Standing in front of the gate of the Governor's Office of the Five Provinces, which was rebuilt from the Yamen of the Governor of Hubei, Li Hongzhang really regretted it, and completely regretted it. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

What made Li Hongzhang regret to this point was the mighty soldiers with loaded guns in front of the gate of the Governor's Palace, the sedan chairs and carriages on both sides of the gate, and the countless Manchu officials in the gatehouse waiting for Wu Chaoyue to meet, as well as the protégé of the Governor's Mansion, Li Hongzhang even clearly remembered that when he went to meet Su Shun with Wu Chaoyue in the capital, there seemed to be not so many large and small officials waiting for Wu Chaoyue to be summoned in the gatehouse of Sushun.

"Shaoquan, go to Shanghai with me to hold a group practice, you are older than me and have a higher official position than me, you are the leader, I will be your deputy, how about it?"

Wu Chaoyue's words once again echoed in Li Hongzhang's ears, and Li Hongzhang's thin face couldn't help but show a wry smile, and said secretly: "Did I get into the water in my head at that time, or was I fascinated by ghosts?" Why refuse? If I had said yes then, I might have ...... today. ”

With a long sigh of regret, Li Hongzhang shook his head again, trying to drive those unrealistic fantasies out of his mind, and then walked up the steps, but because he was not wearing an official uniform, Li Hongzhang was immediately stopped by a doorman and shouted: "Stop!" What for? ”

Before Li Hongzhang could speak, the foreman of the door had already knocked on the head of the door and scolded: "Xu Ba, I said that you kid want to die again?" The last time you stopped the old man, Lord Tai didn't care about you, why are you so unsightly this time? ”

scolded the man, and the foreman ran to Li Hongzhang to salute, and said with a smile on his face: "Don't mind Lord Li, this kid only came here three months ago, I don't know what the relationship between you and Lord Zhangtai is, and I offend you." Hurry up and ask the porter to sit down, and the little one will go and report to my family's grandfather! ”

After that, the foreman of the door first respectfully invited Li Hongzhang into the gatehouse, and then rushed into the door quickly to play to Wu Chaoyue. As a result, it was natural that Li Hongzhang was immediately surrounded by those Manchu officials in the gatehouse, saluting, greetings, and even people who had heard Li Hongzhang's name couldn't wait to get a friendship, "Shaoquan, I finally saw you, do you know who I am?" The old man Chen Xinyi studied with your teacher Sun Qiangming under Mr. Di'an. ”

"It turned out to be Uncle Shi, the junior Li Hongzhang, who has seen Uncle Shi." Li Hongzhang hurriedly saluted the man, and said with a wry smile in his heart: "Even Weng Xincun's disciples have come to kowtow to the comfort pavilion, and the way of the world is really reversed so quickly." ”

Wu Chaoyue, who strode into the gatehouse, rescued Li Hongzhang from the encirclement of countless officials of the five provinces, and while pulling Li Hongzhang's braid and dragging him into the door, Wu Chaoyue also yelled and ordered his subordinates to immediately prepare the best game and sea bass, as well as open the old wine that he had treasured for a long time. Those officials of the five provinces who kept nodding at Wu Chaoyue immediately looked at Li Hongzhang with envy and jealousy, but Li Hongzhang smiled bitterly in his heart, "I didn't expect that I would have such a day, because of Weiting's closeness to me, which attracted the eyes of so many colleagues." ”

The long-term reunion between the good brothers quickly diluted the grievances in Li Hongzhang's heart, and Wu Chaoyue drank wine and ate food to narrate the farewell feelings, and also congratulated Wu Chaoyue on his promotion again.

