The Travelers of the Heavens

The camera returned to Rooster Land, and the situation of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom War, which lasted for more than ten years, began to gradually become clear.

In April of the 37th year of Chengkang's reign in the Zhou Empire (1862 AD), hundreds of thousands of Hunan troops and more than 80,000 Huai troops defeated Li Xiucheng's troops and pushed the front to Tianjing..

Soon, taking advantage of the Huai army's initiative to rest and recuperate, Hunan Army general Zeng Guoquan led the main force to besiege Tianjing. The end of the war seemed to be just around the corner.

However, they underestimated the determination of the Tianjing defenders to resist. The Hunan army was unable to break through any of the Tianjing gates after a month of fierce attacks. Zeng Guoquan became so angry that he ordered the male and female Taiping prisoners captured in the past to be taken outside the city and beheaded to shock the defenders.

However, Zeng Guoquan's behavior not only did not undermine the morale of the defenders, but instead strengthened the defenders' determination to fight to the end.

Far away in the capital, Wang Qi asked to meet with Prime Minister Wang, Minister Gong and Prince Yixin at this time, and expressed his intention to send troops to intervene in the war to annihilate the Taiping Army. The reason was that he wanted to return to Jinling as soon as possible.

"Your Majesty, I know this is a civil war in your country, but Jinling has been a concession of our country as early as the Jiaqing Emperor of your country. The war south of the Yangtze River has lasted for more than ten years and should be over; I see what kind of regiment training in your country seems to be It is to support the self-respect of the bandits. They don’t want to end the war as soon as possible, so I am willing to help your court capture Jinling as soon as possible. This will be good for us, isn’t it?" Wang Yu said to Yi Xin

"Um, this"Yi Xin didn’t expect Wang Qi to be so straightforward.

"Your Majesty, more than ten years of war have made the Qing Dynasty's finances very difficult. In addition, various local regiments are still collecting taxes and money. If things go on like this, once these local regiments become a climate, they will be in trouble and force the court. What will your prince and the two queen mothers do to punish them?"Wang Qi said.

Wang Qi deliberately accused people like Zeng Guofan of fabricating charges and sow discord between the Qing court and them.

"The Hunan Army fought bravely, and the generals were very loyal to the court, so they will definitely not lose their tail," Yi Xin said. He was not a fool, he had already heard the implication.

"Your Majesty, since the rise of Changmao, the Eight Banners Green Camp has been defeated repeatedly, so the imperial court ordered all localities to prepare their own regiments to fight against Changmao. As the prince said, these regiments fought bravely. If they can defeat Changmao today, they can wipe out the Eight Banners Green Camp tomorrow. , how will the prince deal with himself at that time?" Wang Qi said

"In any case, this is the Qing Dynasty’s own business, so as an outsider, Baylor doesn’t have to interfere," Yi Xin said.

"I don’t want to interfere in the affairs of the Qing Dynasty, but Jinling is our country’s concession, and I must ensure its integrity. Whether it is Changmao or the Hunan Army, they will cause great damage to Jinling. I heard that the Hunan Army general Zeng Guoquan is a bandit. Bandits, they slaughter and rob the city every time they capture it. With such a bad person leading the army, I really can’t worry about Jinling, so I went to the prince to talk about it." Wang Qi said

"you"Yixin angry

"As long as our country is allowed to send troops to wipe out Changmao and recapture Jinling, I will definitely thank the prince." Wang Qi said, and slapped a silver note of one hundred thousand taels on Yi Xin's desk.

"That’s not necessary." Yi Xin refused.

"Your Majesty, as long as you and the Queen Mother of the two palaces allow me to send troops to Jinling, I am willing to donate another three million taels of silver to your country. The one hundred thousand in front of me is my gratitude to Your Majesty," Wang Qi said

"this matter.. I need to report to the Queen Mother of the Two Palaces," Yi Xin said

"Then, I am waiting for the good news from the prince." After saying that, Wang Qi left.

Forbidden City, Cining Palace

"What? Are foreigners going to send troops to attack Jinling?"The Queen Mother of the West couldn't help being surprised when she heard what Yi Xin said.

"Yes, he denounced the incompetence of the Hunan Army, and said that these local regiment training were to encourage the bandits to respect themselves, but I thought he was trying to instigate discord between the imperial court and the soldiers at the front," Yi Xin said

"However, since Zeng Guofan recruited the Hunan Army, it is true that he has been repeatedly defeated by long-haired bandits," said the Queen Mother of the West.

"I don’t know how the Mother Queen Mother and the Holy Mother Queen Mother will decide this matter." Yi Xin asked

"How do you think your sister should make a decision?" the Queen Mother of the West asked the Queen Mother of the East who had been silent.

