The violent beating in Tianjiazhen made Li Yuandu, a good junior brother who had always been full of envy and jealousy for the rich senior brother Wu Chaoyue, only hatred left in his heart, and he cried to Zeng Guofan about the story before and after he was beaten, Li Yuandu struggled to take Zeng Guofan's hand again, and said with tears: "Teacher, the student thought about it, and felt that this matter must be mastermind by Senior Brother Wu behind the scenes, it was his deliberate wind, and he deliberately instigated the soldiers of the Hubei Navy Division to take the initiative to ask for war, and used the students as the dead ghost to fight to the death for the sailors." Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 info Otherwise, would his soldier be so desperate that he would rush into the long-haired sailor with gunpowder and blow himself up? Eighty people only came back alive eleven? ”

"Teacher, if the imperial court wants the students to sacrifice, and you want the students to sacrifice, then the students will definitely not even blink their brows, and let the soldiers beat the students to death without blinking an eye! But what kind of thing is he, Wu Chaoyue, why should he use the student's life as a stepping stone for him? Teacher, you have to make decisions for your students and seek justice for your students! ”

Listening to the cry of his beloved disciple, Zeng Guofan's heart was in turmoil, he not only hated his disobedient protégé Wu Chaoyue to the bones, but also felt distressed that the powerful disciple got such a miserable end - seven ribs were broken, five fractures of both hands, and the lower leg bone of his left foot and even the knee joint were broken into comminuted fractures, even if he could be saved, he could only walk with crutches for the rest of his life. Moreover, the military doctor also clearly told Zeng Guofan that Li Yuandu had not yet passed the dangerous period, and there was still the possibility of dying from his injuries.

While casually comforting and comforting his beloved disciple, Zeng Guofan did not fail to continue to impeach the disobedient disciple for disregarding people's lives, and deliberately sacrificed alternate officials in order to win the battle. But Zeng Guofan knew very well in his heart, not to mention that it was difficult to catch evidence to prove that Wu Chaoyue was behind the planning, instigation and incitement; Even if there is any ironclad evidence that the heads of Tianjiazhen and Shi Xiangzhen are placed there, the Manchu court will definitely not pursue the disobedient protégé Wu Chaoyue for the sake of the life of an alternate magistrate, on the contrary, it is possible to deliberately sacrifice Li Yuandu to appease Wu Chaoyue!

After sighing secretly, holding back the anger in his chest, Zeng Guofan could only ask Li Yuandu about the contact with Fu Aji, and learned that Fu Aji had returned to Hubei Province to continue to look for evidence to clean up Zhao Liewen, Zeng Guofan's mood was a little better, although he was not particularly confident in Fu Aji, the son of Fu Aji, but he also gave birth to a little hope, and said secretly: "I hope the heavens will bless you, so that Fu Aji's idiot can find enough to kill Zhao Liewen, as soon as Zhao Liewen has an accident, the little beast will definitely have to mess up, As soon as his square inch is messed up, Ben Shuai will have a chance to take revenge. ”

Even Zeng Guofan didn't expect that a miracle would really appear, and happiness would come so quickly, only two days later, accurate news came from Wuchang Mansion, saying that Fu Aji had caught ironclad evidence that Zhao Liewen had accepted bribes, Zeng Guofan was overjoyed and did not hesitate, and immediately strengthened the monitoring of the battlefield in Tianjiazhen, waiting for Wu Chaoyue to react. Then, the news that made Zeng Guofan even more ecstatic came quickly - in order to help Zhao Liewen get rid of his crimes, Wu Chaoyue, a disobedient protégé, had already returned to the Hubei provincial capital with Zhao Liewen when he was about to fight!

After the joy, after thinking about it for less than half a minute, Zeng Guofan immediately asked a few of his confidants: "Is there any new movement over there in Jiujiang Changmao?" Are there any signs of troops? ”

"Yes." Guo Songtao quickly replied: "After Shi Cheng retreated to Jiujiang after his defeat, while making every effort to collect the defeated army, he sent someone to send an order to Anqing, and sent Anhui Changmao soldiers and horses west to Jiujiang to assemble, and raised ships, gunpowder and food to transport to Jiujiang to prepare for war, and openly threatened in the army to fight Tianjiazhen again to find Wu Chaoyue to take revenge. In addition, there is more reliable news that Qin Rigang and Luo Gang and other long-haired thieves are very opposed to Shi Dakai's re-expedition to Hubei, but Shi Zhi did not listen at all, and there have been conflicts and disputes for this reason. ”

"God help me!"

