In fact, if we do not consider the problem of strength and the haste of time, the overall battlefield situation is still quite favorable to Wu Junke's recovery state, because Yang Xiuqing, the real helmsman of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and Xianfeng the Emperor, the supreme military commander of the Qing army, are desperately dividing their troops, all of them are desperately stretching the battle line and diluting the troops, and dispersing the main combat forces on their own.

Of course, Yang Xiuqing desperately stretched the front and opened a new battlefield, and he also had his considerations, commanding the Taiping army to launch the Northern Expedition to the west, and at the same time advancing eastward to invade the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the main purpose was to lure the main force of the Qing army entrenched outside Nanjing to take the initiative to divide troops to the Rong Division, so that the Taiping Army's partial division would lead the main force of the Qing army around as before, consume the strength of the Qing army in the mobile warfare, and also create an opportunity for the main force of the Taiping army in Nanjing to annihilate the main force of the Qing army's Jiangnan battalion in one fell swoop.

As for the Qing army, Xiang Rong, who had suffered a big loss from the Taiping army in the wandering war, saw through Yang Xiuqing's wishful thinking at a glance, insisted on not letting the Jiangnan battalion divide his troops too much, and never gave the Taiping army a chance to annihilate the main force of the Qing army. However, the passive confrontation between Xiang Rong and the main force of the Taiping Army forced Emperor Xianfeng to constantly transfer troops and send generals to organize the Qing Army's partial divisions to deal with the Taiping Army's partial divisions, mobilized hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses, and spent money, food, and military salaries in millions of taels of silver, but he was never able to concentrate on giving the Taiping Army a heavy blow, but instead let the Taiping Army's various divisions see the needles, and constantly made breakthroughs in the weak areas of the Qing Army, containing more vital forces of the Qing Army, and the Manchu Qing Dynasty completely suppressed the Taiping Army uprising, which naturally became more distant.

In this context, the possibility that the Suzhou Taiping Army can continue to receive reinforcements is naturally very small, and as long as Yang Xiuqing has a long-term vision at the strategic level, the most ideal choice should be to avoid continuing to expand the scale of the war in the southern Jiangsu battlefield as much as possible, and use the precious vital forces on other more certain battlefields, first eliminate one or two Qing army divisions, free up troops and then deal with other Qing army divisions, and then gradually gain the overall upper hand.

It is a pity that although Yang Xiuqing, who was born as a charcoal burner, is talented and intelligent, he has always been limited by not receiving a good education, and has some problems in his strategic vision, and after receiving the news that Shanghai has been regained and lost, Yang Xiuqing not only did not think of reducing the scale of the war in southern Jiangsu and tried to avoid direct conflict with the difficult opponent Wu Chaoyue, but on the contrary, he also ordered Zeng Lichang, Xie Changsha and others who were alone in Wuxi, Suzhou, to expand their armaments with all their might, and counterattack Shanghai to find Wu Chaoyue for revenge at every opportunity. At the same time, the plan to send reinforcements to Zeng Lichang and others again has also appeared in Yang Xiuqing's mind.

On the contrary, Xiang Rong is quite smart on this point, and after recovering Shanghai, not only did he not rush to let Xu Naizhao and He Chun lead the Qing army back to Jiangning, but on the contrary, he also asked Yiliang, the governor of Liangjiang, to take the Qing army of Changzhou to the east to reinforce Xu Naizhao and others, preparing to kill Zeng Lichang and Xie Changsha who were alone in the battlefield in southern Jiangsu, so that Yiliang, Xu Naizhao, He Chun and Wu Chaoyue The four Qing armies completely free up their hands to worry about the future, and then go to Jiangning to help Xiang Rong.

In addition, Xiang Rong even once considered letting Qi Shan also lead the army south to reinforce the Su Wu battlefield, although he gave up because he was afraid that the Zhenjiang Taiping Army would take advantage of the situation to counterattack, but this is enough to prove that Xiang Rong is more clever than Yang Xiuqing in the strategic choice of the southern Jiangsu battlefield, and he sees it more thoroughly.

It's a pity that although Xiang Rong saw it thoroughly, the people who carried out the order were Yang Feng Yin disobeyed, and the power in the hands of Yiliang, the governor of Liangjiang, who had reported Qishan, was limited, and he didn't want to go to the battlefield of Ningzhen to be angry with Xiang Rong and Qi Shan, and he was not enthusiastic about counterattacking Suzhou and Wuxi. Xu Naizhao and He Chun, who had long been fed up with Xiang Rong's anger outside Jiangning City, were the same, relying on the great achievements of recovering Shanghai in their hands, calculating that even if they couldn't defeat Suzhou for half a year, Xiang Rong, who couldn't take Jiangning for more than a year, was in front of them, and they also didn't want to rush to recapture Suzhou and give Xiang Rong the opportunity to transfer his own army. Therefore, after Xiang Rong's orders were sent to Changzhou and Shanghai respectively, Yiliang and Xu Naizhao didn't even bother to send troops symbolically perfunctory, and always stood still, and Hechun, who had regained a foothold in Kunshan, also took the opportunity to stay in Kunshan City and no longer move - if the friendly troops don't come to help, what can we do with the military gate?

