Dong Shuheng has been thinking about supporting the Taiping Rebellion's Northern Expedition these days.
After seeing off Yang Ximei and the others that night, he found Ji Mingshan to learn about the situation in the north.
The current situation of the Northern Expeditionary Army is really bad. They are surrounded by Tianjin and are in a dilemma. The reinforcements they have been waiting for have not yet arrived. The number of Qing troops is increasing.
It can be said that it will be destroyed sooner or later. If it were not for Lin Fengxiang and Li Kaifang, both of whom are rare generals, it is estimated that this team would have disbanded long ago.
Tianjing City is still wrangling over the reinforcements. In the end, it was decided that Zeng Lichang, who had been sent to Jiangxi before, would lead 20,000 new soldiers to support. The reinforcements would go north through Anhui and Henan.
However, the speed of reinforcements was too slow after all, and supplies for the winter had to be sent up first. Otherwise, the Taiping soldiers would freeze to death instead of dying in battle.
The last thing that made Dong Shuheng make up his mind was an urgent message from Beijing Station - the Qing government was preparing to send Jierhang'a with a yellow flag to replace Wei Yuan as governor of Jiangsu, and Wei Yuan was transferred to Beijing to serve as the Minister of Rites.
Obviously, Emperor Xianfeng couldn't bear it after all. Dong Shuheng's pace was a bit too fast. He could not be as obedient as Zeng Guofan, slow down and let the Hunan army develop slowly.
Huai Haijun has been sharp in style since its establishment, and Dong Shuheng is even more low-key in mind and high-profile in behavior. His ideas are incompatible with this era, and as long as they are put into action, they will inevitably attract the attention of others.
Fortunately, a few of his hidden moves have not been exposed. Now that the Qing court is targeting him, it may not be a bad thing.
Since the Qing government wants to deal with itself, we have to add some obstacles to the Qing government.
Therefore, Dong Shuheng met with Yang Ximei and Fu Shanxiang again and said that after careful consideration, for the sake of friendship between the two parties and for the sake of national justice, he decided to help the Taiping Army this time.
But Dong Shuheng also had conditions: first, all supplies must be purchased from Huai Haijun. Negotiations should not delay Dong Shuheng's delivery of goods for his company.
Secondly, this time the Huaihai Navy will charge 2 million taels for freight. The Huaihai Navy will only transport the goods to the designated section of the canal in Zhili. When the time comes, the Taiping Army will send people to "snatch" the goods, so the money for the cargo-carrying vessel will be
The Taiping Army also had to pay.
Finally, the goods transported this time are limited to supplies other than weapons.
Originally, Yang Ximei and Fu Shanxiang didn't have much hope. Now Dong Shuheng suddenly agreed, which made them overjoyed. The two girls thought it was the result of Wei Yuzhen's help, and they were full of gratitude to Wei Yuzhen.
Of course, the conditions proposed by Dong Shuheng are not too harsh, they are just some money. Just leave these to King Dong and King Tian to deal with them.
The two returned to Tianjing with Dong Shuheng's conditions. As soon as Dongwang and Tianwang agreed, the officials of the Dongwang Palace who stayed in Yangzhou would start to take action on the matter.
…
To the southwest of Tianjin, after the Taiping Army occupied Jinghai and Duliu Town, they stationed themselves here, built wooden cities, dug trenches, built watchtowers, and buried mines, waiting for the arrival of reinforcements.
Shengbao gathered his troops and stepped up the siege against the Taiping Army. Seng Gelinqin moved his camp to Wang Qingtuo to prevent the Taiping Army from advancing towards the capital. He trained troops while defending. Recently, soldiers have been transferred to his command from the west and north, so that
Senggelinqin's strength increased greatly.
The Taiping Army fought tenaciously against the besieging Qing army, and once killed Tong Jian, the deputy commander of the Qing army. But now there is no news of reinforcements, it is the middle of winter, there is no preparation for cold protection, and food is becoming increasingly difficult.
The Jinghai County Government Office is now in a dilapidated state. Qing artillery fire occasionally hit the area, and some houses were smashed into ruins.
"Two Prime Ministers, the messenger of the King of Heaven has arrived." Ji Wenyuan ran in from outside covered in dust and dusted himself off vigorously.
"These Qingyaos don't have the guts to attack, they just keep firing cannons all day long. I'm afraid the earthen city wall of Jinghai won't last long," Ji Wenyuan continued to complain.
"Hey, I wonder if the angels have brought news of reinforcements this time!"
"The angel is coming!" a voice sang.
The three of them quickly knelt down to receive the order.
"...Lin Fengxiang, the deputy prime minister of the Tianguan, is the Marquis of Jinghu, and Li Kaifang, the deputy prime minister of the land official, is the Marquis of Dinghu..."
After the angel left, the three of them looked at each other with no joy at all after being granted the title of Marquis. The upright Li Kaifang complained: "Now that the title of Marquis is useless, it is better to send some reinforcements and bring some supplies. How many brothers have been frozen these days?
I'm sick. If we continue like this, we won't need to attack Qingyao, even this damn weather will defeat us."
"Hey... The King of Heaven also has his own difficulties. Now a powerful Huai Navy has emerged, blocking the north, east and west sides of Tianjing. The Holy Soldiers of the Kingdom of Heaven are marching westward with all their strength. I think the King of Heaven is looking for a way out.
The location of Tianjing is too sensitive. It is in the center, the place where the Four Battles took place, so we cannot stay for a long time." Lin Fengxiang sighed and explained.
