Wang Qianli not only did not come to Tianjin alone, but also brought the emperor's edict.

In fact, even if he didn't have such an attaché as Jingyunmen Guard Jixiang, even if he didn't bring the emperor's edict, Chonghou would treat each other with the same courtesy as Han Chen. Because in the eyes of all officials who have a relationship with the "Houyi Tang", although Wang Naizeng, who has assisted Han Xiufeng and Wen Xiang in charge of the Houyi Hall, has some ability, he is far from being able to compare with Wang Qianli, who has been in charge of the Houyi Hall many times.

As early as when he was in Taizhou, he helped Han Xiufeng raise money and food, recruit and train village warriors, and even led Han Xiufeng to Wanfu Bridge to intercept Changmao.

Later, he entered Beijing to surrender, and served under Han Xiufeng, not only helping to rectify the river battalion, but even leading the river battalion soldiers who took turns to serve in front of the battle, and followed the army of monk Lingqin and Shengbao from Jinghai to Shandong. Later, although he was an official on the river, he was in fact in charge of the river, but also the people, and even the army (river camp)!

Hearing that Wang Qianli had arrived in Tianjin, Chonghou hurriedly excused himself to have urgent official business, and hurriedly returned to the Yunsi Yamen from the governor's line, and when he saw Wang Qianli, he asked: "Brother Bailing, why are you here, has Zhixing come?" ”

"The fourth master was entangled by a mad dog, and he really couldn't pull away, so he could only let Qianli come over first."

"Mad dog?"

"Brother Dishan, now is not the time to talk about this, let's get down to business first." Wang Qianli knew that the foreigners' gunboats had arrived at Dagukou, but after entering the city, he didn't see Yongxiang, Wang Hedong and others, so he couldn't help but feel a little anxious, looked back at Jixiang, and asked again: "Brother Dishan, I heard that the Fujian merchant Huang Delu went to Tianjin with Xue Huan and sent eleven foreign cannons, where are the others now?" ”

Chonghou was stunned, and hurriedly said: "He is still in the city, I have only seen him once." Yesterday I heard from someone in the domain that he had planned to go to the capital after offering the cannon, but when he heard that Fugui was no longer an official at home, he retreated. Later, I thought that it would be okay to stay in Tianjin, and planned to return south, but the foreign warships blocked the sea outside, so I couldn't go anywhere. ”

"Although he is a businessman, he can donate foreign cannons the most powerfully, and he has merit to the imperial court, why don't you ......?"

Without waiting for Wang Qianli to finish speaking, Chonghou smiled bitterly: "Don't get me wrong, brother, I want to treat each other politely, and even sent someone to help find a house, but people sent eleven foreign cannons at once. ”

Wang Qianli reacted, and couldn't help laughing: "Wang misunderstood the elder brother, and the tired elder brother hurriedly sent someone to ask him, whether he planned to stay in Tianjin, a place of right and wrong, and then befriend Hengfu, or would he like to go to Beijing to meet him." ”

"Brother Bailing, are you saying that the emperor summoned him to see him?"

"That's what auspiciousness is for."

"Jingyunmen guards auspicious, meet your lord!"

"You are the second eldest of the rich family, this official remembers." Chonghou didn't think that Wang Qianli rushed over in a hurry because of this incident, so he immediately turned around and ordered: "Dexi, hurry up and accompany Master Jixiang to find Huang Delu." ”

"Huh!"

The noble family responded, and hurriedly accompanied Jixiang out of the main hall.

Sending away the auspiciousness, Wang Qianli asked eagerly: "Brother Dishan, have the foreigners put forward any new conditions that are arrogant and unreasonable, and how did the monk king and Lord Hengfu deal with it?" ”

"The English and French consuls arrived, and yesterday morning was the last time I agreed with the head of the English army He Bo to reply to the letter, because the emperor did not give the order to start the fight, and did not allow the envoys of the two countries to go ashore, Hengfu and Wen Yu could only delay the time, and ordered Haiphong to go to Haiphong with the Zhibo Duo Hongwu and the Tianjin Zhixian Dune, saying that he and Wen Yu 'will arrive at Haikou in a few days', and asked He Bo and other chiefs to 'wait for a few days and meet everything'."

"What do foreigners say?" Wang Qianli asked solemnly.

"The foreigner didn't say anything at first, and it wasn't until last night that someone came ashore and handed a note, intending to invite Hakata Hiroshi and Doon to meet."

"Did Hiroshi Hakata and Doon go?"

"Didn't go."

"Didn't go?"

While beckoning Wang Qianli to drink tea, Chonghou said meaningfully: "The people who are guarding the shore are actually all officers and soldiers dressed in disguise on the orders of the monk king. The leading Qiu Ba said to the fake foreign devil who came ashore, because they were disrespectful at noon, and Master Bo and Master Du had already returned to Tianjin. ”

Wang Qianli realized that this matter was not so simple, and after thinking about it, he asked, "What is the monk king busy with?" ”

"I don't know, I haven't seen him for a day, I should have gone to Haikou."

"What about Xue Huan?"

"He should be by Monk Greenqin's side, anyway, I haven't seen him today."

"What about Yongxiang and Wang Hedong?"

"They went to Tanggu with Han Chen, and their subordinates were all settled in Liujiazhuang, six miles west of the city."

Thinking that the fourth master had said before he came that the emperor would never easily let the English and French envoys enter Beijing, and the English and French who not only occupied the city of Guangzhou but also captured the forts on both sides of Haikou, not only would not give up and were extremely arrogant, and felt that the official army was vulnerable, but the minister of the Qin mission, Seng Greenqin, was a stubborn temper, Wang Qianli realized that the war was about to break out, and asked eagerly: "Has there been any change in the arrangement from Haikou to Tianjin?" ”

"There have been some changes, but not much."

