Wang Jiansheng took his family and fifty young men and said, saying that he planned to divide the troops into three routes, one by boat, and the other two by foot from both sides of the canal.

The big head wanted to follow, but Han Xiufeng didn't say anything, so he could only stay honestly, and walked around the salt merchant's mansion with Tang Guozheng, the cousin of Han Chen, the ambassador of the Fuanchang Salt Division, and confirmed that there were no people nearby who dared to take advantage of the fire to rob, so he returned to the courtyard and let the remaining young men take turns to keep vigil.

"The hall is such a big place, go in and sleep, don't sleep outside, it's easy to catch a cold when you sleep outside on such a cold day." Tang Guozheng drove those young men who didn't dare to enter the house into the hall, sat down by the bonfire that the young men had just built in the courtyard, and asked in the old family dialect: "Brother Changsheng, do you say that Master Wang, can they catch those bold bandits?" ”

"Difficult."

"What's so hard?" Big Head asked curiously.

Thinking that Wang Qianli, who was just a scholar not long ago, actually murderously led a group of young men with a knife to arrest the bandits, Pan Er felt like a dream these days, and explained while playing the bonfire with a tree branch: "In the middle of the night, I can't see my five fingers, and I have to light torches whether I walk from the river or from the shore." Even if the daring bandits were still there, they would be startled by the sight of so much fire on the shore of the river. ”

"It's true, they are not melon babies, as long as they see Master Wang, they will definitely run!" The big head suddenly realized.

Tang Guozheng subconsciously looked back and couldn't help asking: "Brother Changsheng, even you can think of it, Master Han can also think of it, since Master Han knows that he may not be able to catch those thieves when he goes here, why do you still let Master Wang take people there?" ”

"Train the soldiers, train the courage." Pan Er didn't think that the young men on duty could understand the Sichuan dialect, but he still looked up.

Thinking that the Taiping bandits had captured Zhenjiang, as long as there was a boat, they could kill outside Yangzhou within a day, Tang Guozheng said worriedly; "Is it too late to sharpen the gun?"

"You have to practice if you don't have time, and it's better to practice than not to practice." Pan Er has been in a state of shock these days, thinking of Han Xiufeng's arrangements in the past few days, he hesitated for a while before raising his head and said, "Big head, Guozheng, the young master is asleep now, I want to wait for him to wake up and tell him something." ”

"What's the matter?" Big Head asked subconsciously.

"I want to ...... I want to go to the corner obliquely. ”

"Second brother, you're scared!"

"Brother Changsheng, you're here, isn't it appropriate to go here?"

"Where do you want to go, I, Pan Changsheng, am afraid of death, but I, Pan Changsheng, am just as righteous and angry, and I am the same person who can stick a knife in my brother's ribs!"

"Then why do you want to go to the corner?" The big head asked.

Pan Er took a deep breath and explained: "The Taiping bandits are not as easy to deal with as the fourth brother just said, and the fourth brother actually knows in his heart like a mirror that the reason why he said that is just to boost morale. Otherwise, it would not have been from Guangxi all the way to conquer the city and kill all the way to Jiangsu. ”

"I know that." Tang Guozheng said solemnly: "There are many bandits, few officers and soldiers, and there are at most two or three hundred in a county, and there are so many flood lands to be guarded against. ”

Pan Er nodded, and said: "The thieves haven't been killed yet, there are so many bold guys who take advantage of the fire to rob, the world is going to be chaotic, and this battle has to be fought!" And raising and training soldiers is inseparable from money and food, but those gentry in Yangzhou would rather give money and food to the bandits than give it to us, and the young master has to think about it in the long run. ”

The big head felt that Pan Er was making excuses for being greedy for life and afraid of death, and said unhappily: "What is there to worry about money and food, the young master also told Master Wang about this in the afternoon, saying that when Young Master Wu comes back from Yizhen, Young Master Wu will be able to help us raise money and food." ”

"What's the use of having money and food and no one?" Pan Er glared at him and patiently explained: "Fighting a war is not only about money and food, but also about soldiers who dare to fight hard with bandits!" It's not to scare you, I don't know how many people will die after a battle, but are the Taiping bandits so easy to exterminate, so this battle has to be fought, and this soldier has to be recruited. ”

Tang Guozheng asked as if he didn't understand: "Brother Changsheng, are you going to Jiaoxian to help Master Han recruit young people?" ”

"There are a lot of young people in the corner slope field, but it is estimated that there are few who dare to fight hard with the bandits." Pan Er took a deep breath, put down the branch and said: "I asked those young men at night, they said that there are still a lot of people who carry salt on the Taiba, and now there is no salt to carry and the poor can't even eat, the fourth brother is worried that there is not so much food and only Lu Daming and Liang Liu recruited more than 400, and the remaining coolies have nothing to do." ”

"What does this have to do with you?" The more the big head listened, the more confused he became.

