Longtan Town has been reduced to ruins. The city is devastated and exudes heat. A few smoke can be seen everywhere, swirling and lingering, and finally disappearing into the sky.
Li Zhen's army was stationed outside the city and was resting.
After chasing all night last night, the army was as tired as a dog. When they returned to Longtan Town, they were even more exhausted. They fell down and fell asleep. They slept until dawn. The sun was hanging in the sky. It was already three poles in the sun. It is already midsummer, the weather is getting hotter and the soldiers are waking up one after another.
Lu Shaochuan rubbed his face and ordered the soldiers to prepare food.
After dinner, Lu Shaochuan patted his belly and said: "Commander, Yang Xiuqing has withdrawn with Lars' army. The war has come to an end. What should we do next? Longtan Town and Xia Shu Town are empty. There is no Instead of defending with strength, it is better to capture it temporarily. As our supply source, we can actually capture Dongyang Town. The three towns rely on each other and are even more powerful."
Li Zhen shook his head and said: "We brought only 8,000 soldiers from Guangdong. This time we brought more than 2,000 people out, which is not a large number. If we continue to occupy the city, the strength of the troops will gradually weaken, which is not in line with the current movement. Come down, I will temporarily give up fighting the Taiping Army and retreat to Jiangbei Camp first."
"Ah, I have to withdraw."
Lu Shaochuan exclaimed, with an unfinished expression on his face. He was happy with the battle with Yang Xiuqing, but Lu Shaochuan had not had enough fun yet and did not want to return to the camp.
Li Zhen glared at Lu Shaochuan, his eyes cold and stern, which immediately made Lu Shaochuan wilt. Li Zhen ordered in a deep voice: "Send the order immediately, rest for half a day, and set off back to Jiangbei Camp in the afternoon."
"yes."
Lu Shaochuan reluctantly agreed and stood up to deliver the order.
The army rested for a long time and set off in the afternoon, heading towards the Jiangbei camp.
…
After Yang Xiuqing returned to Tianjing, news of the defeat spread quickly. As the saying goes, good things don't go out, but bad things spread thousands of miles. The news of Yang Xiuqing's defeat spread all over the sky. Everyone in the city knew the news, and the people talked a lot, and the top brass of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom also had an undercurrent. surge.
Tianwang Mansion, in the main hall.
Hong Xiuquan was wearing a dragon robe and sitting upright. He looked up at a tall and thin middle-aged man standing next to him and asked: "Xu Yuan, what do you think of the Dongwang's failure this time?"
A middle-aged man named Xu Yuan was one of Hong Xiuquan's confidants.
Xu Yuan bowed slightly and said in a neither humble nor arrogant tone: "The Eastern King returned in defeat, all the generals were killed and wounded, and the foundation was also affected. This is the best opportunity to weaken the Eastern King."
"Oh, what do you think we should do."
Hong Xiuquan touched his nose and asked with a smile.
Xu Yuan cupped his hands and said: "Report to the King of the East, if you want to remove the King of the East, you don't need the prince to take action. There are two suitable people in Tianjing City. One is King Qin Rigang of Yan, and the other is the King of the North, Wei Changhui. He is said to be six thousand years old, second only to the King of Heaven and the King of the East. However, the power of the East King is overwhelming, and he uses the "Heavenly Father" to suppress dissidents, which makes the North King breathless. As long as the King of Heaven gives a secret decree, the two of them will Take action and do things for the King of Heaven. Now that King Dong's direct line has been damaged, it is a great opportunity. If King Dong is allowed to slow down, he will never be able to seize this opportunity again."
Hong Xiuquan thought for a while and said: "I leave this matter to you. I want to achieve the purpose of deposing Yang Xiuqing from power and then imprison him. You have to make a good plan."
Xu Yuan said: "Don't worry, King of Heaven, your humble duty will be completed."
Hong Xiuquan narrowed his eyes and waved his hand.
Xu Yuan turned around and left the hall. When he walked out, there was a smile on his lips. When Yang Xiuqing presided over the government, he took all the power. As Hong Xiuquan's confidant, he didn't have much power. He didn't even have the money. He could only get rid of him. Yang Xiuqing, only then can he have more rights and obtain more benefits.
