Jiangsu Governor Yang Wending has been in a very good mood recently, and has encountered a lot of pleasant things, first of all, because of the long-term attack on Changsha, the long-haired bandits suddenly moved to the north to threaten Wuchang City, and in Yiyang overturned the Qing army Xiang Rong Department that followed him, in the case of Wuchang emergency, the Xianfeng Emperor was forced to appoint Lu Jianying, the governor of Liangjiang, as the minister of Qincha, and led the Qing army of Liangjiang to go up the river to participate in the encirclement and suppression of Changmao, and named Yang Wending to move to Jiangning (Nanjing), and stayed in the rear to supervise the grain and grass.

Yang Wending and Lu Jianying have a grudge for a long time not a day or two, the Qing Dynasty governor Fu discord is a common thing, Governor Yang Wending and Governor Lu Jianying are typical representatives, Lu Jianying, who should focus on the military, is famous for being greedy for money and loving money, in order to make money, he often interferes in the civil affairs of Jiangsu, Yang Wending is both greedy for money and loves power, and he looks very closely at his own one-third of an acre, and Lu Jianying fights openly and secretly in order to fight for power and profit. At the beginning of the year, the Fengbeikou in northern Jiangsu burst the embankment, Lu Jianying got rid of the governor Yang Wending in order to make money, but the self-defeating and newly repaired embankment collapsed in a blink of an eye, Yang Wending handed a fold to the capital, and Lu Jianying immediately fell into a punishment of three consecutive demotions and retaining his original post; However, before Yang Wending gloated for a long time, Lu Jianying quietly helped Wu Jianzhang's ancestors and grandsons behind his back, and in turn rectified Yang Wending's disgrace, so that Yang Wending fell into a charge of impeachment and ineffective royal authority, and was fined for a year in vain.

Yang Wending admitted that he was at a disadvantage in the battle with Lu Jianying, because Lu Jianying was not only older than him, but also the master of the East Palace of Emperor Xianfeng, and he had a teacher-student relationship with Emperor Xianfeng. But Yang Wending knew Lu Jianying's military skills better, so he learned that Lu Jianying was going to lead the army to meet the Taiping Army, even if Lu Jianying was still cheeky and did not move in Jiangning, Yang Wending also knew that Lu Jianying was definitely going to be unlucky, and while gloating, Yang Wending, who was ordered to stay in the rear, naturally quietly stared at the position of the governor of Liangjiang that was about to be vacated - in terms of seniority, it was Uncle Yang's turn!

There is another thing that makes Yang Wending happy, that is, the ancestors and grandchildren of the Wu family who once offended Yang Wending are also going to be unlucky, and Wu Chaoyue, a small comprador who was ordered to go to Songjiang Mansion to handle the regimental training, tossed for more than two months to get a 200-person 25 battalion, and watched Zhou Lichun, the head of the Qingpu thief, entrenched in the lawlessness of Huangdu Town, which is only 60 miles away from Shanghai, and the charges of perfunctory blame and fear of thieves have long been confirmed. In order to protect his grandson, the old comprador Wu Jianzhang refused to send his grandson to fight north when the Jiading thief rebellion broke out suddenly, and only sent Shanghai Luying to cross the Wusong River to the north in a perfunctory manner, and was beaten away by the Jiading rebels.

After receiving the report of the defeat of the Shanghai garrison He Shu, Yang Wending did not rush to immediately impeach his ancestors and grandchildren, but asked his confidant Wang Qirui to write on his behalf, and in the name of the governor of Jiangsu, he ordered Wu Chaoyue to supervise the regimental training of all counties in Songjiang to cooperate with the Qing army in Suzhou to encircle and suppress the Qingpu rebel army, and asked Wu Chaoyue to complete the regimental training in all counties of Songjiang before 20 November and wait for his order to go to war.

In this regard, Wang Qirui was of course a little puzzled, and asked Yang Wending: "Dong Weng, since you want the kid surnamed Wu to send troops, why don't you just ask him to attack Huangdu Town?" Why bother to send Suzhou Green Camp to Huangdu to suppress it again, and let him be responsible for helping to suppress it? ”

"Be careful." Yang Wending replied with a smile: "If this official orders Wu Chaoyue to directly send troops to exterminate Zhou Lichun's traitors, then he will definitely find all kinds of excuses to delay perfunctorily, even if he loses the battle, he can also use the excuse that his strength is not good, Wu Jianzhang's old thing has silver, and it is reasonable to spend some silver to exonerate his grandson, so even if this is successful, it will be difficult for this official to put Wu Jianzhang's grandson to death in one fell swoop." ”

