Chapter 23 Suppress Xi Nian and worship the Pavilion

Although Li Hongzhang did his best to the Qing court, he did not get more rewards for it.Obviously, the imperial court deliberately suppressed the growing Huai army.This can be seen from the fact that the Huai Army did not receive much reward after successfully destroying the Eastern Nian Army. Previously, the Western Nian Army had adopted the strategy of encircling Wei and saving Zhao to attack Hebei, hoping to save the Eastern Nian Army from its crisis.They broke through the defenses of the Hukou River, entered southern Hebei, passed through Shunde, Baoding, and Yizhou, and approached Fangshan County near Beijing.However, they were still one step too late. At this time, the Eastern Nien Army had been completely wiped out.However, there are no troops near the capital, and the defense is empty.The Nian army marched north, which immediately horrified the Qing government.Therefore, the imperial court issued five edicts in succession, requiring Li Hongzhang to come to the capital as soon as possible to escort him.However, none of the generals of the Huai Army was willing to lead troops northward.Li Hongzhang was punished because the rescue was unfavorable. He was revoked from his post as a cavalry captain just now, and his eyes were removed.One night, Li Hongzhang was thinking hard and couldn't fall asleep, when he suddenly heard a commotion outside.It turned out that some generals of the Huai army were arguing to lead their troops northward, take down the capital, and rebel against the Qing government.Hearing this, Li Hongzhang hurried out to persuade them not to have such rebellious thoughts, but no one paid any attention to him.Li Hongzhang was very distressed. The court was originally dissatisfied with him. If the Huai army continued to make trouble, he really didn't know how to end it.Liu Bingzhang, who was about to leave the camp, quietly said to Li Hongzhang, now that everyone doesn't listen to you, you can find a solution with Pan Dingxin.Pan Dingxin is a scholar who understands righteousness and is your student. If you can do his work well, it will be easier for others.Liu Bingzhang went to Pan Dingxin again and said, we have been good friends for many years, and you are the teacher's student. If the teacher is really brought down by you, what good will it do you?What future do you have?

The next day, Li Hongzhang approached Pan Dingxin and said, do you know that I was punished?Pan Dingxin said he knew.Li Hongzhang said, don't you worry about my future?Pan Dingxin said: There is nothing to worry about. As long as you make more contributions in the future, the imperial court will give you a promotion.Li Hongzhang said: "Then you should hurry up and lead your troops northward to escort you, and help me make up for my mistakes!"Pan Dingxin left first with his troops, so the others followed him northward.Only Liu Mingchuan took a three-month leave and returned home.After a lot of trouble, Li Hongzhang finally resolved the internal conflicts.Next, he faced the task of destroying the Western Nian Army.Li Hongzhang still advocated emphasizing river defense, but Zuo Zongtang, who compared himself to Zhuge today, insisted on pursuing and suppressing the Nian army with all his strength, and the two were at loggerheads over this.Li Hongzhang has always looked down on Zuo Zongtang's use of troops. He wrote to Zeng Guofan and said: This Zhuge Liang of today always follows many generals to find thieves.At this time, the imperial court sent Prince Gong to supervise the battle, and asked them to destroy the thief within a month.

A month later, Zhang Zongyu led the Nian army all the way to the southern suburbs of Tianjin.Li Hongzhang and Zuo Zongtang were both demoted and punished by two levels due to ineffective combat.After this lesson, Li Hongzhang and Zuo Zongtang finally reached a consensus on the strategic proposition, that is, equal emphasis on river defense and pursuit.However, there is a lack of a powerful leader ahead.At that time, Liu Mingchuan suffered from a disease called horse carbuncle due to years of riding horses, and he had malignant sores on his thighs.After the treatment, although he recovered, his body was very weak, and because he didn't get the reward he deserved, he always felt dissatisfied, so when the other generals led their troops to the north, he was the only one who complained of illness and stayed at home to rest.After Zeng Guofan learned of the situation, he sent someone to condolences, and sent a letter to persuade him: You and Li Hongzhang are rare confidants in the world. You should go to the front line as soon as possible to help him establish this historical feat, and you will go down in history yourself.After reading the letter, Liu Mingchuan was greatly shocked, and immediately rushed to the front to lead his troops to kill the enemy.

On August 16, 1868, the Huai Army besieged Zhang Zongyu in Nanzhen, Chiping County, Shandong. Zhang Zongyu brought eight (or eighteen) personal soldiers to the Tuhai River. He took off his clothes , jumped into the water.The soldiers of Liu Mingchuan who were chasing him saw the clothes on the ground, believed Zhang Zongyu's personal words, and believed that he had drowned.Li Hongzhang reported to the court that Zhang Zongyu was dead.However, Zuo Zongtang believed that Zhang Zongyu could not see people when he was born, and he could not see the corpse when he died. He suspected that Li Hongzhang lied to the court to defraud the court, and sent people to search everywhere.After Li Hongzhang knew about it, he was very angry, thinking that Zuo Zongtang's move was jealous and finding fault.As a result, the conflict between the two further intensified, and they have been enemies for a lifetime ever since.

Li Hongzhang destroyed Xi Nian, and the imperial court's original award was to be a co-organizer of a bachelor.A bachelor is a cabinet position, with two halls and two cabinets, and there are four people in total.The two bachelors and the two co-organizers are both Manchu and Han Chinese.A year ago, Zhou Zupei, a scholar of Tiren Pavilion, was vacant, and Zeng Guofan was promoted to fill in as a co-organizer.In this way, a co-organizer was vacated, and Cixi gave this seat to Luo Bingzhang, governor of Sichuan.Unexpectedly, at the end of the year, Luo Bingzhang died of illness, and Wu Tang, Cixi's confidant, took over.And another vacancy for co-organizing a bachelor's degree is offered as a reward, and it must be Li Hongzhang at this moment.

Adhering to the imperial decree of the empress dowagers of the two palaces, it was quickly delivered to Li Hongzhang's camp.Li Hongzhang and the generals solemnly knelt down to receive the imperial edict.The decree said: Li Hongzhang and others have made great contributions to flattening, and the giant bandits who have accumulated for many years have been eliminated from then on. I am very comforted.In addition to Prince Yiyi going to Dingling to offer sacrifices to Emperor Wenzong (Xianfeng) in heaven, Li Hongzhang, Zuo Zongtang, and Guan Wenju were restored to their posts and rewarded with flower feathers and yellow jackets.Plus Li Hongzhang, Zuo Zongtang Prince Taibao title.Li Hongzhang co-organized the university with the governor of Huguang.Ding Baozhen and Prince Shaobao, first-class baron Liu Mingchuan of the Jin Dynasty, first-class captains of light vehicles Pan Dingxin and Guo Songlin, and Guo Songlin was the admiral of Hubei.

Li Hongzhang finally entered the cabinet to pay homage to the prime minister.This is the first-class fame of a scholar, and Li Hongzhang got it.