"Alas..." Wu Chongyao sighed longly. He still didn't understand Dong Liang's character.

After a while, as his understanding of Dong Liang deepened, he would no longer be secretly worried about such trivial matters.

However, at this time in the palace of the head of state, Dong Liang was scolded by Shang Yun.

"A-Liang, you shouldn't reject Wu Chongyao directly like this. The Wu family is the general merchant of the Thirteenth Bank of Guangzhou. They are worth tens of millions and are of great value to our Chinese family. These businessmen have low status, but they are actually the most sensitive

If you reject him like this, wouldn't it be a disgrace to his face and make people feel resentful?"

"Then what should I do? If I accept Wu Meiniang today, tomorrow someone else will send Wang Meiniang, Sun Meiniang... You know, too many women, too many right and wrong..."

At this point, Dong Liang felt that it was inappropriate to talk to Shang Yun like this, and quickly added: "It would be great if all girls were as virtuous as Yun'er. With superb medical skills and reasonableness, she is truly a good wife for her husband."

Dong Liang rarely said coaxing words, and Shang Yun was reluctant to expose him.

"Now I'm almost being called a jealous woman. You can't do it without a woman here. You can't let the people in the attendant's room and the guard team do the work of serving tea and water. This will be regarded as rude by others."

Seeing that Dong Liang was unmoved, Shang Yun came up with his trump card: "I discussed with Sister Yingying last time to set up a secretariat in the Head of State and recruit some trustworthy women to do some service work. Sister Yingying

I also think this is very necessary.”

"Then you are not afraid that I will create a harem?" Dong Liang was really convinced, he teased Shang Yun with a smile.

"If you have the ability, do it. I just have a lot of helpers. If you don't have the ability, this miracle doctor can also prepare some medicine for you. Don't worry, it will definitely be the kind without side effects." Shang Yun didn't follow Dong Liang's tricks.

, she is not the kind of girl who has never seen the world.

She didn't know how many times she had dissected men's corpses, so she wouldn't be shy in front of Dong Liang.

Dong Liang was really speechless...

"Well, let me visit the Wu family when I have time to see how their girls are doing. If they are good-natured, recruit them first. From now on, these girls will be staff of the Secretariat. If you really don't like them,

People can also go out and find a place to stay."

Dong Liang felt that this plan was acceptable. He could not always let Yang Yingying and Shang Yun play the role of maids by his side.

Not long after, Guan Yan came and interrupted the conversation between the two.

Dong Liang saw the red envelope in Guan Yan's hand and knew it must be an urgent military report from the front line.

Shang Yun took the packed tea tray and said hello to Guan Yan before leaving the study.

"Head of State, good news, the troops have arrived in Ganzhou."

He handed the general's report to Dong Liang, and then introduced: "Lin Wencha's troops deceitfully opened the city gate and captured Ganzhou that day. However, the casualties were not small. The Qing army in the city resisted very resolutely. Nan Yongfu, the governor of Ganzhou, personally

He pressed down the formation and led the Qing army to charge, but was finally killed by our army. The Ganzhou detachment suffered more than 500 casualties before taking the city of Ganzhou."

"The remaining counties did not take much effort. When Lin Wencha sent the military report, he had already led his troops south to Nanxiong Mansion to block the Qing army's retreat in Shaoguan."

Lin Wencha is indeed a good person, brave and resourceful in combat, and has a certain strategic vision.

Dong Liang nodded and said: "Ask the Ministry of Industry to send people to Ganzhou as soon as possible to build another shipyard, with ships from the south and horses from the north. From now on, our operations in the south of the Yangtze River will be based on water propulsion. Ganzhou's mountains produce giant trees, and equipped with steam engines, we will

Steamboats will travel across the Yangtze River."

Guan Yan now knew why Dong Liang wanted to capture Ganzhou so early.

Ganzhou City is on the upper reaches of the Gan River and has good navigation conditions.

The escort army built a shipyard here and could reach most prefectures and counties in Jiangxi by traveling down the Gan River.

The entire terrain of Jiangxi is originally surrounded by mountains on three sides, with a large river in the middle flowing from south to north into Poyang Lake and then connecting to the Yangtze River.

The entire Jiangxi water system basically flows into the Ganjiang River.

