At the beginning of the month, the Ming army captured Dinghai and Zhenhai, burned down the naval camps in Zhapu, Xiangshan, Shipu and other places, attacked and harassed eastern Zhejiang, and the soldiers pointed directly at the provincial capital Hangzhou, which frightened Hangzhou into several curfews.

Huang Zonghan, the governor of Zhejiang, had just received the decree and was promoted to the governor of Sichuan, so he waited for He Guiqing, the waiter of the warehouse, to come and hand over, not wanting to encounter this military disaster. On the one hand, Huang Zonghan announced that he wanted to defend Hangzhou and live and die with Hangzhou; On the one hand, the officials in various places were strictly ordered to carry out the law of fortifying the walls and clearing the wilderness, strictly practicing regimental training and defense, or building villages and villages as forts, or strictly guarding the dangers and passes; At the same time, troops will be dispatched to blockade the Qiantang River.

It's just that Huang Zonghan is short of major generals at hand. Hangzhou General Ruichang has been by the side of Seng Lingqin to praise the military affairs, Zhejiang Governor Ye Shaochun is sick and has been recuperating, Hangjiahu Bingbei Xu Rong led the soldiers to defend the Ningde area of Huizhou to prevent the Taiping army from entering Zhejiang.

The green battalion soldiers stationed in Ninghui must not be transferred back, and the Taiping army must not be allowed to take advantage of the situation. He had to appoint Wang Youling, the prefect of Hangzhou, to call the Hangzhou regiment to train the branch roads to guard the various Jinkou points of the Qiantang River.

Fortunately, although the Ming army was noisy for a while, it was unable to continue to attack the city and capture the land. In the middle of the month, Hangzhou celebrated the victory of Ningbo, lifted the curfew, and resumed its prosperity.

On the afternoon of 14 November, a Wuxi Express came from the upper reaches of the Qiantang River, turned into the river outside the Fengshan Gate, and anchored under the big stone bridge.

Hu Xueyan, the owner of Fukang Qianzhuang, left the ship and landed on the shore and entered the city in a sedan chair. In the urn city of Fengshan Gate, Hu Xueyan saw Wang Youling, the prefect of Hangzhou, "Xue Gong, haven't you seen you for a few days, you are so old?!" ”

Wang Youling's name Xuexuan, Hu Xueyan's title shows that the relationship between the two is very unusual. Wang Youling disdained the study of the eight shares since he was a child, and he went from being an alternate donor official to acting as the governor of the county, and slowly became a Manchu Qing officer in charge of a government through his talents. Hu Xueyan is a money bank owner who rose from a young man, and the two are sincere and close friends.

It is said that Wang Youling, the alternate ambassador of Zhejiang Salt, has never been able to get any errands, and he is poor in Hangzhou. Wang Youling fortunately met Hu Xueyan, Hu Xueyan embezzled funds and let him go to Beijing for activities, so that Wang Youling was able to prosper in official affairs.

In fact, these are just the jealousy and rumors of those literati who took the right path of the imperial examination, Wang Youling acted as early as the Daoguang period, and was initially capable and honest, and later promoted to the magistrate of Cixi County, successively serving as the magistrate of Yin County, Zhenhai, Renhe County; Dinghai Tongzhi and so on. Before Wang Youling's father died of illness, Wang Youling was also an official eunuch for many years, and it was impossible to be poor, so he had to be helped by Hu Xueyan and go to Beijing to buy ~ officials.

However, the relationship between Hu Xueyan and Wang Youling is indeed not ordinary, the Ming army entered eastern Zhejiang, and Wang Youling was ordered to lead the Hangzhou regiment to train and intercept it. Hu Xueyan knew that this newly trained soldier was unusable, and under the pretext of business, he entered Ningbo alone to find out the truth for Wang Youling.

"The army is like fire!" Wang Youling touched the silver frost on his sideburns and sighed, "I'm okay, Lord Futai's hair is all white." ”

The Ming army fired several shells outside the city of Ningbo, causing chaos in the city of Ningbo. The news was reported to Hangzhou, and many masters of the governor's yamen deceived the upper and lower levels for the future of Governor Huang, and made a great victory in Ningbo, which was urgently reported to the imperial court for 500 miles. The real situation is clear to the main government yamen in Hangzhou. Wang Youling has been holding on to the Fengshan Gate Urn City for several years, and although the curfew has been lifted, he does not dare to slack off.

Retreating left and right, Hu Xueyan told Wang Youling about what he heard.

