Since the day when he was lucky enough to escape the Taiping Army's water attack, for six or seven consecutive days, our monk and prince have never seen Wu Chaoyue, the little comprador who made him hate the disease.

However, this is not surprising, Wu Jun Lianyong's camp is on the north bank of the Haihe River outside the north gate of Tianjin, and the camp of the monk and prince is eight miles outside the south gate of Tianjin. At the same time, Shengbao has never convened the generals of the Qing army during this period, so our monk and prince naturally don't need to meet with Wu Chaoyue, who has a hateful face.

During this period, the Taiping army was always immovable, in addition to strictly guarding the city, it was desperately reinforcing the city fortifications, except for sending a small number of scouts to reconnoiter the movement outside the city, and then did not send an army out of the city to fight, and the attitude of sticking to the non-war was extremely resolute, and the Qing army temporarily maintained a state of passive confrontation.

But there is also one thing that has slightly attracted the attention of our monk and prince, that is, Shengbao felt that the strength in his hands was still a little insufficient, and ordered Zhu Zhen, the prefect of Tianjin, to Bazhou and Baoding to recruit more than 2,000 Lian Yong to Tianjin to help in the war, these ragged Lian Yong arrived at the Tianjin battlefield successively, and were ordered by Shengbao to be placed in the camp of the Qing army outside the west gate of Tianjin, and also expanded the camp of Baohuan a lot for this purpose.

In this regard, of course, the monk and the prince scoffed, "What are you looking for so many broken grass people to do?" If you can't go into battle, you can't fight, and no matter how much you come, it's a waste of military salaries, money and food! ”

Of course, our noble monk and prince will not take such a trivial matter as expanding Lian Yong to heart, but soon, another thing aroused the vigilance of Monk Lingqin - I don't know if it was the rumor released by the person who killed a thousand knives, saying that Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing sent a large reinforcement to Li Kaifang. It is at a very fast speed, and it has also hit the territory of Shandong. Emperor Xianfeng had also ordered Shengbao to divide his troops to the south to cooperate with the Qing army in Shandong to exterminate the reinforcements of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Then I went back and cleaned up the long hair in Tianjin City.

Able to force tens of thousands of Qing troops to attack the firepower network woven by foreigners with foreign guns and cannons, of course, our monk and prince also have a small hand in governing the army, after hearing this absurd rumor that affects the morale of the army, Monk Greenqin of course immediately ordered a ban on dissemination, and ordered generals at all levels to come forward to refute the rumors and announce that there is no such thing! At the same time, in view of the flood of rumors and the bad influence, Seng Lingqin also arranged for a special person to investigate the source of the rumors to see who the culprit behind it was!

The source of the rumor was quickly investigated, but the result surprised our monk and prince - this rumor. It turned out to be from Shengbao's Beicang battalion and the main force of the Qing army! Then without waiting for Monk Greenqin to think about whether to impeach Shengbao for the crime of ineffective management of the army by virtue of this matter, Monk Greenqin placed the eyeliner Ruichang in the Shengbao army but secretly came to the monk and asked Monk Greenqin: "Monk Wangye, I heard that the reinforcements of Long Mao have hit Dongpingzhou in the hinterland of Shandong, and the emperor ordered Shengbao to divide his troops to the south to intercept it, is this true or false?" ”

"What are you asking for?" Monk Lingqin was a little surprised, and asked in confusion: "Why did you suddenly remember this?" The long-haired reinforcements hit Dongping, such a ridiculous thing, do you believe it? ”

"The last general will not believe it at first. But this matter was spread everywhere in the Beicang camp, with noses and eyes, and the last general and Tong Dutong felt strange, but they did not receive official news. So I'll ask you directly. Ruichang replied truthfully.

Monk Lingqin was completely confused, and hurriedly asked, "What is the reaction of that dog minion of Shengbao?" ”

"There was no reaction." Ruichang replied honestly: "Marshal Sheng has not been promoted to the army in the past few days, and he rarely shows up in the army. Admiral wasn't sure if he had heard the rumor, but Admiral was sure. He did not let the battalion generals refute the rumors. ”

"Didn't refute the rumors?" Monk Greenqin was vigilant in his heart -- in Monk Greenqin's view, the officialdom nouveau riche Shengbao was absolutely a mess in terms of managing the army. But it's not so bad that rumors aren't even banned, especially if it's such an important rumor.

