Chapter 53 Six former Hunan army post chiefs and former Taiping army division commanders became brothers with different surnames

The torch team meandered to the south, Li Chenzhang and Zeng Guoquan marched forward together.On the way, he told his old boss in detail about his experiences over the years. A few days after taking Jinling, Li Chendian died suddenly.The large amount of gold and silver treasures he robbed were kept by several confidantes, and he didn't have time to call these people to him face to face to explain to his brother.When Li Chenzhang asked them for money, they all denied it.The money was not the private property of the Li family. It was still long-haired a few days ago. Whoever snatched it would belong to him. Li Chenzhang didn't want to make a big fuss about it, let alone sue, so he had to swallow his breath and let it go.A few days later, the imperial decree came down, and Li Chendian was awarded the first-class viscount. Li Chenzhang found Zeng Guofan with great joy and said that his brother had adopted his son Houyazi before his death, and now Houyazi should inherit the first-class viscount.Li Chendian begged Zeng Guofan face-to-face before his stepson received the reward, and Zeng Guofan was also very sympathetic and agreed to play the request.Unexpectedly, Li Chendian's title is not hereditary, and the imperial court does not allow it.Li Chenzhang was happy again.

It didn't take long for Jiziying to be abolished, and those who made a fortune were eager to go home and become rich.Li Chenzhang's money was taken away by others, and the scandal of his brother's sudden death from taking aphrodisiacs gradually spread. He didn't want to go back to his hometown and be restrained, so he dragged a group of brothers to wander in the arena. Although the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom fell, there has been no peace on both sides of the Yangtze River these years. Li Chenzhang and his brothers are very proud of their troubled times. On this day, they came to Tiger Mountain in Fanchang County.I saw that there are few people here, the mountains are continuous, the forests are evil, the water is cold, and the smoke and fog are obstructed.Li Chenzhang's brothers all urged him to say, "Don't leave, just stay here for a long time, and treat it as Liangshanpo. Brother Li will be the master of the cottage, and we will all be the leaders of the cottage."

Just as he was talking, a team of strong men rushed out on the mountain road, about fifty or sixty people.A big black-faced man walked out of the room, brandished a gold-backed machete, and shouted viciously: "Sensible, leave the money for the road!" Li Chenzhang said with a smile to his brothers: "Look, this nigger asked about our road money, isn't it a joke! Let's deal with him and take over the mountain as king!" After all, the two teams fought at the foot of Tiger Mountain.The two sides were evenly matched, and they fought for half an hour regardless of the outcome.Li Chenzhang stopped, and said: "Black man, I seem to know you, you are the subordinate of the four-eyed dog!"

The black man also stopped and said: "I seem to know you too, you are Zeng Tietong's subordinate!" It turned out that Li Chenzhang and the black man fought against each other many times during Anqing's offense and defense for more than a year, so they knew each other, but they didn't know each other's names.Li Chenzhang said: "You have good eyesight. I am Li Chenzhang, the whistle chief under Zeng Jiushuai." The black man also said: "I was originally Qu Rongguang, the commander-in-chief of the King of England." "Let me discuss it with you." Li Chenzhang suddenly put on a smile and said, "I am not the Hunan Army now, and Zeng Jiushuai has also vacated and returned to my hometown; you are not the Taiping Army now, and your King Ying died long ago. The days when we were enemies are over, and now we are all heroes living in the rivers and lakes. There are only a few decades in our life, why bother to be enemies for a lifetime, how about we just make friends?"

Qu Rongguang was from Anhui. He joined the Taiping Army in the seventh year of Xianfeng. At that time, after the internal strife in Tianjing, the belief in worshiping God had generally been lost in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.Although Qu Rongguang had been in the Taiping Army for four years and became a mid-level officer, he didn't have much idea of ​​reforming the old and reforming the old.On the eve of the fall of Anqing, he fled the city with a batch of gold and silver. Later, he gathered dozens of fleeing brothers and settled down in Tiger Mountain.At this time, seeing that Li Chenzhang was highly skilled in martial arts, and a group of brothers could fight well, the Shanzhai needed such people, so he and Li Chenzhang each put aside their past feuds, swore to the heavenly alliance, and became brothers with different surnames.Another name was given to the cottage, called Shuangyitang, which means that two people and horses are sworn brothers.Qu Rongguang arrived first and became the eldest brother, while Li Chenzhang took the second place.Learn from the heroes of Liangshan, and come to a hero row.It's just that there are too few heroes, and there are barely eighteen of them.Later, the staff gradually increased.Among these people are farmers fleeing famine, bankrupt small traders, unemployed craftsmen, and even Qiu Ba, who is prone to fighting.In Qiu Bazhong, there were the disbanded Hunan Army, the vacant Green Battalion, and the fleeing Taiping Army and Nian Army.The number of personnel has increased to more than two hundred, and the number of leaders has reached twenty-six.

