Chapter 6 Section 6 Meritorious Service and Promotion

The back of Yuxikou is surrounded by high mountains, the mountains are high and the roads are narrow, making the march quite difficult. The Taiping Army originally set up an army at the foot of the mountain to defend against sneak attacks by the Qing army. Unfortunately, Wang Haiyang has already transferred this army out in order to destroy Shengbao, Zhou Tianjue, and Fuji.Li Hongzhang led his army over the mountain very smoothly, and launched an attack without waiting for the opponent's reaction. Li Hongzhang ordered the soldiers to light torches and throw them, all targeting granaries and pastures.Yuxikou soon ignited a raging fire.Four thousand Taiping troops were invincible, and retreated to Hezhou one after another.

In order to prevent future troubles, Li Hongzhang ordered people to light all the granaries and pastures on fire, and then led his army to Hezhou.The flag was victorious, morale was high, and Hezhou was soon conquered.Li Hongzhang left a battalion to defend Hezhou bravely, and led the remaining 2,000 people to the front to join Fuji.Fire broke out at Yuxikou, Hezhou was conquered, and reinforcements from the Qing army arrived one after another, which made Wang Haiyang's plan to gather and annihilate the Anhui government army miscalculated, so he had to lead the army back to Anqing. People from all walks of life of the Qing army are meeting in Hezhou.In this battle, the three armies of Shengbao, Zhou Tianjue, and Yuan Jia fought fiercely with the Taiping Army for three days and three nights, and lost most of their troops and horses; Yuxikou lost more than 200 soldiers and attacked Hezhou. Battalion officers Qian Fanwu and Xu Maoying were shot one after another. Yong Ding suffered more than 300 casualties. Li Hongzhang lost a battalion in total.

After settling down, Fuji invited Li Hongzhang into his temporary yamen, and said with a smile, "My brother has made such a great contribution this time, how can I thank my brother?" Li Hongzhang hurriedly replied: "Your Excellency is really good at telling jokes, how much credit for the government is not in your hands." Fu Ji raised the draft of the memorial to Li Hongzhang, and said: "This department is going to play, invite your superiors, and I will protect my brother's sixth-rank crown and give him a blue feather." Li Hongzhang stood up hastily, saluted Fu Ji, and said in his mouth: "Thank you, my lord, for your kindness. My lord's kindness to me is so great, and I must repay my lord's great kindness."

Fuji helped Li Hongzhang up and said, "Shaoquan can't take it seriously, the headquarters is telling you a joke." But Li Hongzhang said: "Sit on Futai for a while, and come as soon as you leave the official." After Li Hongzhang finished speaking, he turned and walked out without waiting for Fuji to speak.Li Hongzhang came back quickly, put a ticking Western gold watch in front of Fuji's eyes, and said, "My father brought it back from Beijing. If you don't mind it, you can treat it as a plaything." Fuji hurriedly said: "How can this be done? How can this be done? Isn't it to take away my brother's love by accepting it?" Before Fuji finished speaking, he already took the gold watch in his hand, touching and listening , and repeatedly said: "The ceremony is too great, I can't bear it!"

Li Hongzhang laughed and said, "It's just a watch. Why haven't you seen it before? If your lord has no other orders, I will leave. You have been tired for days, you should take a good rest." After Li Hongzhang walked out of the yamen, he firmly believed that his name would definitely be on Fuji's recommendation list this time. Li Hongzhang's gold watch, was it really Li Wen'an who brought it back from Beijing?No, his gold watch was seized from a leader of the Taiping Army when he attacked Hezhou.According to the price at that time, this western gold watch was worth at least three thousand taels of silver.If it's new, ten thousand taels of silver won't stop it.

