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"Hooray! It's still cold. You'd better put on another coat," Noble Consort Yi said softly beside Xian Feng, who was staring blankly out of the window. Before entering the palace, Noble Consort Yi's maiden name was Xingzhen, and she was born in the Yehenara clan. Now that Cixi had given birth to a son for Xianfeng, she was conferred the title of Noble Consort Yi. Because she was literate and could read and write, Noble Consort Yi often served by Xian Feng's side, helping Xian Feng, who was in poor health, read memorials to the throne.
The Yin Qi in the Forbidden City was very heavy. Although it was June, the chill still did not dissipate. This was how Vézé felt when he visited the Forbidden City. Emperor Xianfeng, the resident of the Forbidden City, did not completely wear summer clothes even in June. Even so, Noble Consort Yi still wanted to approve another set of clothes for Xianfeng.
Xian Feng waved his hand and refused Cixi's service. He said, "I remember in the memorial that Vézé is a master?"
Noble Consort Yi heard the envy in Emperor Xianfeng's tone and hurriedly stopped Emperor Xianfeng's wild imagination. "Hooray! Vézé is a great thief. The higher his kung fu, the greater the disaster he will cause. "
Banning smoking and defeating the British were the things that Xian Feng's father, Dao Guang, had been brooding over before his death. Xian Feng had always looked forward to completing these two tasks to comfort Emperor Daoguang's soul in heaven. But before Xian Feng could do it, Vézé had already achieved what Xian Feng had dreamed of.
Vézé did not remain silent about what he had done. Not only in Guangdong and Guangxi, but also in the entire Yangtze River Valley, and even in many places in Shandong and Hebei. The announcement boasted about the achievements of the recovery of the Governor's Office, mocking the fact that the Manchu Qing imperial court, which had occupied all of China, could not do it. The Governor's Office had only occupied Guangdong for less than a year and had done it. If the Commander-in-Chief's Office was restored and the world was conquered, China would be far more powerful than it was now. Of course, these nonsense words had no influence on the common people. Most of the common people were illiterate and could not understand these announcements. And among the literate classes, these announcements all attracted a lot of cursing. Naturally, he was scolding Vézé for overestimating himself.
Xian Feng knew that he shouldn't be envious of Vézé. There was no reason for the Emperor to be envious of a rebel. Xianfeng was not a muddle-headed emperor, he himself did not see anything worthy of praise in these two aspects.
However, Xian Feng was the Emperor after all. This little bit of envy quickly turned into self-denial, and Xian Feng quickly became angry out of humiliation. He sat up straight and looked at the mountain of memorials to the throne. He felt a little helpless. At this time, there was only Noble Consort Yi in the study. Xian Feng couldn't help but ask, "What do you think Vézé plans to do by sending troops to Jiangxi?"
Noble Consort Yi didn't have the timid appearance of an ordinary woman. When Xian Feng asked her about military affairs, Noble Consort Yi frowned and thought for a moment before answering, "Long live! I don't think Vézé wants to fight for the Cantonese bandits. Maybe they're just bluffing. "
Compared to the various cloudy and mystifying arguments put forward by the ministers, Noble Consort Yi's words made Xian Feng's eyes light up. However, Xian Feng didn't immediately make an evaluation. He asked, "Why do you think so?"
"If Vézé still thinks of himself as a member of the Taiping Rebellion, he won't leave no matter what. Even if he does leave, he'll find a way to stay near the Taiping Rebellion. But Vézé didn't do this. "Noble Consort Yi calmly explained. She believed that Vézé had no intention of turning back after breaking away from the Taiping Rebellion. Although it was still unclear why Vézé was marching to Jiangxi, it just so happened to be a bad time to do so.
The Huai army and Chu Yong had received Xian Feng's orders to prepare a pincer attack on Shi Dakai, who had become independent from the Taiping Rebellion. If Vézé really fought, it would be tantamount to helping the Taiping Rebellion. Based on the current situation, no matter how one looked at it, they couldn't see the meaning of Vézé's actions. Since it was impossible for Vézé to really help the Taiping Rebellion, and he had actually sent troops, there was only one possibility left. Vézé was going to muddy the waters even more, so that no one could figure out Vézé's intentions. From then on, the war would last longer, so that Vézé would have more time to accumulate strength in Guangdong.
"Your Majesty!" Noble Consort Yi said quite confidently, "Vézé won't save the Guangdong Bandits from defeat. Vézé won't even stay in Jiangxi for too long. If he stays too long, the Guangdong Bandits will beg Vézé to send troops to help. Will Vézé send troops or not? If he doesn't send troops, the Guangdong Bandits will bear a grudge. What good will it do for Vézé to send troops to help the Guangdong Bandits? Vézé's plan is to let the Guangdong Bandits and the imperial court's army perish together, and then reap the benefits later … "
Noble Consort Yi had never left the palace since she entered the palace, let alone become an official. But this analysis was reasonable. From the simple point of view of Vézé's mentality, the conclusion reached was that Vézé only wanted to take advantage of the situation in Jiangxi, but had no intention of changing the situation in Jiangxi. Even Xian Feng was a little surprised by this way of looking at the problem. It wasn't that Xian Feng didn't have such an idea, but he had to pay attention to the interests on the battlefield. Therefore, Xian Feng was worried that Vézé would take action in the key battle between the Qing Army and the Taiping army, so that the Taiping army would gain complete advantage in Jiangxi and even help the Taiping army conquer Zhejiang.
