Chapter 18 Chapter 3 Strongly Siege Anqing, Surround Wei and Rescue Zhao

Zeng Guoquan took his younger brother Zhengan and commanded 14,000 people from Jiziying and Zhenziying to settle under the city of Anqing for seven or eight months.What he adopted was still the old method of besieging Ji'an in the past, and he fought steadily and steadily for a long time.Zeng Guoquan is a man famous for his brutality. He doesn't care if he doesn't do anything when things happen, but he must achieve his goal if he does it.At that time, Anhui had been fighting for years. In central Anhui and southern Anhui, the Taiping Army and Xiangyong fought to the death.Since the third year of Xianfeng, there has been no day without war in seven or eight years, and no place without gunpowder. In addition to drought and locusts, it is really a natural and man-made disaster. All in one time, the eight southeastern provinces, Anhui people suffered the most.

The things recorded in the history books, such as changing sons to eat and breaking bones to cook, can often be seen here.Human flesh is sold openly, with prices ranging from 80 to 120 yuan per catty.General Zeng Guoquan took out a thousand stones of moldy old rice and recruited civilians to dig Haogou for him.As soon as the notice was posted, hungry people flocked to the six counties of Anqing Prefecture.Using this batch of cheap labor, he dug two Dahao ditches around the outside of Anqing City, five feet wide and two feet deep, leaving only two gaps in the area near the Yangtze River outside the south gate and the section near Linghu outside the east gate.

The two Haogou are more than two miles apart.Qianhao, also known as Outer Hao, was used to block reinforcements; Hou Hao, also known as Nei Hao, was used to surround the Taiping Army in the city.Jizi camp is set up between two Haogou.Zeng Guoquan recruited 5,000 new warriors in Hunan. Together with the original 5,000, there are a total of 10,000 people. It is still called Jiziying by custom, but in fact there are already 20 battalions.He divided the twenty battalions into four parts according to the names of the front, back, left, and right in the early days of the camp.Four years ago, Zeng Guofan recommended Xiao Qijiang, Jiang Jizu, Xiao Qingyan, and Peng Yuju as the officers of Jiziying.Soon, Xiao Qijiang returned home to observe the funeral, Jiang Jizu was killed in battle, and Xiao Qingyan was dragged away by Li Xuyi.So Zeng Guofan recommended Xiao Fusi, Li Chendian and Liu Lianjie to replace him.Zeng Guoquan was divided into Peng, Xiao, Li and Liu.There are five battalions under each division.There were 4,000 people in Zeng Zhenqian's Zhenzi camp, which was divided into eight camps.This team, Zeng Guoquan privately called it Zeng Jiajun.Zeng Guofan regards it as a true direct descendant, and its food and equipment are better than those of Li Xuyi, Li Yuandu, Bao Chao, Zhang Yunlan, Xiao Qijiang and other land ministries, and even better than his favorite navy.

Zeng Guoquan Yuyong has his own method that is different from the big brother.He does not give any lectures about being loyal to the emperor, nor does he have cumbersome rules and regulations. His method is very simple, and there are only two: one is that when fighting, all the officers and men must be beaten to death by him; For those who died, he authorized the sub-commanders, battalion officers, and sentry officers to execute them on the spot.The second is to have fun after winning the battle.Usually, when a field battle is won, Yong Ding is allowed to snatch the gold and silver treasures from the enemy's corpse until he strips his clothes; Banned after three days.Zeng Guoquan's recommendations for Jizi camp were more and more indiscriminate than other camps. Some camp officials and sentry officers also wrote the names of their brothers and uncles who worked at home and worked in the fields.These two methods are the most practical for Xiangyong, who was born in a farming family. Therefore, all the officials and braves under him are not afraid of death in battle, and they have become a very effective force among Xiangyong.Zeng Guofan was very dissatisfied with the method of rewarding bravery of the ninth younger brother "Happy Three Days". He persuaded him many times, but Zeng Guoquan agreed to it face to face, but in fact he did not change it at all.He has his own thoughts: without sweetness, who will work for you?Being loyal to the emperor and protecting the court can only tell scholars that Yong Ding, who was born as a farmer, wants real benefits.Jiziying has been stationed outside Anqing City for a long time, and a lot of shops have been added outside Qianhaowai, especially teahouses, tobacco houses, and brothels; She built a hut to live in and met every day, as if she wanted to start a family here and live there for the rest of her life.Zeng Guoquan didn't care about all of this.