"But it's different for this official to ask Wu Chaoyue to assist in the suppression." Yang Wending smiled even more happily and said: "The master of the Suzhou Green Camp is suppressed, Wu Chaoyue is just helping on the side, but he also suffered a big defeat, not only is the charge confirmed, but the charge of the failure of the Green Camp to be defeated by the inability of the division can not be just deducted on his head?" ”

Wang Qirui suddenly realized, and hurriedly praised Dong Weng for his wisdom, clever calculation, and strategic planning, and won a decisive victory thousands of miles away. Then Wang Qirui no longer wasted time, and hurriedly picked up the pen to write the order for Yang Wending, and after Yang Wending signed and sealed, he asked Wang Qirui to immediately send someone to Shanghai with a fast horse to hand it over to Wu Chaoyue, but Wang Qirui smiled and went out for a few minutes, and came back with a sad face, and said to Yang Wending: "Dong Weng, there is an accident, this official document of yours does not need to be sent to Shanghai." ”

"Why?" Yang Wending is a flute.

"Wu Chaoyue has just sent someone to deliver an urgent report, he has broken through the main forces of the two thief armies in Qingpu and Jiading, and recovered Huangdu Town, which has been occupied by Qingpu thieves for several months." Wang Qirui replied with a sad face.

"What?!" Yang Wending jumped up directly, stared at the triangular eyes, and roared in disbelief: "He has already broken through the main forces of the two thief armies of Qingpu and Jiading? Also recovered Huangdu Town? ”

"That's what Wu Chaoyue said in the official document." Wang Qirui held up the official document that Wu Chaoyue had just received, and said with an even more sad expression: "Also, Wu Chaoyue also killed Chen Mujin, the thief leader of Jiading, and cut off Chen Mujin's head. Although Zhou Lichun and some of the thieves are still on the run, their weapons and baggage have all been handed over by Wu Chaoyue's little deflated three! ”

Crazy snatched Wu Chaoyue's official stationery from Wang Qirui's hand, and when he opened it and looked at it carefully, Yang Wending's face gradually began to turn pale, and he said in despair: "With two hundred and twenty-six practice bravery, he defeated more than 4,000 thieves in one battle, beheaded more than 900 people, and captured more than 1,500 prisoners?" Of his more than 200 brave practices, not a single one was killed, and only more than 30 people were injured? That's an exaggeration, right? Really? ”

"Dong Weng, it shouldn't be fake." Wang Qirui wiped his cold sweat and said: "There is Wu Chaoyue's signature and seal on the fold, if he dares to make a false report, it will be a big crime to find out." However, it is difficult to say, it is not easy to send someone to verify his capture to see if there is any fraud. ”

"Check! Of course you'll have to send someone to find out! If that little deflated three dares to have half a lie, the official will immediately fold the bullet and impeach him for false retribution! ”

No matter how angry Yang Wending roared, it was useless, first in the afternoon of the same day, Qingpu County ordered Li Chuqi to also send an urgent report, asking for instructions on how to deal with the prisoners captured by Wu Chaoyue, and at the same time proving that Wu Chaoyue's report was true; Then, relying on the waterway of the Wusong River, it was only more than a day later, and the subordinate officials sent by Yang Wending to Huangdu Town for verification also sent an urgent report, which also confirmed that Wu Chaoyue was telling the truth. As a result, after hearing this report, Yang Wending also completely collapsed on the Taishi chair and stopped talking, and kept scolding in his stomach, "God doesn't have long eyes, this clown who jumps off the beam, he will definitely dance more jubilant now." ”

After rolling his eyes for a moment, Yang Wending suddenly showed a cruel smile, and instructed Wang Qirui, who came to report the verification results: "Qi Rui, immediately write an excerpt to the imperial court for me, truthfully report the specific situation of Wu Chaohuangdu's victory to the imperial court, and then send it to the capital with six hundred miles of urgency, and submit it to the imperial court!" ”

"Six hundred miles expedited?" Wang Qirui was dumbfounded, and said in surprise: "Dong Weng, Wu Chaoyue has repeatedly offended you, why do you still give him credit like this, what if the emperor is happy and gives him a promotion?" ”

"Of course the emperor will give him a promotion, but well, this is what this official wants to see." Yang Wending smiled even more fiercely, and said: "By the way, copy a copy of Wu Chaoyue's recital and send it to Lu Jianying, so that Lu Jianying knows that there is such a brave general who can fight well under his rule!" ”

