Chapter 12 Three Today Zhou Yafu

Not long after Deng Shaoliang entered the city, He Chun, the commander-in-chief of Suining Town, was also transferred from Guangxi to Changsha. Then, Qin Dingsan, the commander-in-chief of Zhenyuan Town, Guizhou Province, Wang Jialin, the commander-in-chief of Hebei Town, Henan Province, and Kai Long'a, the deputy capital commander and other bodyguards, were all transferred to Changsha one after another.Zhang Liangji also rushed to Changsha to succeed Luo Bingzhang as governor of Hunan.Another four or five thousand soldiers were added to the city of Changsha, and the officials and gentry in the whole city breathed a sigh of relief.But they were all transferred from various places in a hurry, with lax discipline and poor scheduling.What worries Zhang Liangji even more is, where will the military pay come from for so many soldiers coming in at once?These Green Battalion soldiers who were transferred to the city publicly threatened as soon as they arrived: "I am here to defend the city with my life. If you are an official, I will not guard you if you don't give money. Changsha City is lost, it's none of my business! "

In order to stabilize the morale of the army, Zhang Liangji discussed with Pan Duo and others, and decided that each soldier defending the city would be increased from the original three coins per day to five coins per day, and the officers would double the amount. After careful calculation, the newly added salary and the supply of munitions, horses, armor sticks, etc. will increase by five thousand taels of silver every day.Where did all this silver come from?Zhang Liangji encountered difficulties as soon as he took office.He had a sad face all day long, but he had no good plan, so he had to take out all the silver that could be used in the treasury, and cash it out for ten and a half months first.

After the silver was closed, the green battalion soldiers who rescued Changsha from all over the country became more motivated; there were more soldiers on the city wall, and the pace of patrols on duty also accelerated.The Taiping army besieging the city has also stopped attacking these days.Xiao Chaogui sent someone to tell Tianwang and Dongwang who were leading a large group of troops to Changsha about the increase in reinforcements in the city, and asked to send 10,000 brothers to come for reinforcements as soon as possible.Before the reinforcements arrived, the soldiers of the Taiping Army seized the time to build fortifications and move food and grass.The battle in Changsha City has temporarily calmed down.

Once the fighting stopped, the soldiers recruited from all over the city would cause trouble for nothing.For several days in succession, robberies, rapes, and murders continued to occur in the city, most of which were committed by those provincial soldiers who took money and did not fight.Zhang Liangji couldn't come up with any effective measures except repeatedly requesting the generals to strictly restrain his subordinates.It's not that he can't severely punish the perpetrators, but at this time, can he do that?Once the mutiny is triggered, the consequences will be unimaginable!Zhang Liangji, Luo Raodian, and Pan Duo had to patrol each day separately, hoping to reduce the commotion in the city a little.

On this day, Zhang Liangji came out of the Governor's Yamen, walked through another village, and came to Gongyuan Street.Gongyuan Street was originally the busiest street in Changsha City. In the past, there were rows of shops and merchants from all over the world, but now most of the shops are closed, and people on the street are in a hurry. They are afraid that they will be stabbed if they walk too slowly. Like a knife.What often catches our eyes are those reinforcements who are blindfolded, wear swords slung across their shoulders, and speak Guizhou, Henan, Shaanxi, and Hubei accents.When people see these bosses, it is like seeing a plague god, and they avoid them from a long distance.Seeing this, Zhang Liangji couldn't help frowning.

At the end of Gongyuan Street is Dongzheng Street, and at the end of Dongzheng Street is Xiaowumen.When Zhang Liangji came to Xiaowumen, his eyes suddenly lit up, and what he saw was a completely different scene.But seeing that the market here is orderly and orderly, the banner on the top of the city is clear.The Xiaowu Gate guards carefully checked the people who came in and out.Zhang Liangji recalled that the Xiaowu Gate area was originally guarded by Chu Yong led by Jiang Zhongyuan, the alternate magistrate of Shaanxi.He seemed to see the Xiliu Camp written in the history books here, and sighed in his heart: Jiang Zhongyuan is really a general!

