Nearly halfway through Shen Shi, Wu's fleet returned to Jiangning City, where he had passed by, and stopped at Xiaguan Wharf outside Yifeng Gate. As a result, it was at this time that Wu Chaoyue discovered that the streets outside Yifeng Gate were empty, with doors and doors closed everywhere, with very few pedestrians. It was obvious that the people outside the city had already escaped.

He secretly scolded himself for being careless and did not send anyone to the ashore to understand the situation yesterday. While remembering this lesson, Wu Chaoyue kept Deng Siyuan and Huang Dasha and other sentry officers to guard the ships. He personally led Wu Dasai and other personal soldiers to the ashore and went to Yifeng Gate to contact and negotiate with the defenders. Hui Zheng, who was under the jurisdiction of Lu Jianying, also plucked up the courage to follow.

When they arrived outside Yifeng Gate, the city gate was naturally martial law long ago. Before Wu Chaoyue and his party walked up to the Heshi Bridge, they had already spoken loudly to ask Wu Chaoyue and others for their purpose. Wu Chaoyue stepped forward, loudly stated his identity, and asked loudly: "Brothers of Green Camp in the city, is Lu Jianying's Lu Platform in the city? If he is here, I will come to the city to see him. He asked me to take Songjiang regiment to Wuhu to help in the war. As a result, before I arrived in Wuhu, the entire army was wiped out. I want to ask him what to do next."

"The mainland platform is in the city." The defenders on the city answered truthfully and said loudly: "But the mainland platform has an order. Jiangning has martial law. Without his or General Xiang's handwritten order, no one is allowed to enter and exit Jiangning City without authorization, so we cannot open the door and let you enter the city!"

Wu Chaoyue had no choice but to ask the defenders to report the report and ask Lu Jianying to tell him what to do next - should he take the regiment training to withdraw back to Shanghai? After the defenders agreed, Wu Chaoyue then calmed down and observed the situation around him. It was fine if he didn't look at it. After a closer look, Wu Chaoyue became a little strange.

What made Wu Chaoyue strange was the combat readiness of Jiangning City. The people outside the city had already run away, but the houses and courtyards outside the city were still intact. They had neither set fire nor razed to the ground. Although Wu Chaoyue had little military experience, he also knew that when the city was siege, the courtyard walls of these houses would inevitably become the ideal shelter for the siege army, which was very unfavorable to the defenders' combat. What was even more outrageous was the moat, which was silted and was less than one meter away from the river bank. The Jiangning defenders did not expect to clear and clean up. They did not think that once the war started, Taiping soldiers could easily flow across the moat and directly hit the city wall.

There are also defenders on the city. Even when they stand under the city, Wu Chaoyue can clearly hear the sounds of rock-scissors and laughter and joking on the city. They can also see many defenders leaving their posts and not taking any precautions against Wu Chaoyue and others standing under the city. Seeing this scene, Wu Chaoyue, in addition to muttering that no wonder the Taiping Army could easily take the city outside Nanjing, also quietly began to pray, asking Lu Jianying not to summon himself to the city to participate in the battle to defend the city.

Unfortunately, things didn't go as expected. Not long after much time, a man wearing an official hat in the city leaned out of the city and shouted at Wu Chaoyue: "Master Wu, I am the governor of Jiangsu Qi Suzao. Please prepare for entering the city immediately. After a while, I will open the door to let you enter the city with the consent of the Mainland Platform!"

"eventful."

Wu Chaoyue cursed Qi Suzao, the Jiangsu vassal state in the city who was meddling in the other people's business, but there was no way, so he could only agree loudly, and then led his personal soldiers back to organize a regiment to prepare to enter the city, leaving Qi Suzao to fold his hands on the city wall, bowing to the world repeatedly, and thanking him, "Thank you, thank you, God, that idiot Lu Jianying finally did a good thing. He transferred Wu Chaoyue, a powerful general who can fight, and finally had some hope to defend Jiangning City."

Of course, Wu Chaoyue didn't know that Qi Suzao had such high hopes for him. After he moved his weapons and ammunition off the ship, Wu Chaoyue ordered the Shanghai regiment to assemble the whole team, cheer up and sang the military song "Without Clothes" to line up into the city. Five hundred flag armored soldiers followed the order, carrying rifles with sharp bayonets and singing in an orderly line. In terms of momentum, they completely compared the disciplined Qing soldiers in the city wall.

