With a firm grasp of the chance of victory, and at the same time, in order to train the army and the generals, in the war to seize Shanxi, Wu Chaoyue basically did not care about the front-line command and strategy and tactics, and let Liu Kunyi, Jiang Zhongji and Li Xubin do their own thing. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

I don't know if I don't know it, I was shocked when I saw Wu Chaoyue, and the 32,000 Wu army that had been put into the Shanxi battlefield in two batches had unknowingly expanded to more than 60,000 people, among which Liu Kun's army was the fastest to expand, and it was only more than 10,000 people when it set off from Jiezhou, and it had exceeded 28,000 people after taking Taiyuan. Jiang Zhongji's army, which had Li Hongzhang as his staff officer, also expanded the 13,000 army to more than 20,000 very fiercely, and only the Li Xubin brothers, who helped Liu Kun fight Taiyuan, expanded the army less, only adding more than 3,000 troops.

Although Shanxi was rich, it was still very difficult to support so many troops in the era when the productive forces were still very backward, and in order to obtain money, food, and military salaries to supply the army, there was still an obvious open and secret struggle between the three Wu armies, and there was private competition.

In order to grab more money and grain, Liu Kun's army, which rushed to the front, opened to the three counties of Qi Taiping as soon as he laid down Kai-shek, regardless of the fatigue of the army, and cheekily robbed these three important commercial towns.

Li Xubin's brothers are not a good thing, they were one step too late and failed to grab the money and food of the three major commercial towns of Qi Taiping, so they simply took the risk and continued to go north, attacking Yuci, which was close to Taiyuan, with a lone army, and then preemptively divided the troops to fight Shouyang, and even committed the taboo of dividing the troops too much, and in the end, although they succeeded by luck, Wu Chaoyue pinched a cold sweat for them just by reading the report.

Jiang Zhongji's army, which had Li Hongzhang as a staff officer, was even more ruthless, and went west to swallow the money and grain of the Fenzhou Mansion alone, and under the pretext of preventing the Qing army of Zhili from advancing westward to reinforce Taiyuan, he refused to join forces with Liu Kunyi and Li Xubin to attack Taiyuan, and marched east alone to take Pingdingzhou and Niangzi Pass, and seized the favorable terrain of the army in Zhili early.

After reading this report, Wu Chaoyue was of course a little angry in his heart, and was very dissatisfied with the fact that these fierce generals disregarded the overall situation, acted selfishly, and robbed the merit and greedy for merit, and at the same time, he was extremely glad that the strength of the Qing army in Shanxi was weak, and the Manchu court also gave priority to protecting Zhili Shandong and did not vigorously reinforce Shanxi, so Liu Kunyi and Jiang Zhongji and others did not encounter major danger no matter how they came.

Dissatisfied is dissatisfied, but Wu Chaoyue has no intention of accusing Liu Kunyi and others, first, because Wu Chaoyue had already relinquished power before the war and allowed Liu Kunyi, Jiang Zhongji and Li Xubin brothers to do their own thing, and now the reprimand is not a nameless teacher. Second, from the perspective of the superior, Wu Chaoyue is also more willing to see Liu Kunyi and Li Hongzhang and other fierce men of the late Qing Dynasty competing with each other and discording with each other, and does not want to see them collude and commit adultery in Shanxi.

Third, these three Wu armies in Shanxi are actually second-line armies, and the equipment of ordinary soldiers is backward, and the weapons and ammunition of elite soldiers need to rely on Wu Chaoyue's supply, Wu Chaoyue is neither afraid that they will be hit hard, nor afraid that they will get rid of their own control and become uncontrollable warlords. - Wu Chaoyue's trustworthy brother-in-law Nie Shichengke has been nesting in Luoyang, and he has also controlled the soldiers and horses of the Wu army in Cuihan, Jiezhou and other places, and can lead the elite Wu army armed to the teeth at any time to teach traitors to be people.

After carefully understanding the current situation of money and grain taxation in Shanxi, Wu Chaoyue naturally began to think about such a possibility in his heart - can the Wu army of Shanxi take on the heavy task of attacking the capital of Zhili alone under the condition that Zeng Guoquan's army can contain the main force of the Qing army in Shandong?

