Chapter 22 Five bets on Nian's victory or defeat on the strategy of river defense

Zeng Guofan dispatched Chen Guorui to garrison Qingjiangpu, the purpose of which was to establish a canal defense line and prevent the Nian army from crossing the river.But the Nian Army was not in a hurry to cross the river and head east at this time. They were in the vast world of Henan, Shandong, Jiangsu and Anhui, dealing with the Hunan and Huaihe Army and the defense forces of these provinces.The Nian Army is best at cavalry battles and plain field battles. They gallop back and forth like the wind, and often attract Zhang Shusheng, Zhou Shengbo, Liu Songshan and other troops stationed in Zhoujiakou, Linhuai, Guide and other places to fight with them.Not long after the confrontation, with the sound of the gong and the pointing of the battle flag, the whole army ran away in an instant.Pan Dingxin and other You Jun followed behind and chased after them. After a day or two of chasing, they often disappeared without a trace, making them dejected.Li Zhaoqing's cavalry team could not be built because they could not buy good horses.In this way, Zeng Guofan was ordered to go north for a whole year, and except for consuming a lot of food and salary, he had no military exploits to speak of.The ruling and opposition parties began to gossip.First of all, Jinling Kefu's six proposals after the first nomination were all rejected by all departments, which has never happened in the past.After that, local officials and gentry in Henan and Shandong complained and dissatisfied, and the supply of food and grass was perfunctory and sloppy.Then the court sent reproaches and the censor participated in the impeachment.

Zeng Guofan felt aggrieved, and there was no way to turn the situation around, so he was very anxious. At this time, the imperial court appointed Zeng Guoquan, who was recuperating in the lotus leaf pond, as the governor of Hubei.The Shangyu reached Zeng Guofan's hands, which added a little joy to him who had been resentful for a long time.Six months ago, Zeng Guoquan was appointed governor of Shanxi.At that time, the Nian Zhan was not going well, and Zeng Guofan was depressed and had already retired.He fantasizes that the day when his brother can travel freely in forests and springs and reminisce about the past will come sooner, so he prevents Lao Jiu from leaving the mountain.Zeng Guoquan himself didn't want to go to Shanxi, which is barren and cold, so he declined on the pretext that he was still ill.This time as Efu, it happened to help Nian Zhan from the south. Zeng Guofan couldn't ask for it, so he sent a letter to Lao Jiu to convey the order, and asked him to recruit bravely to take up the post immediately.Zeng Guoquan didn't hesitate anymore, and summoned Peng Yuju, Wu Weishou, Xiong Dengwu, Guo Songlin and others from the old department to recruit 6,000 Hunan Yong people, and marched to Wuchang in a mighty manner.Zeng Guoquan has always kept in mind the old hatred of the official refusal to send troops to rescue Li Xubin and Zeng Guohua.As usual, after he met the official document indifferently once, he ignored it.He took the initiative to eliminate all the green camps in Hubei, train the New Hunan Army day and night, and changed the General Grain Office of Hubei Province into the General Administration of Military Supplies, and returned all the salt and gold to the Lijin Bureau for verification and collection.Guan Wen was unhappy. He knew the ninth master's temper, so he couldn't bear it for the time being.

The Nian Army, which had dragged the Xianghuai Army to exhaustion, was led by Zhang Zongyu and Lai Wenguang respectively, entered Henan successively, and gathered in Xuzhou and Yuzhou to rest for a while.Seeing an opportunity to take advantage of, Liu Mingchuan rushed to Xuzhou to meet with Zeng Guofan. "Zhongtang, right now the Nian bandits are evacuating from Shandong and Anhui, and they are gathering in Yuzhong. This is the time for the bandits to seek their own doom." Although Liu Mingchuan was born as a scoundrel, he is fair and straight, with the demeanor of a Confucian general.On the eve of going north to oversee the army, Zeng Guofan summoned him in Jiangning, looked at him carefully, and then said to him: "San San, I see that your five mountains are abundant, your three stops are well-proportioned, your majesty is close to nature, and your killing is hidden in tranquility. In the future, your career will definitely not be comparable to that of other generals in the Huai Army. It’s just that your literary talent is not enough. I hope that in your spare time, you can read more ancient books for future use.” Liu Ming learned that Zeng Guofan was best at physiognomy, so he kept these words in mind. Then he read poetry and books, studied the art of war, and made great progress in the past year.Seeing the Nian army going west, he had a new idea.

