Qing Dynasty Secret History

Chapter 71
It was said that the chief eunuch reported the disaster, Wen Zong hurriedly asked, "Where did you get this news?"

The general manager: "The slave's nephew sent troops with the prince of the monk, and wrote home, saying that the prince of the monk came to Zhao Beikou after the Shengbao speech. Head across the river to the east, captured Cangzhou, and now the rebels are approaching the city of Tianjin."

Wen Zong took the sealing box as ordered, and took off the cover. Inside was a box full of yellow paper seals, all of which were played by ministers and workers inside and outside Beijing. Wen Zong opened them with a small golden knife, and read them one by one. Minister Horqin County King Tuandoba Tulu Seng Gelinqin gave a discount, and what he said was indeed the same as what the general manager reported.Wen Zongdao: "If there is something in Tianjin, the capital will be hard to protect."

After all, worry is in the form of color.Nala nobleman politely explained that the Sacred Heart was finally depressed.

Since then, alarms have been repeated, Jinghai County has fallen, and Yangliuqing and Duliu Towns have fallen one after another.

The governor of Shengbao went to attack and was defeated. Tong Jian, the deputy governor, and Xie Zicheng, the magistrate of Tianjin County, were all martyred.Military affairs in the south, Anhui, and the north are all tight.The newly awarded Anhui Fujiang Zhongyuan was a famous general in Nanzhong. When Luzhou fell, he was also killed by the Taiping Army.Wu Wenrong, governor of the two lakes, was martyred in Huangzhou again. Only during the incident, Yuan Jiasan conquered Nianguo at Linjin Pass, and finally won the battle.Wen Zong sighed before the court, and said to the courtiers: "There is only Zeng Guofan left in the South Central Army. This army, if there is another good or bad, the big thing will go away from now on."

University scholar Qi Junzao said: "Zeng Guofan's army may not be reliable."

Wen Zongdao: "how can you see that he is unreliable?"

Qi Junzao said: "The former emperor issued a decree, telling him to drive the boats, sail into the big river, and attack the water and land in the middle of the river. He had to wait for the boats to be built, the foreign guns to be delivered, and the waterway grain platform to be set up. The emperor asked After killing him, he went up to try to get rid of him, how can this kind of person look like a minister who is loyal to the public and the country?"

Wen Zongdao: "When it comes to the registered personnel, it is commendable to be able to contribute so much. The registered personnel in all provinces can be like him, and the rebels will not be so rampant."

Qi Junzao got a bad nose and stood beside him without saying a word. Wen Zong then ordered the military plane to draw up an order, urging Zeng Guofan to go south quickly.It was drafted for a while, and Wen Zong personally changed a few sentences with the imperial pen, and issued it immediately.

But it is said that Zeng Guofan founded a navy in Hengzhou, managed it deliberately, and planned it carefully. He met a member of Guangdong Yuanbian, who was able to sail with the old Sanlaohui for many years. Only then did three kinds of warships be produced, a large warship named Quick Crab, with 28 paddlers, eight oarmen, three gunners, one cabin master, two foremen, one helmsman, and two auxiliary helmsmen. name.The medium-sized warship was named Changlong, and on board were sixteen oarsmen, four oarmen, three gunners, one cabin master, two foremen, one helmsman, and two co-rudders.A small warship named Sanban, on board ten oarsmen, three gunners, one cabin master, two foremen, one helmsman, and two co-rudders.Navy battalion, each battalion has one fast crab, No. 5000 long dragon, and No. 5000 three boards.The fast crab is the battalion official ship, the long dragon is the main post, and the third board is the sub-post.There are [-] sailors trained in the navy, and the generals of the navy, Cheng Mingbiao, Zhu Dianyuan, Yang Zaifu, Peng Yulin, Zou Hanzhang, and Long Xianchen are all heroes of the moment, and Chu Ruhang is specially appointed as the president.Another [-] Lu divisions were trained, and Zhou Fengshan, Chu Meigong, Lin Yuansi, Zou Shiqi, Zou Shouzhang, Yang Mingsheng, Zeng Guobao, etc. were sent to command the battalion, and Taqibu was specially appointed as the vanguard.Guofan has general jurisdiction over water, land, soldiers and horses, and has set up eight special offices, appointing cadres to handle affairs in different departments.The eight offices are the copywriting office, the inner bank office, the outer bank office, the military aircraft office, the firearms office, the detective office, the issuance trial office, and the editorial office. They are neatly arranged and arranged very tightly.