After Noble Consort Yi's analysis, Xian Feng saw the possibility of a completely different situation. Wei Ze was not a participant, but a troublemaker who had joined the tangled warfare in Jiangxi. The significance of this was completely different. After Noble Consort Yi's explanation, Xian Feng even understood something more profound. If Vézé didn't send troops now, the imperial court would think that Vézé was up to some tricks, and they wouldn't lower their guard against Vézé in the slightest. Therefore, if Vézé sent troops to attack at this time, it would "conform" to the thoughts of many people in the imperial court. In this way, Vézé could achieve the greatest effect with the least amount of effort. The more Xian Feng thought about it, the more he felt it made sense. This kind of way of handling things was indeed very consistent with the image of Vézé, who Xian Feng thought was "scheming and crafty."
"You can leave first," Xian Feng said to Noble Consort Yi. After Noble Consort Yi left the study, Xian Feng carefully sorted out the thoughts Noble Consort Yi had said a few times, and then began to write an imperial edict. First, he ordered Jiang Zhongyuan of the Huai army to increase the intensity of the attack, so that the Taiping army in Huainan couldn't move and couldn't mobilize troops to Jiangxi. The second imperial edict was for Zuo Zongtang. In the imperial edict, Xian Feng told Zuo Zongtang that Vézé was unlikely to cooperate with the Taiping army. As long as Zuo Zongtang didn't take the initiative to attack Vézé's Liberation Army and focused on defending against Shi Dakai's offensive, it would be fine. The third imperial edict was for Hu Linyi. For the current Hubei Inspector, Xian Feng ordered him to step up the siege of Jiujiang and open up the Yangtze River waterway.
Before writing these three imperial edicts, Xian Feng wanted to write one more imperial edict for Ceng Guofan. But after writing it, he temporarily dismissed the idea. Xian Feng didn't like Ceng Guofan, and Ceng Guofan would soon know about the imperial edict for Hu Linyi. Therefore, Xian Feng decided to hang Ceng Guofan out to dry.
After dealing with these, Xian Feng called for a eunuch. "Reward Noble Consort Yi with five hundred taels of silver."
The eunuch naturally didn't dare ask why Xian Feng did this. The palace naturally had its own rules for handling such rewards. With the emperor's order, the eunuch left. Xian Feng didn't say it out loud, but he decided in his heart that in the future, he would discuss more things with Noble Consort Yi that he couldn't make up his mind about. Looking at military affairs from a perspective that was closer to the hearts of people was a very fresh feeling for Xian Feng.
Xian Feng wasn't the only one who felt this fresh feeling. Zuo Zongtang also clearly felt it. When it came to the strategy of suppressing the Taiping Rebellion, Xian Feng's strategic level on paper wasn't bad if he didn't consider the problem of his orders not being carried out smoothly. Zuo Zongtang also agreed with this point. But just like this time, he was able to see through Vézé's strategic position and attitude and adopt some rather feasible instructions based on this position. This was something that Zuo Zongtang had never seen in Xian Feng's imperial edict before.
Since he boasted of himself as "Jin Liang," Zuo Zongtang didn't have a real group of advisors. Zuo Zongtang considered Vézé's position in the imperial edict by himself. If the Taiping Rebellion was also seen as a long-term opponent, Vézé naturally had no reason to provide too much assistance to the Taiping army or Shi Dakai's troops at this critical moment. To put it more bluntly, Vézé naturally hoped that the Taiping army and Shi Dakai would sink into a bloody battle with heavy casualties against the Qing Army. As for the outcome of the war, naturally, after a bloody battle, the Qing Army would pay a heavy price and win a small victory.
With the hint of the imperial edict, "Jin Liang" Zuo Zongtang could understand such a cruel strategic consideration. Whether it was the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind, or the tiger to devour the wolf. There was no practical benefit for Vézé to get involved in such a battle prematurely.
Even though the imperial edict was very clear and convincing, Zuo Zongtang still couldn't fully believe it emotionally. This required a cruel strategic perspective and a cold consideration of interests. Not only did he have to make use of his allies, he also had to "make full use" of his enemies. Furthermore, Vézé's method of making use of his enemies wasn't like the official method of nurturing bandits. This was something that Zuo Zongtang, who came from an official background, couldn't get used to.
After a while, this feeling of discomfort gradually disappeared. Because he had thought through all the key points, Zuo Zongtang felt much more relaxed. In the war against the Taiping Rebellion, there would naturally be the Jiangnan and Jiangbei Camps. Zuo Zongtang only needed to deal with Shi Dakai. At the moment, Zuo Zongtang had blocked Shi Dakai in Quzhou. Quzhou was located in the west of Zhejiang, near mountains and rivers. Historically, it had always been the border transportation hub and distribution center of Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, and Anhui provinces. It was known as "the thoroughfare of the four provinces, the head of the five roads". Zuo Zongtang commanded his Chu Yong to block Shi Dakai's troops in Quzhou.
If Shi Dakai could take Quzhou, he could naturally kill his way into Zhejiang. But if Shi Dakai couldn't take Quzhou, the various Qing Army divisions were currently surrounding it. Although their movements were slow, they were constantly on the move. In another month, Shi Dakai would be completely surrounded. At that time, unless the Wing King of the Taiping Rebellion could really grow a pair of wings, it would be difficult for him to escape.
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