Although as the Lu army moved south, Ge Ming's situation took a sharp turn for the worse, Jiangning was lost and lost, and even the entire southeast battlefield could be threatened. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 infoBut the mood of Xu Baoshan, the governor of Yangzhou, is particularly comfortable. He didn't care about Ge Ming's failure, just like he wouldn't rejoice in Ge Ming's success, for him, none of this meant much, only white salt and silver were really useful things.

The reason why he was in a good mood was that he had just done a very proud thing that made him have a lot of face on the road. Ge Ming rose up in turmoil, the Quartet was in turmoil, and the anti-private people in Yancheng in northern Jiangsu took the opportunity to blackmail the gentry, threatening to not be able to maintain discipline, and extorting money, food, wine and meat from the gentry. And the appetite is growing, and it is becoming more and more difficult to cope.

The gentry of Yancheng had no way to go to Yangzhou to cry Qin Ting, so Xu Baoshan personally brought a group of men and horses to Yancheng to disarm and dismiss the anti-private people, and by the way, he brought this territory under his control. Yancheng, which originally belonged to Huai'an Prefecture, was temporarily returned to Yangzhou and became an enclave in Yangzhou.

Although Yancheng is a small and barren place, and there is not much oil and water, there is soil and wealth, and there is an enclave, so there is an extra income. In addition, the seizure of hundreds of long and short guns is also a lot of income for Xu Baoshan.

He was in the private salt business, and his family was very large, but due to the strict control of arms by the Dajin Imperial Court and his bad reputation, it was difficult to trade with foreigners. If you want to buy guns, you don't have many options. At present, Yangzhou is organized into two towns, claiming to have 20,000 soldiers, but the actual number of soldiers is more than 10,000. There is a shortage of guns and ammunition, most of the soldiers are still using knives and spears, and it is always good to have hundreds of guns in the account.

More importantly, when the gentry encountered difficulties, they knew to look for him Xu Baoshan, instead of looking for Cheng Quande, the governor of Jiangsu, to prove that his reputation was greater than Cheng Quande. Yangzhou people are packed with water in the morning, even if they are governors, the rules are not changed, they still have to soak in the teahouse in the morning, and they also go to the teahouse to do official business.

After becoming the governor, Xu Baoshan was also wearing a Western-style military uniform, but he was wearing a heroic scarf on his head, and a one-foot-two-inch gold-sprinkled fan on his hand was opened, and a picture of a top-notch tiger descending the mountain was drawn on it. Both hands are wearing ten gold rings of eight coins each, each of which can be used as a seal, shining with gold and dazzling.

He looks handsome, otherwise how could White Widow be confused by him, not only losing her body and inheritance, but also losing her life in the end. Now that he is middle-aged, he is still a chic and dignified character. Many young and beautiful aunts and wives of salt merchants' families are willing to discuss major topics such as human origins with Commander Xu in the boudoir.

The cronies and generals he brought with him were all old brothers who fought the world together at the beginning, several people sat together to eat tea and chat, and more than 20 guards stood behind them, just like when they fought the world on the dock. The salt merchants of Yangzhou are rich and rival the country, and they often treat each other as enemies when they make friends with the government. But as long as he saw Xu Dudu, he had to come over to kowtow and say good things, and wait until he waved his hand impatiently before leaving as if he had been pardoned.

As soon as he sat down, Dr. Tea soaked up the best Longjing, and said, "The governor is really majestic, the seal hall is shining, and the official talisman is like fire. ”

"I am the governor of Jiangsu, so what is Cheng Dequan going for?"

"Let him be your chief of staff, not a secretary."

Xu Baoshan laughed, "You little bastard knows a lot, when I was in the former Jin, I knew the official system of the former Jin, but now that Ge Ming is here, the new official system will come as soon as you open your mouth." When I become the governor of Jiangsu, you will be my Ma Ben. As soon as he said that, he threw out a piece of silver horn to give a reward.

Its chief of staff, Zhang Zuomei, was born in the Yamen staff, and he was quite strategic, and when the guy left, he had a smile on his face, but his tone was very solemn: "Shanzi, we can't be careless now." The fifth town heard that it was about to take down Jiangning, Zhao Guanhou would not let us go of such a treasure, he was coming, what should we do? ”

"Chew maggots! People say that we Yangzhou are people who are empty children, a little thing, it is bigger than the sky, I refuse to accept it. But your Lao Zhang is an uncompromised hypocrisy, a fifth town, and you can't say anything! How about Zhao Guanhou, am I afraid of him? He is a courtesy generation, and I am also a courtesy generation, everyone is generally high and low in the threshold, and he can't control my head. Don't look at him ruthlessly, we also have tens of thousands of brothers, not delicious soft persimmons. There are hundreds of thousands of stoves on Huai, which provokes me, and one person is given a stick, and he will be beaten out of Yangzhou. Of course, if you want to save face, everyone will end up. I have prepared ten quacking goods of water, plus 100,000 taels of silver to send to him, money, women, all for him, what else will he do? If you don't know how to advance or retreat, then fight with him and let him know that he is powerful. ”

