"Fell, fell...... Alas, it fell again! ”

The sky over Yangzhou was gloomy and bleak, and the people were panicked, and countless people said it in their mouths, thinking in their hearts, and it was these few words repeatedly.

The South China Sea merchant fleet followed the sailors to the south, the road was smooth, seeing that they arrived at Guangnan Road, suddenly the situation changed suddenly, Guangzhou Zhizhou Chen Gongju in the name of a banquet, blatantly detained the naval governor Zhao Xingde, the South China Sea naval division and the Guangzhou government were at odds, not only no longer going south, but also coerced the merchant fleet and the naval division to return together. It seems that if the imperial court does not give an explanation, if the Guangzhou government does not release Zhao Xingde, this matter cannot be resigned. For the people of Yangzhou, it doesn't matter whether Guangzhou is dead or alive, whether the Haikou is exterminated or not, but in the past few days, the stock of Zhengxintang has been plummeting every day, but it will kill people.

"If you fall like this, I'm afraid you'll lose everything!"

"Sell it quickly, it's just some paper, it's worth a lot of money, it's worth a lot if it's worthless, it's really worthless!"

"If Guangzhou continues to make such trouble, when will it be able to go to sea?"

"I heard that Boss Zhang of Tongsheng Bank is gone, and the creditors can't find anyone everywhere now."

"What's the use of finding people? He is all pressed on the South China Sea fleet, if the fleet is gone, Tongshengxing will only be an empty shell! ”

"The sailor forcibly escorted the merchant ship back, if the court is not appeased effectively, and the officers and soldiers come chaotically, I am afraid that it will ......"

"Alas, this year, why is it so difficult!" "Well, how can this be!"

"Bang bang!" "Bang bang!" "Bang bang bang!"

Xiao Qi sat on the side of the wooden boat, as if he was concentrating on mending the plank. The iron nail had already been smashed into it, and he was still hammering.

His mind was full of news from these days. The pessimistic atmosphere seemed to be contagious, and the two Yangzhou people did not sigh when they met. Since the price of stocks and securities began to plummet, Xiao Qi felt particularly sorry for his widowed sister Xiao Shi Niang. The price of stocks and securities fell again and again. Yangzhou people who have a little net worth, have invested some money to invest in the South China Sea caravan, and now they are mourning everywhere, but they are helpless about this situation. In this helpless situation, people grit their teeth every day and sell their stocks at a low price, making the price of Nanhai bonds fall even lower, and at the same time, torturing the hearts of more stock bond holders.

Even when Xiao Qi lost his own business, he had never scratched his heart and lungs so much, after all, it was still visible and tangible, unlike this South China Sea stock, as soon as his eyes were closed and opened, the price dropped again. "To sell, or not to sell?" "If you sell it now, you'll lose money." All kinds of thoughts flashed through Xiao Qi's mind, and at this time, the cabin door opened, and Xiao Siniang bent over with a pot of vegetable water, and splashed into the river with a "whoosh". Xiao Qi was also awakened by this sound, and saw that his sister was about to get into the cabin when he bent over, and hurriedly stopped her.

"Sister, stocks are falling every day, and thirty is not worth twenty, how about selling the stocks?"

He looked at his sister-in-law with wide eyes, but Xiao Siniang replied nonchalantly: "That is my brother's stock, if you want to buy or sell, it's up to my brother to decide." After speaking, he didn't wait for Xiao Qi to speak, he twisted his waist and got back to the cabin, Xiao Qi opened his mouth wide, he couldn't come back to his senses for a long time, and in the end it was still difficult to decide, sighed, and continued to "bang" and "bang" to make up the boat.

When Xiao Qi felt sorry for himself, he didn't know that Yangzhou Zhengxin Hall was like a boiling pot.

