Is it called hypocrisy? Zeng Guofan and Wu Chaoyue, the unscrupulous teachers and students, perfectly interpret and show this word.

When reuniting after a long absence, although he didn't think so, Wu Chaoyue slowly walked in front of Zeng Guofan step by step, slowly knelt down on his knees, and then before his mouth opened, two lines of sad tears had already come out of his eyes very obediently, and then hugged Zeng Guofan's legs and cried, and couldn't say a word for a long time, "Teacher......, student Wu Chaoyue...... see ...... After ......, the teacher ....... ”

The barber teacher also behaved perfectly, and there were ten thousand dissatisfaction and jealousy of the comprador students in his heart, but the barber teacher still gently stretched out his hand, patted the comprador student's head lovingly, tears flashed in his eyes, and his words were choked, "Very good, very good, you are very good, the old man did not missee the wrong person, he did not misunderstand you as a student." ”

Heard this touching conversation, and heard the touching picture of Zeng Guofan and Wu Chaoyue's master and apprentice hugging their heads and crying, the Zeng brothers and the generals of the Hunan army next to him all had sour noses, and many people shed tears, all moved by the teacher-student relationship between Zeng Guofan and Wu Chaoyue, the master-apprentice relationship, and the resentment accumulated by Wu Chaoyue's delay in coming to Wuchang to take office was also completely swept away, and Wu Chaoyue had a good impression of Wu Chaoyue who met for the first time.

In essence, the disgusting performance never ended, after picking up the best protégé with his own hands, Zeng Guofan asked with concern how Wu Chaoyue broke through the blockade of the Taiping Army and came to Wuchang Mansion City, and when he learned that Wu Chaoyue only took more than 200 people to come from the Zhushui Channel, Zeng Guofan also complained again and again: "It's too risky, you are the honor of a province, how can you be so risky?" The chaotic waterway, but there are no towns and ports along the way to station, and there are no imperial court officers and soldiers to take over the protection, Changmao only needs more than a thousand thieves to block the river, and you have nowhere to retreat if you want to, you do this, it is simply a child's play with your own life. ”

Of course, Wu Chaoyue would not say that his more than 200 followers were all the most elite of Wu Jun's training and bravery, and they also carried advanced weapons such as grenadiers and grenade shells, and there was no problem in breaking through the interception of the 3,000 Taiping Army sailors. Wu Chaoyue just said with his mouth like honey: "Students also know the danger, but students are more concerned about the safety of your teacher, and they can't wait to grow wings and fly directly to your side to help your teacher." So despite knowing the danger, the students took the risk. ”

"Nonsense!" Zeng Guofan scolded loudly and said, "You are still the governor of a province, you can't tell which is more important?" Is it important for you to come to Wuchang Mansion to help me defend the city, or is the safety of the ten prefectures and one state in Hubei more important? You are the governor of Hubei, and after arriving in Hubei, you must first consider how to organize the officials and troops in Hubei to prevent the long-haired bandits from flowing and not give the long-haired bandits a chance to continue to expand. ”

After the righteous reprimand, Zeng Guofan muttered in his heart again: "Besides, what's the use of you bringing more than 200 people here?" How can you help me? ”

"Yes, yes, the student is wrong." Wu Chaoyue hurriedly bowed his head and confessed, and said very sincerely: "The student was confused for a while, forgetting the teacher's earnest teachings, the student should die, please punish the teacher." ”

After that, Wu Chaoyue also muttered in his heart: "Teacher, this is what you said, if you really encounter any danger in the future, if I don't save you to death, then you will also teach, and I will not save you according to your requirements." ”

Each of them said some high-sounding words, Zeng Guofan ordered someone to set up a banquet for his proud protégé to wash the dust, and then introduced Wu Chaoyue to the generals of the Hunan Army on the side, and heard Hu Linyi, Peng Yulin, Zeng Guoquan and Luo Zenan and other familiar names, Wu Chaoyue quietly sighed, couldn't help but be a little greedy, and said secretly: "It's a pity, it would be nice if these people were my accomplices and lackeys." ”

