In the middle of the night, the rumbling of gunfire was heard from the south.

Han Xiufeng woke up from his dream and hurriedly ordered Chen Hu to find Wu Jianzhang, who was temporarily living at Citiman Wharf, and asked Wu Jianzhang to inquire about the foreigners. After all, it was so late, and I didn't know who was fighting with whom, so it was too dangerous for Chen Hu and them to go to the camp in the north of the city.

Just sat in the study and waited until the early hours of the morning, Wu Jianzhang, Wu Xu, and Sun Feng came back from a clear investigation, it turned out that the chaotic party in the city wanted to take advantage of the unstable foothold of the officers and soldiers to attack the camp, but Liu Cunhou and Hu Songlin had already prepared and killed the more than 2,000 chaotic parties who went out of the city to attack at night.

Confirming that it was not a fight with foreigners, Han Xiufeng finally breathed a sigh of relief, thanked everyone who went out late at night to find out the news, and went back to the bedroom to sleep.

I slept until the afternoon, and I was woken up by Xiao Wuzi.

"Fourth Master, Lord Xu has arrived, and Lord Gilhanga has also arrived, and he has brought several battalions of soldiers. Lord Wu is waiting for you at the door, and he won't dare to meet you if you don't go. ”

"So soon?" Han Xiufeng got up and asked.

Xiao Wuzi explained while helping to take the official uniform: "I heard Master Xu say that Lin Fengxiang and Li Kaifang's long hair has been killed in Zhili, and the Cao Yun is obstructed, and the land route to the capital is not easy to walk, if you don't recover Shanghai quickly, the next year's Cao grain will not be able to be shipped from Shanghai, let alone suppress the bandits, I am afraid that even the princes, ministers and people in the capital will be hungry, so Lord Xu does not dare to wait." ”

The capital was too far away, Han Xiufeng didn't care about the affairs of the capital, and asked while wearing official uniforms: "How many soldiers did Lord Xu and Lord Gilhanga bring, and who was the military general who led the troops?" ”

"I heard Master Xu say that there are more than 1,000 soldiers in the economic system, more than 2,000 village braves, and the leader of the troops is a general, surnamed Qin, called Qin Ruhu." Xiao Wuzi thought for a while, and then said: "There are a lot of civil officials, and Lord Gilhang'a has been promoted again, and now he is the envoy of Jiangsu. Also coming with him was the new Su Song Liang Dao Yubin, and the new Su Song Tai Bing Dao Yang Nengge. ”

"Peng Yuwen, Master Peng didn't come?"

"Master Peng didn't come."

"In this way, Lord Xu plans to let the new Su Song Grain Dao Yubin be the grain station here."

"I guess so."

Han Xiufeng weighed it and turned around and said, "Go and bring the Cao Yun Envoy Seal, and prepare twenty silver tickets with a denomination of one hundred taels." By the way, there is also the official document on the martyrdom of Ajiga, Akdan and others prepared yesterday. ”

"Okay, I'll go get it." Xiao Wuzi walked to the door and couldn't help but turn around and ask, "Fourth master, is it a bit too little to bring two thousand taels of silver tickets?" ”

"It's a lot," Han Xiufeng sorted out his official uniform and said lightly: "Lord Xu and Lord Gilhanga are five hundred taels each, and the others are two hundred taels each." When I think about it, I can't do without my resume when I first meet you, so remember to bring my resume with me. ”

"Okay, I'll go to the study and get it."

……

When Xu Naizhao arrived, the most nervous person was Wu Jianzhang, and when he saw Han Xiufeng, he asked nervously: "Brother Zhixing, it depends on you whether my brother can pass this hurdle, and I must help my brother say a few kind words in front of Lord Xu and Lord Gilhang'a later." ”

"Brother Daopu, don't worry, Lord Xu won't embarrass you too much."

"I'm not afraid of my brother's jokes, I'm really worried, brother."

Seeing that Chen Hu and the others all changed into coats, the more Wu Jianzhang thought about it, the more scared he became, and he was really worried that he would not be able to come back. In fact, not only was he worried, but even the foreigners in Qichang were worried, and they actually brought thirty or forty foreign soldiers with loaded guns and ammunition from the warship, and they planned to escort him to see Xu Naizhao.

