Wu Shigong sat in his seat, and seemed to be unaware of the order of Qi County. He was now lost in thought. Wu Shigong's current mentality is very hesitant. Because he felt: "Although I have arrived in Senno, I have done my best to develop the armed forces and expand the army. However, his strength is still too weak. ”

Wu Shigong now has 400 newly recruited soldiers after he arrived in Qianhuso. In addition to the spears they had as weapons, because of the speed of the firecrackers, they only had more than fifty heavy firearms.

And Wu Shigong's horse team has more than 240 people. There are also more than seventy medium-sized firecrackers. However, the horses of the horse team were only able to achieve one horse per person after the robbers were eliminated and their horses were captured. In addition to this, because the number of saddles is insufficient. Now, Wu Shigong uses a maximum of 200 people.

And, of course, to those of the artillery corps and fifty teenagers in reserve.

If Li Lu's news is correct, relying on 650 to 700 people like Wu Shigong to deal with tens of thousands of people in chaos, it is undoubtedly a fantasy. Even if it is to guard the county seat, it is also understaffed.

Therefore, as soon as Wu Shigong got the news just now, he instinctively wanted to retreat back into the fortress of the Thousand Households. Although the construction of the fortress of the Thousand Households is only rough and has a rough appearance. However, the outer wall of the fortress of the Thousand Households has been built to a height of four zhang with Sanhe soil. Moreover, the rebels can only attack from the direction of the small town, which is easier to defend than to defend the county seat.

However, it is impossible for Wu Shigong to do this now, and it is impossible for him to give up this county seat. Wu Shigong's duty as a thousand-household office was originally to protect the county. Although Wu Shigong, the acting official of Qianhu, has been suspended, he is still in office. Therefore, the order of Qi County to use Wu Shigong's men and horses to defend the county seat is justified.

And the most important thing is that Wu Shigong doesn't want to, let alone give up this official position of acting for thousands of households, now. Not to mention Wu Shigong's expenses on the construction of the fortress of Qianhusu and the new soldiers, he spent so much silver. Just from the perspective of Wu Shigong's desire to find a refuge that could save his family's lives in the troubled times during the Chongzhen period, Wu Shigong needed this official position of acting for thousands of households.

Besides, after this county town was captured by the rebellious people, could Wu Shigong really rely on his own people to keep the fortress of Qianhu? In this year of famine, in the fortress of Qianhusuo, the more than 10,000 stone grain stored by Wu Shigong himself and in the Yicang was like a fire in the darkness, attracting those chaotic people to pounce like moths.

In an instant, Wu Shigong made up his mind: he must keep this county seat. But as soon as he made a decision in his heart, Wu Shigong found another problem. That is: in this battle to defend the county seat, Qi County Commander should be the natural leader. So what should he do if he uses his own people indiscriminately?

In the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty, it was a tradition to use literature and martial arts. Although in normal times, Qi County Ling and Wu Shigong have no intersection in their duties and work. However, as long as it is wartime, the Qi County Commander can completely issue all military orders to Wu Shigong, a thousand households. This is also the reason why the Qi County Order issued a command to Wu Shigong just now.

However, Wu Shigong did not want to listen to the orders of Qi County. If you think about it with your ass, you can know that the Qi County Order will definitely ask Wu Shigong to rush all the soldiers in the fortress of Qianhu to the county seat to participate in the defense.

In this case, what should be done about the fortress of the Thousand Households? All of Wu Shigong's belongings, as well as Zhao Ruya's four ladies and the children in their wombs, were they just thrown away in the fortress of a thousand households? That's a no-no. Therefore, Wu Shigong must take back the initiative.

When Wu Shigong was thinking about these questions, the county magistrate of Naqi had already called Wu Shigong several times. Seeing Wu Shigong as if he was sitting there in a trance, the face of the county commander of Naqi was already showing an angry expression. Seeing that Qi County's order was about to get angry, Li Lu, who was sitting next to Wu Shigong, hurriedly stabbed Wu Shigong with his elbow and asked Wu Shigong to pay attention.

