When the news that the old fox Hua Shana was indeed pretending to be seriously ill was confirmed, Li Hongzhang, who had disappeared for a long time, returned to Wu Chaoyue. He still appeared in front of Wu Chaoyue wearing heavy filial piety and tears on his face. He bowed in front of Wu Chaoyue as soon as he met, and cried in the ground and the sky was dark and the sun and the moon were gone.

"Shaoquan, what happened? Why are you wearing mourning clothes and crying like this?" Wu Chaoyue asked in surprise.

"My father passed away." Li Hongzhang replied crying.

"What? My uncle passed away? Why was it so suddenly? Why didn't I know any news before?"

Wu Chaoyue asked in shock, and then Li Hongzhang cried and told the whole story, saying that Li Wen'an suddenly fell ill in Fenggang, Fuzhou, Jiangxi. Before the doctor could find out Li Wen'an's condition, Li Wen'an had already died suddenly, so Li Hongzhang had no time to inform Wu Chaoyue in advance. After Li Wen'an died of illness, the Shiziying, which was already not very morale, was in chaos. Li Hongzhang was not allowed to lead his army to retreat to Nanchang Prefecture for rest. He also entrusted Shiziying to his fellow townsman and deputy Zhang Shusheng to command. He wrote a letter to request Ding You in accordance with the rules of the Qing court, and brought Li Wen'an's coffin to Hubei to report the funeral to Wu Chaoyue. He was also preparing to meet with Li Hanzhang, the brother who was serving as county magistrate in Shanhua, Hunan, and tried to send Li Wen'an's body back to Hefei for burial.

After hearing Li Hongzhang's tearful statement, Wu Chaoyue certainly had to cry a few times in a hypocritical way, and then quickly sent someone to prepare a mourning hall for Li Wen'an and congratulate him. While trying his best to comfort Li Hongzhang, he prepared a residence for Li Hongzhang for him to rest.

As a result, after Li Hongzhang was asked to go out to rest, Zhao Liewen, who was a little jealous of Wu Chaoyue and Li Hongzhang's close relationship, spoke and reminded: "Weiting, don't say that I was slandering behind my back. Your senior brother came to Hubei this time to help the spirits and return to his hometown for burial with his brother."

"Of course I can see this. Not to mention that it is difficult for Hefei to go back in Changmao's hands, even if he has this plan, he can wait for Li Hanzhang in Jiujiang, so there is no need to go to Wuchang for detour."

Wu Chaoyue shrugged, and had long known Li Hongzhang's true intentions. He sighed and said, "But forget it, for his ambition, he has suffered a lot in Jiangxi and paid the corresponding price. He no longer has to care about the past with him."

Of course, Wu Chaoyue felt so emotional. In fact, since Zeng Guofan was killed, Wu Chaoyue has not been particularly concerned about the Shizi Camp that was lonely in the hinterland of Jiangxi. As the Taiping Army once again launched a large-scale increase in troops in Jiangxi, the weak Li Wen'an and his son were in a dilemma in Jiangxi. Although they could protect themselves with the weapons and ammunition donated Wu Chaoyue, they also gave up the tricky and mean Jiangxi Governor Wenjun dared not offend Li Wen'an and his son too much, but they did not stabilize the source of military pay, food and ammunition, and the Li family still did not cause much storm in Jiangxi. On the contrary, they suffered a lot of displaced suffering and were retribution for trying to get rid of Wu Chaoyue's solo work.

Therefore, even without Zhao Liewen's reminder, Wu Chaoyue knew that the real reason why Li Hongzhang went to the Hubei Provincial Capital was to escape from the battlefield that had become corrupt, and the second was that he was unwilling to return to the field. He wanted his good brother to submit a memorial request to seize his love for him. The third was to seek protection from Wu Chaoyue's wings, and he wanted to make a comeback with Wu Chaoyue's money, food and weapons.

After all, I understand that my past friendship was left there. Some Wu Chaoyue, who likes nostalgia, pretended not to know the colorful things of his good brothers. While trying his best to persuade Li Hongzhang not to take the risk of returning to Hefei, he also advised Li Hongzhang not to return home in his spare time, volunteered to ask for a resurgence for Li Hongzhang. After Li Hongzhang pretended to give in, he quickly went down and agreed to wait until Li Hanzhang arrived before discussing.

Even though the matter of seizing the love was not finalized, Wu Chaoyue had already begun to consider how to appoint Li Hongzhang. However, what made Wu Chaoyue hesitant was that should he take the opportunity to keep Li Hongzhang by his side to help? Or should he continue to release Li Hongzhang to lead troops to fight?

