Chapter 24 Hong Xiuquan's Response (Summoning the Green Turtle)
Hong Xiuquan was horrified when he heard the news from Hu Yihuang. He didn't expect that he hadn't done anything yet.
Over there, Yang Xiuqing was about to strike first.
Many people find it unbelievable that Yang Xiuqing is already the de facto liaison officer of the Taiping Army. Why must he push down Hong Xiuquan who is not doing anything?
In fact, Yang Xiuqing was not confused at all. He was just a smart person who did stupid things, which is called being stupid and stupid. Now that he has power and money, he will naturally pursue the illusory fame.
Emperor is actually just a title to him, which does not bring much practical significance, but will cause him a lot of trouble.
But that's how people are, especially in the feudal era, the Nine-Five Master has unparalleled attraction for everyone.
After receiving the news, Hong Xiuquan was frightened. He did not expect that Dong Wang was so anxious and greedy, and now he actually wanted to kick him away and prepare to enjoy the wealth alone.
But now he did not dare to summon his confidants for discussion. Hong Xiuquan knew that there must be Yang Xiuqing's eyes and ears in the palace.
If Yang Xiuqing had just made a fuss over there, call her confidants here. Even a fool would be able to guess what happened to Yang Xiuqing.
In this way, not only himself, but also Hu Yihuang might be implicated. Therefore, Hong Xiuquan could only discuss it with a few close ministers who were usually in the palace.
In the end, Huang Hao suggested that this matter cannot be discussed in the palace and must be found somewhere else.
Together, everyone decided to find a flower house. Huang Hao and the others often drank flower wine in a place in the city, and there were so many people in the group that they reserved the place every time they went there.
This place is the least likely to attract others' attention. So one evening a few days later, Hong Xiuquan dressed up as a close minister of similar size to him.
Taking advantage of the time when the palace was dismissed, I blended in with the crowd and left the palace. After I came out, I blended into Huang Hao's carriage and went to this place to drink wine together.
After entering the building, the madam and the girl inside were separated in various ways, so that no one could be suspicious.
In a corner of the room, Huang Yukun, Chen Chengrong, Hu Yihuang, Meng En, Hong Renfa, Hong Renda, Lai Hanying and other ministers were waiting in the room!
When everyone saw Hong Xiuquan, dressed as a valet, entering the room, they were about to pay homage.
Hong Xiuquan quickly waved his hand to stop him. What kind of courtesy should be paid attention to at this time? The smaller the noise, the better.
When Hong Xiuquan saw that everyone was almost there, he couldn't help but burst into tears.
"My dear friends, my heart is about to break. I have always valued Brother Dong Wang. I have handed over all the military and political power to him for so many years. Unexpectedly, he is an unfamiliar white-eyed wolf. I am now
I regret it so much, it’s all my fault that things have developed to this point!"
"I tolerated him again and again, gave in again and again, but now there is nowhere to give in, no room for retreat. Today, I, Hong Xiuquan, swear here that he must be eliminated, otherwise we have worked so hard to build the
The kingdom of heaven will be destroyed in his hands." Hong Xiuquan said with righteous indignation.
"Do you have any good ideas? Please give me some advice."
"His Majesty, for the current plan, we still need to let the three kings return to Beijing as soon as possible. King Qin just relies on the small amount of troops in the palace, and there is no way he can defeat the Eastern King." Hu Yihuang said.
"But now the three kings have left Tianjing, and Yang Xiuqing has blocked Tianjing City. How can we send the letter out?" Hong Xiuquan said helplessly.
"I said, brother, why don't you let me go and see you off? Why don't you say we are brothers who are going into battle? Who are we to be brothers? At this time, we can see the difference between distance and distance." At this time, Hong Renfa stood up and said.
In fact, everyone looked down on Hong Xiuquan's two brothers to some extent. The people here were ignorant and incompetent. They only made money in Tianjing City and did not do anything serious. Unexpectedly, they stood up at this time.