Not to mention, seeing the high-spirited Shanghai regiment training team coming, none of the defenders on the city felt new and novel. They poked their heads from behind the arrows and looked at Wu Jun's regiment. Qi Suzao, who had already had high hopes for the Shanghai regiment training, was even more happy. As soon as he received the news that Lu Jianying agreed to the Shanghai regiment training, he immediately ordered the city to open, and went to the city gate to greet Wu Chaoyue. He praised him without any comments and took the initiative to show his way to see Lu Jianying himself.

Wu Chaoyue, who had really entered the city and was not very popular in the Qing Dynasty officialdom, finally understood why Qi Suzao, the direct superior of the comprador, was so enthusiastic about him. There were many group trainings in Jiangning City, but these trainings with the word "yong" on their chests were obviously worse than those of the Qing army green camps. They shouted in groups of three or five on the roadside, and the swords, guns and flags in their hands were also tilted. Many trainings were even directly inserted with smoke guns smoking on their waists. Compared with that, the Shanghai Training Group, which had a small number of people but was neatly lined up, could not find any words to describe them except to stand out from the crowd, which also made Wu Chaoyue feel worried again, "I have worked hard to train the Shanghai Training Group. Don't be damaged by these two spearmen in Jiangning City?"

The Wu army was arranged to temporarily wait in the open space inside Yifeng Gate. Wu Chaoyue and Huizheng each rode a horse. Follow Qi Suzao all the way to the Liangjiang Governor's Mansion on Xihuamen Street. Then, relying on Qi Suzao's help, Wu Chaoyue and Huizheng entered the lobby of the Governor's Mansion without waiting for the notification from the door.

The hall was full of civil and military officials, as if they were in a meeting. Seeing Qi Suzao leading Wu Chaoyue and Huizheng in, Lu Jianying, the governor of Liangjiang who was sitting in the middle, waved his hand to calm the officials, and then looked at Qi Suzao, Wu Chaoyue and others carefully. Lu Jianying asked Qi Suzao with surprise again, "Youzhang, didn't you say you wanted to lead the famous Qing general Wu Chaoyue to meet this governor? Where are others?"

Hearing this, Wu Chaoyue, who was wearing plain clothes, said that Lu Jianying did not recognize him because he was not wearing official uniforms. He hurriedly bowed to Lu Jianying and said, "Master Taifa, the lower official is Wu Chaoyue. As soon as the lower official got off the boat, he went straight to the city to pay his respects. Before he could change his clothes, he would be rude. I hope that Master Taifa would forgive me for his crime."

"Are you Wu Chaoyue?" Lu Jianying's expression was even more surprised. He looked up and down at Wu Chaoyue, and asked in confusion: "How old are you this year?"

"Report to the stewards of the stewards, the lower officials are eighteen years old."

Wu Chaoyue answered truthfully, but what surprised Wu Chaoyue was that after hearing this, not only Lu Jianying immediately showed disappointment, but Jiang Ning's civil and military officials next to him were also whispering, all of whom were surprised at how young Wu Chaoyue was. One of the bannermen generals with a lightning rod on his head stood up and walked closer to look at Wu Chaoyue carefully. He sneered directly on his face, and asked, "You are the Wu Chaoyue who has been practicing bravely to defeat 4,000 thieves with two hundred courages? It doesn't look like it. There are not two taels of meat on his arm, how many stone bows can he pull?"

Don’t blame Lu Jianying and others for their appearance. The main reason is that our comprador Wu is really not very good. His face is not liked by big girls and wives. He is as thin as a reed stick. He does not look like the legendary famous general who can defeat the 4,000 rebels with two hundred courages. Wu Chaoyue also vaguely guessed the reason and didn’t mind much. He just answered truthfully: “Go to this master, the official will not draw a bow and shoot arrows.”

"Can't you draw a bow and shoot arrows?" The bannerman general with a fat face was even more surprised when he heard this, and hurriedly asked again: "Then why did you win such a big victory in Songjiang?"

"The Xiaguan can't draw bows and shoot arrows, but the Xiaguan has a lot of research on firearms. In the battle of Qingpu, the Xiaguan won by relying on the advantages of the firearms." Wu Chaoyue replied.

"Firearm? Humph, strange and lewd skills!" The general of the bannerman was even more disdainful of Wu Chaoyue.

"General Xiang, you have never seen the Jian Yong under the command of Director Wu. Not only are they equipped with firearms, but they are also foreign firearms that they have never seen before. If General Xiang doesn't believe it, you can go and watch it in person." Qi Suzao quickly called for justice for Wu Chaoyue, and bowed to Lu Jianying and said, "Lu Jiantai, the official advises you to go and see the Jian Yong who is the one who is the one who is the one who is the one who is the one who is the one who is not seen in his life. Compared with that, the other Jian Yongs in Jiangning City are simply a bunch of loose sand."

