Coming out of the Qinzheng Palace, Han Xiufeng was not in a hurry to return to Nanyuan, but explained a few words to the big head, and then came to the small courtyard that Wen Feng, the Minister of Internal Affairs, helped clean up last year.

When several servants of the Internal Affairs Office saw that he had finally arrived, they hurriedly ran to greet the New Year, and were busy greeting him, a generous adult. Han Xiufeng had already prepared the reward, and after the reward, he saw that they were busy lighting the fire and cleaning up, so he simply took out a handful of scattered silver and asked them to help buy two jars of wine, and by the way, buy some dishes with wine.

Unexpectedly, they helped the palace to buy on weekdays, and they couldn't wait to be greedy for all the money, but they were very honest in helping Shangguan run errands to buy things, and they actually put up a large table of wine and food for the little broken silver, and even brought a pot of mutton soup, which helped to stew on the stove, making the house full of mutton smell.

Han Xiufeng was already a little hungry, and was about to fill a bowl of mutton soup to pad his stomach first, when there was a sound of footsteps outside, and the big head accompanied Wen Xiang, the minister of military aircraft, who had just gotten off work, arrived.

Han Xiufeng hurriedly beckoned the two to sit down, although the big head was a royal guard, he didn't get carried away, where did he dare to sit down and eat wine with them, but he didn't want to leave in a panic, and Han Xiufeng grinned and filled a big bowl of mutton soup, sandwiched a large bowl of vegetables, carried a jar of wine, and ran to the porter to eat.

Afraid that he would spill the mutton soup, Wen Xiang helped the curtain made of cotton wool, and only after watching him run into the gatehouse did he put down the curtain and asked with a smile: "Zhixing, I heard that you are busy looking for silver everywhere these days, and you can't wait to break a copper plate into two halves, how can you be willing to invite me to eat and drink today?" ”

"You are the Minister of Military Aircraft, and I must not stammer during this New Year." Han Xiufeng beckoned him to sit down, picked up the freshly opened jar, and poured wine into the bowl in front of him, while smiling: "What's more, when I receive the grace of dripping water, you will promote me as the political envoy of Jiangningbu, if I don't put wine to thank you, then I really don't understand the rules." ”

Wen Xiang didn't care about joking, and asked eagerly: "Did the emperor tell you?" ”

"Otherwise, why would I be here on such a cold day?"

"The emperor has granted permission?"

"Not for the time being, and I don't really want to be this political envoy."

"It's a rare opportunity, why are you so confused!" Wen Xiang was anxious.

"Brother Bochuan, do you think this is a good opportunity?" Han Xiufeng looked at him with a smile and asked.

"Zhixing, I know this is not a good errand, but I really can't think of anyone other than you who can clean up the mess in Jiangbei!" Wen Xiang picked up the wine bowl and continued: "Besides, I guarantee that you will be the political envoy of Jiangning, and please let you go to Liangjiang to help with military affairs, if the emperor is gracious, he will definitely not let you be the political envoy of Jiangning." After all, if the name is not right, it is not good, if you want you to command the Jiangbei official army, how can you be rewarded with a second-grade top, and the rank of squire of the military department, maybe the emperor will give you the Qincha Guanfang. ”

"Brother Bochuan, I know your good intentions, but now I really can't go, and Yangzhou really can't go."

"Why can't you go?"

Although Yu'er returned to the capital early, the women recruited by the women's school she helped foreigners were still in Shanghai, and most of them became subordinates of foreign businessmen and even consulates of the United States and other countries. Liu Shanyang sent a letter a few days ago, saying that the women's gang was inquiring about a piece of news. ”

"What's the news?" Wen Xiang asked subconsciously.

Han Xiufeng picked up a slice of sauced beef and said in a low voice: "After the British retreated from Dagukou last year, the news quickly spread back to their homeland, and they reversed black and white, and never talked about He Bo's forced entry into the sea and firing artillery at the forts on both sides of the strait, but slandered the monk Greenqin for sneaking up on his mission.

The local gentry were so agitated that a newspaper called the Daily Telegraph even clamored for an invasion of China, the capture of the city of Beijing, the expulsion of the emperor from the palace, and the permanent occupation of Canton. The cabinet met for eight days and finally unanimously advocated an increase in troops against China, with the aim of attacking the capital and carrying out so-called 'large-scale retaliation'. ”

Although he had expected that Yingfo Eryi would retaliate, Wen Xiang was still shocked into a cold sweat when he heard Han Xiufeng's words, and he asked in a low voice after a while: "Do you know how many additional troops they plan to send?" ”

"England intends to send 12,000 soldiers, and France intends to send 7,000 soldiers. It is said that the land division of the British army was commanded by Grant, a veteran who had been in China for 20 years in Daoguang, and the naval division was led by He Bo, a defeated general under Seng Lingqin; The commander of the French army was called Montauban, the commander of the naval division was called Schelner, and the ministers such as Pashali would accompany him. ”

"20,000, more than 20,000 soldiers at once, how can this battle be ......?"

"I don't know how we will fight, but how the British and French coaches will fight this battle, Liu Shanyang has already helped us find out."

"How are they going to fight?"

Han Xiufeng put down his chopsticks, picked up the bowl and took a sip of wine, and said solemnly: "After Erjin captured the forts on the north and south sides of the strait the year before last, the reason why he led his troops back south so quickly. First, because Gui Liang and Hua Shana agreed to their conditions and signed the peace treaty; The second is because they are laboring on expeditions, and they cannot afford to pay for food, grass and ammunition. ”

"What about this time?" Wen Xiang asked eagerly.

