From the moment Han Xiufeng asked the civil and military officials stationed in various places to obey the orders of the governors of Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Zhejiang, Liangjiang and Zhili, the "Houyi Hall" that was not in the system became nameless.

There were only six translators, two officials transferred from the Lifan Academy, as well as small officials who were not considered official positions such as Qingxian, Jilu, and Xiaoshandong, and seven guards including Datou.

No matter what happens to the Western Barbarians, several officials from the border will plan to report the memorials. Even Su Song Taidao Xue Huan can write a secret memorial to Datian. Naturally, the emperor did not need to summon him to the palace to ask questions like before. Instead, he summoned Prince Zheng, Prince Yi Zaiyuan, Prince Hui Mianyu, Su Shun, who had just been the Minister of Revenue, and Wen Xiang, who had been the shopkeeper of the "Houyi Hall", was most familiar with the barbarians.

It is precisely because I always see the emperor that Wen Xiang, who had just been appointed as the Minister of Justice for a few days, was promoted again!

The afternoon of the previous day, the emperor issued an order to promote him to a bachelor of the cabinet and minister of the Ministry of Rites. In contrast, Han Xiufeng was promoted to two levels in a row, and it was nothing from the fourth-rank Taipu Temple Shaoqing to the third-rank Fengchen Yuanqing.

But Wen Xiang was not happy because this official position was not that easy to be.

The report from Guangdong and Guangxi has not arrived, but the report from Shanghai has arrived first.

After the Yi Geerjin led a large army to Shanghai, he ordered the British Consul to go to Changzhou to give a note to the governor of Liangjiang He Guiqing. As a result, He Guiqing sent the memorial to the capital overnight. Erjin didn't want to wait any longer, so he led the large and small ships of 40,500 foreign soldiers and sailed north.

Calculate the days, the Western Yi will soon arrive in Tianjin.

But after discussing, the emperor had not discussed it. More than ten days ago, the emperor had secretly ordered the Dagukou area to "remain calm and guard against it." After discussing for a whole afternoon today, he issued an order to order the governor of Zhili Tan Tingxiang to "remain calm and guard against it."

Wen Xiang really wanted to ask the emperor to order Tan Tingxiang to go to Tianjin quickly, but he thought that the emperor had made up his mind and swallowed the words again. Just as he was about to bow and exit the hall, Xianfeng suddenly asked, "Bochuan, what are Han Si busy with these days?"

Wen Xiang was stunned and hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, I haven't seen him some days, I don't know what he is busy with."

Xianfeng knew his relationship with Han Xiufeng very well, and asked with a gloomy face: "Do you really don't know, or do you not know?"

Wen Xiang didn't dare to pretend to be confused by his understanding, and hesitated for a moment and said with a bitter face: "I dare not say it."

“Bold!”

"I deserve to die for a thousand sins. The emperor calmed down." Wen Xiang wiped his sweat and said nervously with his head down, "I couldn't say a few words to him because the official duties in the yamen were piled up like a mountain. I only knew that he had frequently contacted the Heying soldiers who were transferred from Gu'an a few years ago, which made me very confused and I didn't know what I was doing."

Xianfeng did not think that Han Sihui conspired to rebel, nor did he think that Wen Xiang knew that Han Si was suspicious but did not report it. After thinking about it, he asked coldly: "That's all?"

Wen Xiang knew the emperor's temperament very well. From the bottom of his heart, he didn't want to tell the emperor what Han Xiufeng was busy with. Seeing that he couldn't escape, he could only say vaguely: "As far as I know, he collected a lot of money when he inspected the coastal defense under the orders, and sent all the money and the remaining silver in the public account of the "Houyitang" to Shanghai to buy guns."

Xianfeng also knew Wen Xiang's character, and found that he was becoming more and more like Weng Xincun. He was too lazy to ask again, so he simply waved his hand: "I'll just go here today, let's kneel down."

“Wait.”

...

As soon as Wen Xiang walked out of the Old Summer Palace, a guard rode a fast horse and headed straight for Nanyuan.

