The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 162 Senggelinqin: There is only one truth!
Yuezhou Prefecture, Baling County.

The pier outside the county town was already under tight security at this time!
The elite troops of Hubei Admiral Shuangfu, who had just been transferred from Wuchang, had firmly controlled the entire port. The soldiers, wearing bright uniforms and new weapons, were a little smoke-smoking, but now they had smoked enough foreign cigarettes, so they were all in high spirits, with their chests puffed out, waiting for the arrival of another group of unlucky imperial envoys.
The Minister of Military Affairs "Bai Bao", who served as assistant to the previous wave of imperial envoys, was now standing at the dock with his head hung low, like an eggplant hit by frost - before the arrival of the new wave of imperial envoys, the imperial edict stripping him of all his posts and allowing him to make up for his crime with meritorious service had been delivered.

He was a second-rank official, but he was demoted to the lowest position!

Although he was given a chance to make amends for his crime, it is easier to make amends than to gain merit!

If he could have made a contribution, he would have done it long ago. How could he be guilty?

If he fails to accomplish this feat, I wonder if he will go to Xinjiang to atone for his sins?
The Hubei governor Shuangfu, a fat man with a smoky face, was standing beside Shengbao and sighing at this time, because he had received news that this time there was not only Sushun coming, but also Senggelinqin!
He is a minister who is recognized by the late emperor and the current emperor as a man who is knowledgeable about military affairs and capable of fighting, and the most powerful general of the Qing Dynasty!
When he came to Hunan, he was definitely going to do something big! The Green Camp in Hunan had been tossed around for the past few months. If Senggelinqin wanted to do something big, he had to mobilize troops from Hubei. There were two troops in Hubei. One was the Eight Banners troops under the command of the General of Jingzhou. They were the trump card of the court to intimidate Huguang. They could not be moved lightly, especially after the "defeated" Jing Banner troops made a fool of themselves.
The other one is of course the Hubei Green Camp!

The governor of Hubei, Shuangfu, recently received an imperial edict ordering him to lead his troops to station in Yuezhou Prefecture, Hunan Province. This is an ominous sign!
Amitabha, I hope that prince doesn’t look down on those opium smokers from the Hubei Green Camp!
"Your Majesty, don't you want to take a look at the elite Hubei Green Camp soldiers at the dock?"

While Hubei Governor Shuangfu was silently chanting "Amitabha" in his heart, on an official ship that was slowly approaching the shore, Sushun was folding his arms, admiring the elite military appearance of the Qing Green Camp under the setting sun, while talking to Senggelinqin beside him.

Senggelinqin was looking down at a thick collection of memorials, which he had requested from Emperor Xianfeng before leaving Beijing. This collection included all the memorials about the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom from Zhou Tianjue, Xiang Rong, Ulantai, Qin Dingsan, Sai Shang'a, He Chun and others.

Senggelinqin had been watching all the way, watching over and over again. When he heard Sushun's words, he just shook his head and said, "What's so good about it? Anyway, we can't beat the Taiping!"

"Can't beat it?"

Sushun stared at Senggelinqin with his eyes wide open, and after a long while he finally uttered a sentence: "Your Majesty, that's not what you said in the garden that day!"

Senggelinqin glanced at him and said, "I had not read this collection of memorials that day, and I don't know the situation at the front. I just said it casually, so don't take it seriously."

"What could be in those memorials?" Sushun had never read this collection of memorials, not because he was lazy, but because the system did not allow it.

This compilation was requested by Senggelinqin and was given by the emperor to Senggelinqin alone. Sushun was not allowed to read it, but he could ask about it.

"There is truth!" Senggelinqin said.

"What truth?"

"A person's name!"

"A person? Who is it?" Sushun asked.

"False angel Luo Yaoguo!" Senggelinqin said, "This name was first mentioned in the memorials of Sai Zhongtang, Xiang Junmen and others after the battle of Daozhou. The chief general of the Taiping faction seems to be this person!

Later, Cheng Zhijun of Hubei also mentioned this person in his memorial after the fall of Guiyang Prefecture and Chenzhou. This person was also a general who led the army to attack the city. Cheng Zhijun later secretly sent spies to Chenzhou Prefecture to collect information related to this person. "

"Oh? What's the news?" Sushun asked hurriedly.

Senggelinqin put down the memorials in his hand, looked at Sushun, and said word by word: "This person must be the so-called demon sent from heaven!"

"What? He is the Bull Demon King?" Sushun was shocked.

Senggelinqin shook his head and said, "The intelligence collected by Cheng Zhijun did not record that he was the Bull Demon King. It was only said among the Taiping people that he was a man who came from the sky in a straw raincoat, the adopted son of God, who was sent by heaven to help Hong Ni conquer the world. Before this man came from heaven, the Guangdong bandits were just bandits without any foundation. Although they could succeed for a while, they had no place to stand. Since ancient times, bandits have not been able to last long!
But after this bandit fell from the sky, the Taiping Rebellion quickly captured Daozhou and changed their previous strategy of not managing the territory and not seeking long-term development. Instead, they began to distribute land, win over the ignorant people, recruit members of the Tiandihui, establish bases, and expand their territory.

