"Fengtian carried the emperor, and the edict said: During the period when Wu Chaoyue, the governor of Hubei, was diligent and loved the people, loyal to the monarch and patriotic, and had outstanding meritorious achievements. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 However, Wu Chaoyue did not cultivate his prestige, and he had too close contacts with Yangyi, which greatly lost the dignity of court officials, so he proposed to be promoted, and he took the head and wore the top product to show a thin punishment. Chin this. ”

"Weichen Wu transcends the order, thank you Lord Longen."

As he wished, he was able to stay as the governor of Hubei, although he was so happy in his heart that he couldn't wait to jump up and sing a **** loudly, but because Hua Shana, the governor of Huguang who came to read the holy decree in person, had not left, Wu Chaoyue still pretended to have a sad face, and asked Hua Shana: "Grandpa Hua, listen to the tone in the holy decree, the emperor really wants to promote me again this time?" ”

"Nonsense, the Holy Decree is clear, you could have been promoted this time." Hua Shana scolded: "It is because you have too much contact with foreigners and are too indulgent to the foreigners in Hankou that the emperor refused the old man's guarantee to you." Otherwise, today may be the holy decree that you will be promoted to be the governor of Liangjiang! ”

Pretending to be sorry, Wu Chaoyue, who was full of joy, finally couldn't help but show some of his true colors, and sighed: "It's okay, it's okay to continue to stay as the governor of Hubei, at least the money, food, and weapons are guaranteed, and when I train the army sailors well and have sufficient reserves of weapons and ammunition, I will personally take the troops to fight Anqing Jiangning and earn back my Liangjiang governor!" ”

"It's a good sentence." Hua Shana snorted coldly, and said: "But before, there was another important matter, Anhui League Training Minister Weng Xin impeached you for conniving at foreigners in Hubei, and allowed foreigners to buy houses and land to live in Daye, and the imperial court asked the old man to be responsible for the investigation." How do you explain this? ”

"Grandpa Huihua, Weng Xincun is taking revenge for personal gain and slander!" Wu Chaoyue replied without thinking about it.

"What a slander?" Hua Shana looked at Wu Chaoyue's eyes seriously and asked.

"What a slander!"

Wu Chaoyue replied categorically, but his eyes were full of smiles, Hua Shana snorted coldly, Wu Chaoyue smiled even more happily, and then Hua Shana couldn't pretend anymore, raised his leg and kicked Wu Chaoyue, and scolded with a smile: "Little bastard, for you, the old man has to commit the crime of bullying the king this time, and said, how can you thank the old man?" ”

Wu Chaoyue hurriedly called someone to bring the silver ticket, Hua Shana waved his hand, didn't even look at the silver ticket in front of him, and said: "The old man knows that you will not lack this, but the old man does not need this, the situation in Hunan is getting worse and worse, you have to help the old man solve the matter in Hunan as soon as possible." Otherwise, if the affairs in Hunan affect the position of the old man, and let the old man lose his official position as the governor of Huguang, the old man will be powerless to continue to take care of you in the future. ”

I am indeed very grateful to Hua Shana for taking care of him openly and secretly, Wu Chaoyue also told Hua Shana the truth, and said: "Grandpa Hua, if the younger generation says something from the heart, Hunan still has a great hope of eradicating all the long hairs or expelling them all from the province and restoring the peaceful scene in the past, but if you don't replace Wenge, this is really difficult to do." ”

"Must you change the style?" Huashana asked with a frown.

"It must be changed!" Wu Chaoyue replied: "Hunan has been hollowed out in recent years, and the burden on the people is too heavy, when Luo Futai was there, he looked closely at the officials of Hunan, and he was honest and honest, leading by example, and the people were embarrassed to express their grievances even if they were angry." ”

"Wenge, is he greedy, and he also connived at Hunan's big and small officials to be greedy together, and the top and bottom joined hands to scrape Hunan to the sky, can the people continue to endure it? Hunan is a remote place, the people are fierce, and it is not easy to govern without long hair to make trouble, and now that long hair has entered Hunan, the people who want to make trouble and rebel have the backbone of the leader, and it is even more difficult to completely pacify Hunan. ”

"Therefore, the younger generation believes that the governor of Hunan must be changed, replaced by an honest and upright governor, vigorously rectify the atmosphere of Hunan officialdom, appease the people and the people to rest, and cut off the roots of the long hair entrenched in Hunan, and then we want to expel the long hair from the province or completely eradicate it, so that we can get twice the result with half the effort."

