Chen Qice is a native of Taishan and was born in martial arts. After more than 30 years of military attaché, although he is 60, his body and bones have always been very strong. Zhou Shixiang heard that the old general had to lift a stone mill every day after getting up, and he would not stop if he did not lift it ten times. The stone mill weighs more than 100 pounds, and the strong guy is struggling to lift it, and he is an old man. However, this time the old general's illness came urgently, and it came seriously, and the sudden illness half a month ago, Zhaoqing, Guangzhou's famous Lang Zhong invited a lot, although it has not been improved, but it has not deteriorated, I don't want the condition to suddenly worsen in the past two days, I can't get up, I can't eat, and even it's hard to speak, and I have been in a coma several times. On the one hand, Zhu Tong and others of Zhenguo prepared for the old general's funeral, and on the other hand, they asked people to hurry up and invite Zhou Shixiang to come over, because the old general woke up after two consecutive coma and read Zhou Shixiang's name.

For a long time, Zhou Shixiang has been grateful to the old general, Xinhui battle, if it wasn't for the old general to lead the army to help, he may have died in battle. When the Taiping army crossed Xiangshan, it also had a lot of old generals to take care of, and when the Qing army entered Xiangshan in three ways, the old general accepted nearly 10,000 people of Xiangshan without saying a word, so that the Taiping army could fight with the Qing army without worries. Later, the Taiping army formed a water battalion, and the old general specially sent Zheng Chengkui to bring dozens of warships to help, the battle of Chaohui, if it were not for Zheng Chengkui, Zhou Shixiang would not be able to ship the first town from Huizhou to Chaozhou to cut off the back road of the Qing army. The Qing army's back road and grain route cannot be cut off, and the outcome of the Chaohui War will be completely changed.

Zhou Shixiang is not an ungrateful person, he remembers all the kindness of the old general, and tries his best to help the old general. The Zhaoqing Ming army received much more benefits from the Taiping army than the old general gave to the Taiping army. After Zhou Shixiang returned to Guangzhou, he sent a letter to the old general, telling him that he wanted to invite all the Ming forces to come to Guangzhou for a meeting, so as to integrate forces to enter the west of Guangxi Qinwang.

The old general greatly supported Zhou Shixiang's move to prepare for King Qin, and said that he was the first to respond to support. He told Zhou Shixiang that if the Taiping army entered King Qinwang in Guangxi, the first thing to do was to solve the problem of grain and grass transportation. Guangdong and Guangxi are connected by the Liujiang River, so there is no need to take the land route, and the sailors under his command can help the Taiping army transport grain and grass and transport troops into Guangxi. It is certainly much more convenient to walk by water than by land, which can not only transport troops quickly, but also reduce the burden of food and grass on the Taiping army.

To this end, the old general specially ordered his subordinates to start building a sand boat between 2,000 and 3,000 stones, which can walk on inland rivers, with a load of 250 tons to 400 tons, with an iron head in the bow and more than a dozen large and small artillery pieces on both sides. In addition, the Qing army did not have an inland water division in Guangxi at all, and even if there were, the old general was confident that he could crush them into scum.

The old general's proposal to take the waterway into Guangxi, in line with the meaning of Zhou Shixiang, he ordered someone to find a map of Guangxi to see, if you take the waterway, you can save half of the time, and when occupying Liuzhou, Xunzhou and Wuzhou, you can get the help of the water division, you can attack and defend, and there is no danger of being cut off from the grain road in terms of grain and grass. No matter how inferior the Ming Dynasty army is, this naval division is countless times more than them. Although the scale of the old general's sailor is not as large as that of the Zheng family, it is a behemoth that makes the Qing army fearful.

Walking on the waterway is like a person who is sleeping, and suddenly drops a pillow and a quilt, which makes Zhou Shixiang happy. It was precisely because he could take the waterway that he had delayed a little more time in Guangzhou, otherwise he would have been busy in Zhaoqing now with the land route into Guangxi, setting up post roads and grain routes, and dealing with various Ming army forces along the way.

After receiving Chen Yonghua, Zhou Shixiang was ready to go to Zhaoqing to discuss the details of the old general's entry into Guangxi, as well as to see if there was any help from the water division.

In a hurry, Zhou Shixiang immediately rushed to Zhaoqing. After entering the city, he did not delay for a moment, and went straight to General Linghai's mansion. Hearing that Xing Pingbo arrived, Chen Shibang, the eldest son of the old general, hurriedly came over to greet him, Zhou Shixiang asked about the old general's condition, Chen Shibang's face was sad, which made Zhou Shixiang feel heavy.

