scourge the qing dynasty

Chapter 397 Wu Army Civil War
(PS: In view of the development of the plot, with the consent of the editorial department of the starting point, the completion time of this book will be extended and the number of words will be increased. Please rest assured that the scourge will not be unfinished. Friends, please continue to support the scourge and continue to support Fatty Lu And pure unfinished wolves.)
In fact, Xia Guoxiang really didn't want to be Fatty Lu's enemy, nor did he ever think about tearing his face with Fatty Lu. He wanted to see him, and there was no malice in detaining the imperial edict that the old traitor Wu gave to Fatty Lu. It was purely to vent to Fatty Lu. Sitting and watching his dissatisfaction with Chizhou's disastrous defeat, and a little bit of jealousy - but this is also human nature. Among the heroes and veterans in the Pingxi Palace, there are really few who are not really jealous of Fatty Lu.

Fatty Lu's deeds are indeed enviable and enviable. It's okay to gain the absolute trust of the old traitor Wu in just a few years after joining the Pingxi Palace. Even the abundance of money and food in the separatist regime in the south of the Yangtze River can be ignored, but the old traitor Wu skipped over a thousand sons-in-law, nieces, sons-in-law and veteran generals to give Fatty Lu the title of King of Yue. How could Xia Guoxiang, who had been next to old traitor Wu from birth and was bullied by Fatty Lu just now, swallow this bad breath?Withholding the imperial edict and disgusting Fatty Lu, it was a matter of course.

Withholding the edict will only disgust Fatty Lu, and it will only prevent Fatty Lu from becoming king quickly, and will not cause any substantial harm to Fatty Lu. The reason is that the teacher is unknown, the second is that his own internal strife benefits others, and the third is that Xia Guoxiang is quite self-aware. He knows that after more than a year of development and crazily sucking Jiangnan people's fat and people's ointment, Lu Fatty has grown into a perverted monster that can compete with Wu Jun's main force. With the strength in his hands, it is impossible to be Fatty Lu's opponent. Naturally, Xia Guoxiang will not go to make fun of himself and make himself unhappy.

Regarding the battle between Guo Zhuangtu and the Wu clan, Xia Guoxiang actually has no bad intentions. His attitude is ambiguous and he refuses to express his opinion. It is also because he does not want to get involved in these bad things, because as long as Xia Guoxiang does not speak or express his opinion, with his status in the Pingxi Palace With the power and strength in hand, no matter who is the winner in the future, he will inevitably share his flesh, so why bother to join in and stand in line, and bear the infamy of provoking internal strife before the old man's bones are cold?Anyway, Hu Guozhu has to do the hard work of reconciling the conflicts between the two sides. As long as Xia Guoxiang hides aside and pretends to be deaf and dumb, he will definitely be the winner in the future.

With such a mentality, Xia Guoxiang sneered even when he received the edict from the Honghua court to canonize him as the king of Chu, and Guo Zhuangtu's handwritten letter, which was obviously trying to sow discord, and secretly sneered, "I think Pulling Lao Tzu into the water? Thinking Lao Tzu is a fool? Even if the Wu clan can't tolerate our relatives, Lu Yifeng is the first one they can't tolerate! If Lu Yifeng isn't dealt with, the Wu clan will only attack Lao Tzu if they are stupid, forcing the most dangerous Lu Yifeng! Besides, Lao Tzu helped you clean up the Wu clan, how can your brother-in-law, Guo Zhuangtu, accommodate Lao Tzu?"

Holding on to the mentality of not being guilty of neither helping each other, Xia Guoxiang's actions are already very low-key and conscientious, and he is worthy of his father-in-law who just passed away, but what Xia Guoxiang never dreamed of is that he almost completely hid At the corner of the wall, Fatty Lu even took the initiative to come to the door, and slapped him on the face—using the reputation of the Prince Regent of Dazhou to issue an order to him, and asked him arrogantly why he did not send troops to help the Wu clan put down the rebellion, and called his name Turn over the old account of Xia Guoxiang's private withholding of the imperial edict, and force Xia Guoxiang to hand over the army and release the military power!