"Oops!" After listening to Li Chenzhang's introduction, Zeng Guoquan cried out bitterly: "This kid has become a bandit in the forest, how can I go into the mountain with him? Besides, what if the mountain king with a long-haired background wants to do harm? "But the matter has come to this point, returning halfway, and losing the prestige of the former commander of the Jiziying.Zeng Guoquan felt rather embarrassed. "Second Li, you bastard, you didn't make it clear long ago, you want to trick me into the robber's den?" Zeng Guoquan reprimanded with a downcast face.

"Jiu Shuai, don't misunderstand us. We are not robbers." Li Chenzhang explained with a smile, "The two hundred of us are in Tiger Mountain. We can live on our own. We neither make enemies of the government nor Against the country gentry, only when you encounter big salt merchants smuggled and other ill-gotten gains, do you occasionally attack, and your hands and feet are clean, and outsiders don't know the details. What's more, you always enter the mountain at midnight, and you will come out at midnight next time, who the hell Know!" "Is that big brother of yours reliable?" Zeng Guoquan asked.He unconsciously pressed the German-made automatic repeater pistol hidden in the leather robe.

"Jiu Shuai, this Brother Qu, just be careful when you are old. Today he heard that I asked you to be old, and he agreed. He praised you for being a hero, and said that we must curry favor with you, and if we fight in the future There is also a backstage for the lawsuit. When he went down the mountain, he had already ordered the slaughter of cattle and pigs, and I am afraid that he has already prepared for this meeting." Zeng Guoquan sneered in his heart and kept silent.After walking a few more miles, Li Chenzhang pointed to several bonfires in the air, and said to Zeng Guoquan, "Jiu Shuai, a welcome fire is lit in Shuangyi Hall, let's go up the mountain!"

Every few dozen steps on the mountain road, there is a young man holding a torch to illuminate there.When he came to the middle of the mountain, Qu Rongguang and a dozen or so little chiefs were waiting in line there.Li Chenzhang shouted from afar: "Brother Qu, Zeng Jiushuai is here!" Qu Rongguang was about to salute the sedan chair in front of him, Li Chenzhang laughed happily: "Wrong, the young master is sitting in the sedan chair, and the nine commanders are here!" While talking, he helped Zeng Guoquan get off his horse.Qu Rongguang stepped forward and said, "Kowtow to Lord Zeng Jiushuai!"

One side is about to kneel down.Zeng Guoquan quickly helped him up: "Brother Qu, you are welcome." Zeng Jirui stepped out of the sedan chair and saw that there were dark mountains all around, the wind was blowing the trees and screaming strangely, and the faces of the men under the torches were all hideous. He became afraid again, and stood shyly close to his father.The crowd surrounded Zeng Guoquan and his son and entered the Juyi Pavilion.There are torches everywhere on the pillars in the hall. Under the torches are five or six tables for the Eight Immortals. The tables are piled with chicken, duck and fish in sea bowls.

