Yong'an City was broken, and Sai Shoufu, who had been hiding in Guilin to write good news, was dumbfounded. It is a fact that Ulantai won the victory in Xinwei Festival, and it is also a fact that Xiang Rong broke several natural dangers and went straight behind the Taiping army. But in a blink of an eye, the Taiping army went to Yong'an unscathed, and the team was stronger than when they were in Jintian. All this made the previous good news a joke, just like archery, how to boast about how good the archer was, how good the bow was, how good the arrow was, how accurate the test shot was, but when it came to the final game, an arrow was shot crookedly, and the target was not touched, which made people feel like they were being played.

Sure enough, Xianfeng's edict soon reached the hands of Sai Shoufu. The edict begins with the words: "Since Saishan'a arrived in Guangxi, he has rewarded all those who have won battles and made meritorious achievements. That is, Ulantai, Xiangrong, Ba Qingde, etc. also have grace. Now that the bandits are still rampant and break through the city, how should you feel ashamed and try to repay the service to atone for your previous sins? ”

Xianfeng is not a generous person, he feels that he has been deceived, and he feels sorry for himself to reward so much silver, and he has no last result, can he not be angry?

Therefore, the edict goes on to read: "At this time, the bandits are trapped in the lonely city, and they can attack and suppress them with all their might, gather and annihilate them." All its roads are strictly guarded against pain, and they are not allowed to escape. If the first rebel fails to be captured, only the remaining bandits will be killed to blame, and I will punish Saishan'a severely. ”

Sai Shoufu saw that he was drenched in cold sweat here, and from the edict, he knew that Xianfeng was angry with himself. Let him stop prevaricating with thieves, and he must catch the first rebellion, and if he can't do it, he will punish himself heavily. He has been an official for so many years, and it is the first time that Xianfeng has said such heavy things to himself, and Sai Shoufu feels a huge pressure on his body.

At the end of the edict, it was not surprising that the black cauldron of this failure was carried by Xiang Rong, and everyone else was fine, only Xiang Rong was dismissed by Xianfeng. The dismissal seems to be a good punishment, but in fact, it is also a helpless move by Xianfeng, he also knows that Xiang Rong cannot be blamed for this defeat, but someone must be responsible, Xiang Rong is the best persimmon, so he can only resist. If the dismissal is not investigated, it is equivalent to making meritorious contributions, and Xianfeng really can't send any capable ministers in his hands, and he can only scare and scare in the edict, hoping that they can do their best to do their best. Now Guangxi's military expenditure is 700,000 taels a month, don't waste my money.

Xiang Rong also had a message to him in the court, and he also learned that he had been dismissed by the emperor, so he took the initiative to come to Guilin to receive the punishment. Sure enough, today, the first assistant of the game passed himself to his house to discuss matters.

"Lord Shousuke, come to confess to so-and-so." Xiang Rong dressed up in cloth and walked in with both hands holding his official uniform.

"Old general, please sit down, come, serve tea!" Sai Shoufu beckoned his subordinates to serve tea, and he went on to say to Xiang Rong: "It seems that the old general has learned of the emperor's will, but in fact, His Majesty the Emperor just asked you to make meritorious contributions, and the old general does not need to be discouraged." Although Xiang Rong's official position was dismissed, Sai Shoufu was still very polite to him, he had been an official in the court for many years, and he had seen a lot of ups and downs, and from the punishment point of view, the emperor did not completely deny Xiang Rong.

"Xiang Mou is now a white ding, and I ask Lord Shoufu to let me go home to serve my mother, and do a little filial piety for the son of man." Xiang Rong hurriedly refused, he was determined to leave.

Sai Shoufu naturally refused, there were few who could lead the troops in his hands, and he still wanted to persuade him to stay and lead the troops to fight for himself. Therefore, Sai Shoufu still said with a pleasant face: "The old general doesn't have to be like this, I let Deputy General Tian lead an army alone, and tell him to listen to your command, you can still lead the troops to fight." ”

"Xiang is really difficult to obey, as long as there is Ulantai in the army for a day, Xiang will never work with him." Xiang Rong hated Ulantai very much, and his biggest defeat was largely due to Ulantai.

