In addition to Guo Songtao, the Li Xubin brothers who are very conscious of the current affairs are also willing to stay in Hubei. In addition, the naval general Peng Yulin, who knew that Luo Bingzhang could never build any good ships, also expressed his intention to stay. However, Yang Yuebin considered that he was already a registered general and Zeng Guohua was disabled. After returning to Hunan, he built a new naval commander and expressed his attitude that he wanted to return to Hunan.

What surprised the leaders of the Hunan Army was that the Zeng family had a split. Zeng Guohuang and Zeng Guobao wanted to take Zeng Guohua home to serve the marquis's seriously ill father, but Zeng Guoquan firmly stated that he would stay in Hubei and directly said to Zeng Guohuang and other brothers: "You want to go home and go by yourself. I want to stay in Hubei to avenge my brothers, and return to Hunan to rebuild the army again. I don't know when I want to take revenge. I stay in Hubei to help Weiting, and my hope of avenging myself is even greater. Although Weiting is my junior, I am willing to obey his orders!"

Luo Zenan, one of the three major strategists of the Hunan Army, had died of serious injuries. The last strategist Liu Rong was a famous ancient Chinese writer. He had never shared the same language with Wu Chaoyue, who had no idea about his ingenuity, and did not want to stay and go back to Hunan. After everyone expressed their opinions, Hu Linyi, who was in charge of the remaining troops of the Hunan Army, had never spoken. When people asked about his position, Hu Linyi was silent for a long time and still gave an ambiguous answer, "Look at it again, let's talk about it when I see Wu Futai."

Without letting Hu Linyi and the leaders of the Hunan Army wait for a long time. After resting and visiting in Hankou, which is no less prosperous than the provincial capital, Wu Chaoyue personally crossed the river and came to Hankou. He used the excuse of personally leading the leaders of the Hunan Army to visit the military talent training school. He summoned the Hunan Army members in the Hubei Military Preparation School, which was newly built less than half a year ago. Then he made a clear statement and asked the generals of the Hunan Army to abandon Luo Bingzhang and hang out with him, and promised that he would never treat the Hunan Gang unfairly.

They both expressed their opinions on their willingness to stay and wanted to return to Hunan, but even if they were willing to stay, Peng Yulin, Zeng Guoquan and others also clearly told Wu Chaoyue that they could not guarantee to retain all the soldiers, and that they could only let the remaining soldiers decide to stay. However, Wu Chaoyue told Peng Yulin and others more frankly, and said with a smile: "Dear generals, I hope you stay, the focus is on your battlefield experience and ability, not your old subordinates. Even if all your subordinates return to Hunan, it doesn't matter. I can recruit and train you again and again, and ensure that they are only stronger than your old subordinates in terms of quality."

Knowing Wu Chaoyue's ability to train troops, Peng Yulin, Zeng Guoquan and others hurriedly thanked him. After Wu Chaoyue was polite, he turned his eyes to Hu Linyi, who was the only one who made his statement, and asked with a smile: "Mr. Runzhi, why haven't you spoke? Do you want to consider it again?"

Hu Linyi really needs to consider it. After pondering for a while, Hu Linyi suddenly asked: "Wu Futai, I want to ask you a question. Since you can build a large iron factory and a large gun and artillery bureau that only foreigners can have, can you also build an iron factory and a gun and artillery bureau similar to that of Daye in Hunan?"

Obedient and listened to the voice. As soon as Hu Linyi asked this question, Wu Chaoyue immediately knew his true attitude and wanted to go back to Hunan. But this is not surprising. As for Hu Linyi's prestige and status in the Hunan Army, the rebuilt Hunan commander was naturally his. In addition to being secretly disappointed, Wu Chaoyue could only force himself to speak: "Of course, there are iron ore and coal mines in Hunan. The reserves and production areas of coal are far more than those of Hubei, and there is a fundamental basis for the Iron Plant and the Guns and Cannon Bureau. But there is no way, I am the governor of Hubei, not the governor of Hunan, so the iron plant can only be built in Daye."

"Wu Futai, why didn't you think about joining forces with Luo Futai to build one in Hunan?" Hu Linyi asked, with a little excited expression and said, "The production of Daye Guns and Cannon Bureau is not high. Wu Futai still has to buy most of your weapons from foreigners. If you also build a guns and cannon bureau similar to Daye in Hunan and work together to produce weapons together, can you get rid of the constraints of insufficient weapons and completely quell the Changhai Rebellion as soon as possible?"

