When the coast guard attacked the riverside fort, Ye Mingchen, the governor of Liangguang, Mukdena, the general of Guangzhou, and Bai Gui, the governor of Guangdong, and other civil and military officials in Guangzhou had been watching the battle at the South Gate Tower.

Seeing in the clairvoyant mirror, the Ming army went down with a cannon and the wall of the fort suddenly turned into powder, and Ye Mingchen suddenly felt a trace of cold in his heart, Guangzhou City may not be able to be saved!

But if you abandon the city and leave, you will be beheaded according to the Qing law!

I can't fight and fight, and I can't run and I can't run, so what's the point?!

Ye Mingchen, the governor of Liangguang, is a scholarly family, on the list of scientific examinations, and has held various local positions, and belongs to a typical capable cadre of the feudal dynasty, at this time cold sweat oozed from his forehead, and his hands and feet became cold.

The soldiers who fled from the fort were all blocked in front of the Jinghai Gate, and they were panicked when they saw that they were bleeding one by one, their faces were like ashes, and they were panicked. Many soldiers bravely threw away their swords and guns, and even crawled down the tower, without the slightest concern for the officers who intercepted in front.

Ye Mingchen couldn't help but close his eyes, it was too miserable! Fortunately, the Ming army did not take advantage of the victory to pursue! Otherwise, the city of Guangzhou is no longer guaranteed!

As soon as the battle calmed down, Ye Mingchen immediately summoned Mukdena and Bai Gui to discuss countermeasures to defend the city.

Shen Dihui's head was wrapped like a mummy, and he was also helped to the governor's yamen.

"You're a piece of shit!"

In the yamen of the governor of Liangguang, the Guangzhou general Mukdena roared angrily, "There are 100 warships, 3,000 water warriors, and 10,000 land warriors, but you have lost your armor all the way, lost all the land in Henan, and let ten old lock ships attack outside the Jinghai Gate." ”

"The lower officials are incompetent."

Shen Dihui said in his heart, you, the general of Guangzhou, are in charge of a full battalion of 5,000, so you know that you can hide in the city and be at ease, and if you have the ability, you can also go out of the city to try.

Mukdena wanted to say something, Ye Mingchen waved his hand, "Non-war crimes, non-war crimes!" ”

Ye Mingchen has always been gentle and elegant, although Shen Dihui lost his troops, he still looked like a gentleman who was easy and modest, "We all saw it in the South City Gate just now, the barrel of the Ming bandit cannon is a foot thick, and the mountain shakes when the cannon goes down." It was not easy for Lord Shen to bring back half of the men and horses from such a fierce artillery fire. ”

Hearing Ye Mingchen's words of relief, Shen Dihui suddenly choked up, "The subordinates should be damned, the subordinates have lived up to the expectations of the marshal." ”

Recalling the scene of the shelling, Bai Gui, the governor of Guangdong, was slightly frightened, "The Ming bandit cannon is so powerful, how can this Guangzhou city be defended!" ”

"The Ming bandit ship is strong and sharp, and it is indeed unstoppable." Mukdena finished venting his anger, and now he became depressed, "Guangzhou City can't hold it!" ”

"If you can't keep it, you have to keep it! If you are a shepherd, you must guard the land. Ye Mingchen's voice became stern.

Bai Gui shook his head secretly, he glanced at Mukdena, bowed his head and said nothing.

There are still 5,000 full battalions in the city of Guangzhou, 5,000 green battalions defeated in the city, 30,000 brave soldiers and regiments gathered from all over the city, and more than 40,000 troops to defend the city.

After Ye Mingchen thought about it, there was no better way, he gritted his teeth and said, "The civil and military officials of all ministries are guarding the city walls and city gates in sections, preparing to live and die with Guangzhou City!" ”

"Your Excellency!" Shen Dihui hesitated, "I don't think it's that serious. ”

"Oh!" Ye Mingchen's gaze softened.

