On October 17th, most of the squires in Huizhou received an invitation, inviting XXX to go to the Huizhou Admiral's Mansion at noon tomorrow for a banquet. Hurriedly preparing valuable gifts for the banquet, the wise one has already begun to inquire about the Admiral's invitation? The Wu family, the Dong family and other Huizhou gentry are not afraid of this Tang Chun, but they still have to do enough to save face. On the morning of the 18th, the squires within a radius of 100 miles from Huizhou rushed over.

"Lord Tang is invited, I'm afraid it's for the north." Wu Shimin said that on the morning of the 18th, more than a dozen of the most powerful gentry gathered in the Wu family's mansion in Huizhou to discuss the matter of the Tang Chun banquet, and the preparations must be made in advance.

"This Tang Chun is a veteran of the Hunan department, relying on his father's ancestral shadow to achieve the position of the governor of Huizhou, over the years in Huizhou to steal and rob, but except for money, there is no contradiction with us, even the money he looted was taken back to Hunan to buy land. This time it must be a pulling fee. ”

"Why do you say that the rebel party is making trouble in Heyuan? What is there to fight for in the poor mountains and bad waters? ”

"Heyuan is not as good as Huizhou, so I'm afraid that they will kill them again if they see the wealth here, in case they want to kill their lives, do we still want our fields? Do you want a factory? ”

"That's right, why don't you see Lu Liang coming, he is the biggest gentry in Huizhou, aren't you afraid of those chaotic parties? Master Wu, do you know the reason? ”

"Hehe, don't be afraid, I got the news that after the occupation of Heyuan County by that Zhenguo, he did not commit any crime against the people, and he did not attack the gentry. They put up notices saying that they were not some kind of ferocious bandits, that they were not extremely vicious bandits, that they were not willing to protect the territory and the people, that they encouraged industry and commerce, and that they also sold grain at low prices to help the poor. Lu Liang said, Tang Chun asked us for a promotion fee, we can give a little bit appropriately, let the court bother, we must not be hot and take out too much money and food. Wu Shimin said.

"I see, if you want me to say, if I can get rid of the bandits in Guangdong, I am willing to support those chaotic parties." After the merchant finished speaking, the rest of the people were silent and did not object! The bandits in Canton have seriously affected the operation of commerce, causing people to say such rebellious things.

"Everyone, I heard that Lu Liang's junior is going to start a security company, just like a dart game, and each merchant can hire their company's security guards to accompany the caravan."

"Okay, can you beat the bandits? Don't pay another sum at that time, the revenge of the bandits will outweigh the losses. "This is not alarmist, these people have families and businesses, and they can't afford to fight to the death with those outlaws, and most of the time they will take out a sum of money to buy roads, which is regarded as spending money to buy peace, which is also an important reason why bandits are bigger.

"Don't you see, when the security company opened, I tried to place an order, and the goods worth 2,000 silver dollars were taken out by the security team of 20 people, all of whom were real guns, and they also fought with the bandits on the road, killing more than 10 bandits and slightly injuring two of them. Isn't it powerful, you say? Which big family on the ground in Guangdong has this level? Not to mention those officials. ”

The next meeting became the publicity time of the security company, and several gentry led by Wu Shimin became shareholders in the security company, and spared no effort to publicize the power of the security company to everyone. The Blackwater Security Company is another measure taken by Lu Liang for actual combat training, and it can also ensure the safety along the trade route. Now in addition to the first brigade, the second brigade has also been established, plus the reserve soldiers, Lu Liang has more than 17,000 soldiers, some of them are in the barracks and training grounds, some are used as combat units in Heyuan, some are in the security company, and more than 7,000 reserve soldiers are serving as escorts in the factory area in batches.

The luncheon is located in Huizhou Ziqiang Hotel, in addition to Huizhou, Ziqiang Hotel Guangzhou branch has also opened, and quickly became popular in the city, the hotel is high-end and luxurious, becoming the best place for upper-class people to gather and feast.

"Fellow villagers, I believe you have heard about the chaos in the northern Heyuan. They committed rebellion, attacked the county seat, burned the county government, and openly provoked the imperial power of the Qing Dynasty, posing a serious threat to our Huizhou. As the governor of Huizhou, I will never allow the party to go unpunished! Yesterday, I received instructions from the Governor-General, ordering me to be the Governor of the Suppression of Bandits, and Lu Sanda, the Commander-in-Chief of Jieshi, to be the Deputy Governor, and to send troops to suppress the bandits in a few days. However, there is a shortage of food in the green battalion in Huizhou, and I also ask all the virtuous people in Huizhou to donate generously to help the imperial court! After Tang Chun finished speaking, everyone naturally applauded, and scolded in his heart: "This fat pig Tang Chun doesn't know how many people's fat and ointment he has looted, he has raised ten military expenses in the name of suppressing bandits over the years, and those who don't pay will be robbed by bandits, who dares not to go out." ”

After the fundraising meeting, Tang Chunzhi was complacent, and the two reached an agreement to send troops after Lu Sanda was divided into three percent, Tang Chun sent two thousand people, Lu Sanda eight hundred, and sent troops on the fifth day after the preparation of grain, grass and weapons, led by Tang Chun himself.

"Sanda, are you stupid when you say that Bao Nian, he is stunned for such a good meritorious opportunity, and he is cheap for you and my two brothers for nothing."

