Dean Gu and Yu Jiansheng happened to be at Chen's house, and Wang Jiansheng handed over thirty taels of pension silver to Chen Youdao, and after some comfort, he called Dean Gu and Yu Jiansheng to the yamen together while the Chen family was not paying attention.

I don't know if I don't come, and I'm scared when I come.

Dean Gu's first reaction when he knew that the Taiping bandits were coming from Hubei was not to train any village bravery, but to hurry up and get back the silver stored in the Taizhou pawnshop. Yu Jiansheng's sister is married to a showman in Yangzhou, and what he wants is to send someone to send a letter to his sister and brother-in-law, planning to take his sister-in-law's family to Hai'an. After all, compared with Yangzhou, Hai'an is much farther away from Jiangning.

"Three, that's all I know now, but I've sent someone to Yangzhou to investigate, and Taizhou has also arranged people, as soon as there is new news, they will come to report quickly, and there will never be a thing that we don't know about when the soldiers come to the city." Han Xiufeng picked up the cup and looked around at the three of them.

"Master Han, it's not that the old man is saying frustrating words, even the Eight Banners and the Green Camp can't help this gang of bandits, if they really attack the city all the way to Hai'an, can we stop them with a hundred and ten village braves?" Dean Gu asked worriedly.

"I can't stop it." Han Xiufeng said truthfully.

"Since it can't be stopped, what's the use of compiling and training Xiangyong?" Dean Gu asked.

Yu Jiansheng couldn't help but say: "Yes, Master Han, since we know that it is useless to train Xiangyong, we might as well think of other ways." ”

"Two, I mean we can't stop the army of bandits, but if there is only a small group of bandits, then we can still give it a go." Han Xiufeng put down the teacup and said slowly: "As for ruthless outlaws, we have not been taught. The smugglers who came up from the canal have not been taken down by us. Besides, the Taiping bandits, they have a lot of soldiers, and they are really not easy to deal with, but the two rivers are so big, it is impossible for them to guard against so many provincial cities, capital cities, state cities, and county seats, and they all come to us. ”

"Well, if there are only a hundred and ten bandits, we still have the strength to fight." Dean Gu nodded slightly.

"Besides, we can't hang ourselves on a crooked-necked tree, but this will only be said to the three of us, and I Han Xiufeng won't recognize it when I go out of this door."

"Master Han, what are the words, how can you not hang yourself on a tree with a crooked neck?"

"To tell you the truth, Ambassador Han is also making preparations, not only to train the villagers like us, but also to find sea ships and sailors who are familiar with the sea conditions. If a small group of bandits are killed in Hai'an, Ambassador Han will lead the villagers in the corner of the slope field to rush to the aid and intercept it with us. If you can't do anything, then you can fight and retreat, retreat to Jiaoxian and go to sea by boat, you can go to Tongzhou and even Shanghai County in the south, and Haizhou or even Shandong in the north. ”

Wang Jiansheng asked in surprise: "If you can't hold it, you will leave?" ”

Han Xiufeng sighed lightly: "I know that the three of them are inseparable from their homeland, but if the war really erodes to that point, there is really no better way." It's a pity that there are not a few sea ships in the corner slope field, and there are not so many shipwrights and sailors who are familiar with the sea conditions, Xiufeng is incompetent, so he can only protect eight out of ten, and he can't protect all the people under his jurisdiction. ”

It turns out that this is what the armor is for!

Dean Gu finally realized Han Xiufeng's good intentions, and immediately stood up and made a deep gesture: "Master Han doesn't need to be humble, you can think of me, we really can't repay you." ”

"Dean Gu, don't be like this, Xiufeng's ability to gain a firm foothold in Hai'an depends on your help, and these are all things Xiufeng should do."

"Master Han, don't thank you for your kindness, don't say anything politely to Gu, you can tell Gu what you need to do."

"I can't talk about the order, so I want to get rid of the three of them and hurry up to train the village bravery."

It was a good idea to drag the family to escape to the sea with their mouths, not to mention that if they really went to that point, they would also need to be the queen of the Xiangyong Palace, Dean Gu knew very well that the training of Xiangyong was not only helping Han Xiufeng but also helping him himself, and asked eagerly: "Master Han, how many Xiangyong do you plan to train?" ”

"At least a hundred and ten, otherwise it won't be a problem."

"How many splashes can be used?"

"On the night of the first month, sixteen people died in the investigation of smuggled salt, more than 20 were seriously injured, and a few ran away as soon as they received the reward, and there were only more than 50 people who could be incorporated into the township."