"Sheng San, how do you say this?" Zeng Guofan encouraged him to continue speaking in an appreciative tone. "Commander Nian is riding a horse. The wilderness in the west of Luxi and the east of Henan is flat, which is where he can show his strengths. The mountains in the west of Henan overlap, and the paddy fields in the south of Henan and northern Hubei are connected. This is not good for the cavalry. If our army can lock them here In the area, if the Nian army loses its strengths, they will be captured by me." "Your idea is very good!" Zeng Guofan combed his beard with his right hand, and gently patted the table with his left hand.

"As for how to lock it, Zhongtang has already started." Liu Mingchuan continued with a thoughtful expression, "Sending Chen Guorui to guard Qingjiangpu, that is, an iron chain was laid by the canal. Now, the humble official wants to put this iron chain The chain moves south." "Shengsan, follow me to the study." Zeng Guofan interrupted Liu Mingchuan and led him to the big study. As soon as I stepped into the door, I saw a rare large map hanging on the front wall. In the Jianchang military camp that year, Li Hongzhang used the map of Anhui's eight prefectures and five states as a meeting gift to pay respects to his mentor, which was highly valued by Zeng Guofan.Later, the map was indeed in the hands of Zeng Guoquan, and he made great contributions to the capture of Anqing.After entering Jiangning City, Zeng Guofan ordered the state capitals of Jiangsu and Jiangxi provinces to conduct detailed surveying and mapping in the form of the map of Anhui, and made great supplements and corrections to the original map.After he was stationed in Xuzhou, he asked the three provinces of Henan, Shandong and Zhili to draw the same way, and then Wang Shiduo, who was good at geology, put together the maps of these three provinces and the two provinces of Jiangsu and Anhui to draw a very large map.Liu Mingchuan was amazed and envious when he saw this picture, and he quickly walked to the side of the picture to look at it.

"Province three, use it to point to the map." Zeng Guofan handed Liu Mingchuan a thin bamboo pole about three feet long.Immediately, Liu Mingchuan became very interested. He straightened his body and stood beside the map, holding a thin bamboo stick in his right hand, moving up and down on the blueprint, as if galloping his mighty army. "Humble position means to lock up the Nian bandits by locking the canal in Zhongtang. In the west, the Shahe River and Jialu River are the defense lines, from Zhongmu, Henan in the north, to Yingzhou Prefecture, Anhui in the south; in the south, the Huaihe River is the defense line; in the north, Zhuxian Town to Kaifeng Mansion and the south bank of the Yellow River were the lines of defense. The riverbed was dug deep, long walls and fortresses were built, and heavy troops were stationed along these three lines of defense. Then the army went out to pursue and suppress them, and drove the Nian bandits to western Henan and northern Hubei, where they gathered and wiped them out." Liu Mingchuan The thin bamboo pole in his hand pointed to the junction of Henan and Hubei.

As Zeng Guofan listened, the smile on his face gradually disappeared. "However, the line of defense is too long and the number of troops is insufficient, so it is not easy to implement this strategy." Liu Mingchuan had already noticed the changes on Zeng Guofan's face, and he pointed out the biggest difficulty first. "Shengsan, you go to the post house to stay for two days, let me think about it." After Liu Mingchuan left, Zeng Guofan sat on a chair and meditated on the map.He seriously reflected on the big and small strategies of fighting the Nian army for more than a year: Seng Gelinqin chased after him, exhausted, and finally defeated and died.Since I went to the north, I changed to the method of static braking. I only defended some important towns and protected the safety of Gyeonggi, but the vital forces of the Nian Army did not suffer setbacks.Liu Mingchuan suggested to use lines instead of points, adopt the strategy of long siege to blockade, and force the Nian army to death in the area of ​​western Henan and northern Hubei.Good intentions, but such a long line of defense, where can so many soldiers come from?Zeng Guofan stood up, walked to the edge of the map, and used a ruler to measure from Zhongmou to Yingzhou Mansion, and from Bozhou to Fengyang Mansion. The two lines of defense in the southwest alone are more than a thousand miles long, and many rivers are silted up and need to be excavated. .How big is this project!Migrant workers can be recruited, but where will the food and wages come from?

