Chapter 165: Zeng Guofan's Painting of the River Circle (2)

The holy decree came one after another, and Zeng Guofan quickly invited Li Hongzhang to discuss the matter of going north to suppress the twist.

Li Hongzhang said: The two palaces are graceful and powerful, and it is difficult for the teacher to ride a tiger!

Zeng Guofan said: Shaoquan and the military affairs are always the same, stay in Xianghuai Yong to prevent the suppression of the north and the south, and the overall situation is stable, and you can still go on expeditions to other places.

Li Hongzhang said: The teacher climbed high and looked far, the rapids retreated bravely, Hongzhang only cared about small profits, and he was ashamed.

Zeng Guofan said: Shaoquan is polite, the bandit horse team is surging, the only way to curb it, to brake quietly, can stifle the rogues; It can be stationed in four towns of Linhuai, Anhui, Zhoukou, Henan, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, and Jining, Shandong; With a definite army, the undetermined will be controlled; One province is in an emergency, and three provinces are responding.

Li Hongzhang said: The teacher is reasonable.

Zeng Guo Fan Road: In addition to the fortification of the important town, the horse team tracks, clears the field, and clears the wall. If the thief runs, the Yellow River in the north, the Huai River in the south, the Shahe River and the Jialu River in the west, draw a river circle, dig and fortify, strangle his horse team, and seek opportunities to gather and annihilate.

Li Hongzhang said: The painting of the teacher is surrounded by the river, and there are many soldiers, and the courage of Hongzhang is the army given by the original teacher, and the teacher can be dispatched at will.

Zeng Guofan said: The flood has been extinguished, the general trend of twisting bandits has gone, this horse thief, can be described as the afterglow of the sunset, a few flashes, when it comes to extinguishing, don't worry too much. In the tenth year of Xianfeng, the Anqing Ordnance Institute was established, imitating steamers, steamers, foreign guns, and foreign cannons, and in three or four years, there was a slight success; Last year, I moved to Jinling, and I wanted to do a big job, but I had no choice but to disobey the holy will. Shaoquan's Jiangnan Machinery Manufacturing Bureau, can you make cannons?

Li Hongzhang said: Qi Qi teacher, I visited a foreigner to sell the iron factory, which has been purchased, and is now trying to make copper flowering cannons.

Zeng Guofan said: The ships and guns of foreigners are nothing but workmanship. We must seek the way of self-improvement, and start with learning ship artillery. At that time, foreign guns and cannons will be in hand, and the bandits will not be extinguished! Liu Mingchuan is an army, how is the combat power?

Li Hongzhang said: Qi Qi teacher, Liu Bu was ordered to help the monk to suppress the twist, I moved with his camera, and now I am resting and standby; Its department, with more than 10,000 soldiers, more than 4,000 foreign guns, more than 100 foreign artillery, jurisdiction over the left, center, and right three armies, each army six battalions, additional artillery battalions and pro-soldier battalions, a total of 20 battalions, the thieves have been suppressed for many years, and the combat power is acceptable.

Zeng Guofan said: Ming Jun waited and watched, so as not to make wedding clothes for others; However, the monk king folded in Caozhou, and the third province was also dismissed, which is our fault. The twisted bandit horse team is rampant, the Sheng army and the tree army are mostly infantry teams, and the Ming army is difficult to support alone. Guo Songlin suppressed bandits in Nanyue, I don't know when he triumphed?

Li Hongzhang said: Guo Zimei's courage is no less than Cheng Fangzhong, I immediately consulted Zuo Kejing, if the war in Nanyue slows down, quickly urge the Songzi battalion to return to the Song Battalion to suppress the twist.

Zeng Guofan said: Since Guo Songlin joined the army, he took the lead in the war, in the sixth year of Xianfeng, the Jizi battalion of Yuan Fu fought in Sanqutan, Guo Songlin was the first to fall into battle, and defeated Shi Dakai and rebelled against the army; After entering Shanghai, he fought with the puppet king Li Xiucheng for three days, breaking 100,000 thieves; Fight Changshu again, break the thief camp at the mouth of the three rivers, the thieves fight for the road, the six pontoon bridges are broken, the corpse is blocked by the river, and the water does not flow; Guo Songlin's courage is difficult to do.

Li Hongzhang said: Guo and Cheng's second army are all gifts from his mentor Hua Gon, and Hongzhang's first arrival in Shanghai is all thanks to the support of the second army; The grace of the spring, the dripping water is difficult to repay, Hongzhang can only do his best to help the teacher to wash the remnants.

That night, Zeng Guofan sent a letter to Zeng Guoquan: Brother Yuan is like a well, on the third day of the first month, he received the holy decree of leading his division north to Shandong to suppress the twist, and between hesitations, the two palaces sent instructions repeatedly.

