It was nearly noon, and the roar of cannons dispersed the hustle and bustle. The northwest of Baicheng was originally an empty wasteland, but at this moment, it was crowded, as if a big drama had been unveiled.

This is the third day of Li Shi's wedding banquet, and the officials of the county governments in Guangdong, and even the neighboring county governments of Fujian, Hunan, Jiangxi and Guangxi, are either present in person, or entrust intimate family members or curtain seats to attend, even Yang Lin, the governor of Guangdong, has a master to support him, and the Guangzhou prefect Maltai deigns to come, and others can't care about any face, and this is an excellent opportunity to get a close look at Li Shi's details.

There were thousands of people crowded under the simple viewing tent, and in addition to the above-mentioned guests, there were also many spies sent by the town associations from all over the country, who wanted to get a glimpse of the military strength of Li Xi's hometown in the name of officials' entourage.

It's just that now they are not in a hurry to do things, at least they have to eat and drink enough, but the wedding feast has not been held for a long time, but they have been led to this wasteland to observe the ceremony, and everyone is puzzled.

was buzzing and talking, and the burst of cannon fire stopped everyone, and the spies of the green camp suddenly had a feeling, which was very similar to ...... The guess was quickly verified, and a high-pitched suona group sounded, with a very rhythmic beat, like a slender man's horn, and like a mountain back husband's horn, in short, people couldn't help but want to twist their bodies.

When the drumbeat of the same rhythm sounded, the Green Camp scouts from Chaozhou, Huizhou subconsciously shuddered, and some people began to look around with their heads in their hands, ready to slip away.

"Yingde practice bravery, Cantonese businessmen guard, protect the territory and the people, start!"

"Ladies and gentlemen, please watch with all your heart!"

The gray-and-blue uniformed soldiers guarding the tent shouted in unison, finally pulling the crowd that almost collapsed.

Yingde Lian Yong!? Cantonese merchant guards!? it!?

Everyone was surprised, isn't this Li Shi's soldier? Just show them so bluntly?

In a trance, amid the sound of roaring footsteps, gray-blue figures lined up in a dense and neat line, cutting off the original horizon, appearing a mile or two away, slowly approaching them.

Dala~ Da ~ Da La ~ Da Da Da ...... The sound of the drums sounded quite gentle, and if you looked closely, the crowd in front of you was wide, but the depth was extremely shallow, and there seemed to be only one line, and everyone was only curious, and the sound of discussion sounded low and chaotic. But then there was another exclamation, and the second line appeared, only twenty or thirty paces away from the first.

"A small formation...... Eighty people, ten small formations in one row, a total of ...... in two rows Sixteen hundred! It's all a quick gun! ”

He Mengfeng, a guerrilla in the rear battalion of the Guangzhou general's military standard, put down the binoculars, his voice trembled, and he whispered to Guan Yuanzhong's master. Around him, Yang Lin and Tang Youzeng's master, Guangzhou prefect Martai's face was also pale.

Earlier, Li Shi pretended to be the town standard of Shaozhou to defeat Wang Wenxiong, which can also be said to be a secret ambush and a fluke. But in the later battle of Yong'an, Li Xian was only a thousand people, and he still stood still when facing the two-sided attack of the bandits and the total number of six or seven thousand people in Chaozhou Town, and the head was broken and bleeding on both sides, and more than half of the Chaozhou Town Markers were killed and wounded. No one dares to despise this Li Xian's fast spearman.

The reason why Li Xi was able to secretly dominate Guangdong, in addition to choking the trade routes and cage the industry and commerce, the more core strength was this fast spearman. The exploration of Li Shi's military strength was the core topic after Kangxi set the strategy for dealing with Guangdong. The previous estimates have always been vague and difficult to understand, some say 3,000, some say 10,000, the officials originally tended to the former, after all, Li Shi's previous actions were basically self-preservation, and 3,000 was enough. If there were 10,000, everyone felt that he should have reversed himself, this kind of fast spearman, to defeat 10,000, how could he gather an army of 100,000 to have a score, and it couldn't be an ordinary green battalion soldier of the town association.

Today, Li Xian appeared with 1,600 people, which made Guangdong's civil and military affairs tremble, everyone will count, just the performance will put out 1,600 people, he is in Qingpu, there should be soldiers in other places, 3,000 can't be stopped, 5,000 is more than 5,000, maybe he really has to run 10,000.

The hissing sound of cold breath was heard in the auditorium, and at this moment, the two fronts had approached half a mile away, and at this moment, the sound of drums and suona also changed, becoming fierce and violent, and the beat of the beat was like a slap on the heart. The two gray-blue crowds suddenly accelerated, and the musket that was originally on his shoulder was also held diagonally in front of him.

"Ahh

Qu Wansheng, the general of the battalion in the middle of the promotion, and Li Shibang, the general of the battalion after supervising the bid, both pretended to be Goshha to come to the banquet, and when they saw this battle, they reacted more than everyone else, and subconsciously curled up, and the two of them collided together.

