On the twenty-ninth of the year, the yamen in the city began to seal, and it was a year after all. It's just that this year, the life is not easy, and the Taiping army in both directions of Hangzhou and Suzhou has already heard the news of abnormal movements, so both the army and local officials have only three days to rest.

This is the second New Year that Guan Zhuofan has spent in this era since he crossed over. Thinking of this time last year, I was still drinking with everyone in the horse team camp in Rehe, but now I am in Shanghai with war clouds, and I will inevitably feel like a world away from my shoulders with the safety of a hundred miles away.

Although the name of the year of "Tongzhi" has been set as early as when the Queen Mother of the Two Palaces lowered the curtain to listen to the government, it was not officially opened until the New Year and the first month, so until now, it is called "the first year of Tongzhi".

The military arrangement is still according to what Guan Zhuofan said to Li Hengsong last time, with Huaerdang as the southern line, Li Hengsong as the northern line, and Ding Shijie as the frontal western front. All battalions of the officers and troops and local regiments were seizing the time of Zuihou, strengthening the city defenses, and preparing for a fierce battle.

The foreigners in the concession also felt the pressure of the Taiping Army, and Binghan, the captain of a warship who was visiting Tianjing, sent a note to Hong Xiuquan, bluffing and threatening to "not be stupid enough to attack Shanghai," but as a matter of course he was rejected. Li Xiucheng, who was far away in Hangzhou, responded by sending a message to all parts of the southeast on the 6th day of the first lunar month, announcing that the heavenly soldiers were about to sweep Shanghai, and calling on the officers and soldiers of the imperial court to understand the current affairs, follow the general trend, and surrender to protect their lives.

This time, the drums of war were beating, and there was no room for buffering. Therefore, the consular corps of the concession negotiated with the Shanghai side, and the British consul Mai Huatuo, the French consul Aitang, the American consul Charles, the fleet commander He Bo, and Wu Xu of Shanghai Dao formed a "Sino-foreign conference and defense bureau" to coordinate the defense affairs of Shanghai, and at the same time, in accordance with the requirements of the Xuan army, began to carry out a series of actions such as blocking the arches of the locks and bridges and removing the ships on the Huangpu River. The personal soldiers under the command of Túrin also began to set up armed posts outside Guan Zhuofan's county office.

At the moment of the great war, the hearts of the people in the city are inevitably fluctuating, and there are all kinds of rumors. Guan Zhuofan suddenly had a whim, and under Master Qin, who was in charge of money and food, he added a committee member in charge of war proclamations, called the "Propaganda Committee", who wrote proclamations every day, and the book office copied them into dozens of sheets, and pasted them on the streets and alleys, to the effect that it was nothing more than saying how powerful the officers and soldiers were, and their long hair was all scum. Although it does not depart from the true nature of official articles, the people have new proclamations to read every day, and they have actually achieved quite a lot of results in calming people's hearts, and they can be regarded as occupying the front-line public opinion position.

Another thing that worries him, the erection of the telegraph, has finally been completed. There were three telegraph rooms, one in the county office, one in the Chinese army of Ding Shijie in Sijing, and one in the camp of Zhou Puyang's guns. When Bian Ning debugged the machine, personally translated the eight characters "Shanghai is quiet, everything is as usual" into English, and sent it out, Guan Zhuofan, who was standing behind him, showed a rare smile on his face with the pleasant ticking sound of the electric keys.

What Guan Zhuofan thought in his heart was that even if he only had this one merit, he would not have gone to the world in vain!

He sent the first telegram from China.

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By the 16th day of the first lunar month, all the preparations for defense were basically in place. Judging from the news from the front, the Taiping army has a total of two routes, one from Hangzhou and the other from Suzhou, both of which have begun to approach the Xiangshang Sea, but the direction of the main attack cannot be determined. In such a suffocatingly tense atmosphere, Jiang De suddenly took seven or eight people, rode fast horses, crossed the concession, entered Shanghai City from the north gate, and came to the county government early in the morning to ask to see Guan Zhuofan.

"Jiang De?" Guan Zhuofan listened to Tulin's report and couldn't help but be stunned, "Please let him in!" ”

"See Mr. Guan for his humble position!" Jiang De, the military attache of the fifth grade, did not hesitate to ask Guan Zhuofan, who was wearing the color of the seven-rank civil official, to go down.

"Get up." Guan Zhuofan was extraordinarily pretentious to Li Hengsong's subordinates, and personally helped him up, "It's really heroic, no wonder Lord Li handed over this elite army to you to bring." ”

"I dare not be a compliment to be the boss." Jiang De was still a little restrained in front of the "Mr. Guan" who met for the first time.

"The military on the northern front must have been deployed, and you must have something urgent to tell me when you arrived?"

"Yes, Lord Li and the lowly soldiers have already entered Jiading City. This morning, he received a message...... "Jiang De paused and looked at Turin.

"It's okay, you can say it." Guan Zhuofan made a gesture, "This is my personal soldier captain, Turin." ”

"Yes," Jiang De nodded to Túrin, and continued.

