Although whether or not they can absorb the Hunan army that has suffered a lot of vitality has little impact on the strength of the Wu army, but the Hunan army composed of scholars and mountain farmers has a large number of small and medium-sized landlords in Hunan, which is the real main social force in this era, and if they cannot get the support and support of these people, they will be forced to meet them in the future, which will have a great impact on whether Wu Chaoyue can quickly occupy Hunan in the future. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

There is no way to do it, the Hunan army that is in conflict with Wu Chaoyue refuses to accept the olive branch that Wu Chaoyue took the initiative to extend out, and Wu Chaoyue, who can't control the civil affairs and finances of Hunan, can't force them to join, and the only thing Wu Chaoyue can do is to treat Chu Yong, who knows the current affairs, and let the Xiang army know that they are on the wrong side again.

"Tell Liu Changyou and Jiang Zhongji that I will pay them half of their arrears first, and make up the remaining half for them within half a year, so that they can accept the reorganization with peace of mind. Besides, let Feng Sanbao select two thousand elites from Chu Yong to form four battalions, equip them with firing pin guns, and let Hu Linyi and Yang Yuebin's gang see what my attitude towards Chu Yong is! ”

It was precisely because he wanted the Hunan army to see the favor that Chu Yong had received, Wu Chaoyue suddenly changed his mind and decided to change Chu Yong's arrears, which were only going to make up 30% of the salary first, to half of it, and temporarily decided to arm two more battalions of Chu Yong's elite. As a result, Wu Chaoyue's change of order was resolutely opposed by Zhao Liewen, and said: "Weiting, the matter of repaying military salaries can be discussed, but I want to oppose equipping Chu Yong with two battalions of firing guns, we are reorganizing and arming the Hubei army, and we are also preparing to recruit some more troops, the weapons are not enough, and the good guns are given priority to the new outsiders, and your old man in Hubei must have an opinion." ”

Wu Chaoyue was silent, because Wu Chaoyue did not have many weapons reserves in his hands, and the magic weapon of the house, the pin gun, was not enough to arm the existing Hubei army, so Wu Chaoyue could only divide the Hubei army into A and B arms, A soldiers were equipped with pinch guns and advanced artillery, and undertook the main combat tasks, while B soldiers could only continue to be equipped with primitive arquebuses and old-fashioned artillery to undertake auxiliary tasks. The Hubei generals have also been fighting openly and secretly in order to equip their subordinates with advanced weapons, and if Wu Chaoyue deliberately treats Chu Yong in order to fight with the Hunan army, it will indeed chill the hearts of the old Hubei troops.

"If you want the Hunan army to regret it, in fact, just make up Chu Yong's arrears of military salaries." Zhao Liewen said again: "We can earn again if the silver is gone, and we can borrow if the silver is insufficient, but don't lose the hearts of the people, the Hubei army is your biggest capital." ”

After nodding very reluctantly, Wu Chaoyue changed his words and said: "In this way, it is better to equip Chu Yong with two battalions of firing guns, and ask the Hubei Domain Treasury to temporarily advance the funds, and first make up all the military salaries owed by Chu Yong." Also, aren't there still a lot of bandits in Hunan? asked Feng Sanbao to make as many shots as possible, so that the newly incorporated Chu Yong would have merit and oil and water. ”

Zhao Liewen promised, and then put pen to paper, but even so, Wu Chaoyue still felt that he was not relieved enough, and he was also very dissatisfied with Chongen's action of rushing to absorb the Xiang army and Chu Yong, knowing that Chongen's real purpose in doing this was to prevent himself from completely emptying him militarily. So after thinking about it for a while, Wu Chaoyue suddenly asked Zhao Liewen: "Huifu, is there any way to let Chongen owe the Hunan army military salaries in the first month after he took over the Hunan army?" ”

