Reading guide: "Counting boats, guns, and water warriors is not something that can be done in January. The minister looked at the world in the north and read the sorrow of his father; Looking at the Wanjiang River in the east, it is painful to relieve the danger of Lu. The heart is like a pound, and it is difficult to settle for a moment. And where the situation is, the relationship is very serious, and there are those who can't come out hastily, and they must be able to do it next spring. And the artillery purchased by Guangdong, Zhang Jingxiu hired and recruited bravely, are all in accordance with the order of the Qing River, if the minister does not supervise the accompaniment, it will be lost the emperor's order to coordinate the overall situation, nor is it the heart of the minister and Wu Wenrong and other four provinces to defend together. The ministers were slow to consider and plan the overall situation, and they had to show them one by one. ”

。。 Excerpt from Zeng Guofan's "Preparation for the Brave Expedition of the Water and Land to Anhui to Suppress the Cannons in Guangdong Province and to Chu Nai"

"Now that the funds are scarce and the people's resources are difficult, even if the donation is not beneficial. The minister came to Heng for more than two months, and only persuaded him to donate money and 10,000 strings, and he was repeatedly advised, but he was not enthusiastic. ”

。。 Excerpt from Zeng Guofan's "Please Donate and Lose into the New Example of Fundraising"

When the oracle was urgently issued to Hengzhou, Zhang Jingxiu of Youjiang Province in Guangxi had already left Hengzhou for more than a month, and on the order of Zeng Guofan, he led people to Shaozhou to meet the small cannons purchased and transported from the West in Guangdong.

Because after the initial sea trial, it is not easy to get on the water of the river above Lechang; Heavy artillery of more than 1,000 catties is especially difficult to move the ridge. After repeated discussions with Chengmingbiao, Zhu Ruhang, and Zhang Jingxiu, Zeng Guofan decided that in addition to the extra-large warships such as Tugu and Changlong, other types of warships should be equipped with as few heavy guns as possible and more light guns. The warships converted from civilian ships were all equipped with light artillery.

At the request of Luo Bingzhang, the governor of Hunan: "The feudal lord of Zeng Guo brought water and land to Xiangyong to go out of the province to aid Anhui, and all the food was produced by Hunan Province, and it was really difficult to raise it" The imperial court specially allowed the provinces to allocate the salaries and silver of the second battalion in Jiangnan and Jiangbei, and allocated a part of it to Xiangyong.

In order to prevent the silver from being intercepted by other provinces on the way, Zeng Guofan sent Luo Zenan to lead two battalions and respond by separate routes.

But at this time, Xiangyong is no longer the Xiangyong when he was founded, buying ships and guns, hiring craftsmen and servants, all of which are indispensable for silver. Although the imperial court divided some silver from Jiangnan and Jiangbei, because Xu Youren held the belief that "Hunan Yong has no responsibility to pay if he does not leave Hunan Province", the salary in Zeng Guofan's hands was short from time to time.

In order to raise money, in desperation, Zeng Guofan and Luo Bingzhang wrote to discuss and plan to publish a kind of military merit license, from six to nine grades, according to the amount of silver, according to the amount of money.

Luo Bingzhang saw that Zeng Guofan's salary was really empty, and Xu Youren insisted that "there are only 5,000 silver in the treasury, and I can't get any more", so he had to agree to Zeng Guofan's proposal. However, he wrote to Zeng Guofan that he could not use the official defense of the Issuance and Examination Bureau, and only allowed to use the seal of the Fu Domain. Luo Bingzhang was actually restricting Zeng Guofan's authority.

Zeng Guofan then sent a large number of personnel to various prefectures, prefectures, and counties to handle this matter. In order to raise salaries, Zeng Guofan has been really broken out of his brain for more than two years.

There is no money to pay, there is nowhere to buy military rations, Xu Youren is not allowed to allocate money to the treasury, and Luo Bingzhang is not guilty of both ends.

