Chapter 180: Mr. Zuo’s Curiosity (Second update, please subscribe)

On the battlefield, groups of defeated warriors fled in all directions. Those who could not escape in time could only drop their weapons and kneel on the ground, begging for mercy. At the command of the Taiping, they used their braids to tie up the braids of others and took the initiative to tie their hands.

What's wrong……

When he felt someone was turning him over, although Zuo Zongtang wanted to move, he couldn't move at all.

He only remembered falling to the ground and trying to open his eyes, but his eyelids felt like they were hanging with lead and he couldn't open them at all.

"Sir, don't blame me..."

It seemed like someone was talking, but Zuo Zongtang couldn't understand who was talking. In a daze, he fell into a coma again...

"Young Master, from now on, if you don't die in the prison, you will die in battle."

Once again, the iron-mouthed Li Banxian whom I met as a teenager seemed to appear before my eyes again.

Death by the sword!

This Li Banxian is truly a half-immortal...

The overwhelming shouting stopped at some point. Although he had no strength left in his body, Zuo Zongtang, who was being carried on someone's back, seemed to have understood something. He concluded that he had fallen into the hands of thieves. Iron-mouthed Li Banxian had predicted his fate, and it seemed that he would die today.

As if to verify his speculation, a faint voice from Longmao came over.

"Listen carefully, everyone, be honest. If you dare not be honest, you will be beheaded immediately. If one person escapes, the whole group will be beheaded..."

Sure enough, it fell into the hands of Changmao!

Zuo Zongtang knew that if he fell into the hands of Taiping rebels, his fate would be one of several: pulling out the tendons, skinning, burning to death, being torn apart by five horses, gouging out the eyes, being beheaded, and being displayed in public. Each of these made him shudder with fear. Thinking of the pain of being tortured, the blood in his body froze.

It was at this time that he heard someone who seemed to be long-haired saying something.

"Hey, what do you think those foreigners buy these guys for?"

"What? What do you think they can do? If you buy these people, what will you ask them to do?"

"What? Of course they work themselves to death. Those foreigners can make their lives easier..."

Amid their laughter, Zuo Zongtang fell into coma again. It was unknown how long it had been, but when he opened his eyes, it was already dark. A southwest wind was blowing on the river, and the boat was drifting downstream along the Qujiang River.

"This, this is that..."

Before he could speak, someone supported him and whispered.

"You are awake, don't talk, don't talk."

The person who was supporting him was his friend Su Shijing. It was he who pulled him out from the pile of dead bodies on the battlefield, took off his official robe, and smeared blood on his face. If it weren't for the voice, he would have been unrecognizable.

"We, we are there..."

He could tell without asking that they were on Changmao's ship, and he had indeed fallen into Changmao's hands.

"Hey, it's still there..."

Listening to Su Shijing's sigh, looking at the armed Changmao on the boat, thinking of his own embarrassment in the hands of the enemy, Zuo Zongtang could not help but feel annoyed and ashamed. Since the "Chu Army" was trained in Changsha, the several battles with the Changmao were won one after another, but now it ended in a miserable defeat. It is not known what the situation is like in Jiangning. The Changmao has so many foreign guns and cannons, and I am afraid that they will also fail. Thinking of the Chu Yong that he had trained hard for a year and hoped to achieve unprecedented achievements, it turned out to be so vulnerable. Zuo Zongtang, who was disheartened, felt that he had failed to live up to the trust of others, and knew that his ambitions had also turned into bubbles.

Defeated...

Not only was he defeated, but he himself fell into the hands of the thieves. Otherwise, he might as well jump into the river and commit suicide!

But just as he was about to move, he found that his braid was tied together with Su Shijing's. Not only were the braids of everyone on the boat tied together, but even their hands were tied with long ropes.

Seeing that his suicide attempt failed, the disheartened Zuo Zongtang asked.

"Do you know where they are taking us?"

"Maybe they want to sell us to foreigners."

Jiang Yili's words made Zuo Zongtang feel depressed. As the governor of Zhejiang, he had naturally heard about the Taiping rebels selling the people as slaves to foreigners in exchange for foreign guns and cannons.

Sold overseas as slaves!

How can I be humiliated like this!

Filled with shame and anger, Zuo Zongtang suddenly shouted loudly.

"I am Zuo Zongtang, the governor of Zhejiang. Come and kill me quickly. Come and kill me quickly..."

His shout startled the long-haired man at the bow, who asked with the lantern in hand.

"Are you the governor of Zhejiang?"

"Thief, Zuo is the governor of Zhejiang!"

Zuo Zongtang said angrily.

"Quick, come and kill me, come and kill me!"

…

What is the most painful thing?

Of course he couldn't die. It wasn't that he didn't want to die, but... the other party had evidence against him, and more than 20 of his accomplices and subordinates were captured with him.

"Mr. Zuo, if not for yourself, you should also consider your friends. As for life or death, wait a few months, and make a decision after meeting our owner!"

Faced with Li Wenjie's threat, Zuo Zongtang hesitated. He could sacrifice his life for his country, but he did not want to implicate his friends.

A few days later, like everyone else, he left Yangshan Island with many questions in his mind and boarded the "huge ship as big as a hill". Then, the huge ship packed with passengers set off.

Unlike ordinary passengers who were crammed in crowded cabins, Zuo Zongtang still had some privileges. Not only could he live in the upper cabin with his friends, he could even go to the deck at any time to bask in the sun and breathe fresh air.

Standing on the side of the upper deck, Zuo Zongtang looked at the crowded people on the main deck. How many people were on this huge ship? Maybe more than the people in a city!

Such a big ship is nothing more than a floating city on the sea!

"I never thought there would be such a huge iron ship in the world!"

Zuo Zongtang's sigh made Su Shi sigh in admiration.

"In the past, I only heard people say that foreigners had strong ships and powerful guns, but I never thought that they used iron plates to build ships. This ship is probably an ordinary small city, not as big as it. How can such a huge iron ship float on the ocean? It's really amazing!"

As a traditional scholar, Su Shijing found it hard to imagine that an iron ship could float on the water, let alone that such a huge ship could exist in the world.

"Jietang, what kind of person is the Lord of Nanhua?"

Compared to his previous determination to commit suicide, Zuo Zongtang became more and more curious about the legendary "Lord of Nanhua". What kind of person could buy such a huge ship? What kind of person could expand his territory thousands of miles overseas?

How could one not be curious about a person who could expand thousands of miles of territory into foreign territory?

Zuo Zongtang was not only curious, he even wanted to make friends with such a person. After all, he had a heroic spirit in his bones.

"I don't know what kind of person he is, but anyone who can build a business overseas must be extraordinary!"

(End of this chapter)