Chapter 72 Chapter 72

On the tenth day of February in the eighth year of Tongzhi (AD 1869), Zuo Zongtang personally led the 20th battalion of the army, facing the bitter cold wind and continuous days of snow, left Xi'an and stationed in Qianzhou.Miss Xiang was coughing continuously because of the cold, so Zuo Zongtang had to leave her alone in Xingyuan, Xi'an, and entrusted Yuan Baoheng to take care of her. Besides Zuo Zongtang, Yuan Baoheng is now the busiest person in Shaanxi. Yuan Baoheng, styled Xiaowu, was born in Xiangcheng, Henan Province, and was a Jinshi in the 30th year of Daoguang (AD 1850).His father, Yuan Jiasan, organized a group training with Minister Zhou Tianjue in Anhui.In the ninth year of Xianfeng (1859 A.D.), he returned to Beijing to serve. In the tenth year of Xianfeng (1860 A.D.), he was sent back to his father Yuan Jiasan's military camp to assist in military affairs, and returned to Beijing to serve.Tired official Hanlin Academy from the fourth grade waiter to lecture on the bachelor.Yuan Jiasan died of illness, and was ordered to go to Huaibei to take over the various armies under his father's command.Unexpectedly, as soon as Yuan Baoheng arrived at the barracks, he regarded the team as his private property.One battalion is sent today to build houses to earn extra money, and two battalions are sent tomorrow to reclaim wasteland and plant crops for money.Yuan Baoheng has only been in the camp for a few months, and he has never fought a battle, but his pockets are bulging.Everyone in Anhui knows that Yuan Baoheng is not good at fighting, and he may not be good at being an official, but he is good at living.

A censor who came back to his hometown to visit his relatives knew about this, and he made an appointment when he returned to Beijing.The court was furious and decreed to confiscate all the money obtained by his private soldiers and bravery, and all the battalions under his control were handed over to the governor's yamen to take over.He's wasted his time.After being recalled to Beijing, he was demoted to another level and ordered to be a backup in Beijing. In the seventh year of Tongzhi (1868 A.D.), Zhang Zongyu of Xilian violated Gyeonggi. Seeing an opportunity, he immediately cried and asked himself to serve in the army.The superior ordered him to be appointed by Li Hongzhang's camp, but was kicked out by Li Hongzhang.In desperation, he had no choice but to return to Beijing to continue to be an alternate.At this time, he was already so poor that he had no tiles and no land to stand on, and his whole family was suffering.At this time, Zuo Zongtang went to Beijing to meet him, and Yuan Baoheng immediately cried and shouted that he was willing to follow Zuo Zongtang to serve in Shaanxi and Gansu.Zuo Zongtang always thought that Yuan Baoheng's poverty was all caused by being framed, and he also thought that his father Yuan Jiasan was famous as the first generation, and the court should not kill donkeys, so he made a note and asked Yuan Baoheng to help in the Shaanxi-Gansu military affairs.The imperial court looked at Zuo Zongtang's face, so he rewarded him with a second-rank crown and sent him to Shaanxi and Gansu for Zuo Zongtang's use.As for assisting in military affairs, the imperial court did not agree.

Yuan Baoheng dragged his family into Xi'an ahead of Zuo Zongtang.Zuo Zongtang treated Yuan Baoheng seriously, and kept looking at him high. Yuan Baoheng first served as the general office of the Xi'an Grain Expedition Taiwan, then the general office of the Xi'an Manufacturing Bureau, and finally the Shaanxi Chief Envoy. The three errands were all complicated and necessary.With three jobs on his shoulders, he is very busy, but instead of suffering, he takes pleasure in it, thinking that his day of success is coming. Hu Xueyan from the Shanghai Transit Bureau and Yuan Baoheng from Xi'an are Zuo Zongtang's two most capable assistants at present, and they are also Zuo Zongtang's most trusted people. They can be called confidantes.

In Qianzhou, Zuo Zongtang invited Liu Diantong's subordinates to accompany him to help with military affairs in Shaanxi and Gansu. On the day when the booklet was delivered, Zuo Zongtang sent the admiral to lead the army to command Wen Zongxiu, command the army and horses, step into the 12th Battalion, and rush to Suide at night. Together with the troops of Liu Dian, Liu Songshan, and Liu Jintang, they implemented a strategy for the area around Dong Zhiyuan. Surrounded by cameras. Ten days later, Liu Dian led various armies to attack Dong Zhiyuan.Before that, Bai Yanhu and Yu Deyan had withdrawn from Dong Zhiyuan's four battalions of Muslim rebels, and now only Ma Zhenghe and Cui Wei, two battalions, were still guarding here because they were in charge of cutting off the rear and restraining the officers and soldiers.

