After the end of the Second Opium War, the French side firmly sided with the Manchu court and completely severed all ties with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom because of their fanaticism for missionary and absurdity with the absurdity of worship. However www.biquge.info, because of the heavy losses in the first world economic crisis, the British side gave the Taiping army one last chance in order to be able to make up for the losses in order to get more benefits in China, and sent Pa Xiali and He Bo to Nanjing again, offering to cooperate with the Taiping army in exchange for the Taiping army to send more benefits to the British side.

In history, Hong Xiuquan failed to seize this last opportunity, in addition to the harsh conditions proposed by the British side and Hong Xiuquan did not know how to bargain, another main reason was that Hong Xiuquan also asked Pa Xia Li and He Bo to kneel and salute him, and Hong Renji, the only one in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom who knew the Western cultural system at that time, happened to be not in Nanjing, and failed to prevent Hong Xiuquan from letting the soldiers force Pa Xia Li and others to kneel, which led to the direct end of the negotiations before they began, and also caused Britain to follow in the footsteps of France. He also stood firmly on the opposite side of the Taiping Army, and helped the Manchu court brutally strangle the Taiping Rebellion.

Fortunately for the Taiping Army at this historical level, the stubborn and slightly mentally ill Hong Xiuquan has been placed under house arrest and lost power, and it was the flexible realist Yang Xiuqing who came forward to negotiate with the British representatives, and at the same time, France needed to be stationed in Hubei because of the need for the minister to be stationed in Hubei, and the Chinese mainland market that was actually opened in advance by Wu Chao needed to ensure the smooth flow of the Yangtze River waterway, and the Taiping Army was stronger than in history, France also gave the Taiping Army one last chance, and also sent Counselor Ai Xiang to participate in the negotiations.

Under the strong persuasion of Hong Renji, Yang Xiuqing agreed to only let the British and French representatives bow, in exchange for a good impression that the British and French representatives felt that he was still open, and at the same time, Yang Xiuqing, who had been pumped all over the ground by Wu Chaoyue with foreign guns and cannons, also learned a lesson, and while following Wu Chaoyue's example of not being entangled in the opium trade, which is currently a problem that cannot be solved, he took the initiative to ask for the expansion of trade with Britain and France, agreed to open the market controlled by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and took the initiative to let the British industry, which was in deep economic crisis, gain a large market. In exchange for a resolute and neutral statement from the British side.

Because of the problem of proselytizing, the French side once reached an impasse in negotiations with Yang Xiuqing, but no matter how fanatical the missionary was, he also had to bow his head in the face of practical interests, and when Hong Renji, who also knew how to fight between snipe and clam fighting, threw out an arms order of more than 2 million taels of silver, the French representative, whose domestic industry was in a stage of rapid development, immediately made certain concessions and began to compete with Britain for the Taiping Army's arms orders with red eyes.

In the end, the French also chose to remain neutral, in exchange for a large number of Taiping arms orders and the opening of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's market to them, as well as the smooth navigation of the Yangtze River and the personal safety of French missionaries in the territory controlled by the Taiping Army.

In addition, after thinking about it again, Yang Xiuqing gritted his teeth and agreed to an astonishing condition put forward by Britain and France - that is, if the Taiping Army really overthrew the Manchu court, it would unconditionally inherit and continue a series of treaties signed by the Manchu court with Britain and France, and at the same time ensure the payment of the reparations that the Manchu court was prepared to pay off in four years during the Second Raven War! In exchange for Britain and France recognizing the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom as their legitimate regime, and refraining from interfering in the Chinese civil war.

Not to mention Yang Xiuqing's betrayal, in fact, when Sun Dacang established the Nanjing government, in order to win the recognition and support of the Western powers for the Republic of China, he also gritted his teeth and agreed to inherit all the treaties signed by the Manchu court and the Western powers! In order to gain the support and recognition of the Western powers, Sun Dacang's successor, Chairman Chiang, not only inherited these treaties, but also recognized and repaid the loans of the enemy Beiyang government to the foreign powers!

