Su Ji was thinking about his thoughts while walking outside the carriage, and Tao Enpei in the carriage was also thinking about his thoughts with the undulating bumps of the carriage. After the city of Hengyang was broken, although Tao Enpei went out of the city to make peace and let the Qing army occupy Hengyang bloodlessly, Tao Enpei also made a plan to protect most of the people in the city, and realized his promise to protect the people as a parent official, but Tao Enpei knew that he was certain to die. Because the Qing court would not let him go, and Zeng Guofan would not let go of himself, but what Tao Enpei didn't expect was that Rong Lu let him go. He reached out and touched the secret letter in his arms, and his thoughts flew back to the night before he would be beheaded......

It was so cold that night that the cold prison was leaking everywhere, and Tao Enpei almost froze stiff. Thinking that he would be punished by the Ming Dynasty tomorrow, Tao Enpei had mixed feelings in his heart for a while, fear, disappointment, calmness, relief, all kinds of complicated emotions came to his heart, coupled with the cold weather, which made Tao Enpei sleepless all night.

At this moment, the door of the cell suddenly opened, Tao Enpei was a felon, and he was imprisoned alone in a room, and no one had come except Zeng Guofan and Guo Songtao to see him.

The orange light shone in, but I saw several people carrying lanterns into the cell, and the first young man was no more than eighteen or nineteen years old, and he waved his hand to retreat from the people, and he was the only two of them in the cell.

This young man was Rong Lu, who he had seen in the camp of Zeng Guofan, he was wearing a casual dress, a thick robe on his body, one arm was hanging on his chest with a guard board, and there was also a bruise on his face, which was obviously injured.

Rong Lu looked at Tao Enpei's ragged appearance, as if he was not used to the smell of the cell, brushed his other hand a few times, and said, "Tao Gong, I have wronged you." ”

Tao Enpei moved his stiff body slightly, and said with a wry smile: "The one who is about to die." What is the grievance? ”

Rong Lu hummed and said lightly: "It can be seen that Tao Gong came to make an appointment with Zeng Shuai that day with the people of the city who sacrificed his life to survive, and Rong admired it." ”

Tao Enpei shook his head and said with a wry smile: "Zeng Shuai and Lord Rong are still believers, and they are not implicated much after entering the city, so I only hope that they can treat the people of Hengyang well in the future." ”

Rong Lu smiled slightly and said: "When the long-haired pseudo-Western King first conquered Hengyang, he promised all kinds of benefits, and smeared the imperial court, and encouraged many times, and people's hearts changed. This made Hengyang change the sky. But after more than a year, the pseudo-king of the west went east, and the long hair acted perversely, and the people's hearts were lost, if it weren't for that. Did Tao Gong think that Zeng Shuai would let go of the people of this city so easily? ”

Tao Enpei's face changed slightly, and he sighed lightly after a while: "It is not a long-term strategy to kill and kill." ”

Rong Lu immediately responded: "In troubled times, this method is the most effective. The easiest way to unite our hearts is to get rid of people who are not of the same mind as us. ”

Tao Enpei was slightly stunned. I only felt that this Rong Lu was so ruthless that he couldn't speak for a while.

Rong Lu continued: "I came here tonight to do business with Tao Gong. ”

Tao Enpeiqi said: "What is the use of a dying person? ”

Rong Lu smiled: "I can save Tao Gong's birth." ”

Tao Enpei sighed and said gloomily: "The heart is dead, the body is useless, and life is useless." ”

Rong Lu shook his head and said, "Although Tao Gong said so. But there is still some unwillingness in my heart. ”

Tao Enpei was slightly stunned, Rong Lu didn't allow him to reply, and said to himself: "This official has inquired a lot inside and outside the city, but he also found out why Tao Gong was unruly and a thief at that time. I think that the pseudo-king of the West must have fooled Tao Gong with rhetoric. Tao Gong thought that he would be able to meet the Lord and live the people, so he lost his courtiers. ”

Tao Enpei was silent, Rong Lu inquired carefully, people in ancient times paid attention to loyalty, he lost the festival of courtiers, and the Taiping army acted upside down in Hengyang, because he was ashamed and wanted to die.

