This episode is today. ^-^）

Xiang Xiaoqiang first went to visit Zheng Gongyin in the Changping Marquis Mansion, chatted with him about meeting Princess Liaoyang, and briefly talked about his thoughts. As he expected, Zheng Gongyin was very satisfied with Xiang Xiaoqiang being so open and honest with him, and after listening to Xiang Xiaoqiang's reasoning, he felt that this was indeed the case. Zheng Gongyin hopes that the People's Guard will grow rapidly, and hopes that Xiang Xiaoqiang will get closer and closer to him.

Zheng Gongyin also felt that Xiang Xiaoqiang was in need of help now, and promised that he would try his best to make suggestions to His Majesty and help solve the problems in terms of funds and manpower. And in his opinion, it seems stupid at first glance to pull the line of Princess Liaoyang to Xiaoqiang, but after careful analysis, the benefits far outweigh the disadvantages. Daming wants her to take refuge, on the one hand, he wants to use her as a flagpole and reap political benefits, on the other hand, Fourteen Gege is indeed a rare talent, more than half of the secrets of the Qing Empire are in her head, Daming is worried about how to let her cooperate, if Xiang Xiaoqiang is a person, try to cooperate with her first, then she is used by Daming, or spit out some secrets of the Qing Dynasty, you can look forward to it.

As for Dongchang, now the royal family has raised a people's guard, just to have a useful army at hand, and it is also to balance Dongchang and the Shen cabinet. Therefore, if you hope that Dongchang can really help the People's Guard, that is to seek skin with the tiger. The sticky pole department, like the East Factory, is a large and comprehensive organization, and the intelligence work is both internal and external. Therefore, the talent of Fourteen Gege is becoming more and more important.

Zheng Gongyin also thought that it was necessary to talk to His Majesty as soon as possible, so he drove into the palace with Xiang Xiaoqiang and talked about his thoughts with Zhu Yourong. Zhu Yourong trusted his uncle very much, and he also admired Xiang Xiaoqiang, and immediately nodded his head aggressively, saying that she had counted.

Xiang Xiaoqiang saw that many Praetorian Guards came and went in the Imperial Garden, carrying a mouthful of boxes with seals on them, cautiously, with a serious face, and there were several times as many Praetorian Guards next to him, holding submachine guns, staring at these boxes, as if facing a great enemy. A few old pedants, gray-haired, wearing glasses, counted the numbers tremblingly, and wrote on the boxes with a brush.

Zhu Yourong clasped his hands and stood on the stone steps, staring at all this blankly.

Zheng Gongyin sighed on the side:

"This is the last batch, right? There is going to be a war, and these things can no longer be kept in the palace, they have to be loaded into trains and transported to the south. It will be shipped to Hangzhou first, and if not, it will be shipped to Sichuan. Alas, these are all the treasures of our Ming Dynasty. ”

Zhu Yourong said softly:

"It's not just the treasure of our Ming Dynasty, it's the essence of our thousands of years of Chinese civilization......"

Xiang Xiaoqiang looked at these heavy boxes, and the black lacquer words on them read:

Yin Shang - bronze gluttonous pattern ...... Western Zhou Dynasty - Bronze Beast Face Pattern Fang Ding...... Warring States Period-Bronze Wrong Jin Zeng Marquis B Chime-No. 56 Yong Bell...... Daming-Xuande Cuojin Suoer copper furnace...... Tang-gilt sitting Tibetan Buddha statue...... Song-mutton fat jade pine cypress character pen holder...... Daming-Jade Danfeng vase......

There were also well-sealed steel crates, each of which was tensely guarded by several Janissaries. On the box is written the words priceless:

Song-Ru kiln-blue gray glazed incense burner...... Yuan-blue and white knife horse man sea bowl...... Daming-Jingdezhen official kiln celadon pen washing ...... Daming-Jingdezhen official kiln blue and white plum vase......

Zhu Yourong looked at the words on the box and said with some pride:

"The authentic Ru kiln of the Song Dynasty is only 67 and a half pieces in the world today...... There is 1 piece in Japan, 3 pieces in the United States, 4 pieces in the British royal collection, 1 piece in the private collection of the United Kingdom, and half a fragment in the Forbidden City in Beijing...... The remaining 58 pieces are all with me. ”

Then, she rolled in her throat, and she choked up a little:

"They've never been this far away...... This way to Sichuan, the road is long...... I wonder if what has been handed down from my ancestors will be damaged in my hands......"