It is absolutely impossible for a thousand-mile defense line to be solid. If one area is lost, it will be completely defeated.If it succeeds, it is possible to completely quell the chaos; if it fails, it will attract criticism from all parties, and it may ruin the reputation. The sun set in the west, the moon rose, the oil lamps boiled dry, and the sky became brighter.From daytime to evening, from late night to dawn, Zeng Guofan sat in the big study like a piece of dead wood, thinking over and over again the strategy of river defense. In the afternoon of the next day, he convened another consultation with the civil and military bureaucrats of the old camp in Xuzhou.There are those who are in favor, those who are against, and those who are undecided. There are different opinions and no consensus.During dinner, Zhao Liewen said to Zeng Guofan: "I heard that Chen Guorui is currently inspecting the fortifications in Xin'an Town, which is only a hundred miles away from Xuzhou. I will take a leave of absence from my lord and go there overnight and come back tomorrow afternoon."

"Why are you so anxious to see Chen Guorui?" Zeng Guofan asked, putting down his chopsticks. "I'll tell you tomorrow." Zhao Liewen said with a sly smile. "Okay, Hui Fu, what are you keeping from me!" Zeng Guofan said with a smile on his face.Zhao Liewen knew it was agreed. "How long can I keep my lord from hiding it, I will report it in detail when I come back tomorrow afternoon." In the evening of the next day, Zhao Liewen and his horse rushed back to the Xuzhou military camp sweating.After a short rest, he walked into Zeng Guofan's study.

"Hui Fu, did you do something important in Suqian today?" Zeng Guofan was staring at the map in a daze again, when he saw Zhao Liewen come in, he was overjoyed.He had expected that Zhao Liewen's hasty visit must have something to do with the river defense, but why did he want to see Chen Guorui?Could it be that this reckless warrior still has a trick hidden in his belly? Zeng Guofan personally poured Zhao Liewen a cup of herbal tea made with Prunella vulgaris.He used the local method of farmers in the lotus leaf pond, boiling the whole grass with the leaves and roots together. Although it is bitter, it clears the liver fire and dispels stagnation.Every summer, Zeng Guofan drinks this kind of tea. Every day after dinner, he picks it himself while taking a walk.He doesn't drink the rock sugar lotus seed soup specially prepared for him in the kitchen. He likes this kind of bitter herbal tea that he has been drinking since he was a child. He says it is economical and effective.Once at the dinner table, he talked about the benefits of Prunella vulgaris herbal tea to all his staff, and warned them earnestly: To establish a thrifty and honest atmosphere, it is up to the politicians to start from themselves, and start from small things. Small things are difficult to persist, but persistence can play a big role.From then on, in the kitchen of Liangjiang governor's yamen, rock sugar lotus seed soup was no longer made in summer, and everyone drank prunella vulgaris herbal tea, and visitors from afar were no exception.

