Zeng Guofan saw that the official document was out of the courtyard, and his anger did not subside, and he scolded: "This dog official still dares to fight the idea of the Hunan army, and he has not yet settled accounts with him for the death of Kehui." ”

Hu Linyi shook his head and sighed slightly: "Hu is about to be worried, to the point that he is not afraid of the official document, Zeng Gong will continue to stay in Hubei, if you don't have a good relationship with him, I am afraid that you will be constrained in doing things, Zeng Gong thought carefully, the official literature is not learned and unskilled, greedy for money and bribery, this is the opportunity for our Hunan army, do you have to be honest and self-controlled, and all officials who act in accordance with the rules and regulations of the imperial court are supervised by Huguang?" What I say is from the bottom of my heart, and I am not selfish. ”

After listening to Hu Linyi's words, Zeng Guofan had to admit that Hu Linyi was more experienced than himself in the officialdom, and the trick of stammering official documents seemed mediocre, but it was actually extremely useful.

In the next half month, Zeng Guofan and Hu Linyi paid a special visit to the official text, took care of the affairs of King Qin, and said a lot of flattering and grateful words. Generous, benevolent and loyal, and an open and honest true gentleman, Hu Linyi stipulated that 5,000 taels of silver should be taken from the salary of the Hunan army every month and sent to the official writer's house for his squandering.

Guan Wen saw that the Hunan army was so good, he was also very happy, after Li Xubin and Du Xing'a, he finally understood that in troubled times, the governor did not have the support of the generals in command, it was just an ornament, he had conflicts with Hu Linyi and others, it was really no good at all, Hu and Zeng were both capable people, and they could use their strength to achieve things because of people. In this way, he could ensure that he would be famous, so he mingled with the Hunan army. There is no inaccuracy in everything that Hu and Zeng ask for instructions.

Since then, the Hunan army has no constraints in Hubei and Hunan, and has not only eliminated a large number of green battalions and township brave troops under the governor's command. It also further expanded the establishment of the Hunan army, except for the guest army of Duxing'a, all the armies in Hubei were controlled by Zeng Guofan.

After half a month of running by the messenger, Xianfeng agreed that Hu Linyi's holy decree finally reached Hubei, Hu Linyi packed up and prepared to return to his hometown in Hunan. I sincerely hope that he will stay, but unfortunately the wood has been completed, the holy decree has been issued, and the king's life is difficult.

"Now it's not as good as before, even if Runzhi returns to his hometown, he must always pay attention to the front-line battle situation, so as not to miss major events." Zeng Guofan's vague words were entrusted.

Hu Linyi's expression was not unusual, and he nodded, still attached to the Xiang army in his heart. He persuaded Zeng Guofan: "Zeng Gong acted strongly, which is good as a general, but the future of hundreds of thousands of brothers in the Hunan army is all in your thoughts, and you must think carefully before acting." Sometimes there is a way to please the emperor and preserve the strength of the Hunan army, which is not a villain's move. Rather, it is something that only a wise and knowledgeable person can do. ”

Zeng Guofan felt the same way and felt that this sentence was very useful to him. In the past, slogans were shouted, but there were no loyal and patriotic actions from time to time. As a result, the emperor was suspicious of him, and the position of governor was tossed for several years before he gained something.

Hubei civil and military officials and generals of the Hunan army were sent to Shili Pavilion before they returned.

Zuo Zongtang led 5,000 people to block in front of more than 10,000 people in front of Wang Zhu, not worried about being fake, he was paying attention to the Guangxi war situation all the time, fortunately, Li Xuan and Li Shixian's march was smooth, with the cooperation of the righteous army in various places, the Qing army was defeated and defeated, Wuzhou Mansion and Xunzhou Mansion worshiped the origin of God's religion, the people responded in groups, they had many relatives who served in the Han Kingdom and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and they were afraid of being killed all day long. Now Guilin has been breached, and the army is gathered in Quanzhou, eyeing Hunan Daozhou.

Guiyang County, Wang Zhu looked at Zeng Guofan's letter, full of sorrow, but he didn't expect that the 100,000 army of the Eastern Expedition was beaten back by the Han army in two months, not only lost the army, but also wiped out the whole army of 5,000 elites.

Liu Kun was completely disappointed in the Qing Dynasty, and how to resist the million-strong army of long-haired and short-haired people in Hunan alone, not only was the civilian officials constrained, but even the military attachés could not be saved.

Liu Shengxiang didn't know about the gambling contract between Wang Zhu and Zuo Zongtang, he only felt that Zuo Zongtang was a little weird in Linwu County, and saw that Wang Zhu was silent in thought, and stepped forward to ask for his life: "Please attack Lingwu, and be willing to be the striker, this Zuo Zongtang only has 5,000 soldiers and horses, what are you afraid of!" ”

"Ahem, cough, cough......" Wang Ju coughed loudly, his face became even more pale, and he said slowly in his hoarse voice: "You are all relatives and friends of Wang, now that the victory of the Han Kingdom has been decided, I don't want to block the car with my mantis arm, I have already contacted Zuo Jigao, and I am ready to surrender in three days, what do you think?" ”

Liu Kunyi was stunned, when the Hunan army was at its peak, he thought about making meritorious contributions, and when the Hunan army was decadent, he thought about retiring and returning to the field, but he didn't think about surrendering, seeing the commander's serious appearance, it didn't look like a joke, Liu Kun smiled dryly: "Why did the commander say this, even if the Han army unified the world, we can't do anything to sell the Hunan army!" ”

Liu Shengxiang nodded and agreed: "If we want to fight together, we want to surrender together, how can our Hunan army act alone?" What kind of face does this have when he returns to his hometown? ”

Wang Ju passed on the battle report and continued: "I have made up my mind, if you don't agree, then cut off my head, and then fight Zuo Zongtang, if you agree, you will act in three days." ”

After reading the battle report, there were monstrous waves in everyone's chest, 100,000 Hunan troops lost nearly half, retreated to Hubei, and the Han army gathered hundreds of thousands of troops to prepare for the Northern Expedition!

