?
"Fourth Uncle, will the King Of The East …" Wei Changrong asked anxiously as he sent them off. He had asked this question several times, and Vézé had assured him that the King Of The East, Yang Xiuqing, would not act recklessly. However, Wei Changrong could not hold it in.
Vézé could only explain to Wei Changrong again, "Lead the troops well! I'll be fine! If you leave on your own, I won't be able to count on anything! My brothers, if you really want to protect my life, then you must not panic! "
Although Vézé tried his best to look calm and composed, he was feeling uneasy inside. In this matter, Vézé was not betting on Yang Xiuqing's success. He was betting on Yang Xiuqing's complete failure. This bet was far more dangerous than Yang Xiuqing's success. In everyone's eyes, Vézé was Yang Xiuqing's number one general. If Vézé stayed in the army, naturally no one would dare to make a move on Vézé. Now that Vézé had only brought a few dozen guards to Tianjing City, whether it was Yang Xiuqing or Hong Xiuquan, they both had a crushing advantage.
Since Vézé had said so, the generals who were sending them off could only choose to believe in Vézé. Seeing Vézé and his men board the ship, the people on and off the ship waved goodbye.
The waterway between Changzhou and Tianjing City was relatively safe. From a normal point of view, Vézé's expedition to the east was only a matter of time. Faced with this unavoidable thunderous attack, the Qing Army's navy hid far away in Shanghai. The Yangtze waterway, from Wuchang to Changzhou, was completely under the Taiping army's control.
Vézé sat in the ship, chatting with Chen Delong while admiring the scenery on both sides of the river.
"Brother Chen, did you say that your younger brother, Chen Degui, is also leading troops in Tianjing City?" Vézé asked, pretending to be ignorant.
Chen Delong smiled, "Yes! The King Of The East has already said that my brother is going to defend Yangzhou. "
As a young man who relied on nepotism, Chen Delong had pitifully little experience. he had no idea what exposing such crucial information meant. For a high-ranking general like Wei Ze, they could immediately come up with a lot of interpretations based on clear intelligence, and the depth of these interpretations was probably even stronger than the people involved.
Just from the number of troops under Chen Degui's command and the future arrangements, Wei Ze could roughly guess Yang Xiuqing's future strategic considerations. It was similar to using his relatives to guard Tianjing City. Yang Xiuqing was prepared to use his relatives to guard the strategic areas around Tianjing City.
Yangzhou, Zhenjiang, Wuhu, Chaohu — these key points formed an absolute defensive perimeter around Tianjing City. If this perimeter were to be expanded, a general like Vézé would be in charge of attacking it. Without a doubt, Yang Xiuqing needed Vézé to conquer Suzhou and Hangzhou and take care of the Jiangnan and Jiangbei Barracks. At the same time, he had Wing King Shi Dakai and Prince Yu Hu Yihuang take Jiangxi, Hubei, and Hunan.
Once he had complete control over Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Hunan, Hubei, and Jiangxi provinces, he would have a true Southern Dynasty. If the King Of The East, Yang Xiuqing, could establish a General Staff Department in the central government and solve the problem of soldiers becoming generals step by step, this new Southern Dynasty would have the ability to continue expanding its control and eventually seize power.
Of course, with such an achievement, no one would dare oppose Yang Xiuqing taking over Hong Xiuquan's position. Yang Xiuqing would become the Emperor sooner or later.
Vézé had to admit that if he couldn't deal with Yang Xiuqing now, Hong Xiuquan would really lose. Everything happened first, and then people would get used to it. Once Yang Xiuqing's name appeared, no matter how unreasonable it seemed, people had no choice but to get used to it and gradually get used to it. As for what happened in the future, it was just a matter of time.
During his conversation with Chen Delong, Vézé found that this young man had more or less understood this point. Unlike Vézé, Chen Delong believed that this foreseeable future already existed in the world, and that he only needed to follow it to obtain glory, splendor, wealth, and rank. From Vézé's point of view, this was too idealistic. Chen Delong's consciousness was undoubtedly above the material world.
Vézé could easily deal with such people. He didn't need to flatter them. He only needed to express that the world they imagined was the real world, and this kind of people would be overjoyed.
Not only did Chen Delong agree with Vézé's point of view, but he also said sincerely, "Prince Of Qi, you have contributed a lot to the King Of The East's world!"
