Li Yunzhong thought for a while and denied: "Yiningzhou has a terrain with high mountains and deep waters, and a dangerous terrain, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Zeng Guofan will definitely be on guard, and our army's cannons are not easy to carry. The soldiers climbed the mountain and walked, and their combat power decreased. It would be a miserable victory if they won. Since the Taiping Army captured Wuchang, the Hunan Army would definitely send troops back to rescue. In this way, Zeng Guofan's major general was weak and he did not dare to come out to fight. Our army could attack Nanchang and northern Anhui with confidence!"

Li Desheng was a little disappointed. It seemed that His Highness was going to return to Nanjing. He hesitated and said: "Governor Hu is already on the way to come. Is Your Highness..."

When he heard that Hu Yihuang was coming, Li Yunzhong said excitedly: "I haven't seen my second brother for a long time. I just took this opportunity to reminisce about the past. We will go to Jiujiang tomorrow. I will stay in Jiujiang for a few days at that time."

The next day, the 30,000 Han army drove from Hukou to Jiujiang, advancing along with water and land, with flags standing on the river. There were more than 2,000 ships sailing on the river, stretching for more than ten miles.

The Jiujiang Guard Lin Qirong received the news in advance and led his troops to greet him by the river.

Li Yunzhong was stunned when he looked at Jiujiang City, which was beyond recognition. At first glance, he looked full of various fortifications, with all kinds of newly built walls connected to lakes and mountains. He could not see where the real city wall was. Even there were many traces of large pits being filled on the ground. It seemed that they were filled by the Hunan Army when it siege.

Seeing that the King of Han stared at Jiujiang City and was stunned, Lin Qirong explained: "Your Highness once warned the General of Jiujiang City to be important, so the General of Wujiang built these fortifications outside the city when he had nothing to do. Last month, the Hunan Army destroyed some of the city, but our army will be able to repair it soon."

Li Yunzhong suddenly laughed and pointed to the city walls of different sizes and said, "If I attack Jiujiang like this, I will turn around and leave immediately. If there are 10,000 defenders in the city, I will not dare to stay under the city without 30,000 people."

His achievements were recognized by the King of Han, and Lin Qirong said excitedly: "Hu Linyi, the governor of Hubei of the Qing army, attacked Jiujiang for half a month, and even the third city wall was not broken through. Finally, he would use the tunnels excavated in advance to send troops to sneak into their important areas of the army, and attacked Hu Linyi from both sides and defeated him! He retreated from Jiujiang to Ruichang County in shame."

Li Yunzhong became more and more surprised as he looked at it, and praised: "With you, Lin Qirong, I will give you 120 thoughts, but you should pay special attention to Hukou. Hukou County is the only way for the Han Dynasty to support Jiujiang. If there is any mistake, Jiujiang will become an lonely city. The lonely city cannot be defended for a long time. If there is really that time, you can break through. I will not blame you."

"I will swear to live and die with Jiujiang!" Lin Qirong was heartbroken. He didn't believe that anyone in the Qing army could capture Jiujiang.

Because Li Yunzhong could not live and die with any city, he never asked others to die for it. He patted Lin Qirong on the shoulder a few times and walked into Jiujiang City under the leadership of the guards.

When Li Desheng saw Lin Qirong standing in place in a daze, he stepped forward to comfort him: "The King of Han attaches importance to the gains and losses of soldiers' fates higher than those of the city. If Jiujiang really falls, the King of Han hopes that you can break through safely and not care about the gains and losses of a city and a pool. You still don't understand? Remember what Your Highness often said: If you lose land and people, people and land will be lost; if you lose land and people will be lost, people and land will be gained. In the heart of the King of Han, Jiujiang can be lost, but Lin Qirong cannot die."

Lin Qirong couldn't help but say, "The last general was deeply grateful to Your Highness, and he will definitely defend Jiujiang City and will never let the Qing army cross the line."

The decision in my heart has not changed, and I must guard Jiujiang to the death.

When Li Desheng saw Li Qirong's calm appearance, he couldn't help asking himself: If Anqing lost one day, would he abandon the city and escape?

On the third day of Li Yunzhong's stay in Jiujiang, Hu Yihuang came here in vain. Without waiting for Hu Yihuang to greet him, Li Yunzhong stepped forward and smiled:

"Second brother, you are here, I have been waiting for a long time!"

Hu Yihuang said: "When I was in Anqing, some trivial matters were delayed. Please forgive me."

Li Yunzhong pulled Hu Yihuang and walked into the house: "Don't stand, everyone goes into the house and says, it's rare that we brothers are together, we must not get drunk today."

Hu Yihuang agreed with the promise, followed by Jiao Liang, Zeng Shuiyuan, Li Desheng and other generals.

A small hall was filled with Han generals. There was a table in front of each of them, with wine, meat and dishes on it. Looking at the novel scene, Li Yunzhong nodded with satisfaction. In the past, he sat opposite the table at banquets. Today he specially enjoyed the ancient banquet method.

Li Yunzhong, who was sitting in the head, raised his glass to the bottom and smiled: "We can gather together today. Don't be restrained. We are all old acquaintances. Come on, I'll give you a glass to everyone."

