In the palace of the Heavenly King, Hong Xiuquan, who was sitting in the middle, glanced at Yang Xiuqing, Wei Changhui and others with an extremely serious expression. At this time, Hong Xiuquan's eye circles were somewhat black and swollen, his eyes were covered with scarlet bloodshot eyes, and his face looked tired.
However, the tiredness on Hong Xiuquan's face was not caused by worries about insomnia and insomnia due to the unfavorable outcome of the war. It was caused by Hong Xiuquan staying in the palace all day long and busy taking care of his wife after the Taiping Army established its capital in Nanjing.
As the saying goes, "Tao Se" has a knife in its head, and this was the case with Hong Xiuquan.
At this time, Hong Xiuquan had long lost his original burly and heroic spirit, and was replaced by a figure like a smoker who had been smoking for a long time. As for the number of Hong Xiuquan's wives and concubines, some said 88, some said 99, and
It was said that there were more than 100, but it was only a lot more, which resulted in Hong Xiuquan's current situation.
After Hong Xiuquan glanced around, he finally landed on Yang Xiuqing and said in a deep voice: "Dong Wang, the war situation in the north is not good, and the situation in Hunan and Hubei is also worrying. If the situation is not reversed, it will be detrimental to the Celestial Empire. What do you think of Dong Wang?"
?”
When Wei Changhui heard this, he sneered at the corner of his mouth and said calmly: "The decision of the Northern Expedition was made by King Dong. Now that something has happened, King Dong must bear full responsibility."
Yang Xiuqing snorted coldly and said in a deep voice: "What the King of the North said is a bit wrong. The decision of the Northern Expedition was proposed by me. However, I also informed all the generals of the decision of the Northern Expedition and obtained their consent before sending troops.
The Northern Expedition. Something has happened now, but the King of the North has completely ignored himself. It seems something is wrong! If the Northern Expedition wins the battle, I am afraid that the first one to come together to grab the benefits will be the King of the North."
"Yang Xiuqing, you are going too far!"
Wei Changhui's eyes widened, and he suddenly stood up with a desperate attitude.
Shi Dakai hurriedly stood up and grabbed Wei Changhui, and shouted in a deep voice: "Victory and defeat are commonplace in military affairs. The Northern Expeditionary Army was defeated, and we will win next time. The discussion now is not about whose responsibility it is, but how to change the situation."
"snort!"
Wei Changhui flicked his sleeves and sat down.
Shi Dakai apologized to Yang Xiuqing, then returned to his seat and sat down.
In fact, Shi Dakai was quite critical of Yang Xiuqing.
When the Northern Expedition was proposed, Shi Dakai thought it was inappropriate. However, Yang Xiuqing was nine thousand years old and had overall power in the government. In addition, Hong Xiuquan did not take care of things, so Yang Xiuqing's decision was easily passed. Furthermore, Yang Xiuqing was arrogant, which Shi Dakai despised.
Yang Xiuqing's place. Even though Shi Dakai did not mention responsibility on the surface, he believed that Yang Xiuqing bore the main responsibility.
When Hong Xiuquan saw Wei Changhui sitting down, a trace of disappointment flashed in his eyes.
However, Hong Xiuquan's expression remained unchanged and he said calmly: "What King Yi said makes sense. What we need to discuss now is how to reverse the situation and change the current rotten situation of losing consecutive battles. King Dong, tell me about your situation.
view."
Yang Xiuqing pondered for a moment and said: "The situation is unfavorable, and the Northern Expedition or even the Western Expedition has become a problem. Even the two camps in Jiangbei and Jiangnan outside Tianjing City have become a climate. When Tianjing was established as the capital last year,
The Jiangnan and Jiangbei camps are not worth mentioning. My wish is to capture Beijing first, so that the Qingyao siege of Tianjing will be defeated. Now that the Northern Expedition has failed, the strength of the Liangjiang camps has increased rapidly, and I believe that we must capture Beijing first.
Just go down to these two camps."
After Shi Dakai listened, he nodded in approval.
It's still too late to save the situation!
Hong Xiuquan put his hands together and said calmly: "The King of the East is preparing to attack Jiangbei Camp and Jiangnan Camp. Do you have any specific attention?"
Yang Xiuqing replied: "To deal with the two camps, it is not suitable to attack at the same time. They should be defeated one by one. First, concentrate the superior forces to attack the Jiangbei camp, open up the main roads between Yangzhou and Tianjing, and change the current situation. Take Jiangbei.