After reading Fatty Lu's regent's edict, Xia Guoxiang couldn't bear it anymore. He yelled and tore up Fatty Lu's edict to pieces, and the envoys beat out Yuezhou City with sticks. Everyone was furious, and they cursed Fatty Lu's ancestors for eighteen generations by mentioning Fatty Lu's name.Among them, Guo Zhuangmou, the military counselor of Xia Guoxiang, who reacted the most violently—you can see his relationship with Guo Zhuangtu from his name, he beat his chest and yelled at Xia Guoxiang: "My lord, have you seen it? Have you seen it, Lu What kind of person is Yifeng?!"

"Bang!" Xia Guoxiang slammed his fist on the table in front of him, almost cracking the pear wood table, his face was blue and he was nervously calculating.Xia Guoxiang of course understands Guo Zhuangmou's implication. It is nothing more than encouraging Xia Guoxiang to join forces with his brother Guo Zhuangtu. Before Xia Guoxiang had always pretended to be deaf and dumb and refused to fight, but now Xia Guoxiang had to choose. The power of soldiers and horses was given to Fatty Lu, and the life and death of civil and military officials of the Great Zhou Dynasty was given to Fatty Lu. Fatty Lu blamed Xia Guoxiang and deprived Xia Guoxiang of his military power. Old Man Wu's treacherous edict gave Fatty Lu all the more reason to behead Xia Guoxiang and ransack his home and eat him alive.

That is to say, Xia Guoxiang now has only three options left, one is to honestly hand over military power in accordance with the order, which is of course more uncomfortable than killing Xia Guoxiang.The second is to obey the order but not implement it, continue to pretend to be deaf and dumb, and wait and see what happens. This is not safe at all. It is better for Guo Zhuangtu to gain power. If the Wu clan or Fatty Lu gain power, the two families will have plenty of excuses And the reason is in the hands of Xia Guoxiang.The third, that is...

"Damn it!" At this point, Xia Guoxiang finally made up his mind, overturned the table, and shouted at the generals under the tent with bloodshot eyes: "Lu Yifeng's son pretends to usurp power, Wu Guogui's old thief committed treason, attempted Colluded with Lu Yifeng's dog thief to usurp my great Zhou country! This king decided to obey the imperial edict of Honghua, raise troops to fight against rebellion, and join forces with General Guo Zhuangtu to exterminate Wu Guogui's old thief and kill Lu Yifeng's dog thief! Who would like to fight with this king? Walk?"

"The final general is willing to fight against the prince!" Guo Zhuangmou couldn't wait to be the first to jump out and shout, and then Xia Guoxiang's absolute confidants Zhang Guozhu and Qiu Shanwo stood up without hesitation, knelt down on one knee and clasped fists at Xia Guoxiang Shouting, "I would like to listen to the prince's orders!" The other generals of Xia Guoxiang looked at each other in blank dismay, not daring to say that.

"If you don't want to, you can leave now, and I won't stop you there!" Xia Guoxiang shouted again with a livid face: "But as long as you leave this door today, all the past friendships and grievances will be wiped out! In the future, we will fight against rebellion." On the battlefield, don't blame this king's subordinates for being ruthless!"

"I would like to listen to the prince's order." Xia Guoxiang's army and generals had no choice but to kneel down on one knee to show their loyalty.

"Okay!" Xia Guoxiang shouted with a wave of his fist: "As long as we work together, we will surely put down the rebellion and eradicate the traitors. Emperor Honghua, this king and Guo Xiang will definitely not treat you badly! Pass on this king's order and reward immediately The three armies, tell the whole army to raise troops against rebellion, and give this king the banner of rebellion under the imperial edict!"

"Follow your lord's order!" Xia Jun's generals agreed in unison.Guo Zhuangmou couldn't wait to say again: "Your Majesty, your soldiers are very fast. The last general proposes to take advantage of Wu Guogui's traitors and have not noticed it, and immediately send troops to attack Ji Ji Mountain. As long as they capture or destroy Ji Ji Mountain's firearms camp, cut off the firearms of Wu Guogui's dog thief." The source, our army has a solid chance of winning. After killing the old thief Wu Guogui and cutting off the internal support of the dog thief Lu Yifeng, our Dazhou army has gathered into a regiment, and it is easy to concentrate our forces to wipe out the dog thief Lu Yifeng!"

