?
Vézé's troops had been on the march for more than two months. Furthermore, something had happened recently, so they didn't set off immediately.
Vézé wasn't in a good mood at this time. When he was in a bad mood, he wanted to harm others. Thus, he wrote a letter to Qi Yuchang to discuss the marriage of Qi Yuchang's daughter, Qi Hongyi.
Qi Yuchang wasn't stupid. When he saw Vézé's letter, he immediately replied to Vézé, saying that he was willing to marry his daughter to Vézé. However, he didn't know if Vézé had a wife yet.
Vézé replied seriously, saying that he wasn't married yet. If he could marry Qi Hongyi, then Qi Hongyi would be his first wife.
Qi Yuchang replied immediately, saying that he was willing to marry his daughter, Qi Hongyi, to Vézé.
Nanjing and Zhenjiang were very close. These four letters only took five to six days. In the letter that Qi Yuchang agreed to Vézé's proposal, he also told Vézé one thing. The King Of The East, Yang Xiuqing, waited for Vézé to leave Tianjing before removing North King Wei Changhui from his position as Tianjing's defense commander. Wei Changhui was to go to Anhui. When Wei Changhui handed over all his military power and happily prepared to go to Anhui to take up his post, Yang Xiuqing ordered him to take back his previous position.
This time, not only did Wei Changhui lose his military power, but he also couldn't go to Anhui to take up his post. The dignified North King had lost all his military power and was confined in Tianjing City. It was said that Wei Changhui ran to the Heavenly King to complain. He knelt in front of the Heavenly King and cried. Although the Heavenly King tried his best to comfort him, there was nothing he could do. Wei Changhui was so angry that he ran to the back garden of the Heavenly King's residence and chopped up the flowers and plants with his sword.
Although Qi Yuchang didn't make any comments on this matter, it was clear that he had agreed to Vézé's marriage proposal.
"It's finally begun!" Vézé said in his mind, and then revealed the content to Wei Changrong.
After reading the news, Wei Changrong blinked for a while before finding a topic to talk about. "Fourth Uncle, is the King Of The East really going to let the North King stay in Tianjing City?"
"Before the King Of The East finishes dealing with the North King's troops, he will temporarily let the North King stay in Tianjing City." Vézé could only reply like this.
Wei Changrong was tongue-tied for a long time. In the end, he could only sigh and say, "Fourth Uncle, I suddenly feel that the King Of The East treats us well!"
Vézé was amused by such humorous words. He smiled bitterly and said, "This is just the beginning."
Wei Changrong knew why Vézé revealed this news to him. Not long after, the General Staff Headquarters heard about this news. The General Staff Headquarters, which was in low spirits, finally regained their usual efficiency.
After the troops rested for ten days and started their physical training again, the news reached Zhenjiang. At the beginning of August, the Western Punitive Expedition suffered a crushing defeat at Xiangtan.
At the beginning of August, the Western Punitive Expedition suffered a crushing defeat at Xiangtan. The Xiang Army led by Ceng Guofan launched a fierce attack on the Western Punitive Expedition's southern troops. The Taiping army suffered a crushing defeat at Xiangtan. The Xiang Army then launched a fierce attack on the Taiping army's southern troops in Hunan. The Western Punitive Expedition's southern troops, which were scattered across Hunan, were forced to retreat.
It was not until the middle of September that Lin Shaozhang led his troops westward and conquered Hunan's Longyang (now Hanshou), Changde, and Taoyuan. In the middle of September, the Lin Army and Ceng Tianyang, who came south from Hubei, finally met at Changde and stabilized the situation.
At this stage, Yang Xiuqing and Vézé were working together to defeat the Qing Army's Jiangnan and Jiangbei Barracks. After defeating the Jiangnan and Jiangbei Barracks, Yang Xiuqing immediately organized reinforcements. After the defeat at Xiangtan, the Taiping army's navy suffered heavy losses. Most of the Taiping army's warships at the frontline were burned by the Xiang Army. If the Taiping army wanted to fight the Xiang Army again, they had to send more warships as reinforcements. The King Of The East, Yang Xiuqing, knew the importance of the Western Expedition to the Taiping Rebellion. He immediately issued an edict to the idle North King, Wei Changhui. "Ask him to quickly send men to the naval barracks to choose cannon boats and head to the frontline in Hunan and Hubei."
