Han Xiufeng rushed to the capital non-stop and went straight to the Old Summer Palace to pay his life.

As a result, the sign was handed in and waited for nearly half an hour, and was sent out by the eunuch of the performance office, saying that the emperor was not available to summon him today. Just as he was about to go back to the bookstore first, a guard greeted him and said that Lord Su Shun had an invitation. Han Xiufeng followed the guards to a quiet courtyard, and was surprised to find that Prince Zheng and Prince Yi were also there.

Han Xiufeng was about to salute, and Su Shun greeted: "There are no outsiders here, so there is no need to be polite, let's hurry up and get down to business." ”

"I don't know what the two princes and adults want to ask?"

"Tell me about Guangdong." Prince Zheng put down his snuffbox, stared at Han Xiufeng and said: "I heard Cao Yuying say that the British and Foshanists have increased their troops to Hong Kong and Macao, with fifty or sixty large and small gunboats, and the marines, infantry regiments and cavalry add up to three or five thousand, which is menacing!" The elder brother is well versed in the situation, and in the face of this crisis, this king wants to ask the elder brother what his high opinion is. ”

Prince Yi asked bluntly: "Brother Han, this king wants to know, if I give it a go, what chance of winning will I be able to win this battle?" ”

Looking at Su Shun's worried look, Han Xiufeng realized that the emperor had asked them how to deal with it, but this question was too difficult to answer, and he was silent for a while before he arched his hand and said: "The two princes, the lower officials think that if they pour out the power of the Qing Dynasty, and the gentry and the people can work together, the court can still give it a go." Even if they are frustrated at the beginning of the battle, dragging us can drag them down. After all, they are laborers, and we are waiting for work. ”

Prince Zheng thought so, and couldn't help but look back at Su Shun with a smile and said: "This king likes to listen to this, this king has long said that Xiyi is just a bluff!" ”

Su Shun didn't dare to make fun of Jiangshan Sheji, otherwise he wouldn't have invited Han Xiufeng over, so he couldn't help but raise his head and said: "Zhixing, the two princes and I want to hear the truth, don't have any worries, give me a real answer, can this battle be fought?" ”

Han Xiufeng didn't dare to go around in circles anymore, weighed it, and said helplessly: "Xiaguan just said that this battle can be won, even if we can't fight far, we can still drag it out, and try every means to drag them down, but the premise of all this is that Xiyi will not sail north." But Xiyi is not as good as Changmao, they are not only strong ships and guns, but also familiar with sea routes, if they don't fight elsewhere, but go straight to Tianjin, then this battle will not be able to be fought. ”

"Tianjin can't hold it?"

"If you are not afraid of 10,000, you are afraid of what happens, if Tianjin falls, Xiyi will be able to drive straight into the capital, and we courtiers can't joke about the emperor's safety!"

Prince Zheng was most afraid of this, and said solemnly: "What my brother said is extremely true, it seems that there is only fetters. ”

To put it bluntly, it is necessary to contain both the foreigners, but now what does the court do to contain the foreigners, even if it is blindly entrapped, someone has to talk to the foreigners, and more or less give the foreigners some sweetness. If you play Tai Chi like before and change the way to prevaricate, the foreigners will never agree.

Thinking that the emperor's attitude was very clear, there was no better way than "restraint", Han Xiufeng could only bow down and say: "The Yingfo Eryi transferred so many troops from their homeland, I don't know how much food and salary will be spent, and they will never give up if they don't achieve their goal, and the lower officials estimate that they will provoke in two or three months." ”

"Where will they attack first?" Su Shun asked with a frown.

