Xianfeng four years, the ninth day of the fourth month.

Outside Yangzhou, Jiangbei camp.

In the big tent of the Chinese army, Qi Shangao sat above the big tent, and Wu Qigong and other generals sat below.

At this time, although Qi Shan is already a handful of years, his face is still red, his spirit is strong, and he does not show any old age. Historically, this month was already the last month of Qishan, and he died of illness in the fourth year of Xianfeng. However, Qi Shan is now eating and sleeping soundly, carefree, and has not been affected in the slightest.

The reason for this is naturally caused by Li Zhen's little butterfly.

Historically, Qi Shan presided over the Jiangbei camp, was in a difficult situation, worried about everything, and was in a state of extreme suppression for a long time. Moreover, Qi Shan also had to face the pressure of the court, and after getting sick, he couldn't afford to get sick and simply died. Because of Li Zhen's fanning, the Jiangbei camp stood steadily outside Yangzhou City, and was not threatened by the Taiping army.

Moreover, Qishan also continued to expand his troops and enhance his strength, and he was already known as no less than 100,000 people. Although they are all inexperienced troops, the barracks have a strong deterrent power.

Besides, Li Zhen is still in Shanghai, so Qi Shan is not worried at all.

But Qishan's good days didn't last long, and he had already received the news of the Taiping army's massive attack. Qi Shan immediately summoned all the generals in the army and said in a deep voice: "You all already know the news of the attack of the bandits, and the 100,000 people in my Jiangbei camp will definitely defeat the invading enemy in one fell swoop. Therefore, this official plans to personally command the army and fight the bandits, what do you think? ”

Wu Qigong said: "My lord, the bandits attacked the Jiangbei camp on a large scale, Nanjing was empty, and the last general thought that he could inform Xiang Rong of the Jiangnan camp and Li Zhen in Shanghai, so that they could also send troops to attack Nanjing. In this way, we can not only relieve the pressure on our camp in the north of the Yangtze River, but also threaten the bandits, thus reversing the current situation. Once we win, the three-way army will be surrounded and the bandits will be destroyed. Even if our army is blocked, there are two other armies to contain the bandits. ”

Qi Shan pondered for a moment, nodded in agreement, and said, "Well said, it is worthy of being the right-hand man of this official." Okay, you send someone to inform Li Zhen and Xiang Rong and ask them to send troops to attack Nanjing. ”

"Yes!"

Wu Qigong nodded in response, and then sat down again.

Qi Shan's gaze swept over the major generals in the army again, and began to assign tasks, preparing to lead the army to fight the bandits. After everything was decided, Qi Shan let the generals in the army leave. Qi Shan sat alone in the big tent, looking at Shanghai on the map, faintly relieved. Li Zhen is the person he recommended, and now Li Zhen is thriving, and he also has face.

Although Li Zhen sent troops to attack the British and French forces, which caused a lot of discussion in the court, those conservatives who were afraid of the foreigners were afraid that the foreigners would start the war again. They all invited Emperor Xianfeng to remove Li Zhen. However, under the strong persuasion and insistence of his Qishan and Li Zhen's quasi-father-in-law Gui Liang, Emperor Xianfeng did not move to remove Li Zhen after all.

……

Yangzhou, Dongwang Xingying.

In the big tent of the Chinese army, Yang Xiuqing, the king of the east, was dressed in a bright yellow dragon robe, sitting on the main seat, and Qin Rigang, the king of Yan, and Li Xiucheng, the general, were sitting below. Although Li Xiucheng returned from defeat last time, Yang Xiuqing did not criticize Li Xiucheng, but continued to reuse it. This situation moved Li Xiucheng's heart, and he had the intention of repaying Yang Xiuqing, and always reminded himself to set foot in Shanghai and defeat Li Zhen.

This time, Li Xiucheng, as the main general, is even more grateful to Yang Xiuqing.

Although many generals in the army were jealous and privately discussed that Li Xiucheng was the general of the defeated army, Li Xiucheng was not impatient, but just tried his best to do his duty and did not quarrel with the rest of the generals.

Yang Xiuqing looked at Li Xiucheng and said in a deep voice: "Where is Li Xiucheng?" ”

"The last general!"

Li Xiucheng stood up and replied loudly.

