Xu Yuan left the Tianwang Mansion and immediately conveyed Hong Xiuquan's order after returning to his Prime Minister's Mansion.
At this stage, food is extremely important to the Taiping Army. Xu Yuan attaches great importance to it. This time he sent troops to rob the 300,000 kilograms of food escorted by merchants. Xu Yuan believed that he could only succeed but not fail, so he directly sent the elite of the army, a force of 1,000 kilograms. The rest of the army left Nanjing and went out to carry out the tasks assigned by Xu Yuan.
…
Sun Youcheng and other gentry from areas near Yangzhou urgently gathered 300,000 kilograms of grain and were already on their way to Jiangbei Camp. On October 15th, the convoy marched to Gaozi Town in Zhenjiang Prefecture.
Gaozi Town is located in Zhenjiang Prefecture, Yangzhou. It is a small town adjacent to Nanjing and also close to Xia Shu Town in Nanjing. This town was founded in the Song Dynasty and has developed to this day. It has become a famous place for merchants, such as Sun Youcheng, Kuang Jiacheng, etc. The food collected by people was transported to Jiangbei Daying in the north of Yangzhou through Gaozi Town.
On the wide official road, horse-drawn carriages loaded with goods rumbled along, and the meandering motorcade appeared on the official road, like a long dragon slowly advancing.
At the front of the motorcade, a carriage carrying people opened its door curtain.
In the carriage, they were Sun Youcheng and Kuang Jiacheng.
Sun Youcheng was wrapped like a big rice dumpling, with a high-collar coat to protect his neck from the cold wind. He was holding a heater in both hands, wearing a small hat on his head, leaning against the carriage, with an indifferent expression and closed his eyes to meditate. Looking like an old man at ease, Kuang Jiacheng sat next to him, but he couldn't calm down.
Kuang Jiacheng always shakes his head, twists his butt, and fidgets from time to time.
He looked up at the official road outside and said: "Mr. Sun, we have arrived at Gaozi Town along the way. If we go further, we will leave the Zhenjiang Prefecture and enter the boundaries of Yangzhou. This Yangzhou is Li Once it is controlled by Sir, once it enters Mr. Li's sphere of influence, the bandits will definitely not dare to come. Do you think the bandits will stop coming?"
Sun Youcheng didn't blink an eyelid, ignored Kuang Jiacheng, and continued to close his eyes and meditate.
Kuang Jiacheng impatiently put his mouth next to Sun Youcheng's ear and said loudly: "Mr. Sun,..."
With a low cry, Sun Youcheng opened his eyes.
He reached out and took out his ears, glanced at Kuang Jiacheng, and said calmly: "Why are you so anxious? If the bandits don't show up, we will go directly to the Jiangbei Camp. What else is there to say?"
After finishing speaking, Sun Youcheng closed his eyes again to rest his mind.
Kuang Jiacheng sat down, feeling uncomfortable.
However, he knew what was going on and stopped talking. The carriage continued to drive. Sun Youcheng was still at ease, but Kuang Jiacheng could not calm down. He always looked at the situation outside. Time passed, and at noon, the warm sun hung above his head, and the sun was shining brightly. Feeling warm and comfortable, Sun Youcheng opened his eyes, called for the guards, ordered the team to stop, and prepared lunch on the spot.
The accompanying guards cooked rice in pots and prepared broth.
Sun Youcheng sat next to the big pot, holding a bowl in his hand, and took a sip of the hot soup. Suddenly, his slightly stiff and cold body softened and felt very comfortable. Sun Youcheng drank a bowl of hot soup and ate some rice. , he put down the bowl. He was old and didn't eat much, so Sun Youcheng sat down and watched the guards around him eat.
After having dinner and resting for half an hour, the team continued to move forward.
Kuang Jiacheng sat in the carriage and waited. Seeing that the Taiping Army never showed up, he lost interest and began to rest against the carriage. At this time, there was a rapid sound of horse hooves, and a guard rode up to the carriage and said: " Mr. Sun, we will reach Cuijia Mountain in half an hour."
