In addition to several officials who picked up the ship at the wharf, there were three gentry, one was a director of the Shanghai Money Industry Association, one was a director of the Shanghai Silk Industry Association, and the other was a comprador of Jardine Matheson. Among the three people, two of them are the identity of the donor class, and the other is the prefect of the donor class, so the whole seat is counted, but Guan Zhuofan's Qipin Zhi County has the lowest rank.

The lowest is the lowest, but it is the host and the guest. Ding Shijie and Daniel Zhang did not dare to grab Zhuo Fan's words, and they didn't know anything about the things in the foreign field, and they were afraid of showing timidity on such occasions, so they didn't talk much except to deal with the toasters. However, such a performance, in the eyes of the Shanghai gentry, increased respect: first, the two of them drank heroically, the glass was dry, and their faces did not change; The second is to appear calm and reserved, and really have the demeanor of a general!

The topics on the table naturally have to be chosen by Wu Xu and Guan Zhuofan. From the interesting things in Beijing to the prosperity of the foreign market, I finally talked about the overall situation of Ping Hongyang.

"Yixuan, you are the chief soldier of the second grade, and you are from Beijing, so the overall situation is the clearest. In your opinion, what is the situation now? ”

"Pinghongyang is only a matter of time," Guan Zhuofan said firmly, "As soon as Anqing is broken, Jiangning will no longer have a heavy town barrier, since ancient times, Jinling has been unable to resist the army that has gone down the river, not to mention that this time it is still Lord Zeng's elite soldiers." The ancient capital of the Six Dynasties, I'm afraid it has to be 'a piece of flags and stones'. ”

"Oh, oh." The officials and gentry present looked at each other, and they were all happy colors.

"So, it doesn't matter if Shanghai?" Wu Xu was very happy in his heart and asked hopefully.

"This ...... Lord Wu, with all due respect, this is only afraid and not necessarily. Although Hong Xiuquan is drunk and dreams of death every day in the Heavenly King's Mansion, the pseudo-'loyal king' Li Xiucheng is a person who is sent by the long-haired public, and it is not simple. There is heaven above, there is Suzhou and Hangzhou below, and now Suzhou and Hangzhou are in his hands, carrying heavy soldiers, and he will definitely get some tricks to reduce the pressure on their 'Tianjing'. Guan Zhuofan said slowly, "If you want to make tricks, where should you get them?" Looking at the southeast, there is only Shanghai to make a fuss. Therefore, the imperial court transferred troops and strengthened the garrison of Shanghai, which was nothing more than to guard against him. ”

The expressions on the faces of the officials and gentry turned solemn again, but after all, this was what he had originally wanted, so Wu Xu nodded and said, "Fortunately, now that there is the Xuan Army, a powerful force in the world, you can prepare for the war." I think Li Xiuchengxin had a big fight in Hangzhou, and it will take about half a year to rest and rectify, and transfer troops, right? ”

These officials in the imperial court have a bad problem, that is, they are used to deceiving themselves to seek peace of mind, and it seems that Wu Xu is not exempt from vulgarity. Guan Zhuofan thought to himself, he had to be a "prophet" again, to knock and knock them.

"Lord Li retreated from the Cantonese bandits last time, and he is famous, and the Xuan army also has to listen to Lord Li's presiding." Speaking of Xuan Jun, Guan Zhuofan praised Li Hengsong first. In the future, Shanghai's attack and defense must be inseparable from the cooperation of Li Hengsong's green battalion, so he has always respected Li Hengsong. After saying this, the following words took a sharp turn: "Li Xiucheng's use of troops has always been dangerous and deceitful, I dare to conclude that before the first month, the long-haired army will go to Shanghai!" ”

The faces of the people present have changed drastically, and even Li Hengsong has a look of panic on his face - it is now November, doesn't it mean that in two months, Li Xiucheng will be killed? However, Guan Zhuofan dared to say this, there must be his reason, or there was reliable information, so no one dared to disbelieve his words.

"This ......" Wu Xu saw fine sweat on his forehead, "Li Hefei's newly trained Huai army has not yet been equipped with guns, and it will take a few more months to get to Shanghai at the earliest...... Yixuan, the safety of Shanghai is all in your hands, all of us, at your disposal! ”

Naturally, the guns are not ready. Guan Zhuofan felt a slight apology to Li Hongzhang in his heart, and said in his heart If you have all the firearms, where can I find a place to make meritorious contributions?

