Since being ambushed by the British, Li Xian and his men have become a little nervous, suspicious all the way, and are ready to travel from the waterway to Guangzhou.

It's just that they thought that the Guangzhou Mansion would inevitably get the news and was ready to stop their group, but they didn't expect that the Guangzhou Mansion would not be able to find any clue at all now.

Because of the backwardness of transportation and intelligence networks, the officials of the Canton Prefecture did not know about such a big battle until two days after the battle, and it took two days to understand the scale of the battle and think about the significance of such a battle to the situation between China and Britain.

"Can anyone tell me what happened?" said Governor Lin Zexu to his colleagues and subordinate officials at the Governor's Mansion in Guangzhou.

Li Xian and others really overestimated the intelligence ability of the Qing officials in this era, it has been three days since the battle between the Leizhou forces and the British, and the Guangzhou side only knows that there is a big war in the south of the Kowloon Peninsula, and there are unknown forces that have a big fight with the British, but they don't know who this force is, and they don't even know whether this force is Qing or foreigners.

Knowing that there was such a battle, it was also a loss that everyone paid special attention to the situation on the British side during this time, and sent some secret agents on the Kowloon side, and at the same time, some foreign businessmen from the United States and other countries have secretly inquired recently whether the Qing officials and soldiers fought a war with the British.

According to the information that Governor Lin is now living, some say that the foreign ships fought with the foreign ships, some say that the Chinese ships also participated in the war, some say that the pirates fought with the British, some say that there was a fire between the foreigners, some say that the unknown forces won, some say that the British won, in short, all of them.

In this information, there must be correct, there are specious, and even nonsense, but it is not sure which is correct and which is wrong.

Mr. Bai of Guan Yong wrote to say that he led people to fight a fierce battle with the British, captured many British prisoners, and said that with the assistance of the imperial court officials and soldiers, there were many contradictions.

After carefully studying this letter, the staff of the Governor's Mansion felt that what the general manager said about capturing many British prisoners should be true, but there were other officers and soldiers going to war and the like, and the credibility was extremely low.

In fact, everyone's hearts are clear, the British are fighting with unknown forces, and some sailors must have escaped to the Kowloon Peninsula in the north.

However, the sedan chair carried people, the officers and soldiers of Guangdong fought so many battles with the British, and never captured any prisoners, whether the actual casualties were caused or not can only be known through the Americans who contacted the middle.

The magistrate of Bao'an County also sent people over, but what he said was that a group of strong bandits suddenly appeared, arresting people when they saw them, robbing them when they saw money, and they had already harassed many villages on the Kowloon Peninsula, and he was sending people to verify the losses of each village, and organized the people to resist, etc., and also hoped that the Guangzhou government could send troops to support Yunyun.

If Li Xian was here, he would scold this magistrate for talking nonsense, he was obviously just spending money to hire people, and those possessions were also his own, so how could he become a bandit who robbed people and grabbed money.

It is obvious that this county master is timid, knowing that he has people on the ground to transport property, but he doesn't even have the courage to inquire about the news, and just relies on speculation to talk nonsense.

If it was peacetime, the Guangzhou government would have sent troops over to help, of course, after ten days and half a month, after sorting out the various interests after sending troops.

At this time, no one had the heart to think about it, only thinking about what it would have to do with the battle between the unknown forces and the British.

"We now know that there were people who were fighting with the British, and it was still very fierce, and at least many of the British fell overboard, ran to the Kowloon Peninsula and were arrested.

It's just that where did this unknown force come from, and whether it is a blessing or a curse for our Qing Dynasty, can anyone say clearly?" Governor Lin sighed and asked the people below, but unfortunately everyone lowered their heads and avoided the Governor's gaze, as if they were afraid that the Governor would ask them.

No, there was another man who was handsome and personable, and dared to speak to the Governor at this time.

"The lower official believes that the most important thing now is to find out who this force fighting against the British will be. Governor Lin's nephew and son-in-law, Shen Baozhen, who is currently the general judge of Guangzhou, said Shen Youdan.

"According to common sense, this force must have a big ship to fight the British, so there must be a big ship. ”

Isn't this nonsense, it's easy to write that the officials are slandering at the bottom, and without a big ship, even the British can't get close to it, let alone let dozens of British people fall overboard.

Fortunately, Lord Shen is not an incompetent person, he is a rare shrewd person, and because of some special experiences, he knows more things than ordinary officials.

"Originally, it was only the United States, France, Spain and other big countries in the world that had such strength, but as far as we were concerned, the Qing Dynasty was not without the power to own Western ships. Lord Shen said.

"Oh, there are people in my Great Qing Dynasty who have this kind of big ship, can you elaborate on it?" Governor Lin couldn't help but make a thoughtful expression.

"Li Xian of Donghai Island in Leizhou, this person has thousands of soldiers under his command, and a few months ago I heard that he bought Western ships and artillery, but he is not without the ability to fight with the British. Shen Baozhen said.

As soon as they heard this, everyone was stunned, as if there was really such a thing, and some time ago it made a lot of uproar, and asked the Governor to deliberately publish an article in the foreigner's newspaper to criticize him for making nonsense.

It's just, why does this matter sound so awkward, I always feel that something is wrong, but I just can't say it?

Just when everyone hadn't figured out the taste, Lord Yu Baochun, the prefect of Guangzhou, spoke.

"Lord Shen has a point. It's just, how did I hear that Li Xian bought only a small boat, and only bought one.

It's a little impossible to make such a big move with just such a ship, right?

Besides, Li Xian is just a splash from a person's background, but he is good at it in the fish and meat town, and he fights with people at sea, I'm afraid there is no such pattern. ”

"Your Excellency is right, it seems that the lower officials are not thoughtful enough. Shen Baozhen's face changed, but he no longer insisted on his own opinion and agreed with Yu Baochun's statement.

If it was before, Shen Baozhen's officialdom was proud, although Yu Baochun was the prefect of Guangzhou, but he was only half a level higher than himself, and the chief official of a province at this time was his uncle and father-in-law, so he would definitely have to quarrel a few times.

However, since being placed under house arrest by Li Xian for a few months, Shen Baozhen's official style has changed greatly, he is a little less assertive and a little more resolute, and he is unwilling to do senseless disputes with others.

All the officials pretended to bow their heads and drink tea, but Yu Baochun smiled bitterly in his heart, he just said that he just thought that Shen Baozhen's words were a little inappropriate, and blurted out, as if he intended to suppress the other party.

The uncle of the family is the governor of Liangguang, the top boss of his own boss, why bother.