The Xiangyong battalion of Zeng Guofan is stationed in Shaoshan more than 20 miles north of Xiangxiang, Shaoshan has a long history, it is said that when Shun patrols south, Shao is happy to be here, under Fengwei, Shaoshan is named after Yu Shun's southern tour. But Rong Lu knew that this was the birthplace of the later Taizu.

The topography of Shaoshan belongs to the hilly area of the middle and low mountains of Hunan Province, with undulating mountains, gurgling streams, and the rushing sections are connected, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and is located at the junction of Xiangxiang, Ningxiang and Xiangtan, so it is extremely important. The Taiping army occupied the front line of Changsha, Xiangtan, Hengyang, and Xiangyin, and since last year, it has continuously sent troops to attack the areas west of the Xiangjiang River, while the Qing army has deployed defenses and encircled along Changde, Yiyang, Ningxiang, Shaoshan, Xiangxiang and other places.

Since last year, the two sides have been fighting on this front, and there have been victories and defeats for each other, but the Qing army has always been at a disadvantage, and it was not until Lai Hanying organized the Hunan Taiping Army to attack Jiangxi Province and defeated Jiang Zhongyuan's troops that the Qing army in Xiangxi could be regarded as turning the situation back. Now the Taiping army is deployed along the Xiangjiang River, and the Qing army is relying on Ningxiang, Shaoshan, and Xiangxiang, and the two sides have temporarily stabilized the front.

Along the way, the three of Rong Lu rode through several Hunan army camps, and everywhere Xiang Yong was poorly dressed and thin, but Rong Lu could see that their spirit was obviously different from other green camp Qing troops, because they were Xiang Yong recruited locally in Xiangxiang, and they knew that they were guarding their hometown, their own land, and they were fighting with their fathers, brothers, children, relatives and friends.

As the name suggests, Shaofeng is the highest peak of Shaoshan Mountain, with a height of more than 150 zhang. Shaofeng is located in the southwest corner of Shaoshan Mountain, where Zeng Guofan's Chinese army commander camp is located. Shaofeng is the seventy-first peak of Nanyue Heng Mountain, which is dozens of zhang higher than the Changsha Yuelu Mountain of the seventy-second peak. Set up a handsome camp here, and you can see it at a glance within a radius of more than 100 miles.

When I arrived at Shaofeng, I saw that the terrain here was suddenly towering, standing up to the sky and the earth, and pulling up a dangerous peak. It is like a sword shining in cold light, and it is like a pillar of giant whales spitting out the sea. Here is the Lion Mountain of Shaofeng, without seeing the natural beauty of Shaoshan Chong, the first glimpse of the lion swallowing the sun. "Eat Xiangxiang, lie in Xiangtan, and Ningxiang" is the true depiction of the folk to its mountain. The lion's head faces southwest, and its tail drags northeast. The mountain stretches for ten miles, cutting the Shaohe River valley into two halves. It was here that Xiang Yong blocked the footsteps of the Taiping army in the ravines and mountains.

When I arrived at the gate of the camp, I saw a few Qing court officials in official uniforms and more than a dozen scholars in civilian clothes waiting at the gate from a distance. It is obvious that Zeng Guofan got the news of the camp in front of him and brought people out to greet him.

Although Rong Lu had seen the photos of Zeng Guofan in the textbooks of later generations, it was a black and white photo, and the photography at that time was not very good, and the exposure time was as long as ten minutes. The portrait was somewhat distorted, because he saw with his own eyes that his face was thin. When the drowsy Zeng Guofan. He was still slightly surprised, was this old man the famous Zeng Guofan?

Zeng Guofan is not tall, Rong Lu definitely does not seem to be more than one meter seven, and the angular triangular eyes look like he is asleep, but when Rong Lu dismounts and walks forward, his eyes suddenly open. The blazing eyes and Rong Lu looked at each other, the thick beard trembled, brought a smile, and said with a hand: "General Rong has worked hard from afar." ”

Zeng Guofan was laughing. But Rong Lu felt that his eyes were full of cold light, and his sharpness was terrifying. This sense of oppression made Rong Lu uncomfortable for a while, but Rong Lu can be regarded as having seen many high-ranking and powerful people, and he has also seen many traitors, and he is no longer the ignorant young student he used to be, so he replied with a bow that was neither humble nor arrogant: "Zeng Shuai is polite." ”

