"How? What do you think? This king is not wrong, right? This king is not wrong, right? What siege is three, what crypt siege, it's all bullshit! It's useless! Okay now, the road is let out, is the long hair out of the city? The tunnels have been dug up, but what's the use? And more than a dozen good people died in vain! Empty consumption of military power, hard work in vain, this responsibility must be borne by someone! ”

When the long-suppressed anger can be vented, our monk and prince are of course as proud as they are, and they are so excited in the big tent of the Chinese army in Shengbao that it is as if they have just won a decisive victory. Many of the noble generals of the Qing army on both sides who were interested in the monk and prince also sneered in their hearts, gloating and constantly peeking at Shengbao who was sitting in the handsome position. But Shengbao had a gloomy face, didn't say a word, and let Monk Greenqin be presumptuous in front of him, and secretly hated it to the extreme, but he didn't dare to clean up the other generals, what about Monk Greenqin, who was the king of the county.

Shengbao forbeared, Monk Greenqin also knew how to converge, did not force Shengbao to a desperate situation, after shouting at Shengbao proudly, Monk Greenqin suddenly turned to Wu Chaoyue, and asked: "Lord Wu, I heard that the idea of attacking the city in the tunnel was given to Shengshuai, when this king opposed Shengshuai's adoption, it was also your most firm support, and now your tricks have come out, not only is it a waste of time, but also more than a dozen good people died in vain, what else do you have to say?" ”

Of course, Monk Greenqin said this unreasonably and difficult, and most of the Qing army generals did not echo it, but Tong Jian and Ruichang, the sworn friends of several monks and princes, still opened their mouths to help, asking Wu Chaoyue to explain the reason for the failure of the underground siege. cut down Wu Chaoyue, who dared to get along with the monk and the prince. Wu Chaoyue didn't bother to pay attention to them and continued to remain silent. But Ruichang and the others still refused to give up, and asked Wu Chaoyue again: "Lord Wu." Why don't you speak? Why did your tunnel siege tactics turn out like this? Why? ”

Unable to bear it anymore, Wu Chaoyue finally launched a counterattack, still extremely strong counterattack, and asked rhetorically: "Generals, why did you ask me why the tunnel siege failed?" I also want to ask you, why was the tunnel secretly dug inside the city discovered by Longhair? Changmao has basically never been out of the city these days, how did they know that our army was secretly digging tunnels? And how do you know the exact location of our army's tunnels? It's all there. Is it related to the fact that someone snitched at Longhair last time?! ”

"That's right!" Sheng Bao also took advantage of the situation to fight back and said loudly: "Weiting is right, how did Long Hair know that we were digging tunnels? And how do you know the exact location of our tunnels? Is this the same as last time, someone secretly told Longhair a secret? ”

Tong Jian, Ruichang and other monks were speechless, but Monk Greenqin blew his beard and glared at him, and said angrily: "Long hair is good at attacking acupoints, and you still need someone to tell you?" As long as you find something wrong, it's easy to set up a few listeners to find the location of our tunnel! ”

"Lord Wang, then why didn't you say that last time?" Wu Chaoyue sneered and asked, "Since you have long known that it is possible for Long Hair to use the technique of listening to break our army's tunnels. Then why didn't you remind Sheng Dashuai last time? ”

I wanted to force Shengbao to tear and kill Ma Yan, but Wu Chaoyue accused him of deliberately wanting to see Shengbao's jokes and deliberately let the Sui army lose the battle. shouted loudly and stopped Seng Greenqin, and Shengbao also asked Monk Greenqin in person what he wanted to do in the big tent of the Chinese army? This forced Monk Greenqin to take the knife back, but Monk Greenqin strode away angrily. Sheng Bao still asked Wu Chaoyue: "Comfort Pavilion, there is no hope for the tunnel siege." How to fight next, and what else do you do? ”

"Not yet." Wu Chaoyue replied: "But I want to go to the tunnel site to find out the specific situation. And then decide how to be good. Now that he is out of the city, he is controlled by the army of the monk and the prince, so please give the commander an official document. ”

Shengbao agreed, and was about to write a pen, but Zaiyuan was worried that Wu Chaoyue and Seng Greenqin would have a conflict, which would affect the major events of his military aircraft, so he took the initiative to accompany Wu Chaoyue to Wu Chaoyue as a protective umbrella, Wu Chaoyue couldn't ask for it, and at that moment Wu Chaoyue and Zaiyuan each led a few horses out of the camp, all the way out of the city to understand the situation.

