In this battle outside the city of Shence Gate, Wu Jun Lian Yong killed 53 people and wounded 126 people, including 19 seriously wounded, looking at the casualty figures alone, it may seem pitiful, but compared to Wu Jun Lian Yong's strength of only more than 470 people, the casualty ratio has reached an astonishing 38 percent! And Wu Jun Lian Yong not only did not collapse in the case of such a huge proportion of casualties, but also did not even appear as a deserter, such a record did not make Jiangning civil and military officials and Qing army generals and soldiers amazed, even the ace elite army of the Taiping Army did not dare to compare with it.

Of course, compared with the European and American armies in the era of queuing for shooting, Wu Junlian's record of Lian Yong is completely unremarkable, and in the era of queuing for shooting, there are as many European and American armies as there are more than 50 percent of the casualties on the battlefield and do not collapse, and during the Civil War, the American devils even created such a terrible record -- when the casualty ratio exceeded 80 percent, the soldiers still continued to line up with pipes in their mouths!

During the First Opium War, the Qing army was beaten by British lobster soldiers who also held front-loading smoothbore guns, that is, they lost in discipline and will.

After the battle, the battlefield was cleaned up, and when the wounded soldiers of the Taiping Army were basically rescued by their companions, Wu Jun Lianyong still cut off 833 enemy heads, captured the Taiping soldiers who were injured and unconscious, and captured two Taiping Army brigade marshal flags. And after Wu Chaoyue brought these heads to Lu Jianying to ask for credit, Lu Jianying, who has always been stingy and stingy, was also rare and generous, not only purchased them at the price of ten taels of silver per head, but also rewarded Wu Chaoyue himself with an additional 1,000 taels of silver, encouraging Wu Chaoyue to continue to serve the country loyally and continue to be a good slave to the Manchu court.

In order to let his subordinates die for themselves, Wu Chaoyue of course gave the first level of silver to the army Lian Yong for distribution, and took out five hundred taels of silver that Lu Jianying had awarded to him alone as a thank you gift to the green battalion soldiers stationed at the Shence Gate and the Preparation and Defense Bureau Lian Yong who had helped Wu Jun Lian Yong a little in the past few days. Then Wu Chaoyue naturally stuffed Geng Huan, the guard of the Shence Gate, with one hundred taels of silver, and continued to strengthen his friendship with his boss.

During this period, Jiangning General Xianghou and Jiangnan Governor Fuzhu Honga both came to Wu Chaoyue to find trouble, asking Wu Chaoyue to give them some weapons, and after Wu Chaoyue refused on the pretext that there was no extra weapons and ammunition, Xianghou and Fuzhu Honga also all looked bad, accusing Wu Chaoyue of only caring about his own army and ignoring friendly troops, and ignoring the life and death of the masters of the Eight Banners in the city. Wu Chaoyue, who was desperate for the city to die, sneered and said nothing, and parted unhappily with Xianghou and other banner people.

But then again, Wu Chaoyue is not completely without friends among the Manchurians, at least Cixi's father Hui Zheng and Wu Chaoyue get along very well, on the evening of the day of the victory of the Shence Gate, after paying tribute to the fallen comrades, when Wu Jun Lian Yong held a banquet to celebrate, Hui Zheng and Geng Huan ran together to Wu Chaoyue to say goodbye, of course, Geng Huan's real purpose is to eat and drink, Hui Zheng is sincerely congratulating Wu Chaoyue Daoxi, and it is very regretful that he could not come to Shence Gate on an errand, and missed many great opportunities to make meritorious service and atone for his sins.

For the sake of Cixi's little niece's face, Wu Chaoyue received Hui Zheng very affectionately, and while continuing to call Hui Zheng a brother and brother, while chatting, he finally remembered to inquire about the current situation of Hui Zheng's second daughter, Yehenala Wanzhen-mainly because the gap between this Wanzhen and the Wanzhen in the capital is too far in appearance, otherwise Wu Chaoyue would have cared a long time ago. Hui Zheng replied truthfully: "Brother Yu was busy with official duties and had no time to take care of her, so I temporarily settled her in the inner city and asked the family to take care of her for me. ”

"Wanzhen's niece is so young, I'm afraid it's not good for outsiders to take care of it, right? Besides, there must be a man in that family? Wu Chaoyue unceremoniously regarded himself as Cixi's sister's uncle, and said, "Brother, it would be better to take Wanzhen to live in the outer city, rent a room and hire a maid to take care of her." If the money is not convenient, although the elder brother speaks, the younger brother will definitely help. ”

