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Volume One: Fierce Battle in Changsha Chapter 367: Three Days of Strike

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    Ever since they witnessed the powerful power of the Taiping Army's artillery and rifles, people in Taizhou City already knew the fate of Taizhou City. The wealthy and evil gentry in the city were in panic all day long. In order to protect their wealth, they chose to cooperate with the Qing army, but  One can only imagine how the Taiping Army will treat them after the city is broken.  The poor people in the city were happy that their hard days were finally coming to an end.  But Da Hong'a felt relaxed at this moment. The destruction of the city was nothing more than death for the city. Who could live for decades without dying?  But what Dahonga didn't know was that in another history of time and space, he also died at the hands of the Taiping Army, but in Henan.

    Just as the Qing army at the top of Dahong'ahe City was waiting for the Taiping Army's artillery fire to attack the city, they found several people holding white flags walking from the Taiping Army's forward position.  These people all wore the uniforms of the Qing army, and they seemed to be generals who were captured by the Taiping Army.  Dahong'a became a little puzzled. Could it be that Changmao still wanted to persuade him to surrender?

    The Qing soldiers raised their hands to indicate that they had no weapons. They walked to the city and knelt on the ground. The leader cried loudly: "Is Commander An in the city? The young Zuoying Qian Commander Zhao Debiao took the lead on Changmao's behalf.  Here we come." Dahong's nickname is Hou'an, and everyone in the army calls him Commander An.

    Dahong'a was sitting under the city gate building. After hearing the report from his subordinates, he snorted and said coldly: "Let them go back. I don't want to listen to the words of the rebellious officials and traitors!"

    The expressions of the generals and civil servants around Taizhou City all changed slightly. Now there is a great disparity between the strong and the weak. It can be said that the outcome has been decided. Since Changmao intends to persuade them to surrender, most of them are still unwilling to die in the city like this.  This is how people are, when you suddenly see a glimmer of hope in despair, you won't want to die so much, and the less you want to die, the more timid you will be.

    Wang Youling, the governor of Zhejiang, has been standing uneasily on the side. He studied hard for ten years and spent more than ten years in the officialdom before he climbed to where he is today.  It's a pity that the governor of Zhejiang is a hot potato.  His predecessor, Wu Wenrong, the governor of Zhejiang, lost Shaoxing and Ningbo, and the pirates counterattacked Ningbo but was defeated by the Taiping Army. Finally, Dinghai was also captured by the Taiping Army across the sea. Wu Wenrong died in Dinghai. Only then did the Qing government let the then Jiangsu  Wang Youling, the chief envoy, filled this vacancy.

    The governor of Zhejiang was originally based in Ningbo. After the fall of Shaoxing, Ningbo and Dinghai, Wang Youling had to go to Taizhou to take up his post. However, he had no soldiers or generals, so he had to take orders from Dahong'a, the general sent by Li Tingyu, because he had soldiers and food.  .

    Several provinces in the south of the Yangtze River were invaded by the Taiping Army.  There were many dead civilians and military officers, and many official positions were replaced by several people. If the Taiping Army broke into the city today, Wang Youling knew that the governor of Zhejiang should also be replaced.  But at this moment, the Taiping Army suddenly sent someone to deliver the message. Wang Youling was also an old man.  I immediately knew that the Taiping Army wanted to attack the city without any bloodshed, and it was very likely that they were here to persuade them to surrender.  For a moment, Wang Youling's heart was pounding.  If you agree to the Taiping Army's surrender.  Maybe there is no need to die.  Since the beginning of the year, the Taiping Army has become increasingly powerful. Wang Youling also saw that the Qing court was not as good as the previous day. Hearing that Xu Naizhao and other officials from the Qing court had been reused after they surrendered. Sometimes he also thought about what if he changed his court.  What will happen.  But this thought has been deeply suppressed in my heart.

    Last night, when he learned that the night attack out of the city had failed, Wang Youling knew that nothing could be done, so he summoned his staff to discuss countermeasures.

    One of his staff members was his former friend, whose surname was Hu Mingguangyong.  The word Xueyan.  Hu Xueyan's family was poor when he was young, and he made a living by helping others herd cattle. After a little while, he was recommended to be an apprentice in a shop named Yu Qian. The owner of the shop appreciated him and promoted him to a street runner.  During the Daoguang period, Wang Youling donated money to the Zhejiang Salt Transport Envoy, but he had no money to go to Beijing.  Later, Hu Xueyan had a keen eye and recognized that he had an extraordinary future, so he funded Wang Youling with five hundred taels of silver and asked Wang Youling to quickly go to Beijing to get an official position.  Later, when Wang Youling became successful, he funded Hu Xueyan to open a bank in Hangzhou. Unfortunately, the good times did not last long. After Changmao came over, Hu Xueyan had to flee south in a hurry with some wealthy businessmen. Fortunately, he walked quickly, otherwise he would have been trapped in Hangzhou city.  Later, Wang Youling went to Taizhou to serve as the governor of Zhejiang, and recruited Hu Xueyan as his staff. Therefore, Hu Xueyan followed Wang Youling in Taizhou to help the Qing army manage money and food.

