On the official road of Linyi County, Jinan Prefecture, it is already the weather in August and September, but the sky is still very hot, and the official road is full of dust and rain in October, coupled with the scorching sun, marching in this weather is really an unparalleled beauty difference.

In the dust on the official road, groups of Qing soldiers marched forward bravely and weakly, and the speed was extremely slow, and on a slightly higher mound on the side of the road, dozens of Qing army generals and colonels gathered here. Under a large blue umbrella, a Qing army official sat under it, glaring angrily at the group of generals standing in front of him. This person is in his fifties, dressed in the second-grade civil official costume of the Qing court, and the supplement on his chest is the brocade rooster representing the second-grade official, and this person is Wen Yu, the governor of Shandong of the Qing court.

Wen Yu is a native of the Blue Banner of Manchuria, Fei Mo's, and the word Xingyan. He was awarded the Taichang Temple Treasury Envoy by the official students, and Langzhong of the Criminal Department was relocated, and later became the Zhili Bachang Road and Sichuan Inspectorate. In the early years, Wen Yu's official fortune was prosperous, but when the gang of rebels appeared in Taiping Maochang, Wen Yu's good luck came to an end. In the third year of Xianfeng, he moved to Jiangning to set up a political envoy, but at that time Jiangning had fallen into thieves, and the unlucky Wen Yu had to run the Jiangbei camp from Qishan. After experiencing several defeats in the Jiangbei camp, Qi Shan died in Yangzhou, and the affairs of Lianyong and Jiangbei Grain and Taiwan were ordered to be taken over by Wenyu. This is also a mess, but fortunately, Wen Yu followed Rong Lu's strategy of making money, and he survived the economic crisis safely.

Then he followed Guo Shengbao, Yuan Jiasan, Seng Lingqin and other figures, and worked hard to maintain the war in the Jianghuai area, but fortunately, the main direction of the Taiping army did not seem to be here, and when several provinces in the south of the Yangtze River were all eroded, Wen Yu was still promoted, and was promoted to governor of Shandong last year.

It's a pity that the good times didn't last long, and this year the north is really chaotic. First, the foreigners went north to fight the imperial court, and then the long-haired boat also went north to Shanhaiguan and went south. It also surrounded the capital. At that time, the news came, and it was really panicked. Then King Qin's will arrived in Shandong, and Wen Yu naturally hurriedly ordered Shandong soldiers to be brave and brave, and gathered an army of 30,000 to go north to King Qin.

Although Wen Yu had the intention to serve the imperial court, but the whole Shandong was panicked at that time, and they all said that the Manchu Qing Dynasty was coming to an end, and the general soldiers and generals from all over the country came to assemble very slowly.

Early August. King Qin's army swore in Jinan Mansion in Shandong, but he didn't expect to stop and go along the way, and the situation changed along the way, for a while I heard that Mianyu, Ronglu and others raised the flag to clear the king's side, and the foreigners joined the Yangjing difficulty, and for a while I heard that Changmao suddenly started a war with the foreigners, and for a while I heard that Mianyu, Ronglu and others fled outside the pass, and the coup failed. In short, Wen Yu himself was at a loss for what to do with these chaotic news, not to mention the generals under him.

At last. Wen Yu stationed his troops in Yucheng for several days to inquire about the news, and finally got accurate news that tens of thousands of Taiping troops in the north defeated the foreigners and continued to besiege the capital. There is also the will of King Qin in the capital, urging Wen Yu to raise troops as much as possible.

At that time, Wen Yu discussed with his generals, and now the times are in turmoil. The imperial court is precarious, although it is possible to change the dynasty. But King Qin still has to go, so everyone still has soldiers in their hands. In this troubled world, there are soldiers and food, so I don't panic. This north Qinwang is also particular, although the Taiping army in the north is strong, but it is always a lone army, the Shandong soldiers went, if the Qinwang army from all sides of the court comes, the Taiping army is lonely and weak, Wen Yu and a group of Shandong generals can naturally join the imperial army to beat the water dogs. But if the momentum is not good, Wen Yu and his generals decided to retreat to Shandong first, the most important thing is to keep the troops in hand, as long as there are soldiers in hand, even if Taiping Changmao sits in the country in the future, he Wen Yu and a group of Shandong generals will also have the bargaining chips to become promoted. Therefore, this trip King Qin can and must go.

But after Wen Yu's army arrived in Linyi a day ago, he rested for a day and continued to march to the north this morning, but the soldiers and horses had just left the city, and the sentinel detective quickly reported that Li Xiucheng, the general of the Taiping Army, commanded more than 20,000 troops all the way south, and within a few days, Liankeqing County, Cangzhou, Yanshan, Nanpi and other places were about to invade Shandong.

Wen Yu was shocked into a cold sweat when he heard the news, and secretly scolded in his heart that Long Hair was too capable of fighting, he had just finished fighting with the foreigners, they were not good to stay in the capital and Tianjin, what kind of troops did they go south, is this obviously to grab territory?

So, Wen Yu stopped at the side of the marching road, convened the generals of various ministries to discuss the matter, and saw how to deal with the current situation.

