The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 202 Who in the world doesn’t associate with bandits?

These four first and second rank Manchu officials on the Chuwang Tower are undoubtedly the scapegoats of Wuchang City today - one is the dismissed Governor-General of Huguang Cheng Yancai, one is the dismissed Admiral of Hubei Shuangfu, one is the Governor of Shanxi Chang Dachun who has not taken office, and one is the Admiral of Hunan Bole Gongwu who has not taken office. None of them are serious Hubei officials in office!
However, the fact that the serious high-ranking officials of Hubei Province have not taken office is not the worst thing. The worst thing is that the garrison in Wuchang City is seriously short of manpower.

Originally, there should have been 3,000 standard-bearers of the Governor of Huguang, 2,000 standard-bearers of the General of Wuchang Town, and 1,500 standard-bearers of the Governor of Hubei in Wuchang Prefecture, a total of 6,500 Green Camp soldiers.

But before that, Cheng Yancai went to Hunan to stop the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and took his 3,000 standard-bearing soldiers with him. Basically, they never returned!
When Shuangfu was ordered by Senggelinqin to support Hunan, he took another 3,000 people with him, of which 1,500 were soldiers from Xiangyang, and the remaining 1,500 were soldiers from Wuchang Town. He also took the general of Wuchang with him. After this group of soldiers fled from Changsha with Cheng Yancai, they were caught up by Luo Yaoguo's army in Yuezhou Prefecture and suffered heavy losses. When they fled back to Wuchang, there were less than 1,000 people, and even the general of Wuchang Town was gone. It is unknown whether they became loyal martyrs or were arrested by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom?
In other words, there are only Chang Dachun's 1,500 men in Wuchang City now, along with more than 1,000 people who escaped with Cheng Yancai, Sun Yingzhao, and Shuangfu, and some scattered troops, which together barely make up 3,000 people.

After returning to Wuchang, Cheng Yancai and Chang Dachun discussed and decided to divide the 3,000 men into three groups, temporarily led by Shuangfu, Bole Gongwu and Sun Yingzhao, who had escorted Governor Cheng all the way back to Wuchang from Xiangtan.

With this amount of troops, even a fool would know that Wuchang Prefecture City cannot be defended! However, Cheng Yancai still had some illusions before, always thinking that Zhang Liangji would definitely bring troops to Wuchang to take over the defense - this person dragged his feet when he was asked to be the governor of Hunan last time, and it took him several months to get to Lizhou, but that was from Yunnan and Guizhou after all, and the road was quite long. But this time, it only takes one or two days to get from Lizhou to Wuchang by taking a fast boat. It should be faster than the Taiping Army, right?

In addition, Zeng Guofan, Zuo Zongtang, and Jiang Zhongyuan should have already organized a lot of Hunan Warriors. These Hunan Warriors should also be under the control of the Governor-General of Huguang. It should not be a big deal for Zhang Liangji to mobilize thousands of Hunan Warriors to come to Wuchang, right?

So Cheng Yancai gritted his teeth and stayed in Wuchang Prefecture, hoping that Zhang Liangji would take over quickly so that he could retire safely and return to Nanchang Prefecture, Jiangxi Province to retire. Cheng Yancai is 70 years old this year and has been an official for 40 years. Unlike most Han people who "work in vain", he is a first-class official and financial luck!
He ranked 27th in the examination and 18th in the second class of the palace examination. He was then promoted to Hanlin Academy Scholar, Editor, Director of the Ministry of Rites, Military Secretary, and Censor. Later, he was sent to Lanzhou, Gansu. Not long after taking office, he encountered the Zhang Geer Rebellion, and he made another military achievement.

After Zhang Geer was finished, he became completely prosperous. Not only was he promoted to the position of Provincial Surveillance Commissioner, but he was also quickly transferred from Gansu to Guangdong. Then he went back and forth between Guangdong, Jiangxi, Jiangsu, and Guangdong. He worked his way up from Provincial Surveillance Commissioner to the Governor of Jiangsu and Guangdong, and even served as the acting Governor-General of Liangjiang for a period of time! During the Opium War, he succeeded Yi Liang as the Governor of Guangdong. After the war, he was promoted to the Governor-General of the Canal Transport and served as the acting Governor of Jiangsu. Now he is the Governor-General of Huguang!

Just look at the positions he held, and you will know how much money he has made over the past decade!
Now he doesn't have any idea of ​​"progress". As long as he can return to his hometown, Nanchang Prefecture, safely, everything will be fine. But why is such a small wish so difficult to achieve?

"Father, my Lord General Sun said he wants to see you for something urgent!"

Cheng Yancai, who had just returned to the Governor's Office and was sitting anxiously in the study, suddenly heard the voice of his youngest son Cheng Fupei. Then he remembered that he still had a pair of children in Wuchang City!
Especially his youngest daughter Lingnan, whom he got when he was the governor of Guangdong. She is only 28 years old, beautiful and graceful, and a talented woman who is proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting. How can she be good if she falls into the hands of Taiping?
"Fupei, you and the little girl should leave immediately," Cheng Yancai said hurriedly to his son.

"Father, if we are going, let's go together!"

Cheng Yancai's son seemed to be a filial son. While talking to his father, he handed over Sun Yingzhao's visiting card and whispered, "Father, there is something in the visiting card."

"Things?" Cheng Yancai looked up at his handsome son and saw that he was happy. "Silver note? What time is it now? What's the point of having that?"

"Sir, it's better than a banknote. You'll know when you see it!"

"Better than a banknote?" Cheng Yancai took the visiting card and opened it. "This is..."

Inside was a piece of letter paper with very sloppy handwriting on it.

