When Shi Xiangzhen arrived, Hunan governor Luo Bingzhang hurriedly ordered the county magistrate Wang Xin and the prefecture magistrate Zhu Sunyi to lead 3,000 troops to bravely meet the enemy. He also quickly consulted Zeng Guofan: Can Changsha be protected? Would you like to train your troops first?
Zeng Guofan sat in silence for a day without saying anything; all the generals wrote in blood to invite him to fight. The vassal of the country thought deeply for a night and said to the emperor: On November 23rd of last year, I was ordered to assist in the suppression of Anhui Province. It has been two months since then. Once the memorial was made, as soon as the warships were assembled and the cannon was released, they set off, and the two memorials were recorded.
The work at the Hengzhou Shipyard was completed on the twenty-sixth day of the first lunar month, and I set out on my own on the twenty-eighth day. The shipyard in Xiangtan has not yet been completed. When I arrived in Xiangtan, I had to stay for several days and supervise the work day and night. When they arrived in Changsha, they collected more than thousands of pieces of ordnance and carried more than 200,000 medicines. They had to wait for several days before embarking on a long march to the lower reaches.
The ships operated by the minister, Tuoji No. 1, Kuai Xrab No. 10, Changlong No. 50, and three-plank boat No. 150, were all modeled after the Guangdong warships. The fishing hook boat No. 120 was also modified to carry baggage. Number one hundred. One hundred and fifty of the cannons were borrowed from Guangxi. There were 80 purchasers in Guangdong last year and 240 this year. There are more than 100 purchasers in this province.
The brave men recruited were 5,000 by land and 5,000 by navy. Each land army is organized into a large camp, and those with less than 500 are called small camps. The waterway is divided into ten camps, with the front, back, left, middle and right being the five main camps. In addition to the main camp, it is divided into five auxiliary camps. The main camp flag is solid color, and the secondary camp flag is bordered. The land route has been practiced for a long time, and the difference is still useful; the water route recruitment is too sudden, and there is nothing to rely on yet.
The food table prepared contains 12,000 shi of rice, 18,000 shi of coal, 40,000 kilograms of salt, and 30,000 kilograms of oil. All the utensils needed by the army and the craftsmen who apply them will be carried along with them. Taking into account the captains and attendants on the land route, the hired sailors on the waterway, and the Bian and Ding servants on the grain platform, the total army is about 17,000 people.
My talents are shallow and I have no experience, so I am not qualified to rule the masses. However, in this autumn when things are difficult and people are distracted, if we don't widely call for help and raise our reputation, we won't be able to meet the thieves first, and the soldiers will be discouraged and unable to move forward. Therefore, he sent letters to Fuchen and tried his best to manage the business in order to achieve this goal. There is no time to think deeply about the success or failure of things, and there is no time to think carefully about the availability of pay. However, if you want to boost people's morale a little, you can show a little sincerity in serving your orders.
The official said in front of him that he would wait until Zhang Jingxiu unloaded his artillery and arrived at Chu before he could be released. Zhuan Ben came back from Guangdong and learned that Zhang Jingxiu was serving as a memorial for Guangdong Province and could not go to Chu. The gun to renew the purchase cannot be obtained suddenly. The thieves downstream are eager for sparks, and I must delay them. Merge Chen Ming. The departure date of all the ministers will be recorded by the post office five hundred miles away. Fuqi Emperor's holy teachings. I would like to play.
After Zeng Guofan completed the sparring, he discussed again and again with Chen Shijie, Guo Songtao and others to attack the Cantonese bandits.
The proclamation reads: It has been five years since the rebel Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing declared rebellion! It poisoned millions of lives and ravaged prefectures and counties for more than 5,000 miles. All ships, big and small, and people, rich and poor, were plundered and no grass was left behind. Those who are captured by thieves will be stripped of their clothes and searched for money. If they have five taels of silver and do not offer it to the thieves, they will be beheaded. The men were given one piece of rice per day, and they were driven forward before the battle, and they were driven to build the city and dredge it. Women are given a piece of rice every day, and they are driven to climb the ridge to keep vigil at night, and they are driven to transport rice and carry coal. If a woman refuses to remove her feet, she will be beheaded as a sign to all the other women. If the boat owner conspired to escape, his body would be carried upside down to show to the other boats. The Guangdong bandits feel comfortable, wealthy and honorable, but they regard our people who are threatened by the two lakes and three rivers as inferior to dogs and hogs. This is so cruel and cruel that no one with blood can hear it without being shocked by it.