Hu Xueyan came to Zhenhai in the name of doing business, and the news was soon reported to Dinghai. Of course, the executive committee knew Hu Xueyan's intentions, and when Wu Shimang, the pacification envoy of eastern Zhejiang, met with Hu Xueyan, he directly pointed out that the Ming army had strong ships and strong troops, but because the Yi people were already stupid and stupid, and the long hair was eyeing the tiger, the Ming army did not want to take advantage of the fire for the time being. He specifically hinted to Hu Xueyan that as long as the Zhejiang government did not take the initiative to attack, the Ming army could maintain restraint in eastern Zhejiang, and temporarily maintain a situation in which well water does not interfere with river water.

"That's right!" After listening to Hu Xueyan's story, Wang Youling finally fell to the ground with a stone in his heart, "Six hundred miles in the afternoon, Keelung, Taiwan has been occupied by bandits flying the red flag of the moon. If this Ming bandit attacks Taiwan, then eastern Zhejiang will naturally be as safe as a rock. ”

Hu Xueyan said with a smile: "Taiwan was attacked, and Wang Yide, the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, could not blame Zhejiang Province too much. The tighter the Ming bandits attacked Taiwan, the easier it will be for Zhejiang. Dinghai is far away on the sea, and only one Zhenhai County has been lost in eastern Zhejiang, and Zhejiang Province can also give an account to the imperial court. As long as the Ming army and Zhejiang Province restrained each other, the situation in eastern Zhejiang would be like this. ”

"Not in his position, not in his politics." Wang Youling shook his head, "I'm just a small prefect of Hangzhou, Huang Futai is the overall plan, and he is there~~"

Before Wang Youling finished speaking, Hu Xueyan waved his hand to stop, "Why should Xue Gong be arrogant. Although the great victory in Ningbo allowed Huang Futai to save the situation, He Futai is about to take over, Xue Gong and He Futai have been friends since childhood, and you can still talk about the safety of Zhejiang Province. ”

Hu Xueyan lowered his voice, "They said that if He Futai can reach a tacit understanding with each other after taking office, Zhejiang Province will turn a blind eye to the personnel and materials entering and leaving Dinghai, and the Ming army can also abandon Zhenhai and retreat to Dinghai." ”

Wang Youling was overjoyed, "Is this true?" ”

This was Wu Shimang, who was the pacification envoy of the Ming army in eastern Zhejiang. He also said that it is not yet known whether this Huang Futai can survive today, but Xue Gong, you will achieve a great victory in Hangzhou tonight. ”

"What!" Wang Youling was startled and immediately stood up, "The Ming bandits are going to attack Hangzhou tonight?!" ”

"Shh

Hu Xueyan looked outside the door, then turned around and whispered to Wang Youling, "Wu Shimang said that the Ming army will take action against the governor's yamen tonight, Xue Gong, you just need to defend the city well, just fire guns and cannons, and make a big victory in Hangzhou." ”

"What does the Ming army mean by this, can they bypass the city wall of Hangzhou and directly attack the governor's yamen, tonight~~" Wang Youling suddenly thought of one thing, "Oh no! In order to celebrate the great victory in Ningbo, Huang Futai specially chartered a troupe to set up a stage to sing in the governor's office, and he also invited political envoys, envoys and other civil and military officials and their dependents, and even Dai Xi, the former military squire who supervised the training of the Zhejiang regiment, was also invited. ”

"Xue Gong and his wife must be going too? You can not go in the name of patrolling the city, and my wife let her pretend to be sick. ”

Wang Youling nodded with a bitter face, he wondered if he wanted to remind Huang Futai and let the Futai Yamen strengthen their vigilance tonight, if something really happened, then the main officials of Zhejiang Province would be served in a pot.

Jin Wuxi sinks, the lanterns are on, the various painting boats on the edge of the West Lake in Hangzhou are very lively, the silk and bamboo singing and dancing, the sound of guessing the boxing and drinking orders is endless, it is a scene of jubilation, everywhere leveling.

Near the White Causeway was a beautifully decorated painting boat, where the musician in the cabin was playing the piano and pipa in his arms. On the foredeck terrace, several eunuchs looked like they were drinking wine and enjoying the scenery, while hugging the beauties around them for fun.

The fried shrimp in Taihe Building, the salt pieces of Wang Runxing, and the vegetable and meat buns in Another Village~~ All kinds of delicacies are placed on the table.

