Yangzhou and Yizhen have been occupied by bandits for more than two months, and the fleeing people are still running to Taizhou, the population of the city has surged, rents and prices have skyrocketed, and luxury has also prevailed.

Teahouses, theaters, bathhouses, and bathhouses have sprung up suddenly, and those gardens outside the city that I don't know how long they have been abandoned seem to have new owners overnight.

Most of those who can gain a firm foothold in the state city are rich, and those who have no money can only go to Yiling, Shao Bo and even Jiangyan and other towns to live temporarily. The rich are not necessarily all scholars, but most of them have studied, and Taizhou's literary style has become more and more prosperous. Wanghailou and several other places of interest, every day there are literati lingering, compared with other yamen before seems a little deserted school palace, now it has become a city.

The war in Yangzhou is tight, and the literary scene in Taizhou is also "full of gunsmoke".

Those Confucian students who had just helped the old man of Zhizhou finish writing "The Defense of Taizhou" felt that the "Taizhou Chronicles" repaired by Dao Guangnian was full of loopholes, and they went to the state government to rebuild the local chronicles in three days! Many Confucian students who participated in the cultivation of the Zhi during the Daoguang period are still alive, and these old Confucian students naturally will not agree, and they will go to the state government together for three days to oppose it.

Just when many readers who didn't end up watching the excitement, there was another rare thing in the Taizhou literary circle.

Zeng personally led a thousand villagers to stick to Wanfu Bridge, and beheaded more than 400 thieves and bandits in the former Taizhou Prefecture, and now in Hai'an to recuperate from the wounded Lianghuai Salt Transportation Division Deputy Envoy Han Master wants to study, not only ask Second Young Master Zhang to help buy books that can be bought on the market, but also collect books that are not available on the market in the whole city!

Immediately afterwards, the Yunsi Yamen, who moved to Taizhou, also began to help collect, and Master Pan, the patrol officer of Lord Guo, not only took a group of soap officials to "sweep" the school palace, but also visited those scholarly families in the city who were only a little famous with famous posts.

Some people think that Master Han has lofty ambitions, and the officials have already achieved the five grades and do not forget to study. Some people also think that Master Han's reading is wrong, and they don't know the truth of "if you want to be fast, you can't reach it, and you can't chew it if you are greedy", and they think that Master Han will not do anything great in his studies. But in any case, the fact that Mr. Han, who was born as a donor, liked to read was spread and known to everyone in just a few days, and the books collected by the state government and the transportation department yamen were also sent to Hai'an one after another.

There are not many books to be sent to Hai'an today, only four boxes, but there are two more guests on board.

Guan Renhai, who is now accompanied by Lord Guo personally, but did not go to the various inspections with Lord Guo, looked back at the two guests from the capital in the cabin, and then thought of the Du Qian and six Sichuan people who took a boat to Hai'an yesterday afternoon, and couldn't help but smile in the local dialect: "Chu Bantou, when Master Han did the inspection, there were not so many relatives and friends who came to him, and as soon as he became the deputy of Shangyun, there were relatives and friends at the two ends of the three days to find him, it was funny to think about it." ”

After Chu Chenggui came back from Wanfuqiao, he did not go to the Yamen of the Inspection Department to be an errand again, but was entrusted by Zhang Guangcheng with an important task to be the head of the fast shift of the state government, and he has gained a firm foothold in the state government for two months, this time he went back to Hai'an to pick up his family, thinking that a few relatives who usually don't move around much a few days ago also ran to Taizhou to find him, and couldn't help laughing: "This is called the poor in the downtown and no one asks, and the rich have distant relatives in the mountains." ”

"It's so troublesome to have relatives, you see how good I am, I make money and spend my own money, and the whole family is not hungry when I have enough to eat!"

"When you marry your mother-in-law, you will have relatives, hahaha."

……

Fugui couldn't understand the Hai'an dialect, and as the new member of Yangzhou Guan, a dignified official from the Wupin Imperial Court, not only did he not care what others would say, but he even looked down on Qiu Ba and the official standing on the bow of the boat.

He leaned comfortably on the large wooden box full of books, played with the snuffbox and said, "Jinghua, don't be so restrained, don't be so nervous." It's not that you haven't seen the fourth master, and you don't know the fourth master's personality, as long as you go to Taizhou and get to the fourth master, our brothers and sons will be like going to our own home! ”

"Rich man, what is your identity, and what is my identity? What kind of friendship do you have with the fourth master, what kind of friendship do I have with the fourth master, I went to the guild hall when I was in the capital, and I also saw the fourth master, but how can the fourth master remember me! ”

"Why did you forget what kind of place this is, this is not the capital, this is Taizhou!" Fugui glared at him, put down the snuffbox and said, "If it's really about identity, your identity is noble!" You can't say this again in the future, you will be laughed at if you spread it, as for not being familiar with the fourth master, what does it matter, you will be familiar with it once you are born twice. ”

"I'm still a little worried." Jinghua said with a bitter face.

"With me here, your fourth master will definitely take it to heart, what is there to worry about?" Thinking that he would be able to arrive in Hai'an before dark at the latest, and he would be able to see Han Si, Fugui unpacked his bags again, and checked the Beijing officials such as Huang Yushi, Ji Hanlin, and Ao Hanlin who had entrusted him to give Han Sixin, as well as a few small gifts prepared before coming.

