Chapter 32 Chu Yong did not leave the province Chibi suddenly increased his troops

Summary: The Qing army surrounded Wuchang, and Jiang Zhensi urgently transferred Chu Yong to return to his headquarters; The soldiers of the Heavenly Kingdom sent red cliffs, and Zeng Guofan was flustered and had to take a risky move.

The Three Kingdoms competed for hegemony, and Zhuge Kongming made an empty city plan to scare away Sima millions of soldiers.

Zeng Guofan of the late Qing Dynasty, can the plan succeed?

The day after Zeng Guofan sent Zeng Guobao, Peng Yulin, and Yang Zaifu away, Taqib also came to Zeng Guofan to take leave because of official matters. The next day, Tazib also returned to the provincial capital with his own soldiers.

Zeng Guofan received a secret letter from Jiang Zhongyuan's fast horse.

Zeng Guofan opened the letter and read it, and couldn't help but be surprised: It turned out that Jiang Zhongyuan, together with Zhang Liangji's supervision standard and Qinglin's Fubiao, had already completed the siege of Wuchang, but because the troops were insufficient, he did not dare to attack hard. Jiang Zhongyuan had no choice but to ask Zeng Guofan for help, hoping that Zeng Guofan could send a battalion of soldiers to enter Hubei by water and work together to recover Wuchang.

Jiang Zhongyuan particularly emphasized in the letter that at the same time as sending a letter to Zeng Guofan, Zhang Liangji also sent an urgent letter to Luo Bingzhang and Bao Qibao. But Jiang Zhongyuan knew that neither Luo Bingzhang nor Bao Qibao would allocate troops to aid Hubei, and I am afraid that only Xiangyong could send troops.

Before Zeng Guofan finished reading the letter, he knew that Jiang Zhongyuan was clearly asking Zeng Guofan for help, and his real intention in his heart was only to transfer the 600 Chu Yong who had left him in Hunan. Jiang Zhongyuan has already made what he said very clear: Wuchang has been surrounded by officials and troops, and it is only a matter of time before it is recovered; Hubei relieved the police, and Hunan naturally relieved the pressure. Chu Yong, there is no need to stay in Hunan anymore, and it is natural to return to the old camp.

Zeng Guofan did not dare to delay, and within half an hour of receiving the letter, he sent two fast horses all the way to the provincial capital, and hereby asked the governor Yamen to immediately dispatch official ships to Hengyang to transport six hundred Chu Yong to Hubei; Flying all the way to Hengyang, Jiang Zhongji led 600 Chu Yong under his command to be on standby overnight, and as soon as the official ship assigned by the provincial capital arrived, he immediately boarded the boat and set off into Hubei, listening to the dispatch of Jiang Zhongyuan, the commander of Hubei.

Kuaima had just left Yueyang, but news came from Chibi: the Taiping army suddenly entered Chibi, and the number was more than before, at least above 20,000, and it was likely to attack Yueyang in the near future.

After sending away the meticulous work, Zeng Guofan's mind suddenly went blank, and sweat quickly flowed from his face.

After sobering up, he ordered someone to send Luo Zenan and said slowly: "I received a letter from Jiang Minqiao. Our officers and troops from all walks of life have already surrounded Wuchang, and we are invited to send a battalion of men and horses to cooperate in the recovery of Wuchang. ”

Luo Zenan smiled and said, "Minqiao wants to transfer the people and horses he left in Hunan." ”

Zeng Guofan said: "I have asked the governor Yamen to send a big official ship to Hengyang to transport Zhongji into Hubei by water. It's just that what I didn't expect was that I had just sent away my life for Chu Yong, but bad news came from Chibi: Long Mao has been stationed in Chibi, and he will send troops to Yueyang in the next two days! And the number of people is larger than before, at least 20,000! ”

Luo Zenan was shocked when he heard this, and hurriedly asked: "Disheng, is the news reliable?" Shall we send someone to sneak over and visit the site? ”

Zeng Guofan pondered and said: "Of course, it is necessary to visit, but I think that the words of the detailed work are still credible. Do you think, if we have eaten up all their defenders, and taken away all the cannons and gold and silver that they had hidden in the church? I'm curious, Wuchang long hair has become a turtle in the urn. Long Hair increased his troops at this time, and he should increase to Wuchang. How can you ignore Wuchang and enter Chibi instead? And come to pick me Yueyang! He is not afraid, my Hunan Green Battalion and the regimental training work together to eat him? ”

Luo Zenan frowned and said, "Hearing you say this, things are really a little strange. Disheng, will they be Wei Wei to save Zhao? ”

Zeng Guofan squinted his eyes and pondered.