"Yes, I was opposed to establishing the capital in Jiangning at the beginning, because Yang Xiuqing insisted on having his own way. If we had stayed in Hunan, we would have occupied the southwestern land long ago, and we would not be facing enemies from both sides like now." Li Kaifang said.
After occupying Wuhan at that time, the Taiping Army divided into two groups. One group advocated marching westward to occupy Sichuan to consolidate the southwest, and the other group advocated marching eastward to occupy the tax-rich areas of the Qing Dynasty. In the end, Yang Xiuqing used his heavenly father to descend to earth, fought against all odds, and determined the direction of the eastward march.
Strategy.
"Two Prime Ministers, I just heard from the angel that Tianjing is trying to find a way to deliver a batch of supplies to us." At this time, Ji Wenyuan arranged for the envoy and returned to the lobby.
"Oh, this is good news." Lin Fengxiang said.
"Huh... I just don't know when it will be delivered." Li Kaifang is very resentful towards Tianjing. From the time they set out from Yangzhou to now, Tianjing seems to have forgotten them.
Many of the people who had joined the Taiping Army with him had been promoted and given titles, and were enjoying wealth and wealth in Tianjing City, but they themselves were fighting life and death for the Kingdom of Heaven outside, but what did they gain?
Based on the merits of him, Lin Fengxiang and Ji Wenyuan, he should have been crowned king in Tianjing long ago.
"Yeah, it's too early to be happy. This road is the territory of the Qing army. It's not easy to transport this stuff. If you send too much, you will be discovered. If you send too little, it will have no effect on our tens of thousands of troops." Ji Wenyuan said pessimistically.
said.
"No matter what, let me tell the brothers below about the good news first, saying that the supplies from Heaven are already on the way and the reinforcements will be setting off soon," Lin Fengxiang said.
"Well, we need to boost morale. Our old brothers are fine. In the past few days, the morale of the newly recruited soldiers has been unstable. If this continues, some of them may repeat themselves." Ji Wenyuan said worriedly.
…
In Tianjing City, a group of big guys were arguing for a long time over the conditions proposed by Huai Haijun.
"This Dong Shuheng is just talking nonsense. Can't we transport it ourselves?" Wei Changhui said angrily. He had never seen such sky-high shipping costs.
"How about leaving the transportation of supplies to King Bei?" Yang Xiuqing said coldly.
Wei Changhui immediately retracted his head and did not dare to speak anymore.
Now when Wei Changhui meets Yang Xiuqing, he is just like a mouse meeting a cat, he is submissive.
Hong Xiuquan commented on this in front of his confidants: There are two situations when a person behaves in front of another person. One is that he is really afraid, and the other is that he is holding back and preparing to fight back.
"Dong Wang, I think we can only agree to this. How about the Holy Treasury pays half and Dong Wang's Mansion pays half? It's just some money. We can get it back after we defeat the Qing Yao."
Hong Xiuquan's words settled the matter. Yang Xiuqing originally wanted to bargain with Hong Xiuquan.
But last night Yang Ximei and Fu Shanxiang both advised him that the Dongwang Mansion should be more active in this matter, otherwise the hearts of the soldiers below would all turn towards the King of Heaven.
Yang Xiuqing also felt that this was a good opportunity to win over people's hearts. He had originally promoted the Northern Expedition. If he blocked the support at this time, what would the entire army think of him?
He, Yang Xiuqing, was not so confused.
"Just do what His Majesty the King of Heaven wants. I, the Prince of the East, have to sell everything to get the money. Without further ado, I think we should let them contact Huai Haijun as soon as possible." Yang Xiuqing said, handing over his hand.
The Taiping Army did not lack money, they lacked supplies. At the beginning, the Taiping Army's "branch library" policy allowed them to accumulate a large amount of cash.
The money was soon transferred to the account of the Yangtze River Bank. In order to trade with Huai Haijun, Yang Xiuqing approved the construction of a branch of the Yangtze River Bank in Tianjing, so the Taiping Army could transfer the money in Tianjing.
Dong Shuheng also began to mobilize supplies and fleets. Of course, Dong Shuheng did not need to be responsible for these small things.
Dong Shuheng was taking Wei Yuzhen to welcome his mother and Huier outside the Presidential Palace.
The Spring Festival is coming soon, and the streets in Yangzhou City are decorated with lights and colorful decorations. The festive atmosphere suddenly becomes rich.
People from the surrounding area went to the city to buy New Year goods, and there was an endless stream of pedestrians on the road.
Four-wheeled carriages transporting passengers on the road shuttle back and forth between the city and the countryside, transporting groups of residents entering and leaving the city.
Some areas of the Grand Canal Market have been handed over and have started trial operations. Some individual tourists like to go there and join in the fun.
There are many and complete products there. There are strange and weird things from all over the country, making people dazzled.
The most attractive thing is a style street next to the big market, which has various snacks from all over the country. It not only meets the needs of merchants from all over the big market, but also becomes a place for Yangzhou citizens to play.
"Mother, my child is unfilial and I couldn't go to Dongtai to pick you up in person." In the Presidential Palace, Dong Shuheng gave a big gift to Mrs. Chen.
"Okay, I've said it all, just mind your own business. I'm not old, so I don't need you to take care of me."
"You go and do your business. Hui'er and I took a look around this old house. It feels a little strange after you transformed it like this."
"Your father is gone. Mr. Wei, you go and see him at his door first. Later, I will find a matchmaker and we can complete the etiquette. Although you and Yuzhen both learned foreign knowledge, our Chinese etiquette cannot be