In the Jiading County Government Office, Xiao Yungui pointed to the map to Zhou Lichun and other Qingpu rebel generals to arrange military affairs, this map is the West Temple mapping officer and Bai Zetang jointly made out, when the Taiping army captured Wuxi, Xiao Yungui ordered the mapping officer to start according to the Qing military officer's palace to draw a detailed map of Shanghai, and at the same time according to Bai Zetang's spies continue to send back some geographical information to change, it turned out that the map of the Qing army is decades old, fortunately there is Bai Zetang's news supplement, This map was perfected, and it not only depicted the county seat of Shanghai very clearly, but also divided the concessions of various countries that were added in the later period.

According to the news sent back by Tong Qiangsheng Zuihou, at this time there were more than 1,000 soldiers in the green battalion of the Qing army, more than 2,000 soldiers in the newly built Yong battalion, and more than 800 foreign soldiers from various countries. The green battalion soldiers of the Qing army eat opium a lot, the firearms are rotten, the brave battalion is mostly small outside the gangs in the city, often divide the gang system for their own battles, firearms are scarce, only the foreign soldiers of various countries are hired by the Qing court with silver money, the soldiers are mostly Nanyang Tianzhu people, Indonesian natives, and the rest of the soldiers are exiled people from various countries, although they come for silver money, but the firearms are excellent, and the art of war is well-founded, and they are really strong enemies.

Recalling the news that Tong Qiangsheng came back from inquiring, Xiao Yungui knew that in this attack on Shanghai, he would join the rebel army in Qingpu, although they had a slight advantage in numbers, but the combat effectiveness of the Qingpu rebel army was not strong, and the foreign soldiers from various countries participating in the war were actually mercenaries hired by the Qing court. Thinking of this, Xiao Yungui couldn't help but curse, who the hell did this trick come up with? The foreigners didn't want to get involved in the civil war, but someone in the Qing court actually thought of the mercenary move, which caught Xiao Yungui off guard.

Mercenaries are soldiers who are hired to fight for any country or nation regardless of the interests of the country and all the consequences, they can be criminals, hooligans, adventurers, from barbarians in the ancient Roman army to European prisoners exiled to Africa and Asia in the post-colonial period. In many people's understanding, mercenaries bring nothing but death and suffering to others, and the only motive that motivates them to fight is money. Xiao Yungui estimated that the Qing court must have used customs duties or land rights and interests in the concession to make loans to foreign foreign firms, otherwise Wu Jianzhang would not have been able to come up with any money to hire mercenaries with the current situation of Shanghai tariffs to deal with the battle between Suzhou and Hangzhou.

Since these mercenaries helped Wu Jianzhang eradicate the Little Knife Society, they could naturally fire at the Taiping Army driven by money, they had no national interests in their eyes, and even the British who signed the treaty could say that what the mercenaries did had nothing to do with Britain. This hand is played beautifully, who gave Wu Jianzhang such a bad idea? Xiao Yungui couldn't guess that, just like the previous rumor that pushed back the map, this invisible enemy disrupted his deployment with a few light strokes.

Originally, Xiao Yungui and Zuo Zongtang had already taken Suzhou and Hangzhou first, and took Suzhou as the rear to capture Kunshan, Jiading, Qingpu, Songjiang and other places on the periphery of Shanghai, and completed the encirclement of Shanghai. But now the situation has changed, the knife will be eradicated by the Qing court, and Shanghai has foreign mercenaries to help defend it, if you wait a few more days, I don't know how the black hand behind the scenes will make a move, so Xiao Yungui had to make a quick decision, divide the division and lead it by himself, and personally attack Shanghai, the effect he wants is to play cards not according to common sense, muddy the pot of water, and his intuition tells Xiao Yungui that only in this way can the deployment of the people behind the scenes be disrupted.

Xiao Yungui looked at the map and snorted coldly, and said secretly in his heart: "Since these Indian Ah San and Indonesian monkeys dare to join the mercenaries? If you dare to shoot at Lao Tzu, Lao Tzu wants you to go and never return! ”

At that moment, Xiao Yungui ordered Li Zuoche and Tang Erniu to lead 500 Taiping troops each, supplemented by 1,000 Qingpu rebels, and rushed to the west of Shanghai County in the afternoon, all the way to control the official road from Suzhou to Shanghai and control Dongjiadu, all the way to attack Baoshan, and establish a camp in Baoshan. Xiao Yungui, Zhou Lichun, and Zhou Xiuying led the rest of the men and horses to capture Hongqiao, and then captured Xujiahui and besieged the south of the city.

After the division was decided, all the generals prepared to go, and Xiao Yungui proposed to follow Zhou Lichun's father and daughter to see the soldiers of the Qingpu Righteous Army. After the Qingpu Righteous Army arrived in Jiading, the Taiping Army gave food and money, and Zhou Lichun was grateful and naturally agreed.

