Reading guide: Zeng Guofan rushed to the county seat, and Luo Zenan followed; The flag was unfurled, and the people flocked to it.

Luo Zenan sincerely asked Zeng Guofan to watch the exercise, but he didn't expect Ding Wei to watch a joke.

Zeng Guofan had just met with Wang Jingqi, and a group of heavenly soldiers and generals actually came over.

What kind of army was the Taiping Army?

Early the next morning after burning Sanqi for his deceased mother, Zeng Guofan had a meal, and went to his father's house to ask for peace, so he took Guohua, Xiao Fusi, Wang Jingqi and the third brother of the Nanjia family and walked out of the village.

Zeng Guofan rode his own plain sedan chair, Guohua took the other two people on foot, and the group headed towards the county seat.

Walking on the road, Zeng Guofan saw that all the people who came and went were deserters from Changsha. Some are carrying burdens, some are dragging their families, and they all look flustered. It seems that the Taiping army will be able to arrive tomorrow, and it is clear that they do not believe that the Taiping army can withdraw the siege of Changsha.

The four of them stopped and stopped, and arrived at the shop in Chengguan at noon.

The cloth shop opened by the Zeng family in Chengguan has a large façade and employs three men and a bookkeeper.

The bookkeeper is the leader of this shop, although he has never been to school, he can read and write, and he plays abacus well. Before the Zeng family opened a shop, he was the second housekeeper of the Zeng Mansion, in charge of grain harvesting, and he had been doing it for several years, but he had never made a mistake.

When Zeng Guofan walked into the shop, the old account room was tilting his head, holding a big abacus in his hand, crackling and settling accounts, while calculating, he was still muttering something. The three young men sat in three different positions, all dozing off with their heads down, and one of them was still drooling from his mouth.

Zeng Guofan actually walked straight to the front of the old tent and asked with a smile: "Master Zhang, your old body is still hard, right?" ——Disheng came to see that you are getting old! ”

The old account room was fascinated, and he looked up sharply and met the second young master Guohua and Wang Jingqi, the third elder of the Nan family and a person who was born in front of him.

Wang Jingqi saw that the old account room was in a daze, and hurriedly said: "This is the eldest young master in the house, come to see you old!" ”

When the old bookkeeper heard this, he hurriedly stood up and shouted: "Little rabbits, don't sleep, the eldest young master and the second young master in the house are here!" ”

After finishing speaking, he hurriedly saluted Zeng Guofan and Guohua.

Zeng Guofan pressed him back to his seat and said, "Master Zhang, you have been in the Zeng family for the past few years, and you have been tired!" ”

At this time, the three young men also hurriedly came over to greet Zeng Guofan and the others.

After the ceremony, the old accountant invited Guofan and Guohua to the attic on the second floor of the shop, and the man made a pot of tea and served it.

Zeng Guofan was about to speak, when Wang Jingqi suddenly ran up and said, "Young Master, Luo Xianggong is here!" ”

Zeng Guofan smiled in his heart and said secretly: "This Luo Shan, follow tightly!" He nodded at the old account room and walked down the attic with Jing Qi.

When Luo Zenan saw Zeng Guofan, he didn't care about giving courtesy, so he pulled up and walked out.

Outside the door, Luo Zenan pointed to the sedan chair with his hand and said, "Get on the sedan chair." ”

Zeng Guofan said: "You Luo Shan, you are more anxious than the official army!" ”

The two sedan chairs had just walked out of the ground, but they saw Xiao Fusi striding after him from behind, and shouted while chasing: "Xianggong Naluo, where are you going to get my uncle to be a waiter?" ”

Luo Zenan poked his head out of the sedan chair and said, "For the sake of the people of the county, I want your uncle to watch the group exercises." ”

Xiao Fusi shouted: "Uncle Shilang is going alone, I can't rest assured, I want to follow!" ”

Zeng Guofan said: "Fu Si, follow but follow, but you are not allowed to make trouble!" ”

Xiao Fusi grabbed the sedan pole with his hand and grinned: "I'll listen to Uncle Shilang!" ”

Zeng Guofan followed Luo Zenan all the way to Dianjiangtai outside the city.

Zeng Guofan saw that several of Luo Zenan's big disciples were there, and those who could be named were Li Xubin, Li Xuyi's brothers, Wang Zhu, and a short and fat black-skinned one, Zeng Guofan vaguely remembered that his name was Li Chendian.

