Han Xiufeng returned to the hall not because of the science field case that had just settled, but because of the next rite department examination. In fact, the imperial court will not only open a branch this year, but next year will be the emperor's thirtieth birthday, and it will be given a grant of grace as usual.

Cui Huanzhang, Yang Yiqing and other people from Ba County have already come, and Fu Shilun, Li Wenjun and other scholars from other state capitals in Sichuan have also come to Chongqing Hall to borrow because they can't find a place to stay. Lian Renhe has no intention of doing anything these days, and wants to take the test again and fight again.

As one of the few third-grade officials in the whole of Sichuan, and a Beijing official, Han Xiufeng couldn't always come to visit his fellow villagers who entered Beijing to take the exam, but he didn't expect to rush to the hall and find that all the scholars, including Cui Huanzhang and Yang Yanqing, were drinking wine and happily talking about Bai Ye's beheading. It's like Bai Ye was punished by the Ming Dynasty, and they can be named on the gold list.

Han Xiufeng was very uncomfortable, but he could understand the mood of them who were scholars, so he could only cheer up, toast a round of wine, and then take over the wind for them, and then returned to Nanyuan overnight under the pretext of being entangled in official business.

It was the middle of the night when I returned to the official office, and the lights were still lit in the lobby.

Seeing that Rong Lu, Wang Qianli, Yongxiang, and Wang Hedong all got up to greet each other, Han Xiufeng subconsciously asked, "It's so late, why don't you go to rest?" ”

"Fourth master, Xue Huan reported urgently, the talks in Shanghai collapsed, Erjin was annoyed and angry, and he had returned south a month ago." Wang Qianli presented an official document, and continued: "What makes people even more anxious is that Jiang Zhizhang, who just made up the imperial history last year, let alone recognize it, and he has never even seen Xue Huan, but he actually wrote a book saying that Xue Huan has courage and strategy, and foreigners are afraid of him when he is in Shanghai Dao. Please summon Xue Huan to Beijing and hand it over to the monk and the king! ”

Rong Lu smiled bitterly: "In the past few months, Gui Liang and He Guiqing have had a lot of reports, and several of them have mentioned Xue Huan. ”

Han Xiufeng was ridiculed, and asked suspiciously: "Just because Gui Liang and He Guiqing mentioned Xue Huan in the recital, Jiang Zhizhang will go to the excerpt to protect the performance?" ”

Yongxiang couldn't help muttering: "I heard about it, this is the bowl of rice he eats." ”

"What a rumor, I think he is self-righteous!" The more Han Xiufeng thought about it, the more depressed he became, and he sat down and asked, "Is the emperor on it?" ”

"That's right." Without waiting for Wang Qianli to speak, Rong Lu explained: "This official document was sent by Brother Bochuan, and the news that the emperor ordered Jiang Zhizhang to order Xue Huan to come to Beijing was also sent by Brother Bochuan. Xue Huan's transfer of monk Greenqin to work is nothing, but he just left Shanghai like this, and our news is even less well-informed. ”

Thinking that the emperor had given permission, and the official document transferring Xue Huan to Beijing might have been sent to Liangjiang on the way, Han Xiufeng took a few deep breaths in a row, and said lightly: "Isn't there still Liu Shanyang over there in Shanghai, the sky can't fall." ”

"Now, we can only count on Liu Shanyang." Wang Qianli said helplessly.

"Sooner or later, it won't be because we have people in Shanghai who are staring at it, and Ergin, who feels that he has been fooled again, will not send troops to commit it. Everyone, the good days are over, get ready for war! ”

"Fourth master, the humble position is waiting for your words." Yongxiang looked back at Wang Hedong and said eagerly: "The last group of brothers who went to Gu'an have been practicing for fourteen days, so why don't you transfer them back quickly." ”

"Don't worry, the more this time, the more we can't panic." Han Xiufeng pondered for a moment, then looked up at the crowd: "It will take more than ten days for Erjin to return to Hong Kong from Shanghai, and it is impossible for him not to go to Guangzhou to take a look after he returns, even if he is in a hurry to send troops to attack on the grounds of exchanging contracts, he has to prepare grain and grass first, and it will take two or three months." ”

"Fourth master, are you saying that the foreign soldiers will not be able to reach Dagu in May or June at the earliest?"

"Hmm."

"So, we still have two or three months to prepare."

