Chapter 4 The fourth quarter black sheep

Wei Demao led the way out of Shucheng with a little preparation, with a big flag embroidered with the word "spear" on it, and the people along the way called it "spear camp". Less than half a day after "Spear Camp" left Shucheng, it bumped head-to-head with a funeral procession. The roads in Anhui are generally narrow, and when two parties meet together, one side must stop before the other side can pass.Shucheng was young, and Wei Demao was riding in the middle of the team on a high-headed mule; when the team stopped suddenly, he drove over with his mule, just as he saw a big birthday tree shining brightly in the way.Wei Demao felt that he was unlucky, and there was an imperceptible anger in his chest.He flew off the mule without taking anyone with him, and ran over alone, came to the front of Shoucai, and shouted sharply: "Dog! If you don't take a detour after seeing the name of the master, are you looking for death?"

A filial son tied hemp rope around his waist and carried a mourning stick in his hand, leading more than 20 people to meet him.The filial son came in front of Wei Demao, knelt down on both knees, didn't say a word, just kowtowed for a while.According to the unwritten rules in the countryside, the living must give way to the dead. Wei Demao thought he was an officer, so he wanted to break this outdated rule.He turned back on his mule and yelled, "Come on, throw that coffin blocking the road into the ditch!" If you dare to be negligent, a hundred people would rush over to snatch the longevity material.

When the filial son saw the change in the situation, he thought he had met a robber, and while he was fighting, he yelled, "Fight with the robber!" people.Wei Demao didn't dare to fight fiercely, he beat the mule and passed by, and the team followed.Thirty or so people were knocked over, and their noses were bruised and their faces were swollen. Fortunately, no one died.Afterwards, this team did a few more things along the way, robbing the people's property and raping the people's wives and daughters, before they blatantly came to Luzhou City to set up camp. At this time, Fuji's desk had accumulated more than a dozen complaints against the "Miaoziying".According to Fuji's intention, it would be fine to let Wei Demao spend two, but Li Hongzhang said: "Soldier bravery is the foundation of defending a city, and the head of a soldier is the key to victory or defeat. If black horses like Wei Demao are not eliminated, they will definitely be ruined." event."

After much deliberation, Fuji finally adopted Li Hongzhang's suggestion.While applying to the imperial court, Fu Ji sent someone to report to Lu Xianji, and at the same time asked for the flag of Wang Ming, tricked Wei Demao into the city, tied him with a rope, took him outside the city, and chopped off his head.The 300 people that Wei Demao led were naturally incorporated into Fuji's regiment camp. Under the imperial decree, Lu Xianji was severely reprimanded for lax military management and handed over to the Ministry for discussion.At the same time, the Taiping Army, which everyone had been worried about, did not launch an attack on Luzhou.Fuji Nahan, Li Hongzhang also did not understand why.The Taiping Army was actually waiting for the best time to attack the city.

On November 29, Li Hongzhang went to other provinces to purchase cotton clothes and some ordnance for Fuji's regiment camp.At midnight on this day, General Wang Haiyang of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom led more than 20,000 Taiping troops, rushed under the city wall of Shucheng, and launched a fierce attack.Lu Xianji, who was in his sleep, was awakened by the sound of gunfire, and hurriedly put on his clothes and got out of bed. Just as he was about to send someone to question him, an army soldier rushed in and reported: "My lord, Changmao has already attacked the city! He is rushing here !"

When Lu Xianji heard this, his face changed drastically.While changing his clothes, he ordered: "Quickly pass on the words of our hall, even if you die, you must beat Changmao out of the city!" The soldiers ran out to spread the word.After Lu Xianji changed his clothes, he didn't care about greeting his wife, children and mother, so he strode out the door with his sword in hand.There were countless torches outside the door, and the sound of killing was loud. The untrained Tuan Yong was chased by the Taiping Army and fled around. Lu Xianji yelled "Come here" three times, but no one responded, it was obvious that the pro-barracks had dispersed.When he stumbled to the edge of a large pool and looked back, a large group of flames had already risen from the supervisory regiment's office.

Seeing this, Lu Xianji was shocked, knowing that there was no way to recover, thinking that his family members were gone, he suddenly calmed down.He threw the sword into the pool, combed his hair again, and then jumped up, the water rippled suddenly, and soon returned to calm. In this battle, Shucheng Tuanyong was killed, and Lu Xianji, the minister who supervised the training of the regiment, was thrown into the water. Lu Xianji's mother, wife and children were all buried in the sea of ​​fire, and no one survived.Immediately, the Taiping army issued a list to appease the people, and presented the decree of the king of heaven, announcing that Shucheng was under the jurisdiction of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.After a short rest, the Taiping Army began to march towards Luzhou again, and the situation in Luzhou was critical.

