The sad ancient road, ten miles long pavilion, Yang Yi, Zhang Jian, Li Hongzhang, a pot of turbid wine, three people raised their glasses. The atmosphere of farewell was always so desolate. When a glass of water and wine was gone, a hot feeling surged into Li Hongzhang's heart. Li Hongzhang felt an impulse to say something to Yang Yi, but the restraint skill developed by years of immersed in Confucianism still made him suppress this impulse and greeted Yang Yi and Zhang Jian: "Yang Du, Brother Min Si, I will give you a thousand miles away. Don't give it to you, two, let's say goodbye, two are kind, Li Hongzhang will never forget this life."

Yang Yi and Zhang Jian returned the salute with his fists. Li Hongzhang suddenly turned his head and walked south. Yang Yi stepped forward and said, "Shaoquan, stay, I have something to say." Li Hongzhang slowly turned around and said, "Duke Yang, please speak." Yang Yi looked solemn: "Shaoquan, if there is any difficulty, just come to me." After hearing this, Li Hongzhang lowered his head suddenly: "Duke Yang, Shaoquan has recorded it." After that, he quickly turned around.

A team of a carriage, two servants, and a dozen new military guards riding horses gradually disappeared from Yang Yi's sight. Yang Yi stood at a high place and kept looking into the distance until the team disappeared into the sky in the distance.

Zhang Jian stood silently behind Yang Yi, and waited for Li Hongzhang and his party to completely lose sight. Then he said, "Sir, since you like Shao Quan so much, why did you let him leave?" Yang Yi did not answer, but just looked at Zhang Jian quietly. Zhang Jian quickly smiled and said, "Don't, sir, I'm not a worm in your stomach. This time I really can't find enough reason to explain all this."

Yang Yi smiled and showed a cunning expression, "So, have you found some reasons?" Yang Yi slowly walked back. Zhang Jian followed closely and said, "Shaoquan is a talent. The adult's behavior is nothing more than trying to win him over. But this reason is still not sufficient. I thought about it all night yesterday, but I didn't understand your real intention." Yang Yi stopped and looked at Zhang Jian: "Oh? Sir, look, what reason is not sufficient." Zhang Jian said, "Since I asked this, I will say what I thought in my heart so that I can help me explain the doubts in my heart."

The two returned to the pavilion, Yang Yi and Zhang Jian sat down, and Zhang Jian sat down and began to say, "If I guess correctly, the letter to Zeng Guofan must have asked him to recommend Li Shaoquan to the court, and the lord also wrote to him. In this way, Li Shaoquan will not be far away when he becomes prosperous. Li Shaoquan is very talented and if he cannot use it for me, he will definitely be a strong opponent after the uprising in the future. Since such a talent cannot be used, he should ruin him. I don't think that this is the way he is doing now, so it's better to send someone to halfway..." When Zhang Jian said this, he couldn't help but look at Yang Yi and found that Yang Yi's expression had not changed at all. Zhang Jian stood up and signaled the guard battalion commander outside the pavilion to come in. At this time, Yang Yi said, "Sir, forget it." Zhang Jian was stunned when he heard this, but he had to give up and sat back slowly.

Yang Yi poured himself and Zhang Jian a glass of wine, and then said: "I am doing this to Shaoquan. The reason is right. The other half is actually my selfishness. If you don't keep Li Shaoquan, I actually want to leave an opponent for myself. I believe that Li Hongzhang will become a good opponent." In fact, Yang Yi still did not fully express his true thoughts. With his understanding of Li Hongzhang in history, Yang Yi and Li Hongzhang still held a hope. It was this hope that left a generation of virtuous ministers for the Yang Yi Dynasty in the future. Yang Yi's words were like a stone thrown into water, and waves of ripples were rippled in Zhang Jian's heart. How interesting it is to have a good opponent in a person's life!!

"Sir, Chen Yucheng has sent a letter. The troops have been assembled in Quzhou and will enter Jiangxi soon. Do you really want to join forces with Zeng Guofan to destroy Shi Dakai?" Zhang Jian and Yang Yi rode along the horse and slowly headed to Shanghai on the official road. Yang Yi shook his head slightly and said, "Tell Chen Yucheng, stop me when he opened the road to Hunan. It is better to keep Shi Dakai."