There was another reason why the Ma Zhenghe and Cui Wei battalions did not withdraw from Dong Zhiyuan: the two battalions had more women and children, more luggage, and more infantry, so they had little combat effectiveness to speak of. Therefore, when Liu Dian issued the order to attack all walks of life, Dong Zhiyuan's area quickly fell into chaos and disorder. In just half a day, more than a dozen prefectures and county towns here were recovered. Ma Zhenghe and Cui Wei led only a few hundred people to break out of the siege, and the rest of the troops either killed or surrendered.While reporting the results of the battle to Zuo Zongtang, Liu Dian sent people to various states and counties to take care of the aftermath.

So far, the whole territory of Shaanxi has been recovered. On May 19th of the same year, the tens of thousands of Muslim rebels who came over from Dong Zhiyuan, including more than 10,000 women and children, were all resettled and placed in various prefectures and counties.Zuo Zongtang then led five battalions of soldiers to leave Qianzhou, via Yongshou, Binzhou, and Changwu, and stationed in Jingzhou, Gansu. On the day he arrived in Jingzhou, Zuo Zongtang received an imperial edict: "According to Zuo Zongtang's request, Liu Dian was sent to act as governor of Shaanxi without having to act as governor of Shaanxi and Gansu. , the governor of Shaanxi is temporarily acting on behalf of Kuke Jitai."

After only five days in Jingzhou, Zuo Zongtang suddenly suffered from eye problems due to marching in the snow for several days.The eyes were painful at first, and soon began to be red and swollen, and finally developed to be unable to see anything. Yuan Baoheng got the news in Xi'an, sent someone to rush Miss Xiang to Jingzhou to take care of Zuo Zongtang, and sent a letter to Hu Xueyan in Shanghai to inform Zuo Zongtang of sudden blindness in Jingzhou, and asked Hu Xueyan to find a way to hire a foreign doctor Go to Jingzhou as soon as possible to see Zuo Zongtang. Zuo Zongtang had no choice but to set up a big camp in Jingzhou. While asking the accompanying military doctor to adjust his eyes, he passed the copy and dictated to the imperial court a discount of "Stationed in Jingzhou to Prepare for Military Affairs".

In the middle of the compromise, Zuo Zongtang first described the current situation in Gansu, saying: "The troubles of stealing Gansu are Hui bandits and bandits, and they are all caused by the Shaanxi Hui." After Gansu, Heichengzi, Wangwang, and Tongxin each returned to the fort. The land is similar to Jinji Fort. Ma Hualong also submitted a letter to Shanxi to ask for peace. The minister still gave the instructions of the previous year's separate suppression and peace, life and death, misfortune, and fortune, let him make his own choice." Zhezi then talked about the progress of the various armies: "Liu Songshan's army, from Qingjian, designated Bian, Huamachi... the Jinshun and Zhang Yao's armies have already marched towards Dengkou. Daoist Wei Guangtao , went to Banqiao and Qingyang Fucheng, Anhua County. Admiral Liu Duanhuang was assigned to Heshui County. Commander Zhang Fuqi went to the west of Tunning Prefecture. Admiral Ding Xian sent to Zhengning, and Zhou Lanting was stationed in Xiaojin Town... Zhijiu Grain, diligent cultivation, prohibiting harassment and tiredness, and refraining from killing. Still follow the decree, only divide good bandits, not Han Hui, as a long-term rule, the foundation of controlling thieves, do your best, and dare not play bandits to mislead soldiers I don’t dare to seek speed and forget the plan.”

Zhezi finally vented his dissatisfaction with Mu Tushan, and the relationship between Zuo Zongtang and Mu Tushan became more and more rigid, almost into a fiery relationship. But the imperial court did not approve of Zuo Zongtang's views.The imperial court believed that Liu Songshan should rush to Huamachi as soon as possible to "intercept and suppress the Ning and Ling bandits"; Zuo Zongtang should not be stationed in Jingzhou in the name of farming, but should rush to Qinzhou as soon as possible to accept the governor's defense. The imperial edict issued a warning to Zuo Zongtang in an extremely stern tone: "Zuo Zongtang and Mu Tushan are working together on the same matter, and they should discuss it in harmony to take the overall situation into consideration, and they must not hold their own opinions."