Of course, Li Hongzhang's invitation caused a problem for Wu Chaoyue, because Su Shun had already written to explain that Wu Chaoyue had better not leave Hubei easily, and at the same time, the situation on the other side of Rehe was still quite complicated, and Wu Chaoyue certainly did not dare to leave the province easily. So after thinking about it for a while, Wu Chaoyue could only excuse himself: "Shaoquan, it's not that I don't give Chongfu face, it's that you also see how busy I am now, I just became the governor of the five provinces for a few days, and I still need to stay in Hubei to deal with many official affairs." ”

"Weiting, you're not giving face to Chongweiting, you're giving face to the teacher." Li Hongzhang shook his head and pointed out again: "Weiting, think about it, the imperial court has asked the Hunan local government to build a loyal and righteous shrine for our teacher, as the governor of the five provinces in Hunan, if you don't come to the scene to preside over the opening of the shrine, what will the teacher's family think?" What do our brothers think? ”

"And." Li Hongzhang lowered his voice again and said, "What will our junior sister think? She is a descendant of Zeng Sheng, and she has fallen into her identity to make a bias room for you, if you don't even give this little face, wouldn't she be even more aggrieved in her heart? ”

Wu Chaoyue, who is indeed very sorry for Zeng Jijing and the Zeng family, has nothing to say, Li Hongzhang saw that Wu Chaoyue was shaken, so he hurriedly said: "Also, you are the governor of the five provinces, in fact, the two provinces of Hunan and Hubei that can really provide you with money and food support, such an important place, don't you want to take a look?" ”

Wu Chaoyue was even more shaken, and thought about it again before replying: "That's it, anyway, there is still a little time, let me think about it, and then give you an answer." ”

Wu Chaoyue's words were not an excuse, after being full of wine and food and letting his subordinates take Li Hongzhang to the guest room to rest, Wu Chaoyue did carefully consider whether he should go to Hunan in person, and then quickly felt that he should go to Hunan to have a look.

There are many reasons why Wu Chaoyue made this decision, the first is of course to give the Zeng family face and Zeng Jijing a comfort, and take the opportunity to buy the hearts of the Hunan gentry class represented by Zeng Guofan. The second is that the distance is not too far, three small steam gunboats with a displacement of only 600 tons can send Wu Chaoyue directly to Xiangtan, which is convenient to come and go, and at the same time, it can also take the opportunity to familiarize Wu's naval division with the waterways of Dongting Lake and Xiangjiang River, so that it is convenient to be forced to use force against Hunan in the future.

The third point is that the current Hunan Green Battalion and the main force Xiangyong are all in the hands of Feng Sanbao, plus there is a sailor accompanying him, Wu Chaoyue does not have to worry about his own safety, and at the same time, Wu Chaoyue can also take the opportunity to inspect the situation of Xiangyong after the reorganization, so that he can have a bottom of his Hunan reserves.

The only thing that worries Wu Chaoyue is the situation on the other side of Rehe, although Wu Chaoyue has received the news of the arrest of Devil Six and knows that Su Shun has lost an important strong enemy, but Wu Chaoyue is still very jealous of his eldest niece Cixi, for fear that she will suddenly play some tricks and kill Su Shun.

What prompted Wu Chaoyue to make up his mind was the repeated persuasion from Li Hongzhang, considering that if he didn't go to Zeng Guofan's hometown to take a trip, he would be too sorry for poor Zeng Jijing, Wu Chaoyue hesitated for a long time, and finally nodded and agreed to go to Hunan to preside over the opening ceremony for Zeng Guofan, and comforted himself in his heart: "It's okay, it will take ten days at most, and I can't delay anything, I can't just stay in Wuhan and not go out because I'm worried about the situation in the capital, right?" ”

Even so, Wu Chaoyue still made quite careful arrangements, let Zhao Liewen and Yan Jingming and other reliable henchmen stay in Hubei, explain the situation in Hubei and the capital every day, let Qian Wei, the chief of the artillery division, and Wang Fu, the chief general of the naval division, temporarily act as the chief and deputy commander-in-chief of the direct corps, and let the deputy general of the naval division Xu Lai lead three small steam gunboats to protect himself to the south, and decided to set off on February 27, and at the same time go to Wen Feng Sanbao, so that he could arrange for Hunan Xiangyong to prepare for his own review.