"It's okay to see it, it's okay not to see it." The general with a fat face full of flesh snorted disdain: "I have seen many foreigners' strange and lustful skills. It's not surprising and cannot be of great use."

"I will go and see it when I have time."

Lu Jianying's attitude was slightly better than the banner general, but it was not better. After saying this, Lu Jianying ignored Wu Chaoyue and turned to Hui Zheng, who was standing behind Qi Suzao timidly, shouting: "Hui Zheng, I will let you follow Chen Shengyuan to defend Wuhu and Dongliangshan. Where is Wuhu now? Where is the camp of the two mountains?!"

Huizheng knelt down obediently and kowtowed and said, "Secretary should be damned. The two camps of Wuhu and Liangshan in the east and west have been lost, but Xiaguan has tried his best. There are many people and forces with hundreds of thousands. The combined sea and land forces of Xiaguan and General Chen are only more than 6,000, which is outnumbered, so they are defeated. Even so, Xiaguan still fought fiercely with Changmao until the last moment, and brought back 10,000 taels of silver from the Liangshan camp. I hope that the Master of the Taiwan Strait will consider the minor merits of Xiaguan, and will give Xiaguan a chance to make meritorious service."

The Wuhu defense line was arranged by Lu Jianying, and Lu Jianying knew what was going on. So after listening to Hui Zheng’s report, Lu Jianying did not immediately attack. Instead, the bannerman general who disdained Wu Chaoyue was furious and roared: "Stop it! You still have the shame to say that you have a small achievement, lost your city and land, lost your army and humiliate the country, and commit a serious crime of beheading and raiding! The person who came, take Hui Zheng down for this general and put him in the prison of death row. When the general reported to the emperor, he would take him to the court to ask for a warning to others!"

I don’t know what kind of official the banner general was. After hearing his shouts, the officers in the hall rushed up to capture Hui Zheng. Hui Zheng was so enraged that he quickly kowtowed to him and said, “Governor Xiang, General Xiang, spare me. The lower official is guilty, but the lower official really cannot fight hard. He was forced to retreat if he could not defeat the rebels!”

The plea was useless. Under the scolding and urging of the banner general, the officer still forced Huizheng to walk down. Seeing this, Wu Chaoyue, who had promised to ask for love for Hui, had kept his word and said, "Let's wait! Please listen to what the emperor said, "

"What are you? How dare I let me listen to you?" The general of the bannerman asked proudly, and shouted: "A little sixth-rank chief, there is no business for you here, let me get out of here!"

"General, you are even more arrogant than you are now." Wu Chaoyue also angrily and said with a smile: "On June 14th last year, the officials went to the palace to face the king. At that time, the officials were still in a commoner. The emperor even opened a golden mouth to allow the officials to speak. Now, the officials are not only ordered by the emperor to register the Ministry of Personnel to register the fifth-rank official for the prefecture, but also from the mainland platform to recruit the imperial officials who were transferred to the army to participate in the suppression. You may not accept the matters involving military law, but you should not be allowed to speak, right?"

"You..." The bannerman general was furious and shouted: "Come on, beat this general who was boldly invading Wu Chaoyue!"

When he encountered such an unreasonable and eloquent Wu Chaoyue, he had no choice but to meet such an unreasonable and eloquent Wu Chaoyue, but fortunately, Qi Suzao next to him attached great importance to Wu Chaoyue, quickly stopped the service, and then bowed to the banner general and said, "General Xiang, although Wu Chaoyue's words are a bit offensive, he is also reasonable. After all, he is an official of the court and a local general who was called by the mainland platform to help suppress the suppression. If you are qualified to express your opinions on the war, you should give him a chance to speak."

Qi Suzao's brother is the current chief military officer Qi Shicao. The banner general knew very well, so he closed his mouth and did not insist on letting the officers beat Wu Chaoyue out. Qi Suzao hurriedly winked at Wu Chaoyue again. Wu Chaoyue understood, so he turned to Lu Jianying and bowed and said, "Lu's position is low and his position is low and he has no qualifications to plead for Lord Hui. But the officials believe that the current rebellion is rampant, and the thief army is about to come to the city of Jiangning.

When the court was employed, he immediately put a heavy hand on Lord Hui and was imprisoned, which would waste a person's talent. Lord Hui had another battle with Fa Ni and was familiar with various situations of Fa Ni. If he was allowed to participate in defending the city, it would definitely help my Qing soldiers quickly become familiar with the military tactics and combat habits of Fa Ni and avoid many detours. Therefore, the officials suggested that the Tai Tai Master might as well give him a chance to make meritorious contributions to show the mercy of the Qing court's court's kindness."