Zeng Guofan applauded loudly, and immediately started to think about how to grasp and make good use of this opportunity, Liu Rong over there was Zeng Guofan's confidant, guessing Zeng Guofan's thoughts, so he asked cautiously: "Dashuai, do you want to impeach Wu Chaoyue for leaving his post without permission and ignoring the safety of the Hubei border, right?" ”

"Of course not." Zeng Guofan shook his head without thinking about it and said: "Not to mention that such an impeachment may not be effective, even if the imperial court really investigates the reason, the kid surnamed Wu can also prevaricate under excuses such as supervising the transportation of grain and grass and military supplies and organizing reinforcements, and it is difficult to hurt him." ”

"What are you going to do?" Liu Rong asked curiously.

"Shang Zhizi, please ask the imperial court for permission to launch the decisive battle of Jiujiang." Zeng Guofan replied with a smile: "I apologize to the imperial court that the current situation of Jiujiang Changmao is that the reinforcements have not arrived, the troops are scarce, the morale is low and the army is depressed, and it can be wiped out with a snap of a finger. Then, as long as Shi Cheng sends troops to Tianjia Town again, it doesn't matter if Tianjia Town can hold ...... or not. ”

"Wu Chaoyue has been convicted of missing the fighter plane and leaving the battle!" Liu Rong added for Zeng Guofan, but Liu Rong still had some worries, and asked Zeng Guofan: "But Dashuai, what if Shi Wei doesn't continue to send troops to Tianjia Town?" ”

"Are the hairy scouts all fools?" Zeng Guofan smiled and asked, "With such important news that the kid surnamed Wu left Tianjia Town and returned to the Hubei Provincial Capital, can he not be stabbed to Shi Dakai by the long-haired scouts?" ”

Liu Rong suddenly realized, and hurriedly gave a thumbs up to Zeng Guofan, who wrote an excerpt with a pen, and instructed Liu Rong with a smile: "Meng Rong, don't be idle, you also write a letter to the boy surnamed Wu for Ben Shuai, and ask him to focus on the affairs of the imperial court, seize the opportunity to cut the troops and horses out of Hubei first, and join hands with our army to attack Jiujiang Changmao." And then the letter, wherever it goes, must be delivered to the boy. ”

Liu Rong smiled and agreed, and immediately put pen to paper, and Zeng Guofan sent someone to order the battalions of the Hunan army, so that the battalions of the Hunan army could strengthen their garrison but could not defend it, and they were not allowed to attack the Taiping army without their own orders, and in disguise encouraged Shi Da to open his heart and send troops to Hubei again. At the same time, Zeng Guofan naturally ordered to strengthen the surveillance of the Jiujiang Taiping Army, and patiently waited for Shi Dakai to go to the disobedient protégé again to take revenge.

…………

As Zeng Guofan expected, the important news that Wu Chaoyue left the front line of Tianjia Town and returned to the Hubei provincial capital was reported to Shi Dakai by the Taiping Army almost at the same time, and after repeatedly confirming that Wu Chaoyue had indeed boarded the ship and left the front line of Tianjia Town, Shi Dakai did not hesitate, and immediately summoned the generals of the Taiping Army's West Route Army, and decided to launch the Western Expedition again, and personally led the army to attack Hubei again.

It's a pity that in the face of this God-given opportunity that can be met but not sought, it is probably because he was completely scared by Wu Chaoyue, not to mention Qin Rigang and Luo Gang, who were resolutely opposed to entering Hubei before, and other important generals, even Lai Guiying and Shi Dakai's brother Shi Zhenji stood on the opposite side of Shi Dakai this time. Together, they strongly persuaded Shi Dakai to think about the overall situation, not to fight Hubei in order to take revenge, and fight a battle that is uncertain, and it is recommended to concentrate superior forces, first kill the dying Hunan army, take Nanchang, which has almost become an isolated city, and then try to enter Hubei It is not too late.

