Ixan, who was in Sijing, was shocked to receive the news from Xu Zhixuan, just like everyone else. He brought more than 200 people to Sijing, which was originally mainly to echo Songjiang, and the telegraph room of the western line was also located here. If the nest is poured out of the nest to reinforce Qibao, Sijing will be empty, and if the long-haired troops come to attack, there will be no resistance.

But after weighing it again, it was important to distinguish the severity, Sijing was lost, and the loss was only a telegraph machine, but if Qibao was lost, all the ordnance and silver there would go into the hands of the enemy - these were all the family resources of the Xuan army, and Mr. Guan had to kill his own head! So without any further hesitation, the whole battalion set out, ran towards Qibao, and finally entered the town before the Taiping army stormed.

After receiving a telegram from Sijing and learning that Ixan had sent the whole battalion to help, Guan Zhuofan's frightened heart calmed down slightly. Set your mind and think about it, Tan Shaoguang's plan to attack Qibao is indispensable, relying on Ixan with less than 400 people to defend, it is difficult to say how long it can last. At this time, I deeply hated my lack of experience and did not leave a reserve team at hand to deal with emergencies! So on the one hand, he ordered the herald to go to Gaoqiao and urgently summon Daniel Zhang's horse team to come back, and on the other hand, he was ready to go out of the city to Qibao to supervise the battle - he had already understood Tan Shaoguang's intention to "encircle Wei to save Zhao", and now it was up to Hua Er to destroy Li Rongfa of Gaoqiao first, or Tan Shaoguang to attack Qibao first.

"Yixuan, you don't have any soldiers at hand, and it's useless to go!" Yang Fang, who was "sitting in the ya" here, persuaded him, "You are the one who is in charge of the overall situation, and you can't leave the city easily!" ”

Along with the battle in Gaoqiao, several yamen in the city sent special personnel to the county government to sit on errands. In case Guan Zhuofan has any orders. It can be done immediately. Yang Fang is the representative of Wu Xu to sit here. At this moment, seeing that Guan Zhuofan was going to Qibao in person, he thought that if he had any mistakes, it would be a really bad thing, so he spoke out to persuade him.

Yang Fang's words can't be said to be unreasonable, Guan Zhuofan had to dispel this idea for the time being, and sat on pins and needles in the signing room, waiting for the news of Qibao.

But the battle reports that came out were getting worse and worse every time. The long-haired cannons stormed, and the fortifications outside the town were damaged, and the casualties were getting heavier. When the last news came, it was reported that there were less than two hundred soldiers who could fight, Guan Zhuofan finally couldn't sit still, strode to the front of the hall, and shouted: "Turin!" Fetch my knives, assemble! ”

Túrin had already prepared, and more than thirty of his own soldiers were already fully clothed with long guns and short guns. Wait outside the county office. Yang Fang saw that Guan Zhuofan was bent on taking risks, and hurriedly took a few members of the committee who were sitting on errands. I wanted to come over to persuade each other again, and as soon as he said the word "Yixuan", he was interrupted by Guan Zhuofan raising his hand, his eyebrows were locked, and he looked at them blankly, as if he suddenly remembered something.

"Qi Weng, who said I don't have soldiers?" Guan Zhuofan's face gradually relaxed, and he turned his head and shouted: "Jin Tongzhi!" ”

"In, in." Jin Yulin hurriedly ran out of the hall.

"Open the bank!" Guan Zhuofan's eyes were blazing, and he said categorically, "I want to reward the army!" ”

*

*

Of course, there is silver, but where is the army to be rewarded?

Who knew that in less than an hour, Guan Zhuofan really made an army of more than 300 people! Gathered in front of the gate of the county government and listened to his lecture. It's just that this army has different colors of clothing and uneven equipment—some carry foreign guns, some carry shotguns, and some carry waist knives or ash poles.

In the city of Shanghai, in addition to the provincial bureau and the county government, there are many various yamen, such as the Shipping Bureau, the Huizhang Bureau, the Patrol and Defense Bureau, etc., all of which have a small armed force to protect the government. Moreover, in troubled times, these yamen often used funds to equip their small armed forces with foreign guns in order to be close to the concession. When Guan Zhuofan saw the members who were on errands, he remembered this reason, and a military order was swept away - even Wu Xu's personal entourage team was no exception. This time, more than 100 soldiers with foreign guns were obtained.

The other part is the county officials. Shanghai is a super-large county, and few people would have thought that there would be thousands of people in the number of third-class officials. The so-called three classes of officials, the soap squad is responsible for escorting and following, the fast squad is responsible for catching thieves and solving cases, and the strong squad is responsible for guarding the treasury gate. Guan Zhuofan specially pulled out 200 strong and powerful ones from these three classes, and they also gathered in front of the county government to obey orders.

And there are more than thirty pro-soldiers. Although there are not many people, they are all elites selected from the Xuan army, and as the backbone of this army, it is very suitable. Guan Zhuofan roughly divided this army into three teams, with three generals serving as captains and Thurin serving as the "chief leader". He wants to take this army to reinforce Qibao Town, which is in danger, but before he starts to fight, there is something he can't help but say.

