“…… Since the beginning of the emperor's accession to the throne, there have been constant disputes in China, the Central Plains has been in flames, Shenzhou has been depressed, the lives have been devastated, the people have been displaced, the road is full of hunger, the thieves are full of thieves, and there is no way to raise money! However, under the rule of the generalissimo Wu Shuai of the Qing Dynasty, Xinle was peaceful, the road was not forgotten, the night was not closed, Li Shu lived and worked in peace and contentment, and the old and young puffed up their bellies and sang the praises, the reason for this, who does not know that this is Wu Shuai's work? Ask the reason, who doesn't know that this is Wu Shuai's virtue? ”

“…… Wu Shuai is talented, shocking the past and the present, and has a common reputation at home. Pen, Fun, Pavilion www.biquge.info on the horse to govern the army, the soldiers pointed out, the group of thieves to give the head! Get off the horse and settle the people, implement the political environment, and the state capital is peaceful! The ancient Yi Yin Zhou Gong, there is still no time! ”

“…… The leader of the chaotic party and thieves, there are still three kings, Wu Shuaixing is fighting for thieves, why is there no king? Today, the son descended to rest the army, and the two palaces made peace, if they did not canonize Wu Shuai Wangjue, how could they be sincere? If Wu Shuai is not crowned as the king, how will Wu Shuai be rewarded for his great achievements in the Qing Dynasty? If Wu Shuai is not crowned the king, how can the soldiers of the three armies be rewarded? If Wu Shuai does not rule as the king, who can agree to the people of the world? ”

“…… The two palaces repented, the capital sued for peace, and if you want to stop the army as a jade silk, you must first crown Wu Shuai as the king! ”

After the author's editorial signed 'Nengjing Jushi' was published in the "Hankou Tongshang Bao", this non-governmental newspaper immediately became expensive in Luoyang, and it also caused a huge repercussion, from the high-ranking officials and generals of the Hubei Provisional Government to the grassroots soldiers and ordinary people, and none of them did not discuss whether Wu Chaoyue should be crowned a prince? Should the Manchu court and Emperor Qixiang canonize Wu Chaoyue as the king of the opposite sex in appreciation of Wu Chaoyue's contribution to Kuang Fu Sheji?

Then, naturally, most of the public opinion is, of course, generally supportive of Wu Chaoyue's appointment as a prince, and generally believe that only by canonizing Wu Chaoyue as the king of the opposite sex and authorizing Wu Chaoyue to be the prime minister of the Qing Dynasty can they end this war-torn and chaotic era, so that the civil and military officers of the Hubei rebel army can be fairly rewarded and appointed, and only by letting Wu Chaoyue preside over the power of the world can they be able to govern and harmonize, the country and the people will be safe, and the people of the world can enjoy living and working in peace and contentment, and have enough food and clothing.

For this reason, many scholars and Confucian scholars who were literate and talented but did not get the opportunity to give full play, and Huguang Youwei youth, who gradually began to receive modern education, also went to the table to persuade and implore Wu Chaoyue to be crowned king. Among them, there was a man named Dong Qiliang, who also contacted more than 400 people from the southwestern provinces to sign a letter of 10,000 words, asking Wu Chaoyue to directly establish himself as the king, canonize the hundred officials into their own system, and directly draw a line with the Manchu court.

Hubei People's Daily, the official newspaper of the Hubei Provisional Government, published an article signed by Wu Chaoyue, openly refuting the fallacies and heresies of the 'Neng Jing Jushi' and the Hankou Tongshang Bao, stating that he would never be the king, let alone accept the canonization of the princes of the Manchu court, and more firmly stated that there was only one prerequisite for peace talks with the Manchu court, that is, to kill the leaders of the six major chaotic parties and thieves, including the six brothers of the devils!