At this time, a wooden table had been installed on the Dianjiangtai, and a few stools were placed randomly next to it, and Li Xubin and a few others were sitting on the stools talking about something.

Zeng Guofan and Luo Zenan got off the sedan one after another.

The crowd hurriedly stood up and saluted the two of them one by one.

Luo Zenan said to Zeng Guofan: "Disheng, this regiment has a drill today, so that you can see it from the beginning to the end." ”

After Luo Zenan finished speaking, he turned back to Li Xuyi and said: "Immediately raise the big flag, raise it three times in a row, and make an appointment in three quarters of an hour." ”

Li Xuyi agreed, took a few men to the flag-raising platform, and raised and lowered the flag three times in a row.

Luo Zenan made a pot of fragrant concubine tea here, and accompanied Zeng Guofan to chat while drinking tea.

Zeng Guofan said with a smile: "Luo Shan, you are following the Guan Yun Changfeng Huotai warning, about once the flag is raised, it will take a quarter of an hour, and if the flag is raised three times, it will be three quarters of an hour." That's the way to do it. ”

When Luo Zenan heard Zeng Guofan praise him, he couldn't help but feel proud in his heart, but he said in his mouth: "He is worthy of being a squire of the military department, and his words are well-founded - but Disheng, in order to gather this matter, I really took a lot of brains." You know, regimental training is different from the green battalion, and the green battalion is a battalion that fights and drills. This is not the case with group training, where there is something to gather against the enemy, and nothing to do farm work. Therefore, the group training in the whole Hunan is still like our Xiangxiang. ”

Zeng Guofan pursed his lips and smiled, and patiently tasted the tea.

Three quarters of an hour passed quickly, and Zeng Guofan saw that there were more than a dozen people resisting hoes and coming to Dianjiangtai from different directions; In an hour or so, five or seven bare-backed men with wooden sticks in their hands rushed over. When these people arrived at the playground, they didn't know how to greet Luo Zenan, so they just gathered around with the first one and talked nonsense.

Zeng Guofan looked at Luo Zenan, who was restless, and said: "Luo Shan, your regiment is very punctual in practice-the method invented by Guan Yunchang, why doesn't it work in your hands?" ”

Luo Zenan's face turned red, and he turned back to Li Xuyi and said, "Raise the flag three more times!" ”

Li Xubin whispered: "Teacher, raise the flag three more times, it's another quarter of an hour!" ”

Zeng Guofan stood up and said: "Luo Dashuai has time to raise the flag, but Di Sheng doesn't have time to accompany him!" - Long Fur can't let you raise the flag again and again - I have to go back to the shop! ”

"Disheng!" Luo Zenan saw that Zeng Guofan was leaving, and said hurriedly: "Why are you in such a hurry!" ”

Zeng Guofan was just about to speak, but Wang Ju suddenly said: "Teacher, please look, aren't our brigades coming?" ”

Luo Zenan opened his eyes and looked around, and couldn't help but be overjoyed: "Disheng, it's really my group practice!" ”

Zeng Guofan looked around and saw that there were indeed hundreds of people gathered from all directions.

Zeng Guofan took a closer look, not only did he smile dumbly: where is this a trained group training, it is clearly a group of people who came to catch the market. Not to mention those with sticks and guns, more than half of them were with baskets with bare backbones, and some came running empty-handed, shouting that they had left the guy in the wheat field. There are also some people, although they have a dog-beating stick, but they are wearing big trousers, which does not look like they are coming to fight, but like they are coming to rob big households. These people crowded on the playground in a chaotic manner, saying something to each other that no one could understand, what Zhang San's daughter-in-law had a miscarriage yesterday, and the pigs of Li Si's family raised a dog baby......

Luo Zenan couldn't cry or laugh, and flew up to the platform with his mouth open, and said loudly: "Listen, you guys look like this, can you grow hair?" ”

Before he finished speaking, he heard someone shouting quickly: "What? Long hair is coming? - Didn't you retreat? What's wrong with it again? ”

As soon as the man's words fell, the man's shout started again, and his voice was higher than Luo Zenan: "What are you waiting for when the long hair comes?" - Waiting for the longhair to be beheaded? - The long hairs are all heavenly soldiers! If you want to live, run! The man didn't finish his sentence, and was the first to run out of the playground. When they heard this, they did not distinguish between the true and the false, but they all ran after them.

