It didn't take long for Wu Chaoyue to obediently take the initiative to send a report on Zhou Xiuying's case, but without looking at it, Emperor Xianfeng dared to expect that Wu Chaoyue's report and Wu Lao comprador and Zhou Xiuying's statements were absolutely the same, and he must have pushed his responsibilities cleanly, first giving Zhou Xiuying a high hat of reforming evil and returning to righteousness, abandoning the darkness and turning to the light, and then letting Zhou Xiuying bear a misdemeanor of cowardly abandoning his post. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

As a result, this time Emperor Xianfeng was also a rare wise and powerful force, with a report fold, Wu Chaoyue really insisted that Zhou Xiuying was successfully recruited by himself during the Xiaodaohui uprising, and was ordered by himself to lurk in the long-haired army as an internal response, trying to assassinate Zeng Lichang and other important figures of the Taiping Army, and after he broke through Suzhou, he ordered Zhou Xiuying to try to assassinate Zeng Lichang, and then lost contact.

In addition, Wu Chaoyue also brazenly claimed that he had a relationship with Zhou Xiuying in order to make Zhou Xiuying die for the Qing Dynasty and have no choice but to sacrifice his hue, but he didn't expect that his marksmanship was too accurate, and his ability in some aspects was too strong, so he suddenly made a man for the old Wu family. Then Wu Chaoyue pretended to review his life style to Emperor Xianfeng, admitting that he was also wrong, and expressing his willingness to accept any criticism and education from Emperor Xianfeng with an open mind, change his past mistakes, and promise not to make similar mistakes.

"Dog, are you really playing me like a fool? What you said to the female bandit surnamed Zhou in bed, as long as you know, there will be Wu Jianzhang, the old immortal among you, who is matchmaking and reporting the news, of course you can say whatever you want! ”

Emperor Xianfeng was on fire in his heart, but he was helpless, because Emperor Xianfeng knew very well that unless a miracle happened in Shanghai, it would be absolutely impossible for him to know the real truth behind Zhou Xiuying's case. And now He Guiqing, the governor of Liangjiang, Xue Huan, the governor of Jiangsu, and others, in order to curry favor with Wu Lao's compradors, actually found an excuse to directly put Zhou Xiuying under house arrest in Wu Lao's comprador house, making it clear that they want to turn big things into small things and small things, and expect these Han barbarians to find out the truth, of course, it is easier and more reliable to expect roosters to lay eggs or hens to crow.

Sure enough, when the city of Beijing was covered in snow in the winter of Xianfeng's eighth year, Shanghai sent a joint recital of He Guiqing and Xue Huan, on the excerpt, He Guiqing and Xue Huan really chose to exonerate Zhou Xiuying as much as possible, and insisted that Zhou Xiuying had indeed accepted Wu Chaoyue's appeasement and surrender, and reported to Wu Chaoyue a lot of the Taiping Army military information on the Shanghai battlefield at that time, and helped Wu Chaoyue to separate Zeng Lichang and Liu Lichuan to succeed, and made great contributions in the Qing army's battle to recover the county seat of Shanghai. Later, it was only because he was afraid that the difficulty of assassinating Zeng Lichang was too great, so he took the initiative to cut off the connection with Wu Chaoyue.

In addition, He Guiqing and Xue Huan also took out some dry goods to prove that Zhou Xiuying had already broken off with the Taiping Army, and presented the confessions of the two captured Yang Xiuqing guards, proving that Yang Xiuqing directly regarded Zhou Xiuying as a traitor to the Taiping Army and tried to kidnap Zhou Xiuying's mother and son as hostages, but he just wanted to blackmail Wu Chaoyue, the sworn enemy of the Taiping Army. At the same time, He and Xue also submitted countless testimonies, proving that after Yang Xiuqing's henchman Wang Zhengshan was surrounded, he used Wu Chaoyue's illegitimate son as a hostage and tried to kill Wu Lao's comprador and Wu Chaoyue's illegitimate son, which indirectly proved the Taiping Army's hostile attitude towards Wu Chaoyue.