Vézé laughed. "Whether my contribution is big or not depends on a word from the King Of The East. Brother Chen, I haven't been to Tianjing City much. I've always been fighting outside. Why don't you introduce me to more people when I return to Tianjing City this time? In the future, we will all work under the King Of The East, so how can we not get closer? "
Chen Delong deeply agreed with Vézé's request. After thinking for a while, he frowned. "Prince Of Qi, the others are very busy now. They are also my elders, so I don't dare to disturb them. If you really want to meet them, then you can only meet my brother first. "
Vézé said happily, "Brother Chen's brother is also my brother. If I can meet them now, then so be it! When you are all conferred the title of King in the future, it won't be easy to meet them! "
When he heard that his brother would be conferred the title of King in the future, Chen Delong smiled until his teeth could not be seen. He hurriedly said, "Then I will have to ask Prince Of Qi to teach me more. I have been learning from the Prince Of The East about the King Of The East. I have attended some classes, but it is really too difficult. Prince Of Qi, can you let me learn how to march and fight as soon as possible? "
"What's so difficult about that? How about this, Brother Chen can bring me to see Brother Chen Degui first, then bring me to see the other people of the King Of The East. When I return to Changzhou, I will let you start learning how to lead troops and fight. What do you think? "Vézé put forward his conditions.
Chen Delong said happily, "Prince Of Qi, then it's a deal!"
The two of them chatted like this. Another day passed, and the fleet neared Tianjing City. However, they saw a large fleet coming towards them. A large "Qin" character was written on the flag. Vézé's small fleet sent someone to speak with them, and someone quickly came back to report. "Prince Of Qi, the person in front is Lord Qin Rigang with a Tianyan Swallow!"
Vézé knew that Qin Rigang had been stripped of his title and demoted to a servant after his defeat at Tianjia Town. However, Yang Xiuqing did not strip Qin Rigang of his command. He continued to fight alongside the Wing King, Shi Dakai, with his subordinates. He had contributed greatly to the battle at Hukou. This Tianyan Swallow seemed to be Qin Rigang's new title.
"Brother Qin, where are we going?" Vézé asked.
"They said that they have received orders from the King Of The East to attack Taizhou," the outpost replied.
"Taizhou, huh …" Vézé already had a rough idea of what was going on. Since Vézé was heading east, the north of the Yangtze River could not be idle either. After sending troops from Yangzhou to attack Taizhou, the next step would be to attack Nantong. It would be difficult for the Qing Army to take care of both sides of the Yangtze River at the same time. In terms of strategy, this was a very normal choice.
More importantly, this transfer also proved that Yang Xiuqing was not prepared to attack Vézé. If he attacked Vézé now, the result would be that Qin Rigang would have to fight alone on the north bank of the Yangtze River.
On the other hand, Yang Xiuqing did not treat Qin Rigang as someone he could trust. If he really trusted Qin Rigang, he would have kept Qin Rigang in Tianjing City at this critical moment and not let Qin Rigang send him out.
At the same time, this also proved that Yang Xiuqing had no plans to kill Yang Xiuqing. It seemed that Yang Xiuqing did not want to see anyone who was not afraid of death jump out and accuse Yang Xiuqing of treason during the coronation ceremony. If he really wanted to kill Hong Xiuquan now, he would not be afraid of this.
The two fleets waved goodbye to each other. Qin Rigang sat in the commander's ship and looked at the Prince Of Qi's flag fluttering high on Vézé's ship. He could not help but sigh.
The rise of this newcomer, Wei Ze, was truly beyond Qin Rigang's expectations. Among his old brothers, Qin Rigang had always been the one who was the most favored. When he was in Jintian, he was the one who was valued by Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan and Western Prince Xiao Chaogui. When they broke out of Yong 'an and lost at Longliao Ridge, Western Prince Xiao Chaogui was the one who arranged the march and strategy. After that great defeat, no one pursued Qin Rigang's responsibility too much. After that, Qin Rigang continued to be the Prime Minister.
He did not expect that Vézé, a newcomer who had joined the Taiping army before Yong 'an, would suddenly rise and become the first to be conferred the title of King after Yong' an was established. Now, Prince Of Qi Vézé's reputation was even more widespread, while Qin Rigang's status was fluctuating. Even after the two fleets were far away, Qin Rigang's gloominess had not completely disappeared.
At night, the troops set up camp. Qin Rigang was very serious about his work. Even if it was a safer place, he still personally assigned tasks and led people to patrol the camp.
It was late at night. Qin Rigang had just returned to the main tent when he was notified that someone had come to see him with the token of the King Of The East's residence.
Not knowing who it was, Qin Rigang hurriedly ordered someone to bring the person in. At this time, the weather was cold. The person outside was wearing a hood to cover his face. But when he saw the tall figure, Qin Rigang was stunned. During the Taiping Rebellion, there was only one person who was so tall and so familiar to Qin Rigang. That was the North King, Wei Changhui.
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