Only Wu Chaoyue really used his brains to figure out how to overcome Fuzhou, although the strength in his hands is insufficient, but Wu Chaoyue also has another hope, that is, his lover Zhou Xiuying, the junior junior, may be able to persuade Zeng Lichang to send troops to Changzhou and transfer the tiger away from the mountain to create opportunities for himself. For this reason, Wu Chaoyue also sent a large number of meticulous eyeliners to closely monitor the every move of the Taiping Army in Suzhou, hoping that Zeng Lichang would quickly send troops to the west to find trouble with Yiliang, who was outnumbered.

A miracle appeared, ten days after the second fornication with Zhou Xiuying, there was good news from Suzhou, saying that Zhou Lichun had transferred to Wuxi with his direct army, although Wu Jun did not find that the Taiping army had the possibility of using troops to Changzhou, but Wu Chaoyue saw at a glance that this was likely to be the Taiping army's plan to secretly cross Chen Cang, and Zhou Xiuying was also likely to have persuaded Zeng Lichang to prepare to attack Changzhou - Yiliang has been in peace with Xie Changsha in the Yanghu area, and the Taiping army is ready to attack Changzhou, There is no reason to strengthen the forces of Wuxi!

Guessing this, Wu Chaoyue of course immediately strengthened the combat preparations so that he could send troops to attack Suzhou at any time, and at the same time adopted Zhou Tenghu's suggestion, in order to prevent the Taiping army from advancing eastward along the Wu Yan River, he sent two battalions of troops in advance to Baihe Port on the edge of Suzhou Prefecture, so as to preemptively lay out the layout in order to seize the opportunity.

When the army was busy preparing for war, another good news suddenly came, Wu Chaoyue's famous fellow countryman Rong Hong finally came to Shanghai via Hong Kong after graduating from Yale University. Wu Chaoyue was overjoyed when he heard the news, and hurriedly took Zhao Liewen and Huang Sheng to the dock to greet Rong Hong, and gave Rong Hong a bear hug as soon as they met, and said excitedly in his hometown dialect: "Brother Rong, Brother Chunfu, we finally met again, remember me?" When you went to study in the United States seven years ago, my grandfather took me to the docks to see you off, and I was only twelve years old. ”

"Remember, remember." Rong Hong hugged Wu Chaoyue with a smile on his face, and said in his hometown dialect: "At that time, you asked me, when will you come back?" But I didn't expect anything at that time, and by the time I returned to China seven years later, not only would I be famous all over the world, but even newspapers in the United States would have reported your name and deeds, praising you as the only Qing person who really understands the West. ”

"He is already a member of the third rank of the imperial court."

A middle-aged man in his thirties stood beside Rong Hong, and interjected with a smile: "Sanpin, who is less than twenty years old, has been in the Qing Dynasty for hundreds of years, and there are really not a few such young and promising young heroes. ”

Looking at the middle-aged man suspiciously, seeing that he usually had a cross on his chest, Wu Chaoyue was a little inexplicable, so he asked Rong Hong: "Brother Chunfu, this priest is ......." ”

"The friend I met in Hong Kong is Shui Qianyi." For some reason, Rong Hong's eyes flickered a little, and he said vaguely: "He is an evangelist, a native of Hong Kong, and he also knows a lot about Western culture. ”

"Since it's Brother Chunfu's friend, it's also my friend." Wu Chaoyue greeted: "Quick, don't talk here, go to my house, let's not get drunk today!" ”

Rong Hong did not rush to agree, but glanced at Shui Qianyi first, and it was not until Shui Qianyi nodded that Rong Hong accepted Wu Chaoyue's invitation with a smile. Seeing this scene, Wu Chaoyue was of course a little strange in his heart, and said secretly: "Why is something wrong?" What kind of person is Rong Hong, how can he obey this Shui Qianyi's words? ”

On that day, Wu Chaoyue set up a luxurious banquet in his own house that had just been snatched back, warmly entertained Rong Hong and his friend Shui Qianyi, Huang Sheng, Zhao Liewen, Zhou Tenghu and Wu Xiaohua and others as accompaniment, and the old comprador Wu who received the news also hurriedly returned home and accepted Rong Hong's sincere thanks.

