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Ceng Guofan had a high opinion of Zuo Zongtang. After reading Zuo Zongtang's letter to Jiang Zhongyuan, Ceng Guofan breathed a sigh of relief. He sighed and said, "Ji Gao has also reached the north of the Yangtze River."
Jiang Zhongyuan knew that Zuo Zongtang had always looked down on Ceng Guofan, so he suspected that Ceng Guofan's words had any malice. Ceng Guofan still looked calm, but there was some joy in his expression. Jiang Zhongyuan could only think that Ceng Guofan had no malice for the time being.
The Xiang Army, the Huai army, and the Chu army, the three local armed forces, were already north of the Yangtze River. The Manchu Qing's Green Camp was lost near Hangzhou. If there was no miracle, this armed force, which appeared almost at the same time as the Taiping army, would come to an end. According to Jiang Zhongyuan's information, perhaps not long after the Jiangnan camp was destroyed, the Taiping Rebellion would also be wiped out by Vézé. After wiping out the Taiping Rebellion, Vézé's next goal was naturally the Qing Army north of the Yangtze River.
"Brother Shisheng, can we defend the Huai River?" Jiang Zhongyuan asked.
Facing the extremely discouraging question, Ceng Guofan did not refute it. Not long ago, the Liberation Army attacked Chao Lake by land and water. At this time, Chao Lake was already the headquarters of the Xiang Army navy. Peng Yulin set up several blockades on the waterway from the Yangtze River to Chao Lake. But these blockades were easily broken through. The ships that rushed into Chao Lake had no sails or oars. They could only see smoke billowing from the big chimneys on the ships. The Liberation Army's ships had sandbags hanging outside their hulls. If they were far away, they used cannons. If they were near, they used guns. Whether it was big ships or small ships, they were sunk after fighting with the Liberation Army's flexible and powerful steam ships.
The small and medium-sized ships could escape to Luzhou, but the big ships also desperately escaped to the Fei River and finally ran aground in the river. The navy officers and men jumped off the ships and fled along the river. The whole navy lost more than 60% of ships and more than 40% of officers and men.
Ceng Guofan did not choose to commit suicide like he did in the Battle of Hukou. It was too embarrassing to do this in front of a straightforward person like Jiang Zhongyuan. Jiang Zhongyuan's suggestion was very simple. It had only been half a year since the Xiang army took back Huainan and was far from being able to firmly establish a foothold in Huainan. Since they could not win, they could only retreat. of it. of Huai Xiong Shao. of of the Army. of Li of Rong. No matter how brave the Recovery Army was, it had been more than seven years since they left Huainan. It would take at least a year and a half to straighten out the situation there. "Jiang Army" of Di of of Qian Tian of. "Hao of Hua" was "Jiang" of Zhongyuan.
Of course, if it was in the past, Jiang Zhongyuan would have run into big problems. Losing territory was a very serious crime. Many Manchu Qing officials waited for death in their cities after losing their cities. For them, after escaping with their lives and returning to the territory controlled by the court, what awaited them was death.
But times were different. In Jiangnan, especially in Jiangxi, the Taiping army was in a tug-of-war with the Xiang Army, Huai army, and Chu army. Cities could be taken today and lost tomorrow. It was a common occurrence. The rule of not losing a city had relaxed a lot. More importantly, in the past, the Manchu Qing court had an overwhelming advantage in military strength and territory over the rebels.
When Vézé's Liberation Army faced the Manchu Qing, they had an overwhelming advantage in both military strength and combat ability. Even if they were slightly weaker in territory, when Vézé took the south of the Huai River, it would be a flourishing southern court. The situation that Xianfeng feared the most during his lifetime had appeared.
The current situation in the court was very favorable to Jiang Zhongyuan, Ceng Guofan, and Zuo Zongtang. After the death of Emperor Xianfeng, Ci 'an, Cixi, and Prince Gong Yi, nicknamed "Devil Six", launched a coup. Together, they launched a coup d'état and killed the eight ministers. The six-year-old Emperor Tongzhi ascended the throne.
The Eight Ministers of Life controlled the Eight Banners and the Green Camp. When they got rid of the Eight Ministers, the Eight Banners and the Green Camp became unreliable. Ci 'an immediately chose new thugs. These new thugs were naturally the Xiang Army, Huai army, and Chu army. These three armies all had one thing in common. They were not part of the Eight Banners or the Green Camp.
At this time, Jiang Zhongyuan received a secret edict from Empress Dowager Ci 'an, asking him to report to the capital. Jiang Zhongyuan was very smart. His capable subordinate Li Hongzhang was a Jinshi of two generations. His good friend Ceng Guofan was also a Jinshi and had a lot of experience in the central government. As soon as everyone discussed it, they knew there was something fishy going on.
Who was Jiang Zhongyuan? He was a hero whose loyalty shook the world. He was the founder of the Xiang Army, Huai army, and Chu army. If they wanted to summon Jiang Zhongyuan to the capital, demote him or kill him, they didn't need to go to any trouble. They could do it with a decree. They spent so much effort to summon Jiang Zhongyuan to the capital from thousands of li away. It was certainly not as simple as having Jiang Zhongyuan report to the capital.