"I want to hear about it."

"Wait, brother, I happen to have a coastal defense map here."

"It's better to have a picture."

Chonghou went in and took a hand-painted map, spread it on the coffee table, and said: "The forts on the north and south banks of Haikou are garrisoned by more than 3,000 soldiers from the six battalions of the Dagu Association, and more than 2,000 soldiers from the internal firearms battalion and the patrol battalion are assisting in the defense of the north and south forts respectively;

The 500 horses of the Zhelimu League led by the deputy capital Chengbao were stationed in Xincheng; The cavalry of the Zhaowuda League, led by the first-class guard Bourde and the second-class guard Ming An, was stationed in Xinhe; Because the emperor ordered Xiyi to change inland river boats to Beitang to go ashore, the monk ordered the defenders of Beitang to withdraw to the camp north of Beitang to monitor.

In addition to the stone crack fort and Tanggu fort that were built later, and the six forts on both sides of Haikou that were newly built as a way back road, 13 new forts were built near Shuanggang, 30 miles east of Tianjin, and 81 copper and iron cannons of size under 1,200 catties were installed, which were garrisoned by the foreign firearms battalion, the Jianrui battalion and the people recruited later. ”

"More than 6,000 soldiers." Wang Qianli groaned.

How could Chonghou not be able to hear the meaning of Wang Qianli's words, and said helplessly: "Haikou is such a big place, you can't press all the soldiers up, let alone don't want the back road, not to mention that there is a 'back road' behind the 'back road', although the monk king said that he commanded more than 10,000 soldiers, he could cut out the defenders of Shanhaiguan and the line from Tongzhou to Tianjin, and it was not easy to gather more than 6,000 soldiers. ”

"yes." Wang Qianli sighed lightly, then raised his head and said, "I also have to go to Haikou to have a look, and I am bothered that my brother will arrange for two family members who are familiar with the place to send me there." ”

"Okay, but ...... However, Haikou is dangerous, and the brother must take care. ”

"Don't worry, brother, I'll be fine." Wang Qianli thought about it, and said solemnly: "As the saying goes, 'if you are not afraid of 10,000, you are afraid of what happens', and everything here in Tianjin depends on my brother."

"I have already discussed with Shi Zanqing, if there is a real fight, if the war is really eroded to that point, if you want to leave, send them away quickly, lest they dictate here and hinder our affairs."

"Okay, that's it!"

……

At the same time, there was a dead silence on the fort on the south bank of Dagukou.

From a distance, there are no flags on the fort, nor can you see the human figure, and the "Xiang Yong" who occasionally dangled on the fort a few days ago seems to have run out overnight.

But as long as you climb up to the fort, you can find a pair of officers and soldiers hiding behind the breastwork, or hiding in the cannon hole. The large and small copper and iron cannons were all covered with oilcloths, and as long as the Shangguan gave an order, the soldiers would rush out and push the cannons to the muzzle. A pair of officers and soldiers were ambushed in the anti-artillery hole behind the wall, and only a few generals and generals wearing people's clothes were guarding the wall, observing the foreigner gunboats cruising on the surface of the water outside the barrage through the cracks.

Monk Grinqin was also observing, but he had clairvoyance.

Xue Huan, who had just rushed over from Tianjin, nodded slightly with Shi Rongchun, the governor of Zhili who was guarding the side, and said hello, and then walked to Seng Lingqin's side and said: "Lord Wang, Lord Guiliang has not received the emperor's new will, and Lord Guiliang said that he doesn't know when Lord Guiliang will arrive in Tianjin." ”

"Even if you can get there, what's the use?" Monk Greenqin put down his clairvoyance, turned his head and said with a gloomy face: "Brother Xue, Chief Yi asked that fake foreign devil surnamed Pan to send a note again. ”

"Dare to ask the prince, what did Chief Yi say?"

"They said that they plan to retreat to the foreign sea today, and then import it in a day or two, so that Tianjin Road will have another note and send it to the foreign ocean."

Xue Huan subconsciously glanced at the smoking warships on the ocean, and muttered, "They are all here, why do they want to retreat to the ocean?" ”

"So this thing is a bit strange, nine times out of ten they want to explore our fiction and reality, maybe they want to catch us off guard!" Monk Greenqin has been preparing for all this for nearly a year, sharing the joys and hardships with the soldiers on weekdays, which can be called hard work and sincerity day and night, and feels that this battle can be fought, how can he miss this opportunity to help the court avenge the arrow, handed the clairvoyant to Shi Rongchun, and said coldly: "Order, no matter what moth Xiyi does, we will respond to all changes with the same." If they dare to fire the first shot, we will let him have no return! ”

The ancients: It will be the courage of a soldier!

Monk Greenqin not only shared the joys and sorrows with the soldiers, but also followed the law, the rewards and punishments were clear, the morale of the officers and soldiers guarding Taiwan was strong, and they were depressed for a long time, whether to fight or not.

Seeing that he finally let go, Shi Rongchun, Long Ruyuan and other generals were excited, and they all bowed their hands and said: "The lower officials obey the order!" ”

"Hurry up and prepare, this king estimates that Xiyi will move soon."

"Lord Wang, the lower official has a reluctant request."

"Say."

"I implore the prince to go to the back road fort to dispatch in the center."

Monk Greenqin knew that Shi Rongchun was worried about the safety of his coach, after all, there were no eyes in the gun, but the morale of the soldiers was booming, how could he, the boss, cower in battle, and said without thinking: "Where is so much nonsense, this king is sitting here, and this king is not going anywhere!" ”