After being vigilant, of course, he was suspicious, and after being suspicious, the monk Greenqin of course hurriedly picked up the latest newspaper of the imperial court to read it, but unfortunately the newspaper did not mention half a sentence about the reinforcements of the Taiping Army, and the official army related to Shandong is also making every effort to encircle and suppress the Twist Army that has flowed into Shandong from Anhui, and what kind of twist is just around the corner, and Zhang Lexing will not die well sooner or later. However, the more no information was found in the newspaper, the more suspicious Monk Lingqin became, so he simply wrote a letter to his backstage boss and ordered the general Mianyu to ask Mianyu to verify the matter. At the same time, he ordered Ruichang to return to the camp and Tong Jian and others to listen carefully to the movements in the army, and if there is any abnormality, report it immediately!

Next, Mianyu did not reply, a new accident suddenly happened, that night, the monk army patrol found that there were Taiping army spies out of the city from the east gate of Tianjin, trying to find the north to do what chicken and dog thieves do, after the patrol under the command of the monk Wang Ye launched an attack, those Taiping army spies immediately retreated to the city. After the news was reported to the monk and the prince, Monk Lingqin was inevitably a little inexplicable, "What is the long-haired fine work going north for?" Where is Wu Chaoyue's camp for the little barbarian? Could it be that Longhair wants to sneak up on his camp? That's a good thing, go ahead. ”

The matter is not over, the next day, Shengbao suddenly sent someone to send an order to the monk Lingqin, saying that in view of the frequent activities of the long-haired fine work and the scouts in recent days, there seem to be signs of attack, and the monk and the prince are required to strictly guard the camp. And after reading Shengbao's written order, the first thought in the monk's heart was, "Something is wrong?" In order to please his master, Shengbao, a dog minion, resolutely opposed the siege of the city by diverting water, and it was a good thing for him to go out of the city to fight, so why did he want this king to take the defensive? ”

The more I thought about it, the more I felt that the situation was wrong, and the monk who was enjoying the beautiful concubine in the camp all day finally felt that he shouldn't sit and wait, and he should take the initiative to go out and take a look to see why Shengbao gave this strange order? After making up on this idea, our monk and prince did not hesitate, and immediately made camp defense arrangements, and then led a team of light cavalry out of the camp to observe the situation near Tianjin City.

The situation outside Tianjin was as calm as a few days ago, the Taiping army closed the city gate and did not come out, and the generals under the command of Qingqi and other monks and princes also led Lian Yong to stand still in the city. Closely monitoring the movements of the Taiping army also served as a buffer wall and shield for the main camp of the monk and the prince. After a cursory inspection, the monk first went to the camp of Baohuan and Dahong'a outside the West Gate to check the situation. However, he saw that the second army of Baohuan and Dahonga were reinforcing the fortifications of the camp, and they were also digging the fourth and fifth trenches on the basis of the three trenches to protect the camp. The monk was inevitably even more suspicious in his heart, so he hurriedly put down the shelf and went to the construction site in person, asking the Qing soldiers who were digging the trench why they were digging more trenches? As a result, those Qing soldiers bravely replied: "Back to the prince, we don't know why we have to dig deep trenches, and we are told to dig them, so we will dig them." ”

Blinking his eyes, the monk and the prince hurriedly crossed the Haihe River, which had been covered with thick ice, and went directly to the north bank of the Haihe River, and then the monk and the prince were not in a hurry to go to the Beicang camp in the west to understand the situation. Instead, he chose to go east to check the camp of the Qing army, Dexing Abe and Wu Chaoyue. The result was still the same, Dexing'a and Wu Chaoyue's camp was also digging a trench to strengthen the camp defense, and the monk felt more and more strange in his heart, so he took the cavalry to the Beicang camp to ask to meet Shengbao.

As usual, Shengbao still took Zaiyuan, the only one in the Qing military camp who could suppress the monk and the prince, to meet Monk Greenqin, and after meeting, Monk Greenqin asked Shengbao directly: "Shengshuai, this king has something unclear." I have come to ask for advice, may I ask the marshal, the emperor and the imperial court want us to break through Tianjin as soon as possible and exterminate Changmao, why did you order all battalions to strengthen their defenses? ”

"For the sake of the safety of our battalions, of course." Katsuho replied vaguely. said: "The long-haired treacherous, without fighting for days, and their scouts have been active frequently in recent days. The commander was worried that they would suddenly go out of the city and launch a sneak attack, so he ordered the battalions to strengthen their defenses. ”

"So handsome. Recently, it has been rumored in the army that Changmao's reinforcements have entered Shandong, and the emperor has ordered you to divide your troops to the south to cooperate with the Shandong official army to block the attack. I wonder if the marshal has ever heard such a rumor? ”

Monk Greenqin asked unceremoniously, but Shengbao's reaction made Monk Greenqin very puzzled, and he even showed a look of surprise, and asked rhetorically: "Monk Wang, there are such rumors in the army?" How could Ben Shuai not know? ”