Wu Lao Comprador and Rong Hong and Huang Sheng are all fellow countrymen, Shui Qianyi has received Western education and has a common language, and Zhou Tenghu and Zhao Liewen, although the two unscrupulous uncles are both scholars who read Baguwen, they are open-minded and can accept Western things. During the banquet, everyone naturally talked happily, and when the wine was half-drunk, Rong Hong, who had a hearty personality, also took the initiative to talk about the current situation, and asked Wu Chaoyue: "Comfort Pavilion, there is a big mess today, and long hair is rampant, I don't know what you think of the current and future situation?" ”

There are too many outsiders present, especially one who doesn't know the details of Shui Qianyi, Wu Chaoyue is of course a big official, and said with a smile: "Brother Chunfu's words are wrong, although the long hair is a little rampant at the moment, but it is just a group of clowns who jump off the beam, and sooner or later they will inevitably die by themselves, so there is nothing to be afraid of." Moreover, the thief rebellion in the Qing Dynasty was only limited to the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, how could we talk about the chaos in the world? Brother Chunfu rest assured, it will not take long for Long Hair to be pacified by the imperial court, and the world will return to great governance, and then it will be time for Brother Chunfu to show your talents. ”

Hearing Wu Chaoyue's official tone, the corners of Shui Qianyi's mouth showed an imperceptible sneer, but disappointment flashed in Rong Hong's eyes, but Rong Hong still nodded reluctantly, pretending to agree with Wu Chaoyue's opinion, and then Rong Hong asked again: "Wei Ting, you are now a member of the third grade, and the imperial court has entrusted you with such a heavy responsibility, how do you plan to serve the imperial court?" Use your power to benefit the people, become rich and strong? ”

"Then you still need to ask?" Wu Chaoyue didn't want to open his mouth to come, "Of course, he is loyal to the monarch and serves the country, is diligent in government and loves the people, promotes agriculture and mulberry, runs education, governs the place and appeases the people, and lives up to the grace of the king and the hope of Li Shu." ”

Rong Hong was even more disappointed, but for the sake of receiving the great favor of the Wu family, Rong Hong still said again: "Weiting, then what education are you going to do?" Middle School Eight Shares, or Western Science and Technology? ”

"Chinese and Western studies at the same time, middle school as the body, Western learning for use." Wu Chaoyue moved out of Zhang Zhidong's cliché, "Step by step, let the Chinese people gradually accept Western studies and Western affairs, and then promote Western studies." ”

Rong Hong nodded again, but his face could not hide the disappointment, he just raised the wine and took another sip, Wu Chaoyue saw his thoughts, and took the initiative to ask: "Brother Chunfu, in your opinion, how should I set up education?" ”

After glancing at Wu Chaoyue, Rong Hong barely cheered up and said: "Weiting, foreigners say that you are the Qing people who know the West best, and you must also know very well how big the imperial examination of the Qing Dynasty and the modern education of the West are. If the Qing Dynasty wants the country to be rich and the people strong, and if China wants to stand side by side with the Western powers, the only way to do this is to go all out to learn the modern education of the West. ”

Wu Chaoyue smiled bitterly, Wu Jianzhang and Wu Xiaohua also smiled bitterly, and Zhou Tenghu and Zhao Liewen also glanced at each other, and muttered in their hearts with a wry smile, "Nerd." is still a foreign nerd who reads foreigners' books. ”

After smiling bitterly, Wu Chaoyue nodded and said: "Brother Chunfu, of course what you said makes sense, but you don't know too much about the national conditions of the Qing Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty Imperial Examination Road leads to officialdom, and all the smart people in the world drill into the eight stocks of the imperial examination, how many people can settle down to study Western studies and study science and technology?" Moreover, given the number of Western scholars in the Qing Dynasty, how many of them can afford to take on the important task of spreading Western studies? ”

"Then abolish the imperial examination and vigorously introduce and cultivate Western scholars!" Rong Hong was shocked, and said: "Comfort Ting, you are a member of the three grades, you can directly hand the excerpt to the military machine and present it to the emperor of the Qing Dynasty, if you can persuade the imperial court to abolish the imperial examination, make every effort to introduce and cultivate Western scholars, and build science and technology to build industry, then in less than 20 years, with the land of the Qing Dynasty, the vast resources, resources and population, will definitely be comparable to the world powers!" ”

With a snort, Zhao Liewen directly squirted out the wine in his mouth, Zhou Tenghu couldn't help laughing, Wu Lao comprador turned pale, and Wu Chaoyue directly smiled bitterly: "Chunfu, do you want my life?" Let me go to the fold and ask for the abolition of the imperial examination? Believe it or not, if I hand over this excerpt today, tomorrow I will be drowned by the saliva of the world's readers! ”

Don't speculate with Wu Chaoyue, Rong Hong took the initiative to close his mouth, and Wu Chaoyue said with a smile: "Brother Chunfu, I know that you are in a hurry, in fact, I am more anxious than you, but there is no way, where the national situation is, it is useless for us to be anxious, we can only take our time." ”

Wu Chaoyue's extraneous voice did not move Rong Hong, and Rong Hong, who could not hide his disappointment, stopped talking much, and in the end, it was Rong Hong's former classmate Huang Sheng who opened his mouth and invited Rong Hong to the Wu Jun weapons research laboratory he was in charge of.

