Zuo Zongtang smiled, turned around and took out a codex from the bookshelf and said: "This is the "Heavenly Father and Heavenly Brother Linfan Holy Decree" collected and recorded by the Imperial Decree, did the King of the West remember how the Heavenly Kingdom Army Division was set when the army was raised? ”

After thinking about it for a while, Xiao Yungui sneered and said, "Of course I remember, it was rumored by this king's brother at that time. ”

Zuo Zongtang nodded and unfolded the codex to Qian Jiang, and said: "According to the provisions of the doctrine of worshipping God created by the King of Heaven, he only calls the king not the emperor, and his auxiliary ministers cannot continue to use the official titles such as the prime minister of the feudal dynasty, so the king of heaven has the idea of setting up a military division as the official title of the auxiliary minister of the king of heaven in the official system of the new dynasty. The establishment of military divisions can not only be strictly distinguished from the prime ministers and other official titles of previous dynasties, but also fit with the official system of the heavenly kingdom, which is also a pioneering achievement. Later, when the King of Heaven first went down to earth on behalf of the Heavenly Brother for the first time in the West, he asked, 'Who is the military advisor in peacetime?' ’”

Xiao Yungui said with a serious expression: "Yes, this king was in a daze at that time, and only after waking up did he hear about it, and Brother Tian's answer was: 'Feng Yunshan, Yang Xiuqing, and Xiao Chaogui are all military advisors'." ”

Zuo Zongtang smiled slightly at the corner of his mouth, he didn't believe in the statement that Brother Tian went down to earth, but seeing that King Xi was still serious at the moment, he still insisted that he was the spokesperson of Brother Tian's descent to earth, and he slandered in his heart, King Xi was getting thicker and darker. But Xiao Yungui's idea is very simple, since you lied, you must grit your teeth and hold on to this lie, no matter how difficult it is, you can't deny yourself.

Zuo Zongtang didn't break it down, and continued to pretend to be confused and said with a smile: "From the words asked by the Heavenly King, it can be seen that the Heavenly King only wanted to set up one military division at first. Just because what the King of Heaven asked was, 'Who is the military advisor in peacetime?' It's not 'Who cares about the military advisors in peacetime?' ’。 Second, the Heavenly King at that time should have preferred Feng Yunshan, the king of the South, to serve as a military advisor. At that time, the Southern King had meritorious service in preaching and teaching, and the Eastern King Heavenly Father was powerful, and the candidates for the military advisor could only be selected from Feng Yunshan and Yang Xiuqing. If the Heavenly King wants the East King to be a military advisor, then there is no need for him to cover it up, and he can directly ask: 'Is it okay to let Xiuqing be a military advisor in peacetime?' ’。 In fact, the king of heaven knew it in his heart. He wants to nominate the king of the east to be the military advisor, and you will endorse the wholehearted support of the heavenly brother in the king of the west. On the contrary, if you publicly propose to let King Nan serve as a military advisor, it will not be possible to get the consent of King Xi, your endorsement of Brother Tian. Is Zuo's words correct? ”

Xiao Yungui couldn't imagine that Zuo Zongtang could infer the situation at that time from the record of Heavenly Father and Heavenly Brother's Linfan Holy Decree, and he felt very admired in his heart, to know that at that time, Yang Xiao and the two joined forces to ascend to the throne, even many old brothers didn't know it, and smiled at the moment: "What does this matter have to do with this king's return to Beijing to seek good fortune and avoid evil?" ”