Wu Chaoyue's luck is not bad, Monk Greenqin has gone directly back to his county king's camp, although the city is controlled by his subordinates, but the monk Greenqin who guarded the city Qingqi and others owed Wu Chaoyue a favor a few days ago because of the sniper, so Wu Chaoyue did not suffer any trouble, and was directly led by Qingqi to the entrance of the tunnel located inside the city.

The water potential of the tunnel is quite a bit surprising to Wu Chaoyue, not to mention that the entrance to the tunnel has been flooded, and the water in the tunnel has also spread out of the tunnel entrance a lot, forcing the Qing soldiers to be forced to use soil bags to block, which did not let the water continue to spread. Seeing this scene, Wu Chaoyue was inevitably a little puzzled, and asked Qingqi and the others: "General Qing, how can there be so much water in the tunnel?" Is the long hair the tunnel that leads the living water to irrigate? Could it be the water of the moat? Didn't you see the water level drop in the moat? ”

Qingqi, who is not a native of Tianjin, spread his hands and said that he didn't know, but this was not difficult for Wu Chaoyue, some of the Xiangyong who helped to guard the city were Tianjin locals, and after calling a few local Xiangyong to ask, a Xiangyong who had lived in the city for a long time immediately said: "My lord, it should be the water in the big puddle, there is a lot of water there, and it is living water, so the water in the tunnel is so big." ”

"Big puddle? Running water? Wu Chaoyue's heart moved, and he hurriedly asked: "There is a big puddle in Tianjin City?" Over there? ”

"Back to my lord, there is not only one big puddle in Tianjin City, there are three, and the two largest puddles are on the south gate." Na Xiangyong replied truthfully: "The three puddles are all living water, and the water brought in from the four water gates, the three puddles are connected to the moat, and the moat is connected to the Hai River, so the water is very large. ”

"Tianjin's moat is connected to the Haihe River? And a puddle in the city? Wu Chaoyue's joy was not trivial, and he hurriedly asked: "Then what if the Haihe River is flooded?" Also, where does all this water come from? ”

"In the southeast corner of Tianjin's ......, there is a gate that can control the direction of water intake." Na Xiang Yong recalled and replied: "The water outlet is also at the south gate, and the river to the left of the south gate. It's the water outlet. ”

After listening to Xiang Yong's introduction, Wu Chaoyue did not hesitate. He immediately instructed Naxiang Yong to lead the way and take himself to check the specific situation of Tianjin's water conservancy facilities. As a result, the site was explored down. Wu Chaoyue found that the situation is exactly as introduced by that Xiangyong, in the southeast corner of Tianjin City, there is indeed a river connecting the Haihe River and the Tianjin moat, and there is a sluice at the mouth of the river to control the amount of water entering the city, and the water is forced to the north to maintain the moat water supply to the whole city, and the river water is discharged directly to the flood discharge river west of the south gate in the wet season, and the moat has four water gates to connect the city, and the flood discharge river that discharges the remaining water is artificially excavated, and the water flows through the Chenjiagou area to the south into the canal. (Real Terrain)

See this. Even if he was not very proficient in water conservancy, Wu Chaoyue immediately knew that if he wanted to trap the Taiping army in the city of Tianjin, it would be easy - as long as he destroyed the sluice gate, made it lose its role in regulating the flow of water, and at the same time blocked the flood river, even if the Taiping army could block the water gate and not flood the city with floods, it could also turn the surrounding area of Tianjin into a Ze country, making it difficult for the Taiping army to fly!