"No matter what, this is the Qing Dynasty's own business, and it is always inappropriate for outsiders to take action," said the Queen Mother of the East.

"Baylor of the Zhou Kingdom also said that if he could be allowed to send troops to capture Jinling, he would be willing to donate three million taels of silver to the Qing Dynasty." Yi Xin added

"this"After hearing this, the two queen mothers hesitated.

Silver is a good thing now

"Sister, Mr. Six, I think I will let him fight. The long-haired bandits have been rampant for so many years. Not only are they a scourge for our Qing Dynasty, but the interests of foreigners have also suffered a lot because of the bandits. If foreigners send bandits away, it is not right. It is always a good thing for us," said the Queen Mother

""Then, I will inform the Zhou state Baylor and agree with him to attack Jinling," Yi Xin said. In the Old Summer Palace, Wang Qi immediately deployed after receiving Yi Xin's exact answer, leaving two regiments in the capital, and all the rest of the troops went south to Jinling.

On the other hand, the offensive and defensive battle of Jinling City is still in progress. The Hunan Army suffered heavy casualties, but it has not been able to capture any of the city gates.

"Marshal, Ninth Marshal, it’s not good, the foreigners are coming to rob Jinling." A Qing army officer rushed into the commander’s tent.

"What did you say!"Zeng Guoquan stood up in shock.

"The foreigners want to rob Jinling from us, Ninth Commander, the imperial envoy from the imperial court is outside the tent," said the Qing army officer who reported the news

"Invite him to come in and talk," Zeng Guofan, who had been silent, ordered.

"I’ve seen Marshal Zeng, Marshal Zeng Jiu." An official came in and greeted Zeng Guofan and Zeng Guoquan.

"Imperial Envoy, please take a seat and serve tea." Zeng Guofan said politely, and then ordered the soldiers to serve tea.

"Thank you very much. This is a royal mail from the imperial court. Please take a look at it, Marshal Zeng." The imperial envoy sat down and handed a small leather cylinder to Zeng Guofan.

""Okay." Zeng Guofan stood up and took the cylinder from the imperial envoy's hand, then opened it and took out the official document inside.

Zeng Guoquan also stood aside and peeked at the official document.

"What! The imperial court warned us that the battle would be unfavorable! He also said that we should respect ourselves by raising bandits! Who is slandering us behind our backs! We must know that our Hunan Army fought bloody battles here and suffered heavy casualties."

"OK OK!"You must not be rude to the imperial envoy."

Zeng Guoquan had a bad temper. When he saw the imperial envoy warning them about the disadvantages of the battle, he immediately became anxious. He grabbed the imperial envoy by the collar and questioned him; Zeng Guofan immediately stopped him.

"Zeng Jiushuai, please calm down. I am just a messenger. I don’t know the content of the post. The letter has been delivered. Farewell!"The imperial envoy was very dissatisfied with Zeng Guoquan's attitude and walked away.

"you"Zeng Guoquan is angry

"Brother, there must be someone behind this," then Zeng Guoquan said

"The only plan for now is to capture Jinling as soon as possible. Once the foreigners arrive, it will be difficult to say," Zeng Guofan said

"I will immediately send an order to attack Jinling again," Zeng Guoquan said

"Bring up Peng Yulin's navy soldiers. We must fight hard at this time. In addition, we will increase the reward. Whoever attacks Jinling first will be rewarded with a thousand taels of silver." Zeng Guofan said

"Got the order!"Zeng Guoquan went to deploy.

A month later, the Hunan army still failed to break through Jinling, and the Kyushu soldiers led by Wang Duo had already begun to collect ferries to prepare to cross the Yangtze River.

In the thirty-seventh year of Chengkang (the first year of Tongzhi in Gongjilu, 1862 AD) Year) in mid-May.

The two leading regiments of the Kyushu soldiers arrived at Jinling and immediately prepared to attack Jinling's Jinchuan Gate.

However, there were Hunan troops stationed outside Jinchuan Gate, and the Kyushu soldiers had to cross the Hunan army's camps before they could attack Jinling City.

But Xiang The Hunan army was difficult to talk to, and the Kyushu soldiers could not communicate with them, and an armed conflict broke out between the two parties.

Although the Hunan army had a large number of people and had guns and artillery, most of them were very backward shotguns and red cannons. Naturally, they could not withstand the impact of the Kyushu soldiers..

Under machine gun fire, the Hunan Army suffered thousands of casualties and was forced to break camp and flee.

When the Hunan Army fled, many siege equipment could not be destroyed in time, and they were all captured by the Kyushu soldiers.

At this point, the road to Jinchuan Gate was opened.