Zuo Zongtang received the imperial decree, and his eye disease became more and more serious. Although he was treated by a military doctor and Miss Xiang took extra care after he arrived, there was no obvious effect.One day, Zuo Zongtang said to Miss Xiang earnestly: "Since one mountain cannot accommodate two tigers, let's go!" Then he went to the court, confessed the fact of his eyesight, and asked to leave his job for rest, and appointed another minister to take over the affairs. Although Zuo Zongtang also knew that it was indeed inappropriate to ask for resignation at this time, and it would easily cause misunderstandings by the court, but his unsatisfactory eyes and poor work really tortured him to nowhere.

After the Empress Dowager Cixi received Zuo Zongtang's request to open a vacancy, she really cursed: "This Zuo Zongtang, he will not suffer from eye problems in the early days, and he will not suffer from eye problems in the future, but he will suffer from eye problems at this time! Isn't he just getting angry? Alright, I will fulfill him!" That night, the Empress Dowager Cixi sent Prince Gong, ministers of military affairs Bao Jun, Shen Guifen, Li Hongzao and others to discuss Zuo Zongtang's missing note. Wen Hsiang did not enter the palace because he was ill, and Wen Hsiang had asked for leave years ago due to illness.Li Hongzao walked on the Minister of Military Aircraft as Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs in October last year. Before Prince Gong entered the palace, he happened to receive an urgent note from Mu Tushan.Prince Gong took a brief look at Mu Tushan's booklet, rolled up his sleeves, and presented it when he was about to meet the Queen Mother. After the ceremony, before the Queen Mother could ask questions, Prince Gong presented Mu Tushan's note first, and said: "To the Queen Mother, this is the note that Mu Tushan urgently handed over from Lanzhou just received by the Military Aircraft Department." The Empress Dowager Cixi was surprised, and hurriedly said, "What did Mu Tushan say?" Prince Gong replied: "Mu Tushan said that Zuo Zongtang's eye disease is quite serious this time, and he is almost blind. The eyes are probably bad. Mu Tushan thought that Zuo Zongtang was no longer qualified to be a supervisor due to the complicated affairs in Shaanxi and Gansu. Mu Tushan suggested that the imperial court should recall Zuo Zongtang to the capital to recuperate his eye problems. If the governor is absent, another minister Jane Ren." Empress Dowager Cixi pondered for a while, and said to herself: "Unexpectedly, Zuo Zongtang's eye disease is real! The court almost wronged him!" After a pause, Empress Dowager Cixi suddenly said: "This Zuo Zongtang It's really rare!" After finishing speaking, the Empress Dowager Cixi looked at the Empress Dowager Ci'an, smiled suddenly, and said to Prince Gong: "Keep Mu Tushan's book in China. You can ask the Military Aircraft Department to draw up an order for Zuo Zongtang, rewarding him with Changbai Mountain ginseng and Korean ginseng." Grow one tree each, leave for two months, let him recuperate in Jingzhou first, and dispatch Liu Songshan's troops nearby to encircle and suppress Wuzhong Fort." Prince Gong was overjoyed, and hurriedly agreed: "What the queen mother said is true, I will do it when I come down." Perhaps even Mu Tushan himself didn't expect that this letter asking Zuo Zongtang to be dismissed from his post with ulterior motives actually helped Zuo Zongtang out of a big siege. When Zuo Zongtang received the imperial ginseng, a French doctor hired by Hu Xueyan with a high salary from Shanghai came to Jingzhou under the escort of soldiers. On the day the French doctor arrived, he used instruments to test Zuo Zongtang's eyes repeatedly, and quickly concluded that it was the heavy snow in the Shaanxi-Gansu area and the sunshine after the snow. One pair of eyes was hurt.In other words, what Zuo Zongtang suffered from this time was not an eye disease, but a snow disease.As soon as the conclusion came out, the shogunate immediately went into an uproar, and 10,000 military doctors in the camp who were treating Zuo Zongtang didn't believe it. The military doctor said to everyone he met for a few days: "A knife can hurt the eyes, and a gun can hurt the eyes. My ancestors have practiced medicine for three generations, and I have never heard that snow can hurt the eyes! The foreign bastard is really in a daze. The handsome pair of eyes , really leave it to him to treat it, it will be strange if it is not cured!" But Zuo Zongtang thought over and over again, seeing that his eyes had been healed badly by the army doctor in the camp, so he made up his mind and decided to have the courage to let the French treat him.Having made up his mind, the French doctor stayed in Jingzhou and began to treat Zuo Zongtang's eye problems. It is incredible to say that Zuo Zongtang's eyes began to improve after a few days of treatment by French doctors.Not only the staff were amazed by this incident, but even the military doctor in the camp thought that the Westerners had used sorcery, otherwise it would be impossible to have such a miraculous effect.Zuo Zongtang's mood gradually improved.