Sitting in the carriage, Zhou Qibin lifted the curtain and looked out from time to time, although Jiang Guolin sat in the car, his eyes drifted out unnaturally. In addition to shock or shock, the changes in Shanghai brought them shock, is this still the small fishing village at the mouth of the Yangtze River?

The most intuitive feeling is the road of Shanghai, after coming out of the wharf, the horse-drawn carriage has been slowly moving on this gravel paved road, like an endless long line, extending into the distance, and then radiating like a spider web to all corners of Shanghai. The middle of the road is slightly higher, the sides are gentle and low, and there are drainage ditches on both sides of the road to facilitate the accumulation of water on the road, and various trees are planted outside the drainage ditches on both sides of the road, among which the sycamore is the most.

Out of the wharf, looking ahead is a very prosperous street, pedestrians, carriages, horseback foreigners on the road are endless, that section of the road on both sides are three-story Western-style buildings, the ground floor is the shop, bustling and lively, everywhere you can see the snow-white breasts of the foreign women. Jiang Guolin just shook his head and sighed lightly, and slowly closed his eyes.

Fortunately, the carriage turned around at an intersection and did not go that way, Zhou Qibin looked back at the Taiping Army soldier sitting with the car a little strangely. Get along, the Taiping Army soldiers are called Wang Kai, Anhui Taiping Mansion people, who fled the famine and came to Jinling City to seek a living, and joined the Taiping Army in the West Palace when the Taiping Army entered the city, and he is also a veteran of the West Palace. Wang Kai's name was originally changed to Huang Kai according to the taboo of the kingdom of heaven, but fortunately, after the king of the West entered Tianjing last year, when the heavenly brother went down to earth, all kinds of taboos on words were abolished, and Huang Kai changed his surname back.

Wang Kai saw Zhou Qibin looking at him, and said lightly: "That is the foreigner's concession over there. Two years ago, the roads in Shanghai were named, and Xiwang personally named Nanjing Road, which is the most prosperous place in Shanghai. This is a prisoner's car, so we can't go over there. ”

Zhou Qibin blushed, and only then did he remember that he was still a prisoner, sighed lightly and didn't speak, just looked at the scenery outside.

After crossing the pidgin road, you can see a large area of towering chimneys and endless brick houses in the distance through the pidgin, and there are few residential buildings on the land there. Zhou Qibin asked curiously, "Where is that over there?" ”

Wang Kai didn't raise his eyes, but said: "Over there is the Shanghai Firearms Bureau, which makes guns, cannons, and machines." ”

Jiang Guolin couldn't help but look over when he heard this, and Wang Kai continued: "This Shanghai Firearms General Bureau is now the largest firearms manufacturing factory in our East. There are tens of thousands of people working in that factory, and most of the guns we use to fight you are made there. ”

Jiang Guolin's face was like ashes, his hand holding the window lattice of the carriage couldn't help trembling, and he muttered to himself: "I see, I see, I ...... so" I don't know what he meant.

Wang Kai said lightly: "Two great masters. I was ordered to accompany the two of them to the Yamen of the Military and Political Department. But if there is anything you want to ask, just ask, and the command I was given was to know everything. ”

Jiang Guolin was silent for a moment and then said strangely: "Aren't you afraid to say too much, after we escaped, we leaked the secrets here?" ”

Wang Kai shrugged his shoulders and said: "Let's not talk about whether you can escape or not, even if you can escape from Shanghai, there is nothing that people can't know." Our King of the West said, even if the Qing Demon knows that there is our gun manufacturing bureau in Shanghai? Can the Qing Demon still fight? ”

Jiang Guolin and Zhou Qibin were silent, and after a while, Zhou Qibin couldn't help but ask, "Why did your lord arrange it like this?" If you enter Tianjing, isn't it closer to take the Yangtze River waterway? ”

Wang Kai shook his head and said, "I don't know the way, anyway, your itinerary is to take a train to Suzhou, and then enter Tianjing from Suzhou." I don't understand, this admission to Beijing to offer prisoners is like a tour of the mountains and rivers. ”

After turning the long road on the edge of the pidgin. The old city of Shanghai is in front of you, the changes here are even greater, the canopy boat people who have lived on the water for many years have disappeared on the inland river water, the neat brick houses are planned outside the city wall, and the general straight gravel road leads directly to the city, the road is neat and clean, the merchants and hawkers on both sides are also endless, and the pedestrians and carriages are not inferior to the foreign concession.

The plane trees planted on both sides of the road can be connected by the arms of the trees across the road, and it is very shady to walk in summer. Various stalls are set up under the trees on the side of the road, connecting from the street to the end of the street. On the stalls, there are robes, skirts, hair flower jewelry, shoes, hats, scarves and socks, fruit loose food, bonsai art, glassware, etc., and even foreign goods and miscellaneous hardware. It is surrounded by commercial shops, all kinds of shops, tea shops, restaurants, theaters, inns, etc., but it seems that there are some smoke houses and flower houses.

The people who come and go are all wearing Hanfu, and occasionally some people are wearing the robes of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, wearing red scarves, and some are wearing Western clothes, and the whole old Shanghai city is like a hodgepodge of clothing exhibition halls, but only the Manchu clothing color of the horseshoe sleeve style is not seen.