Knowing that Wu Chaoyue was saying what was in his heart, Hua Shana also told Wu Chaoyue the truth, and said with a sigh: "Why doesn't the old man know that Hunan has become what it is today, and Wenge's dog offal has to bear the main responsibility?" How could the old man not know that if Wenge was removed and replaced with an honest and upright governor to govern well, the situation in Hunan would definitely improve greatly? ”

"But how easy is it to remove Wenge? He is a coated slave of Zhenghuangqi, a generation of eunuchs, and has been related to countless court officials and Prince Baylor, and has countless intertwined relationships in the court. ”

"Taking a step back, even if the old man and I use our strength to bring down Wenge, who dares to guarantee that the next governor of Hunan will be a clean and honest official? Driving away the well-fed jackal in exchange for a hungry wolf, the people of Hunan will only be more unlucky! The old man was lucky, when he was in charge of Huguang, he ran into you and Luo Ruzhai, two incorruptible and capable governors, so you don't have to worry too much about anything, but it is really more difficult for the imperial court to find a third governor like you. ”

After that, Hua Shana couldn't help but hammer the table again, and said hatefully: "The most pity is Luo Bingzhang, all the hard work of governing Hunan is ruined in the hands of Wenge's dog haggard!" Otherwise, if Luo Bingzhang is still in Hunan, why would Hunan be where it is today? ”

Looking at Hua Shana's old appearance, Wu Chaoyue, who owed Hua Shana a lot, rarely had a little conscience, and after thinking about it for a while, Wu Chaoyue finally threw out the idea he had already thought of, and said: "Grandpa Hua, if you don't want to take the risk of replacing Wenge anymore, and you want to solve the problem in Hunan quickly, then the junior has another idea." ”

"What's the idea?" Huashana asked, looking up.

"Your old man personally supervises Hunan!" Wu Chaoyue replied in a deep voice: "You personally led the army to Hunan to supervise and suppress Changmao, which can not only warn the corrupt officials in Hunan, but also solve the problem of the people's livelihood burden in Hunan on the spot, and force Wenge to change his course and rest with the people." In addition, after you personally arrived in Hunan, you can also help the Hunan army and Chu Yong solve the problem of difficult food and salary, so that the Hunan army and Chu Yong can once again play the role of the main force in counterinsurgency. ”

Hua Shana didn't answer, and Wu Chaoyue said: "Grandpa Hua, rest assured, the juniors will send three thousand Fubiao to Hunan with you to suppress bandits, with the Fubiao of the juniors in hand, you don't have to worry about your own safety, and you can have elite soldiers and strong generals available on the battlefield in Hunan to ensure that the war is safe!" ”

Hua Shana was very distracted, and said hesitantly: "Old man Rong thinks about it for a few days, Hubei is the hub of the Central Plains, and it is convenient to contact various places, if the old man goes to Hunan, he can't keep in touch with the provinces of the Central Plains, so the old man has to think about it carefully." ”

Wu Chaoyue knew that Hua Shana was not at ease to let himself be lawless alone in Hubei, so he was not reluctant, but just nodded and promised. Then as soon as Hua Shana left with the front foot, Wu Chaoyue asked Zhao Liewen with the back foot: "Weng Xincun is that old immortal, where is he hiding now?" ”

"The last news is Lu'an Prefecture City." Zhao Liewen replied truthfully, and asked with a smile: "What?" Weiting, want to take revenge? ”

"Come and don't be rude!" Wu Chaoyue replied viciously: "That old immortal chose to be impeached at the end of my three-year term, and it was clear that he wanted to get rid of my official hat as the governor of Hubei, and his intentions were so ruthless, I am sorry for the people of Hubei if I don't take revenge for this!" ”

Zhao Liewen smiled, he did not object to Wu Chaoyue's narrow-mindedness and retribution, but he was not optimistic about Wu Chaoyue's retaliation, and reminded: "If you want to take revenge, I'm afraid it's not so easy, the father and son of the Weng family are hiding in Anhui, you don't have their handle in your hands, and you don't have any official dealings with them, how can you clean them up?" ”

"There is no sage in the world who does not eat grains, and there is no revenge that cannot be avenged. Look carefully, there will definitely be a way, someone, go and call Zhang Dejian to me. ”

Called Zhang Dejian, Wu Chaoyue of course asked this spy leader if there was any evidence of the Weng family's father and son, but unfortunately, compared with the old Wu family, the biggest advantage of the old Weng family is that the whole family is clean, no matter how good it is and how sanctimonious it is, at least it is very self-disciplined in terms of economy, and there are no corruption and bribery scandals in the family. At the same time, although the father and son of the Weng family also fought a lot of defeats in Anhui, after all, they led the Anhui regiment training, and the black pot of losing the city and land had to be carried by the local officials according to the rules, and Wu Chaoyue couldn't do it if he wanted to force them.