Li Hongzhang said goodbye to Yang Yi and went west. After five days of rushing, he finally arrived in Quzhou. At this time, the arms transported by the sea were also escorted by the new army. He arrived in Wenzhou two days ago, and then moved to Quzhou. Although Li Hongzhang did not quite understand why Yang Yi chose this route along the way. Jiangxi is in Shi Dakai's hands, and Li Hongzhang took a detour when he came, but based on his preliminary understanding of Yang Yi these days, he knew that Yang Yi's arrangement must have his own reason. Li Hongzhang was right. In the letter Li Hongzhang handed over to Yang Yi, Zeng Guofan proposed to join forces with the new army.

On the second day after receiving the letter, Yang Yi sent someone to reply to express his agreement and agreed to the time for the war. At the same time, Chen Yucheng led his 30,000 troops from Hangzhou to Quzhou and approaching Jiangxi. Zeng Guofan, who had been suppressed by Shi Dakai, immediately ordered Zeng Guoquan and Bao Chao to set off from Zhuzhou, Hunan to echo Chen Yucheng from east to west. After Li Hongzhang arrived in Quzhou, he personally received him and told Li Hongzhang about the battle plan. Only then did Li Hongzhang understand Yang Yi's intention. Li Hongzhang, who understood the truth, waited for the arrival of arms in Quzhou.

In mid-September, the new army, which had been brewing for a long time, suddenly broke out from Quzhou. The Taiping Army along the way was invincible. Some Taiping Army guarding Shangrao even surrendered to Chen Yucheng. After conquering Shangrao, Chen Yucheng led his troops straight to Yingtan. At the same time, Zeng Guoquan and Bao Chao also sent troops to Pingxiang, Jiangxi, and advanced eastward. The Taiping Army was caught off guard and the Hunan Army was progressing smoothly. After hearing the news, Shi Dakai immediately ordered the troops in Jiangxi to shrink to the Nanchang area and prepare to rely on Nanchang's solid city defense to defend and wait for reinforcements. Yingtan did not attack and conquer. Chen Yucheng did not continue to march into Nanchang after occupying Yingtan, but ordered the large troops to rest on the spot and send a small group of troops to move towards Fuzhou. The Hunan Army entered Jiangxi.

Later, after conquering Yichun and Xinyu, Zeng Guoquan and Bao Chao originally planned to take the opportunity to attack Nanchang, but because they could not get the cooperation of the new army, given that Nanchang's strong defense and the Taiping Army contracted quickly, the two could only turn to Fuzhou, intending to join forces before planning Nanchang. At the end of September, the Hunan Army of the new army met in Fuzhou, and the passage between Zhejiang and Hunan was opened. After the Fuzhou meeting, Zeng Guoquan and Bao Chao went to Yingtan to meet Chen Yucheng and discuss the next action plan. In terms of the official positions of the court, Chen Yucheng was not as good as Zeng Guoquan and Bao Chao, so although he was unwilling, for these two friendly generals who came from afar, due to the court etiquette, Chen Yucheng personally went out of the city five miles to welcome these two.

They were a little disdainful of Chen Yucheng, Zeng Guoquan and Bao Chao. The main reason was that Chen Yucheng made the Qing army miserable in the battlefield of Anhui. Everyone had a deep grudge. But now the Hunan Army can't move Shi Dakai and still rely on the new army more. Therefore, for Chen Yucheng, the highest leader of the new army in Jiangxi, the two could only be vain. Chen Yucheng's official position is smaller than these two. Logically speaking, it should be Chen Yucheng who came to visit them, but now they have to ask for help, so they can only visit them.

Yingtan is not big. After coming out of Fuzhou, the two got up early because they had something to do, and then walked quickly. At about 3 pm that day, they could already see Chen Yucheng and other subordinates coming out of Yingtan to greet them from afar. The two of them slowed down and slowly came to the welcome team. They saw that the first one was extraordinary and the others were following him. The person who came was Chen Yucheng. The two of them in the officialdom for many years recognized the person who was forcibly killed Qishan and defeated the river several times.

In Beidaying, the killing of Shengbao, Chen Yucheng, who fled after hearing the name of his name, immediately turned over and dismounted from afar. Chen Yucheng also walked up to the front and bowed to the two and said, "Two sirs, you have worked hard all the way. Yucheng is busy with military affairs and has not been able to visit him in person. It is really rude. I hope you will forgive me." Zeng Guoquan and Bao Chao quickly returned the gift and said in unison: "Ten Guoquan (Bao Chao) Thank you for your personal greeting." Then Zeng Guoquan said, "This time the two armies cooperate with each other, we must rely more on General Chen."

