Reading guide: The Taiping army failed to save Zhao from Wei and had no choice but to aid Wuchang and collapsed; The Green Battalion soldiers smashed the Issuance and Examination Bureau, and Tazib reasoned with others, which only increased his anger.

The Taiping army stationed in Chibi was ordered by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Wing King to enter Hunan from Yueyang, so that the Qing army in Hunan was not only unable to reinforce Wuchang, but also wanted to attract the Qing army besieging Wuchang to Hunan, so as to make the Taiping army guarding Wuchang escape this catastrophe. The heavenly soldiers and generals of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, as soon as they arrived at Chibi, searched boats and tied up rows, and drove all the men, women, and children of the whole city to the riverside to serve as envoys. After four days of chaos, he reorganized his army and horses, wanted to cross the river to capture Yueyang, and officially implemented the strategic intention issued by the Yiwang. Although the army was not mobilized, the momentum was made big.

However, a secret letter passed over disrupted the strategic deployment of the Taiping army: the Qing army had mobilized heavy troops to ambush around Yueyang, intending to encircle and annihilate the Taiping army! This is like digging a deep trap and waiting for tigers and leopards, settling down with fragrant bait to catch golden turtles! Just waiting for you to come.

A short text actually caused extreme panic among the heavenly generals. The Taiping Army originally had no long-term plan for the war, and it all relied on the strength of the population. Once you encounter a special situation, you will deny yourself first.

More than a dozen generals gathered together to discuss all day, and the more they discussed, the more they had no idea, and their hearts were more flustered than before.

I couldn't discuss a way, so I had to send a leaf boat to ask the Wing King for advice. Unexpectedly, the ship was not offshore, and Wuchang's express letter for help was delivered first.

The generals immediately gathered together for a meeting, and it was not until after dinner that they decided to go to relieve the siege of Wuchang first, and then ask the prince Chitose Chitose for advice.

But it was too late. Because the Taiping army withdrew too many troops from Hubei, when the Qing army from all walks of life narrowed the encirclement and launched a fierce attack, the Taiping army in Wuchang City could not count on any reinforcements except for stubborn defense. The moat began to turn red, and there were heavenly soldiers with long hair floating inside.

By the time Chibi's reinforcements were halfway there, Wuchang had been broken by the Qing army. The corpses of the heavenly soldiers blocked the estuary, and the sky was hovering with man-eating eagles. The Qing army used tens of thousands of servants to bury the bodies.

The Chibi reinforcements quickly diverted to Yangzhou, but they fought more than a dozen encounters with several Qing troops who reinforced Yangzhou, and before they could reach Yangzhou, nearly 20,000 Taiping troops were left with less than 300 people.

After that, these 300 Taiping troops did not dare to confront the Qing army head-on except for hiding everywhere, and finally went their separate ways.

On the day that Zhang Liangji and Jiang Zhongyuan led all walks of life to recover Wuchang, Taqibu returned to Yueyang and reported a bad news to Zeng Guofan: the yamen of the Issuance and Examination Bureau was smashed! All doors and windows were shattered, and no one was spared; All the doors were broken open, and the tables, chairs, and various wooden cabinets were smashed. The governor's yamen has ordered the case to be ascertained within a time limit according to the court's yamen.

Finally, Taqib said angrily: "When Lord Futai discussed this matter to the lowly officer, the lowly official deduced that this must have been done by the bad seeds of the Green Battalion at the behest of a certain commander-in-chief. Lord Futai said that nothing can be chased by the wind and shadows. After coming down from the courtyard, the more he thought about it, the more angry he became, so he went to see Bao Junmen. I don't know that the people of the Admiral's Mansion will not let their humble posts go in. He also said that the lowly position is a person who trains in the regiment and has nothing to do with the green camp. My lord, you should always go back to the provincial capital and talk to the governor of the yamen. Smashing the yamen is a matter of national body, if Futai can't handle it impartially, you will always play the holy and give the governor's yamen an ugly look! ”

Zeng Guofan ordered someone to make a bowl of hot tea for Taqibu, and then said: "Zhiting, the sage said: If you can't bear it, you will make a big plan." Now that we have just practiced Xiangyong and Lu Yong, the sailor has not yet been officially invited. At this time, they began to engage in fighting in the nest and spread the word, how do you let the people of the world think of this minister? It is a taboo for soldiers to fight each other, we can let it, and endure it if we can. Wuchang has just recovered, and a large number of long hairs have poured into Jiangsu, Anhui, and Zhejiang, and it is difficult to predict what the prospect is! Zhiting, he can smash the Issuance and Examination Bureau today, and if Futai doesn't seriously investigate and deal with it, we won't care about him; Wait for Ming'er to smash the governor's yamen, and we'll see what to do with Futai. ”

Taqib said with a bitter face: "Adults are always taking care of the overall situation, and this is not the way to go on!" ”

After drinking tea for a while, Tazib left the signing room and went to the camp to watch the exercises.

Less than an hour after Taqib left, the official strode into the signing room with an ordinary guest post in his hand and said, "Your Excellency, the Acting Yueyang Zhixian Lobby Hu Outline asks to see you. ”

After the official finished speaking, he respectfully put the guest post in front of Zeng Guofan, and then took a step back.

Zeng Guofan was stunned for a moment, slowly took the post and looked at it and said, "It's the new official who has arrived." Please come in. You take a trip to the camp outside the city and tell Lord Luo that the new official has arrived, and ask him to come back and hand over the seal and handle the handover. Let's go down. ”

It didn't take much time for the errand officer to go down, and the red-faced Hu Xuan walked into the signing room wearing an official uniform.

