For several days in a row, the Taiping Army in Hengzhou did not continue to develop southward, but stayed to rest and recuperate, and at the same time began a vigorous grievance campaign.

Under the leadership of Xiao Yungui, the commanders of the various armies and the officials at all levels acted quickly, and every day after dinner, the square in front of the Chenghuang Temple in Hengzhou City was crowded with soldiers and civilians, and the armies took turns to take the captive soldiers to complain about their grievances.

Sure enough, this method has achieved unprecedented success, and it is to ask the common people and the green battalion soldiers which one has not been bullied? When many veterans and Liuyang soldiers also came to the stage to talk about their experiences of being oppressed by the Manchu government, gentry, and bullies, everyone burst into tears.

At this time, the Manchu Qing Dynasty was very heavy on the exploitation of various places, there were many corrupt officials and corrupt officials in various places, and the yamen officials in various places changed their ways to exploit the people, and all kinds of means were also endless. And the green battalion soldiers are also, it is no secret that the salary and silver are deducted layer by layer, and there are many Manchu generals who eat military food and drink soldiers' blood. And like the Liuyang group training, when they were working hard for the Qing Dynasty, there were still many people in their hometowns who were slaughtered and looted by the Qing army. As soon as these bitter waters were poured, the military and civilians at the scene resonated.

After the grievance meeting every night, Xiao Yungui had to discuss with the commanders and wardens of various armies and summarize his experience. The officials found that this was much better than their direct preaching of the Heavenly Father's teachings, and in the past few days, not only many Qing prisoners joined the Taiping Army, but even many Hengzhou people also enthusiastically joined the army.

The Qing army captives joined, the Taiping army did a strict screening, smoking a lot of cigarettes were not accepted, and at the same time, the captive soldiers themselves identified those soldiers in the army, bullies, and those stubborn and vicious, these Taiping soldiers unceremoniously beheaded the public.

On the evening of this day, Xiao Yungui and Zuo Zongtang went to see Tao Enpei, the prefect of Hengzhou, who was locked up in the palace, this Tao Enpei was still very good at treating the people, and his official reputation was good.

When he arrived at the prison of the government office, Zuo Zongtang ordered someone to arrange Tao Enpei better, a separate cell, which was cleaned very clean, with beds, bedding, bedding, and four treasures of the study.

Tao Enpei's calligraphy is very famous, and Zuo Zongtang had a few encounters with him in Tao Shu's mansion before, so the two knew each other. Tao Enpei saw Zuo Zongtang and a big man with a yellow scarf on his head come in, and he was taken aback and his color changed slightly, it seems that he still doesn't know that Zuo Zongtang has defected to the Taiping Army, Zuo Zongtang has not cut off his braided hair, and he is still dressed as a teacher on weekdays, so Tao Enpei didn't see it.

"Why did Ji Gao come here?" Tao Enpei asked with a little surprise.

Zuo Zongtang stepped forward and said with a faint smile: "Naturally, I came to save Wen Yungong." "Tao Enpei's word is Yizhi, his name is Wenyun, and Zuo Zongtang has always called him Wenyun Gong. When he raised his head, Zuo Zongtang held back the three-foot-open Huzhou rice paper on Tao Enpei's table, with the words "scattered" and "poisonous" written in Zhang Xu's crazy cursive, the corners of his mouth smiled slightly, and he turned sideways to let go of the figure of the yellow scarf man behind him, and said in his mouth: "This is Xiao Chaogui, the king of the Western Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and Zuo Mou came to introduce the two." ”

Tao Enpei's face changed greatly, and he pointed at Zuo Zongtang and said in a trembling voice: "You, you actually took refuge in the thief?!" ”

Zuo Zongtang smiled and said nothing, standing on the side with his hands, just looking at the words written by Tao Enpei on the table, Xiao Yungui opened his big mouth and hugged his fists with a smile: "Mr. Tao, I heard your good name when I entered Hengzhou City, and I have long wanted to come to visit Mr., but it is a pity that I am entangled in mundane affairs, and I have not been fortunate to see Mr. until today, which is really neglectful." ”

Tao Enpei snorted heavily and said angrily: "You are waiting for a rebellious minister and thief who has no king and no father, if you want to kill it, you must take care of it, don't do it!" ”

Xiao Yungui still smiled slightly, and was not annoyed, he took out a copy of the Qing army official document from his arms and said: "This is the official letter written by the Manchu demon head of Hechun to Xiang Rong, which counts whether Mr. is in Hengzhou City, I believe that Xu Guangjin, the governor of Huguang, and the Qing court, he also reported it like this." Now that Hengzhou is lost, it is a pity that the demon head of Hechun escaped, presumably after he escaped, he will definitely put all the crimes of losing the land on the head of Mr., Mr. thinks he can escape the so-called royal law of the Qing court? ”

Tao Enpei was stunned for a moment, and then sneered disdainfully: "You anti-thief don't want to trick me, how can the official document to the military gate fall into your hands." ”

Xiao Yungui smiled and said: "This king went south to fight, exterminated the Qing demon of Xiang Rongbu, Xiang Demon Head is also fateful, he fled alone, all the baggage equipment of the department was obtained by me, even Xiang Demon Head's official documents and family letters are also in my hands, what am I lying to you about?" ”

Tao Enpei was shocked, snatched the official document and opened it, and suddenly fell into an ice cave, the official document on it was the seal of Hechun's general army and the private seal, and there was no half of the fake, and some of the conflicts mentioned above were not even known to many people, and it didn't seem to be a fake.