Xia Guoxiang's eyes lit up, and he knew that although Guo Zhuangmou's words were selfish, they were also very reasonable. If he could win the Jiji Mountain camp and cut off the Wu clan's source of firearms, defeating Wu Guogui's army would be a piece of cake!Even if he can't take Ji Jishan for his own use, as long as he destroys Ji Jishan's camp and relies on the firearms that Guo Zhuangtu brought in from the rear of Yunnan and Guizhou for reinforcements, he can still easily defeat Wu Guogui!Thinking of this, Xia Guoxiang, who had made up his mind, did not hesitate any longer, and immediately shouted: "Zhang Guozhu listened to the order and ordered you to set off immediately with four thousand light cavalry, pretending to help guard Changsha City, and rush to Jiqishan Firearms Camp day and night to launch a surprise attack. Ji Qishan will take it, if he can't take it down, destroy it! The craftsmen can catch it if they can, and if they can't catch it, they will all be killed!"

"Decree!" Zhang Guozhu, Xia Guoxiang's absolute confidant, immediately agreed without saying a word, and hurried out.Xia Guoxiang yelled again: "Go to the naval camp immediately and call Du Hui and Lin Xingzhu, and tell them that the military situation has changed, and let them come to see me immediately!"

Half an hour later, Du Hui and Lin Xingzhu, the chief and deputy generals of Wu Jun's navy, who were practicing on the water surface near Yueyang Tower, were recalled to Yuezhou City. Hui and Lin Xingzhu led the navy to attack Wu Guogui and Fatty Lu with him. His good friend Lin Xingzhu, who had been on several boats for a long time, couldn't wait for it, and immediately obeyed. Du Hui was shocked and urged Prime Minister Xia Think twice, don't start a civil war, Xia Guoxiang ordered his own soldiers to come forward and threatened with knives. As a last resort, Du Hui had no choice but to give in temporarily, expressing his willingness to join the Xia Guoxiang in fighting against rebellion.

Immediately afterwards, Xia Guoxiang, with the assistance of Guo Zhuangmou, quickly formulated a plan to send troops to attack Wuchang City, preparing to raid Wuchang to seize the city and take over the more than 2 troops there.Fortunately, although most of the Wuchang army is Wu Yingqi's direct descendant, it has been taken over by Hu Guozhu before, and now Hu Guozhu has gone to Yunnan to negotiate with Guo Zhuangtu, and the Wuchang army has temporarily been entrusted to Wu army veterans Zhang Zufa and Ba Yangyuan Under common command, they are not subordinate to each other. In normal times, they can monitor each other in case of emergency, but in a war, the weakness of the lack of unified command will be exposed immediately. As long as Xia Guoxiang operates properly, it will not be difficult to take down Wuchang's army.

At the same time, Xia Guoxiang and Guo Zhuangmou had to write another letter to Guo Zhuangtu explaining the situation, expressing their willingness to join hands with Guo Zhuangtu to suppress the Wu army's rebellion.But just after this letter was delivered on a fast horse, Lin Xingzhu's personal soldiers stumbled to report, saying that Du Hui had just returned to the navy camp and fled into the Yangtze River with a dozen warships, if it wasn't for Lin Xingzhu and Xia Guoxiang The team stopped in time to prevent Wu Jun's sailors from boarding the ship, fearing that the entire Wu Jun's sailors would be taken away by Du Hui.Xia Guoxiang was furious when he heard the words, and immediately ordered Lin Xingzhu to lead his army to chase and kill Du Hui, and was forced to send troops to Wuchang in advance, so that Wuchang would not be prepared when he received the news.At the same time, Xia Guoxiang went to write to Ma Bao, inviting Ma Bao to join hands with him to fight against rebellion.