"I went to see Chen Guorui in Suqian to check two things with him." Zhao Liewen reported to Zeng Guofan in detail after taking a sip of bitter herbal tea, "I heard vaguely earlier that Monk King Xianfeng lived near Tianjin for three years. When breaking the long-haired northern expedition, he used the long-siege method to achieve success. I also heard that when the monk was dying, he said to the people around him that he regretted not sticking to the long-siege method. I made a special inquiry about these two things. Chen Guorui." "Oh, there is such a thing?" Zeng Guofan held a teacup and looked at Zhao Liewen ecstatically. The many staff members of the Liangjiang governor's shogunate are not vulgar.Zeng Guofan treated them gracefully with the demeanor of the ancients asking for advice and respecting the virtuous and corporal.In the long-term relationship, Zeng Guofan saw that Zhao Liewen was the leader of this group of staff, and he was superior in virtue, talent, learning, knowledge, and speed, so he attached great importance to him and recommended him whenever he had the opportunity. Don't let him go to take office, and always keep him by his side for consultation. "According to Chen Guorui, both of these things did happen. In the winter of the third year of Xianfeng, an old boy in his seventies in Tianjin County broke into the barracks of the monk king and proposed a trick. The monk king has always been arbitrary in wars and does not listen to others. In other words, I somehow made an exception to receive Lao Tongsheng that day. The old Tongsheng said: "Today's plan, it is better to use the method of encircling far and long. The horse team that the king relies on is also good at walking. It is difficult to win if you go north. It is better to use the far wall and build an earthen wall a hundred miles away to surround it on all sides. After the wall is built successfully, the long hair will be surrounded by it. Why is it so far away? It is easy for Changmao to know. Changmao has more than 100,000 people and needs 50,000 to 60,000 shi of food every month. It will not take long for the food in the circle to be exhausted. Our army only needs to guard the troops strictly, and there is no need to fight with them Within a few months, food and aid will be exhausted, civil strife will start, and then they will take advantage of the opportunity to gather together." At that time, many people under the monk king laughed at this old boy's clumsy idea, saying that he could not even pass the examination of a scholar in his life. What a great idea! But the monk king just slapped the old boy on the shoulder and said: "I will use your strategy, and I will give you ten taels of silver first, and then come to me to receive a big reward after you succeed!" 'Later it worked out.The monk king rewarded the old boy with three hundred taels of silver.Although Chen Guorui had never seen this incident with his own eyes, the monk king's subordinates all said so, so it might not be a lie.As for the words that the monk king said when he was dying, Chen Guorui heard it with his own ears. " "Huifu, after confirming these two incidents, do you agree with the strategy proposed by Shengsan to prevent the Shahe River and the Jialu River?" Zeng Guofan looked at Zhao Liewen. "Yes." Zhao Liewen said firmly, "I originally agreed with Liu Junmen's idea. After returning from Suqian this time, I have strengthened my opinion. Tracking and chasing will not work, and key defense will not work. We should think about changing course In the past, Sun Chuanting used the method of encirclement to deal with the rogues, and the Monk King had a successful battle before, so you don’t have to hesitate any longer. The Nine Generals have come back, the new Hunan Army has been trained, and the situation is even more favorable. Your Excellency’s Xianghuai Army And the Henan Army and the Anhui Army were in charge of guarding the Shahe, Jialu River, Huaihe, and Yellow River defense lines, and the Xinxiang Army of the Nine Commanders sent troops from northern Hubei to attack, and the encirclement was successful, which would be the day of the Nian Army's demise." When Zhao Liewen drank the last sip of Prunella vulgaris tea, Zeng Guofan finally made up his mind.Insufficient troops, the green camps in Henan and Anhui provinces were used, and even though they were useless, they should be strictly ordered to hold on. This is a major strategic deployment. Zeng Guofan firmly believes that this plan is correct after repeated and careful thinking, and the victory of the former Ming general Sun Chuanting and the current Seng Gelinqin.But after all, it involves too many areas, uses too much power, and it is difficult to see results in the short term.For the sake of solemnity, he summoned the governors of Henan and Anhui provinces and the leaders of the Hunan and Huaihe Army to Xuzhou for face-to-face instruction. Governor Li Henian of Henan, Governor Qiao Songnian of Anhui, Generals Liu Songshan and Zhang Shiri of the Hunan Army, and Bao Chao who was recently stationed in Jining, as well as generals of the Huai Army Liu Mingchuan, Pan Dingxin, Zhang Shushan, Zhou Shengbo, and Chen Guorui. Sitting in the White Tiger Festival Hall (a year ago, it was the lobby of the Xuzhou prefect's Yamen) where the imperial envoy to suppress Nian was sitting, listening respectfully to the new military deployment.Zeng Guofan reviewed the war against Nian in the past year and summarized it as "slow progress and poor record".He did not shift