"I fought fiercely with the Ming bandits for many days, and they had a total of ten warships, and the most soldiers who landed on the shore were two or three hundred. It's okay to drive straight into Guangzhou and coerce Guangzhou City, but if you want to seek Guangzhou! Seek Lingnan! Shen Dihui shook his head and didn't say any more.

"Or are these just forwards, and there are a large number of soldiers and horses behind?" Mukdena speculated, "Or are they attacking the city and capturing the land for the Cantonese bandits?" ”

Mukdena was terrified and wanted to die. He is a Manchurian, and there are many Austrian aids in the capital, at most it is an ending of dismissal pending investigation.

"The flags of the two Guangxi Economic and Pacification envoys are hung high on the bow of the bandit ship, they stand up as a country of their own, and they will not be kind enough to help the bandits." Bai Gui shook his head, "The Ming bandits don't have too many soldiers and horses, otherwise they would have taken Taiwan a long time ago." ”

Bai Gui is also a Manchurian, Jiaqing twenty-four years in the middle of the lift, his head is more bright, he guessed, "I estimate, the Ming bandits have been driving straight in, this is to directly collect hundreds of thousands of bandits in Guangdong." ”

Ye Mingchen nodded, this is the most likely. In this way, it takes time for the Ming bandits to integrate their troops and horses, which also gives them enough time to deal with the Ming bandits.

"Report!" Goshha came in to report, "A letter from the bandits was sent from outside the city. ”

"Oh!" Ye Mingchen's eyes shot out two rays of history, and his momentum suddenly increased, "Present it." ”

After a hasty look at the letter of the Ming Army, Ye Mingchen seemed to be a little surprised, and read it seriously from the beginning again.

After hearing Ye Mingchen read it all, Mukdena asked urgently, "Ministry, what did this bandit say?" ”

"A bandit is a bandit!" Ye Mingchen handed over the letter and said with a mocking smile, "Five million ransom fees, the appetite of the Ming bandits is too great." ”

"Oh, the Ming bandits want to ransom the city fee!" Mukdena took the letter excitedly and read it, and Bai Gui couldn't help but stretch his neck.

In the letter, Ming Jun said that the central bank of the Ming Dynasty issued a 10-year Taiwan construction bond with an annual interest rate of 4 percent. Last year, the Ming army sold 6 million silver taels of bonds in Zhejiang, and this time they came to Guangdong to prepare to sell 5 million silver taels of bonds.

"No wonder as soon as He Guiqing took office, he pacified eastern Zhejiang and repelled the Ming bandits!" Mukdena seemed to understand the mystery a little, "Huang Zonghan didn't agree to the Ming bandit's request, He Guiqing agreed!" ”

Thinking of Huang Zonghan's misfortune, he said eagerly, "Ministry, we can afford five million taels of silver, as long as the Ming bandits can take Hong Bing away!" ”

Ye Mingchen shook his head secretly, these flag people were lying in the shade of their ancestors, fighting crickets and playing with bird cages, all of them were wine bags and rice bags that were greedy for life and afraid of death.

It's just that...... If......

At this moment, Ye Mingchen's head was running rapidly, thinking a lot. In the end, he sighed and said slowly, "The Ming bandits are a big problem for the imperial court, and it is not an overnight task to exterminate them, we need to be a little bolder, and we need to have more ways to drive the Ming bandits out of Guangdong as soon as possible!" ”

Ye Mingchen glanced at Mukdena and Bai Gui, "The burden of repelling the Ming bandits will be handed over to the two of you!" ”

With that, he looked tired, got up and retreated straight to the back!

Mukdena couldn't understand the Zen machine in Ye Mingchen's words, and hurriedly chased him to the verandah, "Ministry, the Ming bandit ship is strong, how can we retreat?" ”

He grabbed Ye Mingchen's sleeve, "In my opinion, the only way to redeem the city is to pay for it." ”

"I don't know about silver, and I don't want to know!" Ye Mingchen flicked his sleeves and turned around and entered the inner courtyard.

