Chapter 3 Chapter Two (1-1)

After Anqing was overwhelmed, Zeng Guofan began to seriously consider the two major tasks of aiding Zhejiang and normalization.His consistent aim has always been: "Finding a substitute is the first priority when doing big things." Zuo Zongtang decided to hand over the task of aiding Zhejiang.Knowing people is better than Zeng Guofan. He is well aware of Zuo Zongtang's talents, and he knows that Zuo Zongtang's temperament is very happy and unrestrained. It is best to give him a situation where he is not restrained by all parties and can let go , taking the situation in Zhejiang as an example, others regard it as a difficult one, but Zuo Zongtang just takes advantage of it.

Zeng Guofan felt that it was difficult to find a suitable candidate for the regular post, because this task was different from aiding Zhejiang: First, Zhejiang has become a trend of corruption, and everyone knows that things cannot be done, so it doesn't matter what Zuo Zongtang does. At worst, if it falls, find a way to overcome it.However, when aiding Su Chang, Shanghai must be protected first. If the entrustment is improper, if Shanghai is lost, the southeast's salary source will be lost, and the relationship is too heavy, so we have to be extra cautious. Second, in Zhejiang, looking for reinforcements is like looking at Yunni in a severe drought. Wang Youling has already defended Zuo Zongtang, and has expressed his willingness to hand over the full power of Zhejiang's military affairs command. Therefore, when Zuo Zongtang arrives, Wang Youling will definitely surrender and bow his head obey orders.The situation in Shanghai is different, the situation is quite complicated. Although He Guiqing has been dismissed, his latent power still exists. Relax.With the divergence of powers and the troubles of Westernization, it is doubtful whether there are elite soldiers and good generals who can command them well.

At that time, the special envoy from Jiangsu to beg for help came, and more than one came. There were more than a dozen gentry from Su Songtai. Among the dozen or so gentlemen from Jiangsu, the leader is Qian Dingming, whose name is Tiaofu, from Taicang, Jiangsu. His father, Qian Baochen, was the governor of Hubei.After Hong Yang's incident, Qian Dingming followed his old father to handle the regiment training in accordance with his order, which delayed his fame. Since Daoguang twenty-sixth year, he has not been able to go north for the examination. In the third year of Xianfeng, Liu Lichuan of the Small Knife Society rebelled and captured Shanghai. Zhou Lichun, the gang leader in Qingpu, responded.Qian Dingming then recruited regiment bravery to cooperate with the officers and soldiers in fighting. Xianfeng regained Shanghai in five years, put down the Small Knife Club, rewarded him for his meritorious service, and appointed Ganyu County, which belongs to Haizhou, Jiangsu Province, as a teacher.With Qian Dingming's talent, how could he submit to a county school official?In order to be eager to use the world, he took the road of donating classes and became the head of the household department.Soon, because of Ding You's return home, when he stayed at home for three years, the situation in the south of the Yangtze River was already bad, and the camp fell again. Take refuge and take shelter in the "Yichang".

But "Yichang" is not a place to live for a long time. The fallen hometown is more eager to recover.After seeing Jiangsu, almost all of Zhejiang fell into the hands of the Taiping Army. If Hangzhou fell and the war in Zhejiang came to an end, and Li Xiucheng spent the material and financial resources of Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces to besiege Shanghai, it would be difficult to hold on to a corner of the land.And if Shanghai is lost, the tariffs and lijin, which are enough to raise tens of thousands of soldiers, will be earned by the Taiping Army. Once one person is sent out, the relationship will be great, and it will be very difficult to go home at that time.

So the Jiangsu gentry gathered in Shanghai, and Pang Zhonglu, the minister of training, convened a meeting to plan a strategy for self-protection.Although the high officials in Jiangsu are all concentrated in Shanghai, since He Guiqing lost Su Chang, the people under him, such as Xue Huan, the current governor of Jiangsu, and Wu Xu, the acting governor of Su Song Taidao, are all unreliable in the eyes of Jiangsu gentry The only one who can be relied on is Brother Zeng from Xinke Anqing. Therefore, the plan to beg for aid from Zeng Guofan, which had been proposed, matured quickly.This plan is divided into two aspects. On the one hand, Pang Zhonglu will play the performance. Please send Zeng Guofan to divide the troops to capture Su Chang urgently. Instigated the court meeting and ordered Zeng Guofan to send troops, while sending special personnel to the Anqing camp to beg for help.