"Attention, everybody! This is just a drill, there is no live ammunition, there is no live ammunition! ”

The Siwei of Qingtian Company reminded loudly, everyone was puzzled, what does it mean to emphasize this?

Then the panicked whispers came and went, and the first gray-blue crowd had reached a distance of two or three hundred paces from them, and after a short bull's horn, the crowd stood still, and the sound of the wave was like the sound of the tide surging at the head of the waves, and hundreds of muskets were flat, and the caliber of the guns was aimed directly at the viewing tent.

Even though it was still two or three hundred steps apart, even though it had been warned in advance, the viewing tent was still washed by a violent hurricane of panic, and the low shout quickly turned into a scream.

Fluffy Fluffy ...... The screams were torn apart by the continuous thunder, and the hearts of those who dared to look ahead were also cracked in an instant, and they saw that the heaven and earth in front of them were separated by a long line of white smoke, which made it difficult for them to breathe at that moment.

The thunder burst out, and he was about to pull up the end note, but before he could return in one breath, another burst of thunder exploded again, followed by the third and fourth.

When everyone finally took that long breath, they felt as if their hearts were about to jump out of their throats, and their whole bodies were almost soaked.

The gunpowder smoke in front of him rose into the air, permeating into a killing mist, the original second crowd broke through the fog, advanced to more than a hundred steps away, seeing that the muzzle of the Rulin gun pointed straight over, many people hugged their heads to hide their faces, and shouted loudly, if it wasn't for the guards around to block the way, these more than 1,000 people would have already flown around like headless flies.

Fluffy Fluffy ...... Pulled the trigger and fired out this empty gun without lead, in the gray and blue crowd, Liang Qing said to Cai Fei with a smile: "I really can't wait to put on lead and beat those officials into a sieve." ”

Cai Fei glanced at him: "These frightened birds, what is there to fight?" ”

Glancing at the guests who were bumping into each other, Liang Qing scratched his nose and said, "It's true, it's really boring." ”

The first front is the left and right wings of Qingtian plus the reserve left wing, and the second front is the Foshan wing and the Guangzhou wing plus the reserve right wing, which is only half of Li Xianzhong's battalion, which was pulled here to parade and show strength to the Guangdong officialdom, and it seems that the effect is good.

As far as the current situation is concerned, the wedding banquet is the most important one to fully demonstrate the strength of the Qing court, so that the Qing court, especially Kangxi, can clearly calculate the cost of going all out to deal with him. Li Xi believes that as long as the skin of Guangdong officialdom is kept, Kangxi will never be able to make up his mind to break his wrist.

What is the face of the imperial court? Killing officials doesn't count, they don't pull flags, they don't block post transmissions, they don't cut off money and food, the Qing officials still sit in the yamen, and the imperial army still stays where they should be, these faces have been left enough, so much that it is difficult for the Qing court and Kangxi to refuse this temptation.

While keeping a layer of skin, show the Qing court and Kangxi that he definitely has the strength to dominate a province and even threaten neighboring places.

Of course, this does not mean that the Qing court and Kangxi will allow him to continue like this, and the battles under the table will be endless, but as long as the place is not chaotic, he has the confidence to see the move, and even fight against the army. Time is on his side, and the longer it drags on, the better it will be for him.

"Fourth brother, you have 1,600 people, there are no 10,000 people in the court, and you don't have the heart to die, I'm afraid you can't be defeated, this is ...... It's a thunderbolt army! ”

There is also a small viewing platform on the other side of the wasteland, on which are Li Shi, Xiao Sheng, Liang Deguang and others. Looking at the lively energy of these two fronts, Xiao Sheng's face was flushed, he loved firearms, and he had seen the war in a new era. He shouted and patted Li Shi's shoulder excitedly, until Li Shi grinned and cried out in pain, and then he came to his senses.

"Fourth brother, ...... last night"

Seeing that Li Sheng was struggling to support his waist, Xiao Sheng understood something in a trance, and the smile on his face turned to another direction.

"Shut up!"

Li Xian was annoyed and ashamed, and put an elbow on Xiao Sheng's stomach, Xiao Sheng laughed, glanced at Liang Deguang, didn't dare to laugh, and his face was almost purple.

"Okay, don't just talk about flattery, talk about other things."

Li Xian diverted the topic, it is okay not to mention last night's incident, in short...... Well, he lost, and he lost very bizarrely.

"Yes, yes, hehe...... Uh-huh! Fourth brother, let's put it bluntly, you are just acting, if you really want to fight, I'm afraid it's not like this. ”

Xiao Sheng also hurriedly got down to business.

"It's just to scare them, and it's certainly not just these things that you want to fight, but what do you think of the musketeers themselves?"

Li Xian asked directly, he was just talking about things, not considering Xiao Sheng's heart.

"This musketeer still has some flaws, such as the rising smoke of gunpowder and the difficulty of command. There is also a fatal flaw, the formation is too shallow, if the training is insufficient, the change of formation is not in time, and it is easy to collapse the whole line when there is a horse team, or a foot team that is not afraid of death. In addition, the pursuit is not effective, and it is necessary to select a suitable battlefield to meet the attack, in short...... It is a ready-to-go, late-comprehensible style of play. ”

Xiao Sheng's understanding of musketeers is really far better than that of the Qing generals of the same era, which naturally benefits from the exchange with Li Shi.