"Lord Admiral, Bao Nian has a conflict with Li Hongzhang, so naturally he will not obey Tao Mo's orders. We are different, relying on the factories of Lu Liang and the squires to make enough money, and then exterminate the chaotic party to make meritorious contributions, when the money and power are available, then it is called the spring breeze and horseshoe disease, and it is also fighting for our brothers in the Hunan army! ”

"Yes, I think what the chaotic party can do, as soon as our army arrives, it will be wiped out immediately!" After receiving the money, the brothers Tang Chun and Lu Sanda drank a little wine to celebrate, and the two praised each other, as if they had already taken credit and did not prepare seriously at all. In fact, there was no preparation, there were 20,000 registered people in the Huizhou Green Camp and the Jieshi Frontier Battalion, of which 14,000 were all paid by the brothers. The rest are often in arrears, and they don't do exercises all year round, so it's impossible to say if they can pick up a gun.

On the second day, the armory contained 5,000 flintlock muskets and 11 artillery pieces, all of which were unmaintained and covered with a thick layer of dust. The two of them didn't care, and took them all out for people to wipe down and then distributed them to the soldiers. On the fifth day, all the soldiers were assembled, and they were all unprepared and listless, until they were given a fee of one silver dollar each. Lu Sanda threw the horsewhip and ran back and forth for half an hour to make the three thousand people line up, just out of the city gate less than ten miles before these people completely herded the sheep, the fat pig-like Tang Chun rode the horse tired and panting, shouting: "Stop, rest for half an hour and continue to set off!" The soldiers sat on the ground with a "whoosh", they were so idle that they had no physical strength, and the ten-mile road was really going to be killed, and some people hurriedly took out their cigarette guns and took two mouthfuls first.

"His grandmother's chaotic party has disturbed our purity, I have made an appointment with the roses of Cuiyue Building, and the fucking let the official master recruit him, if it weren't for the face of the silver dollar, Lao Tzu wouldn't have said anything!"

"Don't blow it, return the roses, you have the ability to redeem people and marry them home, and if you don't wait to see the rebel party, you will let your wife beat you to death."

"I respect my mother, that is filial piety, filial piety first, have you heard of it? You blind eyes! Listen, this time Lao Tzu wants to cut five, no, ten chaotic parties! Pin the head of the chaotic party to the waistband of your trousers, and when the time comes, you will be promoted and rich, and you will not come to flatter Lao Tzu! ”

What kind of generals there are, what kind of soldiers, Tang Chunlu Sanda likes to brag, and the soldiers under him have a virtue. But now Tang Chun and Lu Sanda can't take care of bragging, Tang Chun is tired, and his two-hundred-pound body makes him breathless. As for Lu Sanda, he is really worried, Lu Sanda knows some military law, his father has been fighting with Longhair for nearly ten years, and he has taught Lu Sanda a lot of things. When he set off, Lao Lu was still a little cautious, and sent ten scouts to investigate the situation ahead, and also found a person who escaped from the source of the river and questioned him carefully.

The scouts didn't get any news, they were all their own family members, and they had a lot of kung fu in their hands, and they were considered to be elite people, and they were bandits who were incorporated by themselves in the early years. What worries Lu Sanda is what the man who escaped from Heyuan said, it is said that there are about 3,000 people in the rebel party, everyone has a gun in their hands, and they can't say what guns, that person has also seen a shorter gun, but he can't understand it, Lu Sanda simply doesn't think about it. What's even more terrifying is that the chaotic party still has artillery, and Heyuan City was broken by three rounds of artillery.

Lu Sanda didn't tell Tang Chun the news, if the chaotic party was really what that person said, Tang Chun didn't know that there was no difference, his ability to make money was old Lu I sighed to myself, but when it comes to fighting, Tang Chun is a straw bag! It's not okay to retreat, it's too embarrassing, not to mention the blame of the boss, you can only go forward hard, and Lu Sanda is still a little unconvinced, no matter how powerful you are, can you have long hair? It's not that "I Daqing" is extinguished!

More than 200 civilians carrying cannons carefully put down their burdens, looking at the eyes of the soldiers from the beginning of awe, to the current incomprehension, and even some contempt, such soldiers can win the battle? It is rumored that the revolutionary party in the north has guns and cannons, and is not afraid of death, and the old men of the green camp can't even beat the bandits, and they still want to find trouble with the revolutionary party.

It was already the eighteenth day after the uprising on the Heyuan side, and after the situation in the county town was completely stabilized, Lü Hu sent soldiers in batches to exterminate the nearby bandits, and sent propagandists to propagate revolutionary ideas, but unfortunately with little success. Most of the bandits who take up arms are inhumane bandits, and when they put down their weapons and pick up hoes, they are peasants who divide An'an, and the soldiers lack local support and cannot find a target at all, they are not mountain bandits who occupy the mountains. And the propaganda of revolutionary ideas is even more unsuccessful, these things should first be spread among the intelligentsia, there is no market at all among the peasants at the grassroots level.

Lu Hu didn't care about this situation, his task was mainly to attract the attention of the outside world and try to make things bigger. The first regiment focused its main efforts on building fortifications and conscripting troops, and through the requisition of farmers and digging tunnels around Heyuan County, an intricate group of civil fortifications has been formed, and some nodes have even built reinforced concrete fire bunkers. The standard of fortification construction was not inferior even during the First World War, but it was not as deep as the trenches at that time.