Zuo Zongtang said slowly: "If it is expected to be good, the Heavenly King only wants to have a military advisor at first, but Brother Heavenly will give a decree. It became three, and then when Yong'an was crowned king, there was one more king of the north, and he became the four military divisions of the left auxiliary, the right bi, the front leader, and the rear guard, that is, the four kings of the southeast, the northwest, and the southeast were all military divisions. At this time, the king of the south had already returned to heaven. There are only three kings left, the king of the east, the king of the west, and the king of the north, although the king of wings has great intelligence. But in the end, it is not the job of a military advisor. Only then is the center of the center. In Zuo's view, the king of the west led the troops outside and far away from the court, the king of the east liked it the most, because the king of the east could take over the power in the court, and although the king of the north was a military advisor, he was forced to kill his brother by the king of the east in front. It shows that it is difficult for the king of the north to compete with the king of the east in the court. But if the king of the west returns to the dynasty, the situation will change, the king of the east has the merit of controlling the overall situation, and the king of the west also has the labor of conquering the south and the north. The East King is possessed by the Heavenly Father, the West King is also supported by the Heavenly Brother, the East Hall has tens of thousands of elites, and the West Hall also has strong soldiers outside, so once His Royal Highness the West King returns to Beijing, the situation of the East King's dominance will be broken. According to the East King's thoughts, the West King had better not go back, if he goes back, the East King will definitely try his best to deal with the West King. However, the king of heaven hopes that the king of the west will return to Beijing, and he needs someone to reach a balance of power with the king of the east in the court, which is the essence of the emperor's mental tricks. ”

Xiao Yungui nodded and said, "Yes, if this king is not in the court, the Celestial Dynasty will be the king of the east alone." Since returning to Beijing is the king of heaven and the king of Xidong is angry, what should this king do? ”

Zuo Zongtang said word by word: "The first point of the king of the west to return to Beijing is to stay out of the matter and not take the power of the court!" ”

Xiao Yungui muttered: "Stay out of the matter and don't take the power of the court? What does this mean? ”

Qian Jiang said thoughtfully: "What does Zuo Xiang mean is that the King of the West must not intervene in the dispute between the King of Heaven and the King of the East, and stay away from the whirlpool of the court?" ”

Zuo Zongtang bowed his head slightly and said: "Yes, the king of heaven wants to use the king of the west as a chess piece to balance the king of the east, it is the art of the emperor's courtiers, the king of the east is powerful in Tianjing, and he cannot compete with him, the king of the west simply stays out of the matter, does not take the power of the dynasty, and can be trusted by the king of the east." After gaining the trust of the East King, the West King reliably approached the East King, with the friendship between the East and West Kings in the past, presumably the West King could do it, Zuo's second strategy is not to waver, and make every effort to connect the East King! ”

Qian Jiang echoed: "What Zuo Xiang said is very true, if it is in Tianjing, if the king of the east protects the king of the west, no one will dare to touch the king of the west." The king of the west can connect with the king of the east, without involving the power of the dynasty, and the king of the east can also rest assured, so that the king of the east controls the government in the court, the king of the west leads the troops outside, and the two kings of the east and west join forces, and there is no one to be defeated in the heavenly court. ”

Xiao Yungui sighed slightly, touched his chin and thought to himself, he had been vacillating between the King of Heaven and the King of the East before, and even in order to avoid this choice question, he avoided all the way from Changsha to southern Jiangsu, and now this problem is still unavoidable. The meaning of Zuo Zongtang's words is very clear, he fully leans towards the East King, and lies dormant under the wings of the East King, so that the Heavenly King and the other kings are not opponents. Besides, he led the troops in southern Jiangsu as the wings of foreign soldiers, and the king of the east held power in the court, isn't it the strategy that Xiao Chaogui and Yang Xiuqing discussed when they secretly discussed the throne? Xiao Chaogui's memory of this matter is clear, so later Yang Xiuqing was the chief general of the Chinese army, Xiao Chaogui was the former army commander, and the elite of the Taiping Army was in the hands of the two. It's a pity that Xiao Chaogui later married Hong Xuanjiao, and after Feng Yunshan's death, Hong Xiuquan tried his best to win over the king of the west to balance the king of the east, so the two gradually drifted apart.

