From Daqiao Town, it was already dark when it arrived at Wanfu Bridge, and the bridgehead was not only brightly lit but also crowded with people.

The news that the Taiping bandits had already arrived in Yangzhou was spreading very quickly. The people nearby, especially the gentry, did not dare to stay for a long time. They all rushed here with their families and their subordinates, and planned to cross the river to Taizhou and other places for a while. However, in order to prevent the bandits from entering, Zhang Guangcheng ordered his cousin Zhang Guangsheng to lead more than 100 village heroes to start demolishing the bridge from the west to the east overnight. The people could not get there, so they could only cross the river by more than a dozen boats under the bridge.

Zhang Guangcheng was worried that there would be spies among the people who were anxious to cross the river, so he asked Chu Chenggui to take more than 40 village heroes to investigate with the help of nearby gentry. Locals can cross the river, and local accents can also be used, and no one who speaks a foreign accent and has no guarantee is allowed to board the boat!

Big Head squeezed into the front, stood on tiptoe and shouted, "Chuan Bantou, Chu Bantou, we are back!"

Chu Chenggui was stunned, and then ran over happily and asked, "Brother Big Head, why are you alone, Mr. Han?"

"At the back, why are there so many people here? My young master can't squeeze in."

"It's all for escape, what can I do?" I was also very happy to see the big head Chu Chenggui. I immediately turned around and called out a few village heroes, waved my sword and scolded: "Mr. Han arrived, give me peace of mind, and avoid me!"

A village hero who had investigated private salt together in the first month of the year reacted and immediately picked up the gong that was put on the side and knocked it a few times. When he learned that Mr. Han was back, the village heroes of Baimi Tuan and Qutang Tuan seemed to have a backbone, and were more excited than the other. They both picked up their waist knife and rushed into the crowd like a fierce and fierce savage, and drove out a way.

When the official arrived, the people were so scared that they hurriedly avoided them.

Han Xiufeng didn't care about comforting him, so he took Zhou Xingyuan over and asked while walking, "Chenggui, where is the second young master?"

"Report to Mr. Han, the second young master led Jiang Huai and the others to collect the civilian ships."

“How much has been collected?”

"There were more than 40 pieces here, all tied to the shore and couldn't find the owner for a while. It's a pity that we burned them like this, so we rowed the entire boat to the east coast." Chu Chenggui pointed to the Wanfu Bridge, which had been demolished for five or six feet, and then said, "Mr. Han, I can't get past the bridge, so I have to drive you on the boat."

This is a wooden bridge more than 150 meters long. In order not to affect the passage of ships, two large bridge holes are left in the middle of the bridge. There are two pavilions built on the bridge hole. Both sides of the bridge hole are dense wooden stakes, which cannot be seen clearly at night. It is really spectacular in broad daylight.

This wooden bridge was not built for a long time. It is said that several large salt merchants in Yangzhou invested more than 20,000 taels of construction in the 26th year of Daoguang. It spanned Liaojiagou and the east of the bridge was the river. It was not only a must-pass land area for Taizhou, Fairy Temple and Shaobo to Yangzhou, but also the only important road to Yangzhou to the hinterland of northern Jiangsu. Unfortunately, his life was tragic and he was destroyed by war shortly after his completion.

Han Xiufeng walked to the bridge and looked at it, pointing to the wooden bridge piles that were still standing in the river and asked, "Why are the bridge piles still there?"

"Master Han, these bridge piles cannot be pulled out as if they have grown roots!"

"If you can't pull it, you have to find a way to pull it out. If you don't pull it out, the bandits will lay the bridge board and you can pass it!"

"The young man knows, and Zhang Guangsheng also knows that he said that he would first remove the bridge plates, and then pour tinder oil on the bridge piles, and ignite the fire to burn all the bridge piles."

Zhou Xingyuan thought Liaojiagou was just a ditch, but he never expected that Liaojiagou was so wide. Looking at the bridge extending into the night, he couldn't help asking: "Since you need to ignite less fire sooner or later, why should you remove it? Otherwise, just burn it with a fire."

Chu Chenggui didn't know who Zhou Xingyuan was, but he only knew that it was not ordinary people who could let Mr. Han treat him with courtesy. He hurriedly bowed and said, "Master, the bridge boards and the wood on the bridge cannot be burned. We must camp on the east bank. These woods will be useful when they are demolished."