At the same time, Han Xiufeng was offering incense in the temple on Fengshan.

Dean Gu and Li Zhiyong, who heard the news, didn't know why he suddenly came to worship the Buddha, so they could only kneel and worship together. Du San, who was kneeling on the side, not only guessed a few points, but even spontaneously felt a little embarrassed and a little sorry.

After Han Xiufeng finished the incense, he bowed with his hands together, and then turned around and asked, "Dean Gu, Zhiyong, why are you here too?" ”

"Isn't the foundation of the government office laid, we are not very relieved, come and take a look. I didn't expect to hear that you were on the mountain as soon as I came, so we came here. Dean Gu looked at Du San with curiosity, and then said: "The centigold extracted from Zhongbakou is 20% of ours, God knows if they will do anything in the accounts, I happened to meet those two committee members when I came over, and I didn't be polite to them, and said that from tomorrow onwards, we will send someone over." ”

"It's okay to send someone over, who are you going to send?"

"If you want to say that it is appropriate, it is most appropriate to say it carefully, but I can say that I am going to let my cousin and nephew Wang Youpeng go over. Although the child has not made much progress in his studies, he is quite reliable in his life and work. ”

"You always say it's reliable, it must be reliable." Han Xiufeng smiled and invited everyone to go down the mountain together.

Du San came for the second time, and knew that Dean Gu and Li Zhiyong were not only local gentry, but also either donated the top belt or the top belt given by the Holy Lord, and even had a village warrior under them, not to mention that he was ashamed to follow too closely, so he followed him so far behind.

As soon as he walked a few steps, Dean Gu asked Han Xiufeng why he suddenly remembered Fengshan Shangxiang.

Han Xiufeng took a deep breath, stopped and looked in the direction of Yangzhou, and said solemnly: "Yangzhou is going to fight, this time it's a real fight!" But in order to atone for his crimes, Minglun not only said that he knew where there was a 10,000-pound run that could blow the city wall open, but also hired young men to transport it out of his own pocket, and started fighting as soon as the cannon arrived. ”

"Master Han, are you praying for the blessing of the army?"

"The army can't worry about me Han Xiufeng, I'm worried about Zhang Yiguo."

"That Salt Governor who has been defeated repeatedly?" Dean Gu asked subconsciously.

"Well, but he is no longer the Governor of Yan, and now he is from the top belt of the fifth grade like me, and Lei Yicheng is the same."

"The army is attacking the city, what does it have to do with him as a civil official?"

Han Xiufeng said with a wry smile: "The imperial court has opened a new donation case for raising salaries, and it doesn't cost much silver to donate a top belt from the fifth grade. Lei Yicheng actually used this top flower feather, which was not worth much silver, to make him die for the court. is obviously a civil official, and he also took the initiative to ask Ying to be the vanguard of the army, and he wanted to personally lead two hundred brave men to attack the city. ”

He ...... He's going to lead his troops into battle again? Li Zhiyong asked with a smile.

"Hmm."

"It's over, let him be the vanguard, I think there is a chance that this city will not be able to be attacked."

"Zhiyong, what do you mean by that?" Dean Gu asked puzzled.

Li Zhiyong couldn't help but smile and said: "Dean Gu, it's not that you don't know that he Zhang Yiguo has never won a battle!" I find it strange that he is alive to this day. ”

"I can't say that, I have to have a few civil and military officials in the Qing Dynasty who are not afraid of death," Dean Gu thought about it and asked, "Master Han, have you found the 10,000-pound cannon?" ”

"I found it, and the letter said that it had been transported across the river, and it would be transported to Yangzhou in three or five days."

"Where did you find it?"

"Jiangyin goosenose mouth is a 'Fenwei Zhenyuan General Cannon' cast by Daoguang in the 23rd year, weighing 12,000 catties, taking 324 taels of medicine, and 240 taels of ammunition. Back then, this cannon was cast to prevent foreigners, and then it wasn't negotiated peace, and this cannon was not used, many people don't remember, but Minglun actually remembered. ”

Dean Gu pondered for a moment, and then asked, "Master Han, do you know how many bandits there are in the city?" ”

"Wu Wenming's letter said that after the division of troops, there will be no more than 3,000 old thieves in Guangxi, but the thieves will coerce the people everywhere they go, and I don't know how many thieves there are."

"Did Zhang Yiguo give you a letter?"

"There is a letter, but there is no mention that he wants to take the lead in attacking the city, only that he has asked Lei Yicheng, and when the money is collected, he will allocate 1,500 taels to send Hai'an to compensate the more than 100 villagers who died in battle with the officers and soldiers who surrounded the bandits."

"Loyal minister, he is a true loyal minister."

"Otherwise, I wouldn't have come to offer incense and make a wish to help him pray for blessings."

"Did Mr. Wu say anything?" Li Zhiyong couldn't help but ask.

Han Xiufeng sighed lightly and said helplessly: "Wu Wenming is bent on avenging the two ancestors of the Wu family and more than a hundred people in Wujiazhuang, and after meeting Lei Yicheng, he returned to Yizhen. I plan to go back to raise money and food, recruit people, and train the villagers. He went back with a mortal heart, and said in the letter that if he had three longs and two shorts, he would ask me to help take care of the families who were placed in Taizhou. ”

"Why is he doing this?"

"He's different from you and me, if he doesn't do anything, how can he have the face to face his two brothers in the future."