The banquet ended in a rather dull atmosphere, although Wu Lao Comprador and Wu Chaoyue strongly invited Rong Hong to live in their house, but Rong Hong, who was accustomed to Western life, insisted on staying in the concession, Wu Chaoyue had no choice but to send someone to escort Rong Hong and Shui Qianyi to the concession to stay, and took out the silver early to pay for the house to Rong Hong and Shui Qianyi. As a result, as soon as Rong Hong left on his front foot, the old comprador Wu immediately said to Wu Chaoyue: "Chaoyue, be careful when dealing with Chunfu, don't let him miss your future." ”

Wu Chaoyue nodded honestly and was taught, and finally when Zhao Liewen and Zhou Tenghu returned to the camp of the army, Zhao Liewen also said to Wu Chaoyue: "Weiting, although Mr. Rong is proficient in Western studies, he is too ignorant of Qing officialdom and too anxious. If you want to reuse him, you have to seize the time to talk to him alone and let him know your true ambitions, otherwise, even if he is reluctant to use you, it will only harm him and then affect you. ”

Wu Chaoyue nodded and said, "I have already seen this, let him take a look at my weapons laboratory tomorrow, and let him know how many Western goods I have in my stomach." Then I will take time to talk to him and let him know that I am a hundred times more anxious than him on the major matter of the revival of China! ”

After that, Wu Chaoyue also raised a question in his heart, and asked Zhao Liewen and Zhou Tenghu: "Huifu, Mr. Taofu, have you found it?" With Rong Chunfu, Shui Qianyi seems to be a little wrong, although he doesn't talk much, but he has been listening to our conversation attentively, Rong Chunfu is with him, it seems that he also has a bit of a forward-looking attitude? ”

"He laughed a few times." Zhou Tenghu took over the topic and said, "I noticed that when you and Mr. Rong were not speculative, Lord Zhentai, he laughed a few times, and he laughed very strangely, as if he was mocking you, Lord Zhentai. ”

Zhao Liewen agreed, saying that he also found that Shui Qianyi's attitude towards Wu Chaoyue seemed to be wrong, Wu Chaoyue wondered in his heart, but he couldn't remember that there was a famous person named Shui Qianyi in history. I really couldn't figure it out, Wu Chaoyue simply instructed Wu Dadao: "Competition, arrange a reliable person to carefully investigate the situation of this Shui Qianyi for me, and report to me immediately if you have any gains." But remember, don't alarm Rong Hong and that Shui Qianyi. ”

When Wu Chaoyue ordered the investigation of Shui Qianyi, the mysterious Shui Qianyi had already lived in a hotel in the concession with Rong Hong, although the people of the Wu Mansion wantonly squandered Wu Chaoyue's hard-earned money to open a single room for Shui Qianyi and Rong Hong, but as soon as he settled down, Shui Qianyi immediately entered Rong Hong's room, and said with a smile to Rong Hong: "Chunfu, how is it, I am not wrong, right?" If you want to count on Wu Chaoyue to fulfill your life's wishes, it is completely daydreaming and wishful thinking. ”

Rong Hong sat on the edge of the bed silently, and only sighed after a while, and said: "It's really better to meet than to be famous, I really didn't expect that Wu Chaoyue, who is famous in the West, is so timid, hypocritical and timid in the Qing Kingdom, and there is no difference between those corrupt and ignorant bureaucrats in the Qing Kingdom." ”

"So, you'd better come with me." Shui Qianyi smiled and said: "Only my brother can help you realize your long-cherished wish, run education and industry, set up a military school and a naval school, change the political system and establish a new system, and create a new China on a par with the Western powers." Your old benefactor's grandson can't do that, and he won't do it. ”

Rong Hong was silent again, and said after a while: "I'll think about it again, and I also want to observe him again." If he really can't help Adou, then I'll go with you. ”

"Whatever you want, but I bet you'll only get more and more disappointed in him."

Shui Qianyi nodded with a smile, and then snorted coldly in his heart: "Rong Hong, the first Chinese student to graduate from Yale University in the United States, such a rare talent, I will never let you fall into the hands of the Transcendence Demon!" (To be continued.) )