the responsibility to the commander who led the troops, and frankly admitted that he was not in command and had a heavy responsibility.On this basis, the strategy of river defense is put forward, and the feasibility of this plan is explained in detail.He stopped asking for everyone's opinions, picked up the thin bamboo strips, pointed to the map hanging on the wall, and arranged the divisional defense tasks in crisp and clear language. "Liu Junmen!" Liu Mingchuan stood up in response. "The strategy of river defense was first created by the Guijunmen. After the Nian bandits were wiped out, the first meritorious service should be recorded. Now the headquarters has ordered the Guijunmen to lead the troops to Henan to defend the Jialu River from Zhongmu to Weishi. Only succeed, not fail. " "Follow the order!" Liu Mingchuan sat down after accepting the task. "Pan Junmen!" Pan Dingxin immediately stood up. "Your army gate led the Ding army to follow Liujun gate and defend the section from Weishi to Fugou on the Jialu River. This section has a lot of silt and sand, and the excavation work is heavy. Your army gate must be supervised to dredge the silt, guard it strictly, and not let it go. Walking bandits, one cavalry and one soldier." Pan Dingxin happily accepted the military order. Then, Zeng Guofan ordered Liu Songshan to lead his troops to defend the Jialu River from Fugou to Zhoujiakou, Zhang Shiri to defend the Shahe River from Zhoujiakou to Huaidian, and the Anhui Anhui Army to defend the section below Huaidian, and the section from Zhuxian Town to Kaifeng. It was defended by Henan Yujun.The water surface of the Huaihe River is in charge of the Huangyi Shengshui Division.The section from Kaifeng to Kaocheng was defended by Zhang Shushan and Zhou Shengbo.Chen Guorui is still stationed at the Qingjiang Pu Canal.Bao Chaoting's army followed Zeng Guofan to protect the old camp.After dispatching the troops from all walks of life, Liu Mingchuan said: "Today, Zhongtang dispatched troops to defend the Shahe and Jialu Rivers, and trap the Nian bandits to death in the western part of Henan. They have far-reaching intentions, but they cannot be effective in a day or two. I am afraid that everyone may not be able to." Understood. I have heard that Guan Zhongtang said that this is the most devious and stupid way to wait for the rabbit. In the future, what I am afraid of is that there will be rumors everywhere, the morale of the army will be shaken, and the slack will be relaxed for a long time." Liu Mingchuan clearly meant to ask Zeng Guofan to strengthen everyone's confidence.Zeng Guofan said with a smile: "The strategy of defending the Shahe and Jialu rivers has never been discussed in the past. Liu Junmen established it and presided over it in the headquarters. Every plan and action will inevitably have troubles and twists and turns. Shaking. In the past, the matter of the navy was initiated by Lord Jiang Zhonglie, and the siege of Anqing was initiated by Duke Hu Wenzhong. Afterwards, the headquarter led the navy and was defeated by Jinggang and Hukou again. None of the generals wanted to stay. The naval forces have to go ashore, relying on tenacity and persistence, so that they can have a future. When Anqing was not encircled, Qimen was in danger, and Hubei was corrupted. The public opinion is that withdrawing the siege of Anqing to rescue Wuchang also depends on perseverance and hard work. As for the city of Jinling hundreds of miles away, surrounded by a lone army, the group's opinions were all afraid of making peace and making the same mistakes. The headquarters disagreed. Afterwards, they persevered in support and succeeded by tunneling. The method of twisting, since chasing after tails and defending the city was ineffective, now The only thing that is feasible is river defense. As long as you have the perseverance that the head of the Ministry just said, you will surely get results." Qiao Songnian, governor of Anhui, did not approve of this approach.He believes that defense is passive, which is the worst strategy, and the best strategy is to pursue and annihilate. The key to pursuit is to train the cavalry well.Li Zhaoqing should be severely punished for his crime of dereliction of duty. He spent a lot of money to buy good horses outside the mouth and train good cavalry. With 5,000 strong cavalry, equipped with the current strength of the land division, the Nian army will surely be defeated.He didn't understand why Zeng Guofan made such a futile strategy. Could it be that he is old and weak, and has lost the fighting spirit of the past?He wanted to fundamentally deny this stupid idea, but he didn't open his mouth after all.The imperial court blamed Zeng Guofan for the suppression of Nian. If it fails, he will be responsible for it. What has he to do with himself?Let's talk about the section where the Anhui army is defending, the river is wide and the water is fast, and the sky is a moat. As long as you pay attention a little, the Nian army can't escape. Why bother to contradict the old man?What's more, he has led troops for many years and is good at making calculations. This strategy may also be successful.Qiao Songnian said with a sincere attitude: "The word of perseverance mentioned by Zhongtang is indeed the key to fighting for officials in my generation, not only the case of river defense. The humble officer should use this word to teach the Anhui army, and must take Huaidian The defense line to Yingzhou Mansion is guarded like an iron barrel." Zeng