Yang Xiuqing made this astonishing concession, of course, with the intention of reversing it after the accident, along with the legalization of the opium trade. But this is enough, at least Britain and France can rest assured and bold to continue to maintain neutrality, and at the same time, of course, Britain and France also know that Yang Xiuqing may choose to regret - but it doesn't matter much, John Bull and Gallic Chicken have more guns than Yang Xiuqing, and the cannon is bigger than Yang Xiuqing, and the industrial base and system are even more than the eighteen streets of the Taiping Army, which is not even good at agriculture, and then force Yang Xiuqing to pay more money to atone for his crimes.

Relying on the imitation of Wu Chaoyue, who is inseparable from friend and foe, he got rid of the two vicious jackals of Britain and France, temporarily pacified them, and after freeing his hands, Yang Xiuqing made two important decisions, the first was to send a secret envoy to the west to contact Wu Chaoyue again, and asked Wu Chaoyue to conclude an alliance with him. The second is to urge Shi Dakai to dispatch the main force of Anhui to the north as soon as possible, ready to take advantage of the opportunity of the Manchu court's inability to go south to reinforce the army, pull out the big nail of Xuzhou, and completely purge northern Jiangsu, and at the same time strengthen the support for Ji Wenyuan, who is fighting hard in Shandong, in order to seize Shandong as the advance base, and launch the Northern Expedition again in due time to deal a fatal blow to the Manchu court!

The waterway was in fact unimpeded, and the secret envoy who went to Daye to contact Wu Chaoyue soon brought back the news that Wu Chaoyue had only verbally agreed to non-aggression and to increase the supply of wrought iron to the Taiping army, but still refused to sign an alliance with the Taiping army. And when Yang Xiuqing scolded, the secret envoy said: "Long live the East King, the person who surpassed the little demon also asked the little one to bring you a verbal message, that is, the Qing Demon Emperor is sick in Rehe, and he is quite sick, and there is a possibility of dying in Rehe." ”

"Is it possible that the Qing Demon Emperor will die in Rehe?" Yang Xiuqing was stunned, and said with some doubts: "Remember that the Qing Demon Emperor is not very old?" How could it be possible to die so soon? The person who surpassed the little demon, did he say that this news is accurate? ”

"Long live the king of Huidong, I said it, and it is true." The secret envoy replied respectfully: "The person who surpassed the little demon suggested that we seize this opportunity to hurry north, and quickly take Shandong first, at this time there is the least resistance to going north." ”

Yang Xiuqing was suspicious of the information provided by Wu Chaoyue, and couldn't help but suspect that Wu Chaoyue wanted to divert the tiger from the mountain, deceive himself into dispatching the main force of Anhui to the north, and take the opportunity to attack Anqing and Nanjing. However, it was the established plan of the Taiping army to clear the remnants of the enemy in northern Jiangsu as soon as possible, and at the same time, heavy troops had already been deployed on the line from Anqing to Hukou, and permanent forts were built to guard the two critical positions of Hukou and Anqing.

In addition, the current situation of the Hubei army also made Yang Xiuqing quite relieved, the main force is being reorganized, the three medium-sized steam gunboats have just been equipped and still need time to familiarize themselves with and train, the main force of water and land is in the adjustment stage, even if it is an all-out eastward expedition, it is difficult to really take Hukou and Anqing immediately, and directly hit the city of Nanjing.

Because of this, Yang Xiuqing, who was very far-sighted in military affairs, quickly made up his mind and immediately sent someone to tell Shi Dakai the news that Emperor Xianfeng was seriously ill, and asked Shi Dakai to open his heart to launch the Northern Expedition and quickly take Xuzhou troops into Shandong. At the same time, in order to let Shi Dakai worry about the future, Yang Xiuqing also promised to transfer Lin Fengxiang's troops from Zhejiang, which had no major wars, to return to Anhui, let Lin Fengxiang, who was good friends with Shi Dakai, strengthen Shi Dakai's rear, and handed over Li Kaifang's troops, who had already re-assembled a team on the Central Plains battlefield, to Shi Dakai's command, showing that he did not want to kill people with a knife.