Mukdena was a little stunned, what does Ye Butang mean by this. Bai Gui, who was following behind, said softly, "This is the acquiescence of the ministry and let us act cheaply." ”

"Acting cheaply?!" Mukdena was stunned, and he smacked fiercely, "It's really not responsible! ”

Bai Gui smiled and said, "Han Guan~~"

The government cannot come forward to redeem the city, and must find a middleman. After discussing between Mukedena and Bai Gui, Bai Gui changed into civilian clothes and quietly went out of the city and came to Xiguan.

Bai Gui found the boss of Jardine House, Wu Chongyao, the chief merchant of the Thirteen Banks.

With a total wealth of more than 26 million taels of silver, Wu Chongyao is the richest person in China and even the world. During the siege of the city, Wu Chongyao presided over the Guangzhou Fundraising Bureau, organized Guangzhou businessmen to donate military salaries to the Qing army, and recruited strong men to assist the Qing army in defending the city.

The Ming army completely controlled the river outside the southern city of Guangzhou, and the owners of thousands of large and small shops in Nanguan and Xiguan, as well as the owners and cargo owners of thousands of large and small ships on the wharf, all became frightened birds, and the mountains of goods piled up by merchant ships, docks, and warehouses were all exposed in front of the Ming army, and the merchants were always worried about their own goods and goods.

When Bai Gui came over, the entire territory of Nanguan and Xiguan was discussing and appointing representatives to go to the bank, begging the Ming army to show mercy.

Wu Chongyao, a Sanpin Taoist in the Manchu Qing Dynasty, was worried about the loss of the Jardine House left by his ancestors, and he was even more worried about the personal safety of himself and his family. The governor personally came to assign the task, and saw the letter from the Ming army, Wu Chongyao thought about it and decided to disguise himself and go on a trip in person.

Shamian is a sandbar near the river in Xiguan, where the camp of the Ming army is located.

Outside the gate of the camp, it was crowded with merchants and squires. They brought gifts such as chickens, ducks, pigs, cattle and sheep, as well as vegetables and fruits to reward the Ming army, saying that they had no choice but to "be in Cao Ying's heart in Han".

"Ladies and gentlemen in Guangzhou, thank you for your gifts and condolences to the Ming Wangshi!" Jiang Li and Yang Shiyi came to Yingmen in person and warmly received these business representatives.

The soldiers brought many benches, placed them on the river beach in front of the gate and invited them to sit down, and brought tea buckets for everyone to drink.

Jiang Li politely said that the Ming army is still in a state of war, because it is a special period, so I will not invite everyone into the camp to talk.

The elders led by him very tactfully asked the Ming army for "mercy", saying that the merchants and people in Xiguan and Nanguan were willing to pay a large "ransom" in exchange for the promise that the Ming army would not plunder, burn, or destroy.

"No plunder, no burning, no destruction?" Yang Shiyi smiled angrily, "You think we are hooligans? Brigand? Or a robber? ”

He raised his voice, "We are the Great Ming King." It is our aim not to freeze to death without demolishing houses, starving to death without plundering, and not to commit any crimes against the Chinese people. ”

Frightened, all the representatives of the businessmen fell to the ground together, "The adults are gracious, the villains are extremely confused, extremely confused!" ”

"Get up, get up and speak!"

Looking at the kneeling ground in front of him, Jiang Li was very comfortable, he waved his hand, "You have lived under the iron hooves of the Manchurian Tartars for a long time, and you have doubts about the Ming Dynasty, and you don't know much about it, it's completely understandable~"

Jiang Li glanced at the thick stack of gift lists on the table, and asked Yang Shiyi to take the book office to count the gifts one by one and pay the bill according to the price.

Everyone hurriedly got up and saluted, "The army has come from afar, and the hard work is high, and we should eat the pot pulp, and the labor army will be filial." ”

"Thank you for the deep friendship of the old folks in Guangzhou!" Jiang Li got up and gave a deep salute, and then said slowly, "First, the Ming army has iron discipline and does not take a stitch from the Chinese people. ”

He picked up a gift slip and shook it, "Second, the Ming Dynasty has no intention of occupying Guangdong for the time being, and we don't want to leave the Manchu Tartars to rectify your words." ”