Wu Chaoyue coveted the accomplice lackey of the barber teacher, but Zeng Guofan was also jealous of the dog-headed military master Zhao Liewen and thugs Huang Dasha and Cao Yanzhong and others brought by Wu Chaoyue from Shanghai - Zeng Guofan had already found out that Wu Chaoyue's promulgation of the Cantonese thief before him was written by Zhao Liewen, and he was also very depressed that the disobedient student who couldn't even write letters could recruit such an outstanding talent. At the same time, Wu Chaoyue's two right-hand men Huang Dasha and Cao Yanzhong have long been famous in the Manchu army, Huang Dasha's crazy 30-meter shooting tactics on the battlefield of Jiangyin are rumored to be beautiful, Zeng Guofan has long wished that he could have such a brave and loyal general under his command, this will finally meet with Huang Dasha, who has always stood straight and full of resolute looks, Zeng Guofan is also greedy for Dasheng, "Such a brave general, if only he could be sent by the old man." ”

By the way, Zeng Guofan's most inferior protégé Wu Chaoyue is that he does not have the advantage of a historical prophet, so he is not very interested in Wu Chaoyue's future father-in-law Feng Sanbao and brother-in-law Nie Shicheng, and he doesn't know that the development potential of these two masters is actually far above Huang Dasha and Cao Yanzhong.

The banquet for Wu Chaoyue to receive the wind and wash the dust was launched in a rather warm atmosphere, and the Hubei envoy Li Qinggu, the Wuchang prefect Duoshan, and the guards Yang Dingguo, Lin Tianzhi, Bao Chao and others also rushed to the Hunan army to meet Wu Chaoyue, Wu Chaoyue greeted each other with them, said good words and comforted them, and took the opportunity to entertain these subordinates with the teacher's wine and food. However, while saving a sum of money, Wu Chaoyue was keenly aware that in Wuchang City, whether it was Yang Dingguo, who led the green camp, or Lin Tianzhi, who was in charge of the regimental training, they all showed great respect for Zeng Guofan, and there was no lack of flattery in his words, and he was obviously impressed by Zeng Guofan and the Hunan army.

Also taking the opportunity of the banquet, Wu Chaoyue hurriedly learned from Li Qinggu and others about the green camp and regimental training in Wuchang Mansion City, and the result made Wu Chaoyue frown secretly that there were only about 1,200 green battalion soldiers in Wuchang Mansion in total, and there were only more than 3,000 local Lianyong in Hubei. Therefore, Wu Chaoyue quickly made up his mind and decided not to reorganize the local army in Hubei for the time being before the end of the Wuchang War, and let Yang Dingguo and Bao Chao and other two or five boys eat and climb outside to their heart's content, but Zeng Guofan's horse head is looking forward, so as not to irritate the barber teacher and affect the seemingly close and friendly relationship between himself and the barber teacher at present.

When Wu Chaoyue cautiously asked about the current strength of the Hunan army, Zeng Guofan proudly told Wu Chaoyue that after the Hunan army's victory in Yuezhou and the restoration of Wuchang, the land and water forces once expanded to more than 16,000 people in 32 battalions, although there were several occasional small setbacks and some losses in the defense of the city, but there are still 22 battalions of more than 11,000 people, and the weapons and ammunition are quite sufficient. The strength of the sailors is still more than eighty percent at the peak, which is enough to compete with the Taiping Army sailors on the water.

muttered secretly No wonder Qi Liaozao and Wild Boar Pi IX were so vigilant about their barber teacher, Wu Chaoyue inevitably started his own little abacus again, thinking if he could use the barber teacher's hand to drive the Taiping army out of the Wuchang battlefield as soon as possible, and then expel all the Taiping troops from Hubei, so that he could completely free up his hands to show his strength. After thinking for a while, Wu Chaoyue tentatively asked the barber teacher: "Teacher, although the student was lucky enough to enter the city, he didn't bring a single soldier, and after entering the city, he could only get some money and food for you, shouting and cheering." How to fight the battle of Wuchang Mansion City next, please ask the teacher to show me. ”

"Of course, it's to stand by and be helped." Zeng Guofan replied without thinking about it: "A few days ago, Yang Zhitai's people also got in touch with me, saying that Yang Zhitai had ordered Luo Bingzhang, the governor of Hunan, to organize a support army to go north for reinforcements, and the Xi'an general Zarafen had also led the Shaanxi and Gansu soldiers and horses south to Suizhou, and they would soon be able to join forces with Yang Zhitai to rescue Wuchang." So we just have to hold on and it won't be long before we turn around. ”