After raising his head and drinking the wine, Jiao Liang put down his wine glass and complimented: "The Han Dynasty has only been established for three years. It is so powerful and has a vast territory. These are all the contributions of His Highness. Taiping is too peaceful in a corner, and the area is less than one-third of our great Han. Your Highness should have abolished the title of King of Han and proclaimed himself emperor. It is separated from the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, so that the people of the world know that Your Highness is not the same as the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom."

Hu Yihuang was born into a landlord family and had no sense of closeness to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. He agreed with him: "Governor Jiao's words are reasonable. The Taiping Army will confiscate other people's property whenever they go, ** their wives and daughters, burn houses, and store land. These are contrary to our Han policy. Although the people in the world hope that King of Han can punish the people and punish the Qing Dynasty, they are always afraid that we want the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to treat them like that."

Zeng Shuiyuan, Lin Qirong and other Guangxi generals were unhappy. Many of their families and relatives served in the Taiping Army and did not want the Han Dynasty to be enemies with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

The Guangxi generals were determined to object, but seeing that the two governors had a clear attitude and did not dare to confront each other in court, they were all silent and their anger was reflected on their faces.

Li Desheng was a landlord and servant. In his mind, the King of Han took him in and promoted him to the commander of the army, so he wholeheartedly considered Li Yunzhong. He heard Jiao Liang meant to let the King of Han ascend the throne and become emperor, and he said happily: "Your Highness should have been emperor for a long time. The talent of the Qing Dynasty Xianfeng was not as good as your highness. He could be the emperor. Why can't your highness not be! Your Highness was the first to support me, Li Desheng."

This old Li looked confused. He didn't expect to be so smart when encountering major events. He wanted to take away the merit of support with just one sentence. Seeing that the King of Han was completely unswerving, Hu Yihuang continued to say: "When in Yong'an, the reason why His Highness accepted Hong Xiuquan's reward was because of the persuasion of the Southern King Feng Yunshan. His Highness and Mr. Feng were both teachers and friends, so it was difficult to refuse. Now the King of Southern has long been sacrificed, and His Highness has no connection with Taiping Tai anymore. It is time to make great achievements. Please think twice." Li Yunzhong smiled bitterly. He never thought that he would become an emperor. He came from later generations and was used to an equal life. He was really not interested in the symmetry and lonely way. He accepted the title of King of Han because the situation was forcing people. He also relied on Taiping Tai Kingdom. He had a place to rely on Taiping Tai Kingdom for one year in Nanjing. He never used his title to reward any meritorious officials.

"The reason why I, Li Yunzhong, opposed the Qing Dynasty because the people were really hard in life and the government exploited them so much that the people could not survive. They only thought about the Qing Dynasty, so that the people could live a comfortable and prosperous life from then on, not to be the king and the emperor, and to be separatist and independent. You have all been worried about it."

When Jiao Liang saw that the King of Han said such words, he was amused by the devil: "Your Highness is pure and has few desires, but not everyone in the Han Dynasty is as ignorant as His Highness. They don't know a single word of big fight. They fight with their whole family's surname and order to rebel with His Highness not to expel the Tartars and restore China, but to be like the founding heroes of all generations, and to restorate with the country. Now that His Highness does not want to be emperor, they have lost the motivation to make contributions. Our Han Dynasty will definitely be in a day of collapse, Your Highness thinks twice."

Li Yunzhong was stunned again. He didn't expect that there was no wise master's idea now, and everyone was all aiming for glory and wealth. If their demands were not satisfied, would they abandon him and defect to the enemy!

Hu Yihuang and others looked embarrassed, and they agreed that they were greedy for wealth and wealth. If they opposed it, they would be together. It was not what they wanted. They could only drink and eat food with a stern face, as if they had not heard this.

It would be better to go back to Nanjing to consider it. Li Yunzhong gave up his concerns and said with a smile: "These things are not something we can decide, but they will be left to the ministers to consider. Come on, let's have another drink."

late at night

After the banquet ended, Hu Yihuang and Jiao Liang stayed tacitly. They sat alone, exchanging their views on Li Yunzhong's claim to be emperor.

"The reason I stayed in Anqing for a few days was because Nanjing sent someone to discuss a major event with me." Hu Yihuang stood up and walked to the window, looking at the stars in the sky.

Jiao Liang drank hot tea to dispel the alcohol in his heart and said happily: "They have reached an agreement. When the Han King arrives in Nanjing, they will take action. Then the Han King will not be able to do it."

Hu Yi shook his head and sighed: "I feel sorry for Your Highness. Sometimes I can't help but remind the King of Han to avoid embarrassing Your Highness. If you want to argue, it will be unfair."

Jiao Liang asked: "Who are you involved in it? You must control the Nanjing army, especially the foreign gun team. You must hide it from them when you take action, so as not to get out of control."

Hu Yihuang slowly said the names of the people involved: "The Minister of Revenue Meng was promoted, the Minister of Justice Ling Shiba, the Minister of War Lin Daji, the governor of Jiangsu Li Xiucheng, the Chief of Staff Zhang Suimou, and the Minister of Personnel Zhang Weikun, these main personnel, they controlled all the troops in Nanjing, and the female army also promised to facilitate us to enter the Han Palace."
Chapter completed!