Zhutian: Starting from the Space-Time Merchant

Chapter 641 The Fury of Revenge~
Hunan, Yuezhou Prefecture.

Mu Zhang'a led a group of civil and military officials to respectfully bow to the eunuch who had just scolded him.

Scenes of eunuchs delivering imperial edicts are often depicted in movies and TV dramas, but in reality, the edicts were delivered by people from the Ministry of Rites or related departments.

This scene today originates from a method of punishment used by Qing Dynasty emperors for officials, called issuing an imperial edict to reprimand them.

They dispatched eunuchs to publicly berate and scold officials, causing them a double blow to their character and spirit.

A staff member stepped forward and presented a generous reward of silver notes.

The eunuch, who had been ordered to scold the man, skillfully felt the thickness of the silver note and then put it away with satisfaction and practiced ease.

That concludes the matter.

After the eunuchs left and returned to the capital to report back, Mu Zhang'a slowly got up and returned to his room expressionlessly.

None of the civil and military officials dared to laugh or joke; they all lowered their heads and pretended not to hear anything.

Amidst the busy schedule of the imperial concubine selection, Emperor Xianfeng still sent someone to insult Mu Zhang'a, which was because Mu Zhang'a had lost Changsha Prefecture.

That's the capital of Hunan province, so it has a huge influence.

If it weren't for the fact that no one else was willing to take the blame for Mu Zhang'a, then the reprimands and scoldings would have been far more severe.

Only two people followed Mu Zhang'a into the house: Xiang Rong and Jiang Zhongyuan.

After the events in Changsha, the three of them were now completely bound together.

A beautiful maidservant served tea, then withdrew and closed the door.

In the dimly lit room, only the light filtering through the transparent mica ceiling could be seen.

Mu Zhang'a, who had taken out his snuff bottle, asked with a stern face, "You guys come up with a plan, what's next?"

"Don't even mention retreating again. If we retreat any further, I'll really lose my head."

Xiang Rong and Jiang Zhongyuan exchanged a glance, and Jiang Zhongyuan spoke first.

"My lord, the Long-haired Rebels are formidable fighters; we are no match for them in a direct confrontation."

"The best course of action now is to draw their main force away from their stronghold, then mobilize local militias to take advantage of their weakened rear and slaughter all the rioters who support the Taiping Rebellion, cutting off their retreat and leaving them without a source of support."

"Only in this way can we gradually weaken the Taiping Rebels until we finally win."

Jiang Zhongyuan further explained, “According to the Taiping rebels who defected to the court, their treatment was excellent, with excellent food, clothing, and lodging. They were never late or deducted from their pay and salary.”

"Given the scale of the Taiping Rebellion, even if they were to supply the region with this amount of resources, they could not sustain it for long, no matter how much they squeezed out of Guangxi."

"If we can lure the Taiping rebels away, we can then slaughter all the rioters in Guangxi and other places."

"Given the treatment the Longhairs receive, they definitely won't last long."

As the saying goes, "It is not scarcity that is to be feared, but inequality."

"They took so much before, but now they've lost it all. The morale of the troops will inevitably collapse."

"Only when that time comes will it be time for the imperial court to launch a full-scale counterattack."

Mu Zhang'a, sniffing the snuff bottle, paused deeply several times before finally suppressing his sneeze.

He wiped his nose. "This is a long-term plan."

"It will take at least a year to see any results."

"What I need now is immediate results; otherwise, whether I can live to see next year is another matter entirely."

He strained to open his triangular eyes and looked at Xiang Rong. "What I need right now is a victory, even if it's just beheading a few hundred real Taiping rebels, so that I can have an explanation to the Emperor and catch my breath."

It's much harder to kill innocent people and claim credit for their crimes these days.

The reason is simple: the Taiping rebels all had their heads shaved, so the heads handed over to the Ministry of War's Surveying and Inspection Department had to be at least ear-length.

In this area, which of the locals would dare to keep their hair this long?

