"Pan Xing's first arrival!" With the loud chanting of the housekeeper of the Lin Huaxi Courtyard on the leaves, Pan Youdu, who was a little fat, hurriedly walked in, and now the helmsmen of the entire thirteen lines and eleven merchants have arrived.

"Pan Shuchang, what's the situation outside? Can the Humen Fortress still be defended? ”

Before Pan Youdu, who was sweating profusely, sat down, a bunch of people surrounded him, Pan Youdu had the title of Jishi of the Hanlin Academy, so the leaders of the thirteen lines generally called him Pan Shuchang.

The position of the Hanlin Yuan Shuji Shi was unusual, as he was a close minister of the emperor, who was responsible for drafting edicts and explaining scriptures to the emperor.

In the Ming Dynasty, it was the honor of the top three in the first class and the first few in the second class, and it was the most important source of cabinet ministers, and it was noble and noble.

And in my Qing Dynasty, at the beginning, the status of the Hanlin Yuan Jishi was similar to that of the Ming Dynasty, although the Qing Dynasty did not have a cabinet minister, but the Hanlin Yuan Jishi was still a very noble civil official position.

But the Manchu court, specifically my Qianlong, in order to fight those Han Confucian scholars with their tails up to the sky, lost their face, and did something that surprised everyone, he personally ordered Pan Youdu to be the master of the Hanlin Academy.

Hehe! Am I Qianlong?

Aren't you Han Confucian scholars pretentious?

Then Lao Tzu will directly issue an edict for your most noble position, or give it to an unorthodox official who has not passed the imperial examination, which is undoubtedly to slap the face of all Confucian scholars in the world with a big mouth.

What's even more sad is that in the Ming Dynasty, the emperor dared to enshrine the Hanlin Academy in such a ridiculous way, even if he couldn't kill a bunch of people, but in my Qing Dynasty, there was not even a voice to question, or dare not question!

Since then, these literati and Confucian scholars have lost their face in the Qing Dynasty, and they have completely changed from the Confucianism who is known as the heart of heaven and earth, the life of the people, the continuation of learning for the saints, and the peace for all generations, to the slaves who are attached to the Manchurian magnates!

At the same time, Qianlong angrily scolded Ji Xiaolan, "I think you are good at literature, so you are the envoy of the four library books, but it is really not to advocate excellence, why talk about state affairs!" ’

You must know that Ji Xiaolan is a dignified jinshi from the fourth in the second class, this is in the Ming Dynasty, what a scenery! But in my Qingqing, in the eyes of my Qianlong, it is the same as advocating excellence!

These literati who suffered the Ming Dynasty finally tasted the bitter wine brewed by themselves, which is equivalent to advocating excellence, and if they write a word in a word, they will kill their heads and rob their homes, and even open coffins and kill corpses.

It was at this time that Ji Da Tobacco Bag changed from a Confucian literati to a slave who accepted spiritual castration, a scholar in the world, and a literati festival, and since then there has been nothing at all!

In the next 100 years, except for Tan Sitong, there has never been an impassioned literati in this land of China, and this spirit was not recovered by Chen Tianhua, Zou Rong and others until the era of the national revolution!

In the courtyard of Huaxi, Pan Youdu, who was out of breath, gasped for a long time, and finally didn't say a word, just waved his hand weakly, and was helped to the inner quiet room by the Ye family's maid.

Ye Shanglin raised his eyebrows, with a helpless expression on his face, "Everyone, Pan Shuchang should be a little anxious, everyone should be a little impatient, wait for me to ask a famous doctor to recuperate, and when Pan Shuchang's body recovers, I will gather everyone to plan together!" ”

Ye Shanglin, as the owner, said so, and the heads of the eight or nine merchants in the house could only disperse with a gloomy face.

It's just that what they don't know is that after Lu Guanheng and Wu Bingjian went around in a circle, they entered Ye Shanglin's Huaxi Courtyard through another secret door.

In a relatively private courtyard in Huaxi Courtyard, the so-called anxious Pan Youdu is eating a mouthful of wine and food!

"Brother Cheng, do you want to come and eat too?" Pan Youdu smiled at Wu Bingjian, who was tall and thin, with a big head.

