Nam Dinh County, Vietnam, outside Nam Dinh County.

The sky is about to dawn, the sun has not yet climbed out, the early morning air is filled with clouds of mist, the grass on the embankment at the confluence of the Nanding River and the Red River is covered with dew, in the fog, a group of men wearing haokan vests, barefoot against foreign guns quietly through this grassland, climbed the embankment on the south bank of the Nanding River, and looked at the Nanding county town on the north bank.

"Uncle, I can see clearly, outside the south gate of Nanding City, near the Nanding River, the five white tents on the top of the small dirt slope are the camp of the French devils," Ye Jiajie whispered to his uncle, Ye Chenglin, the commander of the Chengzi Battalion of the Black Flag Army.

"Well, Jiajie, you have good eyes, wait and help me count how many French devils there are," Ye Chenglin asked in a low voice.

"Uncle, don't worry, when this group of French devils comes out, I promise to count them for you." Ye Jiajie patted his chest and promised, "Uncle, this time the general sent you out, are we going to have a good fight with the French devils?" ”

"Keep an eye on the uncle, don't be verbose, and if you miss one, I'll hang you up and beat you up." Ye Chenglin scolded.

Looking at the French camp in the fog on the other side, Ye Chenglin suddenly remembered what Liu Yongfu said to him more than a day ago.

In fact, it started eight days ago, when Liu Yongfu and Feng Zicai had just put down Li Yangcai's rebellion, and the army had not yet entered Hanoi City.

As soon as Hoang Zuo Yan, the brother-in-law of King Nguyen Phuc Thi (Yi Zong) of Vietnam, heard that the Qing army and the Black Flag Army had put down the rebellion, he hurriedly found the camp of Liu Yongfu and Feng Zicai stationed in the courtyard of a large family in Paper Bridge on the outskirts of Hanoi, and brought the news that the French had arrived in the lower Red River city of Nam Dinh to the two commanders.

After Feng Zicai listened to the news brought by Huang Zuoyan, he spread his hands and said, "Lord Huang, the governor of Liangguang ordered this official to enter Vietnam, just to exterminate Li Yangcai's rebellious army. ”

"Lord Feng, but my Ruan Dynasty is a subject country of the Qing Dynasty, if the Qing Dynasty doesn't care, as soon as the French come, my Ruan Dynasty will be destroyed." Huang Zuoyan pleaded.

"Regarding the subject country, I'm afraid Lord Huang will go and ask His Majesty Yizong to see whose subject country Vietnam is" Feng Zicai glanced at Huang Zuoyan coldly, "The French in Hanoi City have already come a few days ago, and the French said that they have a treaty signed with Yizong in their hands, saying that you have promised the French to be protected by them, and the French asked the official to withdraw his troops immediately, and said that he would report to the French government and negotiate with the Qing Dynasty!" ”

"Lord Feng misunderstood, misunderstood! At that time, the French only said in the treaty that they would help my Ruan Dynasty maintain law and order free of charge and resist the invasion of foreign enemies together, but they did not say anything about France as a protectorate of my Ruan Dynasty, and my Ruan Dynasty only had the suzerain of the Qing Dynasty! ”

"Smack!" Feng Zicai smashed the teacup in his hand in front of Huang Zuoyan, "You are so stupid, you still pretend to be stupid in front of this official, this official is here to Vietnam to quell the rebellion, my Qing Dynasty court has ever asked you for a copper plate from the Ruan Dynasty!" Let the French help you resist the invasion of foreign enemies, and my soldiers of the Qing Dynasty will not shed blood and sweat to help you defend against foreign enemies, and now the head of Li Yangcai hanging on the gate of Hanoi City fell from the sky? In vain, my Qing soldiers will use their lives to help you! You're just a bunch of bastards! ”

"Lord Feng is angry, angry!" Liu Yongfu saw that the posture was wrong, and hurriedly smiled and played a round game, "Lord Huang, they are also kept in the dark by the French devils, but I have dealt with the French devils many times, and the cunning of the French devils is very incomparable, Lord Huang, they have less dealings with the French devils, and it is normal to be deceived." ”

Liu Yongfu looked at Huang Zuoyan, who was lying on the ground stiffly, and continued, "Lord Feng, this time to pacify Li Yangcai's rebellious army, His Majesty Yizong said, Li Yangcai's rebellious army, whether dead or alive, will be rewarded with ten taels of silver for each person's head, and my lord, there are more than 2,000 rebellious soldiers in your prisoner of war camp, and the lower officials should congratulate Lord Feng first." By the way, His Majesty Yizong also said that he asked Lord Huang to prepare another share of the same reward, and asked Lord Feng to reward your subordinates with meritorious service, and the lower officials will congratulate Lord Feng again. Liu Yongfu turned his face to glare at Huang Zuoyan and asked, "Lord Feng's reward will be delivered immediately, right, Lord Huang?" ”

Huang Zuoyan was glared at by Liu Yongfu for a while, and some words just came to his mouth and swallowed them again, and said in his heart, "Originally, one or two heads of one person have now become ten taels, and I have to prepare the same reward again, at least 50,000 taels of silver are gone." Alas, who made the Qing Dynasty a kingdom. ”

Under Liu Yongfu's angry gaze, Huang Zuoyan bowed to the ground and smiled, "What the Deputy Governor of Sanxuan said is that Lord Feng, please sit down for a while, and the lower officials will immediately send the silver rewarded by His Majesty." ”

Just before Huang Zuoyan got up from the ground and turned around to go out, Feng Zicai stopped him.