The Ganjiang River is like an aorta, connecting the entire Jiangxi water system.

The Guards now control the upper reaches of this main artery.

As long as the escort force is strong enough, it will be a matter of time to control the lower reaches.

If the escort's combat power on the water is enough to crush the Qing army, they can leave Poyang Lake at any time and attack upstream or downstream along the Yangtze River.

By then, won’t it be easy to unify the entire South?

Guan Yan knew that the advantages of the Chinese were industrialization and shipbuilding technology that far surpassed that of the Manchus.

"Have the Taiping Army withdrew from Nanchang?" Dong Liang asked abruptly. He had not paid attention to the affairs of the Taiping Army for some time.

"Yes, Head of State, the Taiping Army failed to attack Nanchang City for ninety-five days and had to withdraw. I heard that Yang Xiuqing asked Shi Da to drive to Jiujiang and replace Lai Hanying."

"Lai Hanying is not good. He relied on nepotism to get to the position (he is Hong Xiuquan's brother-in-law). He has insufficient military capabilities. He only knows how to copy the tactics summarized by Yang Xiuqing and does not know how to adapt. He is no match for Jiang Zhongyuan." Dong Liang said.

The strategic retreat of the Taiping Army in Jiangxi also had a significant impact on the Chinese.

However, the Taiping Army did not completely retreat. Important cities such as Jiujiang were still in the hands of the Taiping Army. After Shi Dakai arrived, the Taiping Army shifted its strategic focus to Hubei in the west and Anhui in the north.

Yang Xiuqing quickly opened up the situation in Hubei and northern Anhui based on the principle that if the west is not bright, the east is bright.

But as a result, the strength of the Taiping Army became more dispersed. In the end, the Taiping Army in Hubei was wiped out by the Hunan Army, and the Taiping Army in northern Anhui fell into a tug-of-war with the Qing army.

"Führer, since the Taiping Army has retreated, should we go north? I'm thinking that the war in Shaozhou will only happen in the past few days. With our army attacking from the north and the south and losing all retreat, the Qing army won't be able to hold on for long.

"Guan Yan said.

There is nothing wrong with Guan Yan's analysis, but Dong Liang feels that it is not yet time.

"At this time, Nanchang City has gathered a large number of troops. It has just repelled the Taiping Army, and its morale is high. Moreover, all the prefectures and counties around Nanchang have been raided by the Taiping Army. This is a time when the people are in dire straits. We have not only gone there at this time,

We have to go head-to-head with the Qing army, and we have to take over a mess."

"Moreover, we occupy Ganzhou. If we want to capture Jiangxi, we have geographical advantages at any time. What's more, our navy has not been built yet. Without the cooperation of the navy, capturing Jiangxi will be half the result with half the effort." Dong Liang explained.

.

Dong Liang still wanted to wait. First, the war had just ended, and the Qing army was still on very tight alert. Second, the escort army was not ready. It would take at least a year from building the shipyard to launching the ship.

Thirdly, Guangdong has not yet stabilized. The usual approach of the Chinese is to occupy a place and digest it. Fourthly, even if Guangdong is under control, the next step of the escort army will only attack Guangxi. The two Guangxi are integrated into one.

"Führer, your strategic vision is unparalleled, but I think we will soon have to fight a defensive war in Ganzhou. The Qing army will not tolerate us controlling Ganzhou," Guan Yan said.

"Jiang Zhongyuan can indeed see this, but he will leave soon. The Qing government will definitely put such a capable commander in an important position. If it were another person, they would have to take Ganzhou.

wishful thinking."

Dong Liang said that Jiang Zhongyuan would be transferred. Guan Yan didn't believe it. Ganzhou was occupied and the crisis in Jiangxi had not yet been resolved. However, he did not refute it. Let's take a look.

The current main task of the Chinese is to consolidate the victory in Guangdong and march into Guangxi. In addition, the relationship with foreigners, especially the British, is also a thorny issue.

Dong Liang hoped to achieve a phased ceasefire. The Chinese also wanted to maintain normal trade.

With Guangdong and Fujian, the strategic depth of the Chinese can already be used for industrialization. This is what Dong Liang values ​​most.
Chapter completed!