Chapter 168

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It was late at night, and the smell of burning wormwood filled the house. Although the mosquitoes were not as rampant, fleas were unavoidable. The sanitation of Nanjing in 1854 was much worse than the affluent villages of Zhejiang in the 21st century, let alone the coastal cities in the north that Vézé was used to.

The harsh environment had made Vézé unable to sleep well when he first came to this world. Now, Vézé was used to a worse environment. The reason why he was tossing and turning in bed was because of the excitement that Yang Xiuqing's actions had brought to Vézé.

Vézé could understand Yang Xiuqing's actions. If the Taiping Rebellion had continued to develop the military leadership system, it would have directly led to the military becoming a warlord. One of the characteristics of a warlord was the integration of the military and the government. If Vézé was sitting in Yang Xiuqing's position, Vézé would definitely think of ways to eliminate the tendency of the Taiping Army to become a warlord. Therefore, Vézé did not feel that he had any reason to criticize Yang Xiuqing's centralization of power.

Even Yang Xiuqing taking away Vézé's territory in Anhui was completely understandable to Vézé. Currently, the Taiping Army had 300,000 men and women. Vézé's highest military strength in Anhui was nearly 100,000 strong men of the right age. Even though the military strength was allocated to the three Prime Ministers, Zhang Yingchen was still taken away by Yang Xiuqing. As long as Vézé was given another three months, Vézé's main force, local forces, and auxiliary forces could still reach 60,000 men. 60,000 men accounted for 20% of the Taiping Army's total strength. Vézé conservatively estimated that the combat power of his troops could reach more than 40% of the total combat power of the Taiping Army.

Having a father and a mother was better than having a father and a mother! This was a very simple logic. Moreover, Vézé was not Yang Xiuqing's father and mother, but Yang Xiuqing's subordinate. From a political point of view, Wei Ze's strength was not something that could be avoided no matter what. If Yang Xiuqing wanted to suppress all the factions, the first person he had to deal with was Vézé.

In history, people like Wei Ze basically had a terrible ending. They would either be killed after winning a great battle. They would either be killed after winning a great war, or be stripped of their military power. In Wei Ze's opinion, Yang Xiuqing had no intention of doing so at this stage.

This basic knowledge was not complicated at all. What was complicated was the human heart. After serving under Yang Xiuqing for two years and contributing a lot to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Wei Ze found that he could no longer accept his current position. But Yang Xiuqing was at most a hero. For Vézé, the political figure that left the deepest impression on him was the savior of the new China. Compared to the man who turned the tide, Yang Xiuqing was not that great. He did not have the charisma to deserve Vézé's loyalty. But Yang Xiuqing was at most a hero. For Vézé, the political figure that left the deepest impression on him was the savior of the new China.

Of course, Wei Ze also knew that this was just an excuse and a reason for himself. There was only one real reason, and that was, "one's position determines one's position." As the head of the largest Taiping army, Vézé could not accept the fact that Yang Xiuqing had touched the cheese in Vézé's hands. Even if he understood Yang Xiuqing's reasons and thoughts very well, and even if Vézé would definitely do the same after he became the head of the army, Vézé could not accept Yang Xiuqing's actions.

Wei Ze finally fell asleep when the sky was about to brighten. Tossing and turning the whole night, Vézé did not think of any way to deal with Yang Xiuqing. Before he fell asleep, Vézé was sure of one thing. He would part ways with Yang Xiuqing in the future. And after this separation, Vézé would not look for another backer. The fate between Vézé and the Taiping Rebellion would end here.

Vézé did not wake up until noon. He scratched the part of his arm that had been bitten by fleas, but the swelling and itching had subsided. Then he shouted, "Someone, boil the water. I'm going to take a bath! "

After sufficient sleep, Vézé felt refreshed. The heaviness caused by taking all the unfavorable factors into consideration last night had completely dissipated. With such a relaxed feeling brought by sufficient sleep, Vézé could not help but wonder what was wrong with him last night. It felt like the sky was going to collapse. Even if Yang Xiuqing took Anhui, so what? After Anhui was taken away, the heavy responsibility of Anhui would be borne by Yang Xiuqing. Vézé, on the other hand, was relieved. Did they really think that Vézé would like Anhui?

With that in mind, Wei Ze's mood became extremely cheerful. He shouted, "Send someone to get wine and meat. Let's have a good meal together!"

The security guards had followed Vézé for a long time. They knew that Vézé would never let his brothers have a good meal alone. After receiving the order to get wine and meat, everyone cheered. But as happy as they were, things were not that simple. At this time, the entire city of Nanjing was under military management. Wine and meat were controlled goods, and there was no private sale on the market. He would have to go to the officials who provided the food to the various King's Residences to ask for it. And it was not only wine and meat. Vézé's Prince Of Qi also needed to find the corresponding department to provide daily food.