Lu, Ye, Pan, and Wu, known as the four major merchants, especially in the past ten years, the four of them have married each other, and have long formed an offensive and defensive alliance, and they have also controlled different bulk export commodities and joined hands to suppress others.

For example, Ye Shanglin has the most tea leaves, and the other three people will not move, at most they will do a little fuss.

And Wu Bingjian controls silk porcelain, etc., and the other three will not touch it much, and these families achieve the purpose of making huge profits through monopoly.

Among the four people present today, although Pan Youdu is not as young as the others, he has just entered this industry.

Although the Pan family has been a businessman for generations, Pan Youdu has been studying before, and he really entered the industry after a general merchant named Cai Shiwen committed suicide after his business failed, so he quietly went to the front line of Humen to inquire about the situation, because the other three were too conspicuous.

Lu Guanheng was born poor and a little older, and he did not have the pretentious bearing of Pan Youdu, who thought he was a literati.

He was so anxious these days that the corners of his mouth were blistering, so he directly and unceremoniously pressed Pan Youdu's hand to continue to pick up vegetables and said: "Xiancheng, you can really eat, tell me about the things outside, you are really anxious to kill me!" ”

Slippery! Lu Guanheng pressed Pan Youdu's right hand to pick up the vegetables, but he still picked up the wine glass with his left hand, and after tasting it beautifully, he shook his head and said.

"How can it be? General Liu Shen of the Humen Battalion, General Song of the Humen Fortress surrendered to the enemy, Shen Xuan and Shen Junmen are estimated to have become benevolent, and the forts such as Dajiao, Shajiao, Weiyuan, and Jingyuan are all finished, and when I left, the Humen Fortress was still firing guns and cannons, but I guess it won't last long! ”

"What?" Lu Guanheng's face turned even paler!

"How long has it been? Twelve hours are not enough, not only have all the forts fallen, but even Shen Junmen has been killed? Lieutenant generals and officers of the army have all defected to the enemy? This.... How can this be done? ”

Wu Bingjian took out his pocket watch and glanced at it, then shook his head, "It's exactly twelve hours, if you count the delay on the way back and forth of Brother Xiancheng, it will be eight hours at most!" ”

"Eight hours! Tens of thousands of soldiers, five or six batteries, hundreds of warships, even if half of them are desperate, they won't be defeated in eight hours, right? ”

Lu Guanheng couldn't help muttering to himself, thinking that it would be the end of the guillotine for the whole family, this wealthy businessman who had only taken off in his forties and had just enjoyed a good life for a few years, his soul was gone!

Ye Shanglin, who had not spoken, glanced at Lu Guanheng, who was depressed, and sighed.

"Xiancheng, you are a person who has seen the world, and you know Western studies and Taixi languages, no more rough people like me and Lu Xingshou, you can tell me, in this current situation, how can the four of us save our lives?"

"It's easy to save your life! Let's take the gold and silver to the South Seas, and the Eight Banners can still chase after us?

I heard that the king took good care of Nanyang, let's bring more valuable things, it's not good to keep our net worth, but it's not difficult to save our lives, and we can live the life of an ordinary rich man! ”

Pan Youdu shook his fat head, his face was calm, and Lu Guanheng, who had just risen to the starting point with a look of hope, heard him say this, and he paused again.

If they want to let these wealthy businessmen who are used to being ordinary rich people, who is willing?

Besides, no matter how good Nanyang is, can it compare to Guangzhou City?

He Lu Guanheng is in Xiguan's big mansion, the garden can lead directly to the Pearl River, the carved beams and paintings are comparable to the palace, and the Nanyang can be compared?

Wu Bingjian also smiled bitterly, "Brother Xiancheng, you know that Ye Xingshou doesn't mean this, if you have an idea that can keep the glory and wealth of our four families, you might as well say it and listen to it, our four families are all prosperous and lossy, don't hide it at this time!" ”

Hearing Wu Bingjian say this, Pan Youdu finally put down the wine glass he had been holding in his hand, and he looked at Ye Shanglin with a smile.