Regardless of Wu Chaoyue's strong opposition, he led a large group of Wu military civil and military officials to publish a joint announcement in the "Southwest New Deal", proposing that the Manchu court should make a peace commitment with the Hubei rebel army on the premise of canonizing Wu Chaoyue and promising to allow Wu Chaoyue to do state affairs, and announced that if the Manchu court accepted their demands, but Wu Chaoyue still refused to accept the peace talks, they would collectively resign in protest!

The so-called upsurge of public opinion in the areas controlled by the Wu army also deceived the ignorant people, and at most deceived a few straight-hearted people who could not turn their heads, and what the truth was, a clear-eyed person could actually see at a glance -- Jing Shou, the peace-seeking envoy sent by the Manchu court, was such a clear-eyed person.

Therefore, Jing Shou secretly scolded Wu Chaoyue for his brazenness, and the thief shouted to catch the thief, and at the same time hurriedly reported the farce written and directed by Wu Chaoyue to the Manchu court, asking Ci'an, Cixi and the devil who was just dismissed from office and seized power in reputation. As a result, after the news was reported to the capital, Ci'an, Cixi, and Devil Six and others also directly scolded.

"Traitor! Shameless dog thief! I really don't know how thick your skin is, and you can use such shameless means! Obviously want to learn from Wang Mang Cao Cao to usurp the throne and claim the throne, and the thief who pretends to be a ghost shouts to catch the thief, the despicable villain who is so hypocritical and shameless to the point of you is really rare in the world! ”

After scolding, Cixi also complained to Ci'an: "Sister, it's not my sister that I am guilty of talking about you, when Jing Shou resigned, why didn't you keep your mouth shut and said that you can give Wu Chaoyue the traitor the king?" Now you see, that traitor beat the snake with a stick and climbed down the pole, and took the opportunity to force us to make him king. ”

"My sister is right, I said it at the time." Ci'an didn't care about Cixi's rudeness, and blamed himself: "It's me who is not good, I shouldn't have told Jingshou that minion that limit of our concessions, giving Wu Chaoyue the opportunity to exploit the traitor." ”

After blaming himself, Ci'an asked Cixi again: "Sister, the matter has come to this, what should we do?" Should Wu Chaoyue be crowned king by the traitor in exchange for him to carry out peace talks? ”

"Never!" Cixi, who had a powerful value, flatly refused, pointing out: "It is negotiable to give the traitor a prince, but it can't be now, and it must wait for him to turn his face and start a war with Long Hair before it can be considered." If you give this traitor the title of king now, he will inevitably do everything possible to avoid a war with Changmao, and at the same time use this official canonized prince of the court to make a big fuss about it, laying a solid foundation for him to seek a dynasty and usurp the throne in the future. ”

Ci'an nodded, and also knew that if Wu Chaoyue was the self-proclaimed king, then the civil and military officials in the Wu army who were brainwashed by the enslavement policy of the Manchu court would inevitably be dissatisfied, and they would deviate from Wu Chaoyue, and the real public opinion of the people would inevitably condemn Wu Chaoyue's disobedience. However, if the Manchu court had directly decreed the canonization of Wu Chaoyue as king, these situations would not have happened, and Wu Chaoyue, who had rightly become the prince, would certainly have made a big fuss about this honorable title and laid a solid foundation for the future to get out of the usurpation and claim the emperor.

"The emperor's sister-in-law is reasonable, now we can't give Wu Chaoyue the title of king of the traitor, otherwise it will be more difficult for us to restrain this traitor by the orthodox righteous means of the imperial court."

Devil Ziliu also agreed with Cixi's opinion, and then suggested: "Now the best way for us is to go our separate ways, while letting Jingshou continue to bargain with Wu Chaoyue traitors, and strive to exchange other methods for peace talks, and let Changmao always be vigilant that Wu thieves and us suddenly reconcile with us to attack them." On the other hand, contact Yang Xiuqing to see if he can find other excuses to directly start a war with Wu Thief. ”

