Reading guide: Zou Jiqi suffered a knife wound in the back, and the commander of Xiangyong wanted to cry without tears, and he lost his teeth and bloody throat.

The sentry chief relied on his great merits, proud of the court, looked down on the ministers of the regiment, and cheapened the mosquitoes in the grass.

No one could have imagined that the group training was blooming everywhere, and the first person to sleep unsteadily was not King Hongtian, but the Qing Emperor.

"The Manchurians are unreliable, and the emperor of today is also unreliable."

Zuo Zongtang said a sentence that the Han people did not dare to say.

"The virtuous nephew's current sailor, he has practiced all the fists and embroidered legs, and he really fights hands, and it is useless! Such a sailor, if you don't practice, you can get it! The long-haired sailor, fierce! ”

The words of Yang Zaifu's old clan relatives woke up the Xiangyong Navy Division and shocked the commander of Xiangyong.

The soldiers walked in......

Zeng Guofan sneered and said, "Zhao Meng, what do you have to say?" Could it be that what you are saying is not the truth? ”

Zhao Meng kowtowed like pounding garlic and said: "The crime of despicability deserves death!" I beg your lords to forgive you! There are a few things that are not true. It was a despicable and anxious situation, and the co-subordinate soldiers beat Xiang Yong, saying that Xiang Yong beat the co-subordinate soldiers. ”

At this time, a pro-soldier came in and said, "Lord Yu, the Zou pipe belt of the Chenzi Battalion has arrived." ”

Zeng Guofan shouted: "Pass! Zeng Guofan said so loudly, obviously angry with Zhao Meng.

Zhao Meng was so frightened that he trembled, and said in a loud voice: "The lowly position already knows that it is wrong, I just ask the adults to be kind and give the lowly position a way out." The lowly family of the old and the young all rely on the lowly position to live alone! ”

Zeng Guofan was shocked: "You shut up this minister!" Hello so bold! Dare to openly reverse right and wrong and talk nonsense in the public court! Sin is one more! ”

Zou Jiqi, who was dressed in the official uniform of the Xiangyong Battalion, strode up to the hall under the guidance of his own soldiers.

After the ceremony, Zeng Guofan asked: "Zou Jiqi, as the commander of the Chenzi battalion, you can't restrain the generals well, resulting in soldiers fighting each other and causing a big disaster." Are you guilty? ”

As soon as Zou Jiqi heard this, his knees weakened, he fell to his knees, bowed his head and said, "My lord, I am humble and guilty." No matter how the adults punish, they are willing to accept it. ”

Zeng Guofan nodded with satisfaction and said, "Zou Jiqi, in front of Yongshun Xiezhao Guandai, you told the story of what happened that day. No concealment, let alone lying. Look up and speak. ”

Zou Jiqi raised his head and said, "Lord Xie lifts." After breakfast that day, the lowly commander took the sentinels to the playground to gather. Because the people of Xietai did not come to see the drill that day, the lowly post followed the previous drill procedures and first ordered each whistle to practice the steps. When they were standing in line, Yongshunxie's people rushed over with guns and knives. Zou Jiqi said this, pointed at Zhao Meng and said: "It is this Zhao Guandao, shouting while rushing: 'The provincial city is from the green camp, and the regimental training will go out of the city.'" If you don't roll, you will be beaten to death with a stick! The posts were beaten and scattered. At that time, he hurriedly rode over and asked this Zhao Guandao for the reason. I was cut by him. The lowly body was crooked, but his back still did not dodge. Because of the excessive bleeding, the lowly had to go to the camp to bandage. As Zou Jiqi spoke, he took off his shirt and underwear, and rushed his back towards Zeng Guofan.

Zeng Guofan took a closer look and saw that Zou Jiqi's back was wrapped in a white cloth towel, and the blood oozing from it dyed the white cloth red. The wound was clearly deep.

Looking at Zou Jiqi's back, Zeng Guofan's eyes turned red.