Tao Enpei read the official document with a dead face, sat down in a daze, and said after a while: "Needless to say, the old man only wants to die quickly." ”

Xiao Yungui was a little annoyed with this old stubbornness, and was about to scold, but Zuo Zongtang suddenly said: "The four words written by Wen Yungong seem to have a deep meaning. ”

Xiao Yungui and Tao Enpei didn't understand why Zuo Zongtang suddenly said words, they looked at Zuo Zongtang together, and only heard him continue: "Scattered, Buddhism has clouds, it is one of the hundred methods of knowledge, one of the troubles, also known as scattered, chaotic. Why are the clouds scattered? In all the causes, the mind wanders as sexuality, the obstacle is correct, and the evil wisdom depends on karma. It is said that those who are scattered will be evil and wise. The word scattered, it can be seen that in fact, Mr.'s heart is already in chaos. ”

Without waiting for Tao Enpei to refute, Zuo Zongtang said again: "The word poison is also written desolately, it can be seen that Mr. is worried that after the city is broken, the people will be poisoned, this Mr. can rest assured, the people are living better than before." Then Zuo Zongtang shook his head and read again: "For decades, the world has been poisoned by the sermons and texts, and then the heels are worse, and the world is better. Therefore, if the sermon is not endless, the way of the saint is not followed, and if there is a king, it will be swept away and changed. ”

Xiao Yungui had the most headache Zuo Zongtang dropped the book bag, there was no way to interface, Tao Enpei listened to this passage but was silent, Zuo Zongtang said loudly: "This passage is what Dai Mingshi said in the "Preface to Liu Yanjie" during the Kangxi period, what Mr. Dai said about the world is poisoned by the sermon, and in Zuo's view, it is the real poison. Shiwen is the eight-strand text, the Qing court invited the scholars to advance to the official position, Shiwen has the effect of imprisoning the mind and wasting the spirit, which is very harmful, and is conducive to the Manchu Qing to consolidate its rule, what does Wen Yungong think? ”

Tao Enpei said in a daze: "Shiwen is not useless. ”

Zuo Zongtang chuckled and said: "Gong Wen Yun, if you are dedicated to the court, as soon as I say this, you should scold Dai Mingshi, and then scold me for having no king and no father." But you didn't scold, which shows that you have no court in your heart. ”

Tao Enpei's face was slightly red, but he was silent, Zuo Zongtang sighed lightly: "What Dai Mingshi said is the truth, these people have been depressed, and then they were killed because of the case of "Nanshan Collection", involving hundreds of people. The Manchu Qing Dynasty brutalized my Han family scholars, does Wen Yungong still want to protect this court? Mr. Dai also said that if there is a king, it will be swept away and changed. What I want in Confucian Sinology is the study of the world, not the stubborn Shiwen and Bagu Wen. Now that Corporal Lixian, the king of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, is recruiting talents, intending to restore China, expel Hu Nu, and return my Han family's clothes and Confucianism, Wen Yungong has reached the age of knowing the mandate of heaven, do you want to go against the mandate of heaven? ”

Xiao Yungui gave a long salute and said: "Mr. Tao's talent and love for the people are exactly what my heavenly kingdom needs, this king now needs a capable person to govern Hengzhou City, Mr. is the parent official here, do you really want to abandon the people of this city and go to the decaying and declining court of the Manchu Qing Dynasty to be buried?" A hundred years later, historians will not write that Mr. is a loyal person, but will only write that Mr. is a foolish and loyal person who eats the ancients. ”

Tao Enpei was still silent, and the two persuaded for a long time, and the old man simply closed his eyes.

Xiao Yungui's thief eyes turned, he thought about it, and after muttering in Zuo Zongtang's ear for a while, Zuo Zongtang also slightly agreed, Xiao Yungui immediately ordered the Taiping soldiers to come in, set Tao Enpei up and left, and the two followed behind, and went straight to the scene of the Chenghuang Temple grievance meeting.

Tao Enpei didn't know where to take him, and even asked a few times, Xiao Yungui and Zuo Zongtang laughed and didn't answer. Later, the old man was so anxious that he scolded, but it was useless, and he was carried to the City God Temple.

Arriving here, Tao Enpei was taken aback, but he didn't expect that it was already dark at this time, and there were so many soldiers and civilians in front of this city god temple, among which there were many prisoners wearing Qing army uniforms, and everyone was pouring bitter water with great momentum.

Xiao Yungui ordered someone to move Zhang Qizi and let Tao Enpei sit aside and listen. Tao Enpei was also a little strange, so late, so many soldiers and civilians were talking about something, so he pricked up his ears and listened.

When he first heard it, Tao Enpei was startled, these people scolded the government and the yamen court, and the Qing soldiers and prisoners scolded the generals and generals, and some people scolded the emperor directly. Tao Enpei was terrified when he heard it, such a big rebellious remark was really unbearable.

In fact, Tao Enpei has been an official for many years, and the people's sufferings are more or less known, but I have never seen so many people talk about injustices together, even in Hengzhou under his rule, there are many subordinate officials who oppress the people, and some things they don't know, it seems that the people just don't dare to speak out on weekdays.

After listening for a long time, Tao Enpei's face was always cloudy, and when he arrived at Zuihou, the people and soldiers present were hiding their faces and crying, Tao Enpei stood up tremblingly, and said with a long sigh: "The people's hearts have changed, and nothing can be done." ”