Luo Zenan hurriedly asked Li Xubin and others to stop him, but where could he stop it! knocked a Wang Zhu into a fork and stepped on his stomach more than a dozen times.

Xiao Fusi jumped to his feet and shouted with a smile: "Luo Xianggong has practiced well!" Luo Xianggong practiced well! - What a run of balls! ”

Zeng Guofan saw that Xiao Fusi was getting more and more unspeakable, so he had to shout in a low voice: "Fusi, don't talk nonsense!" ”

Xiao Fusi didn't shout, but he still couldn't be happy alone.

Luo Zenan came to Zeng Guofan's face, and he only scolded his mother and ancestors in his mouth, but he couldn't say a decent word anymore.

Zeng Guofan sighed, and said while getting on the sedan chair: "Luo Shan, your group training is really unusual." If you don't come fast, you run fast, I'm afraid that even the artillery! I didn't come in vain, but I opened my eyes. Where is this group training, it is clearly an escape exercise! He shook his head, got into the sedan chair and said, "Go back to the shop." ”

Looking at the shop from afar, seeing Guohua with Wang Jingqi, the third brother of the Nan family and the two of them were looking at this side at the door, and when they saw the sedan chair and Xiao Fusi coming, Guohua greeted him and asked, "Big brother, why did you come back so quickly?" ”

Xiao Fusi hurriedly replied: "Sixth uncle! Coke to death me! Luo Xianggong's group practice, all running fast! ”

When the sedan chair arrived, the head of the door fell, and Guohua helped Zeng Guofan out.

Zeng Guofan glanced at Guohua and stepped into the shop without saying a word.

Guohua quietly asked Xiao Fusi: "Why are they all running out?" ”

Xiao Fusi said: "Sixth uncle, you ask me, who do I ask?" ”

Guohua muttered: "Isn't the group training fee we paid once a day in vain?" - Ahem, it seems that it is the officers and soldiers who can really fight long hair! ”

Wang Jingqi said: "This silver, I probably have to ask for the fourth master." ”

Zeng Guofan didn't say a word, and went straight to the attic. The young men had already made their beds, and the old bookkeeper Zhang Ye was still settling accounts in front of the table with abacus beads.

Zeng Guofan asked the young man to refill the teapot with some hot water, and then sat down, drinking tea while thinking about his thoughts.

It seems that the idea of the imperial court is too immature, and Zhang Liangji and Luo Shan's thoughts will be in vain. The officers and soldiers who have undergone formal training are still inferior to Long Hair, how can these regimental training who come out of the field be able to balance with Long Hair? Looking at the whole country through Xiangxiang, the group training in other provinces is definitely not much stronger than Xiangxiang. Luo Zenan, who is known as Lao Liang, still trains the group like this, what can a short-sighted and ignorant person do?

Zeng Guofan didn't finish a pot of tea, and he had already realized the reason why he held regiments in various places to practice growing hair in various places.

Dinner was served in the attic.

Zeng Guofan asked Wang Jingqi to go to the opposite side to ask for a few vegetarian dishes, and asked the third brother of the Nan family to pick a few things at the vegetable stall and put together six plates. The staple food is fist-sized steamed buns, the kind that are sold along the street.

The young man set up a large table and put the dishes on the table one by one.

Zeng Guofan came downstairs and invited Zhang Ye, the accountant, to the attic and sat down first. Zhang Ye refused to live or die at first, and he was determined to let Zeng Guofan sit on it, but unfortunately he was old and frail, and he did not twist Zeng Guofan. Zeng Guofan sat in second place; Guohua sat in third place, and the third brother of the Nan family ranked fourth. Wang Jingqi and Xiao Fusi sat with the boys.

Zhang Ye said: "The owner sits down, but it doesn't make sense to let a subordinate sit in the main seat." ”

Zeng Guofan said with a smile: "My Zeng family has no owners and subordinates, only the eldest and youngest. I have lived in Beijing for more than ten years, and everything in my family depends on you to take care of me. I came with Guohua today to replace wine with tea, and I would like to toast you first. ”

After finishing speaking, he picked up the teacup and touched it in turn.