*

*

Seeing that a reception banquet is about to turn into a military meeting, this is something Guan Zhuofan can't ask for -- the military situation is urgent, and there is really no time to waste. However, Guan Zhuofan couldn't accept Wu Xu's statement, and he had to force them again to get what he wanted: "The lower officials don't dare to be officials." Shanghai's attack and defense are naturally at the mercy of Lord Wu and Lord Li. ”

"Yixuan, at this time, you don't have to be polite anymore," Yang Fang, the alternate Dao on the side, spoke, and gestured his hand to the seat, "Everything is important to the big things, and the others should be put down first." What you can say in Shanghai is here today, asking for money, you have a word. ”

Yang Fang's words were very thorough and in place, and the officials and gentry present nodded together. And Yang Fang is also a person that Guan Zhuofan attaches special importance to, and there are many things to fall on him in the future, so he owes his gratitude and appreciation for his words.

"What Lord Yang said is that the lower officials have been taught. Since I am grateful for the love of all my lords, I have the courage to make a statement. ”

There are a few things to say, first of all, we must explain the overall strategy.

"To defend Shanghai, you can't rely on the Xuan army alone, you have to fight in all directions. The first way is naturally Lord Li's battalion," Guan Zhuofan still put Li Hengsong, who had the highest official rank, in front and said, "It's just that the military salary of the green battalion is about to be very bad, even if you don't say make up for it, you have to pay some of it." Of course, Guan Yin can't be moved, so let's see if we can borrow a little from the treasury of the prefecture and county to temporarily relieve the urgent need. ”

It was the first time that everyone had heard of Guan Zhuofan's strategy of "sending fire in all directions", and seeing that he was confident and eloquent, he naturally did not talk casually, but had already made a comprehensive plan, so no matter the official gentry, they all felt that they must be in their hearts, and they must do their best to do what he asked.

"This belongs to Songjiang Mansion!" Jia Yiqian, the prefect of Songjiang, who had drunk a lot of wine, patted his chest with a red face, "Go back and ask Wu Daotai for a piece of paper, how much you want." ”

Songjiang is rich, and this amount of money certainly can't be difficult for him. It's Li Hengsong, who was a little jealous of Guan Zhuofan, thinking that your Xuan Army is a "heavenly soldier", the stars hold the moon, and the military salary is also allocated by Guan Yin, so you don't have to worry about eating and drinking, where do you know my difficulties? didn't expect Guan Zhuofan to save face for him everywhere, holding him without saying anything, and the first sentence was to raise money for him, how could he not be moved by such kindness? So regardless of the official rank, he stood up and waved his head: "Yixuan, thank you!" ”

"Don't dare to be." Guan Zhuofan was humble and bowed before continuing to talk about the following arrangements.

"The second way is Xuanjun. Now there are 630 members of the Xuan army, and it is a horse team. Xuanjun's horses were all northern horses, and from Wuchang to Shanghai, a total of more than 30 horses died on the ship. There is no way to do this, so I have to ask Lord Jia to help and purchase South Malaysia to make up for it. In addition to this number, please buy another 500 horses, even if you can't use them this time, you will definitely be able to use them in the future. ”

"Done!" Jia Yiqian made a promise, "One or two hundred, it can be done immediately, five hundred, and it is a good horse for cavalry, so give me some more time to buy it slowly." ”

"This is natural, it all depends on Jia Taizun's trouble." Guan Zhuofan nodded, "The horse team of the Xuan Army, if it is a charge, I dare to say that it can be the enemy of thousands." However, the battle must be offensive and defensive, and the emperor has allowed me to 'recruit as I see fit', so I will recruit two more battalions of foot warriors, each with 500 men. The foreign guns and equipment of this thousand people are not a small number. ”

"This deserves to be rewarded." The representatives of the three gentry said in unison.

Okay, good, Guan Zhuofan thought to himself, this is the attitude of hatred and hatred. He owed a debt to the three of them and said, "The local father has such a heart, and Yixuan is grateful. However, there is still something to ask you to contribute to the future, and now I want to ask Lord Wu for this money. ”

"That's nature." Wu Xu hurriedly said, "The money that Xuanjun wants to use will be allocated from Guan Yin, which has a clear purpose. It's just that ......" hesitated for a moment before he said a doubt in his heart: "Yixuan, since the opening of Shanghai, the people's customs are different, and the common people are all about making money, and if you want to recruit them to fight as soldiers, I'm afraid it won't be so easy." ”

"My lord saw it very much," Guan Zhuofan knew that Wu Xu was telling the truth, but he also had his own plans, "I want to recruit new braves, not locals, but from 300,000 refugees." ”

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(Another: Special thanks to the scarecrow, thanks to the friends who gave the likes and tickets, to the friends who gave the Xinlu, Tan Tan, Palin, the Demon Spirit, the Gloomy, and other friends who gave pertinent opinions on the plot flaws, and also to the various references made by xiexieycbh.) ）