"Brother Cheng, idea, I did think of one, but if you want to get this thing done, just my honesty won't do much, right? We have to be open and honest together! ”

Let's be open and honest together? Wu Bingjian touched his chin, he knew that Pan Youdu would not say this for no reason.

As soon as he heard that there was still salvation, Lu Guanheng also recovered a little bit of his mind, he and Wu Bingjian glanced at each other, and were very sure that Pan Youdu's openness and honesty should not refer to the two of them, and then the three of them looked at Ye Shanglin, who was a little embarrassed.

"Ye Xingshou, my good brother-in-law! You should also invite Hou Ye Li out, right? I invited several hall masters, sprinkled all over the sky, but I couldn't find Li Houye, this Guangzhou City can hide a person I Pan Youdu can't find it, I'm afraid it's you, right? ”

Now that it's said, Pan Youdu doesn't hide it.

Who is Hou Ye Li?

Of course, it is Li Zhenglin, the eldest cousin of King Ye Daming, although his Pavilion Marquis title became a cavalry lieutenant after Ye Kai reformed the title, but the people in Guangzhou City are still called Li Zhenglin Li Houye.

If you say that who is the most beautiful and well-eaten person in Guangzhou City in recent years? Li Zhenglin and Li Hou Ye are absolutely indispensable!

Everyone in Guangzhou City knows that Li Zhenglin and Marquis Li are the eldest cousins of King Song of Jiaozhi, and they are also the most respected people of King Song, and even the beautiful palace maids of Jiaozhi are two!

Li Houye loves to watch water shadow puppet shows, so King Song directly sent a whole water shadow puppet troupe over!

Marquis Li loves to drink Taixi grape juice, and King Ye specially sent a whole half of the cabin over with a big boat in Jiaozhi, who can have this honor and favor?

It is precisely because of the pestle of Marquis Li in Guangzhou City, this city of Guangzhou, but Guangdong Province and all provinces are a little less wary of Jiaozhi, and King Ye can still hurt his cousin?

With this trust foundation, the wealthy businessmen and rich landlords in Guangzhou City dared to slowly try to invest money in Jiaozhi to engage in industry.

So as soon as the news of Jiaozhi's army came out, everyone habitually wanted to go to Li Houye to ask if it was true or false, it didn't matter if this question was asked, Li Houye had been missing for several days!

People from all walks of life on the rivers and lakes were looking for him, including the officials in Guangzhou and neighboring Huizhou, Zhaoqing and other places, but they didn't find Li Houye, as if he had disappeared out of thin air.

Ye Shanglin nodded lightly, "That's right!" Li Hou Ye is indeed me looking for someone to protect me temporarily, but it's not that I have any selfish intentions, I think that in case this Ming King enters Guangzhou City, I protect Li Hou Ye, maybe I can leave a way for everyone to live, this Guangzhou City has many people, and it is not easy to tell you carefully! ”

Seeing Ye Shanglin admit, the three of them looked overjoyed, but at the same time, they raised their middle fingers fiercely in their hearts!

Ye Shanglin's explanation is simply to cover up, Nima's, I'm afraid this is not to protect everyone's life, but to protect the life of your Ye family!

"Then ask Hou Ye Li to come out and see him!" Lu Guanheng's voice was a little low.

The four families of Lu, Ye, Wu, and Pan are all entangled with each other, and Ye Shanglin is really a bit unauthentic when he does this.

Ye Shanglin sighed, there is nothing to explain, he was originally selfish, but today he is indeed a little embarrassed, the other two are okay, Pan Youdu is his brother-in-law!

He married Pan Youdu's cousin, although he is not close, but he is not much different from his relatives, and he also relied on the support of the Pan family to catch the line of Fukangan and reincarnate him, and now he is doing this, which is really not authentic.

"Go and invite Hou Ye Li out!" Ye Shanglin said to his son beside him.

Ye Shanglin, who is forty-one years old this year, and his eldest son Ye Menglong is twenty-three years old, so he also followed Ye Shanglin's side, this kind of thing is a real matter of life and death, of course, only his son will be relieved to take care of it.

After a while, Li Zhenglin, who was a little frightened, came out unhappily, especially looking at several people standing in the courtyard, it was even more unpleasant!