Although the dry goods taken out by He Guiqing and Xue Huan were still enough, the Xianfeng Emperor, who was extremely suspicious, still didn't believe it, even if Su Shun and Zaiyuan and others tried their best to say good things for Wu Chaoyue, the beloved concubine also pointed out to the Xianfeng Emperor once again that if the water is clear, there is no fish, and it is rare to be confused when you get benefits, and you must not hurt the hearts of heroes for such a trivial matter. But Emperor Xianfeng's sixth sense, which has always been confused, has rarely been realized, and he still feels that this matter is not so simple, and the ancestors of the Wu family and Zhou Xiuying must have concealed some important information.

It was also a coincidence that a few days later, another major military situation related to Wu Chaoyue occurred - Jiangxi reported the victory according to the red flag of Yang Wending, the envoy of Jiangxi, saying that under his wise command, Xiao Qijiang, a registered Taoist, with the cooperation of the Wuchang General Army Wang Guocai, finally conquered the important town of Fuzhou in Jiangxi Province after a series of hard battles, and cut off the east-west connection of the Taiping Army in the hinterland of Jiangxi in one fell swoop. At the same time, Liu Mingchuan, a registered Taoist, also defeated the Taiping army reinforcements many times in the resistance battle, and the credit was also not small, and he implored Emperor Xianfeng to give a commendation, in addition to Yang Wending, he casually promoted some meritorious soldiers not to mention.

If it is changed to the usual, when the New Year is approaching, he receives such a good news, Emperor Xianfeng will definitely be a dragon face and a big joy, a bird and a fish soup, and he will never be stingy with some false rewards - so in history, when the Hunan army was in Anhui, Jiangxi, even the sentry officer who watched the gate of the barracks was hung with the title of second grade. However, this time it was different, because on the night before, Emperor Xianfeng preemptively received a secret fold from Wen Jun, the governor of Jiangxi, accusing Wu Chaoyue of deliberately supporting his wife and grandfather to help Yang Wending make meritorious contributions with the elite soldiers of Hubei, and cried that Yang Wending did not listen to the command, and deliberately refused to send troops south in order to seize the merit, resulting in the erosion of the hinterland of Jiangxi, and asked Emperor Xianfeng to make decisions for him.

Emperor Xianfeng knew that Wen Jun was likely to sue the wicked first, and he also knew that the erosion of the war situation in Jiangxi was the main responsibility for Wen Jun, who was incompetent in governing the territory, but Emperor Xianfeng very much agreed with the point put forward by Wen Jun - Wu Chaoyue was indeed desperately supporting Yang Wending's promotion, and Wu Chaoyue was also likely to want to grasp more power and military land through nepotism.

It is precisely because of this that after receiving the good news of the victory in Fuzhou, in the case of the jubilation of the Manchu Dynasty and many officials taking the opportunity to ask Emperor Xianfeng to reuse Yang Wending, Emperor Xianfeng still categorically rejected Su Shun's proposal to promote Yang Wending to the governor of Jiangxi, and said with a heartfelt speech: "Although Yang Aiqing's contribution this time is not small, after all, he has a previous sin, and at present, he is only an envoy, and the promotion is too excessive. ”

Su Shun, who rarely rejected the proposal once, was a little dumbfounded, and said hurriedly and cautiously: "Your Majesty, Yang Wending has been promoted from the post of inspector to governor, perhaps too exceeding, but Jiangxi is erosive, and nearly half of the province's prefectures and counties are entrenched by long hair, and the current governor Wenjun is reproached. Now that the imperial court has recovered Fuzhou and cut off the east-west connection of Jiangxi Changmao, it is appropriate to chase and fight fiercely and recover all the lost land in one fell swoop. ”