"This person is destined not to be mine, and it is unreliable to force him to come over." Wu Chaoyue muttered in his heart, and completely died, winning over Hu Linyi's heart. He was too loyal to the Qing Dynasty.

After muttering, Wu Chaoyue said: "Mr. Runzhi said very well. I have considered building a few more gun bureaus, but there is no way. I really can't find someone to preside over me."

"Wu Futai, then how about me?" Hu Linyi asked impatiently: "If you trust Wu Futai, what if you ask Xiaguan to help you build a large iron factory and a large gun bureau in Hunan?"

"About this, Mr. Runzhi, you should go and discuss with Luo Futai." Wu Chaoyue replied casually: "If he can give out money and grain, and can suppress local resistance, he will serve the imperial court, and also to pacify Changmao and eliminate the bandits as soon as possible. Of course, I am willing to fully support him in building a gun bureau and an iron factory in Hunan."

"Okay, after the official returns to Hunan, he will do his best to persuade Luo Futai to follow your example and also create an iron factory and a gun bureau in Hunan."

Hu Linyi patted his chest and made a clever statement that he actually wanted to return to Hunan. Wu Chaoyue, who had long guessed that Hu Linyi was thinking, smiled and did not mention what Hu Linyi left behind after agreeing. Of course, what Wu Chaoyue said was that his unintentional words had caused some unexpected consequences, which I won't mention later.

He was away for many years and was homesick. In addition, he was depressed after the defeat of Huishan. Only about 400 old Hunan soldiers were willing to stay in Hubei and continue to carry guns. The rest of them returned to Hunan with Hu Linyi and Liu Rong. As for the soldiers who were willing to stay, Wu Chaoyue broke up and assigned them to the various battalions of the Hunan Army in Hubei without hesitation, and directly made clear his position that he would not form cliques. Then he ordered Zeng Guoquan and Li Xubin and other Hunan generals to study in the martial arts school, waiting for his expansion to be assigned positions.

I don’t know how many times I crawled out of the dead on the battlefield. Regarding Wu Chaoyue’s request to go to school to study war, Zeng Guoquan, Peng Yulin, Li Xubin and others of course raised objections. Wu Chaoyue told them directly, “Uncle Jiu, don’t think you have been fighting for a few years and you don’t have to learn to fight again.”

"In your eyes, my new Hubei army can already be considered a battle, right? But I know that the new Hubei army's land division is only a qualified army on the battlefield of foreigners, and is definitely not an opponent of the elite foreigners. The navy of the new Hubei army can only be considered a third-rate army at most in front of the foreigners' naval forces. The current world naval overlord, the British Navy, will just pull a squadron out, and it will take less than half an hour to knock the new Hubei army navy to the point of not even leaving behind!"

"Don't underestimate the foreign instructors in the Hankou Martial Arts School. Each of them is truly a tough person who has experienced many battles. He is a real tough person who has more than half of the army's casualties and can line up with soldiers with pipes in his hands. His ability to lead troops to fight is only better than mine. Only by learning from them can you learn the most advanced tactical skills in the world and no longer repeat the mistakes in the Opium War. Even tens of thousands of people in the three yuan can't beat a hundred people in a foreigner!"

If everyone hadn't known the painful lesson of being beaten by British lobster soldiers during the Opium War, Wu Chaoyue would definitely not be able to convince Zeng Guoquan, Peng Yulin and others to enter the school again. But because he knew the power of the foreign army and wanted to know why the foreign army was so powerful, Zeng, Peng and others still obediently carried their schoolbags and went back to the school again to receive re-education from foreign instructors and Wu Chaoyue.

During this period, Wu Chaoyue could not wait to start the operation of expanding the Zhili Bu Bu again, and the reason for expanding the army was shameless. Given that Cao Yanzhong, the Third Corps of the Wu Army, had been transferred to Jiujiang to station, Wu Chaoyue shamelessly wiped out the number of Cao Yanzhong's troops from his own Fu Bu Bu Bu Bu Bu Bu Bu Bu Bu Bu Bu Bu Bu Bu Bu Bu Bu Bu Bu Bu Gang in Jiujiang. After a while, Wu Chaoyue's direct army actually became 13,000.