The last month of the first year of Zhaowu was a disastrous month for the Wu Sangui Army of the Pingxi Palace, which had almost wiped out all the main forces of the Qing Dynasty, and it was also a crucial month for the Great Zhou Wu Army to turn from prosperity to decline.On the fourth day of December, Wu Sangui's third son-in-law, Xia Guoxiang, suddenly staged a mutiny and took control of the entire army in Yuezhou.

On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, when the Wu clan army and the neutral faction of the Wu army had no time to respond, Xia Guoxiang sent Zhang Guozhu to Changsha City under false pretences, and suddenly attacked the Jiji Mountain Firearms camp [-] miles away from the western suburbs of Changsha. Although the Qishan camp was controlled by troops loyal to the Wu clan, because Hu Guozhu was a security guard and went to Yunnan to persuade Guo Zhuang to compromise, it was inevitable that Jiqishan’s defenders would relax, and Zhang Guozhu defeated them by surprise. When Ji Jishan camp was about to fall, he was forced to set fire to the camp, so as to prevent the firearms camp from falling into the hands of Xia Guoxiang's army, and led some craftsmen to retreat to Yiyang.

On the same day, Xia Guoxiang's army hurriedly marched to the foot of Wuchang City. Although Du Hui, who had escaped from Yuezhou, had reported to the Wuchang garrison in time, the Wu army in Wuchang was leaderless and commanded poorly. Some troops opened the Wuchang city gate and surrendered to Xia Guoxiang's army. Taking the opportunity to enter the city, the Wu army navy led by Lin Xingzhu blocked the Wuchang ferry again. The troops loyal to the Wu clan were forced to break through to Jiujiang and asked for help from Wu army general Ma Bao.Fortunately, Ma Bao, who was secretly scolded by Fang Guangchen as Mazhong Lu Bu, took a firm stand once, accepted the Wu army team who fled from Wuchang, and resolutely rejected Xia Guoxiang's consolation, and stated that he would continue to not help each other. Xia Guoxiang did not dare to offend too much Ma Bao didn't dare to lead his army into the territory of Jiujiang.

Immediately afterwards, when most of the army had been sent by Hu Guozhu to Chenzhou to prevent Wu Guogui's army from going south, Fang Guangchen, the governor of Wu Jun's Pianyuan, had to accept Xia Guoxiang's surrender, and opened the gate of Changsha to let Zhang Guozhu enter the city. The three prefectures of Changsha, Yuezhou and Wuchang It fell into the hands of Xia Guoxiang and became a sharp knife behind Wu Guogui's army.

The news spread back to Changde, and Wu Guogui, who was waiting for Hu Guozhu's reply in Changde City, was furious. Then go east to Changsha, come to fight to the death with Xia Guoxiang's army, and prepare to pull out this nail in the back and then march south to Yunnan and Guizhou.

The news spread into Sichuan from the Yangtze River waterway. Wu Zhimao's troops, who had already stood still, went south to attack Sichuan again. Needless to say, Wu Guozhu's troops stationed in Chongqing also immediately dispatched. With the support of Wu Jun's Sichuan Navy Division Peng Shiheng, they went eastward along the river and rushed to Dongting Lake. Reinforcement of righteous brother Wu Guogui on the battlefield, the large-scale civil war between the Wu clan and foreign relatives and power officials kicked off, and brutal bloody battles started one after another.

The most unlucky one was Hu Guozhu. Just as Fatty Lu expected, after Hu Guozhu, the most powerful and prestigious of Wu Jun’s relatives, returned to Kunming, Guo Zhuangtu, who had been staying in Yunnan and Guizhou and had little power in the army, really didn’t dare to treat him in the slightest. He was disrespectful, and offered up his elder brother-in-law as if offering to his ancestors. At the same time, Hu Guozhu also persuaded Guo Zhuangtu with persuasion and coercion, demanding that Guo Zhuangtu accept the conditions of the Wu clan and hand over the Wu clan's family members and Wu Shifan. In exchange for the forgiveness of the Wu clan, everyone united by Wu Shifan's side, taking advantage of the great situation that even the Emperor Mangou was cut by Lu Fatty, and worked together to take this Huaxia country.

