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All day on December 14, Hu Linyi discussed military affairs in the Governor of Huguang. The civil and military officials in Wuchang told him too much about the situation. Hengyang in Hunan was captured and Changsha was besieged. Hengyang was an important town in Hunan. The Liberation Army arrived in Yongzhou a year ago. It was not surprising that they attacked Hengyang. However, Changsha only sent people for help when it was besieged, and then there was no news.
Nine years ago, in 1852, the Taiping army also besieged Changsha. During that siege, there were a large number of officials in Hengyang. The officials who chased the Taiping army from Guangxi quickly came to reinforce them. In this siege of Changsha, the Liberation Army had captured Guangxi and Hengyang. It was said that Baoqing had also fallen into the hands of the Liberation Army.
In Anqing, Hu Linyi did not know that the Liberation Army had captured Yuezhou and controlled the exit of Dongting Lake. The last time the Taiping army attacked Changsha, they were besieged by the Manchu Qing officials. This time, it was completely reversed. Changsha was completely surrounded by the Liberation Army.
It was impossible for any reinforcements to come from Guangxi and Sichuan. Changsha was resisting the fierce attack of the Liberation Army with the power of a city. As long as the Liberation Army captured Changsha, they would basically control the richest area in Hunan. Of course, Hu Linyi knew a lot about Vézé. This fierce general led his subordinates as the vanguard of the Taiping army to attack Jiangning. After capturing Changsha, Vézé only needed to walk the road he had walked before.
Hu Linyi found that he had just found out the situation. He wanted to blame the official for not telling everyone about such a big thing. But on second thought, the official did tell the Xiang Army about the recent situation. Compared with the actual situation, the official said much less than the actual situation. Even so, Hu Linyi thought that the official exaggerated the truth according to the rules of officialdom. He never expected that after encountering the Liberation Army, the officials of the Qing court could say something more gentle than the truth when asking for help!
At night, Hu Linyi could not fall asleep. He got up and led his bodyguards to the top of Wuchang's city walls. The winter night was very clear, and the sky was dotted with stars. Just by looking at the sky, Hu Linyi felt a lot more at ease. Even now, with so many trustworthy people saying the same thing, Hu Linyi couldn't help but hope that all of Wuchang's civil and military officials were lying to him.
This was something that couldn't be helped. If they really believed what they said, they wouldn't be able to do anything. This meant that the Liberation Army had the ability to take over Hunan within a month, and this army could actually build a powerful navy in such a short time. To admit that the Liberation Army had such strength meant that one had to admit that no one in the world was a match for the Liberation Army. Since the Liberation Army's performance up until now had been determined to destroy the Qing Dynasty, then the Qing Dynasty's doomsday had arrived. The destruction of the Qing Dynasty was only a matter of time. As a loyal subject of the Qing Dynasty, Hu Linyi couldn't accept this fact.
Hu Lin Yi started out as a scholar and worked his way up to this day. He wanted to prove his worth by being loyal to the imperial court and making contributions. If the Qing Dynasty was defeated, then what would be Hu Linyi's end?
In the "Letter from the Restored Governor's Office to the Officials of Manchu Qing", the Restored Governor's Office used the words "thief bones, dog bones, and cheap bones" to characterize the officials loyal to Manchu Qing. Hu Linyi knew very well that if Manchu Qing was still alive, he would be a loyal subject. If Manchu Qing was destroyed by the Liberation Army, then Hu Linyi's reputation would immediately become an undeniable "traitor".
With the Confucian style, if they hypocritically admitted that the loser was a loyal subject, then it would be a civil war between the Han people. Once the debate between the Chinese and the Barbarians was used as a standard, Hu Linyi couldn't find any words in the Analects that could protect his reputation. Confucius could say that King Zhou had only done something wrong, but as a result, the world put a bad reputation on King Zhou's head.
However, after Confucius scolded Guan Zhong for being rude, he immediately said, "Guan Zhong, like Duke Huan, dominated the feudal vassals and ruled the world. Today, the people have been bestowed by him. Guan Zhong, my quilt has been sent to the left! " Guan Zhong might be a person who was "rude" in Confucius' eyes, but Confucius thought that Guan Zhong was a "benevolent" person. He said twice, "As benevolent as he is! As benevolent as he is! "to emphasize Confucius' approval of Guan Zhong.
If he could really meet Confucius after death, Hu Linyi couldn't believe that Confucius would approve of him working for Manchu Qing. Especially after Vézé of the Liberation Army raised the flag of China, Hu Linyi continued to fiercely resist Vézé's actions. Hu Linyi didn't think that he could get Confucius' approval.
Thinking of this, Hu Linyi shook his head fiercely. Confucius said, "If you don't know life, how can you know death?" As a cultured person, Hu Linyi believed that Confucius might not approve of the world after death. In other words, death was death, and there was no need to be judged after death. Thinking of Confucius's attitude, Hu Lin Yi felt much better in his heart.
It was already late at night when he was lost in his thoughts on the city wall. A layer of fog rose from the river, and the stars in the sky flickered for a while before disappearing. The fog gradually thickened on the river, covering the surface of the river and the embankment below the city wall. The ships of the Xiang Army Navy that were anchored on the river were also immersed in the fog.
The Xiang Army Navy that Hu Linyi brought back was made up of three large ships, ten medium-sized ships, and more than 20 small ships. The small ships couldn't be seen at all, and the medium-sized ships could only be vaguely seen. The huge mainmast of the large ships could still be seen. The thick fog rose and fell, and sometimes only the mast could be seen. Sometimes, the fog moved, and a part of the tall ship's tower was revealed, as if it was a floating city tower on the river.