A way to block the escape route of the Taiping army was found, but there was never any joy on Wu Chaoyue's thin face - Wu Chaoyue didn't want to trap Li Kaifang and Ji Wenyuan and other national heroes in the city of Tianjin, and tried every means to help them escape for their lives. It is Wu Chaoyue's real purpose and greatest wish! So Wu Chaoyue not only couldn't wait to go to Shengbao to ask for credit, but on the contrary, he fell into extreme hesitation, "Is it important to save Li Kaifang and Ji Wenyuan?" Or is it important to contribute to the wild boar skin family? ”

At this time, Zaeyuan, who had been following him, couldn't help but be curious. began to ask Wu Chaoyue about the reason for personally exploring Tianjin's water conservancy facilities, but after Wu Chaoyue hesitated again and again, he finally told Zaiyuan the method of diverting water to besiege the city. Jaegaki was overjoyed when he heard it. Clapped his leg and said, "What a way!" Without spending a single soldier, the water of the sea and river will trap the long hair. Such a good method, we should implement it immediately! ”

"But the prince. It's too time-consuming. Wu Chaoyue warned: "Changmao is not a fool, if he finds that the situation is not right, he will definitely immediately block the four water gates to prevent the flood from entering the city, when the flood will block the escape road of Changmao, but it will also block our siege road, and there is quite a lot of food in Tianjin City, we want to wait until the Changmao grain is exhausted, I don't know how much time and military pay and money will be spent!" ”

Zaiyuan was stunned for a while, and he was a little hesitant for a while, but how much military salary, money and food is a headache for the military aircraft department, and our Zai Wang Ye is neither the minister of military aircraft nor the head of the household department now, and he can't worry about them. So Zaiyuan only hesitated for a moment, and immediately said: "This is a matter for the future, we will tell Sheng Dashuai about this matter now, and discuss with him whether we should do this." ”

After that, Zaiyuan hurriedly urged Wu Chaoyue to go to see Shengbao with him immediately, Wu Chaoyue had no choice but to reward the Xiangyong who provided important information with five taels of silver, and then returned to the Beicang camp with Zaiyuan. And after seeing Shengbao, Zaiyuan had just finished talking about Wu Chaoyue's plan to besiege the city by flooding, and Shengbao immediately took the case and shouted: "Clever plan! It's still smart to go to the scene and come up with such a good plan! Let's start implementing it right away, and let's get rid of the long hair completely! ”

After the cheers were over, Shengbao also immediately raised the tent to count the troops and arrange for people to carry out the matter. Wu Chaoyue hurriedly stopped and said: "Handsome and slow, please listen to what the next official said, although the siege of the city with water can make it difficult for the long hair to fly, but after that, if our army wants to fight quickly, it will inevitably come to naught." Now the long hair is rampant, the south is full of wars, the military salary and food expenditure is huge, the Qing treasury is stretched, and has to mint fifty big money for the country, the emperor and the court are worried about money and food all the time, if we have a stalemate with the long hair here, the war will continue to consume for a long time, which will inevitably make the money and food situation of the court more embarrassing, so as a minister, we must consider the situation of the emperor and the court more. ”

Although it was to facilitate the Taiping Army to break through and flee for their lives, Wu Chaoyue's words were really beautiful, at least everything was for the sake of Emperor Xianfeng, so no matter how Shengbao and Zaiyuan wanted to make meritorious contributions and ask for rewards in their hearts, they didn't dare to accuse Wu Chaoyue at all, but they had to nod again and again, appreciating Wu Chaoyue's loyalty to the wild boar skin family.

