Hearing Xianfeng's attitude towards the two people in charge of Jiangning City, all the ministers breathed a sigh of relief, and it seemed that the emperor was really angry. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Suddenly, the atmosphere became lively, and the compliments sounded in unison: "The emperor Shengming, pity the servants (courtiers), although it is difficult to repay ten thousand deaths!" ”

Xianfeng suddenly thought of Lan Guiren's words, and his heart moved, and said: "The matter of transferring troops will be agreed between several of your military ministers and the Ministry of War, and then submitted to me for approval." But there is one point, just now the Ministry of Industry Shang Shu Linkui said reasonably, you can't let two Cantonese thieves join forces in one place, and Huguang must not lose! ”

"Therefore, I want to order people to prepare for the establishment of a sailor in the area of Yuezhou Dongting in Huguang, I don't know if there is anyone who can recommend it?" Xianfeng got to the point.

"The emperor is wise! If you get an elite sailor, the Cantonese bandits will not dare to be so arrogant. It's just that my banner people are all northerners, and they have never been good at water warfare, but it is difficult to find this person who leads the water division! Mu Yin replied.

He knows Xianfeng's personality very well, and only talks about the construction of the water division, but does not mention the funds and soldiers, presumably he is letting the people who prepare for the construction raise it themselves. Therefore, with a word, he took out his own series.

Wen Qing suddenly said: "Your Majesty, the land of Huguang is best known to local people. Weichen thought of one person, who was the most in line with the emperor's requirements! ”

Xianfeng was overjoyed when he heard this, and said hurriedly: "Who did Aiqing say?" ”

"But it is the former cabinet bachelor, and the right waiter of the Ministry of Rites, the left waiter of the Ministry of War and the right waiter of the Ministry of Works, but his person is a native of Changsha Mansion, last year because of his mother's funeral at home, after the Guangdong thieves crossed the border, he obeyed the emperor's order, prepared to set up a group training in Changsha, heard the report last month, and killed nearly a thousand Guangdong thieves."

"Oh! Zeng Aiqing, I know. However, there is also some bookish spirit. Xianfeng remembered that Zeng Guofan once wrote a book to expose his shortcomings, and he was a little disliked.

Qi Liaozao also said: "The emperor Shengming, a scholar, how to command the army? What's more, if he builds troops in the countryside, what if his soldiers only recognize him and don't recognize the court? ”

When Xianfeng heard this, his face changed, and he wanted to veto the matter, but he didn't want Wen Qing to answer: "Your Majesty, although Zeng Disheng is not a Han minister, he is loyal to the court, he comes from the field, knows the people's suffering, and is familiar with thieves. The nearly 1,000 Cantonese thieves killed last month were all his fellow villagers, and he was willing to risk such an infamy, which shows his loyalty to the imperial court! At the moment when the country is in crisis, it is precisely such a decisive person who can carry out the army to deal with the bandits. ”

Lin Kui, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry and Minister of Military Aircraft, also advised: "The emperor is wise! If you train a sailor on the Yangtze River, you can snatch the Yangtze River and uproot the Cantonese thieves. The minions agreed with the Zeng Guofan mentioned by Master Wen, who was recently called 'Zeng Shaved' by his hometown, which means that he treated the thieves with cruelty. The minion looks at it, but he is the right person to form a water division. ”

When Xianfeng heard this, he thought it was true, and said: "I have made up my mind, so I will appoint Zeng Guofan as the assistant minister of the regimental training of the two provinces of southern and Hubei, and he will prepare for the establishment of a naval division in the area of Huguangyue Prefecture and Wuchang on his own, and pay close attention to the preparation of the regimental training and protect the place!"

……….

Five days later, Zeng Guofan in Changsha City received the holy decree brought by the 600-mile fast horse, but he wanted to cry without tears.

Half of it was because Emperor Xianfeng valued himself and was moved by Wen Qing and other important ministers in the court to promote him, but more importantly, he hated the long-haired thieves and harmed himself to such a point!

It turned out that he already knew the root cause of his last assassination, in addition to being inhumane, there was also the sound of inaudible water. Now the emperor specially issued a holy decree to appoint him as the assistant minister of the two provinces of Huguang and Guangzhou, and ordered him to train sailors in Dongting Lake, but he couldn't hear the sound of water, how ironic and embarrassing is this?

Qin's order came down, and it was as he wished, of course he couldn't refuse. But I can't hear the sound of water, but what to do, I can't help but have a headache.

At this time, Zeng Jize, the eldest son who was more than ten years old, told the story of covering his ears and stealing the bell to his second son Zeng Jihong, who was only four years old. That is, as soon as they reached the water's edge, they firmly blocked their ears with cotton wool, and the communication was carried out by writing.

Zeng Guofan, who had made up his mind, received the holy decree, so he arranged manpower to personally organize and train in the Changsha area, and at the same time prepared to find someone to form a Dongting sailor in the Dongting area of Yuezhou.

Hearing that the imperial court ordered Zeng Guofan to set up a water division in Yuezhou, his friend and staff member Guo Songtao stepped forward and suggested: "Brother Disheng, now you can't listen to the sound of water, so you can't form a water division yourself." Or order someone else to form a water division, and you can command in Changsha in the center. Song Tao came, but he recommended you to be the commander of the water division. ”

"Brother Bochen, now the Cantonese thieves have captured Jiangning and shaken the entire imperial court. According to the national domain, it is indeed its sailor thief's amazing combat power, and the water surface of the Yangtze River is invincible. Now the imperial court has ordered me to operate the water division, but it is a wise move. Bochen, you can tell me who is suitable, right? Zeng Guofan said eagerly.