He is not a fool, he naturally knows that now his head is guaranteed to be in the prefect's and even the governor's yamen's reservation, this Ye Shanglin said well, what is foolproof, so what if it is lost?

"Hou Ye Li has arrived, Xiancheng can say anything he wants, brother, I really don't have anything to hide now!" Ye Shanglin said with a wry smile.

Pan Youdu took a closer look, it was indeed Li Zhenglin, he first greeted Li Zhenglin, and then sighed for a while before saying.

"Actually, the method that Pan wants to say, Lu Xingshou and Brother Cheng have not thought about it, we all know that the elite of the green camp in these two vast places have long been buried by Sun Shiyi in Jiaozhi, although it has been eight or nine years, but it has not recovered.

And the children of the Eight Banners in Guangzhou City, the invincible heavenly soldiers don't know what year it is, and it is absolutely unusable!

And His Royal Highness King Ming, 50,000 or 60,000 elite soldiers, thousands of ships are invincible, and he took the Humen Fortress in eight hours, and Guangzhou City is just around the corner.

Over the years, we have paid a lot of benefits to Beijing, if we take refuge in King Ming, will these benefits still be used? Do you still have to worry about not paying for it? Lao Tzu swallowed it directly, and he didn't give them a single hair! ”

As soon as they spoke, Lu Guanheng and Ye Shanglin were all silent, they had already thought about this problem, but they couldn't make up their minds.

Because although I can't say that Haiyan Heqing is clear now, it is definitely not at the end of the road.

There are still millions of soldiers in the country, and the children of the Eight Banners have not all decayed, at least the Jianrui battalion in Beijing City, the Mongolian horse team recruited in the south and north of the desert, and some Sauron people in the old forests in the northeast, these still have some combat effectiveness.

And although King Ye is invincible in the fleet, the base of the army is only 20,000 or 30,000 people, because he has to engage in industrialization and explode troops, the output of this Jiaozhi is not enough at all, plus Nanyang and Lanfang Island, it is good to be able to barely maintain 20,000 elites with high consumption.

Although King Ye thought that his 20,000 troops were elite enough, with 20,000 or 30,000 auxiliaries, it was enough to sweep at least south of the Yangtze River.

But others don't think so, they think that even if the Jiaozhi army is elite, it can still fight with one dozen ten? Or even a dozen or twenty?

Therefore, since the start of the war, even if the revival army has shown strong combat effectiveness, the hearts of the people are still on the side of the Manchus.

"It's too risky! The money we lost, if we squeeze it, we may be able to pay it back, but if we follow King Ming, if the court wins, it will be a catastrophe! Cochin and Lanfang Island don't need us to wait for such foreign trade merchants! ”

Lu Guanheng showed a hint of excitement, he had actually thought about this road a long time ago, but he just couldn't make up his mind.

"Risk?" Pan Youdu snorted, "Lu Weng, why is there no risk in doing it?"

Even if we don't take refuge in King Ming, we won't be able to pass this level just now, if I am King Ming, so a few big fat pigs loyal to the Manchu Qing are here, if you don't come to copy a house or something, then I'm sorry for myself!

But if we escape from Guangzhou City now, what will happen to our goods and money? Without these, the banner man of the capital must not kill you and me? ”

As soon as he mentioned this killing word, Lu Guanheng was shaken, he was born poor, he only survived at the age of forty, and he had just lived a few years of rich life, and his sons were only seven or eight years old.

It's not like Pan Youdu and others were born to be the life of the young master, his good life is just a taste, and now it's going to be gone, and because of this, his gambling nature is also big, and he has the most money in Jiaozhi!

At that moment, Lu Guanheng sighed heavily, "Xiancheng, you can say a charter!" I, Lu Laosan, did it with you, the left is dead, the right is also dead, it's a big deal that the court is back, I went to the South Seas to fish! ”

Lu Guanheng expressed his position, and Ye Shanglin also nodded lightly, he was already very dissatisfied with the oppression of the Manchu court.

The three of them looked at Wu Bingjian, who looked like an alien, and could only nod slowly.

The four families of Lu, Ye, Pan, and Wu are all connected, they have taken refuge in King Ming, can the Wu family still expect to be alone?