The truth is always in the hands of a few people, and in the face of the unanimous opposition of the generals under his command, Shi Dakai finally confided the truth to everyone, and frankly said that he was determined to send troops to Hubei again and again, not only to avenge his brother and vent his anger, but to nip the most dangerous enemy Wu Chaoyue in the bud and not give Wu Chaoyue a chance to grow in Hubei. At the same time, Shi Dakai also analyzed the terrible consequences of giving Wu Chaoyue time to grow in Hubei - if Wu Chaoyue was really given time to grow and develop, not only would the Taiping army not have any chance to take Huguang grain production land in the west, but there would also be an extremely terrible and dangerous enemy in the west of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's territory, and he could go down the Yangtze River at any time, pull out Jiujiang Ke'anqing, and then reach the city of Nanjing, and the western front of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom would never be peaceful!

In the end, Shi Dakai also admitted more frankly that he did make the mistake of underestimating the enemy last time he launched the western expedition, and chose the wrong tactics of the western expedition, and was determined to learn a lesson, this time he would no longer go by land to fight with Wu Chaoyue on land, and was determined to only lead the sailors to the west, first annihilating the Wu army and naval division, which is still very weak, and then relying on the advantages of the waterway to directly attack the hinterland of Hubei, so that Wu Chaoyue was difficult to take care of, and was in a hurry everywhere, not with the goal of attacking the city and grabbing land, but only seeking to completely disrupt Hubei, forcing and luring the Manchu court to destroy the Great Wall and kill Wu Chaoyue, a terrible little demon!

At the end, Shi Dakai said directly to the generals: "Don't worry, this king will not be stupid enough to ignore the Jiangxi battlefield and go deep into the hinterland of Hubei alone. ”

Shi Dakai had already said it to this point, and he admitted his previous mistakes very sincerely, and Qin Rigang, Luo Outline and other subordinates didn't have much to say, so they could only nod their heads in agreement. At that moment, Shi Dakai immediately dispatched troops, dispatched elite sailors to organize a fleet, and prepared to personally lead the elite main force of the sailors to enter Hubei again, but at the critical moment when the Hubei paper tiger Wu Xiaocomprador was about to be sent by heaven, there was a herald outside the tent to report, playing: "Qiyu Yiwang is 5,000 years old, and Dongwang 9,000 years old sent Liu Shaoting, the Marquis of Heaven, and Guozong Hong Renji as envoys, to convey the decree of the Eastern King Jun and the Holy Decree of the Heavenly Father, please summon him immediately." ”

Among the five kings in the early days of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the only one who did not believe in the Heavenly Father's descending to the earth to dance the great god was Shi Dakai, but there was no way, Yang Xiuqing was the de facto real leader of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and Shi Dakai's power base was based on the rule of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. So he was disdainful in his heart, Shi Dakai still led the generals to personally welcome out of the camp according to the rules, and invited Yang Xiuqing's henchman Liu Shaoting and Hong Xiuquan's brother Hong Renji into the camp and sat down.

Next, something happened that made Shi Dakai almost angry, and just after asking Liu Shaoting and Hong Renji about their intentions, Liu Shaoting took out an edict and read it aloud like a singing: "The East King is nine thousand years old, the Holy Father's holy teachings, and the Holy Spirit Electrification Army will kneel to the Wing King." ”

It wasn't until Shi Dakai unhappily led the crowd to kneel down that Liu Shaoting sang again: "The East King is nine thousand years old and said, Heavenly Father descends to earth, Hadith Dakai, you are crazy, why do you insist on attacking and surpassing the little demon twice, and after two defeats, you have to find the third defeat?" I have already instructed you, surpassing the little demon to get the help of foreign demons, the demon is in full swing, even if I want to let him score three points, you go to fight him, just like a mantis arm as a car, a grasshopper shakes a tree, there is no chance of winning, why don't you listen? Quickly withdraw the troops, and don't attack the monster again! I'm back to heaven! ”

Before Liu Shaoting finished singing the lyrics, Shi Dakai had already straightened up, his hands clenched into fists, his eyes were full of anger, and Hong Renji over there saw that it was not good, and hurriedly reminded: "The Wing King is five thousand years old, this is the holy precept of the Heavenly Father, please sing and obey." The king of the East is nine thousand years old, and there are letters and messages to you. ”

After gritting his teeth for a long time, considering the unity and cohesion foundation of the army, Shi Dakai gave up his plan to expose Yang Xiuqing's fake tricks on the spot, and honestly kowtowed and sang in obedience. Then Shi Dakai immediately jumped up and yelled at Hong Renji: "Where is the letter from the East King?" Tell me, why am I not allowed to attack Hubei? ”

Hong Renji didn't answer, just begged to talk to Shi Dakai alone, Shi Dakai had no choice but to lead Hong Renji and Liu Shaoting into the back account, and then when there were no other outsiders present, Hong Renji took out Yang Xiuqing's letter from his arms and said: "The Wing King is 5,000 years old, and the East King is 9,000 years old, and you must have a hard time understanding why he wants to stop you from sending troops, and directly order you to send troops, and you will probably not listen, so you are forced to ask the Heavenly Father to issue an edict, and also let the subordinate to tell you the truth, A truth you will never believe! ”

"What truth I can't believe?" Shi Dakai asked angrily while receiving the letter.

