Chapter 12 The twelfth section cleverly changed the memorial and offered a plan to defeat the enemy

In order to prevent the Hunan Army from entering Anhui, the Taiping Army sent tens of thousands of troops to Anhui.Fearing that he would be swallowed up by the Taiping Army, Fuji retreated to Shandong and called Li Hongzhang back to his camp. Li Hongzhang came to see Zeng Guofan with Fuji's urgent letter: "Master, please see, Fuji has retreated again and again. Seeing that the whole of Anhui Province is in danger, and now he is urging his students to sell their leave and return to camp. I really don't know what he is planning!" Zeng Guofan took Fuji's letter, looked at it calmly, put the letter on the table after reading it, and said with a smile: "Putting Fuji to Anhui is a failure in itself. Shaoquan, what do you want to do? You are the regimental assistant under his command, if you don't cancel your leave and return to the camp, he will have an excuse to join you." Zeng Guofan gently sent Li Hongzhang into the army.

Li Hongzhang replied without hesitation: "Since the student has come to Jianchang, he must obey his teacher's instructions in everything. The teacher asked the student to go back to Anhui, and the student immediately packed up and set off." Zeng Guofan smiled. He admired Li Hongzhang's adaptability the most: "Shaoquan, if you are not afraid of being wronged, you can help me with the document matters first. I am in charge of coordinating the four provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, and Jiangxi. For military affairs, I recruit a copywriter, which is also part of my job, won't the superiors refuse to agree?"

Li Hongzhang fell to his knees and said: "The mentor can allow the disciple to practice by his side, which is enough for the disciple's lifelong wish. As long as the mentor is willing, the disciple is willing to serve him all his life." Zeng Guofan helped Li Hongzhang up with a smile, and said, "You Li Shaoquan, you are more suitable to be Su Qin and Zhang Yi in the Qing Dynasty. The same thing, the taste is different when it comes out of your mouth. I will send an official document to Fuji now." In the past, you should get acquainted with the situation when you get there, and you can do things tomorrow!" Li Hongzhang left happily.

Since then, Li Hongzhang began to handle the copywriting for Zeng Guofan seriously, without the slightest complaint.Zeng Guofan once had a chat with Li Hanzhang, and when he accidentally mentioned Li Hongzhang, Zeng Guofan sighed casually: "Don't play with your low status, don't be proud of your talent, you are my brother Shaoquan, and your future is limitless!" Into Li Hongzhang's ears.Li Hongzhang didn't say a word, and worked more attentively. A few days later, Li Hongzhang saw a memorial on Zeng Guofan's case. Sanhe was defeated in the First Battle, Zeng Guofan was very guilty. In his memorial to the court, he criticized himself, "The accident is unfavorable, the minister has been defeated repeatedly, and he owes the court's grace and the hope of the people of Sanxiang..."

Li Hongzhang saw that it was inappropriate, and the court would definitely be furious if he submitted it in this way.He quickly told Zeng Guofan his thoughts in a tactful way, and Zeng Guofan said, "What do you think is good?" Li Hongzhang thought about it for a while, and adjusted "the minister has repeatedly fought and failed repeatedly" to "the minister has repeatedly defeated and fought repeatedly". The difference of one word, but it fully reflects the courage of the Hunan Army and Zeng Guofan's character of not being afraid of failure.Zeng Guofan looked at it and laughed and said, "Good change!" After the memorial was presented, instead of blaming Zeng Guofan, the court comforted him instead.

At the beginning of the tenth year of Xianfeng (1860 A.D.), Jingdezhen was occupied by the Taiping Army again. The imperial court ordered Zeng Guofan to recover quickly because Jingdezhen was closely related. At this time, Zeng Guofan had no spare troops to adjust. In desperation, he had to move to Fuzhou to be stationed in the festival, recruiting brave people on the spot, forming five battalions, and handing them over to his younger brother Zeng Guoquan. Zeng Guoquan originally had four Xiangyong battalions, called "Jizi battalions", and added five battalions, bringing the total number to 4,800.Zeng Guoquan, styled Yuanfu, nicknamed Shuchun, was born in Gongsheng. He practiced bravery from his elder brother Zeng Guofan.Zeng Guofan had four younger brothers, namely Guohuang, Guohua, Guoquan and Guobao.Guoquan has three older brothers and five older sisters.He was ranked ninth, so Zeng Guofan used to call him the ninth younger brother, and people called him the ninth handsome.Zeng Guoquan was thirty-five years old, one year younger than Li Hongzhang.

Zeng Guoquan is famous for his ferocity in combat, the only shortcoming is that he lacks strategy. Although the commander Zeng Guofan often creates opportunities for him to make meritorious deeds, he still loses more than he wins.After several years of hard work, the number of wounds on his body has increased, but his head is still only a fourth-rank title. Zeng Guofan often worries about him. Zeng Guofan still decided to let his younger brother go to recover Jingdezhen this time; in order to let him succeed, Zeng Guofan passed Li Hongzhang to the account and said: "Shaoquan, whether Jingdezhen can be recovered as scheduled is related to the overall situation of the province. I want you to be a military supervisor. What do you think?"

Li Hongzhang hurriedly said: "My teacher has something to say, but my disciples dare not refuse to obey. Although my disciples are not talented, they will try their best to help Jiu Shuai succeed!" Zeng Guofan smiled while twisting his beard, and said three "good" words in succession. Li Hongzhang withdrew and hurried to "Jizi Camp" to meet Zeng Guoquan.Zeng Guoquan was very happy, and said with a smile: "Brother said he wanted to match Zhuge Liang with me, and I guessed it was your elder brother." Li Hongzhang said with a smile: "I don't dare to bear the word 'Zhuge Liang'. It's true that I came to learn the formation from Jiushuai!"

