Although the county seat of Wuchang is small, most of the streets and houses in the city have been turned into ruins in the war, but after the Hubei New Army successfully recovered the county, the situation of the Wuhuang battlefield was once deadlocked or completely broken, the Qing army gained the absolute upper hand, the Taiping army suffered a great defeat, the water division was forced to retreat to Lanxi, and the Taiping army in the city of Huangzhou was almost a lone army. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

After recapturing Wuchang County, Wu Chaoyue did not rush to lead the army across the river to the north to help the Hunan army besiege Huangzhou Fucheng, but immediately divided his troops and sent Liu Kunyi to lead the Zhuangzi battalion south to Daye, and cooperated with Daye County to order Li Chengzhan to organize regimental training to recover Daye County. At the same time, considering that the largest iron and coal mines in Hubei are all in Daye County, even if it has already been proved that there are only a few hundred Taiping soldiers in the city, Wu Chaoyue still took the initiative to send some artillery battalion soldiers to the south with five breech guns and some grenadiers to help Liu Kunyi, explaining that Liu Kunyi must take Daye back, and must not let the Taiping army entrench in the vital territory of Daye County.

Why does Wu Chaoyue attach so much importance to Daye County, of course Zeng Guofan doesn't know the reason, Zeng Guofan doesn't have the time and interest to care about this issue anymore, the situation on the south bank battlefield has just stabilized, Zeng Guofan immediately sent someone to urge Wu Chaoyue to quickly lead the army across the river, saying that he wants to join forces with Wu Chaoyue to recapture the Huangzhou capital as soon as possible, but what the real reason is, Wu Chaoyue can guess it with his toes. In order to appease the barber teacher's appetite, and also to consolidate the control of the battlefield on the south bank and not give the Taiping army a chance to make a comeback, Wu Chaoyue deliberately found various excuses to repeatedly prevaricate, and did not lead the army to cross the river for a long time.

In the end, after receiving the news that Liu Kun's army easily recovered Daye County, Wu Chaoyue left the green battalion soldiers to guard Wuchang County, slowly led the army across the river, and took the Hubei New Army to Xinshengzhou to join the Hunan army. Zeng Guofan heard the great joy, personally led the Hunan army generals out of the camp to welcome Wu Chaoyue, politely invited the disobedient disciples into the camp for a banquet, and took the initiative to send the Hunan army and civilian husbands to help Wu Jun set up camp, and his love for Wu Chaoyue also seemed to return to the moment when he was thinking about his disciples in the capital.

As Wu Chaoyue expected, after a false polite exchange at the banquet, Zeng Guofan quickly asked Wu Chaoyue: "Weiting, I heard Mr. Meng Rong say that the foreigner weapons you used on the battlefield the day before yesterday, and the new gunpowder contained in the flowering shells, were all produced by your weapons workshop?" ”

"Teacher Hui, it's true." Wu Chaoyue nodded and replied: "The students are not good at poetry and words, but they have a little research on the chemistry of foreigners, and when they were in Shanghai, they received the guidance of foreigners' chemical talents, so they created this new type of gunpowder that even foreigners don't have." ”

After that, Wu Chaoyue, who had been prepared for a long time, also asked his soldiers to take out a picric acid sample for Zeng Guofan to see, and explained in detail to Zeng Guofan how to use picric acid explosives, and finally lit picric acid in public, so that Zeng Guofan and the generals of the Hunan army could witness the good burning effect of picric acid. Zeng Guofan and the generals of the Hunan army were both excited and hot-eyed, and then Zeng Guohuang, who had only returned from the capital some time ago, couldn't wait to ask Wu Chaoyue: "Comfort Pavilion, how much does this gunpowder cost?" ”

"Much higher than the original black powder, of course." Wu Chaoyue replied truthfully: "And the **** and time-delay fuse that detonate this gunpowder cannot be produced in the Qing Dynasty at present, so it can only be purchased from foreigners, and the price is even more expensive, so there are not many new gunpowder weapons in my hand, and they are far from enough for personal use." ”

Wu Chaoyue's words were useless no matter how direct he was, Zeng Guohuang's face was very thick-skinned, and he immediately said: "Weiting, it doesn't matter if you don't have enough new weapons in your hand, anyway, you can produce them yourself, and Hankou is already a port for trade with foreigners, so you can buy the **** and fuse directly from foreigners." Now that we're at war with Longhair, how about you score some points for us with such a good weapon? ”

"Well said, well said." Wu Chaoyue said with a smile: "Is there more, three hundred grenade shells, five grenadiers and fifty matching artillery shells, I will ask someone to send them tomorrow." ”

"That's it? And not even a shell? Zeng Guohuang's face changed slightly.