Shi Dakai was also suspicious of the information transmitted by Yang Xiuqing, and hesitated again and again on whether to personally lead the main force north to Xuzhou, saying that he did not dare to take the risk of seizing this opportunity. However, fortunately, after luckily avoiding the two catastrophes of Tianjing's internal strife and Shi Dakai's escape, the Taiping army obviously had a lot of luck - at the critical moment, Chen Yucheng, who was on the front line in Xuzhou, sent important news, reporting to Shi Dakai that because the Yellow River was diverted and could not transport grain by water, the city of Xuzhou, which had been besieged by the Taiping army for more than nine months, had been seriously short of food, and the escape of the Qing soldiers was quite serious, but because of the lack of troops, Chen Yucheng could not give the Xuzhou defenders a fatal blow and asked Shi Dakai for reinforcements, It was also suggested that Shi Dakai personally lead the army north.

Heroes are heroes, knowing this important information, in the case that Yang Xiuqing was actually just listening to the propaganda and not listening to the tune, Shi Dakai still immediately made up his mind, and immediately left Zhang Chaojue and Ye Yunlai to guard Anqing, and personally led 16,000 elites to the north to drive to Xuzhou, and at the same time went to order Li Kaifang, who was active at the junction of Henan and Anhui, to order Li Kaifang to contact the army to aid the Xuzhou battlefield in the east, and pull out the most important and last nail of the Qing army in northern Jiangsu!

At the same time, under the circumstance that it was very difficult to communicate with the outside world, Yuan Jiasan, the governor of Caoyun, the chief general of the Qing army in Xuzhou, of course did not know that the end had come, and was still trying every means to try to contact Qing Sheng, the governor of Shandong, and Wu Tingdong, the political envoy of Bubu, begging them to send food as soon as possible to alleviate the food shortage crisis in the city. However, unfortunately, Qing Sheng and Wu Tingdong gritted their teeth to send the third batch of grain, but they were still intercepted by Ji Wenyuan's division of the Taiping Army in southern Shandong, and in the end, although the grain was not snatched, it was burned clean by Ji Wenyuan in the melee.

Hearing this news, Yuan Jiasan, who was already sick, sat down on the spot, and the Qing army in Xuzhou City was even more demoralized, but the blow to Yuan Jiasan was still behind, and Miao Peilin, the Fengtai regimental training envoy who was newly incorporated by Weng Xincun, the minister of Anhui regimental training, sent a detailed report to Yuan Jiasan to report the bad news that Shi Dakai was personally leading the army north.

"Quick, quick, ask the court for help, please send reinforcements immediately, immediately!"

This was the only word Yuan Jiasan said before vomiting blood and fainting, and the result was not bad, seizing the vacancy of the Taiping Army's Chen Yucheng Army's insufficient troops to completely block Xuzhou City, Yuan Jiasan's son Yuan Baoheng sent a messenger for help finally sent the excerpt to Shandong, and then sent it to the capital through Shandong's post station fast horse, and then transferred to Rehe through the capital. Emperor Xianfeng, who was listening to the opera and smoking opium in Rehe, was shocked when he heard the news, and hurriedly ordered all the Qing troops around Xuzhou to rush to Xuzhou to rescue, and also transferred an army from Zhili to Shengbao to lead the south to reinforce, and at the same time ordered Hubei to order Wu Chaoyue to send troops west to collect the effect of besieging Wei and rescuing Zhao.

Originally, Yuan Jiasan and Yuan Baoheng's father and son were also ready to wait for reinforcements through a long and hard battle, but what Yuan Jiasan did not expect was that a few days after the request for help was sent, Miao Peilin, the training envoy of the Fengtai regiment, sent a letter again, saying that he had personally led an army to Xuzhou to reinforce on the order of Weng Xincun, and asked the Qing army in Xuzhou to prepare for it. At the same time, Miao Peilin also attached an official order stamped with the seal of Weng Xincun's political envoy to Anhui and the minister of Anhui regimental training, proving that his action was indeed dispatched by Weng Xincun.

"Heaven will not die, I will be clear! After all, I am still loyal! ”

Seeing Miao Peilin's letter of extreme respect, Yuan Jiasan and Yuan Baoheng and other Qing army generals were all grateful and moved to the extreme, never expected that the regular army in Shandong did not dare to go south to save Xuzhou, but Weng Xincun, a local regimental training general newly incorporated by his father and son, risked his life to save Xuzhou in person. Moved, Yuan Jia's three fathers and sons also made up their minds, and patiently waited for Miao Peilin's reinforcements and reinforcements from other aspects.