Fuji turned pale with shock, and personally led Fubiao Fourth Battalion, and asked Li Hongzhang to lead a regiment to practice the Fourth Battalion, resisting desperately at Simen.The Taiping Army fought hard and could not enter.Fu Jilian asked Zhou Tianjue for help three times. Although Zhou Tianjue led the army to rescue him, the drums and horns sounded loudly, but his movements were slow, and he could not walk three miles a day. Fuji had no choice but to summon Li Hongzhang to his side, and said angrily, "Shaoquan, it seems that the only thing left is to abandon the city!" Li Hongzhang, who was covered in dust and sweat on his face, said: "Lord Fu, abandoning the city is a way out, but just now when I was looking at the city tower, I saw the long-haired banners densely covered, there were a lot of people, and the dust was flying in the distance. It may be too late for the city. The lower officials think that if they abandon the city at this time, it is better to defend it, and maybe Master Zhou will arrive tonight."

Fuji stomped his feet anxiously: "Shaoquan, you are so confused! Zhou Tianjue is a cunning old man. If he is serious about coming to save you and me, he should have arrived three days ago. We can't count on him!" Li Hongzhang said: "Lord Fu, abandoning the city is a capital crime!" Fuji said bitterly: "If Zhou Tianjue, the old bastard, came to rescue him, can we abandon the city? Shaoquan, I have made up my mind. I will abandon the city first, and after I leave the city, I will go to the top to argue with Zhou Tianjue! You can arrange it immediately. Go down, at midnight tonight, Fubiao and Tuanying will all go to the west gate. The west gate has less long hair, so it is easy to escape."

Li Hongzhang had no choice but to agree.Unexpectedly, in the evening, the situation changed abruptly. A group of people shouted and rushed to the city, encircling the Taiping Army.The Taiping army was in chaos immediately, men and horses collided, causing heavy casualties.Fuji thought it was Zhou Tianjue and Yuan Jiasan who had arrived, and secretly called out "lucky", and at the same time sent an order to open the gates of the city, and led the defenders from all walks of life to kill the generals. The two sides fought until midnight, the Taiping army couldn't resist, and finally retreated. Fuji brought Li Hongzhang to meet the leader of the reinforcements.Only after meeting did I find out that Jiang Zhongyuan, governor of Anhui Province, had arrived.Jiang Zhongyuan came here with an illness. He was originally skinny, but because he traveled all night and led the army to fight, he looked extremely old and haggard.Several people were so sad that they had nothing to say that night.