Xiang Xiaoqiang looked at these priceless treasures and sighed. He knows that in the 21st century, the world record for the auction price of a single work of art has always been set by Chinese porcelain. It's hard to imagine that these national treasures in the Forbidden City in later generations are now Zhu Yourong's private property. It seems that before the fall of the Northern Ming Dynasty, the things in the Beijing Imperial Palace should have been transported south as much as possible. Otherwise, it will definitely be like in later generations, and all the treasures of the Forbidden City are cheaper than the Manchu Qing Dynasty.

Xiang Xiaoqiang sighed lightly:

"Your Majesty, when are you leaving?"

"I'm not leaving."

Xiang Xiaoqiang was stunned, thinking that he had heard it wrong.

Zhu Yourong looked at the sky and said very firmly:

"I won't leave Nanjing. I am the Son of Heaven of the Ming Dynasty, and the Son of Heaven has always lived and died with the capital. ”

Zheng Gongyin shook his head and said helplessly:

"Alas, we've been persuaded countless times, but it's useless......"

No way...... Is this Zhu Yourong? Is this still the pampered Zhu Yourong?

Xiang Xiaoqiang was quite surprised. "The Son of Heaven guards the country" is indeed a tradition of the Ming Dynasty. Unexpectedly, in the 20th century, this tradition is still alive. More than 300 divisions of the Qing army were already pressed on the opposite bank, and there were also train artillery. Zhu Yourong stayed in Nanjing, does he firmly believe that Nanjing can hold on? Or are you really determined to live and die with Nanjing?

If it is the latter, Xiang Xiaoqiang really wants to admire the backbone of this girl.

However, if the emperor does not leave, he, the commander of the People's Guard, will not be able to leave...... Xiang Xiaoqiang felt a chill to the bone.

……

Coming out of the palace, Xiang Xiaoqiang sat in the car, looking out the window at the civilians who were dragging their families to the train station outside the city. Many wealthy people have cars full of luggage, honking their horns and slowly crawling through the flow of people. There were also some wives and ladies on foot, holding puppies and kittens in their arms, and the housekeepers behind them carrying their luggage......

Last night, the new cabinet announced the opening of several trains for citizens who are willing to leave Nanjing to move south. The elderly and children must be evacuated, as well as women who do not hold important positions in the city of Nanjing. Since this morning, this kind of flow of people fleeing can be seen everywhere in Nanjing.

The streets are filled with the sight of family members parting. Sons say goodbye to their parents, husbands say goodbye to their wives, parents bid farewell to their children...... Pairs, groups, hugging each other and crying.

A father on the side of the road snatched the big stuffed bear from his little daughter's hand, threw it aside, and forced her into a car that was already full, despite his daughter's crying...... The streets are full of discarded stuffed toys, rag dolls, as well as scattered bedding and cotton jackets......

In front of the tall bank on the side of the street, more than 20 armed gendarmes suddenly rushed out, lined up. Two soldiers from the bank came out carrying heavy steel boxes and loaded them onto a military truck...... And then another box......

Xiang Xiaoqiang knew that there were gold bars in the box. Now all the gold in Nanjing and Shanghai is being transshipped to the south.

Did you do it all by yourself?

He shook his head and comforted himself that he led the team north to save people, but he just gave the Manchus an excuse. The Guangwu Emperor was able to take the throne in a coup d'état, because he had to make up his mind to invade the south. If you don't have it, you'll find other excuses. It will even create an "incident" as an excuse.

But, after all, this fuse was lit by itself, and now the consequences are finally pressed on yourself. He and Zhu Yourong, a main messenger and an executor. Zhu Yourong, a little girl, has the courage to stay and take on this responsibility, what is there to be afraid and complain about as a big man to Xiaoqiang?

Despite thinking about it, Xiang Xiaoqiang still felt cold hands and feet, cold sweat kept oozing out of his back, and his hands kept shaking gently.

……

Another three days passed.

The people who should have been evacuated in Nanjing City have almost been evacuated, and now even the streets are empty during the day, and the old people and children can no longer be seen. The civilians who remain here are all in important positions. The proportion of women in the sparse pedestrian population on the streets has also been greatly reduced.

At night, the city is almost pitch black. The neon lights on the banks of the Qinhuai River are no longer lit, and those cruise boats and Qinglou nightclubs have been closed for several days. The street was dark, and few windows on both sides of the buildings were lit, only the street lamps were quietly on. Groups of patrolling gendarmes, their neat footsteps echoing through the streets.

It has been ten days since the mobilization of the Qing Dynasty. The fact that there has not been a war for so long after the general mobilization is very uncomfortable for all countries in the world. Everyone is speculating whether the Qing Dynasty really wanted to fight. All countries are speculating that Emperor Guangwu of the Qing Dynasty mobilized just to make a show and prevaricate Japan. After all, in the face of such a strong Yangtze River defense line in the Southern Ming Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty emperor may not have confidence......