The 16th Battalion of Jinling Yongding was tired of war, and it was not agreed until the eighth day of the first month that more than 3,000 people from the Renzi Battalion, the Junzi Battalion, the Jinzi Battalion, the Yuzi Battalion, and the Xingzi Battalion followed me to the north.

I thought about it again and again, and flew Liu Songshan's army with him; In addition, the commander-in-chief, Yi Kaijun, volunteered to join the war, and I also agreed.

In total, I led 9,000 people from Xiangyong and 22,000 people from Huaiyong, and in addition to Zhang Shusheng, Liu Mingchuan, and Zhou Shengbo, I also sent 5,000 people from Pan Dingxin to Tianjin by steamer.

The infantry is already thick, and it is only necessary to train horses. If the thief does not cross the Yellow River, it is not very difficult to suppress it, and once he crosses, he will be in a hurry, with thousands of eyes in suspense and ten thousand mouths of ridicule.

In the message, he urged Brother Yuan to go out of the mountain twice, and yesterday he also received an edict to urge his brother to enter Beijing.

Brother Yuan was once a feudal official, and he was a minister who made meritorious contributions and received knighthoods, and the number of courtesies was slightly better, so he didn't have to be lighter than one, and he was still seriously ill, and all difficulties were arduous.

I have completed the handover with Li Shaoquan and are scheduled to leave for Beigu on the 25th. After that, the distance became farther and farther away, and it was no longer possible to send letters by special messengers, but three times a month, the letters from the family must be forwarded by the post office.

On July 12, 1865, Zeng Guofan's troops went out of Jinling, went north to suppress the twist, that is, crossed the Yangtze River, and the Hunan generals did not learn the water and soil in the north, and they were unwilling to follow; Liu Songshan, the chief soldier of Suzhou Town, rose up and immediately led his troops to cross the river; The army entered Linhuai, and there were three battalions of Xiangyong who hesitated due to lack of pay and low capital; Liu Songshan immediately punished several people, and the military was determined.

Zeng Guofan sighed: Liu Songshan has repeatedly turned the tide and fallen, and the true countryman is also. However, Xiangyong left his hometown and thought of returning after a long period of service, if he was not effectively appeased, there would be no end to this troublesome and provocative matter. Yuan Fu repeatedly thought that all the armies in Jinling should withdraw as soon as possible, and he had good insights.

Peng Yulin said: Qi Yu Di Shuai, if the Hunan army is completely cut, how can it be a thief? The flood has been extinguished, and it is not a climate. Today's trend can be described as thriving, and Di Shuai must not be arrogant.

Zeng Guofan smiled and said: Although my body is hard, I can't endure hard work; Over the years, our department has been accustomed to fighting in a daze. The thief has become a rogue, and it is difficult to clean it up, so I will do it every day. This is only for Brother Xueqinren, don't say anything else.

Peng Yulin said: Di Shuai is deeply jealous of the high master, so he retreated bravely.

Zeng Guofan said: It doesn't stop there! Our army was in arrears for six or seven months, and the price of rice was expensive, and there were many people in the camp who ate porridge to survive; Always worry about lack of food, worry about uproar, and fear that you can't do this thing. Brother Xueqin Ren will not be appeased, and second, please resign as the governor; Brother Ren is less than Rongli, and I can't do it.

Peng Yulin Road; Qi Yu is handsome, lowly and sent to the sailor, all the year round in the wind and waves, although he is very sick, he has not migrated to the shore one day; and is not proficient in politics, pedantic and impatient, and will not be able to maneuver around everyone; Second, there is nothing to do. Di Shuai went north to suppress the twist, and it was bound to be no matter how big or small, and every day there were thousands of opportunities; However, Yulin thinks that Di Shuai does not have to bow down to everything, and it is common sense that there is a shortage of silver and salary, and it changes over time; Di Shuai must quickly play the court to prevent danger.

Zeng Guofan said: The imperial court has no leisure to take care of this trivial matter! Since March, the chief minister of military aircraft has rarely discussed the three words of the king, which is very surprising; In the past, there were all those who had these three words, although Prince Gong was on sick leave, there were still them, if it was not a great change in life and death, he would be expelled, and he would not be in touch with the Privy Council! The stakes are so great that it's terrifying.

Peng Yulin said: When a woman's house collapses, when Chief Xin is young, if there is no strong support from Prince Gong, it is not known who will kill the deer.

Zeng Guo Fan Dao: The authority of Su Liu, the thunder of ten thousand jun; However, God is in the two houses, who can do anything? If I am six, I will also help the two houses. It is also common for the two palaces to try their hands on the sword. Xueqin Rendi led the water division to firmly strangle the Yangtze River, and I immediately issued an order, Liu Songshan, the general soldier of Suzhou Town, temporarily commanded the Xiangyong battalions, together with Zhang Shusheng, Liu Mingchuan, and Zhou Shengbo, and marched north to encircle and annihilate the bandits.