Chapter 73 Eight In the most difficult time, the three Zeng brothers conspired to build the Zeng Family Army

Zeng Guofan learned the lesson of the disagreement between Changsha and Hunan official circles in the past, took advantage of the Taiping Army's loophole, and took Nankang back. The old Xiangyong camp is still located in Nankang, as far away from the center of official circles as possible.When Zeng Guofan suffered successive defeats, the ninth younger brother Guoquan took the opportunity of Shi Dakai's army to withdraw from Jiangxi, and as soon as he entered Jiangxi, he captured Anfu County.The first time he took the courage to go out of the province and captured the city, this gave Zeng Guoquan, who has always been ambitious and decisive, great confidence, and also brought hope to Zeng Guofan, who had been defeated repeatedly.He had many things to discuss with his younger brother, so he sent someone to Anfu and asked Guoquan to go to Nankang immediately.

Zeng Guoquan is thirty-two years old this year, except for his slender eyes and thin shoulders, he looks like Big Brother in every way.When he was seventeen, he went to Beijing with his father and lived in his elder brother's house for three years. He finally returned to Heyetang because he could not accept his elder brother's strict and standardized tutoring. He aspires to be like his elder brother in high school at a young age, step by step, but he can't study as hard as his elder brother. Watching others enter school one by one, get promoted and make a fortune, but he fails again and again, his eyes are red with anxiety.At the age of twenty-seven, it was very difficult to be selected as a scholar.Last year, the Hunan Envoy specially rewarded him with a special tribute, and Zeng Linshu celebrated this with three days of wine in the lotus leaf pond.This scholar, who looks thin and weak, is unusually stubborn and vicious in his dealings with others.When he was eight years old, his eldest brother, Zeng Guofan, hadn't yet been selected as a scholar, and the Zeng family had no power in Heyetang.A cute puppy that Guoquan raised was trampled to death by a neighbor's bull. He cried bitterly, took a hatchet from the kitchen, and sharpened it quickly behind his back.He ran to the door of the neighbor's house with a knife and threatened to kill the neighbor's cattle if he did not pay his dog.The neighbors ignored him.He sat at that person's door for a whole day, and no one could drag him back.Until midnight, the neighbors were really afraid that the stubborn boy would kill his cattle, so they had to pay for a puppy.In the past two years, Zeng Guoquan watched Xiangyong win battles and make a fortune abroad, and he was envious of him for a long time. He wrote to his elder brother repeatedly, asking to come to the barracks to kill thieves and make meritorious service.Ever since his elder brother asked him to recruit brave men at home, he and Guohua recruited a thousand brave men, practiced hard day and night, determined to abandon the four books and five classics, and embarked on the road of making military exploits on the battlefield.A few months ago, because of his wife's dystocia, and because Yong Ding hadn't practiced well yet, he decided to stay out of the mountain temporarily.

This time when he entered Jiangxi, Zeng Guofan instructed him to divert to aid Ji'an.He reorganized the original one thousand Yong Ding and the temporarily expanded one thousand Yong Ding into four camps on the grounds of Xia Ji'an, and named them the front, rear, left and right camps respectively, all of which started with the word auspicious. He thought it was a good omen. Sure enough, he had a good chance.Wei Youfang, the Anfu guard of the Taiping Army, was a rude and greedy man who treated his soldiers harshly.After capturing Anfu, in order to show his reward to his brothers, he let them drink to their heart's content for three days, and he was even more drunk every day.He only knew that Zeng Guofan's army was in the north, but he never dreamed that Zeng Guoquan's Jizi Battalion would attack from the west.The Yong Ding of Jiziying was eager to get rich, so they rushed and fought fiercely without fear of death. The defenders in the city had limp legs and red eyes. Within half an hour of the battle, Anfu City changed hands.Zeng Guoquan rewarded all the usable property in Anfu City to the brothers in Jiziying. He rushed to Nankang with a fast horse and a few attendants.

