During the Wuchang Prefecture, Li Weiguo feasted for the Wu army generals, and surrendered officials and generals of the former Hunan Army Group, including Li Yuandu, also participated.

The hall was filled with people and laughter.

The generals of the Wu army made new contributions, and Li Weiguo rewarded them greatly. Li Yuandu and other former surrendered officials of the Hunan Army and generals were also promoted and rewarded by Li Weiguo for their voluntary surrender.

Of course, not everyone in the Hunan Army Group accepted the reward from Li Weiguo. Some stubborn officials and generals gave up the opportunity to become officials. They said that they would neither join Li Weiguo's shogunate nor defect to other forces to compete with Li Weiguo. Therefore, they were pardoned by Li Weiguo, and they were dismissed and returned to their hometowns, becoming ordinary people.

The banquet increases the friendship between the Wu Army Group and the surrendered generals of the Hunan Army. In the future, the two sides will become a big family. Therefore, put aside the various prejudices and grievances of the past and look forward together.

Li Weiguo was very generous and treated the surrendered generals of the Hunan Army very generously. As long as he had the ability, he could still get a position and even get a higher or even more important position than under Zeng Guofan before.

Of course, treating military power is a sensitive issue, and the Hunan Army generals also knew that it was impossible to expect Li Weiguo to hand over their original army to them. However, the compensation given by Li Weiguo was also very generous. The original Hunan Army generals could choose to be demoted from the Wu army, or to study in the military academy established by Li Weiguo for three years. The latter could be restored after graduating from the military academy, which became the choice of most of the Hunan Army surrendered generals and was also a smart choice.

As for ordinary soldiers of the Hunan Army, they were unified and dismantled and sent to the recruit battalion for three months of military training. The main purpose is to learn the military regulations of the Wu army, queuing training, and adapt to the Wu army's combat methods as soon as possible.

Of course, the most important thing is brainwashing. To understand who their new master is, it is necessary to recite Li Weiguo's quotations, and loyalty is always the most important military rule of the Wu army.

In the entire Huguang province, Zeng Guofan's Hunan Army troops were more than 450,000, including 200,000 regular troops and 250,000 local garrison troops. These troops were led by generals such as Luo Zenan, Zeng Guoquan, Peng Yuzhen, Jiang Zhongyuan, and Guo Songtao. Among them, Luo Zenan was beheaded by Li Yuandu when he was guarding Wuchang. The 20,000 troops under the tent were controlled by Li Yuandu. Zeng Guoquan, with the elite Hunan Army, including more than 30,000 people, was deceived to Henan and fight with Li Hongzhang's general Ding Richang. Peng Yuzhen brought 25,000 troops to Sichuan and fought fiercely with the Qing army in Sichuan. These two Hunan troops were both loyalists of Zeng Guofan, so they were transferred out of Huguang by Li Yuan's vacation order, so they could not stop Li Weiguo's army from entering Hunan and Hubei.

Putting aside the two Hunan troops of Zeng Guoquan and Peng Yuzhen, the other Hunan troops surrendered to Li Weiguo, making Li Weiguo vacant for nearly 400,000 troops.

However, among these 400,000 troops, they were selected according to the former Hunan Army standards. If they were replaced by the Wu Army standards, only 150,000 were qualified in the end.

Li Weiguo is not short of soldiers now. In order to weaken the strength of the original Hunan Army, he only retained these 150,000 elite troops. All the other 250,000 Hunan Army soldiers were changed to second-line troops, and they were asked to build railways and highways. They were named the Construction Corps.

The reason for this arrangement was that Li Weiguo was considering both safety and production.

If all 250,000 Hunan soldiers were dismissed home, they would not have a job. This would put social pressure on the local government. If they join forces such as Li Hongzhang, Yixin and others under the instigation of those who are interested, they would pose a military threat to the Wu army.

Now Li Weiguo dominates the ten provinces in Jiangnan. Except for Jiangnan Province and Zhejiang Province, there are modern infrastructure such as railways and telegraphs in the other eight provinces. Considering the future economic development and military convenience, Li Weiguo has ordered the Liangjiang Chamber of Commerce to start investing in the construction of railways and telegraphs and other infrastructure projects in the other eight provinces. What a good free labor for these 250,000 Hunan soldiers. There is no place to find them with lanterns. Li Weiguo doesn't want to waste it. Therefore, he imitates Taizu to form a production and construction corps. He wins multiple goals in one fell swoop.