Since the Tang and Yu dynasties, saints throughout the ages have supported famous religions and emphasized human relations. The order of monarch and minister, father and son, superior and inferior, and respect and inferiority is as good as the crown and shoes and cannot be inverted. The Cantonese bandits stole the thoughts of foreigners and worshiped the teachings of God. Since he pretended to be a king and pretended to be a minister, he had captured soldiers and lowly servants and called them brothers. It was said that only heaven could call him father. In addition, the fathers of all people were brothers, and the mothers of all people were sisters. Farmers cannot cultivate their own land in order to pay taxes, but they say that the fields belong to the king of heaven; merchants cannot buy their own goods for interest, but they say that the goods belong to the king of heaven; scholars cannot recite the scriptures of Confucius, but there are other so-called sayings of Jesus and the New Testament. "The book, which exemplifies thousands of years of Chinese etiquette, righteousness, human ethics, poetry, books, and canons, will be swept away once it is swept away. This is not the only change in the Qing Dynasty. It is also a strange change in the famous religion since the founding of the world. Confucius and Mencius cried bitterly in Jiuyuan. Anyone who can read and write can sit back and relax without thinking about what he is doing.
Since ancient times, people have merit and virtue, but if they don't, they are gods. The king's way governs the bright, and the divine way governs the quiet. Even though the rebellious ministers and thieves are cruel and ugly, they always respect the gods. When Li Zicheng went to Qufu, he did not violate the temple, and when Zhang Xianzhong went to Zitong, he also offered sacrifices to Wenchang. The Cantonese bandits burned the academic officials of Chenzhou, destroyed the wooden master who declared the saint, and left ten sages and two verandas in ruins. In the counties and counties that he passed through, the temples were destroyed first, and the loyal ministers and righteous men, such as Emperor Guan and King Yue, also defiled their palaces and mutilated their bodies and heads. Even Buddhist temples, Taoist temples, city gods, and social altars will be burned and no images will be destroyed. This is the anger shared by ghosts and gods, and they want to shake this to the underworld.
Under the orders of the emperor, our headquarters commanded 20,000 troops and marched by land and water. I vowed to sacrifice my courage and sacrifice my courage to save my captive ship and find the people who were threatened. It not only relieves the industriousness of the king and father, but also comforts the hidden pain of Confucius and Mencius' human relations. Not only to avenge the unjust killing of millions of living beings, but also to avenge the humiliation of the gods above and below.
It is used to spread the message far and near, so that people can hear it and know it. If there are bloody men who call for volunteers to help me in the expedition, I will take them as my confidants and provide them with food rations. If there are gentlemen who hold true to the Tao, who deplore the Catholic Church's rampage in the Central Plains, and are outraged to defend our Tao, the shogunate of this ministry will be waiting to welcome you. If there is a righteous and benevolent person who donates silver to help with salary, if the amount is less than a thousand gold, he will be given a receipt. If it is more than a thousand gold, I will give you a special memorial. If there is a person who has been trapped among thieves for a long time, finds himself and returns, kills his leader, and surrenders in the city, he will be collected under the tent of the main hall and receive an official title. Anyone who has been threatened for many years, whose hair has grown several inches, who abandons his weapons before the battle and surrenders with his bare hands will be spared death. The capital was repatriated and borrowed.
In the past, at the end of the Han, Tang, Yuan and Ming dynasties, there were as many thieves as hair, and they were all driven by political chaos and could not be eliminated. Today, your son is diligent and vigilant, respects Heaven and cares for the people, does not add taxes to the fields, and does not tax the households. With the profound benevolence of the saints, he fights against the tyrannical and rogue thieves. No matter how late he is, he will eventually perish, and he will not wait for the wise to understand. If you, a man under threat, are willing to obey and resist heaven's punishment, if a large army crushes you, your jade and stone will be destroyed, and you cannot be more distinguished.
The virtues of this department are rare, and only the word "loyalty" is the foundation of the march. There are the sun and the moon above, ghosts and gods below, the vast water of the Yangtze River is clear, and the souls of the loyal ministers and martyrs who died in the previous time are in the shadow. This is a true reflection of my heart. Listen to my words. It's as good as the law and order, and there's nothing wrong with it!