Not daring to refute Wu Chaoyue's point of view, Sheng Bao could only ask Wu Chaoyue: "Weiting, since this is the case, what can you do to solve it quickly?" Take Tianjin as soon as possible and destroy Changmao? ”

Wu Chaoyue was speechless, if the Taiping army went out of the city to fight, then Wu Chaoyue was sure to defeat the main force of the Taiping army. Forcing them to retreat south, ending the already hopeless Northern Expedition. However, the Taiping army just hid in Tianjin and couldn't get out. Waiting for the reinforcements promised by Yang Xiuqing, Wu Chaoyue really had no choice - the friendly troops were all pig teammates. Wu Chaoyue can't take Wu Junlianyong, who only has five battalions of troops, to attack Tianjin City, which is guarded by 50,000 Taiping troops, right?

Seeing that Wu Chaoyue was silent, Sheng Bao and Zaiyuan also knew that he couldn't do anything, and when he rolled his eyes, he said: "Sheng Dashuai, otherwise, you and I will jointly fold the name and report to the emperor the plan and pros and cons of our diversion of water to besiege the city, and ask the emperor to decide whether to let us spend a long time to annihilate the long hair, or find another way to break the thief." ”

Of course, Jaeyuan did this to shirk responsibility. Kick the ball to Emperor Xianfeng first, and let Emperor Xianfeng choose whether to use a steady slow medicine to completely cure the root of the disease, or choose to use fast medicine to cure the root first, no matter how Emperor Xianfeng chooses, Shengbao and Zaiyuan do not have to bear the responsibility for the slightest decision-making error. When Shengbao heard the great joy, he immediately nodded and agreed to adopt, and Wu Chaoyue had no choice but to sullenly agree to let Emperor Xianfeng choose what tactics to adopt.

Wu Chaoyue still underestimated Monk Greenqin a little, and the recital jointly written by Shengbao and Zaiyuan had just been sent out by Kuaima not long ago. The banquet that Shengbao used to reward Wu Chaoyue had just been arranged, and our monk and prince ran into the Chinese army's tent in a hurry, and as soon as they met, they couldn't wait to say to Zaiyuan: "Prince, prince." Good thing, the minions have figured out a way to trap Longhair! As long as you use the method of a minion, you can't run away from any of the long hairs in Tianjin City! ”

Jae-won was surprised and asked what kind of clever timing the monk Grinqin had come up with. However, Monk Greenqin came up with a method that was exactly the same as Wu Chaoyue's idea - to destroy the sluice gate in the southeast corner of Tianjin and block the drainage river to the west of the south gate of Tianjin. At the same time, the inlet of the Haihe River, which connects the moat of Tianjin, was expanded, and the water of the Haihe River was diverted to surround the city of Tianjin. Completely block the Taiping Army's road out of the city!

After listening to Monk Greenqin's clever plan, Zaiyuan inevitably opened his mouth a little, and said after a while: "Lord, how did you come up with this method?" ”

"Of course, it is the result of the king's tireless work and personal exploration of the topography of the Tianjin River." Monk Lingqin replied without blushing, and asked with a smile: "Lord Wang, how about Shengdashuai, how about it, my method is good, right?" ”

Shengbao and Zaiyuan looked at each other, both a little strange, why did the military IQ of the monk suddenly skyrocket? Wu Chaoyue suddenly asked: "Monk Wangye, have you seen that Xiangyong who was rewarded with silver by the lower officials?" ”

"See ......." Our monk almost showed his flaws, but fortunately he closed his mouth in time, and then our monk immediately turned his face over and shouted: "Bold, what are you?" Dare to ask this king so directly? ”

Wu Chaoyue sneered, Zaiyuan and Shengbao also suddenly realized, and then Shengbao smiled and said: "Lord Wang, this trick is indeed very good, but I'm sorry, Weiting has already told Ben Shuai about this trick before you, and you are a step late." ”

Pretending to glance at Wu Chaoyue, Monk Greenqin snorted heavily, and said: "I didn't expect that Lord Wu still has a bit of brains, and he can still think of a place with this king, but there is no way, this king has already directly appeared to the court, please let this king start to implement this plan." ”

