Chapter 8 Chapter 8 The Ominous Feeling

Li Hongzhang took the constitutional order and marched towards Yuexi with great fanfare that day. Halfway through the procession, Li Hongzhang suddenly ordered all camps to set up banners, and suddenly turned to Hanshan in the middle of the night.The battalion officials looked at each other in blank dismay, but because Mr. Futai had spoken before they left, they dared not disobey.When the dawn was about to break, Li Hongzhang sent an order to the battalions to go into the dense forest to bury pots to cook food, rest on the spot after the meal, and go to the branches on the moon. The road to Hanshan was not far away, and the team arrived at the city after walking for two full nights, and launched an attack without resting.The Taiping army defending the city was caught off guard and unable to organize an effective resistance, and was soon defeated and retreated from the city.

Li Hongzhang didn't dare to be careless, and then chased after him, and took Chao County again.Hanshan, Chao County, and Hezhou are now connected together.When the news spread to Hezhou, Fuji was full of joy, and even called Shaoquan brave!Immediately pass the manuscript to the master to start writing, and play the imperial court to announce the good news.Knowing the exact date of Li Hongzhang's return to Hezhou, Fuji led the cloth and other subordinate officials and went out of the city ten miles to meet the triumphant army. It was at this time that the three words "Li Hongzhang" began to attract the special attention of Emperor Xianfeng of the Qing Dynasty and Shi Dakai, the Wing King of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.Within a few days, under the imperial decree, Li Hongzhang was rewarded with the title of fourth-rank magistrate and rewarded with grace in exchange for flower feathers; Shi Dakai, the winged king of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, told all walks of life in Anhui on the tenth day lost in Hanshan and Chaoxian: "The Heavenly Father, the Lord, the Emperor!" God told this king in a dream that Li Hongzhang's demon head is a powerful enemy in the kingdom of heaven, and when you meet him, you must not underestimate the enemy!" Soon, the heavenly king Hong Xiuquan also knew about Li Hongzhang, so he naturally issued an edict and talked in sleep.

Fuji, who turned the danger into a disaster, naturally relied more on Li Hongzhang. Zhou Tianjue tried his best to participate in Fuji but did not hurt him. In a rage, he led the army to Yingzhou to recruit brave people.But Zhou Tianjue was too old after all, and he was sullen for no reason, and fell ill in bed on the day he arrived at Yingzhou Wangshi Market.Yuan Jiasan hurriedly reported to Shengbao in Yuexi and Fuji in Hezhou. In the evening of that day, Zhou Tianjue passed Yuan Jiasan to the bed, coughed and said, "Oh Wuqiao, you are my confidant, there are some words that I can't take into the coffin. I'm over eighty years old, There is no regret in dying, there is only one thing that makes the old man feel sorry.

"Your younger brother came to Anhui to practice bravery with Lu Shilang, and soon he followed me to fight. Your younger brother's deeds are praised by heroes all over the world, but Lu Hetian and Anhui officials will not tolerate them. "But the old man is incompetent. Li Shaoquan followed Fu Yuanxiu for only one year, and he has been promoted from the original seventh-rank editor to the current fourth-rank magistrate. He even wears a flower feather. As for your brother, maybe you really echoed the ancient saying, "Great talent is late blooming." ’, after working so hard for so long, it is still the original one, not even a blue feather plugged in. Brother, do you hate this old man?”

Yuan Jiasan plopped down on his knees and said: "The Commander-in-Chief's words are serious! The Commander-in-Chief's kindness to the subordinates is so great that the earth is as high as the heavens. I am afraid that I will not be able to repay the subordinates in the next life. The Commander-in-Chief only cares about recuperating, don't think about it." With tears in his eyes, Zhou Tianjue asked Yuan Jiasan to sit down again, and then said emotionally: "My brother can think this way, and I can close my eyes even if I see my back immediately. My brother, you are still young, you will have a bright future, and there are many opportunities to make contributions. Make proper arrangements for the posthumous affairs, and leave it to Shengbao. I strongly recommend you to take over the army.

"When the army is booming, whoever has the troops will have the grace, and whoever will have the future. Fu Yuanxiu is willing to recommend Li Shaoquan a lot now because Li Shaoquan himself has no troops, which poses no threat to his governorship. Li Shaoquan No matter how great the credit, Fu Yuanxiu is in his hands. But once Li Shaoquan has a team, Fu Yuanxiu will not recommend him again, and may even go to the top to play tricks. Besides, as long as he is in Anhui, Fu Yuanxiu will not Let Li Shaoquan recruit a soldier. "So, don't look at Li Shaoquan's numerous promotions now. His future is coming to an end if he can reach the third rank. But you are different. Although you are now in the middle of the fifth rank, as long as you recover a city, You can keep pace with Li Shaoquan. You have a team in your own department, and maybe the superiors will give you an exceptional reward."

