Chapter 62 Section 62 Imperial Envoys

On the first day of the first lunar month in the sixth year of Tongzhi (1867 AD), Zuo Zongtang received an imperial edict delivered by a six-hundred-mile express: "Governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, first-class Kejingbo Zuo Zongtang, was conferred as the imperial envoy to supervise the administration of the Shaanxi Province. Gan military affairs. Qin this." Obviously, in order to unify the powers, after repeated consideration, the imperial court had to confer the title of "Imperial Envoy" to Zuo Zongtang, so that Zuo Zongtang could enter Shaanxi as soon as possible after the matter of food, salary and bravery was completed, reversing the situation in Shaanxi and Gansu. Passive situation.

Not long after receiving the order, Zuo Zongtang received another letter from Yang Yuebin and Liu Rong Kuaima. In the letter, Yang Yuebin notified Zuo Zongtang that the 17th Battalion under the command of Liu Songshan, the commander of the old Hunan Army, and three cavalry teams had arrived in Shaanxi at high speed and lifted the siege of Xi'an. Coupled with the fact that Bao Chao himself had a relapse of his old illness, the whole team has not yet set off. Liu Rong told Zuo Zongtang about the embarrassment caused by Qiao Songnian's restraint, which led to "the lack of monthly salary, the hunger and cold, the dead have no burial expenses, the wounded have no medical funds, and the generals of the army will cry in the future."After reading Liu Rong's letter, Zuo Zongtang was so angry that he stayed up all night. He secretly said: "The situation in Shaanxi Province has deteriorated so quickly, it is all due to Qiao Songnian's lack of pay!"

Fortunately, Liu Songshan had arrived in Xi'an, which finally gave Zuo Zongtang a sigh of relief. Regarding the current situation in Shaanxi and Gansu and how to deal with it, Zuo Zongtang sent to the imperial court the "Preparation Situation of Respecting Chen" and "Planning to Purchase the Horse Training Team", and attached "The Full Support of Yang Yuebin and Liu Rong under the Order of Kindness" One piece, I implore the imperial court to let the two preside over the overall situation before I arrive in office, and I can calmly spread out; after arriving in office, I will work with the two to maintain the situation and stabilize the situation in Shaanxi and Gansu provinces.

Zuo Zongtang thought that letting Liu Rong be the governor of Shaanxi must be more appropriate than Qiao Songnian.Liu Rong has been through the battlefield for a long time, knows the mysteries of military affairs, and pays well.Zuo Zongtang worried that after Liu Rong was dismissed and returned to his hometown, it would be difficult to have a bright future.Whether it is public or private, Liu Rong and Yang Yuebin should be left behind. But the imperial court didn't think so. One month later, the imperial decree came to Daying, refuting Zuo Zongtang's request to keep Liu Rong.The imperial decree wrote in a tone that could not be reversed: "Yang Yuebin has repeatedly ordered the military affairs of Gansu to be properly organized and assigned to the governor. After Liu Rong entered Shaanxi, he repeatedly urged him to leave the province, and finally resisted. In the setback of Baqiao last winter, a decree has been issued to dismiss him, and he does not need to stay in Shaanxi, and he is warned against those who are tired of playing. I respect this." Zuo Zongtang sighed and had to give up.

The next day, Zuo Zongtang led Liu Diantong to enter Shaanxi in advance, and he planned to wait for the horses, firearms, and food and wages to be settled before setting out to follow up. On the fifth day after Liu Dian left Hankou, Zuo Zongtang received an urgent imperial decree from the imperial court, telling him that according to the report of Shaanxi governor Qiao Songnian, the situation in Shaanxi is critical, and the morale of the army and the people are gradually weakening. E stay. The imperial decree finally ordered Zuo Zongtang: "The minister should put his urgency first, go to suppress it quickly, and shield Jin and Henan, so as not to let the minister rush into Gan, which will hinder the minister's various arrangements."

Zuo Zongtang's expression changed when he received the order, and when the official who delivered the order left, he cursed: "This Qiao Hechai, what kind of crazy is he? There is no food and salary in Shaanxi, Gansu and Gansu. How did Wan Dajun suppress the thieves! The affairs of Shaanxi Province are in the hands of his bastard governor! When the headquarters arrives in Shaanxi, let's see how we can settle accounts with him!" Scolding is cursing, anger is anger, Zuo Zongtang dare not disobey the order to pull out the camp.He can only travel west while taking care of the unfinished business.On the way, Zuo Zongtang received imperial edicts one after another.

The decree said: "Yang Yuebin said that his eighty-year-old mother is seriously ill, and his own illness is also getting worse. Please open the vacancy and return to his hometown. General Mu Tushan of Ningxia is temporarily acting as the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu. Yang Yuebin is allowed to return to his hometown." Zuo Zongtang couldn't stop smiling wryly when he received this decree. He didn't keep any of the two fellow villagers, Yang Yuebin and Liu Rong. The decree said: "Yu Rui has been ordered to go to Mongolia and other places to purchase horses for the officers and soldiers entering Shaanxi. Now he has been sent to the Governor's Yamen of Shaanxi and Gansu and handed over to Mu Tushan; battalion, and newly recruited more than a thousand young and strong gunners, and marched to Shaanxi."