With Li Hongzhang's talent and ability, keeping him by his side to help is definitely no less than Zhao Liewen and Yan Jingming's right-hand assistant. However, Wu Chaoyue was a little worried about Li Hongzhang's loyalty to the Qing court, for fear that he would see his anger that he had not said on TV. Wu Chaoyue, who had a poor history, certainly did not know that during the Eight-Nation Alliance, the first article in the Southeast Mutual Protection Treaty that the local governor of the Qing Dynasty secretly established by the local governor of the Qing Dynasty was that if Cixi and Guangxu were killed by foreigners, the local governor of the Qing Dynasty would immediately elect Li Hongzhang as president, and Li Hongzhang himself took the lead in signing the treaty.

Wu Chaoyue didn't dare to let Li Hongzhang go and lead troops to fight. No matter how bad history is, Wu Chaoyue knew that Li Hongzhang had created the famous Huai Army in history. Now there is no Li Wen'an's constraints. Li Hongzhang really made him the master of his own and worked alone. He pulled up a powerful army and made trouble while Wu Chaoyue was up. Wu Chaoyue really dug a hole and buried himself.

It was a pity to eat it, but it was a pity to abandon it. In a dilemma, Wu Chaoyue simply gave this choice to Li Hongzhang himself, taking advantage of the opportunity of Li Hanzhang resigning from office to Hubei. He deliberately mentioned this matter in a roundabout way and asked Li Hongzhang his own opinions. As a result, Li Hongzhang, who was extremely smart, really understood what Wu Chaoyue meant and immediately gave the answer obscurely. However, what made Wu Chaoyue regretless was that Li Hongzhang actually wanted to go out to lead troops to fight.

Of course, Wu Chaoyue could also understand Li Hongzhang's difficulties. It was not easy to get promotion opportunities for civil service. With the help of Zhao Liewen and Yan Jingming, it was certainly more difficult for Li Hongzhang to stay by his side to make a quick start. In the face of chaos in the world, leading troops to fight is of course the best shortcut to get promoted and make money. The ambitious Li Hongzhang certainly wanted to take the shortcut and was unwilling to endure the qualifications with great difficulty.

Fortunately, what made Wu Chaoyue quite pleased was that Li Hongzhang knew that he would learn from his mistakes. While expressing his willingness to continue leading troops, he also took the initiative to express his desire to organize the regiment training and was willing to lead troops to fight under Wu Chaoyue's command. He voluntarily downgraded from his senior brother to Wu Chaoyue's younger brother thug, and acted as a cattle and a horse for Wu Chaoyue, and charged into the battlefield.

After understanding Li Hongzhang's attitude, even though he still didn't dare to feel completely relieved, Wu Chaoyue decided to reward Li Hongzhang for the correct choice of knowing the current affairs and began to think about the position that could give him some sweetness. As a coincidence, at this time, Chong'en, the former Shandong Governor who had met several times with Wu Chaoyue, suddenly came to Hubei. While visiting, he helped Wu Chaoyue come up with the best way to resettle Li Hongzhang.

The reason why the former Shandong Governor Chong En came to Hubei was to take office in Hunan and replace Wenge, who was defeated by Hua Shana for the stolen copper. Although Chongen was not very good at military affairs, he had previously lost the position of Shandong Governor because he failed to quickly suppress Ji Wenyuan, who suddenly walked out of the Yimeng Mountains, and gave Ji Wenyuan a chance to make a comeback quickly. However, Chongen was a little good at civil affairs. After being demoted to Hami Minister of Service, he quickly reconciled the ethnic conflicts there, and made great contributions to appease and governing. He was transferred back to Zhili as the governor of governor. Then he relied on his ability to manage finances and comfort the people. After Wenge fell, he was successfully promoted to acting governor of Hunan, and truly made a comeback.

In addition to being a little skilled in civil affairs and calligraphy and poetry, Chongen also has an advantage that he is a little self-aware. He knows that he is not good at military affairs, and knows that he must pay attention to military affairs if he wants to settle down in Hunan as soon as possible. So when he met Wu Chaoyue, he gave up his face to ask his younger generation for advice and asked Wu Chaoyue to give him more help and guidance in military affairs so that he would not repeat the mistakes he had when he was in Shandong. As a result, Wu Chaoyue naturally thought of Li Hongzhang immediately.

"When I was sleeping, someone gave me a pillow. By chance, I just took the opportunity to put Li Hongzhang in Hunan. That ghost place is fighting, and there are many opportunities to earn meritorious service and reward. It is also a remote area. It was also plundered by Luo Bingzhang and Wenge. There was no money or military salary. Shao Quan wanted to leave me alone and could not develop there."

