Li Chunfa, commander of the First Army, Luo Xuan, commander of the Second Army, Zeng Shuiyuan, commander of the Third Army, Li Shixian, the new commander of the Fifth Army, Li Desheng, commander of the Seventh Army, and Tang Zhengcai, commander of the Navy, all made a special trip back to Nanjing from the front line to attend today's expanded military conference to report on the situation in the theater over the past six months.

In the small conference room, all the high-level leaders of the Han army gathered, including Lin Daji, the secretary of the military department, Zhang Suimou, the chief of staff of the Han army, Hu Yihuang, the governor of Anhui, Li Xiucheng, the governor of Jiangsu, and Zuo Zongtang, the squire of the military department......

"King Han has arrived! All stand up! Chen Yucheng, who was temporarily serving as an attendant officer, shouted.

The big and small officials in the conference room all stood, and many military commanders skimmed Chen Yucheng, who was shouting, in a complicated mood, and muttered to themselves: This is the second Li Xiucheng!

"Sit down! Now that everyone has arrived, I would like to ask you to brief us on the situation of our enemies in our respective defense zones. Li Yunzhong looked at Luo Xuan and motioned for him to take the lead.

Luo Xuan stood up again, walked to the sand table and picked up the baton, pointed to Xuzhou and said: "Qi Shan, the minister of the Qing army, led 40,000 Qing soldiers to garrison Xuzhou, and Shengbao led 20,000 soldiers and horses to garrison Pizhou. Our army is lonely, so that the Second Army has repeatedly hit a wall, and now it has been repaired in Suqian and Shuyang, and plans to carry out a new round of offensive in the coming spring! ”

Zhang Suimou, as the chief of staff, is more familiar with the situation in Xuzhou among the people, and excused Luo Outline: "The second army is less than 20,000 people, and more than half of them are newly recruited soldiers, which can contain 60,000 or 70,000 Qing demons in Shandong and Henan, and they have no power to fight back, so they can only retreat in the city to survive, this second army can be described as a great contribution!" ”

Li Yunzhong asked Zhao Laoqi, who was sitting in the corner, "Is there any news from the Taiping Army's Northern Expedition?" ”

Zhao Laoqi was flattered and replied respectfully: "Lin Fengxiang." Li Kaifang led more than 10,000 men to break through from Hebei and go south to Shandong. Now it is surrounded by a large army led by Monk Greenqin. "To be able to speak in such a high-level venue is something he never dared to imagine before!

Li Yunzhong suddenly remembered that when he was unaccompanied in Bauhinia Mountain and was frightened by Yang Xiuqing and Xiao Chaogui and fled in a hurry, it was this Li Kaifang and Lin Fengxiang who stopped Lao Tzu and almost let me die in the hands of Yang Xiuqing! Now things are people, mountains and rivers are reversed, it is really in response to the old saying of 30 years in Hexi and 30 years in Hedong, I was down, and I became the king of Han! This Li Kaifang and Lin Fengxiang must be afraid that I will retaliate against them, so they dare not enter my territory.

"Is it possible for our army to bypass Xuzhou, attack Shandong, and take the initiative to join the Taiping army?" Li Yunzhong still covets those Guangxi veterans.

Luo Outline thought about it, shook his head and said: "Xuzhou's Qishan army, Pizhou's Shengbao army, and Shandong's Yizhou Mansion's monk Greenqin are exactly in a triangular relationship, if our army rushes into it, it will face attacks from all sides at any time, and it will be difficult to move an inch, not to mention converging with the Northern Expeditionary Army, even if it can reach Mengyin County, it is uncertain." Thinking of the combat effectiveness of the Qing army in the north, he added: "The green battalion soldiers in Xuzhou have gradually adapted to the war, and the green battalion soldiers transferred from Shaanxi are even more fierce, which is very different from the green battalion soldiers we encountered before!" ”

Li Yunzhong nodded, Zhao Laoqi had already reported these news to him in detail, because of the frequent wars, the green battalion soldiers were survival of the fittest, those who were greedy for life and afraid of death, and weak had disappeared, and the rest were strong.

Zhang Suimou said: "The salt merchants in various regions of Jiangbei are also very rampant, and they often act as bandits to attack the rear of our army, robbing grain and grass, but when our army goes to investigate, they put on a loyal appearance, which is really difficult to distinguish between true and false!" ”

Lin Daji said angrily: "It's better to send a large army to uproot the salt merchants, so that we can recover the two Huai salt policies and clear the place!" And they can seize silver taels to fill the treasury! ”

"No, our army has always loved the people and never killed innocents indiscriminately everywhere it goes, and the reputation it has cultivated with great difficulty cannot be given up because of temporary benefits." Zuo Zongtang did not want the Han army to set this precedent, he has always flaunted that he is loyal to the monarch and loves the people, how can he allow soldiers to kill innocent people.

Li Yunzhong secretly sighed that there are too few talents in the Han Dynasty, do you want to go to Jiangbei in person?