Zhang Ye said: "I'm ashamed to say it! The old lady is old, the shop has not stopped, and the little old man has not even burned the paper for the old lady! ”

Zeng Guofan pointed to the dish with chopsticks and said, "Everyone, please choose the one you like." So he took a steamed bun and ate it first.

As soon as the guys saw Zeng Guofan like this, they gradually relaxed, took steamed buns, ate vegetables, and lived.

After the meal, the guys were about to close, but Jiang Gui stepped in.

Guohua led Jiang Gui to the attic to meet Zeng Guofan.

Jiang Gui asked Zeng Guofan for a big peace first, and then said: "The little one rushed home and said that the eldest young master had come to the city, so he rushed over again." ”

Zeng Guofan asked Guohua to bring out the steamed buns and vegetables for Jiang Gui to use.

Jiang Gui first said that he was not hungry, but then he saw that he was really embarrassed, so he took the steamed bun and ate it, but he ate six in a row, but he didn't eat a few bites of the dish.

Zeng Guofan saw that Jiang Gui's face was haggard and covered in mud, and he knew that this trip to Changsha was not going well. Seeing that Jiang Gui was still looking into the basket, Zeng Guofan knew that Jiang Gui was not full, so he asked Wang Jingqi to go to the street and buy two more. Jiang Gui gave in slightly, and then took it and ate it.

After Jiang Gui finished eating, Zeng Guofan asked the guy to remove the dishes and chopsticks, and asked Guohua to go downstairs to gossip with Zhang Ye and the guy. In the attic, only he and Jiang Gui's master and servant were left in an instant.

Zeng Guofan personally poured a cup of tea for Jiang Gui, and then said, "Jiang Gui, you speak slowly, be quiet." How did you go this long time? ”

Jiang Gui first took out four books from his arms and handed them to Zeng Guofan.

Zeng Guofan received the book in his hand, and saw that the titles of the four books were "The New Testament", "The Old Testament", "The Song of the Salvation of the Original Way", and "The Awakening of the World of the Original Dao". The first two books were translated by the English missionary Morrison and others, and were casually engraved and sold in churches in the Qing Dynasty. These two books are what are called the Bible. The last two books are marked with the words "The Complete Works of Hong Xiu, the Heavenly King of the Heavenly Kingdom", which is thought to be the scriptures of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

Zeng Guofan carefully put the four books under the pillow, covered them with another piece of clothing, and then sat back down, nodded at Jiang Gui, and said, "Jiang Gui, let's talk about it." ”

Jiang Gui lowered his voice and spoke vividly.

When Jiang Gui arrived, the Taiping army had not yet attacked Changsha, but it had broken Wuchang and was moving closer to the Yangtze River. The officers and troops defending Changsha City had been squeezed into the city at this time.

Jiang Gui's boat walked half the way, and then docked halfway due to lack of fuel, and the rest of the distance was measured by Jiang Gui step by step. After walking for three hours, I came to a mountain, and I could already see the green camp flag planted on the head of Changsha City. At this moment, a group of people suddenly came out from behind the mountain, all holding knives and guns, and their hair was scattered, as if they were heavenly soldiers and generals. The gang surrounded Jiang Gui with a roar. Jiang Gui was so frightened that he hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed, and said: "There is an eighty-year-old mother in the family, and I hope that a good man will spare his life." ”

One person grabbed Jiang Gui from the ground and said in a humming voice: "I don't believe this bird's words!" You can spare your life by just telling the truth. ”

The other said: "Tell me where you came from, is it a clear demon?" ”

Jiang Gui hurriedly said: "I am from Zhuanghu, and I went to Changsha to visit relatives - my sister-in-law is Xu Dana, the shopkeeper of Changsha Rice Shop." ”

When the first one heard this, his face lit up instantly, and he said, "I didn't expect it, but I am a small rich man!" But looking at your dress, why doesn't it look like it? - I'll have to search and see. After saying hello, seven or eight people came over, put Jiang Gui down, and searched all over his body.

Jiang Gui knew that he had met the Taiping Army, so he shouted: "I heard that the Taiping Army is not difficult for the poor!" ”

Everyone searched and said, "You don't fart less!" Your sister-in-law drives a huge rice shop, how can she be considered poor? ”

Jiang Gui just covered his waist with both hands, afraid of searching the panli.