"This, I'm afraid it's difficult." Zhao Liewen frowned and said: "No matter how poor Hunan is, there are tens of thousands of taels of cash in the provincial treasury, and in order to buy the hearts of the Hunan army, Chongfutai must rather owe to other places than to owe the Hunan army." And even if there is really not a tael of silver in the treasury of the Hunan Domain, even if Chongfutai temporarily borrows money from the people, it is not too difficult to get the first month's military salary. ”

Wu Chaoyue was silent again, and what he was thinking about in his heart was how to make Chong'en, who had a good relationship, make a big ugly, completely lose the heart of the Hunan army, let himself completely empty him militarily, and then try to take over Hunan's financial and civil power. Then naturally, Wu Chaoyue, who was familiar with the infighting nature of the Chinese people, also came up with the idea of how to get along with the old department of Chong'en Fubiao and the Hunan army.

Different from Wu Chaoyue's Hubei Fubiao, Hunan's Fubiao is divided into two battalions, left and right, each with a deputy general under the command, and now these two deputy generals are of course Manchus brought by Chong'en from the capital, and the Hubei Intelligence Bureau has long figured out the character and hobbies of these two Manchus for Wu Chaoyue - they are all greedy for money and enjoyable goods, and there are not many advantages except for being more loyal to Chong'en.

Hunan Fubiao is Chong'en's directly subordinate army, Wu Chaoyue has no power to transfer command, nor does he have the right to transfer and dismiss the generals of Hunan Fubiao, but as the acting governor of Huguang, Wu Chaoyue has the right to inspect and evaluate this army. So after thinking about it for a while, Wu Chaoyue quickly called a staff member with good eloquence, and gave him a casual excuse to go to Changsha on a business trip, and then used the excuse to contact the two lieutenants on the pretext of mastering the expansion of Hunan Fubiao, and then took the opportunity to act according to the plan.

The master who did the errand for Wu Chaoyue was called Zhou Wenxian, who was recruited into the government when Wu Chaoyue first arrived in Hubei, and he had always performed well in Wu Chaoyue's shogunate, and he had already received a six-grade top under Wu Chaoyue's protection, and he was one of the civilian personnel promoted by Wu Chaoyue. In order to repay Wu Chaoyue's kindness, Zhou Wenxian of course also worked very hard, and after arriving in Changsha by boat day and night, he just handed over Wu Chaoyue's governor's official document to the Hunan Zhentai Yamen, asking the current Hunan Zhentai Fuhui to quickly investigate a Hunan businessman's case of smuggling opium across provinces, and then immediately ran to the military camp of Hunan Fubiao, and met with the two deputy generals of Hunan Fubiao, Acton and Ling Fang.

The official matter couldn't be simpler, that is, to check whether the establishment and strength of Hunan Fubiao were consistent with the situation reported by Chong'en to Wu Chaoyue, but because Acton and Ling Fang ate some empty salaries, the two lieutenants did not dare to treat Zhou Wenxian too slowly, and immediately invited Zhou Wenxian into the barracks to drink, and also called some singers and dancers to help the fun.

Carrying a secret mission, Zhou Wenxian of course turned a blind eye to Acton and Ling Fang's behavior of eating empty salaries, and in his words, he only tried his best to please Acton and Ling Fang, and quickly narrowed the relationship between Acton and Ling Fang, and then Zhou Wenxian also took out two boxes of high-end cigars that are very rare in Hunan and gave Acton and Ling Fang as a meeting gift. Ah and Ling were happy when they saw it, but they said with a fake humility: "Master Zhou, how can this make us embarrassed? You are a guest, and we, as landlords, haven't given you anything yet, how can we still accept your things? ”

"The two generals don't have to be polite, a little politeness is not a respect, and I hope you will not shirk." Zhou Wenxian insisted on stuffing the gift to Acton and Ling Fang, and after the two accepted it happily, Zhou Wenxian said apologetically: "It's too meager, I originally planned to buy a few foreign watches in Hankou to bring to Hunan, but unfortunately I was shy in my pocket, so I had to buy some cheap cigars, and the two generals should not dislike it." ”

