scourge the qing dynasty

Chapter 241 Start

At the beginning, our Governor Cai Yurong really couldn't believe that there is such a good thing in the world. The enemy would betray the enemy's friendly army and cut off foreign aid to support him. Cheng, after Yi Cheng died without uttering a word of confession, our Governor Cai gradually began to believe that he really won the lottery this time, and finally encountered a once-in-a-lifetime idiot among the enemies.
One day later, in the early morning of October [-], our governor Cai received an urgent report from Yu Chenglong and the upright officials. Yi Cheng's incident was probably confirmed correctly—because on the first day, Macheng guard Wu Zhilan urgently reported, In the Dongshan area of ​​Macheng, a large number of local people gathered abnormally, and most of them held hoes, iron forks, shotguns, sticks and other murderous objects. It seemed that there were signs of civil uprising, and Wu Zhilan received a report from the local landlord that the leader of this group of people, It's Macheng Dongshan native, He Shirong!

"The Clippers sent an order to Yu Chenglong, asking him to organize an army to attack, and we must kill the Dongshan bandits at the first sign!" After confirming that the situation was critical, Cai Yurong, Governor Cai made a decisive decision, and immediately ordered: "Also, let Hanyang Deputy General Hao Ren led a thousand troops from Huangban to the north, and went to Macheng to assist Yu Jackie in suppressing the rebellion!"

"Father Commander, you still want to transfer troops from Hanyang?" Cai Lin was taken aback, and quickly dissuaded her: "Father Commander, there is no need for it? Is Hanyang mobilizing troops? In Haier’s opinion, using Huangzhou’s troops to suppress the rebellion is enough, at most, it will take longer, and it will be easy to wipe out the gang of thieves in Macheng.”

"Petty yellow-haired boy, you know nothing!" Cai Yurong scolded his son angrily, and then explained in a low voice: "What do you know? When Tutang and Chabeile were in Hanyang, the defense line from Hanyang to Huangzhou was always As stable as Mount Tai, solid as solid as gold. Now that they have just left, there will be chaos in Macheng, Huangzhou. If my father doesn't get rid of this gang of thieves as soon as possible, how will I explain to Tutang? Even if Tutang is reasonable and understands that things happened by accident, the emperor sent Hanyang to supervise the prisoners of war The exchanged Prince Gong is in Hanyang at the moment, he is the fifth younger brother of the emperor, if he returns to Beijing and casually says something to the emperor, then our Cai family will have to go around without food?"

The Prince Gong mentioned by Cai Yurong is the fifth son of Shunzhi and the fifth younger brother of Kang Mazi - Aixinjueluo Changning. He came to Hanyang with the water transport fleet three days ago Dadu, the servant of the household department, supervised the delivery of the army's salary and food, and welcomed the return of the prisoners of war.Although the insidious and cunning Kang Mazi sent Chang Ning to exchange prisoners of war, and some of them deliberately made Chang Ning notorious, but Chang Ning would treat Kang Mazi casually if Tuhai and Chani made mistakes just after they left the Hanhuang defense line. Let me just mention that Cai Yurong, who was already treated coldly by Kang Mazi because of losing Sichuan and Pianyuan, is definitely honorable in front of Kang Mazi.

"What the father said is very true, my child understands." After being carefully explained by Cai Yurong, Cai Lin finally understood the good intentions of the traitor father, but she still felt a little worried: "But the father, Hanyang... .”

"There will be nothing wrong here in Hanyang, at least within a couple of days." Cai Yurong waved his hand and said with a sneer: "Tomorrow is the day when the military pay and food will be exchanged with prisoners of war. The old thief Wu Sangui doesn't want military pay and food. What happened at this time? On the other hand, there are few troops in Huangzhou, and there is such a turmoil in the rear. If my father does not send reinforcements to Yu Chenglong, there may be big troubles in Huangzhou."

"Understood, my son will make arrangements now." Cai Lin couldn't compete with her traitor father, so she had to accept orders obediently.

At the same time, Cai Lin thought to herself, since Wu Yingqi was able to hand over the contacts of the Dongshan rebels to us, self-destructing his future and betraying his counterparts across the river, it proved that Wu Jun was very sincere in implementing the permanent non-aggression peace treaty, at least in the short term. , there would be no possibility of launching a cross-river campaign, and no abnormal movement of the Wu army has been found in the south of Wuchang. It is tantamount to wishful thinking to break through the natural danger of the Yangtze River with the [-] second-rate Wu army in Wuchang city who are addicted to gambling.So Cai Lin didn't hesitate any longer, and hurriedly sent an order for Cai Yurong, ordering Hanyang Vice General Hao Ren to lead a thousand troops northward to help the Huangzhou Qing army put down the chaos in Macheng.