The result of the calculation is that the difficulty is not small, and the hope is not small, the main force of the cavalry of the Qing army has been buried in the hands of Shengbao, and the Shanxi Wu army has entered the North China Plain in the east, and there is not much danger in the problem of logistics and grain routes, and the only army in the Manchu Qing court is actually the Shandong New Army formed by Luo Bingzhang, and the Zeng Guoquan army only needs to enter Jinan through the Daimyo's Mansion to the east, which is enough to contain Luo Bingzhang's army in Shandong, so that the Shanxi Wu army can go all out to attack the capital of Zhili. And if Wu Chaoyue sends the cavalry of the Wu army under Nie Shicheng to Shandong to help Zeng Guoquan deal with the Shandong New Army, there is still a great hope that the two battlefields will win at the same time and directly kill the Shandong New Army fighting with Lizhi rifles.

Even better, it was the Mid-Autumn Festival, and it was the autumn harvest, and the local money and grain in Shanxi and Henan could fully support the Wu army to launch another large-scale attack. At the same time, without the burden of grain, Wu Chaoyue, who held the two major grain-producing areas of Sichuan, Huguang, also had the strength to make a loss-making business and send grain to the northern front line by land.

After making up his mind, Wu Chaoyue immediately led the decision-making level of the Wu army to study the specific battle plan, and as a result, during the discussion, Dai Wenjie put forward another tactical suggestion, saying: "Dashuai, why can't we follow the example of foreigners and Changmao and send a group of soldiers and horses from the sea to disrupt the party's Gyeonggi throat?" Now that the rebellious party's sailors have been wiped out, and the Far East Fleet of the Rakshasa people has also suffered a great loss, we have sent troops from the sea, and there is no longer any threat on the road, and if we go on a three-way northern expedition, the certainty of victory is much greater? ”

"Our sailors have to guard against the long hairs and block the Yangtze River waterway." Wu Chaoyue said casually: "If such a situation really occurs, our sailor will have to be responsible for dredging the channel, and he can't move it lightly at will. ”

The speaker was unintentional, the listener was intentional, hearing Wu Chaoyue's words, Zhao Liewen's heart moved, and he hurriedly said: "Comfort Ting, should we spend more effort to appease Long Hair?" Continue to do our best to stabilize them, otherwise, during our Northern Expedition, if Longhair is worried about the death of his lips and teeth and deliberately makes trouble, then we will have to be in some trouble, and if we don't do it, we will have to fight on two fronts and fall into passivity. ”

"Of course I have this in mind." Wu Chaoyue replied: "Zhang Dejian found out the news, Yang Xiuqing has recently been very fond of a long-haired man named Meng Deen, almost obediently, I plan to send an envoy to the capital to buy him in the name of Tonghao, as well as Yang Xiuqing's younger brothers, so that they can try to persuade Yang Xiuqing not to come nonsense." Yang Xiuqing's anti-Qing stance has always been resolute, and with their help and persuasion, it should not be a big problem to stabilize Yang Xiuqing temporarily. ”

Between the confident words, a personal soldier suddenly came to report outside the door, saying that Yang Xiuqing sent Hong Renji as an envoy to come to visit, and Wu Chaoyue, who was planning to continue to stabilize the Taiping Army, did not hesitate, and immediately handed over the plan to Zhao Liewen and others to continue to discuss and study, and personally came forward to meet Hong Renji, who was also very trusted by Yang Xiuqing.

Seeing that the amount of grain requested by the Taiping Army was not too large, and at the same time the grain price demanded was not excessive, Wu Chaoyue agreed and took the initiative to promise to send grain to Nanjing through the Yangtze River channel to reduce the burden of grain transportation for the Taiping Army.