After seeing Zeng Guofan, Hu Outline gave a big salute first, and said: "Xiaguan Hu Outline has come to Yueyang to meet Lord Zeng by the Yamen Committee of the Domain. ”

Zeng Guofan raised his hand and said with a smile: "Hu Mingfu, you get up." I have sent someone to the camp to invite Lord Luo into the city to hand over to you. You sit down and drink a bowl of tea and rest your feet. The people you brought with you also went to the lobby to rest for a while. After you and Lord Luo finish handing over, I will live in the camp today. ”

Hu Xuan sat down and said, "Your Excellency, the lower official has settled the accompanying master and others in an inn to live. After the adults and Lord Luo settled down in their residences, it would not be too late for the lower officials to let them move over. ”

At this time, an errand officer put a bowl of new tea in front of Zeng Guofan and Hu Xuan.

After the official withdrew, Hu Outline took out a letter from his arms, got up and handed it to Zeng Guofan: "This is a letter written by Lord Futai to the Lord himself, and the official will present it to the Lord in person. ”

Zeng Guofan took the letter in his hand and said with a smile: "Hu Mingfu, please take a seat." ”

Hu outlined and said: "Lord Xie lifts." Then he sat back in his place with a big grin, and he looked like the master was not giving in.

Zeng Guofan opened Luo Bingzhang's letter and looked. In his letter, Luo Bingzhang told Zeng Guofan that with the recovery of Wuchang, the Taiping army had withdrawn from the whole territory of Hubei, and there was no need for Yueyang to defend it; The first battalion of Tibiao, which was originally stationed in Yueyang, will rush over tomorrow to re-garrison. Luo Bingzhang asked Zeng Guofan to return to the provincial capital after the bid was raised. ”

Zeng Guofan put the letter in the envelope, put it in the book on the desk, and began to gossip with this Hu Zhixian, but asked how it was before, where he was on an errand, and when he came to Hunan. Wait a minute.

Hu outline answered one by one.

Zeng Guofan hesitated and said, "Hu Mingfu, there is something that this minister needs to explain to you for Lord Luo." When Xiang Yong first came to Yueyang, after an inventory, it was found that there were more than 5,000 acres of ownerless cultivated land. Seeing that the land was barren and pitying, Lord Luo discussed with the minister and rented the land at the price of one tael of silver per mu a year, and got a total of 50,000 taels of silver. As for this silver, the minister has already written to the governor of the yamen and served as part of Xiangyong's salary. When the county collects grain at the end of the year, you must explain clearly to the Shaofu that these 5,000 hectares of land will be exempted. After Lord Luo arrives in a while, he will hand over the accounts and bills to you. Did you hear me? ”

Hu Xuan said with a bitter face: "Uncle Fang didn't talk about this matter to the lower officials?" ”

Zeng Guofan said: "Hu Mingfu, you don't have to worry. This matter, after I return to the provincial capital, I will explain it clearly to Xu Fangbo. What's more, I have written to the governor's yamen in advance, and the governor's yamen has agreed. ”

Hu Xuan stopped talking, just lowered his head and drank tea sullenly, his face was very unhappy.

After Luo Zenan arrived, he sent people to pack up his things and handled the settlement with Hu Xuan; Zeng Guofan responded in front of the pro-military camp and rushed out of the city to the camp.

When he arrived at the camp, Zeng Guofan ordered people to load some of the grain and grass and the cannons obtained from Chibi to the provincial capital first, and Wang Ju's battalion of men and horses accompanied the ship with some errand officials.

Before leaving, Zeng Guofan told Wang Zhu that after arriving at the provincial capital, only grain and grass were transported into the provincial capital, and the cannons were not unloaded, and they were directly escorted to Hengyang and handed over to Liu Changyou for safekeeping.

Ships large and small quickly faded into the night.

Five days later, the first battalion of the standard that was originally stationed in Yueyang rushed over.

In the afternoon of the same day, Zeng Guofan ordered all the people of Xiangyong to board the boat and return to the province.

On the day Zeng Guofan returned to the provincial capital, he sent two of his henchmen to secretly visit and smash the secret instructions of the Issuance and Examination Bureau. Zeng Guofan concluded that if the Green Battalion soldiers were not instigated, they would not have the courage to do so.

When Zeng Guofan arrived at the Issuance Examination Bureau, the smashed Issuance Examination Bureau had been renovated by the Governor Yamen and ordered Shouxian County to be as before.

Zeng Guofan sat in the detention room and rested for a while, and then asked the old master with two errand officials to open the basement and move hundreds of files from the Issuance and Examination Bureau into the file room to clean up. After two days of cleaning, I found that not a single page was missing.

When the old master reported the cleanup to Zeng Guofan, Zeng Guofan couldn't help but smile and said, "Thanks to putting it in the underground warehouse!" Otherwise, I really can't imagine what the consequences will be. Now you should send all these files to the yamen of the Imperial Palace, and they will keep them in a unified manner. It doesn't matter if the doors and windows are smashed, if there is a mistake in these files, it will be a big deal! We can't always live with our hearts! ”

The old master said respectfully: "What the lord said is very true, I will do it immediately." ”

After the old master went down, Zeng Guofan passed Xiao Fusi in and instructed: "Fusi, how did I do with you?" ”

Xiao Fusi replied: "I sent two people to watch him secretly, and he couldn't run." ”

Zeng Guofan pondered for a moment and said, "You invite him to the court first, and at the same time, invite all the people on the case to wait." I'll get over when I'm done with what I'm doing. ”

Xiao Fusi agreed to walk out. (End of chapter)