Although the Wuchang County was small, most of the streets and houses in the city had been turned into ruins in the war. However, after the Hubei New Army successfully revived the county, the situation in the Wuhuang battlefield was completely broken. The Qing army gained an absolute advantage in victory, the Taiping Army suffered a great loss in military strength, the navy was forced to retreat to Lanxi, and the Taiping Army in Huangzhou Prefecture was almost the same as a lonely army. No matter whether it was a land battle, the Taiping Army actually had no hope of turning the tables.

After recapturing Wuchang County, Wu Chaoyue did not rush to lead his army across the river to help the Hunan Army besiege Huangzhou Prefecture City. He just immediately divided his troops and sent Liu Kunyi to lead Zhuangziying to Daye to cooperate with the regiment training organized by Daye County Magistrate Li Chengzhan to recover Daye County. At the same time, considering that the largest iron ore and coal mines in Hubei were all in Daye County, even though it was discovered that there were only hundreds of Taiping Army in the city, when Liu Kun did not make any request, Wu Chaoyue took the initiative to send some artillery soldiers to carry five breech guns and some grenade launchers to go south to help Liu Kun, and told Liu Kunyi that he must take the Daye back and that the Taiping Army must not be allowed to entrench the vital territory of Daye County.

Of course, Zeng Guofan didn't know the reason why Wu Chaoyue attached so much to Daye County. Zeng Guofan didn't have the time and interest to care about this issue anymore. As soon as the situation on the battlefield on the South Bank stabilized, Zeng Guofan immediately sent someone to urge Wu Chaoyue to lead his army to cross the river. He said that he wanted to join forces with Wu Chaoyue to regain the Huangzhou Prefecture City as soon as possible, but what was the real reason was that Wu Chaoyue could guess with his toes. In order to calm the appetite of the barber teacher and to consolidate the control of the battlefield on the South Bank, and not give the Taiping Army a chance to make a comeback, Wu Chaoyue deliberately made various excuses and repeatedly refused and did not lead the army to cross the river.

Finally, after receiving the news that Liu Kun and his army easily recovered Daye County, Wu Chaoyue left the Green Camp soldiers to guard Wuchang County, and slowly led the army across the river, and took the Hubei Xinjun to Xinshengzhou to meet with the Hunan Army. Zeng Guofan was overjoyed when he heard the news and personally led the Hunan Army generals out of the camp to welcome Wu Chaoyue. He politely invited the disobedient disciples to join the camp for a banquet, and took the initiative to send Hunan military civilians to help the Wu army establish a camp. His care for Wu Chaoyue seemed to be back at the moment of thinking about his disciples in every situation in the capital.

As Wu Chaoyue expected, after pretending to be polite to each other at the banquet, Zeng Guofan quickly asked Wu Chaoyue: "Weiting, Mr. Meng Rong said, the foreign weapons you used on the battlefield the day before yesterday and the new gunpowder contained in the flowering artillery shells were all produced by your weapons workshop?"

"Reply to the teacher, it's true." Wu Chaoyue nodded and replied: "Students are not good at poetry and verse, but they have some research on the chemistry of foreigners. When they were in Shanghai, they received guidance from foreigners, so they created this new type of gunpowder that even foreigners don't have."

After that, Wu Chaoyue, who had been prepared, asked his personal soldiers to take out a sample of picric acid for Zeng Guofan to see. He also explained in detail how to use picric acid explosives to Zeng Guofan. In the end, he ignited the picric acid in public, so that Zeng Guofan and the generals of the Hunan Army could see the good combustion effect of picric acid with their own eyes. Zeng Guofan and the generals of the Hunan Army were both excited and jealous. Then Zeng Guohuang, who had just returned from the capital some time ago, couldn't wait to ask Wu Chaoyue: "Weiting, how much is the cost of this gunpowder?"

"Of course, much higher than the original black gunpowder." Wu Chaoyue replied truthfully: "And the **** and delayed fuzes that detonate this gunpowder are not available in the Qing Dynasty. They can only buy them from foreigners, and the price is even more expensive, so I don't have many new gunpowder weapons in my hand, and I'm far from enough for my own use."

Wu Chaoyue's words were useless. Zeng Guohuang was very shameless and immediately said, "Weiting, it doesn't matter if you don't have enough new weapons. Anyway, you can produce them yourself, and Hankou is already a port for trading with foreigners. You can also buy them directly from foreigners. Now we are fighting with Changmao. Why do you get some points for such good weapons?