At the beginning, Guo Zhuangtu naturally couldn't agree to Hu Guozhu's request. He was reluctant to delegate power, and worried that the Wu clan would settle accounts after the autumn. Guo Zhuangtu gradually loosened his grip, and began to bargain with Hu Guozhu. In addition to asking Hu Guozhu to be a guarantor that the Wu clan would not settle accounts with him after the autumn, he only agreed to hand over the family members of the Wu clan or one of Wu Shifan.Hu Guozhu naturally refused to agree. Apart from agreeing to serve as bail for Guo Zhuangtu, he insisted that Guo Zhuangtu hand over his family members and Wu Shifan together.But Guo Zhuangtu's attitude has obviously loosened, and he is ready to agree to the request made by the Wu clan several times.

After wasting more than a month of precious time, Hu Guozhu, who was so dizzy and entangled in Guo Zhuangtu's bargaining, also sent a message, and gave Guo Zhuangtu a deadline, asking his brother-in-law to meet in the early morning of the next day, the morning of the 25th of the twelfth lunar month in the first year of Zhaowu I replied to myself before, if Guo Zhuangtu still insists on not making concessions, then I will not be in Kunming for years, and I will leave tomorrow morning, and I will never care about Guo Zhuangtu's bad things again!At most, for the sake of my brother-in-law, I will collect Guo Zhuangtu's body in the future!Guo Zhuangtu's face was earthy, while Hu Guozhu walked away.

The night on the 24th of the twelfth lunar month in the first year of Zhaowu was definitely the most painful, tormenting, longest and shortest night in Guo Zhuangtu's life. He sat alone in the study room, did not close his eyes all night, and lost his hair all night. It has turned white a lot.But when the rooster crowed three times, with an urgent letter sent from Yuezhou to the Honghua Palace and sent to Guo Zhuangtu, the haze on Guo Zhuangtu's face was instantly swept away, and his whole body He also jumped up happily, and started hugging the letter and kissing wildly. His already gray hair also turned black all of a sudden.

At dusk, when Hu Guozhu came to Guo Zhuangtu again, Guo Zhuangtu, who had been groveling and flattering in front of Hu Guozhu before, seemed to have been injected with chicken blood. Hu Guozhu's letter fell in front of Hu Guozhu, and he shouted wildly: "Brother-in-law, you can choose. Is it our three brothers-in-law who join hands to help the emperor win the country? Or do you also imagine Wu Guogui's gang of rebels and commit chaos?"

Inexplicably picked up Xia Guoxiang's autographed letter, after only a few glances, Hu Guozhu's face became paler than Guo Zhuangtu's when he was given the ultimatum yesterday, and tremblingly said: "How is it possible? How is it possible? Why is Xia Guoxiang crazy? Doesn't he know what the consequences will be if he does this?"

"Of course Brother Xia didn't go crazy, it was you, the elder brother who went crazy!" Guo Zhuangtu said with a sneer, "You think that Wu Guogui, Wu Yingjing and Wu Guozhu would be grateful for your kindness if our third brother-in-law made a concession. ? When they get the power, they will let you honorably command the Dasan Army like now? You should know how to write these words, brother-in-law, brother-in-law, right? Brother Xia understands this I don’t want to be beheaded and ransacked by Wu Guogui’s gang, so I made a wise choice!”

Hu Guozhu was stunned, and he sighed after a long time, "Xia Guoxiang, you ruined my big business! The great Zhou Dynasty has turned from prosperity to decline, and you are the real culprit!"

After sighing, Hu Guozhu shook his head again, and sighed again: "I can't completely blame Xia Guoxiang, I am also responsible. If I have courage and determination, the matter will not come to this point. It is still father-in-law who is right. I am responsible for military and political affairs. In fact, the only thing that is not as good as him and Yifeng is that he is indecisive, dare not make up his mind at critical moments, and dare not take responsibility. If I arrive in Yunnan, I will force you to agree to my conditions, and I will not argue with you in Yunnan. Things won't get to this point."

