The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 283 Zeng Gong Cao Gong, Prince Gong and Prince Rui (seeking votes and subscription)
Zeng Guofan's eyelids jumped when he heard Miao Peilin's words, and then he stared at Li Wenxuan and Huang Shijie with triangular eyes. But the two of them said nothing and looked normal. Miao Peilin continued:
"Mr. Zeng, you may not know that since Jianzhou entered the pass, the Huaixi area has suffered from floods year after year, and the people have had a hard time making a living. Since the Jiaqing and Daoguang periods, the Huaihe River has burst its banks every year, and the Yellow River has also flooded every year. However, the court did not provide disaster relief, nor did it manage the situation. It just let it go and watched the people of Huaixi become fish and shrimps. Therefore, the gentry and people of Huaixi deeply hate Jianzhou and hope for a wise ruler!
However, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom followed the teachings of the Lord of Heaven, calling themselves Heavenly Father and Heavenly Brother, and forsaking the family ties and destroying the principles of Heaven, which was not what the Huaixi gentry wished for. When your "Exhortation to Suppress the Invaders and Revive Confucianism" was published, all of us were excited and told each other that a wise leader had appeared and that the orthodox teachings should flourish!"

At this point, Miao Peilin bowed his head and cried, "Master Zeng, please make a call for the people of the world!"

Zeng Guofan's face was gloomy. He slowly turned his head and looked at his classmate Li Wenxuan and his student Huang Shijie, and asked in a deep voice: "Is this what you meant?"

Li Wenxuan said with a smile: "Disheng, now that things have come to this, you should stop hiding it from me, your good friend of the same age. Although I have never seen your father, I know that person is not him at all!"

Zeng Guofan's face froze and he was speechless.

Huang Shijie stood up and bowed, saying respectfully: "Teacher, the world today is already the end of the Yuan Dynasty! If you want to do something, you can only imitate Li Chahan, Wang Baobao, Zhang Liangbi, and Li Siqi. Otherwise, what else can you do? Do you want to be the Prime Minister of the Qing Dynasty?"

With a "bang", Zeng Guofan slapped the square table, stood up, and looked at Huang Shijie fiercely with his triangular eyes.

Huang Shijie said calmly: "Teacher, who among the knowledgeable people in the army today has not read the Anti-Scripture over and over again? The principles in it have long been thoroughly understood. What kind of world is it now? Everyone has already understood it clearly. The Qing Dynasty can no longer go back to the past!

Even if the teacher still wants Daqing to go back, Zuo Jigao, Luo Xueyan, Jiang Minqiao, Luo Luoshan and I, the student, do not want Daqing to go back to the past! "

At this point, Huang Shijie also lifted his robe and knelt on the ground: "Teacher, please stand up for the teachings of Confucius and Mencius!"

Li Wenxuan also stood up and bowed to Zeng Guofan, "Brother Disheng, this time Prince Gong is on the southern expedition on behalf of the emperor. He hasn't even arrived at the Jiangbei camp yet, but many invitations to the great alliance have already been sent out. Except for you, Zuo Jigao, and Luo Xueyan from Shanghai, everyone who can be invited north of the Yangtze River has been invited. I'm afraid his ambition is not small!"

"Tamagawa, what are you talking about?"

Zeng Guofan frowned, but sighed in his heart: The Qing Dynasty is already in turmoil, does Prince Gong still want to take advantage of this opportunity to leave the capital and command the troops to fight for the throne?
Li Wenxuan had been a minor official in Beijing for many years and was well-informed. He said, "There are rumors in Beijing that Prince Gong has petitioned the Emperor to marry Concubine Yi's sister to Luo Xueyan of Shanghai. Everyone knows this!"

"What."

Zeng Guofan hesitated to speak, his triangular eyes showing a little more uneasiness and suspicion. Imperial Concubine Yi was the emperor's favorite concubine, and she also gave birth to the emperor's eldest prince. Why did Prince Gong ask the emperor to marry Imperial Concubine Yi's sister to Luo Xueyan?

Is there any connection between Prince Gong and Concubine Yi?
Does the emperor know about this? Or is the emperor's health already
Huang Shijie then said leisurely: "Teacher, Wang Boshan, the governor of Taicang recommended by Luo Xueyan, has arrived at Bengbu with two ships of foreign guns, cannons and ammunition. He gave them all to Zuo Jigao. Luo Xueyan was originally a disciple of Luo Ruzhai, and he and Zuo Jigao are obviously one and the same."

Li Wenxuan's tone sank: "If Brother Disheng can't fight for more official positions and territory for his disciples from Prince Gong this time, I'm afraid Zuo Jigao will become the leader of Xianghu!"

After listening to Li Wenxuan's words, Zeng Guofan just sighed dejectedly: "Why is it so difficult to be a loyal minister in troubled times?"