"Master Zhou's words? We are not illiterate people, can we not know how expensive this foreign cigar is in Hankou? ”

Acton smiled and thanked again, and couldn't wait to open the cigar and take out one, handed it to Zhou Wenxian, and after Zhou Wenxian cut the cigar, he also used the matches produced by the Hubei Match Factory to light Zhou Wenxian. Zhou Wenxian thanked him and took a puff of his cigar first, and then held the cigar and said with a smile: "Thank you, General A, by the way, I haven't congratulated you yet, congratulations to the two generals, congratulations to the two generals." ”

"Master Zhou, what do you mean by that? What good things do we have to say to you? ”

Acton and Ling Fang, who were smoking cigars, were both in the same place, and Zhou Wenxian said with a wicked smile: "Two generals, do you still need to hide it in front of the students?" The Hunan army has been incorporated into the Fubiao of Chongfutai, and Lord Hu and General Yang are there, can you have less meeting gifts? What do you think? At least enough to buy a few big houses in the capital, right? ”

Acton and Ling Fang glanced at each other in surprise, neither of them knew how to answer this question, Zhou Wenxian saw it, and said with a strange expression: "What?" Lord Hu and Mr. Yang don't even have this bit of human nature? They robbed homes and houses everywhere in Hubei and Jiangxi, and got so many benefits, so they were reluctant to use them to help you new colleagues? ”

Acton and Ling Fang were in a row again, and then Acton hurriedly asked, "Master Zhou, Lord Hu and General Yang have made a fortune in Hubei and Jiangxi?" ”

"Then you still need to ask?"

Zhou Wenxian rolled his eyes and said, "Who in Hubei doesn't know?" When the Hunan army withdrew from the Hubei provincial capital, the Hubei Domain Treasury that was returned to us Wu Futai was an empty warehouse, forcing us Wu Futai to lend our own money to the Hubei Domain Treasury for emergency. ”

Acton and Ling Fang were silent, and their eyes couldn't help but roll, and Zhou Wenxian said again: "Also, when you recovered Huangzhou Fucheng, Daye, Xingguo and Qizhou, that time was not the most advanced city of the Hunan army?" Didn't you give us an empty city in Wufutai again? Not to mention when I was in Jiangxi, every time I recaptured a city, the Hunan army sent a fleet full of things back to Hunan that time? ”

"The Hunan army has fished so much?" Ling Fang asked in surprise: "Then why do they still cry poor every day, and they have to pay wages every day?" ”

"The poor are the bottom of the hill!" Zhou Wenxian pointed out sharply: "General Ling, who have you ever seen who can really take out his own family wealth to raise a group practice?" The Xiang army is now poor, but have you seen Lord Hu's Yiyang hometown and Yang Zongbing's Shanhua hometown, what kind of life are their families living? ”

"Besides." Zhou Wenxian stated the facts: "Even if they really don't have much silver in their hands, how much silver can they turn into when they get the glass factory in the capital?" So, General A, General Ling, don't be polite, you have to avenge the people of Hubei and Jiangxi. ”

The muscles on Actun and Ling Fang's faces began to twitch together, and they couldn't help but grit their teeth together, Zhou Wenxian observed his words, and hurriedly said: "It's a joke, it's a joke, two generals, come, let's continue to drink, continue to listen to music." By the way, if the two generals go to Hubei another day, they will definitely invite you to drink foreign wine and drink our favorite French brandy in Wu Futai. ”

…………

Wu Chaoyue's staff Zhou Wenxian suddenly visited his Fubiao, and Chong'en, who was busy with official business, certainly didn't pay attention to such a trivial matter, and what he was worried about in Hunan Fubiao was also how to raise money to ensure that it was paid on time, and how to further expand Fubiao to monitor the terrifying Hubei army. However, during this period, a news that surprised Chongen suddenly came - his old soldiers actually fought with the Hunan soldiers.