"The ancients surrendered the soldiers without a fight, and the lower officials estimated that they didn't want to fight with us as much as they could, and they would attack Guangzhou first, and wait to see our attitude after capturing Guangzhou. If we don't agree to their conditions, they will go north, and they will probably go to Shanghai first, or even Zhenjiang and Changzhou, to help Changmao as a threat. If we still don't agree to their conditions, they will definitely invade Zhili and even the capital in the north. ”

"Then order Ye Mingchen to talk to them, if Ye Mingchen's talks collapse, let Wang Yide, the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, and He Guiqing, the governor of Liangjiang, talk to them, and it can be delayed for a day. Maybe there are traitors in his old nest who are making trouble, and they can't care about making trouble with us again, and they sail back like they did three years ago. ”

Prince Zheng thought very beautifully, Su Shun didn't dare to pin his hopes on this, and muttered: "Ye Mingchen can't be trusted, I estimate that Wang Yide and He Guiqing can't control it." The top priority is to quickly find one or two people who are willing to deal with Xiyi and can talk to Xiyi, and go to deal with Xiyi. ”

"Yuting, the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty are all pedantic, and it is not easy to find such a person as you said." Prince Yi put down the teacup and said.

Han Xiufeng's head was big, but in the face of the three of them, it was not good to be a turtle with a shrunken head, so he could only stubbornly say: "Lord Su, if you and the two princes can trust Xiufeng, Xiufeng is willing to go to Guangdong and deal with Xiyi!" ”

"Zhixing, I know that you are loyal to the court and the emperor, and I also know that you are the most suitable candidate. But if you go to Guangdong, if the emperor asks about Yiwu again, I can't find anyone to discuss. What's more, Xiyi may not be willing to talk in Guangdong, what if they invade Tianjin in the north? Su Shun paused, and then said: "You have been an official in Liangjiang, and you are more familiar with the officials of Liangjiang, think about it carefully, is there a suitable person among the officials in Liangjiang." ”

Han Xiufeng thought for a while, raised his head and said: "Xue Huan, the prefect of Suzhou, is diligent, honest and honest, and not pedantic. As far as Xia Guan knew, he had dealt with Xiyi when he accompanied the late governor Gil Hang'a to attack the Xiaodao Society, and Xia Guan felt that he was a good candidate to deal with Xiyi. ”

Speaking of Xue Huan, Su Shun couldn't help but smile and said, "Zhixing, it seems that you have Xiyi in your mind." ”

"Why do you say that?"

"If I'm not mistaken, Xue Huan didn't be the prefect of Suzhou a long time ago, and now it seems to be Su Song's grain road."

"He was promoted, I really don't know."

"He Guiqing is playing, and the time to move Su Song's grain road is not long, since you think he is a candidate who can deal with Xiyi, then I will ask the emperor early tomorrow morning, and order Xue Huan to be Su Song's Taidao, and let Tang Yunsong be Su Song's grain road, and switch the two of them, and let Xue Huan go to Shanghai to deal with Xiyi wholeheartedly."

"Your Excellency is wise!"

"What kind of wisdom is this?" Su Shun smiled self-deprecatingly, and continued: "Negotiating with Xiyi, the matter with Xiyi, you can't write it in the edict. You go back and write a letter to him, what should he do after he arrives in Shanghai, and explain to him clearly in 1510. It is best to order the Shanghai branch of 'Houyitang' to fully assist, only by knowing himself and knowing his opponent, he can do this errand with both hands. ”

"The lower official understands, and the lower official obeys the order."

"Then there is Tianjin Haiphong, you have shown me from the excerpts of Tianjin and Baoding, as you said, you are not afraid of 10,000, you are afraid of just in case, and the preparations that should be made still have to be made. If there is something lacking in Tianjin, whether it is people, money or food, hurry up, I will go and tell Chen Fuen and let him handle it as soon as possible. ”

Han Xiufeng had already prepared, and took out a list of the things he had drawn up in Baoding from his arms and said, "What do you need over there in Tianjin, Xiufeng has listed them all, please take a look." ”

"Okay, I'll take a look."

……

In the matter of coastal defense, Su Shunzhen called him a good man, and after reading the list, he sent someone to send it to Chen Fuen, the secretary of the Ministry of War. As for the amount of food and salary allocated by the Zhili Grain Road alone, it was far from enough, and he had to let the Changlu Salt Transportation Division and the Tianjin Mansion assist him, he also sent people to ask Mu Yin and Du Han, the two military ministers, to hurry up.