Not long after Li Hongzhang left, Qian Fanwu, Xu Maoying and other battalion officials were invited into the yamen by Fuji one after another.Li Hongzhang got it right this time.On Fuji's recommendation list, Li Hongzhang was indeed ranked first, and battalion officials such as Qian Fanwu and Xu Maoying were also on the list. In the evening of the next day, the joint performance of Shengbao and Fuji entered the capital quickly.Under Emperor Xianfeng's glance, the dragon's heart was overjoyed, and Anhui finally had good news after the city was destroyed, the land was lost, the army was lost, and the general was lost.The imperial decree was delivered to Hezhou by express riding eight hundred miles away.The imperial decree first gave some rewards to the leaders of the army from all walks of life: Shengbao, Zhou Tianjue and Xu You of the Ministry of Communication, Fuji was rewarded with the title of Minister of the Ministry of War and awarded the title of Minister of the Ministry of War to the Governor of Anhui, and Li Hongzhang was awarded the sixth-rank crown and Dai Lanling; Qian Fan Wu, Xu Maoying and others also have their own rewards.

Yuan Jiasan contributed the most, but received no reward.Yuan Jiasan almost didn't die of anger, and Zhou Tianjue didn't understand the reason.Because Yuan Jiasan was ranked second on his recommendation list, no matter what, there should be a reward. The imperial edict then ordered Shengbao to work with Zhou Tianjue, Fuji, etc. to recover the lost land in Luzhou and Anqing as soon as possible, so as to stabilize the entire province of Anhui. Fuji led Li Hongzhang, Jiang Zhongyi and others to raise food and grass while recruiting bravery in Hezhou.Shengbao, Zhou Tianjue, Yuan Jiasan and others moved to the vicinity of Luzhou, looking for an opportunity to conquer Luzhou.

General Wang Haiyang of the Taiping Army did not dare to be careless, and hurriedly drew troops from Hanshan, Chaoxian and other places to strengthen the defense of Anqing and Luzhou.At this time, Hong Xiuquan in the Heavenly King's Mansion in Tianjing and Emperor Xianfeng in the Beijing Imperial Palace both set their sights on the Anqing and Luzhou areas. And the state is relatively peaceful.Fuji seized this favorable opportunity and decided to celebrate his 18th birthday for Mrs. Shiqiru, whom he had just adopted, hoping to take this opportunity to make a fortune. Hezhou was originally not a wealthy place in Anhui, and it had suffered many wars. Most of the big households in the city fled and lacked supplies.Yuanxiang, the prefect of Hezhou, who was ordered to personally organize the banquet, had no choice but to disguise himself and go deep into the Taiping Army-occupied area to buy all kinds of needs in order to please Taiwan.

Fu Ji got the news from the staff, so he just passed Yuan Xiang over, and said emotionally: "Brother, your kindness has been accepted by the Seventeenth Aunt in the headquarters and the mansion. Now it's unusual, don't be too ostentatious It’s not for fun if Zhou Laowangba is caught. My brother should know the pros and cons of it.” Yuan Xiang smiled and said: "My lord Futai is right. But the lower officials thought that my lord was obviously celebrating the birthday of Seventeenth Aunt, but in fact, he was changing ways to reward the brothers in the camp. Is there anyone in Anhui who doesn't I know that the recovery of Hezhou this time depends entirely on Master Futai's ingenious calculations. Your Excellency is just looking for an excuse to make the down below lively. The official has been with you for a long time, and your good intentions have been hidden from others. Can you hide it from the officer?"

Fu Ji was elated by what Yuan Xiang said, and his face was full of smiles.He stood up, took Yuan Xiang's hand and said: "Your brother really understands my heart. It is really wronged for a great talent like your brother to be a fourth-rank magistrate. After this incident, my brother Brother must find an opportunity to recommend my brother to the top." Upon hearing this, Yuan Xiang was so moved that his eyes filled with tears, he fell to his knees, kowtowed and said, "Thank you, Mr. Futai, for your kindness! Mr. Futai treats the lower officials so generously, and when they come to the next life, they will be treated like a bull. Horse, also follow the adults around!"