"Second uncle, there are really not many new weapons in the hands of the little nephew, and he has done his best." Wu Chaoyue said with a sad face: "Also, it's not that I don't give you shells, it's that my shells are different from your shells, and I can't use them if I give them to you." I only have more than 20 artillery pieces in my hands, and even the artillery has been given to you, and I will not be able to fight in the future. ”

Zeng Guohuang still didn't give up, and when he was about to open his mouth to continue begging, Zeng Guofan waved his hand to stop Zeng Guohuang's brazenness, and complained to Zeng Guohuang: "Second brother, Weiting has helped us a lot over the years, why do you just think about reaching out to him again and again, and you have completely thought about buying it with silver?" The cost of new gunpowder is so high, we ...... how much the comfort pavilion can give us. ”

"Teacher, please allow the student to say more."

Wu Chaoyue can't be a barber's evil - buying it with silver is a nice saying, talking about Zeng Guofan's ironclad will definitely use Wu Chaoyue's money and grain owed to him as payment. So Wu Chaoyue hurriedly interrupted Zeng Guofan and said, "The teacher forgives the sins, even if you can get the money now, the student has no weapons to sell you." ”

"What do you mean?" Zeng Guofan asked suspiciously.

"The workshop for the production of new gunpowder has not yet been built, and there is not enough raw material for the students to build." Wu Chaoyue said helplessly: "And the students are still busy recovering the cities in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and they don't have time to go back to Hankou to build factories and supervise the manufacture of weapons, so in a short period of time, even if you give out money, the students can't help them." ”

After that, Wu Chaoyue hurriedly added: "But please rest assured, as long as the teacher takes back several Hubei cities in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and expells Changmao from Hubei, the students will immediately be able to free up their hands to vigorously rectify the armament, produce a large number of new weapons for the teacher, and help the teacher to smash the Yellow Dragon, break through Jiangning, capture the two thieves of Hong and Yang, and help the teacher establish a great feat that is not easy for all generations!" ”

Of course, Zeng Guofan immediately heard that the disobedient students were playing a trick on themselves - if they wanted new weapons, they would first take the Hunan army to expel the Taiping Army from Hubei on behalf of the disobedient students! After his face changed slightly, Zeng Guofan didn't rush out of the trap, but said with a smile: "I see, okay, let's talk about this later, let's drink first, drink." ”

Wu Chaoyue thanked with a smile, and then he toasted with the generals of the Hunan army to celebrate the victory on the south bank, during which he also tried to maintain friendly relations with the generals of the Hunan army, and talked very happily with the people of the Hunan army, and constantly made all kinds of empty promises, saying that as long as the Taiping army was driven out of Hubei and let himself be freed, he would definitely sell and aid all kinds of new weapons to the Hunan army at the lowest cost price, which successfully aroused the appetite of many Hunan army generals and dispersed happily with the people of the Hunan army.

After the dismissal, it was naturally the time for intrigue, first to see Zeng Guofan's side, just returned to the back tent to meet with a few of his henchmen, Zeng Guofan immediately spat heavily and scolded: "Phew! Xiao Slippery Head, really cunning, obviously wanted Ben Shuai to send troops to drive Changmao out of Hubei, let him sit firmly in the position of governor of Hubei, and said it so high-soundingly, as if he was helping Ben Shuai. ”

"I'm afraid his purpose is more than that." Liu Rong smiled and said: "Drove Changmao out of Hubei, sat firmly in the position of the governor of Hubei, and we were in front to resist Changmao, so he could reorganize the army in Hubei with peace of mind, and manipulate us with new weapons to charge for him, and when we and Changmao were both defeated, he would go down the river again, and go straight to Huanglong and break through Jiangning's miraculous feats, but it would have to belong to him." ”

Zeng Guofan nodded with a sneer, and was extremely suspicious that this was the true intention of the disobedient protégé, and then Zeng Guofan asked, "How to deal with it?" ”

"We must not rush to drive Changmao out of Hubei!" Liu Rong replied in a deep voice: "The greater the threat of Changmao to Hubei, the more your protégé depends on us, only by letting Changmao continue to control a part of Hubei City, and may make a comeback at any time, we can get more new weapons from your protégé, Dashuai, and even the formula of new gunpowder!" ”

Zeng Guofan was silent and didn't speak, and only after a long time did he ask: "Then Huangzhou Mansion City, are you still fighting?" ”