He calmed down, narrowed his eyes and asked Zhao Meng: "Zhao Meng, have you heard Zou Jiqi's words clearly?" “

Zhao Meng kowtowed and cried: "I know that I am wrong, and I will never dare to do it again in the future." “

Zeng Guofan burst out from between his teeth: "It's a pity, it's too late for you to know your mistake now。。 Pull him out, beat him with fifty sticks, throw him on death row, and wait for him to fall! ”

When Zhao Meng heard the words "death row", he fainted in fright.

Death row is not an ordinary cell, it is a small cell dedicated to prisoners to be beheaded. All prisoners who are imprisoned here are not only chained to their bodies, but also heavily guarded. None of the prisoners who came in made it out alive.

The sentry commander who had just taken Zhao Meng away and was able to dispense aphrodisiac was brought in by his own soldiers.

After the sentry chief came to the court, he first bowed deeply to Zeng Guofan, and said: "I have seen Master Zeng in the regimental training. ”

The intention of the sentry commander to say this was nothing more than to remind Zeng Guofan that he was a member of the Green Battalion, not a regimental exercise. In other words, he was not under the rule of the Zeng State Domain. If Zeng Guofan comes, the military gate will not agree; Even if the military gate agrees, the imperial court will not agree.

Zeng Guofan smiled and asked quietly: "Who is in the hall, report your name." ”

The sentry chief said: "Lord Zeng, the humble position is to reward the six grades, and the candidate battalion commander will raise the standard for Zhang Jin, the middle outpost of the left army." ”

Zeng Guofan nodded and asked, "Zhang Jin, do you know what crime you have committed?" ”

Zhang Jin replied: "Master Zeng, who is in charge of the regiment, should not be with the officers and soldiers of the Yongshun Association to make trouble with the Issuance and Examination Bureau. ”

Zeng Guofan looked at Zhang Jin and said, "Zhang Jin, you are very good at clearing your name." Come and make trouble with the Issuance and Examination Bureau, how light are you talking about。。 You are instigating the officers and soldiers to mutiny! The court is not thin on you, how can you do this thing that hurts relatives and makes enemies happy? It's a pity for your age! That's it! ”

Zhang Jin said: "Master Zeng, what you always say, I can't understand what you say. Can you speak more clearly? If the military asks, it is easy to answer the lowly position, no? ”

Zeng Guofan said: "If you want to listen, this minister will tell you one by one." The old errand officer of the Issuance Examination Bureau, who is nearly seventy years old, has beaten him so much that he vomits blood, and he can't get out of bed yet; Taxietai's beloved BMW horses, you can bear to kill them! You've lost your mind. Do you still want to hear it? ”

Zhang Jin said seriously: "Master Zeng, what you always say, why don't you know anything about your humble position?" Humble and hand-to-hand errand officer? Kill a horse? How is this possible? The strength of the humble body is specially designed for beating long hair; The lowly knife is specially designed for cutting Cantonese bandits. Adults are telling jokes, aren't they? ”

Zeng Guofan slapped the stunned wood and shouted: "Zhang Jin, you are still smug when you die。。 Left and right, take off his top first! ”

A soldier pounced over and took off Zhang Jin's crown.

Zhang Jin was not afraid, he looked up to the sky and laughed, and said in his mouth: "Humble duty is not a cat or a dog, humble duty is a great merit!" Humble duties are of great merit! If you want to ask about the crime of despicability, first ask the court if you agree! ”

Zeng Guofan's eyes narrowed and said: "Zhang Jin, don't say that you have made great contributions, you just have a card to avoid death, and this minister will also send you back to the west。。 Pull him out and put him in a cage! As soon as the king's order arrives, he will immediately ask for beheading! ”

The pro-soldier grabbed Zhang Jin's braid with his backhand, followed by a kick. Zhang Jin stumbled and slammed headlong out of the door.

After Zhang Jin was escorted out, he promoted the commander of the right army and listed the generals involved in this post one by one.

The list was presented to Zeng Guofan.

Zeng Guofan roughly counted them, and when he saw the martial arts of the first grade above, there were more than ten people. Zeng Guofan's heart was secretly surprised.

Zeng Guofan ordered the sentry commander to be escorted back to the prison, and Xuan selected a few ordinary soldiers from the two battalions on the left and right of the promotion, as well as Yongshun Xiezhong, and asked. The cause of the case is basically clear.