Wu Shigong seemed to wake up all of a sudden, he stood up from his chair, bowed his hand to Qi County Order, and said, "Lord County, the little one has been suspended now, not a thousand households." Therefore, the small ones can't mobilize the soldiers of the Thousand Households. The little one is gone. After finishing speaking, Wu Shigong didn't look back, and walked out of the lobby.

Qi Xian Ling was choked to death by Wu Shigong's words, and his face was swollen and purple. Qi County Ling thought in his heart: "Just now I gloated about Wu Shigong's suspension, and now Wu Shigong has taken revenge." ”

But Qi County's order couldn't pull off his face for a while, and he still had to use righteousness to persuade Wu Shigong. Qi Xian Ling stood up after the big case, raised one hand, and shouted loudly to Wu Shigong: "Wu Qianhu, even if this official has offended you." Don't you think about the safety of the people in Manxian County? ”

Wu Shigong stopped, turned around and said, "Then I will remember to burn paper money for them." After finishing speaking, Wu Shigong took another step.

Qi County was really anxious at this moment, and he then shouted: "What about the official!" ”

Wu Shigong didn't even look back this time. He said leisurely, "I'll burn some more paper money for you." ”

As soon as they saw the appearance and conversation between Qi County Ling and Wu Shigong, the officials and gentry next to them, even if they didn't know what was going on, knew that there must have been a big conflict between Qi County Ling and Wu Shigong.

But at this time, how could they let Wu Shigong go. As a result, Li Lu and Yao Yuanwai, who were more familiar with Wu Shigong, all stopped or pulled, leaving Wu Shigong in place. Li Lu kept persuading: "Will be peaceful." will be reconciled. ”

The Qi County Commander couldn't care about his face, he walked around from behind the big case, and said to Wu Shigong: "Then what about Wu Qianhu?" Looking at the appearance of the county order, his tears were about to flow.

Wu Shigong also turned around and asked Qi County Order arrogantly, "Then what should I do with my suspension order?" ”

Qi County Ling gritted his teeth and said, "Up and down the county, I have never received a suspension order from Wu Qianhu. That message must have been a miscommunication. After saying this, the Qi County Order threw a date to Wu Shigong again, "As long as Wu Qianhu holds the county seat, this official will definitely ask the court for merit and add an official to Wu Qianhu to the knighthood." ”

Wu Shigong glanced at Qi County's order. I didn't expect this Qi County Order to be quite interesting. Wu Shigong then asked: "Who is in charge of the two of us in the matter of guarding the county seat?" ”

"This ......, of course this is the official." Based on the principle of Wen Yuwu, the Qi County Order will not back down.

Wu Shigong didn't expect that this Qi county order was quite principled. He laughed and continued, "Good! Then we'll all listen to the county lord. Then the official will ask the county lord now: This chaotic people are going to attack the county seat, so how should the county lord deal with it? ”

"That'...... That is, of course, to guard the county seat. Qi Xianling's voice became smaller and smaller, and while he spoke, he also looked at Wu Shigong's face, for fear that his words would make Wu Shigong unhappy.

"That's right!" Wu Shigong's answer made Qi Xianling stunned, and then he heard it again, "With the rules of Wen Yuwu, of course we have to talk about it." However, it is the question of whether or not to fight the civilian officials, and it is the question of how we military attachés decide how to fight it. ”

"Now that the county lord has made up his mind to defend the county seat. So how do you keep it? Then I, the Lord of a Thousand Households, will call the shots. ”

Wu Shigong's words made everyone on the side look at each other. They all had to admit that what Wu Shigong said was still very reasonable. Besides, after all, in the hearts of everyone next to them, they still believe that Wu Qianhu is definitely more capable than Qi County Commander to defend this county seat.

Wu Shigong didn't care about the side, and the embarrassed Qi County Order immediately began to arrange.

"You wait here for a while, and the official will immediately send someone to find out the news of the rebellious people and call the soldiers of the Thousand Households Office to come." After finishing speaking, Wu Shigong hurriedly ran out of the lobby.