In view of all kinds of difficulties, on the day of receiving the order, Zeng Guofan played two pieces overnight, "Preparing for the Water and Land to Go to Anhui to Suppress Guangdong Province to Relieve Artillery to Chu Nai", and "Please Use Hunan Caomi" and "Please Donate and Lose into the New Example of Raising Salary".

Preparing for the preparation of the land and water to go to Anhui to suppress the Guangdong Province to relieve the artillery to Chu Naike said: "Since the loss of defense in Tianjia Town, the governor Wu Wenrong, the minister Luo Bingzhang and the ministers have written back and forth to discuss more than ten times, all saying that the provinces are divided into defenses, and the troops are too much and the troops are thin. That is, with Zhang Fu and Jiang Zhongyuan, it is also said that the four provinces are the way to cooperate in defense, and they are also planning to suppress the policy of blocking. The minister repeated the previous month, and Zeng Yan said that the boat division had a clue, and it was led by the minister himself and sailed downstream. Before this edict, Weichen's ambition had already led his division to the east and expressed his anger. The situation is heavily appointed with a new life, and the heavens praise it, and You Chenzi is dedicated to the autumn, and he dares not to donate his heels, and he is anxious to report in case of emergency. However, there are only one gunboat, and there are really those who should not be hastily engaged in it. After the minister sent the fold, that is, the dove workers purchased materials, tried to build, and made a number of sample ships. The craftsmen are too raw, and the scale is too small, not enough to suppress the waves of the Yangtze River and not enough to win the earthquake of the giant cannon. Recently, he was sent by the Fuchen Department to the Navy Division to guard a member of the famous standard, and was consulted by the Governor and the Fuchen Department to Guangdong to draw two kinds of towing and fast crab boat types. At the beginning, pay attention to the details, re-manufacture according to the fast crab style, and now build No. 10 first, and add No. 20 or 30, which must be able to carry more than 1,000 catties of cannons in the middle cabin, and hundreds of catties of cannons on both sides, which is enough to strengthen the military and destroy the flames. However, the newly built ship is not ready, and even if it is done day and night, it will be difficult to do it. The oil is not dry, and it is heavy and astringent when it enters the water; The twisted ash is not solidified, and the cannon suffers from its crispness. It must be outside of January, but you can go down to the river. To buy the old ship at the unit price, modify the deck, its force is slightly saved, and it is less than the day. However, as many as two or three hundred, it will take more than a month. If the number of covers is too small, the momentum is too lonely, the ship of thieves has not been encountered, and the heart of our army is cowardly. As for the towing vessels, the two lakes are ordered to supervise the manufacturers of the light. Wuchang is now making it, and it is unknown whether it is suitable or not. Hengzhou craftsmen are clumsy, and there is no trial manufacturing yet. This part of the excerpt talks about the manufacture and purchase of warships, and the following part of the excerpt is about the artillery and the recruitment of bravery: "As for the gun position, now there are only one hundred and fifty cannons in Hengcheng that have been solved in Guangxi. Although there are more than 300 newly built cannons in Changsha, in addition to being sent to Hubei Province and the defense of the city, there is no one who can be used to prepare war ships. Hearing that Zhang Jingxiu complied with the order to purchase 1,000 Yi guns and 1,000 cannons, and came to Chu from Shaozhou, the ministers came to this artillery position, which was enough to allocate them. The river above Telecon is not easy to get on the water; For cannons above 1,000 catties, it is especially difficult to move mountains. Considering the period when the road is balanced, that is, the matter of Weichen running the ship will also be ready. As for the recruitment of bravery, the letter of 6,000 letters from the former minister Tian Yong is because Jiang Zhongyuan is still guarding Jiangxi. Xuan Feng brought the courage of 6,000 will, which was also said to be the minister's rescue of Hubei. After the Wuchang was relieved, the minister did not go to Hubei for the time being, because the younger brother of Jiang Zhongyuan first took Chu Yong to Anhui, and the remaining 5,000 people, because the boat division has not yet been completed, so Lu Yong did not send it. Jinchen received this order, Lu Yong is already ready, and Shui Yong does not have a charter. The artillery warriors brought by Zhang Jingxiu and the newly recruited sailors in Hunan also had to form 4,000 people, which could form a team of their own. If the land and water armies are combined, the two phases will be flanked; Divided, each can stand on its own. It will not be washed away as soon as it encounters a large stock. The statistics of boats, guns, and water warriors are not something that can be done in January. The minister looked at the world in the north and read the sorrow of his father; Looking at the Wanjiang River in the east, it is painful to relieve the danger of Lu. The heart is like a pound, and it is difficult to settle for a moment. And where the situation is, the relationship is very serious, and there are those who can't come out hastily, and they must be able to do it next spring. And the artillery purchased by Guangdong, Zhang Jingxiu hired and recruited bravely, are all in accordance with the order of the Qing River, if the minister does not supervise the accompaniment, it will be lost the emperor's order to coordinate the overall situation, nor is it the heart of the minister and Wu Wenrong and other four provinces to defend together. The ministers were slow to consider and plan the overall situation, and they had to show them one by one. All the ministers prepared for the water and land bravely, went to Anhui to suppress the reason, and the six hundred miles of the post were repeated, and the emperor begged for the holy instructions. Sincerely. ”

