That night, Ali Kingdom was packing up his things and preparing to take another battleship, Rattlesnake, to return to Shanghai tomorrow morning. The mission this time was not easy. Ali Kingdom had dealt with the cunning Western King and knew the treacherous and cunning aspects of this prince. He could always find your flaws and give the most direct and effective blow. However, where he seemed to have flaws, he often had traps.

Recently, the Western King made the Americans lose their money. The entire gun production machinery and equipment sold by the Americans to the Qing Dynasty was seized in Guangzhou. The Americans sent a protest note for this, but the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom replied that the note was also strong, accusing the Americans of not abiding by the neutral treaty and selling weapons to the Qing Dynasty.

Businessmen in the Far East know that China is now trapped in a civil war, and huge arms transactions are going on, either openly or secretly. The so-called neutrality of various countries is a matter of the surface. In secret, merchants from Britain, France, the United States and other countries sold weapons or equipment to the Qing and Taiping Heavenly Kingdoms. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, which occupied the five southeast trade ports, was the largest buyer for purchasing arms and machines. The Americans were very angry. Officials from the diplomatic department of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s Ministry of Rites were justified in accusing the United States of selling arms to destroy neutrality?

But no matter how angry the Americans were, they finally swallowed the breath. At first, Aliguo didn't understand why the Americans surrendered so easily. Then when a huge fleet arrived in Shanghai from the east coast of the United States, Aliguo suddenly realized.

This fleet carried several bankrupt shipyard equipment and technicians purchased by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom from the United States. Aliguo heard that an Oriental was crazily acquiring some bankrupt American companies in the United States, and all of the American companies after the acquisition received official orders from the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Aliguo understood that this was the arrangement of the Western King. He was using his capital to acquire American companies. The Americans regarded this move as injecting vitality into the sluggish American economy. Therefore, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had an advantage on both sides and in the dark, so the Americans naturally did not dare to make any more trouble.

Ali Kingdom could not guess the true intention of the Western King. What are the benefits of participating in the five-party negotiations for the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom? Ali Kingdom, who was packing his luggage, suddenly stopped. He lit his pipe and leaned on the soft chair in a daze.

At this moment, his attendant outside the door knocked on the door and said, "Sir, Gong is back." Aliguo opened the door and asked Gong Cheng in. After pouring Gong Cheng a cup of coffee, Aliguo asked, "What are you getting?"

Gong Cheng held the coffee cup and said, "Sir, Lord Rong's cooperation attitude is very sincere. His idea is to establish a more open and civilized Qing country, and to provide military deployment from Dagukou to Beijing in the hope of eliminating the domestic conservative forces." Then Gong Cheng talked about some of the things he discussed with Ronglu. He did not mention the fact that Ronglu gave him shares.

After hearing this, Aliguo frowned and said, "Rong and I are old acquaintances. He also thinks that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom may disrupt this negotiation? But you don't know that Midile came from Shanghai this morning and brought a note from the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Instead, they asked to participate in this negotiation."

Gong Cheng was slightly surprised and said, "Sir, this is a means of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom destroying negotiations."

Ali Kingdom took a puff of the pipe and said, "Let's continue." Gong Cheng analyzed, "What our people value is the righteous destiny. As the saying goes, there is no two heavens and no two people. Since the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom established the name of the country, the Qing court and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom have been mortal enemies until death. It is no different to ask the Qing court to agree to participate in the negotiations with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom!"

Then Gong Cheng went to great lengths to tell Ali about China's complex relationship between imperial power and people's hearts for thousands of years, as well as the so-called legitimacy, etc. Ali finally understood that although the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the independence of the United States were both rebels, the Qing emperor was obviously not the King of Britain. If the British king could not win the war, he could sit down and negotiate with the thirteen states of independence of the United States. The Qing emperor would never sit down and negotiate with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Either the Qing Dynasty eliminated the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom or the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom killed the Qing Dynasty. In the end, there would always be one side to unify the entire China. There would be no peace negotiations before that, and both sides did not recognize each other. How could there be negotiations? This is the difference between the imperial power cultures of the East and the West.

Aliguo frowned and thought deeply, and finally said slowly: "Although the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has the intention to undermine negotiations, we cannot give up this opportunity. In comparison, it is better to let the weaker Qing Kingdom surrender than to let the powerful Taiping Kingdom surrender. Moreover, the Qing Kingdom is really unwilling to negotiate in the future. Don't we still have good friends Rong? If he can really provide the Qing Kingdom's military deployment, we have a great chance of winning." At this point, Aliguo paused and said: "It's just that Rong's ambition is too great. He is not a puppet that is easy to control."

Gong Cheng smiled and said, "But there seems to be no more suitable candidate than him at the moment, right? Sir!"

Aliguo breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Okay, I will report this matter to Sir Erkin in detail. You can go back and rest. We will go back to Shanghai with me tomorrow morning, and it is still necessary for us to meet His Excellency Xiwang."

...

Guangdong and Guangxi are the throat of the three rivers, Wuzhou. It is already September, but the sky is still not cool at all. The toxic and hot sun is mixed with the hot heat waves licking the earth. There is only a slight cool breeze near Wuzhou, Guijiang, Xunjiang and Xijiang River.

But at this time, the people in Wuzhou could not leave the city. The city gate had long been closed. Thousands of boats that were densely covered by the sky and the sun were bravely moving upstream. There were more than a thousand Taiping cavalrymen on both sides of the Jiaxi River to protect them. The sound of the trumpets of the water men and the cheerful drums and music of the drums were shaking the four fields.