This day, the court sent it to the camp, and Guofan read it respectfully:
At this time, only Zeng Guofan led the gunboats and soldiers to go down the river bravely and quickly, and arrived at Wuchang, so that they could suppress the thieves. This is very important for the overall situation of the north and the south.The servant should be able to understand the urgent situation and go to the rescue at the same time.This is it.

Guofan gathered all the generals and said: "Our army can't wait any longer because of the government's decree."

All the generals agreed that they would fight to the death with the rebels.Guofan was overjoyed and sent orders for land and water troops to gather from Hengzhou to Xiangtan.With this order, everyone is brave, everyone strives to be the first, and has the courage to destroy this imperial food.At the moment, Qi Kuai Crab No. 40, Changlong No. 50, Sanban No. 150, hired private boats of more than 24, loaded with luggage, [-] shi of rice, [-] shi of coal, [-] catties of salt, and oil [-] catties, [-] cannons, thousands of pieces of military equipment, more than [-] catties of gunpowder, and other necessary utensils, and the craftsmen who used them, all went together.On Tuogu No. [-], the commander-in-chief took the boat, and the land and water soldiers were in charge of the husband, with a total of more than [-] people.Sound the applause and set off together.There are many sails and masts, and the feathers are rusty.Break through thousands of waves, and shine out the same color of banners.Lu Zi understands that his clothes are swaying and oars, and the walls of the city are sneaking;At the end of the period, Shiase took a boat, broke through the waves and won the victory in Jing and Xiang, and did not let Ling Yan paint the pavilion, and praised and praised the first for meritorious service.It was the fourth year of Xianfeng, the day of the first month.Unexpectedly, the local catastrophe is not yet over, and the crimes of Cantonese thieves are not yet full.It turned out that the naval ships sailed to the shore of Yuezhou Lake, when suddenly the north wind blew, the white waves were raging, and the waves were rough. Tired and shouting sounds, like the sky collapsing and the earth falling, and the mountains shaking, all the generals were horrified and frightened, and they were all fooled into fools.Guofan urgently ordered to close the port, and when the weather was calm, he inspected the ships, sank No. [-], damaged dozens of No., and drowned Yong Ding, eight or nine hundred of them.Guofan sighed: "Two years of hard work, the first time I set out, I suffered such a big setback, it's really not easy to handle things.

When these warships were built, the materials are so fragile, the system is wide and narrow, the positions of the sails, masts, towers, oars, firearms, camp style, down to the details of rice and salt, I am not responsible for any of them. Who would have expected to lose so much in one day after trying everything out, trying all kinds of scheming and changing methods, what a pity! "

Suddenly, he saw a crystal-topped military hat, came in and said: "The Wang sentry officer reported important military affairs, waiting to pass it on outside."

Guofan said: "Tell him to come in."

Jun Bian responded, led the king's sentry officer into the cabin, beat Qian'er to salute, and replied: "Commander Lu Shiwang led Xiangyong, and just arrived at Yanglousi, and met Changmao."

Guofan said: "Wang Pushan is a hero in my hometown. When he meets Changmao and starts a battle, how will the outcome be?"

Officer Wang sent out: "This time Commander Wang didn't start a battle, but when he saw the long-haired flag, his subordinate soldiers shouted bravely and all left.