The generals and officials of the Qing army who had the same thoughts as Cai Lin were definitely not the only ones in Xinyang City. Cai Yurong and his other sons also had the same thoughts.In addition, Cai Yurong's two major military deputies, Sang E and Fang Zhengse, also felt that Wu Yingqi was so interesting, and they guarded him like thieves and robbers. The envoy thanked him and used the tense relationship between the Qing army and the Wu army to facilitate a long-term friendly relationship in the future. When Cai Yurong heard that it was right, he immediately sent an envoy to cross the river with gifts to thank Wu Yingqi.

When the envoys of the Qing army came to the south bank of the Yangtze River again, the Wuchang Wharf was still as lax as yesterday and the day before yesterday—even more so, except that there were countless civilian ships and fishing boats that were recruited temporarily.After seeing Wu Yingqi, Wu Yingqi, who was leading a group of Wu army generals to fight wine, readily accepted Cai Yurong's generous gift, and gave Cai Yurong ten altars of aged Moutai and five pairs of Xuanwei ham in return, and asked the Qing army envoy To repay Cai Yurong, after the prisoner exchange is over, I can continue to keep in close contact with Cai Yurong, and join hands to do some food, salt and medicinal materials business, and earn a little money together to supplement the family.

What the envoys of the Qing army could never have dreamed of was that just as he left Wu Yingqi's mansion, Wu Yingqi, who was blushing and thick-necked from drinking just now, jumped up on his back feet, pulled his deputy Xie Xiansheng and Wang Xu, and whispered in their ears: "Have the weapons, military flags, and military uniforms been sent to the prisoner-of-war camp?"

"Back to the second prince, almost all of them have been delivered." Xie Xiansheng replied in a low voice: "Because we are afraid of being exposed, we only deliver them in batches at night and when delivering meals, so there are still more than 2000 brothers who have not received weapons, but Before it gets dark today, they will all be transported in place!"

"Very good, all the weapons must be delivered before dark!" Wu Yingqi ordered in a low voice: "Also, give the brothers an extra meal for today's dinner so that they can eat better, and let the kitchen prepare dry food. Brothers have to receive dry food for at least one day. Then order the generals of the battalions to gather at the Shuai Tang after the city gate closes at Youshi and before the second quarter of Youshi, without delay!" Xie Xiansheng and Wang Xu clasped their hands together and agreed in a low voice.

On the south bank of the Yangtze River, the Wu army was preparing for battle in secret. However, on the north bank of the Yangtze River, the Qing army envoy brought Wu Yingqi's gift back to Hanyang City. Moutai, with a big movement of his index finger, even had the idea of ​​a big banquet for everyone, ordered a banquet to be held in Hanyang City tonight, and personally led all the civil and military generals to entertain Kang Mazi's elder brother Chang Ning and the household servant Dadu.Although Cai Lin, Cai Xun and others wanted to dissuade them, considering that tomorrow is the time for the exchange of prisoners of war, even if Wu Jun wanted to play tricks, he would not choose tonight, so they did not try to persuade them to stop them, and they all followed orders.

On the evening of October 12, [-]th year of Kang Mazi in the Qing Dynasty, at the same time as you, Wuchang City controlled by the Wu Army and Hanyang City controlled by the Qing Army closed their gates at the same time. After repeated inspections, no abnormalities were found, the generals of the Qing Army gathered together. Tang went to drink and eat meat, and Wu Jun's generals and generals quickly gathered in Wu Yingqi's handsome hall. However, most of the Wu Jun generals were surprised that what greeted them was not only delicious food and wine, but also a person that no one could have imagined. A month ago, because he betrayed Wu Jun's secrets, he was almost executed by Wu's traitor Ling Chi in the Wuchang execution ground - Fatty Lu!

"Lu Yifeng, you traitorous dog, why do you have the face to come here?" In anger, countless generals of the Wu army shouted, "Get out! Get out!"

"Shut up for me!" Second Prince Wu jumped out and shouted vigorously: "Listen up, now I can tell you the truth, Yifeng has always been my good niece, son-in-law, good student, and has always been my best friend." He has never betrayed me, let alone our Pingxi Palace! The reason why he endured humiliation and was willing to bear the name of a traitor and suffer all kinds of humiliation is to separate the emperor and his ministers, and for today! From now on, Official Yifeng will be restored You have to respect and love him as you did before! Otherwise, I will not spare you! Do you understand?"

"What? What happened last time was false?" Countless generals of the Wu army exclaimed.Fatty Lu bowed his hands to the generals of Wu Jun with a smile, and said loudly: "Brothers, I'm really sorry. In order to make Man Gou believe it's true, so I lied to you, little brother. If I offend you, I hope you brothers and sisters will thank you." Forgive me."