Fu Ji hurriedly pulled Yuan Xiang up, and while patting the dust off his body for him, he said, "What do you say? What do you say? Brother, you and I are not outsiders, so don't kneel down at every turn. If you pass it on, don't take a joke from Zhou Laoba ?" Yuan Xiang was about to speak when Li Hongzhang strode in.Seeing that Li Hongzhang was in a hurry, Yuan Xiang knew something was going on, so he hurriedly said goodbye to Fuji, turned around and left. Fuji smiled and said: "Shaoquan came just in time. The department has something to discuss with my brother. Please sit down first. Come and serve tea to Mr. Li!" Li Hongzhang thanked him, picked a wooden chair and sat down. A guard brought tea in and placed it in front of Li Hongzhang and Fuji, said "Take it slowly, my lords" and then slowly backed away. Fuji said at this time: "Shaoquan, the seventeenth aunt in the mansion, you know that she will be eighteen years old in a few days. The government and the county are trying to do it, but no matter how much the head office persuades her, she won't listen to it." The Headquarters thought about it in private. In this chaotic world, how many people died young, and it is not easy to live to the age of eighteen smoothly. Let’s do it. Anyway, the imperial court is staring at Luzhou and Anqing, and Hezhou is idle. I'm idle. The headquarters came here to ask your younger brother to do it for you, and invite your father, Lingtang and several younger brothers to come over to have fun. I wonder if my younger brother will appreciate this face?" Li Hongzhang pondered for a while, and immediately replied: "Master Futai's happy event, my parents should come to congratulate me. I am just afraid that their elders will not be able to bear the bumpy road. After I go down, I will go back immediately. Aunt Seventeen The eighteenth birthday is approaching, so it is really gratifying to congratulate, and there is absolutely no reason to be careless. My lord, I have to hurry, so I won’t accompany you when I grow old, so I will leave first.” Fu Ji said happily: "Shaoquan, the headquarters can sit here and wait for your father's visit! When the time comes, your brother will have to use all the alcohol in his life. If you hide it, the headquarters will not agree. If Aunt Li Shiqi makes a scene, the Headquarters will not cover for you! Hahaha." Li Hongzhang said goodbye and came out, quickly packed his luggage, without any entourage, rode only a fast horse, disguised himself out of the city, and ran to his home in the countryside far away from Hezhou, scolding Fuji 10,000 times in his stomach. Dan still can't understand his hatred. Speaking of which, Fuji is really an asshole.In Anhui at that time, only seven or eight states and counties were under the jurisdiction of the governor's office, and the rest of the land was all owned by the Taiping Army.As the governor of Anhui, Fuji didn't want to regain the lost land, and just after conquering Hezhou, he held a birthday party, which can be described as extremely absurd.But Fuji had his own wishful thinking.He had long wanted to leave Anhui and go to the capital or Zhili area to become an official. He thought about taking the opportunity of giving Mrs. Shiqiru a birthday to make a fortune, and then asked the elders in Beijing to go to the above activities.He has been in Anhui for a long time, and he has not made money from other means except for deducting some salary.He is now the governor of Anhui, and he can't let go of the opportunity to make money. Fuji kept telling Li Hongzhang to go to the countryside to pick up his parents and have fun with the state. Firstly, it was because there were too few gentry in Hezhou, so he couldn’t get too many members; Got a gold nugget watch, but it's not new after all.If he didn't take the opportunity to hit Li Hongzhang hard again, he would always feel that something was lost. Li Hongzhang beat Ma Rufei and rushed home in only half a day. Before he could wash up, he went to visit his parents.Seeing that the two elders are in peace, I feel relieved.After talking with my parents for a while, I went to visit my younger brothers and my wife and children. The next day, Li Hongzhang asked the housekeeper to prepare two congratulatory gifts.One was Li Wen'an's one thousand taels of silver, and the other was for him and his younger brothers, also one thousand taels.The banknotes were all packed in the envelope, and after the name was signed, he wrote a letter of leave, saying that his parents were not in good health