"Brethren!" Guan Zhuofan stood with his hands in his hands and said loudly, "Look at it, what is this?" ”

In front of the county yamen, there are two large baskets, covered with red cloth. Jin Yulin next to him pulled it with his hand and lifted the red cloth, and everyone only felt that the silver light was dazzling, and it was actually two baskets full of silver dollars!

The crowd was a sensation at once. Guan Zhuofan deliberately grabbed a few pieces, raised them and shook them in his hand, and the sound of clanging collisions was clearly audible.

"Everyone knows this, it's the Eagle Ocean of Mexico! Do you hear that? It's a hard guy, no matter the Chinese foreign field, with this, where you want to go to Baixiang, it's easy to make! Do you want such a good thing? ”

"I want to ——!"

"That's it! We all know that we are gathering today to fight a battle, but this battle is not in vain! Each person will be given fifty yuan first, and when they come back from the battle, they will be given another fifty! If you are brave in battle, I also have a special reward - a long-haired head, which can be exchanged for another 100 yuan! ”

Fighting with long hair is a scary thing, but "people die for money, birds die for food", the white eagle looks at it, and the jingle sound is heard in the ears, how can you not be tempted? As far as the government service is concerned, after a year of hard work, the silver of "work food" is only six taels, eight taels, and ten taels, and now Mr. Guan has a reward of hundreds of eagle oceans, good luck, and special rewards, such a good thing, where to find? The crowd erupted in cheers.

"You are all public eaters, so you naturally know my identity." Guan Zhuofan pointed to the yellow vest on his body, "This is called a yellow vest, it is given by the emperor, and this silver waist plate is the certificate of the imperial guard." I, Guan Zhuofan, am a close minister of the Son of Heaven! ”

The crowd quieted down. This is a matter that everyone has passed on by word of mouth in private, and now they see him "showing the sign" in a grand manner, and they all listen with bated breath.

"But there are also people who don't necessarily know the way - I'm still a 'Chengnan Guan San' who doesn't want to die! The horse bandits who fought outside the Rehe block, the traitors who fought in Miyun, and the long hair who broke their lives in Shanghai, I led the troops in Guan San, won a hundred battles, and never lost! There is only one rule: if someone does not obey the military order, is greedy for life and afraid of death, and escapes from the battle, Lao Tzu will be the first to cut you! ”

This is an affirmation of military law, and the people below are all stubborn.

"Tan Shaoguang came to attack Qibao, but he was just dying. Why do I dare to say that this battle will be won? Because I have received a telegram, a battle report from Takahashi! Guan Zhuofan threw the silver dollar in his hand back into the basket, took out a piece of paper from the page of his boots, and read it aloud: "Walding Shijie and others have broken the Cantonese bandits in Gaoqiao, killed more than 4,000 long hairs, captured 5,000, and the thief chief Li Rongfa awarded the head!" ”

As soon as this sentence was said, there was a sudden jubilation inside and outside the yaya-the official army won the war! Cut off Li Rongfa's head! Yang Fang and a few committee members were even more surprised, smiling from ear to ear, and said in their hearts that Guan Zhuofan had made this army out of nothing, and said that he was sure of victory, and it turned out that there was such a great good news as a backing!

Guan Zhuofan was deeply satisfied, and wanted to use this momentum to drum up strength for this army.

"All this money is the people's fat and ointment of the people of Shanghai! Speaking of conscience, everyone actually knows that the people in our public gate, the common people flatter in person, and when they turn around, they will scold their mothers, scolding us as stupid officials and stupid officials, 'a little Zhu in the hall, and a thousand drops of blood among the people'! For what? Because the common people thought that we would only bully them, and when they saw the long hair, they were so frightened that they couldn't walk - today we want to let them see if we are a bad breed, bear bag! ”

More than 300 people, excited by the two baskets of silver and these words, all of them were red-eyed and desperate to find someone. Guan Zhuofan felt that the heat was enough, and shouted: "Tulin, the whole team will be rewarded, and run towards Qibao!" He turned around and handed the telegram to Yang Fang, and said, "Qi Weng, everything in the city, please." ”

"Yixuan, don't worry," Yang Fang said excitedly, "Wu Daotai and I, set up a celebration wine and wait for you." ”

One by one, these soldiers received money and lined up on the west side of the county office. Yang Fang watched Guan Zhuofan go west with the team, and only when he couldn't see the shadow anymore did he turn around with emotion and ordered someone to pass the sedan chair to report the news of Gaoqiao's victory to Wu Xu. The sedan chair hadn't arrived yet, so I picked up the piece of paper and looked at it again, but I rubbed my eyes and froze - where is the report of a big victory? What was written on the paper was a sentence that I didn't expect.

"Qi Weng, please immediately inform the 'Chinese and Foreign Conference Defense Bureau' and send French soldiers to take over the defense of the West Gate."

*

(There is one more change in the evening) (to be continued......)