It's only been a few months? The Taiping rebels have already taken over a large area of ​​territory, and even the provincial capital Changsha has been taken over by them."

"Is this because of this fake angel named Luo?" Sushun asked in surprise.

Senggelinqin stroked his beard and whispered, "I only know that after he came, Changmao's behavior was completely different from before!"

Sushun frowned and said, "He is so powerful, could he be a real demon from heaven?" "No matter whether he is a real demon or not," Senggelinqin said, stroking his palm, "we must eliminate this great evil for the court!"

Sushun pondered and said, "But how can we get rid of him? We don't even know what he looks like, let alone where he is. How can we get rid of him?"
Besides, even if we know where he is, how many soldiers do we have available? This guy helped the Taiping rebels conquer half of Hunan in just a few months. We must not underestimate the enemy!"

"Know yourself and the enemy, and you can fight a hundred battles without danger," Senggelinqin said leisurely with a frown on his face. "But now we don't know the enemy, and we don't know ourselves, which is really difficult!"

Sushun thought for a moment and said, "Why not call Shengkezhai to ask him after we land? He should come to Baling to greet us."

"Shengkezhai? What could he know?" Senggelinqin obviously looked down on Shengbao. "If he knew, the war wouldn't have turned out like this!"

Su Shun said, "Why not ask? Every failure makes one wiser. After all, he has fought with that demon before."

"Okay!" Senggelinqin nodded, "Let's ask him to come aboard and ask him."

"Luo Yaoguo?" Shengbao was startled when he heard Senggelinqin ask about this name. "Angel of Peace Luo Yaoguo?"

"You also know this person?" Sushun asked.

"I know!" Shengbao nodded, "I know it too well!"

"Then do you know where he is?" Sushun asked again.

"It's in Changsha!" Shengbao replied.

When they heard that Luo Yaoguo was in Changsha, Senggelinqin and Sushun couldn't help but frown.

They both knew very well what Xianfeng was thinking about the Hunan battlefield, which was everything for Changsha!
The emperor actually had no idea how big Hunan was, and he didn't care who controlled the villages or the mountainous areas. What the emperor cared about were the provincial capitals, prefectural capitals, state capitals, and county capitals.

As long as these cities are not lost, there will be peace in the world.

Now, after losing the county town, they lost the state town, then the prefectural town, and now they have lost the provincial capital. If they don’t stop, they will lose the capital city!
Therefore, Changsha, the provincial capital, cannot be lost at all costs.
Thinking of this, Sushun asked, "Kezhai, what is the situation in Changsha now?"

Shengbao frowned and said, "Yuting, I can't explain the situation in Changsha in just a few words. How about..." He suddenly showed a fearless expression and said firmly, "How about. I will accompany you to Changsha, this dangerous place!"

"What?" Sushun was stunned. "Go to Changsha? Changsha is the territory of the Taiping Rebellion!"

Senggelinqin was also shocked by Shengbao's proposal: "Kezhai, do you want to die?"

Shengbao said solemnly: "I have received the emperor's grace for generations. Now the demon has come to the world, the country is in trouble, and most of Changsha has fallen into the hands of the bandits. Shengbao wants to find out the true strength of the Taiping Rebellion and the current situation of the demon. What's so scary about entering Changsha City?"

Sushun and Senggelinqin originally thought that Shengbao, a nerd, was not good at fighting a war, but they didn't expect him to be so courageous!

It seems that the Battle of Changsha did not necessarily mean that Shengbao failed to show favor to the emperor, but that he had already tried his best. The heavy losses might be due to the ferocity of the demons and the weakness of the Eight Banners. Shengbao cannot be blamed!

"Ke Zhai," Senggelinqin frowned and said, "You and Yu Ting are both important officials of the court. It would be inappropriate to enter the dangerous area of ​​Changsha lightly. What if you get trapped there?"

"No." Shengbao said confidently, "To be honest, I have sent people in and out of Changsha several times, and have found out the situation in the city. I have also contacted an insider, so it is almost certain that we can go in and out of Changsha!

The reason why I invited Yuting to go to Changsha with me is because it is too important to find out Niu Mo's current situation and understand Changsha's true strengths and weaknesses. If I didn't see it with my own eyes, but only heard it from others, and if there are mistakes or omissions, wouldn't it be a crime of deceiving the king?
If Yuting doesn't want to take the risk, then Shengbao will go to Changsha alone!"

Sushun raised his eyebrows and bowed to Shengbao, saying, "Kezhai is indeed a good man of my Manchu people! Sushun admires you, but you, Shengkezhai, have been favored by the emperor for generations, and my Zheng Prince's Mansion is still an iron-hat prince of the Aisin-Gioro family! The affairs of the Qing Dynasty are my family's affairs, so why shouldn't I dare to walk into a dangerous place? Even if I die, I will still be a good descendant in front of Emperor Taizu!"

(End of this chapter)