Please mention Hunan Cao rice slices and say: "Again, the ministers heard that the towns along the river below Hubei are empty, thousands of miles of depression, and there is nothing to buy department stores." As soon as the minister came out this time, he had to reserve most of the rice, salt, oil, salaries and other things, and load them on ships, that is, use water as a grain platform, so that the soldiers would not have to suffer from lack of food, and there would be no risk of collapse. Check this year's Hunan Cao rice, although there is a proposal to change the levy and change the color, and the state and county still abide by the decree and collect it as usual. Accordingly, please ask the quasi-minister to use 20,000 or 30,000 stones. The matter is urgent, and the minister is playing on the one hand, and on the other hand, he consults with the superintendent, and mentions the rice in Shuizhou County, and quickly redeems it. After the redemption is confirmed, a county actually pays a number of stones. Then look at the list and consult the household department to check and handle it. I would like to enclose a piece of the news. ”

Please include donations in the new example of fundraising: "Again, now that funds are scarce and the people's resources are difficult, even if the donation is not beneficial." The minister came to Heng for more than two months, and only persuaded him to donate money and 10,000 strings, and he was repeatedly advised, but he was not enthusiastic. This is the bureau of the donation of the city workers, and the donors who report to the city workers must be clearly discussed after the completion of the construction before the official license is given. The interval between the date of the audit and the date of issuance of the license is usually three or four years away. The villagers are ignorant, often because the ministry has not arrived, and they suspect that the person who handles it may have cheats, so the donation is more and more wait-and-see. Accordingly, the request was issued to the Ministry for inspection. This time, those who have been reported by the city work regulations are still allowed to be included in the new regulations on salary raising. The minister will issue a ministerial license at any time. Later, wherever the ministers went to camp, such as Hubei, Anhui and other provinces, they were allowed to solicit donations everywhere, and a case of consulting the ministry was still issued at any time. At present, the southern province is in turmoil, and the people are enthusiastic about underwriting, and there are about many people who are willing to give false titles, and few people who are willing to give real positions. It is so accommodating. The name of the imperial court was not damaged, and the help of the military camp was not without a small supplement. The grace of the beggar is prostrate, and the ministry is to check and handle it, and I would like to attach a piece of request. ”

The master transcribed the manuscript of one fold and two pieces clearly, and Zeng Guofan immediately sent a fast horse to send the fold and piece to the governor Yamen to pay homage on his behalf.

Zeng Guofan may never have dreamed that his folded piece arrived in Beijing and almost caused a killing disaster for himself! (End of chapter)