A man carrying a heavy bucket, walked on the tall Wuwangmiao fort with heavy steps, the bucket is not filled with water, it is a thick glutinous rice milk with a hot fragrance, in this era of starvation, glutinous rice milk was poured directly into the sifted sand without hesitation, several people immediately waved the hoe and wooden fork to stir, so that the glutinous rice milk and the sand are fully mixed, and become the strongest and best rammed earth in this era. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

Luo Erba also took a hoe to stir in the sand, while working hard, Luo Erba's eyes glanced around, carefully looked at the soon-to-be-completed fort, and kept estimating in his heart, "Bluestone is wrapped in rammed earth, glutinous rice slurry mixed with lime bonding, the base is about one zhang eight feet high, the female wall is five feet high, the fort is one and a half zhang long and three zhang wide, and three cannons can be arranged normally, and up to four cannons can be arranged." There are eight batteries on the north bank, with twenty-four guns normally, and a maximum of thirty-two artillery ....... ”

"New here! The new little man, hurry up! I just wanted to be lazy, but I will have it later? If you don't want to do it, get out of here! There are many people who want to work, Lao Tzu is replaced! ”

The foreman's scolding interrupted Luo Erba's tacit calculation, and Luo Erba, who was a little distracted, came back to his senses, quickly nodded and pleaded guilty to the foreman, and hurriedly mixed the soil with other people, and then lifted the big stone hammer with a few people, shouting at the labor horn to tamp the sand, and no longer dared to expose the traces too much, and lost this hard-won opportunity to visit the scene to reconnoiter the reality of the Qing army battery.

At this time, a Qing army general wearing black cotton armor led a few personal soldiers to board the fort, and when the foreman hurriedly greeted him and nodded his waist, Luo Erba, who had fought a lot with the Qing army on the battlefield, also saw at a glance that the Qing army general was a new regimental training officer, judging from the fact that his personal soldiers were all with revolvers in their waists, this battalion officer was still a senior general in the Hubei New Army who surpassed the little demon's direct subordinate position.

He didn't dare to have any assassination thoughts with his bare hands, Luo Erba was just honestly ramming the earth and hammering the ground, and the battalion officer went to the fort just to see the construction of the fort, just turned around casually and walked to the female wall to look at the situation of the fort next to him, but he brought a few personal soldiers but two people stood beside Luo Erba, and chatted casually.

"Brother Fan, this fort has been repaired for a long time, and it hasn't been repaired yet, why don't you rush it?"

"Slow work and careful work, I don't know how many years I have to fight with long hair, as long as the fort is firmly repaired, it doesn't matter if it is slow - this is Wu Futai's explanation. Wu Futai is not in a hurry, why are you in a hurry? ”

"What if the long hair suddenly comes back again? On the shore, we can defend the city and the pass, but there is no fort on the shore to shoot the long-haired boats, how can we defend it? ”

"Ha, it's best to call Longhair! Do you know that Wu Futai and Brother Cao are looking forward to the long hair coming, and they are looking forward to the claws in their throats and eyes, they are not afraid of the long hair, but they are afraid that the long hair will not come! Don't hurry up! ”

"What do you mean? Wu Futai and Brother Cao, what are the arrangements? ”

"Don't ask, I can't say more. In short, rest assured, Wu Futai and Zeng Dashuai have already arranged it, just wait for Changmao to make dumplings! In order to lure Changmao over, Wu Futai deliberately returned to Wuchang Mansion in a few days to ....... ”

The voice gradually faded away, the reason was that the two pro-soldiers had already gone away chatting casually, and Luo Erba was wiping his sweat while peeking at the backs of the two pro-soldiers leaving, and wondered in his heart, "Why is the little demon so looking forward to us calling again quickly?" In order to lure us into sending troops, you have to pretend to return to Wuchang Mansion City? Also, Zeng Demon has already gone to Jiujiang, why did these two Qing demons still mention him? ”

Not only Luo Erba, a Taiping army detective, heard this important situation, but also a Taiping army who also heard similar information in the Zhuangzi battalion of the Qing army, which was mainly composed of Hunan people, saying that the main force of the Hunan army might come back at any time and reunite with the Hunan relatives in the Zhuangzi camp. And these circumstances, together with the important information that Wu Chaoyue returned to Wuchang by boat with great fanfare, were written into documents, quickly sent to Jiujiang through secret channels, and submitted to Luo Xuan, the chief general of the Taiping Army in Jiujiang, and then traveled hundreds of miles to Shi Dakai, the main force of the Taiping Army's western front.

