The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 61: Stay away from demons and cherish your life (Friday, o'clock, on the shelves on time!)
The tenth day of the fifth month in the second year of the Xianfeng reign.

Xing'an County is more than 100 miles southwest of Quanzhou City.

This small county town, which was once briefly occupied by the Taiping Army, has now been recaptured by the Qing army that swarmed in, and has also become the headquarters of Sai Shang'a, the imperial commissioner who is responsible for hunting down the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

In the lobby of the former county government office, now the lobby of the imperial commissioner's headquarters, several senior officials in neat robes were holding the news reports sent from Lingling, Yongzhou Prefecture, and Daozhou City, breathing in the cool air.

Because the Taiping rebels were getting more and more numerous, and because he "believed rumors" and reported that the Taiping rebels had the help of the Bull Demon King sent from the sky, he was severely reprimanded by Emperor Xianfeng and had the feather on the back of his official hat plucked out. At this moment, Sai Shang Asai Zhongtang was sitting in a chair, drinking a bowl of hot tea without raising his head, and not moving at all.

The voices of discussion among the officials below gradually rose.

".What is Yu Wanqing doing? A large group of 2,000 people were annihilated in the battle at Etang Town, and he himself was killed. He asked the female bandit Su Sanniang to kill this long-haired man with one sword. He is getting more and more arrogant!"

"I don't know how Lingling fought. Four armies, eight thousand elite soldiers, defending the fortified city were beaten by the Taiping rebels repeatedly. When did the Taiping rebels become so good at fighting?"

"Chang Mao is no longer the same as he was before. He has someone in heaven, and he has sent down a Bull Demon King! Bao Wenwei, He Yuting, Jiang Minqiao and the others are all mortals, so of course they can't stand it."

Hearing someone mention "Bull Demon King", Sai Shang'a slammed the cup in his hand and slowly raised his head: "Xiang Xinran, what nonsense are you talking about? What if the emperor didn't say in the memorial that you believed in evil words? What about the Bull Demon King? Didn't the emperor tell you in the memorial? The Changmao believed in foreign religions. There is no Tongtian Jiaozhu or Bull Demon King in foreign religions. He has asked Prince Gong to investigate the foreigners in detail.

We are also told not to believe in those things, but to really fight against the bandits and not procrastinate. If we continue to be unsuccessful, we must all go to Xinjiang to serve in the army and atone for our sins!"

When Xiang Rong heard this, his head immediately drooped. He had been shouting "guard against demons and monsters" the loudest these days, and even sent people to Qingcheng Mountain in his hometown of Sichuan to ask the Taoist priest to help deal with Tongtian Jiaozhu and Niu Mowang.

As a result, before the immortal from Sichuan was invited, the imperial edict and memorial from Emperor Xianfeng arrived first!

The imperial edict was sent to Sai Shang'a, a court letter sent in public, scolding Mr. Sai harshly. The memorials were sent by Sai Shang'a, Zou Heming, Qin Dingsan, Xiang Rong and others, but they were not sent in public, and the scolding was even more fierce.

Qin Dingsan and Xiang Rong were military men, thick-skinned and not afraid of being scolded. But Sai Shang'a and Zou Heming were scolded badly, especially Mr. Sai, the head of the military council! Mingfa scolded him in secret memorials and then scolded him again, making the old man too embarrassed to face people. What's worse is that there really is a demon on the Taiping Rebellion side!

Although Sai Shang'a often did things to deceive the emperor in the past, he really didn't lie this time!
What kind of thing is this? In the past, he deceived the emperor, but the emperor treated him as a good man, promoted him, gave him a good position, and allowed him to embezzle and accept bribes. Now, for the rare opportunity to tell the truth, he was stripped of his flower feather and scolded.

Why does this emperor of the Qing Dynasty look so much like the legendary tyrant?

Oh, how could he have such an idea? Sai Shang'a was ashamed. He actually thought that Xianfeng was a tyrant. This was an idea that only a treacherous minister would have!
It is impossible that Sai Shang'a is a traitor!
But if he doesn't stop being a traitor, he will most likely lose his job and go to Xinjiang. Well, in order to continue to be loyal to the Qing Dynasty, he has to be a traitor and continue to deceive the emperor!
Thinking of this, Sai Zhongtang stared at Xiang Rong and Qin Dingsan, the two army leaders, and asked, "Xinran, Zhanwu, both of you should stop being in a daze and think carefully about how we should recover the lost territory and hunt down the Taiping rebels."

Hearing Sai Shang'a's question, Xiang Rong, who was still working on his meritorious service, immediately became excited: "Prime Minister, Xing'an County has been recovered now, and the only lost territory left is Quanzhou City. I will lead my elite troops to recapture Quanzhou City tomorrow!"

Quanzhou had long been abandoned by the Taiping Army. It was just an empty city waiting for Sai Zhongtang to send troops to recapture it - losing the land was a crime, recovering it was a merit. Only when the merits and demerits offset each other can he continue to be the parent of the people of the Qing Dynasty!
Now Xiang Rong is guilty, but Xianfeng has not taken back his one-way ticket to Xinjiang! Therefore, Qin Dingsan cannot compete with Xiang Laojunmen for the task of retaking Quanzhou City, otherwise it would be too unfair. If he makes meritorious contributions while guilty in the future, and others follow suit, he will be stupid.

