Li Yunzhong thought for a while and denied: "Yining Prefecture has uneven terrain, high mountains and deep waters, dangerous terrain, easy to defend and difficult to attack. Zeng Guofan will inevitably be ready for battle, and our army's artillery is not easy to carry, soldiers climb the mountain and walk, the combat power declines, and the victory is also a miserable victory, since the Taiping army captured Wuchang, the Hunan army will definitely send troops back to help, so that Zeng Guofan's soldiers are weak and dare not come out to fight, our army can rest assured to attack Nanchang and northern Anhui! ”

Li Desheng was a little disappointed, it seemed that His Royal Highness was going to return to Nanjing, and hesitated: "Hu Dudu is already on the way here, is His Highness ......?"

Hearing that Hu Yihuang was coming, Li Yunzhong said excitedly: "I haven't seen my second brother for a long time, so I just took this opportunity to catch up on the old days, let's go to Jiujiang tomorrow, and I will stay in Jiujiang for a few days." ”

The next day, the 30,000 troops of the Han Dynasty drove from the mouth of the lake to the Jiujiang River, advancing by land and water, standing in a forest of flags, and there were more than 2,000 ships on the river, stretching for more than ten miles.

Lin Qirong, the general of Jiujiang, received the news in advance and led his troops to greet him by the river.

Li Yunzhong was dumbfounded when he looked at the unrecognizable Jiujiang City, all kinds of fortifications at a glance, all kinds of newly built walls connected to lakes and mountains, and it was impossible to see where the real city wall was, and even there were many traces of large pits on the ground being filled, which seemed to have been filled in by the Hunan army during the siege of the city.

Seeing that the King of Han stared at Jiujiang City stunned, Lin Qirong explained: "His Royal Highness once warned the last general that Jiujiang City is important, so the last general built these fortifications outside the city when he had nothing to do. ”

Li Yunzhong suddenly smiled, pointed to the city walls of different sizes and said, "If I attack such a Jiujiang." Immediately turn around and leave, if there are 10,000 defenders in the city. I don't have 30,000 men in my hands, and I don't dare to stay in the city for long. ”

His achievements were recognized by the King of Han, and Lin Qirong said excitedly: "Hu Linyi, the governor of Hubei of the Qing army, attacked Jiujiang for half a month. Even the third city wall did not break through, and the last general used the tunnel dug in advance to send troops to infiltrate the important places in their army, and defeated Hu Linyi from both sides! Gray retreated from Jiujiang to Ruichang County. ”

The more Li Yunzhong looked at it, the more surprised he became, and praised: "Jiujiang has you Lin Qirong here, I will put one hundred and twenty hearts, but you have to pay special attention to the place of Hukou, Hukou County is the only way for the Han to support Jiujiang, if there is a mistake." Jiujiang has become a lonely city, and the lonely city cannot be defended for a long time, if there is really that time, you can break through, I won't blame you. ”

"The last general swears to live and die with Jiujiang!" Lin Qirong was angry, he didn't believe that anyone in the Qing army could capture Jiujiang.

Because Li Yunzhong couldn't live and die with any city, he never asked others to be martyred for this, patted Lin Qirong on the shoulder a few times, and walked into Jiujiang City under the leadership of the guards.

Li Desheng saw Lin Qirong standing in place blankly. stepped forward and comforted: "The king of Han attaches great importance to the gains and losses of the soldiers' lives above the city, if the day when Jiujiang really falls, the king of Han hopes that you can break through safely, don't care about the gains and losses of a city and a pool." Still don't get it? You remember what His Highness often said: If you lose your land, you will lose your land; If you save people and lose land, you will gain all people. In the heart of the King of Han, Jiujiang can be lost. Lin Qirong can't die. ”

Lin Qirong couldn't help but say: "The last general is deeply favored by His Royal Highness, and he will definitely defend Jiujiang City." Never let the Qing army go beyond the thunder pool. ”

The decision made in my heart has not changed, and I must defend Jiujiang desperately.

Seeing Li Qirong's calm appearance, Li Desheng couldn't help but ask himself: If Anqing is lost one day, will he abandon the city and escape.

On Li Yunzhong's third day in Jiujiang, Hu Yihuang rushed over, Li Yunzhong didn't wait for Hu Yihuang to greet him, so he stepped forward and said with a smile:

"Second brother, you're here, I've been waiting for a long time!"

Hu Yihuang said: "There are some trivial matters delayed in Anqing, please forgive Your Highness." ”

Li Yunzhong pulled Hu Yihuang and walked towards the house: "Don't stand, let's go into the house and say, it's rare for our brothers to get together, and we must not get drunk today." ”

Hu Yihuang agreed with indignation, followed by Jiao Liang, Zeng Shuiyuan, Li Desheng and other generals.

In a small hall, full of Han army generals, each person placed a desk in front of them, on which there were wine and meat dishes, looking at this novel scene, Li Yunzhong nodded with satisfaction, in the past, the banquet was sitting around the table, and today I deliberately enjoyed the banquet method of the ancients.