In order to build this Xiang Army Navy, Hu Linyi spent a lot of energy. If the Liberation Army really attacked Wuchang City, this fleet would protect Wuchang City. Hu Linyi didn't want to think about what would happen after his death. Vézé had the possibility of overthrowing Manchu Qing and seizing the world, not because of Vézé's benevolence, but because of Vézé's strong military strength. In this case, if Hu Linyi wanted to protect his reputation, he could only rely on military strength. If Vézé's Liberation Army could be destroyed, the ability and virtue of Hu Linyi, the minister of resurgence, would only be praised by future generations.
"Everything will be proved by war!" Thinking of this, Hu Linyi got up and went back to rest with his soldiers. After thinking so many things, Hu Linyi was really tired.
The next morning, just after breakfast, Guan Wen sent someone to invite Hu Linyi. When he arrived at the Liangjiang Governor's office, Guan Wen said that the Liberation Army Fleet had arrived near Wuchang, but they had sent an envoy to negotiate with Wuchang first. Guan Wen asked Hu Linyi if he wanted to see them.
"Why not." Yesterday, since it was decided to use war to determine the good and evil of the two sides, Hu Linyi was also refreshed.
Half an hour later, a young man in an olive green military uniform was brought into the office. Seeing a group of high-ranking officials, the young man stood up and saluted. "I am Second Lieutenant Sun Likang of the Liberation Army Navy Yangtze River Detachment. I was ordered to deliver a letter to the Manchu Qing Governor of Hubei, Hunan, and other local military affairs, provisions, and Inspector-General Guan Wen."
The Second Lieutenant's accent was very strange. He had to describe it as Southern Mandarin, but the emphasis was very different. It sounded very crisp and pleasant. The accent was very easy to understand, so after listening to this string of names, Hu Linyi was dumbfounded. The abbreviation of "Governor of Hubei, Hunan, and other local military affairs, provisions, and Inspector-General" was the Governor of Huguang. Most of the Manchu Qing officials could not say such a complete name. As the enemy, the Liberation Army could say such a whole string of names so fluently, which was a great surprise.
The Governor of Huguang, Guan Wen, was even more dumbfounded. He knew his official title, but it took him a long time to memorize it. After the Second Lieutenant finished speaking, he did not feel proud of himself. He continued, "I was ordered to come here for two purposes. The first is to hand over the 131 heads in Changsha City to you. After we take Changsha, we will chop off their heads and send them to you so that you can deal with them yourself. "
"What?" All the officials in the hall were dumbfounded. They did not expect that the Liberation Army had already taken Changsha. As for the fact that the Liberation Army had chopped off the heads of 100 officials, it was not too surprising. There were tens of thousands of civil and military officials in the Qing Army who had died in the hands of the Liberation Army. What did a hundred people count for? Moreover, this was only chopping off their heads. Hu Linyi's brother-in-law was directly skinned and cut into grass.
"This is the list. Please check it against the list when you receive it." After Second Lieutenant Sun Likang finished speaking, he took out a piece of paper and handed it to the personal guard beside him who was in charge of guarding the office.
Second Lieutenant Sun Likang continued, "The second thing is that I was ordered to ask if you are willing to surrender. If you are willing to surrender, we can avoid the war. The Liberation Army gives preferential treatment to captives. Your lives and property will be protected. "
"Give preferential treatment to captives? Haha, ridiculous! " Guan Wen sneered. "If you give preferential treatment to captives, aren't the heads you sent over your captives?"
Faced with Guan Wen's question, Second Lieutenant Sun Likang replied in a clear voice, "We killed these people not because they did not surrender, but because they killed civilians. Our army captured a lot of Qing Army soldiers near Hengyang and then released them. At that time, there was a family member of a comrade from Hunan in our army who was in the Xiang Army in Changsha. Some of the Xiang Army prisoners recognized our comrades and reported them to the government after they were released and returned to Changsha. The Changsha government treated our comrades as relatives of the Xiang Army and killed several of them. The one who gave the order was Hunan Inspector Mao Hongbin. More than a hundred people were killed because of this. Other than that, we did not kill any captives. "
Hearing this, all the officials in the hall were dumbfounded. They could understand this. Knowing that there were relatives of the Liberation Army in their army, they would naturally kill them. But they did not expect the Liberation Army to retaliate so fiercely.
Guan Wen was furious. Just for the lives of a few soldiers, they sacrificed the lives of more than a hundred officials. Was there any justice?! Was there any law?! Was there any justice?!
Slamming the table, Guan Wen stood up and shouted angrily, "Do you believe that I will kill you right now?"
Sun Likang smiled slightly. "Before I came, I was clearly told that I might be killed. But I am willing to take this risk. And I was also told that if I was killed, then after our army conquered Wuchang and liberated the country, the officials and their families in Wuchang would be killed to pay for me. The reason why we did not kill the relatives of those officials in Changsha was because we did not tell them that there would be such an outcome. Killing without teaching is called being crippled. Now that I have made it clear to everyone what the outcome of this matter will be, please bear the consequences. "
Hearing that he would be killed and his family would be killed, Guan Wen was so angry that his braids almost stood on end. He roared, "How dare you threaten me?"
Second Lieutenant Sun Likang of the Liberation Army smiled slightly. "I am only here to convey the news. The decision is not in my hands. How can you say that I am threatening you?"
In the past, no one had dared to speak to the Governor of Huguang like this. Guan Wen was almost mad with anger. Before he could order his men to drag Sun Likang out and behead him. An official beside him immediately stood up and shouted at the soldiers, "Aren't you going to throw this traitor out of the city? What are you waiting for? "
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