Fortunately, the troops had brought military rations. Although Vézé could only bring his personal guards into the city, he was still the Prince Of Qi. The troops had brought some military rations, so the guards in Tianjing City did not dare to make things difficult for Vézé. Before getting wine and meat, the troops first distributed the dry rations. Everyone temporarily fed the worms in their stomachs and waited for the wine and meat to have a sumptuous meal.

Vézé was bored, so he sent someone to borrow a set of "Records of the Grand Historian" and "Tao Te Ching" from Qi Yuchang. He planned to read them during the day.

Just as everyone began to get anxious, the sound of carriage wheels on the road finally came from outside the door. Soon, the shouts of "The King Of The East has issued a decree" came from outside the door into the courtyard. Vézé was stunned. Yang Xiuqing had said to summon Vézé tomorrow. Why was it suddenly brought forward by a day?

However, Vézé had no way to stop it. He ordered someone to open the door and receive the decree. In the decree, Yang Xiuqing ordered Vézé to immediately go to the King Of The East's mansion to see him. Vézé thought to himself, At least I ate something. If I didn't eat, I would be hungry on the way! Even so, Vézé did not dare to be completely at ease. He ordered his subordinates to bring dry rations and a pot of water. He sat in the palanquin that came to receive Vézé, eating and drinking at the same time.

The official who announced the decree also sat in the same palanquin as Vézé. When he saw Vézé like this, he asked in surprise, "Why hasn't Prince Of Qi eaten yet?"

Vézé smiled and said, "This is my fault. I didn't look for the official who distributed the rations when I entered the city yesterday. Now that I'm looking for someone like a headless fly, I won't be able to eat anymore. "

After hearing Vézé's words, the official actually sighed. "Prince Of Qi, people like you are really rare! When the other high-ranking officials arrived in Tianjing City, they didn't say that they would go to the King Of The East's mansion themselves. They just sat there and waited like idiots. When they ran out of rations, they ran to the King Of The East to complain. You have to know that the brothers guarding Tianjing City only distribute rations once every two days. There are only a few people in charge of the rations. How can they remember so many people? "

"Once every two days? That's really hard work!" Vézé praised. Although he was praising Wei Changhui, Vézé was thinking about something else in his heart. Just how guarded was Yang Xiuqing against the North King, Wei Changhui? The best way to control an army was to control the supply of rations. What Vézé could confirm was that Anhui's supply of rations to Tianjing City had never stopped. Moreover, Anhui's rations alone were enough to satisfy Tianjing City's needs. There was quite a lot of rations around Tianjing City, and those rations could be used as reserves.

Under such a situation where there was no shortage of rations, rations were still distributed once every two days. In other words, if the North King were to oppose the King Of The East, Yang Xiuqing, the result would be that if the army couldn't control the rations within two days, they would start to starve. If the army couldn't control the rations within four days, they would lose their fighting strength due to the lack of rations.

Of course, there was also the possibility that the person who passed the decree was spouting nonsense. The conflict between the North King and the King Of The East was not that intense. However, seeing how Wei Changhui was in such a hurry to go to Anhui last night, Vézé felt that this matter might not be fake.

The group arrived at the King Of The East's residence. This time, Vézé was not turned away. Someone brought Vézé straight to the main hall where Yang Xiuqing was. When the King Of The East, Yang Xiuqing, saw Vézé, he got straight to the point and asked, "Did the North King look for you yesterday?"

"Yes!" Vézé's answer was simple. The more he knew, the more he had to pretend not to know anything.

"What did he say?" Yang Xiuqing continued to ask.

Vézé told him about Wei Changhui's inquiry about the situation in Anhui. After that, Vézé said, "The North King also said that the King Of The East wants to transfer me to Zhenjiang."

"So you don't want to go?" Yang Xiuqing asked in an obviously probing tone.

Vézé had already thought of an answer. He answered, "The King Of The East ordered me to go to Zhenjiang, so I went there. This is the King Of The East's order. It has nothing to do with whether I want to go or not. "

Indeed, after hearing Vézé's words, Yang Xiuqing's attitude softened significantly. If Vézé only expressed his obedience, it would not be sincere. If Vézé insisted on opposing it, it would be even more obvious. He would definitely be resistant. But now, Vézé said that he would obey Yang Xiuqing's orders without mentioning Vézé's own thoughts. This was exactly what Yang Xiuqing wanted. If Vézé didn't have any resentment towards Yang Xiuqing's arrangement, Yang Xiuqing would not believe it at all.

However, even if he knew that his actions would make Vézé unhappy, Yang Xiuqing couldn't explain himself. He wanted to weaken the power in Vézé's hands and convert the power in Vézé's hands to Yang Xiuqing's. The more he tried to explain, the more difficult it would be to explain. The best way was for Yang Xiuqing to give an order and Vézé to obey it unhappily.

So, after hearing Vézé's answer, Yang Xiuqing paused for a moment, then said, "The firearms your subordinate uses are pretty good. Within these six months, you have to offer thirty thousand as a tribute to the capital!"

Right after he said that, Yang Xiuqing heard Vézé say, "King Of The East! I can't do it! "