?
"Fifty copper coins for a single trip? Two hundred copper coins for bringing information from the imperial army? Brother Luo, you aren't deceiving us, are you? "Zhou Fagui's triangular eyes were filled with disbelief.
Luo Dagang ignored the doubtful look in his triangular eyes and sat firmly on the yamen's chair. He replied seriously, "Why would I deceive my brothers?"
Vézé sat beside Luo Dagang without saying a word. Firstly, Vézé was young. Secondly, Luo Dagang was a well-known figure in Tian Di Hui while Vézé was still a nameless nobody.
However, when he saw Luo Dagang's reliable and trustworthy demeanor as a big brother, Vézé couldn't help but recall the conversation he had with Luo Dagang not long ago.
"Wayne Brothers, when there is a high reward, there will always be brave men. This saying is true. It was just that whether others thought it was heavy or not was not the same thing as whether you thought it was heavy or not. You should save that half a tael of silver reward. The one who leads the way will be given 200 copper coins, and the one who passes the message will be given 50 copper coins. That's more than enough. "Luo Dagang had a look of exasperation on his face as he earnestly educated Wei Ze.
Vézé listened very seriously and reflected on himself. However, this reflection wasn't as deep as Luo Dagang had hoped. Vézé and Luo Dagang's troops added up to two thousand five hundred men at most. It was naturally very difficult to use these two troops to obtain information on the Jianghua, Yongming, and Guanyang roads. Under these circumstances, Vézé chose to mobilize the masses.
Luo Dagang didn't object to Vézé's suggestion. He just felt that the half a tael of silver reward Vézé was offering was too heavy. In this day and age, money was cheap. In theory, one tael of silver could be exchanged for 1,000 copper coins. In reality, one tael of silver could be exchanged for 1,200 copper coins. According to Luo Dagang's method, 200 copper coins was equivalent to one-third of the price of half a tael of silver. This would save him a lot of money.
However, Vézé had a different idea. As long as he could successfully ambush and kill a thousand-strong Qing Army, he would be able to obtain a few thousand taels of silver from the corpses. This was a very realistic experience for Vézé. In the Qing Dynasty, there were no banks everywhere, let alone bank cards. When the Qing Army received their monthly pay and rewards, they carried them with them. The Taiping army adopted the Holy Treasury system. Money and goods were distributed through the Holy Treasury. At least at this stage, it was more efficient than the Qing Army. Vézé had defeated the Qing Army several times. Even though he had spent several thousand taels of silver by selling his ships outside Guilin, he had still made a net profit of more than ten thousand taels. In addition to the silver seized from Wujia Town and the silver seized from Jianghua County and Yongming County, Vézé still had seventy to eighty thousand taels of silver in his hands. Wei Ze didn't care about the small amount of money given to the person who ran the errand and reported the news.
As the saying goes, 'old ginger is spicier'. Following the negotiation between Luo Dagang and Zhou Fagui, as well as a group of Jianghua and Yongming's local Tian Di Hui leaders, Vézé was able to see through the ropes. Luo Dagang kept the money very low, he also had the attitude of not caring about the information provided by Tian Di Hui. On the contrary, it made the Tian Di Hui people feel that they had the ability to earn more by providing information.
Zhou Fagui could be considered to be patient. The Tian Di Hui leader of the Guanyang region, Luo Yongnian, had already slapped his chest and shouted, "Luo Dage, if the imperial army goes to Guanyang, Xiongdi will definitely be able to help Dage. It's just that during the battle, Luo Dage must not call Xiongdi! "
There was hope! In his heart, Vézé admired Luo Dagang even more. Originally, Vézé looked down on this motley crew of Tian Di Hui. He only wanted them to provide information and help lead the way for Vézé and the others. But Luo Dagang didn't think so. He told Vézé that these people either only wanted a small amount of money, or more likely they wanted to make a big profit. It was impossible to count on them to put forth any special effort in the battle. However, perhaps these people were willing to dispatch troops. If they could win the battle, they would definitely help 'clean up the battlefield'.
Vézé himself wanted to clean up the battlefield. After listening to Luo Dagang, Vézé almost couldn't restrain himself from laughing coldly. Vézé held back his laughter, but Luo Dagang laughed coldly instead. "Prime Minister Wei! When it's time to give a small amount of money, you don't give a small amount. When it's time to give a big amount of money, you're actually afraid of your head and feet! What did the Romance of the Three Kingdoms say about Yuan Shao? When encountering a major event, he cherishes his body; when encountering a small profit, he forgets his life! "
To be called Prime Minister by Luo Dagang was not a sign of respect, but a mockery. Being rebuked like this, Vézé was so angry that he actually laughed. "Haha, Luo Dage, if they are willing to rely on me, Xiongdi, of course I won't let down these Tian Di Hui brothers. It's just that letting them come and make a profit, Xiongdi really doesn't think it's worthwhile! It's not that Xiongdi is boasting, but if they come and fight, I'm afraid it would be better if they didn't come. "
Luo Dagang was more than twice Vézé's age, so Vézé's confident words caused Luo Dagang to stare blankly. The Taiping Rebellion had caused quite a few people in the small imperial court in Daozhou to be rather jealous of Vézé. Luo Dagang was very clear about this. The Taiping Rebellion had only been established for a few years, but the internal structure was very particular about seniority. Right now, the Taiping army only had about eleven thousand people capable of fighting. This was in addition to the three thousand people that Vézé had brought with him when he met up with the Taiping army's main force in Daozhou. Most of the people who were jealous of Vézé believed that Vézé was purely lucky. He had relied on recruiting so many people, flattering Yang Xiuqing, and handing over a thousand people to Yang Xiuqing in exchange for the position of Prime Minister today.
