Chen Lai left Nanjing on the British merchant ship Alice, in order to hide people's eyes, Chen Lai not only re-braided his braids, but also shaved off his once proud sideburns again, preparing to go to Shanghai first, and then change ships to go north. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

The biggest advantage of taking a foreign ship is that it is convenient to pass, unless there is an emergency, the Taiping Army's river defense posts along the way generally do not carefully check the identity of the passengers on board, and the Alice on the Yangtze River channel for many years has long been familiar with the Taiping Army posts along the way, basically the Taiping Army checkpoints are on the boat to make a perfunctory appearance, and then immediately wave his hand to let go, so Chen Lai specially picked this boat to ride, so as not to be accidentally discovered by the Taiping Army along the way.

As Chen Lai expected, when passing through Guazhou, Zhenjiang, the sentry guard under the command of Ye Yunlai, the general of the Taiping Army, did not carefully check the identities of the passengers on the ship, but just walked around the cabin to check whether there was any prohibited cargo, and waved his hand to let the Alice pass the customs.

Chen Lai not only did not blame the officers and men of the Taiping Army in Zhenjiang for their perfunctory attitude, but on the contrary, he was very glad -- because Zhenjiang was too close to Nanjing, no one dared to guarantee that the soldiers of the Taiping Army here might recognize Chen Lai, who was an official in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and worshipped the Marquis.

However, after Ye Yunlai's army was in charge of the river section Chen Lai was relieved, because the downstream Taiping Army Minister Wu Ruxiao was fighting abroad, except for some middle and senior generals, it was generally impossible for grassroots soldiers to recognize Chen Lai, so Chen Lai not only didn't need to hide in the cabin anymore and didn't dare to show his head, but also dared to go on the deck with the Manchu Qing secret envoy Qing'an to browse the scenery of the Yangtze River, and talk about the service quality of the Manchu Fengyue place in the courtyard of the Bada Hutong after arriving in the capital.

The Wu Ruxiao army patrol sentry boat encountered along the way really didn't pay much attention to the Alice, and it was still when passing through Jiangyin, where Wu Ruxiao's army headquarters was located, that several Taiping army sampan boats stopped the Alice and asked to board the ship for inspection. The British captain Willen stepped forward to negotiate, and for the sake of safety, Chen Lai and Qing'an were not allowed to return to the cabin for temporary shelter. However, even so, Chen Lai still believed that the Jiangyin Taiping Army would definitely not carefully check the identities of the passengers in the cabin, and it would still be easy to pass through Jiangyin.

It's a pity that Chen Lai miscalculated this time, and not long after returning to the cabin, there was a shout from the Taiping soldiers asking all the passengers to open the cabin door for inspection, and at the same time, the sailors on the ship also knocked on the door one by one, asking the passengers to open the cabin door. When he knocked on Chen Lai's cabin door, the entourage was forced to open the door, and Chen Lai also hurriedly asked the Han sailor who knocked on the door, "What's wrong?" Why is it so strict? ”

"I heard that Jiangyin received a tip-off report that there are important details of the capital hiding on our ship, so we must check carefully." The sailor replied casually.

Chen Lai was taken aback, almost thinking that Qing'an had accidentally exposed his identity, and hurriedly walked out of the cabin to check the situation, but after only one glance in the corridor of the cabin, Chen Lai's face turned a little pale - the general of the Taiping Army who led the team to search the cabin happened to be Cai Xiande, the general of Wu Ruxiao, who knew him!

Fortunately, before Cai Xiande had time to see Chen Lai, the frightened Chen Lai also hurriedly retreated into the cabin, lay down on the bed and pretended to sleep, and whispered to his entourage that he was sick and had an infectious disease, hoping to get through the trick with this. As a result, at the critical moment, Chen Lai's character exploded, and the Taiping Army soldiers even found a passenger in his next cabin who might be Wu Jun's meticulous work.

