Chapter 183

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"Long live the Prince Of Qi. I have a niece who is sixteen years old and unmarried. Although she is not devastatingly beautiful, she has a graceful figure and a beautiful face. I am willing to offer her to the Prince Of Qi, make the bed for the Prince Of Qi, and serve the Prince Of Qi. What does the Prince Of Qi think of this? "Levis's uncle, Li Yuchang, asked respectfully. Seeing that Vézé was silent, Li Yuchang continued, "This girl was born in a strange way. She has a strange fragrance on her body, and there seems to be nothing else. The strangest thing is that when she was young, a wandering Taoist once said that this girl was a noble lady. Although she has no hope of becoming a legal wife, she will be able to become a mother because of her son and enjoy endless wealth. If Your Highness can love her, it will not be a waste of her good fortune in this life. "

"Ah?" Vézé was stunned. He thought that Li Yuchang was here to ask for Vézé's help, but he didn't expect that he was here to offer his niece. Vézé turned to look at Levis, the major staff officer of the General Staff who brought Li Yuchang here. He was speechless.

As one of the main members of the General Staff who was in charge of external contacts, Levis should be said to have contributed a lot. He had made use of his family's Huizhou merchant connections to help Wei Ze resell the tea leaves and silk, as well as to purchase sulfur. He didn't expect Levis to put in so much effort when his uncle was presenting his daughter, or rather, his niece. Levis's uncle's niece was Levis's cousin.

Vézé naturally knew that Levis's uncle, Li Yuchang, was doing this to show his loyalty. To Vézé, offering his family's daughter for his own benefit was a complete deviation from Vézé's basic morality.

Standing up, Vézé said to Levis, "Follow me to the back."

Then, Vézé ignored Li Yuchang and went straight to the tent at the back. Levis immediately stood up and followed Vézé to the tent at the back.

"What's going on?" Vézé asked Levis with a straight face.

"To show my loyalty!" Levis answered frankly, "The Taiping army has been in Wannan for so long and only earned some money by working for you, Prince Of Qi. Other times, they have been charged a lot of taxes. At present, the Chief of the General Staff has led the troops to destroy the Jiangnan and Jiangbei Barracks, your reputation has shaken the entire Anhui. The Huizhou merchants naturally want to have a relationship with you. But I'm just your subordinate, this is not a good relationship. As businessmen, how could it be so easy for them to meet you? If I were to propose marriage to you, you would certainly not agree. So, they can only use this method to show their loyalty! "

As Levis spoke, his small eyes flashed with a rather cold but firm gaze, which made Vézé feel like he was looking at a cruel official.

Vézé frowned. "Advisor Li, it's like you don't know anything about this? Do you think I'll believe you? "

Levis didn't seem to hear the reproach in Vézé's tone. He said in an emotionless voice, "Chief of the General Staff, I didn't know anything. Moreover, they are so obstinate, how can I stop them? I think the Chief of the General Staff can make the decision whether he wants to or not. When they are rebuffed, they will naturally know what you think. "

Vézé tilted his head slightly and asked, "Why do I feel like one of you is playing the good cop and the other is playing the bad cop?"

It seemed that Vézé's words had hit a nail on the head for Levis. At least, he didn't say anything for the time being. He was organizing his words. During this process, Vézé also didn't say anything. He stared at this guy who was almost kicked out of the army by Vézé because he took the initiative to contact the Huizhou merchants in private. However, a very nonsensical thought suddenly popped up in Vézé's mind. Levis looked like a cold and ruthless official. Would his cousin really be good-looking?

Levis seemed to have prepared his words. He said slowly, "Chief of the General Staff, when you asked me to contact the Huizhou merchants last year, you said one thing. In the negotiation of the price of raw silk tea, we need to first figure out their purchase price, and then make a more balanced profit calculation according to the price we sell to the foreigners. Of course, we need to calculate the profit in business. But when other people do business with businessmen, they only look at how much they can earn, and they want to make the biggest profit. Only you really use the thinking of businessmen to do business with them. Do you still remember? "

"That's right." Vézé answered. At that time, he hoped to use the Huizhou merchants' business channels for a long time, so he naturally chose the method that could achieve long-term cooperation under the circumstances.

After receiving Vézé's approval, Levis continued, "Chief of the General Staff, I don't want to be a businessman. Because businessmen have no status, the government, local people, as long as they have a bit of power, can bully businessmen. I couldn't pass the imperial examinations, so I joined the Taiping army. Not only did I learn a lot from you, but I also admire your way of not bullying businessmen. So I really want to join you. I want to follow you, Chief of the General Staff. As for why my family sent him to you, it was naturally for their business. Although it's a show of loyalty, it's not the same thing. "

"In other words, you want to let me know that you are my man?" Vézé asked slowly.

After listening to Wei Ze's question, Levis immediately straightened his body that was already in a standing posture. After he stood up straight, he answered, "Yes!"

Vézé nodded, "I know now! Then come with me and meet this uncle of yours! "

Seeing Vézé come out, Li Yuchang, who was waiting anxiously outside, hurriedly stood up.

Vézé sat down on a chair and said, "When I choose a woman, she must first be educated. I don't want those who are uneducated and unreasonable. "

Li Yuchang saw that Vézé was showing signs of agreement, so he hurriedly replied, "Reporting to the Prince Of Qi! My cousin lives in Hangzhou, and she is my cousin's daughter. My cousin was a local provincial official, but unfortunately passed away two years ago. My niece was all alone, so when we found out, we brought her back to Anhui. My cousin taught her to read and write since she was a child. She is definitely not an illiterate country bumpkin! "

"I don't want her to have her feet bound!" Vézé continued.

