Chapter 25 Ba Ruoxu used to ride and shoot by himself, the river and Huaihe River is full of high-rise buildings

The defeat of the Xinxiang Army and the complete bankruptcy of the river defense strategy gave Guanwen a chance to retaliate.The official document is now in an extremely favorable situation: the capital already has a large number of opponents of the Zeng brothers. Some of them, out of orthodox ideas, believe that two brothers in one family hold a large army, are governors, and have made great achievements in the world, not the foundation of the country. Fu, despite the self-restraint of disarmament, is still a hidden danger.There are Manchus, Mongols, and many Han Chinese among them.Part of it is jealousy.Among them, most of them are relatives and nobles. They are incompetent themselves, but they do not allow others to display their talents, so they use the ancestral precepts that Han people should guard against, and constantly remind and persuade the queen mother and emperor.Now that the Zeng brothers had failed in military affairs, the two groups consciously joined together and asked the court to take the opportunity to sanction them, in order to show God's power and stop dissatisfaction.The official text has a high position and power, and he has a lot of money and power. He did not buy Zeng Guofan's secret security account, but instigated and bought a group of speech officials to write a letter of impeachment, asking the court to withdraw the order of the imperial envoy and dismiss Zeng Guofan from the post of Governor of Liangjiang.In this way, in just half a month, Zeng Guofan was faced with the two stern orders sent by the Military Aircraft Office and the strongly worded impeachment transcripts sent by Yushi Mujixiang'a and A Ling'a. The most sinister political situation has come directly against him since he led the army for more than ten years.Fifty-six-year-old Zeng Guofan calmed down unusually after experiencing extreme pain.

He repeatedly self-examined the river defense strategy, read the "History of Ming Dynasty" again, and carefully studied the methods used by the officers and soldiers to deal with Gao Yingxiang and Li Zicheng in the late Ming Dynasty.Gao and Li's troops were the most successful mobile combat troops after Huang Chao. The Ming Dynasty officials and generals, including the capable Yang Sichang, were unable to deal with it. The Ming Dynasty finally fell into Li Zicheng's hands.Among them, there is only one person with the most ability, and that is Sun Chuanting, and Sun Chuanting's winning strategy is to contain them.The Nian Army was also a bandit, and the strategy of encircling the Shahe, Jialu River, and Huaihe Rivers he adopted was consistent with Sun Chuanting's approach.Zeng Guofan firmly believed that the strategy of river defense was correct, and it must not be denied because of a defeat.But now the government and the public are full of noise, and it seems that he will not be given a chance to sum up his lessons before deciding the outcome.Zeng Guofan has a clear understanding of everything behind this phenomenon.He is no longer blindly reckless like Xianfeng when he first came out of the hut, fighting hard to the end, and he is no longer like walking on the edge of thin air all day long after taking down Jinling, recklessly suppressing himself in order to prevent the high-level earthquake master. This time, he will soften with the court. Top one.

Zeng Guofan still used Lao Tzu's method of retreating to advance.On the grounds that he was seriously ill and difficult to recover quickly, he went to the empress dowager and the emperor to ask for the vacancies of co-organizers and governors of Liangjiang, and asked another imperial envoy to take over military affairs.It also attaches a piece to play the failure of the river defense, and the suppression of twisting is invalid. Please cancel the title of the first-class Yiyonghou to clarify the meaning of self-deprecation. After the memorial was prepared, Zhao Liewen, Wang Shiduo, Xue Fucheng and others advised him not to do so.Worried that the imperial court will push the boat along like Xianfeng in the eighth year, and accept it all.Zeng Guofan insisted on paying homage.He is not doing things on a whim, he has his own deep thinking.

The forces of the Nian army are still very strong, and if they do not calm down, the queen mother and emperor will not be at peace for a day.Since the death of Seng Gelinqin, there is no single unit in the green battalion or banner soldiers that can do this alone. The Xianghuai Army is none other than Ping Nian.The Huai Army's 50,000 elite soldiers are second to none in the world. Although the Hunan Army's land division is weaker, the 20,000 Yangtze River Navy Division is still a powerful force.All these military forces are actually his and Li Hongzhang's private armed forces.Therefore, it is impossible for the court to completely abandon him at present.Even if Li Hongzhang was appointed as the imperial envoy, the Hunan army's land and water troops would not obey Li Hongzhang's words, but he had to nod.This is where Zeng Guofan's confidence in his own strength lies.Even if he retreated 10,000 steps and said that the imperial court was ruthless and unjust and dismissed him regardless of the consequences, he would not miss it anymore and immediately took his family back to the lotus leaf pond.He even regretted that if he had known today, it would be better if he resigned and returned home with Lao Jiu when Jinling was captured.

The last heroine in Chinese feudal society, after all, is not an idle person.She has presided over the government for more than six years. Compared with the three years before the "uncle and sister-in-law conspired", she is obviously much more mature.She once made great efforts to conduct in-depth research on the academicians in the court, the ministers of the six ministers, the ministers of military aircraft, and the governors of various provinces.Among them, the most efforts were made on Zeng Guofan.Since the 18th year of Emperor Daoguang's Imperial Academy, the palace has completely preserved what Zeng Guofan did each year and the secret language of the year-end evaluation in the past 30 years.Cixi transferred all of them to review.Coupled with the direct communication in the past few years, although she has never met, she already has a basic understanding of all the strengths and weaknesses of this scholar-born minister of Han who has made great contributions to defending her son's country. know.She knew that Zeng Guofan's request to vacate Jiang Du and cancel Marquis was nothing more than expressing dissatisfaction with the court's criticism and Yushi's participation in impeachment.In Cixi's mind, the old commander of the Hunan Army, like the Hunan Army under his command, was already dying and could no longer stay on the front line. Hope could only be pinned on the young and vigorous Li Hongzhang and the flourishing Huai Army.According to Cixi's intention, the Military Aircraft Department drafted an edict:

For more than a year, the generals sent by Zeng Guofan have driven to the east, Henan, Chu, Anhui and other provinces, spared no effort, and wiped out quite a few bandits.There is no need to discuss the negligence of Yushi Mu Jixiang'a and others.Zeng Guofan returned to the position of governor of Liangjiang.Li Hongzhang, the governor of Huguang and the temporary governor of Liangjiang, was appointed as the imperial envoy, specializing in the suppression of twisting.There are trade-offs in the imperial court's code of rewarding merit. The minister's self-depreciation for helping the ancients, please temporarily cancel the Marquis, there is no need to discuss it.