"The artillery can make up for some of it, but there are still some details that have not kept up, and it is really not perfect."

Li Shi frankly admitted that these problems had been discovered in previous battles.

As he spoke, the musketeers had withdrawn, followed by four wagons, three horses each, with a large two-wheeled man dragging behind the body. There was another exclamation from the Daguan Rite Pengna, and Xiao Sheng also took a breath, artillery! Although it is not too big, it can still be called a general's cannon.

"This is a twelve-pound cannon, only weighing more than 1,000 catties, if the imperial court comes to make it, it is estimated to be more than 3,000 catties. The 20-pound cannon is being built, and it should come out within the year. ”

Li Xian said lightly, Xiao Sheng glanced at him, and stopped talking, with deep worry in his eyes.

In a few moments, the artillery was in place, and each cannon was held by five or six men, with the muzzle facing north, and the fierce roar of the bang hit the ears.

Looking at the pillar of dust and smoke rising from at least four or five miles away, Xiao Sheng's breathing was a little difficult, and in the large viewing tent, it was even more silent.

"Fourth brother, you ...... Do you really want to rebel? ”

Xiao Sheng finally asked this question.

"Are you going to come and crusade against me?"

Li Shi asked as if jokingly, his eyes swept over, Liang Deguang's eyes widened, he shook his head and waved his hand, not daring to speak.

"Fourth brother...... Don't you just want to bury your head in wealth and seek wealth? Why...... No, no, I don't believe that the fourth brother will be opposed. ”

Xiao Sheng seemed to be comforting himself, and he seemed to be seeking verification.

"I think so, if the court is willing, I will naturally not rebel."

Li Shi chuckled.

"That'...... That's good, of course. ”

Xiao Sheng didn't dare to ask again, but he said in his stomach, will the court be willing? Thinking about it again, why is the court unwilling?

"If there really is that day, Lao Xiao, we brothers, I will never embarrass you."

Li Shi looked at Xiao Sheng, whether it was his eyes or tone, which made Xiao Sheng remember a long time ago, when he was fooled by Li Sheng to suppress the bandits.

"Fourth brother...... Why do you do this to me, if you speak, I may ...... Will seriously consider it. ”

Xiao Sheng gritted his teeth and said, he didn't quite understand why Li Xian always didn't ask him for anything in return. This time he came to congratulate him on the happy event, Li Xi did not doubt him at all, or he came empty-handed, and only brought Liang Deguang, for fear that Li Xi would misunderstand. It can be seen that everything has happened before, and whoever can obtain Li Shi's surname will definitely be rewarded by the imperial court.

In Xiao Sheng's opinion, if Li Xian can open his mouth and ask him to fight against the imperial court together, he will feel a little better in his heart, whether he agrees or refuses, it seems that he has the confidence to talk to Li Xian.

But Li Xian didn't say anything, and always treated him like an outsider, which made him more and more uncomfortable.

"Why should I speak? You are not a child anymore, you should have your own grasp of what to do and how to choose. ”

Li Shi said indifferently, although his posture was high, he had his own careful thoughts. Xiao Sheng is of course a rare general, and he was also "trained" by him earlier, but his heart is still that set of "loyalty" after all. If he is really fooled by a sentence or two, he is still not at ease, so it is better to let him think about it by himself. I don't care what the final result is.

In Li Xian's heart, he and Xiao Sheng are really like brothers, and there is such a relationship. He followed Liang Deguang and others, risking his future to save Yan Sanniang, which is enough to see his sincerity.

"Fourth brother, you......"

Xiao Sheng shook his head, speechless with emotion.

"Let's go, go meet your four sisters-in-law."

No longer continuing the topic, Li Shi beckoned the two of them to get off the viewing platform, and the stiff movement caused Xiao Sheng and Liang Deguang to snicker.

"Clean up your face, otherwise at least one fourth sister-in-law will not dare to see you."

Li Shi reprimanded with a straight face.

Under the Daguan tent, Yang Lin's master sighed: "This Li Shi is no longer ......"

Qu Wansheng and Li Shibang glanced at each other, and said in their hearts, isn't this nonsense? Do you really want us to work hard with Li Xian? Unless the imperial court has an iron heart and pulls the soldiers from the north over, and even the firearms battalions in Xi'an and the capital, there is no way to hold Li Xi militarily.

Tang Youzeng's master was also sighing: "It's a great fortune for the court that he only asks for silver." ”

Guangzhou prefect Martai has not spoken, just now the guns were loud, he actually kept calm and did not panic, but the hat on his head was always trembling slightly. It wasn't until the sleeves of his robe were pulled that his eyes were round, he glanced left and right, and said in a loud voice: "What!?" What the!? ”

A female voice said in a low voice: "Daddy, my daughter has made up her mind, this thief must be eliminated, otherwise the court and the world will always be uneasy." ”

(To be continued)