"Master Jun, you misunderstood, I'm not from Hubei, I'm on the boat in Anqing, this is the road that your Anqing Yamen opened to me!"

"Fuck off! This road is real and fake, Lao Tzu can recognize it! Come on, escort this Wu thief out of detail! Search his cabin! ”

Listening to the sound of disputes and searches coming from the cabin next door, Chen Lai was reassured that he could escape with this. However, it is a pity that after discovering a passenger suspected of being a meticulous work by Wu Jun, the conscientious Cai Xiande still led the crowd into Chen Lai's cabin, and the entourage hurriedly stepped forward to negotiate and presented the true road issued by the Nanjing Taiping Army, but Cai Xiande still refused to give up, and shouted: "Those who sleep in bed, get up and be examined." ”

"Master Jun, he's sick, it's malaria, it's contagious."

The entourage hurriedly opened his mouth, but the intimidation was useless, Cai Xiande still asked the Taiping soldiers to forcibly put Chen Lai out of bed and let him face him, Chen Lai quickly bowed his head, but it still had no effect, Cai Xiande only looked at him and said coldly: "Protecting Tianhou, why don't you say anything when you see an old friend?" I remember that we were drinking together a few days ago, why did you forget about the last general so quickly? ”

"Cai ......, Cai Zong." couldn't hide it, Chen Lai could only raise his head to say hello, and reluctantly squeezed out a little smile, and said, "I haven't seen you for a few days, is Mr. Cai okay?" ”

"It's not bad to protect the blessing of the Heavenly Marquis." Cai Xiande's smile was a little hideous, and he said with a smile: "Protecting Tianhou, are you going to go there?" Why do you still braid your hair? ”

"On the secret order of the King of the East, go to the Shanghai Concession to handle some heavenly affairs." Chen Lai replied stubbornly.

"Oh, then please show the edict of the East King." Cai Xiande said coldly.

Fortunately, out of prudence, Yang Xiuqing still gave a secret edict asking Chen to go to Shanghai on an errand beforehand, but after reading the secret edict, Cai Xiande still refused to give up, and asked directly: "Protecting Tianhou, please explain something, our officials of the Heavenly Kingdom go to the Shanghai Concession on an errand, and it seems that they can directly enter the Concession without disguise, right?" Why did you go to Shanghai on an errand by edict, not only did you not take the ships of our heavenly kingdom, but also braided the braids of the demons? Dressed up as a demon? ”

"It's ......." Chen Lai had no choice but to pull Yang Xiuqing out as a shield, and said: "This is the arrangement of the East King, I want to pretend to be a Qing demon to do some confidential matters." ”

"Please show the secret edict of the Eastern King to prove that this is the arrangement of the Eastern King." Cai Xiande asked again.

"This is the oracle of the East King, there is no secret edict." Chen Lai continued to argue.

"Then it can't be helped." Cai Xiande shrugged his shoulders and said, "Where the duty is, please ask the Marquis of Heaven to get off the boat and go ashore, explain in front of our Prime Minister Wu, and wait for Prime Minister Wu to agree before letting you go." ”

After that, Cai Xiande waved his hand, and the Taiping soldiers he brought immediately stepped forward to capture Chen Lai, Chen Lai was shocked, and hurriedly bluffed: "Cai Xiande, you are so bold, I went out of Beijing on an errand under the secret edict of the king of Dong, you dare to take me, do you know what kind of crime this is?" ”

"Of course I know, if you kill your head, you will be divided into five horses." Cai Xiande said coldly: "But no, this is an order personally given by Prime Minister Wu Cheng, and the general must act according to the order." Take! ”

"Let go! Let me go! Cai Xiande, it's too late for you to let go now, otherwise, my brother-in-law will definitely kill you! Let go, let go of me! ”

No matter how Chen Lai struggled and yelled, it was useless, Cai Xiande, who had a gloomy face, still asked the Taiping sergeants to gagged Chen Lai and Chen Lai's entourage and escorted him off the boat, and at the same time, Cai Xiande also asked Chen Lai to carefully search the cabin, not letting go of any of the items in the cabin, and quickly found the correspondence and documents that Chen Lai hid in his luggage.