When he was helpless, there was another bad news, his brother-in-law Nie Shicheng wrote a letter, saying that Han Qifeng, the main force of the Blue Banner of the Twisting Army, had entered Guangzhou, Henan, which seriously threatened the security of the northern part of Huangzhou, Hubei.

"The son of a bitch must be that miscellaneous ghost of Monk Greenqin!"

Wu Chaoyue scolded sullenly, very worried about the safety of the northern part of Huangzhou - don't look at Nie Shicheng's tight defense in that area, but the excessively long front is destined that Nie Shicheng's army will never be able to cover everything, and if Han Qifeng is determined to enter Hubei, it is not uncertain and hopeless.

Wu Chaoyue was not happy with this report, but Zhao Liewen's eyes lit up, and he said, "Weiting, don't you want revenge?" The opportunity came, Gwangju borders Lu'an, and it is not far from Lu'anzhou City, where Weng Xincun's father and son are stationed. ”

"Is that easy?" Wu Chaoyue said without thinking about it: "Nie Shicheng's battle line is already very long, and there are not many mobile troops, it is difficult to form a strong threat to the main force of the bandits, let alone drive them to where they want to go, don't hurry up to Lu'an, our northern defense line will make a mistake first." ”

"Can we ask the monk for help?" Zhao Liewen proposed: "There are more than 10,000 cavalry under the command of Seng Greenqin, and the mobility is enough to compete with the twist bandits. ”

Wu Chaoyue glanced at Zhao Liewen very strangely, and said suspiciously: "Huifu, do you have a fever?" What is the relationship between me and Monk Grinqin, don't you know, how can he help me? ”

"Of course I do." Zhao Liewen smiled, and then said: "But Weiting, I have to persuade you, this time you'd better bow your head to the monk and the prince first, and bring over the monk Greenqin, who has no special friendship with Weng Xincun's father and son, otherwise, let them join forces, I'm afraid that our trouble will be even greater." ”

Zhao Liewen's words reminded Wu Chaoyue that the enemy of the enemy is a friend, and he has a bad relationship with Monk Greenqin and the Weng family's father and son, although Monk Greenqin and Weng Xincun father and son do not have a particularly good relationship, but in order to take revenge on themselves, it is a matter of one sentence that they want to work together. If you really want them to join forces to drive the Twist Army to Hubei, even if you are not afraid, it will be troublesome and disgusting enough.

"Actually, the monk and the prince have also wanted to bow to you twice." Zhao Liewen said again: "When you were in the Tang Dynasty, the monk prince fully cooperated with your military arrangements, and later you sent troops from Xiangyang to the north, and the monk prince also took the initiative to be willing to suffer. These are enough to show that the monk hates you, but he also respects you, and does not want to provoke you, if you take the initiative to reach out to him, he will not be without the possibility of accepting. ”

Wu Chaoyue thought about it silently, feeling that although he needed to use Monk Greenqin to provoke the hatred of the Hubei soldiers against the Manchu court, the purpose had been achieved to a certain extent, and at the same time, it was difficult for him to secretly join forces with Monk Greenqin to be known by the soldiers under his command, and it was not a big problem to bow to the monk and the prince. Although the military threat to himself from Weng Xincun's father and son is almost non-existent, the influence of Weng and his son in Qingliu is very great, and they are good at playing with power, and they are very trusted by the Manchu court and Emperor Xianfeng, and it is not impossible to continue to plot against himself in the officialdom.

