Chapter 9 The nine assassins turned out to be Kang Fu's younger brother

A few crowing roosters in the distance aroused the resonance of the rooster in Zeng's mansion. It was almost dawn, and Zeng Guofan walked out of the golden hall in his clothes.The night sky before dawn looks even darker.Under the ancient vines on the earth ping, a black shadow was jumping.That was Kang Fu practicing boxing.Kang Fu has flexible steps and powerful fists and feet. Zeng Guofan looked at him and was very envious: It would be great if he had some martial arts like Kang Fu. It can be used to strengthen his body on weekdays, and he can also defend himself when he is in a hurry.While daydreaming, Kang Fu suddenly shouted: "Master, bow your head!"

Zeng Guofan quickly lowered his head, only to hear a "whoosh" above his head, something flew by, and then a "cha", a bright dart firmly nailed to the wooden post behind him.Kang Fu said "there is an assassin" and rushed over in one stride, pulling out the dart from the pillar.By the candlelight from the golden hall, he saw the word "Lu" engraved on the snow-white dart, and he was shocked: "Oops, could it be that my younger brother is here!" Jing Qi and several other family members in the mourning hall heard After hearing the news, he rushed out and helped Zeng Guofan into the house.Kang Fu jumped onto the wall, only to see a black figure running in the distance.He jumped off the wall and chased after the shadow.After running for about four or five miles, Kang Fu caught up with the man.By this time the sky was getting brighter.Kang Fu saw clearly that the assassin was indeed his younger brother Kang Lu!

Kang Fu was very surprised, so he shouted from behind: "Brother, stop, I am your brother Kang Fu!" Kang Lu ran in front and replied, "Brother, I've seen it for a long time. You can't speak here, and the people from the Zeng family will catch up. There is a large forest at the corner ahead, let's go inside." After another four or five miles, Kang Lu and Kang Fu entered the woods one after the other.The two brothers stopped and sat opposite each other in the forest.Kang Fu asked: "Brother, what's going on? Why do you want to assassinate Mr. Zeng?"

"Let me explain it to you slowly!" Kang Lu stared at his elder brother who had been away for a long time under the light of the morning light and said, "After more than a month since I left home, the Dongting Lake flooded and the house collapsed. I don't know what brother Where I was, I left home with two other neighbors to make a living. I worked part-time and worked hard, and it was hard to get enough. Sometimes I thought that I had nothing to do, and I was really wronged. Not to mention being an upright man, I just wanted I can’t afford enough food and clothing, and it’s really hard to live like this. Half a month ago, I met a group of people outside Liuyang City, all of them were armed with swords and guns, and they were majestic, with red and yellow cloth wrapped around their heads. I thought: It has been rumored for a few days that Changmao is coming. Isn’t this just Changmao? Look at how proud they are! I have martial arts, as long as I participate in it, I will definitely make more contributions than others, and my life will be more comfortable than now. But I thought about it again, Dad has always taught us to be upright, not to take ill-gotten gains, not to do harm to others, if Changmao really did what the government said about murder, arson, and robbery, no matter how good life is , I can’t go with them either. In order to try them, I pretended to be sick and lay on the side of the road. At this time, another team came over, and immediately a few long-haired people walked out of the team and came to me to gossip. Some said that this person was sick Yes, some said that this person might be hungry. After a while, a man in his forties came out from the line. Looking at his attire, he looked like their leader. The man took out a small flat porcelain bottle from his waist, I poured a few black balls from the bottle, put them in my mouth, took the gourd from a little long-haired hand beside me, and poured the water from the gourd into my mouth. It’s strange to say that I wasn’t sick, But after swallowing these black balls, I felt quite comfortable. The man asked me kindly: "Little brother, how are you?" Let’s walk together for a while. Tonight we will sleep in a house not far in front. We will bury a pot there for cooking. If you eat some hot soup and hot rice, you will recover from your illness.” I thought to myself: Everyone says that long hair is evil , Why is this long-haired man so kind and amiable? I walked forward with them. A little long-haired man next to me said to me: "This is our Kim Il-jung general Luo Dagang." The general is so kind!" He said: "There are many good people in our Taiping Army." I chatted with that little long-haired man, and learned that his whole family defected to the Taiping Army. The Taiping Army wanted to kill corrupt officials and overthrow the imperial court. Let everyone have food to eat and clothes to wear; in the Taiping Army, all men are brothers, all women are sisters, everyone believes in God, they are all children of God, and everyone is equal. These words make my heart itch, my heart I thought: If the world is like this in the future, wouldn’t it be truly peaceful? Such an army is good, I decided to join them. I learned a lot of new principles from him. Don't intimidate the local people. After dinner, I found General Luo and wanted to work with them. General Luo readily agreed and asked me what skills I have. I said that I can do everything with sticks, knives and guns, and I will perform a few tricks on the spot.