Although the remaining 150,000 Hunan Army were receiving military rules and training from the Wu army, Li Weiguo did not distribute the standard equipment of the Wu army to them. Advanced weapons and equipment such as Weiguo rifles, 59 infantry cannons, hand radium, landmines and other advanced weapons and equipment made the Hunan Army officers and soldiers look disgusted, but Li Weiguo told them that only by making meritorious service can they get it.

This is an incentive and a hope for the soldiers of the original Hunan Army. Otherwise, if they directly distribute advanced weapons and equipment to them, they will not get good results.

After the banquet, Li Weiguo left behind Li Yuandu and seven others alone.

"You have been lurking in the enemy camp for twelve years and have made great contributions. I am deeply pleased and happy. I said back then that you will be the eternal myth of SHIELD in China. As long as you return from completing the mission one day, I promise you that you can choose any official position within the scope of your authority."

Li Weiguo paused and said, "Now you have returned from completing the mission and helped me get the two provinces of Huguang. I have made great contributions. Tell me, what official positions do you want?"

Li Weiguo secretly trained 100 agents and once promised them that if Li Weiguo was the lord of a county, they could choose any position in the county, and if Li Weiguo was the lord of a province, they could choose any position in the province. The higher the Li Weiguo's achievements, they could choose any position within the scope of Li Weiguo's authority, county magistrate, prefect, governor, governor, governor, and governor. They could choose whatever they could, as long as Li Weiguo owned it, they could ask for it.

Li Yuandu and seven others were one of the 100 people back then. Now that they have returned from completing the mission, they will naturally receive a reward, but they did not expect that Li Weiguo really dared to fulfill his promise.

This is not an ordinary promise. Now Li Weiguo is the King of Wu, with a total of ten provinces under his jurisdiction, and he can appoint a governor at most.

Li Yuandu and others were trembling, excited and eager. They had been lurking for twelve years, and they would never be able to stay for so long without a single goal.

"Why? Don't you say it? Li Yuandu, what official position do you want?" Li Weiguo saw that the other party didn't speak, so he asked Li Yuandu to start.

Li Yuandu took a deep breath and said, "The prince took us in and taught us our skills. He has been recreating our kindness and kindness to us. I dare not have any extravagant hopes."

Li Weiguo smiled and said, "Okay, I will reward you for your merits, and I will punish you for your mistakes. Since I promised you back then, I will fulfill it now. You must remember that you are the first ones to make meritorious service. Others will leave their good official positions in the future. Don't regret it."

Li Yuandu and others were immediately confused. Of course, they didn't want that kind of result. But they really didn't dare to ask them to ask Li Weiguo for an official position.

Li Weiguo saw their doubts. So he said, "Forget it, I'll choose for you. If you don't like it, you can ask me, what about it?"

Everyone looked at me and I looked at you, so they nodded in agreement.

Li Weiguo thought for a while and said, "Among you, Li Yuandu has made the most contribution. The largest official in my hand is the position of governor. Li Yuandu, are you satisfied with this king's appointment as governor of Huguang?"

Governor of Huguang? Oh, God! This official is too big!

Everyone was shocked and Li Yuandu's eyes widened. He guessed that Li Weiguo would give him a position of governor at most, but he did not expect that Li Weiguo would give him a governor directly.

In the blink of an eye, you will be a rank-level official! This twelve years of lurking in exchange for a rank-level official is really worth it, and you will make a big profit.

Li Yuandu was very surprised, but he said modestly: "This is the prince who loves you very much. The ministers are very grateful, but the governor of Huguang is too big and cannot afford to bear it."

Li Weiguo was still very satisfied with Li Yuandu's modest attitude. So he said, "You were able to get to the chief clerk of the Chu Palace under Zeng Guofan, which shows that you have the ability. Now that I have just controlled the two provinces of Huguang, you must help me completely control the two provinces. If I appoint another person to serve as the governor of Huguang, there will be always gaps, so you are the best candidate. Try to manage it first, I will send someone to help you, and you must also have confidence in your abilities. I am optimistic about you."

Li Yuandu was immediately grateful and knelt down and thanked him: "My dear Li Yuandu thanked the prince for his support, and he will be heartbroken and live up to the prince's great kindness."

Li Weiguo arranged for Li Yuandu to serve as the governor of Huguang, one was to reward and fulfill his promise, and the other was to hope to control the two provinces of Huguang as soon as possible, because Li Yuandu was familiar with the personnel within the Hunan Army Group and was much easier to manage than others.

As for the other six agents, Li Weiguo also asked about their wishes one by one and fulfilled his promise. Five of them selected the prefect, county magistrate, brigade commander, regiment commander and police chief. The last one was named Cheng Kun. He just wanted to continue to stay in SHIELD to do things, so Li Weiguo directly appointed Cheng Kun as the deputy director of the Intelligence Department of SHIELD, specializing in training intelligence agents.