Han Xiufeng secretly smacked his tongue when he saw it, thinking that although he was not a university scholar now, he was better than a university scholar, and although he was not the Minister of Military Aircraft, he was better than the Minister of Military Aircraft. In contrast, Peng Yunzhang's Shoufu is not worthy of his real name.

Su Shun didn't know what Han Xiufeng was thinking, so he sent a letter to the family to pass the word, and suddenly asked, "Zhixing, I remember that you seem to have sent someone to Shanghai?" ”

"Your Excellency, this is indeed the case."

"What is that person's last name, and where is he from?"

"The surname is Liu, the name is Shanyang, he was born in Sichuan, he once followed Xiufeng to prevent and block bandits in Guizhou, and later led the eastern Sichuan regiment with Xiufeng to Hubei to help suppress Changmao."

"Come to think of it, it seems that you have him in the excerpt of your performance." Su Shun touched the corners of his mouth, and said lightly: "If the name is not right, it is not good, but you can't let him run errands for the court but not have a proper errand." I sent someone to send him his resume, and I saw if I could help him get an errand in the Internal Affairs Office. ”

"Thank you, Lord for your care!"

"What's so thankful for this, as long as it was a person who entered the 'Houyi Hall' before, the emperor rewarded all the errands, and I just handled it as usual."

Han Xiufeng realized that he originally didn't want to take care of the "Houyi Hall", but now that the army of foreigners is pressing, he can't care about the Ministry of Rites who also manages the affairs of the clan and the Honglu Temple, so even the people of the "Houyi Hall" can follow the light.

Just when he didn't know what to say, Prince Zheng, who had been yawning for a long time, got up and said, "Yuting, you are busy with yours, let's go out first to breathe." ”

Without waiting for Su Shun to speak, Han Xiufeng hurriedly got up and said, "Xiaguan respectfully sends off the two princes." ”

"It's important to stay and get down to business."

Gong sent off the two "hand-shaking princes", and Su Shun continued: "Zhixing, as you played in the excerpt, if Xiyi really commits Zhili in the north, whether Tianjin can be defended depends not on the two battalions of the Dagu Association, nor on the unworthy Qiu Ba in Tianjin Town, in the final analysis, it has to rely on the Beijing camp and the horse team in Nanyuan." ”

"Adults are talking about ......"

"It's inconvenient for me to go to Nanyuan, and I'm not familiar with those arrogant soldiers and generals under Seng Lingqin. They can get rid of the long hair, but whether they can deal with Xiyi, I really don't know in my heart, so Nanyuan and Monk Greenqin are all up to you. There is no need to go to the Taifu Temple anymore, don't worry about those things with the sacrifice, you have to run to the monk's mansion more often, and tell him more about Xiyi, if there is really a war in the future, lest he be stubborn and self-serving, and the enemy will advance rashly, and then he will be defeated! ”

"Xiufeng understands."

"And then there is Tobe Langzhong Ronglu, do you recognize it?"

Han Xiufeng was taken aback, and subconsciously asked, "How could an adult suddenly ask about him?" ”

Su Shun saw that Han Xiufeng not only recognized Rong Lu, but also probably had some friendship, and said bluntly: "After the emperor remembered that he was a loyal martyr, he promoted him to Langzhong and took charge of the treasury of the household department. But he was good, he was deeply favored by the emperor but did not think of reimbursing the court, and dared to cooperate with the officials of the treasury to guard and steal himself, and fill his own pockets! ”

"He is too bold to have such a thing!" Han Xiufeng didn't think that Su Shun would wronged Rong Lu, first, although Rong Lu had a bit of a family background, his expenses were as big, and he would really sit on the mountain if he didn't make any more money; Second, Yinkulang is not so easy to do, as long as he is a person who sits in that position, he can't be a clean official.

"For your sake, I'll let him go." Su Shun took a deep breath and continued: "But the silver that was spit in, you have to give me a lot of one or two to spit out!" And then he doesn't expect to do this errand anymore, let him find a reason to resign, save some face for his dead Amma, and also save some face for the emperor, so as not to let those who like to chew their tongues talk about the emperor's ignorance behind his back. ”