Soon the scattered cavalry returned and brought back news from Chen Yucheng who was on a boat in the West River. The four gates of Wuzhou City were closed, and the Qing army built several village defense lines outside the city walls based on the residences. The Wuzhou City Wall has a history of more than 500 years. It is made of bricks and stones, and it is divided into four gates, divided into east, south, west and north gates. It is more than six miles in circumference, more than two meters high and more than meter thick. It has five gates and a tower on the gate.

The city wall is Nanxun Gate, which extends westward to Dezheng Gate, then northwest to Xijiang Gate, then northwest to Dayun Gate, then east to the foot of Beishan Mountain, southeast to Yangming Gate, and then turn back to Nanxun Gate. The city wall is surrounded by Hao on three sides, and the north is Beishan on the east, south and west. The city wall is surrounded by Hao, also known as the Hulong Dike, which is more than two feet wide. Willows are planted on the side of Hao, and trees are outside the Hao River. The Hao River flows from the crocodile pond outside the East Gate, towards the South Gate, the Small South Gate, and the West Gate to the Tingi Bridge into Guijiang. The Qing army not only strengthened the Hulong Dike, but also built a village to consolidate the city defense after the Hulong Dike. This is what Jiang Zhongyuan did.

After listening to the reward, Chen Yucheng looked at the big flag of Jiangzi flying high above the city for a while, and slowly said to the generals behind him: "Tonight, take a night off along the river bank. The navy will return to Deqing to participate in the battle tomorrow, and the cavalry will go shore and rush to Teng County along the south bank of the West River!"

Seeing the Taiping Navy troops appear, Jiang Zhongyuan, standing at the head of Wuzhou City, was also secretly worried. Since the Guangdong-Guangzhou Navy was wiped out in the Battle of Guangzhou, there was no navy in the Guangdong-Guangzhou water system that could compete with the Taiping Army. Although the Western ships of the Taiping Army in the inland water system could not be entered, the captured Qing army sand ships and red ships could be freely entered and exited. The Taiping Navy ignored Deqingzhou and Luodingzhou's first Qing army defense line and appeared in Wuzhou, indicating that Chen Yucheng began his usual raid tactics.

In the evening, the Taiping Army finished landing and began to camp. The camp seemed loose, but Jiang Zhongyuan resisted the suggestion of his subordinates to open the city and run for a while. He saw that there were a large number of cavalry in the Taiping Army, and there was no benefit in fighting in the infantry team.

So neither side launched an attack. In the second half of the night, Jiang Zhongyuan could not help but send a team of Qing troops to attack the Taiping Army's camp at night, intending to find out the truth and reality. As a result, the five hundred dead soldiers who went out came back, and only more than 40 people were injured. It seemed that Chen Yucheng was prepared.

By dawn, the Qing army was surprised to find that the Taiping Army camp was empty. After defeating the Qing army's night attack last night, Chen Yucheng drove the camp westward overnight. Jiang Zhongyuan was shocked and sweated in cold sweat. Going west was Teng County, Xunzhou Prefecture and other places. In order to fight against the Taiping Army's eastward advance, Jiang Zhongyuan mobilized a large number of Qing troops west of Guangxi to advance eastward advance. Teng County and Xunzhou Prefecture were extremely empty. Once Chen Yucheng broke through Teng County and captured Xunzhou Prefecture, he could attack from all directions. At that time, the entire Guangxi would not be at peace.

Another point is that Xunzhou Prefecture is the location of Jintian Village, where the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom launched an army back then. What kind of response would Chen Yucheng lead the Taiping Army to fight back will cause among the people? Jiang Zhongyuan dared not think about it.

After much thought, Jiang Zhongyuan decided to let his brother Jiang Zhongshu lead 5,000 troops to follow the Taiping Army and prepare to rescue Tengxian and Xunzhou Prefecture. Before leaving, Jiang Zhongyuan repeatedly told Jiang Zhongshu to be careful of Chen Yucheng's return gun. Whenever there was something wrong, he would occupy the dangerous terrain and hold on to the terrain. He sent an envoy to ask for help. Jiang Zhongyuan would personally lead troops to rescue him.

At noon the next day after the reinforcements were released, hundreds of defeated Qing troops fled back to Wuzhou. Jiang Zhongyuan was shocked. Could it be that Jiang Zhongshu was still defeated? He asked to connect the defeated soldiers into the city and found that Jiang Zhongshu was raided by Taiping cavalry in Chishui Ruins thirty miles west of Wuzhou.

Although Jiang Zhongshu was very careful and released the guard post more than ten miles away, he ignored the Xijiang River in the north. Chen Yu divided a regiment of cavalry crossing the Xijiang River north and was ambushed and waiting in the dense forest on the north bank. After Jiang Zhongshu's brigade passed, the cavalry regiment returned to the south bank and came from behind. Jiang Zhongshu Guang paid attention to the movements in front and ignored the behind. So the Taiping Army's cavalry and sabre quickly defeated the Qing army. In this battle, in addition to hundreds of Qing troops escaping, more than 4,000 Qing troops were annihilated, and Jiang Zhongshu died on the spot.

Jiang Zhongyuan was almost fainting when he heard this. At this time, more than a hundred Taiping cavalry came roaring, hanging Jiang Zhongshu's body on a big tree not far from the Dragon Hunlong Dike, nailed a wooden sign, and wrote: "Today, your brother will return to his hometown, and his body will be the same as his king." The cavalry sent to the body, laughed and laid a gun at the Qing army guarding the Dragon Hunlong Dike, and then left in a swagger.
Chapter completed!