"Lord Huang, this official thinks that it is best for you to ask His Majesty Yizong to write an excerpt to ask for sin, and send it to the capital to ask for sin, the sooner the better. The content of the excerpt is naturally that King Ruan is young and ignorant and too naïve. ”

"Thank you, Lord Feng, Xia Guan understands." Huang Zuoyan nodded hurriedly and ran out.

Feng Zicai turned to look at Liu Yongfu and smiled slightly, "Lord Liu is also well-intentioned!" ”

"Lord Feng has worked hard and made great achievements, saving the Ruan Dynasty from fire and water, and the little thing of bounty dividends is what His Majesty Yizong should do." Liu Yongfu bowed and said.

"I received Lord Liu's wishes, but it is still the same sentence, the official did not send a decree, and I will go around when I see the French." Feng Zicai shook his head.

"Xia Guan doesn't want to ask Lord Feng to come forward to fight the French, Xia Guan has another important matter related to his own life, and he wants to ask Lord Feng to be the master."

Feng Zicai stared at Liu Yongfu for a while, "Lord Liu, you must know that since the official became the governor of Guangxi in the fourth year of Tongzhi, he has been suppressing and killing rebels in Guangxi, including Lord Liu, your Black Flag Army, you and I are all stained with each other's blood." is related to Lord Liu's own life, Lord Liu is so trustworthy to this official, is not afraid that this official will abduct Lord Liu into the pit? ”

"Before working with Lord Feng, I, Liu Yongfu, couldn't trust Lord Feng, but this time I was able to work with Lord Feng to exterminate Li Yangcai, and after what I saw and heard along the way, I, Liu Yongfu, naturally believed in Lord Feng as a person." Liu Yongfu bowed down again and said.

"Oh, I don't know, what is the important matter of Lord Liu's own life?" Feng Zicai touched the beard under his chin and looked at Liu Yongfu.

"Please help me Liu Yongfu to be the master, so that my Liu Yongfu family can return to the homeland of the Qing Dynasty, and I, Liu Yongfu, am willing to lead 3,000 men and horses to return to my Qing Dynasty!" Liu Yongfu knelt on his knees and kowtowed to Feng Zicai.

"Let me make up my mind and agree that Lord Liu will return to his homeland? Lord Liu, you have a problem for the old man. Feng Zicai smiled bitterly and helped Liu Yongfu up, took Liu Yongfu's hand and whispered, "You and I have been fighting since the Tongzhi years, and you Lord Liu only know that there is someone in Guangxi who is Feng someone, but you don't know that there is a court above someone Feng." ”

"It is true that Feng was brave in Nanjing and won the yellow coat, but Feng was neither the Hunan army born in Zeng Zhongtang, nor the Huai army of Li Zhongtang who is now in the sky, in fact, Feng is a subordinate of General Zhang Guoliang. It's not strange if you haven't heard of this name, General Zhang Xianfeng died early in the hands of Changmao in ten years, and I, Feng someone, am just a person without roots and ping. Feng Zicai's tone was stunned.

"The political affairs of the current imperial court are either in the hands of the Hunan army or the Huai army, and I, Feng someone, am just a miscellaneous fish in their eyes. To tell the truth, I'm not afraid of your Lord Liu's jokes, Feng someone said something in the imperial court, hum, no louder than you fart. Feng Zicai sneered.

"After listening to someone Feng's words, do you Lord Liu still dare to beg me?!" Feng Zicai looked at Liu Yongfu and said.

"I, Liu Yongfuxin, have passed Master Feng!" Liu Yongfu knelt down again and bowed to Feng Zicai.

"Okay, since you dare to believe me, I'll help you come up with an idea, and the one who can help General Liu return to China is actually here." Feng Zicai stomped his feet hard, "The Ruan Dynasty has been a vassal of the Qing Dynasty for hundreds of years, as long as General Liu can keep this piece of Annan vassal for the Qing Dynasty, he will have a great contribution to the imperial court, General Liu is my minister of the Qing Dynasty, since ancient times, the ministers who have defended the land have all been sons of the imperial court, what is the difficulty of returning to the homeland?!" ”

"I, Liu Yongfu, am here, thank you Lord Feng for your kindness!" Liu Yongfu kowtowed repeatedly.