"What do you think, can solve the hostility of the two Huai salt merchants towards us!"

Zuo Zongtang thought of Wang Qinglu, who could gain insight into people's hearts and was clever and fickle, and he wanted to stop talking, he really didn't want to put Wang Qinglu in Jiangbei, a place that was not taken seriously, but he couldn't think of a practical way for a while.

"Do you have any suggestions?" Li Yunzhong asked Zuo Zongtang, who was hesitant and worried.

Zuo Zongtang replied: "Wang Qinglu, the deputy imperial historian of Zuodu, is enough to take on this position. "It's still state affairs that are important, and self-interest is small!

Li Yunzhong thought for a moment and ordered: "Well, it's Wang Qinglu, appoint him to be in charge of the two Huai salt envoys, and be in charge of all salt affairs." ”

Hu Yihuang saw the end of the report in the Xuzhou Theater, gave Li Desheng a look, and had the heart to give him this opportunity, watching Li Xiucheng cross from a battalion officer to Li Desheng, Hu Yihuang also felt that Li Yunzhong was victorious to Li Desheng. These old regimental leaders are unfair.

Li Desheng glanced at Hu Yihuang gratefully, took the baton in Luo Xuan's hand, and said: "The Seventh Army has been stationed on both sides of the Yangtze River, sticking to the important cities on both sides of the river, since our army in the Taiping Army's Northern Expedition, the Qing army's forces in Anhui Province have gradually been exhausted, if our army launches an attack, it will definitely be able to occupy northern Anhui within a month." ”

Zhang Suimou reminded unhappily: "This is a serious military meeting, not a braggart conference, and it is responsible to brag about it." Since he was transferred to the General Staff after suffering defeat, Zhang Suimou has always been very disgusted with the arrogant and underestimating generals.

Li Desheng blushed and explained: "The pacification of northern Anhui within a month was achieved by the last general's careful consideration, not to say big things, the last general can make a military order!" ”

Lin Daji gently stopped Zhang Suimou and asked, "What basis do you have?" Speaking of which, don't be nervous, if it is feasible, Your Highness will reward you heavily! ”

According to statistics, there are 67,000 militia members in Anhui Province, plus more than 30,000 people in the Seventh Army, I can send 50,000 people to attack northern Anhui, and the total number of Qing troops entrenched in northern Anhui is less than 30,000, and many of them are still brave men without the slightest combat experience." Li Desheng told the situation in Anhui in just a few words.

Lin Daji frowned and said: "Although the Qing army is a little less, but Xuzhou, Henan, and Shandong can quickly support northern Anhui, you want to send troops to northern Anhui based on these alone, I'm afraid it's not your style of a strong general, right?" What else are you going to do, say it together! ”

Li Desheng sold a lawsuit, and seeing that the attention of King Han was also attracted, he didn't dare to slack off, and immediately replied: "There has been no rain in northern Anhui for three consecutive months, and I specially asked experienced farmers to inquire, and they said that there must be a great drought in northern Anhui this year, and famine is rampant!" And I have already contacted Zhang Lexing, a famous 'salt master' in northern Anhui! ”

Zhang Lexing? Li Yunzhong seems to have heard of his name, and it seems that he is the leader of the Twist Army, by the way, I remember! Isn't the famous Twist Army making trouble in northern Anhui this night! It seems that this music is not simple!

"Who is this musician?" Li Yunzhong asked.

Li Desheng replied respectfully: "Zhang Lexing also has a nickname called Zhang Luoxing, a native of Wuyang County, Anhui Province, who opened a bad shop, a grain store, and a gambling game, and formed a party to traffick illicit salt as a "salt master". The family wealth is very rich, and it is rare that when he trafficked illicit salt, he often had conflicts with the government, so he gathered the crowd to defend himself, and supported the peasants to resist grain, resist poverty, and eat big households! ”

"Then he has a high prestige in the local area?" Zhang Suimou is like-minded with such a reckless character, he himself was born in a landlord family, but he likes to do justice for the common people, and finally simply joined Su Sanniang's anti-Qing rebel army as a small leader.

Li Desheng said with a smile: "Zhang Lexing is righteous and squandering wealth, and is called 'benevolence and righteousness' by the people, once, refugees who fled from the north bank of the Yellow River to Haozhou were caught picking up potatoes in the homes of big families surnamed Song, and were beaten and scolded.

After Zhang Lexing learned the truth, he said to the refugee, you will continue to pick up potatoes in the big family surnamed Song tomorrow, don't be afraid, everything has me. The next day, after the refugee left, Zhang Lexing led the crowd to watch nearby. When the big family surnamed Song saw the refugees coming, as he did yesterday, he "had a fierce voice and was as fierce as a jackal." Zhang Lexing came out in time to stop it, and as a result, there was an armed fight with the big family, resulting in "four dead people from the Song family".

The collection is finally about to break a thousand! I've been waiting for two months!