"This is a letter to General Xiang! I've had it checked by my teacher. It's handwritten!"

"What is it written about?" Cheng Yancai asked.

"I want silver! I'm asking the bank in Hankou for silver to redeem my life. Would you like to see General Sun?"

"Quick, let him in!"

"Yes!"

"Sir, General Xiang, General Liu, and Sai Zhongtang were burned to death outside Chaozong Gate in Changsha City. They are now loyal martyrs of the Qing Dynasty!"

In the study, Cheng Yancai was confused by Sun Yingzhao's words. He looked at the dismissed general of Yongzhou Town with his presbyopic eyes and saw a happy look on his face, which made him even more confused.

"General Sun, why are you so happy? Do you have a grudge against Xiang Xinran?"

"I have no grudge against General Xiang," Sun Yingzhao shook his head and said with a smile, "but I know that General Xiang is faking his death!"

Of course Xiang Rong was really dead. He was burned to charcoal, deader than dead.

But before he was sent to Hong Xiuquan, he had already written a letter asking for money to redeem his life, which was then sent to Wuchang Prefecture by the Taiping Army's secret hall and handed over to Sun Yingzhao. Moreover, the messenger also told Sun Yingzhao that Xiang Rong and Liu Changqing had faked their own deaths!

Sun Yingzhao believed it without a doubt.

"Faking his death?" Cheng Yancai was stunned. "Wasn't he captured by the Changmao?"

"He's caught!" Sun Yingzhao said with a smile, "But money talks. As long as we have the money, we can fake our death and escape! Sir, how about you do one too?"

"That's deceiving the emperor!" Cheng Yancai was shocked and lowered his voice and said, "Then Sai Zhongtang, Liu Zongzhen..."

"Sai Zhongtang is really dead, burned alive, he is a true loyal martyr!" Sun Yingzhao said with a smile, "Liu Zongzhen, like Xiang Junmen, both faked their death and escaped, and now he should be on his way back to his hometown in Gansu! My lord, the angel master of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom said that he will make you a living loyal martyr for 100,000 taels, and I guarantee that he will not be exposed!"

"One hundred thousand taels"

"Father, one hundred thousand taels is not expensive, let's do it!"

One hundred thousand taels was extremely expensive for an official like Wang Kuiyi.

But it was really a small amount of money for Cheng Yancai, as he had done all the lucrative jobs in Guangdong and Jiangsu!
If you don't take a few million from him, do you still have the nerve to call yourself an honest official?
Cheng Yancai looked at Sun Yingzhao with suspicion: "General Sun, how did Xiang Xinran's letter get into your hands?"

"To be honest with you, sir," Sun Yingzhao smiled, "I have been secretly in contact with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom for a long time! Otherwise, how could I escape from the Taiping Army's encirclement?"

"What?" Cheng Yancai took a breath, "That Feng Zicai..."

Feng Zicai is protecting the governor's office with a battalion of soldiers!
Sun Yingzhao said with a smile: "He joined the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom earlier than me, and all his subordinates are members of the Taiping Army's secret hall! I have made it clear to you, sir. Your Governor's Office is now under the control of the Taiping Army's secret hall!"

Well, there are a total of 3,000 defenders, and another 1,000 of them may be Taiping Army, and 500 of them are still "protecting" the Governor of Huguang!

Can this still be fought?
When Cheng Yancai didn't know what to do, the dismissed Hubei governor Shuangfu suddenly came and "fall into the trap"! And he also brought Cheng Yancai unbelievable news.

"What? Bole Gongwu led his Goshaha out of the city to Hanyang to fight against the Taiping army?" Cheng Yancai asked with his eyes wide open, "Is he trying to save his life? There are at least tens of thousands of Taiping troops in Jiangbei, and how many Goshaha does he have?"

"It's alright," Sun Yingzhao said with a smile, "It's already been agreed that he will be a living martyr of the Qing Dynasty! I'll give him 20,000 taels for safekeeping. Then, hang the head of an old soldier high and say it's his. Then make up a more heroic story for him. The emperor might even posthumously grant him a hereditary title! Cheng Zhijun, Shuang Junmen, you two will also be a living martyr, right? You two can do it together, and I'll charge you a total of 100,000 taels."

It's a "buy one get one free" deal!

Cheng Yancai looked back at Shuangfu, only to see that the commander-in-chief of the Manchu Plain White Banner was already beaming with joy: "Let's do it! We'll do it! General Sun, do you really have a connection? Don't lie to us."

Sun Yingzhao smiled and said, "Don't worry! I'll take care of it! You two should pack up quickly and leave tonight!"

Cheng Yancai suddenly frowned and said, "Leaving tonight? Where can we go? After the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom captured Wuchang, I'm afraid they will march into Jiangxi right away, right?"

"Let's go to Shanghai." Sun Yingzhao said, "The Taiping angel said that there are foreign concessions in Shanghai. If you hide in there, even if the Taiping Army comes, they won't touch you. If it doesn't work out, you can still take a boat to escape to Guangdong! My Lord, why don't we arrange for Feng Nangan to escort you to Shanghai!"

"Don't forget me!" Shuangfu said immediately, "I want to go to Shanghai too!"

Cheng Yancai looked at Sun Yingzhao and said, "What about you? Mr. Sun, where are you going?"

Sun Yingzhao smiled and said, "Leave your 100,000 taels of silver to me, and I will pass it on to Lord Angel. In addition, I am also acting as the general of Wuchang Town! I am leaving, and Lord Chang will be the only one left in Wuchang. Someone has to take the blame for the fall of Wuchang City, right?"

(End of this chapter)