"The Wing King is five thousand years old, in fact, the Transcendence Demon didn't think of fighting us at all, and the East King Nine Thousand Years Old suspects that the Transcendence Demon is likely to want to join forces with us."

Hong Renji only used one sentence to make Shi Dakai's face completely change, and the anger in his heart disappeared, replaced by endless shock and amazement............

…………

When Shi Dakai listened to Hong Renji's secret statement in the back account, of course, Qin Rigang, Luo Outline and others also looked at each other in the front account, whispering and discussing, they all didn't understand why Yang Xiuqing, who had a very good relationship with Shi Dakai, would give such an arbitrary order, prohibiting Shi Dakai from sending troops to avenge his brother Shi Xiangzhen and be ashamed of himself? During the discussion, the generals of the Taiping Army, whose basic quality was relatively low, also made bets one after another, betting on whether Shi Dakai would obey Yang Xiuqing's order.

Lai Guiying was the only one who gambled that Shi Dakai would act according to the order, the reason was that Lai Guiying's sister was Hong Xiuquan's favorite concubine, and she knew more about the inside story of the highest level of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and knew that Shi Dakai and Yang Xiuqing had a very close relationship, Yang Xiuqing had never used the tricks of his heavenly father to rectify Shi Dakai, and Shi Dakai also had a more respectful attitude towards Yang Xiuqing, and tried to maintain harmony with each other, so although Yang Xiuqing's order was arbitrary and unreasonable, Shi Dakai was likely to sell Yang Xiuqing's face and obey this order.

Everyone else scrambled to stake the money to Shi Dakai's side to resist the order, on the grounds that Shi Dakai had always listened to Yang Xiuqing's propaganda and did not listen to the tune, but he obeyed Yang Xiuqing's command in the general strategic direction, and the rest was all Shi Dakai's own decision, and at the same time, the current situation in Hubei and Shi Dakai's hatred for Wu Chaoyue were also destined to Shi Dakai would not give up. And seeing that Lai Guiying was alone and took the silver to the opposite side, the generals of the Taiping Army also laughed one after another, "Lai Check, if you really have too much silver to put it, then we will help you share the burden." ”

While laughing, someone finally found that Shi Dakai had walked out of the back account with his hands behind his back, and it was too late to collect the money when he hurriedly returned to his position, so he could only let the silver be placed on the table in front of Lai Guiying. And Shi Dakai also knew the temperament of the generals of the Taiping Army, and he only glanced at the two piles of silver, one large and one small, and said lightly: "Are you betting on whether to send troops to Hubei?" The bet on not being able to send troops won. ”

"What?!" When Lai Guiying was smiling, the other Taiping Army generals had already jumped up and asked in exclamation: "Yiwang is five thousand years old, you really don't fight Hubei?" ”

"No more fighting." Shi Dakai said with a complicated expression: "Dongwang Jiuqiansui wants to pull me to bet on a bigger one, I thought about it and decided to gamble with him." Therefore, no troops will be sent to Hubei. ”

When Lai Guiying cheered and hugged the silver, Shi Dakai yelled again: "Don't hold it!" Don't disband the assembled soldiers, horses, and warships, and don't need to unload the grain, grass, and military quarters, and go with the king to fight Wucheng! The 9,000-year-old king of the East does not allow me to find the transcendent demon to take revenge, I can't help but listen, but you have to follow this king to take down the transcendence demon teacher Zeng Guofan and pay tribute to my brother and the heavenly soldiers who died in Hubei! ”

…………

Picking out his ears with his fingers, Zeng Guofan yelled at the scout who came to deliver the letter and asked, "Say it again, Ben Shuai didn't hear clearly just now, after Shi Wei reorganized the troops and horses, where was the direction of the troops?" ”

