The Liberation Army set up camp outside the city and frightened the people at the head of the city. Fortunately, several officials saw through the clairvoyant mirror that the number of bandits outside the city was not large, and it was only two or three hundred, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"The short-haired bandits have just arrived, and their foothold is not stable, we should go out and beat them by surprise." It was He Renshan's brother He Yishan who spoke. This person is just in his early twenties, which is the age of blood and energy, with a fierce face, a beard, a man who looks like a tiger's back and a bear's waist, and two plate axes pinned to his waist.

"Seventh brother Hugh is talking nonsense! The people of BGI have their own plans for this matter. He Renshan opened his mouth to stop the reckless remarks of this stupid big man, "Although the number of bandits in this group is small, I don't know that it is not a plan to lure the enemy, wouldn't it be self-defeating to attack rashly?" ”

Although Hua Yanjie didn't plan to take the initiative, he didn't want to hit the morale of the militia group, so he encouraged: "The courage of the strong man of Yishan is commendable, and with him here, I will be impregnable in Dongguan." But his real idea was to wait for the whole county to gather and drive this short-haired bandit away. He was also afraid that he would annoy the other party and attract the other party to attack, which would be very bad.

So the Guangfu army only built a camp, and the people at the head of the city watched like this, and neither side took further action. After another hour, the camp of the Liberation Army was finally completed, and the periphery of the camp was a circle of trenches, two Makqin machine guns, one left and one right, formed a crossfire in the front, and the mortars were arranged in the center of the camp.

Although the main task of the northbound detachment was not to fight, it also needed to show its muscles to the officials and people in Dongguan County, and after the mortar position was constructed, Chen Weifu ordered to fire propaganda bombs into Dongguan City. Because it was not live ammunition, the gunners did not carry out a calibration, and the four guns fired two shots each, and soon formed a rain of paper over the county town. Because the mortars were fired without flame and the sound was muffled, it was not until the propaganda shells exploded overhead that the people at the head of the city found themselves "attacked". When there was a whistling sound in the sky, some people with battlefield experience knew that something was wrong, and when the propaganda bombs were scattered in the wind, many people reacted, who knows what kind of charm these pieces of paper exploded in the air were? Some people hid behind the battlements, and some ran down the city with their legs, and the scene immediately became chaotic. and the slow to react, He Yishan still stood there stupidly, and in the end this became evidence that he was "not afraid of danger". The leaflets fluttered in the air and began to land slowly, and some of the men carefully picked up one to examine its contents. The propaganda was printed in part with the slogans "Expelling the Tartars and Restoring China" in part and in part with slogans such as "Expelling the Tatars and Restoring China", so some literate people began to preach the contents of the leaflets to others. After the initial panic, Hua Yanjie slowly stood up with the help of the officials, straightened the cool hat that was crooked to the side, and a rapidly beating heart slowly calmed down. Looking around blankly, the chaos on the head of the city made him sad in his heart, and the bandits only fired a few shots, and the two thousand people scattered as birds and beasts, counting on them to defend the city, which made the magistrate a little desperate. In addition, the bandit's artillery was fired quickly and accurately, and the shells fell before they saw the smoke from the fire. Fortunately, it was a piece of paper, and if it was a real shell, I would not have to explain it here. Packing up his mood, Huazhi County found that many people were gathering together to discuss something, and soon, a copy of the "Letter to the Compatriots of Guangdong Province" was delivered to him. "This is a fallacy to confuse the public," Hua Yanjie read the proclamation at a glance, shaking the leaflet, and yelled angrily, "Come on!" Burn all these perverse things! "Only a small part fell at the head of the city, and more have already drifted into the city with the wind, and Hua Yanjie urgently ordered the third class of officials to go and collect it, so as not to let this demon spread in the city.

