The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 157 Only by rebelling can you become a loyal minister!

Thinking of the embarrassing situation that there might be "two Zeng Guofans" in the world! Thinking of the emperor in Beijing who was furious after learning the truth, and arrested him and his brothers and brought them to the capital for severe discussion! Thinking of the fact that if he exposed the truth immediately, it might kill his father and brothers, and then cause public criticism, and be accused of being an unfilial son. Zeng Guofan was a little desperate!
With a "clang" sound, Zeng Guofan actually pulled out his sword, put it on his neck and was about to cut it!
"No!"

"You can't do that!"

"Absolutely not."

"bang"

Seeing that Zeng Guofan was about to commit suicide, Huang Shijie, Zhu Sunyi and Guo Songtao all shouted to stop him. Zeng Guofan's younger brothers knew that their brother might really be unable to get over it this time, and they were at a loss for a moment.

Zhang Guoliang, who was used to fighting in the battlefield, reacted in time. He did not speak to persuade Zeng Guofan, but punched him in the face, causing Zeng Guofan to see stars and fall backwards. Zhang Guoliang was quick-witted and grabbed the blade of Zeng Guofan's sword, not caring about the cut on his palm, and snatched the sword, thus saving Zeng Guofan.

After saving the man, Zhang Guoliang didn't care that his palm was still bleeding. He knelt down in front of Zeng Guofan and apologized loudly.

Zeng Guofan was hit by a punch and fell heavily. Although he was seriously injured, his will to die was gone. He ignored Zhang Guoliang's apology and those who tried to comfort him. He just sat on the ground and cried. He kept beating his chest and shouted, "Guofan, Guofan, you have read so many books of sages. Now you can't protect your family if you retreat, and you have no way to protect the country if you advance. You can't even be a filial son and a loyal minister. What's the point of coming here?"

When the three brothers Zeng Guohuang, Zeng Guoquan and Zeng Guobao saw their eldest brother crying so sadly, they could no longer hold back and rushed over to him, hugging their heads and crying together.

Huang Shijie, Guo Songtao and Zhu Sunyi were crying secretly.

The lobby of the county government office was suddenly filled with tears!
Fortunately, County Magistrate Zhu Sunyi had already arranged for someone to guard outside and no outsiders were allowed to get close. Otherwise, if she cried like this, many people would have come to watch the fun!

It was unknown how long it had passed, but the four Zeng brothers had finally cried enough and could no longer cry. They just sat there in a daze. Zeng Guofan's new disciple Huang Shijie came forward and handed them a handkerchief while whispering, "Teacher, for now, if you still want to be both loyal and filial, I'm afraid you have to read the Anti-Scripture!"

If this had been said earlier, Zeng Guofan would have criticized him severely.

Although Zeng Guofan also read "Anti-Classic", it was a critical reading, and the purpose was to "criticize" rather than to "oppose".

But Zeng Guofan no longer had the energy to do so. He just said hoarsely, "What do you mean?"

Huang Shijie said: "Teacher, loyal ministers and filial sons are all comments made by others. If you have soldiers in your hands, you will be like Zhang Liangbi and Li Siqi. Who dares to say that you are not loyal? If you don't have soldiers in your hands, how can you be both loyal and filial? I am afraid that if I abandon you, there will still be people in the court who say that you are disloyal and unfilial!"

Zeng Guofan's face changed, as if he had come to life. His triangular eyes narrowed, his evil face darkened, and he whispered, "Then how should I write the reply?"

Huang Shijie said: "Of course we have to protect the safety of the old man! Dear teacher, you should first occupy the filial piety, and at the same time ask the Taiping people to keep this matter secret for the time being. Then I will immediately protect you to Changde Prefecture and occupy the loyalty as well! The emperor's decree for you to be the Minister of Hunan Tuanlian is still valid. You must take the position as soon as possible and hold the power in your hands. This is loyalty!

Loyalty and filial piety, loyalty and filial piety, they are inseparable, only with loyalty can there be filial piety! "

Guo Songtao also analyzed to Zeng Guofan: "Ziying is right. You can only be the Minister of Militia if you concealed the fact that your father and brother were captured by the Taiping rebels. Only when you become the Minister of Militia in Hunan can you have the opportunity to get Hong Daquan from the emperor. Only when Hong Daquan is in your hands can you use him to exchange for your father and brother. Only when you exchange for your father and brother can you be loyal to the Qing Dynasty wholeheartedly! This is the way to achieve both loyalty and filial piety!"

Guo Songtao was a Jinshi after all, and his logic was so tight. To put it simply, Zeng Guofan could only get his father and brother back if he deceived the emperor and used his own troops. Only if he got his father and brother back could he be a filial son and loyal to the Qing Dynasty. In other words, only if he deceived the emperor and used his own troops could he be a loyal slave of the Qing Dynasty!
But deceiving the emperor and taking advantage of the army to gain power is tantamount to rebellion!

