Most of the Changlu Salt Envoys and Changlu Salt Transport Envoys were filled by officials of the Internal Affairs Bureau, so it was normal for Han Xiufeng, the Fengchen Yuanqing of the Internal Affairs Office, to come to Tianjin on an errand and be received by the Changlu Salt Transport Envoy.

There are not many attachés, only Zhili alternate Dao Ronglu, Heying Dusi Wang Hedong, Nanyuan Defense Defu, Yongtai, Twenty-one and Heying Qianzong Xu Jiu, Zhang Xiaobao and other nine people. Together with the rich father and son who had just finished the errand of the liberation of foreign artillery, they stayed in a salt merchant's house not far from the Yamen of the Yunsi Division. And the rich wife, daughter-in-law, and grandson had already returned to the capital early the day before yesterday.

The banquet just now was Chonghou for Han Xiufeng, Fugui couldn't talk at the wine table just now, and now that he was full of wine and food, Han Xiufeng was invited by Chonghou to go to the Houtouhua Hall to drink tea, he and his second son Jixiang could only wait in the front hall with Rong Lu, Han Chen and others, and they couldn't speak.

As soon as Han Xiufeng saw Chonghou in the afternoon, he heard that Chonghou did not understand the abolition of the "Houyi Hall".

Sure enough, as soon as he sat down and picked up the teacup, Chonghou began to "ask the teacher for guilt", not only blaming him for being "confused", but even Wen Xiang complained together.

"Don't be silent, you're talking!"

"What does my brother want me to say?"

"You ......" Seeing that Han Xiufeng had been talking for a long time, he seemed to have nothing to do with himself, and he was so arrogant that he didn't know what to say.

If there was no "Houyitang", he would never have been able to be a salt envoy from Sanpin so young, Han Xiufeng could understand his mood, and secretly sighed and put down the teacup and said: "Dishan, as you just said, it is a pity that Houyitang was abolished like this, but do we have to think about it the other way around, what if we don't cut it?" ”

"If we hadn't been cut, at least we wouldn't have become deaf and blind like we are now!"

"Yes, if we don't cut it, we will be better informed than we are now, but what's the use of us not being deaf or blind?" Han Xiufeng asked rhetorically, stared at him very seriously and said seriously: "If you don't cut it, you have to report it in time if you find out about it, otherwise you won't report it." But in fact, either you can't see the emperor, and if you finally see it, you will make the emperor unhappy, and in the end, not only will you never see it again, but even the folds presented are like a stone sinking into the sea. ”

"As the saying goes, if even you and Bochuan don't tell the truth to the emperor, can the emperor still hear the truth?" Sublime asked.

"I understand what you mean, but now the emperor doesn't want to hear it!" Han Xiufeng took a deep breath and continued: "If you don't take the opportunity to make a decision and ask for a cut, the result will only make the emperor Longyan angry, and Bochuan and I don't know where we will be released." And today, after the abolition of Houyitang, Bochuan can enter the value center, which shows that this transaction is not a loss. ”

"You and Bochuan have both been promoted, so this deal is naturally not a loss for you!"

"Earth, mountain, earth, why don't you understand the truth of 'leaving the green mountains without worrying about no firewood'?"

"I understand what my brother said, I just want to ask my brother where is your green mountain, where is the firewood, and how to burn it next?"

Han Xiufeng thought that he was so aggressive, and he was really young and vigorous, so he could only say helplessly: "As long as the foreigners no longer send envoys to Beijing, everything is easy to say, if the foreigners have to send envoys to Beijing, then they can only start a war." The emperor has made up his mind, otherwise he would not have ordered me to come to Tianjin. ”

"It's easy to talk about paying for the soldiers?" Chonghou couldn't help but ask.

"It's easy to say," Han Xiufeng said with a wry smile: "In the emperor's opinion, the tariff is not a proper payment, and the imperial court has not levied much tariff in the past few years, at least not seen how much tax and silver are paid to the Guangdong Customs, Fujian Customs and Jiang Customs, so he has secretly told Gui Liang more than once, saying that no matter how much the military expenses are paid, they can be deducted from the tariffs, and they can even be exempted from tariffs." ”

"But ......"

"Don't be, first, you and I are soft-spoken, and it is difficult for the emperor to take back his life; Second, the foreigners will not compromise on the matter of sending envoys to Beijing, after all, in their opinion, even if they sign a peace treaty, it may not work, and only by sending envoys to Beijing can they force the imperial court to abide by the peace treaty. ”

He asked solemnly: "According to what the old man said, this battle is inevitable?" ”

"It's not inevitable, count the days, the Guangdong side should have already started fighting, but it was not the official army that fought but the regimental training."

"To be a foreigner is a fool?"

"Now it's not about these, it's about whether Huang Zonghan can win."

"Do you think he can win?"

"Difficult." Han Xiufeng shook his head helplessly.

"That's it," thinking that Xiyi's army had just returned south, Chonghou asked worriedly: "Brother Zhixing, it can be seen that the marching monk Lingqin is stronger than Tan Tingxiang, and it is not one or two points stronger. But now the forts on both sides of Haikou are being rebuilt, and it will be completed at the end of the year at the earliest, and the required copper and iron cannons are being recast, and it is estimated that they may not be able to be cast by the end of the year, and all the soldiers and horses have not arrived. ”

"It's not that I'm not afraid, but the emperor and the princes in the court are not afraid." Han Xiufeng paused, and said in a firm tone: "The army has not moved, the grain and grass go first, and I don't think it will be so easy for Erjin to kill a horse pistol this year, he has to prepare thousands of soldiers and horses first." ”

"It's okay this year, but what about next year?"