The loopholes in the organization were used to expand the army in disguise. After receiving the commendation order from Emperor Xianfeng, Wu Chaoyue found Hua Shana even more shamelessly, on the excuse of Emperor Xianfeng asking him to train troops and prepare for the use, and on the excuse of the navy continuing to strengthen the power to compete for the control of the river in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, he wanted to recruit another 3,000 people to expand his plagiarism to 16 battalions.

Faced with Wu Chaoyue's shameless request, Hua Shana, who had always obeyed Wu Chaoyue's words, was also a little scared. Not only did he dare not agree, he said, "Weiting, isn't it too much? I, the governors of various provinces in the Qing Dynasty, usually have two battalions on the left and right. The most formally organized Guangxi Fubiao has only six battalions and three thousand people. Even in order to pacify Changmao, the governors of various places have expanded the governors and guards, but it is not exaggerated to you. Do you want to build 16 battalions of Fubiao?"

"I know a lot about the flower-making platform, but the situation in Hubei is too special." Wu Chaoyue explained with a verbal explanation: "The long-haired bandits invaded Hubei several times and captured the provincial capital twice. The Hubei Green Camp successively fought with heavy casualties, and the troops were almost exhausted, and they urgently needed to strengthen their troops. In addition, the nine provinces in the thoroughfare of Hubei are responsible for rescuing the surrounding provinces. The Hubei Navy also has the responsibility to compete with the long-haired bandits for the power to control the river. If there is no strong force stationed in the province as a maneuver, how can we bear such an important task?"

Hua Shana was silent for a moment and asked again: "Then why do you have to expand Fubiao? Isn't it the same for the expansion of E Yong and the restoration of Green Camp?"

"Wood platform, let's say something about it with your heart. Can E Yong and the Green Camp be able to bear great responsibility?" Wu Chaoyue asked back and said, "You have seen it with your own eyes. The younger generation has not drawn elite soldiers from the Fu Biao to help train E Yong and the Green Camp soldiers, but no matter how they train, the E Yong and the Green Camp soldiers are not as good as the younger generation's Fu Biao. What is the reason? There is no effective general commander and no persistent strict military discipline management. It will not take long for it to fall again, and even if it is released, it will not be of much use."

Hua Shana didn't say anything again, and after a while, he said, "Weiting, sorry, I can't agree to you about this. If you must continue to expand the Fubao, you can only submit a memorial to ask for an order. But before that, I have to give you a warning, don't forget the lessons of your teacher Zeng Guofan. In order to resolutely refuse to give him real power, the reason is that you are a smart person and you will not point it out."

Wu Chaoyue was disappointed. Wu Chaoyue knew very well that the Qing court would never allow him to expand the scale of the matador so exaggerated. The reason why he shamelessly asked Hua Shana for his agreement was that his real purpose was that Rahua Shana would serve as a shield for himself. In the future, the Qing court would question him, and Wu Chaoyue could use the excuse of Hua Shana's consent.

Hua Shana is indeed a good man. Even though he was not fooled by Wu Chaoyue and was in front of him to shelter Wu Chaoyue from the wind and rain, he still gave Wu Chaoyue a good idea and suggested: "Weiting, why not do this? Don't rush to submit a letter to request the expansion of Fubiao. First, find the emperor and the court's attitude, and then decide whether to submit a letter to request it. It is safest to provide a letter to provide a letter to provide a letter to the safest."

Hua Shana did not specify who was the close minister of the emperor who was familiar to Wu Chaoyue, and there was no need to point out. After Wu Chaoyue, who understood the knowledge, thanked Hua Shana's kind advice, he immediately asked Zhao Liewen to write and gave Sushun, who was similar to his horoscope, to tell him a little bit about the reason for the expansion of Hubei Fubiao. He also shamelessly claimed that he was worried that doing so would cause misunderstandings to the court, so he asked Sushun to test Emperor Xianfeng's attitude towards this.

After a while, relying on the station that could barely maintain operation, Sushun's reply was finally delivered to Wu Chaoyue. However, what disappointed Wu Chaoyue was that Sushun not only clearly warned Wu Chaoyue not to repeat Zeng Guofan's mistakes, which led to Emperor Xianfeng's suspicion and guard against him, but also issued a warning to Wu Chaoyue, saying that his arch-rival Bai Wei had entered the Military Affairs Office to hold power and were fighting against him everywhere. He would definitely not let Wu Xiao's comprador be allowed to have a chance when he had the chance. Wu Chaoyue was required to act cautiously and never catch the handle for Bai Wei, especially not to be caught by Bai Wei in terms of foreigners, otherwise it would be difficult for him to excuse Wu Chaoyue.