While still serving as the acting governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, Zhang Liangji had heard the name of Jiang Zhongyuan who fought in Guangxi many times, so he paid attention to inquiring about it.I know that Jiang Zhongyuan is from Xinning, Hunan, and his style name is Minqiao. In his early years, he was a flirtatious man who loved narrow and evil ways.When I participated in the examination in the capital, I escorted the coffins of my friends back to their hometowns twice, defying thousands of miles, rain, dew, wind and frost, and started well and ended well.At that time, Zeng Guofan also loved to help the poor in the capital, especially writing elegiac couplets for others.Therefore, there are two doggerel poems circulated among scholars in the capital: "Send the coffin to Jiang Minqiao on behalf of him, and write an elegiac couplet to Zeng Disheng." Because of this, Zeng Guofan and Jiang Zhongyuan became friends, and predicted that he would establish the world with fame in the future, and finally die with integrity.When Zeng Guofan ascended the throne of Emperor Xianfeng, he recommended six talents to the imperial court, and Jiang Zhongyuan was one of them.Because of Jiang Zhongyuan's reputation, when the Jintian incident broke out and Sai Shang'a was ordered to supervise the military affairs of Guangxi as an imperial envoy, he was invited to come out to support the military affairs.At this time, Jiang Zhongyuan was living in Xinning as Shangding Fuyou, the magistrate of Xiushui County, Zhejiang Province.So Jiang Zhongyuan recruited 500 brave men in Xinning, named "Chu Yong", and belonged to Wulantai, the deputy capital.In November of the first year of Xianfeng, Sai Shang'a commanded ten battalions of Qing soldiers to encircle Yong'an.Guangxi Admiral Xiangrongtong North Road, Ulan Taitong South Road.Xiang Rong's staff suggested: "Since ancient times, the siege of the city should lack a corner, otherwise the battle of trapped beasts will be unstoppable." Xiang Rong obeyed the staff's words and opened a door in the encirclement to the north.When Jiang Zhongyuan heard about it, he hurriedly sent a letter to Xiang Rong, admonishing the siege masters for their shortcomings, and asking Xiang Rong to join the siege.Xiang Rong refused to listen, and the Taiping Army broke through the north gate of Yong'an.When Xiang Rong understood, it was too late to regret.In February, Hong Xiuquan captured Quanzhou and took advantage of the rising Hunan River to enter Hunan by water.Jiang Zhongyuan led Chu Yong to Suoyidu in Quanzhou.The Xiangshui River here is narrow and there are many trees on both sides. Jiang Zhongyuan cut wood to make a weir, and the Hengjiang River blocked it. The Taiping Army suffered heavy losses in the Battle of Suoyidu.This battle was the first major victory since the Qing Dynasty fought against the Taiping Army, which made Jiang Zhongyuan's name spread throughout the country, and also let Zeng Guofan know his good name.

"It's been half a month since I came to Changsha, and I didn't come to see Jiang Zhongyuan sooner. I'm so stupefied." Zhang Liangji said in his heart. When Zhang Liangji was about to arrive at Xiaowumen, Jiang Zhongyuan had already been informed by his own soldiers and went to meet him at the end of Dongzheng Street. "Lord Zhongcheng is here, and I'm so humbled to welcome you!" Jiang Zhongyuan greeted respectfully. "General Jiang, you are welcome. Liang Ji has long heard that the general's reputation spreads far and wide, and today he sees a great success, and his life's wish is enough." Zhang Liangji smiled and looked at Jiang Zhongyuan, seeing that he was about forty years old, with a dignified appearance, he liked him from the bottom of his heart .

