Qiao Songnian is here to greet the governor, and he won't leave if the governor doesn't see him. Han Xiufeng naturally wanted to take this opportunity to inquire where the bandits had hit, and if he didn't inquire clearly, he always felt unsure.

Qiao Songnian had just taken office, and a few days ago he went to Jiading to see Xu Naizhao, and the news was far better than Han Xiufeng, who had been staying in Hai'an before, and said worriedly when it came to the bandits: "Lin Fengxiang and Li Kaifang led their troops to rush out of Yangzhou City, rushed to Pukou and joined the long-haired Chunguanzheng Prime Minister Ji Wenyuan and other troops, and the whole army of more than 20,000 people entered Henan through Mengcheng and Bozhou in Anhui. Due to the lack of boats, one failed to cross the river and returned south to Anhui.

Most of the bandits who have crossed the river are like bamboos, attacking the city all the way, occupying Wen County first, and then besieging Huaiqing. Fortunately, Yan Bingtao, the prefect of Huaiqing, was loyal to the country, and personally led the temporarily recruited brave warriors who swore to defend the city to the death, and dragged Lin Fengxiang and other bandits alive. The emperor conferred on the scholar of Wenhuadian and the governor of Zhili, Naerjing, as the minister of the Qincha to control the armies north and south of the Yellow River to intercept the bandits.

But Ner's incompetence has already encircled the bandits under Huaiqing City with more than 40,000 soldiers and horses, and he was fooled by Lin Fengxiang by setting up a few fake camps, so he broke out from under the noses of more than 40,000 imperial court troops, and wasted a good opportunity for Yan Bingtao to give up his life to win. ”

"Where are Lin Fengxiang and Li Kaifang now?" Han Xiufeng asked in a low voice.

"Lord Xu said that after this group of bandits broke through the siege and entered Shanxi, Lianke Pingyang, Hongdong, and Licheng, they should enter Dongzhili at this time."

"So it's not far from the capital!"

"Yes, if Lin Fengxiang and Li Kaifang are allowed to succeed, if they can't even hold the capital......" Qiao Song sighed elder, not daring to think further, let alone say more.

Han Xiufeng finally understood why the foreign consul was wavering on the matter of helping the court or helping Changmao, and finally understood why even Liu Lichuan, Chen Alin, Li Shaoxi and others dared to pull the flag and rebel, it turned out that they all felt that the Qing Dynasty might not be able to hold the country.

Thinking of the fact that although the long hair attacked the city all the way, no matter where he conquered, it was mainly looting, almost capturing a city and abandoning a city, in the final analysis, it was still a rogue, and he felt that it was not so easy for the long hair to change the dynasty, so he was silent for a while and asked: "What about the long hair that goes west?" ”

"The long-haired masters of the western offenses are Hu Yihuang, the prime minister of Chunguan Zheng, who is fully sealed by Hong Xiu, and Lai Hanying, the deputy prime minister of Xia Guan, who led more than 1,000 warships and 20,000 soldiers to go up the river from Jiangning. After the capture of Anqing, Hu Yihuang stayed in the town, Lai Hanying led the inspection of Zeng Tianyang, commanded Lin Qirong and more than 10,000 bandits to continue to march westward, Lianke Pengze, Hukou, Nankang, Wucheng and other places, it is said that at this time the army has come to Nanchang City. ”

"Can Nanchang be defended?" Compared with the bandits who went to the capital, Han Xiufeng was more worried about going up the river, after all, if the bandits were really allowed to capture it, and then capture Wuchang again, it was difficult to say whether the bandits would continue to go up the river to invade Sichuan.

"It's not that I'm depressed, I originally thought that I wouldn't be able to hold it nine times out of ten, but it wasn't until I heard Lord Xu say that Jiang Zhongyuan, the new Hubei Inspectorate, was relieved when he arrived in Nanchang. With Jiang Zhongyuan here, it is not so easy for Changmao to capture Nanchang. ”

The name Jiang Zhongyuan is really thunderous, even more famous than Qi Shan and Xiang Rong, and can be called the most capable official in the Qing Dynasty today. Thinking that Jiang Zhongyuan was not only invincible, killing the bandits, but also saving Du San's life, Han Xiufeng couldn't help but sigh: "With Lord Jiang in charge, let alone capture Nanchang, it is estimated that he will suffer a big loss under Nanchang City." ”

"Do you also know Jiang Zhongyuan?"