I haven't seen each other for another two years, and seeing the ninth younger brother who won the first battle today, Zeng Guofan was overjoyed, and Guohua also rushed over after hearing the news.After dinner, the three brothers chatted by candlelight at night, and they were very cordial. Guoquan gave a vivid speech to his two elder brothers about the battle to capture Anfu.Zeng Guofan was amazed as he listened, he never thought that the ninth brother is still a general! Fighting tigers also depends on brothers.The one who is really reliable is his own brother.In the future, I will call Guobao out and plan my own strategy. The three younger brothers will each lead an army. Isn't this the Zeng family army?Zeng Guofan really praised the ninth brother and said: "Yuanfu is insightful. He once told me clearly in a letter that the main force of Xiangyong is now from Luoshan, and he should establish his own direct line as soon as possible. In the past, I always thought, everyone Treat each other with sincerity, the purpose is to cut off the long hair, no matter who he is, if he establishes a direct line in Xiangyong, he will be dishonest first. In the past two years, Pu Shan first hid it from me and called his two younger brothers He recruited courage in Xiangxiang, and later Ciqing publicly proposed to expand Pingjiang Yong. Even a sincere gentleman like Luoshan should lead his troops to leave Jiangxi and go to Hubei. Although aiding Hubei can prevent Changmao from invading Hunan, I know that Luoshan I was afraid that I would be trapped in Jiangxi with me, and I would not be able to make any contribution. I looked at all the generals of Xiangyong, except for Xueqin, everyone has their own little calculations in their hearts. Right now Xiangyong is not very powerful, and he will win more battles in the future , The generals have made great contributions, and the number of troops has expanded, and there will be a day when the tail is too big." After finishing speaking, he sighed softly.

Yuanfu said: "Brother is worried. When things are going on in the world, we should act first. Now that Luoshan is dead and Pushan is in Hunan, the original team of Luoshan is only a few thousand people from Di'an in Hubei. Bao Chao is thick and straight, and he was single-handedly promoted by the elder brother. I am sure he will not dare to fight against the elder brother in the future. Zhou Fengshan is a member of the green camp, and he will not always be of one mind with us. In my opinion, the people left by the admiral of the tower should simply let Chun Ting Forget it." "Although Bao Chao has no ambitions, his military discipline is too poor." Wen Fu interrupted Yuan Fu, "Most of Chun Ting's subordinates rob and loot by force and do evil, so leave them to him."

"Wen Fu is right. Chun Ting can only be a general, not a commander." Zeng Guofan had already thought about this deeply, and now that his ninth younger brother had done so well, he made his final decision, "Zhou Fengshan can no longer be a commander, the people of Ta Zhiting Divided into three branches, 2,000 people were led by Bao Chao. Chun Ting was brave in battle, and he was able to urge his subordinates not to be afraid of death. The disease was poor in military discipline, and he condoned the robbery of his subordinates. This was probably Chun Ting's intention to use this as a stimulus. The branch is assigned to Wen Fu. Adding this 2,000 people, how many people do you have, Wen Fu?"

"There are more than 3,500 people." "Okay. We will recruit some more in the future, and we can fight a big battle with 5,000 people." "Another 1,500 people will be given to Yuan Fu. Including this team, Yuan Fu has 3,500 people, and it will gradually grow to 5,000." "No, brother, after capturing Ji'an, I will immediately go back to Xiangxiang to recruit brave people. The Jizi Camp will reach 10,000 people next year." Yuanfu's great ambition made Zeng Guofan very happy, and said: "After Ji'an is conquered, you can recruit 10,000 people, but you have to raise the military salary yourself. I don't have that much money in my hand."

"I have my own way, don't worry about everything." Zeng Guoquan categorically agreed. "Yuanfu, your strength is that you dare to take on great things and are not afraid of difficulties. This is naturally good. But the matter of courage is extremely difficult, and there will be many difficulties in the future. You need to hone it slowly. Your subordinates are currently the most lacking. You are battalion officers, I will send you some good battalion officers." Yuan Fu was very happy, and asked: "Who are they? It's best to be from Xiangxiang." Zeng Guofan said with a smile: "Not only is he from Xiangxiang, but also our relative Shiyi!

In the past few years, I have had six personal soldiers by my side. I intend to train them according to the requirements of the battalion officers, and they are still doing well. Now I can send them to great use.Peng Yuju, Xiao Qingyan, Xiao Qijiang, and Jiang Jizu will all be taken away by Yuan Fu in two days, and there are exactly four battalion officers. " "Thank you for your generosity, brother." Yuan Fu immediately stood up to express his thanks. Wen Fu said: "Brother is too eccentric, he gave four at once, last time he only gave me two." Zeng Guofan said with a smile: "They are all younger brothers. There is no reason to be partial. The people around me, except Kang Fu, as long as they are satisfied, I will pick two more. Two pairs of four, a bowl of water is flat."

