Chapter 10 Chapter 2 A Fierce Battle in Changsha A City God Bodhisattva Guards the South Gate

In February of the second year of Xianfeng, the soldiers of the Taiping Army who broke out from Yongchang went up to the Little Paradise in the Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan. Inspired by the edict of the "celestial dynasty", he went north to Lipu, Yangshuo, Guilin, and Xing'an, from Quanzhou to Guangxi, and went all the way to Hunan.In more than two months, they successively conquered Yongzhou, Daozhou, Jianghua, Yongming, Ningyuan, Lanshan, Jiahe, Guiyangzhou, Chenzhou and other prefectures and counties. Hunan Admiral Yu Wanqing and guerrilla Qu Woqian stationed in Yongzhou blocked defense, Before the Taiping army arrived, he abandoned the city and fled for his life.Wang Kuiyi, magistrate of Daozhou, and Chang Lian, magistrate of Yongming County, also fled in haste.Liu Xinghuan, magistrate of Jianghua County, Ouyang Gao, the instructor, and Li Qizhao, magistrate of Guiyang Prefecture, were captured and beheaded.The huge change shook the whole province of Hunan, and also the imperial court.Emperor Xianfeng urgently ordered the imperial envoy, the senior scholar Sai Shang'a, and the imperial envoy, the former Guangxi admiral Xiang Rong, to pursue them quickly.After the Taiping army captured Chenzhou, Saishang rushed to Yongzhou, and Xiang Rong disagreed with Saishang, saying that he was sick and living in Guilin and staying on the sidelines.Cheng Yucai, governor of Huguang, was ordered to enter Hengzhou.The imperial court also transferred Fuxing, the commander-in-chief of Gaozhou Town, Guangdong Province, to lead 3,000 troops to assist Cheng Yucai.In order to make Fuxing work hard, he was quickly promoted to the admiral of Guangxi.The Qing government expected that the Taiping Army would go north from Hengzhou, and planned to adopt a north-south attack strategy in the Hengzhou and Chenzhou areas to wipe out the Taiping Army in Hunan.

Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan and Eastern King Yang Xiuqing had insight into the conspiracy of the Qing court and diverted their route to Yongxing, Anren, Chaling, and You County. One night at the end of July, after conquering Liling, Western King Xiao Chaogui and Yi Wang Shi Dakai led a vanguard of 5,000 people. Unknowingly, they wiped out a thousand officers and soldiers stationed in Shimapu, 20 miles outside Changsha City, in one fell swoop.In the early morning of the next day, the mighty Taiping Army officers and soldiers came to the city of Changsha.Only before the Taiping army came to the city wall for a meal, did the city get the news.Luo Bingzhang, the former governor who was dismissed due to the loss of several states and counties, hastily ordered the seven gates to be closed.Changsha City had nine gates in the Ming Dynasty, from north to east to south to west: Xiangchun Gate, Xinkai Gate, Xiaowu Gate, Liuyang Gate, Huangdao Gate, Derun Gate, Yibu Gate, Chaozong Gate, Tonghuo Gate Door.

In the early Qing Dynasty, when the new gate was opened and the currency gate was blocked, there were only seven gates left.Among them, the Xiangchun Gate is commonly called the North Gate, the Zodiac Gate is commonly called the South Gate, the Derun Gate is commonly called the Xiaoxi Gate, the Yibu Gate is commonly called the Daxi Gate, and the Chaozong Gate is commonly called the Caochang Gate.At this time, Xiao Chaogui and Shi Dakai came to the south gate.Thirty-two-year-old Xiao Chaogui, who was a charcoal burner in Zijing Mountain more than a year ago and now sits in the third place among the leaders of the Taiping Army, stood on his horse to inspect the terrain outside the south gate.Seeing Miaofeng rising from the ground, the forest is luxuriant, like a huge camp outside the south gate, but there is no soldier on the mountain.Chaogui sneered in his heart: "Qing Yao uses troops like this, how can there be no reason to be invincible!" He wants to send an order to the soldiers to set up the camp on Miaofeng Peak, immediately build a fort, and step up the deployment of the siege.