    After listening to Wang Youling's account of the current situation, Hu Xueyan first said: "The Taiping Army is so powerful that nothing can be done. The boss should have made plans early."

    As soon as Hu Xueyan's words came out, everyone in the room was shocked. Although the people in the room were all Wang Youling's confidants, Hu Xueyan had changed his mind and did not call the Taiping Army long-haired thieves, but the Taiping Army. This shows that he actually deliberately relied on the Taiping Army.  To the Taiping Army and not willing to speak ill of each other.

    Wang Youling frowned and said: "Xueyan, we are eating your salary and worrying about you, so why should we make our own plans?"

    Hu Xueyan said frankly: "My boss also said that there is a great disparity between the strong and the weak, and the outcome has been decided. Now if he talks about dying in the city and dying on the festival, he is already dying for death, and it has no value at all. Besides, there are so many famous officials who will die on the festival this year."  I don¡¯t know what the situation is, but if my boss just wants to die for justice, there is no need to do anything else.¡±

      Wang Youling's old face turned slightly red. As he said, it was certain that the Taiping Army would break the city. If he was determined to die, why would he need to discuss countermeasures with his staff?  Only then did the staff in the room understand that their boss was unwilling to die like this.

    Hu Xueyan treated Wang Youling like a close friend. He ignored Wang Youling's embarrassment and continued: "The people who came to attack Taizhou this time were from the Taiping West King. This person's behavior is different from other long-haired thieves, and he does not force people."  Donating property cannot help destroying Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. Moreover, there is a great development of industry and commerce in southern Jiangsu, and southern Jiangsu is more prosperous than before. I heard that Mr. Xu Naizhao has been appointed as the governor of Suzhou County under his command. I wonder if my employer intends to surrender to Taiping.  ?¡±

    Wang Youling's expression changed and he whispered: "Xue Yan, please don't talk nonsense, be careful that the walls have ears."

    Hu Xueyan smiled faintly and said: "My boss has already sent his confidants to guard the surroundings, why should I be afraid? My boss, you have been suppressed by Dahong'a and Li Tingyu in Taizhou for nearly a year, and you have no political achievements. And Dahong'a  In order to defend the city, the common people were forced to do hard labor, and the wealthy households were forced to pay donations. All the people's residences within more than ten miles outside the city were burned to the ground, and the rest of the countryside was plundered by the soldiers. I want to ask my boss, do you do this with the people's heart in mind?  In mourning, where is the official voice of the Dong family? Furthermore, now that the Taiping Rebellion has begun, various places have responded, and the world has become chaotic. According to the laws of the Qing Dynasty, officials who lose their land will be killed. If Taizhou is lost, the Dong family will no longer have a place to stay, so why not early  Are you planning to vote for another Ming Lord?"

    Wang Youling sighed and said: "It was a helpless move to help Dahong'a defend the city at the beginning." Then Wang Youling asked in a low voice: "Xueyan, even if you want to join Taiping now, I'm afraid there is no way."

    Hu Xueyan smiled and said: "It seems that the Taiping West King behaves like a holy lord and a wise king. This time the Taiping West King's troops are going south in a large scale. This first battle will be fought with gentle tactics. Someone may come to persuade him to surrender tomorrow."

    Wang Youling felt a little unbelievable and said: "Taiping has already gained the upper hand. It is easy to break the city. Will they still send people to surrender?"

    Hu Xueyan nodded and said: "Of course he will. But if the King of the West does not send people to surrender and just bullies the weak, it means that he is not a wise master. When the city is destroyed, we will lead the boss's confidants and generals to fight out together.  Go to the city. If you can't get out, we'll just die together."

    Recalling what Hu Xueyan said last night.  Wang Youling's heart was really pounding.  The peaceful King of the West really sent people to recruit him to surrender.  However, seeing that Dahong'a didn't want to surrender, Wang Youling couldn't help but curse Dahong'a secretly in his heart together with many officials. This old boy just wanted to achieve a reputation as a martyr, so why bother to take the lives of a whole city and bury him with him?

