Jingzhou, Hubei

Shi Dakai looked at the crumbling Jingzhou City and sighed. He did not expect that Wu Wenrong, the governor of Huguang, was so tough. He spent three days in a row on the city wall to encourage Qingyao's morale.

Shi Zhenji trotted over and said to Shi Da, who was still in a daze: "Your Highness King Yi, the Qingyao supporting from the direction of Jiangling has been completely wiped out! Can you launch a general attack?"

Shi Dakai asked: "Are there no Qingyao reinforcements from Wuchang? This Wu Wenrong is the governor of Huguang. Logically speaking, it shouldn't be the only nearby prefectures and counties that send troops to rescue!"

Shi Zhenji said contemptuously: "I just captured the Jiangling County magistrate. After interrogating him, I found out that it was Governor Chonglun of Qingyao who was responsible! This old boy is full of bad intentions and hinted that all the prefectures and counties in Hubei should not support Jingzhou."

Shi Dakai originally wanted to besiege the city for reinforcements and annihilate the supporting troops and horses from various prefectures and counties in Hubei outside Jingzhou City, so that he could easily capture Hubei. Unexpectedly, after waiting for a month, he only waited for more than a dozen troops, totaling less than 20,000 people.

"Instruct all armies to attack Jingzhou North City with all their strength in one hour!"

Shi Zhenji said excitedly: "Follow the order."

Wu Wenrong, who was standing on the southern city of Jingzhou, had not slept for three days and three nights, and his heart was filled with bitterness and desolation. He did not expect that Chonglun, for his own selfish interests, regarded military affairs as child's play!

Wu Wenrong had negotiated with Chonglun before he took control of Jingzhou from Wuchang. He consumed Changmao's troops in Jingzhou. Chonglun sent a small force to sneak attack Changmao's grain road. When Changmao was exhausted, Chonglun led a large army to attack.

The Changmao camp, together with Wu Wenrong, will annihilate all the Changmaos under Jingzhou City!

Unexpectedly, not only did Chonglun not intrude on the Changmao Grain Road, he even refused to transport grain and grass to Jingzhou!

"Sir... the north... the north city is broken, I will protect you... get out of the city!" General Hu Ming, who had retreated from the north city, found Wu Wenrong in embarrassment.

Wu Wenrong smiled bitterly as he listened to the approaching killing cries, shook his head and said, "I can't run away! There are long hairs all over the front and back!"

Hu Ming was overjoyed and thought to himself: It seems that the Governor wants to surrender! "Sir, let's... surrender?"

Surrender? Wu Wenrong never thought that he was a scholar at the age of eighteen, passed the imperial examination at the age of twenty-two, and was a Jinshi at the age of twenty-eight. He successively served as a scholar, editor, minister of the Ministry of Rites, and minister of the Ministry of Punishments in the Hanlin Academy. It can be said that he was a scholar.

How can you surrender to thieves when you are deeply favored by the country?

Wu Wenrong slowly pulled out the sword that he had prepared, and shouted, "I have received the country's favor, and the only way to repay it is with death! I wish I could not see the day when the rebels were wiped out, and when the world was peaceful!" He committed suicide and died.

.

Hu Ming stared blankly at Wu Wenrong, who was lying on the ground twitching.

Hengyang

Chen Shijie was originally a minor official in Guiyang Prefecture and had some contacts with Zeng Guofan when he was in Yanjing. He heard that Zeng Guofan was organizing regiment training in Hengyang, so he went to Hengyang to join him. Zeng Guofan also valued him very much and appointed him as his staff, in charge of strategy and

Selection of talents.

Guo Songtao complained to Chen Shijie: "The Hunan Army has been training for more than half a year. It is easy to find brave men, but it is difficult to find a commander who can lead two to three thousand people in combat and a large number of capable battalion officers!"

Since Guo Songtao was defeated in Nanchang last time, Guo Songtao, who experienced the battle for the first time, was frightened half to death by the sight of blood and flesh flying everywhere. The courage of Zhou Yafu and others disappeared. He was not as arrogant as Li Xubin.

He only wants to make great achievements and bring glory to his ancestors.

He has not lived enough! He does not expect anything, and even wrote a poem to complain to Jiang Zhongyuan:

I found a tired donkey and tried on my short clothes, but dared to disobey the ruler's call many times? In this life, the army and horses are really not fighting, and the stars are still surrounding me in the middle of the night.

He desperately fled back to his hometown in Hunan. Within a few days, Zeng Guofan sent troops to capture him in Hengyang and continued his work.

Chen Shijie had no other solution, so he looked at Zeng Guofan. Unexpectedly, Zeng Guofan was reading an old book with relish.

Chen Shijie and Guo Songtao looked at each other, and they all gathered around.

