Reading guide: There are many heroes, only Wang Zhu is missing, the master is inexplicable, and the handsome man is at a loss.

"It is not difficult to increase the number of soldiers, but it is difficult to raise salaries; It is not difficult to recruit brave, but difficult to lead brave people; It is not difficult to fight on land, but difficult to fight on water. The Yangtze River is thousands of miles, and if you want to curb the thief's edge, you must have a strong water division to break the thief's edge and hit the thief by seven inches. ”

Zeng Guofan's words revealed the key to defeating the Taiping army.

Xiangyong sailors are grass-created, there are brave but no ships, there are ships without cannons; Expand the recruitment of Lu Yong, although the people are neat, but they lack guns and artillery, and they have short food and salary. At this time, Zeng Guofan was really difficult.

One person came over at the right time......

The generals and Zeng Guofan re-saluted, and Zeng Guofan sat in the center. The generals sat down in turn.

On Zeng Guofan's left sat Luo Zenan and Taqibu, and on his right sat Liu Changyou and Yu Ruhang. After aiding Jiangxi, Luo Zenan was promoted to Zhili Prefecture because of his merits. Among the civil officials in the zaza, except for Zeng Guofan, Luo Zenan's top son is the best.

Zeng Guofan's eyes swept over the faces of the generals one by one, and he couldn't help whispering to Luo Zenan: "Pushan didn't come after all, I really can't get out of it." Isn't there really anything going on in his family? ”

Luo Zenan whispered: "I wrote him a handwritten letter. If there's anything going on in his house, I can know it. ”

Luo Zenan was hinting at Zeng Guofan, and the fact that Wang Ju was not present had nothing to do with him.

Zeng Guofan smiled and said: "Guo Hanlin is now by Jiang Futai's side to praise the military, Lord Liu has not returned to raise funds in other provinces, and there is something in the camp in Wang County. In addition to these three adults, almost all of my Xiangyong land and sailor battalion officers, pipe belts, and gang leaders have arrived. You are all my relatives, old friends, and friends, and they are also my brothers and sisters, and they are also my heroes in the future of the Qing Dynasty. With that, Zeng Guofan slowly stood up and hugged his fists at the generals in the room: "I Zeng Disheng is here, first for me Hunan, for Daqing, thank you!" ”

Seeing Zeng Guofan like this, the generals hurriedly got up and returned the salute.

Tazib said, "Your Excellency, don't say that. We followed the adults, just to exterminate the Cantonese bandits and return a pure land to the people of the Qing Dynasty; made meritorious contributions, in order to seal his wife and son in the future. I'm sure that what I, Ta Chi Pavilion, said, is what the adults and the pipe belt want to say to the adults. ”

Bao Chao shouted: "Lord Xietai is a big bug in my stomach!" He spoke what was in my heart. ”

Bao Chao's words burst into laughter.

Bao Chao said inexplicably: "What are you laughing at? Am I not right? ”

Zeng Guofan looked at Bao Chao with disgust and said, "Chunting, you are talking nonsense again!" Beware of Jijeong's spanking of your ass! ”

Taqibu hurriedly said to Zeng Guofan: "Chun Ting is a straight man and will not turn around. He said that he was not annoyed by any despicable duties. ”

Xiao Fusi, who had been speechless, said at this time: "Lord Xietai, there are still me. I'm also a straight person! ”

Zeng Guofan sat down, motioned for the generals to sit down, and then said: "As soon as the minister sent Wang Huihui away, the head of the expedition sent out sent back the report: the Cantonese bandits have retreated from Hubei, Wuchang has been relieved, and Wu Zhijun has personally led the battalions to camp outside the city; Qinglin's six battalions also drove more than 50 miles outside the city, and formed a horn with the governor. Now in Wuchang City, there are only the Fubiao of Chongfutai and the two battalions of Wuchang Association. General Tai Yong and Deputy Commander Guan Wen also stepped up their training of the men and horses of their headquarters, wanting to fight to the death with the Cantonese bandits. ”

Zeng Guofan picked up the tea bowl and took a sip of tea.

Luo Zenan said: "Listen to what you always say, I Xiangyong now, don't I have to go out of the province?" ”

Zeng Guofan put down the tea bowl and said: "Yong has not practiced the ship and cannons, even if he has the heart to go out of the province, how can he fight with the Cantonese bandits?" The brave men who were finally recruited should be cherished. What's more, Fan Xie, the chief soldier of Yongzhou Town, has already supervised the headquarters and deployed in Changsha. Now in the provincial capital, there is a Fu standard, there is a promotion, and now there is a town mark of Fan Zongzhen, and there is no big problem in defense. You may not know that the imperial court has sent 1,000 guns and 200 breech guns from various provinces to our Xiangyong battalions, and 1,000 Taixi guns from Shanghai. Yesterday, this minister also received a quick letter from Li Yunguan, and I issued a review bureau and just intercepted another batch of gunpowder that was shipped to the camp in Jiangnan. This is the foundation of my Xiangyong! ”

Luo Zenan muttered in a low voice: "If we are needed, there will be guns and cannons, salaries and food; No need, kick it away, I can't wait to cut it off immediately! ”

Zeng Guofan quietly touched Luo Zenan with his foot. Luo Zenan knew that he was speechless, and hurriedly picked up the tea bowl and drank tea to cover it up. But Luo Zenan's words were still heard by some people.

