Zheng Ermao saw that the audience was full of officials above the third grade, and his own small battalion commander was flattered by them, and his heart was very beautiful.

Zheng Ermao unconsciously showed the appearance of a villain, and said softly: "Tsk...... This tea is really fragrant, by the way, the emperor also ordered me to observe the situation in Nanchang, I didn't expect that several generals have captured Nanchang, it is really gratifying, the emperor knows the way, and it will be a great joy. ”

Zeng Shuiyuan said with a smile: "I don't know what else the envoy has to order when he comes to Jiangxi this time?" ”

Zheng Ermao put down the tea bowl, coughed hard, took out a message from his sleeve, stepped forward and handed it to Zhao Liewen: "The emperor and his orders are all above, please take a look." ”

Zhao Liewen carefully read it and handed it to Zeng Shuiyuan, turned back to Zheng Ermao and said: "Please go back and tell the emperor that the ministers will definitely do things according to the order, and they will never dare to slack off!" ”

Zheng Ermao got up and hugged his fists and said, "That little one has said goodbye!" ”

In order to show his respect for Li Yunzhong, Zhao Liewen led civil and military officials to send Zheng Ermao out of Nanchang City.

Back at the Governor's Mansion, Zhao Liewen sat opposite Zeng Shuiyuan.

"This time the emperor attacked Hunan, an unprecedented use of 100,000 troops, Commander Zeng must deal with it carefully, and the grain and herb officers needed by the third army will also be gathered as soon as possible." Although Zhao Liewen was proficient in military affairs, after thinking twice, he still decided not to interfere in the war of the Third Army, so as not to cause Zeng Shuiyuan to be unhappy.

Zeng Shuiyuan was very satisfied with Zhao Liewen's attitude, Jiao Liang relied on being the old leader of the Third Army, and actually split the Third Army into two halves, resulting in his dignified army commander being able to command only one division.

"Lord Governor rest assured, the lower officials have sent troops to recover Yining Prefecture. The Hunan army shrank in Tongcheng County, and there was no need to worry about attacking Hunan. Don't hide it from your lordship, the lower officials are worried that the Hunan army will insist on besieging Jiujiang. At that time, it was hoped that the governor would help Commander Lin. ”

Zhao Liewen felt the same way, and said worriedly: "It's just that Commander Lin is under the jurisdiction of Anhui, and I can't interfere arbitrarily, but tomorrow I will transfer the militia from several prefectures in western Jiangxi to Dehua and Ruichang counties, and Jiujiang will be at odds with each other." ”

Zeng Shuiyuan got up and said goodbye: "The lower officials have to go back to transfer troops and send generals, and say goodbye." ”

Wuchang

In a hall wrapped in white, there are three spiritual seats on the top, and more than a dozen officials of the Hunan army stand solemnly. They all wrapped their waists in filial piety clothes and their heads wrapped in white cloths, and one of them recited the sacrificial text in a low voice on the upper left.

Zeng Guofan's expression was sad, all three of them had a good relationship with him, the leftmost one was Taqib's spiritual position, which was his favorite subordinate, and Taqib was loyal to him, and in the middle was Jiang Zhongyuan's spiritual position, Jiang Zhongyuan was his student, and he did not receive many students in his life. Jiang Zhongyuan is one, Li Hongzhang is counted as one, one is dead and one is missing, and the one on the far right is Luo Zenan's spiritual seat. It was his close friend, but he didn't expect that he would send Luo Zenan to reinforce Wuchang at the beginning. and he perished here.

Zeng Guofan remembered the past and burst into tears. His voice was hoarse, and his chest seemed to be out of breath. Coughing loudly, the only sound left in the hall was 'cough-cough'.

Hu Linyi hurriedly stepped forward to support Zeng Guofan, stroked his back and persuaded: "Disheng is in poor health, why bother to come to pay respects, only to increase sadness, this time the oath to go out, but also Disheng to take command, if I fall ill here, how can I explain to the three armies." ”

"Out of the way...... I can hold on, keep going! Zeng Guofan spat out blood, felt a lot smoother, and trembled and pushed away the support of Hu Linyi and others.