"No, no, no, brother, it's not that brothers look down on you. You have a rough and irritable temper. How can you do this kind of thing? If there is a mistake and something goes wrong, we may all lose our heads."
When Hong Xiuquan saw that it was his fat brother who came forward to recommend himself, he quickly shook his head and said.
"Brother, even you can see that I can't do anything, but Yang Xiuqing can't even see it."
When everyone heard this, they thought it made sense. Would Yang Xiuqing, a person with eyes as high as his head, be able to look down on a stick like Hong Renfa?
But it seems unrealistic to send Hong Renfa out of the city like this.
So someone raised this question.
It would be great if Hong Renfa could say what he said just now. If he is asked to think of a solution, it will really make things difficult for him.
"Your Majesty, I think I may have to aggrieve Mr. Hong. I have a plan, but it's just a trick." Huang Hao rolled his eyes and said, it was rare that he got to the point this time.
After everyone heard this, they immediately understood what to do. However, no one else could help Hong Renfa make the decision on this matter. He had to agree to it himself.
"Brother, look at this..." Hong Xiuquan looked at his brother in embarrassment.
"Oh, brother, forget about mother-in-law and mother-in-law. I understand this cruel trick. Isn't it just a beating? Brother, I have a rough skin and thick flesh. I can't be beaten. Besides, a beating is better than death."
So the matter was settled. Hong Xiuquan didn't have many opportunities to meet with everyone here, so he simply drafted a letter to the three kings.
In order to increase the urgency, Hong Xiuquan actually pricked his finger and wrote these three letters with his finger dipped in blood.
Hong Renfa carefully placed the three letters in his arms.
"Huang Hao, you are in charge of the palace guards. You must do a good job in the defense of the palace in the past few days and prepare for the worst." Hong Xiuquan told Huang Hao again. This Huang Hao was one of the few in command of the army around Hong Xiuquan.
’s men fell.
"Yes, His Majesty the King, I will swear to protect His Majesty's safety to the death."
Huang Hao had already hidden a team of clippers by the Qinhuai River, just to take Hong Xiuquan away at the critical moment. As long as they entered the Yangtze River and ran to Anhui, they would be safe.
While Hong Xiuquan was conspiring with his men, Yang Xiuqing was meeting with Zhang Dongxu in the Dongwang Mansion.
The identity on the face of Dongxu Ming is Huaihai Company's business representative in Tianjing. But this is just a name. Yang Xiuqing naturally knows that this person can directly contact Dong Shuheng.
Zhang Dongxu didn't expect that Yang Xiuqing came to him to tell him that Yang Xiuqing was planning to usurp Hong Xiuquan's position. He also wanted Huai Haijun to cooperate with him to contain Shi Dakai, Luo Gangyou and Wei Changhui.
The conditions were even more outrageous. He was to marry his sister to Dong Shuheng.
This Yang Xiuqing is probably arrogant because of her recent dream of being an emperor.
However, Zhang Dongxu did not show his dissatisfaction, but only expressed that he would send the news back to confirm Dong Shuheng's opinion.
Yang Xiuqing naturally knew that such a big matter could not be decided by a small representative. But he was confident that Dong Shuheng would agree.
I don’t know why, but the man who is about to become emperor is so confident. This may be the so-called mysterious confidence!
After Zhang Dongxu left, he immediately crossed the river by speedboat and arrived at Beidaying in Pukou. There was a telegraph station here, connected to the Huaihai Navy's telegraph network, and Dong Shuheng could be found at any time.
At this time, Dong Shuheng was in Dafeng and had just attended the founding ceremony of Haohuai Ke Heavy Industry.
Judging from this information, Dong Shuheng felt that the big event in Tianjing was about to happen.
After returning to Yangzhou the next morning, Dong Shuheng immediately convened a meeting with military, intelligence, government and other departments. Even several military officers on the front line were called back.
From Ji Mingshan, Dong Shuheng got some new information, such as the three kings being transferred out of Tianjing by Yang Xiuqing, and the fact that Yang Xiuqing blocked Tianjing City.