I only heard Rong Lu say again: "But later, the pseudo-king of the West went east, and all kinds of promises were not fulfilled at all, so that Tao Gong lost his trust in the people, and lost his minister's festival and reputation, presumably Tao Gong was unwilling in his heart." This official can fulfill Tao Gong and let Tao Gong go back to see the puppet king of the West and question him face to face. After asking, Tao Gong must have already thought about it, and whether he is dead or alive is at will. ”

Tao Enpei's face changed slightly, he was indeed a little unwilling as Rong Lu said, after the king of the west left, the Taiping army in the city to preach the worship of God, and the holy treasury to loot the people, to the beginning of the king of the west said all kinds of things completely inconsistent. Therefore, Tao Enpei consciously lost his trust in the people, and he lost his courtiers when he brought peace to peace, so he had the will to die, but he was always a little unwilling in his heart. As Rong Lu said, he still wanted to zaijian the side of the king of the west and listen to what the king of the west had to say.

Seeing Tao Enpei's face change slightly, after a moment of silence, he asked, "Lord Rong let the old man go privately, what do you want?" ”

Rong Lu smiled and said: "The pseudo-king of the West is the great enemy of the official, this time let Tao Gong go to see the pseudo-king of the West, and the official wants to ask Tao Gong to bring a secret letter to the pseudo-king of the West for the official." ”

Xiao Yungui repeatedly sent Bai Zetang's dead soldiers to assassinate Rong Lu, although Rong Lu lived in the camp and was well protected, there were always times when he was negligent. Recently, Rong Lu has been in danger repeatedly, not only has he killed many good guards, but even his left arm has been discounted, and his head and face have been bruised and swollen under the protection of the guards.

When the Assassins were unknown and unable to escape after a miss, they all killed themselves and did not catch a single one alive. But Rong Lu knew that he helped the Hunan army attack Hengyang this time, Xiao Yungui must know that he was completely an enemy of Xiao Yungui, if this was the case, the person who wanted his life the most must be Xiao Yungui.

Rong Lu naturally refused to be killed, although he strengthened his defense, but those assassins were always as difficult as maggots on tarsal bones, so Rong Lu thought of writing a secret letter to Xiao Yungui. But Rong Lu's own contact with Xiao Yungui had been cut off, and Zuihou thought of Tao Enpei.

Tao Enpei sighed and said, "What secret letter? ”

Rong Lu smiled and said, "Since it is a secret letter, naturally it can't be talked about by outsiders." Tao Gong is high-spirited and bright, a gentleman for a while, the official is looking for you to submit a secret letter on your behalf is to rest assured that Tao Gong is a person, if you send anyone casually, you are only afraid of leaking secrets. How is the deal? This official saved your life, and you helped this king send a secret letter. ”

Tao Enpei didn't know what Rong Lu's secret letter was, but he still agreed, and he was still unwilling to die with a stigma.

……

On the bumpy carriage, Tao Enpei once again took out the letter that was painted with fire paint, and he took it out again and again to read it for a long time along the way. It is indeed difficult for a person to keep a secret, Tao Enpei is also very curious about what is written in this letter, and at the same time curious about what kind of intersection a Manchu nobleman and a long-haired king will have, very few people can endure this curiosity and not open the letter.

But as Rong Lu expected, Tao Enpei is indeed one of the very few believers who can keep secrets. With a light sigh, Tao Enpei once again took the letter into his arms.

Rong Lu found a death row prisoner to be Tao Enpei's stand-in, and then ordered someone to escort him to Jiangxi, and Zuihou Tao Enpei went to Wuhu alone. Throw yourself into the Taiping army in Wuhu. The Taiping army in Wuhu also had people from Bai Zetang in the West Palace, Tao Enpei fell to Hengyang, and a large number of people from Bai Zetang were sent to assassinate Rong Lu, Xiao Yungui also ordered Bai Zetang's people to find an opportunity to rescue Tao Enpei, but they didn't want Tao Enpei to appear in Wuhu by himself.