"Two brothers, I've been going all the way. Shaoquan has been waiting here for many days." At this time, Li Hongzhang, who was standing behind Chen Yucheng, stood up and spoke. It turned out that Li Hongzhang also came to Yingtan with arms. When he heard that the two of them were coming, he also came out to greet them.

"Shaoquan, you are here too." Bao Chao stepped forward and greeted Li Hongzhang. Bao Chao and Li Hongzhang have always had a good relationship. Bao Chao is a rough man. He didn't like Chen Yucheng at first, so he had an opinion about Chen Yucheng staying in Yingtan and not entering Nanchang. This time, Zeng Guoquan pulled him here. After saying politely to Chen Yucheng, he felt bored and was very happy to see Li Hongzhang.

After everyone made some courtesy, they walked towards Yingtan City together. Along the way, what made Bao Chao jealous the most was the equipment of the new army. I had long heard that the equipment of the new army was the latest weapons bought from foreigners. When I saw it today, it was true. Zeng Guoquan noticed the appearance of the new army. The new army accompanied him was in a consistent pace and neatly arranged. At first glance, it was a brave army. Zeng Guoquan's evaluation of the new army leader Yang Yi was put on another level. That night, Chen Yucheng held a banquet to welcome the two. After the banquet, Chen Yucheng and Li Hongzhang took the two to see the arms transported from Shanghai.

A new rifle with a shiny and shiny rifle made Zeng Guoquan and Bao Chao look shiny. Bao Chao simply grabbed a gun, pulled the bolt, and aimed at it. He was so happy. Zeng Guoquan seemed a little more mature, but when he saw the strange-shaped mortar, he still became curious and looked around the mortar for a long time. The two of them were just looking at the weapons. When they remembered that Chen Yucheng and the others were still next to them, it was already very late, so they returned to the inn arranged by Chen Yucheng for them to stay.

The next day, Zeng Guoquan and Bao Chao found Chen Yucheng again. As soon as they met, Bao Chao asked Chen Yucheng: "Mr. Chen, I don't know when your troops will set off in Nanchang. Then everyone will join forces to drive the thief out of Jiangxi." Chen Yucheng had no intention of fighting Nanchang at all. According to Yang Yi's order, opening up the passage between Zhejiang and Hunan is to complete the task. Don't participate in the fight against Nanchang. So when Bao Chao asked, Chen Yucheng refused: "Mr. Bao, Nanchang City is strong and has enough food, and Shi Dakai shrinks quickly. There are 100,000 troops in Nanchang City. How do you think this battle?" Bao Chao felt upset.

Just as he was about to say something, Li Hongzhang, who was accompanying him, secretly pulled his clothes from behind. Bao Chao stopped saying a word and sat back. Zeng Guoquan understood that Chen Yucheng had no intention of attacking Nanchang at all. In fact, with the current equipment of the new army, the Taiping Army in Nanchang City with big swords and spears should be able to be defeated. Zeng Guoquan thought it through and asked Chen Yucheng back, "Sir Chen, what do you think should be attacked?" Chen Yucheng had expected them to reply to this question, and immediately said what he had thought: "Two sirs, if you want to attack Nanchang, you must have enough artillery fire, but our army attacked Jiangxi this time.

In order to achieve the effect of marching and unexpectedly, all the heavy artillery remained in Hangzhou, so at least the heavy artillery must be reached before the attack was launched. Secondly, when the enemy retreated, the tactic of firming the walls and clearing the fields was implemented. At present, in Jiangxi, we cannot buy a piece of food, so we might as well not fight this war, so we have to wait for the food to come from Zhejiang to prepare for a period of time, so our army will naturally launch an attack on Nanchang." When Bao Chao heard Chen Yucheng's refusal, he immediately stood up, and Li Hongzhang couldn't hold it back. Bao Chao said loudly: "Mr. Chen,

The art of war says: Soldiers are very fast. Now the thieves are trapped in Nanchang like frightened birds. Our army should take advantage of the victory to pursue them and defeat them in one fell swoop." As he said that, Bao Chao showed a disdain for Chen Yucheng. Bao Chao has always looked down on the generals of the Taiping Army, thinking that they do not understand military tactics and rely on many people to fight. Chen Yucheng, such a smart person, could not hear Bao Chao's meaning, but it was difficult to turn against him. He just continued the steps and said, "I have never read a few military books below and don't know much about military tactics. In short, this Nanchang City cannot be fought now. If you want to fight, you might as well fight by yourself. Chen Yucheng won't send it to you." He said that.