One decree said: "The payment of the Liangjiang Association has been sent to Xi'an by Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang, and the payment of the Zhejiang Association of Sichuan and Fujian has been shipped." On the eighth day of April in the sixth year of Tongzhi (1867 AD), Zuo Zongtang led his army to Fancheng. In Fancheng, Zuo Zongtang received a military report from Mutushan, saying: "Pasha Agubai, the Central Asian Kokand Khanate who invaded Xinjiang, has led the people of Andiyan under his command, suddenly occupied the area west of Korla, and drove away the puppet king of Xinjiang. Busuluk, blatantly established the 'Jedshar' khanate, proclaiming himself 'Bijolet Khan'".

After Zuo Zongtang read Mu Tushan's Ziwen, he couldn't sleep for several nights.He privately said to Miss Xiang: "This Agu Baiyang boy, is he deceiving me that there is no one in the Qing Dynasty? Wait for the peace of Shaanxi and Gansu, and see how the Ministry will deal with him!" General Mu Tushan of Ningxia, courtesy name Chunyan, a Manchurian inlaid yellow banner, Nalata family, is a well-known master who seizes power and does nothing, and has the best relationship with Minister of Military Aircraft Bao Jun.At the beginning, he moved to participate in the leadership with Xiaoqi, and in the second year of Tongzhi (1863 AD), he followed Duolong'a to block the Taiping Army Chen Decai's westward advance to Shaanxi and Gansu. After the defeat, he shifted the responsibility to Duolong'a.

Before Duo Long'a had time to defend himself, Mu Tushan had passed Bao Jun's recommendation and was promoted to be the deputy governor of the left wing of Xi'an. Two years later, he succeeded Duo Long'a as imperial envoy.In the summer of the same year, it was Bao Jun who spoke again, awarding him a first-class top-ranking general of Jingzhou, and meeting with Liu Rong to run the Shaanxi-Gansu military.The next year, he was transferred to general of Ningxia, and together with governor Yang Yuebin, he continued to handle the Shaanxi-Gansu military affairs.He considered himself a veteran minister of the frontier affairs and had good grace, so he naturally refused to condescend to others, but Liu Rong and Yang Yuebin didn't look down on him at all.No one in Shaanxi and Gansu dared to say a word about what he wanted to do.According to the Daqing official system, although the governor and the general are parallel, the status of the governor is higher than that of the general.But in Shanxi-Gansu, no matter what Governor-General Yang Yuebin handles, he can't do it without Mu Tushan's consent.Anyone with a discerning eye can see at a glance that the situation in Shaanxi and Gansu is so bad that it is all the result of the conflict between the governor, general, and governor.

On June 18, Zuo Zongtang arrived in Tongguan, Shaanxi. In Tongguan, Zuo Zongtang received an urgent message from Mu Tushan and Qiao Songnian, saying: "Except for Liangjiang's scheduled arrival in Shaanxi on schedule, the other reliefs have not been paid; The hearts of the officers and soldiers from all walks of life are fluctuating, and there are signs of mutiny." Zuo Zongtang was shocked when he received the article, and had to fly to Hu Xueyan of Fuzhou Shipping Bureau, ordering him to go to Shanghai to borrow two million taels from a foreign bank as an emergency.Zuo Zongtang explained to Hu Xueyan in the letter that this loan can be long or short, and that the provincial salaries are still used as collateral, and the Shaanxi-Gansu State Council is used as a guarantee.After the letter to Hu Xueyan was sent away by a fast horse, Zuo Zongtang flew to Qiao Songnian again, asking Qiao Songnian to step up the raising of salaries to stabilize the morale of the army, and asked Qiao Songnian to forward Lin Shoutu, the Fantai of Shaanxi Province, to the current state of Shaanxi Province. If there is a silver amount to solve the camp, there must be no mistakes. If it is not the case, it must be strictly participated! That night, Zuo Zongtang urgently distributed to the imperial court the brochure "Requesting Merchants to Borrow Foreign Funds for Urgent Needs".After five days of delay in Tongguan, Zuo Zongtang was about to set off, and unexpectedly rewarded Liu Jintang, the second rank Dingdai, as an alternate patrol road, and led the seventh battalion of old Hunan soldiers to rush here. Liu Jintang came to Tongguan to meet Zuo Zongtang under the orders of Liu Songshan and Qiao Songnian.Seeing Liu Jintang, Zuo Zongtang was very happy, and immediately ordered the battalions to stay where they were, and decided to discuss with Liu Jintang before deciding to proceed.