But the road was difficult. It was not an easy task to go west from Shanghai, pass through the numerous checkpoints of the Taiping Army, and reach Anqing.If there is a big reward for recruiting a warrior, and he submits a letter in between, he is afraid that it will not be serious enough, so Zeng Guofan ignores it.At this difficult moment, Qian Dingming generously asked for help, and someone took the lead.Things were easy to handle, and a dozen or so volunteered at once. They traveled by water, took a British ship, and arrived in Anqing safely.As soon as he landed, he went to Daying to meet with Zeng Guofan, and presented Pang Zhonglu's personal letter, saying that "Shanghai is an important source of salary, please use tens of thousands of elite soldiers, and one brave general will lead them, and they will come with twice the road, which can be used as a hundred thousand."

"The words are good. There is no one to send. 'Ten thousand elite soldiers', easier said than done?" Hearing Zeng Guofan's words, Qian Dingming burst into tears from the bottom of his heart.When he cried, the people who came with him also cried, and they knelt before him, as if they were mourning in a big funeral, crying so much that the whole camp was shocked. "Please get up, please get up, talk calmly if you have something to say!" Although Zeng Guofan said so repeatedly, and ordered Goshha to come forward to help him, but the gentry in Jiangsu were desperate for love words, and they seemed to be playing tricks, and refused to get up unless Zeng Guofan nodded in agreement.

Zeng Guofan was really in a hurry, "You guys don't know anything!" He said, "Even if you have soldiers and generals now, how can you get to Shanghai? It's not something that can be done if you cry and I say a word." .Please get up and think long term." The reprimand was correct, and his tone was loosened, and the gentleman who was kneeling on the ground stood up obediently.Zeng Guofan ordered to invite a close friend of his, who was also his protégé. This person is Li Hongzhang—in order to participate in the impeachment of Li Yuandu, Li Hongzhang broke up with his teacher and lived idle for a year in Jiangxi. A bit reckless, one, he is a teacher after all; two, Li Yuandu really failed Zeng Guofan's expectations, just watched him recruit bravely to help Zhejiang, report victory along the way, and when he arrived in Zhejiang, he was cannibalistic and disloyal. It's almost shameless to live between the tails of the enemy.

Thinking about it like this, I always wanted to go back to Zeng Guofan's camp, but there was no chance. It was not until Anqing was restored that Li Hongzhang wrote a letter to congratulate him. Sophisticated people can naturally be metaphorical. Zeng Guofan had high expectations for this student.But Li Hongzhang is still young, not yet calm, predicting things is too easy, seeking too much merit, and he likes to "play a ruffian" and make heroic and deceptive talks. Gong, frustrating his arrogance.In the camp, Li Hongzhang liked to sleep late, but Zeng Guofan had to wait for his friends to arrive before serving breakfast, which forced Li Hongzhang to get up early in the morning. Such "details" made Li Hongzhang very dissatisfied with his teacher, so he fought for Li Yuandu , the result of never leaving.Of course Zeng Guofan understood what his disciple was thinking, and now that he is willing to turn around to meet him, it shows that he has put in a lot of self-examination and self-control, which is beyond comparison in the past, so he immediately wrote back a letter, saying that "there is nothing wrong in Jiangxi, but you can do it immediately." Come here", and at the same time told Liangtai to remit the travel expenses to Jiangxi.So Li Hongzhang happily went to Anqing Daying.

Zeng Guofan's ability to "look at the face" is not based on the luck of the nose in that year, whether he will make a fortune, but on the person's complexion and bearing.I didn't see him for a while, but I found Li Hongzhang's solemn expression and introverted energy. I was very comforted. I left him around as a counselor on military affairs.At this time, the Jiangsu gentry cried out to the teacher for help, and Zeng Guofan also asked him to discuss how to deal with it. "Yes." Li Hongzhang heard the teacher clarified the truth, and immediately replied: "Students are allowed to discuss with the princes of Jiangsu in detail, and then report back."