Coming to the original Shanghai Provincial Yamen, Wang Kai jumped out of the car and said: "The Shanghai Military Political Department has been relocated to the Zhabei New District, which was originally the Qing Demon Shanghai Daotai Yamen, and the Shanghai Military Political Department used to do official business here, and now in order to facilitate the people in the old city, several divisions and branches have been retained here. There are a lot of empty houses inside, so I will spend the night here. ”

Jiang Guolin and Zhou Qibin got out of the carriage, but they didn't see the other people who were captured together, and the inquiring eyes came, Wang Kai had already replied very cleverly: "The two have a good reputation in Guangdong, and this is the kind of treatment, Ye Mingchen and Bai Gui can't enjoy this kind of treatment, and they are still circled on the boat." ”

Jiang Guolin and Zhou Qibin looked at each other and smiled bitterly, and when they were walking inside, they saw several Taiping Heavenly Kingdom officials coming out of the yamen, all of them were ordinary Taiping Heavenly Kingdom robes and horse coats, wearing red hoods, and one of them was in his fifties, with gray hair but strong spirits.

Jiang Guolin glanced at the man, and shouted in surprise: "It's Tao Gong?" ”

The old official was slightly stunned and raised his head to look, his face was also happy, and he stepped forward and said, "Who is my Tao, it turns out to be Yunong." ”

Jiang Guolin stepped forward and said: "I didn't expect to see Tao Gong here, when the Hanlin Academy was the editor together, there were many points from Tao Gong, and Guolin never dared to forget it." ”

The old official smiled and said to a cadre of officials behind him: "You go back to run errands first, and the old man is here to catch up with old friends." Several Taiping officials took their leave, and then left in a carriage.

Jiang Guolin pulled Zhou Qibin and said: "Tao Gong, this is Zhou Qibin, the envoy of Guangdong, and Yiyang (Zhou Qibin) is Tao Enpei Tao Gong." ”

The old official was Tao Enpei, who was appointed by Xiao Yungui as the head of the household department after coming to Suzhou from Hengyang, and after a year in the office of the head of the household department, due to his advanced age, the affairs of the household department of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom were heavy, and Tao Enpei was often ill, so Xiao Yungui transferred him to the deputy director of the Shanghai Military Political Department, which could be regarded as recuperation, and the household department was appointed by Xu Naizhao, who was more capable and energetic.

After Tao Enpei and Zhou Qibin saw the ceremony, they wanted to take the two of them back to their house to catch up on the old days, Wang Kai immediately stepped forward to stop him and said, "Lord Tao, these two are my prisoners." ”

As soon as Jiang Guolin and Zhou Qibin were embarrassed when these words came out, Tao Enpei patted his head and said: "Yunong, look at the old man's memory, an official document came a few days ago, saying that a few empty rooms on the old yamen side should be used to detain a few captured Qing court officials, it turned out to be the two of you." ”

Jiang Guolin's face turned red, and he hugged his fist sideways and said: "Tao Gong, Yu Ben wants to die for the ...... of martyrdom."

Tao Enpei hurriedly stopped and said, "Slow down, what are you going to do?" Martyrdom? Which country was martyred? The Manchu Qing Dynasty is not the country of our Han Chinese, Yunong, you are very wrong. Seeing that Jiang Guolin and Zhou Qibin were silent, Tao Enpei turned back to Wang Kai and said, "This ...... Oh, the rank is Captain, this little brother Captain, which room are they going to lock up in? I'll take them in, and you can ask your soldiers to buy us some food and drink, and the old man will hang out with them in the wing? ”

Wang Kai was not hypocritical, but just spread his hands and said, "Master Tao, I don't have any money." Tao Enpei scolded with a smile: "The day before yesterday, the day before yesterday, will you have no money?" Take it, the old man will naturally not let you break the banknote. After saying that, Tao Enpei took out a few silver dollars by himself, Wang Kai took it with a smile, called the two soldiers who accompanied the guard, and then took the remaining soldiers to follow Tao Enpei and others into the yamen.

came to the wing room in the backyard of the yamen, Tao Enpei chose a larger wing room for the two to live in. After freshening up, the wine and food were also bought, Tao Enpei gave more money, Wang Kai and several other soldiers also got a table of wine and food for their own use outside the house, and Tao Enpei and the other three put out wine and food in the house.

After three rounds of drinking, Tao Enpei said some bad things about the Manchu Qing Dynasty during the banquet, Jiang Guolin frowned more and more when he listened, and he didn't know how Tao Enpei became so rebellious, Zhou Qibin just smiled slightly and didn't speak, nor did he echo or refute.

"Tao Gong is from the fifteenth year of Daoguang." Jiang Guolin diverted the topic and said: "I still remember that when I was the editor of the Hanlin Academy in the past, there were many boys who were photographed by Tao Gongfu. ”

Tao Enpei stopped his glass and sighed: "I remember that Yunong was born in the eighteenth year of Daoguang, and he was appointed as the editor of the Hanlin Academy. ”

Jiang Guolin raised his glass and said: "The kid still remembers what Tao Gong said to the kid on the first day of the boy's tenure, Tao Gong said that he would remember the emperor's grace and be loyal to the country." ”

Tao Enpei Ha said with a smile: "I want to talk about you, but you say me." Then he also raised his glass and said: "Yes, the old man did say this back then, but there are two more important sentences in the back, that is, to benefit the people of the world with what we have learned all our lives, so as not to lose the teachings of the sages." ”

Jiang Guolin drank the wine with a little respect, and said with a blushing face: "But why should Tao Gong commit himself to the thief?" Could it be that Tao Gong has forgotten the word loyalty? ”

Tao Enpei also drank dry, smiled slightly, took out a few books from his arms and handed them over, and said: "This book is written by the remnants of the Ming Dynasty overseas, and there is a record of what the Manchu Qing Dynasty did in Yangzhou and other places when they entered the customs. There are also a few books such as "The New Examination of Han Confucianism", "The Chronicle of Confucianism in the Manchu Dynasty", and "New Notes on the Four Libraries of the Whole Book" written by Hongru Yu Songnian and others in Jiangsu and Zhejiang at that time, together with Xiao Hongshi, the first talented woman in the country. After reading it, Yunong knew why the old man had changed so much. (To be continued......)