The evening breeze on the lake is blowing slowly, the distant mountains are covered with veils, and the smoke is near the trees, and a short and fat drinker searches his intestines and scrapes his stomach for a long time, and he groans in his mouth, "The flat lake is a thousand autumns, and the lake is misty and the water flows for a long time." ”

He drank a glass of wine and sighed with emotion, "At the beginning of the month, the Ming bandits wantonly plundered eastern Zhejiang, and the soldiers pointed directly at Hangzhou, and the headless unveiling posts were flying all over the sky, how panicked we were at that time." Fortunately, Lord Zhang Jingqu of Ningbo Mansion and Lord Li Yeting, the alternate Daoist, assisted Duan Daotai to defend Ningbo City, otherwise, Zhejiang East is erosive, how can we be happy on this lake. ”

"It's always unintentional to make Zhu powder, and it's thin and loose to wrap around the arm." A bookish companion said mysteriously, "You know what? Huang Futai's beard has turned completely white. ”

A more thoughtful-looking drinker nodded, "The governor of Zhejiang Province is not easy to do, Huang Futai has been in office since Xianfeng took office in the second year, and he has been doing his best to protect his own territory with foreign aid." At the beginning of the year, Xianfeng Ye gave a special edict to commend him, gave the imperial book a plaque of "loyalty, diligence and integrity", and prepared to promote the governor of Sichuan. ”

As he spoke, I saw him clenching his fists with both hands to the north, and his expression was extremely respectful, as if Xianfeng Xiao'er was here.

"Lord Huang is waiting for Kuraba He to come and take over, not wanting to encounter this military disaster. Fortunately, Duan Guangqing was well arranged, and Li Yeting's regimental courage resisted the Ming bandits and held Ningbo City, otherwise our Huang Futai~~" He shook his head and sighed, "The consequences are really hard to say." ”

The short and fat wine guest sighed, "Thanks to the great victory in Ningbo, Lord Huang can have a worry-free future and still go to Sichuan to take up his post." Hearing that the holy decree had been issued, Lord Huang and Lord Duan were praised, Li Yeting was directly promoted to the prefect of Ningbo, and the imperial court also ordered Lord He to rush to Zhejiang Province to take over. ”

"The Ningbo victory saved the Zhejiang Bureau, saved Huangfutai, and saved us, otherwise how could we enjoy the beautiful autumn scenery of this lake. Let's have a full drink! ”

A few people were just about to raise their glasses, when a drinker at the table suddenly let out a sneer.

"Brother Zhang Ren, what are you laughing at?"

"This Ningbo victory~~" Brother Zhang Ren looked left and right, shook his head and didn't speak again.

The stocky drinker waved his hand and drove all the girls on the terrace down, "Wow! Now there are no outsiders, Brother Zhang Ren, if you have something to say, just say it! ”

The crowd begged in unison, "Yes, you can say whatever you want." ”

Brother Zhang Ren drank a glass of wine, looked at the direction of the cabin, and whispered, "Marshal Shao has more than 10,000 troops, and there are Fujian sailors to help in the battle, and Dinghai City will fall in less than a day." Nabu Xingyou is a thief at sea, no one can stop him in the South and North Oceans, a fire outside Zhenhai City burned him to ashes, you say, Li Yeting's hastily trained militia can defend Ningbo City? ! ”

Brother Zhang Ren shook his head again and again as he spoke.

"That's right!" Someone at the table echoed, "Then Zhang Qiguang, the guerrilla of Ningbo City Garrison, also voted for the Ming army, if it was really a great victory in Ningbo, how could this Zhang Qiguang defect to the Ming army." I heard that the 20-foot-thick city wall of Ningbo was blasted through an 8-foot-wide hole, and the Ming army really wanted to attack the city, and it would definitely not be able to stop it. ”

"That's right!" Brother Zhang Ren immediately said, "I heard that after the Ming bandits entered Zhenhai City, they told the gentry of the city, and they said that this eastern and northern Zhejiang was the land of three wars. ”

"What do you mean by the land of three wars?"

"It's the Cantonese bandits Changmao, the Western Yi people, and the imperial court, which will wrestle in eastern and northern Zhejiang, and the Ming army will be a yellow bird."

These few wine guests and eunuchs have been well-informed for many years, and when they heard the explanation of the land of the three wars, they all fell into thought.

"The Cantonese bandit Changmao occupies Jiangning and looks down on the south of the Yangtze River, and the Western-style people have sailed to the ocean outside the mouth of the ancient town." Someone nodded and admired, "Shanghai and Ningbo are both treaty ports agreed with the Yi people, no wonder the Ming army gathered its troops and let Lord Futai make a great victory in Ningbo and report to the imperial court, they are going to sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight." ”

"That's natural, if the Ming bandits are really defeated, then how can the headless unveiling post spread all over eastern Zhejiang, and even Hangzhou is full of turmoil."