Everyone looked at you and you at me, all in shock and confusion. Finally, an old man in his sixties came forward and said, "How do you know this is not a plan to annihilate the rebels, to lure us out so that we can all be killed?"

"

The bearded Dutong explained: "Everyone saw it last night. The artillery fire outside the city lasted all night. I heard from the messenger that their king originally planned to bombard for a few days, but a scholar risked his life to persuade him, so he ordered it to stop.

Shelling, allowing us to surrender."

The old man cried: "Last night they used cannons to kill my son and daughter-in-law. It's a pity that my son got married less than a year ago. If the rebels keep their word, I am willing to surrender."

Huo Longwu said in confusion: "Uncle, are you sad and confused, or something? The rebels killed your son, you should fight them desperately."

The old man raised his head and cursed: "What do you know? My grandson is only two months old. If he doesn't surrender, his grandson will be gone."

Houxiang stopped Huo Longwu, who was still talking, and said, "What about you? Are you all willing to surrender?"

"Can surrender really mean you don't have to die?"

"It's better to surrender in Kaicheng"

"I don't care, but my wife is just pregnant and I can't bear it."

…………

Seeing that no one said they would resist to the end, the bearded man said happily: "Since this is everyone's wish, then you go back and tell your neighbors to pack their things quickly and take away all the valuables, so as not to be too late when you arrive."

The crowd went out to spread the news with expressions of survivors, some cheered, some cried, some laughed, some scolded... Houxiang looked at the various things in the world below and was entranced for a moment.

In order to prevent the imperial court from being held responsible for the lost city in the future, the bearded commander pretended to be sad and said: "I have been a soldier all my life, but I didn't expect that today... ugh... I... I don't have the dignity to live in the world."

In the end, he simply pulled out the sword and pretended to kill himself. The left and right people hurriedly stepped forward to stop him, took the sword and threw it on the ground, admonishing: "Sir, there is no need to blame yourself. This is not a crime of war."

With a "clang" sound, Houxiang slowly fell to the ground, and the sword in his hand fell to the ground with a "clang" sound.

All the bearded men were dumbfounded as they looked at Houxiang, whose neck was dripping with blood, and started talking indiscriminately: "Why are you holding me? I don't want to die? Why don't you hold him! What will I do if he dies? The emperor will blame me.

Who bears responsibility?”

Huo Longwu laughed and said: The Qing Dynasty has been corrupted by people like you.

The bearded man glared at him, and just as he was about to curse him, he saw General Huo Long wipe his sword towards his neck and said in surprise: "No", but it was a pity that he was caught by others and could not escape.

The generals were shocked. Deputy Commander Huo Longwu was also dead. They reacted quickly and rushed forward to protect the bearded Commander, for fear that he would also commit suicide. There was no one to preside over the surrender.

Li Yunzhong looked at the slowly opening city gate, looked at Zuo Zongtang who was standing aside happily, and said, "Thanks to you sir this time, otherwise we would forcefully attack the city, and I don't know how many casualties there would be."

Zuo Zongtang said: "This is because His Highness's broad-mindedness prevented a war. His Highness's name of benevolence and righteousness will definitely spread, and our army will have less resistance when attacking cities and territories in the future."

Lin Daji stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, what should we do with these Manchus?"

Li Yunzhong frowned, looked at the Manchus leaving the city, and hesitated: "Let them go like this?"

Meng Shengsheng gritted his teeth and said: "Your Highness, seeing how much baggage they carry on their backs, you can tell that they have a lot of money. It's better to let them leave the city in vain and let them fend for themselves."

Li Yunzhong looked at Zuo Zongtang who was hesitant to speak, shook his head and said: "Let each of them pay a ransom fee and drive them out of the city."

Zuo Zongtang offered advice: "Xiang Rong and Yang Wending are both gathered in Zhenjiang. It is better to rush them to Zhenjiang. First, it can put pressure on them. Second, it can consume their food and salary."

Meng Shengsheng clapped his hands and said: "Great idea, but it's a pity that they are all Manchus. Otherwise, we could send people to sneak into them and capture Zhenjiang."

