On the fifth day of October, dark clouds covered the sky and the sun, which was particularly depressing.
"boom."
A thunder sounded, and the dull rolling thunder frightened people's hearts. Li Zhen sat alone in the Chinese army's tent, thinking about attacking Nanjing. Although there was Lars in Nanjing city as an internal agent, Lars's subordinates There are not many troops, and it is impossible to rely solely on Lars. Li Zhen wants to completely annihilate the Taiping Army and capture Hong Xiuquan and others. Lars alone is obviously not enough. There must be a comprehensive strategy to achieve Li Zhen's annihilation. The goals of the Taiping Rebellion.
"Wow, wow,"
Outside the door curtain, heavy rain fell.
The rain splashed on the ground, and a pungent smell of dust immediately arose. Li Zhen listened to the sound of rain outside, got up and walked to the door of the camp, lifted the door curtain and watched the big raindrops falling on the ground. He was in a daze, and his heart was calm. I stood down and watched the mist rising and rolling, wondering what I was thinking.
Or it's about the attack on the Taiping Army, or about the little emperor in the military camp, or it's about the new emperor Yixin in the north...
In the blink of an eye, half an hour flew by.
Li Zhen had been standing at the door of the camp for half an hour, but he had no intention of returning. When the soldiers standing guard around him saw this, they were ready to persuade him. After all, it was raining heavily, and Li Zhen's body was also wet from the rain.
"Tap, step,,."
Just at this moment, a man wearing a raincoat ran over.
This person is clearly Ye Chengzhong.
He ran up to Li Zhen, raised his hand and saluted, and said loudly: "Commander, all the gentry from around Yangzhou are here. Two old guys, Sun Youcheng and Kuang Jiacheng, are leading the team. They came in the rain. They have something big to report to the Commander. Report."
"please."
Li Zhen came to his senses and turned back to the camp.
Ye Chengzhong went to convey the order. Not long after, Sun Youcheng and his party arrived at the Chinese army's tent. They all came in the rain, carrying raincoats, umbrellas and the like. After shaking off the water stains on their clothes, they respectfully greeted Li Zhen saluted. This group of people all knew that Li Zhen brought the young emperor to the military camp. They also knew that Li Zhen had become the auxiliary minister. Li Zhen now had more power than before. They did not dare to be presumptuous in front of Li Zhen. It's orderly.
Li Zhen asked: "Old sir, do you have anything to do when you come to Jiangbei Camp this time?"
With a bitter expression on his face, Sun Youcheng said, "Sir, help me." As he spoke, Sun Youcheng ignored his age and knelt on the ground with a plop.
"Sir, help me."
When Kuang Jiacheng saw Sun Youcheng kneeling, he immediately followed suit. The rest of the people followed and knelt down in unison. Some even started crying, which was extremely funny.
This situation made Li Zhen suddenly confused.
what happened.
Li Zhen looked at a group of people kneeling on the ground shouting and shouting, causing chaos in the camp. He couldn't help but feel a little irritated. He shouted in a deep voice: "You are crying for whatever reason. You are a young man who has the nerve to cry. Get up and take care of things carefully." Tell me clearly, or else get out of Jiangbei Camp, you guys, I'm so sorry."
"Yes Yes."
Sun Youcheng nodded repeatedly and stood up immediately.
The others also stood up.
Sun Youcheng bowed respectfully to Li Zhen again and then said: "The thing is like this, last year you asked us to control the food supply to Nanjing, because Nanjing also had a bumper harvest last year, so curbing Nanjing's food supply is not effective. Big, at that time I was just doing something in a small way."
"This year, the major families in Yangzhou have united together, and have also united with businesses in cities near Nanjing to curb the import of grain into Nanjing. We have contacted Shanghai, Yangzhou, Suzhou and other places to implement comprehensive food restrictions on Nanjing. This way Come on, food is very scarce in Nanjing. If they don’t have food, they often send troops out to plunder.”
Sun Youcheng said sadly: "The bandits have robbed us. Many shops have been robbed, and there have been countless disasters. Please Sir Li send troops to destroy the bandits, otherwise we will continue to suffer."
Li Zhen frowned and asked, "How long has this been going on?"
When Sun Youcheng heard this, he felt even more sad.
He burst into tears and said almost with snot and tears: "The bandits and robberies started in May this year. The situation was not serious at that time, so we did not report it. By June, the situation became serious. We came to look for you in the camp, but you went to Beijing and are not in the camp."
"I went to the general of the camp, Huang Shihai, and hoped that General Huang would send troops to suppress the bandits. Who knows, General Huang said that he could not send troops because you were not here. I have been asking General Huang to send troops since June. It is already October. No soldiers were seen, and numerous shops of various major families were robbed, resulting in heavy losses."
Sun Youcheng was sad, and so were the rest of the family.
Li Zhen finally understood the ins and outs of the matter, but there was no sadness in his heart. Instead, there was a hint of joy. These wealthy gentry were able to plunder and squeeze the people, and their power was extremely amazing. Now that the Taiping Army is constantly weakening them, they can also give them what they want. Li Zhen, obey Li Zhen’s orders obediently.
Well done Huang Shihai.
Li Zhen admired in his heart, but put on a righteous and awe-inspiring look on his face, and said categorically: "Old sir, please rest assured, and all the family heads, please rest assured, now that I am back, I will not allow bandits and robberies to continue to happen. , please wait patiently, I will send troops to suppress the bandits as soon as possible."
"As soon as possible, as soon as possible, when does it mean?"
Kuang Jiacheng felt unhappy and asked, remembering that Huang Shihai had always said that Li Zhen would come back as soon as possible, and then Li Zhen would lead the troops to attack the bandits. Who knew that it would be delayed for several months, but now that Li Zhen is back, his words are still the same As soon as possible, he also used the excuse of "as soon as possible", which made Kuang Jiacheng feel very uncomfortable.
Seeing Kuang Jiacheng questioning him, Li Zhen's expression darkened and he said seriously: "I don't need you to question what I do. What I say is one, and what I say is two. I will never deceive everyone. If I say it is as soon as possible, I will definitely do it." Suppress the bandits as soon as possible. If everyone doesn’t believe it, you can naturally leave, or choose to turn to the bandits. But when I finish destroying the bandits, huh..."
With threatening words, he changed the topic and said: "I will remember your achievements in curbing the bandits, and they are all clear to me. You also know that the emperor lives in the military camp, so there are many chores to do. Deal with it, now that I am serving as my assistant, when I wipe out the bandits, I will naturally ask for credit for you. At that time, you will also be greatly honored, and your family will also receive unlimited glory. Don't focus on things as big as sesame seeds. You need to have a broader vision and a broader mind."
"Report."
After Li Zhen finished speaking, Ye Chengzhong walked in quickly.
Ye Cheng said sincerely: "Commander, the Queen Mother invites you."
