Chapter 10 After the defeat of the Erjiangnan camp, Zuo Zongtang took advantage of the time to rise

During the period when the court was dealing with the case of Fan Xie and Zuo Zongtang, Zeng Guofan moved his camp to Susong, Anhui, in preparation for the restoration of Anhui Province.At the invitation of Zeng Guofan, Zuo Zongtang came to Susong from Xiangyang and stayed for 20 days.In the camp of Susong, Xin Xi talked about the overall situation in the southeast and discussed the remedial strategy.Zeng Guofan also showed Zuo Zongtang the manuscript of "Hundreds of Classics and History" compiled in recent years, and asked him for comments.With such busy military affairs, Zeng Guofan was able to take a break from his busy schedule, not forgetting his literati duties, and edited a million-word tome of ancient Chinese anthology, which made Zuo Zongtang feel inferior.He took the draft and looked at it seriously.

On this day, Peng Yulin sent someone to report that the Chenghai Camp belonging to the Waijiang Navy and the Dingxiang Camp belonging to the Neihu Navy intercepted a foreign ship on the Yangtze River carrying grain to Anqing, and a fight broke out due to uneven distribution of goods. Please send someone to mediate.The situation was so serious that Zeng Guofan decided to visit Peng Ze in person.He made an agreement with Zuo Zongtang to listen to Zuo Tan's opinions on "Hundreds of Classics and History" when he came back.As soon as Zeng Guofan left, Zuo Zongtang received a letter from Hu Linyi.The letter said that the emperor ordered him to go back to Hunan to recruit brave men, so he could make preparations early.Zuo Zongtang was overjoyed, and only waited for Zeng Guofan to return to Susong before leaving and returning to Hunan.At this moment, an unexpected change happened.

Chen Yucheng and Li Xiucheng, who had won the Sanhe Great Victory, were successively named King of Ying and King of Zhong by Hong Xiuquan, and later Li Shixian was also named King of Attendant.During the first month of the tenth year of Xianfeng, the three kings planned a major military operation to break the siege of Tianjing.Li Xiucheng and Li Shixian led troops from southern Jiangsu into Zhejiang, and the soldiers crushed Hangzhou.Luo Zundian, the governor of Zhejiang, hurriedly asked Hechun, the commander of Jiangnan Camp, for help.Zhang Yuliang, the commander-in-chief of the Hechun Sect, led 20,000 troops, and Jiang Ning rushed to rescue Hangzhou.Just as Zhang Yuliang walked halfway, Li Xiucheng and Li Shixian led troops away from Hangzhou to the north, and rushed to the Jiangnan camp.At this time, Chen Yucheng led the soldiers from northern Anhui to forcibly cross the river.The two armies joined forces, and within a few days, they broke through Gaochun, Liyang, Lishui, Jurong, and Moling Pass, which are the outskirts of the Jiangnan camp.Jiangnan Camp was surrounded.He Chun and Zhang Guoliang split up to resist desperately.The Taiping Army fought against the Qing Army for nine days and nights, the Jiangnan camp completely collapsed, the siege of Tianjing was lifted, and Li Xiucheng and Chen Yucheng's plan to encircle Wei and rescue Zhao won a complete victory.The Taiping Army took advantage of the situation and went south, and Hechun and Zhang Guoliang retreated steadily.Zhang Guoliang died in Danyang, and He Chun died in Hushu Pass.The 70,000 Jiangnan Green Battalion, except for Zhang Yuliang's 20,000 men, have all collapsed by now.

When the news came out, Zeng Guofan was in Pengze.He was both surprised and concerned. Yang Zaifu was very indignant at the harassment of the defeated soldiers along the way, while Peng Yulin was worried that the arrogance of the Taiping Army would become more intense.In Zeng Guofan's heart, however, there was a hint of happiness: the disintegration of the Jiangnan camp may herald a turning point for the Hunan Army!He hurriedly left Pengze and returned to Susong. When the boat passed Boluo Lake, it received a letter from Li Yuandu who was stationed in Ningguo.Li reported to him the situation of the dog camp in the south of the Yangtze River, and added an intriguing sentence: He Chun died, Gui Qing fled, the overall situation in the southeast, who will God's will belong to?

