The edict read by Rong Rok before was not directed at the Haying camp and the Eight Banners vests stationed in Nanyuan, but after the emperor decided to start a war with the foreigners, in order to encourage the morale of the army and the people, he ordered the ministers and officials from all over Gyeonggi to copy and announce it.

Although Han Xiufeng did not have any confidence in the death of Tongzhou, he urgently dispatched more than 600 officers and soldiers to the Old Summer Palace, not only to prepare for the emperor's "patrol of Mulan", but because the emperor not only made up his mind to start a war with the foreigners, but even sent down two edicts to intend to drive the expedition in person.

It is not a trivial matter to drive the expedition in person, even if the battle in Tongzhou is good, even if the emperor just goes to Tongzhou to take a turn and make a show, he can't go without soldiers along the way. Considering the safety of the emperor, Han Xiufeng could only ask the urgent transfer of the river camp and the more than 100 Eight Banners Vest Gate troops who were originally stationed in Nanyuan to come to the Old Summer Palace to wait for the dispatch.

I never thought that the emperor not only gave him permission, but also rewarded him with a new official position, from the previous Fengchen Yuanqing to the current Shangxi Yuanqing!

It is also an official position of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and it is also a positive three products, the only difference is that he was in charge of the ban on the garden before, and now it has become the emperor and the horse. Not only can he justifiably show the horses, mules, camels and carts needed by the emperor for his patrol, but also can command twenty-one Adun guards who are responsible for serving the emperor and riding the imperial horse.

What's more, there is a stable outside the north gate of the Old Summer Palace, and brothers transferred from the South Garden can be stationed near the stable.

Rong Lu held the token brought by auspiciousness, and together with Yongxiang and Wang Hedong, he led more than 600 brothers, waving the banner and taking neat steps, and drove to the gate of the palace in a majestic manner.

Not only were their military appearances neat, but most of them carried foreign guns on their backs, and even wore yellow jackets, and the soldiers of the patrol camp avoided one after another, and the guards guarding the palace gate were stunned, not knowing where these "colleagues" came from. Su Shun and Chen Fuen, who had just come out after meeting the emperor, were also confused, and were about to ask the guards to ask what was going on, when Han Xiufeng, who also changed into a yellow coat, rode out of the corner on horseback.

Rong Lu and the others hurriedly turned over and dismounted, and stepped forward to greet them.

"Naoli alternate Dao Ronglu, see Lord Han. Four hundred and sixteen people below the Heying Division, and two hundred and twenty-eight people below Captain Nanyuan, were ordered to be brought here, please show Lord Han! ”

"It's fast enough, okay." Han Xiufeng nodded with satisfaction, and then turned around and said, "Ajiga." ”

"Humble duty!" An Adun guard sped over.

"Lead the way, take Master Rong and the brothers to settle down first, and the official will arrive later."

"Huh!"

……

With Han Xiufeng's order, more than 600 horse infantry once again marched neatly, majestically and proudly around the Old Summer Palace to the north stable.

It wasn't until the vest behind the palace disappeared from sight that Su Shun relented.

Han Xiufeng had already come up with an idea, so he hurriedly turned over and dismounted, stepped forward and bowed and said, "Xiaguan Han Xiufeng, meet your lord!" ”

Su Shun didn't care about being polite, pulled him aside and asked, "Zhixing, what are you doing, where did these guards come from?" ”

Han Xiufeng hurriedly said: "Lord Yu, those were not the guards just now, but the soldiers of the river camp and the vest gate army stationed in Nanyuan. Didn't the emperor plan to drive the expedition in person, and he couldn't be without soldiers around him. Therefore, they were in a hurry to obey the authority, and they were given yellow coats to wear when escorting. ”

Thinking that Han Xiufeng had always used the excuse of dredging Nanyuan's river Haizi in the past two years, and rarely entered the city or came to the Old Summer Palace, and sometimes he couldn't even find others, Su Shun reacted suddenly, stared at him and said meaningfully: "Zhixing, Zhixing, you are really hidden." ”

"Why do you say that?"

"Isn't this obvious," Su Shun didn't care to complain that he hadn't told the truth before, but asked eagerly: "Zhixing, were those soldiers brave just now carrying foreign guns on their shoulders?" ”

"Yes."

"Where did those foreign guns come from?"

"Naturally, I bought it."

Su Shun asked, "Where did the money come from to buy the gun?" ”

Han Xiufeng didn't want to hide it anymore, because he couldn't hide it if he wanted to, so he could only give it up and say: "My lord, the silver to buy the gun and the food and salary of more than 600 soldiers were all raised by the lower officials and the soldiers in Nanyuan. ”

"Can you still buy it?" Su Shun asked in a low voice.