After Chen Yucheng left like this, Zeng Guoquan and the other three had to leave by themselves. After returning to the post station, Li Hongzhang said to Bao Chao: "I say Brother Bao, you are too confused. Not to mention that Chen Yucheng is now the favorite general of Yang Du, but in terms of the current battle situation, people can see clearly than you." When Li Hongzhang said that, although Bao Chao was not convinced, Bao Chao knew that Li Hongzhang's words always made sense. Bao Chao did not refute, but just asked: "Shaoquan, tell me, where can Chen Yucheng see clearly." Li Hongzhang would not know

Bao Chao thought in his heart and said with a smile: "Brother Bao, don't be dissatisfied. The Taiping Army retreated actively. When he left, he implemented a solid wall to clear the field. This shows that the thief was simply planning to use Nanchang's solid defense to consume our army. When we were repeatedly frustrated under the city and his morale was low, we would fight back. I see how you deal with this situation. Besides, the thief has nearly 500,000 troops in other places. Is it so easy to destroy? Also, you actually mocked others for not understanding the art of military affairs. Chen Yu

Cheng swept across Jiangbei, how could he be an ordinary person? He didn't turn against you on the spot, that was the other person's stomach." Bao Chao felt that he was reckless and said, "Then I'll go and compensate Chen Yucheng right now, right?" Zeng Guoquan thought for a while and said, "Forget it, let's take the arms back first, report the situation to the elder brother and see what he said." After the three decided, they said goodbye to Chen Yucheng the next day. Chen Yucheng said a few polite words and sent them to the city gate. The three returned to Xinyu, and Li Hongzhang immediately returned to Zhuzhou to meet Zeng Guofan.

, and handed Yang Yi's letter to Zeng Guofan. After reading the letter, Zeng Guofan handed the letter to Li Hongzhang, and then sighed: "Yang Yi is indeed extraordinary. He has a talented person in the world. I, the Qing Dynasty, have such a capable minister, and cannot be said to be a blessing." Li Hongzhang took the letter and realized that Yang Yi highly praised him in the letter, hoping that Zeng Guofan could recommend him to the emperor as soon as possible, and Yang Yi would definitely help. Finally, Zeng Guofan said: "Shaoquan, I think I should find an opportunity to meet Chu Qiao, among my Han ministers."

Because Shi Dakai decisively gave up some places and retreated to the Nanchang area. In addition, Yang Yi did not have the idea of ​​eliminating Shi Dakai, the situation in Jiangxi entered a relatively stable state. Although the Hunan Army was willing to take Nanchang, it did not cooperate with the new army, and the Taiping Army did not suffer much loss in this battle. There were still hundreds of thousands of troops in Hubei and Hubei. In October, at the junction of Hubei and Hunan, Shi Dakai launched a fierce attack on the Hunan Army. The situation in the Yuezhou area was in crisis, Peng Yulin, Li

Xu Bin was in a hurry. Zeng Guofan used all the newly bought weapons to this line, so he stabilized his position. The battle situation entered a stalemate in November. After both sides paid a considerable price, they basically returned to the state of war. In Jiangxi, Chen Yucheng had been unwilling to send troops to Nanchang, so the Hunan Army on Jiangxi naturally had no strength to attack Nanchang. In December, Zeng Guofan planned to go to Shanghai to make a special visit to Yang Yi--

￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥

London, the members of the two houses are arguing fiercely, and the topic of the debate comes from a suggestion of a war against China by the British ambassador to China. One MP said: "If we do not occupy the Chinese market, other countries will also occupy it. At present, China has few ports open to us. We must use force to force this ancient kingdom to fully open to us." There is another idea that the MP has not yet expressed it, that is the opium transaction, which is still illegal in China. The UK has the right to legalize the opium transaction in the amendment clause. Another MP stood up again

He said, "There is another point that please note, that is, China, an ancient and corrupt empire, has not allowed our envoys to enter their capital yet. I think this is absolutely intolerable. This is a contempt for my British Empire. We must make up our minds to correct this mistake with guns and cannons." After this statement, everyone was in an uproar and shouted, "Long live the British Empire, the honor of the British Empire cannot be despised, and war against the barbarians will be launched one after another. Finally, the two houses passed the motion to send troops to China with an absolute majority vote. The time was the spring of that year.