"Originally, there was a person named Peng Yulin, a native of Zhajiang, Hengyang County, Hengzhou Prefecture, who was born in the army and was good at the method of water warfare, and was the most suitable person to train water masters. It's a pity that I heard a while ago, but this person was originally taken away by the long-haired thief, and now he is training sailors on the Xiangjiang River in Yongzhou Mansion to serve the thieves! ”

When Zeng Guofan heard this, he was shocked and said, "Why is such a talent invited by a long-haired thief?" He couldn't help but marvel that there was Zuo Zongtang before, who was invited away by the long-haired thief, and now there is Peng Yulin, who was also invited away by the long-haired thief.

And all this can't help but make him feel as if there is an invisible black hand, who knows the affairs of Huxiang so well, and even a person like himself who has just returned home for a funeral can plan in advance and assassinate himself. Thinking about it like this, I can't help but feel a chill in my back, what is the reason for this, so I know so many things?

Don't? The long-haired Yue thieves, what kind of religion of worship of God from the West do they believe, what is really special about it, and they can know some secrets?

Guo Songtao saw that Zeng Guofan was distracted, and reminded: "Brother Disheng doesn't have to be in a hurry. Now that Peng Yulin is gone, there is still one person who is also qualified for this position. This person's name is Yang Zaifu, he is a member of the Shanhua clan of Changsha Prefecture, born in the army, leading troops for many years, strong martial arts, and leading troops. ”

"Great, he is not only a local villager in Changsha, but also recommended by Bochen's brother, and the sailor battalion official is this person. As for strategy, Luo Zenan, Wang Zhu, Liu Rong and others can make one person assist them. Zeng Guofan was happy at first, but he had a headache when he thought of the holy decree that he was ordered to "raise his own military expenses": "However, in addition to the generals, it is necessary to recruit soldiers of the naval division and build warships and artillery, but it requires a lot of silver. The main headache for my brother is this, and there are too many recruits, will it cause suspicion above! ”

Zeng Guofan is telling the truth. At present, the "Xiang Yong" in the "Hunan Trial Bureau" he has set up is only Xiang Yong of Xiangxiang County, and he knows very well that his first goal is to build it into the Xiang Yong of the entire Hunan Province, but in order to achieve this goal, according to the current 1,500 people, it is far from enough.

But if Xiangyong is expanded now, it will attract criticism as soon as it comes. At present, the imperial court supervised only a few provinces where the Changmao Incident occurred, which can be regarded as government-run group exercises, last year it was Guangdong, Guangxi, and Munan, and this year a total of 10 provinces such as Mubei, Qianxi, Anman, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guizhou were allowed to hold group exercises.

However, the other nine provinces did not have such a large regimental training as Munan, and the regimental members directly controlled by the assistant minister of regimental training were only two or three hundred. And himself, directly in his hands, has already done 500 people, and it will be expanded, Emperor Xianfeng, who has always been seriously suspicious, and other Manchu bannermen in the court, will definitely criticize.

Second, there is a lack of money. He knew that since the Guangxi Changmao Uprising, the entire imperial court's funds have been stretched thin. Do you want the imperial court to allocate money, and you want Governor Luo Bingzhang to allocate money? Unlikely. Even the emperor's decree is clearly written, "self-financing".

Therefore, for these two points, Zeng Guofan is at a loss.

Guo Songtao deserves to be an excellent staff member, and after a little thought, he came up with a solution for Zeng Guofan.

"Brother Disheng, you are indeed smart, and you have been confused for a while! To expand Xiangyong, is it not simple? I remember that a while ago, Brother Minqiao wrote to him that he led Chu Yong to pursue the Cantonese thieves in the area of Xi'an, and after several battles, Chu Yong suffered serious losses and could not be replenished. This is the best opportunity to expand Xiangyong! ”

When Zeng Guofan heard this, he knew that the Minqiao brother in his mouth was because Jiang Zhongyuan, who had made great contributions to recovering Changsha City and pursuing the long-haired thief, had been newly promoted to Hubei as an envoy a while ago.

"Okay, you brother Bochen, you mean, let Brother Minqiao come forward, and he will make it clear to the emperor, and entrust the Hunan assistant regiment training minister to recruit thousands of brave soldiers in Munan, train them into an army, and then hand them over to Brother Minqiao for command." The more Zeng Guofan spoke, the more he felt that this was a feasible solution, and said with joy on his face: "It's indeed a good idea!" At present, Jiangning City has also been captured by Cantonese thieves, and the imperial court is short of troops, presumably the emperor will agree to come down. However, how to raise the money? ”

"Although it is difficult to raise money, there are still ways to do it." Guo Songtao smiled unnaturally and explained: "Songtao has raised a batch of soldiers in Xiangyin, and after a while, he can collect 200,000 taels. ”

Zeng Guofan was shocked when he heard this, and said: "I can't do it!" I can't help it! Bochen, although you have a wide range of contacts, it is impossible for you to make up so much, at least most of them are made up by yourself, right? I can't sell my property, so how will I meet someone in the future? ”

Guo Songtao waved his hand and said with a smile: "It's okay, everything that should be sold has already been sold." If you don't want to go in your heart, how about borrowing from me? Moreover, now you not only want to expand Xiangyong, but also to form a water division, and you urgently need a large sum of silver taels, and these 200,000 taels are far from enough. I've also thought of ways to raise money. ”

Zeng Guofan was deeply moved, bowed with red eyes, and choked up: "Bochen, Guofan is glad to have a brother like you!" If he succeeds in the future, he will be rewarded! Hearing that Guo Songtao still had a way, he asked again: "But what is the method?" (To be continued.) )