"It's difficult, even if you can buy it, far water can't quench your thirst." Han Xiufeng said helplessly.

"Well, even if you can buy it, it's too late now." Su Shun nodded slightly, then raised his arm and pointed at Jixian Academy: "Zhixing, let's talk about Heying's affairs later, you have dealt with Xiyi, and you are most familiar with Xiyi, go, accompany me to meet that Pa Xia Li." ”

Han Xiufeng had already heard that they had arrested the envoys of Britain and France, and even knew that the prison of the Criminal Department could not be closed, and most of them were imprisoned in the Shuntianfu Prison and the Wanping County Prison. The two countries have not yet killed each other, not to mention that it is not only useless to arrest Ba Xiali and others, but it will also backfire, how could Han Xiufeng go with him to interrogate Ba Xiali, and said with an embarrassed face: "My lord, the emperor has issued two edicts in a row, and he may drive the expedition at any time, at this juncture, Xiufeng really does not dare to leave his post without permission." ”

Su Shun didn't think that the emperor would really drive the expedition in person, but as Han Xiufeng said, the emperor had issued two edicts in a row, and he could see that Han Xiufeng was also doing errands on an errand, so he could only say helplessly: "Okay, you get busy first, I'll go and meet that chieftain." ”

"Your Excellency."

"Don't send it, it's important to run errands."

Su Shun turned over his horse and went straight to Jixian Courtyard.

Chen Fuen, the secretary of the military department, hurriedly got into the carriage and asked the coachman to hurry up.

When he arrived at Jixian Courtyard, he saw Su Shunzheng slapping the tree in the dean twice in a row, and after he finished pumping, he threw the horsewhip to the side, turned around and asked, "Where is the Yi chief?" ”

"Your Excellency, you're being tortured inside." One of the principals replied uneasily.

"Take me to take a look."

"Your Excellency, please."

Chen Fuen knew that he was not only angry with foreigners, but also angry with that Han Si. knew that he had always valued that Han Si very much, and he was not thin on that Han Si, but Han Si was so pampered and arrogant that he had never reported to him for such a big thing as training troops in Nanyuan. Just as he was thinking about this kind of consolation later, a scream suddenly came from inside, followed by a bird language that he couldn't understand.

At the same time, Bao Jun and Wen Feng, the ministers in charge of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, rushed to the stables of the Shangxi Courtyard not far from the north gate of the Old Summer Palace when they heard the news.

Seeing a group of well-armed and high-morale soldiers marching in, and then neatly lined up in front of the stables, even the horses were well-trained, neither neighing nor kicking, and even lined up like those soldiers with foreign guns on their backs, Bao Jun exclaimed: "This is the elite soldiers, this is the elite soldiers who can fight!" ”

"What Brother Pei said is very true, Han Zhixing is really a soldier who can train, but unfortunately this soldier has too little training, only five or six hundred, if only there were five or six thousand." Wen Feng looked at the foreign guns on the shoulders of Wang Hedong and the others and sighed,

Although Bao Jun is not a person from Houyitang, he has some connections with the late university scholar Wenqing, and has a good relationship with Wenxiang, the Minister of Military Aircraft, he has heard Wen Qing mention Han Xiufeng before, and he has heard Wen Xiang talk about Han Xiufeng in the past two years, and he doesn't care about lamenting that there are not many soldiers, but he walked over and patted this arm, touched the foreign gun on his shoulder, and even pulled out Wang Hedong's waist knife, and touched the edge of the blade, until Rong Lu of the palace turned over and dismounted to come to visit, he turned back and said: "Virtuous nephew is exempt, this official had a relationship with you Ama back then, Just shout at you. ”

Rong Lu was the kind of person who climbed up the pole, and hurriedly bowed down and said, "Rong Lu to see my uncle!" ”

"Okay, good, if everyone is as good as a virtuous nephew, will I still worry about those Xiyi?" Baojun helped Rong Lu up, and then ordered: "Listen, the emperor has decreed, and the soldiers' salaries will be paid by my internal affairs office from now on." The official doesn't care what you think, anyway, if the soldiers don't have enough to eat, the official will ask you and others! ”

"Huh!" A group of Lang Zhong chiefs from the Internal Affairs Office hurriedly bowed down to receive the order.

