When the Manchu general Wang Aixinjue Luo Shikai led his army south, Anqing, an important town on the Yangtze River thousands of miles away, Anhui governor Li Zhiying and the general soldier Zhao Bingyi were discussing a major matter.

It's not a big deal, it's just to discuss whether to continue to meet the demands of the Xinghan army besieging Anqing.

After Jiujiang and Nanchang were lost one after another, the remnants of the Qing army in Jiangxi fled to Ganzhou except for a part, and the other part of more than 3,000 people fled to Anqing in embarrassment under the leadership of Governor Haicheng.

Anqing is the capital of Anhui Province, and it is an important town of the Yangtze River, once it falls, not only the whole province of Anhui is eroded, but the gateway of Nanjing is also open.

There is no room for error in the Southeast.

Therefore, Li Zhiying, the governor of Anhui, hurriedly integrated the battalion of the whole province and handed it over to the general soldier Zhao Bingyi to defend, and at the same time, the 800-mile fast horse reported to the imperial court.

The imperial court immediately ordered Li Zhiying to release Haicheng from the lock and send it to Beijing to behead, and at the same time ordered Jiangning General Songgui to lead the Eight Banners to garrison the Manchu army to reinforce Anqing.

The commander-in-chief of the war in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River was under the unified responsibility of Gao Jin, the governor of the two rivers.

More than 1,400 garrison flag soldiers led by the commander Erle Dengbao were the first group of reinforcements in Jiangning, and when they arrived in Anqing, they were attacked by the Xinghan army.

According to the later count, as many as half of the dead and wounded, missing and escaped, and in fact, less than 700 banner soldiers entered Anqing City.

This made the Anqing defenders, who had been holding on for more than half a month, very frightened, if the Eight Banners soldiers who came to help were so poor, where could this Anqing be able to hold it.

Fortunately, Erle Dengbao brought definite news, and more than 10,000 Qihan reinforcements led by Jiangning General Songgui were already on the way, and they would arrive at the end of the month at the latest.

Only then did it stabilize the morale of the army.

In the past few days, the Xinghan army has been attacking very strongly, only yesterday the Xinghan army's offensive suddenly slowed down, and then some envoys entered the city and demanded that Anqing pay 300,000 taels of silver, saying that as long as Anqing allocated the number, the Xinghan army besieging the city would break the siege and withdraw.

Zhao Bingyi, the chief soldier of Anhui, was furious at the first reaction to this incident: "Those thieves are too greedy, they have already given them 100,000 taels last time, and they have only come to ask for money again in a few days?" ... It's so untrustworthy to do things like this, who will dare to deal with them in the future? ”

"That's what the old man is worried about."

It was this matter that Li Futai was distressed about.

The problem is that people can't make mistakes, and once they make mistakes, they will leave a handle, and this time the thieves dared to ask him for 300,000 taels, relying on the fact that they gave 100,000 taels last time.

“... If you don't give anything, they will poke out the last thing, and then we don't need to do it, and our court will take us and behead us..."

As he spoke, the governor sighed and regretted that he had not been the same.

In conscience, the last time it was really dangerous, who knew that Jiangxi Governor Haicheng would abandon the city and not defend it, and he did not warn the Anhui side in advance, and waited until the Xinghan army hit the city down the river, and Anqing woke up like a dream.

But at that time, the defenders in the city had more than 1,000 green battalion soldiers and more than 3,000 defeated soldiers brought by Haicheng, and it can be said that the morale of the army was completely lost.

Seeing that Anqing was about to be lost, the general of the thief army suddenly sent someone to ask for 100,000 silver, which could delay the siege of the city for ten days.

With such good conditions, it would be a fool not to agree.

I never thought that it was not ten days before the other party came to ask for silver again.

It's really a lack of people's hearts.

But this is also good, it shows that the gang of thieves is not where the marquis of Chengqi is, as long as the court responds in a timely manner, and the governors of all places work together, it is only a matter of time before the situation is saved.