"It's easy to say, it's easy to say." Wu Chaoyue said with a smile: "Are there any more? Three hundred grenade bombs, five grenade launchers and fifty supporting shells. I'll ask someone to send them tomorrow."

"That's all? There's not even a shell?" Zeng Guohuang's face changed slightly.

"Second uncle, I really don't have many new weapons in my hand, and I have done my best." Wu Chaoyue said with a sad face: "Also, it's not that I don't give you shells, it's that my shells are different from your shells, and I can't use it if I give them to you. I only have more than twenty cannons in my hand, and even the cannons have been given to you, so I can't fight in the future."

Zeng Guohuang was still unwilling to give up. Just when he was about to continue asking for it, Zeng Guofan waved his hand to stop Zeng Guohuang's shamelessness and complained to Zeng Guohuang: "Second brother, Weiting has helped us a lot over the years. Why are you thinking about extending your hand to him again and again? You have completely thought about buying it with silver? The cost of new gunpowder is so high, how much can Weiting give us, we..."

"Mr., please let the students say something more."

It sounds nice to say that Wu Chaoyue is not a barber's evil deed to buy it with silver. As he talks, Zeng Guofan will definitely use the money and grains that Wu Chaoyue owes him as payment for the goods. So Wu Chaoyue quickly interrupted Zeng Guofan and said, "My teacher, forgive me. Now even if you can get the money, the students will not have any weapons to sell it to you."

"What does it mean?" Zeng Guofan asked in confusion.

"The workshop for producing new gunpowder has not been built yet, and the raw materials are insufficient, so students cannot build it." Wu Chaoyue said helplessly: "And the students are still busy regaining the cities in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and they don't have time to go back to Hankou to build factories and supervise weapons. So in a short time, even if you, your mentor, will you be helpless."

After saying that, Wu Chaoyue quickly added: "But mentor, please rest assured. As long as the teacher takes back several Hubei cities in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and drives Changmao out of Hubei, students can immediately free up their hands to vigorously rectify their arms, produce large quantities of new weapons for mentors, help the teacher directly attack Huanglong, defeat Jiangning, capture the two thieves Hong and Yang alive, and help the teacher establish great achievements that will never be easy forever!"

Of course, Zeng Guofan immediately heard that the disobedient students were putting new weapons on his own, and first drove the Hunan Army to expel the Taiping Army from Hubei for the disobedient students! After his face changed slightly, Zeng Guofan did not rush to jump out of the trap, but just said with a smile: "So that's it, okay, let's talk about this later. Let's drink first, drink first."

Wu Chaoyue smiled and thanked, and then raised his glass with the Hunan Army generals to celebrate the Nan'an victory. During this period, he also tried hard to maintain friendly relations with the Hunan Army generals. He talked with the Hunan Army very happily and kept making various empty promises, saying that as long as the Taiping Army was driven out of Hubei and freed up his hands, he would definitely sell and aid various new weapons to the Hunan Army at the lowest price, which successfully aroused the appetite of many Hunan Army generals and parted with the Hunan Army.

After the breakup, it was a conspiracy time. Let's first look at Zeng Guofan. As soon as he returned to the back tent and met several of his confidant advisers, Zeng Guofan immediately salivated heavily and cursed: "Bah! Xiaoxiao, it's really cunning. He obviously wanted me to work hard to drive Changmao out of Hubei and let him firmly as the governor of Hubei. He said so well-sounding, as if he was helping me."

"I'm afraid his purpose is more than that." Liu Rong smiled and said, "Turn Changmao out of Hubei and firmly positioned as the governor of Hubei. With us standing in front and resisting Changmao for him, he can calmly prepare for war in Hubei, and use new weapons to control us to charge for him. When we and Changmao fight each other, he will take action to go down the river, attack Huanglong and defeat Jiangning, and it will be his."

Zeng Guofan sneered and nodded, and he was extremely suspicious that this was the real plan of disobeying his disciples. Then Zeng Guofan asked, "How to deal with it?"

"You must never rush to drive Changmao out of Hubei!" Liu Rong replied in a deep voice: "The more threat Changmao is to Hubei, the more your disciple, Dashuai, will depend on us. Only by letting Changmao continue to control some of the Hubei cities and make a comeback at any time can we get more new weapons and even new gunpowder formulas from Dashuai, your disciple!"

Zeng Guofan was silent and did not speak, and then asked for a long time: "Will Huangzhou Prefecture City still be beaten?"