It also happened that on the same day as receiving the Hubei Visit, Yang Xiuqing also sent a letter to Anqing, in which Yang Xiuqing did not directly ask Shi Dakai to give up attacking Hubei, but also repeatedly reminded Shi Dakai to be cautious about entering Hubei again, and must not fall for Wu Chaoyue's tricks again, unless there is an ideal fighter appearing, it is best not to take risks and repeat the mistakes of Wei Changhui, Zeng Lichang and Lin Fengxiang and others.

In addition, Yang Xiuqing also told Shi Dakai a good news, that is, under the persuasion of Li Kaifang, Zhang Lexing, the leader of the Twist Army, has accepted the appeasement of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and was named Cheng Tianyi, and Zhang Lexing has the idea of developing towards a rich and stable northern Hubei Province.

Originally, he was extremely suspicious that the battlefield of Tianjiazhen was a huge trap, and seeing Yang Xiuqing's letter saying this, Shi Dakai had no choice but to dispel the idea of attacking Hubei by taking advantage of the situation, and decided to give priority to dealing with the Hunan army and the Qing army on the Nanchang battlefield, and it was not too late to attack Hubei after solving these two enemies.

The result is also very natural, at present, it is still the paper tiger Wu Chaoyue who escaped a catastrophe, and Zeng Guofan, who deliberately did not block the Yangtze River waterway, was extremely depressed, waiting for the flowers to thank Xie couldn't wait for the good news of the Taiping army's invasion of Hubei, and was greatly puzzled, "Did Long Mao take the wrong medicine?" obviously hated Ben Shuai's disobedient protégé to the core, now that he has such a good opportunity, why didn't he think of sending a partial division to take the opportunity to enter Hubei? Now, even if you only send 3,000 sailors into Hubei, you can turn the hinterland of Hubei upside down? ”

…………

When the barber teacher was puzzled, Wu Chaoyue really returned to Wuchang Mansion City by boat, and the reason was nothing else, one was that the Cloth Maze used the empty city plan to intimidate the Taiping Army, and the other was that Wu Chaoyue had to come back to preside over the autumn harvest, and there was a more important military ration collection event.

It was still a coincidence that when Wu Chaoyue's ship arrived at the Wuchang Fu wharf, there happened to be a Hunan army's baggage fleet loaded with ammunition, fire, oil and other necessary things for the war to leave from the Wuchang wharf and sail downstream to supply the Hunan army.

I have never liked Li Yuandu's junior brother very much, and Wu Chaoyue did not deliberately let the Hunan army's baggage fleet stop and greet Li Yuandu, Wu Chaoyue only noticed another detail - this Hunan army's baggage fleet is composed of ten fast crab boats and five long dragon ships, all the ships are brand new, obviously new ships that have just been built, and they are all equipped with brand-new artillery, and it is likely that even the boats were sent to the Hunan army sailors for supply.

Not only Wu Chaoyue noticed this detail, but also Wu Chaoyue's newly recruited staff member Shao Yanhong in Qizhou also noticed this, and couldn't help but say to Wu Chaoyue: "Futai, Hunan doesn't seem to be rich?" How can the gentry there be so rich? Even if you pay money and grain to help Zeng Butang build such a large-scale Hunan army, how can you still provide Zeng Butang with money and food so endlessly? Just these fifteen new ships and new guns, even if the cost price is at least more than 100,000 taels of silver, the Hunan gentry are so generous and continue to donate happy or lose? ”

Wu Chaoyue and Zhao Liewen both smiled bitterly when they heard it, in fact, Wu Chaoyue and Zhao Liewen had long found that this was very wrong, and they had long heard that most of the military expenses of the Hunan army actually came from the financial revenue of Hunan Province. It's just that Luo Bingzhang did this with the consent of the Manchu court, so no matter how dissatisfied the governor of Huguang was, Guan Wen couldn't say anything, and at the same time, Wu Chaoyue was also eyeing this important income and was following suit in Hubei.

After whispering to Shao Yanhong to roughly introduce the real source of military spending of the Hunan army, Wu Chaoyue's ship had docked at the dock of Wuchang Mansion, and Wu Chaoyue, who had always been low-key in terms of honor guards, did not inform the officials at all levels of Wuchang Mansion in advance, so naturally no one would go to the dock to greet Wu Chaoyue. Wu Chaoyue, who saved a lot of trouble, went back to the city directly, entered his residence and hugged Feng Xiaoluoli and gnawed indiscriminately, after being pushed away by the red-faced Xiaoluoli, Wu Chaoyue wanted to just have a casual meal at home, but he didn't want to be a soldier but suddenly reported loudly outside the door, saying that the official Wen of the Governor of Huguang had prepared a banquet for Wu Chaoyue in the Governor's Palace, and cleaned up the wind and dust for Wu Chaoyue, and Qingqing cleaned up Hubei Changmao.