At this time, an emergency military meeting was being held in the governor's yamen near Youyi Village in the north of Changsha City.Although Luo Bingzhang was dismissed, the new governor Zhang Liangji had just stepped down from the post of governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, and he was still running on the road from Kunming to Changsha, so he had to continue to work.Luo Bingzhang has been up and down in the officialdom for more than 20 years, and he knows that if Changsha City cannot be kept, it is not just a matter of dismissal, but beheading.He deeply hated the Taiping army coming too fast. If Zhang Liangji entered Changsha ten and a half months later, he could avoid this place of right and wrong. Now he had to bite the bullet and deal with it.Attending the meeting were the chief envoy Pan Duo, the procurator Yue Xing'a, the prefect of Changsha Mei Buyi, the magistrate of Changsha Chen Biye, and the magistrate of Shanhua Wang Baosheng.There is also Luo Raodian, a native of Anhua, who was originally the governor of Hubei and is now a native of Ding You.Because of the many events in the past few months, and Luo Raodian is a well-known cadre, Luo Bingzhang invited him to Changsha to help.There is another important person, Bao Qibao who succeeded Yu Wanqing as admiral. He sent someone to invite him, but he didn't know where he went.Luo Bingzhang couldn't wait for him, so he analyzed the strength of the troops in Changsha first: the old, the weak, the sick and the disabled combined had 8,000 troops, and Jiang Zhongyuan's 500 Chu Yong, known as a strong army, but unfortunately there were too few people.

"Although there are more than 8,000 people, I'm afraid they are no match for Changmao." Luo Bingzhang said worriedly.During this period, Luo Bingzhang was terrified by the long hair. After serving as an official for more than 20 years, it was the first time he encountered a big battle. From early morning to now, he was still in shock. "You don't have to worry about Zhongcheng." The speaker was Wang Baosheng, the magistrate of Shanhua County. He has always regarded himself as a military commander. He thought that the opportunity to display his talents had come. , All those over the age of 15 will be arranged, divided into several groups, and take turns to guard the city. With the large number of residents in Changsha City, it is not a problem to raise 350,000 people. I am willing to undertake this matter."

Luo Bingzhang was very grateful for Wang Baosheng's generosity in handling things in times of crisis: "Wang Ming's mansion has a good idea. However, the people have not been trained on weekdays, and they are concentrated when they are in danger. After all, they are just mobs." "It doesn't matter if there are mobs, it can strengthen the courage of soldiers." Pan Duo appreciated Wang Baosheng's suggestion very much. "Wang Mingfu's method will be implemented immediately, but there is an even more important move," Luo Raodian was speaking, and everyone turned to listen to him, "Send people out of the city to Xiangtan as soon as possible, and call Deng Shaoliang to lead troops to rescue. Deng Shaoliang's The three thousand townspeople are the real elite soldiers." Everyone agreed, and Luo Bingzhang immediately ordered the police to send people out of the city.

"You talk about blocking long hair all day long, so stop talking about it!" A rough voice came from outside the door. With a sound of "clang", the door was pushed open, and a tall and thick black man rushed in like a gust of wind, "I don't even know the long hair is under my nose, they are all bastards!" This is Bao Qibao, the new admiral who just took over. He is a brutal, vulgar and illiterate warrior.Everyone knows what he is like, and they don't care about it.Luo Bingzhang asked him to sit down, and he sat down next to Luo Bingzhang, breathing heavily.

"Also," Luo Raodian, who was born in Hanlin, looked down on the uneducated Bao Qibao. It is reasonable to ask the admiral of water and land to speak first at this time, but he continued the unfinished topic, "Send someone to Hengzhou to report to Cheng Zhitai. Ask General Fuxing to quickly lead troops northward to protect the provincial capital." "Fuxing's soldiers can't move." Bao Qibao was very annoyed when he saw that Luo Raodian ignored him as the admiral, he impatiently interrupted Luo Raodian's words, "Fuxing's soldiers should be stationed in Hengzhou to guard against Changmao. There are many Changmao soldiers, and many of them are in the Hengchen area. Once the Hengzhou soldiers withdraw, a door is opened for Changmao."