Wu Shigong's guards were waiting in the compound of the county government. Wu Shigong walked out of the lobby, saw Zhang Biao in the guards, and immediately beckoned him over, and asked him to lead ten guards on horseback to inquire about the news.

Wu Shigong was going to send someone to the fortress of Qianhusu to call soldiers. Shumo immediately signed up enthusiastically, wanting to accept this difficult task. Wu Shigong didn't pay attention to Shumo at all. If Na Shumo went to call someone, then he would definitely not go back to the county seat.

Wu Shigong sent another person to the Qianhusuo fortress and asked him to tell Xue Yongli: Let Xue Yongli be in charge of the defense of the Qianhusuo fortress. In addition, let Zhou Xun bring all the 150 soldiers he had trained. Let the soldiers bring thirty heavy guns and half the gunpowder and bullets. Because it was impossible to bring cannons, Wu Shigong asked them to bring the ten three-eyed firecrackers over as well.

After arranging, Wu Shigong returned to the lobby. Then arrange for these gentry to report the number of strong men in their families. Moreover, let them go home immediately and make arrangements, so that these strong men can gather at the county government within an hour. If these gentry have weapons, it is better to let these strong men bring weapons. Zuihou counted it, so that he could make up more than 700 strong men.

zuihou, Wu Shigong asked the head of the official team: "How many people can you make up in total?" ”

The head of the official team immediately bent down and replied: "If you go back to the Thousand Households, our county government can make up a total of twenty officials and more than seventy assistants. There are also a dozen cell heads. However, the cell boss is to watch over the prisoners and cannot be used. ”

"Huh?" Wu Shigong frowned, and then asked, "How many prisoners are there in the prison?" ”

"There are more than two dozen of them."

"Kill them all!"

Wu Shigong's words made the head of the official team stunned. He hurriedly looked at Qi County Order. The county commander of Naqi saw that Wu Shigong was well arranged just now, and his heart was also a little settled.

At this time, the most important thing is to hold the county seat and get through this pass. Wu Shigong had all the requirements to meet him first. Those prisoners and Qi County Commander are not related to each other, although their crimes may not lead to death, but now that they have obtained such an end, even if they are unlucky.

So, the county commander of Qi waved his hand to the head of the official team and asked him to do what Wu Shigong ordered.

But at this moment, an official who was over fifty years old next to him stepped forward, bowed down to Wu Shigong and saluted: "Lord Qianhu, although these prisoners are guilty, they should still focus on education. The sage said, "......," and then the official uttered a long passage with the words "Zhi Hu Ye." I want to persuade Wu Shigong to take back the order just now.

After the official finished speaking, the head of the official team attached to Wu Shigong's ear and introduced: This official is the county priest, named Gong Haoran. For fear that Wu Shigong would get angry on the spot, the head of the official team added: "My lord, that old master is old, and his brain often can't turn around." ”

Unexpectedly, after listening to Gong Haoran's words, Wu Shigong tidied up the clothes on his body, bowed down to Gong Haoran and saluted back: "Mr. Gong, the student has also read the sage book for a few years. I know that what Mr. Gong said is right. The students also want to ask Mr. Gong for more advice in the future. However, let's live all these things first, okay? ”

After Gong Haoran listened to Wu Shigong's words, although he was a little pedantic, he also knew that Wu Shigong's approach was reasonable. Therefore, after he saluted Wu Shigong again, he silently retreated.

Wu Shigong then instructed those officials to let them each bring a few officials and assistants to go out of the county seat to the nearby Zhuangzi and people's houses, so that the people outside the city could enter the county seat as soon as possible.

After arranging all this, Wu Shigong walked out of the lobby. At the door of the lobby, Wu Shigong remembered Gong Haoran's words, and he couldn't help but murmur a few words out of his mouth.

Shumo on the side asked curiously, "Young Master, what do you want to say?" ”

Wu Shigong ignored Shumo. Just now he muttered the word "backbone". Wu Shigong sighed very much in his heart: "Although Gong Haoran is a little pedantic, he is also a little stubborn. But isn't what he shows exactly the backbone of the reader, the backbone of the Chinese? ”