"Do you understand this? It's too late!" Guo Zhuangtu laughed wildly, very satisfied with Hu Guozhu's frustrated and desperate expression.

Enough of laughing, Guo Zhuangtu finally put away his smile, changed to a friendly expression, and held Hu Guozhu's hand with a sincere expression, "Brother-in-law, you can join us too, our three brothers-in-law teamed up, no one in the world is invincible, as long as we calm down After the civil strife, it is easy to wipe out other enemies, and the world belongs to our three brothers. As long as you promise, you will be the chief assistant in the future, and I am willing to be your deputy. Brother-in-law, this opportunity must not be missed, and it will never come again."

"You're dreaming!" Hu Guozhu shook Guo Zhuangtu away with a wave of his hand, and said solemnly with a straight face: "No matter how bad Hu Guozhu is, he still has a bit of backbone. My father-in-law is so kind to me and wants me to help you fight the civil war and destroy him. This hard-won country and country, you are delusional!"

"Brother-in-law, do you really want to persist in your obsession?" Guo Zhuangtu's face changed again, and his face became more and more ferocious. Guo Zhuangtu's soldiers next to him also drew their knives and surrounded Hu Guozhu in the middle.

"It's still the same sentence, you want me to help you fight the civil war, you are dreaming!" Hu Guozhu said without fear: "If you want to kill, kill it, don't talk too much! If I die in your hands, I will just hold my head upright Go see my father-in-law, go see my father, Hu Shuixin, who dedicated himself to his father-in-law and died in Beijing!"

Guo Zhuangtu stared at Hu Guozhu's eyes, his eyes were as vicious as a poisonous snake baring its beard and teeth, while Hu Guozhu stared back at Guo Zhuangtu coldly, his attitude was as firm as a stone.

After a long time, Guo Zhuangtu finally withdrew his gaze and said with a sinister smile, "Don't worry brother-in-law, I'm your brother-in-law brother, I won't kill you, but I plan to ask you to rest in Kunming for a while, and wait until Wu Guogui's gang of rebels are calmed down." Rebellion, I believe you can change your mind."

After finishing speaking, Guo Zhuangtu pouted to the soldiers next to him, and said with a sneer, "Prime Minister Hu, please go back to rest. By the way, bring all Prime Minister Hu's seals, military talismans and command arrows. I will be of great use."

"Do you want to take my seal letter talisman and incorporate my army in Chenzhou?" Hu Guozhu also sneered, and said: "Unfortunately, when I left Chenzhou and returned to Yunnan and Guizhou, I already told my deputy Gao Qilong not to see me. It is an imperial decree, and he cannot surrender his military power and army."

Guo Zhuangtu shrank his pupils, and quickly said with a sinister smile: "The brother-in-law is really fine, but it doesn't matter, Gao Qilong and your subordinates are both human beings, as long as they are human, they love beautiful women with money and rich officials, I am not afraid that they will not be tempted .”

"Then try it." Hu Guozhu sneered again, full of confidence in his army's loyalty.

When Guo Zhuangtu's personal soldiers took Hu Guozhu away and walked to Guo Zhuangtu's study, Hu Guozhu suddenly stopped, looked at the southeast to the northeast, and sighed, "It's still my father-in-law who has the foresight. After he passed away, Our internal affairs will indeed be chaotic. There is also a father-in-law who knows people. At this time, he is the only one who can set things right and revive the Great Zhou."

"Oh." Hu Guozhu smiled wryly again, and murmured, "Although he is more dangerous than anyone else, no one can stop him from usurping the Great Zhou Dynasty except himself."

On the 25th of the twelfth lunar month in the first year of Zhaowu, Guo Zhuangtu, a power minister of the Honghua court of the Great Zhou Dynasty, detained Hu Guozhu, the honorary commander of the three armies of the Great Zhou army, in Kunming. The momentary Wu Sangui army gradually began to decline.The fat army who hid behind Wu Jun and recharged his batteries also gradually revealed their snow-white fangs, which were enough to swallow the world's snow-white fangs.

(End of this chapter)