Hearing this, Li Yuchang's face lit up. "Reporting to the Prince Of Qi, the Taiping Rebellion has decreed that no one is allowed to have feet bound. I have known this for a long time. My cousin loves my niece very much. When she was young, my niece cried all day and begged my cousin not to bind her feet anymore. My cousin loves my niece very much, so he said that even if she can't get married, she can stay at home. So my niece has feet that are heavenly. Long live the King of Qi! Since the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has decreed this, no matter what, we would not dare to send a woman with small feet to the King of Qi! "

"Well …" Vézé didn't expect the other party to be so well-prepared, which made Vézé a little interested. "I care a lot about appearance when I choose a woman. If I don't like her, I won't want her. So bring her here and let me have a look. If it's possible, I'll make her stay. If I don't like her, I'll make her stay. If I don't like her, I can only thank Mr. Li for his kindness. Please bring her back. "

"As you wish, Prince Of Qi!" Li Yuchang hurriedly knelt down and saluted.

"Do you have anything else?" Vézé asked.

"I will bring her back now!" Li Yuchang lowered his head and answered.

After Li Yuchang was brought out of the tent, Vézé turned to look at Levis. He suspected that Levis had told Li Yuchang about the small feet. However, this matter only appeared in Vézé's mind for a moment and then disappeared. It was rare to be confused! If Levis really wanted to show his loyalty to Vézé, then this kind of question would only show that Vézé was stingy and had no other meaning.

"Qi Yuchang, Li Yuchang, it seems that I have some fate with people named Yuchang!" Vézé sneered in his heart. At this moment, Vézé suddenly felt great disgust for his own moral standards.

The troops had been assigned, and the task of collecting money fell into the hands of Chen Delong, the nephew of the King Of The East, Yang Xiuqing. The next task was a rather dull wait. Vézé made full use of this time to begin systematic military training and rest. His troops hadn't had a good rest since July. If he hadn't been suddenly transferred to East and West Liangshan, Vézé would have already seized Suzhou and begun to rest and reorganize the troops.

Now that they had to prepare for war, the troops could only train for half the day and rest for the other half. This was not very beneficial to the recovery of the troops' combat strength. The troops were very close to Wuhu, but they couldn't rest there. Most of Vézé's troops were soldiers from Anhui and Central Anhui. Central Anhui was separated by the Yangtze River, but they couldn't go home. Seeing that it was going to be Spring Festival in two months, the soldiers' homesickness grew stronger. This caused the morale of the troops to waver.

Vézé's half-baked reorganization only lasted for half a month before good news came.

Qin Rigang, who had been demoted to a servant, was not completely defeated by the Xiang Army after the defeat at Tianjia Town. He retreated to Jiujiang with his troops to continue defending. Ceng Guofan's Xiang Army had already suffered heavy losses, and they also suffered heavy losses at the battle of Tianjia Town. They only continued to advance to Jiujiang in early November.

At this time, the reinforcements led by Shi Dakai had already arrived at Jiujiang. Some of the troops met up with Qin Rigang's Jiujiang garrison. Shi Dakai and Luo Dagang personally stationed themselves at the mouth of the lake. The Xiang Army attacked Jiujiang fiercely. After three large-scale attacks failed, Ceng Guofan personally commanded the superior navy to attack the mouth of the lake, trying to seize it and completely cut off the Taiping army's communication with the outside world.

Shi Dakai and Luo Dagang seized the opportunity. They used sunken ships to block the channel between Poyang Lake and Changjiang River, leaving only one pass. Seeing that the Taiping army's navy was weak, the Xiang Army fell into their trap. Their light warships sailed through the pass to the side of Poyang Lake, preparing to launch a two-pronged attack. Shi Dakai and Luo Dagang seized the opportunity and completely blocked the pass on the channel. Then Shi Dakai sent dozens of small boats into the Xiang Army's navy camp, burning more than 40 ships of the Xiang Army.

The Xiang Army's navy had to retreat. Luo Dagang then took the fleet to Jiujiang. Taking advantage of the night, they attacked the Xiang Army's navy from Jiujiang and Xiaochi Estuary with hundreds of small boats, burning many of the ships. Ceng Guofan's ship was also seized. The Xiang Army was defeated. Shi Dakai led Luo Dagang to pursue the Xiang Army.

Not only was the Xiang Army defeated, but the possibility of the Qing Army using the navy's advantage to attack Tianjing from upstream was also gone. Vézé felt that his work guarding the East and West Liangshan was coming to an end. Yang Xiuqing couldn't let such a large army stay in the wild forever. Even if he couldn't immediately launch an expedition to the east, at least Vézé could bring his troops back to the city to rest.

Vézé was right. Three days after the victory at Hukou, Vézé received an order to station in Wuhu. But the order to launch an expedition to the east that Vézé was most looking forward to did not appear.

When Vézé led his troops to Wuhu, first it was Li Yuchang, then Qi Yuchang. One after the other, they sent the two women to Vézé's army in Wuhu. This was also the first time Vézé learned that Li Yuchang's niece, Levis's cousin, was called Li Yifang. She was a beautiful woman with the characteristics of Suhang. R1058