"Back to Dashuai, it's Wu Cheng!" The scout replied with a sad face: "The Shizhi army is divided into two routes, advancing by land and water, and going south is to kill Wucheng!" Also, the long-haired army also directly shouted slogans - set foot in Wu Town and capture Zeng Lao Demon alive! ”

Zeng Guofan opened his mouth and stammered, Liu Rong, Guo Songtao, Luo Zenan, Zeng Guoquan and others were all dumbfounded, and after a long time, Liu Rong and Luo Zenan and others screamed in unison: "Shi Dakai is crazy? Tianjia Town is close at hand, Wu Chaoyue has returned to the Hubei provincial capital, he didn't take the opportunity to fight Tianjia Town, why did he give up the near and far to fight us? ”

No one could answer this question, and when they couldn't understand the reason, Zeng Guofan and the others could only hurry up to discuss countermeasures, and then Zeng Guoquan immediately suggested: "Brother, we should give up Wucheng and go to the grain department, Wucheng Town is scarce in grain and grass, and the waterway of Poyang Lake is controlled by the long-haired sailor, even if we take the defensive, there will be a problem of grain and grass." Taking advantage of the fact that the long-haired army has not yet arrived, quickly move to the place where there is food and hold on. ”

Everyone echoed and suggested that Zeng Guofan quickly lead the army to transfer and go to the place where there is grain to find food - although Zeng Guofan has now completely torn his face with Chen Qimai, the governor of Jiangxi, but under the current situation of the great enemy, Chen Qimai did not dare to deliberately cut off the grain and grass of the Hunan army with a hundred dares.

The call for the immediate abandonment of Wucheng to the transfer of grain was higher and higher, but poor Teacher Zeng did not dare to speak with a painful face, and finally under the repeated questioning of everyone, our poor Teacher Zeng cried and said: "I can't transfer, I just went to the court a few days ago, saying that Jiujiang Changmao has been broken with a snap of his fingers, and his destruction is imminent, and I also asked the imperial court to let Wu Chaoyue lead the army out of the province to help me annihilate Jiujiang Changmao in one fell swoop." Before the ink on this fold was dry, the court heard that I was afraid of the long hair and took the initiative to transfer, so I ......, then wouldn't I immediately bear a big crime of slandering and bullying the king? ”

The Hunan army was completely speechless, and poor Teacher Zeng had no choice but to order the whole army to immediately strengthen the camp and prepare for the battle, and at the same time ask for help from nearby prefectures and counties to transfer grain and grass, planning to go on top for a while anyway. However, Teacher Zeng's nightmare was far from over, on the evening of the same day, an urgent report suddenly came from Wuchang Mansion, telling Teacher Zeng that Fu Aji had been betrayed and arrested by Yan Jingming, and the bad news also clearly pointed out that Fu Aji had confessed that he had accepted bribes from Li Yuandu and deliberately framed Zhao Liewen, and the dirty silver and the person who helped Li Yuandu provide cash bribes had also been taken down by Wu Chaoyue!

If he was struck by lightning, he sat on the handsome chair for a long time without saying a word, and after finally coming back to his senses, the first thought of the ruthless teacher Zeng was to kill Li Yuandu quickly, so as not to be dragged out by Li Yuandu. However, after thinking about it, Mr. Zeng immediately gave up this plan - Li Yuandu's relationship with himself is well known, even if he has been hooking up with Fu Aji under the sign of Hu Linyi, after killing him, the court will investigate Hu Linyi, Hu Linyi shouted to hit the sky, not to mention the loss of a powerful general in vain, the investigation target of the Manchu court must continue to point to himself!

"I can only persuade Ciqing to carry all the black pots, but fortunately, he was beaten by Wu Chaoyue's soldiers, and it was logical to design and frame that kid. It's a big deal to give more money to appease his family and completely gag his ....... ”

As soon as he made up his mind in his heart, Zeng Guofan stood and was about to persuade his beloved protégé Li Yuandu in person, but a personal soldier came first outside the tent, saluted and said: "Marshal, bad news, Li Yuandu Li heard that Changmao sent troops to Wucheng, and he was angry and spit blood in his mouth, and he was about to die." Lang Zhong asked the little one to report to you and ask if you want to see Master Li for the last time? ”

Sitting back on the handsome chair again, his eyes glazed for a long time, poor Teacher Zeng finally shouted with a crying voice, "Lift the stone and hit your own feet!" (To be continued.) )