Zhao Laoqi quickly walked into the Han Palace with a solemn expression, and hurried to Li Yunzhong's study.

"Your Highness, according to the spies' report: Zuo Zongtang, the minister of the Ministry of War, Wang Qinglu, deputy censor of Zuodu of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, Zhao Liewen, the minister of the Ministry of Punishment, and others were talking secretly for an hour at Lu Jianying's house. At the same time, Hu Yihuang, the governor of Anhui, and Li Li, the governor of Jiangsu

Xiucheng, the Minister of War, Lin Daji, and others also gathered at Meng Shengsheng's house. They were very careful when talking, and spies could not find out what they talked about!"

In fact, Meng Shengsheng also invited Zhao Laoqi to go, but Zhao Laoqi felt that he no longer belonged to the Gui faction. He only obeyed the orders of His Highness the King of Han and refused the invitation on the grounds of physical discomfort.

"I know," Li Yunzhong said lightly.

"This..." Zhao Laoqi speculated countless times about King Han's reaction after hearing the news. He was furious and scolded him to vent his anger. He summoned Zuo Zongtang on the spot. Lin Daji and others confronted him. After hearing this, they immediately

He had a seizure and went to the Meng Mansion. The Lu Mansion questioned him, but he didn't expect the King of Han to be so indifferent, as if he heard them eating and chatting together.

"Is there anything else? Tell me!" Li Yun was not calm at all, and asked a little angrily when he saw Zhao Laoqi hesitating.

Zhao Laoqi's head was in a mess, and he secretly cursed his mistake. Could it be that it was okay? Don't you want to scold him? But for a while, what could he do to deal with King Han?

Thinking that His Highness ordered him to pay attention to the Hunan Army's intelligence, he immediately had an excuse. Zhao Laoqi replied: "Wei Chen also has some information about the Hunan Army."

"Information about the Hunan Army!" Li Yunzhong said sternly: "Come quickly, has the Hunan Army become an army now?"

Zhao Laoqi took advantage of the situation and wiped out the sweat, respectfully took out the Xiuzhong secret fold, handed it over, and said: "The Hunan Army is now somewhat prosperous! The whole army is divided into an army and a navy, with a total of more than 10,000 people.

Among them, the Army has a total of 6,000 people, divided into 13 battalions. Each battalion usually has 500 people, and is equipped with 0 civilians. Those with less than 500 people are organized into small battalions. There are sentries under the battalions, with 100 people per sentry and 10 people per team. The Army

The battalion officers included Taqibu, Zhou Fengshan, Zeng Guobao, Zhu Sunyi and others, among whom Taqibu was the vanguard.

The navy is divided into 5 main battalions and 5 auxiliary battalions, front, rear, left, right, and center, with more than 300 large and small ships, and the battalion officers are Yang Zaifu, Peng Yulin, Chu Ruhang and others."

Li Yunzhong listened to his detailed explanation and said with satisfaction: "The fact that you can inquire in such detail proves that you have really put in the effort. Has Zeng Guofan made any plans to send troops recently?"

Zhao Laoqi said uncertainly: "According to reports from spies, it seems that the Hunan Army intends to send troops to Hubei. I heard that it was Qing Yao Xianfeng who set a deadline for Zeng Guofan to relieve the siege of Hubei!"

Li Yunzhong frowned and reprimanded: "It seems? I heard? Can such words be used in intelligence work? We must find out clearly in the future. Also, are there any spies from our army in the Hunan Army?"

Thinking of the secret talks arranged in the Hunan Army, Zhao Laoqi was filled with shame and complained to Li Yunzhong, "This... the humble minister deserves to die! The Hunan Army is different from ordinary armies. Their officers are all personally selected by their superiors, who generally appoint themselves

He treats his brothers, relatives and friends as subordinates and is never willing to promote strangers."

"That means it's gone?"

"No... Weichen has placed more than 50 people in the Hunan Army, but only two of them are team officers."

"Two team officers? The rest are just soldiers?"

"No...and"

Li Yunzhong breathed a sigh of relief, picked up the teacup, and asked: "I think there is no hope for the battalion officer. How many sentry officers are there?"

Zhao Laoqi said with a mournful face: "Only 15 of the rest are ordinary officers and soldiers, and the rest have all been incorporated into the ranks of civilians!"

"Pfft...cough...cough..." Li Yunzhong almost choked and reprimanded angrily: "Bastard! You can't even take down a sentry officer who can command 100 people. You have so much money to do this."

What was it?"

Seeing that Zhao Laoqi still wanted to argue, he waved his hand and said: "Okay, you go down first! From now on, you should try your best to pay attention to the Hunan Army's intelligence!"

Early the next morning, Li Yunzhong rarely got up early, because there were two meetings today, so he couldn't neglect them! One was a court meeting held every five days, and the other was a monthly military meeting!

Speaking of the court meeting, we have to mention Li Yunzhong's laziness. The court meeting planned by Lu Jianying was completely modeled on the Qing Dynasty. Every morning, the meeting was held at 5 o'clock and did not end until 9 o'clock. The generals from Guangxi complained incessantly, and Li Yunzhong took advantage of the situation.