"Okay, okay. Let's talk in detail first." So Qian Dingming talked with Li Hongzhang all night about the abnormal prosperity of Shanghai brought about by the war, the convergence of five directions, the gathering of merchants, the relocation of wealthy families, and many people living in barbarians with a lot of money. If Shanghai is peaceful According to the army's income, Zeng Guofan's plan to gradually eliminate along the Yangtze River and encircle Jinling will be difficult to achieve. These words made Li Hongzhang very tempted. Heroes must have a place to use their talents, but it is very difficult to find a so-called "good place" - the military affairs of the Taiping Army before Xianfeng's early years were completely different.At that time, there was a big conquest in the country, and the generals were ordered to leave the army. The ceremony was grand. As for "the people and horses are not moved, the food and grass go first", let alone the special generals.As long as the commander-in-chief knows people well, he will do his best.Nowadays, when running the Taiping Army, the imperial court is not responsible for the time limit, and it is not controlled by remote control. The speed of the troops can be sent and received at will.Such a situation is much easier than the generals in the Yongzheng and Qianlong years, but it is much more distressing than the generals at that time to rely on themselves for training and salary. There are two items of military payment, and the payment is the root of the foundation.There are paid but no soldiers, like the situation in Zhejiang in the past few years, it is a miscalculation of the person in charge.Now that Shanghai has such a generous salary source, it is a first-class benevolent place with great potential. However, although the salary source is rich, if it cannot be controlled by oneself, it will still be useless.Therefore, Li Hongzhang then thought of the power of affairs in Shanghai, and asked Qian Dingming about it. "Jiangsu is at a disadvantage now because there are too many high-ranking officials gathered in Shanghai, and their powers are divided. According to the rules, it should be Xue Zhongcheng who controls everything, but in fact, the upper and lower are controlled, and little is done. " "Shang'er?" Li Hongzhang asked in surprise, "Could it be that He Genyun still calls himself Governor Jiang?" "Although I don't regard myself as the Governor of Jiang, but as the Supreme Governor of the two provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang—" According to Qian Dingming, Xue Huan and Wang Youling were grateful for He Guiqing's support and support, and took great care of them, especially Xue Huan, who was close at hand and took orders in everything.He repeatedly pleaded for Guiqing's order, and first played together with Wang Youling to ask for "abandoning flaws and hiring, so as to be effective later".The imperial order did not allow it, so he played alone, saying that the officers and soldiers in Jiaxing, please He Guiqing to supervise and suppress, and wait for Suizhou to be conquered, and then go to Beijing to avenge the crime, but the imperial order did not allow it.But He Guiqing was still in Shanghai all the time, Xue Huan had already put in all his efforts just to keep Guiqing from being arrested, and naturally he couldn't take care of official matters. "Then," Li Hongzhang asked again, "what's the explanation for being under the control?" This refers to Wu Xu, Su Song Taidao's acting agent for the Jiangsu feudal secretary: he is a magistrate in Shanghai, and he is also in charge of the customs, and the source of salary is in his hands.Wu Xu is naturally a shrewd person, but he knows nothing about military affairs. His only way is to spend a lot of money and recruit foreign generals. Ever since he used American Wallace to recover Songjiang, he has become more and more convinced of the saying "Under heavy rewards, there must be brave men" It is a wise saying.But spending a lot of money carelessly, instead cultivated the arrogance of those "foreign thugs" who couldn't stand in their own country and came to Shanghai to find opportunities. Before sending troops, they first asked for heavy rewards; If you win a battle, come back and ask for a heavy reward.Xue Huan also felt that it was not a good idea to do it this way, but Wu Xu had become a local snake, and he couldn't get along with foreigners, so he had to let Wu Xu do it. "Xue Zhongcheng also recruited soldiers several times, with no fewer than 30,000 to 40,000 people. He had no choice but to form an army and could not join the team. Once he left the team, he would lose the battle." Qian Dingming then said: "Everyone in the world knows that Xiangyong is a good fighter, so Xue Zhongcheng People have been sent to Hunan to recruit soldiers with a lot of money. In this case, we should make good use of Xiangyong, not