In Anqing City, however, it was a different story.The guard Ye Yunlai, who is blessed by heaven in the official residence, is an old brother who was killed from Guangxi. He is brave and good at fighting, loyal and upright. He has 25,000 elite soldiers under him, and he belongs to the British King Chen Yucheng's department.When Yucheng fought in the Jiangnan camp, he handed over the responsibility of staying in Anqing to Ye Yunlai.Ye Yunlai is well aware of the importance of Anqing's strategic position. This Guangxi guy who loves drinking has given up drinking since the day he was ordered, and ordered all officers and soldiers not to drink unless specially ordered.For Zeng Guoquan's siege, Ye Yunlai made tit-for-tat deployments.The city wall of Anqing is tall and strong, and it is not easy to break through. As long as the connection with the outside world is constant, Xiangyong doesn't care if he besieged it for three to five years.

The connection between Anqing and the outside world mainly relies on three routes. The Yangtze River in the south is the most important traffic artery, but this waterway is blocked.Peng Yulin's Neihu navy and Yang Zaifu's Waijiang navy cut off the Yangtze River like two dams, and none of the Taiping army's food ships could reach Anqing.Ye Yun came to Anhydrous, and could only watch helplessly as this passage was lost.From time to time, a few foreign ships carried grain through the "dam" and came to Anqing Wharf. Ye Yunlai bought them at a high price, which made the foreigners a lot of money.

There is a large lake in the east of the city, named Linghu, which is famous for its rich water chestnut.Although the lake is not big, it connects to the Yangtze River in the south, Pogang Lake in the east, and connects with Zonghu Lake.Known as the Land of Fish and Rice, this area is the richest place in Anhui.After Anqing was besieged, the firewood, rice and vegetables in the city were mainly transported from Linghu.In order to protect this passage, Ye Yunlai sent his deputy Gong Tianhou Zhang Chaojue to lead 8,000 people, and built 18 stone fortresses along the lake to guard Linghu firmly.

An avenue outside the north gate connects Lujiang and Luzhou, which has always been the main land route between Anqing and the north.Fifteen miles away from the north gate, there is a dangerous area called Jixian Pass.The hills outside the pass are full of red granite, and the locals call it Chigangling.Jixianguan is like a gate of heaven, controlling the official road from Anqing to northern Anhui.Ye Yun came to send his first fierce general Liu Yilin to defend this place.Liu Yulin led 5,000 elite troops to build four large stone fortresses along the Chigang Ridge, guarding Jixian Pass like four diamonds.When Ye Yun came to defend Anqing, he used the traditional tactic that was effective in the Taiping Army - defending the danger but not the danger.

Xiangyong and the Taiping army confronted each other like this, fighting from time to time, the city could not be captured, and the besieged divisions did not withdraw.Chen Yucheng personally led troops to rescue several times, but failed to break through Zeng Guoquan's two trenches.After several battles each time, Chen Yucheng had to send his troops there again because of the urgent battle elsewhere. The Anqing battlefield aroused the attention of the heavenly king Hong Xiuquan, and he ordered the Qianwang Hong Rengan to try to break the siege of Anqing.Hong Rengan was a younger brother of the Heavenly King. He had read poetry and books since he was a child, and he wanted to take the road of fame in the imperial examination.Before Hong Xiuquan's uprising, he had a secret talk with him, but he did not participate.After the uprising, Hong Xiuquan sent someone back to his hometown in Hua County to pick up his family members. He invited him again, but he refused again.Later, when the Qing court wanted members of the Hong clan, he left Hua County, but he couldn't find Hong Xiuquan, so he turned back halfway.Xianfeng went to Hong Kong for three years to teach at the Western pastor.In the second year, he left Hong Kong for Shanghai and wanted to go to Tianjing, but was blocked by the Qing army, so he had to stay in Shanghai and study astronomy and calendar in a school run by foreigners.Returned to Hong Kong this winter.In April of the ninth year of Xianfeng, Hong Rengan searched for Hong Xiuquan again with the idea of ​​"talking about his kindness and living forever".With the help of foreigners, this time I finally arrived in Tianjing smoothly.