"Thank you for your kindness, but you don't have to." Hui Zheng shook his head and said, "It's safer to live in the inner city, it's too chaotic in the outer city." ”

"Brother, if you think the inner city is safe, then you are very wrong." Wu Chaoyue shook his head, first glanced at Geng Huan next to him, and saw that he was drinking happily with Wu Dadao, Huang Dasha and others, and then lowered his voice and said to Hui Zheng: "Brother, have you thought about this?" If Jiangning City is broken, will it be convenient for Wanzhen's niece to live in the inner city and escape, or will it be convenient to live in the outer city to escape? ”

Hui Zheng's hand holding the wine glass trembled, and he also looked left and right first, and then asked in a low voice: "Brother Xian, do you think it is impossible to hold Jiangning City?" ”

"Brother, do you think it is possible for Jiangning City to be defended?" Wu Chaoyue asked in a low voice, and said: "No matter how good Lian Yong under the command of the junior brother is, there are only more than 400 people, and at most he can only ensure that the Shence Gate is not lost, but there are thirteen gates in Jiangning City, and even if the long-haired bandit only breaks through one, this Jiangning City is ......." ”

Hui Zheng was silent, he just kept thinking in his heart, and Wu Chaoyue persuaded in a low voice: "Brother, think about the lesson you learned when you were in Wuhu, at that time, you were a little late in transferring your family members, and when you sent your family out of the city, you ran into long-haired bandits and killed them under the city of Wuhu, and the city was in chaos Wanzhen and your other family members were separated, if it wasn't for Wanzhen herself who cleverly ran to the dock to find you, you probably wouldn't see Wanzhen's little niece again." Do you want to encounter this kind of thing a second time? ”

"So what should I do?" Hui Zheng asked in a low voice.

"Take Wanzhen's little niece out." Wu Chaoyue pouted to the side and whispered: "Rent a room next to my station to house her, when it is really dangerous, I can take care of her for you, and you can also come over at any time to meet me and my little niece Wanzhen." ”

felt that Wu Chaoyue's idea was good, and saw Wu Jun's strong combat effectiveness with his own eyes, knowing that it would definitely be safest to stay with Wu Chaoyue in the war, Hui Zheng was naturally very moved, and immediately whispered thanks to Wu Chaoyue, and also said that he would arrange this matter as soon as possible. Wu Chaoyue was casually modest, but said proudly in his heart: "Just send your daughter here, although your daughter is not as good as Feng Wanzhen, she is still so-so." When the city is in turmoil, I'll take your daughter out of the city, and something might happen on the way. ”

After being full of wine and food, for the sake of his own life, Wu Chaoyue had to be loyal to his duties, first ordered the end of the banquet, and then dragged Geng Huan, who had been drunk to speak, to inspect the city, and Hui Zheng also informed and interesting to say goodbye. However, at this moment, there was a sudden noise in the backyard of the barracks, and the woman's crying could be faintly heard.

As mentioned earlier, Wu Jun Lianyong's station is a nunnery, after Wu Chaoyue took Lian Yong to station, the nuns in the nunnery moved to the small courtyard to the west of the backyard to live, and because of Wu Jun Lianyong's good military discipline, those nuns and Wu Jun Lianyong got along quite well, Wu Chaoyue twice set up a mourning hall to commemorate the fallen soldiers, and those nuns volunteered to help chant and pray. So when he heard the noise and the woman's cry from the nun's house, Wu Chaoyue didn't dare to sit idly by, and quickly let go of Geng Huan, who was holding the wine altar and not leaving, and went over with Hui Zheng to understand the situation.

At first, Wu Chaoyue was afraid that he was a young nun who was trained by the army to drink and be brave, and he had evil thoughts about some young nun, but when he arrived at the scene, he found that he had misunderstood his subordinates' dog legs - the reason for the noise was that he was standing guard and Lian Yong found that a man had been wandering sneakily outside the courtyard, and secretly climbed the courtyard wall to try to enter the Wu army station, suspecting that he was a member of the Heaven and Earth Society who was currently rampant in Jiangning City, and wanted to touch in the disadvantage of the self-army or spy on intelligence for the Taiping army, so he surrounded and took him. Who would have thought that the person in a man's costume had just been pulled off the wall, and immediately knelt down on his knees to Wu Jun Lianyong, crying and begging for mercy in a woman's voice, saying that she was a woman from a good family, and she was really hungry and couldn't stand it, and she smelled the smell of food here, so she wanted to sneak in and steal some leftovers to satisfy her hunger.