The first town of Yangzhou first co-ordinator gold mark said: "What the boss said is, Lao Zhang, you think too much." After all, he is a northerner, no matter how strong he is, it is flowing water, and we are stones. Flowing water can walk, and the stones are always here. No matter how ruthless he is, he can't take all the salt away, as long as we control the salt farm, he has to bow his head in the end. ”

Several subordinates laughed and said, "That's exactly what I said." As long as we hold the salt works, whoever is there will have to buy our account. How about he sent his subordinates, and we used gold to buy him over and let him do things for us, isn't it easy? ”

Xu Baoshan looked left and right, quite proud, "Lao Zhang, there is one thing because it is done by people in the threshold, you are a void, I didn't tell you, and it doesn't hurt to tell you now." Zhao Guanhou sent a cavalry standard to take Yangzhou, I know this, who should you be the officer with the troops, it is Sun Meiyao of Shandong. We've dealt with this guy before, and although he's not on the threshold, we're very good friends. I have asked someone to send him fifty yellow croaker, tell me, he has received my yellow croaker, will he still come to me for trouble? Take the cavalry to go through the motions, and then forget it, when they return to Shandong, the whole of Jiangsu will be our world. They took Jiangning, this is good news, when they are gone, we will go, we have also passed the addiction of the governor of Liangjiang! ”

Seeing that he was being proud, Zhang Xiangmei didn't want to stop him much, so he had to say: "In short, we have to be more careful recently, Sun Meiyao's cavalry is Zhao Guanhou's basic troops, and it is difficult to deal with, so you can't be careless." ”

Xu Baoshan said: "Lao Zhang, how about the basic troops, as long as they are people, they love gold, and as long as they love gold, we can be at our mercy." Why are you eating tea here today? Just waiting for someone over there to deliver the news, you wait a minute, there should be a reply soon. ”

After about 20 minutes, a young man with oily hair and flour came running in from outside. He is Sun Xiaoan, Xu Baoshan's apprentice of Guanshanmen, and he is very clever. After entering the door, he first said hello to Xu Baoshan, and then said: "Sun Biaotong is very satisfied with the yellow fish and the two girls we sent, or if you don't come and don't be rude, you will also give the master a big gift." ”

"Oh, what is it that he gave me?"

He knew that the master liked antiques the most, so he specially asked someone to get a tripod in Jiangning. It is said to be an antiquity of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, and it is worth a lot of money, and I am afraid that it is more valuable than our fifty yellow croaker. ”

Xu Baoshan's eyes lit up, "Eh, it's actually an antique from the Northern and Southern Dynasties, I want to see this thing." I have heard the ancients talk about it, the big man in ancient times, what is the name of Zhong Ming Ding Food House, this Ding is a very small ritual, it must be very bad. When will they deliver the things? ”

"Arrived in the afternoon. When the time comes, the apprentice will go to the station and deliver the things to the master's house. ”

"Don't send it to the mansion, take it directly to the governor's mansion, let everyone see, how is Zhao Guanhou, what about the fifth town, when you get to my territory, you have to listen to me, they have to give me gifts."

Zhang Zuomei was very careful, and hurriedly asked: "Xiao An, have you seen this ding?" What does it look like, how big is it, and are there any flower heads in it? ”

"Master Zhang, I don't understand what you say, a tripod, what flower head can it have? It can't be that there is someone hidden in it, right? It wasn't much bigger, and the Tibetans couldn't hide it. ”

Xu Baoshan said with a smile: "Lao Zhang, you are also too careful, I have been wandering the rivers and lakes for so long, and there are no various doorways that I don't know, if he hides a mechanism in Dingli, how can the person who gave the gift escape?" Don't worry, the single's eye race clip clipping, when the time comes, I only need to look at the person he gave the gift to know if there is a problem. ”

Sun Meiyao sent four soldiers and an adjutant to give gifts. This adjutant, like Sun Xiaoan, is very clever and can speak well, and at a glance, he knows that he is a clever character who has been running on the dock for a long time. The four guards were very honest, and when the five people entered the door, Sun Xiaoan personally searched their bodies to show that they had no weapons, and they looked calm and did not look like assassins.

Zhang Zuomei was careful, and specially invited a few pieces of Yangzhou who are good at antique gold and stone to come and carefully inspect this tripod. Seeing the green moss barge above, it does look like an antiquity, with patterns and carvings, not only for the previous dynasty, but also from a rich family. But with a flick of his fingers, he felt that the copper tire was quite thin, which was very suspicious.