better than the Hunan people. The Wu people look for a commander like Taishan Beidou. " "My teacher has recently received an edict to control the military affairs of the five provinces, and his responsibility is not light. Coordinating the overall situation and prioritizing it is also a difficult task for him as an old man. In a situation where authority is not specialized and things are difficult to handle, how can we feel at ease if we fail to live up to the expectations of Wu Zhong’s elders?” "If you talk about the power of affairs, since there is an imperial edict to control the military affairs of the five provinces, Xue Zhongcheng and Wu, who are in Shanghai to observe, dare not listen to the command of Di Shuai. In the local area, please transfer Chen Di Shuai. I dare to guarantee my life and wealth, and I will definitely follow orders From." Hearing this, Li Hongzhang felt that there was something to be done.Recalling the conversation with each other, I think that Xue Huan's recruiting in Hunan deserves attention, so I asked in detail about this aspect. "I heard that Xue Zhongcheng told the recruiting committee that when recruiting bravery in Hunan, they must select veterans who have been trained and have experienced battles. Almost once the recruits are fully recruited, they can form a team. Once formed, they can go to battle. Once they go out If you fight, you will succeed.” Li Hongzhang laughed out loud after hearing this, which made Qian Dingming at a loss, thinking he had said something wrong? "Brother Tiaofu, you have led bravery and fought wars in Kexiang. Think about it, is there such a thing in the world? According to Xue Zhongcheng's wishful thinking, you can win battles by spending money, so why not play money? You don’t need guns and cannons, just throw a lot of silver, and the long hair will be invincible! How can the world be reasonable?” "That's right." Qian Dingming said, "We also feel that Xue Zhongcheng is too eager for merit, so he can't be relied on." "It's not a problem of seeking too much merit—" Li Hongzhang swallowed the following words, Xue Huan's wishful thinking, what is wrong with Xue Huan's wishful thinking, and he still refuses to teach Qian Dingming to be good. After listening to Li Hongzhang's report, Zeng Guofan also felt that Xue Huan's method of sending committee members to Hunan to recruit brave men was ridiculously naive. "Veterans who have been trained and have experienced battles", if they are capable of fighting, why not fight outside and make meritorious service, and why do they go back to their hometown?The "veterans" Xue Huan mentioned were actually the defeated soldiers of the Hunan Army's battalions, or the "soldiers" who had been laid off and sent back to their hometowns.According to the recruitment conditions set by Zeng Guofan with Wei Jiguang's legacy, he would never be qualified. Li Hongzhang also obeyed these principles, so he couldn't help laughing when he heard Qian Dingming's words. "Teacher," when the joke was over, Li Hongzhang said solemnly, "Xue Zhongcheng spends money carelessly, which will definitely ruin the atmosphere in Hunan. Before entering the camp, we need to ask for many things first, and it will be difficult for us to recruit courage in the future. I'm afraid Uncle Nine returned to Hunan to recruit troops, and he was also influenced by him." "Uncle Nine" refers to Zeng Guoquan, in fact Guoquan is younger than Li Hongzhang, but according to the rules of family friendship, he has to be called with such respect. "That's not enough." Zeng Guofan said slowly, "Actually, there are no such simple farmers? Shaoquan, you might as well go back to your hometown to recruit a brave team." Li Hongzhang was extremely alert. He heard that Zeng Guofan had inadvertently revealed that he had plans to lead troops. What he was looking for was this opportunity. At this moment, he calmly replied, "That's for the future. For the next chapter, the teacher must make a decision before he can be caught off guard." "The source of salary is important." Zeng Guofan replied slowly: "Hu Runzhi was in Wuchang back then, raising 400,000 yuan a month to feed the upper and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. If it weren't for him, why would we be today?" "That's it!" Li Hongzhang hurriedly said, "Shanghai collects 600,000 or 700,000 yuan of tax and lijin every month, which can be used as military pay. It's more than Hu Runshuai's income back then. The barrier is even greater." Zeng Guofan nodded: "I also know. Shanghai has to find a way to defend it. I want to write to Yuan Fu to discuss whether the 6,000 people he recruited can be used in Shanghai first?" Li Hongzhang thought to himself that Zeng Guoquan wanted to recover the great achievements of Jinling, so he might not be willing to go to Shanghai.But it's not convenient for me to say this, I said it as if I wanted