Not to mention, nine days later, on the road southwest of Xuzhou, there really appeared an army with the banner of the Qing army, and the Taiping army was obviously underprepared, until the army approached Xuzhou five or six miles before hurriedly sending troops to intercept, Yuan Jiasan saw the great joy, and quickly sent his eldest son Yuan Baoheng to lead the army out of the city to respond, and opened the west gate of Xuzhou to welcome reinforcements into the city.

Under the morale bonus of the reinforcements, the soldiers of the Qing army in Xuzhou, who could only eat four taels of rice every day, worked together to stop the Taiping army under the leadership of Yuan Baoheng, and covered more than 1,600 people from Wang Jinkui, the vanguard of Miao Peilin's army, to enter the city smoothly. After Miao Jun entered the city, Yuan Jiasan also ignored his serious illness and personally went to Wang Jinkui to welcome him, but Wang Jinkui did not hesitate after asking Yuan Jiasan's identity, and took out something from his arms while saluting, and said: "Yuan Zhitai, my Miao Dashuai asked the last general to bring you something." ”

"What's that?"

When Yuan Jiasan watched curiously, he was stunned to see that Wang Jinkui actually took out a Colt revolver that had gradually become popular in China from his arms, and fired two shots at his chest without hesitation.

"Brothers, kill!" After raising his hand and killing the two personal soldiers who were supporting Yuan Jiasan, Wang Jinkui immediately drew his knife in his hand, and while frantically slashing and killing Yuan Jiasan's other personal soldiers, he shouted loudly, "Yiwang 8,000 years old said, take Xuzhou, and half of the things will be ours!" Kill! ”

In all fairness, no matter how low the combat effectiveness of the Qing army in Xuzhou is, it is stronger than the rabble under the command of Miao Peilin, the king of the late Qing Dynasty, and it stands to reason that the Miao army can never be the opponent of the Qing army, but it is a pity that the Qing army in Xuzhou, which was dying of hunger and exhaustion, has greatly reduced its combat effectiveness, plus it is caught off guard and the dragons are leaderless, so the Qing army in Xuzhou City not only failed to contain Miao Peilin's army, but was also quickly killed by Miao Peilin's army, and then the Miao army wantonly set fire to create chaos in the city, and responded to the Taiping army outside the city to attack the city.

Miao Peilin's army defected to the Qing army in Xuzhou, saw the fire in the city, and heard that Yuan Jiasan was killed, and the Qing army Yuan Baoheng, who was still on par with the Taiping army, was naturally in chaos. What's worse is that Chen Yucheng, who had been prepared for a long time, also took the opportunity to march out of the camp and roared to kill Xuzhou City, and at the same time, behind the way Miao Peilin's army came, there was also a forward banner of Shi Dakai's army.

There is no suspense, although the betrayed Xuzhou Qing army killed many Miao soldiers with red blood, but still failed to prevent the Miao army from opening the city gate to welcome the Taiping army into the city, at the same time Yuan Baoheng was also entangled by the Taiping army outside the city, and could not go back to the city to rescue, and after seeing more and more Taiping army flags at the head of Xuzhou City, Yuan Baoheng could only cry and lead the army west, and fled to Dangshan County with the remnants of the defeated army. The Qing army in Xuzhou, which had not had enough to eat for a long time, completely collapsed, most of them were killed, and only a few soldiers escaped from the city.

The only strategic support point to protect the North China Plain, the important town of Xuzhou, fell because of the betrayal of the traitor, and after the bad news reached Rehe, the Xianfeng Emperor, who was snorting on the woman's belly, fainted on the spot, and was carried off the pseudo-dragon bed with a bare ass After finally waking up, the first thing the Xianfeng Emperor gasped and roared out was, "Weng Xincun, you are a good courtier for me!" ”

After shouting this sentence, Emperor Xianfeng, who had been very obvious, finally coughed up the first mouthful of blood that came to Rehe, and the person fainted again, and when the queen Niu Hulu and Yi Guifei and other female relatives cried and screamed, Su Shun and Zaiyuan and others also glanced at each other on the side, and their faces were all extremely grim. (To be continued.) )