Wang Qirui's eyes rolled a few times, and he suddenly understood Yang Wending's true intentions, and hurriedly said to Yang Wending: "Dong Weng is smart, Dong Weng is smart, Dong Weng is smart, you are too smart!" ”

………………

At this moment, of course, Wu Chaoyue didn't know that Yang Wending was calculating him again, and the only thing Wu Chaoyue was worried about at this moment was how to get rid of the siege of Shanghai officials, gentry, and wealthy merchants and landlords. Because when Wu Chaoyue returned to Shanghai with the regimental training, not only did Wu Chaoyue's comprador grandfather Wu Jianzhang personally take the city officials out of the city ten miles to greet him, but the rich businessmen and gentry who had contributed money and food to help Wu Chaoyue train the troops came to greet him, and even the foreign consuls, businessmen and priests in the concession also came quite a lot, and then as soon as they met, Wu Chaoyue was surrounded by water.

In front of so many people, Wu Jianzhang certainly didn't beat his grandson's ass with a ruler, but on the contrary, he hugged his grandson in public and cried profusely; The wealthy merchants and gentry in Shanghai were constantly flattering, saying that if Wu Chaoyue asked for any more money and food in the future, they would immediately give them the silver and grain in both hands, and some people expressed their willingness to pay more money and food on the spot to help Wu Chaoyue train more soldiers and handle more regimental training -- and also better protect their economic interests in Shanghai.

These people are quite easy to deal with, but the most difficult thing is the Prussian consul A Huawei, holding Wu Chaoyue's thin hand, A Huawei asked when Wu Chaoyue would expand the regiment training, and how many Prussian weapons he planned to purchase, and couldn't wait to recommend other Prussian weapons to Wu Chaoyue. Wu Chaoyue was very angry, and complained to Ah Huawei: "Dear Mr. Consul, I must protest to you, the problem of leaking fire in the breech of the firing pin gun you sold me is too serious in high-frequency shooting, I sent troops to suppress the bandits this time, and injured 37 people, of which 25 people were burned by the leaking fire of the breech of the firing pin gun!" Can't you sell me some good quality firing pin guns? ”

"Wu, it's not that I sold you inferior products, it's that this problem can't be solved." Ah Huawei replied helplessly: "The breech of the firing pin gun is not tightly sealed, and it is easy to leak fire and burn the shooter, which is also common in our Prussian army, and the American breech gun is the same, there is also no way to solve this technical problem, and the situation of breech fire leakage is more serious than ours." ”

Brown, who came to China to sell arms, was furious when he heard this, and immediately ridiculed him, ridiculing the Dresser pin gun as a **** gun that the Prussian ** team did not like to use, Wu Chaoyue was also very dissatisfied with Ah Huawei's sophistry, and took a firing pin gun and pulled the bolt, pointed to the loading port and said: "The American Hall gun is a hammer fire, of course, there is no way to completely seal the breech, but who said that your pin gun can't seal the breech?" Wouldn't it be nice to add a sealing rubber ring here? With your Prussian industrial capabilities, is it difficult to make a small sealing rubber ring? ”

Ah Huawei's mouth opened wide, and after a while, he exclaimed, "My God! Why didn't our Prussian gunsmiths think of such a simple sealing method? Wu, thank you, I will write to China immediately, let them test this method to solve the problem of fire leakage! ”

At the same time as Ah Huawei screamed, the foreigner next to him was also blinking his eyes quickly, silently remembering Wu Chaoyue's proposal for improving the firearm, and Wu Chaoyue, who was inspired by the pressure cooker gasket, regretted it a little, and said secretly: "It seems that it has passed, should it be because of my suggestion that the weapon of the white pig will develop faster, right?" Of course, what Wu Chaoyue didn't know was that his casual words also led to a consequence that made him even more unexpected, which is a later story, so let's not mention it for the time being.

It was not easy to persuade the comprador grandfather to hurry back to the city, Wu Chaoyue first led Lian Yong back to the barracks, ordered the wine and meat sent by the rich merchant gentry to be distributed to Lian Yong to reward the three armies, and then hurriedly entered the city to participate in the banquet according to the comprador grandfather's request to celebrate the victory of Huangdu this time. After accompanying the rich merchant gentry and the foreigner consul to drink bitterly, after the banquet, Wu Chaoyue had to work hard to send the comprador grandfather, who was already obviously drunk, home, and at the same time hurriedly asked the comprador grandfather to plead guilty, and asked the comprador grandfather to arbitrarily punish himself for the crime of going to war privately.