It was only after being escorted to the Jiangyin dock that Chen Lai found out that Wu Ruxiao, the commander of the Jiangyin Taiping Army, was waiting for him on the dock early, looking at him with a face that was even more gloomy than Cai Xiande. Chen Lai, who was stuffed with sackcloth in his mouth, whined and screamed, signaling to ask to talk to Wu Ruxiao, but Wu Ruxiao ignored him at all.

After a while, Qing'an, the secret envoy of the Manchu court, was escorted to the Jiangyin dock by Cai Xiande, and when Wu Ruxiao tore off the sackcloth in Qing'an's mouth with his own hands, Qing'an immediately shouted: "Why did you arrest me? I'm just an ordinary merchant, why are you arresting me? ”

"Ordinary merchants?" Wu Ruxiao sneered and said, "Isn't it? Lord Qing Anqing, the right attendant of the Qing Demon Rite Department, how could you become an ordinary merchant from a second-grade waiter? ”

Qing'an's screams stopped abruptly, and his eyes looking at Wu Ruxiao were also full of fear and horror, Chen Lai was also dumbfounded, but Wu Ruxiao had a cold expression, and coldly took the documents and letters that Cai Xiande found from Chen Lai's cabin, and quickly turned out the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom book bordered by gold threads.

"Woo woo...... can't ......, can't ......."

Chen Lai was shocked when he saw it, and hurriedly whined again to stop Wu Ruxiao from checking the national letter, but unfortunately Wu Ruxiao didn't look at him at all, but just opened the national letter directly to look at its contents, and then Wu Ruxiao's face quickly changed, and the hands holding the national letter began to tremble slightly.

"Prime Minister Wu, is it really ......?"

Cai Xiande asked worriedly, but Wu Ruxiao didn't answer, but read the national letter quickly with a blue face, and then closed the national letter suddenly, Tie Qing looked at Chen Lai angrily, knowing what kind of virtue Wu Ruxiao was, Chen Lai's heart began to furious, and he subconsciously avoided Wu Ruxiao's gaze. However, Wu Ruxiao suddenly flew up and kicked Chen Lai directly in the stomach, kicking Chen Lai into the air, spitting blood in his mouth, and fainting on the spot.

"Escort them back to the city! Command the whole army to prepare for martial law! Summoning all the generals of the division and above to come to me! Wu Ruxiao roared with a blue face.

On that day, the Jiangyin Taiping Army suddenly entered a state of full preparation, and all the generals at the division commander and above level also gathered in Wu Ruxiao's Prime Minister's Mansion in Jiangyin City, and when Wu Ruxiao showed Yang Xiuqing in public the ironclad evidence of collusion with the Manchu court to betray the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the generals of the Jiangyin Taiping Army also let out bursts of angry roars, and everyone was angry, all of them hated Yang Xiuqing's collaborator and traitor. There were even people who shouted directly: "Prime Minister Wu, raise troops on the side of Qingjun and kill Yang Xiuqing!" Futian King reinstated! ”

"We followed the king of heaven against the Qing Dynasty, all because Manchu was unreasonable, Hu Dog was rampant, Tatar demon Hu occupied my Chinese land, killed my Han people, defiled my Chinese women, extremely vicious, and guilty! Long live the king of heaven to create the banner of righteousness, in order to sweep away the evil, clear China, get rid of the disaster of Manchuria, and solve the suffering of China! ”