Whether it was to guard against or to use the Xiang Army, Huai army, and Chu army, Ceng Guofan and Li Hongzhang both believed that the court would not have any unfavorable plans against Jiang Zhongyuan. Mobilizing Jiang Zhongyuan also gave the Xiang Army, Huai army, and Chu army a reason to withdraw to the north of the Huai River.
Before Jiang Zhongyuan went to the capital, he asked Ceng Guofan again about defending the Huai River. Ceng Guofan said very resolutely, "We can't lose the Huai River. If we can't defend it, the world of the Qing Dynasty will really be over."
Hearing Ceng Guofan's attitude, Jiang Zhongyuan said, "Brother Shisheng, I will come back as soon as possible after entering the capital. There may be a reason why we can't defend Luzhou. If we can't defend the Huai River, I will die with Suzhou. "
These words were said seriously, and Jiang Zhongyuan also thought so. However, if these words were heard by the Military Commission of the Liberation Army, they would probably die of laughter. The military command of the Manchu Qing was only at this level. For them, those strategic points could not be lost. From another point of view, after losing the strategic points, they were helpless.
As if to test Jiang Zhongyuan's determination, when he was about to retreat, many regimental armed forces ran to Luzhou to ask Jiang Zhongyuan to save them.
The Liberation Army did not attack Luzhou immediately. After blocking the Fei River, attacking Luzhou was not the most urgent task. In Shen Xin's opinion, they could attack Luzhou at any time, but there was not always a good opportunity to rally the people.
The Liberation Army followed the "Dai Road Party" of Huainan into the countryside of Huainan. Wherever they went, the Liberation Army found that the anger of the people had reached the verge of explosion. In the past nine years, the power of the big landlords had been greatly restrained. They paid the most grain, but because they refused to send their children to join the army, they had no influence in the Taiping army. On the contrary, the children of the poor joined the army in large numbers in order to make a living or even to eat. After coming from the Taiping army, these poor people had a strong backbone and were not afraid of the big landlords.
After the Xiang Army and the Huai army wiped out the Huainan Taiping army, the world, which had been turned upside down, returned to the way it was nine years ago. The revenge of the big landlords who had suffered at the hands of the poor was extremely fierce.
The families of the poor who dared to destroy the "dignity" of the big landlords in the countryside were cruelly retaliated. If they wanted to retaliate, they had to be armed. The big landlords, without exception, formed regimental training. After the regimental training took revenge on the poor and established their prestige, they began to encroach on the fertile fields of the small and medium-sized landlords.
When the Liberation Army killed their way into the countryside, it was just when the big landlords were at their most arrogant. It was impossible for Shen Xin to personally lead the troops to the place. The reports sent back like snowflakes from the Liberation Army were full of bloody killings between the same clan members in the countryside of Huainan. The big landlords carried out the policy of "return what you took from me, spit out what you ate from me". The people of Huainan, especially the small and medium-sized landlords who had been tormented to the point of bankruptcy, completely understood one thing. If they could not completely wipe out the power of the big landlords and give the big landlords a chance to fight back, then they would die without a burial place.
They were of the same clan and the same clan, so the revenge was extremely cruel. The people who had been taught a lesson in blood made the big landlords pay several times the price. In many places, the whole families of the big landlords were killed, and their lackeys were all killed.
Many of the big landlords were smart. After learning the news, they did not wait to die, but fled to Luzhou, hoping to get the protection of the government. They hoped to get the support of the government, so that the government could send troops to help them take back their property.
After listening to the crying complaints of the big landlords, Jiang Zhongyuan was so angry that his braids almost stood up. Ceng Guofan just sneered and said, "Min Qiao, I told you long ago that the unruly people must be killed. If the court doesn't kill the unruly people, the unruly people will rebel against the court. If the gentry and landlords don't kill the unruly people, the unruly people will kill the landlords and gentry. I've never been a bloodthirsty person. If I could spare their lives, why would I kill them? But I really have to kill! "
Jiang Zhongyuan did not refute this time. The bloody reality also taught Jiang Zhongyuan that the conflict between the landlords and the common people was completely irreconcilable. In Jiang Zhongyuan's mind, the peace and prosperity was like this. The officials could prevent mergers and control the landlords and gentry. And the landlords and gentry relied on their clans to maintain the harmonious social order in the countryside.
And according to the situation described by the landlords and gentry who fled to Luzhou, the harmonious environment in the countryside had been completely shattered. The Liberation Army only supported the poor, and the ambitious small and medium-sized landlords also defected to the Liberation Army. These three parties joined hands to slaughter the big landlords and the clan elders. The tradition of the entire Huainan countryside was completely shattered.
Jiang Zhongyuan did not like killing people, and what he could not accept was that the traditional rural system was completely shattered. Tightly gritting his teeth, Jiang Zhongyuan squeezed out a sentence, "Let's retreat now! If we lose in Huainan, who can save the world? "
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