After retiring, Zeng Guofan took the copywriting and sorted out the confessions of several people. sat in the signing room, took the secret letter that Zuo Zongtang had just delivered, and wanted to read it again.

At this time, the soldiers came in to report: "My lord, after Zhang Jin was put in a wooden cage, he kept shouting, which provoked many people, and they all gathered outside the gate of the Issuance and Examination Bureau to watch. Li Guandao was afraid of causing trouble, so he specially asked my lord, should I put this one in prison first? ”

Zeng Guofan thought for a moment and said, "Carry the wooden cage into the grass behind the house." Strip Zhang Jin's clothes and let the mosquitoes celebrate the New Year. Tell Li Guandao to send a few more people to watch him. Such a wicked act can't let him die too easily. ”

The soldier smiled and walked out.

Soon, in the grass behind the house of the Issuance Examination Bureau against the fence, Zhang Jin's hysterical shouts were heard. The mosquitoes have apparently started the New Year.

Zeng Guofan had already read Zuo Zongtang's letter, so why did he read it again?

It turned out that in this letter, Zuo Zongtang revealed a top-secret news to Zeng Guofan: the imperial court has recently been very dissatisfied with the Jingzhou general Taiyong, and it is possible to transfer to another place; Among Chonglun and Qinglin, if Chonglun is appointed governor of Hubei, Qinglin will be the general of Jingzhou. The pattern of the officialdom of the two lakes will undergo great changes. In the letter, Zuo Zongtang asked Zeng Guofan to find an opportunity to tell Luo Bingzhang: It is better for Qingde to be temporarily detained in Hunan and not sent to Hubei; If Qinglin takes over as the general of Jingzhou, Qingde will not only not be dismissed, but may also be promoted. Zuo Zongtang went on to say in the letter: In this way, not only Zeng Guofan is in Changsha and is in a dilemma, but even Luo Bingzhang may be transferred to other provinces. After Zuo Zongtang's letter, he hoped that Zeng Guofan would speed up the pace of practicing bravery, so as to prevent the previous achievements from being wasted and increasing the laughing stock of the world.

Zuo Zongtang said at the end of the letter: Manchu people are unreliable, and today's emperor is also unreliable.

Zuo Zongtang's very outrageous words scared Zeng Guofan's boss.

Zuo Zongtang's purpose in writing this letter is very clear: as long as Zeng Guofan trains Xiangyong into a strong team, don't say that some Manchu people can't help him, even today, they can't help him.

Putting the letter in the envelope, Zeng Guofan fell into deep thought.

After the cutting of the three feudatories, the Manchus were in charge of almost all the troops of the Qing Dynasty, and the Han people were not allowed to take charge of the army.

After the reduction of the three feudatories, although the provinces have been constantly in flames, the Qing Dynasty was still able to maintain peace and stability, mainly because the army was firmly controlled by the Manchus. After Hong Xiuquan made a big fuss, the troops of the provinces were insufficient, and the Qing court allowed the provinces to initiate group training only when they were forced to do so. However, as the supreme ruler of the country, Xianfeng, on the one hand, tried to use the power of the Han people to achieve the goal of eliminating the rebellion of the Han people; On the one hand, it is also conducting multi-faceted surveillance of regimental training in various provinces and fortifying on all sides.

The group exercises bloomed everywhere, and the first one who couldn't sleep well was not King Hongtian, but the Qing Emperor.

Sometimes when I think about it, Zeng Guofan feels very disheartened. But he also knew that if King Hong was allowed to mess around, even if the Manchus were forced out of the customs and the world would be changed to the surname Hong, this great country would be even worse. The people will have only the day of God, and there will be no day, and there will be no kingdom.

Thinking about headache and brain fever, Zeng Guofan got up and walked out of the signing room, and wanted to take a look at the street scene outside the gate to relax his nerves.

A quick letter from Hengzhou came in.

Zeng Guofan had to sit back at the table and open the letter to read it, but it was jointly written by Liu Changyou, Peng Yulin, and Yang Zaifu.

This letter surprised Zeng Guofan.