Forcibly shaving off braids is possible, but getting the hair to grow back is difficult.

The people in the investigation department have sharp eyes; don't try to fool them.

Mu Zhang'a desperately needs a victory to shatter the myth of the Taiping Rebellion's invincibility.

Even a small victory, one that can claim a few hundred heads, is acceptable.

He couldn't trust anyone else, so he could only put the burden on Xiang Rong's shoulders.

Xiang Rong was sensible; he knew that if they continued to suffer such losses, no one, from top to bottom, would have a good end.

He already had a plan in mind.

"grown ups."

"Please forgive my bluntness."

"If it were a direct confrontation, let alone cutting off hundreds of heads of real long-haired rebels, even if the imperial army suffered fewer losses, it would be considered good luck."

"The only way to win is through trickery."

"Take a shortcut?" Mu Zhang'a chuckled. "Tell me, how would you take a shortcut?"

“My lord.” Xiang Rong no longer hesitated, stood up and went to the map. “Please take a look.”

"Now the main force of the Taiping rebels has gathered in Changsha Prefecture."

"Multiple teams of soldiers were dispatched, called work teams, to various prefectures, counties, towns and villages in Hunan to carry out land redistribution."

"It means killing wealthy landlords and virtuous local officials. The land that belonged to the imperial court and the virtuous officials will be distributed to the peasants."

"Each work team consists of approximately one thousand people."

"We can't defeat the Taiping rebels head-on, so we can take a detour and ambush these work teams."

"The work team's long hair, it really is long hair!"

"The brain is still usable."

Mu Zhang'a stood up and went to look at the map. "Where do you want to attack?"

"here."

Xiang Rong pointed to a place on the map.

"Xiangyin!"

Several days later, Lin Dao returned from the modern world and saw Zuo Zongtang kneeling on the ground as soon as he opened the door.

With a dazed expression and bloodshot eyes, Zuo Zongtang swayed slightly and bowed deeply to Lin Dao.

"Meeting Head~"

"We beg the leader to avenge the people of Xiangyin!"

"Xiangyin? Your hometown?" Lin Dao frowned. "What happened?" Yang Xiuqing, who was also waiting outside, hurriedly stepped forward to report.

"Head."

"Yesterday, a large group of Qing demons came from the waterway of Dongting Lake and attacked Xiangyin."

"The local work team fought desperately and dealt a heavy blow to the Qing dynasty."

"But the Qing demons couldn't defeat us, so they vented their anger on the local people, resulting in a great massacre!"

A fierce glint flashed in Lin Dao's eyes.

"How many?"

"Tens of thousands dead or injured!" Yang Xiuqing subconsciously avoided Lin Dao's gaze; it was too terrifying.

He then added, "Many of Brother Ji Gao's relatives also perished."

Looking at Zuo Zongtang prostrate on the ground, Lin Dao took a breath. "Your family members~"

"My family has arrived in Changsha Prefecture." Zuo Zongtang said without looking up, "But my fellow villagers have suffered a great calamity. I beg the head of the association to take charge!"

In the modern world, let alone hometown sentiment, even family ties have become very weak.

But times are different now. People value hometown ties highly, especially the bonds between people from the same hometown.

The massacre of his hometown was a huge blow to Zuo Zongtang.

He even believed that it was because he had joined the Taiping Rebellion that his hometown had suffered such a calamity.

"I see."

Lin Dao took a breath and instructed Yang Xiuqing, "Gather the generals!"

The generals who had previously been scattered throughout Hunan, suppressing bandits and pacifying the region, rushed back to Changsha Prefecture from all over the country.

On the day of the military council, the main hall was filled with a murderous aura.

"I'll admit my mistake before the meeting."

Lin Dao spoke frankly: "We were careless and underestimated the Qing demons. We ignored their cruelty and threat. Without eliminating the remaining main force of the Qing demons, we were busy carrying out the land redistribution and cleanup campaign in various places."

"The Qing forces seized the opportunity to counterattack, resulting in the loss of hundreds of members of the work team, and tens of thousands of civilians in Xiangyin were killed or injured."