"So there are still fifty people left, and if you count one person from four villages, it's not difficult to do."

"It's not enough to have people, you have to buy weapons and uniforms, and you have to have food."

"Then let each armor be shared."

"Dean Gu, it's easy to appropriate, and it's not particularly difficult to do, but how much does it have to be apportioned, and how long will it take for these more than 100 township warriors to be compiled? It's easy to do in two or three months, but it's not easy to do after a long time. Let the big households out, the big households will not be happy, let those people who have no money out, they can't take it out. ”

"It's enough to raise three months' worth of food." Han Xiufeng took over the conversation and analyzed solemnly: "Calculate the days, at the latest at the end of the month, the Taiping bandits will be able to attack Jiangning City, if they capture Jiangning like the capture of Wuchang, they will besiege Yangzhou in one go, in short, it will be a matter of two or three months." ”

"Also, if we don't count it one by one, we will first calculate the rations of one hundred villagers for three months."

"Okay."

……

Xiang Yong has to practice, the amount of food must not be small, a Xiang Yong needs two catties of rice a day, counting the rations of miscellaneous servants such as the husband, at least 27,000 catties for three months. Fortunately, there are enough Zhuang towns under the jurisdiction of the Haian Inspection Division, and the people should be able to bear it. The most headache is the weapon, to build a knife it costs 200 wen to say the least, and if you add a shotgun and carry a gun, it will cost more.

The Taiping bandits haven't come yet, Han Xiufeng doesn't want to make people angry because of the increase in grain consumption, so he muttered: "If the machetes are too expensive, let's build a few less, and we can buy more spears." ”

"That's all there is to it." Dean Gu thought about it and said with a sad face: "Master Han, there is still something that is not very easy to do, we can go and tell those squires of Qutang and Baimi, but if they know that the purpose of compiling and training Xiangyong is to prevent Taiping bandits, they will definitely ask why they don't train in Baimi or Qutang?" ”

Wang Jiansheng raised his head and said, "Master Han, what Dean Gu said is on point. They are closer to Taizhou than we are to Taizhou, and if the Taiping bandits really kill them, they will bear the brunt. We want to protect our family, they also want to protect our family, and they can't abandon their own home regardless of money and effort to protect our home! ”

Han Xiufeng really didn't think about this, but this was not a difficult thing for Han Xiufeng, and he muttered: "Otherwise, we will train three regiments of Xiangyong, one regiment of Baimi, one regiment of Qutang, and one regiment of Hai'an, each regiment has one supervisor, and forty township warriors, and they will practice at the same time in the three towns of Baimi, Qutang and Hai'an. ”

"Dean Gu, Master Han's method is good, I'll talk about it later, the top priority is to train Xiang Yong first. After the training is completed, the military law will be practiced, and when the time comes, Master Han will say that he can transfer wherever he wants, and if anyone dares to disobey his orders, the military law will serve! ”

"That's the only way, but who is the supervisor of these three regiments?"

"Dean Gu, I plan to set up a Baojia Bureau, please serve as the general office of the Baojia Bureau, and the prime minister will prepare for the preparation of the Xiangyong Brigade. Brother Wang and Brother Yu served as deputy committee members, and concurrently served as the supervisor of the Qutang and Hai'an regiments. As for the supervisor of the White Rice Regiment, Li Zhiyong, a child in White Rice Town, can be the supervisor, didn't we spend the night together at his house last time, I think he can take on this big responsibility. Han Xiufeng paused, and then said: "All in all, the compilation and training of the township is a local affair, and it should be led by the squires. ”

"Where's the food?"

"Xiufeng doesn't care about anything, Xiufeng will only go to the three regiments from time to time to check and practice." Han Xiufeng thought about it and said: "As the saying goes, if the name is not right, the word is not good, if the three of them are willing, Xiufeng will write a letter to report to Master Zhang, and implore Master Zhang to issue documents to the three of them." ”

This is a real entrusted responsibility, how could Dean Gu refuse, stood up again and bowed: "Master Han trusts us so much, we will definitely live up to our mission!" ”

"Dean Gu, why are you like this again." Han Xiufeng hurriedly helped him up, and then turned around and said: "The green battalion soldiers of Taizhou City want to rush to the aid of Jiangning, not only will Zhang Daring not come back, but it is said that even the Foreign Affairs Office will be abolished. Anyway, they can't count on it, I'll see if I can ask for the rooms of the Foreign Affairs Bureau, and if I can come over, I will give the three of them the office of the Security Bureau. ”