The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 161 Luo Yaoguo: This is Senggelinqin’s top-secret plan to retake Changsha!
Angel Mansion, Second Hall.

Wang Kuiyi and Zhao Si, dressed in Qing dynasty official uniforms, rode in two sedan chairs and were personally escorted by Luo Yaoguo's guard captain Xiang Xun. They entered the Angel Palace and walked out of the sedan chairs directly into the second courtyard guarded by the female soldiers of the inner guard.

Luo Yaoguo was sitting in the hall. There were several chairs on both sides, where Su Sanniang, Yu Mieqing, Jiao Hong, Zhang San and others sat.

Led by Xiang Xun, the two loyal ministers of the Qing Dynasty entered the second hall and kowtowed to Luo Yaoguo, who smiled and gave them seats.

"Your Highness, I have brought you the thirty thousand taels of silver you requested. General Wu has already led his men to count them."

Wang Kuiyi knew that Luo Yaoguo didn't like to say too many polite words, so he got straight to the point!

The purpose of his entry into the city today, besides picking up people to serve as loyal officials in the Qing Dynasty, was to deliver silver to Luo Yaoguo on behalf of Shengbao, Luo Bingzhang, Luo Raodian, Fucheng and others - spending 30,000 taels to ask Luo Yaoguo to help fool Sushun was well worth it.

Luo Yaoguo also thought that this was a good deal, because even if Shengbao, Luo Bingzhang, Luo Raodian and Fucheng did not give them money, Luo Yaoguo would still help them.

What lovely enemies! We must protect them as we would our own eyes!
According to Luo Yaoguo's thoughts, it would be best if the four of them could serve as the Minister in Charge of the Jiangbei Camp, the Minister in Charge of the Jiangnan Camp, the Governor-General of Liangjiang, and the Governor of Jiangsu. Then let Wang Kuiyi and Zhao Si help them with strategies. As for the battle plan for the counterattack on Nanjing and Shanghai, let Su Sanniang and Yu Mieqing help to draw up this battle. Wouldn't it be easy to win?

"Hahaha," Luo Yaoguo laughed, "Bo Wen, Nian Zhi, since I have accepted the money from you gentlemen, I will naturally help them overcome their difficulties. How about this, I will arrange for Su Shun to personally go into the tiger's den in Changsha, as the saying goes, seeing is believing!"

Wang Kuiyi was stunned for a moment, and asked hesitantly: "Does Your Majesty the Angel want to kill Su Shun?"

"No, no," Luo Yaoguo waved his hand, "Sushun is quite useful. Not only do I not want to kill him, I also want to help him."

Sushun was also an enemy who needed to be protected, because sooner or later he and the Prince Gong group would have a fierce battle. Either he would be finished or Prince Gong would be finished, but no matter who was finished, the Manchus would lose strength.

Moreover, since Sushun had come over, Luo Yaoguo had the opportunity to follow his lead and arrange for the students of the Qing Zhongliang Class to enter the Qing Central Government.
Luo Yaoguo paused, and then said, "Bowen, when you go back, tell Shengbao that you can arrange for Sushun to enter the city without worry. Coordinate with both sides and make sure that Sushun sees the truth with his own eyes and helps Shengbao speak for him when he goes back."

Wang Kui smiled and said, "Then I would like to thank the angel master on behalf of the adults."

Luo Yaoguo waved his hands and said with a smile: "We are just getting started." He suddenly lowered his voice and said: "The masters of the Iron Buddha Temple must want to recapture Changsha City, right?"

Wang Kuiyi and Zhao Si were both shocked.

"How much does Changsha City cost?" Wang Kuiyi asked immediately.

Changsha city is just a burden to some people, but to some people, it is extremely precious!
"No money!" Luo Yaoguo said.

If you don't want money, then you have to exchange it for something more precious than money!

Wang Kuiyi asked, "What does His Majesty the Angel want?"

Luo Yaoguo waved to Yu Mieqing beside him. Yu Mieqing immediately stood up with a smile, walked to Wang Kuiyi, took out a rolled-up thread-bound book tied with a rope and handed it to him.

"This is..." Wang Kuiyi picked up the thread-bound book and weighed it in his hand. It was quite heavy, but he didn't know what it was.
"This is Senggelinqin's draft battle strategy for retaking Changsha City!" Luo Yaoguo said word by word.

Wang Kuiyi and Zhao Si were both stunned.

Senggelinqin hadn't even arrived in Hunan yet, but his battle strategy had already fallen into the hands of the angel?
"Is this true?" Wang Kuiyi asked. "Not yet!" Luo Yaoguo said, "Bowen, Nianzhi, go back and discuss with Zuo Jigao to see if there is any way to make it true!
Oh, you two should read it first, and ask any questions after you finish reading it."