Camp, then attack the Jiangnan Camp with all our strength to eliminate the threat to the south of Tianjing. As long as the Liangjiang Camp is gone, the Chinese Empire will be as stable as Mount Tai and cannot be affected by the defeat of the frontline battle."
Hong Xiuquan glanced at Wei Changhui and asked again: "Who will be the coach? Who will be the deputy coach? Who will be the vanguard?"
Yang Xiuqing said: "My younger brother is willing to serve as the commander-in-chief, King Qin Rigang of Yan will serve as the deputy commander-in-chief, and Li Xiucheng will lead the army as the vanguard."
"Li Xiucheng?"
Wei Changhui's voice suddenly became shrill, and he said loudly: "Li Xiucheng led the troops to attack Shanghai, but lost his troops and generals. How can a defeated general go out again?"
Shi Dakai and Li Xiucheng knew each other and had friendship, so they did not speak.
Hong Xiuquan saw Wei Changhui's expression in his eyes and said directly: "Okay, follow King Dong's instructions."
When Qin Rigang saw that the matter was finalized, the corners of his mouth twitched slightly.
When he led his army north to rescue the Northern Expeditionary Army, he became a defeated general, and now he was about to go on another expedition. Qin Rigang felt even more unsure. Especially since Yang Xiuqing was arbitrary and arbitrary, there was no way he could follow Qin Rigang's advice. He completely regarded Qin Rigang as a doll in his hands, Yang Xiuqing.
, so Qin Rigang was very depressed and did not want to go out at all.
Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing reached a consensus, and Qin Rigang had no room to refute.
After discussing the matter, Hong Xiuquan yawned, dismissed everyone, and hurried towards the harem. Obviously, the charm of women in the harem was far more important than discussing national affairs in the court.
Yang Xiuqing left proudly, with Qin Rigang, Wei Changhui and Shi Dakai walking behind. Wei Changhui looked at Qin Rigang with a bitter face and said with a smile: "Brother Yan Wang, congratulations, this is a great opportunity to make meritorious deeds."
Qin Rigang forced himself to laugh twice, but his heart was very heavy.
Wei Changhui looked at Shi Dakai again and said with a smile: "Brother Yiwang is extremely talented, and Dongwang will definitely reuse him. Don't worry!" As for Hu Yihuang, who had been playing soy sauce, Wei Changhui also comforted him.
Immediately, Wei Changhui said: "Prince Dong will take care of this important matter. Go back and have a good sleep."
Shi Dakai and Qin Rigang looked at Wei Changhui's leaving figure, thoughtfully, and then said goodbye.
…
Shanghai, Concession.
After Ye Chengzhong packed up Li Zhen's study, he hurried to the place where Gu Lina lived with the tasks assigned by Li Zhen. At this time, Ye Chengzhong was not the person in history who already spoke fluent bird language.
business tycoon. Fortunately, Gu Lina has a Chinese-speaking translator at home, so there is no language barrier.
Ye Chengzhong said to the female translator who greeted him: "Miss, I have been entrusted by Mr. Li to come to see Mrs. Gu Lina to discuss matters. Please let me know."
When it came to Li Zhen, the translator did not dare to delay and said: "Wait a moment, I will notify you immediately."
The translator asked Ye Chengzhong to sit down in the hall, then went up to the second floor and told Gu Lina about Ye Chengzhong's intention.
After a while, Gu Lina stomped downstairs.
Gu Lina looked at Ye Chengzhong, who still had a hint of childishness on his face, with a smile on his face, but in her heart she wondered why Li Zhen did not come in person but asked such a young man to come.
Seeing this, Ye Chengzhong stood up and bowed slightly and said, "Ye Chengzhong has met Madam!"
After listening to the translator's narration, Gu Lina narrowed her eyes slightly, and there was a hint of excitement in her eyes.
Ye Chengzhong's etiquette is different. If Gu Lina is regarded as a countess, it is impossible to bow and salute like this. Therefore, the 'madam' in Ye Chengzhong's mouth is obviously not the countess, but Li Zhen's wife. She is young
Ye Chengzhong is young, but he knows how to please her, and he pours ecstasy soup into Gu Lina as soon as he comes, which increases his impression in Gu Lina's eyes.
Gu Lina secretly praised Ye Chengzhong for being sensible, and said with a smile: "Mr. Ye, why did the general ask you to come?"