"This bastard is really unscrupulous in order to steal credit." Shengbao and Zaiyuan despised our monk and prince together in their hearts, and then Shengbao smiled and said: "Prince, I'm really sorry, this commander has also been on the court, please allow our army to implement this plan, so ......." ”

"Victory Dashuai, Tianjin South Gate Battlefield, you are in charge of this king!" Monk Greenqin interrupted Shengbao's words and said with a sneer: "The sluice gate of the Haihe River and the drainage river in Tianjin are all within the defense area of this king, so the matter of diverting water to besiege the city can only be carried out by the king's soldiers and horses!" ”

"Lord Wang, it was the lower officials who first proposed this strategy." Wu Chaoyue feigned anxious objections.

"Shut up!" Monk Lingqin scolded loudly again, and said brutally: "You just came up with this plan at the same time as this king, and this king is just a little farther away, a little slower!" The South Gate battlefield is in charge of this king, and no one can take it away! ”

After that, Monk Greenqin flicked his sleeves and strode directly out of the Chinese army's big tent. However, what our monk and the prince probably never dreamed of was that as soon as he walked on the front foot, Shengbao and Zaiyuan immediately pointed at his back and laughed, Zaiyuan laughed, and also pointed at Shengbao and Wu Chaoyue and scolded with a smile: "Kezhai, Weiting, you two bad species, you don't blink!" Ke Zhai, you pointed out to the emperor the pros and cons of diverting water to besiege the city, everything is considered by the emperor and the court, the monk and the prince only care about his own meritorious service, and the emperor immediately agrees with him to do so, the emperor sees you and him folding, and his heart will definitely spoil the monk and the prince to death! ”

"He deserves it!"

Sheng Bao laughed wildly, but Wu Chaoyue just smiled lightly, and said in his heart: "Will the Wild Boar Skin IX agree to do this?" If Wild Boar Skin IX really intends to annihilate the Northern Expeditionary Army of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom at any cost, how can I find a way to help Li Kaifang and Ji Wenyuan escape for their lives? ”

Shengbao, Zaiyuan and Wu Chaoyue still underestimated the heart of our monk and prince to serve the country, and at the same time when Shengbao set up a banquet to reward Wu Chaoyue's contributions, in order to snatch the first merit of diverting water to besiege the city and annihilate the Taiping army, we couldn't wait to start arranging the steps of the water diversion siege plan, and decided to send elite infantry to destroy the Haihe sluice gate that night, and at the same time organize a large number of migrant workers to prepare to fill the drainage river of the Tianjin moat, and at the same time expand the mouth of the Haihe River.

There is only one small problem with the monk's plan, that is, the cold and frozen ground are hard, the civil engineering work is a bit large, and the people digging the earth and carrying the stones are not enough. But it doesn't matter, this problem can be solved with just one sentence for the monk and the prince, "Immediately go and recruit people, regardless of men, women and children, you can only carry the soil and pick stones and hoes to dig the soil, and give one liter of rice and fifty copper coins a day, which is enough for those Diao people to be willing to work hard for the court!" ”

It was because of this sentence that a father and daughter and some of their companions who were already on their way back to Beijing were stopped by the monks and princes who recruited people on the way, and after a little discussion, the father and daughter and their companions quickly made up their minds, "Go back to Tianjin, it doesn't matter how much money you make, as long as you have the opportunity to see Lord Wu and make amends to him in person!" ”

At the same time, after Wu Chaoyue, who had finally escaped from Shengbao, returned to the camp of the army, he finally received a report, "My lord, this morning a man from the capital wanted to see you, but you were passed by Marshal Sheng, and it happened that he was not there, and the man waited outside the camp gate for almost two hours without waiting for you, so he left by himself." ”

"What people want to see me?" Wu Chaoyue was a little confused for a while, but the matter was not big, and the person left again, so Wu Chaoyue didn't pay attention to it anymore. (To be continued.) )