"What Aiqing said is extremely true." Emperor Xianfeng nodded and said: "Wen Jun's incompetence led to the fall of half of Jiangxi Province, and I have long been eager to eat his flesh and sleep on his skin. ”

agreed with Su Shun's suggestion to remove Wen Jun, Emperor Xianfeng immediately said: "In this way, let Ma Xiuru, the political envoy of Hubei, be promoted to the governor of Jiangxi, and Ma Aiqing will assist Wu Aiqing during the period of governing Hubei. It is in line with his intention to replace Wen Jun as the governor of Jiangxi and appease the people of Jiangxi who have been repeatedly affected by wars. ”

Su Shun faintly smelled something wrong, and hurriedly asked: "Master, after Ma Xiuru was transferred to the governor of Jiangxi, was the post of Hubei political envoy taken over by Li Qinggu, the Hubei envoy?" ”

"Transferred to Shanxi Province to take over as the political envoy." Emperor Xianfeng didn't want to answer Su Shun's question, and casually arranged for a Manchurian official to be promoted to Jixiang, and continued to monitor Wang Qingyun, the governor of Shanxi, who also held military power, and Xu Jiji, the general office of Shanxi League Training, Wang Qingyun's sworn friend.

"It's bad, the master has already made a decision."

Su Shun complained bitterly in his heart, knowing that Emperor Xianfeng's personnel transfers had been prepared for a long time, even if he was himself, it was impossible for Emperor Xianfeng to take back his fate. The result was not unexpected, and immediately after, when Emperor Xianfeng arranged to reward the meritorious soldiers of Fuzhou for the great victory, he was really much stingier than usual, and even Liu Mingchuan, who repelled Lai Guiying's main force three times, only promoted the false title to one level and hung up the third rank. In addition, in the case of the vacancy of the governor of Hubei, the kingdom, which performed quite well this time, failed to fill this vacancy.

"Did the master take the wrong medicine? Why did you suddenly decide to tighten the surveillance of the bunny? ”

Su Shun was even more bitter in his heart, not only understanding that Emperor Xianfeng arranged this way to strengthen the surveillance of Wu Chaoyue, but he didn't understand why Emperor Xianfeng was so suspicious of Wu Chaoyue? And after thinking about it carefully, Su Shun immediately thought of the Zhou Xiuying case that happened not long ago, and he was inevitably depressed in his heart, and said secretly: "Master, if you really suspect him so much because the little rabbit cub made a female hair bandit, then you, the emperor, are too small, right?" Compared with the dirty things that other officials are doing behind their backs, the little rabbit cub is definitely a moral gentleman. ”

…………

Emperor Xianfeng's decision to reward Fuzhou for the victory, as well as the sudden personnel adjustment of Hubei and Jiangxi provinces, also surprised Wu Chaoyue, and he didn't understand why Emperor Xianfeng was unwilling to let Yang Wending, who really mastered Jiangxi's elite, take over as governor of Jiangxi under such a favorable situation.

"Could it be because of Xiuying's matter that the Wild Boar Skin family became suspicious of me? It should be, otherwise, there is no reason to find it. Fortunately, judging from her grandfather's letters, Xiuying has not told him all the truth, and the possibility of leaking the news is very small. ”

and Wu Chaoyue came to the same conclusion, as well as Wu Chaoyue's henchmen Zhao Liewen and Yan Jingming, who also warned Wu Chaoyue in a roundabout way, asking Wu Chaoyue to try to be more restrained in the near future, so as not to arouse the vigilance of the Manchu court and the Xianfeng Emperor, and delay the major event of taking over as the governor of Huguang on the spot. After Wu Chaoyue nodded and was taught, he hurriedly asked Yan Jingming, who was more familiar with the situation in the capital: "Danchu, are you familiar with this person Jixiang?" ”

"I don't know it, I only know that he is a man with a blue flag in Manchuria, and his words are safe." Yan Jingming shook his head, and said with a wry smile: "But Weiting, the political envoy from Shanxi, you'd better not have any hopes." If there were any Qing officials in that position, the Jin merchants in the three counties of Qitaigu would not be rich enough to rival the country, and the trade tariffs between the imperial court and Russia would not only be collected a little bit every year. ”