"There is no way, it seems that I have to start the second plan and make E Yong's idea."

He was helpless to put down Sushun's letters. Wu Chaoyue could only continue to move his bad-hearted men and began to think about how to take the opportunity to insert his confidant subordinates into E Yong in the name of training, leading troops to power, and try to control some E Yong and indirectly control more troops.

While thinking about it, Zhao Liewen and Yan Jingming suddenly entered the back hall with a smile and talking and laughing. Looking up, he saw Zhao Liewen smiling strangely. Wu Chaoyue asked curiously: "Huifu, why are you laughing so happily?"

"Luo Futai sent a message, asking us to provide detailed construction of Daye Iron Plant and Guns and Cannon Bureau, and also asked if we could help him build an iron plant and Guns and Cannon Bureau in Hunan."

Zhao Liewen showed the official document in his hand and said with a smile: "Mr. Danchu and I were just joking, if Luo Futai saw our factory construction costs, the quotation of foreign machines and the salary prices of foreign technicians, would he be so scared that he even stared out his eyes?"

"Hu Linyi really convinced Luo Bingzhang? Luo Futai really wants to build an iron factory and a guns and artillery bureau?" Wu Chaoyue was shocked and blurted out: "Don't he know that the Daye Iron Plant can be successfully completed and put into production because the high-quality iron ore in Daye is easy to smel, and there is also a large coal mine nearby, which saves such a huge transportation cost?"

"How could he know?" Zhao Liewen smiled relaxedly: "Luo Futai is just a good reader of poetry and books, but is not as proficient in Western Affairs as you do, and knows everything about these."

Wu Chaoyue laughed in silence, and then he remembered that he had never explained the specific details of the Daye Iron Factory to Hu Linyi. Naturally, Luo Bingzhang could not know how difficult it was to build a modern industrial base. However, after being happy, Wu Chaoyue felt that this matter was quite tricky and could not end without telling the truth. If he told the truth, Luo Bingzhang either felt that he was playing with him or he would think that he was making excuses and refused to help, which led to his relationship with him being a step closer to him. After forcing Luo Bingzhang to impeach the official article, the intimacy between Wu Chaoyue and Luo Bingzhang could be reduced by more than one step.

"Weiting, how do you answer?" Zhao Liewen also asked: "Tell Luo Bingzhang directly, saying that Hunan is not suitable for building a large iron plant? Or tell him how much money and grain we spent to build a factory, which scared him to shut up?"

Wu Chaoyue was once moved. When he was about to use the huge expenses of building a factory to intimidate Luo Bingzhang, the financial situation was tight, but the corner of his eyes accidentally glanced at a letter on the desk, Su Shun had sent someone to warn him. Then, a bad idea suddenly jumped out of Wu Chaoyue's mind, making Wu Chaoyue cheer in his heart, "If you are willing to plant flowers but not bloom, you will not plant willows and willows to become shade. God gave you a good opportunity. There is a way to defeat Luo Bingzhang, the old fox!"

He was ecstatic, but Wu Chaoyue's face was basically silent. After a little calculation, Wu Chaoyue said: "Tell him that the cost of building a factory is OK, and he also clearly told him that although Hunan is not suitable for establishing a large iron plant like Daye, it should not be a big problem to establish one or two small and medium-sized iron plants. If he is willing, I will do my best to help him, and I can also send a few technicians to Hunan first to explore and test the ore of the existing iron ore in Hunan for him to see if there is a suitable place to start a smaller iron plant."

"Weiting, do you really want to help Luo Bingzhang like this?" Zhao Liewen asked with some confusion.

"It's all for the court. He wants to build an iron factory and a guns and artillery bureau, and it's also to kill Changmao. If you can, please help."

Wu Chaoyue answered lightly and said casually: "By the way, tell Luo Bingzhang when he will send someone to pick up the technician to Hunan. He has to say hello to me in advance so that I can prepare staff for him. Also, tell him that he doesn't have to worry about the money for buying an iron furnace. Hubei can already imitate it, and Hunan's procurement cost can be reduced a lot."
Chapter completed!