Commander Wang had no choice but to return to Yuezhou. "

Guofan said: "Wang Pushan collapsed without a fight. What's the reason?"

Official Wang Shao said: "It doesn't matter if Commander Wang retreats. Unexpectedly, with hair growing on his back, he took advantage of the momentum and chased him to the foot of Yuezhou City. The soldiers in the camp outside the city fled bravely, and all five adults, Commander Zou and Commander Yang all retreated into the city. Now Changmao has besieged the city of Yuezhou on all sides, and the attack is urgent."

Guofan was shocked and said: "Unexpectedly, my younger brother Guobao is so useless. Zou Shouzhang and Yang Mingsheng, how conceited they are on weekdays, they are panic-stricken when facing the enemy, and they finally escaped. This time, it's all about Wang Pushan. Not one."

After ordering the sentry officer Wang to return to the ship to listen to the errands, he discussed with the shogunate counselors how to rescue Yuezhou.All the counselors said: "Wang Xin's nature is left-handed. We knew that he would be in debt. His subordinate Xiangyong and his team did not follow the rules here. General, the word "proud" cannot be violated. His failure this time is just sitting on the edge of being too proud." It is better to rescue the talents in Yuezhou City."

All the counselors said: "For the current plan, there is no other way but to dispatch the gunboat to Yuezhou urgently."

Guofan said: "When things come to an end, we have to do this."

Suisheng sat in the water tent, issued a military order, and dispatched fast crabs, long dragons, and three boards to go to Yuezhou day and night, and landed and attacked the enemy. It took only three days. The deserters in the besieged city were defeated. .

Guofan immediately played the situation of Chen Yuezhou's land division being defeated and the navy's ship being damaged by the wind. He asked the Ministry to punish him.This rehearsal was released just now, and I received two good news from Chongtong's army, one was Hu Linyi's defeat of the Taiping Army in Shangta City.This Hu Linyi, nicknamed Yongzhi, is from Yizhou. He was originally an alternate road in Guizhou. At the instruction of the former governor Wu Wenrong, he led six hundred people to practice bravery and went from Guizhou to Hubei. , the warning letter of the crime on the enemy boat, Lin Yi was in a dilemma.At this moment, Zeng Guofan's official document was received, ordering the return army to suppress the enemies of Yuezhou, and promised to pay the rice and armaments, all of which were paid by Hunan.Lin Yi was overjoyed, and led his headquarters, retreated upstream, had an audience with Zeng Guofan, and arrived to discuss the military affairs, which was a secret, and Guofan admired it very much.Lin Yi said: "Wu Gong supervised Huangzhou, it was actually a mistake.

The thieves are so rampant in front of us, and the navy has not yet been trained. According to the profession, the northern and southern provinces should stick to the provincial capitals. "

Guofan hit the festival and said: "it's said, it's better to be contemptuous, and Wu Gong didn't know it. But it was a coincidence that E Fu Chonglun had an opinion. , Wu Gong had to go out to supervise the teacher. I still have Wu Gong’s reply letter here.”

As he spoke, he took it out and handed it to Lin Yi, only to see that it said: I will stick to it, and I will do it when the king comes down.Now he is forced by others to serve the country with his own death, and there is no hope of him returning.All the land and water armies that you train must wait for a little bit of confidence, and then they can go out to meet the enemy, and you can't lead them eastward because of me.In the overall situation in the southeast, rely on the king alone, and take prudence as the point of view. I am afraid that there will be no successors in the future, and my situation is different from that of the king.

After Lin Yi watched it, he couldn't help shedding a few tears of heroism, and sighed, "Mr. Wu was loyal, but he was killed by the Chonghuan Fuyuan."

Guofan said: "Your majesty is wise. Unfortunately, the ministers on the left and right don't understand military affairs, and they are often deceived into hateful ears. Mosquitoes and horses carry mountains, and fine guards fill seas. As long as you and I are ministers, we only need to have this ambition and work hard. Don't be afraid of not being successful.