North King Wei Changhui's subordinates, the Wei Clan, in particular, viewed Vézé as a traitor to their clan. How could someone from the same clan not follow the same clan, but instead follow an outsider? As for the people that Vézé had painstakingly obtained, he didn't give them to the North King Wei Changhui, but instead gave them to the King Of The East, Yang Xiuqing, who didn't have the same surname, the Wei Clan didn't even bother to say anything. They had completely given up hope in Vézé.
But Luo Dagang didn't see it this way. The reason why Luo Dagang was able to be promoted to Inspector was because of the King Of The East, Yang Xiuqing's recognition and promotion. In the entire Taiping army, Luo Dagang was quite unique, even more so than Vézé. Vézé was just not the same as the North King Wei Changhui. At most, the critics would say that Vézé had latched onto Yang Xiuqing's thigh. Moreover, Yang Xiuqing was currently the second in command after Hong Xiuquan in the Taiping Rebellion. He was in charge of the military and political affairs as the Chief Strategist. Latching onto Yang Xiuqing's thigh was not something that was incomprehensible.
As for Luo Dagang himself, he had only joined the Taiping army. He didn't even join the God-worshipping religion. He had even publicly stated that he was only willing to follow the Taiping Rebellion and that he didn't believe in the God-worshipping religion. This caused the upper echelons of the Taiping army to "view him in a different light."
Hong Xiuquan, Feng Yunshan, and Xiao Chaogui were all the founders of the God-worshipping religion. It was only because Luo Dagang himself was in charge of the navy of the Taiping army. In other words, the navy of the Taiping army was Luo Dagang's subordinates and was single-handedly brought up by Luo Dagang. Therefore, they couldn't directly deal with Luo Dagang, who was an anomaly. Although Wing King Shi Dakai didn't believe in the God-worshipping religion, he still put on an act and joined it. Therefore, although Wing King Shi Dakai didn't do anything against Luo Dagang, he wouldn't publicly support him either. Only the King Of The East, Yang Xiuqing, would protect Luo Dagang in every possible way. Therefore, Luo Dagang had accumulated merits and become a Inspector. If Luo Dagang, who still had nearly two thousand brothers under his command, was willing to join the God-worshipping religion, he could easily become the Prime Minister, and his position would only be higher than Vézé's. He wouldn't be lower than Vézé's position like now.
Because of this experience, because Luo Dagang's purpose in joining the Taiping army was to conquer the world, Luo Dagang could feel that Vézé's purpose in joining the Taiping army was the same as Luo Dagang's — to overthrow Manchu Qing and conquer the world. Luo Dagang joined Jiang Hua and Vézé's forces because he wanted to fight alongside Vézé, who was an anomaly.
No matter how others said that Vézé would ride on someone's coattails, Luo Dagang didn't believe it. Yang Xiuqing was different from Feng Yunshan and Xiao Chaogui. He wasn't Hong Xiuquan's die-hard fan. Yang Xiuqing was able to have today's position partly because of his qualifications, but mostly because of his ability and meritorious service. Therefore, Yang Xiuqing's requirement for his subordinates was to be able to fight and render meritorious service. For capable people, Yang Xiuqing was not stingy with high positions and positions. Vézé had no relation with Yang Xiuqing or Feng Yunshan. Today, he was able to be promoted to Prime Minister, not because of any relationship, but because of meritorious service. Luo Dagang was very clear about this.
At present, Vézé looked like an ordinary teenager, looking down on the Tian Di Hui brothers. Luo Dagang didn't think that Vézé was arrogant after becoming complacent. On the contrary, he felt that Vézé's self-confidence was somewhat reasonable. Therefore, Luo Dagang calmed himself down and said seriously, "Wayne Brothers, if you want to make the Tian Di Hui brothers submit to you, it's very easy. Fight a battle and let the Tian Di Hui brothers clearly see that they are inferior to you. At that time, they naturally won't dare to ask for more. If you want to fight Qing Yao, the Tian Di Hui brothers won't need you to say anything. They will be willing to join you. "
Vézé stared at Luo Dagang. After making sure that Luo Dagang didn't have any intention of mocking him, he nodded heavily. "That's good! I came to Jiang Hua and Yong Ming to fight Qing Yao, and to beat Qing Yao ruthlessly! "
What Luo Dagang valued was Vézé's ruthlessness. He said with a smile, "Before we finish fighting Qing Yao, Wayne Brothers have to listen to my arrangements! You can't say anything to the Tian Di Hui brothers! "
"This is up to Brother Luo's arrangement!" Vézé didn't want to quarrel with Luo Dagang, so he readily answered.
Luo Dagang immediately sent out a hero's invitation to the surrounding Tian Di Hui and Triad brothers. He had a great reputation, and very quickly, the surrounding heroes gathered. According to the plan that Luo Dagang and Vézé had discussed beforehand, Luo Dagang requested these local powers to inform the Taiping army of the Qing Army's movements at any time.
During this meeting, Vézé also did not say a word, just as they had discussed beforehand. Since the Qing Army was going to besiege Daozhou, naturally they wouldn't just go from Yong Prefecture to Daozhou. Instead, they would attack from several directions, with several armies attacking together. The Qing Army wouldn't leave the road between Jiang Hua and Yong Ming unattended. And what Vézé wanted to do was completely annihilate the Qing Army along this road. As long as he dealt with the Qing Army along this road, Daozhou would attract the Qing Army like honey, like flies. At that time, Vézé would have full freedom of movement. Forget about turning the sky and earth upside down around Jiang Hua and Yong Ming, it wouldn't be difficult for him to return and attack the Guilin area.
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