Speaking of Guo Songtao, Xiao Yungui still has some impressions, as if he took Zeng Guofan out of the mountains and established the Hunan Army, and he himself was one of the executioners who suppressed the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the only thing that Xiao Yungui remembered was that he was the first foreign envoy in modern China.

Xiao Yungui frowned and said, "How can this Guo Songtao be in Changsha City?" ”

Hong Yun'er said with a smile: "This Guo Songtao was originally from the west of Xiangyin City, and his career was also relatively bumpy, and he took the exam five times, and finally won the Jinshi in the twenty-seventh year of Daoguang and was awarded the Jishi of the Hanlin Academy. It's a pity that he only became an official, and his parents died one after another, so he could only go back to his hometown Ding Wei, and he couldn't return to Beijing until this year. Recently, the Taiping army went north into Hunan Province, and he was not willing to be lonely, so he went to the provincial capital to give advice to Luo Bingzhang, but the city fell too quickly, and he couldn't leave. ”

Xiao Yungui sighed, and said lightly: "What's the haode to hold him, this kind of scholar who has become an official of the Qing court is the most stubborn, we can't handle Zuo Zongtang who is not an official, do you still want to recruit him?" ”

Hong Yun'er snorted and said: "This Guo Songtao is an important person who brought Zeng Guofan out of the mountain, I thought about detaining him, and the Hunan army would not appear so soon." ”

Xiao Yungui couldn't help but smile and said: "Four-eyed sister, your idea is really simple, the reason why Zeng Guofan and other Xianghu scholars want to run the Hunan Army to encircle and suppress the Taiping Army is that the Taiping Army does not respect Confucianism, if the Taiping Army still smashes the Confucian Temple and does not respect Confucianism, even if there is no Guo Songtao, Zeng Guofan and others will still go out of the mountain." I vaguely remember that it was Luo Zenan and his disciple Wang Zhen who started the group practice first, and Guo Songtao just added a fire. ”

Hong Yun'er sat down with some disappointment and said, "I've been happy for a long time, so it's useless." ”

Xiao Yungui touched his chin and said: "After the success of the First Battle of Changsha, there were many celebrities in Changsha, and these people could neither be easily killed nor let go easily, so they would lock him up with Wang Minyun and the three of them, let's wait and see." ”

While he was talking, the card knife hand came to report that Zuo Zongtang asked to see him, Xiao Yungui looked at Hong Yun'er and said, "This old boy has figured it out?" ”

Hong Yun'er shook her head, only to see Zuo Zongtang come to the hall, this old boy had a ruddy complexion and a very good complexion, so that Xiao Yungui had a despicable and shameless thought in his heart, this old boy was very different from the appearance of the beggar a few days ago, is it because his wife is here, and there is a harmony of yin and yang, so his complexion is getting better? Thinking of this, I couldn't help but look at Hong Yun'er, and swallowed a big mouthful, I obviously have a wife, but I can only sleep in the barracks, which is really infuriating.

Zuo Zongtang didn't know what Xiao Yungui was thinking, and after stepping forward, he smiled slightly: "King Xi, Princess Xi are fine." ”

After Xiao Yungui and Hong Yun'er returned the salute, Xiao Yungui beckoned Zuo Zongtang to sit down, and said with a smile: "What kind of wind blew Mr. here?" ”

Zuo Zongtang pulled the hem of his clothes and sat down, and said calmly: "It's not a secret, Zuo has been thinking about it for the past few days, and it was really difficult to make a choice at first, but today he has figured it out." Speaking of this, he got up and said deeply: "Thank you for the kindness of the King of the West and the Queen of the West recently, but in addition to his wife and children, Zuo also has brothers and sisters, and his wife's family is also a big family in Xiangtan, so he can't affect these relatives because of Zuo's person, so ......"