Luo Zenan said: "Disheng, ask Luo Futai for help." It's late, I'm afraid it's too late! With such a few people, we can't hold Yueyang. ”

Zeng Guofan said: "Luo Shan, the long hair mainly relies on the water master, and this is precisely our shortcoming. Let's take two steps. I have sent an official letter to the governor's yamen here, explaining the situation in a truthful manner, and asking Luo Qimen to allocate two battalions from Fubiao to come and help defend it; You sent someone to Chibi to inspect on the spot, how many people are there in Changmao this time? If there are really 20,000, we must also think of a way out. ”

Luo Zenan said: "I'll send people away first, and you can also hurry up and send a document to the provincial capital." ”

Luo Zenan hurriedly walked out after speaking.

Zeng Guofan also spread paper here, wrote a letter to the governor Yamen, and at the same time informed Luo Bingzhang of the military situation, please send troops to help as soon as possible.

Sending Ziwen away secretly, Zeng Guofan pondered and meditated for a long time, and then passed in a member surnamed Yang from Wupin Alternate Zhizhou, who was accompanying him to handle Zawen, and instructed: "I just received a secret report from the governor Yamen that the long-haired brigade is stationed in Chibi and is about to attack my Yueyang. Luo Futai has been ordered to raise and fu the county regimental exercises, and rushed here to encircle and suppress the long-haired Yu Yueyang in the starry night. Now Bao Junmen has supervised the battalions to set off from the provincial capital, and they will be able to arrive here at noon tomorrow. You immediately contact the local gentry and first find a few dry and breathable warehouses in the city for Bao Junmen to store ammunition, grain and grass after he arrives. You have to deal with this matter quickly, and when the army arrives, it will be too late. ”

Hearing this, Commissioner Yang was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly asked: "My lord, all the people in the provincial capital are here, if Changmao attacks Changsha, what can he do?" ”

Zeng Guofan smiled and said, "Your words are exactly what I am worried about." I'll tell you the truth, you can't get it out. The governor Yamen has just received the holy decree that our officers and troops from all walks of life in Hubei have surrounded Wuchang regiments. The saint went out of the province to recover Wuchang. Luo Futai thought about it, if he went out of the province by water, the movement would be too big. So it was decided to go from Yueyang to Chibi, from Chibi to Wuchang, and fight long hair. In order to prevent Changmao from attacking Changsha, Luo Futai has transferred 10,000 horses from Linxian Province and is ambushing outside the city, waiting for Changmao to enter the market and annihilate him. Go and take care of the storeroom. ”

After withdrawing in confusion, Committee member Yang first went to his office to write a secret letter, and then left the yamen and came to a shop selling groceries on the street, and asked the guy: "Is the owner here?" ”

The guy was busy packing the people who bought the goods, and when he heard the question, he hurriedly looked up and saw that an official had walked in, and his heart jumped, thinking that he had come to extort the card; After a closer look, my heart was immediately relieved, but it turned out that I knew, so I handed over the goods to the buyer, and said with a smile: "You are unlucky, the owner went to the provincial capital to buy the goods, and it is fast for Ming'er to rush back." The little one makes you a cup of tea? ”

The buyer ignored Commissioner Yang, took the goods and left.

Countrymen are sometimes afraid of officials, and sometimes they are not afraid of officials. Yueyang was in the tug-of-war between the Taiping army and the Qing army, and he was not very afraid of the people in the official mansion. You are the county lord today, and you are the master of the classic history, maybe tomorrow will become a ghost under the sword of the Taiping Army; You just posted a notice today saying that Yueyang has been taken over by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and after the beating, the people of Yueyang are not allowed to believe in the emperor, only to believe in God, and there will be a few bloody human heads hanging out at the head of the city tomorrow. Take a closer look, it may be the heavenly soldiers and generals who posted notices all over the streets yesterday. The situation is so chaotic that there is no need for the people to be afraid of the officials.