The baby grandson is so angry, Wu Jianzhang is willing to punish Wu Chaoyue, then it's weird, after picking up the baby grandson with his own hands, Wu Jianzhang also patted Wu Chaoyue's shoulder and laughed and said, "What else is the crime?" I knew that you, a little rabbit cub, were so capable of fighting, why did grandpa stop you from killing thieves and making meritorious contributions? Hahahaha, more than 200 people defeated more than 4,000 thieves, and also cut off the head of Chen Mujin, the head of the thief in Jiading. ”

After a few words of hypocritical modesty, Wu Chaoyue said again: "Grandpa, I don't want to be promoted, I just want to stay in Shanghai and stay by your side, so if you say it first, I will resign at any time, don't blame me when the time comes." ”

"Nonsense!" Wu Jianzhang was angry when he heard it, and scolded: "Have you made such a great contribution? You still want to resign, do you want to be angry with me? Don't quit! Not only is you not allowed to resign, but you also have to expand the Shanghai regimental training for me, I will give you as much money as you want, and I will also find a way for you to pay for the money, food, and military salary, now that the world is so chaotic, you can do more regimental training, not only can you defend Shanghai and protect the dock for me, but there will also be more opportunities for meritorious service and promotion! ”

"Grandpa, listen to me!" Wu Chaoyue was also a little anxious, and hurriedly said: "I must resign as soon as possible, otherwise there will be big trouble." Grandpa, you forgot, the imperial court's mansion report, the long-haired rebel has already entered Hubei, if this long-haired rebel goes down the east of the river and kills Jiangning, what if the imperial court sends my regiment to practice westward to meet the battle? I played so beautifully this time because Zhou Lichun and Chen Mujin are a group of rabble, I am sure of beating them, but I am not so sure of beating long hair! ”

After listening to his baby grandson's words and feeling reasonable, Wu Jianzhang was a little shaken for a while, but after thinking about it, Wu Jianzhang scolded again: "Alarmist! Changmao didn't even touch the edge of the Yangtze River, so you're afraid that they will call Jiangning? When did you little bunny become so timid? Besides, even if Changmao really hits the Yangtze River, there are officials and troops in Hubei, Anhui and Hunan to encircle and suppress it, how can the imperial court send you to Hubei to participate in the war? ”

Wu Chaoyue, who knew that the Taiping Army was going to call sooner or later, smiled bitterly, but he couldn't explain the reason, so he could only remind the comprador grandfather again and again not to take it lightly, but Wu Jianzhang didn't listen at all, and said arbitrarily: "Don't talk nonsense, grandpa told you to expand the army, you have to expand the army for me, first expand your regimental training to 500 people in a battalion, and talk about other things later!" ”

Wu Chaoyue reluctantly agreed, and muttered in his heart: "Good medicine is bitter, loyal words are contrary to ears, you are old and foolish and want to let the old Wu family break the roots, I am still reluctant to die now, I will quietly hand over the resignation excerpt in a few days, see what you do!" ”

…………

Knowing that the Taiping Army would fight near Shanghai sooner or later, and he was unwilling to fight hard with Yang Xiuqing and Shi Dakai, Wu Chaoyue had the idea of resigning as soon as he saw it, but unfortunately, what Wu Chaoyue didn't know was that only six days later, his ridiculously exaggerated perverted record had been sent to the capital by Yang Wending in an expedited 600 miles, and was directly sent to the military aircraft.

Like Yang Wending, Qi Liaozao and other military ministers, who were anxious about the Taiping Army's continuous approach to Wuchang City, saw Wu Chaoyue's achievements, and they were all stunned and dumbfounded, and their first reaction was that Yang Wending's report was untrue, Wu Chaoyue exaggerated his achievements, and was greedy for merit and defrauded rewards! However, after coming back to his senses a little, Qi Liaozao found another important question, and asked in surprise: "Isn't Wu Chaoyue in charge of the Ministry of Rites?" When did he go to Songjiang to hold a group practice, how did I not know about it? ”

"Lord Qi, this matter is the hand of Xia Guanjing." Shao Can said cautiously: "Wu Chaoyue asked to return to Songjiang to handle the regimental training and help the local government to encircle and suppress the Qingpu rebels. ”

"I see." Qi Liaozao nodded, and then said in despair: "It's really not a big deal, but this battle report is too exaggerated, right?" More than 200 practice bravery, even defeated more than 4,000 thieves in the first battle, and recaptured the lost territory and killed the head of the thief, I remember Jiang Zhongyuan, who has done the best regimental training in recent years, didn't fight so exaggerated in the first battle? ”