"Let's talk about next year, if you really want to fight, then you will fight first, and you will know after the victory or defeat is over."

"What you said is light, to fight a war, you must not only have soldiers, but also money and food!"

The more Chonghou thought about it, the more anxious he became, so he got up and said: "Yesterday morning, I just received a secret message from the military aircraft department, saying that after the Minister of Patrol and Defense Wang and others, the Fuzhou Bureau has been decided, and the Beijing soldiers should be withdrawn at discretion. The battalions east of Tongzhou were temporarily ordered to be stationed as usual. Officers and men transferred from various departments can also be dispatched separately when they arrive in Beijing. In addition to the area from Tianjin to Haikou, which was strictly arranged for precaution, the soldiers and horses of other walks of life had to go back and forth from where they did the previous times, and in the final analysis, it was not because the money and food could not be supported. The soldiers can't even eat, what kind of battle are they fighting! ”

"Dishan, I remembered what you said, the emperor ordered me to visit Tianjin and other places to see if there was any surplus food, if there is, I ordered me to organize it with you to solve the urgent need of garrisoning troops in Nanyuan, Tongzhou and other places."

"I tell you to fight, you tell me food!"

"Is it okay for you to bring up the money and food first?"

"We'll talk about the food later, let's move on to the war, even if Su Shun can collect enough money and food, how many soldiers and horses can be mobilized to fight."

Han Xiufeng said in a low voice: "If there is money, food, there will naturally be soldiers. ”

"Is it as simple as my brother said, this is dealing with foreigners, not against long hair! I just want to ask my brother, when the British, Buddha and other Yi started a war with the Russians in that place in Crimea, how many soldiers and horses were dispatched by both sides, and how many soldiers and horses were killed and wounded? ”

"Russia has sent 700,000 troops, and Britain, Buddhism, Turkey and other countries have sent nearly one million troops. If the news inquired by the Shanghai, Guangdong and other branches at that time was correct, the battle lasted for three years, and Russia suffered more than 500,000 casualties, while Britain, Buddhism, Turkey and other countries also killed and wounded more than 100,000 soldiers. ”

"That's it!" Chonghou said excitedly: "Brother Zhixing, when you were worried about the township, I have seen the map in the bookstore, and I have also carefully looked at the globe in the bookstore, the Yingyi mainland is not close to the Crimea, and they can send so many soldiers. If you really want to go to war with us, and don't say more than 100,000 or 200,000 soldiers, it's always possible to send 350,000 soldiers. ”

"With the national strength of England, it is really not difficult to send 350,000 soldiers."

"But what about us, how many soldiers can we scrape together?"

This question really stopped Han Xiufeng, long hair can be called a big trouble, but in order to suppress long hair, the imperial court smashed the pot and sold iron to arrange 20,000 or 30,000 soldiers in Liangjiang, Huguang is about the same, counting the soldiers in Fujian and Zhejiang, Shandong, and Henan, it adds up to more than 100,000 soldiers. Fighting on their own territory, there are not as many soldiers and horses who can be dispatched as there are foreigners who work on expeditions, not to mention the huge gap in weapons.

"Dishan, I know what you're worried about, why aren't Bochuan and I worried? But now we can only find ways to prepare, if God blesses you can win by luck, it will be good, if you lose...... It's not much worse. ”

"Why isn't it so bad?"

"Think about it, before the fall of the forts on both sides of Dagukou, who really took foreigners seriously in the Manchu Dynasty? But now, although it's all in the main battle, at least it's not as serious about foreigners as before. To put it irreverently, our Daqing is like a donkey that grinds, and it won't go away without whipping. ”

Chonghou was ridiculed, and couldn't help asking: "You are not afraid to go down with a whip and whip the donkey to death!" ”

"You can't talk nonsense, you will lose your head if you spread it."

"That's what you said first, okay?"

"Did I say it, I'm asking you if there is any surplus grain in the prefectures and counties of Tianjin Prefecture."

"Okay, okay, you didn't say anything, I didn't hear anything, it's useless to ask me about food, let's go ask Shi Zanqing tomorrow."

"Okay, I'll ask him early tomorrow morning."

Chonghou realized that he couldn't avoid this battle with the foreigners, so he thought about it and asked: "Brother Zhixing, you brought Ronglu and them over this time, it's not just as simple as inspecting coastal defense, right?" ”

"This is nature," Han Xiufeng took a sip of tea and said lightly: "From now on, I will come every month, and stay in Tianjin for ten days each time, not only to keep an eye on Monk Lingqin to build forts and train soldiers and horses, but also to let the Eight Banners Majiamen Army stationed in Nanyuan and the Qian General of the River Camp take turns to take turns to see the terrain and landforms in the Dagukou area." ”

"In this way, my brother is not just a prison army, if there is a fight, he will also lead the troops into battle when 100,000 are in a hurry?"

"The food of the king, the worry of the king, when it is time to go, you can only go up."

"I know, I can't afford to raise the army of Seng Lingqin, I can still afford to raise the members under your command, and they are eating and drinking in Tianjin."

"That's pretty much it." Han Xiufeng smiled, thought about it and whispered in his ear: "You just know this matter, and it must not reach the ears of Seng Lingqin, otherwise our little family background will not be able to withstand his toss." ”

"Understood."