Wu Chaoyue didn't say a word, but just exchanged glances with Zhao Liewen, and they both saw the worry in each other's eyes. Then Wu Chaoyue hesitated for a moment, but still said to Zeng Guofan: "Teacher, what if Changmao adopts the tactics of besieging the city and sending reinforcements?" What should we do if we leave some of our forces to confront our army, and divide our troops to break our reinforcements individually? ”

"It's possible." Zeng Guofan nodded, and said casually: "But it doesn't matter, as long as our reinforcements march cautiously and deal with the long-haired troops carefully, even if they can't destroy the long-haired troops, they can also contain the long-haired troops for a long time and share the pressure for us." ”

Zeng Guofan's tactical choice is actually not wrong, even if the reinforcements from Hunan and Shaanxi can't kill the Taiping army, as long as they are careful not to be killed directly by the Taiping army all at once, they can indeed contain the Taiping army's partial division, share the pressure for the Wuchang battlefield, and then even create an opportunity for the Hunan army to take advantage of the all-out counterattack, which is definitely the best choice for the Hunan army to exchange for the maximum gain at the lowest cost.

However, this is the most unfavorable choice for Wu Chaoyue, the worse Wuchang Mansion and Hubei fight, the longer the fierce battle lasts, and the more land the war will spread, the more unfavorable it will be for Wu Chaoyue, the governor of Hubei! Therefore, Wu Chaoyue's best choice is actually the complete opposite of Zeng Guofan, that is, to lure the Taiping army to concentrate its forces mainly on the Wuchang battlefield, and design to let the Taiping army not divide troops to intercept the Qing army reinforcements, and try to let the war poison the surrounding land as little as possible, so that after the Taiping army withdrew from the Wuchang battlefield and Hubei, Wu Chaoyue, the governor of Hubei, could reorganize the military and civil affairs of Hubei in the shortest possible time, saving astronomical money and food expenses.

The method of luring the Taiping army to concentrate its forces on the Wuchang battlefield is very simple, just let the Hunan army attack appropriately, and appropriately launch a few counterattacks to hurt the Taiping army, and the Taiping army will certainly not easily divide its troops. Of course, Wu Chaoyue's barber teacher is not a second, so of course he will not do such a loss.

"Teacher, students are foolish, we might as well consider making a proper attack, exerting some pressure on Longhair, and buying time and opportunities for our reinforcements to enter the army, I don't know what the teacher thinks?"

Sure enough, when Wu Chaoyue cautiously put forward this suggestion, it was rejected by Zeng Guofan, and Zeng Guofan also taught his protégé a lesson: "Weiting, although you are very unique in military affairs, you still like to take risks too much with soldiers." Now that the enemy is strong and I am weak, our army is still worried about the lack of strength to hold the city of Wuchangfu, and that can risk sending troops to fight with Changmao, in case there is any danger for the army to go out of the city, and where do we have the troops to hold the city of Wuchang? Don't forget, this is the capital of Hubei Province, and your governor is stationed, so there is no room for mistakes! ”

Secretly scolded the barber teacher's selfishness, Wu Chaoyue still had to thank the teacher for his guidance, Zeng Guofan did not give up, and taught Wu Chaoyue the right way to win and the way of the host and the guest, forcing Wu Chaoyue to nod his head constantly, and also constantly thanked the barber teacher for his teachings and guidance.

Good start and finish, under Wu Chaoyue's patience, the banquet finally ended in a very good atmosphere, and when it was time to say goodbye and leave, Wu Chaoyue, who was about to go to the governor's yamen to stay, took the initiative to Li Qinggu and other Hubei civil and military commands: "Li Zhentai, more prefects, please two of you to lead me to the governor's yamen." General Yang, Lin Lianguan, General Bao, several of your generals are on duty at their posts, ready to obey the dispatch of Zeng Butang at any time, as soon as Zeng Butang has a military order, you must unconditionally and immediately implement it, and you must not delay! ”