Qu Rongguang invited the distinguished guests to sit up.Zeng Guoquan rode a horse for more than 20 miles, and he was hungry. The scene in front of him reminded him of the magnificence of the night banquet at Jiziying, and he was so excited that he even drank a big bowl with these current Liangshan heroes. Eat meat in chunks.Feeling excited about eating, he simply made fist fights with Qu, Li and others to bet on winning or losing.At dawn, everyone in Shuangyi Hall was drunk, and Zeng Guoquan was also helped into the back room to sleep.It's just that the young master Zeng Jirui was not used to this kind of atmosphere, so he couldn't drink too much, because he was too tired, he also fell into bed and fell asleep. Zeng Guoquan didn't wake up until the beginning of the sleep. Qu Rongguang and Li Chenzhang had been waiting for a long time.After washing, he accompanied him to watch the cottage. I couldn't see clearly when I went up the mountain in the middle of the night last night, but now I can see clearly that this Tiger Mountain is really high and densely forested, and the situation is dangerous.There is only one small road leading to Shuangyi Hall, which is guarded by several wooden gates and stone rolls, so that no one can open it.Occasionally, a few houses made of wood and bark can be seen among the trees.Qu Rongguang said that was where the brothers lived. Seeing a few women drying clothes by the house from a distance, Zeng Guoquan asked strangely: "Is there a common people living on the mountain?" "No." Li Chenzhang replied. "Then where did the woman come from?" "Wives of brothers." Qu Rongguang replied. "These women are also willing to come to the mountains?" Li Chenzhang glanced at Qu Rongguang, and said embarrassedly: "Most of them were taken captive. At first we didn't allow it, but later we thought that there was no woman who couldn't hold the hearts of the brothers, so let's forget it. We just told them not to snatch husbands." Wife, break up other people's families." Li Chenzhang waited for Zeng Guoquan's lesson, but Jiu Shuai smiled and said: "Without a wife, how can the family be passed on? If you don't take captive, where will you get a wife!" Li Chenzhang thought, in the past the Nine Commanders led troops only asked about fighting and nothing else, and they are still so reasonable now.He felt that a commander like Jiu Shuai was really good.Seeing Zeng Guoquan's attitude, Qu Rongguang was even more surprised. He couldn't help liking him from the bottom of his heart, and said, "Nine Shuai is wise!" "Bang, bang!" The three were talking happily when two gunshots were heard not far away. Zeng Guoquan asked in surprise, "What is this?" Qu Rongguang smiled and said: "It doesn't matter, this is the brothers hunting. Maybe they met tigers, leopards or something. Ordinary wild sheep and hares shoot arrows instead of guns." As soon as the voice fell, cheers came from the forest.Li Chenzhang said, "The two shots hit me just now." The three of them watched while walking along the mountain path.In a small pavilion in front, the minions have already set up wine and dishes.Qu Rongguang said: "Please Jiushuai have a drink or two here, and I have arranged for someone to wait on the young master." "Okay, okay." Zeng Guoquan happily agreed.Drinking and chatting in front of the mountains is the most satisfying thing for him. The three entered the pavilion and sat down on wooden stools.Accompanied by the two of them, Zeng Guoquan drank happily and chatted happily.Qu Rongguang saw it in his eyes and thought to himself: "This Uncle Gongbao has only two points of bookishness, and 80% of the green forest smell, which is far from his elder brother in the legend!" Qu Rongguang likes this people. He poured a full glass of wine and handed it to Zeng Guoquan, saying: "I, Qu Rongguang, can meet Jiu Shuai at Tiger Mountain today. I am really lucky in my life. If Jiu Shuai has urgent matters in the future, as long as I have a paper, I will say nothing." !" Zeng Guoquan was delighted to hear this, and said, "You are also heroes, Master Jiu likes to associate with people like you." Everyone was four or five points drunk.Zeng Guoquan asked: "You have been here all your life?" Li Chenzhang answered with red eyes: "Unless the Nine Marshals ask us to go down the mountain in the future, otherwise, we will live happily here for the rest of our lives." "There are more than two hundred of you with knives and guns. It is not a good thing to gather in the mountains and forests. Aren't you afraid that the government will find you trouble in the future?" Zeng Guoquan is not a green forest hero after all. He raised this very important question from the perspective of love. "Jiu Shuai, you may not know that in the province of Anhui