Everyone was helpless and returned to their original positions, and it took another half an hour before the memorial was completed.

Hu Linyi saw that Zeng Guofan's face was pale, and he was worried, and now he was about to hold a military meeting, and he didn't know if Zeng Guofan could support it, so he ordered the housekeeper to cook a few bowls of ginseng soup and serve it.

Zeng Guofan saw that everyone had arrived, took out the holy decree from his arms, and looked serious: "The Hunan army was established with the words 'loyalty and filial piety', and with these two words, it can be justified, and now the Hunan army has more than 100,000 people in both land and water divisions, although most of them are newly recruited brave, as long as everyone remembers these two words in their hearts, they can be in danger and defeat the enemy." ”

Hu Linyi saw that the housekeeper handed out a bowl of ginseng soup to each person, and got up and interjected: "Come on, everyone, this is a ginseng soup made with good Northeast ginseng, drink it while it's hot." ”

"Xie Dashuai!" Everyone got up and respectfully took the ginseng soup and drank it all.

Zeng Guofan was depressed in his heart, this Hu Linyi was a down-and-out Taoist under his protection two years ago, and now his prestige in the Hunan army is greater than his own, fortunately Li Xubin, Yang Zaifu, Bao Chao and others are in high positions, otherwise whether he can command the Hunan army is a matter of two questions.

"Zeng thanked Hu Gong!" Zeng Guofan also learned from them and stretched out his hand to take the ginseng soup and thanked them.

Hu Linyi nodded with a smile on his face, this Zeng Guofan has become much more sleek, this is just right, it is more suitable for leading the army to fight than the original rigid personality.

Li Xubin saw that Zeng Guofan and Hu Linyi were in harmony, and his heart relaxed, if the two fell out, he really didn't know who to support, Hu Linyi had done everything he could to please him this year, he had already decided to repay him with death, Zeng Guofan was his old master, and he had been running for Zeng Guofan's comeback, and now he still sees himself as Zeng Guofan's son and nephew.

Zeng Guofan continued: "Guangdong fell, the emperor ordered us to do whatever it takes to go east, now the short hair occupies Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangxi, Fujian, Guangdong six provinces of land, more than ten times stronger than the long hair, some generals think that it is not surprising to destroy the long hair first and then the short hair, but the king's order cannot be violated, and the opponent of the Hunan army will be replaced by the short hair in the future, everyone must be psychologically prepared." ”

As a sailor general, Yang Zaifu was most concerned about the Han army's sailors, and stood up and saluted Zeng Guofan: "Qiqi Marshal, since last year, several new warships have appeared in the short-haired sailors, which are covered with sixty or seventy cannons, and the speed is faster than our army's warships, if the short-haired master this shipbuilding technique......"

Seeing Zeng Guofan pondering hard, Hu Linyi waved his hand: "Hou'an don't worry, according to the internal report, those ships are wind sailboats sold by foreigners to shorthair, this is just a retired warship of foreigners, and the facilities are outdated, I have ordered people to negotiate with foreigners, and they also promised to sell three large warships to the Hunan army." ”

Yang Zaifu was overjoyed and complimented: "Duke Hu is wise, with a foreigner's warship, he dares to fight to Nanjing and capture Li Yunzhong alive." ”

Guo Songtao said with a smile: "I heard that there are many Hunan people in the Han army, such as Zuo Zongtang, Jiao Liang, Yang Kailin, Chang Dachun, these people are all familiar with everyone, I don't know if I can persuade to surrender, Zuo Zongtang dominates Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong Province, Jiao Liang is the governor of Anhui, Chang Dachun is in the military plane, all of them are in high positions in the Han Kingdom, and one person who is persuaded to surrender has a three-point chance of winning." ”

Hu Linyi smiled bitterly: "When the puppet Han Li Yunzhong ascended the throne and proclaimed the emperor, I knew that Zuo Zongtang and these people had worked for the puppet Han, and they had sent people to surrender several times, but they came to recruit me in turn, and it seems that they have died for Li Yunzhong." ”

Speaking of these people, everyone here was angry and proud in their hearts, Zuo Zongtang raised people, Jiao Liang didn't even get in, he was just a showman, far worse than them, if they worked in the Han Dynasty, they could also be ranked in the center.