These people searched for a long time, and when they saw that they couldn't find the silver, and saw that Jiang Gui was just pressing his waist with both hands, they immediately became angry, shouted, and began to pull down his clothes, and in the blink of an eye, they stripped him to the point that only one trouser was left to cover his shame.

Seeing the silver rolling out of the waistband of his trousers, a person smiled and said, "It turns out that he is really rich!" And before he had finished speaking, the money went into the man's own pocket.

Jiang Gui saw that his own money fell into someone else's pocket in the blink of an eye, how could he give up, so he jumped up and risked his life to snatch it back.

As soon as these people saw Jiang Gui's eyes reddened, they knew that he was a poor and anxious person, so they said: "You are five big and three thick, and you are a material for killing demons, you can join the gang." ”

Jiang Gui cried and said, "Give me back the silver, and everything will be over!" This is the money for the old mother's treatment, how do you say that you will rob it? ”

As soon as these people saw that they couldn't make sense, they made eye contact with each other, and one of them grabbed Jiang Gui's ragged coat and slapped it on his head, and the big and small fists rained down, and said while fighting: "Do you still want silver?" ”

Jiang Gui was beaten silently, and only held his head with two hands, but begged for his life, and there was nothing else to ask for.

These people knocked Jiang Gui unconscious, and then laughed and dispersed.

Jiang Gui saw that there was no sound around, so he hurriedly opened his eyes and secretly observed through his fingers, and saw that there was no one, so he got up little by little, picked up the torn clothes and pants and put them on indiscriminately. When he was about to pull his feet, he suddenly found two books lying on the ground. Jiang Gui knew a few words roughly, and when he saw the words "Heavenly Kingdom" and "Hong" on them, he immediately concluded that this was left behind by the Taiping army just now, so he picked it up and picked it up.

When Jiang Gui finally walked into Changsha City, Changsha City was already in chaos. It seems that tens of thousands of people are shouting that there is a war to be fought, the rich families are busy digging tunnels to hide silver, and some people are busy transporting things in sedan cars to the countryside outside the city. At this time, the Hunan provincial capital was full of chaotic and bombarding scenes. According to people on the street, the governor's yamen has been holding a meeting for two or three days, and several leaders of the flag battalion who have been recruited from other places have slapped the table on the governor.

Jiang Gui took advantage of the chaos to enter the city and no one checked it, so he wandered around the streets and alleys of Changsha without money to eat, and unexpectedly met an old neighbor from the past. This neighbor has been working for a Catholic church in Changsha, and when he saw Jiang Gui, he seemed to have seen his relatives, and he thought that Changmao had killed in the lotus leaf pond.

After Jiang Gui arrived at the church, he first went to the front hall to draw a cross, and then followed the man to draw a beard and say "God blesses", and then followed the old man to the room. Jiang Gui didn't distinguish between steamed buns and rice, and ate a big meal first, which explained his intention.

When the fellow villager heard this, he didn't answer, but walked straight into the hall, took two books after a while, and stuffed them into Jiang Gui's arms and said, "Count yourself lucky!" Both the New Testament and the Old Testament are available. It's not that I'm unkind, you can go quickly, the church is not allowed to stay overnight. ”

Jiang Gui took the book in his hand and said, "The entanglement has been searched by Changmao, how can I get on the boat?" ”

Seeing that he said pitifully, the fellow villager couldn't help but feel suspicious, and touched it in his arms with his hand, and took out a small piece of silver, about half a tael, and stuffed it into Jiang Gui's hand and said: "That's all I have, it's enough to buy a ferry ticket." ”

Jiang Gui took the silver, and then carried Yiren's two black steamed buns, and then left the church and ran to the dock, squeezing a stinky sweat before squeezing into the cabin. Seeing that there were still people on the other side of the ship who did not get on the ship, the ship lifted anchor in a solemn manner. Not long after the ship sailed, it was intercepted again, saying that it was requisitioned for military use. As soon as the ship landed, countless officers and men came up, and without a single refund of the tickets, they drove all the people on the boat to the shore. When Jiang Gui landed on the shore, he didn't know what to do, when suddenly a group of officers and soldiers came over, bombarded the disembarked people to the city wall, forced everyone to carry soil and stones, and began to repair the damaged city wall. It took seven or eight days to let these people go.