"This time, they planned to fight steadily, originally wanted to use Shanghai as a springboard, first hoarding some grain, grass and ammunition in Shanghai, first letting the soldiers transferred from all over the country rest in Shanghai, and then waving their troops to the north. But after some discussion, he felt that it would inevitably cause trouble when so many soldiers gathered in Shanghai, and he was worried that it would affect their merchants to do business, so he planned to occupy Dinghai (Zhoushan, Zhejiang) first, and use Dinghai as the first springboard. ”

"So, there's a second, a third?"

"He has ordered an officer of Hahnd to lead a gunboat to the coast of Luda to spy (in Dalian Bay) and look for a suitable place for the ships to anchor and the army to be stationed; The French army had long taken a fancy to Zhifu (Yantai) in Shandong Province and wanted to use Zhifu as its so-called 'offensive base'. If the old brother doesn't believe it, he can ask the emperor to order General Shengjing, the governor of Jinzhou and the governor of Shandong to quickly appoint members of the Ming cadres to investigate. ”

"Does the emperor know about these things?"

As soon as Liu Shanyang received the news, he reported to He Guiqing, the governor of Liangjiang, who had just made a secret fold. The emperor is most worried about the Liangjiang War now, and he can't take care of these for a while, but he just sent a secret message to Gui Liangshan, who was handling the pacification bureau in Shanghai, to persuade him, and he was convinced by reason, everything is always about stopping the army, as long as the foreigners do not provoke the army, the previous conditions can be discussed. ”

"Are foreigners willing to talk?"

"Again and again, as the so-called things are no more than three, I estimate that foreigners will not believe us again this time. Even if you are willing to talk, you will bring soldiers to the capital and sit down to talk with the emperor in front of the gong! ”

"They want to be on an equal footing with the emperor, and they have to bring troops!"

"So there's no need to talk about it." Han Xiufeng drank all the wine in the bowl, then put down the bowl and stared at him and asked, "Brother Bochuan, do you say that at this juncture, I can ignore the emperor's safety and go to Jiangsu to be the political envoy of Jiangning?" ”

"How much can you help if you stay in the capital, can it be that you can turn the tide with your hundreds of private soldiers hiding in Nanyuan?" Wen Xiang asked rhetorically.

"Brother Bochuan, people are valuable in self-knowledge, and I know that I can't turn the tide, let alone turn things around. But as long as I still have a breath of air, I will never let the emperor suffer such a great humiliation! ”

Although he very much disagreed with Han Xiufeng's approach, Wen Xiang didn't want to argue with him anymore, and was silent for a moment and muttered: "Monk Greenqin has been on the battlefield for a long time, and if you can win once, you can win the second time." ”

"I hope so."

"What do you mean, the monk king is the pillar of my Qing Dynasty, this battle can only be won and never defeated!"

"Let's not talk about him, let's talk about us." Han Xiufeng put down his chopsticks and changed his words: "Brother Bochuan, the British and French armies will not arrive at Dagu until May or June at the earliest. Before that, even if the sky falls, you don't want to protect where I am going to be a sub-official, everything will wait until the current level is over, how about it? ”

"Are you blaming me for making your own decisions?"

"Where do you want to go, I, Han Xiufeng, am not a person who doesn't know what to do, my brother takes me and takes care of me, it's too late for me to be grateful."

The army pressed the border, although Wen Xiang said so, in fact, he knew very well in his heart that if he really fought, this battle would be defeated or won, how could he have the heart to eat and drink, and he sat for a while before raising his head and said: "Zhixing, Seng Greenqin was in the limelight last year, but whether it is the emperor or Prince Zheng, Prince Yi, Prince Gong, Peng Zhongtang, Su Shun and other princes and ministers, they all know in their hearts that Monk Greenqin can win that battle and can hold Tianjin Haikou, and you Han Zhixing has made great contributions." Or you should go to Tianjin again and help plan how to prevent blockage. ”

"Brother Bochuan, do you know that the big head has never practiced any martial arts, but can he fight five or six at a time?" Without waiting for Wen Xiang to speak, Han Xiufeng continued: "That's because he is five big and three thick, and he has brute strength. In the words of running the rivers and lakes, this is called one force to ten meetings! And now the British and French armies are like big heads, and we are like those guards at the gate of the palace, without that block, without that brute force, no matter how fancy the swords, guns and sticks are, it is useless! ”

"And what's next for you?"

"You don't care about my business, you still think about your sister-in-law and the baby."

"You ......"

"I know how to be honest, and if I don't say anything, I drink!"

"If you want to drink it yourself, I can't drink it, so I don't have to take another step in advance."

"Don't send it!"

……

Seeing Wen Xiang away, Han Xiufeng not only had no interest in drinking anymore, but also put down the wine bowl and sat on the chair in a daze as if the three souls and six spirits had been sucked away.

After so many years as an official, I have never been so desperate as I am now.

knew where the foreigners would go next, but he could only watch them press forward step by step until they reached the capital.

How did the great China end up in such a field?

Why can't so many skilled craftsmen make those foreign guns and cannons of foreigners?

How can a small country like Britain and France be able to raise four or five hundred thousand soldiers?

Questions like these came to mind one after another, until Jixiang and Feng Xiaobao cautiously walked in and asked whether to stay in the guild hall at night or go back to Nanyuan, Han Xiufeng relieved himself.