The empress's desk was placed on the prime minister's desk, and the order to send troops to China was only implemented after the signing of the empress. Eighteen years ago, on this table, the empress signed the order for the war against China. That war brought 21 million silver dollars to the British Empire, several unilateral preferential policies, and there was also Hong Kong. What can this war bring to the world's largest industrial power? The empress signed the order in anticipation.

Almost at the same time, the French emperor and Napoleon III also ordered the use of military force against China without excuses under the "Master Ma incident". The actions of the two countries were supported by the United States and Russia, so they decided to form a coalition forces to fight against China.

In the spring of 1857, the British government appointed former Canadian Governor Erkin as a plenipotentiary envoy and led a navy and army to China. At the same time, it was suggested that the French government act together. France accepted the British suggestion and sent Gross as a plenipotentiary envoy to lead the army to participate in the war against China. In October 1857, Erkin and Gross led ships to Hong Kong one after another. In November, the US Minister Levitra and Russian Minister Putiyatin also rushed to Hong Kong to meet with the British and French ministers to support the British and French actions. In December, more than 5,000 British and French coalition forces were organized and assembled. Erkin and Gross issued an ultimatum to Ye Mingchen, Guangdong and Guangxi on the 27th, with the city limited to 48 hours.

In Guangzhou City, there were two official documents in front of Ye Mingchen, the Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi. One was an urgent document sent by Yang Yi, the governor of Liangjiang. Yang Yi pointed out in the letter that the British and French coalition forces would not give up until they reached the purpose of revising the contract. Ye Mingchen was asked to make the city as soon as possible. Ye Mingchen did not consider these two documents. He believed that Yang Yi's letter was a success, and he pointed at him as the governor of the same level as him. The ultimatum of foreigners was Ye Mingchen. Last year, the foreigners said they wanted to use force. A year has passed and it was not good, so Ye Mingchen didn't take it seriously. He believed that as long as he gave some benefits to foreigners, foreigners would naturally no longer make trouble.

On December 28, the unprepared Guangzhou City was shelled by the British and French coalition forces. Then the coalition forces landed in Guangzhou. The coalition forces occupied Guangzhou without encountering decent resistance. On the 29th, Guangzhou fell and Ye Mingchen was captured by the coalition forces. He was later taken to Kolkada, India. He died of illness in prison in 1859.

Yang Yi and the British and French coalition forces were very clear this time. He hated this history from the future. On the one hand, Yang Yi urgently reported to Guangzhou and asked Ye Mingchen to prepare early. On the other hand, he ordered Nie Shicheng to quickly lead the 50,000 army to Cangzhou, Hebei in the name of pursuing the remnants of the Nian Army. Yang Yi himself packed up his luggage and rushed to Jinan in the name of laboring troops. To be honest, Yang Yi and Ye Mingchen were not at all relieved. At the same time, Yang Yi also submitted a letter to Emperor Xianfeng, proposing the suggestion of the court to strengthen the defense of the Dagukou Fort, and reminded Xianfeng that Western devils were all the same people, coveting the wealth and land of our China, and they could not trust them.

As a result, Yang Yi's memorial was said to be alarmist by He Chun, intending to undermine the diplomatic relations between China and Western countries. Yang Yi's behavior when he arrived in Jinan was said by Jingtai Yiliang as a memorial that was a bad intention and Shengbao was not unhealthy, saying that Yang Yi had not approved it with the court and went to Jinan privately, which was a cross-border act. As a result, Yang Yi's memorial was not adopted at all, and he also added a warning to Yang Yi. He also issued an imperial edict to let Yang Yi return to his jurisdiction as soon as possible.

After the British and French coalition occupied Guangzhou, the ministers of the four countries were struggling to go north. In April 1858, the ministers of the four countries met outside Baihekou and reported to the Qing government on the 24th, demanding that the plenipotentiary ministers be sent to hold negotiations in Beijing or Tianjin. The British and French ministers agreed to reply to their request within 6 days, otherwise military action would be taken. The US and Russian ministers pretended to mediate and persuaded the Qing government to negotiate quickly. The Qing government could not correctly judge the next action of Britain and France, and also hoped that the US and Russia would mediate. They neither made serious preparations for war nor had the determination to fight against the invading army.
Chapter completed!