alone, people like us in Menghushan have at least ten or eight incidents. We are only a small business, and there are five or six hundred more!" Qu Rongguang He said while chewing chicken legs. "It doesn't matter to the government, I have this for them!" Li Chenzhang put down his chopsticks with a smile, and his right thumb and index finger formed a circle. "We took care of everything in the Yamen of Fanchang County. The Grand Master of Guangxian County gave five thousand taels of silver alone. Why did he bother to offend me, the God of Wealth Bodhisattva?" Zeng Guoquan was greatly surprised by Qu and Li's answers: the chaos in Anhui is no less than that in Hunan, and the elder brother's administration of officials does not seem to have achieved results.This is the case in Hunan and Anhui, and the situation in other provinces is not much better.It's a joke that people in the officialdom are calling ZTE and ZTE all day long! At this time, a minion walked into the pavilion and reported: "The big leader, the second leader, the white-eyed wolf is back, and the matter is going well." "Understood. In two days, I will reward him with satisfaction!" Qu Rongguang waved his hand, and the minions left. "What good deed have you guys done?" Zeng Guoquan asked with a smile. "It's a trivial matter." Qu Rongguang handed Zeng Guoquan an antelope leg, and said, "There is a big family in Qingfeng Village. He is rich and unkind, and the villagers hate him. Baiyanlang took a few brothers to tie him up and made a fortune. Ten thousand taels of silver, let out a breath for the people, and made a fortune for the cottage." "You also need to know how to restrain yourself and continue doing it blindly. The Fanchang County Magistrate can't cover up the trouble!" Zeng Guoquan said, gnawing on the antelope leg. "Jiu Shuai, you are not someone else, let me always tell you the truth!" Li Chenzhang grabbed the sleeve of his left hand with his right hand and wiped it back and forth on his mouth, making the cuff greasy.He said solemnly, "Jiu Shuai, this man's strength is exhausted, the country has been sitting for a long time, we are not afraid of it anymore!" "What basis do you have?" Zeng Guoquan who answered the conversation was so calm and easy-going, as if he had nothing to do with the bloody battle with long hair and desperate defense of the emperor's country, but the kind from Feiying Ridge, Bat Cave, and Fairy Peak. The hero of the world.Qu Rongguang was quite surprised. "Two months ago, a small businessman came up the mountain and lost his money. He had been in business in Beijing for half a year. He heard people say that the queen mother is young and cannot be a widow. Babies can often be heard crying in the harem. He is the illegitimate son of the empress dowager. He also said that the little emperor had not yet fully grown up, so he was led by the eunuchs and sneaked out of the palace to visit the Eight Great Alleys. Jiushuai, look at me, such an empress dowager is not a symbol of the country’s subjugation!" "Don't talk nonsense." Zeng Guoquan had heard these words a long time ago, but when Li Chenzhang said them, he was still surprised: such news is rumored in such a remote mountain valley, which shows how many people in the whole country will know about it!Out of the habit he has developed over the years, he needs to maintain the dignity of the court in front of ordinary people. "It's not nonsense, Marshal Jiu." Qu Rongguang grinned, "That brother said, the common people in Beijing know it. Mothers steal people, sons go whoring, what face does such a royal family have, and his country can still sit still. Is it long? The brothers all said that even greater civil strife is coming soon, the world is in chaos, and we will be fine!" "Let's not talk about the capital for now." Li Chenzhang said, "The two things that are obvious right now are enough to prove that the Manchus can't hang around for long. One is the Grand Master of Fanchang County. We bought it with five thousand taels of silver. Such a corrupt official is stable. Sit in the yamen. The second is that a minister like Jiu Shuai, who has worked hard and made great achievements, is squeezed out and returned to his hometown. The world is so unfair, isn't this a harbinger of the country's subjugation!" This last sentence touched Zeng Guoquan's heart, and he cursed angrily: "The whole world is full of fucking bad people in power, good people get angry!" "That's exactly what he said!" Li Chenzhang nodded hurriedly, "I think that after the world is in chaos, Jiu Shuai and Lao Zhongtang must come out to clean up the mess. By then, all our brothers in Tiger Mountain will listen to Jiu Shuai and Lao Zhongtang." "We are all at the command of the Nine Commanders." Qu Rongguang immediately