Zeng Guofan 'coughed': "Zuo Zongtang's rebellious descendant, Chen Bing and the Hunan border, obviously intended to attack Hunan, and in order to harm the township, we as Hunan people can't ignore it." ”

Wang Ju said with a smile: "I am familiar with Ji Gao, and I am willing to lead the troops to refuse, for the sake of our past friendship, I believe that Ji Gao will not be more serious, I only bring 3,000 soldiers and horses." ”

Zeng Guofan said: "Don't be careless in Pushan, you can recruit another 3,000 troops through the Daozhou Mansion, as long as you hold Guiyang." ”

"Obedience"

Hu Linyi said with a smile: "Now there is only one way left in Jiangxi, and I don't know who was considered to be the right person to lead the army." ”

Zeng Guofan lowered his head and thought for a while: "There are still 5,000 Hunan troops in Tongcheng County, led by Guo Songtao and Li Yuandu, and I am allocating 10,000 soldiers and horses to them, so that they can attack Wanzai and Shanggao counties to resist the entry of short hair into Hunan, so that our army can rest assured that they will march eastward." ”

Hu Linyi clapped his hands and smiled: "Miaomiao, the short-haired heavy troops are gathered in Guangdong, Jiangxi, Fujian, and Zhejiang provinces, and the emptiness along the Yangtze River is a great opportunity for our army. ”

Liu Rong continued: "Our army surrounds Nanjing, and the puppet Han will inevitably return to help, and the Qing Dynasty will be able to recover Guangdong, Fujian, Anhui, and Jiangxi, which is a great achievement." ”

In Jiujiang, Lin Qirong received three red-headed urgent letters in one day, which made him feel a sense of urgency in his heart, and immediately summoned the generals of the Seventh Army to gather in Jiujiang.

Because of his meritorious service in defending Hukou, Cheng Xueqi was promoted to commander of the 11th Division, Ye Yunlai was promoted to deputy commander and commander of the 12th Division, and Wang Lei, the former deputy commander, was transferred to Nanjing.

"There are 20,000 soldiers and horses in Jiujiang City, why not be afraid of the Hunan army attacking, the last general is willing to defend Jiujiang." Cheng Xueqi always shouted in his loud voice.

Lin Qirong pointed to Hukou County on the sand table, worried: "Since our army captured Nanchang, Hukou has become more and more important, this place guards the interface between Dongting Lake and the Yangtze River, and the small walls of the city here are thin, if it is captured by the Hunan army, not only can it cut off the rear road of our army, but also can enter Dongting Lake at any time to attack Nanchang, I think the Hunan army will definitely go all out to attack Hukou." ”

Cheng Xueqi was silent, remembering the tragic attack and defense of Hukou at the beginning, if Li Desheng had not led a thousand reinforcements to arrive in time, he might have died with the fall of Hukou.

Ye Yun looked at Hukou and shook her head with a wry smile: "What's the solution?" Hukou is close to the Yangtze River, there is no danger to defend, the Hunan army can sit in a boat to come to the city, and Hukou County can garrison 5,000 soldiers and horses at most, and it is good to support half a month. ”

Looking at everyone's dodging eyes, Lin Qirong said loudly: "The 11th Division will send 5,000 people to defend Hukou!" All the sailors waited for the enemy under the castle of Hukou. ”

Cheng Xueqi looked at Ding Ruchang.

Ding Ruchang got up to receive the order.

"Report, General Qiyu, spies have come to report that more than 80,000 people from the Qing army and the land and water armies have arrived in Ezhou." (To be continued......)