"Brother Yifeng, I knew you were not that kind of person!" Fatty Lu's brother Wang Jing was the happiest, and he jumped up and hugged Fatty Lu and yelled, "Brother, you are really good. It didn't embarrass us when we met Yunnan people, and it didn't embarrass us in Pingxi Palace!"

"Brother Yifeng, the last time we hit you with an egg, we didn't know the situation, so don't worry about it." Many generals of the Wu army who had insulted Fatty Lu surrounded him, bowed and bowed to Fatty Lu, and apologized again and again. Fatty Lu laughed loudly, even saying that he never cared.

"Okay, okay, everyone is quiet, stand still for me." Wu Yingqi interrupted the intimacy between the generals of Wu Jun and Fatty Lu, and shouted: "Stand still for me, Yifeng is going to announce two important orders from my father. , stand up for me and listen clearly!"

The generals of the Wu army followed the order and stood in their respective positions. To everyone's surprise, Wu Yingqi also stood at the front of the hall and gave up the middle commander's position, while Lu Fatty strode to the middle commander's position. Standing up to the generals of the Wu army, he took a flat yellow scroll from the table and shouted: "Come out, I am going to read the imperial edict!"

"Come out? What do you mean?" Most Wu Jun generals were taken aback.At this time, after Shuaitang, a group of generals from the Wu army suddenly filed out, most of them were the brave generals of the Wu army who had withdrawn to Changsha with the traitor Wu before, as well as Li Tianzhi, Qin Yong, Hu Tongchun, Quan Jie and Fatty Lu's direct descendants. Kong Fanlin and others, as well as several generals of the Wu army who had never shown their faces in Wuchang, what shocked many Wu army generals was that none of these unfamiliar faces had shaved money tails, but had long hair!
"How did you come here? When did you come?" Many generals of the Wu army exclaimed, "And these brothers, why have you never seen them before?"

"We've been here a long time ago." The Wu army general who suddenly appeared said with a smile, "But since we came to Wuchang, we've been living in a prisoner-of-war camp."

"Don't make any noise, let me explain to you." Fatty Lu interrupted the generals of the Wu army to exclaim with a wave, and explained: "These brothers did come to Wuchang a long time ago, but they have been hiding in the prisoner-of-war camp full of dogs. Here, all the prisoners in the prisoner-of-war camp are also soldiers of our Yunnan-Guizhou army, but when they show up in public, they all tie their right thumbs to their palms with thin ropes, so let alone scouts and secret agents, it is you, There is no telling the truth.”

Then, Fatty Lu pointed to the unfamiliar faces and introduced: "As for these brothers, the leader is Chen Wenhuan, a general from Yanping Palace in Taiwan, and the generals with him are all Lord Yanping sent secretly to help us train and build up our naval fighters, and they will be our pioneers in this cross-river battle!"

"Okay, stop arguing, I'm going to read the prince's decree." Fatty Lu stopped the generals of the Wu army from exclaiming and cheering, took a flat yellow scroll from the table, unfolded it, and shouted: "The prince's decree , all generals kneel down and listen!"

The generals of the Wu army knew that there must be a big event tonight, so they knelt down together and listened attentively to Fatty Lu's reading. Wang's beloved son Wu Yingxiong was in front of him, and he was married to Oboi in the future. Thanks to the blessing of heaven, the adopted daughter Sizhen secretly reported the truth and presented the evidence of the crime to the case. The king was furious and determined to save the people. The false emperor of Zhou, restore the clothes of China, comfort the hope of all people, and avenge the blood of his beloved son!"

"Is the son of the world killed by Emperor Mangou?" Several generals of the Wu army cried out in shock.

"That's right!" Fatty Lu put down the old traitor Wu's decree, and said solemnly: "The Mangou Emperor Kangxi deceived our lord to be old, and wanted to kill our son. After the lord's death, he was afraid of completely angering the lord and our Pingxi Palace. He sent people to pretend to be Oboi's henchmen, killed our son, and shamelessly put the blame on Oboi's head. Kong Sizhen, Miss Kong Sizhen, the adopted daughter of Prince Xinde, has a good conscience and risked her life to keep it secretly for the prince. The warrant written by Emperor Kangxi Dog was presented to the prince. Now the warrant written by Emperor Mangou is in the hands of the prince. When the prince returns to the Yangtze River, all brothers can see this ironclad proof with their own eyes!"

"Fucking Kangxi boy, you are a shameless dog, fight him and avenge your son!" Countless generals of the Wu army roared angrily, and some people shouted directly: "Second prince, please lead us to rebel directly, Capture Emperor Mangou and cut him to pieces, ask the prince to be the emperor, and the second prince, you will be the prince!"