The North King did not dare to delay when he received the edict. He immediately issued an edict to the Second Right Officer of the North Palace Hall, Zhang Zipeng, to go to the naval barracks to handle this matter. Zhang Zipeng was someone who was intoxicated by success. He often used the North King's power to bully the citizens of Tianjing. When he received the North King's edict, he immediately rushed to the naval barracks. However, when he arrived, he was not in a hurry to choose a warship. Instead, he let the chief of the naval barracks, Tang Zhengcai, entertain him with good wine and meat, treating him like an imperial envoy. After he ate and drank to his heart's content, he still did not immediately go to see how the ships would adapt to the Hunan and Hubei rescue. Instead, he held a horsewhip and looked around, muttering nonsense and cursing. When he saw a sailor who was not pleasing to the eye, he raised his hand and kicked him. A few sailors wanted to argue with him but were killed on the spot by the men he brought with him. The chief of the naval barracks, Tang Zhengcai, had just spoken a few words when a few burly men pounced on him. He was so scared that he turned around and hid, not daring to come out again.
Zhang Zipeng's outrageous behavior infuriated many officers and soldiers in the Navy Camp. Someone gathered more than a thousand officers and soldiers of the Taiping Army in the Navy Camp. They drove their boats and rushed toward Zhang Zipeng's boat, preparing to besiege him. Zhang Zipeng saw that the situation was not good and knew that he had angered everyone. He ordered his men to open up a path and escape back to Tianjing in a panic.
After the North King heard the story from the men Zhang Zipeng brought, he knew that Zhang Zipeng had failed to pick a boat and almost caused a huge mess. He was angry and anxious. He ordered his men to capture Zhang Zipeng and give him a hundred lashes. At the same time, he prepared to send another man to the naval barracks to pick a boat and apologize to the chief of the naval barracks, Tang Zhengcai, and all the brothers who had been wronged. He thought, I have to finish these things quickly and then go to the King Of The East's residence to receive my punishment. But things did not go as planned. Just as he finished whipping Zhang Zipeng and before he had time to arrange for his men to go to the naval barracks, he suddenly heard the sound of a gong outside the residence.
Hearing the gong, North King Wei Changhui hurriedly opened the door and ordered his men to lock Zhang Zipeng up and drag him out.
After establishing the capital of Nanjing, the King Of The East had placed "patrols" everywhere in the Taiping Rebellion. Zhang Zipeng's misdeeds in the naval barracks had long been reported to the King Of The East. The King Of The East was shocked when he received this secret report. The navy was the dominant force in the Taiping Rebellion in Jiangnan. If anything happened to the naval barracks, the consequences would be unthinkable. So he sent his trusted aide, the King Of The East's residence, to reward Prime Minister Hou Qianfang, to the naval barracks to comfort the soldiers who had been wronged. At the same time, he promoted the chief of the naval barracks, Tang Zhengcai. In order to show the importance he attached to this incident, he specially invited a few brothers from the naval barracks to see how he avenged those who had been wronged.
According to Qi Yuchang, who followed the King Of The East, Yang Xiuqing, when North King Wei Changhui led his men to welcome the King Of The East through the main gate, the King Of The East did not wait for the carriage to come to a complete stop before roaring, "Bring that audacious madman, Zhang Zipeng, to me." When the King Of The East walked out of the carriage, North King Wei Changhui immediately knelt down and said, "Zhang Zipeng is audacious and deserves to die. I have already taken him down and am preparing to send him to Emperor Jiuqiansui. "He then turned around and ordered," Quick! Bring Zhang Zipeng here for Emperor Jiuqiansui to deal with. "
Qi Yuchang thought that the King Of The East, Yang Xiuqing, was going to kill someone. Unexpectedly, the King Of The East, Yang Xiuqing, said, "Brothers from the naval barracks, Zhang Zipeng has misbehaved in the naval barracks and injured your brothers. He should be beheaded! Since this is his first offense, strike now and flog him a thousand times. "
At the King Of The East's order, the naval barracks, filled with anger, rushed forward. They first pulled down Zhang Zipeng's pants, then swung their military rods and flogged Zhang Zipeng a thousand times. After a thousand strokes, Zhang Zipeng's buttocks had become bloody cotton wool. Zhang Zipeng fainted several times.