On February 25, 1854, Zeng Guofan swore an oath in Hengzhou and ordered Chu Ruhang to be the commander of the navy and Taqibu to be the vanguard of the army. He took 240 warships and 120 fishing boats and led 17,000 troops eastward along the river.
Zeng Guofan sailed on the Xiangjiang River and came to Changsha. After consulting Luo Bingzhang, the governor of Hunan, about the Eastern Expedition, he repeated: Guizhou Liping Mansion was promoted to Dao Hu Linyi, and he was sent to Hubei by the governor Wu Wenrong. This officer brought 600 Guizhou brave men with him, and went from Guizhou to Hubei. They arrived at Jinkou in the late first month of the first month, just as the Huangzhou division was defeated and thieves were on the move. The Qianyong recruited by this officer were mountain people and were not used to water warfare. With no pay, no husband, and no goods and medicine pots and tents, we cannot move forward. According to this officer's report, he sent a report to Nan Fuchen and his ministers to the camp, asking for rations and weapons to be recorded. The ministers sent letters to Fuchen, sent personnel to unpack the medicine delivery tents, and allocated two thousand taels of silver to provide financial assistance. The minister planned to send Lu Yong in advance to join the members to aid Hubei, but at a time when bandits were harassing Yuezhou and Xiangyin and the roads were blocked, the members still turned back. I think that since the Yuezhou area has been harassed by thieves, I should conquer Yuezhou first to prevent the north and south from being blocked, so that the whole army can move eastward. We are now planning to order this officer to temporarily station himself near Yuezhou. I will immediately go east to join the officer, Du Yong, in advance to suppress the attack.
Chen Shijie, an aide, said: "Commander Di is commanding tens of thousands of soldiers. He is unprecedented and unparalleled. Why don't you enter Changsha for a while?"
Zeng Guofan sipped tea and looked around, and said sadly: "My city in Changsha is very close at hand, but it's a pity that it's not even close. Wang Xin, a boy who returned to Pushan, has a hard-to-pronounce nickname. He just sighs that it's rugged and weird. The understanding is beyond human expectation. This son, with only three thousand Xiang Yong, fought fiercely at Jinggang for three days, and finally defeated the rebel army's offensive, he is a true tiger general. I order: Deputy General Taqi Bu and Supervisor Zou Shouzhang will lead two thousand Lu Yong, and the Qian Commander Yang Zaifu, Peng Yulin, a student officer, led the Second Battalion of the Navy to march north to Yuezhou and drive the bandits out of Hunan; Hu Linyi of Guidong Road and Lin Yuanen, the former magistrate of Pingjiang County, worked together to wipe out the local bandits in Pingjiang."
Wang Xin, Hu Linyi, and Taqibu attacked together. Shi Xiangzhen gradually became unable to support himself and had to give up Ningxiang, Jinggang and Yuezhou and retreat to the Hubei region.
When Yang Xiuqing heard about it, he ordered Lin Shaozhan, the right deputy prime minister of Spring Officials, to lead 30,000 troops to help Shi Xiangzhen.
Zuo Zongtang returned to Hunan from Hubei and retired to Xiangyin. He encountered stragglers and bandits. Zongtang was surprised and said to Zuo Zongzhi: "I heard that thieves are about to enter Zimu Cave to capture me, and I am very happy."
Zuo Zongzhi said: "If the thief finds you, cut him into pieces! Zeng Guofan and Luo Bingzhang invite you again and again. Zeng Guofan and Guo Songtao started from scratch, so they can ignore it for the time being. Luo Bingzhang is sincere and sincere, and everything in Chu and Xiang is entrusted to you! You turned a deaf ear. Do you want to sign up?"
Zuo Zongtang said: "How can I care for Xiao? I'm so proud now! In this way, I can't help myself, how can I do it reluctantly?"
Zuo Zongtang rushed to Changsha, and Luo Bingzhang cried for joy. He was about to deal with everything in the military and political affairs.
On March 30, 1854, Taqibu and Zou Shouzhang led the Xiangyong into Yuezhou City, and Zeng Guofan also followed the navy to station at Nanjin Port in Yuezhou.
Chen Shijie said: "Hu Linyi from Guidong Road and Lin Yuanen from Pingjiang County, a former magistrate, fought with thieves in Pingjiang and won the battles one after another."
