Chapter 15 Seven Li Yuandu lost Huizhou Prefecture

It turned out that it was Li Yuandu, the leader of Ping Jiangyong, who asked to rescue the Huizhou government.Li Yuandu followed Zeng Guofan in the Northern and Southern Expeditions from the fourth year of Xianfeng, and he made a lot of contributions.Especially during the five or six years of Xianfeng, when Zeng Guofan was in trouble in Jiangxi, Li Yuandu and Ping Jiangyong became his pillar of support.He Zeng Guofan did not protect Li Yuandu's post, and Li Yuandu was dissatisfied.After Zeng Guofan returned home to observe the funeral, Wang Youling, the prefect of Hangzhou, took advantage of Li Yuandu's dissatisfaction and established a relationship with him.After Luo Zundian's death, Wang Youling was promoted to Zhejiang Fu, and Li Yuandu was appointed as a Taoist in Wenchu.Zeng Guofan didn't know about it until he saw the message sent by the imperial court, and he didn't take Li Yuandu seriously.He summoned Li Yuandu to Qimen and told him clearly that Wang Youling's move was to divide Xiangyong; and Li Yuandu's defection to Wang's sect was also suspected of betraying Xiangyong.Li Yuandu was aware of the seriousness of the problem, and seeing that Zeng Guofan had already been awarded Jiangdu, there was no need to change his family, so he agreed not to go to Zhejiang.So Zeng Guofan asked Li Yuandu to be a Taoist priest of Taiguang Road in Ningchi, Anhui Province.After the approval of the Shangyu, Li Yuandu brought Ping Jiangyong to Qimen as the guard of Qimen's old camp.

At this time, Zeng Guofan said to Li Yuandu: "It is most justified for you to go. Huizhou is a big city in southern Anhui, and it is also the barrier of Qimen. The long-haired attack on Huizhou is to break through this gate and rush into Qimen. It is of great significance to defend Huizhou. Zhang Fuxian We defended Huizhou for several years, although we didn't win any battles, but we didn't lose anything, so don't lose it." "Don't worry, it's easy to shake mountains with long hair, but it's hard to shake Ping Jiangyong. With Ping Jiangyong, Huizhou City will never lack a corner."

Zeng Guofan saw that he spoke so lightly, so he was worried that he would go, but now he couldn't find anyone else, so he had to tell him seriously: "This time Huizhou is surrounded by elite long-haired troops. You should not underestimate it. It stands to reason You have led Yong for many years, so I don’t need to tell you too much, but the relationship between Huizhou Prefecture is too big, and I have to make five chapters with you. If you can do it, go, if you can’t, you don’t have to go, and I will choose someone else.” Li Yuandu was very displeased, and said, "Which five chapters? Tell me!"

"The first commandment is floating. There are many literati around you who are well-read but have no combat experience. You must not reuse those who talk big. The second commandment is conceit. After arriving in Huizhou, don't think too much of yourself. The teacher’s heart is for personal use. The third commandment is excessive. The use of money and the recommendation of meritorious personnel must be restrained. The fourth commandment is repetition. As a leader, do not change the order from day to night. official." Zeng Guofan's five chapters were all aimed at Li Yuandu's weakness, but Li Yuandu couldn't listen to a single word.As soon as Zeng Guofan finished speaking, he patted his chest and said: "You don't need to say more, I will issue a military order. If Huizhou Mansion is lost, you are the only one to ask!"

"Okay, it's a deal!" Zeng Guofan stretched out his hand and touched Li Yuandu's. "Brother Disheng, have you read the "Words and Deeds of Famous Ministers of the Kingdom" that I gave you a few days ago?" Li Yuandu came back and asked just as he walked out the door. "Oh, I've seen it. I was about to return the bi, but I forgot all of a sudden." Zeng Guofan took out a large stack of manuscript paper from a smaller bamboo box, and handed it to Li Yuandu. "This manuscript of yours is a wide collection of the words and deeds of my famous ministers. It is generous to the world and upright to people's hearts. It will be an excellent teaching material when it is published in the future. I will order two hundred copies from you first and send them to you. How about a booklet for officials above the prefecture and county level in Liangjiang?"

With Zeng Guofan's favor, Li Yuandu's unhappiness just now dissipated a lot.He said happily: "Brother Disheng, you are an old hand at writing, please give me some pointers and let me revise it better." "If you want to give advice, would you be willing to listen to one of them?" Zeng Guofan laughed. "Please say!" "The scope of your book is too narrow. Those who live in the mountains and forests, the survivors of the previous generation, and those whose names are not listed in the official version, but whose righteousness is worthy of the prince, are excluded by your word 'famous minister'. I miss you Why don't you change the name and call it "Guochao First Business Briefing". In this way, those people mentioned just now can come in. What do you think?"

"Best, best!" Li Yuandu clapped his palms and laughed, "I'll do as you please." "Okay! Then I'll order another hundred copies." Zeng Guofan laughed. Huizhou Prefecture is a famous cultural city with a long history and the economic center of the five prefectures in southern Anhui. It has always been famous for its numerous archways and exquisite stone carvings. Hui ink, together with Hu brush, Duan inkstone and Xuan paper, is known as the best among the four treasures of the study.The left deputy imperial envoy of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, Zhang Fei, was stationed in Huizhou for six years. He was recalled to Beijing last month, and then returned to his hometown of Jingyang, Shaanxi to make up for his uniform, leaving 14,000 soldiers in Huizhou.It stands to reason that there are a lot of personnel, but these soldiers have not received their salary for five months, and their morale is fluctuating. Not only can they not fight, but they have become the bane of Huizhou City.The magistrate Tan Mubai was unable to rule, and when he heard that Li Shixian's soldiers had arrived in Ningguo, he hurriedly asked Zeng Guofan for help.The second day after Li Yuandu's Ping Jiangyong marched into Huizhou City, Luo Dagang and Zhou Guoyu led 40,000 horses to the city gate.The counselors reminded Li Yuandu that the Green Camp, which has been short of pay for five months, cannot be trusted, and they cannot be allowed to guard the city gate.Li Yuandu thought it was right, and immediately transferred all the green battalion guards from the four city gates in the southeast, northwest, and replaced them with his Ping Jiangyong.The soldiers of the green camp who were replaced were all used as coolies to carry ammunition, bricks and stones, and food and grass.The officers and soldiers of the Green Camp, who were already full of resentment, felt like adding fuel to the fire, and cursed: "Why did Ping Jiangyong drive us away? I'll fuck his ancestors!"

