Sir, you have to pay more

Chapter 743 The Zhu family is the emperor, what does the prince do?
When Wang Aixinjue Luo Shikai, the great general of the Qing Dynasty, led his army to the south, in Anqing, an important town on the Yangtze River thousands of miles away, Li Zhiying, the governor of Anhui, and Zhao Bingyi, the general of the army, were discussing a major event.

It's not a big deal, it's just to discuss whether to continue to meet the requirements of the Xinghan army who besieged Anqing.

After Jiujiang and Nanchang fell one after another, some of the remaining Qing troops in Jiangxi fled to Ganzhou, and the other part of more than 3000 people fled to Anqing in embarrassment under the leadership of governor Haicheng.

Anqing is the capital of Anhui Province and an important town on the Yangtze River. Once it falls, not only will the whole province of Anhui be corrupted, but the gate of Nanjing will also be opened.

As far as the southeast is concerned, there is absolutely no room for loss.

Therefore, Li Zhiying, the governor of Anhui, hurriedly integrated the entire province's battalions and handed them over to the commander-in-chief Zhao Bingyi.

The imperial court immediately ordered Li Zhiying to release Hai Chengsuo and deliver him to Beijing for execution. At the same time, he ordered General Songgui of Jiangning to lead the Eight Banners to garrison the Manchurian army to reinforce Anqing.

The general command of the war in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River is under the unified responsibility of Gao Jin, the governor of the two rivers.

The more than 1400 garrison flag soldiers led by Eredengbao were the first reinforcements from Jiangning. When they arrived in Anqing, they were attacked by the Xinghan Army.

Counting afterward, there were as many as half of the dead, wounded, missing and fleeing, and actually less than [-] bannermen entered Anqing City.

This terrified the Anqing defenders who had held on for more than half a month. If the Eight Banners soldiers who came to help were so weak, how could Anqing be able to hold on.

Fortunately, Eredengbao brought definite news that more than [-] Banner Han reinforcements led by Jiangning General Songgui are already on the way and will arrive by the end of the month at the latest.

This stabilized the morale of the army.

In the past few days, the Xinghan army has been attacking fiercely. Only yesterday, the Xinghan army's offensive suddenly slowed down, and then some envoys entered the city to demand that Anqing pay 30 taels of silver. The army will break the siege and withdraw.

The first reaction of Anhui General Soldier Zhao Bingyi was furious: "Those thieves are too greedy. Last time I gave them 10 taels, and it's only been a few days before they come to ask for money again? It's really dishonest to do things like this." , who will dare to deal with them in the future?"

"This is what the old man is worried about."

It was this that Li Futai was worried about.

The problem is that people can't make mistakes, and once they make mistakes, they will leave a clue. This time the bandits dared to ask him for 30 taels because they gave him 10 taels last time.

". If you don't give me what you say, they will reveal what happened last time. If they don't need to do anything by then, our court will take us to death."

When speaking, the governor lord sighed, regretting his original appearance.

To be honest, last time it was really dangerous. Who knew that the governor of Jiangxi, Haicheng, would abandon the city and not warn the Anhui side at all in advance. When the Xinghan army attacked the city along the river, Anqing woke up like a dream.

But at that time, the defenders in the city had more than a thousand green battalion soldiers and more than 3000 defeated soldiers brought by Haicheng. It can be said that the morale of the army was completely devoid of.

Seeing that Anqing was about to fall, the general of the bandit army suddenly sent someone to ask for [-] silver, so that the attack could be delayed for ten days.

Such a good condition, it would be a fool not to agree.

Unexpectedly, before the tenth day, the other party came to ask for money again.

It's really unsatisfactory.

But this is also good, it shows that the gang of thieves is not where Cheng Qihou is. As long as the court responds in a timely manner and the governors from all over the country work together, it will only take a matter of time to restore the situation.

Li Zhiying herself has no military skills, so the heavy responsibility of defending the city falls on the commander-in-chief Zhao Bingyi.

Both of them were also from the Zhengbai Banner of the Han Army.

However, Mr. Futai has real talents and practical learning. In his early years, he became an official with the No. 1 Chengde Literature Examination, and he hand-picked the scholar of the Imperial Academy to teach editing.

Before becoming the governor of Anhui, Mr. Li served as the Lianghuai Salt Administration for seven years. He couldn't get any fatter, and his family property was rumored to be in the tens of millions.

Whether the rumors are true or not, I am afraid only the parties themselves know.

One thing that seems to confirm this rumor is that Mr. Li bought the governor's seat for 70 taels from Yu Minzhong, the former minister of military aircraft.

You can spend 70 taels to buy a governor, and the family property is not as huge as tens of millions, but you may have a few million taels.

The Lianghuai Salt Administration was the biggest shortage in the Qing Dynasty.

Even if a master Qingtian is placed in this position, the annual income will be several 10 taels.

"This old man really regrets it. If I had known this before, I should have decisively killed the envoys and promised them what to do. Today, I am held hostage by a thief. I really feel sorry for the emperor and the Qing Dynasty!"

While talking, the dignified Master Futai covered his face and wept.

Zhao Zongbing hurriedly said a few words of relief, and after thinking about it, he said: "Your Excellency, don't do this. According to the officials, it's better to give it to him. In this way, let him rescue the bandits. When the reinforcements arrive, you don't have to be afraid of them anymore."

Li Futai said worriedly: "If the thieves spread the matter and let the court know, you and I will die not because of the thieves, but also because of the laws of the state!"

"Without proof, it's all sowing discord!"

Zhao Bingyi believes that keeping Anqing is the best evidence to prove their innocence.

