Although the civil and military officials in Beijing all knew that Qingxian's brother Qingxi was assigned to Heilongjiang as a drudger for what reason, his charges had nothing to do with his father, and Han Xiufeng clearly remembered that one of them was "sending subordinate officials to his home to serve and take care of him".

As the saying goes: no one is good for a thousand days, and no flower is red for a hundred days.

After being away from Beijing for so long, and not to mention that it will take another two years to return to Beijing, Han Xiufeng doesn't think that he can still have the same saint as before, so he is very cautious in what he says and does. For example, when he came to Jiangbei to meet Duan Dazhang this time, he not only let Chen Hu and others stay in the city, but also did not let Guan Bantou send them, so as not to be impeached, let the officials serve and take care of him, or drive the yamen servants as slaves.

Wang resigned from the errand of the county government a few years ago, and was neither an official nor a yamen scribe, so naturally he didn't have so many scruples, so he hired a few porters to carry the gifts prepared earlier, and accompanied Han Xiufeng to the Duanjia Garden.

Duan Dazhang, who was accompanying Sun Wuye on a tour of the mountains and rivers, heard from his family that Han Si arrived and hurried home. Seeing that Han Xiufeng was wearing a washed white robe, and only Wang Zaishan was with him, he couldn't help laughing: "Zhixing, Zhixing, you are really a light car!" ”

Han Xiufeng didn't care about joking, and hurriedly straightened his clothes and bowed down and said, "Xiufeng meets my uncle!" Xiufeng has been back to his hometown for more than half a month, and he didn't come to see him until today, and asked his uncle for forgiveness. ”

Duan Dazhang was stunned, and then held his arms and said with emotion: "Forgive what a crime, filial piety comes first, you are worried about returning to your hometown, so you naturally have to arrange things at home before you can come out." ”

"Uncle Xie is compassionate."

"Don't talk about this, it's good to come, let's go, I'll take you to meet your aunt first!"

……

Although it was rumored to be like the real thing outside, this was the first time that Han Xiufeng called "uncle".

Duan Dazhang was very relieved and very happy, took him to the inner house to meet his wife, and accompanied him to talk to his wife for a while, and then brought him to the flower hall.

Han Xiufeng saw that there was still an old man sitting in the flower hall, and Duan Dazhang not only didn't let the old man avoid it at all, but he didn't even introduce it, Han Xiufeng could only respectfully bow down and make a gesture, and then took out a gift list from his sleeve, and said apologetically: "Uncle, Xiufeng came back in a hurry this time, and he didn't have time to prepare......"

"I'm not an outsider, so why bother to see outsiders so much." Duan Dazhang took the gift list, looked down, and was immediately surprised: "This is called unprepared, these are all rare things that the old man can't buy if he wants to, and it must have cost a lot of silver!" ”

"It doesn't cost much, as long as my uncle likes it."

"What a rare thing, let me take a look."

"I can't show you, this is Zhixing honoring me!"

Duan Dazhang turned his head and glared at the old man, put away the gift slip and said with a smile: "Zhixing, I was so happy to patronize just now, I forgot to introduce it." Didn't you mention to me in the letter that you plan to send the baby to the Lishi Study House in the future, this is the fifth master of the Sun family in Ciqikou, and it is also your uncle and I who played with Huang Yonghuan together. ”

Although the Sun family in Ciqikou did not enter and leave the Jinshi, but in Ba County, it was the same existence as the Rongchang Ao family and the Qijiang Wu family, Han Xiufeng was suddenly in awe, and hurriedly got up and saluted: "Xiufeng has eyes and doesn't know Mount Tai, Xiufeng meets Sun Wuye!" ”

"No need to be polite, no need to be polite," Sun Wuye motioned for him to sit and looked at him with a smile and said, "Zhixingxian nephew, your uncle told me a long time ago that you plan to send the baby to my house." It's not that hard, it's just ...... Just ......"

"Don't worry, Xiufeng knows that the baby is still young, and it's too early to send it now."

"I'm not talking about this, I'm just a little curious about what there is, and it's so rare that I can't necessarily buy it if I want to buy it in Ba County."

Without waiting for Han Xiufeng to speak, Duan Dazhang couldn't help but laugh and scolded: "I don't respect the old, and I'm not afraid of the jokes of the younger generations, but you are still a teacher!" ”

"Why am I disrespectful?" Sun Wuye's face was straight, and he said vigorously: "The ancients knew what they knew, and they didn't know what they didn't know. The old man lived to learn all the time, although he was not able to enter the Shila Hanlin like you and Huang Yonghuan, but the heart of knowledge has never changed, and every time he encounters something he doesn't understand, he humbly asks for advice, as the so-called threesome must have my teacher......"

"Okay, okay, I can't talk about you, I want to see it, I'll show you." Duan Dazhang didn't want to argue with him in front of his juniors, so he simply took out the gift list from his sleeve.