At that moment, Bai Zetang's message came out. Xiao Yungui sent Song Feng and Su Ji, a team of young guards, to pick up people.

Traveling all the way from Wuhu to Tianjing, what Tao Enpei saw under the rule of Heaven was similar to what he saw in Hengyang. All industries withered. The people lived a life of general poverty, and there were destroyed Confucian temples and Buddhist temples everywhere, and his heart sank to the bottom, secretly wondering, is this heavenly kingdom really a dream?

In Tianjing, I heard that the Tianwang Mansion and the East Wangfu are more magnificent than the other, and then look at the people under the rule, the soldiers and civilians all have dishes. The clothes are sloppy, Tao Enpei is almost crazy, such governance is not as good as the Qing court!

After arriving in Zhenjiang on this day, Tao Enpei suddenly felt like he had entered another world. From Zhenjiang to Wuxi, what you see along the way is two worlds with Tianjing. In the farmland after the beginning of spring, you can see the farmers ploughing in the spring, and many Taiping soldiers in the fields are among them, helping the farmers to do farm work together, and everyone's faces are beaming.

Tao Enpei got off the boat in Wuxi and asked a few farmers who had returned from farming, and those farmers told Tao Enpei that now the king of the West had set up a new policy in Sufu Province, divided the fields for them to cultivate, and also issued farm tools, ploughing cattle, grain seeds and other things, and only had to pay a fixed amount of grain after the summer harvest, and the rest belonged to himself. Moreover, there are many ships and merchant ships trading back and forth along the canal and waterway in the village, and they can sell any agricultural and sideline products.

Tao Enpei had also been to Suzhou a few years ago, and had also sailed on the canal, and now that the farmer said it, he noticed that there were indeed more merchant ships on the canal.

Arrived at a wharf, only to see here to listen to hundreds of flat-bottomed sand boats, Tao Enpei in Song Feng, Su Ji and others escorted to the wharf of the bazaar to see, here the crowd is surging, the farm department stores are complete, chickens, poultry and dogs, bamboo baskets, mountains and rivers are all available, the traders come here to buy agricultural goods, I heard that there is no harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes, the traders only pay the commercial tax once, the goods can pass unimpeded, and the merchant ships are also more.

Tao Enpei was even more surprised that he saw a teacher with braids in the market, so he stepped forward to ask, but before the teacher could reply, others laughed, "This old gentleman, don't ask this Sun Xiucai, he is reluctant to cut that braid, and he is also levied a heavy tax by the heavenly saints." ”

That Sun Xiucai's face was flushed, and he said loudly: "You people who have betrayed their ancestors and forgotten their ancestors, I don't care about you below!" ”

An old farmer smiled and said: "Sun Xiucai, I advise you to cut your braids earlier, every day when you meet the holy soldiers patrolling, you have to show the voucher for paying the braid tax, and you are not too tired to panic?" Didn't you say it in newsprint? We Han people didn't have braids in the past, how can we say that we have betrayed our ancestors and forgotten our ancestors? ”

In the ridicule of everyone, Sun Xiucai hid his face and left, and did not answer Tao Enpei's words.

Tao Enpei asked Su Ji very strangely: "Brother Su, is this Sufu Province under the rule of the King of the West?" How is it different from Tianjing? ”

Su Ji nodded, and said with a solemn face: "His Royal Highness the King of the West has implemented a new policy in Sufu Province, and this is the case within a province, Tianjing?" I don't know what kind of rule is over there, I only know that His Royal Highness the King of the West has brought the gospel of heaven to the military and civilian people of Sufu Province. ”

After hearing this, Tao Enpei became even more unwilling, and he was anxious to see the king of the west to find out, so he did not delay any longer and continued to take a boat to Suzhou. After arriving at Suzhou Hushu Pass on this day, the group asked Tao Enpei to take a carriage to Suzhou City. (To be continued......)