However, another objection is that in the past 10 days, the Qing army assembled on the north bank of the Yangtze River has only increased, from about 1 million standing troops before mobilization to 3.5 million troops now, an average increase of 250,000 per day. With such a strong build-up, it really doesn't look like it doesn't want to fight.

As for when to fight? Analysts believe that the military expenditure of these millions of troops is astronomical every day. If it really drags on for half a month and a month, even the rich Nanming can't afford it. So if you want to fight, it's just a few days......

As for Britain, everyone understands that Britain will not roll up its sleeves for the sake of an ally who is far away. What Nan Ming can expect is some aid, economic, technical, and diplomatic. Now the whole of Europe, no, it should be said that the whole West, with the exception of Germany and Italy, suffers from war phobia, and the war of 1914-1918 left them too many horrific memories. Now it is that others do not fight against themselves, and generally do not go to war for other countries.

British Crown Prince Edward, who came to Daming to "spend Chinese New Year's Eve together", took the Hood all the way to inspect overseas colonies, and the last stop was Daming, which stopped in Singapore for Christmas some time ago. coincided with the mobilization of the Qing Dynasty's war, so he stayed in Singapore. In an interview with reporters, he said that his father, King George V, was in deteriorating condition, and he was waiting for further news, and if his father was critically ill, he might cancel his plan to visit Ming and return to China.

But everyone understands what's going on.

These days, the intelligence agencies of the Ming Dynasty are constantly receiving information from the north about the number of Qing troops, their equipment, their assembly areas, and, most importantly, when to attack.

At this point, the various pieces of information are contradictory and time-consuming. From the farthest February offensive, to the most recent hours later. Every piece of information is categorical. There is also a lot of information that says that the Puppet Qing has no intention of attacking at all, and this is just for show.

There is also the mysterious train cannon, which has now disappeared from the vision of Nanming, and I don't know which section of the railway that crosses the north bank of the Yangtze River in the Northern Qing Dynasty.

As for its caliber, it remains unclear to this day. Because several of the informants who saw it said that it had been wearing a gun suit. But according to the length of the train gun, the caliber will never be less than 300 mm.

……

In just a few days, Xiang Xiaoqiang's Imperial People's Guard expanded to more than 2,000 people. Almost all of them were drawn from other elite troops: the Praetorian Guard, the Commando, the Jinyi Guard, the Gendarmerie Unit, and the capital garrison, the eight ace divisions that defended Nanjing.

They were told that Her Majesty the Empress had two direct guards, the Praetorian Guard inside the palace and the Imperial People's Guard outside the palace.

What kind of concept this is, these lads understand it at once. They all knew that it was a great honor to be selected to join the People's Guard.

When Xiang Xiaoqiang brainwashed them as recruits, he generously lectured:

“…… The title of the People's Guard is honorable, and it will take on a lot of obligations. But there is only one power: to fight for the Motherland first. ”

This phrase, plagiarized from the mobilization manual of the Bolsheviks in Soviet Russia, seems to have worked so well that many members of the People's Guard have adopted it as a motto. So far, no one has discovered its provenance.

At present, the People's Guard has taken on the task of defending the capital. Responsibilities include:

patrolling with the gendarmerie, maintaining law and order in the city, and supervising the gendarmerie forces;

suppress rumours and panic and arrest mongers;

Detect and arrest the hidden agents and their agents;

hunt for infiltrators on the North Shore;

In cooperation with the work of Dongchang and the Military Intelligence Bureau, the suspects they detected are now handed over to the People's Guard Force for arrest;

A small number of Manchus in Nanjing, as well as those with pro-Manchu sentiments, are now arrested by the People's Guards in accordance with the usual blacklist, and are placed in wartime detention.

Finally, once the Qing army broke through the defense line and invaded the city of Nanjing, the People's Guards had to rely on the streets and alleys to fight to the death, and they must not retreat.

……

It's already four o'clock in the morning, and the headquarters of the People's Guard is still brightly lit.

Xiang Xiaoqiang has been busy these days, but he feels that his ability is improving by leaps and bounds. It's like learning to swim, throwing you into the water and letting you choke on it, and as long as you don't drown, you'll learn to swim at a miraculous speed.

Desks are piled high with papers, reports, orders to be signed, military maps, lists...... Xiang Xiaoqiang lay in the big easy chair in the commander's office, pinching his eyebrows, exhausted.