Both Wang Kuiyi and Zhao Si were shocked.

Is there such a method? Since ancient times, it is not uncommon to use spies to steal enemy secrets, but helping the enemy to formulate a battle strategy and letting one's own spies turn this strategy into the enemy's real battle strategy is simply unheard of!
This is probably the highest level of knowing yourself and knowing your enemy, right?
Wang Kuiyi suppressed his admiration, untied the rope that bound the thread-bound book, then unfolded the book and began to turn the pages one by one.

This plan is certainly very clever!

To put it simply, the Taiping Army took advantage of the fact that the troops in Hunan were scattered, the soldiers were arrogant and the generals were lazy, and there were many mountaintops. They were not popular among the Hunan gentry, and they were especially unpopular in Changsha. They decisively gave up the battlefield in southern Hunan, concentrated their forces around Changsha, and mobilized the Eight Banners and the elite Green Camp from Hubei to the south to help. After the troops were fully prepared, they adopted a strategy of advancing from the north to the south, fighting Changsha in the north and Xiangtan in the south, and tried to lead the main force of the Taiping Army in Changsha to the east of the Xiangjiang River in Xiangtan County, creating conditions for the Qing army in the north to recapture Changsha.
I have to say, this strategy seems to be quite clever!
And the difficulty of execution was not too high, at least for Senggelinqin.

Others might not be able to force Sai Shang'a to give up the battlefield in southern Hunan, nor could they withdraw more Green Camp troops from Hubei to Hunan, nor could they persuade Emperor Xianfeng to agree to transfer the Eight Banners troops from Jingzhou to the south to participate in the war, but these were all trivial matters to Senggelinqin.

If Xianfeng didn't trust him now, who else could he trust? In the military system of the Qing Dynasty, the next person above Senggelinqin was Prince Gong, who would become the general king!

Wang Kuiyi and Zhao Si had already read the top-secret plan that Luo Yaoguo had carefully prepared for Senggelinqin to retake Changsha. The two of them pondered for a moment, then exchanged glances, and Wang Kuiyi spoke first: "Your Highness, if this matter is to be accomplished, we must have the full cooperation of Zuo Jigao, and what Zuo Jigao wants is Changsha City."

For Zuo Zongtang, Beijing is not as important as Changsha!
Because Zuo Zongtang still needed to use Luo Bingzhang's skin, and if Luo Bingzhang wanted to stay in the position of Governor of Hunan, he had to take back most of Changsha that he had lost.

Luo Yaoguo smiled and said, "Changsha can make it, but Zuo Jigao must compensate Master Zhu Jiu accordingly!"

"I wonder what kind of compensation Mr. Zhu Jiu wants?" Wang Kui asked.

"Yuezhou!" Luo Yaoguo said with a smile, "Changzhou for Yuezhou, Zuo Jigao and Luo Ruweng will definitely agree, right?"

Exchanging Changsha for Yuezhou would definitely be a huge loss for the Qing Dynasty!
Yuezhou is the throat of the Yangtze River from Dongting Lake! Once it falls into the hands of the Taiping Army, Wuchang and Hanyang can go downstream - if the Eight Banners and Green Camp soldiers in Hubei are transferred to Hunan to counterattack Changsha, once Yuezhou is lost, the Taiping Army may even capture the stationed place of the general of Jingzhou!

Wang Kuiyi showed a relaxed smile and said, "As long as we can recapture Changsha, it will be easy to deal with Zuo Jigao and Luo Ruweng!"

Zhao Si, who was standing aside, had been frowning as if he was thinking hard when Wang Kuiyi and Luo Yaoguo were talking. Now that Wang Kuiyi had finished speaking and Luo Yaoguo was looking at him, Zhao Si clasped his fists and said, "Your Highness, the strategy you prepared for Senggelinqin is indeed very brilliant. This monster will most likely fall into the trap. But if Your Highness can arrange a powerful insider for Senggelinqin and Sushun in Changsha City, it will be even more foolproof!"

"A significant insider?"

"Yes!" Zhao Si said with a smile, "It would be best if this person is a wealthy businessman, with businesses in Changsha and land outside the city. One of his children has passed the imperial examination and has some influence in Changsha."

Luo Yaoguo looked back at Jiao Hong and Zhang San and asked, "Do you have any candidates?"

Jiao Hong thought about it for a while, and immediately thought of a person, chubby, with a face full of joy and good cooking skills, so he nodded and said, "There is such a person."

He didn't tell Wang Kuiyi and Zhao Si who that person was in front of them?
Luo Yaoguo did not ask any further questions, but said to Wang Kui: "Bo Wen, take someone back and arrange for him to meet Zuo Zongtang!"

"Yes!"

(End of this chapter)