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Volume 1: Fierce Battle in Changsha Chapter 432: The Plot of the North Hall

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    Just as Britain and France were preparing for the expedition, a major uprising broke out in India that made the British very unhappy.  The conflict between the British army and the Indian army has been going on for a long time. When the East India Company ruled India, due to the serious shortage of British troops, it had to hire locals as soldiers. This is the Indian army or the Sipayi regiment.  Most of the soldiers were "local soldiers", while the officers were British trained in specially established schools.  By 1856, the three British colonies of Bombay, Madras and Calcutta each had their own troops. The total number of "Jiba soldiers" had far exceeded that of the British army. There were a total of 200,000 Sipa soldiers, while the British soldiers only had 40,000 soldiers.  .

    For a long time, the East India Company has given very unfair treatment to the Sipa soldiers, with low wages. When they participate in expeditions, such as to Afghanistan or Burma to help the British colonial expansion, they must pay for their own travel expenses and luggage freight.  Especially the expedition to Burma in early 1856 to participate in the Anglo-Burmese War. According to Indian tradition, traveling to Burma would result in the loss of caste and expulsion from the community.  Many soldiers were very dissatisfied with this.  After the battle, the East India Company began to revoke some of the original rights of mercenaries, reduce their salaries, and stipulate that job promotions could not exceed sergeant.  In contrast, the British soldiers lived in comfortable houses, while the Indian soldiers could only live in simple tents.

    Therefore, when the British issued a call-up order again three months after the end of the Anglo-Burmese War and transferred the Sipayee Regiment to form an expeditionary force, the soldiers of the Sipayee Regiment were very resistant and dissatisfied.  At this time, a rumor spread among the Sipayi regiment that the East India Company used lubricant mixed with lard and beef tallow to coat the bullet paper packaging of rifles (rifles).  Since Hinduism regards cows as gods and avoids eating beef, while Islam regards pigs as filthy things, under the technical conditions at the time, before reloading.  The soldier had to use his teeth to bite through the paper coating of the rifle bullet.  As a result, soldiers primarily of these two faiths refused to use these bullets.  The East India Company claimed that this was just a rumor and had replaced the bullets with new wax-lubricated bullets.  However, Indian soldiers still suspected that the lubricant was not clean and refused to bite off the lubricated bullet shells used in the new guns.

    ??Then the conflict between the soldiers of the Sipay regiment and the British officers escalated.  After being bewitched by an unknown person, a soldier of the 34th Regiment frantically attacked his British sergeant, killed another sergeant major, and then shot himself in an attempted suicide, but was sentenced to death.  The East India Company decided to cancel the 34th regiment as collective punishment, thus intensifying the conflict.  This caused dissatisfaction among the soldiers of other regiments.

    When Grant¡¯s fleet returned to Hong Kong, news of a major uprising in India spread.  Grant had to stop his prepared attack plan on Guangzhou and instead detached a fleet to support India.

    The great uprising in India quickly spread to two-thirds of the entire Indian territory. The arrogant British had to stop their expedition plans and instead transferred their troops to India to counter the rebellion.  The French had to choose to suspend the expedition plan because of the temporary suspension of the British.  The British could not rest assured that the French would complete the expedition alone.

    So a great uprising in India delayed the British and French expeditions, giving both the Manchu Qing Dynasty and the Taiping Army precious breathing time.

    ¡­¡­

    Since Shi Da escaped from the tiger's mouth, Wei Changhui has been sitting on pins and needles and can't sleep at night.  He urgently ordered Qin Rigang to lead 15,000 troops and horses to pursue King Yi.  Moreover, Shi Dakai must be put to death.

    But later Qin Rigang's troops were defeated by the Wuhu camp troops and horses led by Shi Dakai in Wuhu. Qin Rigang was no match for the famous Wing King Shi Dakai.

    After the news came back, Wei Changhui was angry and scared.  Not to mention that he could not sleep peacefully. Fortunately, Shi Dakai then led his troops to abandon the Wuhu Camp and went to Anqing. Qin Rigang led the remaining troops to occupy the Wuhu Camp, which made Wei Changhui relax a little.

    But Wei Changhui's good mood did not last long. Half a day later, the King of the West issued a proclamation, and the news came that he had raised troops to serve the king and kill the traitors. Wei Changhui was so frightened that he sat on the ground.  Shi Dakai was enough to give Wei Changhui a headache, and now King Xi finally showed his ferocious fangs.  Wei Changhui was even more frightened.  Since the Western King flew to capture Changsha, the aura of the Western King's God of War has eclipsed almost all the famous generals in the Kingdom of Heaven. The elite soldiers and horses of the Western Palace are even more enviable, and the wealth of Sufu Province is unrivaled.