"I know, let all the guards cheer up."
Sun Youcheng opened his eyes, and a light flashed in his eyes. At this moment, Sun Youcheng's expression suddenly became serious, and his whole temperament also changed drastically. Before, he looked like he was old and about to enter the coffin, but now But he turned into a wise and sharp-edged person.
This change made Kuang Jiacheng next to him a little uncomfortable.
The guard passed the order, and the other guards immediately became alert.
Half an hour passed by in a flash, and the army arrived at Cuijia Mountain and began to pass through the official road at the foot of the mountain. Cuijia Mountain is named after a mountain, but it is actually a small hillside. Except for the denser ones, which have lost all their leaves, There are many old trees, and the rest of the place is not praiseworthy. However, the hillside is close to the official road and is also a good place to hide people.
There is indeed an army hidden on Cuijia Mountain.
This army was the soldiers sent by Xu Yuan to rob food. The leader was a young man. Judging from the age shown on his face, he was only about twenty years old, but the look in his eyes was... Extremely fierce, definitely not something a young man of around twenty years old can possess.
"General Chen, the caravan escorting the grain is here."
A soldier ran over and said respectfully.
The soldier has been a veteran in the army for many years and is close to thirty years old. However, the veteran is extremely respectful in front of the young man, with endless reverence in his eyes, because although the young general in front of him is not old, he has been in the army for a long time. , he can definitely be called a veteran, and even this veteran admires him.
General Chen said: "Go down, don't rush to attack, wait for my order."
The soldiers immediately went to report, and an old general standing next to the young general said: "Yucheng, this is the second time we have come out to rob. Every time we know that the caravan is escorting food, we come out to rob it. This is not good."
A veteran general is an old man in the army. He has a close relationship with the young general and can only call him by his first name.
The general's surname was Chen, also known as Yucheng. Together they were Chen Yucheng.
This person is Chen Yucheng, the famous King of England in history. Historically, Chen Yucheng's original name was Chen Picheng. Because Hong Xiuquan gave him the name, he changed his name to Chen Yucheng. Chen Yucheng is only 20 years old now. He is completely a teenager.
However, Chen Yucheng is not old, but he has been a soldier for a long time.
At the age of 14, he followed his uncle to participate in the Jintian Uprising and joined the army. At the age of 16, he joined the army in the Western Expedition. When Xianfeng attacked Wuchang in the fourth year of his reign, 17-year-old Chen Yucheng led 500 warriors to break through Wuchang City, allowing the army to successfully enter and conquer Wuchang. Chen Yucheng was seventeen At thirty inspection points on the right side of Suisheng Palace, the Thirteenth Army after the unification of the Army and the Fourth Army before Shuiying moved to Hubei, Anhui and other places.
Because Chen Yucheng was rigorous in running the army, brave and strategic, and he was also good at building forts and sieges, plagiarizing retreats, and retrieving the cavalry when closing the troops. He was also known as the proverb "Returning the cavalry at thirty checkpoints". Like Li Xiucheng, he is history. An important figure in the late Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Chen Yucheng is currently not the King of England. He serves as the former army commander and is one of the five military commanders of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
Chen Yucheng said: "Lao Yu, you know the situation in China. Even if you have money, you can't buy food. The merchants in Shanghai are hoarding food and won't sell it. There are foreigners in Shanghai, and we don't dare to attack Shanghai, so we are facing
The predicament, coupled with the fact that the businessmen near Nanjing are protected by Li Zhen, make the situation even more unfavorable. It is already good to be able to grab 300,000 kilograms of grain."
Lao Yu sighed and said: "Is Li Zhen our nemesis? With him, the empire will be controlled everywhere."
Lao Yu had an indignant expression on his face, and his eyes were full of helplessness.
ps: Third update, continue writing the fourth update.