"Could it be a false report?" Lin Kui, who had a very bad impression of Wu Chaoyue, said suspiciously: "Although Yang Wending said that he had verified the results to be true, it cannot be ruled out that Yang Wending and Wu Chaoyue joined forces to fake?" ”

After thinking for a moment, Qi Liaozao shook his head and said: "The possibility of false reporting is very small, Yang Wending is the governor of a province after all, it is impossible to take such a big risk for a little small profit, and help Wu Chaoyue fabricate such an exaggerated victory." Moreover, Wu Chaoyue's beheadings and captives were clearly reported to specific figures, which made it more difficult to fake. ”

"So, this report is likely to be true?" Peng Yunzhang, another minister of military aircraft, said in surprise: "Then let's report to the emperor quickly, these days, the emperor has been worried about the war in Hubei, seeing such a war report, he will definitely be happy!" ”

Qi Liaozao nodded, and then said with a wry smile: "But I'm afraid even the emperor can't believe it." ”

"What can't even I believe?"

Coincidentally, at this time, the sound of the dragon chant of the Emperor Xianfeng came from outside the door of the military aircraft department, and when Qi Liaozao and Peng Yunzhang and others hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed, the Emperor Xianfeng, who had been so angry that he had not slept well in the past few days, also walked in with exhaustion, and asked again what even he couldn't believe it, Qi Liaozao carefully presented Yang Wending's report. Then naturally, Emperor Xianfeng's handsome goldfish eyes full of bloodshot almost bulged out his eyeballs, and exclaimed: "More than 200 practiced bravery, and more than 4,000 rebels were defeated in a battle?" Lian Yong hasn't died yet? Really? Is Shanghai team training so capable of fighting? ”

"Long live, Wu Chaoyue's record has been verified by Jiangsu Yang Wending's personnel, and there is no fraud." Qi Liaozao replied truthfully: "And Weichen and the others think that even if Wu Chaoyue has great courage, he will never dare to fabricate such an amazing record. ”

"Wu Chaoyue? Wu Jianzhang's grandson? ”

Emperor Xianfeng found out that the person who fought this beautiful battle turned out to be Wu Chaoyue, who he also had some impressions, and then naturally, of course, Emperor Xianfeng hurriedly asked Wu Chaoyue when he ran back to Shanghai, after Shao Can played truthfully again, Emperor Xianfeng was immediately happy, "Well done, when Wu Chaoyue Wu Aiqing was in the capital, I found that he was a little bold, and he was a material for leading soldiers, but I didn't expect him to be able to train such elite soldiers for me, and more than two hundred ...... were practiced." ”

Speaking of this, Emperor Xianfeng suddenly discovered an important problem, and said angrily: "What is this Wu Chaoyue for?" Handle the regimental training in Songjiang Mansion, how can he get more than 200 training bravery, now the imperial court has to use troops everywhere, and he needs to replenish the troops, why can't he train me more elite soldiers? ”

"Your Majesty, maybe it's a matter of money and food." Qi Liaozao was afraid that Emperor Xianfeng's mood would deteriorate again, making the life of everyone in the military aircraft department even more difficult, so he hurriedly said a good word for Wu Chaoyue, saying: "The county government group training, the imperial court does not pay the military salary, and all the money, food, weapons, etc. should be raised locally, Wu Chaoyue may be because of the problem of money and food, so he can't handle more group training." ”

"Money and food are easy to handle, his grandfather is the customs superintendent, and what he has in his hand is silver." Emperor Xianfeng did not hesitate, waved his hand and shouted: "Passing the decree, Wu Chaoyue has meritorious service as a thief, the official is promoted to one level, and the name of the military aircraft department is used in the state capital, and the Songjiang regiment training is rewarded according to the routine!" Then ordered Wu Jianzhang to withhold 10,000 taels of tariff silver, and expand the group training with Wu Chaoyue! Tell Wu Chaoyue to quickly expand his regimental training, the more elite soldiers the better, I am still waiting to use him! ”

After that, Emperor Xianfeng, whose mood had been greatly improved, issued an order to copy Wu Chaoyue's Huangdu victory as a palace report, which was sent to the world to boost the morale of the Qing Dynasty soldiers. After Qi Liaozao led several military ministers to receive the order, soon, the news quickly spread throughout the capital in the form of a newspaper, and after hearing the news, Wu Chaoyue's only friend in the capital, Li Hongzhang, immediately regretted his bowels, "Weiting, I knew that you were so capable of training, I should have gone to Shanghai with you in the first place!" ”