C575 Thirteen million square kilometres

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.

"Cough, cough, cough …" I knew... Cough cough cough … "I knew you'd say that …"

Seeing that his brother had gotten angry, Jiu Shuai quickly went over and patted his back, "Good, good, good. Your brother, you're right.

Ceng Guofan panted, "I'm just afraid that everyone will think the same way... If you all think like this, we Chinese will have no future... Fortunately, Xiao Letian understood, he definitely understood my painstaking efforts! "

"He once said something. This is a major change that hasn't been seen in three thousand years. That's right, this is a major change … Who would have thought that an Englishman could colonize the world in just a few hundred years? "The vast sea has actually become their grand path. Who can understand it …"

"How do you know that we won't be able to rule such a large piece of land in the future? What about the technology that Xiao Letian talked about? Have you studied it yet … "

Looking at Jiu Shuai's confused expression, Ceng Guofan let out a long sigh. "Forget it, forget it! There are some things that only hidden dragons can see through! "

At this moment, the sound of footsteps could be heard coming from the bottom of the dike. The eagle rushed down the dike as soon as it heard the sound.

"Reporting to Marshal, an urgent message from 800 miles (800 miles) away came from Master Hu Xueyan Hu. On the cover was written "Great Marshal's personal report; it's extremely urgent!" The panting soldier handed the eagle a roll of oilcloth.

At this moment, the few guards behind the marshal spread their cloaks to form a curtain to protect themselves from the wind. Following that, lanterns and torches were lit. The eagle took off the tarpaulin and raised it high in the air while half-kneeling on the ground. None of the guards present dared to look up.

Eight hundred miles of emergency was even personally sent by the marshal himself. This kind of intelligence was definitely not something that the guards had the right to do. Xiang Army was a place with rules and regulations, so even a peek at this important information would result in death.

The wind blew and the torch was swaying, the words and pictures on the paper had already completely shocked the two old men, the newspaper that was delivered by Shanghai was the one that was delivered by the Singapore, the scenes of Xiao Letian's expedition to Europe were displayed on it.

"Impossible, this is impossible …" How could this be? Only three hundred people dared to work for the French? And he even won? " Ceng Guoquan's brain was no longer sufficient.

Ceng Guofan read through all the newspapers in a glance, and in the end, let go of his hand, allowing the wind to blow freely in the newspaper. "What a useless fool, last year I asked the imperial government's permission to build a telegraph line that connected the north and the south …" "But no one cares about me. No one cares about me …"

"If we had such a telegraph line in our hands, it would be much slower than sending information around. If the imperial city had known about this earlier, how would Ci Xi dare cause trouble? How could she dare to use troops to attack the Tanggu? "

"It's a mistake, the imperial government is such a mistake, wuwuwu …" Ceng Guofan was so angry that he grabbed the newspapers and started to tear them.

"I'm guessing Guangzhou already knew about this, but they can't deliver it. What's the use?" "It's a mistake, a mistake …"

What Ceng Guofan said was not wrong at all. The palace change had only lasted for half a month, and before the palace change had started, the Singapore's report had already arrived in Guangzhou.

Guangzhou to Beijing, this is so far away, to climb over countless mountains, across countless water. Such a inefficient method of transmitting information was actually the most important reason for this tragedy.

Why was Ci Xi tricked by the Hidden Fog Kid? The root of it was the inefficient delivery of information. Since Ci Xi did not have the latest and most accurate source of information, it was natural that someone else would take advantage of him.

Ceng Guoquan winked at the eagle and it flew up into the night sky like an eagle, catching all the newspapers.

Jiu Shuai stroked his brother's back as he comforted him softly, "Brother, don't think too much into it, isn't it Qing Dynasty who is in such a mess? The weaker they are, the greater the hope we Chinese have, right? "

"You … Why are you thinking about all this nonsense? Are you going to piss me off? Why can't you compare to Zuo Jigao … Look at Zuo Jigao, he has already turned his gaze northwest. The imperial government has intentionally appointed him to pacify the pars dorsalis and Xinjiang, he is preparing with all his might, he is the Wei Qing Huo among the Han people sick! "

Ceng Guofan suddenly grabbed onto his brother's clothes, and said sincerely: "Ninth brother, at least big brother is begging you, don't rebel, don't think about this. Let us wait, and wait until the luck Xiao Letian mentioned appears. When we can protect these ten million square kilometers, we'll make our move! I'm begging you... Cough, cough, cough! "

After a series of severe coughing, Ceng Guofan felt a sweetness in his throat, and he actually spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Big Brother, Big Brother!" Brother, I will listen to you... "Wuwuwu, this brother will listen to you …" Damn it, Xiao Letian, what did you say to my brother? What exactly is that heaven-defying destiny? "

"Big brother, what if we can't wait for that day to come? How old are we? "Ah, my dear brother …"

At that moment, Ceng Guoquan hated Xiao Letian for making the root of his teeth itch.