Xiao Yungui took the West Hall Guards and followed Zhou Lichun's father and daughter to the garrison of the Qingpu Rebels in the east of the city, which was originally the school field of the Qing army in the city, and saw that the small school field was full of Qingpu rebels. Most of them were peasants, wearing straw sandals and shirts, and many of them did not even have shoes, and their clothes were ragged, and they held hoes, firewood knives, and even flat poles.

Xiao Yungui looked at it and said in a deep voice: "After Suzhou City is captured in a few days, the brothers of Qingpu should be able to get the official clothing and weapons of the Kingdom of Heaven, but for now, it can only be like this." ”

Zhou Xiuyingqi said: "His Royal Highness the King of the West, why wait until Suzhou City is captured? As long as we can enter Shanghai, won't we have weapons and uniforms? ”

Xiao Yungui smiled slightly, this week Xiuying is not as good-looking as Hong Xuanjiao, Li Xuanji and other women, but her wheat-colored skin and plump body are extremely youthful and healthy, with her glutinous Jiangnan accent, it has a unique charm, but the idea is too simple. At that moment, Xiao Yungui said: "Although there are not many Qing demons in Shanghai City, one of them has foreign soldiers to help, and the other has waterways to pass, it is impossible for us to capture Shanghai at once, we should first sweep away the camp of the Qing demons outside the city, and only then can we capture Shanghai step by step, and this battle will not be won soon." ”

Zhou Lichun glanced at Zhou Xiuying and reprimanded: "What nonsense is the girl talking about? Do you think that fighting a war is a house? I'm not afraid of the jokes of the king of the west, while staying, talking less and doing more. ”

Xiao Yungui smiled, it seems that women in this era are still discriminated against, whether it is their biological father or husband, they always like to suppress their daughters and wives in front of outsiders, Xiao Yungui waved his hand and said: "Old hero Zhou doesn't need to be reprimanded, I think Miss Zhou is a caring person, it is really rare for her to think of these, and when she finishes fighting in Shanghai, she will spare time to learn more about the art of war, and I think that Miss Zhou will also become the female commander of my heavenly kingdom." ”

Zhou Xiuying was scolded by her father, so she had to bow her head in fear, but when she heard Xiao Yungui's words, her eyes lit up, and she said happily: "King Xi, do you think I can really be a military commander?" ”

Xiao Yungui said with a smile: "Of course, there is nothing difficult in the world, only afraid of people with hearts, as long as you have perseverance and perseverance, study and practice, and after leading troops to fight and make great achievements, you will naturally be a military commander." ”

Zhou Xiuying was naturally full of joy, and Zhou Lichun smiled bitterly: "King Xi is going to spoil the child." ”

Xiao Yungui smiled and turned around and asked, "Old hero Zhou, tell me about your Qingpu anti-grain war, there are too many rumors on the rivers and lakes, and I don't know which one is true." ”

When Zhou Lichun heard that King Xi wanted to know his glorious deeds, he was also a little embarrassed, and said with a smile: "It was all forced by the government." Before Zhou Lichun could elaborate, Zhou Xiuying's mouth was about to gush.

This week, Lichun was originally a native of Tangwan Township, Qingpu County, Jiangsu, and was the land protector of Tangwan, and he was loved by people, and he was more or less a member of the government. Qingpu County belongs to Songjiang Prefecture, and the Su, Song, and Tai of Jiangsu in the Qing Dynasty and Hangzhou, Jia, and Lake in Zhejiang are the heaviest amounts, and the government is exploiting them layer by layer, and the people are miserable. In the Daoguang period, especially after the Opium War, the disadvantages were even worse, and there were so-called large households and small households in Suzhou, Song, and other places, and not only the peasants and tenants suffered more serious exploitation, but the small and medium-sized landlords also had to bear the grain of the big landlords, the gentry, and the tyrants, and went bankrupt. Listening to Zhou Xiuying's narration, Xiao Yungui understood that under the current rule of the Qing Dynasty, even if you are in a rich place, the same government is exploited, the same is not enough to eat, and the same is oppressed, the ridiculous thing is that the ignorant young people of later generations still think that Jiangsu and Zhejiang have always been rich, but they don't know that it is a rich place, and the more opportunities to be exploited, because everyone who is an official feels that Jiangsu and Zhejiang are rich and can make a lot of money.

In southern Jiangsu, it is precisely under this kind of exploitation by the government, big landlords, and the rich that land is becoming more and more concentrated and the contradictions are becoming more and more acute. In the first month of the 26th year of Daoguang of the Qing Dynasty, the peasants of Zhaowen County, Jiangsu Province, and Zhenyang County, Jiangsu Province in July of the same year, rebelled one after another, attacked the county yamen, destroyed the houses of the scribes, gentry, and landlords, and used agricultural tools to resist the officers and soldiers. In fact, on the eve of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's uprising, the peasants in Jiangsu and Zhejiang had already started to struggle.