"I often hear people mention it, I don't know it if I don't know it, I not only know Lord Jiang, but also know Chu Yong, who was recruited and trained by Lord Jiang. If the Eight Banners and the Green Camp were as good at fighting as Chu Yong trained by Lord Jiang, it would not be just around the corner if the imperial court wanted to exterminate Long Mao. ”

"Jiang Zhongyuan is really famous, but your reputation Han Zhixing is not small. Wanfuqiao was victorious, and more than 400 long hairs were cut in battle! It's a pity that you fought such a battle, if you win a few more battles, maybe the first person to give the brave number to the civil service will be you, and it will not be your turn to be your fellow countryman surnamed Liu. ”

"My Lord Futai, don't lift it up again, you didn't recognize me the first day, you know best how many catties and taels my Han Si has. People are self-aware, let me run errands, do chores, expect me to lead the troops to fight is really sorry for the court, sorry for the soldiers. ”

When Qiao Songnian was in the capital, he knew that the reason why Han Si donated and surrendered was not to be a big official and earn a lot of money, but to be an official to get rid of his cold nationality, and to let the descendants of the Han family enter the imperial examination. Thinking that Han Si's goal had been achieved, Qiao Songnian couldn't help but smile and asked, "Zhixing, is the injury on your leg real or not, do you want to retire successfully?" ”

"Naturally it's true, this injury can still be fake!" Han Xiufeng's face was straight, and he stroked his thigh and said: "Don't you know, my injury seems to be healed, but when it is windy and rainy, my leg hurts, and the pain makes me unable to sleep, get out of bed, or walk!" ”

"Old cold legs, so am I."

"I'm different from you, I'm not an old cold leg, I'm a war wound!"

"It's not the same, it's not the same, can I not believe that others can believe you? Let's not talk about this, let's talk about what Mr. Guo asked you to do in Shanghai. ”

"Food!"

"Do you want you, the deputy master of the five grades, to go out in person?" Qiao Songnian asked with a smile.

"If you don't believe me, you can ask Master Guo." Han Xiufeng said with a smile.

"Don't coax me, to be honest, are you here to make salt?"

"My lord, you can eat indiscriminately, and you can't talk nonsense. Shanghai is the introduction of Zhejiang salt, and Huai salt cannot be sold to Shanghai. I, Han Si, am also an official of the court from the fifth grade, how could I do that thing that knows the law and violates the law. ”

"I didn't say that you plan to sell Huai salt to Shanghai or even my Songjiang Mansion."

"And what do you want to say?" Han Xiufeng couldn't help but ask.

Qiao Songnian smiled confidently: "If you guessed correctly, you are eighty percent here to find foreigners and hire foreign ships." ”

Han Xiufeng was happy, and couldn't help but smile and asked, "What am I hiring a foreign ship for?" ”

"Transporting salt!"

"Are you saying that I plan to hire a foreign ship to transport Huai salt to Huguang?"

"Isn't it?"

"Of course not!" Han Xiufeng put down the teacup and explained with a wry smile: "My lord of Futai, you have never been to Yangzhou Taizhou, and you don't know what the Lianghuai salt industry has become abandoned. Let's put it this way, don't say that I can't hire a foreign ship, and even if I can hire this salt, I can't transport it. ”

"Why can't I hire it, why can't I ship it out even if I hire it?" Qiao Songnian asked curiously.

"In fact, as early as the Jiaqing Dynasty, those general merchants in Yangzhou did not have much capital, and every time they went to the salt field to buy salt, they had to borrow silver from the imperial court, and then return the salt with interest after it was transported to the land and sold. You can't believe it when you say it, before the Changmao rebellion, there were only a dozen general merchants and transporters in Yangzhou who had the financial resources to run salt. Han Xiufeng paused, and then said: "Now those general merchants and transporters have been served by Changmao again, without the salt merchants, do you think this salt can be transported?" ”

"So the two Huai salt affairs have been completely abandoned!"