"The lowly position is nothing more than a lowly one in central Hunan. I am ashamed to accept the reward from my lord!" "Liangji went from Youyicun to Dongzheng Street early in the morning. Wherever he went, there was chaos. Under the rule of the general, the weather changed. It was as if he had come to Xiliuying and met Zhou Yafu." After Zhang Liangji finished speaking, he took Jiang Zhongyuan's hand and laughed. "My lord, thank you! Please come in and drink tea." Jiang Zhongyuan invited Zhang Liangji into a barracks converted from a miscellaneous shop.Jiang Zhongyuan had heard for a long time that Zhang Liangji was a rare and honest official in today's officialdom.At that time, Lin Zexu was exiled to Xianghe for burning opium. At that time, Zhang Liangji was using Zhongshu to manage the river engineering from Wang Ding.A certain Hebian quietly sent three thousand taels of silver to Zhang Liangji.Zhang Liangji refused to accept it, but he didn't say anything about it.But Lin Zexu knew about it, and secretly wrote it down in the handbook.Later, Zhang Liangji was promoted to the prefect of Yongchang, and Lin Zexu was recalled from Xinjiang and appointed governor of Yunnan and Guizhou.

Passing Yongchang, Zhang Liangji paid homage to Lin Zexu.Lin Zexu was very happy to see Zhang Liangji, so he took out the handbook and told Zhang that on a certain day in a certain year, he refused the three thousand taels of silver privately sent by He Bian.Zhang was shocked and admired Lin especially.Later, Lin strongly recommended Zhang to Emperor Daoguang.Since then, Zhang Liangji has been promoted step by step, and became governor in a few years.Jiang Zhongyuan respects this boss very much.He invited Zhang Liangji to sit up and offered a cup of tea with his own hands: "Your Excellency has worked tirelessly and personally inspected various places. The officers and soldiers of Chu Yong are very encouraged."