In addition, Wu Chaoyue also thought of the First Sino-Japanese War and the Beiyang Fleet, and remembered the silver and fellow countryman Deng Shichang who had paid to Japan, so he gritted his teeth and said secretly: "Even if there is no special need, you have to give these vents in advance." ”

After making up his mind, Wu Chaoyue sat in front of the map sand table to study the strategy, and then soon, Wu Chaoyue instructed Zhao Liewen: "Huifu, write a letter to Seng Lingqin for me, suggesting that he launch a campaign in which the armies of Anhui, Henan, and Hubei join forces to suppress the twist, and he and our northern Hubei garrison will send troops to pursue and suppress, and Weng Xincun, the minister of Anhui regimental training, will lead the army to block the first line of Shihe, and the officers and troops of the three provinces will work together to annihilate the bandit Han Qifeng's department to the west of Shihe!" ”

Zhao Liewen agreed with a smile, and asked again: "What kind of gift did you send with the letter?" How about a hundred smith pistols? The monk has been jealous of this pistol for a long time. ”

"Fifty Colt revolvers." Wu Chaoyue, who was stingy and stingy at the door, flatly refused, and snorted: "Smith's pistol is not even enough for us, so can we give it to him?" ”

"What if the monk is too little?" Zhao Liewen was a little worried.

"What can Weng Xincun give him?" Wu Chaoyue asked with a sneer, and said, "Monk Lingqin is not a fool, he will know who should be chosen between me and Weng Xincun. ”

…………

The plan of colluding with the monk and the prince to trap Weng Xincun's father and son was ready, and the letter and revolver were also sent out, and when Wu Chaoyue patiently waited for the monk to reply, the war in Hunan had changed a lot, and it was still quite unfavorable to the Qing army.

The change was once again caused by the stupidity and greed of the Hunan officials, and after all the retreats to Hunan, Liu Changyou and Chu Yong of Jiang Zhongji's department had successfully contained the main force of the Taiping army in the Changning area through fierce battles one after another, so that Shi Zhenji could only give priority to dealing with the threat of Chu Yong, and had no strength to provide support to the Taiping army in Yongzhou for the time being. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the Hunan army withdrawn from Jiangxi, under the leadership of Hu Linyi, also successfully contained Wei Youfang, a partial division of the Taiping army, in Yongzhou, and bought valuable time for the Qing army in other state capitals in Hunan to reinforce the Hengyong battlefield.

However, at this time, in the middle of winter, when the weather was cold and frozen, the Hunan army and Chu Yong had a shortage of winter clothes at the same time, and they could only be forced to ask Wenge and the Hunan magistrates of the surrounding prefectures and counties for help.

After several snowfalls cooled down, Chu Yong, who had a certain amount of accumulation in Jiangxi, was better, and the main soldiers could at least wear cotton clothes to keep out the cold, but the Hunan army, which had been half-starved since Luo Bingzhang left office, was hungry and cold, and it was difficult to maintain. After keenly perceiving this, the Taiping army wearing winter clothes took advantage of the opportunity to cool down and launched a surprise attack, defeating Hu Linyi again with less victories and more victories, the Hunan army wearing single clothes was defeated, and the green battalion wearing cotton clothes fled even faster, Lingling broke the siege, and the Taiping army's momentum in southern Hunan increased again, and at the same time as quickly absorbing the small rebel army in Hunan, the scattered remnants of the Taiping army in Guangxi also began to show signs of moving closer to Hunan.

Under such circumstances, Hua Shana, who originally wanted to count on the Hunan army Chu Yong to quickly pacify the Taiping army in southern Hunan, had no choice but to decide to personally conquer southern Hunan and take Wu Chaoyue Fubiao south to quell the rebellion.

In this regard, Wu Chaoyue, who has been stared at by Guanwen and Huashana in turn since he took over as governor of Hubei, of course he couldn't ask for it, not only immediately prepared soldiers and horses for Huashana according to the order, but also specially transferred the absolute elite of two battalions from Daye Heavy Land to come back, and handed them over to the generals such as Feng Sanbao and Li Xubin, who were the brothers-in-law, so that they could accompany Huashana on the expedition, and explained that they must protect Huashana's safety.

"Weiting, after the old man leaves, Hubei will be handed over to you, don't mess around." This is Hua Shana's solemn explanation to Wu Chaoyue, and he also reminded: "Especially don't forget the teacher's lesson, even if the old man is not there, there are peerless eyes staring at you for the court." ”

"Grandpa Hua can rest assured, the younger generation knows the severity." Wu Chaoyue replied extremely respectfully, and snorted coldly in his heart: "What if someone is staring at me? If I don't really respect and appreciate you, even if you are staring at me personally, what can you do with me? (To be continued.) )