Yuan Jiasan fell to his knees again, kowtowed and said, "Thank you, Marshal, for your kindness in nurturing me! The marshal's great kindness to me, I will never forget!" In the evening, Zhou Tianjue coughed and vomited blood. He persisted for more than an hour, and finally let go.Fuji was overjoyed when he got the news, and while reporting to the court, he rushed to Wangshiji with Li Hongzhang. He also came to Wangshiji to pay homage to him, following the example of Zhuge Kongming in the Eastern Han Dynasty.Apparently, Fu Ji was mad at Zhou Tianjue, but he still wanted to take over the battalions left behind.

Shengbao had received Zhou Tianjue's will before his death. Hearing the news, Shengbao rushed to Wangshiji while delivering Zhou Tianjue's will to the capital.The oracle was delivered by a quick ride from 800 Li soon.This time, the imperial court's grace is great: expel Zhou Tianjue from all punishments during his lifetime, and provide compensation according to the governor's regulations; according to Zhou Tianjue's request, the remaining battalions will be assigned to Shizhong and Anhui to help Tong Tong handle regiment training and Yuan Jia's three successors. Fu Jikong was overjoyed and listless for many days.At the end of the year, Fuji's old tricks were repeated, wishing his father's 80th birthday from a distance, holding a banquet at Hezhou University, collecting money, and winning nearly 200,000 taels of silver.Li Hongzhang had long heard that Fu Ji's father had passed away ten years ago, but he dared not tell the truth. Not only did he follow suit, but he also helped the copywriter to write the invitation for two days.

One afternoon in February of the fifth year of Xianfeng (AD 1855), Li Hongzhang was playing Go with Fuji when a guard came to report that Li Zhaoqing was asking to see him. Li Hongzhang was startled, and the chess piece he was holding fell to the ground suddenly, and Fuji hurriedly said, "Please come quickly!" Li Zhaoqing strode in.After saluting, Fu Ji excused himself to go inside for a rest, so he avoided it.Li Hongzhang asked Zhaoqing to sit down, and then asked, "Youquan, why did you come here? What happened at home?" Zhaoqing said anxiously: "Second brother, something serious happened at home! Dad accidentally fell down three days ago, and developed a high fever that night, and he still can't go to the field. Third brother has sent someone to send a letter to eldest brother. Here we come to Hezhou!"

Li Hongzhang's complexion suddenly changed, and he couldn't help but said anxiously: "Why did Dad fall so well?" Li Zhaoqing said loudly: "You ask me now, which one should I ask? Dad has long legs, and he is going to fall, what can I do? Why don't you go and ask Futai for leave and come home with me? Li Zhaoqing is so old, he has never seen such a big brother!" Li Hongzhang also didn't care about arguing with Zhaoqing, so he got up and asked Fuji for leave.The two brothers left Hezhou on the same day and rushed home.Li Wen'an's condition gradually became serious, and he suffered another three months before passing away.On the day of Li Wen'an's death, Li Hongzhang's wife Zhou Siyi just gave birth to another daughter.It can be said that the Li family has mixed joys and sorrows this day, and they can't laugh or cry.While reporting to Ding You, Li Hongzhang took care of the funeral.

