Outside Changsha City, Iron Buddha Temple.
When Wang Kuiyi, who was dressed in a green hat and had his pigtails cut, helped Jin Aduo and limped to the Iron Buddha Temple, it was already the afternoon of the second day after Changsha was captured by the Taiping Army.
The fighting in Changsha City has been suspended. The Qing army has secured two strongholds, Tianxin Pavilion and Yingchun Gate, as well as an Iron Buddha Temple outside the city. The total strength is still seven to eight thousand, although it is not as good as the Taiping Army and Tiandihui troops in the city. The total, but it is still more than enough to hold on to it.
The Yingchun Gate is relatively easy to build. You can build it up along the city walls on both sides without going directly to the city. However, Tianxin Pavilion and the Iron Buddha Temple outside the city are not easy to remove. You can only waste time and water.
For people like Luo Bingzhang, Luo Raodian, Shengbao, and Fucheng, the battle situation in Changsha is like this for the time being, and they are not worried anymore. What really makes them uneasy is whether the Taiping Army in the city is planning to find someone. How much does Emperor Xianfeng want? If he asks for too much... he is afraid that Emperor Xianfeng Long Yan will be furious and steal the property of several of them to pay for it!
When these adults were feeling frightened in a large Zen room, they suddenly saw Master Zuo Zongtang walking in vigorously, clasping his fists and saying: "Sir, Jin Aduo is back and has brought Yuan Daozhou with him. Zhizhou Wang Bowen!" "Former Daozhou Zhizhou Wang Bowen? Why is he back?"
Luo Bingzhang, who didn't even know when he would be "locked into Beijing and handed over to the Ministry for discussion," heard Zuo Zongtang say that the unlucky Wang Kuiyi was back, and he was a little confused for a while.
If you're like that, why are you coming back? You won't hide quietly, but you can still be considered "invisible in the chaos"! Now running back by yourself, doesn't that mean you've thrown yourself into a trap? In this situation, you have to be locked in After arriving in Beijing, why don't you kill your head with a blunt knife at the market entrance? "Confucian scholar, he is here to ask for money from the emperor!" Zuo Zongtang's answer was even more astonishing.
"Asking for money from the emperor?" "Is he crazy?" "Isn't this seeking death?"
The three adults, Shengbao, Luo Raodian and Fucheng, were all shocked.
Zuo Zongtang had already entered the Zen room at this time. He fisted Luo Bingzhang, Shengbao, Luo Raodian, and Fucheng, and then he found a seat and sat down in a grand manner. Immediately, someone ordered someone to serve him tea.
Zuo Zongtang was not in a hurry to speak. He took a sip of tea slowly, moistened his throat, and then said with a smile: "He is not seeking death, nor is he crazy, he is just running an errand for Changmao. The news is the same as that of Jin Aduo. It’s just that Jin Aduo is running for us now, and he is running for Changmao... Sirs, can we meet?"
You must see it!
Luo Bingzhang sighed and said to Zuo Zongtang: "Let's meet, Ji Gao, let them in." Zuo Zongtang did not move, but opened his throat and shouted: "Aduo, Bowen, Come in!"
It turned out that Jin Aduo and Wang Kuiyi had already arrived outside the door. After Zuo Zongtang shouted, he saw Wang Kuiyi walking in from the outside with Jin Aduo on his arm. As he walked, he said to Jin Aduo with concern: " Mr. Jin, you have bad legs and feet, so be careful." Jin Aduo was also very polite and replied with a smile: "Mr. Wang, you have worked really hard."
After entering the door, Wang Kui first helped Jin Aduo, who had mobility issues, to sit down. Then, without kowtowing to the adults in the hall, he hugged his fists like Zuo Zongtang, and then found a seat by himself. He took his robe and sat down in a grand manner. "Uh-huh!"
Luo Bingzhang couldn't stand it, his face darkened, and he snorted.
Wang Kuiyi refused to give him up now, he just smiled and said: "Sir, this is going to cost a lot of money! There are more than 450 Eight Banners soldiers and more than a thousand Green Camp soldiers, including about a hundred with official status. In addition, there are more than twenty Han civil servants... The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has already settled the accounts. It requires a total of 350,000 taels of silver. Pay the money with one hand and let them go with the other! How about it? Give the emperor a discount for the money. Bar!"
"What? Three hundred and fifty thousand...impossible!" "Impossible, absolutely impossible!"
"Wang, are you crazy about money? Why don't you grab 350,000 yuan?" "How could the emperor agree? Not to mention the door, there are no windows!"
Wang Kui laughed a few times: "Isn't it just 350,000 yuan... My governor of Daozhou sent more than 20,000 taels of silver from Hou Quan to filling the vacancy... One of them Fifteen thousand taels were borrowed from Prince Dun’s palace at a high interest rate! I spent more than 20,000 taels on a fifth-grade magistrate of the state. Now the Taiping Army has dozens of Eight Banners and more than 120 officials in their hands. As long as three Is 150,000 taels considered expensive? There are also a thousand or so green camps, which is just a bonus."
"Wang Bowen, those rules you are talking about are all bad rules. When will they be brought to the forefront?" Shengbao said with a green face, "Zhangmao wants 350,000. That is simply nonsense. I really think too much!"
As soon as Wang Kui heard this, he sighed and said with a smile: "Sir Sheng, I also think they are overthinking... The emperor will not pay for those dozens of Han officials and those one thousand green battalions." Money, right?" Fucheng nodded and said, "That's not nonsense! Those people are not the emperor's own servants..."
"Hmm!"
Shengbao coughed quickly - what kind of truth is this?