Peng Yulin said at this time: "My lord, didn't the imperial court say that it had already sent Zhang Jingxiu of Youjiang Province in Guangxi to observe, and purchased thousands of Yi Cannon and Guangzhou Artillery, and wanted to come to Hengzhou?" Why hasn't he seen any movement? Did Zhang get up from the end? Most of the civilian ships have been transformed, and the artillery equipment is missing. ”

Zeng Guofan frowned and said: "Speaking of which, Zhang Jingxiu observed, not only to escort artillery equipment, but also to hire craftsmen, and to avoid the interception of the Cantonese bandit army. It's going to take some time. I have calculated it, no matter what, Zhang Observation should have set off from Youjiang Ren. Cannons can only be used after training. The craftsmen who installed the cannon were also hired from the people. This or that takes a certain amount of time. We are in a hurry, maybe Zhang Observation is even more urgent. ”

Yu Ruhang said at this time: "My lord, it makes sense that Xueqin is in a hurry. Imagine that only a few of the ships of the battalions of our naval division have been equipped with artillery equipment. Shui Yong had already been recruited, but he could not conduct formal training. Shui Yong is different from Lu Yong, mainly relying on the use of large cannons, fast guns, and carrying guns to fight. The gunner skillfully ignites the magnifying cannon, and it takes a long time for the instructor to do so. The sooner the gunners are on board, the gunners will be able to train a day earlier! ”

Yang Zaifu said at this time: "Now Shui Yong's underwater and shipboard kung fu has been almost trained. The lowly is beginning to practice the kung fu of firing guns on the ship, making knives and hooking guns. ”

Zeng Guofan said: "All battalions of the sailors must remember: no matter when Zhang Zhi arrives, the drill must not be slackened. At the beginning of the mission, the minister once said: It is not difficult to increase the number of troops but to raise salaries for thieves today; It is not difficult to recruit brave, but difficult to lead brave people; It is not difficult to fight on land, but difficult to fight on water. The Yangtze River is thousands of miles, and if you want to curb the thief's edge, you must have a strong water division to break the thief's edge and hit the thief by seven inches. I don't mean to trivialize the land route, because we don't quite understand the reality of the war on the water. And water warfare is the weakness of my Qing Dynasty. This minister is groping for the laws of water warfare, and you are also groping for pipe bands. After Zhang observed, we should ask him for more advice, and we must not be self-righteous. Now think about it more, in order to be able to win in the future, retreat and defend, and be invincible. ”

Luo Zenan said: "The Cantonese bandits suddenly retreated from Wuchang and gave me time for the sailors to practice. This is God bless me Xiangyong, train into a strong team! ”

Tazib said, "What Lord Luo said is very true. Wuchang is not strict, how can we settle down to train! ”

Zeng Guofan pondered deeply and said: "This minister thinks that the Cantonese bandits will not give up Wuchang easily. He retreated now, maybe it was a ploy. Attacking the east and attacking the west is a method commonly used by Cantonese bandits. We must make good use of this time and step up our training to prevent accidents. ”

Taqibu said: "My lord, Wuchang has lifted the strictness, and my water and land battalions have temporarily suspended leaving the province, and the emperor doesn't know about it." Humble and appropriate, you always seem to have to give a break to the top, right? ”

Luo Zenan hurriedly said: "Zhiting is right. You should always give the court a compromise, and explain the reason for the suspension of leaving the province clearly. There are a few bigwigs in the court, but they have been using their eyes to peek at you Lao and Xiangyong! At this special time, you can't give someone a handle! ”

Zeng Guofan smiled slightly and said: "You just don't remind you that this excerpt for the imperial court is also for this minister." ”

At this time, a personal soldier walked in with a resume in his hand, and said to Zeng Guofan: "Lord Yu, Guangxi Youjiang Daozhang observes and asks to see." ”

The soldiers handed over their resumes to Zeng Guofan.

Zeng Guofan took it, opened it and looked at it, got up and said, "Say Cao Cao, Cao Cao is here!" Hurry up, please! Spread the word to the room, prepare wine and dinner immediately, and let's all wash the dust for Zhang Observation! ”

After Zeng Guofan finished speaking, he personally greeted him out. When all the generals saw Zeng Guofan like this, they all hurriedly got up.

Zhang Jingxiu, who was in the dust, had already strode in.