Although Zeng Guofan is the assistant minister of group training, he only holds the title of squire, from the official position of the second grade, to one level lower than Rong Lu's second rank, but Rong Lu is only the minister of Hunan co-organizing the group training, and the confusion of the two of them in terms of official position and authority is intentional by the Qing court. Rong Lu, the chief soldier of Zhenxiao Town, was placed by Su Shun, Shengbao and others, and let him serve as the chief soldier of Zhenxiao Town, which is difficult to lead troops, is intended to embarrass Rong Lu, and the Qing court gave him the rank of Zheng Erpin as the assistant minister of regimental training, but it is not surprising that he will disgust Zeng Guofan, which is a twist and turn that the Qing officialdom has always liked to play.

Zeng Guofan saw that although Rong Lu was young, his face was calm and calm, and he didn't dare to despise him too much, and after the two exchanged a few words, several officials beside Zeng Guofan exchanged names.

Rong Lu was recommended by Zeng Guofan and met several famous bigwigs in the Hunan Army, Zeng Guoquan he had already seen, but the rest were Luo Zenan, Liu Rong, Guo Songtao, Taqibu, Yang Yuebin, Li Xubin and Li Xuyi brothers.

Rong Lu smiled with three points, and greeted everyone one by one, the etiquette was very thoughtful, and every time he said someone, Rong Lu could always say a few words of compliment on this person's strengths, so that Zeng Guofan was even more surprised, it seems that this lord of the town has touched the bottom of the generals and staff of the Hunan army before he came.

Later, Rong Lu introduced Cheng En and Zabu Donak, and after everyone greeted each other, Zeng Guofan led Rong Lu to his handsome tent to discuss matters.

The tea in the camp was made of coarse tea, Zeng Guofan sat on the main seat and said with a smile: "General Rong, don't be surprised, the Xiangyong battalion is short of food and silver, and it can't take out any good tea to entertain." ”

Rong Lu took a big sip and said with a faint smile: "It's good to have food in the marching army, and Zeng Shuai can use tea to entertain guests, which is already extremely haode." ”

Zeng Guofan sighed lightly and continued: "Xiangyong grass creation, the land for raising food is meager, money and grain have been difficult to raise, the imperial court has General Rong as the co-minister, I don't know if there is a good way to improve it?" ”

Rong Lu smiled slightly, it seems that Zeng Guofan, the old man, can't wait to try his catties, as soon as he came up, he threw out the biggest problem, and said slowly: "When the war has always been conquest, the most haode source of money and food is to feed the war with war. ”

Zeng Guofan sighed, his triangular eyes narrowed, staring at Rong Lu, but he didn't speak. Zeng Guoquan on the side was not happy, and said loudly: "General Rong means that our Xiangyong can only defend and do not know how to forge ahead?" As soon as these words came out, the generals of the Hunan army were all uncertain.

Rong Lu waved his hand unhurriedly and said: "This official doesn't mean this, the long-haired rebel thief started in Guangyue, looted all the way to Xiangdi, and became an army not in one day or two days, last year was the time when the long-haired thief was in power, and it was not easy for Xiangyong to start and be able to defend this place." But now that a large number of long hairs have gone east, and there is a rebellion against Lai Hanying, who was defeated in Jiangxi Province, and the sharp spirit of the long hairs in Hunan has been lost, which is just the right time for us to counterattack. Under the reversal of the situation, Zeng Shuai can think about entering the army instead of wanting to defend the land anymore. ”

When the generals of the Hunan army heard this, their faces slowly looked better. Zeng Guofan twisted his beard and said with a slight smile: "General Rong has only arrived in Hunan Land, maybe he doesn't know the situation of long hair in Hunan Province, although Changsha and other places have been defeated in Jiangxi Province, but Changsha has more than 20,000 long hair, Xiangtan has 8,000, Hengyang has more than 10,000, the officers and soldiers in Xiangxiang are only 8,000, and my Xiangyong is only nine battalions, the number is less than 5,000, how to take the place where the long hair heavy soldiers are gathered?" ”