Wang Kui smiled: "In this case, there are only four hundred and dozens of Eight Banners disciples... This can save a lot, a thousand green soldiers can save thirty thousand, and more than twenty Han We can save at least 20,000 for the more than 20 Han military officers and civilian officers. But... we only need bannermen, not Han people. Can this matter be discussed in the court?"
The faces of Shengbao, Fucheng, Luo Bingzhang and Luo Raodian were all a little green. Not only could they not discuss it? They should not even submit a memorial!
The memorial is to make things difficult for the emperor!
Spending 50,000 taels of silver to redeem a group of green soldiers and dirty Han officials who can eat but not fight is definitely a loss, but it seems inappropriate for the emperor to say that he only redeems the bannermen and not the Han people.
If people like Shengbao reported this matter, then the emperor would either spend money to redeem all the captured Eight Banners, Green Camp, Han officials, and flag members. Wouldn't this be taken advantage of? Or one of the Eight Banners disciples in Beijing would not... Don't you want to cry to death? Fucheng was the most honest among these people. He shook his head and said: "Even if 50,000 is subtracted, there are still 300,000 left... It's too expensive!"
Shengbao also let out a long sigh.
Luo Bingzhang and Luo Raodian were silent.
Zuo Zongtang kept staring at Wang Kuiyi and Jin Aduo. When he saw the calm and calm expressions on the two people's faces, he knew that they had something up his sleeve. He immediately handed Wang Kuiyi one by one: "Master Wang, I am a late student. Sir, you are very resourceful. You must have some clever tricks to overcome Sir Fu's difficulties, right?"
Wang Kui smiled and cupped his hands, saying: "Brother Ji Gao, now that I am a guilty person, how can I deserve to be called 'Sir' by you? After I was imprisoned and brought to Beijing, I will have to go to the market entrance, right?" Zuo Zongtang said: "It's hard to say...it would have been difficult to put it aside in the past. But now...oh, there are so many Eight Banners disciples waiting for the emperor to spend money to redeem them, and many of them are You have an official status. And now you can be regarded as running errands for the emperor and recruiting people for the Eight Banners! Can't the merits and demerits be equal to each other?"
Wang Kui turned around and looked at Shengbao and the others.
Jin Aduo, who came back with Wang Kui, said: "Master Sheng, Master Fu, on the way to Tiefo Temple with Master Wang, he had already come up with a clever trick to ensure that the matter can be fooled. "Okay, I'm trying to bully you again..."
Shengbao, Fucheng, Luo Bingzhang and Luo Raodian were all a little ashamed.
"Bowen," Luo Bingzhang said with a smile, "I really can't blame you for the fall of Daozhou! Yu Wanqing's two thousand troops were completely wiped out, what can you do as the governor of the state?" Luo Raodian also said: "Yes, you still have to Bringing eight hundred regiments from Daozhou to practice... Not bad! The scholar and I will go back and plead for you together, and ask for you to be punished and make meritorious service!" Wang Kui smiled and said: "The scholar, Su Weng... I am now Aren’t you just making meritorious deeds?”
He looked at Shengbao and Fucheng again: "Master Sheng, Master Fu... what Changmao wants is silver! It can't be less than 300,000 taels, anything else is easy to say." "Too much!"
"no………"
"Wait a minute, don't say no," Wang Kui said with a smile, "Listen to what I have to say... Let's first count all the soldiers of the Thousand Gan and Shaanxi Green Camp as dead! This way, only the ones who need to be redeemed are left Those hundreds of Eight Banners soldiers.
Secondly, we can report the bannermen among the hundreds and dozens of officials who were captured and ask the emperor to pay for it. But the Han officials... don't report it and let them pay for themselves to redeem themselves! Even if they have never been captured. ..There is a big difference between the flag member being captured and redeemed and the Han member being captured and released, right?
Those captured Han members were either candidates in the governor's yamen, or were the leading officers of the Gansu and Shaanxi Green Camps. Once they fell into the enemy's hands, they could not die, and the emperor had to spend money to redeem them... It is not said whether they can be redeemed in the future. When you become an official, you have to go through the process of being a candidate again, right? The money you spent on paving the way was wasted! You might as well spend three or four thousand taels of silver to redeem yourself, and pretend you have never been caught."
"Three or four thousand taels? It's not that expensive, right?" Luo Bingzhang immediately sensed something was wrong, "Fifty or so civil and military officials don't cost 150,000 to 60,000 yuan?" "Yes, 150,000 to 60,000 yuan!" Wang Kuiyi said, "Let's split the account with Changmao Sanqi. We will get seven and Changmao will get three."
"Ah? Are you greedy?"
Fucheng looked at Wang Kuiyi in surprise.
"Why is it greed?" Wang Kui said with a smile, "Several adults want so much money from the emperor to redeem people, shouldn't they spend all their money to pay back part of it? There should be a three-to-seven split. We will pay three, and the emperor will pay seven. .I am still guilty of bringing someone into Beijing with a lock on my back, so I should pay more than 10,000 taels of silver, right?"
Shengbao frowned: "But where can those Han officials who were captured by Changmao have the money to redeem themselves?" "You can borrow it." Wang Kui said with a smile.
"Borrow? Who can I borrow from?" Shengbao asked.
"Borrow it from Mr.. and the Hunan gentry!" Wang Kui turned to look at Zuo Zongtang, "They were captured to protect Hunan. They are also military attaches who can serve the Hunan regiment and serve as civil servants for various magistrates in Hunan. ...Mr. Ji Gao, are you willing to help them?"
"Of course I am willing!"
Chapter completed!