In the spring of the second year of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the news of the Taiping army's defeat of the Qing army in Yong'an Prefecture, Guangxi, and the attack on Guilin reached the people of southern Jiangsu. This year's drought, the peasants are eager to wear, until the end of May to get the rain, has missed the rice planting period, is desperately rushing to irrigate is too late, Qingpu County magistrate Yu Longguang but has been exempted from paying Daoguang 30 years of money and grain, he called the county to the county yamen, the face is blue, said: "Tell you to collect Daoguang's old grain 30 years ago, weishenme does not hand it over?" It doesn't matter if you eat the imperial food! "All the land protectors, including Zhou Lichun, looked at each other and exempted Daoguang from handing over the money and grain for 30 years, which was the will of the imperial court, but no one dared to answer.

Yu Longguang said angrily: "Don't make a sound, do you want to disobey this county!" Zhou Lichun couldn't help but say: "Master, it's not that we don't collect it, the oil can't be forced in the stones, and the people really can't pay the grain!" Besides, the court has already exempted the money and grain, and it is not right to let the people pay it! ”

"Yes! Master, Brother Zhou is right, the people really can't hand it over! When the local security guards of each village saw that someone was taking the lead, they immediately said in unison.

"Fart! The imperial court's will is to suspend the payment, and now it has been two years since Xianfeng, and the grain from three years ago must be paid! Selling men and women also have to be paid! Yu Longguang almost roared.

Zhou Lichun was so angry that his face was flushed and he said loudly: "Master, only the union borrowed money from the lady to ask for it, but he did not sell men and women to pay for money and grain. ”

Yu Longguang shouted angrily: "Shut up! How can we not hand over money and grain in the rich land of southern Jiangsu? Go back at once and gather the grain. If the three limits are not delivered, the county will send a grain urging ship to the countryside to see which one of the people dares not to pay! ”

Zhou Lichun and the people angrily went out of the county yamen, walked outside the city, and wanted to scatter back to their hometowns, Zhou Lichun stopped them and said: "Brother Tai, Daoguang's thirty-year-old grain, the holy edict has been exempted, and the dog officials are not allowed to be arbitrary; Besides, now there is no green and yellow, the drought is exhausted, and the people are desperate for death, where to get the grain to the dog officials. We must not pay! "With Brother Zhou in charge, we are not afraid, we must not pay!" Everyone shouted in unison. So the first limit passed, the second limit passed, and the third limit arrived, and no one in the county handed over the grain to the county. Yu Long was in a hurry, so he sent a grain urging ship to Tangwan.

As soon as the grain urging ship docked, the tolerance was like a group of evil ghosts, crashing into people's houses, and all the jars and jars turned over; Punched and kicked, hehe, the peasants handed over the grain. The peasants could not bear it any longer, so they gathered together and beat them so badly that some of them were killed, and those who escaped the dog's life were also broken in their heads, and then the people dragged the grain boats ashore and burned them. Zhou Lichun saw that the people had already made a move and killed the officials, so he gathered them together, marched towards Qingpu City, and rushed into the yamen to find Yu Longguang. At this time, Yu Longguang also knew that he was afraid, and hid in the back hall and shivered.

Zhou Lichun dragged him outside the west gate, and asked him with his ears: "You can't hear the suffering of the common people in the yamen, so I told you to listen to it outside the city." What is the use of having ears and not listening to the voices of the common people? A young man ran up and bit off the dog's left ear in one bite. Everyone stepped forward together, and with another punch and kick, they wanted to crush him to pieces, and when they were beating, the soldiers arrived bravely to save Yu Longguang's dog's life. Later, Zhou Lichun led the people back to the township, and more than a dozen villages even protected themselves and resisted the delivery of grain.

Later, the Qing Dynasty changed to a Qingpu Zhixian, and in September, this man recruited a group of Guangyong and personally brought him to arrest Lichun, and when he heard the gong of the peasants gathering, he was so frightened that he retreated. The prefect of Suzhou brought more than 1,000 soldiers to set up camp to arrest the peasants. The peasants immediately rallied. Pick up hoes, rakes, thorns, and other farm tools, and fight head-on, defeat the officers and soldiers, and kill many people. As a result, the peasant rebellion in the Qingpu area unfolded like a fire on the prairie fire.

Xiao Yungui listened with relish, nodded and said: "I see, the Qing Demon Mansion is so hateful, and the decree to free food does not count, it seems that the Qing Demon is a fart when the dog court speaks, such an official mansion, such a court, we naturally want to overthrow him!" The father and daughter of the Zhou family said yes together.

Seeing that the sun was close to noon, Xiao Yungui instructed all the troops to prepare a meal, and after a full meal, he led the army to Shanghai, leaving only one soldier to guard Jiading City.