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The Taiping army conquered Tianjing at the beginning of 1852, and the Qing Army's pursuing troops soon arrived. They set up the Jiangnan Camp in the Xiaoling Army, which was a dozen miles east of Tianjing. Then, they set up the Jiangbei Camp southwest of Yangzhou. From then on, for a year and a half, Tianjing was besieged from both sides by the Jiangnan Camp and the Jiangbei Camp.
On September 15, 1954, the Qing Army's Jiangnan Camp and Jiangbei Camp were all broken through, and the Qing Army's troops were beaten to the point of fleeing. They couldn't even stand their ground in the camp set up by Jiangsu Inspector Jierhanga on Mount Jiuhua. Instead, they retreated all the way to Suzhou before stopping their troops. The siege of Tianjing that lasted for a year and a half was completely broken.
This victory was unprecedented good news for the Taiping army. Furthermore, the commander of the army to break through the Jiangnan Camp was the Taiping Rebellion's supreme commander, King Of The East, Yang Xiuqing. This gave this victory a perfect ending.
Anhui, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, and Zhejiang provinces were all in the north, and the Taiping army occupied a considerable portion of the land. In the north was the Huai River, in the west was Hunan, and in the south was Jiangxi. 300,000 men and women armed with weapons guarded this vast area, praising the mighty name of King Of The East, Yang Xiuqing.
Therefore, after Vézé entered the capital, he didn't go to his official residence. This wasn't the time to do so. He directly went to pay a visit to Yang Xiuqing. At the entrance of the King Of The East residence, Vézé was met with a closed door. An official from the King Of The East residence told Vézé that the King Of The East was busy dealing with official affairs and had no time to see Vézé.
The King Of The East could not see Vézé, but Vézé could not just brush his sleeves and leave. This was not giving the King Of The East, Yang Xiuqing, any face. Vézé could very well imagine Yang Xiuqing's current state of mind, or perhaps most people would think so. No matter how much effort those who laid the foundation put in, the one who completed the victory would take all the glory. From Yang Xiuqing's point of view, even from Wei Ze's point of view, Yang Xiuqing was more suitable to obtain this honor. Yang Xiuqing also needed this honor more.
To give people face, one had to give it all. The first 80 difficulties had already passed, so this last one didn't matter. Many people went in and out of the King Of The King Of The East residence of of the East of of of Tianjing. They were very respectful. Of The Of The Of The East of of of the King Of of the East. They were King of Of Of The Dynasty of of the of Kingdom of of of of Tianjing of King. However, Vézé was quite a distance away from the residence's entrance. Moreover, he was completely immersed in his own thoughts, so he turned a blind eye to those people.
Vézé wasn't pessimistic about his current situation, but he wasn't optimistic either. Losing 10,000 troops to Yang Xiuqing was a big deal. Zhang Yingchen's 10,000 troops were at most a second-tier troop in Vézé's army. Whether or not they were there would not affect the outcome of the battle for Vézé. In comparison, Yang Xiuqing, who had obtained the 10,000 troops, was more affected. Of course, the impact wasn't earth-shattering. Yang Xiuqing couldn't possibly extend the system of Zhang Yingchen's troops to Yang Xiuqing's direct subordinates. If Yang Xiuqing treated Zhang Yingchen's troops as a unit that could fight better, then Zhang Yingchen's 10,000 troops wouldn't be able to change the overall strength of Yang Xiuqing's troops.
After obtaining an unprecedented victory, it was unlikely that Yang Xiuqing would stop here. Vézé wasn't clear about the extent of Yang Xiuqing's plans. This was also the main reason why he had to meet Yang Xiuqing.
Thinking in a general direction required a large amount of data to support it. Vézé, who lacked eyes and ears in Tianjing City, didn't have such data to support his thinking. Judging from the little bit of information he had, Vézé could only come to one conclusion: Yang Xiuqing wouldn't let Vézé off for the time being.
After waiting outside the King Of The East's residence for almost two hours, a civil official finally came to see Vézé. "Prince Of Qi, the King Of The East says that he's busy with official matters today. He wants you to return to the residence to rest first. Come back the day after tomorrow to request an audience. "
"As you wish!" Vézé replied. This news was definitely not a good omen. Keeping Wei Ze in Tianjing City for two days without doing anything was extremely abnormal at this stage of the game.
However, since things had come to this, Vézé had no other choice. He obediently brought his bodyguards to the Prince Of Qi's residence. Halfway there, Vézé suddenly had a thought. The King Of The East was too straightforward. Even if he wanted to play house arrest, he should have at least sent a few female officials.
Thinking about this, Vézé couldn't help but imagine himself taking a bath with a group of young and beautiful female officials. His first reaction to this imagination was quite happy. However, when he thought about how he would do such a low-level thing, Vézé couldn't help but laugh in a happy and self-deprecating manner.
The guards were puzzled by Vézé's strange laughter. The guard captain couldn't help but ask, "Chief of Staff, is there anything funny on the way here?"
Vézé couldn't say that he was imagining himself in an AV, so Vézé could only put away his smile and pretend to be serious. "There's nothing funny on the way here. It's just that I thought about something, so I couldn't help but laugh. "
Perhaps he was lustful. After arriving at the Prince Of Qi's residence, Vézé felt agitated. He couldn't help but think about women. Helpless, Vézé began to train. There weren't many inflatable yoga balls these days. Vézé rolled up a quilt and used it as a cushion against the wall behind him. As soon as the muscles on his legs tensed up, all other thoughts were quickly expelled.