Li Zhiying himself is not skilled in military affairs, so the heavy responsibility of defending the city falls on Zhao Bingyi, the chief soldier.

Both of them were also born in the white flag of the Han army.

However, the Lord of Futai has real learning, and in his early years, he was the first person to enter the Chengde Wenju, and he was appointed to the Hanlin Academy, and he was awarded the editor.

Before becoming the governor of Anhui, Master Li was a two-year salt politician for seven years, and the fat could not be fattened anymore, and it was rumored that his family property reached tens of millions.

Whether the rumors are true or not, I'm afraid only the parties themselves know.

One thing seems to confirm this rumor, that is, Lord Li, the governor, was bought by him for 700,000 taels from Yu Minzhong, the former minister of military aircraft.

can spend 700,000 taels to buy a governor, and the family property is not tens of millions, but millions of taels are afraid of it.

The two Huai salt administrations are the first fat shortage in the Qing Dynasty.

is to put a Qingtian lord in this position, and the annual income will be hundreds of thousands of taels.

"The old man really regrets it, he knew that this was the case, he should have decisively killed the thief in the first place, and promised them what to do... Being coerced by thieves today, the old man really can't stand the emperor and the Qing Dynasty! ”

As he spoke, the dignified Lord Futai actually hid his face and wept.

Mr. Zhao hurriedly relieved a few words, and then said after thinking about it: "Don't be like this, my lord, it is better to give it according to the officials, so that he can be exchanged for thieves to break the siege... When reinforcements arrive, you don't have to fear them anymore. ”

Li Futai was worried: "In case the thieves spread this matter and let the court know, you and I will not die from the thieves, but also from the law of the country!" ”

"There is no evidence, it's all about sowing discord!"

Zhao Bingyi believes that holding Anqing is the best evidence to prove their innocence.

"That's just as well."

Li Futai also felt relieved when he thought of this, and his heart moved.

300,000 taels is more, but Anqing is the provincial capital, and the treasury of the domain is not less than one million taels, and it can still be easily taken out.

So he comforted himself that if he could spend hundreds of thousands of taels of silver to protect the lives and property of the soldiers and civilians in Qingquan City, it would be cost-effective from any point of view, even if the official reputation was damaged, at least it would be worthy of the court and the people, and it would be better than the lives of the people after the city was broken.

At the moment, he no longer hesitated to hand over the matter to Zhao Bingyi, but he was still a little uneasy and told Zhao Bingyi to make it clear to the thief envoy, that is, this time he gave the silver, don't think about them giving out the silver again.

"If the thieves are still greedy and stupid, thinking that Benfu is a cornucopia of Shen Wansan, then Benfu will fight with them, and it is a big deal to repay the society for his death and repay the emperor's kindness!"

Lord Futai's mood was a little unstable, and after a while, he told him that the news must not be leaked about this matter, especially the Eight Banners Counselor Erle Dengbao, who could not be called for help.

Zhao Bingyi responded one by one, and secretly took out 300,000 taels of silver from the domain treasury with the warrant of the governor, loaded it into a carriage and transported it to the city gate under his control.

But in fact, only 250,000 taels were sent outside the city.

The other 50,000 taels was the hardship fee of his general soldier, which was not proposed by him himself, but by the other side.

Last time, the family of 100,000 gave him a kickback of 20,000 taels.

This is not considered a collaborator with the enemy, because his general soldier Zhao is loyal to the Qing Dynasty, and he really leads troops to protect the water, soil and people of Anqing.

The result is right, the process is not important.

The one who blackmailed Anqing City was Zhou Linwang, the commander of the Sixth Army who had just been appointed by the Xinghan Army.

This person was originally the thousand general manager of the Huguang Green Battalion, and later rebelled and surrendered to the Xinghan Army, helping it to attack the city and plunder the land, and also led the army to participate in the attack on Yuezhou and Changsha, and led the troops to open Jiujiang City under the leadership of Ba Yansan, the governor of Hunan who surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, and was promoted to military commander on meritorious deeds.