Guofan nodded in satisfaction. "Zhongtang, it is a good strategy to prevent the river from twisting and twisting. However, the section of the Yu army's defense is not a river, it is all sandy soil. The sandy soil dug the creek, and it collapsed as it was dug. It cannot be formed. The weather is hot now, and it is impossible to build a wall with frozen soil. .Although it is only 70 miles from Zhuxian Town to Kaifeng, the humble post is not sure to keep it." The speaker was Li Henian, a gray-haired old man and Governor of Henan.It has been less than half a year since he succeeded the former governor Wu Changshou as the governor of Hubei. Li Henian suffered from heart failure and didn't want to do more. He knew that due to Wu Changshou's weakness and incompetence, the Yu army was domineering and uncontrollable, so he had a lot of worries.In the past few days, I have a cold, and I can't speak a few words before coughing.After coughing a few times, he held his chest and said, "There was an order from Zhongtang earlier, which province should be responsible for the extermination of the Nian bandits. At present, the Nian bandits are gathering in Henan, and the Yu army should take the initiative to attack. Now they are defending with a large number of troops. From Zhuxian Town to Kaifeng Mansion, bandits are allowed to be arrogant in the territory, from now on, if you say something, you will blame the humble officials for guarding a corner, regardless of the overall situation, and the humble officials will not be able to take this responsibility." Last year, Yushi Liu Yunan participated in the impeachment of Henan governor Wu Changshou for conniving at the Henan army to harass the people, the officials were incompetent, and the imperial court ordered Zeng Guofan to investigate.Zeng Guofan sent officers to conduct a secret investigation and proved that the situation was true. The imperial court dismissed Wu Changshou and transferred Li Henian from Wuchang. Unexpectedly, Li Henian was not much better than Wu Changshou, and the Yu army bullied him because he was old and didn't know how to fight, let alone obey the restraint.Zeng Guofan sighed in his heart: In such a huge China, it is not easy to find a few truly competent governors. How serious is the shortage of talents!He originally wanted to urge Li Henian in a more stern tone, but then he thought: If you beat such a cowardly person like this, won't he be even more timid?Besides, in the seventh year of Xianfeng, he stayed at the lotus pond for his father's funeral, and when he negotiated with the imperial court about leaving the mountain, Li Henian, who was in charge of the Metropolitan Procuratorate at the time, played to Li Henian, who was in the middle of the matter, and asked the imperial court to come out of the mountain immediately and go to Jiangxi to report in time.In difficult times, Li Henian gave him important support. Because of this relationship, Zeng Guofan's words have a completely different tone: "Li Zhongcheng, the geography near Kaifeng Mansion has been carefully investigated by the headquarters. As your ministry said, it is covered with sand and soil. There are difficulties in the wall, but the brothers have to be wronged. As for other things, Zhong Cheng doesn’t need to worry too much. No matter what turmoil or frivolity arises in the future, this department will bear it with all its strength, and has nothing to do with Liu Junmen who suggested this proposal. Even if someone accuses the Henan Army of attacking instead of standing guard, the headquarters will take full responsibility and have nothing to do with your academy. This is the consistent style of the headquarters." Seeing that everyone was silent, Zeng Guofan encouraged all the civil and military officials who carried out the important task of river defense in his usual solemn and firm tone: "Everyone, don't think that the river flood control area is too long, and there are extremely difficult places in it, so you can use it to defend the river." Fear of difficulties first. In fact, the river defense strategy is just a change in form of the basic strategy of suppressing twisters made by the headquarters last year. Static braking, in essence, is tired of Taking advantage of me as a thief is a trick in war." Some of the generals of the Xianghuai Army secretly laughed. "Everyone, please don't laugh. This department is the most evil trick, and it is not intentional to let you take advantage of it. This is a grand plan formulated according to the situation of suppressing twisters. Only this way is the way to win. This department can tell you that the new leadership led by Zeng Guoquan The Hunan Army will soon leave Hubei Province and enter Henan, forcing the Nian bandits to flee from the west and south. At that time, you only need to set up a net to capture it. The four bandit leaders Zhang Zongyu, Lai Wenguang, Niu Hong, and Ren Zhu Whichever one is caught can be equal to the credit for catching Chen Yucheng, Shi Dakai, Li Xiucheng, and Hong Tianguifu back then!" This sentence greatly encouraged the civil and military officials present. Except for Miao Peilin who later rebelled and was punished, the others who captured Shi, Li, and Hong were all conferred fifth-class titles. Xi Baotian was originally an inconspicuous little character in the Hunan Army. He was made a baron because he captured Hong Tianguifu, which made the generals who led the troops coveted.Opportunities for knighting are falling again, why don't they gear up and try it!