Yang Dingguo, Lin Tianzhi and other generals in charge of the army agreed without thinking about it, but Zeng Guofan asked with a smile on his face: "Comfort Ting, isn't this right?" You are the governor of Hubei, and when you take up your post in Hubei, the green battalion and regimental training in Hubei should directly obey your orders, so can you still let them continue to obey my military orders? ”

"Don't be humble, teacher." Wu Chaoyue hurriedly waved his hand, and said very sincerely: "The talent of the teacher is a hundred times better than the student, and now the student is the first time to come, he is blind to the various situations in the city of Wuchang Mansion, and he doesn't know anything, and now he takes over the military power, that is, he doesn't know the other and doesn't know himself, how can he stop the long-haired bandits?" Therefore, the students are courageous, and I also want to ask the teacher to continue to control the military power for the students for a period of time, so that General Yang and Lin Lianguan can continue to directly obey your orders, so as to avoid multiple orders and inconsistent orders, which will cause disasters. ”

After a few more excuses, he really insisted on the kindness of his protégé, Zeng Guofan finally nodded reluctantly, and promised to continue to take charge of the army for his protégé for a period of time. After personally sending the students out of the camp, looking at the back of the students leaving, Zeng Guofan still twisted his beard and smiled proudly, and said secretly: "Count you smart!" ”

…………

Hubei Governor Yamen is located in the Liangdao Street of Beicheng, backed by Rouge Mountain, although the legend is not very good, the scenery is quite beautiful, Wu Chaoyue's entourage has all lived in the Yamen. Seeing Wu Chaoyue's arrival, as soon as he did the old Shanghai department, he immediately came out to line up to greet him, Wu Chaoyue, who was not in a very good mood, waved his hand to stop the courtesy of the old lackeys, and asked everyone to go back to continue to arrange accommodation, and also let the captain of the pro-soldier Wu Dadao temporarily take on the position of housekeeper, and then led Li Qinggu and Duoshan into the government, and in turn asked them to lead the way before entering the back hall to sit down and talk.

After sitting down, Wu Chaoyue was very sorry and said to Li Qinggu and Duoshan: "Li Zhentai, Duo Governor's Mansion, I'm really embarrassed, I just arrived, I don't even have a cup of tea, don't be surprised." ”

Li Qinggu and Duoshan hurriedly said that it didn't matter, and then Duoshan, who was very good at sycophancy, also offered to send Wu Chaoyue some servants and cooks, but Wu Chaoyue, who didn't know much about Duoshan, shook his head and refused, saying: "Thank you Duofuzun for your kindness, but no need, I'm used to living in the barracks, so it's good." At present, the great enemy is the most important thing in military affairs, and these little things will be talked about later. ”

After that, Wu Chaoyue asked Li Qinggu and Duoshan to introduce him to the people's livelihood in Wuchangfu City, Li Qinggu and Duoshan replied truthfully, saying that because the Taiping army received an early warning when they attacked Wuchangfu City in the north, most of the people and gentry outside the city moved to the city to escape the war, but a considerable number of people refused to enter the city, or fled to other places, or became obedient citizens to the Taiping army. In addition, Li Qinggu introduced Yang Pei's cowardice and escape, and also took the initiative to say: "Before Yang Zhitai went to De'an, he once explained that we must obey the orders of the Bi Zeng Ministry, and no matter the military, government and civil affairs, we must not disobey the orders of the Zeng Ministry. So ......, so ....... ”

"So what?" Wu Chaoyue asked, and said: "Say it directly, don't be obscure. ”

"Therefore, the money and grain in the treasury treasury are all guarded by people from Zeng Butang, saying that it is to guard against long-haired spies burning grain." Li Qinggu cautiously told the truth, "Zeng Butang also said that in order to facilitate withdrawal, he sent someone to take charge of the accounts. ”

Wu Chaoyue didn't say a word, just paid attention to the reaction of Duoshan - don't look at Duoshan is Manchurian, Manchu Taqibuke is also a loyal lackey of the barber teacher, so Wu Chaoyue has to guard against Duoshan. Fortunately, after hesitating for a moment, Duoshan also said: "Xia Guan also objected to this matter, but Zeng Butang moved out of Yang Zhitai, and Yang Zhitai gave a strict order before leaving the city, saying that before he came back, Zeng Butang's order was his order. So the lower official had no choice but to hand over the key to the treasury. ”

