C575 Thirteen million square kilometres (1/2)
Far to the south, thousands of miles away, beside the Yellow River, the mother river of the Chinese nation, two old men were walking in the darkness. Above their heads were the stars that filled the sky, and below their feet were the waves of the Yellow River.
Ceng Guofan, Ceng Guoquan, these were the two most promising brothers of the Zeng Family, as well as the souls of the five hundred thousand Xiang Army, and the current ruler of the Jiangnan region.
Along the Yangtze River, as long as it was a battlefield with Long-hair, it would become the domain controlled by the Xiang Army. They were the strongest warriors of the Yangtze River Basin, and even the imperial court did not dare to offend them.
And today, due to the chaos in the Twisted Army, the battlefield in the Xiang Army started to head north again, arriving at the east side of the River Nanshan. At this point, even the people on the banks of the Yellow River could see the figures of the Xiang Army.
”Ninth brother!” ”I really didn't expect that I would still have the chance to lead troops and stay at the banks of the Yellow River. Our Xiang Army has been in too much of a spotlight for the past two years …” Ceng Guofan said with her hands behind her back.
”Why do you say that, brother?” After we, the Xiang Army, fight against Long-hair and Twisted Army, how can the prestige that we exchanged with our lives be considered big? ”
”You don't understand …” Ceng Guofan shook his head: ”You've also read about Zhou Yi before, how can you be a bystander? ”Since ancient times, an official's military reputation has reached such a high that all I have to consider is retreating …”
”Why did I push Shao Quan so hard to gain merits?” It's not that we can't defeat the Twisted Army, but we should give Shao Quan more credit for calming the Twisted Army down … This way, I'll be able to retreat! ”
Jiu Shuai did not like hearing his brother say such depressing things. You and I can retreat together with our brothers, but how can we retreat together with them? We do have a lot of money, but where are the brothers? Where are the soldiers carrying guns and firing cannons? Is there enough money to buy an acre of land? ”
”Brother, please wake up. The retreating army will completely disperse …”
Ceng Guofan waved his hands: ”It's fine if they scatter, there's no banquet that doesn't scatter in this world, even our Zeng Family might not be able to guarantee three generations of wealth, why are you looking at it so heavily?”
Jiu Shuai's nose twitched, ”I won't say anymore, I won't say anymore …. He called me to the Yellow River in the middle of the night to blow the wind, and even said such infuriating words … Hawk, let's go! ”
Behind the two old men were their most loyal guards. Jiu Shuai had the hawk under his command, but Ceng Guofan's guards were even more powerful.
”Ai ai ai …” Why are you still in such a rush over your temper? Don't you want to know what that Xiao Letian is trying to do? ”
”Xiao Letian?” Upon hearing this name, Ceng Guoquan stopped in his tracks. ”Did this kid send you a letter?”
Ceng Guofan nodded his head, ”He's here, and he even leaked out a bit of information … This brat is probably going to lead his troops and enter the capital! ”
”AHH!” ”He really has the guts …” Jiu Shuai flew into a rage, ”Does he want to die? With just those few thousand people, even if the firearms were sharp, how many could be killed? Isn't he afraid of us leading the soldiers to the king? ”
”Hahaha …” What is he afraid of? Xiao Letian has already explained everything very clearly, the people who are protecting the Empress Dowager of the East are his subordinates, and they have also opened up the internal and external information transmission channels.
”A dog is in a desperate situation, a rabbit wants to bite a person when it's in a hurry …” This Ci An already had a good impression of the Manchu, maybe this time she would have to go to Xiao Letian to ask for help … How can you work for the king when he sends his imperial edict to the capital? ”
”Humph!” It was also because of that fan of mine, Shao Quan, that he took Ci Xi's bait … ”
Jiu Shuai laughed, ”That is still your disciple, didn't you already tell him to be a proper official? He is obeying the orders of his teacher! ”
Ceng Guofan thought about it carefully and realized that he had actually said those words before. He coughed awkwardly twice: ”I didn't say too much to Xiao Letian. I said we Chinese can't rebel now, I think he can understand … ”
Ceng Guoquan let out a long sigh, ”Brother, you're dreaming again? Do you really think that you can become the Han Chinese without rebelling? ”I remember the Ambassador of the United States once said something. Your Great Qing Nation's dryad has a land area of 13 million square kilometers, which is the largest empire in the world …”
”It's a pity that the Russian snatched away a large piece of land. However, there is still 12 million square kilometers of land, and it's still the number one land in the world. I'm afraid Da Ying won't be your match even if we properly manage it …”
”Haha, brother, Hua Ruohan's words are really like the words of a layman, what does he know!”
”The ones outside are the Manchu's, the ones outside are the Mongolian, the ones in Tibet are the Tibetan, the ones in Xinjiang are the Uighur people … There are very few Chinese in those places, how do we rule? How can we defend? ”
”My good brother, don't be too idealistic. It is enough for us Chinese to defend the territory of the Great Ming …” ”It's not that they're stupid, it's just that they're too smart. They know that there are a lot of places where Chinese people can't live, so they don't have that much ambition …”
Jiu Shuai's words could have angered Ceng Guofan, or maybe the cold wind at night was too strong, the Great Marshal Zeng suddenly started coughing violently.