It was rejected and changed to once every five days, starting at 7 a.m. and ending at 9 a.m.

"I pay my respects to the King of Han. May the King of Han live a thousand years."

"All ministers are of equal status"

After the usual greetings, Li Yunzhong said straight to the point: "Now the battlefields of the Han Dynasty are in a stalemate. The Second Army has been unable to attack Xuzhou repeatedly and has retreated to Shuyang, Haizhou. Anhui has not been completely pacified. The Third Army has to ask for reinforcements when attacking Jiangxi."

, the First Army was defeated in Jiaxing last time! What does this mean? It means that the Han army's offensive is exhausted, and the Qing army is waiting for work. If this continues, the situation will be worrying!"

Chang Dachun immediately acted according to what was discussed yesterday, went out and bowed and said: "Your Majesty, Zhejiang is the land of money and food for the Qing army. If we, a big man, gather heavy troops to attack, we will attack Fujian, Guangdong and Guangxi in one fell swoop."

Rumors spread everywhere, and the enemy's military morale was in chaos. Finally, with the cooperation of the rebels from various provinces, our army could easily occupy these provinces."

After Chang Dachun finished speaking, the Hunan officials calmly waited for the objections of the Guangxi officials and repeatedly reminded themselves that they must not conflict with them. Unexpectedly, after waiting for a long time, there was no objection from a Guangxi official.

Li Yunzhong saw that needles could be heard in the court hall, and wanted to see what the sworn brothers had discussed yesterday! He stopped making any sound and sipped the tea slowly.

For a moment, the only sound in the courtroom was the crisp clatter of tea bowls.

Lu Jianying saw that all the Guangxi officials were smiling, but no one came out to object. He was secretly amused, how generous you are! You guys are far worse! He signaled the Hunan officials on the left and right to be silent and wait quietly.

When Meng Sheng saw that Li Yunzhong had finished drinking a bowl of tea, he refused to draw a conclusion and said: "Your Highness, I also think that it is best to concentrate our forces to attack Zhejiang first."

Hu Yihuang said: "I second the proposal."

Li Xiucheng came out and said: "I second the proposal."

"I second the proposal"

…………

Li Yunzhong said nonchalantly: "Since none of you object, this matter is settled!"

Lu Jianying was overjoyed to see that things were settled so smoothly, but it was an extra step. He went out to speak: "Please appoint the general of the Southern Expedition!"

The Hunan officials all had smiles on their faces, as if they were the ones chosen for the Southern Expedition.

Meng Shengsheng made up his mind to exchange for the Commander-in-Chief of the Southern Expedition in exchange for the Hunan Clan's immediate agreement to support the King of Han and proclaim himself emperor. He stepped forward and said, "Master Lu, why are you so anxious! Isn't there a military meeting in the afternoon? The candidate for the Commander-in-Chief of the Southern Expedition is still there.

The decision should be made at the military meeting so as not to leak it out to Qing Yao."

Hu Yihuang, Li Xiucheng, Ling Shiba, Lin Daji, Zhang Weikun and other important officials from the Guangxi clique all came out to express their support in unison.

Li Yunzhong smiled coldly and said: "Okay, let's talk about it at the military meeting."

Li Yunzhong wanted to see if the old brother from Guangxi had changed and whether he only cared about party strife at the expense of national interests. He also wanted to know if anyone dared to oppose his authority!

Lu Jianying, Chang Dachun and others looked at each other, feeling that they had been tricked by the Gui Clan. The Hunan Clan was mostly composed of civilian officials, and countless military generals followed Jiao Liang and others on expeditions. Only Zuo Zongtang was appointed as the Minister of War, and some

They are not qualified to attend the military meeting in the afternoon, but the Guangxi faction is different. They are either governors or army commanders, ministers, and chiefs of staff. How can Zuo Zongtang seize the position of commander-in-chief of the Southern Expedition when he is weak and weak.

These gangsters are very good at fighting, but I didn't expect them to be so good at scheming. It seems that I underestimated them before. Now I can only hope that His Highness the King of Han can subdue them. If they offend His Highness, that would be better.

The Guangxi clique had different thoughts. According to the content of yesterday's discussion, no matter whether Lu Jianying and others agreed or not, they could not oppose Zuo Zongtang's appointment as the governor of Zhejiang at the military meeting. They could only recruit candidates from the south with some sand in them.

However, Meng Shengsheng felt that this was not safe, so he discussed with Zhang Suimou in the middle of the night. He came up with a plan and said: "Your Highness, there has been a lot of money used in the past few months, and the national treasury is empty. It may not be enough to bear the cost of the southern expedition!"

"

Since the rebellion, Li Yunzhong has never asked about the national treasury. If money is needed, he will give orders to Zhang Weikun and others, and a large amount of money will naturally be handed over. Unexpectedly, the money is not enough now, "Is there any way for the Ministry of Revenue to replenish the national treasury?"

"
Chapter completed!