Because of his courage in battle and his large number of soldiers and horses, he became the vanguard of the Xinghan army to attack the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

But even if half of his subordinates are battalions from the original Huguang, Jiangxi, and Hunan, and their combat effectiveness is relatively high, but in the face of the important town of Anqing, Zhou Linwang is also very difficult, and he has been attacking the city for more than ten days, so he has to ask for help from Gu Shaoshuai in Jiujiang.

A few days ago, Jiujiang informed that Ba Jingluo was about to lead reinforcements.

This Ba Jinglu is the former governor of Hunan and a Manchurian Ba Yansan.

Immediately after being captured in Hunan, he rebelled, and made suggestions for the Xinghan army, first captured Jiujiang, and then occupied Nanchang, and Jiangxi Province was almost taken by this Ba Jingluo alone, so his status in the Xinghan army was rising steadily.

This time, he was awarded the Yangtze River strategy by Gu Shidao, the commander of the Xinghan Army, to control the Jiangxi armies, including Zhou Linwang's Sixth Army, with only one strategic purpose - to take Anqing and enter Nanjing.

Knowing that Ba Jingluo was coming, Zhou Linwang felt that he was afraid that he would not be able to drag it on, but instead of thinking about rectifying the department and investing in the subsequent Anqing War, he sent someone to hurry up and knock out another sum of silver.

As Zhou Linwang expected, Anqing was afraid of the East Window incident, so he obediently sent the silver.

"The military commander is really wise, and those dogs are as timid as mice..."

It was Zhou Linwang's subordinate commander Yu Zhenglong, who was originally the captain of Zheng De, the general of the Huguang Green Battalion, who rebelled and surrendered to the thieves with Zhou Linwang that day, and now he has become the first fierce general under Zhou, and the soldiers and horses who are restrained are mainly the soldiers and soldiers of the Hunan Green Battalion.

But as he was talking, he saw that Zhou Junshuai suddenly had a straight face, and then scolded him with an unhappy face: "What military marshal, call me Lord!" ”

Yu Zhenglong was stunned for a moment, and then immediately put on a correct attitude, and said with a flap of the sleeve of the "horn": "The last general will see the general soldier!" ”

"Hmm."

Zhou Linwang showed a satisfied look on his face, his smile rose again, and the lines on his forehead were squeezed together.

This voice of the chief soldier is not a blind scream, but a formation.

The latest secret letter from the meeting informed Zhou Linwang that he was the chief military officer of Anhui, and the corresponding appointment procedures only waited for the arrival of the army led by the general Wang to be appointed.

"Fifty thousand taels of silver sent will be left for the brothers to divide, and the rest must not be touched, and must be handed over to Lord Jia... No, it should be called the prince."

Zhou Linwang nodded slightly, and said meaningfully to Zhenglong: "Money is not enough to earn, don't be greedy, if you break your rice bowl, it will be worth the loss... Now we are holding an iron rice bowl, as long as the Qing Dynasty does not die for a day, the prince will not treat us badly, then our rice bowl is not only strong, but also fragrant what we eat. ”

"What if the Qing Dynasty dies?"

"We are serving the prince's rice bowl, not the rice bowl of the Qing Dynasty, we have food to eat if the Qing Dynasty is not dead, and we will also have food to eat when the Qing Dynasty is dead, do you understand?"

"Understood, understood, lowly understood!"

Yu Zhenglong smiled all over his face, Zhou Qian has become a chief military officer, then no matter how bad he is, he can be a deputy general, and if he works harder in the future, he can really be named a wife and marquis.

The more I think about it, the more beautiful it becomes, full of energy, which dynasty and which generation of traitors are not as good as them, it's really a good year!

Suddenly thought of something, and hurriedly said: "My lord, I heard the rumors that Chen Huizu found a descendant of Zhu Ming named Zhu Shaogong, and was ready to persuade Gu Shuai to support this Zhu Shaogong as the emperor in Wuchang to command the world, in this way, what should we do?" ”

】