After listening to Jiang Gui's speech, Zeng Guofan pondered for a while, and whispered to Jiang Gui: "No one can mention the matter of you going to Changsha. Even if the master asks, don't say it. Do you understand? ”

Jiang Gui stood up and replied in a proper manner: "Jiang Gui knows." ”

Zeng Guofan nodded: "You go down and rest." ”

Jiang Gui agreed and slowly walked down the attic.

Zeng Guofan made a bag of the book Jiang Gui brought over, put it under the pillow, and then sat back in front of the desk.

After breakfast the next day, Zeng Guofan asked Zhang Ye to put a plate of shops and accounts that should be collected, and sent his men to collect them.

As soon as Zhang Ye heard this, he immediately guessed that the Zeng family's shop didn't want to continue. He didn't say anything at the moment, and hurriedly did as Zeng Guofan instructed.

After taking inventory, Zhang Ye found that there were two big accounts, which were owed on credit by a leading figure in the city, and it was not appropriate for the guy to collect them.

Zhang Ye thought about it for a long time, but didn't come up with a better idea, so he had to ask Zeng Guofan what to do, if he wanted to go there himself.

Zeng Guofan thought about it, so he called Guohua to the front and asked Guohua to take Fu Si and the guys in the store.

Sent away Guohua, Zeng Guofan came to the attic and wanted to flip through the books that Jiang Gui brought back.

Zeng Guofan just sat down, but Jiang Gui walked up and said, "Young Master, Jiang Gui still has a few things that I forgot to tell the eldest young master." ”

Zeng Guofan said while making tea: "Jiang Gui, if you have anything to say, just say it." ”

Jiang Gui whispered: "When I came back, I listened to the people on the same boat tell me that the long hair broke Wuchang, robbed all the shops of big families, and there was an incident that foreshadowed women. ”

Zeng Guofan was stunned: "Fighting the city, robbing grain and grass and robbing shops, this is originally the nature of bandits. If you don't rob the shop or the grain and grass, what do you let the long hair eat? - The court does not pay them again! What is this typology for women? ”

Jiang Gui said: "I heard that the king of heaven stipulates that the soldiers of the heavenly kingdom are not allowed to commit adultery, otherwise they will be killed!" ”

Zeng Guofan nodded and said, "I have also heard of this. ”

"But-" Jiang Gui lowered his voice and said, "The King of Heaven allowed the big long-haired people to represent women, and the Heavenly King began to represent women day and night—later, the little long-haired people also began to secretly represent women. I heard that after the long hair broke the city, he first robbed the good-looking woman, saying that it was given to the princes for the foreshadowing. ”

Zeng Guofan asked: "Jiang Gui, you have been talking for a long time, what is a foreshadowing?" You still haven't made it clear. ”

Jiang Gui said: "The little one was also very confused at first. Later, I asked a few people to find out that this indicates that the woman is also a woman who is stripped naked! ”

Zeng Guofan smiled: "Isn't that still adultery?" - Ahem! He waved his hand.

Jiang Gui walked down the attic.

Zeng Guofan sighed to himself: "Whether the long hair kills the officers and soldiers, or the officers and soldiers kill the long hair, it is always the people who suffer!" From ancient times to the present, there is no immunity! ”

In the afternoon of the same day, Zeng Guofan accompanied Zhang Ye to sit at the table in front of the shop and drink tea and chat, while listening to Zhang Ye talk about the changes in the countryside in recent years.

Guohua took the third brother of the Nan family and Xiao Fusi, together with the young men in the shop, to another shop to urge Chen to owe them, and only Wang Jingqi and two other guys were left in the shop, counting the number of pieces of cloth one by one.

At this time, two middle-aged men, one fat and one thin, paced in.

At that time, in the center of the shop, there was a pile of cleaned cloth for the boss. There are coarse homespun cloths, as well as muslin cloths transported from the water, which are piled up according to the variety of colors.

As soon as the two entered, the guys immediately put down their work and put out their smiling faces to take care of - although the shop was facing closure, there was still business to do.