Zhang Liangji thought, he just took this opportunity to discuss the next step of the war with Jiang Zhongyuan.So he said with a very sincere attitude: "Liangji first came to your hometown, and he was not familiar with the situation. He has been in peace for a long time and has not experienced any military incidents. The situation is extremely critical today. The general is not only the leader of the Hunan people, but also a rare general in our country. Talent. Liangji wants to have a long talk with the general, and I hope that the general will not hesitate to teach you how to destroy the thief." Jiang Zhongyuan leaned forward and replied: "Defending the homeland is an unshirkable duty of a humble job. Your Excellency came to Changsha at this time of crisis, and the people of Sanxiang are all grateful.Inquiring today, is there any reason for a lowly position to offer its humble opinion without exhausting what it knows? " Zhang Liangji said: "At present, Shi Dakai, the puppet king of the Western Xiao Dynasty and the noble puppet wing king, has more than 5,000 troops in the south of the city. He has attacked the city several times. Although the walls are thick and the soldiers are desperate, they have not succeeded yet. However, the long-haired reinforcements are coming soon. , Threatening to capture Changsha, the people in the city are turbulent, and the soldiers are also terrified. If we don't think of a good strategy, the city of Changsha will be broken, and it may not be far away." Jiang Zhongyuan said: "Long Mao's rebellion has been going on for nearly two years, and the imperial court has paid as much as 20 million yuan for it. However, from Guangxi to Hunan, people have no firm will, the land is rare and the city is strong, and the government and the people are all disappointed. In the past year In the army, I was deeply saddened by the bad generals of the green camp, incompetent soldiers, lax laws, inconsistent orders, incoherent minds, and poor tactics, which made Chang Mao sit on the rampant and rampant. The humble staff thought that Chang Mao was not enough to destroy, but In addition to many reasons, the current situation has been brought about. Among them, the behavior of the generals who lead the troops is at a loss. The military records said: "If you don't know the favorable geographical location, you can't practice as a teacher." , look at the traces of the thieves and prevent them first, and observe the tendency of the thieves to separate and separate. Our army's sparse defenses of important areas and the failure of opportunities are truly unbearable. In the battle of Suoyidu in Quanzhou, the bandits' front had already been defeated. They should have been battling in the east of the river and cut off the bandits' right arm. In the battle of Daozhou, the bandits had their strength In the isolated area, it is better to divide the Qili bridge and prevent the thieves from fleeing eastward. If these two battles do not lose the geographical advantage, once Changmao enters Hunan, he can be put to death. The siege of Changsha this time is also due to the loss of the geographical advantage. If in Changsha In the east, if heavy troops are set up to block the area from Langli City to Huilongtang, Changmao will not appear under Changsha City. If there is a team stationed on Miaofeng Mountain, the commanding height outside the south gate will not be taken away by Changmao. Once the interests of the two places are lost, the situation will change from active to passive." Jiang Zhongyuan's words made Zhang Liangji feel very reasonable, but also made him even more worried. Seeing Zhang Liangji's cloudy face, Jiang Zhongyuan changed the subject, "However, you don't have to worry, my lord. Although Changmao's arrogance is arrogant, I don't think they can break Changsha for a while." Zhang Liangji was refreshed, and hurriedly said, "General, please make a clear analysis." Jiang Zhongyuan said: "Since taking over the battle, our army has been at a disadvantage. It is not because of lack of strength, but because of a command error. I believe that as long as the current passive situation of the enemy attacking and we defending is changed, the war will turn around. I suggest that only a small number of troops should be left to defend the city. Most of the elite troops will go out of the city to fight with Changmao outside the city and even in the outskirts of the city. In this way, the pressure in the city can be greatly reduced. Changsha has 13,000 troops, and 10,000 people should go out of the city at the rate of 10,000. Qiang, with his 3,000 elite soldiers camped outside the east gate, Qin Zongbing led 2,000 people to camp outside the west gate, General Kailonga led 2,000 people to camp outside the north gate, and humble officials volunteered to lead 500 Chu Yong and 2,500 soldiers. All the Luying brothers will block the bandits head-on." After all, Jiang Zhongyuan walked to the topographic map of Changsha hanging on the wall, pointed to the map and said, "Please look, my lord, this is Tianxin Pavilion in the south of the city, which is another commanding height of Changsha City. We should deploy powerful firepower here to control the south gate. Outside. The 5,000-jin cannon king in Changsha City must be moved in the near future. The opposite of Tianxin Pavilion is Cai Gong’s tomb, facing Tianxin Pavilion, which can shield the southeast and southeast sides. This is what Sun Tzu called "struggling for land". The peak is also a battle for land, but unfortunately it has been taken by Changmao, so it can't be lost anymore. The humble generals will camp at Cai Gong's grave, dig trenches and build fortifications, and fight to the death with Changmao. It's a mere