used a lantern to shine on the appearance of the man and woman, and saw that her face was covered with dirt and black ash and crying with tears on her face, and she couldn't see what she looked like, and she also paid attention to the fact that she was bound to her feet, not like a person from the Heaven and Earth Society, Wu Chaoyue didn't care much, and ordered: "Come on, get some food for her, and let her go after eating." ”

Wu Jun Lian Yong agreed, but the woman was overjoyed, and quickly kowtowed to Wu Chaoyue to thank him, but Hui Zheng next to him refused to take it lightly, and shouted: "Since you are a woman from a good family, why are you wearing men's clothes?" Also, why haven't you come home at this late hour, what are you doing here? ”

I don't know why, the woman just lowered her head and sobbed, and did not answer Hui Zheng's question, Hui Zheng was even more suspicious when she saw it, and shouted: "Why don't you speak?" Where the hell are you from? ”

The woman still didn't dare to answer, and cried even more sadly, Wu Chaoyue saw that she was pitiful, so he said to Hui Zheng: "Brother, forget it, you see that she is wrapped in her feet, it can't be some kind of evildoer, since she doesn't want to say it, she must have her troubles, why do you have to force her?" Besides, there is a war again, and there are as many women from outside the city as they flee into the city and become homeless, and it is not surprising that women wear men's clothes for safety. ”

Seeing that Wu Chaoyue interceded for the woman, Hui Zheng didn't say much, nodded and let go of the woman in men's clothes, Wu Chaoyue didn't pay much attention to it at the moment, just told Lian Yong not to embarrass the woman, and then went back to the city to inspect Geng Huan, and Hui Zheng also said goodbye and returned to his residence without mentioning it.

Pulling Geng Huan around the city wall, seeing that there was nothing abnormal, Wu Chaoyue, who was already too tired, took his own soldiers directly back to the station to rest, who had wanted to return to the camp, but Lian Yong, who was on duty at night, greeted him, saying that the woman who asked for food just now refused to leave, and wanted to meet with Wu Chaoyue and say something. Wu Chaoyue didn't think much about it, and ordered Lian Yong to bring the woman, and then went back to his room, poured water to wash his face and rinse his mouth, and prepared to rest and sleep.

It was also a coincidence that when Wu Chaoyue had just poured his face wash into the footbath, the woman happened to be led into Wu Chaoyue's room by Lian Yong, and when she saw that Wu Chaoyue was about to wash her feet, the woman walked quickly to Wu Chaoyue and knelt down on her knees, and took the initiative to remove her shoes and take off her socks for Wu Chaoyue, Wu Chaoyue said that she didn't have to listen to the woman, and forced Wu Chaoyue's stinky feet into the water, cleaning Wu Chaoyue's stinky feet and massaging Wu Chaoyue at the same time. Not to mention the result, the small hands are soft, soft and tender, and they really make Wu Chaoyue's pair of stinky feet very comfortable.

A little reluctant to go, Wu Chaoyue took the initiative to ask, "Why do you have to see me?" ”

"The women of the people are brave and beg the lord to take them in." The woman's answer surprised Wu Chaoyue, "Master, a woman can do anything, laundry and cooking, sweeping the floor and wiping the table, a woman can do anything." Master, you are a kind-hearted person, as long as you take in the people's women, the people's women don't need to be paid, as long as they have a bite to eat. ”

Saying that the woman was homeless to make such a plea, Wu Chaoyue shook his head and said, "No need, I am the one who leads the soldiers, and I can't live in the barracks, so I can't take you in." But you don't have to be afraid, if you are really homeless, I will tell the nuns in this nunnery, let you live with them temporarily, I will pay for food and clothing, and when this battle is over, you can go back to your family to reunite. ”

Hearing Wu Chaoyue's words, the woman was so moved that she couldn't help but shed tears again, but she shook her head again, choked up and said: "Master, your kindness, the folk woman is like a cow and a horse, and it is difficult to repay it." But I can't live with them, and I can't go home. ”

"Why?" Wu Chaoyue asked suspiciously: "Your family, are they all gone?" ”

"They're there, but because of them, I can't go back." The woman cried even more sadly, and said, "Once they know my whereabouts, they will definitely arrest me back, so I don't dare to live with the masters, and they may not dare to take them in, even if they are affected." ”

Wu Chaoyue asked curiously about the specific reason, and the woman cried and said her life experience, saying that she was a native of Jiangning, surnamed Fu, and was born in a scholarly family, her parents passed away when she was eight years old, and the family road fell rapidly, so at the age of thirteen, her brother married her husband surnamed Li, who was married to her husband, and changed her name to Li Fu, and then her husband died of measles last year, her mother-in-law was as cruel as a wild boar and poisonous as a snake, not only had she been abused for a long time, but also the abuse of her after her son's death intensified. also planned to sell her to traffickers for money, she couldn't stand such abuse, so she stole her father-in-law's clothes and disguised herself as a man and escaped, not daring to go home and only wandering on the street, she couldn't stand it after being hungry for more than a day, and then she happened to meet the 'kind-hearted' Wu Chaoyue.