and could not go to Hezhou to take care of him for a while... Li Hongzhang was afraid that after the news of Fuji's nonsense spread to the capital, he would be punished. implicated. After Li Hongzhang asked the housekeeper to hide the banknote and letter, he sent a family member to follow them to the governor's office in Hezhou.After the butler left, Li Hongzhang drank tea while contemplating, thinking, "Fuji is a genuinely incompetent person, but also greedy. I am already thirty-one years old, and I seem to have to reconsider my way out." Seeing that he had not left, his wife and daughter were filled with joy.Although Li Wen'an was old, he was still clear-headed. Like Han Zhang, he still persuaded Hong Zhang to say "forbearance". Li Wen'an said: "When I wanted to be a Beijing official for my father, sometimes in a year, the ministry had to change the court officials three times in a row. Think about it, it is very difficult for a Beijing official to make it to the ministry. If you don't have special talents, don't even think about it." I think. There are so many people who were born in two ranks and spent their whole lives in the ministry as small Beijing officials of the fifth or sixth rank. Officials can’t do things according to their own temperament. First, you have to understand the temper of the ministers, and you don’t want to refute whatever the subordinates do. Because the ministers talk to the boss, but the subordinate officials want to speak to the ministers. For the father, there is no I used to be a local official, so I don’t know the local situation. But my father thinks that the principles of being an official are the same.” Li Hongzhang was repeatedly praised by his father's words, but he didn't take it seriously in his heart.Li Hongzhang knew that his father was a Taiping officer, and the Taiping officer naturally had to abide by the word "forbearance".But I am different, when we are in troubled times, it can be described as an extraordinary period. In extraordinary times, there should be official methods for extraordinary times.No matter what, you can't bet on Fuji, a bastard.What's more, Fuji's heart is not in Anhui. Once Fuji leaves, what will happen to him?Sometimes he really wanted to recruit an army by himself, like the late Futai Jiang Zhongyuan, no matter where he went, he was relied on by the court.But he also knew that as long as there were Fuji and Zhou Tianjue in Anhui, he would stop thinking about it. At this time, Li Hongzhang's younger brothers were all studying at home. The third brother Hezhang was always taking care of the housework for his father when he was not studying, and the sixth brother Zhaoqing no longer went to the county.After the fall of Luzhou, the local regiments scattered like birds and beasts, and those who did not disperse were in a half-dead state where the regiments did not practice.Li Wen'an was afraid that Zhaoqing might make a mistake, so he personally met with the magistrate of Hefei County, and Zhaoqing was able to go home.Li Zhaoqing had no ambitions at first, didn't like reading, and was born with a reckless temperament. Fortunately, he was still a little bit afraid of his father, and lived an honest life at home. Li's Mansion is a large courtyard, although it is not as large as the one in Hefei City, it is still first-class in the countryside. Li Wen'an and his wife lived in three rooms in the main house, with maids, mother-in-law and other servants living on the left and right.Li Hongzhang and his wife lived in the east wing, and the three rooms at the back were originally occupied by Li Hanzhang and his wife, but they are now vacant, and they are still cleaned every day.There are more than a dozen rooms in a row in the west wing, where Hezhang and other four brothers live, and all four of them have married wives.In the lower room, there are rough envoys such as cooks and bearers.More than a dozen nurses lived alone with the ladies and young masters from several rooms in Li's house. Li Hongzhang and his wife had only one daughter at that time, named Jiaoer, who was five years old and was taken care of by a nanny.Li Hezhang, Li Yunzhang and Li Fengzhang each have a son.Li Zhaoqing is the youngest, but he has the most prosperous offspring. He has three sons and one daughter. The eldest son Jing Fang, the second son Jing Yuan, and the third son Jing Zheng.Li Wen'an is not very promising as an official, but his family management is top-notch. The family has different temperaments, but they get along harmoniously.