"Also, after inserting Shaoquan's nail into Hunan, we can take the opportunity to use him to restrict the Hunan Army and Chu Yong, so as not to make trouble when I raise an army. Of course, it is not ruled out that Shaoquan will collude with Hu Linyi and Liu Changyou, join forces to fight against me, but there is no need to be afraid. Chinese people have always been one person, one group of people and one group of insects, unevenly dividing the spoils, fighting for power and profit, and each has its own ulterior motives. The more factions of the Hunan Gang, the easier it is to divide and alienate and win over and buy!"

These vicious thoughts arose, Wu Chaoyue was of course immediately put into practice. He first sent someone to invite Li Hanzhang and Li Hongzhang brothers to introduce them to Chongen, and then boasted about Li Hongzhang's dazzling performance on the battlefield of Anhui, Jiangxi, and also boasted about Li Hanzhang's familiarity with Hunan customs and civilized conditions and the official army.

As a result, the Li brothers themselves were also successful. Under Chongen's question, they answered questions fluently and expressed many correct opinions. Chongen, who urgently needed to understand the situation in Hunan and needed military assistants, was also overjoyed. He did not care that the Li brothers were obeying the system, so he asked Wu Chaoyue to ask for someone on the spot and directly stated that even if the Qing court did not agree to let the Li brothers regain their relationship, he would also let the Li brothers help him govern the territory and command the troops as an aide.

When Wu Chaoyue pretended to ask the Li brothers whether he was willing to follow Chongen to Hunan to do a job, the Li brothers who understood him certainly only humbledly and agreed immediately. Wu Chaoyue expressed generously that he would provide all his help when Li Hongzhang established a new group training for Chongen. Both guests, host and guests were happy and parted with all their fun.

After Wu Chaoyue sent Chongen away and returned to the inn to rest, the Li brothers who were able to gain more military power immediately ran to Wu Chaoyue to thank him, thanking Wu Chaoyue for his support for Da En, who gave them the opportunity to be promoted to the Secretary of the Hunan Provincial Party Committee. Wu Chaoyue smiled and waved his hand and said, "You don't have to be polite, it's just a little effort. Speaking of which, this is also the luck of your two brothers. As soon as they stepped down, they immediately met the governor of Chongfutai in Hunan. Chongfutai happened to have some friendship with me when he was in Jinan. Otherwise, would he have encountered such a good opportunity?"

Although I was also very clear that this time of success was a great luck, the Li brothers still sincerely thanked Wu Chaoyue for having good things and never forgot them. They also expressed that they would definitely do a good job of connecting Wu Chaoyue and Chongen to help Wu Chaoyue get along with Chongen. While Wu Chaoyue thanked him casually, he suddenly remembered a big event and said to Li Hongzhang: "Shaoquan, after arriving in Hunan, there is something that needs to be asked to help me go to our mentor's hometown in Xiangxiang."

"Weiting, what do you want me to do to your mentor's hometown for you?"

Li Hongzhang asked in confusion, but Wu Chaoyue's readily answer made Li Hongzhang slide directly from the chair Wu Chaoyue said directly: "Go to ask my teacher's wife for my wife, and ask her to promise to promise my teacher's eldest daughter, Miss Zeng Jijing, to be a side room."

"Side-in-Royal?" Li Hongzhang screamed like a pig: "Weiting, do you want my life? What is your teacher's identity? Zeng Sheng's 70th generation grandson! His daughter is still the eldest daughter, how could he marry you to be a side-in-Royal?!"

"It's okay, I believe you can do it, and the teacher's wife will definitely consider agreeing." Wu Chaoyue replied more readily: "Because of some accidents, my teacher's daughter cannot get married again except me."

Li Hongzhang opened his mouth wide, Li Hanzhang widened his eyes, and Wu Chaoyue said without blushing, saying that he accidentally stripped Zeng Jijing's clothes. As a result, Li Hanzhang's eyes were almost torn apart. Li Hongzhang's mouth was directly opened and took off. After raising his chin, he asked the first sentence: "Weiting, honestly, did you do it on purpose that night?"

Wu Chaoyue, who was upright and not afraid of being a silly shadow, certainly shouted for justice and swearing that he had really recognized the wrong person at that time, but Li Hongzhang didn't believe it at all, and hummed: "Even if you really didn't mean it, aren't you cheating me to death? When you arrive at your mentor's house, you're afraid that as soon as I asked for a marriage, the teacher's wife will be able to pick up a kitchen knife and chop me up!"

