Chapter 37 Seven Xiangjiang Water Pirates application mark

Since the arrival of Peng Yulin and the smooth completion of the navy, Xiangyong has taken on a new look.On single days, Zeng Guofan went to perform Wuping, and on double days he went to Shiguzui, where Lu Yong trained by Ta and Luo and Shui Yong trained by Peng and Yang were all practicing seriously.In Pingli, swords and guns flashed, and the sound of killing shook the sky; on the surface of the river, flags were dazzling, and warships were flying like shuttles.The two teams of water and land were mighty and majestic, and Zeng Guofan was in a very happy mood.These days, Zeng Guofan played against Kang Fu every night.Kang Fu taught Zeng Guofan one by one the secret games handed down from his ancestors, and Zeng Guofan's chess skills made great progress.That night, Zeng Guofan and Kang Fu were playing chess with Kang's ancestral Yunzi again, while Peng Yulin, Luo Zenan and others watched from the sidelines.

Just as he was working hard, a brave man rushed in to report: "Master Zeng, Mr. Peng, there are thieves on the river attacking us, and Mr. Yang is leading people to fight them." Zeng Guofan hurriedly threw the chess pieces away, and said to Peng Yulin, "Go to the riverside and have a look." After finishing speaking, the two brought a few followers and rode fast horses, and ran towards the Shiguzui River. In the dark night, there were bright lights on the river, and seven or eight long dragons surrounded a huge civilian boat. The civilian boat was filled with high-pile sacks, and those sacks were filled with Xiangyong's rations.The water warriors on the fast crab held a knife in one hand and a torch in the other, yelling in one go.Some people jumped onto the civilian boat and scuffled with the people on board.On the surface of the river, there were two human heads bobbing up and down the water.When Zeng Guofan came to the shore, he immediately called out four or five dragons and ordered them to arrest all the people on the civilian boat.After about half an hour, Yang Zaifu got out of the water, grabbed another man's hair with one hand, and dragged him to the shore.It was already deep winter, and Yang Zaifu was shivering after getting out of the water.When Zeng Guofan looked at the man, he saw that his face was ashen, as if he had died.Zeng Guofan asked Yang Zaifu to enter the cabin to change his clothes, and ordered him to drink a few more sips of white wine, and asked someone to bring out a set of dry clothes for him to change.Then he went into the cabin and personally interrogated a group of thieves who were caught.This group of thieves consisted of sixteen people. They confessed that they were forced by life to steal military rations. The leader was the man pushed out of the water by Yang Zaifu, named Shen Mingbiao.

The application bid was put up.This man was nearly forty years old, tall and thick, fierce and ferocious. When he saw Zeng Guofan, he knelt down on both knees and said, "I am not aware of Mount Tai. I offended you. I am willing to be punished by you. The one who caught me in the water I admire the excellent kung fu of this strong man, if you don’t think I’m a thief, I’m willing to join you and serve you.” Zeng Guofan asked: "Apart from stealing from meetings, what skills do you have?" Shen Mingbiao smiled wryly, and said: "My lord, stealing is not my job as a Shen Mingbiao. It's just that these days, my brothers can't find anything to do. The family members are so hungry that their stomachs stick to their spines. We are jealous of the food in the army. My lord. , We were forced to do it. I applied for the name more than ten years ago, and I was also the commander-in-chief of General Guan Tianpei. I knew a thing or two about water warfare. On the river, with a knife in my hand, twenty or thirty men are not in my eyes , The name of my bid is mentioned on the water of more than a hundred miles up and down, and no one in the boat people knows it."

Yang Zaifu said at the side: "This kid is quite capable. He has over a dozen brothers under water by him; he is also good at underwater." Zeng Guofan stroked his long beard and slightly closed his triangular eyes, thinking: This name is clearly a water pirate on the Xiangjiang River, someone like the Sanxiong Ruan family in Liangshan Boli.This kind of person has no moral integrity, if he is a leader, he will destroy the military style and discipline, and lead a group of people to ruin; if you just treat him as an ordinary warrior, who can control him?If not, this person is brave and has some kung fu, and it is a pity to bury his long skills at the moment of employment.Especially being the general manager of Guan Tianpei's subordinates, this made Zeng Guofan even more tempted.Zeng Guofan had always admired Guan Tianpei, and he was the general manager under Admiral Guan, so he was not a very bad person.To accept, or not to accept?Zeng Guofan was hesitating.Peng Yulin said: "My lord, even if these rat robbers have certain advantages, it is better not to use them. In the future, they will ruin the atmosphere of the military camp and do more harm."

Seeing that Zeng Guofan was silent, Yang Zaifu said, "My lord, brother Xueqin's words are indeed reasonable, but according to Zaifu, this person is still useful. I have fought against him for half an hour. Few of the Xiangyong navy can match him. Besides, employing people is like using a weapon, making use of their strengths and avoiding their weaknesses, mainly because they can't be controlled properly." Zeng Guofan nodded frequently, and Yang Zaifu's point of view was completely consistent with his thoughts.He thought to himself, don't look at Yang Zaifu's young age, he really has the air of a general.Zeng Guofan opened his eyes, glanced at Yang Zaifu with a smile, then turned his face away, looked at Shen Mingbiao majestically for a long time, and scolded: "Shen Mingbiao, you took the lead in stealing my Xiangyong army rations and committed a capital crime, do you know that?!"

