located in an ancestral hall in the town. Túrin's pro-military camp began to be on guard ten feet outside the ancestral hall, and the fierce guards lined up like two ink lines, all the way to the second gate of the ancestral hall. The entrance to the lobby. It is four six-grade uniforms and color officers who are on duty. Gao Yongkuan and Wang Anjun arrived. Túrin unceremoniously searched the two princes of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom up and down again, and then personally brought them in to meet the marshal.

Guan Zhuofan was unexpectedly polite, standing in the door and waiting, when he saw the two of them coming in, he greeted him warmly, and even Gao Yongkuan wanted to greet him, but he was not allowed, and he held his hand. He personally sent it to the chair on one side and sat down, and then looked at the two people with a smile.

Gao Yongkuan is of medium stature, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, born very strong, and his shoulders are extremely broad. Wang Anjun is tall and thin, but the hands on his knees, the bone joints protrude, strong and powerful, obviously a person who is used to holding knives and guns. Between the eyebrows of the two, there was a fierce color. There is also a faint sense of vigilance, although it is tried to cover it up. But under the tension, it will still be unconsciously revealed.

Guan Zhuofan thought to himself, it seems that the murderous reputation of "Nine Tai Sui" is true, but his words are very gentle.

"General Gao, General Wang, I have admired your name for a long time, and I only had the opportunity to meet today, what a blessing!" Guan Zhuofan smiled and said, "The two of you dare to enter my camp alone, it can be seen that they do not lose their true colors, and I admire them very much." ”

Gao Yongkuan is the "King of Na" and Wang Anjun is the "King of Kang", but these titles are pseudo-seals, so on such occasions, calling them generals is a flexible title.

"Don't dare to be." Gao Yongkuan and Wang Anjun both owed a debt on the chair, and Gao Yongkuan replied, "The last time I was in Qingpu City, I didn't have the good fortune to meet the handsome man in person, and I didn't make up for it until today." ”

This is about the Second Battle of Shanghai, Gao Yongkuan was trapped in Qingpu by the Xuan army and had no choice but to surrender. He took the initiative to bring it up, which Guan Zhuofan didn't expect.

"I have always respected General Gao's prestige, and in that case, it is inconvenient to meet." Guan Zhuofan said with a smile, and held Gao Yongkuan again, which means that you were a captive at that time, and it would be embarrassing to meet.

"So I'm here today to thank the marshal for his grace of not killing," Guan Zhuofan's series of pretentiousness finally made Gao Yongkuan let go of the nervousness when he entered and exited the camp, "Yongkuan is determined to lead the 40,000 subordinates in Suzhou City, anyway, surrender!" ”

Finally cut to the chase. Guan Zhuofan bowed slightly, but he didn't answer immediately, and muttered for a long time before he spoke.

"General Gao, are you sincere?"

"I dare to come to see Dashuai, naturally sincerely. If the commander doesn't believe it, Yongkuan is willing to swear an oath! ”

"It doesn't have to be like this, I naturally trust General Gao's words." Guan Zhuofan nodded and said, "It's just that Li Futai's Huai army is in the north of the city, why don't you go to him and come to me?" ”

Gao Yong said with relief, obviously you sent Zheng Guokui to contact him, why did you ask me upside down? However, this sentence cannot be said directly, so I changed the word.

"I'm in Shanghai, and I've been defeated twice at the hands of Dashuai, so I'm convinced."

The implication is that he is quite dissatisfied with Huai Jun and Li Hongzhang, and he only talks about Shanghai, not Suzhou, which shows that Gao Yongkuan still thinks that Suzhou is just an undefeated game.

Guan Zhuofan didn't seem to hear it, and nodded again and again, his expression full of appreciation.

"Okay, good, General Gao is really a straightforward person who has nothing to hide. But I still have one more sentence, I want to ask General Gao-" Guan Zhuofan's eyes first glanced at Wang Anjun, and then moved back to Gao Yongkuan's body, "When I tried to fight in Gaoqiao, I killed more than 200 of the 4,000 people who surrendered. Aren't you afraid to come today? “

A trace of hesitation flashed across Gao Yongkuan's face, and then he said loudly: "If the handsome didn't kill me that day, he won't kill me today!" ”

"Not bad!" Guan Zhuofan slapped the table, "Gao Yongkuan, if you treat me with sincerity, I will naturally treat you with sincerity - Tulin, bring three glasses of wine!" ”

When Gao Yongkuan and Wang Anjun stood up respectfully, picked up the wine glass, Guan Zhuofan touched the two of them with the glass, said "each with sincerity", and drank it all.