As soon as the words fell, there was applause immediately, Wu Yingqi nodded again and again, his face was full of pride, but the Taiwanese generals headed by Chen Wenhuan looked displeased—their ambition was to fight against the Qing Dynasty and restore the Ming Dynasty, not to support Mr. Wu Traitors become emperors.Fortunately, there was a political genius Fatty Lu who stopped him in time and said, "Brothers and generals, please calm down. We have to wait for the rebellion. The most important thing right now is to break through the natural danger of the Yangtze River and take down Hanyang." City, we have established a firm foothold in the north of the Yangtze River, and we will listen to the prince's order."

At any rate, the excited generals of the Wu army finally calmed down. Fatty Lu launched the second edict of the old traitor Wu, and read aloud: "The prince's edict: Zhongshu Chengzhi, Qujing General Lu Yifeng, loyal and diligent Shen, both wise and brave, is a rare talent. Now he is named General Wuchang, given the fake festival sword, and leads the armies of Wuchang to attack Hanyang and break through the Yangtze River. The generals and officers of all armies in Wuchang must obey Lu Yifeng's command and dispatch, and fight bravely. If not, Lu Yifeng You can hold the king's sword, cut first and play later!"

"My lord is a thousand years old, a thousand years old, a thousand years old." The generals of Wu Jun first agreed neatly, and then went to see Wu Yingqi together, saying that it is no problem for us to follow Fatty Lu's command and order, the key depends on you, the second prince.Wu Yingqi laughed and said, "It's all about what I do? It's not like you don't know that I hate to use my brain. The attack on Hanyang this time is an outsmart effort. Like me, listen to Yifeng. He is different from me. , the best at this aspect. For other things, wait until Hanyang is conquered, and then listen to the arrangement of the father."

Wu Yingqi, who has the highest official position and status, has said so. What else can the generals of Wu Jun say, and they all congratulated Fatty Lu together. The son-in-law is in charge of you for the time being, and the nephew and son-in-law dare not disobey the order of grandfather Jun, so they can only offend."

"It's okay, it's okay, you are a person promoted by your uncle, and now you can command me, it proves that I have a good vision, what is there to be ashamed of?" Wu Yingqi, who had been ordered by the old traitor Wu, laughed and waved: "You are welcome. Now, give the order quickly, if anyone dares to disobey you, uncle will clean him up for you!"

"Thank you, thank you very much." Fatty Lu quickly cupped his hands in thanks, then stood up straight and asked, "Generals, in the battle of crossing the river, the sailors of the ships will be in charge of Taiwan's allies, and our soldiers will be responsible for the charge. Who dares to be the vanguard, go Destroy the Mangou navy and open the way for my army to cross the river?"

"The last general is willing to go!" To Fatty Lu's surprise, besides Fatty Lu's confidantes, several generals of the Wu army stood up and saluted Fatty Lu to ask for orders.Among them, Wu Yingqi's deputy, Wang Xu, was the most resolute. He took a step forward, knelt down on one knee, cupped his hands and said loudly, "Marshal Lu, the last general, Wang Xu, is willing to be the vanguard of the whole army and open the way for the army to cross the river!"

"General Wang, I don't believe you if it's not my brother..." Fatty Lu hesitated—this Wu army general named Wang Xu didn't have much contact with Fatty Lu, and he was usually taciturn. Fatty Lu didn't know him very well, so he really didn't know. Dare to entrust him with the most important tasks.

"Marshal Lu, do you feel that the general is not familiar with water warfare, so you are not very relieved?" Wang Xu saw what Fatty Lu was thinking, and said proactively: "The general dare not lie to Marshal Lu and the second prince. As early as when Wuchang was captured, the general had already concluded that the prince would launch a battle to cross the river sooner or later, so this year, the general led his headquarters to take turns to practice swimming and boating in the Yangtze River and Liangzi Lake every day. Now the general has more than a thousand soldiers under his command , are already quite proficient in water and able to drive a boat. I will practice hard for a year, just for today, and I hope the commander will make it happen!"

"Yifeng, Uncle can testify for Wang Xu on this point." Wu Yingqi said, "Uncle can testify. When Uncle brought his brothers to gamble and have fun, Wang Xu was always leading the headquarters to practice water warfare. I praised him. It’s just that you are often not in Wuchang, so I don’t know much about it.”

"Talent, another talent that I have neglected." Fatty Lu raised his eyebrows, and began to look at Wang Xu, who was usually taciturn, with admiration - to have such foresight, what is it but a talent?At that moment, Fatty Lu nodded immediately and said: "Very good, then General Wang, I will entrust you with the important task of vanguard!"

(Note: Wang Xu is not a fictional person. He was a brave general of the Wu army trained in the mid-stage of the San Francisco Rebellion. He defeated Yue Le's army in the Changsha War and forced Yue Le to withdraw to Jingzhou. He was the most outstanding during the San Francisco Rebellion. Mu Zhan, a general of the Qing Dynasty, was also defeated by Wang Xu alone in this battle, and his whereabouts are unknown.)
(End of this chapter)