At this time, just after Yang Wei's internal strife, Shi Dakai left with his troops again, Hong Xiuquan was very suspicious of different surnames, and his two half-brothers were useless, so he was very happy to see this brother who was well versed in Chinese and Western.After the meeting, he was awarded Fujue; a few days later, he was promoted to Yijue and added to the chief general; soon, despite the opposition of many ministers, he was promoted to Hong Rengan as the founder of the country, the loyal military adviser, the king of the country, and the prime minister of the country's military affairs. Compared with Yang Xiuqing's status back then.

Hong Rengan came to Tianjing for less than a month, and without any achievements of any size, he became the prime minister, which was completely beyond his expectation.After all, Hong Rengan was a promising man with broad vision and deep learning. He was determined to live up to the great trust of the king of heaven, and he took up the heavy burden of leading the military and government of the kingdom of heaven loyally and diligently. Hong Rengan lived in Hong Kong for a long time and knew a lot about the outside world. He was inspired by seeing the superior systems and advanced production in Western countries, and he wanted to govern the Kingdom of Heaven to be as prosperous and strong as Western countries.Referring to the successful experience of foreign countries, he proposed a brand-new national building program to the king of heaven - a new chapter of senior officials, trying to completely change the face of China from the three aspects of wind, law, and punishment.This new chapter of senior ministers was highly appreciated by the king of heaven, just because there is almost no peaceful place in the territory of the kingdom of heaven, and many beautiful ideas put forward in it cannot be realized now. He could only put it aside temporarily and concentrate on thinking about the war. Although King Qian has never been to the battlefield to fight a day in person, he is smart and eager to learn. He has read many military books of previous generations.After a comprehensive analysis of the major battlefields in the Kingdom of Heaven, King Qian proposed a plan to encircle Wei and save Zhao, that is, to break the siege of Anqing by attacking Wuchang.King Qian talked about this idea to King Tian, ​​who supported him and asked him to discuss it with Chen Yucheng and Li Xiucheng. Chen Yucheng hurried back to Tianjing from the starry night of the battlefield in northern Anhui, and Li Xiucheng also hurriedly left the construction site of Zhongwangfu in Suzhou.Hong Rengan talked to the two kings about the plan to use troops on both sides of the river to attack Wuchang at the same time, so as to lure the troops of Xiangyong to go west, so as to solve the siege of Anqing.After hearing this, Chen Yucheng immediately agreed: "King Qian's plan is very good. Wuchang is the center of Huguang, and the Hunan monster's food and grass are all transported downstream from Wuchang. If Wuchang is taken back, the Hunan monster's retreat will be cut off; And at present, Hu Yaotou is leading the main force of the Hubei Green Camp to station in the Yingshan area. The man who guards Wuchang City is a Manchu official. We will definitely do our best to rescue them.” Li Xiucheng disagreed, no matter how you looked at it, Hong Rengan's idea was immature. "The strategy of besieging Wei and saving Zhao wrote a glorious page in the military history of our kingdom of heaven. It was the record of defeating the Jiangnan camp in the early summer of this year." Li Xiucheng, who looks weak and fair like a woman, speaks like a bell.He has a special habit. When he sits down, his left and right legs alternate and vibrate up and down, and he does the same when he talks.Qian Wang has no status in Li Xiucheng's mind, only because of the restriction of rank, and because of the face of the king of heaven, he obeys on the surface.Li Xiucheng believes that this is a major strategic decision related to the fate of the kingdom of heaven. He, a commander who has experienced many battles, and an old brother with deep feelings for the kingdom of heaven, has the responsibility to help the king who has never fought and the younger than himself. The teenage king corrected the mistake. "It's certainly a good strategy, but it doesn't work all the time. It depends on the weather, the location, and the harmony of people. It's the middle of winter, when the