He Renshan was also holding a copy of the "Letter to Compatriots in Guangdong Province" and reading it. Although this proclamation is plain and rarely allusional, the reason is clear. The Manchu Qing Dynasty ruled China with a foreign race, and its own country was not right, and the government was mediocre for 200 years, the officialdom was dark, and the army was corrupt, so it was repeatedly bullied by foreigners. These problems can be seen by anyone who cares about the current situation, but most of the scholars are thinking about how to use the world to revitalize the dynasty, and there are only a few people like Hong Xiuquan who plan to overturn them all and start over. Moreover, Hong Xiuquan used foreign religions to confuse the public and harm the Holy Gate, and was the number one enemy of the disciples of the Holy Gate in the world. It's just that the banner of "rejuvenating China" flaunted by these bandits is naturally not comparable to that of the bandits, and their appeal among scholars is naturally not comparable to that of the bandits, and they have recently defeated the British and the British in a row, and their reputation among the people is extremely high. If they want to change the dynasty, how they and the He family should deal with it, this needs to be thought through. Seeing that the official began to collect the propaganda leaflets, he secretly put the one in his hand into his arms.

The performance of the people in the city made the survivors once again prove the truth that "the militia is a rabble in the face of a modern army". It shows that the purpose of force has been achieved, and now it is necessary to appease the emotions of the officials and people in the city, so that no stunned young man will run out of the city to die, which would be contrary to the original intention of this operation.

The bandits outside the city did not move after firing a few shots, and looking at the smoke rising from the camp, most of them were burying pots and cooking. The scattered militia groups were also brought back one after another, and everyone was waiting for the bandits' follow-up. Suddenly, there was a loud voice from the bandit camp, which caused everyone to panic again. The speaker spoke in the Cantonese vernacular, and although there was a gap of two miles in between, the voice was still clearly audible. The man made it clear that the bandits' intention to go north this time was to deter the British in Guangzhou, and they had no intention of making Dongguan an enemy, so that the people in the city would not have to panic. At the same time, he warned the officials in the city to recognize the reality, not to act for the Manchus, and beware of ending up cutting themselves off from the people.

The bandits had no intention of attacking the county seat, which made Hua Yanjie breathe a sigh of relief, but the last paragraph made him very uncomfortable. What does it mean to recognize reality? What does it mean to cut oneself off from the people? From ancient times to the present, all those who rebelled under the banner of asking for the people's lives, but who would take it seriously?

Although the bandits said that they still had the idea of fighting Dongguan in the end, it should be after the British were settled. At least there will be no action in half a year, and who knows what will happen in half a year? Maybe Yingyi wiped out the bandits, maybe the bandits won but lost their troops, or they would have joined the forces of the Guangzhou government to send 100,000 volunteers, even if the bandits were all cast in copper and iron, it was impossible to defeat a hundred with one enemy. Besides, he served as a Dongguan county magistrate at the beginning of the Xianfeng Dynasty, and was originally transferred to the South China Sea, but he was transferred back because of the He Lu Rebellion. Speaking of which, he is almost full of three terms, as long as he is transferred before the bandits attack, then the matter has nothing to do with him. It seems that it is better to go to the Ministry of Officials and find a way to transfer out of Guangdong, even if it is transferred to the northwest, than to be frightened in the southeastern provinces.

Although the reputation of the Guangfu Army has always been very good, Hua Yanjie did not dare to fully believe their words, so he ordered the Zhuangban militia not to go down to the city. At the same time, he ordered to cook and let the group have a full meal, now they are the last guarantee of the magistrate, and the emperor is not short of hungry soldiers!

Ordered to stop, Hua Yanjie led a group of subordinate officials back to the city gate tower, he is going to live here today. His own servants brought hot tea to suppress the alarm, and the people who followed him into the house were people close to him left and right, so the master asked in a low voice: "Dong Weng, how can this bandit outside the city be dealt with?" ”

"So what else can I do? Naturally, I'm waiting for them to get out of the way tomorrow! Hua Yanjie put the cup on the coffee table heavily, and his words completely lost his usual elegance.

"Dong Weng is not annoyed! For today's plan, it is necessary to deal with the bandits outside the city. As if he hadn't heard his employer's tone, the master continued.