In this dynasty, Deze is in the people, and I don't think the long hair will last long. "

At present, Guofan suppressed Hu Linyi in Chu, and the reason why he could not go to Hubei for the time being, is understood by Gu Zheshen.Unexpectedly, before this rehearsal arrived in Beijing, a strict edict had already been issued: today, according to Qinglin Zou, it was heard that Zeng Guofan was brave, and he was more than a hundred miles away from Jinkou. back upstream.The bandit boat rushed up suddenly, and was in a hurry to catch it by surprise and bombard it downstream.The waiter's gunboat entered Chubei early, why did Hu Linyi retreat?
Zeng Guofan knew what to do and moved forward quickly without any delay.This is it.

Guofan showed the edict to Lin Yi, and Lin Yi said: "The purpose is strict, and the career path cannot be left to my father-in-law."

Guofan said: "It doesn't matter, I will keep you exclusively."

Just received the military report, saying that Changmao fled from Xingguo and broke the two cities of Chongyang and Tongcheng.Guofan was startled and said: "In Chong and Tong, there are many bandits in Su. If Changmao joins forces with the bandits, things will go bad."

Then he said to Lin Yi: "You must be appointed. You can lead Qian Yong to suppress from Pingjiang, and I will transfer Lin Yuanen, the magistrate of Pingjiang County, to meet you. The combination of the two bandits is bound to be a big hit. It's not too late, go and go."

Lin Yijian said that the governor led the headquarters and pulled out the team that night to go to Chongtong and Tongtong.Guofan has folded Chen Ming, and said that Hu Linyi's talent is ten times better than that of ministers, and he can rely on him to deal with thieves in the future.Folding to Beijing, naturally there is nothing to say.

When Lin Yi arrived in Tongcheng, he fought several battles with the Taiping army, winning and losing each other, so he specially came to the camp to ask for reinforcements.Guofan sent the vanguard Taqibu to lead the Tongxiao general Zhou Fengshan to lead the third battalion and Xingchi to rescue them. This was all before the navy was hit by the typhoon.Lin Yi had a rescue response, and his army was strong.On the sixth day of the lunar new year, at Shangta City, they fought against the Taiping Army. As pointed out by the former soldiers, gods and ghosts acted like spirits. Spring, Weishen Kui Drum.He even won a complete victory.Taqib also won a big victory in Shaping, and sent troops to report victories one after another.When Guofan received the good news, he said to the counselors: "My original plan was to march by land, starting from Chong and Tong, and then sweeping up to aid Wuchang. I will lead the navy and go down the river to the east to attack by land and water. It is not difficult to clear the surface of the river in one fell swoop, but things change unexpectedly, and this is what happened.”

Speaking of the alarm, it was reported that the thief boat was running up the mast, and the provincial capital was extremely urgent.Guofan hurriedly issued official documents, and quickly transferred Hu Linyi and Taqibu back to the province to defend. He also ordered Lin Yuanen to lead his troops to guard against thieves fleeing south.Gathering horses to aid the rice in front of the hall, pushing Zhanghua's board on the board, planning strategies, and claiming that there is no plan left.Unexpectedly, the strong are even more powerful. The Taiping Army marched suddenly. Earlier than this time, the boat division occupied Jinggang, and the Lu division disturbed Ningxiang, broke through Xiangtan County, and split shares to Zhuting, Lukou, and Zhuzhou. All the civilian boats in Dahesu River were plundered.Then they went to Xiangxiang and captured the boats in the Lianjiang River. There were [-] or [-] boats in total, and they were connected into a large wooden city.Outside Xiangtan City, they dug Hao and built fortifications, and set up five camps. The momentum was very powerful.

When the police letter reached Zengying, Guofan said anxiously: "The thief is so fierce, and Hu and Ta are transferred, I am afraid it will be difficult to win."