continued. Only then did Zeng Guoquan understand the real purpose of Li Chenzhang inviting him up the mountain late at night.After all, he was not a gangster who wanted to fight against the imperial court, and he felt faintly worried.He replied in a rambling voice: "Okay, if something happens, I will definitely send someone to Tiger Mountain to look for you." "Brothers all rely on the support of Lord Nine Commanders!" Qu Rongguang and Li Chenzhang said together. The three drank together for a while, then got up and left the pavilion, and went to some checkpoints to have a look.Qu Rongguang asked Zeng Guoquan for advice, and Zeng Guoquan also gave advice at any time.When it was dark, Zeng Guoquan left, and Qu and Li stayed together bitterly.Zeng Guoquan said: "I have something important to go to Jiangning to see my eldest brother. The friendship between the two has been accepted, and we will meet again later." Seeing that he couldn't keep it, Qu Rongguang offered a hundred taels of gold as a gift, but Zeng Guoquan declined.So Li Chenzhang took out a big cloth bag and said, "It doesn't matter if the Nine Marshals don't accept gold, this bag of local products, please accept it." "What local product?" "There are two tiger skins in the cloth bag, which are not damaged at all. They were peeled off from the two tigers that have been beaten in the past few years. They were originally reserved for me and brother Qu, and now I give one to Jiu Shuai." , please forward the other one to Lao Zhongtang. There is also a piece of gray fox fur for the young master to make a waistcoat." Zeng Guoquan opened the cloth bag and saw two golden tiger skins gleaming under the candlelight. He loved it very much and said with a smile, "Thank you for your great gift. Lao Zhongtang and I accepted it!" There were two sedan chairs parked in the large ground of Shuangyi Hall, surrounded by more than a hundred big men holding torches, just like last night.Seeing this, Zeng Jirui became timid again and hurriedly got into the sedan chair behind.Zeng Guoquan walked to the side of the sedan chair and said to Qu Rongguang: "Only four brothers are left to hold the torches to light up. Please also ask Li Lao Er to accompany them. The rest of the people should not go down the mountain." "How can this be done? It's too deserted." Qu Rongguang disagreed. "Brother Qu, are you going to let the officials in Fanchang County know about my going to Tiger Mountain?" Zeng Guoquan's face darkened. "That's not what you mean, Marshal Nine!" Qu Rongguang hurriedly argued. "If that's the case, then please Li Er Er to lead the way, let's go down the mountain." Zeng Guoquan said, lifting the curtain and getting into the sedan chair. Li Chenzhang and four young men sent Zeng Guoquan and his son to the riverside before dawn. Just as he was about to bid farewell, Li Chenzhang suddenly said to his old boss, "Jiu Shuai, let me tell you about an accident." "What's the matter?" Seeing the mysterious look of the former chief of the Jizi Battalion, Zeng Guoquan became interested. "Jiu Shuai, you never imagined that Kang Fu is not dead, he is still alive." "What did you say?" Zeng Guoquan was surprised, "Kang Fu is not dead? Who did you listen to?" "Not long ago, he was just like you. He was a guest at our Tiger Mountain for a few days." Li Chenzhang was very proud, and accidentally revealed Zeng Guoquan's going to Tiger Mountain at night, which made the Jiu Shuai very unhappy. Fortunately, everyone on the boat was asleep and couldn't hear him. He lowered his face and reprimanded: "You son of a bitch, if you mention the matter of Master Jiu's visit to your house in the future, be careful of your tongue!" Li Chenzhang stuck out his tongue subconsciously, and hurriedly said: "I forgot for a while, and I will lock the bird's beak with a thread when I go back." He made a grimace again. "Stop being glib, do you know where Kang Fu is now?" "He lives at the foot of Dongliang Mountain." "Dongliang Mountain is right by the river, I'll go find him." After speaking, he turned around and got on the springboard. Although the relationship between Zeng Guoquan and Kang Fu cannot be compared with the relationship between Zeng Guofan and Kang Fu, it is still very close.He is grateful to Kang Fu for saving his elder brother's life several times, and he also values ​​Kang Fu's talent. At the critical moment of the battle against Jinling, he was able to rely on Kang Fu's help, not to mention that he knew that his elder brother was very sorry for Kang Fu's death. He is dead, and he lives by the Yangtze River, how could he not look for it! "Kang Fu has changed his name to Kang Fu, and he lives in Yuxi Bridge. It's easy to find!" When Zeng Guoquan stepped on the deck, Li Chenzhang added loudly.