"What the sixth brother said is extremely true." Cixi nodded and said: "The reason why Yang Xiuqing, the long-haired puppet king, does not dare to block the Yangtze River now, is nothing more than that he is unknown and is afraid that the thieves under his command will not accept it. But if he justifiably turns his face and starts a war with Wu Chaoyue's traitor, it may not be the only excuse for Wu Thief to betray the alliance and negotiate peace with us, so that he can find another way, and we will fully cooperate with him. ”

The devil Liuying promised, and suddenly had an idea, and hurriedly said: "Two imperial sisters-in-law, in fact, we have a ready-made method now, we can ask Yang Xiuqing to use the excuse of proving that Wu Thief has no intention of betraying the alliance, and let Yang Xiuqing come forward to force Wu Chaoyue to hand over Jing Shou to him for execution." Wu Chaoyue, the traitor, has a relationship with Jing Shouxiao, and he can't expose his true face as a rebellious minister and thief, so he will definitely not agree easily. In this way, wouldn't Yang Xiuqing have an excuse to take the opportunity to pick quarrels and provoke trouble, and take the initiative to provoke a war with Wu Chaoyue? ”

"Clever plan." When Ci'an and Cixi heard the applause, they hurriedly instructed Devil Six to act according to the plan, and then Devil Six also sent a secret messenger as soon as possible, carrying the secret book and then going to Nanjing to contact Yang Xiuqing.

…………

It's time to take a look at the situation on the side of the Taiping Army, according to Wu Chaoyue's arrangement, the copy of the letter between Yang Xiuqing and the Manchu court, with the efforts of the agents of the Hubei Intelligence Bureau, and without revealing that it was Wu Jun's action, was barely smoothly sent to the major military leaders of the Taiping Army who mastered the Jiangfang.

However, it is a pity that Wu Ruxiao, who was pinned on by Wu Chaoyue, did not believe that Yang Xiuqing, who had always been staunch against the Qing Dynasty, would take the initiative to ask the Manchu court for contact, and they all suspected that Wu Chaoyue had done it, framed Yang Xiuqing, and made excuses for the peace talks between Wu Jun and the Manchu court. It's just that there is no evidence, and these military leaders can't accuse Wu Chaoyue, and they all treat this matter as if it didn't happen.

However, what no one expected was that during this period, another mysterious anonymous letter was sent to Wu Ruxiao, the head of the Taiping Army, where the geographical location was most critical, not only attached a copy of Yang Xiuqing's letter to contact the Manchu court, but also introduced that Yang Xiuqing's secret envoy Chen Lai was rewarded by the Manchu court in the capital, among which there was a quail-egg-sized Dongzhu was inlaid by Chen Lai on the scabbard of his sword, and he could take it with him at any time to show off.

The comparison found that the handwriting of the two anonymous letters was completely different, and seeing that the content of the letters said that there was a nose and eyes, Wu Ruxiao, who was loyal to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, finally became suspicious, so he casually found an excuse and sent his henchman Cai Xiande back to Nanjing, and pretended to handle the public facts to verify the authenticity of the anonymous letter.

Jiangyin is not far from Nanjing, and it is all convenient for waterways, Cai Xiande returned to Wu Ruxiao in a few days, and also reported an astonishing news to Wu Ruxiao - Yang Xiuqing's wife's uncle Chen Lai's sword scabbard is indeed inlaid with a very rare big Eastern pearl. Wu Chaoyue was shocked when he heard this, and hurriedly asked, "Are you sure it's Dongzhu and not Nanzhu?" Did you ask Chen about the origin of the East Pearl? ”

"Back to Prime Minister Wu, it was Chen Lai who personally told the last general that it was Dongzhu when he was drinking with the last general." Cai Xiande replied: "He also boasted at the time that even if it was in our Heavenly Pilgrimage Vault, there were not many Dongzhu as large, and it was even rarer on the Qing Demon side, and only the Qing Demon Imperial Family was qualified to wear that kind of Dongzhu from Heilongjiang." ”