All the counselors came to persuade.Guofan said: "You don't know that fighting depends on not being afraid of death. Now the soldiers in the barracks are brave, and none of them can stand the battle. In the battle of Yuezhou, they fought for less than an hour, and they all ran back. If it goes on like this, how can the river face Clearing up? All the battalion officials refused to listen to my words. It was like building a fence. It was a teaching commandment. Tell them to build a wall, and it must be eight feet high and three feet thick. Eight feet wide and six feet deep, there must always be an inner wall for the gate of the wall, and two outer walls for the outside of the wall, and the inside of the wall must always be nailed with bamboo sticks. Who will obey? We must punish them Military law, my brother first ordered me to rule. Who should I rule? It is the battalion system. I have established a battalion of 500 people. Each battalion is divided into four sentries, and each sentry is divided into eight teams. Half. Everyone else obeys, but Wang Pushan wants to pretend to be smart and unique. Such a soldier, such a general, is commanded by Sun Wu and Wu Qi, and it is difficult to win, let alone me?"

After hearing this, all the counselors had nothing to say.

One person said: "It's all because the commander is too kind. Doing military affairs is different from housework, so you can't just tell the truth." "Wei Liaozi" said that Wu Qi started a war with the Qin army. Returning with both heads, Wu Qi ordered them to be beheaded.

The military official said, "This is a talented person." ”Wu Qidao: “Sure enough, talented people will be cut off even if they are not ordered by me. '"Wei Zhi" records that Deng Ai sent his son Zhong, who was disadvantaged in the battle with Zhuge Zhan. Ai Chi will kill Zhong, and Zhong Chi will fight again, defeating the Shu army.From this point of view, the reason why the Hunan Army did not compete was because the coach was too kind. "

All the counselors were startled when they saw this person's straightforward speech, and dozens of pairs of eyes in the time capsule all focused on this one who spoke.It turned out that this person's surname was Peng, his first name was Yulin, his style name was Xueqin, and he was born in Zhajiang, Hengyang.His father is a kind man who has been inspected for several times, but has no savings in his hand, and the leftover farmland has been wiped out by his relatives. Yulin's situation is very difficult.After his father passed away, his mother said to him and his brother Linyu: "The nobles of the clan take advantage of the opportunity to invade and humiliate you, so you can't live in this town for long.

You are both men, you can go far away to avoid disaster, I hope you two brothers, work hard to stand on your own, and fight for your father. "

Say it and weep.At this time, Yulin was already 16 years old, so he had no choice but to go to the city to study through the window, take the exam in the academy, seek tuition fees, and linger on.

Perseveringly, the tuition fee of the academy is an unreliable thing, sometimes you can get it, sometimes you can't.There is no unparalleled road, and when he suddenly heard that the Xietai Yamen recruited candidates for the exam, Yulin was overjoyed, and applied for the exam, but he passed the exam.As usual, I have to replenish the horses and soldiers, and I get paid monthly. The tuition fees of the academy are paid by the association.So we welcome our mother to the city and get together happily.At this time, a certain magistrate of Hengzhou, who was known as a knowledgeable person, spent one day negotiating and discussing official affairs. He caught a glimpse of the manuscript on the desk with a beautiful font, and asked the Xietai. The Xietai said: "It was written by Peng Yulin, the secretary of the camp."

Tang Fu said: "This man is a noble man with a great reputation. Please come and see him."

Xietai summoned Peng Yulin to come in, and the magistrate saw Dayue and said, "You can often come to my yamen to talk in your spare time."

Yulin then insisted on worshiping the magistrate as his teacher, and the magistrate personally taught him literature and art, purely picking up paradoxes, with many pretexts, but the awards and comments often have the reputation of "the pillar of the future".After the government examination, everyone said: "He must always be the top case."

Unexpectedly, the case was released, and it was in the tenth place.The next day, the county magistrate told him: "The prefect has no limit to the name and position of the emperor, so I don't want it to be accelerated."

This subject is an exam-oriented college.He was deposed.