After Yang Zaifu led a battalion of sailors, an elder clan came to him, wanting to find a bowl of rice. This old clan member once worked as a sailor on the Guangxi Red Single, and was later pushed down by a distant relative of the commander. heard that Yang Zaifu had become a battalion officer of the Xiangyong Water Division, so he resolutely came to vote.

Yang Zaifu saw that he was old and no longer suitable to be a sailor, so he arranged for him to work as an errand in the house.

One day, Yang Zaifu was taking Shui Yong to train on the river, and the old clan came to deliver food with the people in the room. Seeing that Xiangyong Sailor was training, he stopped and watched.

When Yang Zaifu saw him watching the exercises, he asked, "Little uncle, does the red single boat also train often?" ”

The old clan replied: "Not only the officers and men on the ship must be trained frequently, but even those of us who are sailors must be trained frequently."

As soon as Yang Zaifu heard this, he asked: "Little uncle, you have always seen the world. What do you think of the drills of our sailors? What is the difference between a red single boat? Can you go into battle and kill the enemy? ”

The old clan looked at it for a long time and replied: "It should be possible to transport grain and troops, but it is not possible to kill the enemy." ”

Yang Zaifu said with a smile: "Little uncle doesn't know, the sailors of the two lakes are trained like this." ”

The old clan said very seriously: "Virtuous nephew, the red single boat is not the same as the boat in the inland sea. Hongdan has to fight with pirates on the ocean every day, and the sailors of the two lakes have really fought a few battles? If you are not afraid of the virtuous nephew's anger, the virtuous nephew's current sailor is practicing all the fists and embroidered legs, and it is useless to really fight each other! Such a sailor, if you don't practice, you can get it! The long-haired sailor, fierce! It's on par with pirates! ”

Yang Zaifu asked again: "Little uncle, how do you always look at the guns on our ship?" Can it be compared to the red list? ”

The old clan said: "Virtuous nephew, when it comes to artillery, as far as I know, among the provinces, the most advantageous is the cannon. But the cannon is no match for the artillery. The power of the cannon is really great! As soon as the cannon hits, our Zhubang ship will definitely be scattered! The smaller ones must sink to the bottom! ”

After the old clan returned to the camp, Yang Zaifu and Peng Yulin would be in the same place immediately. After discussion, both of them thought that the words of the old clan should not be underestimated. That night, the two of them rode horses again to find Liu Changyou. The three of them discussed the details of the training of the sailors for most of the night. It is unanimously agreed that if you continue to train blindly like this, you will only get half the result.

The next day, the three of them jointly wrote this letter to Zeng Guofan, proposing: Can they write to the governor Yamen of Guangdong and Guangxi, and recruit some military attaches from the ships of the two Guangxi naval divisions to train sailors for Xiangyong; At the same time, he also proposed to Zeng Guofan whether he could urgently ask the imperial court to demodulate the thousands of cannons for the Xiangyong Naval Division by the two Guangxi sides, and purchase some cannons on behalf of the Emperor as appropriate.

Zeng Guofan was surprised when he read the letter: Shui Yong's training is the key to the success of the sailor. And this is precisely the problem that he has been ignoring. Now that I think about it, although the sailor has been practicing for a long time, he still needs to start from scratch. This invisibly lengthened the time for Shui Yong to practice.

The letter from Liu Changyou and the three of them made Zeng Guofan so annoyed that he beat his chest.

Zeng Guofan got up and walked two steps, and immediately passed on someone to lay out paper and ink, and decided to send the letter to Liangguang first, and then fold it to the imperial court.

At this time, a pro-soldier strode in and said, "Lord Yu, *** Zhang Jin, I finally forgive." He said he had something to say to the adults. ”

Zeng Guofan asked: "For a while, he can't stand it?" It's not yet time for more mosquitoes! ”

The soldier replied: "My lord, the mosquitoes in the grass are not divided into night and day. Zhang Jin's body looked like he was wearing a red coat. The mosquitoes eat with round stomachs. ”

Zeng Guofan snorted with his nose and said, "This kind of inferior Ben is the best for mosquitoes to eat。。 Ordered the hall to hold the lamp and escort him over. ”

The pro-soldier agreed to go out. (End of chapter)