When Chongen hurried to the scene to take a look, there were already more than a dozen soldiers covered in blood lying on the ground, and there was a faint smell of gunpowder in the air, it was obvious that muskets had been used in the infighting just now, and at the same time, the generals of the Hunan army such as Actun, Ling Fang and Yang Yuebin were also scolding each other, and they were all very angry. Chong'en was even more furious when he saw this, and immediately opened his mouth to ask the reason, but the old subordinates and the new generals all complained to him together, and they all accused the other party of being the culprit of the internal strife.

Still when he asked in detail, poor Chongfutai knew that his old army and the Hunan army had several conflicts in the past few days, and the reason was that they should each play fifty big boards, either the soldiers of the old department and the soldiers of the Hunan army gambled with thousands of tricks, or the soldiers of the Hunan army relied on their experience in a hundred battles to bully the soldiers of Hunan Fubiao who had never been on the battlefield. And their respective generals blindly defended their shortcomings and favored their subordinates, and refused to calm things down, which led to the further expansion of the situation, and today's hundred-person internal conflict occurred.

In this regard, in order to appease the newcomers, Chongen, who was constantly complaining, of course, immediately opened his mouth to accuse his two old generals Acton and Ling Fang of not being too indulgent to the soldiers, while Acton and Ling Fang were all a hundred unconvinced and dissatisfied, and they just glared angrily at the generals of the Hunan army who could not get along with friendly troops when they walked there. The generals of the Hunan army, led by Yang Yuebin, accused Acton and Ling Fang of forcibly extorting bribes, constantly inquired about their family property, and tried every possible means to extort money.

Fortunately, Hu Linyi, the current commander of the Hunan army, is a reasonable person, and he rushed to the sick in time to help the anxious Chongfutai settle the matter, and drank his own people back by playing fifty boards each. However, after finally driving both sides of the conflict back to their respective barracks, Hu Linyi coughed and said to Chong'en: "Lord Futai forgive me, the lower officials are courageous, and please try to restrain your old department as much as possible in the near future. ”

"How can the soldiers of the Hunan army be resentful?" Chongen asked suspiciously.

"Chu Yong's arrears have all been repaid by the Hunan Titai Yamen Mat." Hu Linyi replied with a somewhat sad expression: "Xiaguan's subordinates knew about it, so they ...... it, and they were all unhappy. ”

Chong'en, who is actually quite good as an official, was speechless, and replied after a while: "Don't worry, at least your monthly military salary in the future, this official can guarantee that it will be paid on time and in full." ”

Chong'en Chongfutai soon didn't dare to play this guarantee, because the matter had not passed for two days, and the Gunpowder Bureau in Changsha didn't know that there was a problem in that link, and a big explosion suddenly occurred in the factory, which directly leveled the Changsha Gunpowder Bureau and the warehouse, and also caused extremely serious casualties! - This incident is really not a ghost made by Wu Chaoyue, but a major historical event recorded in the Hunan Provincial Chronicles.

Of course, such an important yamen as the Gunpowder Bureau had to be rebuilt immediately, and the craftsmen and errands who were killed and injured in the explosion certainly had to spend money on compensation, and in the face of a series of loss figures, poor Chongfutai was in despair, and inevitably had such thoughts, "I knew that it was so difficult to build my own army, so I should have entrusted all these things to Wu Weiting." ”

At the same time, the conflict between Hunan Fubiao and the Hunan army, who were not convinced by each other, had never been broken in private, and while they hated and hostilized each other, not to mention that the other generals and soldiers of the Hunan army were angry and full of resentment, even Yang Yuebin, the biggest beneficiary of the Hunan army's merger into Hunan Fubiao, couldn't help but regret a little, and said secretly: "I knew that this would be the case, I should have bargained with Wu Chaoyue and merged the Hunan army into Xiangyong." (To be continued.) )