Han Xiufeng thought to himself that your turtle son did this, didn't it be clear that he wanted to take advantage of foreign self-respect, but he didn't know how Xu Naizhao would be sent down, so he just let him send those foreign soldiers back, and simply led everyone to set off as if he hadn't seen anything.

Rushing to the mansion next to the English Concession, the security was indeed stricter than yesterday, not only were there green battalion soldiers and servants outside, but even the boats in the river were standing brave. There were more than a dozen horses tied at the gate, four or five sedan chairs were parked, and the messengers who delivered official documents came in and out, and there was a tense atmosphere.

The Citi soldiers did not follow, they all stood on the opposite bank to watch the movement here, and the soldiers of Fubiao were as brave as facing a great enemy, so they confronted each other across the river three or four zhang wide.

Han Xiufeng was explaining to a thousand general managers of Fubiao, a patrol officer from Qipin and a disciple greeted him, asked who the people were coming, asked why the foreign soldiers on the other side came, and confirmed that the foreign soldiers were not hostile, so he took the door bag and everyone's resumes and went in to report.

"Master Han, Lord Xu is invited."

"Brother Xie." Han Xiufeng stuffed the patrol officer with another door bag, looked back at Wu Jianzhang and the others, and followed the patrol officer into the courtyard in his official uniform.

The main hall has become the lobby of the governor, Han Xiufeng walked into the main hall and was about to pay a visit, Qiao Songnian, who was sitting at the bottom, arched his hand and said: "Lord Xu, this is the first two Huaiyun deputies who led a thousand villagers to stick to Wanfu Bridge, beheaded more than 400 thieves and bandits, and kept Tongtai and other places. The military information reported by Xia Guan just now was also inquired by Han Tongzhi these days. ”

"Han Xiufeng, the acting governor of Songjiang Mansion and Haiphong, visited Lord Xu!" Han Xiufeng hurriedly bowed and saluted.

When the chaotic party was in turmoil, the civil and military officials in Shanghai and its surroundings died and fled, and the young former two Huaiyun deputies in front of him did not leave, not only did they not leave, but they also risked their lives to help find out the military situation, and even made a discordant plan to make Lin Afu, the "right marshal" of the chaotic party, turn against Liu Lichuan, the leader of the bandits, and lead a gang of the party to part ways with Liu Lichuan, and he is still trying to persuade another bandit leader, Li Shaoxi, to surrender.

Thinking of the "chicken seller" who was the first to find the foreigner who came out of the city for the first time, gathered the officials and errands who hid or even ran away before, summoned the gentry and businessmen to raise food and salary, recruited young and strong people to train the villagers, and even now this line of work was prepared by him, Xu Naizhao felt that he was using Han Xiufeng correctly, and couldn't help laughing: "Han Tongzhi doesn't need to be polite, Han Tongzhi, sit down and talk." ”

Xu Naizhao was not the only one in the hall, there were several civil officials above the fourth grade on the left and right, and even Qiao Songnian could only sit down with him, where did Han Xiufeng dare to sit, he hurriedly bowed down and said: "Thank you, Lord Xu, Xiufeng should still stand and talk." ”

Xu Naizhao pointed to the chair that his family had just moved, looked at him with a smile and said, "I heard Jianhou say that you have an injury on your leg, and it must be very painful to stand, so let's sit down and talk." ”

"Thank you, sir."

"I almost forgot to introduce, this is my new envoy in Jiangsu, Lord Gilhang'a, this is Lord Su Songliang Dao Yubin, and this is the new sub-patrol Su Song Taibing Dao Yang Nengge Yang."

"Xiaguan Han Xiufeng, meet the three adults."

Gil Hang'a, who had been playing in the Jiangnan camp before, had not only heard of the victory at Wanfuqiao, but also knew that Han Xiufeng was Xiang Rong's fellow countryman, so he put down the teacup and said with a smile: "Han Tong knows that he is not polite." ”

"Brother Han, Lord Xu ordered the official to handle the big camp grain station, the official has just arrived, his eyes are black, everything has to rely on you." Yu Bin played with his snuff box and looked at Han Xiufeng with a smile and said bluntly.