"Of course we have to fight! But we can't really fight!" Liu Rong replied: "Wuchang County has been lost, the Changmao Navy retreated to Lanxi, and Changmao in Huangzhou City has become alone, and it is very likely that we will abandon the city and leave. We cannot explain to the court if we don't fight, so we must launch some attacks appropriately, give the court an explanation, and also sell a favor to your favorite student, Dashen."

"Then, it is certainly beneficial to us to not beating Changmao in Huangzhou City. You can force your disciple to bow to us for help, or force him to attack the city and take the opportunity to find out whether he still has a backhand. If Changmao shrinks the front line and leaves the city, we must not intercept it with all our strength. Changmao must have the strength to calculate the Hubei city downstream of Huangzhou, continue to pose a threat to your disciple, and make him continue to rely on us."

Zeng Guofan smiled, patted Liu Rong on the shoulder and said, "Meng Rong, my son's room."

…………

At this time, Wu Chaoyue, who had returned to the camp, naturally had a secret talk with the only staff officer Zhao Liewen. As a result, Wu Chaoyue was more elegant. Zhao Liewen smiled at Wu Chaoyue without spitting thick phlegm and said, "Weiting, you have been trapped, but your teacher refused to put on the trap. What if it does?"

"Normal, if my teacher had been so easy to get into the trap, he wouldn't have been promoted seven times in ten years."

Wu Chaoyue smiled and indeed expected that the barber teacher would not be so easy to fall into the trap and act as a coolie blue-collar worker for him. Then he asked Zhao Liewen: "Huifu, in your opinion, what will my teacher do next?"

"Then you need to ask? Of course, it was because the intentional worker was not in a hurry to drive Changmao out of Hubei."

Zhao Liewen replied without thinking: "The new Hubei army has just been formed and its strength is still very weak. You may still be sure to win one or two battles, but it is difficult to completely expel Changmao from Hubei. Changmao only needs to stay in Hubei for one day and you may make a comeback at any time. You have to ask for your assistant teacher for a day. As long as you ask for him, money, food, military pay, and new weapons, will he have the opportunity to reach out to you for nothing?"

"Then how do we crack it?" Wu Chaoyue asked again.

The resourceful dog-headed military advisor Zhao Liewen rarely looked embarrassed and replied, "Weiting, you said this to me. Logically speaking, the best way to solve your teacher's trick is to lure it for profit. But I thought about it and found that this is unlikely. With your teacher's intelligence, no matter what kind of temptation you give, he will definitely see through it at a glance. Only real real money and silver can touch him, but your teacher's appetite... will probably be a bottomless pit that can never be filled."

Wu Chaoyue frowned and knew that no matter how much real money he had spent to please the barber teacher, he would never satisfy his bottomless appetite. At the same time, Wu Chaoyue knew very well that even if he could ask Sushun to promise the barber teacher the actual shortcomings of the governor of Anhui and Jiangxi, and even the official position of the governor of Liangjiang, with his barber teacher's cunning, he would definitely see through it at a glance and would never be deceived!

At this time, Zhao Liewen suddenly looked like he opened his mouth and wanted to speak, but he forced himself to close his mouth. Wu Chaoyue and Zhao Liewen had been partnering for a long time, so he naturally knew what he meant, so he asked, "Hui Fu, what good idea did you think of? Why don't you say it?"

"I thought of an idea, it should be feasible." Zhao Liewen replied: "But this is a dangerous move, or a dangerous move that is too dangerous, so I didn't say it."

"It's okay, let's talk about it." Wu Chaoyue encouraged: "One person is short, two are the best. If we carefully plan to get the chestnut from the fire and make up for the danger."

"It cannot be compensated." Zhao Liewen shook his head and said, "Actually, my method is very simple. It is to lure your teacher to force you to submit with a more poisonous move, bow to him honestly, give him money, food and weapons, take you, and beat you up or scold you. But if your teacher wants to use this magic trick, he must first clear the long hair in Hubei for us, and then he can achieve his goal."

"Tell me carefully."

Wu Chaoyue was successfully irritated by Zhao Liewen. Zhao Liewen sighed and said, "This move is actually the thing I was most worried about before, for fear that someone would be stabbed to your teacher and then you would be in danger, so you never told anyone."

After sighing, Zhao Liewen whispered: "I have been worried that if your teacher takes the opportunity to exert force and drive Changmao out of Hubei at this time, and then uses the excuse to rescue Jiangxi, bring the main force into the Poyang Lake battlefield, deliberately expose the empty hinterland of Hubei, and lure Changmao to attack Hubei, then you can only cry and shout and beg your teacher for mercy, begging him to lead troops back to save you."