Yanjing, study room

Xianfeng angrily looked at the military ministers Zaiyuan, Ruihua and Mu Yin who were kneeling in front of him and said: "You say "Your Majesty is wise" to the left and "Your Majesty is wise" to the right, don't you have any opinions? What is the use of me raising you?"

Zaiyuan was the fifth grandson of Prince Yi Yunxiang, the thirteenth son of Kangxi, and he was a prince. During the Daoguang period, he served as the imperial minister. Xianfeng succeeded to the throne and became Zongzheng of the Zongren Mansion, leading the ministers of the bodyguard. When he saw Xianfeng angry, he said in fear:

"Your Majesty, Nanjing has been captured by the rebels, and water transportation to the south of the Yangtze River will inevitably be blocked. This... this... I don't have any good ideas!"

Duan Hua shook his head and said: "Your Majesty is wise. He will definitely be able to select generals, attack Nanjing, capture the thief Li alive, and take him to the capital to be killed with a thousand swords."

He was granted the title of Prince Zheng and granted the title of Minister of the Imperial Guard. After the death of Emperor Daoguang, he was appointed by Gu. After Xianfeng succeeded to the throne, he was appointed as the Minister of the Imperial Guard.

Seeing Xianfeng looking at him, Mu Yin knew that as the Minister of War and the Minister of Military Aircraft, he would be useful if he didn't say anything. The emperor would not let him fool him. He gritted his teeth and said: "Your Majesty, Nanjing was easily captured by the rebels. Liangjiang

Governor Lu Jianying deserves death.

Please ask the emperor to punish him severely, then Xiang Rong, Qi Shan, and Xu Guangjin will be afraid and will definitely work harder to kill the enemy. In this way, it will be just around the corner to wipe out the rebels." After saying this, he also felt that his suggestion was very good, thinking that

You will definitely get praise from the emperor.

Xianfeng was very angry after hearing this. He felt a pain in his stomach when he was angry. He endured it for a while, grabbed the folding paper on the imperial platform and threw it at Mu Yin, cursing: "You bastard, this is your clever plan. You three will do it again."

If I can't think of any other practical and effective way, I...I will dismiss you all."

Mu Yin, Ruihua, and Zaiyuan all kowtowed in fear and said: "Your Majesty, please calm down. I am so stupid that I cannot share the Emperor's worries. I really deserve death for my crime."

His stomach growled wildly, and Xianfeng couldn't bear it anymore. He wanted to go to the toilet. Before leaving, he threatened them and said: "I have ordered the guards to wait for you at the gate of the palace. If you don't think of a way to defeat the thieves later, you... you

Just go to the prison and think about it." Without waiting for Ruihua and the others to answer, Xianfeng hurriedly went to the toilet through the side door.

Hunan,

Ever since Zeng Guofan sent two memorials to Xianfeng, he was driven home by Xianfeng. The first memorial described the current situation of the imperial army. It basically said: The imperial army in each province is different.

Thousands of people fighting with each other are commonplace; Guizhou, Sichuan,

In Hunan, officials and bandits colluded to harm the people; in Yunnan, Guangdong and Guangxi, the officers and soldiers smoked opium and gathered in casinos. Anyway, the officers and soldiers of the Qing Dynasty were all idle and committed evil. If they had dangerous errands, they would hire some rogues to go out on their behalf.

When a scoundrel sees a thief, he runs away

, after the thieves left, they killed the common people and took the reward for their merits. Although Xianfeng was angry when he saw that he completely denied the officers and soldiers of the Qing Dynasty, he did not agree with him. Zeng Guofan was also confused. He didn't respond to the first memorial, so he wrote another one.

After handing it over, Xianfeng was half-dead with this second memorial.

It directly satirized Xianfeng that he paid attention to small details and neglected big ones. He liked the fictitious and was not practical. He was stubborn and could not know how to use others. After the memorial was sent out, Zeng Guofan regretted it a little and secretly complained about why he had to fight against the emperor, but the memorial could not get him back.

, I can only wait at home with bated breath for the thunder.

The emperor was losing his temper over the rebellion. When he saw the seal, he immediately dismissed Zeng Guofan from his post and drove him back to his hometown in Hunan.
Chapter completed!