offering, for adults' reference only." Hearing Jiang Zhongyuan's words, Zhang Liangji admired Jiang Zhongyuan very much, and said: "The general's use of troops is far superior to ours. Just now, when he heard about the general's high-skilled paintings, Liangji was suddenly enlightened, and his worries for the past few days were swept away. A military meeting will be held in the next day. According to the general's plan, the situation will definitely change. Liangji also thought that thousands of troops would need to be drawn from the four troops leaving the city to intercept the Changmao reinforcements and prevent them from approaching Changsha." "Your Excellency is very thoughtful, intercepting and assisting the division, this is the best book." "The general dispatches troops and looks at the overall situation, which is truly brilliant. Liangji thinks that the ancient Zhuge Liang is in today's situation, and his planning and deployment are nothing more than that." "My lord is serious. How dare you compare yourself with Zhuge Liang. However, when your lord mentioned it, I remembered that someone told me that there are three brights in Hunan. If you get one, Sanxiang can be ruled. I don't know if your lord has heard of it." ?” "I've never heard of it before. General, please explain in detail. Although Liangji is not as good as Liu Xuande back then, he is willing to follow the example of the former sages and pay a lot of money to hire him." Jiang Zhongyuan said slowly: "Although the theory of the three brights has been circulated among the scholars in Hunan, many people don't believe it, and even the low-level officials don't believe it all. The three brights are Lao Liang, Xiao Liang and Jin Liang. The old bright ones, Luo Zenan also , He is currently practicing bravery in Xiangxiang. The little bright one is Liu Rong. Liu Rong is a scholar in Xiangxiang, indifferent to fame and fortune, but he has studied economics deeply. The current bright one is Xiangyin Zuo Zongtang." As soon as Jiang Zhongyuan mentioned Zuo Zongtang, Zhang Liangji remembered that when he arrived in Changsha, he received a letter from Hu Linyi, the prefect of Liping, Guizhou, in which he strongly recommended Zuo Zongtang.Zhang Liangji remembered the following words in the letter: "This man is honest, upright, honest, loyal, and courageous. He is very different from the times and customs. He has ancient and modern maps on his chest, the art of war, and the state regulations of this dynasty. He is practical and meticulous, and is proficient in current affairs. During the visit Yu, will definitely be appreciated. Even if the plan is successful, it will not be rewarded, let alone worldly desires." If it is true what Hu Linyi said, then Zuo Zongtang can be regarded as a rare man today.But Hu Linyi and Zuo Zongtang are relatives by marriage, so I'm afraid it's a bit exaggerated.Whether or not to visit Zuo Zongtang has not yet made up his mind, and now it is time to listen to Jiang Zhongyuan's opinion.He said: "Xiangyin Zuo Jigao, I have heard of this person a long time ago, general please continue." "Although I admire Lao Liang and Xiao Liang, I secretly think that this is a beautiful word for people, and it can't be compared with Gu Liang. Zuo Zongtang is the only one who admires Zuo Zongtang. Zuo Zongtang is really the best in the world." Zhilong, although his fame is only one person, he is full of economics and talent, which is rare in the world. What is more surprising is that this person has devoted himself to the field for a long time, buried his head in military books, and knows the mountains and rivers of the world like the palm of his hand. He is honest and heroic. The world is in turmoil, and it is time for this person to make contributions." Jiang Zhongyuan thought that he was recommending a hero who could turn the world around to the rulers, and he felt very proud. In the ninth year, Lord Lin Wenzhong returned to Fujian with a disease from Yunnan. Passing Changsha, he specially sent people to Liuzhuang to attract Zuo Zongtang. That night, when there was a boat trip on the Xiangjiang River, Duke Wen Zhong and Zuo Zongtang fought and talked about the past and the past. They stayed up all night until the cock crowed Only when the sky dawned did we bid farewell. Duke Wen Zhong was overwhelmed by it, and he was astonished as a peerless genius." Zhang Liangji admired and appreciated Lin Zexu the most in his life. Hearing that Lin Zexu valued Zuo Zongtang so much, he couldn't help admiring Zuo Zongtang.He said: "From this point of view, Zuo Zongtang does have real talents and learning, but I don't know how much he is inferior to the general?" Jiang Zhongyuan replied: "What Zuo Zongtang has learned in his life is the knowledge that really helps the country and the world. It is by no means comparable to those who search for chapters and excerpts and only work on bugs. As for the comparison between humble jobs and Zongtang, this can be applied to Xu Shu's A ready-made saying, it is true that a horse is better than a horse, and a jackdaw is better than a phoenix." "The general is so respected. A few days ago, Hu Linyi sent a letter to recommend him with all his strength. Since Mr. Wen Zhong is astonished as a peerless genius, how can Liangji not consider the people of the country and hire Zuo Zongtang!" Jiang Zhongyuan said: "Zuo Zongtang is a humble and arrogant person, and he is afraid that gold and silk will not be able to move him." "Then what?" "It's the sincerity of my lord who moved this person. I have a small plan in my humble position. My lord might as well try it." After finishing speaking, Jiang Zhongyuan moved around and clung to Zhang Liangji's ear, and said so and so.