    At that moment, Wang Youling stepped forward bravely and said: "Commander An, these people below the city seem to be our generals. Why don't we bring them up to the city? It's good to ask the long-haired thief about his truth. If he has anything treasonous to say,  That¡¯s fine if we don¡¯t listen.¡±

    Wang Youling¡¯s words were extremely tactful. Ever since the Qing army fought against the Taiping Army,  The two sides never said anything about sending envoys to each other. If the Qing army wanted to recruit the Taiping Army and wanted to contact the Taiping Army, they would usually order people to go in disguise, like the people under the city who came to persuade them to surrender.  Whether it was the generals of the Qing army or the Taiping army, they were usually beaten back with sticks.  But at this time, Wang Youling spoke tactfully and did not admit that the people under the city were here to persuade them to surrender. Instead, he wanted to ask these people about the enemy's actual situation, which left people speechless.

    After Dahong'a pondered for a moment, he ordered people to put down the bamboo baskets and lower the few people up to the city for questioning.

    Zhao Debiao, the Qian Commander of Zuoying, came up to the city. When they saw Da Hong'a, several people fell to the ground and burst into tears.  Dahong'a originally wanted to show the captured soldiers a little bit of color first, but when he saw that these soldiers were all injured and crying sadly, his heart softened and he sighed: "Next time  When you are desperate, kill yourself to avoid being humiliated alive!"

    Zhao Debiao cried and cried: "Commander An, the villain was knocked unconscious by the long-haired thief's artillery. When he woke up, he was captured. It's not that the villain doesn't want to fight to the death."

    The ferocious artillery of the Taiping Army was known to all the generals in Taizhou City these days. Dahong grunted, absolving Zhao Debiao of his guilt, and asked lightly: "How many soldiers are there in the Longhair Bandit? Who is leading the army?"

    Zhao Debiao knelt on the ground and did not dare to raise his head. He only said: "The long-haired thieves claim to be invading in a force of 100,000 people. There are many generals leading the army. I heard that the biggest one is Li Kaifang, one of the four generals under the pseudo-Western King."

    Da Hong'a nodded and said: "It turns out that it was Li Kaifang who went to Wuchang, captured Jiujiang, occupied Jiangning, and captured Hangzhou. He is indeed a famous general, and he can be considered an opponent against me."

    Zhao Debiao continued: "Today, the thief general Li Kaifang met us and ordered us to come and deliver the message."

    Dahong'a snorted coldly and said: "There is no need to say such treasonous and unethical words."

    Zhao Debiao hurriedly said: "Anshuai Mingjian is not a big man.??If the villain's unruly words are passed on by a villain who has no king and no father, the villain will not obey even to the death.  "

    Wang Youling also advised: "Commander An, since Mr. Zhao Qian said so, let's first listen to what Changmao said."

    Dahong'a snorted and waved his hand briefly to signal Zhao Debiao to continue. Zhao Debiao then said: "The thief general Li Kaifang only said that we were seriously injured outside the city last night, and the bodies of our brothers are still outside the city. Li Kaifang said that we can go out of the city to collect the bodies.  Both sides will stop fighting for three days."

    Dahong'a sneered and said: "Changmao wants to seize the city while we are opening the city to collect the corpses, and he is not afraid of being laughed at even if he uses some devious tricks."

    Zhao Debiao said with a troubled face: "Commander An, Li Kaifang also said that if the commander does not have to be suspicious, now that there is a huge disparity in strength, it will be easy for him and them to break the city" At this point, Dahong'a  After snorting heavily, Wang Youling said: "Since it's not a treasonous thing, you can go on."

    Zhao Debiao continued: "Li Kaifang also said that he respected the commander-in-chief as the hero who fought against the foreigners back then, so he stopped fighting for three days so that the city could collect the corpses outside the city as a kind of respect for the commander-in-chief."

    Dahong'a's heart was slightly moved. Although he won the battle with the foreigners back then, he was demoted later. Unexpectedly, the general of the Taiping Army still remembered his courage. He was a martial artist, and he liked to have others praise his martial arts.  Thinking that if the Taiping Army wants to break the city, they only need to fire a salvo of heavy artillery, and the walls of Taizhou City will not be able to stop it. There is really no need to ruin their reputation by doing so.

    Wang Youling secretly sneered. The Taiping Army was really good at calculating. The people who came did not mention anything about persuading him to surrender. They first put a layer of gold on Dahong's face and slowly figured it out. As expected, he came well prepared.  At the moment, Wang Youling did not criticize him. After a few words of persuasion, Dahong'a finally agreed to stop fighting for three days and collect the corpses.  (To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature. The novels will be better and updated faster!
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