…
Dongwangfu, study room.
Yang Xiuqing was dressed in a dragon robe and uniform, sitting upright, regaining his former majesty and extremely domineering. He glanced at Fu Shanxiang standing in front of him and said: "Prime Minister Fu, please tell me what happened after I entered the city."
Fu Shanxiang said: "The people in the city are floating, which has a certain influence."
Yang Xiuqing looked up at Fu Shanxiang and said, "You know that's not what I asked."
The corner of Fu Shanxiang's mouth twitched slightly and he said slowly: "Reporting to the King of the East, King Qin Rigang of Yan and King Wei Changhui of the North did not take any action, and the officials in the court did not communicate with each other. There was no problem."
Yang Xiuqing nodded and said, "Go ahead and let me clear my mind."
Fu Shanxiang resigned, leaving Yang Xiuqing alone in the study.
After Fu Shanxiang left, Yang Xiuqing let out a long sigh, with a tired look on his face. He no longer had the majestic domineering look he had just now. He rubbed his sore face and considered the next thing to do to stabilize the situation in the DPRK and China. The army in his hands The direct army was damaged and his influence was also affected, so he was a little worried and asked about the situation of King Bei and King Yan.
The two of them didn't move, so he felt a little relieved.
…
Jiangbei Camp, entrance of the camp.
When Huang Shihai got the news that Li Zhen led his army to return, he took Yang Banhou, Smith and others to wait at the door. When he saw Li Zhen and his soldiers appeared in sight, Huang Shihai immediately went up to meet them.
Huang Shihai stood in front of Li Zhen, raised his hands and saluted: "Commander."
Li Zhen said: "Let's go and enter the camp first."
When the army returned to the camp, Li Zhen asked the generals and soldiers who had rushed back to rest. When he returned to the camp, he immediately summoned Huang Shihai to the camp and asked: "Shihai, how is the development of the soldiers?"
Huang Shihai was in high spirits and said happily: "Commander, the army's development momentum is gratifying, and everything is on the right track. The most gratifying thing is that the general has recruited a middle-aged man named Zheng Zaoru, who is from Guangdong. This person, this person organized the regiment training of the Dongxiang General Administration last year. Because he supported the suppression of the Red Scarf Army Lu Lingfei, Huang Fu and others made military achievements in the uprising, he was awarded the title of secretary in the cabinet. However, the court did not reuse him, so he stayed in Guangdong. This time Zheng Zaoru I was going north to look for opportunities to serve as an official, and I happened to come across our recruitment, so I recommended myself, and finally gave it a try. This Zheng Zaoru is indeed talented and very eloquent."
Li Zhen murmured, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he thought of Zheng Zaoru's origin.
Li Zhen knew this person not because of Zheng Zaoru's great achievements, but through Sun Yat-sen. Li Zhen had read the book "The Complete Works of Sun Yat-sen", and the first article in it was "A Letter to Zheng Zaoru", which was about Zheng Zaoru, because this After reading this article, Li Zhencai got to know Zheng Zaoru and his situation.
Historically, in the eighth year of Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty (1869), Zheng Zaoru was hired by Li Hongzhang to Shanghai to serve as the assistant director of the Jiangnan Machinery Manufacturing Bureau and the Prime Minister's Bureau, supervising the manufacture of guns, ammunition, machines, ships and docks; in the fourth year of Guangxu (1878) , Zheng Zaoru served as Tianjin Customs Department; in the seventh year of Guangxu, Zheng Zaoru went to the United States, Spain (Spain), and Peru as a third-grade minister.
The biggest highlight of Zheng Zaoru's life was his time as a missionary to the United States. In order to safeguard the interests of Chinese workers and overseas Chinese, he continuously made representations to the President of the United States and became the person most respected by overseas Chinese and Chinese workers at that time.
Li Zhen did not expect that a diplomat would come to his army, and he said happily: "Quick, call the people in."
Huang Shihai nodded and told the soldiers to pass on the order.