After comprehensive analysis of this information, Dong Shuheng strengthened his judgment.
Peng Yulin is now the frontline commander of the Taiping Army's war. The three divisions and one fleet deployed by the Huai Navy on the frontline have all been deployed by him.
So after understanding the intelligence, he had to ask Huai Haijun about the arrangements here.
"Xueqin, as we just discussed, the big event in Tianjing that I told you before is probably going to happen." After seeing Peng Yulin, Dong Shuheng said straight to the point.
"Sir, are you saying that the Changmao people in Tianjing City are going to have internal strife?"
"Well, yes, after comprehensive intelligence analysis from all aspects, it is no surprise that it happened recently."
"President, our troops can attack at any time."
"I'm very relieved about this, but I still want to remind you that our strategic goal this time is to completely control the three provinces of Jiangsu, Anhui, and Jiangxi."
"For the Taiping Army, we will mainly expel them. Those who refuse to retreat will be resolutely eliminated. But don't kill them. After all, they are all members of the same clan. We still have to capture those who can be captured. We are short of people everywhere now."
"Yes, President, I understand what you mean."
"President, if it is a full-scale attack, the number of our main troops may be insufficient. After all, troops will be stationed in the newly occupied areas." Peng Yulin said, asking Dong Shuheng for additional troops.
"No problem, I will secretly assemble a group of militiamen for you. Once you capture the area, you can hand it over to the militiamen for garrison. The main force can just fight."
"Thank you very much, President!" Peng Yulin said. Now he felt relieved. He didn't have to worry about the battle ahead. It was so enjoyable to fight.
"Xueqin, the deployment of troops should not be too big. It should be based on our previous deployment. Otherwise, if the Taiping Army notices it, they may temporarily unite to deal with the outside world."
"Yes, President, our original deployment was to prepare for the current attack, so there is basically no need to mobilize the troops again."
"We must ensure that we can attack quickly at critical times. At the same time, in order to ensure continuous operations, the troops' ammunition supplies must be well reserved, so that the troops do not rush in and the logistics cannot keep up."
As he spoke, Dong Shuheng turned to Logistics Minister Han Yundao and said, "You should handle this matter with Commander Peng."
"Yes, President."
Dong Shuheng then looked at Ma Zongwu, the training director sitting on the left. Ma Zongwu and his training department were responsible for the mobilization and assembly of the militia.
"Minister Ma, this time I plan to gather 60,000 militiamen, three fronts, 20,000 people on each line. However, the gathering of militiamen should not give people a sudden feeling. It is best to arrange it as a routine gathering training."
"No problem, President, we have assembled hundreds of thousands of people before. I think this time, we can conduct assembly training at several points along the canal. In this way, there will not be too many people at each place, and we can do it when needed.
Quickly move to the front via the canal."
"Well, yes, don't give out the purpose of the mission yet. Don't reveal it even to the militia commander."
"Um."
Finally, Dong Shuheng summarized the combat deployment.
"We are divided into three fronts this time. The First Division of the North Route attacks Luzhou, and Lu'an recovers north of the Yangtze River. The Instructor Division of the Middle Route, with the cooperation of the Yangtze River Navy, recovers Jiangning, Anqing, recovers the Yangtze River, and advances along the Poyang Lake coast to Hubei.
The Second Division of the South Road regained southern Anhui and Jiangxi."
"This battle must be fast, accurate, and ruthless, and the timing of the launch must be grasped. The telegraph lines on the Anhui and Jiangxi front lines will be repaired soon, and then we will be able to accurately grasp the launch time through telegraphs."
"Ji Mingshan, you should pay close attention to the movements of Wei Changhui, Luo Outline, and Shi Dakai. This is very important."
To start a war with the Taiping Army this time, it was very important to grasp the timing. Dong Shuheng planned not to go out in the near future and would stay in Yangzhou City to take charge.
If it really started, he would have to handle many things personally.