"You just know that Lord Guo has also thought of a way, and plans to implement the ticket salt law in Huaizhong and Huainan, that is, anyone can go to the yamen to lead it, and then go to the salt field to buy salt and sell it. But the silver on the market is so tight, not to mention the silver, even the copper coins are not enough to circulate, and they can't be turned, who has the money to lead and sell salt. ”

The Lianghuai salt tax is one of the main tax sources of the imperial court, Qiao Songnian didn't expect that the Lianghuai salt affairs had been eroded like this, and he thought about it and asked: "No one wants to run salt, what about those salt farms, don't those stove households have no livelihood?" ”

"There is nothing to worry about in the salt farm, mainly because those stove households have no way to live, so Lord Guo can only turn a blind eye and acquiesce to those stove households to reclaim the land. Some should be planted with grain, while others should be planted with cotton. In fact, many salt farms have long stopped producing salt, otherwise those big businessmen in Shanghai would not go to Tongzhou every year to buy cotton. ”

Looking at Qiao Songnian's thoughtful appearance, Han Xiufeng added: "Even if the salt is boiled, it can't be sold, and the salt can't be sold, and the grain in Huguang can't be transported, so Anfeng, Fu'an, Jiaoxian and other salt farms that were not abandoned before have to be reclaimed this year." Not only is the harvest not good in saline-alkali land, but this grain cannot be grown by standing here. As a deputy of Lianghuaiyun, I couldn't watch the stove households under my rule starve to death, so I raised some money to come to Shanghai to run grain. ”

"I see, I think too much."

"It's not that you think too much, but you can't imagine that the two Huai Salt Affairs have become like this."

Han Xiufeng didn't want to talk about the two Huai salt affairs anymore, so he immediately changed the conversation and talked about the matter in front of him. Hearing that the warship "Antelope" of Jianghaiguan was bombed on the river, and more than a dozen people died, Qiao Songnian frowned tightly and said: "The rebel party has robbed several boats, and there are also foreign boats, maybe it was really done by the rebel party." ”

"I don't think Liu Lichuan will do this to 'sell chickens'."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Brother Jianhou, believe it or not, 'selling chickens' is really not as simple as you and I thought before. You can't look down on him because his top was donated with silver, and his previous errand was bought with silver, his relationship with foreigners is really unusual. Others may look down on him, but Liu Lichuan doesn't dare to offend him, it is not an exaggeration to say that offending him is offending foreigners! ”

"Liu Lichuan doesn't dare to offend 'Selling Chicken Shuang', what about Chen Alin, hasn't Chen Alin always wanted to kill 'Selling Chicken Shuang'?"

"Chen Alin is not afraid of offending the 'Chicken Seller', but in my opinion, Chen Alin may not dare to blow up the 'Antelope'."

"Why doesn't Chen Alin dare?"

"Chen Alin is not afraid of 'selling chickens' does not mean that he is not afraid of foreigners, how will he know if there are foreigners on the 'Antelope', what if the foreigners are killed? What's more, the 'Antelope' is blocking the foreign ships of England and France from docking and unloading their cargo these days, and the side is full of foreigners' merchant ships, what if the foreigners' ships are also blown up? ”

Qiao Songnian groaned: "It's really foreigners' bombing like this!" ”

"It's also unlikely that the foreigners are unlikely, because there is no need at all, the 'Antelope' is preventing them from landing and unloading their cargo these days, but as far as I know, it is pretending to be blocked. What's more, in the eyes of foreigners, 'selling chickens' is the most reasonable official in the Qing Dynasty, and blowing up 'selling chickens' is not good for them. Han Xiufeng said as he spoke, a sneer on the corner of his mouth.

Qiao Songnian reacted suddenly: "It turned out to be a bitter meat plan!" The 'Antelope' was blown up, and he was lucky enough to escape the catastrophe, and he could give an explanation to the imperial court. ”

Han Xiufeng said coldly: "said that the foreigner blew it up, it was because he took the crime of self-efficacy to prevent the foreigner's merchant ship from docking, and wanted to make the English and French merchant ships pay customs duties as usual, but the foreigner held a grudge and killed him; It's okay to say that the party is blowing up, at least it can clear up the suspicion of banditry. ”

"Looks like I'm underestimating him!"

"If he doesn't have a good way, he can fight with foreigners, and he can mix left and right like a fish in water?" Han Xiufeng asked rhetorically, and then changed the subject: "That's more than a dozen lives, and it is estimated that among the dead people are the tax officials sent by the Internal Affairs Government and the tax collectors who know that he is misappropriating taxes under false public help, so this matter can't just be left alone." ”

"Now everyone is dead, and there is no proof of death." Qiao Songnian said helplessly.

Han Xiufeng knocked on the table and said coldly: "Put aside the matter of the Antelope, the matter of his capture by the chaotic party is not over yet." More than a dozen people on the Antelope can't die in vain, and a life has to be counted as 10,000 taels for him! ”

Qiao Songnian, who was worried about the salary, weighed it up, raised his head and said, "10,000 taels is too little, how can you get 20,000 taels." When Lord Xu arrived, I reported to Lord Xu and asked Lord Xu to beat him. ”

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