Wu Chaoyue shrugged his shoulders helplessly, and said: "Come on, as long as you don't move the three things of Hankou, Daye and Yinyuan, he can do whatever he wants, dare to move these three items, and he will look good immediately!" ”

After speaking confidently, Wu Chaoyue frowned again and said: "It's a pity that Yang Wending has paid such a big price, and he hasn't been able to help him up, it seems that we want to indirectly control Jiangxi's affairs, and we have to continue to postpone it again." ”

"Isn't Boss Yang still affected by you? What kind of woman is not good, you have to engage in female banditry? ”

Zhao Liewen scolded in his heart, and then said with a smile: "Weiting, in my opinion, it may not be, the emperor refuses to let Mr. Yang take over as the governor of Jiangxi, but he has to transfer Ma Xiuru and Ma Fantai to the governor of Jiangxi, although it is beyond our expectations, it may not be a better opportunity for you, if you operate it well, maybe you can take Jiangxi immediately, and then let Lord Yang master another province." ”

"What do you mean?" Wu Chaoyue hurriedly asked.

"Ma Fantai would never be happy with this arrangement." Zhao Liewen smiled and said: "Not to mention that after you take over as the governor of Huguang in the future, it should be Ma Fantai's turn to take over as the governor of Hubei." Even if Ma Fantai did not expect to take over as the governor of Hubei, he would never be happy to be promoted from the post of political envoy of Hubei to the governor of Jiangxi! ”

"What does Jiangxi have now? In addition to the bandits all over the land, refugees everywhere, and mountains of military affairs, what else can Ma Fantai get when he arrives in Jiangxi? Moreover, Jiangxi is now fighting everywhere, and if you are not careful, you will immediately be on the upper body of the black pot, and the top will fall to the ground, and it is definitely not so easy for Ma Fantai to sit firmly in Jiangxi. ”

Wu Chaoyue listened to the calculation, and quickly understood what Zhao Liewen meant, and asked: "Huifu, do you mean to say that let me hurry up and reach an alliance with Ma Fantai and use his hand to control Jiangxi?" ”

Zhao Liewen nodded and said: "Ma Fantai is not a fool, he must know that he sits on the crater of the governor of Jiangxi, and if he wants to sit in a stable position, he must rely on the support of Elder Yang, in fact, it also depends on your support behind the scenes, at this time extend a hand of friendship to him, he will definitely not refuse, and he will definitely be grateful to you." ”

Wu Chaoyue made a little calculation, and immediately ordered Wu Dadao to send someone to invite Ma Xiuru to his house for dinner tonight, but Wu Dadao had just agreed, and before he could send a messenger, a personal soldier rushed to the door and saluted Wu Chaoyue: "Lord Futai, Master Dai of the Governor's Yamen sent someone to report that Hua Zhitai's condition is worsening, and Master Dai is worried that he will not be able to survive this pass, please go over immediately." ”

"What? I'll be there right away! ”

Wu Chaoyue was taken aback, and quickly retracted the decision to entertain Ma Xiuru, and immediately arranged to travel to visit Hua Shana, and at the same time, Wu Chaoyue's heart was also secretly bitter, and said secretly: "Hua Lao Fox, you must not have anything happen at this time, the Wild Boar Skin IX has just obviously become suspicious of me, and you suddenly lost your breath, and I am afraid that the matter of me taking over as the governor of Huguang will be suspended." ”

"Weiting, the famous British doctor Mr. Luo Weilin will be in Hankou, and he should immediately send someone to take him to the governor's yamen to help rescue the flower table."

Zhao Liewen suggested on the side, and said in a low voice: "No matter what, you have to help Huazhitai survive this hurdle, otherwise, the emperor may not let you take over as the governor of Huguang on the spot at this time." (To be continued.) )