"This Pingjiang genius thinks too much." Zeng Guofan thought to himself, lit a fire and burned the letter.What was the reaction of the old camp in Susong?Zeng Guofan was filled with various complex emotions such as worry, heaviness, gratitude, and longing, and he was not sure which one was the main one.At night, he lay on the boat, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.In the middle of the night, the ringworm broke out again, and the itching was so unbearable that he couldn't close his eyes all night, and the bed was covered with skin flakes and blood stains. At dawn, the boat berthed at Yangjiaotang Wharf. He changed his sedan chair and hurried to the old camp of Susong.The old camp is set up outside the county seat, and the atmosphere is still as calm as it was a few days ago.As soon as Zeng Guofan entered the room, he saw papers and newspapers stacked more than a foot high on the desk.He picked up the top one and browsed casually.

"Disheng, you're back after all, I've been looking forward to it every day." Before the person entered the door, the voice came thunderously, except for Zuo Zongtang, there was no other person like this. "Something's up, you know?" "You mean about Jiangnan Daying?" Zeng Guofan put down the newspaper. "Jiangnan Daying no longer exists." Zuo Zongtang said as he sat down on the wooden bench opposite. "Forty to fifty thousand horses, more than ten days were ruined. It's unimaginable, what a pity!" Zeng Guofan looked sad, and compared with Zuo Zongtang's sonorous voice, his voice was much dry.

"What a pity, this pustule should have been worn earlier!" Zuo Zongtang's straightforwardness surprised Zeng Guofan. "You are too harsh. After all, the Jiangnan camp has been in operation for seven or eight years, and it is responsible for resisting Changmao! Now that He Shuai and Zhang Junmen have died tragically, and tens of thousands of brothers have died in foreign lands. All the plans that the court worked so hard to deploy Disruption will only make Long Mao's arrogance more arrogant in the future, and our road will be more difficult." "The death of Hechun and Zhang Guoliang is not a pity. Although the tens of thousands of brothers are pitiful, it is helpless. However, for the overall situation of eliminating Changmao," Zuo Zongtang looked closely at Zeng Guofan and lowered his voice slightly, "Di Well, don't blame me for being honest, it's a great thing."

"What did you say!" Zeng Guofan asked pretending to be surprised, "This is my misfortune and the enemy's luck. How can there be such a great thing?" "Dasheng, I don't believe you really didn't see it." Zuo Zongtang smiled.He couldn't hide what he was going to say, and after pouring it out quickly, he felt comfortable. "The camp in the south of the Yangtze River has long been riddled with holes and rot. The generals are all rich in clothes and fine food, and the prostitutes sing and dance, while the soldiers smoke more opium, whoring and gambling are common, the morale is drowned, and the barracks are corrupt. He gave it more than 100,000 taels of silver, and wanted to use it to become a famous official of Zhongxing; the court was deceived by He, thinking that the Jiangnan camp was a dry city against Long Mao, and instead regarded our Xiangyong as dispensable. Don't say that you and the brothers who fought on the front line were dissatisfied, even I, the left-behind minister, was full of anger. The truth is that the cicada's wings are the most important, and the weight is the lightest. The annihilation will make the court wake up from now on, wouldn't it be a great thing!"

"Do you know the situation of He Guiqing's escape?" Zuo Zongtang was telling the truth, how could Zeng Guofan not know!He has always adopted a cautious attitude towards the court's decision-making, and never made rash comments, let alone in front of the outspoken Zuo Jigao!It is different for He Guiqing.Zeng Guofan hated He Guiqing, which first started with Guo Songtao's purchase of Zhejiang salt; later, He Guiqing often wrote secret letters to his backer, the Minister of Military Aircraft, Peng Yunzhang, saying that Zeng Guofan was timid and could not fight, and Peng Yunzhang blew this evil wind to the emperor. ear.