Li Yunzhong, who was sitting at the top, raised his glass to the bottom and said with a smile: "Let's get together today, don't be restrained, we are all old acquaintances, come, I will give you a drink." ”

After raising his head and drinking the wine, Jiao Liang put down the wine glass and complimented: "The Han Dynasty has only been established for three years, and it can be so strong and strong, and the territory is vast, these are all the credit of His Royal Highness, Taiping is too far away, and the area is less than one-third of my Han Dynasty, His Royal Highness should also abolish the name of King of Han, establish himself as the emperor, and be separated from the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, so that the people of the world can know that His Royal Highness is not a person with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom." ”

Hu Yihuang was born in a landlord family, and he had no sense of closeness to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, so he echoed his words: "What Jiao Dudu said is reasonable, the Taiping army confiscates people's property everywhere they go, lewd their wives and daughters, burns houses, and stores fields, which deviates from our Han policy. ”

Zeng Shuiyuan, Lin Qirong and other Guangxi generals had unhappy faces, many of their family members and relatives served in the Taiping Army, and they did not want the Han Dynasty to be enemies of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

The Guangxi generals were willing to oppose it, but seeing that the two governors had a clear attitude, they did not dare to confront them in the court, and they were all silent, and their indignation was all shown on their faces.

Li Desheng was born as a landlord and a servant, in his mind, it was the King of Han who took him in and promoted him all the way to be a military commander, so he wholeheartedly considered Li Yunzhong, and listened to Jiao Liang's meaning to let the King of Han ascend the throne and be the emperor, and said happily: "Your Highness should have been called the emperor a long time ago, then the talent of Xianfeng in the Qing court is not as good as His Highness, he can be the emperor, why can't His Highness!" His Royal Highness is the emperor, and I, Li Desheng, am the first to support it,"

This Lao Li looked confused, he didn't expect to be so shrewd when he encountered a big event, and he wanted to snatch the merit of supporting the establishment in just one sentence, Hu Yihuang saw that the King of Han was unswerving, and made persistent efforts: "When I was in Yong'an, the reason why His Royal Highness accepted Hong Xiuquan's reward was because of the persuasion of Feng Yunshan, the king of the south, and His Royal Highness and Mr. Feng were also teachers and friends, so it was not easy to refuse. Li Yunzhong smiled bitterly and shook his head, he never thought that he wanted to be an emperor, he came from later generations, he was used to an equal and free life, and he was really not interested in symmetry.

"The reason why I, Li Yunzhong, oppose the Qing Dynasty, is because the people are really living in hardship, and the government is exploiting them day by day, and the people can't survive, and I only think about overthrowing the Manchu Qing Dynasty and letting the people live a comfortable and prosperous life from now on.

Jiao Liang saw that the King of Han actually said such a thing, he couldn't cry or laugh, and the ghost envoy continued: "Your Highness is pure and has few desires for us to admire, but not everyone in the Han Dynasty is like His Royal Highness has no desires and no desires, they don't know a single word, and they fight for the lives of the whole family to rebel with His Royal Highness not to drive out the Tartars and restore China, but to be like the founding heroes of the past dynasties, the princes of all generations, and the country to rest, and now His Royal Highness does not want to be the emperor, they have lost the motivation to make meritorious contributions, my Han will inevitably have a day of collapse, His Royal Highness thinks twice." ”

Li Yunzhong was stunned again, he didn't expect this, now there is no Ming Lord's thoughts, everyone is running for glory and wealth, if their demands are not satisfied, will they abandon him and defect to the enemy!

Hu Yihuang and the others looked embarrassed, and echoed that they were greedy for glory and wealth, and if they were against it, everyone would be white together, it was not what they wanted, they only had a straight face, drinking and eating by themselves, as if they hadn't heard this sentence.

Or go back to Nanjing and think about it again, Li Yunzhong put aside his worries and said with a smile: "These things are not something that we can decide, or leave it to the ministers to consider, come, everyone have another drink." ”

late at night

After the banquet dispersed, Hu Yihuang and Jiao Liang tacitly stayed. Sitting together alone, they exchanged their views on Li Yunzhong's claim to be emperor.

"The reason why I stayed in Anqing for a few days was because Nanjing sent someone to discuss a big matter with me." Hu Yihuang stood up and walked to the window, looking at the starry sky.

Jiao Liang drank hot tea, dispelled the alcohol in his heart, and said happily: "They have reached an agreement, and when the King of Han arrives in Nanjing, they will do it, and then the King of Han will not be able to do it." ”

Hu Yihuang shook his head and sighed: "I feel sorry for Your Highness like this, and sometimes I can't help but remind King Han that I won't embarrass His Highness when I get it, and if I want to argue, it will not be beautiful." ”

Jiao Liang asked: "Who are the people involved on your side, you must control the army in Nanjing, especially the foreign gun team, and you must hide it from them when you do it, so as not to have an accident and get out of control." ”

Hu Yihuang slowly said the names of the people involved: "Hubu Shangshu Meng Sheng, Criminal Department Shangshu Ling 18, Military Department Shangshu Lin Daji, Jiangsu Governor Li Xiucheng, Chief of Staff Zhang Suimou, and Officials Shangshu Zhang Weikun, these main personnel, they control all the troops in Nanjing, and the female army also promised to give us convenient access to the Han Palace." ”

"This is foolproof, the King of Han will be searched out even if he runs to the sky, all the ministers on our side have agreed to do it, and they have also invited foreign envoys to testify, I think the King of Han will not resist when he arrives." After Jiao Liang finished speaking, he became suspicious again: "I'm worried that Zhao Laoqi will receive the news and ask him to report to the King of Han, and the things we prepared will fall short, and maybe it will attract the suspicion of the King of Han, Zhao Laoqi has a lot of eyes and ears on your side, so you must pay attention to precautions." (To be continued......)

PS: There is still a chapter at 24 o'clock. Ask for a commuter pass