to ask for this job.The teacher's intentions are unclear, and I am afraid that I will look down on him, so I might as well not say anything. It's impossible not to say it, if it's not urgent, it should be possible to say it.So he replied: "Teacher, Su Shen's hope for Anqing is like looking forward to Yunni in a severe drought. Moreover, the long-haired 'Er Li' threatens hundreds of thousands of people in the west of Zhejiang. Once he rushes to Shanghai, the consequences will be disastrous. If you have fulfilled the purpose, please ask Uncle Jiu to lead a team to help, then there is no need to discuss any more. Just write to Uncle Jiu!" "You know Yuanfu's temper. He has to be voluntary in everything to be persevering. It is not a good strategy to force it." Zeng Guofan thought for a while and said: "There are many things in the world, and we have to think long-term. .Let’s not talk about what is feasible, but what is not feasible. Shaoquan, I would like to ask you, now there is a large army here, traveling thousands of miles, with many obstacles, how did you get to Shanghai? Did you fight all the way? Want to fight? , of course attack Jinling first; if not, which way to use? If you don’t know the answer to these questions, then it’s impossible to talk about it.” One sentence made Li Hongzhang speechless, but his mind was very fast, thinking in his heart: "Since Qian Dingming can come, why can't I go?" Asking himself like this, suddenly inspired, and blurted out :"teacher!" He yelled, but stopped, and just stared blankly at the teacher, with joy and confusion in his eyes. Zeng Guofan understood it at a glance, and asked calmly, "Shaoquan, what good idea do you have?" "Student has an idea, but I don't know if it will work. I think we have to rely on foreigners for this." "You mean, according to their method in Shanghai, they also recruit foreign generals and soldiers to fight for us?" "No. It's not to recruit foreign generals and soldiers, but to recruit foreign merchants with a lot of money." Li Hongzhang lowered his voice and said, "I plan to hire a few large steamers of foreign merchants to carry soldiers bravely and drive eastward. Teacher, Can you see it?" Zeng Guofan closed his eyes and remained silent, and a scene appeared in his eyes-this scene appeared in the early summer of this year. Hu Linyi was invited to Dongliu to discuss the strategy of marching troops. Zeng Guofan invited him to climb Longshan outside Anqing City to inspect the situation.Hu Linyi, who was as skinny as a stick, immediately looked into the distance, very proud, pointing to the Taiping Army in Anqing City, saying that they are wandering souls in the bottom of the pot, and they will be subdued in the near future.Before he finished a sentence, his color changed drastically, and he vomited blood. This is because Hu Linyi was suddenly stimulated, and the stimulus came from two western ships, which went straight up against the current, as fast as a galloping horse. Foreigners have this sharp weapon, so they have to worry about it.Hu Linyi had a lung disease at first, and his condition became worse and worse. After half a year, he couldn't afford it.A few months before his death, when someone talked about Westernization with him, he always closed his eyes and shook his hands, saying with a melancholy expression: "Don't talk, don't talk. This is not something we can talk about." Zeng Guofan roughly agrees with Hu Linyi in this respect.At this time, Li Hongzhang mentioned "the big steamer of foreign merchants", recalling the past naturally, worrying about the situation of the country, and mourning good friends, so he closed his eyes and said nothing, looking unhappy. Li Hongzhang couldn't help being surprised, "Teacher," he asked, "What are you worrying about?" "Back then—" he told Li Hongzhang the reason why he was so worried about the country. "Hu Run Shuai is a man of foresight and foresight. However, he is unwilling to even talk about Westernization, which is too much." Li Hongzhang paused and said, "According to my disciples, it is a feasible way to learn from barbarians to control barbarians." "That's for the future, and we can't talk about it right now." Zeng Guofan brought the topic back: "When Anqing was besieged, the long-haired people in the city were supported by ships from foreign merchants. The officers and soldiers had nothing to do with them. Ships It is covered with iron armor, and it moves like the wind. It is useless to use foreign guns, but what about bombardment? Monk Wang guards Dagukou, relying on forts, and British and French warships dare not rashly invade. It seems that ships have to be afraid Cannon. You have to think carefully about this level." "The disciples have thought about it. Of course, the news of the troop transport must be strictly guarded against leakage. When hiring a ship, you don't have to tell the foreign merchants