After the generals gathered, Wen Yu told the latest news, and finally he said: "Zhugong, Changmao enters Koushan Mountain, and we may fight Changmao first if we continue to go north. ”

Li Henian, the political envoy of Shandong, first said: "Lord Futai, the long-haired division of troops to the south, the intention is obvious, but it must be to open up the way of Jianghuai, join Lin Fengxiang, and then encroach on Shandong, Henan, Anhui and other places, we can not go north again, first of all, it is the best policy to hold the east of the mountain, otherwise the north of the long hair will go south, and our old enemy Lin Fengxiang Minister Mao will find an opportunity to break through the Jianghuai defense line in the south, and enter Kou Shandong together, then Shandong will be ruined, and we will have no place to stand." ”

Song Qing, the newly named general soldier under the command of Wen Yu, also said: "What Lord Li said is very true, our soldiers are all Ludi people, and the king of Qinwang is afraid of not being able to catch it when he goes out of the province, and now the north and south of Changmao are about to enter Kou Shandong, and we still have to guard the place of Shandong, otherwise I will reluctantly go out of the northeast of the mountain to the king of Qin, and the hometown behind the soldiers was slaughtered by the long hair, how can the soldiers have the heart to fight?" ”

Hao Shangqi, the chief soldier of Caozhou Town, also said: "Yes, yes, let's not talk about whether we can be Qinwang, now that the long-haired Li Xiucheng is about to enter Shandong, I'm afraid that we won't be able to leave Shandong." ”

Everyone, you say a word, I say a word, they all say that you can't go anymore, all build yì back to the division and garrison everywhere to pass the important town is the best policy, Wen Yu's face is getting more and more ugly, and his heart is also a burst of sadness, their full Beijing division is about to be conquered, and the thoughts of these Han people seem to have long ceased to be here. People like Song Qing, Hao Shangqi, and Li Henian were all promoted by slaughtering the Shandong Twist Army and fighting against the Taiping Army, if it weren't for the fact that they had so many blood debts in their hands, I was afraid that they would directly propose to surrender like Changmao at this time.

But Wen Yu also felt that this was reasonable, thinking that the capital was also in chaos, and characters such as the old prince Mianyu and the upstart Ronglu had retreated outside the border to protect themselves, what could he do?

Seeing Wen Yu's uncertain face, Li Henian knew that he couldn't make up his mind, so he stepped forward and persuaded in a low voice: "Lord Futai, if there is chaos today, having food, soldiers and territory is the last word, you see that this person of Hunan Zeng Guofan, who guards one place and is self-contained, even if it really changes in the future, Hunan is a bargaining chip for someone to keep his power, if I lose Shandong and other places, what will I do as a gift for promotion in the future?" At that time, not to mention the position, even the life of the family is not guaranteed. ”

Wen Yu was stunned and said casually: "But I'm a man, can long hair accommodate me?" ”

Li Henian knew that he was hesitating in his heart as soon as Wen Yu opened his mouth like this, and laughed in a low voice at the moment: "Lord Futai, just rest assured, if the sky really changes in the future, in order to stabilize the situation in this new dynasty, these millions of Manchus and the hearts of the people of the previous dynasty still have to be appeased, and this is also the case in all dynasties." I haven't heard of any people taking refuge in Taiping before, and if the adults do this first, the Taiping side will definitely treat them well. ”

Wen Yu was stunned for a long time before he said: "But we are all people who have been fighting with Taiping for many years, and we all have Taiping blood on our hands, can Long Hair ignore the past suspicions?" ”

Li Henian bowed his head slightly and said: "This is also what we are worried about, so I can't go north with the soldiers and horses in my hands, we can only stay in Shandong, as long as Changmao suffers from us in Shandong, even if they want to recruit us in the future, the value of our wait will be revealed." If the soldiers and horses are lost now, a qiē Hugh mentions. ”

Wen Yu closed his eyes in pain, thinking in his heart, the ancestor of the rank is not his Wen Yu is not filial, it is really the general trend has gone, and there is only one way to protect himself for today's plan, it is impossible for this King Qin to go north again, if he forcibly urges the troops to go north, I am afraid that before he leaves Shandong, these soldiers will mutiny. The ancestors and the ancestors are not strange, and they are not strange, and this matter of the king is just that.

After thinking about it maturely, Wen Yu opened his eyes and said: "Then let the soldiers and horses of each department return to Linyi first, and then each department will return to their own station, mobilize the local regiment to train the soldiers bravely, and stick to the key passes and important towns everywhere." Lord Li, let's immediately return to Jinan Mansion, and the long hair enters Koushan Mountain, the first thing to bear the brunt of this Jinan Mansion, let's discuss how to defend Jinan Mansion. ”

Li Henian twisted his long beard and laughed, secretly thinking that his son could be taught, and said: "That's right, Lord Futai is really blessed to watch the fire." ”

On the same day, the army of 30,000 Qinwang who had not been a few miles out of Linyi County hurriedly returned to Linyi City, and the people and merchants of Linyi who were guarding the nuisance of the Qing army were naturally disappointed and cursed secretly.

Fortunately, at the beginning of the next day, the Qing troops of various departments left one after another, leaving only the local soldiers of Linyi to guard the county seat, and I heard that the governor left first that night. Then the officials sent people around to paste notices, saying that Longhair was going south, and once the city was breached, no one would be left in the city, and the government called on everyone to join the group training to protect their homeland.

The official notice has not been posted for a day, and that night it was replaced by the notice of the Taiping Army Bai Zetang in the city, and the big guy was happy to see it the next morning. In fact, the actions of the long hair in the south spread to the north by word of mouth, and the people here also began to know the deeds of the Taiping army, and it was not as terrible as the propaganda of the Qing army, in fact, I heard that the people in the south were still living better. So, after the people in the city read the notice of the Taiping Army, very few people participated in the official group exercise, and even most of the group exercises organized by the rich and wealthy businessmen in the city in the past were disbanded, and those rich and wealthy businessmen also heard about the policy of long-haired treatment of them, as long as they did not collude with the Qing court and work against the Taiping Army, the Taiping Army protected private property, so what did they do when they gathered for group training?

On the fifth day, when a group of remnants of Lingxian were defeated and fled into Linyi City, they learned the latest news, Changmao conquered Lingxian County, which was only fifty miles away from Linyi, and the soldiers and horses were coming towards Linyi...... (To be continued......)