The guards cleaned up, and Vézé went from strength training to balance training, and then to technique training. A round of training took nearly two hours. While he was drenched in sweat, all other thoughts in his mind naturally dissipated.
After taking a shower, Vézé prepared to eat. Someone outside reported that the North King, Wei Changhui, had come to visit. At this time, the sky wasn't completely dark yet. Vézé was very surprised. What was Wei Changhui's intention in visiting at this time?
From Vézé's point of view, Yang Xiuqing wasn't tall. His rather dull skin tone indicated that he wasn't well-developed. One look and one could tell that he was from a poor family. One look and one could tell that the North King, Wei Changhui, came from a wealthy family. He was slightly more than 180 centimeters tall and had a slender figure. His skin tone was delicate and glossy. Even though he had been involved in the war, he didn't seem dispirited because he was well-nourished.
In this year and a half of Tianjing's war, the North King, Wei Changhui, had been in charge of Tianjing's defense. Although Vézé had deliberately distanced himself from Wei Changhui, the transport fleet still had to pass through Wei Changhui's defensive zone. Naturally, there were many opportunities to hear Wei Changhui's name.
Of course, Vézé knew that King Of The East, Yang Xiuqing, had been working hard to make the North King, Wei Changhui, a mere figurehead. The food that Vézé transported from Anhui to Tianjing had to pass through Wei Changhui's defensive zone. King Of The East, Yang Xiuqing, set a date with Vézé and specially arranged for officials to receive the food and supplies, completely excluding Wei Changhui from the food supply system.
As the one defending the city, Wei Changhui's food supply came from the sacred warehouse that Yang Xiuqing controlled in Tianjing. This was equivalent to completely grasping Wei Changhui's weakness. Moreover, some of Zhang Yingchen's brothers in the army still treated Vézé as their superior, and they provided Vézé with a lot of information. One of them was Zhang Yingchen. After he was transferred to Yang Xiuqing, Yang Xiuqing began to reorganize these troops. The newly formed 20,000 troops were continuously replacing the North King, Wei Changhui's defense troops. North King, Wei Changhui's influence in Tianjing's defense troops was rapidly declining.
Therefore, Vézé originally did not want to see the North King, Wei Changhui. However, Vézé changed his mind. If Yang Xiuqing was afraid of Wei Changhui, then Vézé's public refusal to see Wei Changhui might not gain Yang Xiuqing's approval. Fear was a rather secretive thing. When Vézé made his fear public, it actually made Yang Xiuqing unable to clear his name even if he jumped into the Yellow River. This was a very basic office politics in large state-owned enterprises. Everything had to be done in a dignified manner.
Vézé couldn't help but think that it would have been great if the North King, Wei Changhui, had tried to send female officials to Vézé. If Wei Changhui had done so, Vézé would have been able to reject Wei Changhui's good intentions. When he reported this meeting to Yang Xiuqing, he could then talk about the female officials. Yang Xiuqing was not a fool. After hearing this, he would probably provide female officials to Vézé.
It was obvious that Wei Changhui had not considered the matter of female officials. After meeting Vézé, he asked about the situation in Anhui. Vézé did not hide anything and answered whatever Wei Changhui asked. As he answered, Vézé tried to decipher the content of Wei Changhui's questions. He wanted to know what Wei Changhui meant.
After the question and answer session, Vézé couldn't help but ask, "Does the North King want to lead the army in Anhui?"
After listening to Vézé, Wei Changhui didn't know if he was pretending or not. He said in surprise, "Doesn't the Wayne Brothers know? The King Of The East has already transferred the Wayne Brothers from Anhui to Zhenjiang. "
"Transferred to Zhenjiang?" Vézé repeated. He really didn't expect Yang Xiuqing to be so straightforward to exchange the cage for the bird. Vézé's first reaction was to worry. Although the Taiping army had gained a foothold in the south of the Huai River, this was also because the Qing Army in Anhui had suffered a heavy blow. In Vézé's original plan, he was prepared to immediately return to Anhui after dealing with the Jiangnan and Jiangbei Barracks. He wanted to deal a few more heavy blows to the Qing Army in Anhui.
If the North King, Wei Changhui, was not lying, Vézé was facing a situation where his plans could not keep up with the changes. The King Of The East, Yang Xiuqing, was obviously going to make a move on Vézé, the most powerful local force in the Taiping Rebellion.
After coming to this conclusion, Vézé felt a myriad of emotions and thoughts in his mind. However, he couldn't sort them out at the moment, and no emotions could take over. He suppressed all these emotions and started chatting with Wei Changhui.
It seemed like Wei Changhui really wanted to go to Anhui, so he was very clear about the situation there. Vézé didn't have the intention to lie to begin with. Now, he wasn't in the mood to lie. He asked someone to bring a map with Anhui as the center and briefly described the strategic plan of defending the Jiangnan and Huai River. It also included the prediction that the army could continue to advance eastward after wiping out the Jiangbei Barracks.
The North King, Wei Changhui, listened with great interest. After Vézé explained these things to him. Seeing that it was getting late, Wei Changhui quickly got up and said goodbye. Vézé also had no intention of having a long talk with Wei Changhui. He also sent Wei Changhui out of the Prince Of Qi's residence.
Back in the residence, Vézé sat on a chair and looked at the map of Anhui that hadn't been put away in silence. The news brought by Wei Changhui had indeed shocked Vézé. The suppressed emotions had now begun to swell. The first emotion Vézé felt was anger after being schemed against.
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