"Rong Luxian's nephew, if you need anything, just talk to them." Seeing the more than 600 elite soldiers brought by Rong Lu, the hanging heart finally let go, and after thinking about it, he arched his hand and said: "Lord Wen, the 600 tiger and wolf army brought by Rong Luxian's nephew, the sword will either not be unsheathed, and the mountain will shake when it is unsheathed." Therefore, the soldiers are only stationed here, and the outer circle is still patrolled by the patrol battalion, and the guards in the circle are still the errands of the guard office. ”

Thinking that he was also the Minister of Internal Affairs, Bao Jun could drive with him, but he Wenfeng had to continue to guard the garden, Wenfeng didn't feel good in his heart, but the monarch's order was like a mountain, Wen Feng could only say sourly: "This is nature, this is nature." ”

The two of them were chatting, and Han Xiufeng arrived on horseback.

First introduced Yongxiang, Wang Hedong and other military attaches to Bao Jun, and after everyone finished meeting, he accompanied Bao Jun and Wen Feng into a public room not far from the stable, and talked about the news they had found in the park in the morning.

"There should be a fight over there in Tongzhou, otherwise there would have been no report since the afternoon before yesterday."

"What about the court?" Bao Jun asked in a low voice.

"The court is very lively, those civil officials have all become Confucian generals who strategize and win thousands of miles, mentioning Xiyi are all confident, saying that Xiyi can not fight a war 'The horse team is in front, the foot pawn is behind, and the horse team is divided into two wings, and the foot pawn is divided into three layers to advance, the front layer is on the ground, the middle layer is micro-mansion, and the back layer is standing. The front layer fired first, the middle layer followed, and the rear layer followed'. ”

"My brother is a person who has seen the world, is there any truth in what they say, is that the case?" Bao Jun asked eagerly.

"My lord, what they say is a little reasonable, but these are not secrets, Lin Wenzhong Gong reported as early as the twentieth year of Daoguang, and Wei Yuan, the former governor of Gaoyou, Jiangsu, also wrote a book. In short, it's useless to know this, and it's true to know how to deal with it. ”

Wen Feng subconsciously asked, "Then do they know how to deal with it?" ”

"They've come up with a lot of ideas, but none of them sound reliable to me."

"Why is it unreliable?"

"Some people say that foreigners can't see clearly at night, like pigs sleep well, we just wait until the second watch of the drum, foreigners will wake up from the dream, because the eyes can't see clearly, we don't have to fight, they trample on each other."

Bao Jun was made ridiculous, and couldn't help but scold: "Nonsense! ”

Han Xiufeng nodded, and continued: "Some people say that foreigners have long legs, and they are straight, and they can't be bent. As long as we set up more traps, we don't have to dig too deep, and when we fight, we lure them into the traps, and if they fall into the traps, our officers and soldiers can come forward and capture them alive. ”

"It's up to them to figure it out!"

"There are also people who say that foreigners are not tolerant of cold, and they come to China to fight in the summer and autumn, and they are alone in the depths, and when the weather is cold, they will retreat, and we can let Dengzhou and other places attack the sailors, and either they don't attack, and they will have to beat the foreigners when they attack. Small punishment, several years of peace, big punishment, a hundred years of nothing. ”

"Even if foreigners are really not frost-tolerant, they have to pass the current hurdle first." Wen Feng muttered.

"Yin Zhaoyong, who had just been in the limelight last year, was not idle, and he went to the road early this morning, saying that he had found a 'city defense chapter' from an ancient book called "Imperial Jingshiwen Edition", and came up with a way to break the enemy. It is said that in ancient times, when attacking the city, the soldiers used wet quilts to cover their bodies to block the gunpowder, which is called overcoming rigidity with softness.

Please hurry up and collect the old quilt, infiltrate it with water, put the quilt horizontally, run it up and down with thick ropes, tie bamboo poles on both sides, and tie small iron fishing that can be inserted into the ground at the end of the bamboo pole. Each quilt was unfolded by two soldiers, lined up in front of the formation, and a quilt array was formed. Once they encounter the enemy, the first platoon of soldiers will cover the whole army with quilts to block the foreigners' artillery guns, and leave a proper gap between the quilts and the quilts to prepare for drying and setting fires. ”

"Do you think it works, brother?"

Han Xiufeng didn't answer this question, but said with a wry smile: "My lord, although we don't have foreign guns, we have foreign guns, if it doesn't work, we can try it." ”

Baojun realized that Yin Zhaoyong's idea was also unreliable, and hurriedly said: "Forget it, gunpowder and lead are expensive, so let's keep it to deal with foreigners." ”