"Thank you, Marshal Wu." Hong Renji hurriedly thanked him, but he did not hurry to say goodbye and leave, and said: "Wu Dashuai, the little envoy has another purpose here, that is, to want to visit Hankou, visit a few foreigner friends who met in Hong Kong, and hope that the big marshal will allow the envoy to stay in Wuchang for a few days, disturb here, and hope to forgive his sins." ”

Wu Chaoyue laughed when he heard this, and said, "When did Mr. Qianyi become so polite?" As far as the friendship between you and me is concerned, as long as you like it, what will I say if I live in Wuchang for a year and a half? Do you still need to ask for an opening? ”

Hong Renji hurriedly thanked him again, and then said goodbye and left. But after sending Hong Renji away with a smile, Wu Chaoyue, who was suspicious by nature, felt that something seemed to be wrong, and said secretly: "Isn't it right? Such a trivial matter as playing in Wuchang Hankou for a few days can be brought up in front of me? Did Hong Renji make such a request intentionally or unintentionally? ”

Under suspicion, out of prudence, Wu Chaoyue naturally sent someone to send an order to Zhang Dejian, the head of the Wu army's spies, and asked Zhang Dejian to send his spies to secretly monitor Hong Renji to see if he had any unusual behavior in Wuchang and Hankou.

Although the Wu army in Shanxi supplemented a large number of northern soldiers, the main force was still mainly southerners, and it was easy to be affected by climate and temperature in autumn and winter, which was also the most critical reason for the difficulty of the Northern Expedition since ancient times.

Fortunately, the times have been different, after entering the era of the steam engine, the cost price of cotton and linen textiles has already dropped sharply, and the Western powers are eager to find dumping places for industrial products, Wu Jun has also hoarded a large number of cotton and linen textiles for emergency use, so after making up his mind, Wu Chaoyue only needs to order the garment factory to start producing cotton clothes with all its might, and then send it to the front line.

Then, as expected in advance by Wu Chaoyue, Zhao Liewen and others, just as the Wu army was fully preparing for the Northern Expedition, the news that the Manchu court had sent Jing Shou south to the south for peace talks came from the capital. Hearing the report, Wu Chaoyue of course sneered again and again, and made up his mind early to make peace with the Manchu court first, and then act at the opportunity. However, at this time, Zhang Dejian, the head of the Wu army's spies, suddenly came to Wu Chaoyue and reported to Wu Chaoyue about the situation of monitoring Hong Renji's movements.

"Marshal, Hong Renji has been asking around about the peace talks between us and the chaotic party in the capital for the past two days." Zhang Dejian reported: "Not only did he personally come out to inquire with the foreign priest, but he also used the long-haired fine work lurking in Hankou to gather relevant information, and in addition, he tried to contact the officials of our State Guest House, and it seems that the purpose was also to find out the news." ”

Zhang Dejian's report didn't make Wu Chaoyue care much at first, but after thinking about it carefully, Wu Chaoyue immediately became suspicious and said: "Strange, we only confirmed the news that the chaotic party in the capital is preparing to negotiate peace with us today, why did Hong Renji come to Wuchang the day before yesterday to start inquiring about the relevant news?" Can their intelligence system be more efficient than ours? ”

"My subordinates also think it's a bit strange." Zhang Dejian said: "Although Jiangning is closer to the sea, and the speed of transmitting news on the water is faster than that by land, we know that the news that the rebel party in the capital is preparing to negotiate with us is also sent by our intelligence station in Shanghai, and it is also by water, so how can the news of Changmao be so fast than ours?" ”

After thinking about it for a while, Wu Chaoyue hurriedly asked again: "How did our intelligence station in Shanghai find out the news that the rebel party in the capital is preparing to negotiate with us?" ”

"It was the people in the concession who took the initiative to tell us from the rebellious party in the capital." Zhang Dejian replied truthfully: "My subordinates speculate that the Beijing Chaos Party probably wants us to take this matter first, so that their peace envoys can contact us. ”

Wu Chaoyue became even more suspicious, because Wu Chaoyue knew very well that since the Manchu court intended to let itself know the news that they were preparing for peace talks, the faster the better, even if the work efficiency was not high enough, such a big matter would not be delayed for too long. However, it is absolutely impossible for the intelligence system of the Taiping army to penetrate deep into the Manchu court, and at most it can only inquire about the news among the people in the capital, and it has to be limited by the means of transportation and the investigation and search of the Qing army directly under the Qing Dynasty, how can it be faster than the Manchu court directly leaking to the self-army?

