Chapter 20 Section 20

Shen Gongshuting, looking forward to the report of Zeng Guofan leading troops out of the provincial capital to suppress, is like looking at Yunni in a severe drought, but suddenly half a month passed, and there was no news.At this time, the Nian Army in Shandong had fled from Caozhou to the north and was entrenched in the "Liangshanbo" area.Since the Tongwaxiang broke through in the fourth year of Xianfeng, the Yellow River seized the Daqing River and went out to the sea from the North Road. This place has become the intersection of the canal and the Yellow River. Deploy defenses along the north bank here, struggling to support.If there were no more reinforcements, once the Nian army had crossed the river and headed north from Dongchang, there would be no danger to defend them. Even though there was a mighty 1,500 foreign gun troops, they might not be able to hold back the Nian army's cavalry.

Finally, Zeng Guofan's memorial arrived, and the Titang official in Jiangsu had already received an order to report to Jiang Ning when he arrived, so he went to Prince Gong's mansion to inform him.Prince Gong then found Wen Xiang and others, rushed into the palace, waited to be summoned, and expected to hear excellent news. It was more than three o'clock in the afternoon, the summer solstice had passed, and the day was growing. Prince Gong sat for a while, but there was no news from the palace, and he was not in a hurry.Wen Xiang felt a little uneasy, eager to know what Zeng Guofan reported?So he persuaded King Gong to "pass the sign" to see him. While discussing, Zhang Jing, a military plane on duty, said: "There is a note from above, and I went to the internal affairs office to get it."

Sure enough, it was Zeng Guofan's memorial. When he opened it, he looked at the reason: "I went to Shandong to suppress the thieves according to the order, and shed light on the difficult situation." King Gong took a deep breath. Bao Yun was the most anxious, so he asked, "How should I say it?" "'Jinling Chuyong abolished all the police, and wanted to'recruit another Xuzhou Yongding, and train them into an army in a few months', which cannot be done quickly;" King Gong looked at it, and said: "Nian bandits' years of war horses are even worse. There are many, galloping on the plains, the front is very sharp', you have to go to Gubeikou to buy war horses, and train them, the second; 'resist the thieves from fleeing north, but rely on the natural danger of the Yellow River', it will take several months to set up a navy, this is the third. "

At this point, Prince Gong stopped talking, his eyes were fixed on the paper, and his brows were relaxed. Obviously, Zeng Guofan's following words were pleasant. "He also has his reasons. But..." He handed the memorial to Wen Xiang, "You read it first and then talk about it." Wen Xiang nodded as he looked at it, and at the same time explained the content for Bao Jun: "Zeng Disheng is only willing to manage the thirteen prefectures at the junction of the four provinces of Qi, Henan, Jiangsu, and Anhui. Xuzhou is the 'old camp'. Listen to him: 'This ten The three prefectures are spread across thousands of miles, and the Nian army haunts the most familiar areas, so they are responsible for the supervision of the ministers, while the rest of the responsibilities for the governor of the province, each has its own exclusive, and the military affairs gradually have their destination.'" "That's good!" Bao Bao Jun happily replied, "As long as he is willing to take care of the thirteen prefectures."

"Slow down and be happy!" Prince Gong interjected, "Listen to Bo Chuan's reading." So Wen Xiang raised his voice and read: "'This thief has become a bandit and is always erratic. You should train a steady soldier so that you can control it. Undecided thief! Fang Jin is a handsome and handsome newcomer, and the villain Fang Zhang, the minister can't help Shandong quickly, and he can't take care of Jifu. However, after many days of thinking, the plan will come out.I would like to tell Chen Luoluo directly for selection. " "It's nothing! It's nothing more than..."

"Don't be too busy!" Prince Gong said again, "There is also an attachment." The attached piece said: "The minister's energy is declining day by day, and he will not let it be difficult. The longer the matter is, the less courageous he becomes. Those who are dedicated to the thirteen prefectures in Shuzhong, ask themselves what they can say but cannot do. Kindly ask another Jane to know Bing Da As a member, to supervise the military affairs of the North Road, the responsibilities of the ministers are slightly relaxed. The ministers should still serve as idle personnel in the line."

Not only Bao Jun, but even Wen Xiang was surprised by this thought.The tone of the memorial is quite different from that of the attached film. What was promised earlier suddenly changed his mind later, saying that he was "able to speak but not deed". So should he be instructed to "supervise" the thirteen prefectures, or "another Jianzhi Bingda?" Members, to supervise the military affairs of the North Road"? The three of them deliberated over and over again before they understood the tone of Zeng Guofan's hesitation. According to his meaning, it would be better for him to sit in Xuzhou, train troops to raise wages, dispatch them in the middle, and supervise the division in front of the battle. There should be someone else.Everyone felt that his plan was not bad, and that it would not be enough to see his strengths, but at this time, he could not find a person who was good at controlling generals, could go to the front enemy in person, and could become Zeng Guofan's deputy in terms of qualifications.

"It's really helpless!" Prince Gong said with a wry smile, "I can only urge him to leave the teacher as soon as possible, and ask him to 'stand up'!" After agreeing on this conclusion, we only need to wait for the decree to be handled tomorrow, so there is no need to disturb the two palaces at this moment.Unexpectedly, he was about to go out to get on the sedan chair, when he heard someone shouting from behind: "Sixth Master, please stay." When he turned around to look, it was a eunuch who was the chief of the Spring Coupling Zhai, so Prince Gong stood still and waited for him.The eunuch greeted Ann out of breath, and it took a long time before he could speak.

"The two empress dowagers just found out that the sixth master has entered the palace. The decree is for the sixth master to meet at the Spring Coupling Zhai." When they met, the Empress Dowager Cixi asked, "What happened to Zeng Guofan?" "I have read his papers carefully." Prince Gong replied very cautiously: "Zeng Guofan always insists on being solid in his affairs. Now that he is famous, he should be more careful, and ask the two empress dowagers to understand his state of mind. " "Sixth Master! Let's conclude the matter of Zeng Guofan. What do you think we should do?"

"Naturally, I urged him to leave as soon as possible." Prince Gong replied, "In fact, Zeng Guofan's departure from the province to the north was nothing more than taking advantage of his prestige, and he relied on Huai Yong to fight wars. Do your best. Let him mobilize a powerful force and take a sea boat to go north, maybe he has already gone to sea, and with Chonghou's foreign gun team, the capital is important, so he can be safe. The two empress dowagers, please forgive me." At that time, the situation ahead could already make people breathe a sigh of relief.Because the 5,000 people sent by Li Hongzhang, led by Pan Dingxin, disembarked from Shanghai, went to Dagukou by sea, landed on the shore and went south to stop and suppress the Nian army.According to people who have seen this army, "Huaiyong" has excellent equipment and is full of energy, like a newcomer, full of vigor.In addition, Liu Mingchuan's army has also arrived in Jining. Although they fought a "battle" with Chen Guorui's troops who were known for their brutality as soon as they arrived in Shandong, in terms of momentum, it was the reinforcements of the government and troops.But the most important thing was Zeng Guofan's hard work, and finally on May 23, amidst the sound of cannon fires throughout Jiangning, he took a boat out of the province and went to Shandong to supervise the division.