Sun Wuye took the gift list, and muttered while looking at it: "An English pocket watch, a French handcuff, an American anti-wind horse lantern, ten French firebird guns, six English woolen cloths, and a box of Nanyang cinchona...... It turned out that it was all foreign goods, and if there was indeed silver in Ba County, it might not be possible to buy it. ”

"Have you finished reading it, and give it back to me when you've finished reading."

"I'm not uncommon for you to give it to you, but you're no longer an official, what do you want so many handcuffs and foreign guns for?"

Duan Dazhang was about to speak, Han Xiufeng arched his hand and said: "The world is not peaceful, thieves are everywhere, Jiangbei is as mixed as Ba County, it is difficult to say whether there will be thieves and thieves, so Xiufeng feels that there is a gun in his hand to not panic, there are more than a dozen foreign guns to guard the home than to let the family use sticks." ”

"Zhixing, I'm bothering you."

"Uncle, what are you talking about? If it weren't for your support, how could there be Xiufeng today, these ten foreign guns are really nothing. ”

It was not right for Han Xiufeng to laugh, Sun Wuye said unabashedly with a little jealousy and envy: "This makes people afraid of being famous, pigs and being afraid of being strong, everyone knows that you Duan Dazhang has been a big official and has money, and even the mansion is built in such a grand style, who do those thieves worry about you?" ”

"Old Five, can you save me some face?" Duan Dazhang asked with a smile.

"Okay, okay, I won't open my mouth, you talk about yours."

"That's pretty much it."

Han Xiufeng couldn't help but smile: "Uncle, there is Elder Sun who comes to chat with you in your spare time to catch up with you, presumably you will not be lonely in the days after you return to your hometown." ”

"That's true, but when I was an official outside, I always thought about my family, but when I got home, I ...... Some want to go outside, maybe the news is too closed. You have come at the right time to tell me about the affairs of Beijing and the current situation of the two rivers and lakes. ”

"Okay, Xiufeng will tell you about it."

A few days ago, the shopkeeper of the Ba County branch of "Rishengchang" made a special trip to the countryside and sent a box of letters and newspapers with seals affixed to them, discussing the news of the capital and Liangjiang, Huguang, and even Liangguang, Han Xiufeng was better informed than Cao Shuzhong of the Eastern Sichuan Province and Du Xingyuan, the prefect of Chongqing.

Knowing that Zeng Guofan was not only defeated but also almost lost his life, Wuchang fell again, the new governor Tao Enpei was martyred, Hu Linyi was ordered to act as the governor of Hubei and the Taoist Li Mengqun's sailors to guard Jinkou together, Duan Dazhang said worriedly: "Wuchang has fallen, what if Changmao goes up the river?" As far as I know, although the Three Gorges is a natural danger, there are less than 10,000 soldiers stationed in total, and most of them are even temporarily recruited people, where is the opponent of long hair! ”

"Uncle, Xiufeng thought that with Lord Zeng and Lord Hu in his control, the possibility of long hair going up the river was very small, after all, compared to Huguang, although Sichuan is rich, but if they really attack Sichuan, they will be easily cut off." Looking at Duan Dazhang's thoughtful appearance, Han Xiufeng continued: "What's more, Hong Xiuquan and other bandit leaders are working hard to manage Jiangning, whether it is dividing troops to the north or gathering heavy troops to capture Wuchang, it is all for the sake of protecting Jiangning, and they should not dare to stretch the battle line too long, and they should not dare to go deep into our Sichuan alone." ”

"Don't worry if you say that?"

"I can't say that there is no need to worry, Kuizhou still has to be guarded, otherwise Changmao must think that my Sichuan is within reach."

"So Cao Shuzhong won't stay in Ba County for long, and he will soon be stationed in Kuizhou to supervise and prevent blockage."

"He shouldn't have received the battle report from Huguang, if he received the news of the fall of Wuchang, he would definitely rush to Kuizhou in the starry night, after all, as a Sichuan East Dao, he has the responsibility to defend the land."

"But Kuizhou has to prevent and block Changmao, and several prefectures and counties in the south of Chongqing Prefecture have to prevent and block those bandits in Guizhou, is it possible to hand over such a heavy task to the Chongqing prefect and Qijiang prefect?"

"I don't know, but I think he'll make some arrangements before he leaves."

"Have you ever been to the Channels Department, has he ever looked for you?" Duan Dazhang asked in a low voice.

"I went to the Provincial Bureau yesterday afternoon to meet with me, and I also visited Futai, and I could hear that they intended to ask me to help the officials and soldiers "to prevent and block the bandits, but I think the top priority is not to prevent and block the bandits in Guizhou, but to intensify the dispute between the Turks and the Turks." If you don't solve the internal troubles, how can you let go of the external troubles! ”

Sun Wuye couldn't help but say: "Zhixingxian nephew, the time you spent in Ba County before you became an official was not short, you must know that they have been fighting for hundreds of years, you should have seen it a long time ago, why are you so worried?" ”

"As you always said, Xiufeng has not been fighting with some local gentry and merchants of the eight provinces for a day or two, and he has long been surprised. I didn't think it was anything before, but now I think it's not a trivial matter, because I have learned from the past, and I feel that if I let it go, the consequences will be unimaginable. ”

"What do you mean by that?" Duan Dazhang asked puzzled.