This news is quite shocking, saying that in Songjiang Mansion, a city gate guard named She Daming intended to make trouble and answer Li Xiucheng.

"Is there such a thing?" Guan Zhuofan was taken aback, "Where did you know that?" ”

"Under She Daming's hand, there is a general manager he trusts, called Sun Kaizhi, who is a lowly fellow villager. He learned the news yesterday and didn't dare to tell anyone else, so he rushed to Jiading overnight to see me. General Li said that this matter is very big, so I brought Sun Kaizhi with me to meet Mr. Guan. ”

"What about people?"

"Wait outside the ya."

"Pass him in!"

When he brought Sun Kaizhi in and asked, he knew that the matter was indeed undoubted. She Daming is a native of Guangdong, and has an elder brother, who was Liu Lichuan's subordinate, and died in the hands of the officials and soldiers when the knife society got into trouble. He impersonated Quanzhou, Fujian, and escaped the later investigation, and has been a soldier in the official army, until he was promoted to the position of the gate guard of Songjiang Mansion. This time, he felt that Changmao was powerful and would definitely win, so he conspired with several of his cronies to open the door and sacrifice the city when Longhair attacked.

"Jiang De, did you tell Wu Daotai?"

"No...... General Li said that Wu Daotai is also from Guangdong......" Jiang De said with a slurp.

Guan Zhuofan laughed - Li Hengsong also had too much heart. If Wu Xu knew about it, it would never happen.

"That She Daming, which gate of Songjiang is he guarding?" Guan Zhuofan asked Sun Kaizhi.

Sun Kaizhi knelt on the ground, didn't dare to raise his head, and said in a trembling voice: "Ximen." ”

The West Gate is the gate facing the direction of Hangzhou.

"How many people does he manage?"

"Among the cronies, there is only one deputy city guard, one general, and ...... I. Sun Kaizhi hung his head and said, "There are more than 80 soldiers under his command, and there are about 20 of them who are particularly good with him." ”

"Don't be afraid! You're different from them, and you've done a good job - and when it's over, I'll make sure you'll take over the gates!" ”

"Mr. Xiexie Guan!" Sun Kaizhi, who had always been anxious, was overjoyed and kowtowed to Guan Zhuofan as if he had been amnestied.

"What name did you leave your post without permission?"

"I didn't ...... In no name. ”

This is tantamount to saying that he ran out without permission. She Daming is missing Sun Kaizhi at the moment, maybe he is already suspicious. Guan Zhuofan looked at the chiming clock next to him, it was already past nine o'clock in the morning.

"Jiang De, give you a credit, leave this matter to me to deal with, you rush back to Jiading first." Guan Zhuofan commanded, "Remember, for me, Lord Li." ”

When Jiang De received the order, Guan Zhuofan called Tulin over.

"Tulin, I'll send a telegram to Sijing and ask Daniel Zhang to lead the troops into the city. You pick ten personal soldiers, take this general Sun, and now ride to Songjiang on horseback - there is only one thing to do, let him point out people! ”

On this day, Guan Zhuofan has always spent it in a nervous mood. The Taiping Army's offensive is imminent, can this hidden danger in Songjiang City be properly removed? Daniel Zhang can handle things well, and will there be accidental casualties?

Until the evening of the same day, Thurin rushed back from Songjiang, Guan Zhuofan heard the horse's hooves outside the yawai hitting the ground, and couldn't help but greet him in person.

"Master!" As soon as Túrin and his ten personal soldiers saw Guan Zhuofan, they rolled off their saddles and fell to the ground to ask for peace. In the cold wind of the first month, the bodies of people and horses are full of white steam.

"That's done!" Túrin's voice was small, but it couldn't hide the excitement in his words.

Ding Shijie and Daniel Zhang received a telegram from Guan Zhuofan, and after a little discussion, Daniel Zhang led a team of 300 horses and rushed to Songjiang City, ten miles away. When he entered the city, he didn't greet the prefect Jia Yiqian, but only went with the Buyong of Ixan in the city, and suddenly surrounded the west gate, and disarmed a total of 84 people from She Daming's part of the defenders in the west of the city, and escorted them to the prefect's yamen.

The prisoner was escorted to the government office, and Jia Yiqian learned that there was such a thing, and he was very frightened, and immediately went to the court for interrogation. She Daming and the other three leaders knew that this was a capital crime, and they did not admit to death until Túrin arrived with Sun Kaizhi and identified them in person, so they had nothing to deny, bowed their heads and confessed, and drew a confession on the confession.

"I killed only three of them, and my head hung on the tower." Túrin reported, "The twenty or so soldiers who usually came close to them were kept in prison and sent out after the battle, and the rest were released and went back to defend the city." ”

Daniel Zhang handled it very well, did not kill indiscriminately, but also established authority, and eliminated this disaster invisibly.

Guan Zhuofan's body was loosened, and a big stone in his heart fell to the ground.

However, this relaxed mood did not last long. The next day, there was a sudden news that caught people off guard: Jiading was lost.

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(xiexiea3755, ybch, Fan Texi, UBAN's tips, xiexie Fan's evaluation votes.) ）