Xu Baoshan is the person on the scene, seeing that the face of the gift giver is not good-looking, he can't help but step forward and poke Zhang Zuomei with a fan, "Lao Zhang, you are too, outsiders are here, what do you mean by poking and poking like this." What people are sending is a piece of heart, and it is not a pawnshop to see the goods, so they are all a little out of the way. ”

As soon as the tiger was powerful, he had to dodge as soon as he dried up the slices, Xu Baoshan looked at it and exclaimed: "I think this thing is quite good, and if it is placed on the Bogu shelf, it must have face." Seeing that this tripod is still covered with a lid, it is mostly the guy used to cook rice in the previous dynasty. I don't know how much rice I can cook for such a small person, but if it's used to cook soup......"

While he was talking, he stretched out his hand to lift the lid, and Zhang Zuomei stepped forward to block "Dudu, can't be ......"

Just when Xu Baoshan's hand lifted the lid and Zhang Zuomei stepped forward to stop it, the antique bronze tripod that was sent by Sun Meiyao as a gift suddenly exploded with a loud bang. The thin copper tire was destroyed by the power of gunpowder, turning into countless sharp fragments, splashing in all directions, from a plaything to an extremely terrifying murderous weapon.

The first to bear the brunt is naturally Xu Baoshan, this Huaiyang master with strong martial arts and can tear bamboo by hand, accompanied by a miserable scream, fell to the ground first, and his head and face were already embedded with broken copper pieces. Zhang Zuomei was closest to him, and he was also affected by the fish in the pond, a sharp copper piece slashed his throat, blood gushed out like a spring, Zhang Zuomei pointed at the adjutant who gave the gift, his eyes widened, and he was not blind.

As soon as the initial panic passed, the figure who was accustomed to fighting a bad battle drew his pistol, but the five people who did not want to come had already lifted their clothes, revealing the hands bound in rows inside, and each of them had two more revolvers.

The first adjutant said, "Aunt Bai is my aunt. She was betrayed by Xu Laohu and died, today I am avenging my aunt! The four behind me are the children of the Huaishang Zao household, and they don't want to be exploited by Xu Laohu, so they are willing to follow Zhao Guanshuai and accept the command of the Fifth Town. The revenge has been avenged, there is no more worry, the left and right are a life, who wants to accompany Xu Laohu, just do it, everyone will die together! ”

Sun Xiaoan also drew his gun and looked at the leaders, "Uncles, Xiao An has accepted the appointment of the Fifth Town as the sentinel of Yangzhou's anti-private sector, which can be regarded as abandoning the darkness and turning to the light." If you know each other, surrender as soon as possible, and Guanshuai promised to ensure everyone's personal safety, and everyone can make a fortune. If you want to fight, then I'm welcome! Let me tell you one more thing, the 13th Mixed Association of Qingjiangpu has accepted the reorganization of the Fifth Town, and the Governor Jiang Yanbei will lead the troops into Yangzhou soon, and the cavalry and infantry standards of the Fifth Town will arrive in Yangzhou tomorrow morning at the latest. You weigh and weigh, can our strength be compared with the Jiangsu-Zhejiang coalition army in Jiangning. Even if they are broken, what about you? ”

Silent. In the governor's palace, no one spoke, but no one gave the order to shoot. The guards outside the door heard the explosion, but they did not rush in to arrest people, so it was clear that they had been bought or controlled by Sun Xiaoan. Several officers with troops looked at each other, as if they were thinking about countermeasures. After a long time, someone asked: "Xiao An, if we lose our guns, will Zhao Guanshuai kill and surrender?" ”

"You can rest assured, Guan Shuai has issued a warrant, and he is not to blame! Lin Shuqing and Zhu Duan in Jiangning are all alive and well, how could you be killed? However, if you resist stubbornly, it will be very difficult to say, and when the cannon goes off, who can guarantee that you will not be injured by mistake? ”

A pistol was thrown on the ground, and it turned out to be the gold mark of Xu Baoshan's most trusted subordinate. "When the matter comes, don't be stubborn, be single, admit it. If Shanzi dies, who can command us people? Everyone's strength is scattered, you have 3,000 and I have 1,000, what can you do? We don't need the fifth town, just one Jiang Yanbei, which is enough to clean us up. However, I have a request, Shanzi's family is not allowed to be harassed, and at least half of his property must be set aside for his wife and children. ”

"You just have to rest assured, you will definitely protect the property, the vanguard of the cavalry target has entered the city, I will contact them, and the fifth town will protect the master and the mother, and ensure that nothing goes wrong."

The second and third pistols fell to the ground, and the tycoons of the rivers and lakes disarmed in frustration and waited to be dispatched. When he heard that the vanguard of the fifth town had entered the city, but he didn't know it at all, he knew that the general trend had gone, and there was no way to wait. If you continue to resist stubbornly, the end is not optimistic.

In fact, what they didn't know was that the so-called vanguard team consisted of only twenty people. Even the cavalry and infantry that entered the city the next day were only under the banner of two targets, but the actual strength was only one post each, and the large army was still slowing behind.

But these two sentinels entering the city are enough to suppress Xu Baoshan's subordinates and disciples in the city, after all, behind them, there are nearly two associations of troops as the backing, and anyone knows that today's Yangzhou is already the world of the fifth town, and it can't change the sky. (To be continued.) )