Han Xiufeng thought about Wang Naizeng, Yun Qijun, Wang Guisheng and Zhou Changchun and others from Guangdong to the "Houyi Tang", Wen Xiang asked the "Rishengchang" to bring the news about Guangdong, and said solemnly: "This matter is a long story, we have to start from the 30th year of Daoguang, in August of that year, a wealthy Hakka family named Wen Yayu in Guixian County, Guangxi, planned to accept a Zhuang woman who had been engaged to the local natives as a concubine, which was unanimously opposed by the local natives, which led to a big fight between the Hakka people and the natives in Guixian County.

After the defeat of the Hakka people, the house was set on fire by the natives, and about 3,000 homeless Hakka people actually believed in and joined the worship of God in the bandit leader Hong Xiuquan in order to seek refuge. ”

Duan Dazhang didn't expect that the reason why Changmao became big was because of the "dispute between the local people", and said in a deep voice: "I have heard that the people of Fujian, Guangdong and Guangxi are fierce, but I didn't expect that they would really fight at every turn. ”

"Uncle, fifth master, now everyone knows that long hair is a big problem, but in fact, Guangdong and Guangxi have not stopped because of long hair flowing into Huguang and Liangjiang, and the dispute between the Turks has not only not ended, but has intensified. At the beginning, it was the Hakka people who rebelled with the Hong bandits, and later it was mainly the natives, so the officials such as Ye Mingchen, the minister of trade and the governor of Liangguang, recruited Keyong to suppress the remnants of Changmao, and how could those Keyong miss this opportunity to take revenge on the natives, it is said that more than 100,000 natives have been killed, and it is impossible to burn villages and rob women. ”

Han Xiufeng took a deep breath, and continued: "Many gentry in Guangfu for self-protection, even hyped up the act of killing the local people, and the local people responded one after another.

Every time there was a fight, the Cantonese people used red flags, and the Hakka people used white flags, and the flags were lined up in a bloody battle. The winning 'shovel village' first looted the women's belongings, and then burned the other party's village with a fire. Those who lose regroup and come back to take revenge. In this way, the dead died, the fleeing fled, the fertile fields were largely deserted, and the villages became ruins. ”

Sun Wuye didn't dare to imagine that this was true, and asked suspiciously: "Zhixing, do you mean that the natives and guests in Guangdong are still fighting?" ”

"Still fighting, dying every day."

"Does the yamen care?"

"Whether it is a guest or a native who dies, it has become the good news of Lord Ye Mingchen Ye. How many thieves and bandits were killed yesterday, and how many long hairs were killed today, two hairs and six hundred miles in three days were hurried to report to the emperor. When it comes to suppressing bandits, whether it's Lord Zeng or Xiang Shuai, I'm afraid even the monk can't compare to Lord Ye, the top of his official hat is really dyed red with blood! ”

Duan Dazhang didn't dare to imagine the tragic scene, and said solemnly: "Is it possible that no one went to the capital to file a complaint?" ”

"As far as I know, there are Cantonese gentry who have 'Beijing control', but the top priority of the imperial court is to cut off the long hair, and I really can't take care of these. What's more, Changmao was the first to make trouble from Liangguang, and the princes and ministers in the court may feel that they should use heavy codes in troubled times, and they feel that there is nothing wrong with Ye Mingchen's iron-fisted bullets, and it is not impossible to let those 'traitors' kill each other. ”

Han Xiufeng rubbed his face, and continued: "Fortunately, there are not many Hakka people in my Ba County and even in the entire Chongqing Prefecture, but the lessons from the past are there, and I can't afford to take precautions." If the local gentry are allowed to fight with the merchants of the eight provinces, let alone prevent the bandits of Changmao and Guizhou, I am afraid that they will be in chaos first. ”

Thinking that Ba County ordered the Baojia Bureau to recruit brave and ruthless tea Yong in order to suppress those porters, slender men and people who fled from Huguang, and the local porters and people complained because they were bullied by Cha Yong, and the gentry hated the merchants of the eight provinces even more, Duan Dazhang realized that Han Si was not alarmist, and suddenly got up and said: "Old Five, it seems that I have to go into the city with you and talk to the gentry such as Gong Ying, Cui Huanzhang, Yang Yiqing, and Jiang Zonghai and Guan Yunzhong!" ”

Sun Wuye also didn't want the dispute between the Turks in Ba County to become like that between the two Guangzhous, otherwise no one would be able to stand alone at that time, so he said without thinking: "Okay, I'll accompany you on a trip, and I'll help you send an invitation." ”