"Of course you have to fight! But you can't really fight! Liu Rong replied: "Wuchang County has been lost, the long-haired sailor has retreated to Lanxi, the long-haired water division in Huangzhou City has become a lonely army, it is very likely that he will take the initiative to abandon the city and leave, we can't explain to the court if we don't fight, so we must launch some attacks appropriately, give the court an explanation, and also sell a favor to your proud protégé." ”

"Then, it is certainly beneficial for us to not be able to defeat the long hair in Huangzhou City, we can force your protégé to bow his head to us for help, or we can force him to work hard to attack the city, and take the opportunity to find out if he still has a back hand. If the long-haired shrinkage front takes the initiative to abandon the city and leave, then we must not intercept it with all our might, we must let the long-haired have the strength to calculate the Hubei city in the lower reaches of Huangzhou, continue to pose a threat to your protégé, and make him continue to rely on us. ”

Zeng Guofan smiled, patted Liu Rong's shoulder and said with a smile: "Meng Rong, my son's room." ”

…………

At this time, Wu Chaoyue, who had returned to the camp, naturally had a secret conversation with the only staff officer, Zhao Liewen, and as a result, Wu Chaoyue was also more personable, Zhao Liewen smiled at Wu Chaoyue without spitting out thick phlegm: "Weiting, your trap is down, but your teacher refuses to do it, so what can I do?" ”

"Normal, if my teacher had been so easy to get into the trap, he wouldn't have been promoted seven times in ten years."

Wu Chaoyue smiled, and indeed had already expected that the barber teacher would not be so easy to be a coolie blue-collar worker, and then asked Zhao Liewen: "Huifu, then in your opinion, what will my teacher do next?" ”

"Then you need to ask? Of course, it was a deliberate grinding foreign worker who was not in a hurry to drive the long hair out of Hubei. ”

Zhao Liewen replied without thinking about it: "The Hubei New Army has just been formed, and its strength is still very weak, and it may be certain to win one or two battles, but it is difficult to completely expel Changmao from Hubei." As long as the long hair does not leave in Hubei for a day, it may make a comeback at any time, and you have to ask for your squire teacher one day, as long as you have a request for him, money, food, military salaries and new weapons, he will not have the opportunity to reach out to you and take it for nothing? ”

"So how do we crack it?" Wu Chaoyue asked again.

The resourceful dog-headed military advisor Zhao Liewen rarely looked embarrassed, and replied thoughtfully: "Weiting, what you said can be regarded as stopping me, it stands to reason that the best way to crack your teacher's trick is to lure him to his advantage, but I thought about it and found that this is unlikely, with your teacher's cleverness, no matter what kind of temptation you come up with, he will definitely be able to see through it at a glance." Only real money can impress him, but your teacher's appetite ...... probably a bottomless pit that can never be filled. ”

Wu Chaoyue frowned and was silent, and knew that no matter how much real money he spent to please the barber teacher, he would never be able to satisfy his bottomless appetite, and at the same time, Wu Chaoyue also knew very well that even if he could ask Su Shun to promise the barber teacher the real shortage of the governor of Anhui and Jiangxi, and even the official position of the governor of Liangjiang, with the treachery of his barber teacher, he would definitely see through it at a glance, and he would never be deceived!

At this time, Zhao Liewen's expression suddenly moved, as if he wanted to open his mouth to speak, but he forcibly held back and closed his mouth. Wu Chaoyue and Zhao Liewen have been partners for a long time, so they naturally knew what he meant, so they asked, "Huifu, what good idea did you think of?" Why not? ”

"It's an idea that comes up with something that should work." Zhao Liewen replied: "But this is a dangerous move, or a dangerous trick that can't be more dangerous, so I didn't say it." ”

"It's okay, let's hear about it." Wu Chaoyue encouraged: "One person counts the short, two counts the long, the two of us carefully calculate, maybe we can take advantage of the fire and make up for the danger." ”

"Can't make up for it." Zhao Liewen shook his head and said: "Actually, my method is very simple, that is, to lure your teacher to use a more poisonous trick to force you to comply, honestly bow your head to him and beg for mercy, offer money, food and weapons with both hands, take you away, and scold you." But if your teacher wants to use this poisonous trick, he must first clean up the long hair in Hubei for us, and then he can achieve his goal. ”

"Tell me about it."