General Luo laughed when he saw it, and immediately said: "My boy, you are very capable. You have been with me for the past few days. After you have made meritorious service, I will promote you to be the commander of the brigade and the commander of the division." 'We arrived in Changsha, the vanguard has been surrounded for several days.General Luo asked me to send a letter to Liuyang Zhengyi Hall.I came back five days later.General Luo said that he had been to Yiyang and Ningxiang in the past few days, and on the way he caught a big leader of the Qing Yao named Zeng Guofan.I hurriedly said: "I know Zeng Guofan, he is a high-ranking official." General Luo asked, "Do you know him?" 'I said:'I haven't met him, I've only heard of him.where is he now General Luo said, "Unfortunately, he has escaped."After his mother died, he must have gone back to his hometown in Xiangxiang.I'm busy fighting now, so I don't have time; if I have time, I'll chase him to Xiangxiang and kill him, which would be considered a great contribution. 'I thought to myself that this is a good opportunity to make meritorious service, so I asked General Luo for this job.I came to Baiyangping last night and found out that Zeng Guofan also arrived yesterday, and he was staying at the mourning hall.The mourning hall was brightly lit, and people were coming and going, so it was inconvenient to do anything.I have been crawling on the high wall, biding my time.After finally waiting for Zeng Guofan to leave the mourning hall, I hurriedly released a dart.Who would have thought that as soon as the dart made a move, they would find you, brother!I was very puzzled, why is brother here?Since my brother is here, I will not send the second dart.If it wasn't for his brother's presence, Zeng Guofan would have died today.Brother, how did you come to Zeng Mansion? "

Kang Fu told his younger brother the general story of the journey, and advised him: "Brother, I don't think Zeng Guofan is the kind of corrupt official who ruins the people and harms the country. He is a good official who is knowledgeable and knows people. How about you join Zeng Guofan with me?" Kang Lu said sternly: "Brother, what you said is wrong. You don't know whether Zeng Guofan is a corrupt official or an honest official, so let's not talk about it. The Qing Dynasty built by the Manchus is an out-and-out bad court. This point , Brother also told me before. Zeng Guofan worked for the Manchus and oppressed us Han people. Do you think we should be killed or not? I think I should go to the Taiping Army with me and go to General Luo to kill thieves and make meritorious service. Brother Yi If you have the ability, in a few years, you can be a general and commander in the Taiping Army."

The two brothers fought back and forth, but no one could convince the other.Kang Fu was worried that the Zeng family would become suspicious over time, so he said: "Since ancient times, there have been many brothers who have disagreed with each other. Since brothers can't persuade you, let's go our separate ways! There is only one thing, No matter where we are, we must obey our father's order, and refrain from doing things that hurt the nature and justice, and insult the Kang family's clean family tradition." "What brother said is true. I'm leaving. Brother takes care of it. There will be a period later."

After all, brothers break up.Kang Fu didn't turn around and run back to the Zeng Mansion until he couldn't see his younger brother's back. Tired and trembling from the journey, plus staying up all night, coupled with this shock, Zeng Guofan fell ill.When Zeng Guofan was sick and lying in bed, Changsha, the provincial capital, was under heavy artillery fire.