In the evening of the next day, Zhou Tianjue and Yuan Jiasan led more than 5,000 people to the city.Knowing that Governor Jiang Zhongyuan had arrived, the two hurried into the city.Jiang Zhongyuan has paid homage to the seal, and is currently handing over to the Fuji Office in the temporary governor's yamen. A guard came in and reported: "Master Zhongcheng, Lord Fantai, Lord Zhou and Lord Yuan, please see me." The guard handed over the post.Jiang Zhongyuan took the post and looked at it, and knew that Zhou Tianjue and Yuan Jiasan had arrived, so he hurriedly said, "Please." Zhou Tianjue and Yuan Jia walked in with three big strides, saluted Jiang Zhongyuan and Fu Ji, and sat down respectively.Just as Jiang Zhongyuan was about to speak, Fuji took a step ahead and said in a sly way: "Master Zhou just arrived here at this time, is it because he is here to send an elegiac couplet to the official?" Zhou Tianjue was taken aback for a moment, and asked, "Why did Master Fantai say that? Brother, I don't understand." Fuji sneered and said: "Luzhou was besieged, and I asked my lord for help three times, but my lord did not move. If Mr. Zhongcheng hadn't arrived in time, wouldn't this official have been with Lu Shilang? My lord has arrived at this time Luzhou, what is it if you don’t send elegiac couplets?” Zhou Tianjue's face darkened, his eyes glared and he said: "Fu Yuanxiu, don't talk nonsense in front of Jiang Zhongcheng, I won't let you do that! My brother walked this way and fought with Changmao for five times, thanks to Wuqiao You are brave enough to make my brother come to see Mr. Zhong Cheng unscathed, how dare you slander my brother for standing still! My brother would like to ask, if my brother really stands still, who is standing in front of you? Over eighty years old, you have always been loyal. You know what kind of person Fu Yuanxiu is, you know me, Anhui knows it, and everyone in the world knows it!" Fuji's face turned livid after being provoked by Zhou Tianjue's words, and regardless of the presence of Governor Jiang Zhongyuan, he slapped the table and stood up and said, "Zhou Jingxiu, you are just a revolutionary governor, what right do you have to praise your elders in front of this official? If you today If you don't speak clearly in front of Mr. Zhongcheng, I will bring the lawsuit to the capital with you!" Zhou Tianjue laughed loudly, pointed at Fu Ji with his right hand and said, "Fu Yuanxiu, you have only been on earth for a few days, yet you dare to pretend to talk to this old man, you think you have Li Shaoquan to help you, your wings will be hardened Is it? Pooh!" After finishing speaking, he stroked his white beard with his hand, and said angrily: "Yes, brother is the governor. But when brother was the governor, you were just a fourth-rank Taoist. You have There are more than ten thousand troops, but you can’t even defend a small Luzhou, and you accuse others of standing still, thanks to your ability to speak out! You are also talking nonsense about going to Beijing to go to Beijing to file a lawsuit with your brother. Aren’t you afraid that the emperor will cut off your dog’s head?” Li Hongzhang saw that Zhou Tianjue was dragging him, talking with a stick in his mouth, so he kept silent and moved a few steps to the side quietly. Fuji was trembling with anger, his face pale.Jiang Zhongyuan was afraid of making things worse, so he quickly stood up and smoothed things over and said, "You two sirs calm down. Speaking of which, they are both long-haired and hateful. Please go back to the barracks to rest first, and how about we discuss the matter after the handover between the Ministry and Lord Fu is completed?" Come here! Send Lord Zhou and Lord Yuan out of the city!" Zhou Tianjue stood up with a smile, cupped his hands at Jiang Zhongyuan, and walked out. Yuan Jiasan said: "I will take my leave first. After the two adults finish their business, I will come to serve you again." He also went out.Looking at Zhou Tianjue's back, Fuji gasped heavily. Jiang Zhongyuan persuaded him: "Brother Yuanxiu, calm down, now is not the time to fight. Although Changmao retreats to Shucheng, he can attack Luzhou at any time. Let's put state affairs first!" Fuji breathed a sigh of relief, and said with tears in his eyes, "Lord Zhong Cheng doesn't know something, this old bastard, he wants to trample Si Li to death! If Your Excellency comes a step later, will Si Li survive?" Jiang Zhongyuan said with a smile: "Okay, don't worry about it anymore. Mr. Zhou is 80 years old after all, and he can still serve the battlefield regardless of his old age and infirmity. Based on this, no matter what mistakes he has, the superiors will not I won't go into it!" Fuji said: "Your Excellency, I don't know, this old bastard is not weak even though he is old. A new little bastard was added to his house last month, and the secretary went to congratulate him!" Jiang Zhongyuan laughed, and said, "Your brother, why did you think of talking about this? Mr. Zhou is old, if you say it earlier, the department will offer you a wedding gift!" Fuji was taken aback, and laughed for a while. Voice. After a few more business talks, Fuji left the governor's office and returned to his camp outside the city.After returning to the camp, Fuji locked himself in a large tent and began to drink heavily.While drinking, he began to curse: "None of the sons of bitches is good!" After cursing, he drank, and after drinking, he cursed again, looking like a trapped mad dog. Fu Ji now hated not only Zhou Tianjue, but all Han Chinese.From then on, Fubiao under the governor's yamen was handed over to Jiang Zhongyuan.Fuji's four battalions, together with the two battalions that were expanded later, had a total of six battalions with 3,000 people. According to Jiang Zhongyuan's order, they were stationed in the east of Luzhou City.Jiang Zhongyuan originally had 6,000 soldiers from Chuyong, together with 2,000 soldiers from Fubiao, they were handed over to his younger brother Jiang Zhongyi to lead them, stationed in the west of the city.Jiang Zhongyuan himself brought his relatives to live in the city. Fuji went to the city every day to discuss business and office affairs with Jiang Zhongyuan; Zhou Tianjue and Yuan Jiasan still returned to the original station to defend. Both Zhou Tianjue and Fu Ji gave Jiang Zhongyuan face, not because of Jiang Zhongyuan's black yarn, but because Jiang Zhongyuan fought bravely and had a heavy army in his hand. Jiang Zhongyuan was the first person who achieved great fame by practicing bravery since the rise of the Qing army. Not to mention all the officials, even Emperor Xianfeng looked up to him.Jiang Zhongyuan, courtesy name Chang Ru, nicknamed Min Qiao, was born in Xinning, Hunan Province, and was born in Wuju.He is good at fighting for justice, and he is well-known in Huguang and even in the capital. In the twenty-seventh year of Daoguang (AD 1847), Lei Zaihao rebelled in Xinning. He practiced bravery and cooperated with the local army to suppress it, and became a county magistrate because of his meritorious service.Later, he worked in Xiushui and Lishui, Zhejiang Province.In the first year of Xianfeng (AD 1851), he went to Guangxi from Saishang'a, and fought against the Taiping Army in Guiping, Yong'an and other places, and was promoted to Tongzhi because of his meritorious service.Later, he became a magistrate and a Taoist priest, and was promoted to an inspector in Hubei to find help in military affairs in the south of the Yangtze River.Jiang Zhongyuan was the official who practiced bravery most effectively in the early years of Xianfeng in the Qing Dynasty. During the booming period of the army, you will be more courageous if you have soldiers in your hands. If you win a battle, you will be promoted quickly, and if you lose a battle, you will be demoted quickly.