Zeng Guofan said: "Hu Runzhi's talent is ten times better than mine. He arrived a year earlier and things could not have happened like this. I ordered the navy to search the lake branch to the west; Taqi Budu led the land army to drive east to suppress Chong and Tong and eliminate them. Remaining enemy."
Yuezhou was regained and Emperor Xianfeng was at peace. Suddenly, the Governor of Siberia from Tsarist Russia sent an envoy to visit him. He said that Russia was fighting the British for Kashmir. In order to prevent the British from sneaking into Russia's Far East territory, he was specially ordered by the Tsar to rush to the Pacific via Heilongjiang.
Emperor Xianfeng was furious and flatly refused.
The Russian Archpriest in Beijing, Baradi, secretly informed the Siberian Governor-General Muravyov: Civil strife is raging in China, and we should take advantage of it and capture Heilongjiang. The Qing Emperor is overwhelmed and must compromise with me. Don't miss this best opportunity.
Muravyov received the report and led more than a thousand troops to the lower reaches of Heilongjiang, including Tuntun, Temple Street, and Kemer Bay.
Emperor Xianfeng urgently ordered Heilongjiang General Yige: The Cantonese bandits are raging, and the war cannot be divided. Monitor closely and report at any time, and do not act rashly.
Prince Gong Yi Xin said: "Xu Naizhao wiped out the Xiaodao Hui bandits and accidentally killed the barbarian women. There may also be border provocations in Shanghai."
Emperor Xianfeng said: "Xu Naizhao suppressed the bandits for half a year, but failed to achieve any results, so he was dismissed immediately. Jierhang'a personally fired the cannons, took the lead, conquered five cities, and was commendable for his loyalty and bravery. He was promoted to the chief envoy of Jiangsu, temporarily appointed governor of Jiangsu, and commanded Shanghai. All armies, only suppress bandits and bandits, do not start provocations on the side."
Yi Xin said: "Qi Shan said: The army has no food, but the soldiers have food. They die in battle and no one can recruit. The skills of Fusui are exhausted. Besides, there is no shortage of pay in other military camps. They are so close to each other. How can the soldiers know nothing about it? . Responsible for fighting is the same, but for the army is different, and all things are reasonable, it cannot be called peace. If the army loses its morale, it may be out of control."
Emperor Xianfeng said: "Qishan is a good person. In Guazhou, the thieves can't hide. In Jiangpu, they are impossible to guard against, and there is no confidence in the suppression. They can only mobilize the team to capture the spies, and they will play for a few days. Such a person , which is completely different from Zeng Guofan and Jiang Zhongyuan."
Yi Xin said: "Last month, Qu Tenglong, Dexing'a, Ju Dianhua and others from the Jiangbei camp jointly attacked Guazhou, but failed to return. Qu Tenglong cut off the rear with a few soldiers, drank on the road, and was surrounded and killed by thieves. Qi Shan led the army. , since the victory of Yangzhou, there has been no success and the enemy has lost many important officials."
Emperor Xianfeng said: "The rebels use Zhenjiang as their nest, and Guazhou is its corner. If you want to clear the river, you must use your navy to attack Zhenjiang from the south after conquering Guazhou, and attack with the remaining Wanqing water and land forces. If you can conquer Zhenjiang, then Navy ships can reach Jinling directly. I order: Commander Qi Shan leads Jiaoshan Navy to advance by land and water simultaneously and conquer Guazhou first."
Ye Changchun, the commander-in-chief of the Jiao Shanshui Division, was afraid of fighting, and sometimes Hou Feng repaired his weapons, often going through ten days of fighting.
Qishan attacked Guazhou again for more than a month, but to no avail. Zaishu: Zhenjiang and Guazhou are close to the center of the river, and the Jinshan Bandit Camp has cannons set up opposite each other. They are connected together and have the same sound. Even if there are many warships, it will be difficult to stop them. Now that the river has risen, there are three trenches in Guazhou, which are fed by the river. They are twice as wide and deep as usual. The company of ministers ordered the land officers and soldiers to attack. As soon as the bandits on the east bank saw the officers and soldiers, they closed the base and fired artillery; the bandits on the west bank blocked the water and did not go out to fight. A little closer to the thief's trench, the cannons rained down. The current value is strong and windy, and it is not easy to win. The only way is to try to bypass and attack with camera.
Emperor Xianfeng sighed and said: "I only want Zeng Guofan and the red single ship?"
