Jiangling County, Shashi Town.
It’s approaching the end of the year, and the temperature is still below freezing. There was a heavy snowfall a while ago, and it still hasn’t melted. There is a thick layer of white snow on the roofs of all the houses in Shashi Town. From a distance, there is a snow. It was covered in snow, but the snow on the roads in Shashi Pier and the town had long been cleared.
Imperial Envoy Seng Gelinqin, Nursing Officer Jingzhou General Officer Wen, and Huguang Governor Zhang Liangji were all standing worriedly on the pier without any snow or ice, looking at a slowly approaching, hanging " An official ship with a large flag named Zeng.
"Your Majesty, it's enough for me and Zhang Zhijun to come to greet you. You are the king of the county, and you are leading the bodyguard and the Mongolian capital with the yellow flag. Isn't it a bit too grand to come to welcome Zeng Disheng's Amma in person? Even if he raised the flag, it was just a flag. Ding, why don't you go to the garrison office in the town and rest first, there are Beizhi and Zhang Zhijun here."
The speaker was Wang Jia, the general who nursed Jingzhou. According to official documents, he was a slave of the Zhengbai Banner. According to Xianfeng's edict, Zeng Linshu, Zeng Guofan and his son were both members of the Xianghuang Banner Han Army.
The Han Army under the Xianghuang Banner is more advanced than the White Banner, and its official title is Nursing General. His official position is still the deputy commander of the left wing of the Eight Banners Garrison in Jingzhou. It seems reasonable to be the minister of regiment training and the father of the minister who personally welcomes the Han Army under the Xianghuang Banner. As for Zhang Liangji, ..He is Han Chinese!
But Seng Gelinqin is a prince, and one of the governors with yellow flags! The governor personally welcomes the flag-bearer... This is equivalent to the general manager of a large company standing at the gate to personally greet an uncle who is looking at the gate. No matter how you look at it, it's a bit strange It's too solemn.
Seng Gelinqin shook his head and said with a wry smile: "Changmao is preparing ships in Hanyang and Wuchang, training soldiers, and purchasing horses at high prices... I am worried that they will go north along the Han River during the spring flood next year and take Xiangyang first. , invade the Central Plains again!"
"Ah, then wouldn't it be true that I, the Qing Dynasty..." "Isn't that the case?"
Guan Wen and Zhang Liangji both took a deep breath.
Now Xiangyang's defense is very empty! Xiangyang was originally the residence of the Hubei Admiral's Yamen, and the Hubei Admiral's 3,000 supervisors were stationed in Xiangyang. However, before Shuangfu sent troops from Xiangyang, he could still fight a dozen of these 3,000 green soldiers. The 1,500 people were taken away. Now there are only 1,500 old and weak soldiers and account soldiers left... How can they stop the long-haired soldiers who are like wolves and tigers?
How those crazy long-haired gangs carried Hong Xiuquan's "little house" to charge, I will never forget it in my life!
Seng Gelinqin sighed and lowered his voice: "Now that the Eight Banners soldiers and Green Camp soldiers in Hubei have collapsed, we can only rely on the Xianghu regiment to defend Xiangyang. Xiangyang must not be lost!"
Standing on the other side of Seng Gelinqin, the governor of Huguang, Zhang Liangji, who was short and fat, had a doughy face, and had a submissive expression, immediately took over Seng Gelinqin's words, patted his chest and assured: "Don't worry, Your Majesty, I will be here after the New Year." "Moving the superintendent's office to Xiangyang, Xiaguan has already made an agreement with Zuo Jigao, and he will send the fifth battalion of Gaozi to Xiangyang to assist in the defense."
Seng Gelinqin nodded, finally showing some reassuring expression.
At this time, the official ship of Zeng Guofan and his son, carrying "Zeng Linshu", finally docked at Shashi Pier, and the gloomy faces of Seng Gelinqin, Guan Wen, and Zhang Liangji suddenly turned bright and sunny. Then the three of them smiled. The Manchu officials saw Zeng Guofan, the "filial son", emerging from the cabin holding an old man with triangular eyes, a big beard, a muscular face, and a round waist.
It looked like this old man had been trained. He was half a head taller than Zeng Guofan... but he still looked a lot like Zeng Guofan. They both had triangular eyes and a big beard. They must be father and son!
Zeng Guofan also had a filial look on his face. The corners of his "filial" mouth were twitching a little. He smiled while glaring at his good student Huang Shijie with his triangular eyes.