Yang Xiuqing said: "The Jiangbei camp is known as 100,000 people, but this king only gives you 50,000 elites, can you be sure to break the Jiangbei camp?" ”

Li Xiucheng said confidently: "Back to the king of the east, although there are many people in the Jiangbei camp, they are all wine bags and rice bags, and the soldiers in the army are a group of people who smoke big cigarettes and opium. Such a camp in Jiangbei, even if there are 100,000 people, the last general will treat it like a mustard. The last general is willing to make a military order, and if he does not defeat the Jiangbei battalion, he is willing to be punished. ”

Yang Xiuqing was very satisfied with Li Xiucheng's attitude and said: "There is no need for a military order, this king is waiting for your good news." ”

"Thank you, King Dong!" Li Xiucheng said immediately.

Yang Xiuqing waved his hand and said, "Go, gather soldiers and prepare to attack the Jiangbei camp." ”

Li Xiucheng turned around and left, Qin Rigang looked at the back of Li Xiucheng leaving, and felt a little unhappy. He is nominally the deputy commander of the army, but all the rights are firmly held in Yang Xiuqing's hands, and he has no rights at all. Although Qin Rigang is in it, he is just a foil, and he has no value at all.

This form made Qin Rigang's heart very angry. However, Yang Xiuqing didn't care about Qin Rigang's attitude at all, and with a wave of his hand, he let the generals in the army disperse and decided the next move.

……

On 20 April, more than 200 people, including Bao Ling, Bourlong, Adams, and Raywell, finally returned to Guangzhou after suffering and stayed at the Guangzhou Consulate in China for the time being. Since the army going north was completely wiped out and the warships were also fatally attacked, Bao Ling and Bouron were too busy to reorganize their armies and had no other thoughts at all.

According to the original plan, the four of them gathered the warships and troops stationed off the coast of Guangzhou, and at the same time, Bao Ling was responsible for sending a message to the British Governor in Hong Kong, Wen Han, asking for Wen Han's support and preparing to go north to Beijing to carry out their revenge plan, so as to relieve the humiliation of Shanghai.

……

Shanghai, Daotai Province.

At this time, the Daotai Mansion was already a mess of porridge, chickens and dogs jumping.

The reason for this is that Liu Taiping's condition suddenly became serious and the high fever did not go away. Originally, Liu Taiping's body had gradually recovered, but he suddenly had a fever. At this time, Liu Die panicked, and hurriedly found someone to ask a doctor to treat Liu Taiping, but Liu Taiping still did not have a fever after taking medicine.

Liu Taiping was lying on the bed, his eyes slightly squinted, his face haggard and old, full of tiredness. Through the slit in the eye, you can see the bloodshot eyeballs, and the cheeks are hot because of the fever.

Li Zhen, Qi Zhenhai, Liu Die, Ye Chengxin, Zhou Xiuying and others gathered here, waiting for the doctor's diagnosis and treatment.

The doctor who treated Liu Taiping was still taking the pulse, and looked at Liu Taiping's tongue and pupils, but in the end he couldn't find the pathology, sighed helplessly, and said: "This disease came suddenly, except for the fever, there are no other symptoms, but the fever can't be reduced, and the old and decrepit skills are poor, and there is nothing to be done." ”

Li Zhen was suddenly angry and shouted: "Who said it can't be cured? You must be cured, or I will cut off your head. ”

But the doctor was not frightened, and said, "You just cut off my head, and it still can't be cured." ”

Liu Taiping said in a hoarse voice: "My lord, life and death are life and wealth, and since this disease cannot be cured, it will not be cured." Fluttershy, send the doctor away, and although it doesn't heal, I believe the doctor has done his best. ”

The doctor listened to Liu Taiping's words and was grateful.

He followed Liu Die to the outside of the room, and when he was about to go out of the door, he suddenly stopped, turned to look at Li Zhen, and said, "Master Li, although I can't help the patient reduce the fever, you can go to the foreigner's doctor." Although the medical skills of foreigners are not very good, they still have unique features. ”

When Li Zhen heard this, his eyes lit up, and he hurriedly bowed deeply, and said sincerely: "Thank you, doctor, Li Zhen is reckless, please forgive me for the offense just now." ”

Li Zhen is also worried about Liu Taiping's safety, so he will not choose to speak.

ps: one of the three watches;