After some rapid arrangement, on February 27, Wu Chaoyue led Dai Wenjie, Li Hongzhang, and two hundred guards to board three small steam gunboats, with the Daode as the flagship, and set off for Hunan.

It was late spring, the southeast wind was blowing strongly, and the hybrid steam gunboat was naturally fast, and it took only one day to easily arrive at Linxiang, and Yao Rongqing, the county governor of Linxiang, received the news in advance, rushed to the dock early to greet him, and urged Wu Chaoyue to sit in the city for a banquet. Although Wu Chaoyue was in a hurry and did not want to enter the city, but because Wu Junshui had never entered Dongting Lake and was not very familiar with the route, he didn't want to risk the precious steam gunboat, so he gave Yao Rongqing a face, and asked Yao Rongqing to send the wine and food to the house next to the dock to eat for himself.

It was also a coincidence that when chatting at the banquet, the messenger ship sent by Wu Xiaoping from Xiangxiang also arrived in Linxiang, and saw that Wu Chaoyue's banner was at the Linxiang wharf, and the messenger hurriedly went ashore to meet Wu Chaoyue, and respectfully presented Wu Xiaoping's letter to Wu Chaoyue. After Wu Chaoyue opened it and took a closer look, he said with a smile, "It only took five days to build the ancestral hall of the teacher, and it was also very complete and solid. ”

"To build an ancestral hall for Zeng Gong, of course, our local officials in Hunan have to work day and night." Yao Rongqing, the county governor of Linxiang, hurriedly patted his ass, and added with some jealousy, "Lord Li's news is also really well-informed, the court report received the day before yesterday only announced that it was a sacrifice for Zeng Butang, and Lord Li has already built Zeng Gong Ancestral Hall." ”

The speaker was unintentional, the listener was intentional, and when he heard Yao Rongqing's words, Wu Chaoyue's heart suddenly moved, and he blurted out and asked, "Lord Yao, what did you just say?" ”

"What did Xia Guan just say?" Yao Rongqing was asked by Wu Chaoyue, and then said: "Lord Huitai, Xiaguan just said that Lord Li in Xiangxiang is well-informed, and Xia Guan saw the construction of an ancestral hall for Zeng Butang in the newspaper of the imperial court just before yesterday, and Lord Li has already built Zeng Gong's ancestral hall." ”

Wu Chaoyue's face changed slightly, and when he subconsciously went to look at the date of payment of the cheap father, he saw that the letter of the cheap father was clearly written on February 23. But Wu Chaoyue didn't make a noise, just wiped the matter with a haha, and then put away the letter while drinking and chatting with Yao Rongqing, Li Hongzhang, Dai Wenjie and others.

In the end, after the banquet dispersed, when he returned to the Daode to rest, Wu Chaoyue deliberately put aside Li Hongzhang for the time being, and handed over the letter from his cheap father to the new accomplice Dai Wenjie to watch. And Dai Wenjie, who had already found out that something was wrong, just looked at the date of payment, and immediately whispered: "Comfort Pavilion, there is a problem!" Li Xuechao, a county magistrate, how could he have preempted so much time to know that the imperial court was going to build an ancestral hall for your teacher? ”

"I did the math just now, Li Xuechao had already received the order to build an ancestral hall at least on February 17."

Wu Chaoyue said coldly: "My father made it very clear in the letter that Li Xuechao was ordered by Chong'en to build an ancestral hall, although there is a waterway from Changsha to Xiangxiang, but ordinary sailing ships go upstream, no matter how day and night it is, it will take at least a day!" So Chong'en had already known about this news at least on the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, and even earlier! ”

"Rehe to Changsha is thousands of miles away, so well-informed news from Chong'en?" Dai Wenjie frowned and said: "If it is a major matter of military intelligence and government affairs, Chongen relied on his channels in the imperial court to know the situation for so long and can be explained, but the matter of building a shrine for Zeng Butang is not important?" There's no reason why Chong'en can know more than ten days before the imperial court report arrives in Linxiang? ”

"And the schedule is also very weird." Wu Chaoyue said again: "Such a trivial matter as building an ancestral hall, so can you need such a hurry? Why is Chong'en in such a hurry? ”

"The most critical point, why does Chongen have to invite you to Hunan to personally preside over the opening ceremony?" Dai Wenjie added a sentence for Wu Chaoyue.