Commissioner Yang didn't pay attention to the buyer's attitude, listened to the guy's words, was stunned, and said casually: "There is nothing to do in this state, the office errand passed by here to come in and have a look, disturb your master for a few words." He's not here, so I'll come back another day. ”

Commissioner Yang paced out of the shop after speaking, and the guy kept sending him out of the door.

Seeing the guy enter the door, Commissioner Yang pondered for a moment, turned around and walked towards the river again.

Speaking of this committee member Yang, he also has some origins. Member Yang was born in Jintian, Guangxi, and was 40 years old at the time. Born in the first list, the donation of the criminal department is the eight-grade pen post style. Released to Hubei, he served as a professor of Zhengqipin Zhixian and Fuxue, and was awarded from Liupinzhou. Soon, the reward will be added to the top of the five-grade Dai Shengzhi Prefecture. The Taiping army besieged Wuchang, and he fled to Changsha, Hunan, with the governor of Hubei, Yamen. Later, I don't know which official or big military machine in Beijing wrote a few walnut-sized characters to Zhang Liangji, and he was left in the Hunan Governor's Yamen to be the original official candidate. After Zeng Guofan helped the governor Yamen to handle the group training, he saw that he was very good at handwriting, so he seconded him to the Issuance Examination Bureau to handle official documents and other matters, which was also quite effective.

When Yang Shichao arrived at the river, he saw countless fish boats floating on the river, so he walked quickly to a fish boat that had just docked, and asked loudly: "Have you ever seen floating on the water?" ”

The people on the boat glanced at Yang Shichao and replied lazily: "I was still casting a net here just now, probably going to Jiangxin." If your parents give five big bucks, I'll call him for you right now. ”

Yang Shichao took out five big coins from his arms, shook them at the sunlight and said, "If you call him back, Benzhou will naturally reward you." ”

The man on the boat jumped to the shore with a huff, stretched out his hand to Yang Shichao and said, "Give me the money, and I will row the boat immediately." ”

Yang Shichao smiled, shook the money into the boatman's hand one by one, and said, "I have something urgent to find him." If you want to misunderstand the affairs of this state, this state will let the officials in the yamen lock you up and go to the court for questioning. ”

The boatman didn't say a word, took the money and jumped back on the boat, dancing the oars, and rowing towards the center of the river.

There are wooden benches and chairs all over the shore, which are supposed to be used by boatmen to rest after going ashore.

Yang Shichao found a clean wooden chair and sat down, thinking about his thoughts while watching the fishing scenery in the river. Thinking about it, he was a little stunned, so much so that he didn't notice it when he floated up to the water in shorts and white flesh.

Shui floated up to Yang Shichao and said, "Lord Thorn Shi, are you always looking for me?" ”

Yang Shichao was so frightened that his whole body trembled, and when he saw that it was floating on the water, he calmed down, got up and said, "There's no one over there, let's go over there and talk." ”

After Yang Shichao finished speaking, he walked to a secluded place first.

When he got there, Yang Shichao looked around, and when he saw that no one was paying attention, he took out the letter from his arms, stuffed it into his floating hand, and whispered: "Hide it in your shorts pocket, let people see that you are going to be killed." ”

Mizumi Piao skillfully tucked the letter into his shorts, lowered his voice and said, "Where to send it?" Wuchang was under martial law, and the officials and soldiers surrounded the city like an iron bucket. No matter how much money you give, I won't be able to send it in. ”

Yang Shichao took out a tael of silver from his bosom and handed it to Shui Piao and said, "You strive to swim to Chibi before dark, and hand over the letter to a boatman called Rolling in the Waves." It's too easy for you to earn a couple of silver. ”

Shui Piao took the silver and glanced at the sun, and suddenly muttered: "I am risking my own life to support my family, but you assassinate Master Shi but say this every time." Next time, you should let someone else do this good business. I floated on the water and wanted to live a few days of peace. ”

Floating in the water, he shoved the silver into his shorts and twisted around and walked towards his own boat.

Looking at the back floating on the water, Yang Shichao smiled, raised his legs and walked quickly away from the river, and hurriedly walked towards the center of the street.

Because Yang Shichao suddenly remembered that he had not completed the things assigned by Zeng Guofan.

"This has shaved his head, he doesn't blink when he kills!" Yang Shichao whispered to himself, and his feet couldn't help but speed up his pace. (End of chapter)