Although Zhang Jingxiu is close to the age of sixteen, because he has been serving in Guangxi, he has not met Zeng Guofan, and after coming in, he hurriedly looked around. Zhang Jingxiu's beard was gray, his face was wrinkled, and he looked like a weather-beaten magistrate serving in the frontier.

Zeng Guofan saw that Zhang Jingxiu was much older than himself, so he abandoned red tape, grabbed Zhang Jingxiu's hand, and said with a smile: "Zhang Observation, you have been bumpy all the way, sleeping in the open air, hard work!" On behalf of Xiangyongshui and Lu Battalions, I would like to thank you! You are the savior of my Xiangyong sailor! ”

When Zhang Jingxiu heard this, he was shocked and said, "Could it be that you are always Lord Zeng?" ”

Zeng Guofan smiled: "It's Zeng Disheng!" I was at first sight with observation! ,,Hurry up and set up tea for the observation adults! ”

When Zhang Jingxiu heard this, he hurriedly broke free from Zeng Guofan's hand, took a step back, and then made three waves at Zeng Guofan. Zeng Guofan was helpless, so he had to answer three times. After three rounds, Zhang Jingxiu followed a court visit ceremony, and said: "Reward the four products, acting Guangxi Youjiang Road, Zhang Jingxiu, and I have seen the group practice of Lord Zeng." ”

Zeng Guofan hurriedly helped Zhang Jingxiu and said: "Observe Wan Mo Duo Li!" ”

At this time, the generals also hurriedly left their seats in turn and bowed to Zhang Jingxiu. Zhang Jingxiu returned the salute one by one, meticulously. It was busy for half an hour before everyone sat down.

Why was Zhang Jingxiu shocked when he saw Zeng Guofan, who came forward? This involves the issue of the Great Qing Rite System.

According to the regulations of the Qing Dynasty official system, the division and the road saw the superintendent, got off the sedan chair outside the gate, and entered through the left door. At first sight, I used my resume and handbook, with supplementary clothes, court attendance, supervision, caress and support, and three strokes. Supervise and return three times. Zeng Guofan is a registered squire, so Si and Dao naturally want to see him with the gift of seeing the governor and fu. Zeng Guofan did not have time for Zhang Jingxiu to make a ceremony and attend the court, so he took his hand first, although it was not a chaotic system, but it was a self-depreciation, so Zhang Jingxiu was surprised and puzzled.

In fact, Zhang Jingxiu didn't know Zeng Guofan's actual thoughts. Zeng Guofan has never regarded himself as a squire since Ding Wei, especially after Xiangyong and Luying fell out of harmony. He just wants to train a strong force that can fight habitually according to his own intentions, wipe out the Cantonese bandits, share the worries of the imperial court, and return the people to a stable life.

After taking his seat, Zhang Jingxiu said: "Your Excellency, on the order of Lao Futai, I escorted 1,200 cannons, and nearly 20,000 bullets and yards, together with 72 artillery craftsmen, anchored on the third day of last two months. On the way, he encountered wind resistance four times and bypassed the long-haired troop carrier five times. It was only today that I came to Hengzhou. It was unfavorable to dismiss the artillery, delayed the military situation, and made me very uneasy. I hope that your sins will be forgiven. ”

Zeng Guofan said happily: "There is no merit in observation. The observer did not know that Wuchang has now been lifted, and Xiang Yong can suspend leaving the province. Zhang observed, in addition to escorting the cannons to transport the craftsmen, did the cannons that this minister entrusted Laofutai to purchase on behalf of also be transported? ”

Zhang Jingxiu said: "My lord, when the Dao set sail, the ships escorting the cannons had not yet been imported. However, Lao Futai asked the priest to send a message to the adults, and in the next two days, the two hundred cannons purchased from Taixi could be imported. As soon as the ship is imported, day and night, the labor station will be loaded and shipped immediately, and the foreign teachers will go to Hengheng with the ship. ”

At this time, a pro-soldier announced: The wine and dinner have been prepared.

Zeng Guofan grabbed Zhang Jingxiu's hand, got up and said, "Zhang Observation, you have worked hard all the way, and it has been very hard. I prepared a table of thin wine and vegetarian dishes in the room, and I Xiangyongshui, Lu battalion pipes, and camp officials will pick up the wind and wash the dust for you. How is it? ”

Zhang Jingxiu waved at the generals and said, "How dare you be a professional? How dare you do it? With so many heroes appearing, isn't this a longevity to break the job? ”

Bao shouted: "Don't shirk the observation adults, my old Bao hasn't eaten chicken for more than ten days!" As soon as you refuse, Lord Zeng will definitely agree, I Lao Bao's chicken, and I don't know how many years it will take to eat it in my mouth! ”

Zeng Guofan smiled at Zhang Jingxiu: "His name is Bao Chunting, he is the battalion officer of Xiangyong, and he scolds me for being stingy behind my back all day long. We're done with dinner, you see I don't beat his ass! (End of chapter)