Sai Shang'a also knew the rules, and he nodded immediately and said, "Xinran, then Quanzhou City will be handed over to you to take. After taking over Quanzhou, will you also help Lingling out?"

When Xiang Rong heard that he was going to rescue Lingling, his face turned pale. The main force of the Taiping Army was in Lingling, and the Bull Demon King must be in Lingling too, otherwise, how could Bao Qibao, He Chun, Jiang Zhongyuan, and Sun Yingzhao, with 8,000 soldiers, be beaten to the point of crying for help?

No, we have to stay away from demons!

Stay away from demons and stay safe!
Thinking of this, Xiang Rong said with a serious face: "Zhongtang, Lingling has 8,000 defenders, and Bao Wenwei is also stationed there. Hengzhou behind Yongzhou also has Cheng Zhijun from Huguang leading 4,000 troops. It will be extremely difficult for the Taiping rebels to break through Yongzhou and Hengzhou and head north.

I think the most urgent task is to preserve Daozhou to block the Taiping rebels' way southward movement into Guangdong. So after I have recovered Quanzhou, it would be best to immediately head east to Daozhou."

Sai Shang'a frowned and said, "Why did the Taipings go south to Guangdong? They are bandits, shouldn't they go all the way north, into Zhongzhou, and attack the capital?"

"Prince," Xiang Rong shook his head and said, "The emperor told me in his memorial that the Taiping rebels believed in foreign religions, so the demon was also a foreign demon. Guangdong is connected to the outside world. If the foreign demon came to Guangdong and summoned foreign soldiers from the West, the Qing Dynasty would be in trouble..."

When Sai Shang'a heard Xiang Rong's words, he immediately felt that it made sense!

"Xinran, what you said makes sense!" Sai Shang'a said, "Then I order you to lead your troops and the troops under General Liu Changqing to recapture Quanzhou first, and then rescue Daozhou. Within seven days, no, within five days, a part of the troops must arrive in Daozhou!"

"twitter!"

Daozhou City.

When Admiral Xiang Rong, who had made amends for his crimes, and General Liu Changqing, who had made amends for his crimes, were leading thousands of troops to the rescue, this provincial capital located at the junction of Hunan, Guangdong and Guangxi provinces was now on the brink of a "civil war"!
Yes, it’s the civil war within the city!

Luo Yaoguo and Feng Yunshan sent a large group of people to Etang, Shuangpai, and more than a dozen surrounding villages to "fight local tyrants" in the past two days. In addition, thousands of troops led by Su Sanniang, Zeng Tianyang, and Chen Chengrong advanced by land and sea, and have passed through the Yangmingshan area, occupying Meihua Town in the north of Daozhou City, and Baimadu Town on the bank of Xiaoshui River in the northeast of Daozhou, forming a pincer attack on Daozhou City!

At the same time, a song called "Welcome Peace" has been sung everywhere in Daozhou City!
"The rent is heavy, the interest is high, and it is hard for the poor to survive these days. Open the gates early to welcome peace, and everyone will be happy. Kill the Qing demons, slaughter the evil gentry, open the city gates to welcome peace, and when peace comes, divide the land! Divide the land, divide the wealth, and make sure everyone is well fed and warm. No rent to pay, no debt to repay, and there will be equality everywhere in the world."

"Enough, enough, stop singing! Zhang San, I asked you to catch the Tiandihui thieves and the Taiping spies, and you just went to learn a song and came back? You, you, you, believe it or not, I will dismiss you immediately!"

"Sir, it's not that I'm not working hard, it's that the Tiandihui and the Taiping Rebellion are too cunning."

"roll roll roll"

The one who was cursing in the Daozhou government office was the Daozhou prefect, Wang Kuiyi, and the one who was scolded out by him was Zhang San, the captain of the fast squad in the Daozhou government office.

Wang Kuiyi has been extorting money from people like crazy these days. The three squads of detectives are so busy that they are almost flying. After finally catching enough people, the city has started singing "Welcome to Peace" again.
In addition, many "Letters from the Southern King of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to the People of Daozhou" were posted on the streets. The content was roughly that the Taiping Army had annihilated the troops of Admiral Yu Wanqing in Etang Town, and Yu Wanqing himself was beheaded by Su Sanniang! Therefore, Daozhou was already an empty city, and the Taiping Army would come soon. The people in Daozhou did not need to be afraid, because the Taiping Army had strict military discipline and would not harm the people at all!

If there are Han heroes who are unwilling to be slaves of the barbarians, and if the Tiandihui brothers rise up in rebellion in the city, the Taiping Army will welcome them wholeheartedly, distribute land and wealth to them, and even reward them according to their merits and appoint them to official positions!
The landlords in Daozhou were furious. There were Taiping rebels outside the city and Taiping rebels inside the city. Where could they escape to? In order to save their lives and protect their homes, they had no choice but to huddle together with Huang Shijie, the leader of Daozhou's literati, and arm themselves first.

Several Tiandihui branches in Daozhou City also banded together and joined forces with the miners who had fled from outside the city, unemployed boatmen, and a part of the defeated soldiers. They also took up arms and fought against the gentry militia!
Only the prefect Wang Kuiyi wanted to suppress the rebellion, and sent his three squads of detectives to arrest people everywhere. But this detective Zhang was a member of the Tiandihui! How could he be good if he was sent to arrest the rebels of the Tiandihui?
(End of this chapter)