How many local warriors will be trained and where will the food, wages and weapons come from? Xu Ying seemed to have never mentioned this before and said nothing further. He just said that there were a lot of things to do tomorrow and asked Han Xiufeng to go and rest early.

In Han Xiufeng's opinion, Xu Ying was a god of plague. Once he came to Zhouya, he was no longer a place for people to stay. He brought several family members with him on the pretext that he could not let them all live in Zhouya, so he wanted to find an inn near the Yamen. Xu Ying

Without saying anything, and without even showing the slightest hint of displeasure, Han Xiufeng bowed and exited the lobby.

Before coming, I prepared two hundred taels of silver and two large baskets of local specialties given by the salt officials. I planned to honor him as well. But when I thought that he was forced to spend four thousand taels to donate the crown, and even forced me to serve the imperial court.

The two hundred taels Han Xiufeng didn't want to show any filial piety, so he asked Pan Er and others to hand over two large baskets of dried fish, dried shrimps and other seaside local specialties to Menzi, and then walked to Tailai Inn, which was closest to the Yamen.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he arrived in front of the inn, which had already closed the door and only hung a lantern outside, Li Xiucai, whom he hadn't seen for more than a month, sneaked out of the alley.

"Master Han, Master Han, was born late!"

"Mr. Li, why don't you take a rest at this late hour and wander around in the middle of the night? People who don't understand think you are a thief."

"Mr. Han, the street is not a place to talk. Come with Wansheng. Wansheng lives in the alley." Li Xiucai looked around nervously, then pulled Han Xiufeng and walked into the alley.

"Mr. Li, what are you doing?" Pan Er caught up and asked.

Lu Daming, Liang Liu and Ji Da all recognized Li Xiucai. If they hadn't recognized him, they would have drawn their swords long ago. The three of them quickly followed.

Li Xiucai spent this day in a panic. He didn't care about Pan Er's questions. He pulled Han Xiufeng deeper into the alley and said eagerly: "Mr. Han, do you know who is in the city?"

"Who?" Han Xiufeng asked curiously.

"Xu Lequn!" Li Xiucai stopped, let go of his hand, turned around and patted the door of the small courtyard on the left side, then turned back and said: "Xu Lequn is not only in the city, but also donated a fifth-grade hat. Xu Tongzhi summoned the city in the afternoon

The gentry, the salt merchants, and the shopkeepers of several big business houses came to persuade us to donate and dissuade them from doing so, and they even came together."

"Xu Lequn is in Taizhou!" Han Xiufeng was shocked.

At this time, someone suddenly asked nervously in the yard: "Who?"

"I, it's me."

"Coming."

Hearing the door creaking open from the inside, Li Xiucai hurriedly called Han Xiufeng and others in, and then followed him and said: "Keep an eye on the outside. If anyone comes, be sure to ask clearly, and look through the crack in the door before opening the door.

"

"know."

The man who opened the door held a knife tightly in his hand. Lu Daming and Liang Liu did not dare to slack off and immediately walked to the man's side. Ji Da looked back and realized what he was doing, holding the knife tightly in front of the man.

Li Xiucai said hurriedly: "Master Han, this is my late cousin."

Thinking of the investigation of smuggled salt on the night of the first day of the first lunar month, Han Xiufeng suddenly realized that he was afraid of Xu Lequn's revenge. He nodded slightly and signaled Lu Daming and the others to stay outside, then turned around and took Pan Er in. Li Xiucai's wife had just started lighting

The main room of the oil lamp.

Li Xiucai thought it was a hindrance and drove his mother-in-law into the side room. He didn't even bother with tea and asked eagerly: "Mr. Han, does Xu Tongzhi want you to come to Taizhou to defend the city? Does he plan to let Fang Shimei go back to Hai'an to continue his patrol?"

Check?"

"How did you know?"

"Wansheng was also at the Yamen in the afternoon, and he could hear what they said clearly. Those salt merchants obviously didn't recognize you, Mr. Han, and they clearly didn't know what you did after you took office, but they were confused when talking to Mr. Xu.

Tao. He said that you are an honest official, that you are upright, that you are vigorous and resolute, that after you took office, the villages and towns under your jurisdiction never picked up lost things on the road, and never closed the door at night. Not only did you praise you as a capable official, but you were also praised as Bao Qingtian!"

Han Xiufeng was enlightened and understood: "I said why Mr. Xu thinks so highly of me, it turns out that someone is trying to kill me."

"Is Xu Tongzhi planning to ask you to donate a sixth-grade top hat first, and then find a way to get you to act for the vacancy vacated by Li Changjing?"

"You also know this?"

"You knew it when you were on your way to Taizhou. This idea came from those salt merchants. They are willing to pledge donations and admit defeat, but there is one condition. The condition is to transfer you to Taizhou to defend the city! What are you talking about?