Next year, the envoy Chen Tan, according to Linheng County, saw Yulin's article and praised him greatly. He was promised to be a national scholar and a member of the attached student.Xietai then kept him in the department as a teacher.

In the last years of Daoguang, Li Yuanfa, a foolish citizen in Xinning, was co-operated by the exiled Yao people, and the city was destroyed in chaos.Yulin's short coat and straw sandals carry a gun.Seeing him, Xietai asked, "Why doesn't Mr. Peng ride a horse?"

Yulin said: "Fang goes to kill the thief, but he dares to let himself go."

Hearing the words, Xietai was horrified, and recommended him to Gu Zhentai, and discussed everything with him in the camp.Zeiping applied to the Governor's Court. The Governor's Court saw the titles and listed the students. They only said that they were martial arts students, so they selected him as a foreign committee member of the Linwu Camp and awarded him to Lan Ling.The Zhentai wants to speak for him, and asks the general to teach him.Yulin said: "You are young and inexperienced, and you can't be a teacher. You will have a long life in the future, and you will be able to serve your mother. It's very lucky to be able to serve your mother triumphantly."

Back in Hengyang, Yang Zichun, a rich man from Qingquan, opened a pawn shop in Leiyang. Because of the famine and civil unrest, the place was not very stable. He wanted to hire a man with both civil and military skills. He went to the manager, and someone recommended Yulin to him.Zichun was overjoyed, so he invited Yulin to Leiyang to manage the store, and Yulin generously agreed.

When they got there, people who saw the treasures came one after another, it was very crowded, and they felt strange.Asked about Chaozuo, Chaozuo said: "The people are poor in the old age, so there are many people who pawn things, but few people who redeem them.

" Yulin said: "in this fierce year, if you can't give relief, but go to strip the poor, Zichun Haoshi, you can't do this.Since I was entrusted, I have to rectify it for him. "

According to the order, anyone who comes to pawn things will be given as much as he pawns, and there is no need to accept his things, let alone give coupons.Most of this group of people are poor people who have nothing to tell, and they are very pitiful. "

Chao Feng said: "If the master inquires, we can't afford compensation."

Yulin said: "It has nothing to do with you, I will take care of it alone."

Chaofeng had no choice but to do so.

After doing this, there are even more crowds of people who are declaring things. Five or six court tributes are simply overwhelming.But in five or seven days, a very large pawn shop has already been exhausted.Someone reported to Zichun, Zichun said: "Forget it when it's over, Peng Xueqin is a poor man, even if I ask him for it, I don't see any money to return it to me."

Later, the bandits in Leiyang made a foolish move and went out to plunder the Dian shop in Zichun, but they were free from plundering Yulin alone, so they had to block everything and report back to Zichun.

Zeng Guofan was ordered to set up a delegation to seek rare scholars. Hengyang Changyu recommended Yulin to Guofan, saying that he was courageous and could be relied on, and at the same time asked him to come to Zengying for an audience.At this time, Yulin lives in the funeral of his mother and refuses to come out to do things.When Guofan heard about it, he respected him more and more. He wrote to Yulin and said, "if you borrow from the village, father and son don't protect each other. Can you keep Zhao's tomb forever?"

Excited, Yulin jumped up and went to Zengying to assist in military affairs.Guofan Dazhi's water division divided the ships into three classes and organized ten battalions. Yulin was appointed as the battalion officer to rule over the first battalion.The rest of the nine battalions are all general soldiers and new recruits, and they dare not speak up when they encounter problems, so they all rely on Yulin's report.Although Yulin commanded a battalion, almost the entire navy army was under his command.So even though Yulin was a member of the army, he often raised his head and raised his eyebrows in front of the commander's tent, discussing right and wrong, and the commander often treated him with admiration.

If you want to know whether Peng Yulin said such straightforward words, Guofan was angry or not, let's listen to the next chapter to break it down.

(End of this chapter)