Liu Kun said secretly: The situation in the world has been decided, the Manchu Qing Dynasty can't hold out this year, and surrendering the Han army is not a way out.

"Since the Lord is determined to surrender, the lowly duty should follow." As soon as Liu Kun decided to surrender, Zuo Zongtang and him were classmates, and everyone had studied in the same academy, and maybe they would have a better future.

Liu Shengxiang caught a glimpse of several of his brothers nodding to him, and also said, "I am willing to follow the commander even if I am lowly in my position." ”

Wang Wenrui, the battalion officer, tentatively asked: "Since we plan to surrender to the Han, whether to sacrifice Chenzhou." ”

"It is not enough to show our sincerity just to present a Chenzhou, this Guiyang Prefecture, Baoqing Mansion, and Yongzhou Mansion in southern Hunan are all under the front of the Han army, and I heard that the governor of Guangxi has fled to Baoqing Mansion, so even he was captured and dedicated to the Han army." Liu Shengxiang plans to get out of the way.

"Isn't this trapping me in an unkind and unjust place, although we surrender to the Han army, then tell Zeng Gong openly, why bother to get into a situation where water and fire are incompatible, I think our army will go to Linwu County to join Zuo Gong." Liu Kun stared at Wang Ju, if Wang Ju really wanted to offer the four mansions of Hunan, he would rather go home and farm than bear such a reputation.

Wang Ju smiled bitterly: "In this case, let's set off in three days and go to Lingwu, we have already done something sorry for Disheng, so don't sprinkle salt on his wounds, if you have relatives and friends, please notify in advance, cough cough ......"

Seven days after the news of the surrender of Wang Ju's army reached Wuchang, Zeng Guofan lost his temper in the barracks, and he called all the generals above the division of the army to do their ideological work.

"This Wang Pushan is too uninteresting, what do you say I should do to him?" Zeng Guofan's sharp eyes swept over everyone in the room, this Wang Pushan had betrayed him twice, and this kind of rebellion was even worse than Zuo Zongtang.

Liu Rong, as Wang Zhu's brother, had to stand up and excuse him: "Maybe Pushan has a last resort, he is stationed in Guiyang, facing tens of thousands of short ...... The Han army, I heard that even Guangxi is now occupied by the Han army, and it is inevitable that the army will surrender. ”

After speaking, Liu Rong's own lie seemed to make sense, and she kept nodding her head and looked at Li Xuyi, hoping that he would stand up and echo a few words.

Liu Rong didn't understand what Li Xuyi was thinking at this time, otherwise he wouldn't give Li Xuyi a look, since the news of his brother Li Xubin's defeat reached his ears, Li Xuyi swore that he would not be able to stand with the Han army, and Wang Ju surrendered to the Han army, which was his enemy, and he couldn't care about the brotherhood of his division.

Li Xuyi announced loudly: "Wang Ju has done such a rebellious thing, he is the enemy of our Hunan army, everyone encounters him on the battlefield, don't show mercy." ”

Zeng Guofan stroked his palms and smiled: "Xi'an knows righteousness!" Since this Wang Zhu chose to surrender to the thief and lost the face of our Hunan army, everyone must draw a clear line with him, don't be tempted by him, although the Qing Dynasty is in a difficult situation for a while, and the pseudo-Han is arrogant for a while, we must fight to the very end, be loyal to the Qing Dynasty, and be loyal to the emperor! ”

In the past, Zeng Guofan said these big truths, and the generals would inevitably swear and swear to say something like serving the country, but today they were really disturbed by Wang Ju's surrender to the enemy, and they were all silent, this Wang Ju is not comparable to ordinary people, he is the founder of the Hunan Army, although he defected to Luo Bingzhang halfway, but his influence in the Hunan Army cannot be ignored, he is Luo Zenan's disciple, Liu Rong's brother, and a large group of relatives and friends serve in the Hunan Army, that is, Zeng Guofan has a little unclear relationship.

Seeing this scene, Zeng Guofan sighed secretly, the people's hearts were scattered, and the team was not easy to lead.

Liu Rong was choked by Li Xuyi's words, this Li Xuyi usually looks quite easy-going and obedient, but he didn't expect to let him not get off the stage in public, he glanced at the rest of the senior brothers.

Liu Dian nodded to Liu Rong with a smile, and smiled bitterly at Li Xuyi, expressing that he agreed with Liu Rong's point of view.

Jiang Yili also gestured to Liu Rong's forehead, with encouragement in his eyes.

Because Yang Changjun and Liu Tenghong were sitting on both sides of Li Xuyi, it was not appropriate to say anything, so they did not squint, and Liu Rong nodded to them. (To be continued......)