Shen Mingbiao kowtowed like garlic: "The villain knows the crime, and the villain deserves death. Please forgive me." Zeng Guofan shouted: "You and other sneaky people shouldn't be taken in, so as not to break my camp regulations. Our hall pity you for your skills. At present, the country is employing people. I think about the country and look at Mr. Yang. I will accept you on the face of Mr. Yang. I will send you to obey orders in Mr. Yang’s camp. From now on, you must follow Mr. Yang’s orders, honestly correct your evil ways and return to the right, and contribute to the country. , Combination of punishment for two crimes, the military law of this Ministry will not allow it! Go!"

When Shen Mingbiao saw that Zeng Guofan accepted him, he couldn't help but kowtow again; after getting up, he kowtowed twice in front of Yang Zaifu.Zeng Guofan ordered the captured thieves to be released after ten boards each.The Shen Ming specimen had no wife or child, said a few farewell words to the brothers, and did not go back, and stayed on the boat that night. Since then, Shen Mingbiao has served as a water warrior in Yang Zaifu's Second Navy Battalion.Shen Mingbiao was very grateful to Yang Zaifu for his kindness, respected him, worked hard in training, and was good at water combat. Soon, Yang Zaifu promoted him to be a captain.Shen Mingbiao secretly summoned 20 or 30 boat people leaders to join Yang Zaifu.Yang Zaifu was born, so he was naturally very familiar with the character of the boat people on the water, knowing that most of them were brave and bold, unrestrained.Not only can he accommodate the bids for names, but he also sees that all the brothers he recruited have hard work, and some of them, Yang Zaifu has already heard of their names when they were released, so he welcomes them all.This group of people also followed Yang Zaifu wholeheartedly.A month later, Yang Zaifu promoted Shen Mingbiao to be a whistle chief.Shen Mingbiao served as a staff officer to Yang Zaifu, and dedicated all the formation and drill skills he had learned in Guan Tianpei's naval division to assist Yang Zaifu in training.Yang Zaifu's Second Naval Battalion really made great progress, outshining the three naval battalions.The other two battalions were not far behind, and there was an atmosphere of chasing each other in the navy.Xiangjiang had always been calm and gentle, like a lady in a boudoir, but now he was full of arrows and murderous all day long, like a warrior preparing to go to war.Zeng Guofan saw that the Sanying Navy was booming, and just at this time he received the 200,000 taels of silver raised by Guo Songtao in Xiangyin, so he simply built ten battalions according to Lu Yong's organizational system.As soon as the notice was posted, applicants poured in.At that time, the common people were poor and desperate.The years of suffering have greatly weakened people's nostalgia for life, and they are not very afraid of death. Anyway, life and death are not much different.They thought: It is true that it is easy to die on the battlefield when you serve in the army and eat food, but after a few days of full food and a few good wines, it is worth dying even if you die. Maybe you can make a fortune on the battlefield.If the graves of the ancestors are buried well, maybe an officer can be killed to honor the ancestors and enjoy the glory and wealth in the world.In less than half a month, the navy built another seven battalions, together with the original three, a total of ten battalions.There were not enough warships, so Zeng Guofan entrusted Huang Mian to build another shipyard in Xiangtan, renovate civilian ships and manufacture new ones around the clock; he also sent people to Guangdong to buy foreign guns.Zeng Guofan loved these ten battalions of sailors very much, and Peng Yulin and Yang Zaifu were battalion officers whom he had single-handedly admired and promoted.Zeng Guofan turned most of his thoughts to the navy. He even believed that the ten battalions of navy were the real Zeng's army.

When Peng Yulin, Yang Zaifu and others commanded the Tenth Battalion of naval divisions on the Xiangjiang River, following the formations of the Long Snake Formation, Square City Formation, and Bagua Formation created by Zhou Yu, and referring to Guan Tian's experience in training sailors, they practiced day by day. The Western Expedition of the Taiping Army achieved brilliant results on both sides of the Yangtze River.On the Anhui battlefield, Shi Dakai, the king of Yi, presided over the overall situation in Anqing. First, he conquered Jixianguan, Tongcheng, and Shucheng, and Lu Xianji, the assistant minister of regiment training and minister of the Ministry of Industry, committed suicide in defeat;On the Jiangxi battlefield, after the country's uncle Lai Hanying occupied Hukou, his warship entered Poyang Lake and conquered Nankang Mansion in one fell swoop.Then Hukou and Jiujiang changed flags, and even Kefeng City, Ruizhou, Raozhou, Leping, Fuliang, and killed the officials guarding the city.Guozong Shi Xiangzhen commanded an army from Jiangxi to Hubei, and conquered Wuxue, Tianjia Town and Qizhou.Zhang Liangji was ordered to downgrade, and Wu Wenrong, the new governor of Huguang, died in battle in the blockade twenty miles outside Huangzhoufu.The soldiers of the Western Expeditionary Army, who were victorious steadily, once again surrounded Wuchang, the capital of Hubei Province, from both water and land routes.