Although they didn't kill a chicken to "make a blood alliance", as soon as they drank this glass of wine, everyone was satisfied with each other's attitude, so they wanted to talk about the next thing.

The conspirators agreed to prepare to surrender and sacrifice the city, and the eight below Gao Yongkuan in the "Nine Tai Sui", and the eldest brother Tan Shaoguang was not among them, that is to say, if you want to surrender successfully, you must pass the two levels of Li Xiucheng and Tan Shaoguang. Therefore, whether it is to completely dispel the misgivings of the officers and soldiers, or for the smooth progress of the operation, it is necessary to submit a "letter of surrender."

"Bring Li Xiucheng to me," Guan Zhuofan said with a smile, "I don't know if you dare?" ”

"This ...... It's not that I don't dare, it's just ......" Gao Yongkuan and Wang Anjun glanced at each other and hesitated.

The reason for the hesitation is that I can't make this move. Li Xiucheng has always been kind to his subordinates, not only prestige, but also popular with the people, Gao Yongkuan and several others have also been repeatedly promoted by Li Xiucheng. If you want to tie this "loyal king" to the camp of the official army, how can you bear it? And he was also afraid of offending the anger of the public, which would cause his army to deviate from morality, so he couldn't help but bite the bullet and honestly explain to Guan Zhuofan.

This is expected, and Guan Zhuofan does not take it as a pestle. Judging from historical records, Li Xiucheng was later captured by Zeng Guofan, and when he was interrogated by "Standing Cage", other Hongjun generals still knelt down to ask for peace when they saw him, which shows Li Xiucheng's status in the hearts of his subordinates, so it is not surprising that Gao Yongkuan now has such an expression.

"Li Xiucheng's matter, I don't make it difficult for you." Guan Zhuofan said, "Then kill Tan Shaoguang, is it okay?" ”

"Okay!" This time, Gao Yongkuan replied very simply.

"Oh?" Guan Zhuofan stared at Gao Yongkuan and asked, "Isn't he your sworn brother?" ”

"Don't hide it from Dashuai, he is from Guangxi, and we are from Hubei. Ever since he left us outside Qingpu City, the love of worship has been gone! ”

I see. On the same day, Tan Shaoguang was swept by the Xuan army in Qingshuikeng outside Qingpu City and collapsed towards Jiading, causing Gao Yongkuan to be trapped in a lonely city, unable to run, and finally became a prisoner of the Xuan army.

Since this is the case, then there is no longer any suspicion of the matter, and the matter of the name is finalized.

However, what is going to be said next is the key of the key - they want to surrender, they want to sacrifice the city, they want to kill people, and what they do is, of course, a future.

Gao Yongkuan's price was that the officers and soldiers were allowed to enter the city, but their own subordinates had to divide half of the city to defend it.

"Yes." Guan Zhuofan agreed very simply.

"Allow me to train the old department into twenty battalions and pay the military salary."

"Yes."

"The eight of us have been falsely sealed by Hong Xiuquan, but now that we have changed our minds, we want to ask the court for a name."

This is an important official. Gao Yongkuan means that he, "King Kang" Wang Anjun, "King Bi" Wu Guiwen, and "King Ning" Zhou Wenjia were originally kings, and now they want the titles of four general soldiers, while Wang Youwei, Fan Qifa, Zhang Dazhou, and Wang Huaiwu were originally "heavenly generals", and now they want the titles of four deputy generals.

"Yes."

Guan Zhuofan agreed so happily that Gao Yongkuan was overjoyed, so he put forward a request from Zuihou.

"Great marshal," Gao Yongkuan said with great difficulty, "the reward of these four general soldiers and four deputy generals, we dare to ask the imperial court to indicate what province and what is the responsibility." ”

As soon as he said this, even Tulin, who was standing on the side, couldn't help but gasp in his heart - they actually wanted eight second-grade real shortages!

*(To be continued......)