"Changsha can't go, and Chongen can't believe it anymore." Wu Chaoyue said in a deep voice.

Dai Wenjie nodded, and said in a low voice: "Weiting, if you definitely don't like to hear it, your good brother Li Hongzhang may not be able to believe it." ”

Wu Chaoyue was silent, and there was a faint sting in his heart, and then Wu Chaoyue thought about it for a while, and then asked Dai Wenjie to write a letter for himself, and wrote a letter to Feng Sanbao who was in Changsha, asking him to find an excuse to move to live in the Xiangyong camp. Then he asked Wu Dada to arrange a team of reliable soldiers to rush to Xiangxiang to protect his cheap father disguised as ordinary people, and finally asked people to invite Li Hongzhang to meet.

In fact, Li Hongzhang, who used to wear a pair of pants with Wu Chaoyue, had already smelled the abnormal smell, so when he was invited to Wu Chaoyue again, he saw the gloomy look on Wu Chaoyue's face, as well as the closely guarded soldiers around Wu Chaoyue, Li Hongzhang immediately knew that the situation was definitely wrong, and quickly asked: "Weiting, what's wrong?" ”

Wu Chaoyue didn't answer, but just asked the soldiers to pass the cheap father's letter to Li Hongzhang's hands, and then said lightly: "Shaoquan, look at the date on it clearly, please explain to me, how could Chong'en know so early that the imperial court was going to build a shrine for his teacher?" Also, building an ancestral hall is such a trivial matter, why did Chongen let the local government work so quickly? ”

After carefully looking at Wu Xiaoping's payment date, and quietly calculating the time difference, cold sweat soon appeared on Li Hongzhang's forehead. After thinking about it for a while, Li Hongzhang replied: "Weiting, I know you can't trust me anymore, but I can swear to God, I really don't know what's going on!" ”

"You really don't know?" Wu Chaoyue asked suspiciously.

Li Hongzhang nodded solemnly, and said: "Weiting, if you can't trust me, do it now." I don't blame you, because this thing is really too weird, and I suspect that Chong'en is trying to do you badly, I may have been used as a knife by him, and I can't tell the difference, and you will not blame you for killing me or putting me in prison for the sake of prudence. ”

Daye's self-produced Smith revolver appeared in Wu Chaoyue's hand, and after thinking about it for a long time, Wu Chaoyue slowly raised the gun and aimed it at Li Hongzhang's chest, Li Hongzhang had no choice but to close his eyes and dare not make a move.

The gunshot did not ring, but Wu Chaoyue's cold voice floated into Li Hongzhang's ears, "Shaoquan, I also know that you may just be used as a gunman by Chong'en, but I can't be sure, I can only give you a chance to prove your innocence, you do something for me, and if you do it, we will continue to be brothers, if you betray me, we will be enemies in the future!" ”

It's easy to talk to smart people, Li Hongzhang didn't ask Wu Chaoyue what he wanted to do, and asked rhetorically: "Do you want me to trick Chongen into seeing you for you?" ”

"Those who know me, Shaoquan also."

Wu Chaoyue nodded in praise before he said, "Shaoquan, don't blame me, this is the only way for you to clear your grievances!" I'm not afraid you'll betray me, but I hope you don't disappoint me, because I don't want to lose your good brother! ”

"I do my best." Li Hongzhang replied in a calm tone: "If it can't be done, I won't come back to see you, but I will definitely let you know that I have always regarded you as the best brother." (To be continued.) )