Han Xiufeng thought to himself that my current official position was a little embarrassing, if it was just to handle the food and salary, then I would have to listen to you. But I am not only the acting governor of Songjiang Prefecture and Haiphong, but also the new superintendent of Jiangxi Customs, so I should listen to Yang Nengge as a rule. Thinking of this, he hurriedly said: "My lords, the matter of raising food and salary is actually handled by Wu Xu and Sun Feng, the new prefect of Shanghai, and the lower officials are just in the middle. ”

"Let's talk about the food and salary, let's talk about Wu Jianzhang first." Xu Naizhao had too much official business to do, so he asked bluntly: "Han Tongzhi, you are most familiar with Shanghai, and you also know the most about Yiqing, what can you do with Wu Jianzhang?" ”

"Lord Xu, Wu Jianzhang is not only suspected of being a bandit, but also responsible for losing his land, and he is sorry for the court and the people of Shanghai if he doesn't kill him. However, the situation in Shanghai was complicated, and there were foreign guns stationed on the other side of the strait, including England, France, and the United States, and Wu Jianzhang was not only well versed in Yiqing, but even had an extraordinary relationship with foreigners, and if he was killed, he would probably offend the foreigners. ”

"So you can only use it, not kill it?"

"Lord Xu, the lower officials think that we should focus on the overall situation."

Thinking that Qiao Songnian had said the same thing before, Xu Naizhao muttered: "Since you can't kill him, let him take the blame for the time being." As for how to deal with it in the end, wait for the emperor's decree. ”

"Lord Xu, he's here, just outside."

Yang Nengge, who had never opened his mouth, said coldly: "He still has the guts!" ”

Han Xiufeng didn't know how to pick it up, Xu Naizhao continued: "Everyone, put aside Wu Jianzhang's affairs, let's talk about military affairs." Brother Yushan, time does not wait for me, Shanghai has to be recovered quickly, you and I may as well divide the troops into two ways, you lead Qin Ruhu to garrison the south of the city, I personally lead Xue Huan, Liu Cunhou, and Hu Songlin to garrison the west and north of the city, and wait for the water division of the general soldier of Langshan Town, Bo Chengsheng, to arrive, surround on all sides, and start fighting together! ”

"The subordinate obeys!" Gilhanga hurriedly got up and said.

"Jianhou, you assist Yubin in supporting the army's rations."

Qiao Songnian also got up and arched his hand and said, "Your Majesty will take orders!" ”

"Han Tongzhi that the customs affairs of the Jiangxi Customs are not trivial, not only the Jiangnan camp points to the tax payment, but even the imperial court points to the tax to quell the chaos, and it is urgent to levy tariffs on the goods of England and France according to the routine, and I bother you to help Yang Daotai quickly negotiate with the foreign consul."

"It's not about labor, this is the job of the lower officials."

"Okay, let's pass Wu Jianzhang in."

"Lord Xu, the lower official still has something to report."

"Speak."

Han Xiufeng took out the official seal from his sleeve and presented it respectfully: "Lord Xu, the customs seal of Jiang Customs was lost by Wu Jianzhang along with the official seal of Su Song Taidao. Now that you have arrived, Xiufeng does not dare to use it anymore, please allow your Excellency to verify the seal. ”

Cao Yun envoy is an official position set up by the imperial court to handle the shipping of grain, and the same product as the political envoy and the inspection envoy, a five-grade coastal defense Tongzhi and Jiang Customs supervision with Cao Yun envoy seal is indeed inappropriate, Xu Naizhao took the official seal and weighed it, and handed it to Yang Nengge: "Brother Marquis Jian, since the official seal of Su Song Taidao was lost by Wu Jianzhang, we can only ask for a recast." This Cao Yun makes you use the seal for the time being, and then use the seal of Su Song Taidao when the official seal of the recast arrives. ”

"With the seal of the clerk and the official, it seems that this is the only way to go." Yang Nengge was also not polite, and took the seal generously.