"They all worked hard for the imperial court to beat the long hair. The fucking Xiangyong all made a fortune. We haven't received a penny for five months. Is there any justice in this world?" "It's the other way around, I won't work for the court anymore!" There was a boy with a flabbergasted head who took the lead, followed by a hundred or so people, and openly robbed the bank in broad daylight. Tan Zhifu was so frightened that he hid in the bedroom and shivered.Li Yuandu was furious, and mobilized 800 Ping Jiangyong to arrest the green battalion soldiers who made troubles, and behead them all regardless of the severity of the circumstances, temporarily suppressing the incident.The riot in Huizhou City had already been reported to Luo Gang and Zhou Guoyu outside the city by the Taiping Army's detailed reports.

"The enmity between Xiangyong and Green Camp is a good opportunity for us to destroy the city." Luo Dagang looked happy. "Green camp has resentment, Xiangyong has arrogance. If there is resentment, there will be no fighting spirit. If there is arrogance, we will relax. We can adopt a combination of bribery and strong attack." Zhou Guoyu has a plan in his mind. Luo Gang nodded.Zhou Guoyu continued: "It is said that Xu Zhong, the deputy general of the green battalion, is a greedy and lucrative man. He asked the third child to go in, gave him three hundred taels of gold, and told him to make trouble in the city. It is enough to open one city gate."

Luo Gang agrees with the idea. At night, in front of Xu Zhong, Zhou Guoxian showed his identity and three hundred taels of shining gold.Xu Zhong was both happy and afraid.He knew that the Green Camp in Huizhou was holding back a wave of resentment towards the imperial court, and now with the addition of anger towards Li Yuandu, the morale of the army had already been weakened.These soldiers and ruffians can do anything in times of crisis. Huizhou City will not be able to keep it sooner or later. It is better to get this gold, fly away after the city is broken, hide their names and become a happy rich man for the rest of their lives.But to do such a thing, he was still a little timid in his heart, he hesitated for a long time, and then gritted his teeth and agreed.He summoned the chiefs of the pro-military battalion and several thousand generals and generals to discuss, and each of them distributed ten taels of gold.All these officials, Qian, and Ba Zong agreed to do it without saying a word.It was agreed to use the cannon as the sign, and all the people in the barracks would wear a belt on their left arms. The Taiping army could not kill them seeing this mark.

Li Yuandu was completely unaware of the conspiracy between Xu Zhong and Zhou Guoxian.Seeing that the green battalion soldiers hadn't caused trouble these days, he thought that the torture and suppression had played a role, and seeing that the soldiers on the top of the city were busy preparing for the battle, he felt relieved.Li Yuandu, who is fond of famous mountain careers, closed his door to revise his "A Brief Introduction to the First Official Affairs of the State Dynasty", and planned to write another "A Brief Introduction to the First Official Affairs of the Past Dynasties". , from the beginning of Pangu to the end of the Ming Dynasty, all the deeds of all the outstanding people were found out.From now on, these two books will be published together and spread across the country, so that the name of Li Yuandu will be immortalized forever.The more he thought about it, the more excited he became. On this day, news suddenly came: Ningguo Mansion was broken.Li Yuandu was taken aback, hurriedly put away the manuscript, and patrolled the city defense.It turned out that the 3,000 people led by Zhu Pinlong and the various people from the Tingzi Battalion scattered outside the city could not enter Ningguo City at all, and were all blocked outside the city by Li Shixian's troops.After several fierce attacks by Li Shixian, Xiangyong in Ningguo City was shaken, and Bao Chao had no claim.The people around him advised him: instead of breaking the city and being slaughtered, it is better to go out of the city, preserve the strength, and then gather troops to take the city back.Bao Chao thinks it makes sense.The three thousand Xiangyongs in the city had a full meal, and at midnight, while the Taiping army was sleeping soundly, they rushed out of the city gate, joined Zhu Pinlong's reinforcements outside the city, and rushed towards Qimen.Early the next morning, Li Shixian entered Ningguo Mansion.He left 20,000 people to guard Ningguo, and personally led the remaining 50,000 people to help Luo Dagang and Zhou Guoyu attack Huizhou. Ninety thousand Taiping troops surrounded the city of Huizhou.A shell shot into the sky, and Xu Zhong rushed to the east gate with his own barracks. Xiang Yong, who was guarding the gate, was shocked.Soldiers from the Green Battalion took up their knives and slashed and killed Xiangyong as if revenge, and soon opened the east gate, and Zhou Guoyu led the brothers from the Taiping Army to rush in.The Green Battalion soldiers in the city did not kill the Taiping Army, but turned their swords to Xiangyong.Ping Jiangyong panicked, everyone ran away with their heads in their hands, fleeing for their lives in a hurry. Seeing this scene, Li Yuandu hurriedly led a group of cronies and fled out of the city through the west gate.Xu Zhong had been prepared for a long time, and in the chaos, he slipped out of the city with two hundred taels of gold and ran away.