Chapter 2 Section Two

Lu Xianji took Yuan Jiasan and Li Hongzhang away from Beijing for Anhui. Before the three entered Anhui, the Taiping Army had left Wuchang and went east along the river, breaking through Jiujiang in Jiangxi and Anqing in Anhui, and soon occupied Jiangning Prefecture, an important town in Jiangsu. Hong Xiuquan, the king of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, announced to the world that Jiangning was changed to Tianjing, and Tianjing was designated as the capital of the kingdom of heaven.At this point, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom finally had a decent "nest". When the news came, Lu Xianji was so impatient that he didn't dare to delay on the way.After arriving in Anhui, Li Hongzhang first rushed to his home in Hefei County, Luzhou Prefecture, met his parents, wife and children, and four younger brothers, and then returned to Lu Xianji's supervisory Anhui Tuanlian Yamen in Shucheng to receive an errand. I also went back to Jingde's home to visit my relatives.

Yuan Jiasan, who was originally from Xiangcheng, Henan Province, was supposed to preside over official duties in the yamen. Seeing that Lu Xianji and Li Hongzhang had left Shucheng, he couldn't sit still. He went to Suzhou to visit Zhou Tianjue, the current Anhui regimental minister. Hearing that Li Hongzhang had returned to Shucheng, Yuan Jiasan hurried back from Suzhou; three days later, Lu Xianji also marched into Shucheng with great fanfare with two battalions of 600 regiments recruited from Jingde.Those who came to Shucheng with Lu Xianji and his poor relatives numbered over a hundred.The battalion officers of the two battalions are divided into Lu Dazhuang and Lu Erzhuang, both of whom are Lu Xianji's clan brothers.

After everything settled down, Lu Xianji first sent Yuan Jiasan to Henan to persuade him to donate and borrow food, and then sent someone to send Li Hongzhang to the signing room, saying that he was discussing business matters.When Li Hongzhang entered the signing room, Lu Xianji was drinking tea and talking with an old man dressed as a farmer. Li Hongzhang greeted Lu Xianji, Lu Xianji smiled and waved his hands; Li Hongzhang bowed his hands to the old man again, the old man just drank tea and ignored Li Hongzhang, Li Hongzhang was startled, not knowing what the old man was from. Lu Xianji ordered someone to show Li Hongzhang a seat and serve tea, and then he pointed to the old man and said slowly: "Shaoquan, this is an uncle from the main hall, and you will work with him on business from now on." Upon hearing this, Li Hongzhang Standing up again, he bowed to the old man and said, "Li Hongzhang, my junior, pay my respects to Old Feng."

This was originally a flattering remark in the officialdom, but the old man squinted his eyes and said: "You, Mr. Li, are so unreasonable! I am not the father of the servant, how can I become a man of honor? The father of the servant is the real one." Feng Weng, that's what I call him in my village. From now on, you can call me Lu Sanpai or Lu San Fatty, and I'll be content." Li Hongzhang saw the old man's rough speech, so he had to laugh at himself twice, and returned to his seat helplessly. "Shaoquan, Yuan Wuqiao has already gone back to Henan to appeal for donations. Here in Anhui, I have to help you. Tomorrow, you and your third father will go to the counties of Luzhou to call the local gentry. Those who have money will contribute some money. For money, donate some food. After finishing these, you can go to your Futai Zuoshi and ask him to bring some guns from the Fubiao battalions under his command; and then go to Suzhou. Ask Zhou Zhijun to buy some horses on credit, and ask him to take hundreds of guns from the camp. We came here empty-handed, and we have to rely on them for everything. After you go down, hurry up and prepare, and leave early tomorrow morning."