Very helplessly, he pinched Xiao Luoli's cute face full of disappointment, and Wu Chaoyue, who had to maintain a friendly relationship with the official text, could only nod and agree to the banquet, and then sent someone to inform Zhao Liewen and Shao Yanhong and others, and asked them to go to the banquet with them. As a result, when Wu Chaoyue hugged Feng Xiaoluoli, who had not seen him for a long time, apologized and rubbed oil by the way, Zhao Liewen suddenly pushed the door directly, and Feng Xiaoluoli, who had already sat on Wu Chaoyue's lap and let him kiss, was so ashamed that he fled directly into the bedroom, Zhao Liewen smiled very immorally and said: "Don't blame the comfort pavilion, I really didn't know you were making love, fortunately, I didn't take off my clothes." ”

"Yes, yes, I'm glad I didn't take off my clothes." Wu Chaoyue smiled helplessly and beckoned: "Sit, come to me in such a hurry, is there something urgent?" ”

"There's something I want to talk to you about alone." Zhao Liewen nodded and admitted, and then pouted in the direction of the bedroom, Wu Chaoyue understood, and said hello to Feng Xiaoluoli loudly, and then went out with Zhao Liewen and went for a walk in the quiet and uninhabited back garden.

It was also when I arrived at a place where there was no one else, Zhao Liewen said: "Just now you sent someone to tell me to go to the mansion of the official system to have a banquet, which suddenly reminded me of a very important matter, so I hurried to discuss it with you." It's just that this matter is a little dirty and filthy, so that the third lady of your rectum heard it badly, and called you out again. ”

Wu Chaoyue nodded, and when Zhao Liewen suddenly remembered any important events, Zhao Liewen suddenly asked Wu Chaoyue: "Weiting, your teacher has left Hubei, and the senior officials in charge of the army and the real power in Hubei are the only ones left with you and the official system, how do you plan to deal with the official system next?" ”

"Of course, it's trying to please." Wu Chaoyue replied without blushing: "The rules of the imperial court, although the governors are not subordinate to each other, but I work in the same city as him, and the Hubei Green Camp is directly under him in terms of rules. ”

"It's a good idea, but is it enough?" Zhao Liewen asked in a deep voice: "Weiting, you still have to continue to expand the army, you also have to manage the iron factory in Daye, establish a gun and artillery bureau, a shipbuilding bureau, and use the imperial court to give you Hubei finance to do countless important things, and sooner or later there will be a conflict with the official system in terms of civil affairs, official governance and military affairs. ”

Wu Chaoyue didn't say anything anymore, and he knew very well in his heart that the official document was actually the eyeliner of Huguang installed by the Manchu court, and Luo Bingzhang who monitored himself and Hunan, no matter what big moves he made in Hubei, he would definitely be stabbed in front of the wild boar skin IX with a secret fold by the official document. At the same time, without Zeng Guofan, a common political opponent, sooner or later he and Guanwen will have conflicts in the military, government and civil affairs, and will be hindered by Guanwen in various tricks, and he will not be able to build Hubei into the world of the Wu family.

Knowing in his heart the threat of the official document to himself, Wu Chaoyue couldn't think of any way to eliminate and resolve this threat, not to mention that he had no way to get rid of the official document because he had not established a firm foothold in Hubei, even if he reluctantly drove the official document away, the Manchu court would definitely immediately send a Manchu governor over to continue to monitor him, and the situation would probably be even worse at that time. So after Wu Chaoyue nodded, he asked Zhao Liewen directly: "Then what do you think I should do?" ”

"Plan ahead! The relationship between Guanwen and Luo Bingzhang is separated in advance! Set up a difficult enemy for Guanwen! ”

Zhao Liewen's voice was extremely grim, and he said in a low voice: "Today, the Hunan Xiang Army under Luo Bingzhang has gradually become the main force in counterinsurgency, and several of them have performed well on the battlefield of pacifying bandits, your senior brother Jiang Zhongyuan, your teacher Zeng Butang, and Liu Changyou, who succeeded your senior brother in charge of Chu Yong, are all from Hunan, in fact, they are all replenished by Hunan's money and food. And Luo Bingzhang patrolled Hunan, while vigorously supporting the Hunan army to go out of the province to quell the rebellion, he could also do not have chaos in the province, and he was the real mainstay of the Hunan army! As long as the court and the emperor are not confused, they will not destroy the Great Wall and cut off their own pillars! ”