"Didn't I just say that people will die in a war, and I don't know when this battle will be fought, so I plan to take those coolies to the corner to open up the wasteland, give them food first, and give them a way to live. When the fourth brother has someone here, he can let them work for the fourth brother. ”

Looking at the thoughtful appearance of the two, Pan Er continued: "And the angle oblique is our way out, Yangzhou can lose it, Taizhou can lose it, Hai'an can also lose it, but the angle oblique can't be lost, if the angle oblique is lost, where will we retreat then?" ”

"Brother Changsheng, you don't have to worry about Jiaoxian, my cousin has the final say!"

"It's your cousin who has the final say now, it's hard to say in the future, don't forget that your cousin is an official of the imperial court, what if the imperial court sends a new ambassador?"

Tang Guozheng realized that Pan Er's worries were not unreasonable, and said with a frown: "This is true, the official of the iron yamen flowing water, not to mention that my cousin's ambassador is acting, even if it is actually taught, he will only be in office for three or five years." ”

"So we have to think long-term, and while your cousin has the final say, let the coolies who are begging for a living on the Taiba go and reclaim more new land. And this matter cannot be delayed, if those coolies are delayed any longer, they will find other livelihoods, and they will be dispersed in a few days. ”

"I can't do anything like that."

The big head finally understood, and just as he felt that Pan Er's words were reasonable, there was a sudden sound of hurried footsteps outside, and as soon as they got up, a few coolies on duty had already opened their formation, and a few shotguns were facing the gate.

"Who?"

"I, Brother Immortal, it's me, we're back!"

"Master Wang, why did you come back so soon?" Pan Er hurriedly asked the young men to put down their shotguns.

At this time, a familiar figure followed the dean, and when he saw everyone, he smiled and said, "Second brother, we are back too." You won't believe it, we ran into a gang of robbers when we walked at night! ”

Lu Daming came back, Pan Er reacted suddenly, and couldn't help but ask: "Those guys who pretended to be Taiping bandits on the river also want to beat your idea?" ”

"Yes, we have a lot of things, and we are too tired to carry back, so we found a few boats to rush back overnight, those bold guys thought that we were also fleeing, and actually wanted to rob them with open fire, but we took them all, and on the way back, I met Master Wang, only to know that Master Wang was also rushing to them."

Datou happily asked, "Brother Da Ming, what about those bandits?" ”

"All of them were locked up in the house by the river, and I asked on the way back, they were all thieves who were traitors on the canal, killing people and stealing goods, and doing all kinds of evil, and when they heard that the Taiping bandits were going to kill them, they put a red cloth on their heads and robbed them while they were burning." Lu Daming pointed to the two baskets that his subordinates had just picked in, and said with a smug smile: "They didn't work in vain this night, they robbed more than 30 boats from Zhenjiang, and they robbed so much gold and silver alone!" ”

There were two large baskets, full of gold bars, silver ingots, and all kinds of gold and silver jewelry, and one of the baskets contained a box, and then the firelight opened and saw that it was filled with more than a dozen silver tickets and money tickets issued by large and small banks.

In Wang Qianli's opinion, this is a boiled duck, which was given by Lu Daming to take the lead, and said with a regretful face: "We are still a step too late." ”

"Master Wang, what is the difference between those bandits being captured by us and being captured by you?"

"That's right, that's right."

Pan Er put down the wooden box, looked up and asked, "Da Ming, that's all?" ”

"The conscience of heaven and earth, that's all!" Afraid that Pan Er would not believe it, Lu Daming looked back at his subordinates and said, "I explained very clearly to the brothers, if anyone dares to hide a tael of silver, I will chop off his hand!" ”

"That's good, but don't worry, Master Han has clear rewards and punishments, and he won't let the big guy do it in vain." Pan Er motioned to the big head to pick up the two large baskets of gold and silver into the inner courtyard, and then turned around and asked, "Daming, what's going on over there in Guazhou?" ”

"All the people ran away, not only was there no one in the camp, but there was not a single living person in the town, eighty percent of them all ran away after receiving the news of the bandits, and we didn't dare to stay in the town for a long time, so we quickly rushed back after collecting the ordnance in the camp."

"How much have you put together?"

"That's more, count as having a battalion of weapons."

"Great, you guys take a break. Guozheng, Daming They must be hungry after rushing all night, you hurry up and call a few people to cook, and I will go in and report to Master Han. ”

……

PS: Thank you for your concern, the past two days have been much better, resume the update.

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