Saying that, the three brothers all laughed.Yuanfu said: "Sixth brother will also expand his team next year, at least 10,000 people. Over the years, day and night, he has been eager to make achievements and stand out. Now is the right time. If we can't let go, we will do it vigorously. After a career, he will become a good dragon's Ye Gong." Wen Fu nodded and said, "Ninth Brother is very handsome, why don't I think so, it's just that Big Brother always disapproved before." Zeng Guofan remained silent.Yuanfu continued: "Brother sees it clearly now, we really have to rely on our own brothers to complete the great cause of exterminating Changmao. The fourth brother is at home to take care of the property in his hometown, and Zhengan also let him out. Sixth brother and I will take care of three Wan, Zhengan has 20,000 troops, and 80,000 troops are in the hands of our brothers. No one else can count on it. I guarantee that with the 80,000 Zeng family troops, I will be able to assist my elder brother to put down the rebels and make an immortal feat .”

Zeng Guofan looked at the impassioned ninth brother, his eyes shone with excitement.How he wished that all the Xiangyong generals who were killed from Changsha back then would swear allegiance to him so happily!But unfortunately there is no one!Even the most trustworthy Peng Yulin has never confessed so frankly.Brothers are brothers after all, they are different from outsiders.He is fortunate that his education to his younger brothers has not been in vain for more than 20 years.If the teachings of those years are compared to farming, then now is the time to harvest.In order to strengthen the confidence of the two younger brothers in the most difficult time, Zeng Guofan took out the secret letter from Guo Songtao that he had received recently.Guo Songtao said in a letter from Hangzhou: In Jiangning City, Changmao's internal struggle for power and profit has intensified, and there is a great momentum of internal strife.After reading the letter, Yuanfu was so excited that he slapped the table with his hand and shouted loudly: "If it is true as what Yunxian said in the letter, then God will help me!" Zeng Guofan hurriedly covered his mouth with his hands, and said softly: "Don't shout, no one in the army knows about this except our three brothers, you must not leak a word. If the wind gets out, the barracks will be lost." Fighting spirit, just sit back and wait for the success. If this is the case, you will harm yourself instead, understand?" Yuan Fu understood, and admired his elder brother's prudence and foresight. "Brother," Yuan Fu asked after a while, "I have something to ask you. How to deal with the long hair of the captives? Should they all be killed?" "When shouting slogans and posting notices to Long Mao, it is natural to say that surrender will not be killed, and that the coercion will be released to return home, but," Zeng Guofan said relaxedly, "in fact, in the past two years, all long hairs caught, regardless of gender , all gouging out Lingchi, without exception." "Gouging out Lingchi?" Yuan Fu's heart skipped a beat, "Brother, that's too cruel, can't we kill less?" Zeng Guofan stood up, lightly patted Yuan Fu on the shoulder, and said cordially: "Ninth Brother, you have just left the study and haven't fought for a few days. No wonder you have such kind thoughts. I was the same as you back then. Mencius said that a gentleman stays far away from the kitchen, and a scholar can’t even stand to see a sheep or an ox killed. How can he kill someone with his own hands? But now we are no longer literati in the study, but generals with courage. Now that we have led troops, we think we can kill thieves For ambition, why is it taboo to kill many people? Why should the method of killing people be taboo? The long-haired man kills many captives and kills many people, poisoning Nanji, the teaching of the heavenly father and brother, the official of the king of heaven, even though Zhou Kong was born today, There is absolutely no reason not to do everything in your power to plan for extermination. If you plan to exterminate, there is absolutely no reason not to kill more. Brother Wang put away the kindness and compassion of the former scholar, kill more long hairs, make great achievements early, and be a real man who stands up to heaven and earth. .” Yuan Fu nodded, firmly remembering the elder brother’s teaching. After talking about state affairs for most of the night, the three brothers also talked about family affairs.Zeng Guofan asked: "Yuan Fu, you just came from home, and I want to ask you something." "What's the matter?" Seeing the stern expression on his elder brother's face, Yuan Fu guessed that he must be asking about something important. "At the end of last year, I wrote to ask my brothers to return the 100-acre paddy field in Wumachong, Hengzhou on my behalf. I wonder if it has been returned now?" "Leaving early." Yuan Fu heard that it was such a trivial matter, and thought to himself, this is worth being