"At that time, the general asked him about the origin, and he said that it was given to him by the king of the east." Cai Xiande said again: "But when the last general later went to inquire about Li Liang (a descendant of the hardcore traitor Li Guodong) of the Diantian Treasury, Li Liang said that there was no such thing, because the Dongzhu in our Heavenly Sacred Treasury had never rewarded anyone, so he could confirm that there was no such thing." ”

Wu Ruxiao's face changed, and he asked Cai Xiande, who also knew Mixin, "What do you think?" ”

"I'm afraid it's not groundless." Cai Xiande replied cautiously: "After all, Long Live the East King deliberately lent the road to the Qing Demon Water Master last time. ”

Wu Ruxiao closed his eyes, and after thinking for a while, Wu Ruxiao's eyes suddenly opened, and he said viciously: "Arrange manpower, secretly monitor Chen Lai, and report me immediately if you find that he leaves Tianjing again!" ”

…………

Let's take a look at the situation on Yang Xiuqing's side, when the secret envoy of the Manchu court sent the handwritten letter of Devil Six to Yang Xiuqing, Yang Xiuqing also happened to receive a detailed report that Wu Chaoyue was actively preparing for war on the northern front, and was also worried about not being able to stop Wu Chaoyue's Northern Expedition to destroy the Qing. So after seeing Devil Six's suggestion, Yang Xiuqing was also overjoyed, and immediately found Yang Runqing, Yang Yuanqing, Chen Lai and Meng Deen and a few other henchmen who knew the inside story to discuss whether it was feasible.

The result of the discussion was that the strategy was absolutely feasible, even if it could not completely unite the hearts of the foreign military leaders, at least they could take the opportunity to provoke, but just when Yang Xiuqing made a decision to follow the plan, Meng Deen said: "Long live the East King, we can't help the Qing Demon in vain, now it is the Qing Demon Court begging us, we should take the opportunity to ask them for something." ”

"That's right, you can't help the demons in vain." Yang Xiuqing nodded without thinking about it, and asked Meng Deen again: "Then in your opinion, what should we order?" ”

"Gold in troubled times, collection in prosperous times." Meng Deen replied: "Your Majesty thinks that although the Qing Demon Court does not have any silver in its hands now, there must be a lot of gold ingots and gold ingots in their treasury, and we should knock on the bamboo poles of the Qing Demon Court fiercely, and it is not bad to get the gold back and want foreigners to buy more guns." ”

Yang Xiuqing nodded again, and immediately agreed to knock on this bamboo bar, and accepted Yang Runqing's suggestion, and decided to ask for 100,000 taels of gold to the Manchu court, and Meng Deen said: "Long live the East King, it will definitely be difficult to agree to directly ask for 100,000 taels of gold from the Qing Demon Court, and it will definitely have to bargain, and it will definitely be a waste of time to go back and forth." His Majesty's suggestion is that it is better to directly send an envoy north to negotiate with the Qing Demon Court in person, and after negotiating the price, he will directly bring it back and hand it over to the Holy Treasury, so that there is no need to worry about the Qing Demon Court not believing in its words and delaying the fulfillment of its promises. ”

Yang Xiuqing thought about it and immediately agreed, but before the words fell, several of his precious brothers and Chen Lai were already scrambling to open their mouths and rush to serve as this messenger. However, after thinking about it carefully, Yang Xiuqing rejected the request of a few precious younger brothers, and said: "Let's let Chen come, you are all the national sects of the Heavenly Kingdom, and going north out of Beijing is too eye-catching, or Chen Lai's goal is small, and it is easy to secretly contact the Qing Demon Court." ”

Hearing this answer, Yang Runqing and the others were of course disappointed, and Chen Lai, who had already tasted the sweetness, was of course smiling, and had already begun to think before he set off, "This time, no matter what, I have to make a few more profits, and I have to ask the Qing Demon to send a few more of their palace maids to Ben Hou to enjoy!" ”

Chen Lai was too happy because he had just arranged his itinerary, and before he could board the ship and set off, two informant letters had been secretly sent to Jiangyin and Shanghai, and the letters also clearly introduced his departure time and the style of the ship.