This Huang Shijie seemed quite reliable when he was taking over everything, but it turned out that the "fake father" he brought to Zeng Guofan was actually a team training coach of the Huang family in Etang, a Wu scholar named Wu Zhiyong!
Although they are about the same age, he has triangular eyes and a big beard, and he looks evil... but the direction of "evil" is different. Zeng Guofan is a "literary evil man", while this guy has a sinister face and is a "martial evil man". Moreover, the head was too big. Standing next to him, Zeng Guofan looked like he had picked it up!
But Zeng Guofan had no choice. Time was tight and there was really no time to change his father.
Moreover, pretending to be Zeng Guofan's father is deceiving the emperor and disrespecting his superiors. Who would dare? This "martial evil man" is a coward.
Not only was he cowardly, he was also Huang Shijie's confidant, and he also had a bloody feud with the Taiping Army - his two sons and three grandsons were all killed during the Daozhou land distribution movement!
In addition, Zeng Guofan's father was a scholar who failed the exam seventeen times. It would be difficult to find an uneducated scholar. However, this Wu scholar was also a talented scholar with both civil and military skills. He could write well, which fit the criteria of "failed the exam seventeen times." Persona.
So this "fake father" is actually quite suitable for Zeng Guofan...
Seeing Zeng Guofan's grateful look towards him, Huang Shijie also smiled and went up, helped up the other arm of Zeng Guofan's "fake father", and said to Zeng Guofan with a smile: "Teacher, don't worry, the student will definitely take good care of the boss along the way." Human."
Zeng Guofan sighed helplessly and ordered: "Ziying, when you arrive in Beijing, remember to visit your senior brother Li Shaoquan. Among my students, Shaoquan is the most great. Now is a troubled time. It is his opportunity to make contributions. You can do it for him." The master advised him not to make a fuss in the Hanlin Academy. Changmao will soon hit his hometown. This is his disaster and his opportunity. He must seize it!"
Huang Shijie said respectfully: "Students know, students will definitely visit Brother Shaoquan when they arrive in Beijing."...
Shanghai, the British Concession, in a newly completed British-style three-story foreign-style building located on the Huangpu River, an old foreigner with a Chinese character face, a tall nose and pointed cheeks, and two large beards on both sides is holding a copy of It's called "Secret Report on the Discovery of Devils in China" and I'm looking at it carefully.
This old foreigner's name is Aliguo, he is the British consul in Shanghai, and he is in charge of the current British Concession.
Opposite A Liguo's desk, there are two other younger foreigners sitting. One is in his forties, with a round face, a red neck, and a big belly. He is an American named Ma Hui, who is the American consul in Shanghai. It is said that He also served as a major in the National Guard of a certain state, and he especially liked others to call him "major".
The other one is in his thirties, with a well-proportioned figure and elegant demeanor. He is a Frenchman named Aitang. He was originally an employee of the French watch company, and is now the French consul in Shanghai. Aliguo is watching "About China" It was he who brought the "Secret Report on the Discovery of the Devil" - Lama Tu not only gave a copy of the report to Prince Gong, but also sent an aide from St. Nicholas Lamasery to bring the report to Shanghai and hand it over to him. The Catholic Church. At this time, France had just changed from a republic to an empire. The newly minted Napoleon III held high the Catholic banner, claimed to be the protector of the Catholic Church, and was particularly friendly to the church, so the Catholic Church in Shanghai handed over this report. Aitang, Consul of France in Shanghai.
As for the three foreign adults, A Liguo, Aitang and Major Ma Hui, they were troubled by the successive victories of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom during this period. It was rare for them to have first-hand information, so of course they had to study it together.
Although...discovering the devil seems a bit ridiculous, these three foreign adults cannot say that "the devil" does not exist now!
They all worship God, especially Aitang, who was born as a clock shop clerk. When France was the Second Republic, he didn't worship God much. Since President Napoleon became the emperor, he has become devout all of a sudden. Every week Everyone goes to church to worship God.
Since he firmly believes that God is real, it is naturally possible for the devil to appear in China...
And the American red-necked consul Aitang also likes to worship God. He is a believer in the Presbyterian Church, and he also goes to church every week to worship God. And there are many legends about the devil in the United States. He Although I don’t really believe it, I really like this story, and I don’t mind being the protagonist in the story of an American Presbyterian believer who defeated the devil in China.
On the other hand, Ali Guo, an Anglican believer, wants to throw this report into the wastebasket - it is obviously nonsense!
The devil came from the sky, and he was a devil with horns and a body riding a bicycle... Bishop Bear must have drunk too much vodka to write such a report!
Chapter completed!