The anger on Hua Yanjie's face flashed, the master has followed him for many years, and he is the most old and steady, so he must have a reason to speak like this. After a little groaning, years of experience as an official made him figure out the joints. The bandits intended to infiltrate Guangzhou, no matter whether they were at war with the British Yi or at peace, it was indispensable for them to pass through Dongguan from time to time. Tomorrow this gang is gone, but I know that the other gang will not come the day after tomorrow, and I only hope that they will not come to attack, and I will never dare to provoke them. If we can reach a tacit understanding with the bandits, let them pass by a place far away from the county seat when they cross Dongguan, and everyone will not interfere with the river water, it will be no better. Besides, the way to be an official is to hide from your superiors and subordinates, as long as your boss and the military aircraft department do not know that you are secretly communicating with the bandits. The magistrate of the county is sure that most of the gentry in Sixiang and the bandits are secretly colluding, otherwise why did the bandits enter Dongguan as if they were in a no-man's land, and they did not receive the news until Liaobu County. Could it be that all those rich landowners in Sixiang are blind?

After thinking things through, Hua Zhixian's face became softer. "Sir, you have a good plan to teach me?"

Because the left and right are confidants, the master does not need to be cautious. "Dong Weng, after nightfall, you can send a man of good speech to the camp of the bandits and give him a golden silk. It is inevitable that this generation will see the money open, and then promise all kinds of benefits, and then they will all agree. ”

"That's great!" Hua Yanjie immediately became happy, "Just who to send?" ”

The master looked at everyone in the room, and the latter lowered their heads one after another. Are you kidding? Who wants to go to the enemy camp for such a thing, it is good to return it without success, and it is too wrongful to be used to sacrifice the flag. The master glanced around, and met all the evasive eyes, turned his head, but found that Huazhi County looked at him very eagerly, so a sense of foreboding rose in his heart. Then I heard Hua Yanjie say with a pleasant face: "Mr. is known as Su Qin and Zhang Yi's talent, such a big thing, who is Mr. She." ”

In an instant, the idiom "cocooning and self-restraint" appeared in the master's mind, and the person became speechless for a while. It took a long time before he weakly came out, "The student is old and frail, and I am afraid that he will be entrusted by Dong Weng." "Actually, the master is only in his forties, and he is still far from old age!

"It's okay," Hua Yanjie said nonchalantly, "I'll order Zhao Zhutou to escort you there in a while." Zhao Zhutou has the courage of ten thousand people, and he will be able to protect you. ”

Not to mention the master who dug a pit and buried himself, Zhao Zhutou, who was dragged to accompany the tie-up, also couldn't say anything. When the Guangfu Army opened fire in front, Shi Guoan almost suggested that Kaicheng surrender, but fortunately he stopped it in time, otherwise maybe the two brothers would be in prison now. Although I heard that the Guangfu Army has always treated people well, I don't know what kind of treatment I will be treated when I come to the door as an enemy envoy. It's just that the officials have orders, how can they allow themselves to shirk it, now is wartime, and the land guards can march the law. I had to bow down and say, "My subordinates will live up to the trust of the adults when they receive the order!" ”

Let the two people who died go down to prepare, and Huazhi County recruited the gentry of the county. If you want to give the bandits generously, you must not let these people bleed, and the county magistrate has a clean breeze on his sleeves, where can he get the money? After listening to the magistrate's tactful expression of intentions, the gentry cried vigorously as usual, as if they had reached the point of eating chaff. The master, who was unlucky and didn't let others relax, spoke, "As soon as the war starts, there will be no food, silver, and pensions, and when the time comes, it will not be able to stop thousands of taels." It's all because you can't afford a few hundred taels of silver now. ”

Many of the gentry in Guangdong were in business, and this account was still clear. He Renshan, who had never spoken, said: "What Master Pang said is very true. My He family is willing to repay fifty taels. "Someone takes the lead, and the rest will be easier to do. The gentry made up thirty or twenty, ten or two, eight or two, and finally made up more than four hundred taels.