"Admiral Bao's words make sense," Luo Bingzhang said.Being praised by Luo Bingzhang, Bao Qibao spoke even more vigorously: "Everyone, don't panic, Changsha is not Yongzhou, and I, Bao, am not Yu Wanqing! Chang Mao wants to take advantage of me, so he is so fucking blind! Don't be afraid, everyone, now The garrison troops in Changsha City have already set up the city walls. Changsha City Walls are tall and thick, and the long hair is absolutely impenetrable. I went to Chenghuang Temple early this morning to ask for a lottery, and I got a lucky lottery. Don’t worry, everyone, Changsha I, Bao, will guarantee it."

Bao Qibao spit all over, but everyone couldn't believe it. "Bao has a unique plan, which he has thought of long ago, and it can be used in an emergency now." Everyone didn't know what good idea he had in mind, and they all listened attentively to what he said. "I don't know if you all know that Chang Mao believes in the cult of God. Whenever there is a battle, there is always a heavenly father and brother who secretly protects, so they attack cities and land all the way, and succeed again and again. Someone Bao thought, how can the cult of God with long hair Enemy and our Chinese holy religion! I have heard that the Changsha City God Bodhisattva has always been efficacious, responds to requests, and has boundless magic power. If Changsha breaks through Changsha, the Bodhisattva will also suffer. How can he even ignore himself? I have thought about it a long time ago, Changmao If I come to Changsha, I will invite the Bodhisattva to drive me. So I went to the Temple of the City God early this morning and begged the Bodhisattva to bless me. The Bodhisattva has given the auspicious lottery, which is a clear promise. When the Bodhisattva comes to the south gate, he will be able to exorcise evil spirits and make God fails, Shaggy loses."

Bao Qibao spoke so miraculously that Luo Raodian and others sneered, but they didn't refute him.For one thing, they knew that Admiral Mang was used to being arrogant and domineering, so they couldn't be offended, not to mention the flames of war were already raging, and they were about to rely on him to contribute.In addition, setting up Shinto teachings has been a good way to fool the people since ancient times. Since the people of Changsha believe in the City God Bodhisattva, maybe the clay Bodhisattva was really lifted up to the city gate, which can strengthen the confidence of the soldiers and civilians defending the city. Wouldn't it be great!So everyone nodded yes. Bao Qibao returned to the admiral's yamen, made arrangements in a serious manner, and ordered the kitchen not to deliver meat dishes, and did not sleep with his concubine that night, and made another bed in the room usually used for playing cards.The next day, he got up early, took a bath, put on clean clothes, led a hundred soldiers, and went to the Town God's Temple next to Jia Taifu's Temple with burning incense. He ordered candles to be placed for fruit offerings. He said in his mouth: "In order to save the people of Changsha from the fire, the disciple Bao Qibao specially invites the Bodhisattva to come to the south of the city and cast magic power to eliminate the long hair. After the success, the disciple will rebuild the temple and build a golden body to command Changsha soldiers and people. It is enshrined all year round, and the incense is endless." After the congratulations, firecrackers roared, and a hundred soldiers shouted, carried the Bodhisattva out of the temple gate, and walked towards the south gate in a mighty manner.It provoked the people along the way to come out of the house and stand on both sides of the street to watch. Some hurriedly carried out the table from their homes, lit incense candles, and kowtowed. When he reached the south gate, he carefully carried it up the tower. The Bodhisattva sat facing south, staring at Miaofeng with wide open eyes.Bao Qibao respectfully led the soldiers to kneel and kowtow again, and then went down the tower, waiting for the Taiping army to attack the city, and the Bodhisattva used boundless magic power to save the whole city.