    At this time, Wei Changhui suddenly realized that he had been wishful thinking that he could replace Yang Xiuqing.  Controlling the power of Tianjing is actually just a joke.  But he was unwilling to be killed just like this, so he called his cronies in succession to discuss countermeasures.

    In the main hall of the North Palace, all the confidant generals and counselors of the North Palace gathered together. The North King had a cold face, and the generals also looked worried, but no one spoke.  Wei Changhui saw that his subordinates were so frightened, so he threw the teacup on the ground in anger and said angrily: "We usually provide you with food and drink, and you are constantly rewarded. Now you are asked to find a way, why are you all mute?"?  !  "

    The generals were as silent as cicadas, and counselor Liu Naixin gritted his teeth and offered his advice: "Shi Dakai is a fierce tiger! If the tiger returns to the mountain, it will definitely hurt people. Xiao Chaogui, a powerful man in the world, leads the army to the west and is unstoppable. If Yang Fu from the south is added to the Qing army, we will be attacked on three sides. I'm humble.  I believe that there are only three options, the upper, middle and lower strategies. The best strategy is to force the King of Heaven to write a pardon edict and send a person who can speak well to see the King of the West with a written letter to explain the pros and cons to the King of the West and the King of the North.  I was emotionally moved at that time, hoping to join the West Palace and save my life, so I stopped fighting."

    Wei Changhui roared: "Nonsense! I surrendered to Xiao Chaogui. Don't you know that Yang Xiuqing and Xiao Chaogui were wearing the same pair of pants back then? They teamed up to oust Feng Yunshan. Now Xiao Chaogui wants to avenge Yang Xiuqing. Do you understand?! Let me surrender to the West!  This is not equivalent to giving your head to Xiao Chaogui!"

    Liu Naixin¡¯s face turned pale when he saw Wei Changhui getting angry. Everyone knew that in the past month, Wei Changhui had been very violent and would kill people at every turn.  One night three days ago, Wei Changhui asked his concubine Chunfeng to wash his feet.  Chunfeng accidentally scratched a piece of flesh with her nails.  Wei Changhui was furious and said that Chunfeng had planned to kill him, so he was tied to the courtyard and beaten to death.  The day before yesterday, his guard Li Quan accidentally discharged the musket on his back.  Wei Changhui insisted that he deliberately assassinated the king and killed the king, and there was no room for explanation.  Then he strangled him to death.  Yesterday, he personally inspected the city defense and found several brothers taking a nap in the Tibetan Soldier Cave.  Wei Changhui was furious, saying that they had left their posts without permission, and ordered them all to be beheaded.  The most infuriating thing is.  The brigade commander here said some kind words for them, but Wei Changhui insisted that the brigade commander was harboring his fellow soldiers and had his car torn apart in public.  All these are numerous.  In short, he kills people with excuses every day and establishes his power.

    Liu Naixin was very afraid that Wei Changhui would kill him in anger.  But fortunately, after Wei Changhui became angry, he did not show any murderous intentions. He just shouted angrily: "Go on and tell me the right strategy!"

    Liu Naixin swallowed, then said in a trembling voice: "The middle strategy is for us to abandon Tianjing, lead our troops back to Luzhou, and refuse to defend Jiangbei and Huaihe River."

    Wei Changhui shouted angrily: "Lead the troops back? Then aren't everything we did here in vain?! Won't we be conquered by the West Palace army when we return to Luzhou?! How can I defeat Xiao Chaogui and Shi Dakai? Shou?  Huaishang. You might as well tell me to commit suicide!" After hearing this, Liu Naixin quickly knelt at Wei Changhui's feet and kept begging: "Your Highness, please spare my life, Your Highness, please spare my life!"

    Wei Changhui sneered and said: "What is another plan?" Liu Naixin said hard, "Your Highness, please! Is this a plan It is to shrink the troops and defend Tianjing, take advantage of the king's self-respect, and legitimately command the whole country.  Are you still afraid that someone will dissatisfy? And he used King Xi's family in Tianjing as a hostage to prevent King Xi from taking a step beyond the thunder pool." As he spoke, he peeked at Wei Changhui, and saw him frowning and sullen at times.  Finally, his facial features relaxed and he smiled.