Yuan Wuqiao in Lu Xianji's mouth is Yuan Jiasan, and Wuqiao is Yuan Jiasan's character; and Futai Zuoshi is the current Anhui Chief Envoy and Acting Governor of Anhui Fuji.Because Fu Ji was the vice president of Li Hongzhang's examination, in the eyes of outsiders, the two of them naturally had a teacher-student friendship.But there was one detail that Lu Xianji didn't know: Although Emperor Xianfeng ordered Fuji to be the vice president of the National Science and Technology Examination, it was a pity that Fuji himself did not respond.He suffered a sudden emergency the day before the exam, so he gave up his errand to others.

Therefore, Li Hongzhang did not regard Fuji as a mentor, and Fuji never regarded Li Hongzhang as his disciple. Zhou Zhijun is Zhou Tianjue, the Minister of Anhui regiment training in Suzhou.Because Zhou Tianjue was the governor of Huguang, people used to call him "control the army", but it meant respect. After Li Hongzhang took the order, he rushed to Luzhou Mansion in a sedan chair together with LV Sanpa, more than a dozen officials and more than 20 guards. Since Anqing, the capital of Anhui Province, was occupied by the Taiping Army, Luzhou Mansion became the temporary station of the governor's office in Anhui.Acting ①Governor Fuji led the three battalions and regiments to train 1,500 people, stationed in the city, and the rest of the troops were stationed outside the city.The training minister Zhou Tianjue led 4,000 regiments of warriors and was stationed in Suzhou, which is far away from Luzhou. He was the magistrate of Suzhou in his early years, and he was familiar with the situation in Suzhou.

After settling down in Luzhou, Li Hongzhang came to see Fu Ji first, and said politely: "I am serving Lord Lu Lang, and I am here to collect money and food from the counties in Luzhou. Please support me!" Fuji naturally had nothing to say other than agreeing.The two chatted for a while, and Fuji invited Li Hongzhang into the signing room, ordered him to make a cup of good tea, and then said with a smile: "Shaoquan, after learning that your brother returned home to help Lv Shilang's team training, you don't know Brother, I am so happy! I heard that Lu Shilang returned to Jingde and recruited two battalions of warriors? Did he give these battalions to Yuan Wuqiao, or to my younger brother? My younger brother is a battalion officer, but he is too talented."

Although Fuji was a local official, he was a Manchurian, so he naturally didn't like Lu Xianji, the servant of the Ministry of Industry who came down from the capital.Although Li Hongzhang was a petty official and had no power, he was known for his talent and was not a threat to Fuji, so it was necessary to take the opportunity to win him over. Li Hongzhang has also been in the officialdom for a few years, and he knows the reason, so he said with a smile: "Master Futai can really tell jokes. The size of the subordinates is also the assistant of the regiment ordered by the emperor. How could the servant minister put the subordinates in the camp?" To be a battalion officer?"

Seeing Li Hongzhang's perfect answer, Fu Ji couldn't help laughing and said: "Listen to your brother's tone, Lu Shilang really treats me very well! My brother is so proud of Lu Shilang's side, so I don't have much to say in this department. Listen to me from Beijing. Some people say that when Lu Shilang left the capital, he once said to his younger brother: "Your misfortune me, the Lord ordered me to go; I also misfortune you, so I will go with you." From this point of view, my brother returned home to help the servant to practice bravery. Has it been transferred? People say that Lu Shilang only talks on paper, but who knows, he really has eyesight!"

When Li Hongzhang saw Fuji's public provocation, he murmured: "Whether the Minister of the Minister said this to the lower official, the official does not remember it. But as far as the lower official knows, the Minister of the Minister did say this to the third master Yuan Jia, it was Yuan Jia. My lord said it to the lower officials himself. Master Yuan also said that it is his blessing to be so favored and valued by the servant. Your lord attaches great importance to Master Yuan." Fuji slapped the table, and said proudly: "Brother, if you have anything to do in the future, just come to me. In the eyes of the headquarters in Anhui, there is neither an army nor a servant, only your brother. This matter is my brother's own business. As long as my brother says something, I will send someone to do it immediately!"