weather is cold and there is no large-scale military movement. Wuchang is close to Anqing. Thousands of miles away, Wuchang, thousands of miles away, came to rescue Anqing. This kind of encirclement of Wei and rescue of Zhao is rare in history, and the opponents Hechun and Zhang Guoliang last time were all brave and foolish people. Now we are facing Zeng Guofan and Hu Linyi. Treacherous and cunning, I am afraid it will be difficult to hide from their eyes." What Li Xiucheng said made Hong Rengan and Chen Yucheng at a loss for words.After a moment of silence, Chen Yucheng said: "The King Zhong's words are not unreasonable, but I think this strategy can still be used. Surrounding Wuchang for thousands of miles is a bit far away, but long-distance marching is the tradition of our army. The day and a half will be here. Although the weather is cold, it will not be difficult for the brothers. As long as you can win the battle, it is worth the hardship! Although the old demon Zeng Hu is treacherous, they can't just see Wuchang lost; once Wuchang is lost, the demon army will be cleared It is bound to be unstable, and Anqing cannot be surrounded for a long time. I think it is still arranged according to the arrangement of King Qian. I will lead 100,000 people from northern Anhui to march from Jiangbei, and King Zhong will lead 80,000 people from southern Jiangsu to march from Jiangnan. We are expected to meet in Wuchang during the first month. .” Hong Rengan also said: "At the moment, this is the only way to solve the siege of Anqing, and there is no other good strategy. Taking a step back, even if Zeng Yao does not go to the rescue, we will take the opportunity to visit Wuchang, which will be a great victory to boost the morale of the army. " Li Xiucheng still couldn't accept this strategy. Apart from the right time, place and people and the incompatibility just mentioned, he still had his own little calculations.The vast land south of Tianjing was almost all conquered by his troops. This is the most affluent place in China. He has asked the king of heaven to agree to change the area around Suzhou to Sufu province, which will become the accompanying capital of the kingdom of heaven in the future.Li Xiucheng intends to build Sufu Province into a real little paradise according to his own ideals. The Zhongwang Mansion under construction is an important project in his grand construction blueprint.Therefore, Li Xiucheng didn't want to leave Suzhou at this time, but it was inconvenient for him to come up with this reason. "The men and horses in southern Jiangsu cannot move. He Guiqing and Xue Huanzheng, the leaders of the Qing demon hiding in Shanghai, are colluding with foreigners and trying to counterattack. The Hunan demon Xiao Qijiang is about to approach Liyang. At this time, it is undoubtedly convenient for the Qing demon to take advantage of the situation by transferring troops from southern Jiangsu to the west. entry." Li Xiucheng found another important reason. "Leave 10,000 people in Suzhou, led by Tan Shaoguang to resist the demons." Hong Rengan replied straightforwardly. "It's hard for Tan Shaoguang to be alone." Li Xiucheng still did not agree to send troops. Chen Yucheng is a straightforward person, seeing Li Xiucheng's repeated objections, he felt unhappy. He began to realize that Li Xiucheng was unwilling to leave Sufu Province, which he had been running for half a year.This prince, who has struggled through life and death for ten years and is loyal to the kingdom of heaven, is very dissatisfied with Li Xiucheng's failure to put the overall situation of the kingdom of heaven first at such a critical moment, and Su Fusheng, which he governs, is always circling in his mind; But thinking that at this moment the military burden of the kingdom of heaven was already on the shoulders of himself and Li Xiucheng, and Li Xiucheng was more than ten years older, and his qualifications were much older, so it was inconvenient to directly accuse him, so he remained silent.Hong Rengan also knew what was in his mind, he stood up and said: "Okay, let's talk about this tomorrow! The Heavenly King said that it is rare to meet the two lords, and tonight we will have a banquet in the Golden Dragon Palace. Let's go to the palace." Since Hong Xiuquan lived in the Tianwang Palace, he rarely met civil and military officials, and his comrades who shared life and death in the past gradually became estranged.Chen Yucheng and Li Xiucheng hadn't seen the Heavenly