"To be exact, Monk Lingqin still has two or three months to prepare." Han Xiufeng took the teacup from Wang Hedong's hand, and said expressionlessly: "As a minister, he has the responsibility to defend the land, so he can only go out and fight." We're not like him, we can't take it all. ”

Rong Lu couldn't help but ask: "Then will we go to Tianjin then?" ”

Han Xiufeng muttered: "Naturally, you have to go, if you don't go, you don't know what the battle ahead will be." But you can't go all of them, at most half of them, and all of them have to be able to ride horses. If the battle goes well, those who go will not move. If the battle is not smooth, then withdraw to Tianjin and help Shi Zanqing defend the city. ”

Yongxiang was confused, and couldn't help asking: "Fourth master, the battle ahead is smooth, why do we have to stand still?" ”

"Because if you go, you will be robbing others for credit, and people will not be happy, and if you really go, then the little bit of family wealth that we are hiding will be exposed." Looking at Yongxiang's appearance of wanting to speak and stopping, Han Xiufeng continued: "If the army is defeated like a mountain in front, the foreigners will definitely no longer put the official army in their eyes, and the ancients will be defeated, so we can use the city wall to give them some color at that time." ”

"But we're only going to half of them, and we can't control the situation of the battle with this little people."

"We're only half of us, but it's not just us in Tianjin."

Wang Qianli reacted and blurted out: "Tianjin prefect Shi Zanqing is not one of those people who are greedy for life and afraid of death, he has worked hard for nearly two years to arrange and prevent blockage, the city wall is high and strong, and dozens of large and small copper and iron cannons have been cast in silver, and there are two or three thousand villagers under his command, as long as he can help him stabilize the morale of the army at that time, then this battle can still be fought." Even if Tianjin City may not be able to hold on, it can delay the foreigners for a few days. ”

Yongxiang realized that the reason why he sent troops was mainly to buy time for the worst here, and couldn't help but ask: "Then if the foreigners are powerful, how many days will they have to defend the city to help the brothers who are defending the city with Shi Zanqing?" ”

"Three days, even if there is only one person left, you have to keep it for me for three days!" Han Xiufeng thought for a while, and then said: "If Tianjin Haikou really falls, the imperial court will definitely send the minister to Tongzhou to arrange the blockade, and at that time, it will not only transfer troops from other places, but also order special personnel to collect the rout. ”

Thinking that the foreign guns were so sharp, and the foreigners' foreign guns were more accurate than the foreign guns in Heying, Rong Lu really had no confidence in whether he could block the foreigners in Tongzhou, and couldn't help asking: "What if Tongzhou can't hold it?" ”

"Then we'll have to do what we're supposed to do."

Han Xiufeng thought for a while and said bluntly: "Zhonghua, when the time comes, you will follow me to escort the brothers." Brother Bailing, when the time comes, you have to do two things, the first thing is to order the pillar and the iron lock to lead the soap Li Qingzhuang in the garden into the city, take out all the people on the roster drawn up before, and then escort them to Gu'an and other places for proper placement;

The second thing is to resettle the people who should be resettled, summon the official gentry in Gu'an and other places, let them have money to contribute, and grain to pay, and get a good grasp of organizing group drills to disturb the baggage of foreigners. If everything is not right, it will not be good, and when the time comes, I will ask the emperor to order you to act cheaply. ”

"What if Gu'an and other places can't hold it?" Wang Qianli asked cautiously.

"You can rest assured, foreigners are not long-haired, although they are fierce but there are few people, even if they go everywhere, how much space can they occupy?" Han Xiufeng asked rhetorically, and continued: "It's not a secret, I've been thinking about how to fight this battle during this time, and after thinking about it, I found that this battle is really difficult to fight, but it's easy to fight, as long as we can drag the foreigners, we can drag them down." ”

"Okay, just do it with them!"

"Actually...... In fact, even if it is delayed, it does not need to be delayed for long, after all, it is necessary to make up your mind to drag it, especially at this juncture when the bandits in Liangjiang, Liangguang, Anhui, Henan and other places have not been exterminated, it can be said that the delay is gambling on the national fortune. If it really goes that far, I estimate that the emperor may not be able to make this determination, and nine times out of ten he will issue an edict to negotiate peace. ”

"The foreigners don't believe us at all, are they willing to talk to us again?" Yongxiang asked in a low voice.

"Will be willing, foreigners don't talk to the court, is it possible that they can still talk to Changmao? If the imperial court crosses and the world is in chaos, how can they do business and where will they go to make money? Han Xiufeng sighed lightly, and continued: "But the conditions at that time will definitely not be the same as now, they will definitely sit on the ground and start the price." ”

The more Rong Lu thought about it, the more he felt that Han Xiufeng's words made sense, and the more he thought about it, the more depressed he became, and he clenched his fists and said: "Since stretching out the head is a knife, and shrinking the head is also a knife, sooner or later you will have to suffer such a knife, why ...... Why do you have to take a big knife! ”

"Because of such a simple truth, you understand and I understand, but some people don't understand! Even if there are a few people who understand, they are pretending to be confused. ”

"It's all the masters who can get by!"

"Don't talk about it, what's the use of talking about it." Han Xiufeng stood up, thought about it and said, "Starting from Ming'er, don't be so picky when it comes to money and food, especially food." Keeping up with the money in the public account, he opened a meat dish for the brothers every three to five days, and if there were not enough chickens, ducks, and fish in the garden, he went to the nearby Zhuangzi to buy them. ”