It turns out that this book is the "New Book of Ji Xiao" written by Qi Jiguang.

Seeing that they didn't know why, Zeng Guofan laughed and said: "This "New Book of Ji Xiao" has helped me a lot!"

Guo Songtao asked: "This is a military book written by Qi Jiguang, the former Ming Dynasty general. It's just that he fought Japanese pirates, which are different from the rebels we have to deal with. You should think twice before you act!"

Zeng Guofan pointed to a passage in the book of war and read: "The courage of new recruits: first, remember to use the city's slick people, but those who have white eyes and quick actions are the ones; second, you can't annihilate those who are clever, those who

Those who have an unstable expression and show no fear when seeing officials are the ones who are most useful. The most useful people are the honest people in the countryside. These people are black and strong, with solid hands and faces, and a color made of earth.

Doesn’t this teach us that the Hunan Army also recruits people from poor and remote areas? Those with bureaucracy will not be accepted."

Guo Songtao was deeply touched immediately, thinking of the nightmare in Nanchang City, and said with admiration: "Di Sheng is right. In the battle of Nanchang, those who first escaped and disturbed the morale of the army were those who usually stole and killed people, and those who loyally protected the Lord were also those who usually behaved dullly.

person."

After that, he added: "The recruitment of the Hunan Army can be carried out by the commander-in-chief, the commander-in-chief selects the battalion officers, the battalion officers select the sentry officers, the sentry officers select the gentry chiefs, and the chief officers select the brave men. In this way, each level is directly controlled by

The superiors will make the selection, and the subordinates, even if they are grateful to their superiors, will obey their orders and be willing to go through fire and water in times of crisis. In this way, we can avoid the situation that happened at the foot of Nanchang City, where they panicked when they were suddenly attacked and the organization was scattered."

Zeng Guofan nodded and smiled, and made up his mind to let Guo Songtao be a staff member with peace of mind and never let him go to the front line to command operations again.

Taqib hurriedly came to the room, knelt down to Zeng Guofan, kowtowed and said, "Please have mercy, sir, and spare Bao Chao's life!"

Zeng Guofan stepped forward to help Taqibu up and said gently: "Zhiting, if you have anything to say, please speak slowly. You are already a second-grade deputy general, why are you still acting like this? You must learn etiquette in the future, otherwise you will be looked down upon."

Taqib was moved and said: "Thank you for your admonition, sir. I have something to ask for at the end, please grant me your permission!"

Zeng Guofan said seriously: "What's the matter? If you tell me, I will definitely promise you if I can do it."

Taqibu told the truth truthfully, "There is an officer under the general named Bao Chao. He and the general defected from the Green Camp to the Lord together. However, he got into an argument with someone and accidentally killed the other person. According to the law, he should be executed.

I beg you, sir, to spare him from death and allow him to serve his crime well!"

Chen Shijie is now very fond of this kind of fierce man, and asked with interest, "Why does he want to argue with others?"

Taqib thought for a while, but he really didn't know why Bao Chao was arguing with others. When he heard that Bao Chao was arrested and executed for beating someone to death, he hurriedly came to Zeng Guofan to plead for mercy.

In Zeng Guofan's plan, Taqib was a very important chess piece, and he thought: This is the opportunity to win people's hearts! He said, "Go and bring the person over, and I will interrogate him personally. If there are extenuating circumstances,

Just save him from death!"

Several soldiers tied up Bao Chao and led him into the lobby and ordered him to kneel down.

Zeng Guofan patted the table and asked: "Who is in the hall? Why did you commit the crime?"

Bao Chao felt that he was going to die, raised his head, and replied with a loud voice: "My name is Bao Chao. When I saw someone bullying a good woman, I went to stop him. Who knew that the other party didn't appreciate it and fought with me. I was not angry, so I killed him."

If he dies, I know that I will die, so please give me a happy life!"

Zeng Guofan felt that Bao Chao was a brave man and deliberately let him go, "Have you ever regretted it?"

Bao Chao said: "What a man does, he just does it. There is nothing to regret. If this happens again, I will stop it!"

Zeng Guofan smiled and said: "Yes! He is a good man... You turned out to be a very good commander. I will promote you to the post of commander, so you can go back with peace of mind!"

Bao Chao was stunned for a moment, then he came to his senses and kowtowed: "Thank you, sir, for not killing me."

Taqib happily led Bao Chao back to the camp, "Boy, you are in great luck. Not only did you escape death, but you also got a promotion!"

Bao Chao said: "I would also like to thank you for interceding for me!"

Taqib waved his hands and said not taking it seriously, "You followed me from Green Camp. I can't just ignore you. You have fallen into Master Zeng's eyes today and your future will be limitless. How do you plan to repay Zeng?"

grown ups?"
Chapter completed!