After crying about her tragic life experience, the woman Li Fu begged Wu Chaoyue again: "Master, the vicious in-laws of the people's women must be looking for me everywhere now, once I am found by them, I will definitely die if I am arrested, and please be kind, give the women a way to live, the women beg, please!" ”

Wu Chaoyue, who was lazy by nature, was lazy and nosy, but since he met a poor woman like Li Fu who was poisoned by feudal etiquette, Wu Chaoyue's little remaining conscience was still a little painful, so after thinking about it a little, Wu Chaoyue still said: "That's it, I just want to help my friend rent a house next to the camp to live, and I still live with a little girl, I will rent the house tomorrow, you live in it first, and when the little girl comes, she happens to be your companion." As for the rest, we'll talk about that later. ”

Li Fu burst into tears when he heard this, and hurriedly kowtowed to Wu Chaoyue to thank him, Wu Chaoyue waved his hand to stop, and said: "As for tonight, you ......, trouble, this nunnery is full of soldiers, and there is no extra room." ”

"Sir, if you don't mind." Li Fu's voice was a little shy, and he whispered, "Is it okay to let the women live here?" The women of the people slept on the ground and ....... ”

The suspicious Wu Chaoyue was not very relieved, and hesitated to refuse to agree - not to mention that Wu Chaoyue now had to beware of the assassins sent by the Taiping Army's ally Tiandihui, just staying in the room during the period of leading the troops would definitely affect the morale and discipline of the army. Li Fu saw that Wu Chaoyue was a little unhappy, so he took the initiative to say: "Master, if you find it inconvenient, it's okay to let the women sleep in the corridor outside." ”

"Okay then." Wu Chaoyue nodded, and said: "Li Fushi, it's not that I don't believe you, it's that you also know the defense of men and women, it doesn't matter if I'm a man, but I can't ruin your reputation, so I'll wronged you." I have a cotton coat here, and you take one out and use it as a quilt. ”

Li Fu thanked him happily, first carefully massaged his feet for Wu Chaoyue to relieve fatigue, poured foot washing water, and waited for Wu Chaoyue to change his clothes and go to bed, and then took Wu Chaoyue's cotton clothes to the corridor outside the door to rest. Wu Chaoyue carefully locked the door first, and then turned off the lights to rest, and because he was too tired, he fell asleep as soon as he lay down, but fortunately, he had nothing to do all night, and he had a good night's sleep.

In the early morning of the next day, Wu Chaoyue was woken up by Wu Dadao outside the door, and after getting up to open the door with a yawn, his sleepy eyes suddenly widened - because next to Wu Dada, there was a beautiful girl with long hair and a shawl, seventeen or eighteen years old, with big eyes and curved eyelashes, cherry small lips ruddy and attractive, white and tender skin, and her appearance was not only better than Zhou Xiuying, who almost rolled the sheets legally with Wu Chaoyue, but that Feng Wanzhen in the capital grew up, and she may not be able to catch up with her!

Then, rubbing his eyes vigorously to confirm that he was not mistaken, Wu Chaoyue immediately asked in surprise: "Wu Dadao, why did you bring a girl into our camp?" Who is she? ”

"Young Master Sun, she was left by you?" Wu Dayuan asked suspiciously: "Last night, you asked her to sleep in the corridor outside your door, why did you forget?" ”

"You're Li Fu?!"

Wu Chaoyue pointed to the beautiful girl and asked, the beautiful girl nodded shyly, bowed to Wu Chaoyue Yingying, and said softly: "Folk woman Li Fushi, thank you for the grace of the master." ”

Wu Chaoyue didn't know what to say, Wu Dadao also smiled evilly and desperately squeezed his eyebrows at Wu Chaoyue, Li Fushi asked to enter the room with a shy voice, and Wu Chaoyue, who was serving tea and pouring water, changed clothes and washed, and when Li Fushi knelt to put on shoes and socks for Wu Chaoyue, Wu Chaoyue, who was in a dream, barely came back to his senses, and screamed in his heart: "Why is it a widow?" It's a pity, it's a pity, it's good if it's a virgin, even if it's a three-inch golden lotus, I will definitely accept her as a concubine! ”