"No, no, I guess at most I'll use a broom to knock you out."

Wu Chaoyue quickly comforted me heartlessly and said shamelessly: "Shaoquan, I think you can do this alone in the world. After all, my wife Yang Yuru and the side-family Feng Wanzhen are both your matchmakers. You are destined to be with me in this regard and are my lucky star, so you must have hope of convinceing your master's wife and agreeing to let your junior sister marry me."

"I don't want to be such a lucky star." Li Hongzhang moaned in pain, and he couldn't imagine what kind of violent abuse he would be when he came to the door for his junior brother to propose marriage to his junior sister......

The next day, out of etiquette, Wu Chaoyue once again held a banquet in the governor's yamen, and invited Hubei civil and military officials from the provincial capital to accompany him, introducing his colleagues to Chongen to make it easier for him to live next door. Chongen happily obeyed the order. Hubei civil and military officials also secretly cursed the iron rooster and finally came to kowtow to the two governors in Huguang. The atmosphere at the banquet was quite festive.

While chatting and laughing, suddenly, a personal soldier hurried into the flower hall where the banquet was located, handed a document to Wu Dasai and whispered a few words. Wu Dasai hurriedly transferred the document to Wu Chaoyue who was talking and laughing with Chongen, and said, "Master Futai, the constitutional order sent by Huafatai has just sent someone from Hubei. It is said that it is very urgent. Please demolish it immediately."

Wu Chaoyue did not neglect after hearing this, and hurriedly told Chongen that he had taken the official document sealed by the fire lacquer and opened it to watch. However, after a few glances, Wu Chaoyue showed a look of surprise and said, "What are the tricks of the flower maker playing? Why do you say that his condition has worsened?"

"Huafa Taxi said his condition has worsened? Is it true or false?" Chongen was also shocked and said to himself, "Old Man Hua, don't play with me. Last time you said your condition suddenly worsened, Wenge's second-rank top fell to the ground. Before I officially took office, you have another condition worsened. You don't like me so much?"

When he continued to look down in surprise, Wu Chaoyue's expression began to be serious, because Hua Shana not only said in the official document that his condition had worsened, but also said that he had been forced to hand over the front-line military affairs to Feng Sanbao and others, and returned to Changsha to recuperate first, and asked Wu Chaoyue to inform the new governor Chongen who was about to take office in Hunan, asking Chongen not to delay on the road, and hurry to go to Hunan to officially take office, and take over the important task of commanding Hunan to suppress the rebellion.

After handing the official document to Chongen with a serious expression, Chongen quickly finished reading it, and immediately said to Wu Chaoyue: "Weiting, it seems that Hua Jiantai is really seriously ill this time. With Hua Yuzhong's temper, it is impossible for him to leave the major matter of suppressing the rebellion and go back to Changsha for recuperation first. I can't delay here, and leave after eating this meal."

Wu Chaoyue nodded, and while ordering people to arrange a clutch and guards for Chongen, Li Hongzhang brothers were also notified to prepare to go to Hunan with Chongen. The civil and military officials in Hubei heard that Hua Shana was really seriously ill this time, and the voices of chatting and laughing disappeared without a trace, replaced by whispers. Many officials were constantly peeking at Wu Chaoyue, looking at Wu Chaoyue's expression and whether Wu Chaoyue had the blessing of taking over as the governor of Huguang.

After a quick meal, Chongen, who was anxious to set off, immediately said goodbye and went back to set off. Wu Chaoyue agreed to go to the dock to see him off. Then when the civil and military officials in Hubei stood up and said goodbye, Wu Chaoyue keenly discovered that these subordinates were obviously much more respectful and pious to their etiquette, especially the governor Ma Xiuru and the censor Li Qinggu who were qualified to take over as the governor of Hubei, were so respectful that they only knelt down to lick Wu Chaoyue's shoes. Wu Chaoyue laughed secretly and said, "In the officialdom, promotion is indeed the first priority."

It is indeed the first priority. As soon as he sent off a group of colleagues, before he could return to the back hall, Wu Chaoyue immediately ordered Zhao Liewen: "Huifu, please write a letter to Suzhongtang and tell him that Huafa is really seriously ill this time, and ask him to prepare in advance."

Zhao Liewen agreed with a smile and whispered: "Weiting, Hubei civil affairs must also prepare in advance. The three major things of Hankou tariffs, Jiusheng Luli and Yinyuan casting must be found to be the most reliable person to master!"
Chapter completed!