Seng Lingqin was furious and unceremoniously pointed out that this rumor had long been Sima Zhao's heart - everyone knew about it. Sheng Bao also said: "Thank you for informing the prince, Ben Shuai will investigate, this will investigate, see who released the rumors, and find out the culprit who spread these rumors as soon as possible, and make him a typical example." ”

Monk Greenqin's expression slowed down slightly, and he secretly scolded Shengbao in his heart for being incompetent to this point, and he didn't even know how to stop such a dangerous rumor. Then after another nonsense, Monk Greenqin quit the camp and prepared to strengthen the defense of the camp according to Shengbao's requirements. However, after leaving the Beicang camp, after our monk and prince thought about it carefully, he felt that the situation was still a little wrong - it was true that Shengbao was a waste, but Zaiyuan was not a dry eater, how could he not have heard such rumors? Moreover, as the commander of the whole army, Zaiyuan was ordered to supervise the lieutenant general and the military discipline in the battalion, so he must have heard that ridiculous rumor a long time ago?

The more I pondered it, the more I felt that something was wrong, and our monk suddenly remembered a very important point - as Shengbao's de facto right-hand man, and holding the most elite army of the Qing Army in Tianjin, it was impossible for Wu Chaoyue not to know the inside story! And if Shengbao really has any conspiracy, he must be using Wu Chaoyue as a pioneer!

Thinking of this, Monk Lingqin simply led the light cavalry directly to the gate of Wu Chaoyue's camp, in a vain attempt to open a breakthrough from Wu Chaoyue. However, when he arrived at the gate of the Wu army camp and asked to meet Wu Chaoyue, Wu Jun Lianyong, who was guarding the camp with a foreign gun on his back, said to Monk Greenqin: "Lord Wang, I'm very sorry, our Lord Wu was passed by Marshal Sheng just now, and he happened to be not in the camp. ”

"Passed by Katsuho?" Monk Greenqin was even more puzzled in his heart, and said: "This king just came from Sheng Dashuai, he is not here?" Also, on the way to this king, I didn't meet him? ”

"This ......, the villain doesn't know."

Guarding the door Lian Yong shook his head, but at this time, our monk and prince immediately discovered a major flaw, and immediately asked Wu Jun Lian Yong: "Why do you have a northern accent?" Wu Chaoyue's Lian Yong is all southerners, how can you have a northern accent? Show your waist card to the king! ”

That Wu Jun Lian Yong didn't dare to say anything, and the monk Lingling Qin opened his mouth again to threaten, and that Lian Yong had no choice but to obediently untie the waist card and hand it to the monk Wangye, and then, the truth was immediately revealed - this Lian Yong was actually a direct soldier under the command of Shengbao! Seeing this, Monk Greenqin was furious, and hurriedly asked, "You are the green battalion soldier under the command of the commander of the victory." How could he come to guard the camp gate for Wu Chaoyue? Who sent you? ”

That Lian Yong hesitated for a long time and replied, "Lord Wang." The villain's military order is in your body, please don't force the little one to disobey the military order. If the little one confesses the truth to you, he will be dealt with by military law! ”

Monk Lingqin did not force Lian Yong to disobey the military order, but quickly raised the binoculars to look inside the Wu army camp, and what made the monk Wang Ye angry was that most of the Wu army Lian Yong who were practicing marching in the camp were yellow and thin-skinned, and at first glance they were poor people who had been malnourished for a long time, and they were not the elite soldiers under Wu Chaoyue's command who were big fish and meat every day!

The truth finally surfaced in the mind of the monk and the prince, but after guessing the truth. Our monk was even more furious, and without saying a word, he galloped back to the Beicang camp, and saw Shengbao who was discussing with Zaiyuan again, and then Seng Lingqin asked Shengbao: "Shengshuai, what about the Shanghai group training brought by Wu Chaoyue?" Where did it go? And what about Wu Chaoyue himself, where did he go? Why is his camp full of local villagers?! ”

Shengbao was silent, but when Monk Greenqin asked again, Shengbao said slowly: "Lord." Xia Guan is the commander of the whole army, and he has the right to transfer the troops under his command and transfer the Shanghai regiment training there, and Xia Guan also has the right to refuse to answer your questions. ”

"This king is the king of the county!" Monk Greenqin roared angrily: "He is still the deputy of the general Hui Wangye." Have the power to know your dispatch and deployment! ”

"Lord, the imperial court has that code that stipulates that the county king and the assistants of the general are ordered. Do you have the right to know the deployment and deployment of the army? ”

