The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 140: Iron Teeth and Bronze Teeth Zuo Zongtang (asking for monthly ticket)
High, really high!
A great defeat was actually turned into a victory by Zuo Zongtang with just a few words!
As soon as Zuo Zongtang made this well-reasoned and well-founded argument of confusing right and wrong, everyone present secretly applauded.

Zuo Zongtang's level is really too high! With his level, he didn't pass the exam. Did the officials who examined the papers know how to read? Or were they too lazy to examine the papers and just rolled the dice to select the candidates?

Sheng Bao, who had just been rescued by Zuo Zongtang, thought: "No wonder Mr. Zuo is somewhat dissatisfied with the Qing Dynasty. With his ability to deceive the emperor, he must be a cabinet minister or a frontier governor. Now he is only an advisor. It's a waste of talent! Such a great talent must not turn to the Taiping rebels, otherwise the Taiping rebels will create a 'Three Feudatories'!"

Zuo Zongtang was quite proud of himself when he saw a group of mediocre and corrupt officials looking at him with admiring eyes. He thought to himself, "Now you know what I am capable of, right? It's not over yet. I still need to let you learn more!"

Thinking of this, Zuo Zongtang's face gradually darkened: "Master Sheng, Master Ru, Master Su, Master Fu, although we set up an ambush in Changsha and the demon was seriously injured or even killed, the battle of Changsha so far cannot be considered a great victory. At most, it is a tragic victory, or even a fifty-fifty one. When you return to report the victory to the emperor, you must explain the precarious situation in Changsha more clearly.

Although this demon was defeated by you gentlemen and the warriors of the Eight Banners and Green Camp, the losses of our army are really huge! After all, we are fighting the demon from the sky with our flesh and blood. We finally led it into a trap and then destroyed it with thunder. The losses are naturally not small!"

aweason!
The Eight Banners and Green Camp suffered heavy losses in the Battle of Changsha, with thousands of people killed or captured. If they were to report the truth, how would Shengbao and Fucheng continue to serve as officials?
If the report is based on what Zuo Zongtang said, no one will be able to say anything.

The Eight Banners soldiers and Green Camp soldiers under Shengbao and Fucheng were all mortals. It was normal for them to suffer heavy losses when fighting against the demons that fell from the sky. Moreover, they finally used the "holy bomb" to kill or injure the demons. What else could the officials in the court say?
Although the adults felt relieved in their hearts, they all looked sad and nodded in agreement.

The general Fu of Fucheng who was in charge of luring the enemy was so sad that tears were dripping down his face. He wiped his tears and said, "That Bull Demon was really ferocious. Poor Deputy General Yin of Tongguan Association risked his life to avoid a fight with that demon in order to lure the enemy deep into his territory. He fought and retreated all the way, with dozens of serious injuries on his body, and blood was spilled for more than ten miles. He still fought to the death, but was finally swallowed up by the demon who revealed his Dharma form! Woo woo"

This General Fu was not very good at fighting, but he was quite good at telling stories. Yin Lipei was originally killed with one shot, and died at the hands of a female gunner of the Taiping Army, which was not a face-saving thing. But now it has become a self-sacrifice, luring the monster deep into the depths, fighting for dozens of miles, suffering dozens of serious injuries, still fighting to the death, and finally being swallowed by the monster in the form of a Dharma. This story is not bad to be written into "Investiture of the Gods".

Luo Bingzhang nodded gently: "This Deputy General Yin is so brave and loyal, he is truly a role model for the officials and soldiers of the Qing Dynasty!" He raised his fist to the sky, "We should report to the emperor, confer this General Yin Fu as a god, and build a temple for Deputy General Yin in Changsha, so that Deputy General Yin's spirit in heaven can enjoy incense and blood for years to come."

Luo Raodian stroked his beard and said with approval: "The Eight Banners and Green Camp soldiers who died in Changsha were all brave and heroic. We should report this to the emperor and ask the court to give them preferential compensation!"

"They should indeed be given preferential treatment!" Shengbao also nodded, "After all, they all died to defeat the devil. Such a heroic death is unprecedented since the founding of the country!"

Zuo Zongtang saw that the fire was almost ready, so he poured a basin of cold water on the adults and said solemnly: "But the emperor and the officials in the court may not believe us when we say that the monster was killed or injured by the explosion and that the monster's appearance is not obvious. The emperor is wise after all!"

Several adults nodded in agreement - they could only nod, they couldn't shake their heads, right? Although everyone knew in their hearts that Emperor Xianfeng was not very wise.

Shengbao has connections in the court, so he naturally knows what to say in the court. He said, "Of course the emperor will not only listen to our one-sided words, but as long as we can defend the Iron Buddha Temple, Yingchun Gate, and Tianxin Pavilion day by day, the emperor will definitely believe what we say is true.

After all, our army has suffered heavy losses. If the demon had not died or been seriously injured, how could we defend the Iron Buddha Temple, Yingchun Gate, and Tianxin Pavilion? But can we still defend the Iron Buddha Temple, Yingchun Gate, and Tianxin Pavilion now? "

At this point, Shengbao's brows slowly furrowed.

"can!"

Zuo Zongtang was quite confident and said with a smile: "Don't worry, Lord Sheng. I fought with that so-called Taiping Angel today, and it was no better than this. He was almost beaten to death by my people. In the battle inside Chaozong, Changmao didn't gain any advantage.