In other words, only by rebelling can one become a loyal minister!

Zeng Guofan seemed to have just woken up from a dream, and he supported himself and stood up: "Quick, prepare paper and pen for me, I need to write back to the hairy Western King!" In the east of Xiangxiang City, in a temporary camp of the Taiping Army, the hearty laughter of Xiao Chaogui, the Western King of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, was heard.

"Hahahaha, you are really Zeng Guofan! Your brother Zeng Guohua has already written to me, begging me not to kill you, and also begging me not to publicize the fact that I captured you for the time being, so that he can use your name to try to rescue my brother Daquan!"

It turned out that the reply letter written by Zeng Guofan in the name of Zeng Guohua had been delivered to Xiao Chaogui. The letter was sent by a courier from the Xiangxiang County Government. This guy was also a member of the Tiandihui. After coming to Xiao Chaogui's military camp, he exchanged words with Xu Yuegui, and then reported to Xu Yuegui all the details about the Zeng brothers crying and making a mess in the Xiangxiang County Government.

Xu Yuegui was now more convinced that she had captured the real Zeng Guofan, but she was still puzzled by Zeng Guohua's request, so she asked, "Zeng Guofan, your brother Zeng Guohua asked us not to make public the fact that we had captured you, and said that it would be convenient for him to rescue Hong Daquan in your name. What does that mean?"

Zeng Guohua certainly understood what his brother meant - Zeng Guofan had not yet taken office as the Minister of Hunan Militia!
If the news that Zeng Guofan was captured by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom came out at this time, would Zeng Guofan still be able to take office? If Emperor Xianfeng knew about this, he would issue an imperial decree and give the position to someone else, and Zeng Guofan would be no different from an ordinary person.

Thinking of this, Zeng Guohua hurriedly said to Xu Yuegui: "My Lady Queen, my brother means that he can go to Changde Prefecture in the name of my chief of staff to set up the Minister's Office of the Tuanlian, and then tell the outside world that I personally went to the front line of Xiangxiang to dispatch troops to resist the Taiping Army. In this way, he can take over the Xianghu Tuanlian in my name. As long as there are some soldiers in hand, he will have the confidence to do anything.

Besides, we both learned calligraphy from the same teacher and copied from the same copybook, so he could pretend to be me and submit a petition to the emperor, and find an excuse to bring Hong Yingxiong to Hunan."

"What a good idea!" King Xiao Chaogui of the West clapped his hands vigorously and laughed, "You scholars are just too cunning. All right, that's it!"

He turned around and said to Xu Yuegui: "Yuegui, can we withdraw our troops to Lukou now?"

Xu Yuegui was also relieved, and said to Xiao Chaogui with a smile: "It's all up to the king's orders."

Changsha City, Angel Palace.

Luo Yaoguo was sitting in the flower hall in the back garden working. In front of him was a red clay stove, and on the stove was an iron pot. In the iron pot was a pot of boiling hot salt. On top of the salt was a purple gold bowl, and in the bowl was a grayish-white paste.

All I saw was Archangel Luo wearing an asbestos glove on his left hand and holding a wooden spoon in his right hand, stirring the pot of grayish-white paste. Beside him stood four female guards, Li Cuihua, Wei Xiu Lian, Zeng Jiu Mei, and Wang Xier, and Xiao Zhang Bao, all of whom were staring at Archangel Luo as he worked.

"Well, that's about it." Luo Yaoguo said to himself, "Although I am a liberal arts student, my chemistry in high school was not bad either."

As he spoke, he picked up the purple gold bowl with the hand wearing the asbestos glove and said, "Xier, bring me the grenade shell."

"Yes."

Wang Xier responded and took over a wooden tray. On the tray were four cast iron grenade shells with pre-made breaking grooves on the surface.

She placed the wooden tray on a tea table next to Luo Yaoguo, and then stepped aside. Luo Yaoguo placed the purple gold bowl on the tea table as well, and was about to fill it with saltpeter himself when he suddenly heard Su Sanniang's surprised voice: "Your Highness."

When Luo Yaoguo heard that it was Su Sanniang who was looking for him, he immediately lost interest in doing the chemical experiment, so he took off his asbestos gloves and handed them to Wang Xier: "Xier, you are careful, you do the filling, remember, you must be careful not to burn yourself! Abao, you watch how your senior sister fills, and when she finishes filling two, it will be your turn.

Cuihua, Xiulian, carefully move the red clay stove outside the flower hall. Ninth sister, follow me."

(End of this chapter)