After flogging Zhang Zipeng, everyone heaved a sigh of relief. The King Of The East, however, turned to the North King Wei Changhui and shouted, "Zhang Zipeng is a subordinate of the North Hall. You did not discipline him properly, that's why he dared to misbehave. Now that he almost disrupted the naval barracks, you can't escape punishment either."
When the North King Wei Changhui saw that the King Of The East was blaming him, he quickly kowtowed and said, "I used the wrong people, I can't escape punishment, but …" Before the North King could finish, the King Of The East turned to the naval barracks that had just flogged Zhang Zipeng and said, "Go! Flog him another three hundred times to avenge your naval barracks brothers. "
Hearing that the King Of The East wanted them to flog the North King, the naval barracks brothers were dumbfounded. Firstly, they did not hate the North King. Secondly, even if the King Of The East gave the order, they would not dare to flog the North King. The King Of The East saw that the naval barracks brothers were standing there in a daze, not daring to make a move. Ignoring the pleas of the North King Wei Changhui, the King Of The East turned to the King Of The East and instructed, "The North King is in the wrong. If we don't punish him, we won't be able to appease the masses. Go and flog him three hundred times."
The might of the East King, Yang Xiuqing, was something that everyone was afraid of. The East Palace Hall's Staff Protectors didn't dare to disobey. They walked up to the North King and pressed him down. They lifted up his royal robe and started beating him. Even though they were merciful, the North King's face turned red, then white, and finally as pale as a sheet of white paper. After the three hundred flogs, he was carried back to the North Palace.
After reading Qi Yuchang's letter, Vézé's heart was filled with trepidation. From Vézé's point of view, the King Of The East, Yang Xiuqing, was still far from making a move. This was definitely not a simple attack on Vézé. Therefore, in the face of such a situation, other than expressing his respect, when the King Of The East, Yang Xiuqing, requested for Vézé to take out the twenty thousand fire hats, Vézé immediately argued.
Just as Vézé had expected, Yang Xiuqing did not really intend to do anything to Vézé. Seeing that Vézé did not feel wronged, nor did he cry out, he simply told Yang Xiuqing about Vézé's difficulties. Seeing that his goal of scaring Vézé had been achieved, the King Of The East, Yang Xiuqing, ordered Vézé to be in charge of the Eastern Expedition. The tribute of the fire hats could also be delayed.
Now, it seemed that the King Of The East, Yang Xiuqing, did not really want to deal with Vézé. His goal of beating Vézé up first was to deal with the North King, Wei Changhui. Vézé even suspected that the people Yang Xiuqing wanted to beat were those who were interested in Anhui. From this point of view, Wei Changrong's method of asking Vézé about the situation in Anhui was completely stupid.
It was not that Vézé could not understand such a method, but if he really wanted to do it, Vézé could not bring himself to do it. Not only did Yang Xiuqing do it, he also grasped an extremely good timing. First, he played dirty tricks to deprive the North King, Wei Changhui of the Tianjing troops. Then, he made full use of the mistakes of Wei Changhui's subordinates to attack Wei Changhui and his subordinate, Zhang Zipeng.
After this punishment, Yang Xiuqing could logically let the North King, Wei Changhui, "recuperate". In the next few months, Wei Changhui did not even need to think about controlling the troops. With this, no one remembered that Wei Changhui was deprived of his military power. Everyone only knew that the North King, Wei Changhui, was punished by the King Of The East because he did not discipline his subordinates well. On account of the North King, the King Of The East even spared the life of the North King's subordinate, Zhang Zipeng.
This sinister method was executed beautifully, and no one could say anything even if they wanted to. Although Vézé was extremely glad that his previous actions had allowed him to escape from this blow, Vézé finally understood one thing: why Yang Xiuqing died earlier than Hong Xiuquan. After doing such a thing, the relationship between Yang Xiuqing and Wei Changhui was just like how it was sung in a song, "Those who sow melons reap melons, those who sow beans reap beans. Whoever sows hatred will suffer the consequences themselves!"
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