"So that's it." Zhou Xingyuan thought about it and said, "This bridge pile is not that easy to burn. Even if there is turbulent oil, it can only burn the half of the river surface, and the one under the river surface is still there. Even if there is half of the bandits can still be used. The bandits can use the bridge piles under the river surface to build a floating bridge."

"What Brother Zhou said is that these bridge piles still have to be pulled out."

"Master Han, I really can't pull it out. We've tried it in the afternoon."

Before Han Xiufeng could speak, Zhou Xingyuan said confidently: "It's not that you can't pull it away, it's because you didn't find the right solution. Didn't you just say that you had closed dozens of civilian boats, fill the boat with stones, then row over and tie the bridge piles, tie them tightly, and after tie them, throw the stones down the river, and the boat can help you pull out the bridge piles."

"Can this work?" Chu Chenggui was skeptical.

"Is it OK? How do you know if you don't try it?" Han Xiufeng asked back.

"Yes, the young man will talk to Zhang Guangsheng now."

"etc."

"Master Han, what else do you have to give?"

"This is Jiangdu, and there are no mountains. There are not so many stones. Even if you can find some, it is not enough. Let's talk to the gentry and ask them to help summon more young and strong people to help dig the soil, and fill the boat with soil without stones."

"Abide by the order!" It is related to whether the bridge can be destroyed before the bandits arrive. Chu Chenggui did not dare to delay for a moment and hurried to find the local gentry.

Han Xiufeng looked back again and then led everyone downhill onto the boat.

Zhou Xingyuan stood at the bow of the boat, looking at the Wanfu Bridge like a long dragon, and then looking at the ignition lights on the other side, he couldn't help but sigh: "Brother Han, this is not a ditch, it is clearly a big river!"

"I also find it strange. Why is such a wide river called a ditch?" Han Xiufeng pointed to the north in the face of the river: "It is said that this ditch had existed in the previous dynasty. At that time, it rose from the Henghe River to Huoqiao Yangwei, and then joined the Jiajiang River. It flowed into the Yangtze River in the east. It is the main river channel for the Huai River to enter the river and is known as the first ditch in the world."

"Is the river deep?"

"Deep, the deepest part is more than ten feet."

"That's great, Brother Han, as long as you can pull out all the bridge stakes before the bandits come, it should not be difficult to guard here!"

"I'm not afraid of the bandits attacking from the river. I'm afraid of the bandits crossing the river from the south and getting ashore from Xiaonanwei."

"At this point, I'm afraid it's useless, so I can only help the soldiers to block the water and the soil."

"That's true." Han Xiufeng smiled slightly, then leaned over and entered the cabin.

Liaojiagou is too deep and the bamboo pole can't poke the bottom of the river. The boatman can only shake it and shake the boat from the west bank to the east bank. It took nearly two incense sticks to the east bank. Everyone rushed to the east bank and saw that it was brightly lit when they got ashore.

The bridge was filled with torches, and the village heroes were transporting the bridge boards and wooden guardrails that had been removed from the west, and the remaining 200 village heroes were busy setting up camps. The east bank was in charge of Li Changjing's brother-in-law Yang Ming. As soon as he saw Han Xiufeng, he hurriedly ran up to bow and salute.

"Report to Mr. Han, the young man is taking the earth to build a fort by the river. The second young master and my brother-in-law told me to build a higher place. Only when the cannon is mounted high can it be hit farther!"

Han Xiufeng looked around and pointed to the rows of houses in the east and asked, "The people have not left yet?"

"Some of them left, all the rich left, and those who had no money left."

"Where is your brother-in-law?"

"As soon as I came back at noon, I took people to the Fairy Temple, and I didn't come back until now."

"Who is the money that Jiang Yan persuaded to lose?"

"Report to Mr. Han, my brother-in-law takes some away, and the rest is here."

“How many more?”

"There are more than 1,600 taels of silver and more than 200 tans of money here."

"Give Mr. Zhou a thousand taels, that's this gentleman." Han Xiufeng looked back at Zhou Xingyuan and said in an unquestionable tone: "Don't worry about it here, hurry up and persuade the people to go away. Isn't there still more than 600 taels of silver and more than 200 tangas of money left, and give them some money."