Speaking of this, Zhao Liewen paused, and then said in a low voice: "In such a situation, if you can provoke the contradiction between Guanwen and Luo Bingzhang, let the two of them completely turn against each other, fight each other to the death, and the sky is dark, then you can sit and reap the benefits!" ”

"Then if the official system wants to sit firmly in the position of the governor of Huguang, and if you want not to be curried by the imperial court to please Luo Bingzhang with his top career and even his net worth, he can only rely on you with all his might! At that time, you don't need to whisper and pat the horse, send silver to send beautiful women, and the official document will have to please you in turn! Because if he loses your support again, in the position of the governor of Huguang, he will not even want to sit on his ass! ”

Luo Bingzhang and Lin Zexu have a very good relationship, when he was down, he almost entered Lin Zexu's shogunate, and the old Wu family barely had a bit of a relationship with the family, after the southern part of Hubei was beaten by the Taiping army, Luo Bingzhang also pulled Wu Chaoyue and sent a large number of emergency grains to Wu Chaoyue, Wu Chaoyue dug the corner of Chu Yong's wall and pulled Liu Kunyi's Zhuangzi camp to Hubei, Luo Bingzhang never expressed any dissatisfaction with Wu Chaoyue, let alone retaliation, and Wu Chaoyue was 100% benevolent and righteous.

However, Luo Bingzhang must have never dreamed that after listening to the bad idea of the unscrupulous master Zhao Liewen, Wu Chaoyue, the number one white-eyed wolf in the Qing Dynasty, not only did not remember Luo Bingzhang's previous good to himself, but nodded without hesitation and decided to adopt Zhao Liewen's bad idea, and even gave birth to an even more immoral thought, "If the official text can really bring down Luo Bingzhang, it would be better if Hunan was in chaos, and Chu Yong of the Hunan army had no only stable and reliable rear, then Lao Tzu would be a big family." At that time, not only will the wild boar skin family not dare to touch me, but Chu Yong of the Hunan army may also be pulled over by me! ”

After making up his mind to separate the relationship between Guanwen and Luo Bingzhang, Wu Chaoyue hurriedly asked Zhao Liewen: "Huifu, then, what do you think I should do to that side, and what kind of method should I use to separate the relationship between Guanwen and Luo Bingzhang, so that they can completely turn against each other?" ”

"This has to be done slowly, but there is a way to lay the groundwork first." Zhao Liewen smiled and said: "Weiting, you just need to let the official system know that your teacher wants to use the connections in the court to help Luo Futai, who has made outstanding achievements, to the position of the governor of Huguang, it is enough." ”

Wu Chaoyue laughed when he heard this, and immediately gave Zhao Liewen a thumbs up, and then ............

Then, and then when it was time for the evening banquet, Wu Chaoyue, who had returned triumphantly, was of course drunk by the official Wen and the Hubei officials, and when the official Wen personally helped Wu Chaoyue to leave the table to rest, Wu Chaoyue also pulled the official Wen's sleeve and talked about wine, and forced the official document to be pulled to no one outside the hall, and said inarticulately: "Official Tai, Xia Guan has something I want to talk to you about alone, talk about it alone, Guantai Tai, Guantai Tai, you are much older than my father, if you don't mind in the future, I want to call you Uncle Gaopan in the future!" Uncle! I don't know if you say yes? ”

The official document that has been in his fifties pretended to give in, and then he still recognized Wu Chaoyue, the eldest nephew, Wu Chaoyue struggled to give the official document a junior gift, and the official system quickly stopped Wu Chaoyue from saying it later, Wu Chaoyue shook his head and said: "Uncle, you must also know that when Humen sold cigarettes, my grandfather was the interpreter of Wen Zhonggong, and my grandfather and his old man have always regarded that incident as a lifelong glory." The little nephew has always admired his grandfather, and he also hopes to be able to assist a famous minister like Lin Wenzhong, so uncle, uncle, little nephew really want to assist you to achieve great achievements and go down in history! ”

"Virtuous nephew, your well-meaning uncle understands, but you drank too much today, and if you have something to talk about tomorrow, you will talk about it tomorrow." The official Wen kindly persuaded him.

"My little nephew didn't drink much." Wu Chaoyue shook his head and said drunkly: "What the little nephew said is from his heart, in Tianjia Town, the teacher said that it would be good if the governor of Huguang was Luo Futai, he was the one who talked about wine, and he ...... talk about wine." Uncle, the little nephew didn't drink much, really didn't drink too much. ”

Hearing this, although it was clear that Wu Chaoyue was talking about wine, Guan Wen's face suddenly became a little gloomy. (To be continued.) )