At this juncture, if the old general dies of illness, the blow to Zhou Shixiang will be very serious. If the old general is not there, it is difficult to say whether the generals under him are still willing to support Zhou Shixiang. If the Chen Department was divided due to the death of the old general, even if Zhou Shixiang relied on force to integrate them again in the end, it would take a lot of time, which would undoubtedly be a big trouble for the Taiping army's westward expedition.

With the worry about the old general's illness and the worry about the plan of the western expedition, Zhou Shixiang entered the old general's ward under the leadership of Chen Shibang with a heavy heart, and found that Zhu Tong, the general of Zhenguo, and Wu Yuan, Zhou Sheng, and Zheng Chengkui, the generals under the old general, were all there. Staff member Hu Deyu and others were also there, as well as several family members of the old general, and a few gentlemen who looked like Lang Zhong were also there, but their faces were ugly.

"Xingpingbo!"

Zhou Shixiang is Xingping Bo, and everyone in the house is not as high as him, Zhu Tong is the general of the clan, and the title is not as high as Zhou Shixiang. In addition, the Taiping Army is now powerful, so in public and private, everyone saluted Zhou Shixiang. Zhou Shi was concerned about the old general's illness, so he naturally didn't be polite to them, and returned the courtesy. Everyone knew that he was concerned about the old general's illness, and no one blamed him for his poor manners.

The old general on the sickbed was still in a coma at the moment, his face was pale, his breath was weak, his head was full of white hair, and his spirit was haggard.

"How is the old general's condition? Can it be cured? Zhou Shixiang was sad in his heart, and dragged a Lang Zhong to ask.

Na Langzhong said: "The general is very sick, and he is terminally ill, and he cannot be saved by the medicine stone." ”

As soon as he heard that there was no cure, Zhou Shixiang was anxious, and asked Lang Zhong: "You can't think of ideas!" ”

"The villain is really powerless."

Lang Zhong shook his head in embarrassment, Zhou Shixiang knew that he couldn't force it, it seemed that the old general was afraid that it would not work, so he couldn't help sighing, and looked at the old general on the sickbed blankly, full of thoughts.

The old general was in a coma, and he didn't know if he could wake up for a while, so Chen Shibang wanted to invite Zhou Shixiang and others to use tea in the hall, which was the host's way of hospitality, and so many people stayed in the house, and the air was very stuffy, which was not conducive to the patient's awakening, so Zhou Shixiang nodded and answered, and when he was about to go out, he heard Hu Deyu exclaim: "The general is awake, the general is awake!" ”

Everyone was shocked and hurriedly rushed forward. Zhou Shixiang also walked to the front of the couch and looked at the awakened old general with a concerned face.

The old general opened his eyes in a daze, his eyes were cloudy, and his gaze fell on the people in front of the bed, as if he was looking for something. Zhu Tong knew his intentions and hurriedly took Zhou Shixiang's hand into the hands of the old general.

The old general held Zhou Shixiang's hand, his eyes flashed slightly, but he didn't look at Zhou Shixiang, but stared at Wu Yuan, Hu Deyu and others, his lips moved slightly, and he tried his best to say something, but he couldn't say anything.

Seeing this, Hu Deyu choked up and said: "Don't worry, general, after you leave, I will wait for the order of Xingping Bo." ”

Wu Yuan also nodded sadly, and behind him, Zhou Sheng, Zheng Chengkui and others also cried and said that they were willing to Fengxing Pingbo.

After listening to the generals' words, the old general seemed to be on the ground, his eyes slowly closed, but he passed out again, but his right hand was still holding Zhou Shixiang tightly.

"Xing Pingbo, this is the transcript that the general asked the lower official to write a few days ago, read it for yourself."

Hu Deyu handed a notebook to Zhou Shixiang, and after Zhou Shixiang took it, tears came out of his eyes. This recital is the last recital of the old general, which does not say anything about his life, nor does he ask the court for his nephew, only that after his death, he implores the court to attribute his department to the command of Zhou Shixiang.

Closing the notebook, Zhou Shixiang was already in tears, he didn't expect that the old general had already arranged everything.

Behind him, Zheng Chengkui said in a low voice: "The general was sick in the shipyard, and he never let us tell you, saying that he was afraid that he would be distracted after you knew it."

After Zhou Shixiang listened, his throat moved up and down, but he didn't cry, only looked at the white-haired old man silently. I don't know how long it took, the old general suddenly opened his eyes, stared at Zhou Shixiang tightly, and shouted: "King Qin saves the Son of Heaven!" Then he closed his eyes and went away. (To be continued.) )