Xiao Yungui asked with some hesitation: "What if the East King takes the opportunity to place people in our West Hall army?" ”

Zuo Zongtang smiled slightly and said, "Didn't King Xi plan to establish the Shanghai Martial Arts School before?" Later, the school was established, the west hall went up to the generals, down to the commander, and the king of the west wanted them to take turns to study in the hall, and reorganize the armies, in case the generals under him sat big, as long as we organized properly, to achieve what the king of the west wanted, the soldiers were the soldiers of the west hall, not the soldiers of a general, and the east hall put how many generals in, it was useless. Moreover, even if someone from the East Hall can unify the army, as long as we cut off his money, food, and firearms, it will be a toothless tiger. ”

Xiao Yungui nodded thoughtfully, the idea of establishing a martial arts school and taking turns to train the army is to prevent the phenomenon of self-respect in the West Temple, and also to train officers and soldiers to master the use of hot weapons and tactics as soon as possible, so as to build the West Hall army into an advanced army in modern times. Dongdian really wants to send someone to insert it, okay, first throw it to the martial arts school to study for a year and a half, and brainwash it well. And Xiao Yungui knew that the irreconcilable contradiction between the King of Heaven and the King of the East would eventually break out, and when the time came, the King of the East would really be killed by the King of Heaven, and all the people in the East Hall would be absorbed by himself, and there would be nothing wrong with leaning towards the East Palace.

Xiao Yungui nodded and said: "Zuo Xiang's strategy is good, completely lean towards the east hall, and it is good to enjoy the shade under the big tree, hehe." Is there a third policy? ”

Zuo Zongtang said with some embarrassment: "This third strategy is a little difficult, because of the West Wangniang, if you want to gain the trust of the East King, the West King will alienate the West Wangniang." After all, the West King is one of the measures taken by the King of Heaven to win over the West King, if the West King does not alienate the West Wangniang, I am afraid that the East King will not trust the West King's refuge. ”

Xiao Yungui sighed and asked, "What kind of alienation method?" ”

Zuo Zongtang hesitated for a moment and said, "It's best to leave." ”

Xiao Yungui stood up and said, "Absolutely not, I won't do a divorce!" ”

Qian Jiang touched the goatee on his chin and said, "Then if you don't play a play with Xi Wangniang, let Xi Wangniang pretend to be angry with Xi Wangniang and go back to her parents' house, that's okay." ”

Xiao Yungui's head shook like a rattle: "What's the difference between that and divorce?" "This guy has only been living happily for a few days, how can he easily give up Gentle Township? He raised his hand to stop the two of them: "This is the king's family matter, I will find a way to solve it, there is a way to win the trust of the king of the east, use his wife to win the trust of others, this king can't do this kind of thing, this matter must not be mentioned again." ”

Zuo Zongtang saw that the king of the west was resolute, and it was not easy to persuade again, so he changed his words and talked about the arrangements for returning to Beijing. After Zuo Zongtang captured Suzhou, he sent Li Zuoche to bring hundreds of Xidian guards back to Tianjing, and entered the Xiwang Mansion to guard Tianjing, and also sent a large number of Bai Zetang spies to infiltrate Tianjing, and the secret agents who were originally in Tianjing City joined forces to find out the news, and at the same time mobilized Tan Shaoguang and Luo Xuan to lead troops to Tunzhenjiang, Jintan and other places, ready to respond to the Xiwang who returned to Tianjing at any time. There are soldiers outside, and there are secret agents inside to listen to the news, plus more than 1,000 West Hall guards from Tianjing's West Palace, and more than 1,000 elites who returned to Beijing with the West King, so they can be safe. After all, if someone really wants to deal with the king of the west, they must also consider the opposition of hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians and millions of people in southern Jiangsu, not to mention that the king of the west is also very popular in the hearts of the military and people of Tianjing.

After talking about the details, Zuo Zongtang continued: "The king of the west went to Tianjing, in addition to reporting on his work, he should try his best to make good friends with the people in the court, try to win the power of independent governance in southern Jiangsu, and at the same time try to encourage Tianjing to send troops to Huaisi, there is a large army in Jiangbei to contain the Qing army, so that we can avoid the suffering of the north and south attacks, it is best to break the camp in Jiangbei, so that the Qing army can not calmly transfer troops to the south, and let Tianjing block us in front, this is the best policy." ”

Qian Jiang bowed his head and said: "Exactly, if it can be said that the king of the east can raise another army to conquer Sichuan and Guizhou, and our army can deal with the troops in Jiangxi and southeast Fujian with peace of mind, it will be better." ”

Xiao Yungui sighed, do you still want to do the same in history, and provoke the Tianjing side to launch the Northern Expedition and the Western Expedition? (To be continued......)