Two thousand people. Plus a city. I have never taken on such a high level of responsibility. This would have been unthinkable in a previous life. But less than a month after coming to this world, I have experienced many tests, faced death several times, and my leadership, determination, and courage have been greatly improved.

He couldn't help but think that if he returned to the old world now, even if he couldn't be a marketing director, he would definitely be fine as a department manager. This is very good, back to tomorrow for a five-day tour, with devil training. As long as you don't die, maybe if you go back in five years, you don't have to go to the job fair at all with your own ability, and the headhunter will come to you......

The sharp phone bell interrupted his YY, and Xiang Xiaoqiang opened a bloodshot eye, and saw the phone ringing on a smaller desk next to him.

"Office of the Commander...... The Commander is in ...... Okay, wait a minute. ”

She put down the earpiece, looked up and said:

"Lord Commander, that secret gathering point in the four alleys, today is the third day, and no one is going anymore, is it handled according to the original plan?"

Xiang Xiaoqiang lay in the chair and didn't move, making a gesture.

Qiu Yun nodded, and said in the microphone:

"Executed as originally planned. Yes, all the people who went to that house were arrested. What the? Hey, don't you understand me? I'll say it all! Eleven or twelve? Then arrest twelve...... Yes, without a warrant from the judge, arrest people directly...... Too many people? If there are too many people, we will arrest people directly, when did our People's Guard use a judge's warrant to arrest people? Well, well, that's all! ”

Xiao Nizi put down the phone with a "snap", smacked her lips, and got busy as if nothing had happened.

Xiang Xiaoqiang smiled "poof", Qiu Yun raised his head in confusion, pressed a hand to Xiaoqiang to her, and said with a smile:

"Okay, it's none of your business, busy with you, busy with you."

He couldn't help but sigh that not only himself, but even Qiu Qian had been exercised. …… However, he is a captain in the first place, so he may be born to do this.

Xiang Xiaoqiang is admiring the busy autumn water. Qiu Yun picked up a large stack of document bags, lifted his toes, and laboriously stuffed them into the upper level of the filing cabinet, in this wonderful posture, the curves of his body were fully revealed, and the chest and hips in his uniform were about to come out.

Just as Xiang Xiaoqiang was biting the pen and squinting his eyes to appreciate it carefully, a voice began to echo over the silent city:

"Woo————"

This kind of thick, loud howling is exactly the air defense alarm.

Xiang Xiaoqiang bounced up from the easy chair, pulled Qiu Yu and rushed out of the office, quickly locked the door, and rushed into the corridor.

The male and female officers of the various offices in the corridor all ran out, and everyone rushed downstairs, no one shouted, fast but not chaotic, very orderly.

In the courtyard, at the entrance to the heavy cement fortifications, a guard wearing a steel helmet commanded everyone to enter. At this time, the air raid sirens were still ringing throughout the city.

Descending two floors down the stairs, the air became moist and warm, and you could smell the thick cement on the four walls. There was a dim red light in the bomb shelter, and it was already crowded with people. When everyone saw Xiang Xiaoqiang, they were all making room for him, while greeting:

"Commander."

"Commander."

"Adjutant Qiu."

"Commander."

"Adjutant Qiu."

……

"Well, good."

Xiang Xiaoqiang hugged Qiu Yu and greeted his subordinates around him. Whenever this time, Qiu Qian will also return the salute to everyone with a smile, but always with a touch of shyness.

Because what she clearly heard from everyone's voices was not "Adjutant Qiu, Adjutant Qiu", but "Mrs. Commander, Mrs. Commander".

This is a city-wide air defense exercise, which has been carried out for five days, and the whole of Nanjing has gone from being in a hurry at the beginning to being orderly today.

……

But today, everyone felt strange.

Just now, the concrete walls on all sides trembled violently. The red light went out for a while, and it came back on. Someone could faintly hear a muffled sound coming from the earth.

The earth shook strongly, and a few seconds later some dust fell from the top surface.

Only this once, and then there was none. Not quite like bombing, not like shelling.

Quite a few people whispered:

"Earthquake?"

A moment later, through the loudspeaker above, a voice said excitedly:

"All units pay attention that the Yangtze River defense line has been bombarded, this is not an exercise...... Repeat, the Yangtze defense line was bombarded, this is not an exercise ......"

There was dead silence in the bomb shelter. It boiled after a few seconds.

Qiu Yun hugged Xiang Xiaoqiang and cried:

"Xiaoqiang!"

Xiang Xiaoqiang hugged Qiu Yu tightly and pressed her head against his chest so that she could hear her heartbeat. He took a deep breath, steadied his breathing, and whispered to Qiu Qiu's ear:

"Don't be afraid, it's time for war. …… Here we go. ”