Zeng Guofan was very unhappy when the imperial edict came into his hands.Although the empress dowager and the emperor tried to appease him, they still believed that he was incapable of suppressing Nian and forced him to leave the front line.Unconvinced, he made another discount: Guan Fang, the imperial envoy, has been sent to Xuzhou to be handed over to Li Hongzhang.According to the decree, the ministers returned to their original positions.Since I am sick, I can't win the post of governor of Liangjiang. If I leave the camp and return to the office, I'm afraid I will be ridiculed for fear of difficulties and tricks.Please still take care of everything in the barracks, maintain the hearts of the Xianghuai army, and do what the ancients did their best.

In order to express his determination, Zeng Guofan sealed the two copper seals issued by the court, the governor of Liangjiang and the first-class Yiyonghou, and engraved a wooden Guanfang: co-organizing the academician, the governor of Liangjiang and the first-class marquis of the camp. Play on the piece. Empress Dowager Cixi smiled slightly after reading this memorial, and ordered the Military Aircraft Department to draw up another order: Zeng Guofan asked that the scattered members are still in the military camp to serve themselves, with the intention of striving hard and not avoiding hardships and dangers.However, the governor of Liangjiang has heavy responsibilities, and Zeng Guofan has to prepare for the relief of the Xianghuai army's salary. He is the same as the former enemy governor and relies on the court.The governor is loyal and diligent, and it is a special letter from the imperial court, so there is no need to worry about avoiding work and taking it easy.

This edict affirmed his achievements and expressed his reliance on him. Zeng Guofan felt a little relieved after reading it.But he was still not satisfied, so he made three memorials, asking for the governor of Liangjiang and the vacancy of the co-organizer of the university. Ten days later, the Shangyu was sent to Zeng Guofan's camp in Jining Prefecture at a speed of 500 miles a day: Zeng Guofan should respect the intention of the imperial court and share the country's worries, how can he be a little bit worried and stubborn!Immediately follow the previous edict and return to his post within a certain period of time, so that Li Hongzhang can concentrate on suppressing bandits and perform his meritorious deeds quickly.

Obviously, Cixi was angry at Zeng Guofan's three invitations to open vacancies.Neither side took a step back from their original tone.Zhao Liewen, Wang Shiduo and others all came to persuade them, so let it go.Zeng Guofan also felt that riding a tiger was difficult.In the end, he made up his mind, and instead of returning to Jiangning as a failure and seeing Jiangdong's elders with shame, it is better to let her fill all the vacancies and return to Heyetang as an old farmer.After all, resignation is not treason, and no matter how someone instigates it, it will not reach the point of beheading and destroying the family; as long as this step is not reached, he is not afraid.When he was planning to resign as governor of Jiang for the fourth time, the cabinet handed him another edict: "Zeng Guofan's work will be awarded a bachelor's degree, and he will still be the governor of Liangjiang."

The Empress Dowager Cixi finally gave in, and Zeng Guofan no longer insisted on asking.He packed his luggage and returned to Jiangning with his staff on horseback.Along the way, he was very preoccupied and rarely spoke.Outside the city of Xuzhou, when passing by the famous Zheliu Pavilion, Zeng Guofan faintly saw poems inscribed on the powder wall of the pavilion in the sedan chair. Stop the car. Zeng Guofan stepped out of the sedan chair and stepped into the pavilion. He looked up and saw that there were ten poems and seven masterpieces written on the powder wall.He watched them one by one. The first eight songs were like Sai Shang'a, Wu Lantai, Wu Wenrong, Jiang Zhongyuan, He Guiqing, Hu Linyi, Shengbao, and Seng Gelinqin. When he saw the ninth song, his heart skipped a beat. Arise, the poem reads: There are no two celebrations in ancient and modern times, and it is a pity that there is no good plan in the north. If Xu rode and shot himself in the past, there are tall buildings everywhere in the Hehuai River. Isn't this exactly Yong himself?Zeng Guofan was ashamed.Xue Fucheng told his soldiers: "Village slang, it's very rude, so hurry up and erase it!" "Let it stay, it can be used as a mirror to look at it." Zeng Guofan waved his hand weakly, and staggered into the green woolen sedan chair. At this time, Li Hongzhang, who came to Xuzhou to meet the imperial envoy Guan Fang, took a group of civil and military officials to the outskirts of the city to welcome Zeng Guofan and his party into the magistrate's yamen.Li Hongzhang respectfully asked his teacher for advice on how to cure twisting. Zeng Guofan stroked his beard and pondered for a long time, but said nothing.Li Hongzhang begged again and again, but he still didn't say a word, just wrote a few words on the paper with a pen.When Li Hongzhang took it to read, what was written on the paper was: "The chaos stops at the river defense." Looking at the resolute face of his teacher, Li Hongzhang nodded heavily, folded the paper carefully, and put it in his sleeve. ① Tall buildings refer to Gaolou Village in Caozhou, Shandong.Seng Gelinqin was beheaded here by the Nian army.