so serious about!Then he said inadvertently, "Brother is still concerned about that matter! After receiving the letter from the elder brother, he withdrew soon. The fourth brother was also kind, saying that the elder brother was sending troops outside and didn't care about family affairs. We bought some money with the money sent back by the elder brother." Putting the field here will help my nephews gain some family business in the future. I would like to invite Mr. Ouyang to see the field in Wumachong, the field is very good." "It's fine if you retire. I accept the wishes of Marquis Cheng and all the younger brothers. Jize mother and son are at home, and take care of everyone. The elder brother is already very grateful. What kind of land do you want to buy? Father and uncle have not separated yet, and the brothers of the old class are not Yiyi is in the same hall, there is no reason why the eldest brother owns his own private land! Once this wind blows, in the future Chenghou will buy the property in Muxia, Wenfu will purchase the property in Dabuqiao, Yuanfu and Jihong will respectively purchase the property in Zhongsha and Zidian In several places, in the future, some descendants will abandon their ancestral home and move to other families." Having said this, Zeng Guofan's face was serious, and Wen and Yuan also restrained their faces and listened respectfully. "When my grandfather was there, every time he ridiculed others for accumulating private property, it was a sign of defeat. He often ridiculed the five fathers who talked about water when they opened their mouths, and the six fathers who talked about sweet-scented osmanthus trees. I think all my brothers are familiar with it. Your sister-in-law and son-in-law Unaware of righteousness, Jize was young and ignorant, relying entirely on the lessons of his younger brothers to introduce the Zhengda Road, if it is led to the Contemptuous Road, it will be sloppy in the future. If you are rich, even if you have no private property, you will have food to eat; if you are poor, even if you have private property ten times or a hundred times more than five horses, you still have nothing to eat. Brother, I have experienced decades, and all the gains and losses in the world Think deeply." Wen Fu and Yuan Fu saw that the elder brother's words were reasonable and awe-inspiring, and they were deeply admired, and said: "What the elder brother taught is true." "The prosperity and failure of a family business are all based on the two characters of diligence and respect. If you can be diligent and respectful, you will be prosperous even in troubled times. If you are diligent and respectful, you will be wise even if you are a fool. My grandfather left us a family of horoscopes when he was alive. Training, have you followed through on these past few years?" "Although it can't be said that the characters of Kao, Bao, Zao, Sweeping, Book, Vegetables, Fish, and Pig left by my grandfather can be done well, under the supervision of my father, no one dares to forget them." Yuan Fu replied. . Zeng Guofan sighed and said: "Grandfather has extraordinary intelligence, but he was born at an untimely time. That is to say, in terms of this horoscope, the family will serve it, the family will prosper, and the family will serve it, and the country will be peaceful and the people will be safe." Speaking of this, Yuan Fu remembered that Ji Ze and Ji Hong each had a letter to their father, and quickly took it out.Seeing that the eight-year-old Ji Hong could write a few fluent words, Zeng Guofan was very happy. After reading Ji Ze's letter, he said: "This child is newly married, and I hope that my grandfather and uncles will strictly supervise me. My father got married that year. Also at the age of eighteen, he studied with his foreign tutor at the full moon. Jize went to the ancestor martial arts, so he should be a foreign tutor as soon as possible, so he can't waste his time. The bride is from a young lady of your family, and has never worked hard. After passing through the door, she must follow my family tradition, teach me to be diligent, thrifty and respectful, spin clothes to do sewing, cook to discuss wine and food, show filial piety to my superiors, and be gentle to my peers.These are the essentials of women.I want to write a letter to Ji Ze. In the future, the bride and daughters will each make me a pair of shoes and some pickled vegetables every year to see who can do it well. " Yuan Fu laughed and said, "The old wives and sisters-in-law did exactly that." As he spoke, he took out the six pairs of shoes and six pairs of socks made by Mrs. Ouyang and her four sisters-in-law, and the two sets of clothes made by Mrs. Ouyang alone, and Guofan took them one by one. The next day, Wen Fu led his troops to Ruizhou, and Yuan Fu returned to Anfu with Peng Yuju and others, preparing to attack Ji'an.Zeng Guofan suppressed the salaries of other battalions and gave each of his two younger brothers one hundred thousand taels of silver. The