Reciting aloud the main content of the anti-Qing text released when the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom raised troops, Wu Ruxiao, who was loyal to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, couldn't help shedding tears, and shouted even more angrily: "Who knows that Yang Xiuqing, as the East King of Heaven, first imprisoned the King of Heaven and proclaimed himself Long live, and then secretly betrayed the Qing Demon, borrowed the way to the Rakshasa Qing Demon to kill my anti-Qing friendly army, and secretly allied with the Qing Demon for wealth and wealth, aided the abuse, helped the Qing Demon poison my Chinese people, and killed my Heavenly Kingdom soldiers!" If the thief is not killed, the kingdom of heaven will be betrayed by him! If the thief does not kill, thousands of soldiers and civilians of the Heavenly Kingdom will definitely be harmed by him! ”

"Brothers, it is not easy for the country of heaven to come by, we killed it with one sword and one gun, and we sacrificed the lives of countless soldiers in exchange! Until now, we are still fighting against the Qing Demon Army, and there are soldiers who sacrifice every day, and there are also soldiers of the Heavenly Kingdom who throw their heads and spill their blood every day, fighting to the death against the Qing Demon Hugou! ”

"Yang Xiuqing, as the king of the East of the Heavenly Kingdom, didn't think about how to avenge our soldiers, didn't think about how to get rid of the Qing Demon and recover China, and even went to secretly collude with the Qing Demon Court, deliberately creating an excuse to go to war with the Qing Demon Demon, forcing the Surpass Demon to go to war with us again, and exchange the lives of our Heavenly Kingdom soldiers for the Qing Demon Court's survival! Can we say yes?! ”

"Can't!"

The generals of the Taiping Army present roared in unison, although some of them were hypocritical and echoed their voices, but most of them were still from the bottom of their hearts - after all, the generals of the Taiping Army who could mix up to the level of division commander and above were the most determined old men of the Taiping Army, and they were also the hardliners who were brainwashed the most by the anti-Qing education of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

"Me can't either!" Wu Ruxiao shouted with tears in his eyes, raised his arms and shouted: "Brothers, I have made up my mind, I want to raise troops to fight against the traitor Yang Xiuqing, rescue the Heavenly King, and help the Heavenly King to restore the throne!" Who wants to come with me?! ”

"I'm willing to follow Prime Minister Wu to the death!" All the Taiping Army generals present responded with raised their arms and shouted together: "Defeat the traitor Yang Xiuqing and restore the King of Heaven!" ”

At the same time that he resolutely decided to raise troops to fight against Yang Xiuqing, Wu Ruxiao sent a large number of messengers to contact the generals of the Taiping Army in various places as soon as possible, showing the evidence of Yang Xiuqing's rebellion and rebellion, telling them their decision to raise troops to fight against Yang Xiuqing, and also strongly persuaded the generals of the Taiping Army to follow their example and raise troops against Yang, rescue Hong Xiuquan, and put Hong Xiuquan back into the leadership position.

No matter how slandered as a barbaric bandit, he was able to go from a small mountain village in Guiping County, Guangxi, to the country that once occupied half of China, if there were no real loyal and brave soldiers in the ranks of the Taiping Army, I am afraid that no one would believe it. Therefore, when Wu Ruxiao's army rumor spread, after sending people to Jiangyin to see Yang Xiuqing's ironclad evidence of Tongqing's treason, Ye Yunlai, who led the army to guard Zhenjiang, immediately became the first general of the Taiping Army to raise troops to respond to Wu Ruxiao.

In addition to the closest reason, Ye Yunlai's first response to Wu Ruxiao's army is that in history, Ye Yunlai held on to Anqing for two years under the siege of the Hunan army, and he did not waver at all until the food was exhausted and the city was broken.

The will was so strong that he learned that Yang Xiuqing did not hesitate to betray the great cause of anti-Qing for the sake of his glory and wealth, and even tried to provoke the war with the strong enemy of the Wu army by unscrupulous means, and helped the Manchu court that was already dying to prolong its life, Ye Yunlai and his soldiers naturally raised the anti-Yang banner without hesitation!