There was a sea of people outside the hall, and the inside was crowded. After so many days of suffering, people's emotions seemed to have reached a point of collapse, and on this morning, countless people rushed to the Zhengxin Hall, waving the stocks and bonds in their hands, their faces were red, and they shouted loudly, shouting, desperately trying to sell the hot stocks and bonds in their hands as soon as possible. Because the Zhengxintang itself is only a Chinese person, and does not buy these stocks, at this time there are many people who sell, few people buy, the price of shares and bonds has been declining, almost in half a day, the price has exceeded the past few days, and even less than half of the original face price, and people's hearts are chasing up and down, seeing the price fall like an avalanche, more and more people began to panic, and then lowered the price of stocks again.

The market collapsed, and the shopkeepers of Zhengxintang were all busy handling the delivery procedures for the guests, and some people's heads were already shining beads of sweat. "Master Su, this, this, this, what should I do about this?" Yangzhou Zhizhou Tan Zizi has lost his proportion, and several other officials are even more pale, and the officials are stunned to see the people who are frantically selling. Su Tongfu, the new head of the Zhengxin Hall, frowned and looked at the scene in front of him, countless thoughts flashed in his mind, but none of them could save the avalanche-like situation of the mountain.

The storm was so fierce that it was impossible for the Confession Hall to close its doors, and it would have been killed by the angry people as traitors.

…………

In the sub-city of Guangzhou, the streets are empty, and occasionally you can see three or two pedestrians.

This city was built in the fifth year of Qingli, located in the three cities of Guangzhou, and is also the center of the entire Guangnan East Road. During the reign of Huangyou, the rebels of Nong Zhigao invaded Guangzhou, and all the places they passed were looted, but the sub-city could not be breached, which shows its solidity. There are more than 40 officials of various kinds in the city. The Guangzhou Prefect's Yamen is located in the center of the city, and the Guangzhou Bosi Yamen is located in the south of the city, facing the sea. These two yamen form the central axis of Guangzhou's sub-city, and various official offices are located in turn, and the streets are like chessboards. Because of the tense situation, the sub-city has been heavily guarded. Outsiders are not allowed to enter the city, and the vulgar people can only carry activities in this square, and the Qingliushi people must carry bamboo cards on the street.

The Guangzhou Mansion sits in the north and faces south, and the momentum is great. There is a pair of male and female stone lions in front of the door, the wall is as long as seven zhang, there are two big archways standing in the east and west, the flying rafters pick the eaves, the mortise and tenon bucket arch, each archway has six columns, the stone foundation under the column is white marble, the diameter is six feet, the columns are all golden silk nanmu, the diameter of itself is three feet three, the column is more than three zhang high, and the cloud table stands from afar. The east archway is called "Lingnan important town", and the west archway is called "Tonghai Mingbang".

The government itself is built in strict accordance with the construction of the imperial court, the central axis is the main house, the main hall is the lobby, the second hall, the third hall in turn, many auxiliary courtyards are lined up on both sides, the left text and the right martial arts, the east is the three departments of officials, rites and households, the west is the soldier, the criminal and the engineering three subjects, and then the inner house of the prefect is the house, there are nine high-rise buildings in the house called "Wanghai Tower", which is the highest point of the courtyard of the government and the highest point of the three cities of Guangzhou. In the prefect's house, the "Wanghai Tower" is also the most heavily guarded. After Zhao Xingde was detained by the Guangzhou government, he was placed under house arrest in this "Wanghai Tower", and the prefect issued a strict order that no one should talk about it.

The top floor of "Wanghai Tower" is the place where Zhao Xingde is imprisoned, and the prefect takes care of Zhao Xingde's decency and arranges this floor as an ordinary residence. Eight floors below, guarded at every level. In order to prevent accidents, downstairs, the government officer, the state army, and the regimental training each sent a team of people to guard, and a total of more than 1,000 soldiers were mobilized, and they patrolled day and night. Don't say that Zhao Xingde is a big living person, and it is difficult for even a mosquito to fly close. The patrolling soldiers saw someone bring three meals a day, and someone else carried the toilet down.