All these were heard by Guo Songtao when he was on duty in the South Study Room.Now, He Guiqing has finally suffered a disastrous defeat, how unhappy Zeng Guofan is! "I don't know!" Zuo Zongtang shook his head.He has an instinctive hostility towards these high-ranking bureaucrats, and is extremely happy to hear their mishaps, "You tell me." "The defeated soldiers fled to Changzhou. Only then did He Guiqing know that the Jiangnan camp was broken. He didn't want to resist, and immediately fled south with his subordinates behind Hechun. The gentry in Changzhou found out and stopped his sedan chair halfway, crying and kneeling to beg He stayed. He Guiqing, a man with no conscience, actually ordered his soldiers to shoot and killed a few squires, then rushed out of the crowd and fled to Suzhou. Xu Youren refused to accept him, so he had to flee around the city wall to Shanghai overnight Go. Shoot the squires who are holding on to the sedan chairs. In the two hundred years of the Qing Dynasty, there has been no such governor!" The mixture of righteousness, indignation and personal grievances made Zeng Guofan agitated rarely.

"It's just that these bastards are reused. If it wasn't for the long-haired attack in Changzhou this time, this naughty boy would join the cabinet again in a few years." Zuo Zongtang hated these injustices in the world, and he was angry when he mentioned them .Having grown older in recent years, he can sometimes restrain his anger.He deliberately picked up the teacup and drank the tea in big gulps.After the anger calmed down a bit, he told his old friend that the emperor had ordered him to go back to Hunan to recruit courage, and he would leave Susong tomorrow. "Leave tomorrow?" Zeng Guofan hoped that Zuo Zongtang would stay for a few more days. Regarding Xiangyong's military plan after the situation changed, he would like to discuss with Jin Liang, "How about the compilation of "Hundreds of Classics and History"? No comments!" "I guess you want to surpass Yao Ding?" Zuo Zongtang smiled treacherously. "Mr. Yao Jichuan is profound and profound. My rough interpretation of the article was inspired by Mr. Yao. How dare I have more ambition than him." Zeng Guofan said sincerely. "Of course, it's really not easy to surpass Yao Ding." Zuo Zongtang put away his smile and said seriously, "However, you deliberately broadened Mr. Yao's academic path of theory, poetry, and textual research, and added economics into it. From this point of view, you have surpassed. However, there are still some chapters that need to be considered and considered. Right now, I don’t want to talk to you more. After the long hair is calmed down, how about discussing it in detail? " "Okay! Let's talk after we calm down the long hairs. Let's talk about how many people you plan to recruit!" "It's as many as ten thousand, and as little as seven or eight thousand. I've already thought of a name, so I'll call it Chu Jun." "Chu Jun?" Zeng Guofan recalled that Wang Chi put up the signboard of "Xiang Jun Battalion Office" in the Zhao family ancestral hall, "Ji Gao, it's not appropriate to be called Chu Jun. Since you want to set a different style, you'd better call it Chu Yong. In the future so as not to be criticized." "Although it is brave, since it goes out to fight in the province, it is better to call it the Chu army. After all, it is more legitimate." Zuo Zongtang is not Wang Chi. It has been his dream for decades to start a career vigorously.A few months ago, because of Fan Xie's complaint, he was in a disadvantageous situation in Changsha. Some people even secretly wrote some insulting notes and pasted them on his door in the middle of the night to vent their grievances, which often made him very angry.There is a post that reads, "Imperially order the assistant to run the Hunan governor's mansion", which is extremely sarcastic. Now that the case has been settled, it was a blessing in disguise, and at the very moment of the collapse of the Jiangnan camp, how could Zuo Zongtang, who is 49 years old and has been in the imperial examination for 28 years, miss this great opportunity!He can't wait to recruit one hundred and eighty thousand soldiers, show off his talents, and wipe out the giant bandits and restore Jiangning in a year and a half.He believed he had it. Zuo Zongtang had just bid farewell to go out, and his own soldiers sent an obituary post: Luo Zundian's family will hold a family sacrifice tomorrow, Zeng Guofan is invited to attend. "Tancun died pitifully!" Zeng Guofan said to himself, with a clouded face, and turned to the soldiers, "You tell the Luo family, I will come to the house to express my condolences tomorrow morning."