"Commander... Something bad has happened..." The staff officer rushed to the commander's side, rolled his saddle and dismounted, and was about to salute.
"It's important to talk about business, let's talk quickly..." Zuo Zongtang saw that the usually gentle and gentle staff officer was so panicked, and a bad premonition suddenly came into his heart.
"Commander! A message from Tacheng was sent by a flying pigeon...General Rongquan of Yili sent a message..."
"Keep your voice down!" Liu Jintang quickly reached out and blocked his mouth. When Zuo Zongtang saw that he was on the street, he jumped off his horse, and the three of them got together and got into the corner.
Dozens of guards immediately changed their formations, forming a circle with shoulders and backs leaning on each other, with their faces facing the outside, tightly protecting the commander and others inside.
"The flying pigeons in Tacheng sent a message... The Rakshasa ghosts have taken action! They dispatched cavalry from Balkhash Lake all the way east, and now they have completely captured the Ili Valley!"
"All our land west of the Tianshan Mountains...is gone!"
"Ah!" Zuo Zongtang whispered. He felt a pain in his heart and leaned against the wall. Two of his men rushed to help him.
Zuo Zongtang held back his discomfort and waved his hand, "Continue talking!"
"Yes... General Rongquan wrote in his letter that all the Kulun veterans who stayed in the Ili Valley resolutely carried out the previous task of strengthening the wall and clearing the country!"
"The forage, food, and military supplies of the army have all been burned... Some of the veterans died on the battlefield, while some of the veterans risked their lives and rushed to the Tianshan Pass on a snowy night..."
"Countless soldiers died of cold and starvation along the way..."
Needless to say how cold winter is in the Central Asian Plateau and Tianshan Mountains, venturing across the Tianshan Mountains in this season is simply asking for death.
Zuo Zongtang couldn't stop crying. He knew that there were only a few words in Fei Ge's biography, but the Yili River Valley must have been in ruins. It was impossible to count how much blood there was between these words.
"They took action... Those damn Rakshasa ghosts took action anyway. They are determined to rob the Western Region from us!"
"That's it, that's it...send someone immediately to invite King Shangtai to come to the palace...I want this money!"
The news of the invasion of Tsarist Russia finally made Zuo Zongtang make his final determination. At that moment, his last loyalty to the Manchus turned into unwilling resentment. He chewed it up with the cold wind blowing in his face, and then swallowed it. .
"Haha... Two million taels, just give me two million taels and let me take back the entire Western Region... Hahaha, what an impressive court!"
"Twenty-nine million taels... a small 300 million yuan... but the rebellious officials and traitors got it into their hands!"
"What is right, what is wrong, what is loyalty, what is traitor... just live in confusion!"
Zuo Zongtang finally made up his mind. He abandoned his personal honor, disgrace and reputation, and for the sake of the entire Western Region to belong to the Central Plains, and for the sake of the family business of future generations, he finally swallowed Xiao Letian's cup of honey mixed with poison.
He knew very well that his decision would definitely make the Manchu and Qing court resentful. Those bastards themselves gave two million, but they would never allow others to give more.
These thousands of miles of land in the Western Regions, they would rather sell it to the foreign devils than leave it to the Han people!
Zuo Zongtang will definitely be scolded in the rest of his life, and may even be retaliated against, but he can't care about all this!
After making up his mind, Zuo Zongtang became more relaxed. He looked at his staff and asked, "If there is any other news, please tell me!"
"Yes! There is another news...that..."
"What are you doing coquettishly? If you have something to say, you will fart if you have something to say!"
"Commander...there is also an expedition team coming from Tacheng, and it's from the British!"
"Damn it, this Western Region is in such a state of chaos that it's quite strange. Are there expedition teams from both the east and the west? What kind of treasure are they trying to dig up? Is there anything worth worrying about!"
"Commander, this expedition is led by your old acquaintance...the Englishman, Sir Gordon!"
"Ah? Gordon from the ever-victorious foreign gun team? Why is he here again..."
During the suppression of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Zuo Zongtang and Gordon met several times. Although we cannot say how deep the friendship was, there was still a nod of friendship.
As soon as he heard that Gordon had brought an expedition team from the west today, he knew that something was serious.
"Commander, Gordon's expedition team also has several guards from Ouchi, Doro, Guan Lu... they were all personal guards when he went abroad to study with Lord Long Live..."
"Hiss...Long Live Lord's bodyguard? Why are you coming from the west?"
"They came ashore from India. In India, these people separated from Long Live Lord, went all the way north to the Afghan plateau and bypassed southern Xinjiang, and ventured here under the banner of the British!"
"And these people just happened to catch up with the Rakshasa ghosts invading Ili, and they also escaped with a narrow escape..."
Zuo Zongtang's head suddenly started spinning, "The imperial court, Xiao Letian, Long Live Lord... why are they all looking for me? I just want to take back the Western Region, why is it so difficult!"
Zuo Zongtang, who has been immersed in officialdom for many years, is quite aware of the intrigues within the imperial court. Prince Gong Yixin is training new troops in Xishan, Beijing, and has spent four to five million taels of silver so far.
But why did Emperor Tongzhi personally recruit troops to form a new imperial guard army in Fujian, his own sphere of influence?
The water here is very deep!
Xiao Letian sent King Shang Tai to act as a lobbyist to give him money. The personal bodyguards of Emperor Tongzhi from the west also came to meet him secretly, and even brought Gordon, an Englishman.
A fool can smell the difference in the smell here.
"I just want to fight this national war well, I just want to regain the Western Region... Why do you keep dragging me into some dirty puddle!"
"Fuck it, fighting civil war is addictive, isn't it? Isn't it..."
Liu Jintang's face turned pale with fright. He rushed forward, hugged the handsome man's arm and cried to persuade him, "My good handsome man, this is the street, we can't talk nonsense..."
"Please keep your voice down, God knows where the spies are... He knows people, faces but not hearts, so please stop yelling!"
"Let's go back to the Yamen, let's go back to the Yamen first... we will find a way, there will definitely be a way!"
"If it doesn't work, we won't leave after we capture the Western Region. Whoever likes to make trouble in the Central Plains can make trouble... No one of us will offend, we will just watch the show on the side. When they decide the winner, it will not be too late for us to talk... "
Zuo Zongtang looked up to the sky and sighed, letting the cold wind dry his tears. "Yes, let's go back to the camp... Let's pack our things, and tomorrow I will personally escort King Shangtai to the west..."
"Commander, are you going to Guazhou? Oh, why don't you take a break in such a cold weather... This journey is too difficult, and Xu Zhanbiao has just recovered Guazhou, and the local bandits haven't cleaned up yet..."
"Shut up! Am I still afraid of those little bag thieves? I met with Xiao Letian's envoy today, shouldn't I go meet with Long Live Lord's envoy?"
"Since I'm regarded as the head of the brothel, can I not accept customers? Come on, let me see what other bits and pieces there are!"
"I want to have a good national war, but why is it so difficult! Let's go... to Guazhou, I'll stay away from them!"