Upon hearing Fuji's words, Li Hongzhang got up immediately and said, "Thank you for your attention! If your lord has no other orders, I will leave first. After finishing the errands assigned by my lord servant, I will come to the yamen to serve my lord for tea." Li Hongzhang didn't want to get involved in the intrigue among the officials.What's more, Fuji's reputation as a greedy and lustful official spread far and wide, and Li Hongzhang didn't want to get too close to him.After bidding farewell to Fuji, Li Hongzhang felt emotional: "It seems that Fuji's life in Anhui is not too easy." In Luzhou area, Li Hongzhang and Lu Sanpai launched a vigorous work of persuading donations and raising grain. After three months, they persuaded them to donate 200,000 taels of silver and 50,000 shi of grain. Fuji supported Lu Xianji with a hundred firecrackers and an unusable earth cannon, which was regarded as a face to Li Hongzhang. Seeing that Fuji was so stingy, Li Hongzhang had to hand over the silver and grain to Lv Sanpa and take him back to Shucheng, while he rushed to Suzhou to meet Zhou Tianjue without stopping, but he encountered a big setback.Zhou Tianjue not only refused to credit a horse for Lu Xianji, he also refused to support a gun, let alone artillery. Not to mention, Zhou Tianjue said a lot about Lu Xianji in front of Li Hongzhang.Li Hongzhang listened to his grievances, and dared not delay in Suzhou, so he rushed back to Shucheng overnight to meet Lu Xianji. Lu Xianji received an embarrassing imperial decree the day before, and at this time he was jumping around in the signing room and cursing people.As soon as Li Hongzhang opened the door and walked in, Lu Xianji raised his hand and threw a teacup on the ground, cursing: "The dog has eaten my conscience! The dog has eaten my conscience!" Seeing Lu Xianji's face flushed, Li Hongzhang asked in a low voice: "How did your lord get so angry? What happened?" Lu Xianji said angrily: "Are you really ignorant or are you pretending to be confused? Yuan Wuqiao was in Henan, without the consent of the headquarter, he recruited two battalions of brave men, and raised more than 200,000 taels of silver and more than 100,000 stones of grain and grass. Isn't he Do you want to go against the sky?" Li Hongzhang was puzzled and said: "This is a great thing! With money, food and grass, guns and horses, everything is settled! Master Yuan has made a great contribution!" Lu Xianji's face sank: "Li Shaoquan, don't make sarcastic remarks! Are you deliberately wanting to see the jokes of the Benbutang? Don't think about it! Without Yuan Wuqiao and you, Li Shaoquan, the Benbutang can still raise courage! It can still raise donations! It can still raise food! Do you believe it or not?" "My lord, why did you say that? How come the more you listen, the more confused you become? Can you make your words clearer?" Li Hongzhang was also a little unhappy, trying to suppress his anger.Lu Xianji snorted with his nose: "Yuan Wuqiao brought the recruited Yuyong with grain, grass and money, and arrived in Suzhou as early as a month ago. He is no longer the assistant of the main hall, but Zhou Tianjue's assistant! If it wasn't for yesterday My son received the imperial edict, but the Motobutang is still in the dark! The Motobutang has never understood why the Motobutang has ever been contemptuous of the two of you since I left Beijing. Is there anything that I didn’t discuss with you first? Do it again?" Li Hongzhang knew that Lu Xianji had made Yuan Jiasan mad, so he stopped talking, but said in his heart: "Since you arrived in Anhui, Lu Shilang, have you discussed anything with us? With a superior like you, you can only admit that Bad luck!" Seeing that Li Hongzhang bowed his head and remained silent, Lu Xianji squinted his eyes and said, "Li Shaoquan, I heard from my third father that when you arrived in Luzhou, you discussed everything with Fuji, and even used the money raised from the donations to treat the gentry in various counties to dinner several times. .Is this true? The money collected is for training bravery, not for squandering it! This has to be passed on to the top, once the court blames it, who