The young man named Mao Diu smiled and accosted the guest: "I don't know if the two masters want to choose a gown material or a robe material?" ”

The fat man first touched the muslin with his hand a few times, and then said: "There are few in Changsha that can do the muslin business!" - This cloth is worth a lot of money! Who's home for such a big shop? “

The guy proudly replied, "That's still a question!" In Xiangxiang, can such a big shop be opened, in addition to the Lotus Leaf Tang Zeng family, can it be another? ”

The thin man who came with him brightened his eyes when he heard this, and hurriedly asked: "What are you talking about, there is a son in the Baiyangping Zeng family who is a waiter in Beijing?" - No wonder! ”

The fat man bit his thick lip with his teeth, and said, "Speaking of the Zeng family in Baiyangping, it is really the first household in Hunan!" The business is big, and there is a lot of land, I heard that when the little master goes out, there are more than a dozen people to serve him! - These big officials are all rich! Emperor Laozi's silver, all let these officials and masters get home! ”

The two men walked around in admiration, and one of them went up to the attic for a moment; Before leaving the door, the other looked at the large wooden door of the shop. Looking at the posture, it doesn't look like a customer buying goods, but like a worker invited by the shop to repair something.

The young man sent the two out, and when he saw the two of them looking at each other secretly, he nodded, and walked to the second house with reverence.

"It's another lounker!" The young man muttered and sighed. The shop has had no business to do for more than ten days, not to mention that Zhang Ye is on fire, even the guys are a little unbreathable.

Zeng Guofan saw something wrong from the words and deeds of the two people. He stood up and walked out the door with his hands behind his back, and saw that the two people, one fat and one thin, who had just entered the store, were under a tree in two arrows, and they were looking here and gesturing with their hands.

Zeng Guofan glanced twice, turned around and entered the door, sat on the side of the desk and thought about it, the more he thought about it, the more strange he felt, so he grabbed the paper and pen on the table, hurriedly wrote a few lines, and when it was dry, he folded it carefully.

Zeng Guofan called Wang Jingqi and whispered something. Wang Xingqi picked up the folded paper and walked out in a hurry.

Two quarters of an hour later, Wang Jingqi rushed back and whispered something to Zeng Guofan in the same whisper. Zeng Guofan nodded, either as an answer or as an acquaintance.

In the afternoon, Xiangxiang Chengguan became more and more deserted and quiet, and occasionally walked by a person, and it didn't look like he was going to buy goods.

Zhang Ye glanced at Zeng Guofan, and said to himself: "This long hair, it makes the villagers not grow the fields well, and the businessmen can't do business." Cough! ”

In the evening, Guohua came back with the third brother of the Nan family and others, and when he saw Zeng Guofan, he said with a bitter face: "Big brother, all the accounts of the Xu family have been registered." It seems that the six hundred taels of cloth money will not be recovered! ”

As soon as Zhang Ye heard this, he said: "This Xu Dashan person, when I was on credit, I repeatedly warned him that the Zeng family was doing a serious business, and it was necessary to pay it back on credit - how is he now - I will go tomorrow and let him arrive with the goods." ”

Guohua said: "Master Zhang, you have forgotten that his Xu family is doing a white business!" ——Arriving at the goods with goods, can't he pull a few mouthfuls of longevity? ”

Zeng Guofan waved his hand and said: "I know the shopkeeper of the Xu family, not a person who pays his debts, and if he can't prepare for a while, don't force him." I'm not easy to do business, and I'm in chaos, so let's take care of each other. ”

Guohua said: "Speaking of which, the Xu family's business is not easy to do. I sat in his shop for a few hours today, and the longevity material was paid five or seven, but none of them were paid in cash. Shopkeeper Xu comforted us with a smile in the house, and he had to hold on to let people be filial sons. Cough! The way of the world! ”

A few more people talked for a while, and it was dinner.

After holding the lamp, Zhang Ye took the third brother of the Nan family and the three guys in the store to the private room behind the shop to rest, Xiao Fusi and Wang Jingqi accompanied Zeng Guofan and Zeng Guohua brothers to live in the attic on the second floor.

Zeng Guofan's ringworm disease was quickly cured due to the timely application of medicine and the dryness of the attic. Zeng Guofan rolled up his sleeves and looked at it, and saw that there was a scab on his arm, which would fall off in a few days.

Zeng Guofan asked Guohua and Xiao Fusi to rest first, and then asked Wang Jingqi to light up the lamp oil, make a new pot of good tea, and let Wang Jingqi go to sleep; He turned out a few books that Jiang Gui brought back from Changsha, and with the help of oil lights, he wanted to read them carefully, so as to have a basic understanding of the rules and regulations of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

Zeng Guofan first opened the "Old Testament", and after only reading a few pages, he had a general understanding of the content. According to his own understanding, the so-called Bible is actually a myth of heaven designed to educate people. Speaking of a God named the LORD, he inadvertently created a man and a woman. Both men had names, the male Adam and the female Eve. The two of them were playing in a garden. Later, Eve was seduced by the serpent and ate a forbidden fruit from the tree, and she became lustful.