Rong Lu stood up, walked to a map hanging in the tent, pointed to Hengyang and said: "Although there are many long-haired soldiers, they are scattered everywhere, and a long snake formation is laid out along the Xiangjiang River. Hengyang is located at the tail of the long snake formation of long hair, and the original guard will be the old man who rebels against Zeng Tianyang, but he was beheaded by the governor of Jiang in Jiangxi Province, and now the guard is against Liang Litai and He Zhenchuan. These two people are not as brave as Zeng Tianyang, not as wise as Lai Hanying, and among the more than 10,000 soldiers under their command, most of the children of Hunan are coerced. Once Hengyang is restored, it can be connected to the two provinces of Guangzhou and Guangdong, Hengyang has always been the key point for the north and south businessmen, and Xiangyong here also has a place to get food and raise salaries, and the merchants of Hunan and Guangdong can also extract gold, which can solve the urgent need. ”

Zeng Guofan was a little moved when he heard this, Hengyang is close to his hometown Shuangfeng, Zeng Guofan is also worried about the day when the long hair here will be beaten, and he often wants to recover Hengyang. And Rong Lu said it well, as long as Hengyang is restored, Chenzhou can be connected and business exchanges between Hunan and Guangyue can be resumed, without detouring to Yongzhou and other places.

Luo Zenan has been listening, and suddenly asked: "Rong Zongzhen, although the long hair is flawed, but Hengyang always has more than 10,000 long hair, and the long hair in Xiangtan and Changsha will also come to help, my Xiangyong is only 5,000, and I have to garrison the land of Shaoshan, and the number of soldiers is only afraid that it will not be able to be used." ”

Rong Lu smiled slightly and said: "This official can adjust three thousand town soldiers to march together, and now that three thousand soldiers have arrived in Zhaoling, the Xiangyong of Shaoshan can be brought with them, and the defense of Shaoshan can be handed over to the green battalion soldiers of Xiangxiang Township to guard, and the two eight thousand soldiers are enough to fight with Hengyang Changmao." As long as we used our troops quickly, marched at night, and many banners were scattered in the camps of Shaoshan for suspicious soldiers, and Changsha Changmao did not dare to move lightly. Zuihou Ronglu continued meaningfully: "This official has received news that Changmao will use troops against him in the near future, and Changmao in Hunan should take a defensive position, as long as we have the right time, the battle of Hengyang can be nine points certain." ”

Rong Lu said that the town soldiers are a group of newly recruited Miao soldiers in Xiangxi, the earlier batch of town soldiers belonged to Deng Shaoliang's subordinates, most of them were annihilated in the battle of Xiangtan, but the town soldiers have always been brave, and most of them are mountain Miao people, vigorous and jumping, brave and peerless, Xiang Yong plus 3,000 town soldiers, 8,000 people to fight Hengyang's more than 10,000 Taiping army is still successful. In addition, if the Taiping army mentioned by Rong Lu wants to use troops against him, and the Hunan land has no support from Tianjing, it is also possible to take a defensive position.

Zeng Guofan looked at Rong Lu thoughtfully and asked, "Where did this news come from, General Rong?" If you know the strategy of long-haired soldiers, why not report it to the court? ”

Rong Lu smiled and said: "I have already warned the imperial court, but this official is soft-spoken, and the imperial court does not believe that Long Mao will use troops in winter." I don't know what Zeng Shuai can believe in his own words? If you don't believe it, the official will go back to the town to recruit Miao Yong to train soldiers. ”

The generals of the Hunan army in the tent all looked at Zeng Guofan, Zeng Guofan still squinted his triangular eyes, and only said: "However, there is not enough money and food in the army, how to use the soldiers?" ”

Rong Lu smiled and said: "The official can adjust 50,000 taels of silver as Xiangyong's food, and after Hengyang is defeated, half of Hengyang's money and grain will be returned to Zhenxiao." ”

Zeng Guofan no longer hesitated, stroked his palms and smiled: "Just as Rong Zhentai said!" (To be continued......)

PS: There was something wrong in the first two chapters.,Rong Lu's official position at this time is the chief soldier.,The title should be the general town or town.,Not the military gate.,Hereby correct it.,Because it's inconvenient to modify the VIP chapter.,The previous ones won't be changed.,Change it from this chapter.,Please forgive me.。