Soon, Li Hanzhang, who was dressed in white, was rushed back by Ren Suo.At this point, the six Li family brothers began to live in a hut in the countryside to keep their filial piety.Li Hongzhang kept his filial piety, but the war in Anhui became more and more fierce. In June of the fifth year of Xianfeng (1855 A.D.), an imperial decree was delivered to Anhui. The imperial court ordered Shengbao, the imperial envoy, to join forces with Yuan Jiasan, Fuji, and Jiang Zhongyi to recover Luzhou within a time limit. After receiving the order, Shengbao didn't dare to be negligent, and hastily sent a letter to Fu Ji, Yuan Jiasan, and Jiang Zhongyi, ordering the three to march to Luzhou quickly and besiege Luzhou.But Shengbao is not a great talent alone.It stands to reason that after receiving the imperial edict, he should at least find out the number of Taiping troops in Luzhou City, and reserve a force to intercept Anqing's reinforcements.Even so, it may not be possible to regain Luzhou as desired.But he ignored all of this.On the day the documents to Fuji, Yuan Jiasan, and Jiang Zhongyi were sent away, he set out to march towards Luzhou, trying to catch the Taiping army by surprise. Shengbao met Fu Ji and Jiang Zhongyi's men halfway, and walked a few miles before falling into an ambush circle of the Taiping Army.He and Fuji commanded the troops to fight to the death and fought fiercely for half a day. Not only did he suffer heavy casualties, he and Fuji were also shot wounded.At this moment, Yuan Jia's army arrived with three waves.The Taiping Army closed when they saw a good situation, and withdrew in time.Shengbao was killed and lost his soul. He didn't dare to take half a step closer to Luzhou at this time, and retreated quickly with the troops from the headquarters and Fuji. When the news spread to the capital, Emperor Xianfeng was furious, and ordered Shengbao to be removed from the title of imperial envoy, and asked him to lead his army to Gaotang Prefecture, Shandong Province and other places, and together with the local officers and troops, encircled and suppressed Li Kaifang's department of the Taiping Army.Emperor Xianfeng then recruited Jiangnan Admiral He Chun, who was capable of fighting tough battles, to coordinate the restoration of Luzhou, and also recruited Admiral Zhang Guoliang to lead his troops to assist. However, before Hechun arrived, Fu Ji sent an urgent note to the court, asking Li Hongzhang, the former magistrate who had recovered from Ding's father's worries, to help with the regiment training.Emperor Xianfeng issued an imperial edict. Li Hongzhang asked Fu Ji twice to deliver the memorial, but Emperor Xianfeng refused.In desperation, Li Hongzhang had no choice but to bid farewell to his mother, family and brothers, and hurried to Hezhou to report to Fuji. Fuji was overjoyed and hosted a banquet that night to welcome him. During the meal, Fuji sighed: "My brother is willing to come out to help, and I saved my brother from a disaster." Seeing that Fuji's words were strange, Li Hongzhang was at a loss as to how to answer. Jiang Zhongyi whispered: "Your Excellency, you don't know. Commander Sheng was transferred to Shandong by his superiors, and Hejunmen will come to Anhui to coordinate and restore Luzhou's military affairs. Master Futai heard that before Hejunmen left, he had already asked the court with a discount , Allow him to help his colleagues handle Anhui regiment training matters." Fuji said angrily, "Hechun's appetite is not small. It's enough to come to Anhui to take over from Shengshuai, but also to take away the power of regiment training in the hands of the headquarters! Without the regiment camp, the headquarters will lose half of Anhui's country. Shaoquan understands this time! Headquarters, please come back to your brother with love, because he wants to run a regiment training in Anhui with the death of Chun. Since the superiors have assigned the headquarters to be the governor of Anhui, the affairs of Anhui naturally require the headquarters You just need to nod. What kind of bastard is He Chun? On the same day when the meeting was over, the governor's yamen received a fire ticket from the Ministry of War and notified the Military Aircraft Department to send 2,000 soldiers from Jiangnan Daying to Rong's Department to the city of Luzhou, together with Hechun and Fuji. , encircled and suppressed the Cantonese bandits in Luzhou.Emperor Xianfeng sent people from all walks of life under the city of Luzhou, intending to regain Luzhou with all his strength, and then plan Anqing. Wang Haiyang notified the situation urgently to Yi Wang Shi Dakai.Shi Dakai didn't want to use Luzhou as a battleground, he wanted to put the battlefield elsewhere.Shi Dakai asked people to spread the map of Anhui Province drawn by the Kingdom of Heaven on the desk, and then walked around the desk while drinking tea. His eyes finally stopped at Feixi between Luzhou and Shucheng.He knew that Hechun was different from Fuji.Fu Ji is a mediocre man, and He Chun is a leader of the Qing court who relies more on it. With more than ten thousand soldiers, he is really a powerful enemy in the kingdom of heaven. Shi Dakai decided to choose Hechun's cemetery in Feixi. In mid-August of the same year, a team of more than 5,000 Taiping troops appeared out of the sky and rushed towards Hechun head-on.Hechun has been on the battlefield for a long time, and he has always been careful. From the day he received the imperial edict, he led the courage to walk only in desolate and sparsely populated places, and advanced towards Luzhou like a turtle.For several days in a row, it really has to be counted.He Chun is secretly proud.The Taiping army suddenly appeared, and Hechun didn't want to fight and wanted to avoid it. After spying and reporting, he found out that there were only more than 5,000 people.Hechun's ambition grew steeply, and he wanted to eat the enemy army in one bite before moving to Luzhou. Hechun ordered the three armies to re-arrange and re-arrange their formations to meet the enemy. The two sides fought beside a small river.After three days and nights of fierce fighting, the Taiping army retreated.Seeing that the opponent was outnumbered, Hechun boldly led his army in pursuit, and he was determined to succeed.The Taiping army moved slowly, stopping and running, and ran straight to a dense forest in Feixi, and then turned back to fight.Hechun didn't know what it was, so the Tijun tried his best to rush over.Both sides have become tired teachers at this time.Lieutenant General Shujie reminded Hechun: "My lord of the military gate, the humble officer sees that Changmao's collapse is not chaotic, and he ran without panic. Could it be some kind of trick?" He Chun didn't take it seriously, and said conceitedly: "This is the brilliance of Changmao. The more he loses, the more courageous he becomes. Think about it, the late Zhou Shuai, didn't he always follow their way? Don't let him succeed!" Shu Jie said again: "Your Excellency, I have a lowly position and dare to think that it is reasonable for Changmao to flee to Luzhou or Shucheng. Now they give up the two cities and go straight to Feixi. Isn't it strange?" He Chun said with a smile: "Long Mao's plan can deceive others, but it can't hide the bright eyes of this official. Everyone in the world knows that this official has come to recover my Luzhou with the order of my superiors. He fled into Luzhou at this time. Zhou, isn’t he throwing himself into a trap? I wouldn’t give up Luzhou to chase him for long-haired materials, but I chased him until he had nowhere to go. Fang (interview), who is this official, can I give the credit to others?" On the surface, Shujie was convinced and said yes again and again, but he felt ominous in his heart.