"It's not difficult!" Miao Peilin, who was still kneeling on the ground, suddenly interrupted, "As long as Mr. Zeng is willing to fight for the position of Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, Peilin is confident that he can recruit 30,000 elite soldiers from Huai and Si for Mr. Zeng. Who will dare to say that Mr. Zeng is not a loyal minister then?"

"Thirty thousand?" Zeng Guofan looked at Miao Peilin and seemed a little tempted. "So many elite troops on Huai?"

"Yes!" Miao Peilin nodded heavily, "Half of them are cavalry!"

"Cavalry?" Zeng Guofan narrowed his triangular eyes, and his sallow face seemed to light up all of a sudden.

Yangzhou City.

In early autumn, the cool breeze blows, but the trees in Yangzhou are still green, as if they want to keep the greenness of summer for a little longer. The streets in the city are more prosperous than in summer, and passers-by are coming and going on the streets. A carriage rolled through the streets under the escort of dozens of cavalrymen, whips were waved, and the loud discussions of pedestrians on the roadside could be heard.

"Jiangnan has been in turmoil for quite a while, and it has been getting worse in recent days." "Who said it wasn't? A lot of people have died. Tens of thousands were killed in Jiangning alone a few days ago. Now Suzhou is trapped again, I wonder how many more will die?"

"I'm afraid that after killing people in Jiangnan, the Taiping rebels will come to Jiangbei to kill people. Yangzhou is the main camp in Jiangbei, so I'm afraid."

The gossip outside floated into the car window, causing a young man in brocade clothes to lift the curtain. He turned around and smiled, "Yangzhou is indeed prosperous, better than Beijing. It is also the center of the Lianghuai salt industry. I think Luo Xueyan, the Jiangnan Salt Road, would also like to come and meet the salt merchants in Yangzhou, right?"

Wen Xiang, who was standing by, smiled and replied, "Your Highness is right. In addition to the benefits of the salt industry, there is also a good marriage. Miss Wanzhen's father has also been in Yangzhou these days. He should come to meet her. When he marries Wanzhen, she will be a royal relative in a roundabout way."

This young man was naturally Prince Gong. He had arrived in Yangzhou five days ago and set up the Fuyuan General's Headquarters in Geyuan Garden in the northern corner of the ancient city. However, he did not take over the military affairs of the Jiangbei camp immediately. He just wandered around Yangzhou city every day, waiting for the various military leaders who received his "heroic invitation" to arrive.

In the past few days, military leaders from Anhui have arrived one after another. Anhui Governor Zhou Tianjue is too old to move, so he asked Yuan Jiasan and Ma Xinyi to bring troops here. Yesterday, there was news that the 40 battalions of Hunan troops led by Zeng Guofan and Zuo Zongtang have arrived in Fengyang and joined forces with the 15 battalions of troops led by Huang Shijie and Li Wenxuan, and will soon come to Yangzhou.

If these fifty-five battalions of trained troops arrive, the Jiangbei camp will have sufficient manpower!

We don't want to counterattack Jiangning, but it shouldn't be a problem to rescue Yiliang in Suzhou and then set up a Jiangnan Camp in Zhenjiang. With these two camps, we should be able to curb the momentum of the Taiping Rebellion.

Of course, these are all on the surface. Prince Gong also had a hidden purpose in coming to the south, which was to find out about Luo Xueyan's ways.

If he is really a demon, of course he must be eradicated!

But if Yuan Bao was wrong, he couldn't kill a good person by mistake, right?
But Wanzhen definitely cannot marry him. Even if he marries a princess, Wanzhen cannot be married to him!
Although he had made up his mind, he still did not reveal a single detail when he ordered Wenxiang, who had come from the north to Shanghai to invite Luo Xueyan, to come: "Wenxiang, you must talk to him about Concubine Yi's current status, Sister Wanzhen's beauty, and the emperor's favor to him. Since the founding of this dynasty, this kind of favor to him is really rare."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Wenxiang said respectfully.

"When we get to Shanghai, we will find a chance to meet with foreigners again, including the envoys from England, France, and America, and buy some foreign guns and cannons from them! Then we will tell them about our arrival in Yangzhou."

He stopped talking halfway.

But Wenxiang already knew that the prince must want to meet the foreign envoy in Yangzhou.

However, it was always difficult for a Qing prince to explain himself when meeting with foreign envoys in private without the emperor's consent, so Prince Gong could not be invited and the foreigners had to come themselves.

While the two were talking, they had already reached the city gate. Prince Gong's carriage had stopped, and Wenxiang, who was riding on a horse, turned over and dismounted. He walked to the curtain of Prince Gong's carriage and bowed again. Prince Gong lifted the curtain and waved to him: "Go, and come back soon."

"twitter."

Wen Xiang responded, then mounted his horse again, and led a few followers out of Yangzhou City.

Prince Gong looked at the back of his confidant going away, sighed softly, lowered the curtain, took out the third volume of "Anti-Scripture" from his bosom, opened it and began to read, muttering in a low voice as he read: "I'm afraid only Prince Rui can handle this situation well."

(End of this chapter)