Wu Chaoyue was successfully whetted by Zhao Liewen, and Zhao Liewen sighed and said: "This trick is actually what I was most worried about before, for fear that someone would know and stab your teacher, and then you would be in danger, so I didn't say it to anyone." ”

After sighing, Zhao Liewen said in a low voice: "I've been worried, if your teacher takes the opportunity to drive Changmao out of Hubei at this time, and then uses the excuse of rescuing Jiangxi, bringing the main force into the Poyang Lake battlefield, deliberately exposing the empty hinterland of Hubei, and luring Changmao to attack Hubei, then you can only cry and shout to beg your teacher for mercy, begging him to come back with troops to save you." ”

Wu Chaoyue gasped, and only then did he realize that his barber teacher still had this trick to fix himself to cry without tears, and life was better than death. But when he subconsciously wanted to give up this dangerous trick, Wu Chaoyue was a little hesitant, and after thinking about it carefully for a long time, Wu Chaoyue still couldn't help but ask Zhao Liewen: "Huifu, in your opinion, if my teacher knows about this plan, is it possible to follow the plan?" ”

"Nine out of nine will do what they do!" Zhao Liewen replied categorically, and then explained: "Now the main force of the Changmao army has gone to Nanchang, and our army has just joined forces with your teacher to win a battle on the south bank, the morale of the Hunan army is flourishing, the morale of the long hair is exhausted, the army is depressed, and can not expect to get reinforcements immediately, it is a great opportunity to drive Changmao out of Hubei in one fell swoop. ”

"And then, driving Changmao out of Hubei is naturally a great achievement, the emperor and the court are happy, and your teacher is naturally happy. During this period, your teacher can naturally use the excuse of replenishing weapons to force you to hand over more new weapons and money, which is another joy. In the end, your teacher brought the main force into Jiangxi again, deliberately made the rear of Hubei empty, and lured Changmao to take the opportunity to attack Hubei again. Kill three birds with one stone, kill three birds with one stone, can your teacher not be tempted? ”

Wu Chaoyue was silent, but found that if he changed positions with the barber teacher, he would definitely choose this poisonous trick that killed three birds with one stone. And after thinking about it for a long time, Wu Chaoyue asked again: "Huifu, in your opinion, is it better for me to keep the teacher in Hubei, or is it more advantageous to lure him out of Hubei with this trick?" ”

"If you are sure that you can rely on Hubei's troops alone to stop Changmao's counterattack, then of course it is more advantageous to lure your teacher out of Hubei." Zhao Liewen replied: "But I must remind you that the Hubei New Army in your hands is still too weak, and the green battalion in Hubei is unreliable. ”

"Especially your sailor." Zhao Liewen added: "Although the foreigners half sold and half gave you two good boats, if the sailor wants to be proficient, it is by no means an overnight achievement. At that time, even if you can barely support on land, the long-haired sailor can also take the waterway to directly kill the hinterland of Hubei and turn your hinterland upside down. ”

Wu Chaoyue sat down, put his hands in front of his eyes and rubbed them together, and after a long time, Wu Chaoyue suddenly said: "Bet!" This one is a bet with my teacher! ”

"Weiting, have you thought it through?" Zhao Liewen asked, and reminded: "Don't blame me for not warning you, if you lose the bet, you won't be able to keep the crown of the governor of Hubei." ”

"I know, I don't regret losing the bet!" Wu Chaoyue replied categorically: "If I don't expel Changmao from Hubei for a day, I won't be able to do anything big in Hubei for a day, and if I don't send the teacher out of Hubei for a day, I won't be at peace in Hubei for a day." This made me gamble, anyway, I have just started in Hubei, and I don't lose much if I lose the bet! But if I don't bet on this, I'll never be able to start in Hubei! ”

Seeing Wu Chaoyue's resolute attitude, Zhao Liewen, who knew that Wu Chaoyue was adventurous, did not stop him anymore, just nodded and said, "Okay, whatever you want." Fortunately, Changmao's side is also fighting everywhere, and a large number of troops have been concentrated on the Nanchang battlefield, and they are determined to win Nanchang, and it is possible that they will not come to fight Hubei immediately. ”

Wu Chaoyue nodded silently, all he thought about was what he asked Zhou Xiuying to bring to Yang Xiuqing, through Hong Renji's hint to Yang Xiuqing, and even thought of Liu Changyou, who was almost wearing a pair of pants with Zeng Guofan-no matter how good Liu Changyou and Zeng Guofan were, seeing how Wu Chaoyue entertained Liu Kunyi, he would naturally have his own thoughts in his heart - Chu Yong's combat effectiveness was still quite reliable.

At the end, Wu Chaoyue remembered to ask Zhao Liewen: "So, what method do you use to make my teacher's poisonous trick to force me to obey?" ”

"It's too easy." Zhao Liewen sighed again, and said with a wry smile: "Letters, on the contrary, drunk gaffes, I can immediately come up with a hundred ways to let your teacher know about this poisonous trick, and I am not even afraid to show traces, it is so beneficial to your teacher, even if he knows that it is a trap, he will not hesitate to jump in." (To be continued.) )