will be able to bear it? If you mess around like this, big things will happen!" Seeing that Lu Xianji talked more and more, Li Hongzhang had no choice but to say: "My lord's lesson is that I was careless for a while, and I made my lord angry. I must pay more attention to this after my lord. If my lord has no other orders, I will leave first." Lu Xianji softened his tone a little: "Shaoquan, speaking of it, it's not a big deal to invite the squire to have a drink, but you shouldn't make up your own mind. Even if you don't report to the main hall in advance, you should tell the third father in advance Let's discuss it. Because of this matter, the third father is very angry. If the Benbutang is not suppressing you, he will always have a big fight with you. Although the third father has no fame, he is still in Jingde for hundreds of miles. He is a person with a head and face. Although he and Motobutang are not in the five uniforms, he is my elder after all. Shaoquan, did you hear what Motobutang said clearly?" Li Hongzhang was very dissatisfied, and replied blankly: "I heard you clearly, and I will leave first." Back in his office, Li Hongzhang became more and more angry when he thought about it. Straighten the chair and sit on it to rest. No matter what, he couldn't figure it out, why did Lu Xianji involve himself in Yuan Jiasan's matter?It was Yuan Jiasan who switched to Zhou Tianjue, not Li Hongzhang!What is the purpose of Lu Xianji's fury at him?Could it be that Lu Xianji suspected that Yuan Jiasan switched to Zhou Tianjue, and he encouraged him?If that was the case, it might not be Yuan Jiasan, but Li Hongzhang who will have a hard time in the future. In fact, Li Hongzhang didn't know Lu Xianji very well.Lu Xianji was born in two rankings, and his moral articles were famous for a while.But he has a fatal weakness, that is, he pays too much attention to fellowship, especially the old relatives and old friends in his hometown.When people in Jingde mentioned him, they all gave him a thumbs up, saying that he was unassuming and that he didn't play bureaucratic in front of the folks.When Li Hongzhang was ordered to go to Luzhou with Lv Sanpa on business, those old relatives and old friends who had defected to him began to slander Yuan Jiasan and Li Hongzhang in front of him in turn. First, Yuan Jiasan didn't treat them as human beings, complained in private, and went out to play with women; then said that Li Hongzhang was dictating everywhere, pretending to be an imperial envoy, whoring women behind his back, embezzling public funds, and searching the pockets of relatives.After returning to Shucheng one step ahead of Li Hongzhang, Lu Sanpai said many bad things about Li Hongzhang out of nothing.Lu Xianji didn't care too much about what others said, but he couldn't ignore what his relatives said.In addition, Yuan Jiasan really switched to Zhou Tianjue soon, how could Lu Xianji trust Li Hongzhang again? More than ten days later, Lu Xianji sent an official document asking his cousin Wei Demao to go back to Jingde to recruit a battalion of brave men; Li Hongzhang was also appointed to cooperate with Lu Sanpai to go to various counties to persuade and raise food.Li Hongzhang worked harder than last time when he went to various counties to do business.He wanted to use actual actions to prove that he, Li Hongzhang, and Yuan Jiasan were not the same.Li Hongzhang urgently needs to gain a firm foothold now, otherwise his ambition will not be rewarded. One month later, the imperial decree came to Shucheng: According to Lu Xianji's request, Lu Sanpai was rewarded with a seven-rank Dai magistrate alternate for his ability to persuade and raise food; Add eight ranks of military merit. Hearing that at the end, Li Hongzhang did not hear his own name, and his heart felt a little chilled.Obviously, Lu Xianji has turned Shucheng's regiment into his Lu family army.Li Hongzhang asked Lu Xianji for leave on the grounds that his daughter was sick.Lu Xianji felt that his group training was completed and his wings were hardened, so he agreed to leave without hesitation.After a little care, Li Hongzhang left Shucheng and rode to his home in Hefei.