"That's true."

Li Futai also felt relieved when he thought of this, and his heart moved.

30 taels is a lot, but Anqing is the capital of the province, and the feudal clan has no less than one million taels of silver in stock, so it can still be easily taken out.

So he comforted himself that if he spent a few 10 taels of silver, he would be able to protect the lives and properties of the entire city, and it would be a good deal no matter how you look at it. Afterwards, it's better to be overwhelmed.

Now he no longer hesitated to hand over this matter to Zhao Bingyi, but he was still a little worried and told Zhao Bingyi to make it clear to the envoys that if they gave the money this time, they should not expect them to pay the money again.

"If the thieves are still greedy and stupid, thinking that Ben Fu's place is Shen Wansan's cornucopia, then Ben Fu will fight with them, and at worst, die to repay the community and the emperor's kindness!"

Mr. Futai was a little unstable, so he changed the subject and told him not to let the news out, especially Eredengbao, the leader of the Eight Banners who could not be called for help, knew about it.

Zhao Bingyi responded one by one, and secretly took out 30 taels of silver from the treasury with the governor's warrant, loaded it into a carriage, and transported it to the gate of the city under his control.

But actually only 25 taels were sent outside the city.

The other 5 taels was the hard work of Zhao Zongbing, which was not proposed by himself, but by the other party.

The family gave him a kickback of 10 taels last time.

This is not considered collaborating with the enemy, because he, Zongbing Zhao, is loyal to the Qing Dynasty, and he is actually leading troops to protect the water, soil and people in Anqing.

The result is right, the process is not important.

The one who blackmailed Anqing City was Zhou Linwang, the commander of the Sixth Army just appointed by the Xinghan Army.

This person was originally the general manager of the Huguang Green Camp. Later, he rebelled and surrendered to the Xinghan Army, and helped him attack the city and land. He also led the army to participate in the attack on Yuezhou and Changsha. He cheated to open Jiujiang City, and rewarded him for his meritorious deeds to be promoted to military commander.

Because of his bravery in combat and the large number of soldiers and horses under his command, he became the vanguard of the Xinghan Army to attack the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

But even though half of his subordinates are from the former Huguang, Jiangxi, and Hunan battalions, and their combat effectiveness is relatively high, facing Anqing, an important town, Zhou Linwang struggled very hard. The young marshal asked for help.

A few days ago, Jiujiang informed that Ba Jinglue was about to lead reinforcements.

This Ba Jinglue is Bayan San, the former governor of Hunan and a Manchurian.

After Hunan was captured, he rebelled immediately, and made suggestions for the Xinghan Army, first captured Jiujiang, and then occupied Nanchang. The Jiangxi province was almost captured by Ba Jinglue alone, so his status in the Xinghan Army continued to rise.

This time, he was awarded the Yangtze River Economic Strategy by Gu Shidao, the commander of the Xinghan Army, to control the Jiangxi armies including Zhou Linwang's Sixth Army.

Knowing that Ba Jinglue was coming, Zhou Linwang felt that he might not be able to procrastinate any longer, but instead of thinking about rectifying his troops to participate in the ensuing Anqing War, he sent someone to knock another sum of money quickly.

As Zhou Linwang expected, Anqing obediently sent the money because he was afraid of the incident.

"The commander-in-chief is really wise, but the gang of upright officials are as cowardly as mice."

The person who spoke was Yu Zhenglong, Zhou Linwang's commander-in-chief, who was originally the captain of Zheng De, the general of the Huguang Green Battalion. The gang of soldiers from the green camp.

But just as he was talking, Zhou Junshuai suddenly had a serious face, and then reprimanded him with an unhappy face: "What Junshuai, call me your lord!"

Yu Zhenglong was stunned for a moment, then immediately corrected his attitude, "Ba Ba" slapped his sleeves and said in a respectful voice: "The last general will see the commander-in-chief!"

"Ah."

Zhou Linwang showed a satisfied expression on his face, and smiled again, and the forehead lines were crowded together.

The commander-in-chief didn't yell blindly, but organized.

The latest confidential letter from the meeting notified Zhou Linwang to be the commander-in-chief of Anhui, and the corresponding appointment procedures only waited for the general Wang to lead the army to arrive.

"Reserve 5 taels of silver to share with the brothers, and the rest must not be touched. It is wrong to hand it over to Mr. Jia. It should be called the prince."

Zhou Linwang nodded slightly, and said to Zhenglong meaningfully: "Money is not enough to earn enough, don't be greedy, if the rice bowl is broken, it will not be worth the loss. Now we are holding an iron rice bowl. As long as the Qing Dynasty survives, The prince will not treat us badly, so our rice bowl will not only be solid, but also delicious."

"Then what if the Qing dynasty dies?"

"What we serve is the rice bowl of the prince, not the rice bowl of the Qing Dynasty. We have food to eat if the Qing Dynasty is not dead, and we will have food to eat when the Qing Dynasty is dead. Do you understand?"

"I understand, I understand, I understand!"

Yu Zhenglong's face was full of smiles, Mr. Zhou Qian has become a general officer, so he can be a lieutenant general at the worst. If he works harder in the future, he might really be able to make his wife a marquis.

The more I think about it, the more beautiful I am, and I am full of energy. No generation of traitors can do as well as they do. It's really a good time!

Suddenly thought of something, and hurriedly said: "My lord, I heard the rumor that Chen Huizu found a Zhu Ming descendant named Zhu Shaogong, and was going to persuade Gu Shuai to support Zhu Shaogong as the emperor in Wuchang to command the world. In this way, what will our prince do? ?”

(End of this chapter)