King for more than half a year. When they heard that the Heavenly King hosted a banquet, they all got up happily. The three of them left Qianwang's mansion and walked into Huanglong's sedan chair.The palanquin of King Qian walked in front, carried by thirty-six porters in yellow jackets; the palanquin of King Ying was second, and that of King Zhong was third, both carried by twenty-four porters. Always wear yellow jackets.In front of the Huanglong sedan chair were the deacons of the three princes, followed by more than a hundred guards with swords and spears.This line of sedan chairs meanders and stretches for miles.Hong Rengan called his bodyguard to the sedan chair, gave some instructions in a low voice, and the guard rode off first.Qianwang Mansion is located in the former Jiangning County Office in Sanfang Lane in the south of the city.This extraordinary line of sedan chairs left Gulou, passed through Simenkou, walked through Fudong Street, turned from Tangzi Lane to Taiping Street, and then entered Huapailou. Once they arrived at Wei Lane, the majestic Tianwang Palace appeared in front of them. up. After several years of extensive construction work, the Tianwang Palace has been completely built.A yellow glazed wall with a circumference of seven or eight miles and a height of three feet surrounded the outer city, named Sun City.There is an inner city in Sun City, named Golden Dragon City.There is a large palace in the Golden Dragon City, named the Golden Dragon Hall, and this is where the Heavenly King meets with ministers.There is a large garden at the back of the hall, which is called Yulin Garden.Surrounding the Royal Forest Garden are rows of houses, which are the sleeping palaces of the Heavenly King and his eighty-eight concubines.All the buildings in the Tianwang Palace are painted with gold, and the doors and windows are pasted with yellow silk. The sun is shining golden. Looking from a distance, it seems that there is a golden mountain surrounded by the high city walls. The sedan chair team of the Three Kings stopped outside the ditch.There are five bridges built on Yugou, named Wulong Bridge.After crossing the bridge, there is a towering watchtower standing in front of you, named Tiantai, which is the place where the king of heaven gives thanks on his birthday on the tenth day of December every year.There is an archway on each side.On the archway on the left is written the four characters "Tianzi Wannian", and on the archway on the right is written the four characters "Taiping and Unification", all of which are written by the king of heaven, and the characters are free and easy, flamboyant and phoenix dancing.Behind the roof is a big screen wall.The screen wall is as high as the wall, fifteen feet wide, and painted with nine dragons. This is where the king of heaven posted the yellow list.The yellow list is made of yellow silk, printed with dragon and phoenix cloud patterns, and it is usually used to write the notice of the heavenly king conferring titles and officials.After Zhaobi, there is Chaotianmen. The three huge gates on the left, middle and right of Chaotianmen are all wrapped in yellow satin, painted with double dragons and phoenixes, and golden animal rings on the gates, colorful.There are forty pairs of big gongs and twenty cannons facing the sky on both sides of the door.Every morning and evening, the Heavenly King ate inside, and the big gongs were struck in unison in front of the door, and the cannons were fired twenty times.After entering the door, there is a row of facing rooms on both sides, with three entrances inside and outside, spacious and bright. This is the office of officials in the palace. Red silk lanterns are hung in front of all the houses, and jade vases, jade basins, and jade bowls are placed inside. Among them, the twenty-four three-foot-high large jade bottles placed in the Golden Dragon Hall are the most precious, which were supervised by King Zan Meng De'en for the King of Heaven.Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan set up a sumptuous banquet of food and wine on the marble table next to the twenty-four large jade vases to entertain King Ying and King Zhong who had returned to Beijing from the front. Nine years of deep palace life have completely changed the handsome and straight appearance of the Heavenly King. He looked fat and slack all over, and it was very inconvenient for him to move. He had to be supported by a court lady when he stood up and sat down. His hair was sparse and his energy was low. From the outside, he didn't look like a middle-aged man of forty-nine years old, but rather Over sixty years old.It's just that the mind is still sensitive and the language is fast.The King of Heaven was very happy tonight. He toasted with the two favorite generals frequently, kept persuading the dishes, and chatted and laughed happily at the table, with witty remarks.In the eyes of Chen Yucheng and Li Xiucheng, the king of heaven at this moment has taken off his sacred and noble coat, revealing his affectionate and generous nature in the years of preaching and war.All of a sudden, their relationship with the king became much closer.Xiucheng took the opportunity to say to the King of Heaven: "Your Majesty, send someone else to fight against the Jiangnan branch in Wuchang. I can't leave Su Fu province for a while." When Hong Xiuquan heard this, he burst out laughing, took Li Xiucheng's hand, and said affectionately: "Siege Wei and save Zhao, Xiuzuer is a veteran. The battle between spring and summer was fought beautifully! Qing Yao built seven During the eight years of the Jiangnan camp, I was smashed to pieces, He Yao vomited blood to death, Zhang Yao threw himself into the river, and He Yao was so frightened that he froze. My heavenly warriors, counting from the Eastern King who ascended to heaven, how many people have fought like this A happy victory? Don't be too polite, this branch on the South Road has to be commanded by you personally. If you go, I will be relieved." These few heartfelt words from the Heavenly King made Li Xiucheng feel extremely warm in his heart. With such praise and trust, what else could Li Xiucheng say?Hong Rengan thought to himself: After all, the Heavenly King has great prestige, and a few jokes will solve the problem.He raised the jade cup, happily toasted to the king of heaven, and then toasted the king of Ying and the king of Zhong, and the jade cup jingled when they touched each other. Yucheng asked: "What has His Majesty been up to lately?" "I've been very busy lately!" The north wind howled outside, but the charcoal fire in the Golden Dragon Hall was blazing and warm as spring. After drinking a few glasses of wine, Hong Xiuquan felt hot all over his body. He opened his bright yellow embroidered dragon robe and said solemnly, "These two Over the past month, I have been reviewing the "Bible" one by one. The "Bible" seems simple, but it is actually extremely profound, especially the connection between the things in the "Bible" and our heaven. If I don't explain clearly, how will my brothers and sisters know? I then gave detailed instructions, all of which have been approved today." "Your Majesty's merit is immeasurable!" Yucheng and Xiucheng said in unison. When Rengan was in Hong Kong, he did a lot of research on the Bible, and he wanted to see how the Heavenly King approved it.The king of heaven fully agreed, and ordered the female Chengxuan officer to bring the "Bible" on the desk. After a while, the female proclaimer brought a well-decorated "Bible".When everyone turned it over, they saw that every page was densely covered with teeny Zhu Zhu, and the font was respectful.It can be seen that the king of heaven is very solemn about this matter and has a very pious attitude.Rengan couldn't help feeling hot in his heart, feeling ashamed.He flipped a page casually, Yucheng and Xiucheng leaned over, and the three of them took a closer look.At the end of the fourteenth chapter of "Genesis", next to the sentence "Salem Melchizedek came out to greet him with bread and wine. He is the priest of the Most High God", the king of heaven commented: "This Melchizedek is me I went down to earth in the past to show this actual performance, which is the proof of being the master of today's world. Gai Tian must have a guide to do things. I went down to save Israel from Messiguo, and became the introduction of today's Lord to be the master and open the kingdom of heaven. Go down to earth to reward Abraham, and be a good introduction for me to go down to earth to be the master and save people today. Therefore, the imperial decree says: "There are many evidences." After reading this passage, Yucheng worshiped the king of heaven even more, Xiucheng was puzzled, and two words popped up in Rengan's mind: ridiculous! Rengan turned another page, and saw next to the third chapter of "John", the king of heaven commented: "God is one, the supreme Christ is the prince of God, the son is born of