    Liu Naixin became bolder and continued: "There is a lot of money and food in Tianjing. As long as we can hold Tianjing for half a year, King Qin's army will surely retreat due to lack of food and supplies. Follow His Highness and you can take the place of King Tian. You can justifiably command the Kingdom of Heaven."  .¡±

    ¡°It has to be said that Liu Naixin¡¯s strategy was completely improvised. It was simply unrealistic to defend Tianjing. Even if Wei Changhui could replace Hong Xiuquan in the future, who would listen to his orders?  But Wei Changhui was blinded by the desire for power at this moment, "Okay! Well said!" Wei Changhui walked around the hall twice.  He said to the counselors: "To be honest, I have also thought about this. To be honest, who is Hong Xiuquan? He does not distinguish between good and evil, right from wrong. I, Wei Changhui, am passionate about eradicating Dong Ni for him and giving him  After the siege was solved, he took a bite out of me, saying that I disobeyed orders and killed innocent people indiscriminately. Not only that, but he also secretly asked someone named Shi to kill me. You think, who can not feel cold?" "That's right.  Yes, that's true." All the counselors agreed, but they were already thinking about their own way out. It seemed that Wei Changhui had no intention of surrendering or letting the city leave.

    Wei Changhui returned to his seat and continued: "Throughout the ages, this country belongs to everyone, and the world belongs to everyone. The virtuous live in it, and the ungrateful lose it. Hong Xiuquan was greedy for wine and sex, and did not distinguish between the wise and the foolish. He has lost his monarch.  His virtue. I am the most suitable to be the King of Heaven for him. What do you think?" All the counselors knelt down and shouted: "Long live, long live, long live! Your Highness is worthy of replacing the King of Heaven!"

    Wei Changhui had a smile on his face and laughed endlessly, and asked everyone to sit on both sides of him.  After laughing, Wei Changhui frowned again.  The counselors asked: "Why is Your Highness so worried?" Wei Changhui said, "It's easy to talk but hard to do. How can we make Hong Xiuquan fall under our control?"

    Counselor Xu Ping said: "His Royal Highness must not repeat the mistakes of Dong Ni. He suffered a loss because of the word 'slow' and fell into Hong Xiuquan's 'slow-down strategy'. Hong Xiuquan was wily and cunning. Meng En, Chen Chengrong,  Hu Yihuang and others are full of tricks. If you can't do it with softness, it is better to solve it with force. We should capture the Tianwang Mansion and put Hong Xiuquan under house arrest.?In this way, Your Highness can hold the King of Heaven to command the princes.  Several counselors also echoed: "The best policy, the best policy."  "

    Counselor Liu Naixin said: "No, no!" After hearing this, everyone was stunned and asked: "Why?" Liu Naixin shook his head and said: "The people are the foundation of the country, civil and military affairs are the trunk of the big tree, public opinion is the pioneer, no  If you grasp these three points first, nothing will be accomplished! According to my humble opinion, although the situation is urgent, it is not an urgent matter. It is better to lay a solid foundation so as not to give up halfway."

    "If you have something to say, please say it quickly, okay?" Wei Changhui became impatient again, and Liu Naixin continued: "Why isn't Yang Xiuqing eager to usurp the throne? However, he saw that the time was not yet ripe, so he did not dare to take action rashly, so that he considered  We didn't do things carefully and fell into Hong Xiuquan's delaying strategy. With Yang Xiuqing's prestige and power, he didn't dare to act hastily, let alone Your Highness? In view of my humble position, we must first grasp public opinion, win over people's hearts, and try our best to attract officials and people to our side.  If you come here, if you have roots and a trunk, you can have lush branches and leaves."

    He paused and then said: "It is true that words are easier to say than things to be done. However, your Highness, don't forget about power. You can't just leave it alone. You can choose a day to invite all the civil and military officials to discuss the matter, especially the most prestigious Hu Yi.  Huang and Chen Chengrong must be invited to attend. At that time, His Highness will use both soft and hard tactics, firmness and softness. Anyone who disobeys can be killed as a warning to others. If the goal is achieved, His Highness can jointly issue a notice with hundreds of officials to inform the military and civilians.  Wait, everyone knows. Let them know why the North King wants to replace the Yao King, and whose orders he will obey in the future. This is called being right and winning people's hearts. By then, His Highness will control all the civil and military officials, and Hong Xiuquan will be alone in the Tianwang Mansion.  It is self-defeating without attacking. What can Hong Xiuquan do when he sees the general trend? Wouldn't it be in the hands of His Highness to kill and save the remaining ones? Furthermore, this will also lay the foundation for His Highness to be the emperor in the future."

    "High! It's really high!" Wei Changhui was full of praise and rewarded Liu Naixin heavily.  Then he announced in public: ¡°That¡¯s it!¡±
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