"It was my fault, I admit it."

He then changed the subject, saying, "As I said before, we must repay the suffering that the Qing demons inflicted on the people of China tenfold or a hundredfold!"

"I'm the kind of person who never makes empty promises!"

"I've gathered you all here today for only one thing."

"Send troops to eliminate the Qing demons entrenched in Yuezhou Prefecture!"

Several days later, Lin Dao and his generals arrived at Xiangyin on the south bank of Dongting Lake.

He set up an altar here to pay tribute to the fallen soldiers and local people.

"The work team lost approximately four hundred people."

These days have passed, and the detailed battle situation of the Qing demon raid has been basically completed.

Yang Xiuqing reported to Lin Dao, "The Qing demons came by boat and took advantage of the rain to launch a surprise attack ashore."

"Most of the brothers who died in battle had their heads cut off."

"Some military supplies and weapons were also stolen."

"Among the common people, approximately a thousand women were abducted; I'm afraid..."

Standing on the forest path by the shore of Dongting Lake, he squinted and remained silent.

Undoubtedly, there was some arrogance and underestimation of the mite-clearing agent.

He was already considering how to develop Europe and the ancient lands of the Shang Dynasty, but he never expected to be bitten back by Manqing.

At this moment, Lin Dao had no other thoughts in his mind but revenge.

"Which group of Qing demons has arrived?"

"Hunan's Central Army and Chun's troops, Xi'an Town's Green Standard Army Fu Cheng's troops, Deputy General Deng Shaoliang's troops, local militias in Liuyang and other places, and Jiang Zhongyuan's Chu troops, etc."

"Xiang Rong is in command."

"Okay, I understand." Lin Dao, who was truly enraged, wrote down all these people and their troops in his notebook.

Wait to die!
To appease the local people, organize post-war reconstruction, await the arrival of additional troops, and purchase a large number of ships from the modern world, etc.

After finishing these tasks, Lin Dao personally led more than 10,000 elite troops by boat from Dongting Lake northward to launch a flanking attack and cut off the rear route of Yueyang City.

This time, no matter what, we cannot let these beasts escape.

Yang Xiuqing, Shi Dakai, and others led the main force of the Taiping Army northward along the shore of Dongting Lake towards Yuezhou City.

Chenglingji is the first islet in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River.

Together with Yanziji in Nanjing and Caishiji in Ma'anshan, it is known as one of the three famous rocky outcrops along the Yangtze River.

This is a famous deep-water port, the gateway to Hunan's waterways, and the confluence of the Yangtze River and Dongting Lake.

Most of the Mite-Cleansing reinforcements' ships that had gathered from various places docked here.

In the distance, the blood-red sunset dyed the earth crimson.

The Qing soldiers in the harbor were listlessly discussing where they could get something to eat that night.

After all, we only had two meals a day, and we were really starving.

Meanwhile, on the west gate of Yueyang, atop Yueyang Tower overlooking Dongting Lake and the Yangtze River, lights shone brightly and traffic flowed busily.

An imperial edict arrived from the capital, and all the Qing generals who participated in the surprise attack on Xiangyin were rewarded. They gathered here to celebrate with great joy.

"Brother Yuting."

Xiang Rong clasped his hands in congratulations to He Chun of the Plain Yellow Banner.

He Chun, who was promoted to general and given the title Kengse Baturu, was beaming with joy.

He laughed heartily and returned the gift, saying, "Congratulations to you too!"

Finally, they won a victory against the Taiping Army. Overjoyed, Emperor Xianfeng bestowed generous rewards, and everyone benefited.

When Mu Zhang'a finally arrived, and everyone greeted him and prepared to sit down to celebrate, Jiang Zhongyuan, who had good eyesight, shouted and pointed to the distant lake.

"What it is?!"

Everyone instinctively looked over.

Under the afterglow of the setting sun, countless blazing fire dragons soared into the sky!
(End of this chapter)