The rest is the rewards given to the village warriors when they stayed for war. Zhang Mingzheng didn't know what to say. Han Xiufeng continued: "There should be gentry on the east bank, so I'd better ask the gentry to help summon more young and strong people and find some young and strong people to help camp."

"Did you hear me? Why are you still standing there?" Seeing that Zhang Ming was about to say something, Datou's face changed.

Zhang Ming suddenly realized that the person in front of him was the battalion officer, and hurriedly bowed: "Abide by the order."

At this time, Wang Ruhai and several fellow villagers from Hai'an Group ran over. When they saw Han Xiufeng, they grinned and said, "Report to Mr. Han, I heard Mr. Li say you are coming back in the afternoon. The younger one went to find a house, right in front, not far from here, I will give you a rest."

"Old Wang, you're worried."

"Mr. Han, what are you saying? This is all the things that the young ones should do."

Han Xiufeng patted his arm, looked at their old faces and asked, "I'm going to have sex with the thieves soon, are you afraid?"

"We are afraid of a ball. With Mr. Han here, we are not afraid of any of us!"

"Yes, Mr. Han, the young man is still waiting to serve you and make a fortune with you!"

"This is a war, not a robbery, but also a fortune!" Han Xiufeng cursed with a smile, and then his face turned: "I brought you all from Hai'an, and I want to bring you back safely, so we must not underestimate the enemy. The bandits are not those private salt dealers. They conquered cities and lands from Guangxi to Yangzhou, and they all carried human lives on their backs. They were so vicious and cruel."

"Master Han, we not only have bird guns, but also cannons!"

"There are also thieves, even more than us, and they are more accurate than us!" Han Xiufeng took a deep breath and turned to Liaojiagou: "But we are not powerless in battle. We are all in the right time, place and people. If the bandits want to attack, it is not that easy to want our lives. As long as everyone works together, they will only give us heads."

"The head is a good thing, Mr. Han and Mr. Zhang said that no matter whether the bandits come or not, they will only be able to hold on for six days, and each person will be rewarded with two taels of silver. If the bandits dare to come, they will be rewarded with two taels of silver as long as they kill one bandit, and two taels of silver as much as they kill two taels of silver!"

It turns out that there must be a brave man under heavy rewards.

Thinking that they had just tasted the sweetness in the first month of the year, Han Xiufeng suddenly realized that other groups dared not say, and the village heroes of the Hai'an group still dared to fight with the bandits. But now it is not the time to say this, so they immediately changed their subject: "Brothers, bandits are not that easy to deal with, and this reward is not that easy to make. If you want the bandits to exchange for the rewards, you have to build a strong camp. Only by setting up the camp can you wait for your work at that time."

"Master Han, tell me, how can this camp be built?"

"Drop all the nearby houses, don't leave a single one!" Han Xiufeng pointed to the houses opposite, and then said, "There are all those trees cut down. The bandits are not fools. They can't attack from the river, so they will definitely find ways to sneak attacks behind us, so they have to be careful."

"Okay, let's go now."

"Wait." Han Xiufeng thought for a while, and then said, "Didn't Master Zhang gather dozens of civilian boats and drag them all to the shore. When Mr. Li dragged the wooden raft from the Fairy Temple, he would then nail the boat to the side and nailed it to make dozens of moving wooden walls, surround the bridgehead, and then dig trenches outside the wall to bury bamboo thorns!"

"This is a solution. The wood removed from the bridge can also be used, but if all the houses are demolished, where will we live?" Wang Ruhai asked with a bitter face.

"Everyone lives in the camp," thinking of what Zhou Xingyuan said on the road, Han Xiufeng said seriously and seriously: "Don't set up any tents in the camp, nor do you need to set up any thatched huts. When you pull out all the bridge piles, use the bridge piles to build more barracks that can prevent bombardment. The grain should be hidden just like gunpowder, and you must not be bombarded by the bandits with one shot."

“Those bridge piles are difficult to pull out.”

"There will always be a solution. You can demolish those rows of houses first."

As he was talking, Li Changjing's brother-in-law Zhang Ming came over with a few family members carrying a box. Without asking, he knew that the money was given. Han Xiufeng said without thinking: "Brother Zhou, is one thousand taels enough? If it is not enough, I will find a way tomorrow."
Chapter completed!