Zeng Guofan turned a few more pages, but the handwriting was too small to read. He closed the Old Testament and opened the New Testament, and it was about the same thing, about how the Lord preached, and how the Son of the Lord named Jesus preached.

Zeng Guofan interspersed these two books and flipped through them, thinking while reading, until he saw the three drums in the sky, and the night was already very deep, so he was a little tired. He rewrapped the two books, and then stretched his waist to change his clothes and read the other two books tomorrow.

He habitually walked back and forth while undressing.

I had just taken off half of my clothes, when I suddenly heard a noisy sound of footsteps in the street.

He hurriedly put on his clothes, walked a few steps to the window, lifted the curtain with his hand and looked out, and saw countless torches jumping and jumping towards the shop, there were fifty or sixty of them.

He hurriedly aroused Guohua, Fu Si and others.

At this time, someone outside had already shouted loudly: "The heavenly soldiers of the heavenly kingdom have descended from the sky!" - We only kill the demons, and do not move the people. Let not the people come out! ”

At this time, the big wooden door on the ground floor was already ringing with a tom tom sound.

Zhang Ye wore pants and led his men and Jiang Gui and others to run up in a panic.

Zhang Ye's face turned pale, and he stammered: "Big-big young master, long-haired-killing-killing!" Smashing-smashing-smashing-smashing-smashing-"

Jiang Gui said: "Big young master, it seems that the long hair is coming from our family. ”

Xiao Fu Sishun touched a wooden stick from the corner of the attic and shouted, "Uncle Shilang, don't panic! Today I want to let the dog's longhair see my means! After speaking, he flew downstairs and was about to open the door bolt.

Zeng Guofan shouted: "Fu Si can't come nonsense!" There are many long-haired people, and they are well-armed, so we can only defend them, and we can't go out! ”

Fu Si said: "What can I do when the wooden door is smashed?" - It's not a fight yet! ”

Zeng Guofan said calmly: "If there are any other guys in the shop, find them out and hold them in your hands, but don't panic - there are no heavenly soldiers in the world!" Long-haired deceit! ”

After Zeng Guofan finished speaking, he forcibly pressed his heartbeat and walked down the attic step by step.

Guohua was afraid that his eldest brother would make a mistake, so he followed downstairs.

Zeng Guofan sat down in front of the case and saw that Jiang Gui had already carried a black meat cleaver, and the third brother of the Nan family was also carrying a pillow. The other guys had a plank and a rope in their hands.

Zeng Guofan whispered to Xiao Fusi and Jiang Gui: "You two guard the door, once Long Mao breaks the door and rushes in, you will fight to the death!" ”

The big wooden door has been smashed a little at this time, and it seems that it will not be supported.

Xiao Fusi gritted his teeth and slowly raised the stick above his head, Jiang Gui also raised the knife high with his eyes closed, and Zeng Guofan's heart almost rose to his throat.

At this moment, louder footsteps suddenly sounded outside.

The slamming of the door stopped suddenly, and someone shouted in a hoarse voice: "Oh, mother, the officers and soldiers are here!" ”

Fierce fighting and shouting began to be heard outside, and after an hour of commotion, the knock on the door rang out again.

Zeng Guofan judged it and said to Jiang Gui: "This is a person from the Yamen, open the door." ”

"Young Master," Jiang Gui suddenly trembled a little, and he said as he retreated, "Don't open the door casually!" - Long-haired killers never blink! We can't resist these people! ”

"Confused!" Zeng Guofan stood up with a smile and said to Xiao Fusi: "The bandits have been captured, quickly open the door to meet Zhu's parents, Lord Zhu!" ”

Xiao Fusi hurriedly opened the door.

Jiang Gui was so frightened that he closed his eyes, and then opened his eyes again, and then he saw that the person who came was indeed Lord Zhu Sunyi, the magistrate of Xiangxiang County, who was dressed in regular clothes, and more than 20 people such as Zhang Wufeng and Xingliu (end of this chapter).