When Zhao Xingde occasionally looked out from afar by the railing, the patrol soldier Ding could vaguely see his figure.

"Alone by the railing, infinite rivers and mountains ......" from the upstairs by the railing, Guangzhou City and the city outside the city, the port are in full view, here should be the most lively and prosperous place in the whole Song Dynasty, but at this time it is a little desolate. In addition to the victims, porters, workshop workers, and countless people lost their livelihoods. In the porridge shed near Nanyan, the hungry people waited for the soup soup early, and the long queue was like a dozen long snakes circling, which could be clearly seen from miles away.

Although it is a play, but seeing such a miserable scene every day, Zhao Xingde is sad, he shoots all over the railing, his heart is still depressed, standing upstairs and sighing for a long time, it is estimated that Haikou's inner should have seen his appearance clearly, and then returned to the building. Chen Gongju and Luo Huan had been waiting upstairs for a while.

"This time, in order to lure thieves in, there are many offends, and I also invite Yuan Zhihaihan."

Chen Gongju stretched out his hand to introduce Luo Huan, and before the introduction: "Zhongmou admires Yuan Zhijiu. This time, let Zhongmou take the Qingyuan battalion to escort Yuan Zhi back to the water division, and he also got what he wanted. Among the Fuzhou Army in Guangzhou, the Qingyuan Battalion can be called the most refined and reliable drill. Seeing Zhao Xingde coming in, Luo Huan fell to the ground: "Student Luo Huan, I've seen Mr. Zhao." ”

He looked up, admiration on his face. When Zhao Xingde raised the Northern Expedition, Luo Huan also scattered all his family wealth, recruited 500 brave and brave men on Guangnan Road, and prepared to follow Zhao Xingde in the north, but the Northern Expedition was too fast, he recruited heroes before the battalion, the Northern Expedition had recovered Bianliang, and soon after, the imperial court had Bianliang to seize the commander, Luo Huan recruited this battalion and regimental training and merged it into the Guangzhou Prefecture Army. This time, Zhao Xingde sent a letter to Chen Gongju, the two pretended to be discordant, led Haikou into the court, and needed reliable and capable people to do the play, secretly adding fuel to the fire below, Zhao Xingde arranged Feng Mi on his side, and Chen Gongju arranged Luo Huan on Guangzhou's side.

"Good, good." Zhao Xingde stretched out his hand to help Luo Huan up, "The future world will depend on you young people." Unconsciously, his mentality has been a little vicissitudes.

"Mr. Xie's teachings." Luo Huan hugged his fists like a martial artist and said: "Even if the liver and brain are smeared, Luo Huan will ensure that Mr. Zhao is foolproof!" ”

Chen Gongju nodded approvingly, and said worriedly: "This time I made a big move, and I have done enough drama, I wonder if the Great Eater Haikou can enter the palace?" ”

The rise and fall of Guangzhou was all in maritime trade, and compared with the raids of the Great Eater and the Bandits, the sea route was never smooth, and the impact on Guangzhou and even the entire Guangnan Road was more fatal. Therefore, when Zhao Xingde proposed a plan to lure the enemy, Chen Gongju and Liu Yu immediately agreed. Zhao and Chen were friends when they established the Society, and they trusted each other, so they staged this play such as "civil and military discord", "Zhao Chen playing each other", "throwing himself into the net", "bombarding the state city", "persuading subordinates" and other plays, all with the intention of dazzling people's eyes and ears and luring Haikou into the court.

After more than 80 warships of the South China Sea Naval Division left Guangzhou, some old warships and merchant ships were on the way, led by Zhou He, and they pretended to be the main force of the naval division to go north. Another part of the elite warships were led by Tong Yunjie, changed their course in the open sea, and sailed into the port of Bitan in Yazhou to anchor. Because the sea route was not very smooth, Zhao Xingde would leave Guangzhou by land and cross the sea at Xuwenzhai in Leizhou to meet with the South China Sea Naval Division.