Observing the words and feelings, he found that although Li Qinggu and Duoshan were careful when they said these words, they did not dare to express their dissatisfaction with Zeng Guofan too much, but it didn't seem that they were testing themselves for Zeng Guofan, Wu Chaoyue also relaxed a little, and said with a smile: "Since this is Yang Zhitai's order, of course I can't blame you." Don't worry, if something happened in the past, the sky fell and there was a high top of Yang Zhitai, but now if something happens, it will be my responsibility, and it has nothing to do with you. ”

Li Qinggu and Duoshan quietly breathed a sigh of relief, but they still didn't dare to be completely relieved of Wu Chaoyue, the proud protégé of Zeng Guofan, and still didn't dare to vent their hearts when they spoke, Wu Chaoyue knew their hardships, and did not force them to express their dissatisfaction with Zeng Guofan, but suddenly remembered another important matter, and hurriedly asked: "What about the military discipline of the Hunan regiment training?" In Wuchang City, did they have a large-scale disturbance incident? ”

"Lord Huifutai, this is not true." Li Qinggu and Duoshan replied truthfully, saying that although the Hunan army had some quarrels with the people in Wuchang City, it was generally not bad, at least much stronger than the green battalion soldiers.

The history is sparse, I don't know that the military discipline of the Hunan army was really good at the beginning, and it was not until the middle and late stages that it gradually transformed and corrupted, although Wu Chaoyue, who had long been thunderous about the atrocities of the Hunan army, felt a little strange, but also somewhat relieved - if the Hunan army came to the city of Wuchang at this time, Wu Chaoyue's position would be extremely embarrassing.

I also learned some about the situation of the Wuchang battlefield and the Hunan army from Li Qinggu and Duoshan, and saw that they were afraid and did not dare to speak freely in front of them, and Wu Chaoyue did not force them, but just took the initiative to end the conversation with a yawn under the pretext that they did not rest last night. In the end, Wu Chaoyue also accepted Li Qinggu's invitation to dinner, and asked Duoshan to send someone to buy grain, meat and vegetables for the governor's yamen, and politely sent away the two civilian officials who should be able to win over.

When it was time to send Li Qinggu and Duoshan back to the back hall, Zhao Liewen smiled from Wu Chaoyue and said: "Weiting, Yang Zhitai really left you a mess, the military generals don't listen to you, and the civil officials are afraid that you are a student of Zeng Butang, and they dare not have a heart-to-heart with you." If you want to sit firmly in the position of governor of Hubei, it seems that you have to suffer a lot. ”

"Money and food are just trivial matters, anyway, the initiator is Yang Pei, and he doesn't dare to embarrass me in this matter." Wu Chaoyue smiled and said: "Whatever the master withdraws, anyway, Wuchang City was only recovered on August 13, and in a few months, how much grain can be accumulated in the treasury of the Domain?" ”

"Be careful!" Zhao Liewen reminded: "It's better to talk to Zeng Butang over there, if there are problematic accounts, it's best to get them all before you take office, anyway, Yang Pei has been convicted of abandoning the city and escaping, and it is natural for him to push this black pot back, Zeng Butang will not object to it in order to maintain the relationship between you and him." ”

"I'll take care of that." Wu Chaoyue casually ordered: "Now the staff who is in charge of the teacher's money and food is Guo Songtao, you come forward to talk to him secretly, it is more convenient to speak." ”

Zhao Liewen, who learned a financial management skill from his bad brother-in-law, agreed, Wu Chaoyue asked the soldiers in the hall to prepare paper and pencils, Zhao Liewen also said that Wu Chaoyue was going to draw up an order, so he took the initiative to sit at the desk, and Wu Chaoyue smiled and said: "Huifu, I still write this letter." ”

Zhao Liewen laughed when he heard this, and asked, "Weiting, you are going to show off your calligraphy and writing again, who are you showing off to this time?" ”

"Long-haired generals Lin Fengxiang and Wei Jun." Wu Chaoyue smiled faintly and said, "The teacher is unwilling to send troops to contain Changmao, so as to create an opportunity for our reinforcements to arrive on the battlefield in Wuchang as soon as possible." It doesn't matter, he doesn't send troops, I let Changmao continue to attack Wuchang Mansion with all his might, which is also an effect. (To be continued.) )