In Wuhu's defeat, Hui Zheng was actually the blame for Lu Jianying. Lu Jianying himself knew very well. At this moment, Lu Jianying certainly wanted to push Hui Zheng directly and kill him with one knife, killing people to silence him forever. But Hui Zheng was a fourth-rank Taoist platform after all, and he was barely considered a royal relative. The impact of the direct chopping was not too small. And that banner general was not a good man. Xianghou, the only Jiangning general in Jiangning who was the same rank as Lu Jianying, was the only Jiangning general in Jiangning City who was the same level as Lu Jianying. He just spoke up to take Hui Zheng down and then asked the Holy Trial. If Lu Jianying asked Hui Zheng directly, Xianghou would inevitably suspect that there was a problem, and then check the inside story in detail...

After thinking about it, after weighing the pros and cons of the long-term, Lu Jianying finally nodded and said, "Well, I will give him a chance to make meritorious service to redeem his sins when Huizheng brought back ten thousand taels of silver. Huizheng, get up, you lose your city and land. Our meeting will submit to the court to the emperor for the ruling of the imperial court. Before that, you will stay in Jiangning City to help with military affairs and strive to make meritorious service."

After saying that, Lu Jianying hummed in his heart again: "If you are smart, you will take the blame for the defeat of Wuhu. Otherwise, I will give you an order to ask you to go out of the city to collect food and grass, and deliberately let you go on the road controlled by Changmao!"

Hui Zheng, who didn't know that Lu Jianying was really planning, was overjoyed. He quickly kowtowed to Lu Jianying to thank him, and then thanked Wu Chaoyue, who had trusted him to plead for mercy. Only then did Lu Jianying remember to ask Wu Chaoyue: "Master Wu, how much courage did you bring this time?"

"One battalion, five hundred bravely practice." Wu Chaoyue replied truthfully: "This is all the troops under Xiaguan."

"Why is that so?"

Lu Jianying complained in a low voice, then looked down at the Jiangning defense map in front of him, and planned to arrange the Shanghai regiment training there. Qi Suzao next to him hurriedly said, "Lu Manufacturing Platform, the subordinate advised to ask Director Wu to take Songjiang to Jubaomen to assist in defense."

"No!" The bannerman general with a fat face immediately objected and said, "Jubao Gate is the most important city gate in Jiangning. When he came to the east, most of the attacks were the Jubao Gate. In such a military important place, how can local regiments participate in the defense? He cannot help defend Jubao Gate!"

Not to mention, Wu Chaoyue was really grateful for the opinions of the banner general. Wu Chaoyue was reluctant to be arranged to the front line to fight against the main force of the Taiping Army. When Qi Suzao argued with the banner general, Lu Jianying also made up his mind and waved his hand and said, "General Xiang, Youzhang, stop fighting. Let Master Wu take Songjiang regiment training to Shencemen. There are only two hundred green camps and five hundred townsmen there. The troops are too scarce and need to be strengthened."

"Shence Gate?" Qi Suzao wanted to vomit blood and said hurriedly: "Lu Jiantai, next to Shen Ce Gate is Xuanwu Lake, which is relatively remote. The one who counterattacks may be very small. Isn't it too waste to place the elite troops under Chief Wu's command there? Even if you don't want him to go to Jubao Gate to assist in guarding, at least he should be placed in Yifeng Gate facing the dock, right?"

Wu Chaoyue's good impression of Qi Suzao immediately turned bad, but fortunately, Lu Jianying didn't listen to this advice and shook his head and said, "No need, let Master Wu lead the Songjiang regiment to help guard Shencemen, and then make adjustments when the war develops. Master Wu, you immediately lead your troops to Shencemen to meet with Geng Luo, the garrison stationed there, and follow his orders."

Wu Chaoyue agreed happily, and Lu Jianying pointed at Hui Zheng again and said, "Hui Zheng, you will first go and pay the military pay you brought back, and then continue to help with the grain station to make meritorious service."

Hui Zheng also responded to the promise in a hurry, but Qi Suzao, who was standing beside him, was so angry that he stamped his feet. He also found an excuse to go out with Wu Chaoyue, then grabbed Wu Chaoyue and whispered: "Master Wu, Lu Jiantai is unconscious and refuses to entrust you with important tasks, which makes you wronged, but don't worry, I will definitely find a way to persuade him to change his mind and give you more opportunities to serve the country. Before this, you must be prepared to be transferred to the war at any time. Once other gates in Jiangning City are in a hurry, I will fully persuade Lu Jiantai to transfer you to the war, giving you the opportunity to serve the court and show your skills."
Chapter completed!