I only believe in you, and I don’t dare to entrust my life and property to the green battalion soldiers in the garrison camp and Caobiao, let alone those people in Wu Limu who are greedy for life and afraid of death.”

Li Xiucai paused and then said: "Xu Tongzhi neither agreed nor refused to agree in the afternoon. Wan Sheng thought to himself who Xu Tongzhi is. He is famous for not taking soft and hard advice. How could he be blackmailed by a group of businessmen? I thought that this

That's how it happened. I didn't expect that as soon as Mr. Han arrived in Taizhou, Xu Tongzhi still wanted you to fill the position vacated by Li Changjing, and he still wanted you to guard the city."

Pan Er was shocked: "Master, Master Xu really wants you to defend the city in Taizhou, and does he really want you to donate six items to wear it?"

Han Xiufeng corrected with a grimace: "From the sixth grade."

"Regardless of the grade, is it interesting to donate this hat? It's better to continue to do inspections as a 'Shaking Master', not to mention that if you really become a 'Shaking Master', you will have to stay in Taizhou to defend the city!" Pan Er was worried.

"Do you think that if I don't donate my hat and become this 'shaking master', Master Xu won't let me defend the city with him?"

"No need to bargain?"

Before Han Xiufeng could speak, Li Xiucai said as if he was mourning for his heir: "Brother Changsheng, Xu Tongzhi is a mad dog. Whoever targets him will be in trouble! Li Changjing risked his life and reported illness again and again, thinking that he would be relieved by being dismissed.

When he returned to his hometown, it turned out that not only he couldn't go back, but even his eldest wife, his youngest wife and several children couldn't leave. You can't believe it, even Mr. Zhang, Mr. Zhang and the whole family were put under house arrest by Xu Tongzhi in the state government office.

inside."

Pan Er asked in horror: "What if his son wants to die, but he wants to drag other people's whole families to die together?"

Li Xiucai said with a bitter face: "He doesn't even care about the lives of his own mother-in-law and children. How can he care about the lives of others, and how can he care about the lives of other people's wives and children? Not to mention those officials, even people like me are here now.

He can't leave the city. Not only can't he leave, but he has to help him demolish the house at dawn."

Han Xiufeng subconsciously asked: "Demolish the house?"

Li Xiucai explained: "He wants to strengthen the walls and clear the country. He wants to demolish all the houses five miles outside the city, and not even a single one can be left!"

"If the house is demolished, where will the people live?"

"Those who have relatives in the countryside go to visit relatives, and those who don't have relatives go to the city. Didn't you persuade them to lose this afternoon? All businessmen who are summoned to the Yamen must donate money. Those who have money will give money, and those who have no money will give food. Let the homeless people

Eat yourself first

After eating the food for the children, the yamen will open a porridge shop." Li Xiucai paused, and then said: "Women, children and children can go to the porridge shop to eat, but the young and middle-aged are not allowed to go. If you want to eat and survive, you must either help defend the city, or

Go tear down the bridge and fill the river."

“Where’s the bridge to be demolished and where’s the river to be filled in?”

"Every bridge between Taizhou and Yangzhou, and every bridge within a radius of 20 miles from the city, must be demolished. As long as the big rivers and small rivers in the west can lead to Yangzhou, a dam must be filled every ten miles. He

If we want to make it difficult for the bandit's navy to get through, and to make it difficult for the bandit's land army to move, no matter how long we can delay, it will count for one day."

This is a desperate attempt to defend the city!

Han Xiufeng pondered for a moment and then asked: "Mr. Li, you just said that you can't leave the city except for errands. Can Xu Lequn go out of the city?"

"He can, not only he can, but anyone who pledges to donate and admit defeat can."

"What are you donating?" Pan Er couldn't help but ask.

"What else can you donate? Just donate! I heard that as soon as Lu Zhitai knew that the Taiping bandits were coming down the river, they rushed 600 miles away to get hundreds of blank licenses from the court in order to start a donation and raise money. The result

The blank donation licenses from the Ministry of Household Affairs have just been delivered to Qingjiangpu, Jiangning has been surrounded by Taiping bandits, and these blank licenses are now in the hands of Yang Dianbang, the Governor of Water Transport."

Li Xiucai moved his body and continued: "In the past, no matter whether you donated your birth status or donated your crown, if you wanted to get a ministerial photo or wear official uniform to see an official to make up for your appointment, you would have to wait at least two or three years. It's different now.

, now you have to pay money in one hand and receive the ministry photos in the other. If you don’t accept it as it is, no matter what official you want to donate, as long as it is below the fourth rank, you can get a 20% discount.”

Han Xiufeng asked in a low voice: "So all the salt merchants and big shopkeepers in the city donated?"

"It's all donated. Not only do we have to donate it, but we also have to donate it. Because all the money donated was originally going to be handed over to the Jiangning vassal treasury, but now it's all going to be handed over to the treasury of the Caoyun Yamen. The amount should be handed over to the state government.
Chapter completed!