The Iron Buddha Temple and Tianxin Pavilion are much more dangerous than the Chao Sect! There are a thousand elite Fu Biao soldiers in Tianxin Pavilion, led by the tower guard, with sufficient reserves to hold out for many days. The Iron Buddha Temple has even more soldiers. There are four thousand Xianghu militia alone, one thousand Fu Biao elite soldiers, and one thousand elite soldiers under the command of Lord Sheng and Lord Fu. There are a total of six thousand elite soldiers, and enough food and grass for three months. How can they not hold on?

Besides, Your Majesty is so wise! How could he not know that the key to this war lies in Changsha? If Changsha is occupied by the bandits, Yuezhou will be hard to defend. Once Yuezhou is lost, the bandits can advance down the Yangtze River and sweep across Jiangdong! If they retreat, they can occupy Yueyang, control Dongting Lake, cut off the northern army's southward march, and then calmly take over Hunan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Guangxi, and Guangdong. In this way, the Three Feudatories can flourish!
Therefore, as long as the emperor knew that the battle of Changsha could still be won, he would certainly order all the armies in Huguang to give full support. The rice warehouse in Changsha City has been burned by us. Now the enemy soldiers are short of food, Changsha is in turmoil, and the follow-up troops are also difficult to arrive. It is a godsend opportunity for the government troops to concentrate their forces, fight in Changsha, and destroy part of the enemy! "It's amazing that Zuo Zongtang's "iron teeth and copper jaws" are really powerful. After a lot of deception, he really portrayed Changsha as a key victory point in a decisive battle to determine the ownership of Hunan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangdong and Guangxi.

It seemed that as long as Changsha was in hand, the Qing Dynasty would be at peace. If Changsha fell to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom would set up a "Wu Zhou" situation.

As for the possibility of attacking Wuchang, conquering Jiangdong, and taking over the entire southeastern half of the country, he did not mention it at all.

He also exaggerated the role of burning down Chao Zongmen's rice market in the next stage of the decisive battle.

"Good!" Shengbao was still the most valuable enemy of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. After listening to Zuo Zongtang's nonsense, he clapped his hands vigorously and said excitedly, "Mr. Zuo is indeed a great talent. I will report this to the emperor and guarantee you a prefecture!"

"Thank you, Lord Sheng!" Zuo Zongtang clasped his fists and saluted, but his face did not show much joy. He then changed the subject and said, "Lord Sheng, Lord Fu, the elite soldiers of the Eight Banners and Green Camp under your command defeated the enemy with a small number of people, defeated the strong with the weak, and lured the enemy with their lives. Such loyalty and bravery are rare in ancient times. But the demon is really powerful. He captured many warriors of the Eight Banners and Green Camp. Now they are all imprisoned in Changsha City. They would rather die than surrender. I wonder what you gentlemen mean? Redeem them, or not? Redeem them all, or only some of them?"

The matter of redeeming people was only half discussed at Chao Sect just now, and Luo Bingzhang and Luo Raodian did not participate. Now is a good time to bring it up for a thorough discussion.

Zuo Zongtang then repeated the story of his meeting and negotiation with Luo Yaoguo in front of Luo Bingzhang and Luo Raodian.

After hearing this, the two old men both felt a little resentful towards Zuo Zongtang in their hearts.

The Green Camp soldiers died and there was no way to redeem them. As for the hundreds of Eight Banner soldiers, who dared not to redeem them? Especially since Luo Bingzhang and Luo Raodian were both Han Chinese, wouldn't they become the public enemy of the Eight Banners if they said they would not redeem them?

But where would the redemption money come from?
So in terms of things, Zuo Zongtang was too much of a troublemaker! Wouldn't it be enough to let those Eight Banners soldiers be loyal and brave?

Luo Raodian sighed softly: "It still needs to be redeemed, at least the Eight Banners soldiers can be redeemed! But this money."

Luo Bingzhang sighed, "Changsha has fallen, and all the money in the treasury has been lost. Lord Sheng, Lord Fu, do you think this matter should be reported to the emperor truthfully?"

Asking the Emperor of the Qing Dynasty for money to redeem people from the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. This sounds ridiculous!
If we don’t ask the emperor for money, who can afford it? Luo Bingzhang and Luo Raodian are both honest officials. How can Shengbao and Fucheng, who have been honest officials for generations, afford it?
Shengbao frowned, seeming to be still hesitating.

Fucheng had been an official for many years and knew the seriousness of the matter. He looked at Shengbao and said, "Kezhai, my Green Camp soldiers are fine, but your Demon-Subduing Camp is full of Eight Banners soldiers, and many of them were released from the Imperial Guards and the Imperial Ceremony Department. There are also many Yellow Belts and Red Belts. We can't ignore them!
Moreover, with so many Eight Bannermen involved, the truth cannot be hidden!"

Shengbao immediately understood what Fucheng meant!

The "fire" in this paper is not only about the captured Eight Banners descendants, but also the truth about the Battle of Changsha!

If Shengbao and Fucheng watched helplessly as the captured Eight Bannersmen were killed by the Taiping rebels and did not redeem them, the true situation of the Battle of Changsha would have to be heard by the emperor!
Shengbao sighed and said, "Then... let's submit a secret memorial!"

(End of this chapter)