Zeng Guoquan stopped joking with Li Hongzhang at the moment, and quickly mobilized his troops and marched towards Jingdezhen. As soon as they arrived in Jingdezhen, they launched a fierce attack.Zeng Guoquan was so anxious that he had to find Li Hongzhang to discuss a solution. Li Hongzhang said: "My brother attacked the city for three days, and I went around the city for three days. Jingdezhen's walls are high and thick, and a strong attack will definitely not work. Now more than 30% of the battalions have suffered casualties, but Jingdezhen has not been shaken. If things go on like this This city cannot be taken without reinforcements!"

Zeng Guoquan said anxiously: "Good job, Mr. Li! The elder brother sent you to be the supervisor, but you just go around. I have already slapped my elder brother on my chest. I can't take this city for a while. What do you want me to do?" Go back to work!" Li Hongzhang said with a smile: "Brother, when I was in Anhui, I heard rumors that the Ninth Commander of the Hunan Army was a fierce Zhang Fei. I didn't believe it at the time. Why? Because the Ninth Commander is a scholar after all. What scholars pay attention to is military books, not strategy. Just use force."

Zeng Guoquan stomped his feet and said, "My lord Li, let's get to the point. Our army has been besieging the city for four days, and the soldiers are going to be exhausted. If this continues, no matter whether Jingdezhen can be captured or not, our auspicious battalion will also be dragged down." ah!" Li Hongzhang said: "Jiu Shuai don't worry, brother, I have already figured out a plan." Zeng Guoquan hurriedly said, "Speak to me quickly!" Li Hongzhang said: "It is impossible to attack by force. In my opinion, it is better to withdraw the troops. I just said that Fuzhou was besieged, and my mentor urgently ordered my battalion to come back to help. I have checked the terrain. There is a dense forest fifty miles west of Jingdezhen. You can retreat there to rest. .Stay late at night, and then return suddenly. If he is caught off guard, he will definitely be able to break the city in one battle! What do you think?" Zeng Guoquan thought for a while, and said: "Okay! I will act according to your plan, and withdraw the troops now!" The "Jizi Battalion" quickly withdrew, but suddenly returned in the middle of the night. .The Taiping army defending the city was defeated, Zeng Guoquan did not dare to slack off, and led his army to pursue them, until he forced the Taiping army out of the country, and the whole province of Jiangxi was wiped out. Zeng Guofan led the pro-barracks to move to Nanchang soon.From then on, Zeng Guoquan began to admire Li Hongzhang, and Li Hongzhang's name appeared on Zeng Guofan's insurance policy for the first time.Zeng Guofan recommended him as a Taoist priest.The imperial decree was soon issued to Nanchang: Zeng Guoquan was exempted from being elected as a Taoist priest; according to Zeng Guofan's request, Li Hongzhang was actually granted the title of Yanjian Shaodao in Fujian.After receiving the order, Zeng Guoquan and Li Hongzhang congratulated each other. Zeng Guoquan said enviously: "Since the rise of the army, there have been more than tens of millions of Taoist priests with military merits, and the one who is really lacking is probably only Mr. Li!" Li Hongzhang said: "Gongsheng joined the army. There are tens of thousands of people in the Qing Dynasty. There are countless people with military merits and the title of magistrate, but those who are exempted from being selected as magistrates are used as Taoists. As far as my brother knows, I am afraid that there is only Yuan Fu, the nine commander of the Hunan Army." Brother alone!" Zeng Guofan said with a smile: "Okay, both of you have made great contributions to the recovery of Jingdezhen this time. The hall has prepared a table to celebrate your achievements. Please invite the two meritorious officials to the table!" Everyone happily followed Zeng Guofan to the dining room. According to the Daqing official system, although the Taoist and the prefect have the same fourth-rank titles, the magistrate is a local official and follows the fourth rank, while the Taoist is an official appointed by the cloth and the second division; according to the regulations, all those below the prefect are under the jurisdiction , The Taoist is then the fourth grade.But Taoist priests are the first step that officials must take to enter the ranks of senior officials.After the officials entered the ranks of Taoists, they also had a share in the two vacancies of cloth and press.The cloth refers to the chief envoy, according to the inspector, the governor, the cloth, and the official together are collectively referred to as the three constitutions of a province.Therefore, although Taoist priests in the Qing Dynasty were not high-ranking officials, they were valued by others.Although Li Hongzhang has already been a third-rank inspector, he is not a real inspector. Only after passing the level of Taoist priest can he fill the vacancy. While Li Hongzhang sent his entourage Zhang Sheng home to announce the good news, he made handovers with others and secretly prepared for his appointment.Unexpectedly, after the Taiping army withdrew from Jiangxi, they quickly gathered in Fujian. In a few days, more than a dozen counties in Fujian were successively occupied by the Taiping army.The Qing army in Fujian was hit hard, and the whole province was covered in gunpowder. Li Hongzhang embraced the real lack of support, but watched helplessly as he was unable to take up any duties. Soon after Zeng Guofan led the Hunan Army, he led the army into Anhui and established a camp in Susong. Li Hongzhang was unable to take up the post and had to accompany him.Zeng Guofan still asked him to handle the copywriting, and Li Hongzhang had to agree.