"Why should the old general be persistent, Ulantai leads the troops in the south, you can lead the troops in the north, and the two of you will not be able to meet." Sai Shousuke still wants to reconcile the relationship between the two.

"Lord Shoufu, that Ulantai regards me as a thief, Xiang really can't cooperate with him, this friendly army can intervene in my battle at any time, Xiang will not fight, and he will not dare to fight." Xiang Rong shook his head firmly, once he was bitten by a snake for ten years and was afraid of the well rope, if he did it again, his old life might be given away, and he really didn't know when he would be sold if he partnered with such a person.

Xiang Rong has such a firm attitude, Sai Shoufu can't say anything more, after all, the contradiction between the two also has a responsibility, and the more he coordinates in it, the bigger the contradiction becomes. Since he couldn't keep Xiang Rong anymore, he wanted to listen to Xiang Rong's tactical advice on attacking Yong'an, "Since the old general is so persistent, I can't force it." But Yong'an made the emperor feel like a fish in his throat, and we were under great pressure. Old General, what advice do you have on how to annihilate the bandits of Yong'an? ”

"Yongan has been broken for days. Shousuke-sama asked me at this moment, I guess someone else had already given advice, and Xiang wanted to listen to other people's advice first. Xiang Rong took a sip of tea and did not answer directly.

"This is Ulantai's excerpt, look at it." Sai Shoufu gave Xiang Rong the excerpt of Ulantai on the stage.

Xiang Rong opened the fold, and it was written: "The soldiers surrounded all sides, gathered and annihilated." If the thief is all involved, it is a great wonder. The profit of the thief is flowing, and there must be people on the left and right and near the ground to respond. Staying alone in a city, the land is narrow and the food is scarce, and there is no help, which is not the benefit of the thief. Now our soldiers are besieging on all sides, loam up, and even more heavy rewards will be broken. In addition, the people in the city know that the officers and soldiers will go to the city, and they will respond internally. Our soldiers strictly guard the four gates, and if they go out, they will be captured, and they can succeed in one drum. ”

After Xiang Rong looked at it, he smiled contemptuously, revealing a very disdainful expression: "This suggestion is naïve and naïve, Yong'an is surrounded by mountains, and the bandits will definitely set up an ambush in the mountains." Not to mention whether the city can be easily besieged, it is impossible to talk about the inner should alone, and in my experience, the bandits must have cleared out the available forces of our court in the city at this moment. This strategy is completely Ulantai's own wishful thinking, which is ridiculous and ridiculous. ”

"Oh? What is the old general's good plan? When Sai Shoufu heard Xiang Rong say this, he also felt that Ulantai had thought things too simply.

"Hide it." Xiang Rong spit out four words lightly.

"What's the explanation?" Sai Shoufu didn't understand, and hurriedly asked.

"Mobilize the generals, concentrate all the forces all the way, attack them, and chase them from the tail behind." Xiang Rong did not agree to the siege of the city, he meant to concentrate his forces on a fierce attack, forcing the Taiping army to abandon the city and flee, and annihilate the Taiping army in the movement. Instead of encircling and annihilating them, fighting a tough battle.

Xiang Rong's method can not be described as not poisonous, even if Sai Shoufu does not understand military affairs, he also thinks that the strategy he said is better, but the key is that if the bandits escape from Yong'an again, his head may not be guaranteed, and the emperor has issued a death order, let him eliminate the bandits in Yong'an in one fell swoop, he does not dare to disobey the emperor's will.

Sai Shoufu smiled bitterly and thought: "It seems that you can only use Ulantai, although Xiang Rong's plan is good, it is contrary to the emperor's order, and no matter how bold he is, he will not dare to let the bandits escape from Yong'an." ”