Wu Chaoyue took a breath, and then he realized that his barber teacher had this trick to cure him to tears, and life was worse than death. But when he subconsciously wanted to give up this dangerous move, Wu Chaoyue hesitated. After careful calculation for a long time, Wu Chaoyue couldn't help but ask Zhao Liewen: "Huifu, in your opinion, if my teacher knew this plan, would it be possible to follow the plan?"

"Ninety-nine percent will follow the plan!" Zhao Liewen answered firmly, and then explained: "Now the main force of Changmao's army has gone to Nanchang. Our army has just joined forces with your teacher to fight a victory on the south bank. The morale of the Hunan Army is in full swing, Changmao's morale is exhausted, the army is depressed, and the morale of the army is not expected to obtain reinforcements immediately. It is a great opportunity to drive Changmao out of Hubei in one fell swoop. If your teacher suddenly exerts his strength at this time, he will naturally have a great grasp of it."

"And then, it is a great achievement to drive Changmao out of Hubei. The emperor and the court are happy, and your teacher is naturally happy. During this period, your teacher can naturally use the excuse of replenishing weapons and forcing you to hand over more new weapons and money and food. This is another joy. Finally, your teacher brought the main force into Jiangxi, deliberately making the rear of Hubei empty, and seducing Changmao to attack Hubei again. At that time, you, the governor of Hubei, will naturally have no extra choices besides kowtowing him obediently and begging him for mercy. You can kill three birds with one stone, and how can your teacher not be moved?"

Wu Chaoyue didn't say anything, but found that if he changed his position with the barber teacher, he would definitely choose this poisonous trick of killing three birds with one stone. After thinking about it for a long time, Wu Chaoyue asked again: "Huifu, in your opinion, is it beneficial to keep the teacher in Hubei, or is it more beneficial to use this trick to lure him out of Hubei?"

"If you are sure to stop Changmao's counterattack alone with only Hubei's troops, of course it is more beneficial to lure your teacher out of Hubei." Zhao Liewen replied: "But I must remind you that the new Hubei army in your hands is too weak and the green camp in Hubei is unreliable. If you lose this bet, the consequences will be unimaginable."

"Especially your navy." Zhao Liewen added: "Although foreigners sell and give you two good boats half-sell, it is not a matter of overnight success for navy to practice proficiently. Even if you can barely support it on land, the long-haired navy can also go through the water to kill directly to the hinterland of Hubei and turn your hinterland upside down."

Wu Chaoyue sat down, put his hands in front of his eyes and rubbed them continuously. After a long time, Wu Chaoyue suddenly said, "Go! I bet with my teacher!"

"Weiting, have you considered it clearly?" Zhao Liewen asked, and reminded him again: "Don't blame me for not warning you. If you lose this bet, your Hubei Governor will not be able to protect your favor."

"I know, I don't regret losing the bet!" Wu Chaoyue replied firmly: "If I don't expel Changhai from Hubei for one day, I won't do a big thing in Hubei for one day. If I don't send the teacher out of Hubei for one day, I will be in peace in Hubei for one day. I'll bet on this. Anyway, I've just started in Hubei, and I won't lose much if I lose the bet! But if I don't bet on this, I will never be able to start in Hubei!"

Seeing that Wu Chaoyue was firm in his attitude, Zhao Liewen, who knew that Wu Chaoyue liked to be adventurous, did not stop him anymore. He just nodded and said, "Okay, let it go. Fortunately, Changmao is fighting everywhere and has concentrated a large number of troops on the battlefield in Nanchang. He is determined to win Nanchang, and may not come to fight Hubei immediately."

Wu Chaoyue nodded without saying a word, thinking about what he asked Zhou Xiuying to bring to Yang Xiuqing. Through Hong Ren's hint to Yang Xiuqing, he even thought about Liu Changyou, who was almost wearing a pair of pants with Zeng Guofan, and no matter how good the relationship between Liu Changyou and Zeng Guofan was, he saw how Wu Chaoyue treated Liu Kunyi, he naturally had his own thoughts in his heart. Chu Yong's combat power was still quite reliable.

Finally, Wu Chaoyue remembered to ask Zhao Liewen and said, "So, what kind of way can I use to make my teacher's poisonous trick to force me to submit?"

"It's so easy." Zhao Liewen sighed again and said with a wry smile: "Letters, counter-spray, and after drinking, I can come up with a hundred ways to let your teacher know this poisonous move, and not even afraid of showing traces. It is so beneficial to your teacher. Even if he knows it is a trap, he will jump in without hesitation." (To be continued.)
Chapter completed!