Seeing Zuo Zongtang get up and thank him, Xiao Yungui secretly said that it was not good, sure enough, Zuo Zongtang still didn't want to take refuge, Xiao Yungui only felt a dizziness in his head, this old boy really didn't know how to lift, he had done so many things, he still wanted to leave? My heart was secretly on fire, and I couldn't help but snort heavily, and said: "The Zhou family is in Xiangtan, I know this, where are your brothers and sisters?" The king sent and brought them all together. ”

Zuo Zongtang had already figured it out in his heart, shook his head and said with a wry smile: "King Xi doesn't have to bother anymore, Zuo knows the temper of his father-in-law's family, and he also knows the family history of his brothers and sisters, they will definitely not come to Changsha now, thank you King Xi for his kindness." ”…,

Xiao Yungui leaned back in his chair: "Zuo Zongtang, Zuo Zongtang, is this king really not worthy of your refuge?" ”

Zuo Zongtang smiled dumbly, and arched his hand: "Why did the King of the West say this? Zuo knew the ambitions of the King of the West and the Princess of the West, and he was not ashamed of what the Qing court did, and after the Princess of the West discussed Confucianism, he understood more about how to revitalize Confucianism, and since then he has never wanted to serve the court. Zuo means that he can't serve the king of the West at the moment, and after Zuo returns to Xiangtan, persuade his relatives and arrange family affairs, how about serving before the army? ”

Xiao Yungui turned his worries into joy when he heard this, can this old boy finish speaking at one time, it turns out that he is still willing to serve, but he is really worried about the safety of the clan, so he said this, and then he rubbed his hands again and again and smiled: "It is too dangerous for Mr. to go back like this, it is better for this king to send troops to help Mr. get his family." ”

Zuo Zongtang thanked him: "Thank you King Xi, but last time for Zuo, I was tired of Princess Xi in distress in Xiangyin, Zuo is really ashamed, the matter of moving his family is still done by Zuo himself, I still have some connections in Xiangzhong, it is more convenient to do things by myself, and it is not good to have peaceful people in it." ”

Hong Yun'er frowned and said: "Sir, this is a single danger, this morning came the news, the Qing court will arrest all the officials of Changsha for questioning, it can be seen that Xianfeng is narrow, there is no room for people, if the Qing court knows that Mr. intends to vote for my peace, it will definitely be unfavorable to Mr." ”

Zuo Zongtang sighed, nodded and said: "It seems that the imperial court is going to be a big prison again, and I don't know how many people will be framed in this case of the fall of Changsha, but Zuo Moujie pudding, I don't think the court will pay attention, and Zuo Mou should be fine if he goes to act in a low-key manner." ”

persuaded each other for a long time, but Zuo Zongtang had a hard temper and didn't listen to persuasion, so Xiao Yungui and Hong Yun'er had to give up.

Zuo Zongtang followed and said: "There is one more thing, let's talk about it first, if Taiping still does not respect Confucianism in the future and wants to destroy my Chinese language with foreign teaching, then Zuo will still walk away." ”

Xiao Yungui shook his head and said, "Sir, my wife has made it clear before that this kind of Confucianism respected by the Qing Demon must be destroyed." ”

Zuo Zongtang nodded and said: "This Zuo understands that Zuo is talking about our Han Confucianism, not Manchu Confucianism." Taiping worshiped God to raise troops, which Zuo thought was okay, but he could not forcibly promote this religion and regard other sects as demons, which was absolutely undesirable. ”

Xiao Yungui muttered: "I still need to persuade the Heavenly King and the Eastern King in this matter, but this King can guarantee that under the rule of this King, there will definitely be no things that Mr. is worried about." ”

Zuo Zongtang said thoughtfully: "Then Zuo's vote is only for the King of the West and not for Taiping." ”

Xiao Yungui was overjoyed, secretly thinking that Lao Tzu just wanted you to take refuge in me, and immediately said: "This is natural, this king needs a talent like Mr. ”

Zuo Zongtang frowned and looked at Xiao Yungui, and suddenly said: "The King of the West should still remember that he was also here that day, and we gave three high-fives." ”

Xiao Yungui nodded, and Zuo Zongtang said in a deep voice: "If the King of the West can't persuade the King of Heaven and the King of the East, can the King of the West think about setting up his own door?" ”

Xiao Yungui and Hong Yun'er glanced at each other, Hong Yun'er got up and poured out of the hall and shouted: "Tang Erniu, you take people to guard the door, and don't let anyone approach!" ”

Zuo Zongtang stared at Xiao Yungui with blazing eyes and said in a low voice: "If Taiping does not give up worshipping God, and wants to establish a country with religious power, he must be defeated, if so, Zuo will never dare to obey." ”

Xiao Yungui sighed lightly and said: "Since the beginning of the army, I have been teaching people with this religion in peace, and if I suddenly pull it out, won't it be a big mess?" ”