the father, originally one body, but the father is from the father, and the son is from the father." Son, one becomes two, and two become one.” The three kings didn't understand the meaning of this passage of approval.So Rengan closed the book, and respectfully returned it to the King of Heaven with both hands, saying: "The Bible has been approved by His Majesty, and its meaning has come out. Tomorrow, the minister will order the engraving of the book, and order them to engrave it as soon as possible. department." The king of heaven happily ordered the female Chengxuan official to put away the "Bible", and said: "To celebrate the completion of the imperial approval of the "Bible" today, I would like to invite you to look at a rare thing." As soon as the king of heaven finished speaking, another female official came in with a lantern.Yucheng and Xiucheng were surprised when they saw it. It turned out that the cover of this lantern was not the usual silk, but colorless and transparent glass, seamlessly shaped like a big pumpkin.It was the first time for Yucheng and Xiucheng to see this kind of glass lantern.It is no wonder that in China 130 years ago, such glass lanterns were indeed extremely rare.The king of heaven happily said to Li Xiucheng: "Xiuyou, I don't know, this is actually your trophy." Li Xiucheng opened his eyes in shock, not understanding the meaning of Tian Wang's words. "After conquering Suzhou in April, Er led the army to go south. Tan Shaoguang found eight wooden boxes in the Jiangsu Governor's Yamen. When he opened them, he found eight brand new round glass lanterns. Asked the old scribes of the Yamen, he found out that He Guiqing entrusted foreigners. It was just bought from England, and it was taken as a prisoner before it could be used." Everyone laughed.The king of heaven then asked Xiucheng: "How is the palace built?" "It's almost finished, and it will be finished in a month or so." Xiucheng replied. "Okay! Don't rush to finish the work, just cover it up." Tian Wang took the hot towel handed over by the female officer, wiped his hands and face, and was very excited. , and built the front hall, arsenal, and Taicang. Gaozu came back from the war and saw the magnificent Weiyang Palace. He was furious, and said to Xiao He: "The world is restless, fighting hard for years, and success or failure is unknown. Why is the palace built so luxuriously and excessively?" Xiao He said: "Because the world is not peaceful, it is not luxurious and magnificent to build such a palace, and it is not enough to command the world."Gao Zu turned his anger into joy.The scale of the Heavenly King's Palace is a bit bigger, and there are some people who criticize that they don't really understand my good intentions, and I want to use this to impress the world! " When they first entered the palace, Yucheng and Xiucheng were quite disapproving of the extravagance and luxury of the Heavenly King's Palace, but now they understand after listening to the Heavenly King's explanation. "Of course, the residences of the kings must not imitate the Palace of the Heavenly King, but since it is an expensive palace, it must not be hasty, and must be built to look like it. Especially the Zhongwang Palace in Suzhou, which will be the largest palace in the accompanying capital in the future, and even more so. You must be dignified. Otherwise, you cannot deter the four genus. Xiu, these eight glass palace lanterns from Suzhou are still called to go back to Suzhou. As a reward, I will hang them on the gate when the Zhongwang Mansion is completed. To be majestic. Tomorrow I will ask Ling Li to go back to his hometown in England. I will buy hundreds of them, and each palace will hang a few of them. After you return to Suzhou, you will immediately dispatch troops and prepare to go west. Construction of the palace I ordered Mengde Er to preside over the matter. He was responsible for the construction of the Tianwang Palace, and I asked him to double the size of the Zhongwang Palace and build it in a grand style. You can rest assured, my dear fellow!" What a wise king, he seems to have understood the real reason for Li Xiucheng's reluctance to send troops; what a generous king, he gave Li Xiucheng unexpected and mighty grace.What else can Li Xiucheng say?He stood up and excitedly said to the King of Heaven: "Thank you Your Majesty for your kindness! The officer obeys the holy order and dispatches troops to Wuchang as soon as possible to relieve the siege of Anqing."