Time Travel to 1859: The Iron-Blooded Soldier King

Yi Xin had just settled down these days. Liu Ye had gone to America for nearly a month, and the situation in Shandong had barely stabilized. After all, Ding Baozhen stayed in Jinan and continued to serve as the Censor. With Guo Songtao, Ding Baozhen and Li Junfeng in charge, other bigwigs wanted to take over Shandong, but it was not that easy.

However, this comfortable life didn’t last for a few days! Something happened in Jiangnan again!

Wen Xiang said in a hoarse voice, "Yes, Your Highness. This time, Shi Dakai led 50,000 elite Taiping troops out of Sichuan. The entire Sichuan province has been occupied by Shi Dakai, even Chengdu has been lost. Not only were Jiujiang and Anqing captured, but in the battle of Wusong Mountain, the main force of the Hunan Army led by Zeng Guoquan and Bao Chao, with over 40,000 men, was defeated by Shi Dakai in one fell swoop, and Zeng Guoquan and Bao Chao escaped with only over 10,000 men!"

Yi Xin felt his vision go dark. Shi Dakai, this is the most difficult leader of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, even more difficult to deal with than Chen Yucheng and Li Xiucheng! I didn't expect that he would be able to kill him again from Sichuan. Damn it, those people in Sichuan are just trash, trash!

"So what is the situation in Jiangnan now?"

Yi Xin asked anxiously.

"Liangjiang Governor-General Zeng Guofan is rushing 700 miles. From Jiujiang in the west to Wuhu in the east and Lu'an in the north, could it be that the entire central and southern Anhui province of Huizhou has been occupied by Shi Dakai's rebels? Zeng Guoquan and Bao Chao have retreated to Hefei and are hiding there. Most of Anhui has already been lost..."

Wen Xiang said in a hoarse voice, "This isn't the most crucial thing. The most crucial thing is that Shi Dakai won a victory in one battle, taking Jiujiang, Anqing, Tongling, Wuhu, Huizhou, and Lu'an, six prefectures and more than thirty counties. His prestige has greatly increased. The remnants of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom entrenched in various parts of Jiangnan have begun to move towards Anhui. In a short period of time, Shi Dakai's military strength has expanded from 50,000 to over 100,000. All our hard work in capturing Tianjing has been destroyed in one day..."

Yi Xin was so angry and anxious that he almost vomited blood!

"Bochuan, what's going on in Jiangnan? What on earth is Zeng Guofan doing? How could he allow Shi Dakai to do whatever he wants? What on earth is he doing as the Governor-General of Liangjiang?"

Wenxiang sighed and said, "Your Highness, Zeng Disheng cannot be blamed for this matter after all. Think about it, Tianjing has been surrendered, Hong Xiuquan was killed, and the Hunan Army had already completed its mission and achieved success. Naturally, it is difficult to maintain its original peak combat power. Moreover, the court has already replied to Zeng Disheng and agreed to his dismissal of more than 40,000 Hunan troops. The total strength of the Hunan Army has dropped from more than 100,000 at its peak to 70,000 or 80,000 now, distributed in several provinces south of the Yangtze River. In the whole of Anhui, Zeng Guoquan can mobilize no more than 50,000 troops. In order to recapture Anqing, Zeng Guoquan assembled more than 40,000 troops in one breath and fought a decisive battle with Shi Dakai at Wusong Mountain. The result was a crushing defeat. Anhui's defense was empty, and Shi Dakai took advantage of it. In just over ten days, Tongling, Huizhou, Wuhu and other places fell one after another..."

Prince Gong was now regretting his actions to the point of wanting to commit suicide. Why had he listened to those Qingliu people? He insisted on dismantling the Hunan Army? Now, Li Xiucheng had just been annihilated, and Shi Dakai had made a comeback. It was a disaster. What was he going to do?

Yi Xin was stunned and lost her judgment for a moment, not knowing what to do.

Wenxiang whispered, "Prince, Prince?"

Yi Xin regained consciousness and asked anxiously, "Bochuan, what should we do now? Should we immediately mobilize the troops from Jiangnan to encircle and suppress Shi Dakai?"

Wen Xiang smiled bitterly and said, "Your Highness, it's far from easy to encircle and suppress Shi Dakai. Let's not even talk about the Jiangnan region being unconquered. Li Hongzhang and Zuo Zongtang's armies are struggling to get away. Even if they could turn back to save Anhui, who can guarantee they could handle Shi Dakai? You must know that in such a short period of time, Shi Dakai has already assembled an army of over 100,000 men. The Huai and Chu armies may have advanced weapons, but they're short on manpower. They'll also have to leave some troops stationed in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Fujian. How many troops can they possibly spare?"

"We can't withdraw them, but we have to! We're raising a tiger to cause trouble. The other remnants of the Taiping Army are just child's play, a bunch of self-proclaimed kings, but Shi Dakai is different. Both Zeng Guofan and Zuo Zongtang are extremely wary of Shi Dakai! If we don't take advantage of his unstable position to encircle and annihilate him in one fell swoop, we'll be in big trouble when he becomes powerful again!"

Yi Xin was so anxious that he kept jumping up and down.

Wen Xiang shook his head and replied, "Your Highness, there's no point in getting anxious now. Let's go to court first and see if the officials in the court have any good ideas..."

Yi Xin stood up, picked up the memorial, and shouted, "Come on, Bochuan, let's go to the palace together!"

After such a big thing happened, Yi Xin could no longer sit calmly in the mansion. It was simply impossible!

Yi Xin and Wen Xiang got on the sedan chair and went straight into the Forbidden City and came to the East Warm Pavilion!

When Empress Dowager Cixi heard that the Prince Regent and Grand Secretary Wen requested an audience, her heart tightened in the East Warm Pavilion. It was already night, and the two of them were still coming. Something must have happened.

"Come, immediately go to the west to invite the Queen Mother and the Empress Dowager to come to discuss matters. Tell the Prince Regent and Lord Wen to come in."

Not long after, Yi Xin and Wen Xiang walked in. A moment later, Cixi also came to the East Warm Pavilion. These days, Cixi was always furious. Because of Liu Ye's matter, she still couldn't calm down. It was really that these court officials were too bullying. Damn it, they even bullied their own lovers. This was intolerable!

However, in the end, the arm could not twist the thigh, and the dying officials in the court rose up to attack him. Even the two queen dowagers and the prince regent could not withstand it!

"Sister, it's so late. Why are you calling me here? What's the urgent matter?"

Cixi asked as soon as she sat down.

Ci'an looked at Yixin and said, "Sister, I'm still confused. Sixth Master, can you tell me what's going on?"

Yi Xin wiped the sweat from his forehead and whispered, "Your Majesties, something's happened in Jiangnan... Shi Dakai, the chief rebel of the Taiping Rebellion, recently captured Chengdu and occupied Sichuan. Now he's turning east, passing through Hubei and heading straight for the Yangtze River. Following the river, he's captured Jiujiang, Anqing, Wuhu, and other places. He's even defeated Zeng Guoquan at the foot of Wusong Mountain, leaving him in disarray and suffering heavy casualties. Now, all of southern Anhui and northeastern Jiangxi have fallen into the hands of the Taiping Rebellion. The situation in Jiangnan is critical..."

Ci'an and Cixi were horrified. What? Such a big thing happened in less than a few days!

"What's going on? Such a big thing happened, and the court only found out now!"

Cixi shouted softly.