Sheng Bao asked unceremoniously, and Monk Greenqin was speechless. Zaiyuan over there also said, "Lord Wang, please calm down." Sheng Dashuai arranged this way, but also for the good of our Qing Dynasty soldiers, please monk and prince, don't forget, our military aircraft has leaked several times for no reason, Sheng Dashuai did this, but also for the sake of prudence, just in case. ”

Monk Greenqin had nothing to say, and after thinking about it for a long time, Monk Greenqin suddenly asked: "So, the news that the long-haired reinforcements have hit Shandong is also true?" That's why you used the strategy of stealing beams and replacing pillars, and let some villagers live in Wu Chaoyue's camp to pretend to be a Shanghai regimental training, and exchange for a real Shanghai regimental training to go south to block Changmao reinforcements? ”

Sheng Bao still refused to answer, and Zaiyuan said: "Lord, please don't ask more about this matter, Sheng Dashuai did this with the emperor's consent." For the sake of prudence, except for the emperor himself, no one else in the capital knew the real arrangement of Sheng Dashuai. ”

Zaiyuan moved the Xianfeng Emperor out as a shield, our monk and prince naturally didn't dare to say anything, Shengbao deliberately angered him, and said: "Prince, I also know that there are many cavalry under your command, which is suitable for plain warfare, but this time it is more coincidental, we are next to the canal, and the infantry can take a boat faster than the cavalry, and it is more labor-saving, so there is no way, or wait for a better opportunity to make meritorious service in the future, and the commander will ask you to wave the army to kill the enemy." ”

"This king is surprised by that little credit!" Monk Lingqin roared, and roared again: "The southern front of the Tianjin battlefield originally had only one army of this king, and the Shanghai regiment practiced and left, if Changmao suddenly went out to the south, this king was alone and difficult to support, how to parry?" ”

"Lord Wang, this is the reason why Ben Shuai must keep it a secret." Shengbao spread his hands and said helplessly: "Originally, I planned to send you a reinforcement army to strengthen the southern front, or restore the previous siege on all sides, but in this way, Long Hair will definitely be suspicious, and even guess other situations because of this." Therefore, as a last resort, Ben Shuai can only keep the original deployment unchanged while strictly sealing the news. ”

"Good news for your blockade!" Monk Greenqin was simply angry to the extreme, and roared: "The news that the long-haired reinforcements have hit Shandong, the army has long been full of rumors, and the long-haired fine work may have already reported the news to Li Kaifang and Ji Wenyuan, the bandit leaders!" ”

Shengbao was originally endured by Monk Greenqin, and Monk Greenqin continued to kick his nose in the face, and Shengbao's face suddenly changed a little, and he was about to fight back when he opened his mouth. Fortunately, Zaiyuan hurriedly stood up to dissuade him, and said: "Okay, okay, monk and prince, you should hurry back and strengthen the defense of your camp and give you more troops, of course Marshal Sheng will consider it, but now all the battalions of the whole army are busy reinforcing the fortifications, so you can free up your hands for a while?" ”

Zaiyuan persuaded again and again, and finally let Monk Greenqin rush back to strengthen his camp defense, while Shengbao gritted his teeth at his back, and secretly said in his heart: "Monk Greenqin, you wait for Ben Shuai!" If Longhair really sends troops to attack the southern front, see how Ben Shuai will clean you up when the time comes! ”

When Seng Lingqin rushed back to the camp of the army, Li Kaifang and Ji Wenyuan finally got together to discuss the next move, and before that, in fact, as early as the night before yesterday, the Taiping army had confirmed the fact that Wu Jun Lianyong had secretly withdrawn, and had already discovered that the Wu army camp was now stationed all the vulnerable local villagers. At the same time, for the sake of prudence, the Taiping army also found the battalion of the Qing army's Baohuan Department last night and spied on the actual situation of the troops stationed there.

After grasping these circumstances, combined with the rumors that the Taiping army reinforcements had entered the hinterland of Shandong, as well as the fact that the Qing army's battalions were making every effort to strengthen the camp defense, Li Kaifang and Ji Wenyuan had already vaguely guessed in their hearts that the real Wu army Lian Yong must have been sent to block their reinforcements. What must they do now, cooperate with and respond to the reinforcements that Yang Xiuqing finally sent to them, and seize the opportunity to weaken the besieging Qing army!

Of course, considering Wu Chaoyue's treacherous cunning, Li Kaifang and Ji Wenyuan did not dare to play the cards at once, but decided to send an army to launch an attack on the Qing army camp first, to test the true situation of the Qing army, and also take the opportunity to grab a few tongues and come back to grasp the truth, and then decide whether to send the main force to launch a decisive battle. And when Ji Wenyuan asked where he should go, Li Kaifang didn't even think about it, and immediately replied: "Get out of the city!" Out of the city, of course! (To be continued.) )