None of the other six people continued to choose to stay in S.H.E.E.L.D., and Li Weiguo was a little disappointed. Only this Cheng Kun body made Li Weiguo feel a little real relief. An excellent agent who could lurk for twelve years without revealing the task successfully. This is the person Li Weiguo needs and the person that China S.H.E.L.D. needs most. For Cheng Kun, Li Weiguo wants to focus on cultivating him. In the future, China S.H.E.L.D. will be spread all over the world. It is very necessary for talents like Cheng Kun.

When Li Yuandu and others left, Li Weiguo called Cheng Kun alone.

"Just received the tip, Li Hongzhang had already learned about the plan carefully arranged by the king. It was Zhou Fu, his adviser under the tent. At this moment, Zhou Fu was being sent by Li Hongzhang to Wuchang to bargain with me. What do you think about this matter?"

Cheng Kun thought for a while and said, "My dear, please get rid of Zhou Fu immediately, otherwise the agents arranged by the king will be in danger."

Li Weiguo asked back, "How can I see it? They have been lurking by Li Hongzhang like you for a long time, and Li Hongzhang should not doubt them."

Cheng Kun shook his head and said, "The king, the minister has dealt with Zhou Fu. This person is very smart. He cooperated with Li Hongzhang in charge of intelligence work when he was in the Hunan Army. Since this person has deduced that the Zeng Guofan rebellion was manipulated by the king, he will definitely focus on Li Yuandu and analyze Li Yuandu. Li Yuandu has been with Zeng Guofan for twelve years and is highly valued. He began to support Zeng Guofan's rebellion five years ago, but now he suddenly framed Zeng Guofan for two reasons. He either has a grudge against Zeng Guofan or has been a king from the beginning, otherwise it would be impossible to do that. Obviously, with Zhou Fu's shrewdness, he would definitely think of the latter. Even people like Li Yuandu are kings, and Zhou Fu will definitely suspect the people around Li Hongzhang. With his shrewdness, as long as he sets a trap, he will probably catch the handle."

After hearing this, Li Weiguo frowned and said, "I was careless. I didn't expect that Li Hongzhang had such an expert under his command. Cheng Kun, do you have a solution to it?"

Cheng Kun thought for a while and said, "Report to the king, when Zeng Guofan saw that the king was dominant in Shanghai, he became interested and ordered Li Hongzhang and Zhou Fu to arrange to sneak into Shanghai and put it around the king for surveillance. Later, Li Hongzhang took Zhou Fu to Anhui, and those eyeliners who sneaked into Shanghai became Li Hongzhang's. According to the judgement of the ministers, there were Li Hongzhang's eyeliners in the royal palace and the Wu army. For the sake of the current plan, he tried his best to get rid of these eyeliners and eliminate Zhou Fu. But this can only treat the symptoms but not the root cause. Li Hongzhang can reinstall the eyeliners. If one Zhou Fu dies, it may also alarm other smart people. After all, Li Hongzhang has many capable people under his command."

Li Weiguo stood up and walked back and forth, a little restless.

No one knows the importance of spy war better than Li Weiguo. The victory or defeat of many wars depends on spy wars. There are many such things in history, and there are too many.

It can be said without any ambiguity that if you lose the spy war, you will basically lose the war.

Spy war is a battlefield without gunpowder. It breaks out before conventional wars, but it determines the outcome and success of the war.

No one can be despised, especially Li Weiguo.

This action against Zeng Guofan can be said to be another classic example of spy war. Li Weiguo tasted the sweetness and could feel the double-edged sword attribute of spy war. If he could not hurt the enemy, he would be injured by the enemy.

Thinking of this, Li Weiguo suddenly said: "Cheng Kun, you are now investigating the lurking enemy spies around us immediately, but don't touch them first, and I will repay you. This king will be of great use. As for Zhou Fu, don't touch him first. We can try to use him, maybe we can achieve unexpected results."

Cheng Kun suddenly had a lit up his eyes and asked, "The king's intention is to use Zhou Fu's intelligence to make him mistakenly use his intelligence!"

Talent! You guessed it all!

Li Weiguo immediately smiled, looked at Cheng Kun for a more time, nodded with satisfaction, thinking that Cheng Kun had two tricks, was very flexible, and was a material for being a spy. It was really a wise move to keep him at S.H.E.D.

"You are very good!"

"Thank you, the king, praises you! It's all right to train!"
Chapter completed!