rumors that Guo Songtao had heard finally became true facts.On July 22 of the sixth year of Xianfeng, and on July 16 of the sixth year of Bingchen of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Yang Xiuqing publicly threatened Hong Xiuquan at the Golden Dragon Hall in Tianjing to seal him as long live. Wei Changhui, King of the North, Qin Rigang, King of Yan on the battlefield in southern Jiangsu, and Shi Dakai, King of Yi on the battlefield in Hubei, returned to Beijing to order Yang Escort.On the fourth day of the eighth month of the Qing calendar, and in the early morning of the 27th day of the seventh month in the Tianli calendar, Wei Changhui and Qin Rigang led troops into the East Palace and killed Yang Xiuqing, his family and all the attendants of the palace.In order to cut off Yang's gangsters, Wei and Qin resorted to cruel tricks, pretending that the king of heaven sent an order to severely punish the excessive killing, and they were willing to suffer four hundred punishments with the stick.More than 5,000 of Yang Xiuqing's subordinates put down their weapons and came to watch. After all Yang's troops entered the two empty houses prepared in advance, Wei and Qin soldiers surrounded the two houses, and all the 5,000 unarmed soldiers were killed. Lose.After the 5,000 armed men were killed, the rest of the Yang family were arrested without a fight.In three months, rivers of blood flowed in the city of Tianjing, corpses piled up like mountains, and more than 20,000 people from Yang Xiuqing's tribe died together in the catastrophe, even babies were not spared. This staged a scene of civil strife unprecedented in Chinese history!People in the Celestial Dynasty were panicked and almost collapsed. Shi Dakai hurried back from Wuchang and severely reprimanded Wei Changhui for his inhuman and brutal behavior.Wei Changhui was furious and arranged soldiers to kill Shi Dakai.Dakai left the city overnight.Wei Sui killed Shi's family.Shi Dakai raised troops in Anqing to calm the situation, and asked the king of heaven to kill Wei Yizheng to enforce the laws of the country and anger the common people.Hong Xiuquan contacted all officials in the court and killed Wei Changhui.After this unprecedented tragedy of fratricide among peasant uprisings occurred, the Qing court and the public were all deeply surprised. They believed that this was God's help for the Holy Qing, and the long hair would be destroyed.Emperor Xianfeng immediately appointed Jiangnan Admiral He Chun as the imperial envoy to take over the military affairs of Xiang Rong who committed suicide in Danyang in July, and together with Zhang Guoliang, who assisted in Jiangnan military affairs, rebuilt the Jiangnan camp. Especially the brave officers and soldiers of the Qing Dynasty who were on the front lines in Hubei, Jiangxi, Anhui, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang, as if seeing the enemy camp approaching every step of the way suddenly plagued by a plague, suddenly lost their combat effectiveness, and celebrated their narrow escape.Taking this opportunity, Hu Linyi led his troops to conquer Wuchang again, and Li Xubin and Yang Zaifu led the land and water armies to go eastward along the river, and they even conquered Xingguo, Daye, Qizhou, Qishui, Guangji, Huangmei, and Chen Shi under the city of Jiujiang.During this period, Li Yuandu captured Yihuang and Chongren, Bao Chao captured Jing'an and Anyi, Zhou Fengshan led newly recruited Yongding from Hunan to capture Fenyi and Yuanzhou, Zeng Guohua captured Wuning and Ruizhou, Zeng Guoquan captured In Anfu, Li Xuyi captured Duanchang and De'an.The situation in Jiangxi has improved slightly for Xiangyong, but the strength of the Taiping Army is still very strong.Seven of the thirteen prefectures were under the control of the Taiping army. Lin Qirong dominated Jiujiang and repeatedly defeated the besieged divisions.This well-received general on the Jiangxi battlefield united people from all walks of life around him, endured the great grief of the internal strife in Tianjing, and still stubbornly dealt with Xiangyong's attack.Zeng Guofan was not extricated from the crisis. One day, Liu Rong said to Zeng Guofan: "Lin Qirong was Yang Xiuqing's subordinate at the beginning, and was picked up by Yang Yihand. Now that Yang Ni has been killed, Lin Ni must have resentment in his heart. If he can't break the city, he can turn to attack his heart. Disheng wrote a letter Talking about benefits and persuasion, things may be possible." Zeng Guofan said: "The "Xiangyang Ji" said well that the way to use soldiers is to attack the mind first, attack the city as the bottom, fight the heart first, and fight the soldiers next. It's not that you reminded me, I almost forgot this difficult way. It's just this Writer, who should I turn to?" As soon as Zeng Guofan finished speaking, one person responded loudly: "If the teacher is trustworthy, the student is willing to be the scribe." Zeng Guofan turned his face to see the speaker, feeling very satisfied.