Although the matter may not seem small, it is a big question related to the stability of the rear during the Northern Expedition of the Wu Army. Therefore, after Wu Chaoyue thought about it again and again, he decided to ask Hong Renji directly to understand, and immediately sent someone to call Hong Renji to his face, and directly told Hong Renji about the situation of the Manchu Qing court preparing to negotiate peace with him, and then carefully Hong Renji's reaction.

After learning the shocking news that the Manchu court planned to negotiate with Wu Chaoyue, Hong Renji really didn't show too much surprise, as if he had known about the situation for a long time, and couldn't wait to ask Wu Chaoyue: "Dashuai, what are you going to do?" Are you planning to negotiate with the Qing Demon Court? ”

"Qianyi, we've been friends for many years." Wu Chaoyue stared at Hong Renji and asked, "There is one thing I hope you can tell the truth, how come you seem to have known that the rebellious party in the capital intends to talk to me for peace?" ”

"It's ......." Hong Renji still didn't lie to his face as before, and said in a panic: "Wu Dashuai, do I have ......?" ”

"You can't hide it from me." Wu Chaoyue shook his head and interrupted Hong Renji, and said in a deep voice: "You have been in Wuchang and Hankou for the past two days, and you have specifically inquired about this matter. Also, when you asked me in person to let you stay in Hankow for a few days, your real purpose should be to deceive me into reassuring me and not to take precautions against you, right? ”

Speaking of this, Wu Chaoyue smiled bitterly again, and said: "Brother Qianyi, you are not a spy, it's okay if you don't say this, I definitely won't care how you play in Wuchang Hankou, you said this superfluous sentence, but it made me suspicious and sent someone to spy on you." ”

Seeing that the organ had been revealed, Hong Renji had no choice but to nod with a wry smile and said: "Pretending to be smart in front of the big handsome is really the biggest mistake in my life, it was like this in Shanghai last time, and it is the same in Wuchang this time." Yes, I knew the news in advance. ”

"How do you know?" Wu Chaoyue hurriedly asked.

"Long live the East King told me." Hong Renji replied: "Long live the king of the east sent me to Hankou, buying grain to survive the famine is just a pretense by the way, the real purpose is to let me inquire about the negotiation between you and the Qing Demon Court." ”

"Then how did Yang Xiuqing know the news?" Wu Chaoyue hurriedly asked again.

"I heard that we inquired about it in the capital." Hong Renji replied truthfully, and added: "At that time, I also said that the Qing Demon Court was a fool's dream, with Wu Dashuai's current momentum and strength, how could you agree to make peace with the Qing Demon Court?" Even if you really negotiate with the Qing Demon Court, at most you will only be a false and wronged snake, and maybe you will take the opportunity to play a trick and yin the Qing Demon Court. ”

"Then what did Yang Xiuqing say?" Wu Chaoyue asked again in a hurry.

"Long live the king of the east said that the heart of guarding against people is indispensable, and I must come to Wuchang to investigate this situation." Hong Renji replied honestly: "He also said that as long as you start negotiations with the Qing Demon Court, you have to report to him immediately, and you will immediately protest to you and ask you to stop negotiating with the Qing Demon Court." Otherwise, we will have to consider breaking the alliance and blocking the Yangtze River waterway to retaliate against you. ”

Yang Xiuqing's revenge was not beyond Wu Chaoyue's expectations, but strange because of Yang Xiuqing's astonishing speed of learning the news of the capital, as well as the confident means of thinking of his eldest niece, Wu Chaoyue's heart couldn't help but deduce a possibility that made him feel unbelievable - Yang Xiuqing was acting with the Manchu court, preparing to plant the charge of betraying the alliance treaty on himself, and then justifiably blockade the Yangtze River waterway.

Then, Wu Chaoyue also found that if he fell into the scheme, he would be completely in a dilemma, and refusing to negotiate peace would expose his true face of rebellion and rebellion, which might lead to internal changes. If he agreed to the peace talks, he offended the Taiping army, gave Yang Xiuqing an excuse to block the Yangtze River waterway, and dragged himself into the dilemma of fighting on two fronts.

"Yang Xiuqing can't be relied on anymore, and my access to the sea is in danger of being blocked at any time." Wu Chaoyue also came to such a conclusion.