first. When the soldiers board the ship, you will not be afraid that the foreigners will not be good." Zeng Guofan pondered for a long time before he opened his mouth: "This approach is close to coercion. It is not an aboveboard behavior. Moreover, I am afraid that foreigners will not accept it and will leak the news instead. In my opinion, this matter can be done. You must first seek security. First of all, we need to investigate carefully. Are there any places that will be bombarded by Changmao? Second, we must explain it clearly to foreign merchants. It doesn’t matter if the water feet are a little expensive, we must obey our instructions , whether to walk or stop, whether to walk during the day or at night, you can’t be at the mercy of others.” "The teacher is worried, so I will follow the teacher's advice and talk to Qian Tiaofu and the others." "Not busy, not busy!" Zeng Guofan shook his head, "there is one more important thing that has not yet been decided. Shaoquan, I'm afraid I won't be able to get many people here. Even though Yuanfu has six thousand people, is he willing? It is not yet known who will take on this role. Besides, there is no delay in encircling Jinling. Can you train an army by yourself?" It is not a matter of three or two months to train soldiers. Li Hongzhang was a little embarrassed. He went back to his hometown to recruit and train a strong force that could keep pace with the Hunan Army. , When the practice is completed, Shanghai has already fallen and has become useless. Wouldn't it be a waste of effort. Seeing him groaning silently, Zeng Guofan guessed what was on his mind, "Shaoquan," he reminded him, "soldiers are always trained by themselves to be effective. Bao Chunting knows how to fight, but not how to train soldiers. His troops , Discipline is too poor, you can only attack but not defend, once settled down, the people will suffer. This is where Bao Chunting suffers, you should learn from it. As for the army, it is useless if it is well trained, you don't have to worry about it Two ideas, only focus on the fundamentals, never go wrong." Li Hongzhang stood up and said resolutely: "I follow the teacher's instruction." Withdrew from Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang refused to meet Qian Dingming first, and had to find someone to discuss with. This person was the long-haired Cheng Xueqi who had surrendered to the Zeng brothers before Anqing's recovery. Cheng Xueqi was born in Tongcheng, Anhui, and his style name was Fang Zhong.Although he is young, he has a great reputation in the local area. He has not read much, but he acts like a knight-errant, likes to use tricks, and is better at making money.Chen Yucheng was in northern Anhui, admired him deeply, and tried every means to attract him, but Cheng Xueqi refused to surrender.Because he couldn't get it, he felt more precious and lovely. In the end, Chen Yucheng made a bad plan and took Cheng Xueqi's parents as hostages. This forced him to step forward and take up an official position in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. The Taiping Army supported each other. However, Cheng Xueqi was dissatisfied with the Taiping Army in his heart, especially when he was forced into the water in such a way, he felt even more unwilling.However, he has a very deep personality and shows no trace on the surface. The Taiping Army in Anqing and Chen Yucheng also believe in him.Unexpectedly, at the critical moment of the most intense offensive and defensive battle, he pulled the team anyway. Anyway, in the future, he was not reused. Zeng Guoquan only believed in his subordinate soldiers, while Zeng Guofan was cautious and did not dare to trust him too much, so he only allocated a thousand soldiers to him to serve as peripheral guards for unimportant places.However, Li Hongzhang was quite close to Cheng Xueqi because of his fellowship. Every time we met, we talked for a long time.Encouraged by Zeng Guofan at this time, he was planning to go back to his hometown to recruit people, so naturally he was the first to think of this fellow villager. "Brother Fang Zhong," Li Hongzhang said happily in Hefei dialect, "Now I have a good opportunity, you son of a bitch, let's do it well!" Cheng Xueqi was also willing to express his ambition, so he devoted himself to planning and talked for a whole night, and came up with a plan. In addition to him and Cheng Xueqi's troops, another 5,500 recruits were recruited in Anhui, and they practiced day and night, and their morale was like a rainbow.The method of transporting troops to Shanghai is also entrusted by Qian Dingming to join with the British Swire Shipping Company, and the transportation can be arranged.However, this is not something that can be done immediately. Taikoo needs to plan well, and Li Hongzhang needs to arrange in many ways.Therefore, Jiangsu gentry have to wait patiently.