Zuo Zongtang nodded and said: "Zuo has been in the city for nearly a month, so he naturally knows about it, but Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism and several others have been in China for thousands of years, and they are deeply rooted. The Religion of God can exist in the kingdom of heaven, but in the future, the king of the west must gradually fade away, and must not let the religious power override the royal power, and must separate the administration and the church, otherwise everything will be over. If the king of the west is hindered by the king of heaven and the king of the east, it is better to part ways as soon as possible, so as not to be controlled by others in the future and tie his hands and feet. ”…,

Xiao Yungui looked at Zuo Zongtang in astonishment, this old boy watched coldly, he had already known it in his heart, and now he decided to serve himself, so he said respectfully: "Sir, do you have a strategy to teach me?" ”

Hong Yun'er also said: "Yes, Mr. is brighter than today, then my husband and wife will learn from Liu Bei, and ask Mr. Longzhong for advice." ”

This sycophant was comfortable, Zuo Zongtang smiled slightly: "Zuo is arrogant, but these days I think about it, and I also have some experience, and when I leave, I said that I will talk to the West King and the West Princess in order to choose." This Manchu Qing Dynasty has been in the customs for nearly two hundred years, and it is still the orthodoxy recognized by the people of the world at this moment. China has been a country based on agriculture since ancient times, and the people in various places today have risen up, and the Taiping started in Guangxi, but also because it was impossible to survive, and the Taiping played out the land and wealth to gather the gist of the people's hearts. If you want to implement the great cause of recovering the Han Dynasty, the first thing is to gather the hearts of the people and cut off the wings of the Manchu Dynasty. Therefore, Zuo Mou thought about it, the top priority was to learn from Zhu Yuanzhang, the Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, and have his own territory first, so that he could govern calmly, establish his own shili, and drive Hu Nu north. ”

Xiao Yungui nodded and said, "What Mr. said is very true, this king is also thinking about this matter today, but I don't know where to go." ”

Seeing Xiao Yungui confessing to himself, Zuo Zongtang's heart was relieved, and he secretly thought that this King of the West was really ambitious, so he continued: "Now the King of the West is in Changsha, and the north is Hubei and Jingxiang, and since ancient times, Jinghu Lake has been the land of four wars, so it is difficult to gain a stable foothold and is not advisable. To the east is Jiangxi, and to the east of Jiangxi Province is Jiangsu, Fujian, Zhejiang and other provinces, which is a rich land, and there is also a place to turn around, which can be a place to raise troops. According to Xianghu Lake and down the Yangtze River, take Jiangsu, Fujian and Zhejiang in the east, occupy Jinling, frame Shanghai, and cut off the Qing court's transportation, which is the best policy. ”

Xiao Yungui frowned, this road is the road Yang Xiuqing wants to take, and if he enters the army like this, isn't it still inseparable from the East King? He said: "This strategy is very good, but the king of the east also seems to have the intention of going east to Jinling, but I am afraid that such an army will still be sent to the fence and subject to others." ”

Zuo Zongtang nodded and said: "The East King can have this strategy, and he is also a masterpiece. The middle strategy is to enter the west into Sichuan, follow Liu Bei's governance of Shuzhong, this place is easy to defend and difficult to attack, Sichuan is rich, it is an excellent place, but it is very difficult to send troops to the Northern Expedition, it is easy to sit in trap for a long time, and can not contain the Qing court, and it is difficult to win against the Qing court in Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan. ”

Xiao Yungui hummed and said: "I have also thought about this place, it is indeed a place of peace, not a place of progress, I hope Mr. Wen will make a decision." ”

Zuo Zongtang said slowly: "Originally, going south can also be regarded as a policy on the top, one to the king of the west is the Guangxi people, according to Hunan, south to the land of the two Guangzhou, echoing the two Guangxi people, it is not difficult to occupy one side, after taking the two Guangzhou, you can map Fujian and Jiangxi in the north, enter Yungui in the west, and in the future, Dingjiang Jiangnan, contact the righteous people in Jiangbei, and learn from Zhu Yuanzhang to attack Hunu in the north." But at this moment, there is an invasion of Yi people in Guangdong, and I am afraid that if I am subject to the Yi people, there will be no unwarranted military disasters, so Zuo Mou decided this policy as the next policy. ”

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