Han Xiufeng didn't know that the emperor suddenly remembered him again. Ren Yuer, who was dressed as a man, was accompanied by Wang Qianli to inspect the Yuanling Palace located a little southwest of Xiaohongmen in the northeast of the Nanyuan Palace Wall.

Xu Jiu, Xiao Shandong and others led the horse to guard outside. Wang Qianli accompanied the two into the palace and pointed to the palace in the middle and said as if they were aware of it: "Second Master, this is the Yuanji Palace. The round hall has double eaves, which are only one layer less eaves than the Hall of Prayer for Youth. It is an imperial Taoist temple built by Shunzhi. Unfortunately, like the palaces and temples I inspected in the morning, they were extremely devastated due to their disrepair."

There are quite a lot of palaces and temples in Nanyuan. The palaces of Emperor Guang include the old palace, the new palace, the Nangong, the Tuanhe Palace, the Ningyou Temple, the Zhenwu Temple, the Sanguan Temple, the Niangniang Temple, the Zhenguo Temple and the Yuanling Palace in front of him.

But as Wang Qianli said, these palaces and temples were no longer as royal as their demeanor was disrepaired. Not only were they dilapidated, but several of them had even collapsed, and even the wood, bricks and tiles were stolen by the people. Thinking of the palaces in the Forbidden City being disrepaired for so long, the palace walls were dilapidated, and the ground paved with stone slabs was covered with weeds. Many palace gates were not as good as the paint was lost. Han Xiufeng's heart became more and more desolate as the scene in front of him.

He walked to the hall, gently pushed open the door hidden in the void, looked at the golden bodies of the gods worshipped by Taoists, including the Three Pure Land, Four Emperors, Three Officials and Yuanshi Tianzun, etc., who were full of spider webs and dust, and looked up at the broken and transparent roof, murmured: "After disrepair, the building will collapse!"

How could Wang Qianli not hear what he meant, and hurriedly said, "Fourth Master, this is a Taoist temple, not a building."

Ren Yuer also realized that Han Xiufeng's words would lose his head if they were spread out, so she hurriedly asked curiously: "Master Wang, since this is a royal Taoist temple, why can't you see the Taoist priest?"

"Whether it is a Taoist temple or a Buddhist temple, you must have incense if you want to maintain it. But this is a royal garden, this is a royal temple, and there is only a pilgrimage like the emperor. But the emperor has never been there, and the late emperor has never been there. It is said that Jiaqing has never been there, so there will naturally be no reward, and no one is willing to ask the emperor to give silver to practice. If the Taoist priests in the temple do not make a living, they would starve to death if they stay here."

"Fourth brother, you are Fengchen Yuanqing, and this matter is yours."

"I want to care, but it's hard for a good cook to cook without rice. How can I repair it without money?"

Han Xiufeng asked back, turned around and walked out of Yuanji Hall, and looked southeastward and said solemnly: "In the first half of the year, he was ordered to inspect the coastal defense. He went to six places such as Loess Ridge to build forts. A floating bridge was urgently needed between the north and south of Dagu so that the north and south sides could support each other. The big and small beams behind Dagu should quickly erect wooden stakes to build the moat wall, but it was all because the Ministry of Revenue and the Zhili Treasury Road Deposit had no money, and these 100,000 urgent matters were accomplished!"

"The court has no money?" Ren Yuer asked subconsciously.

"It's not just that the court has no money, but there is no money in the local area." Han Xiufeng turned around and said, "Huang Zonghan was ordered to go to Beijing to take office. Before leaving Beijing, he planned to transfer some troops from Liangjiang, Fujian and Zhejiang to Guangdong. The emperor also agreed. But because the food and salary were insufficient, he did not transfer a single army. In other words, if there is war in Tianjin, the court should not expect to transfer troops from other provinces to support him."

"Fourth Master, according to what you said, Tianjin can only rely on Jingying and Zhili?" Wang Qianli asked worriedly.

"The Beijing camp is not worthy of hope. The police camp claims to have tens of thousands of soldiers, but in fact it is good to be able to raise three or four thousand. Others don't know the horse teams that are training in the north. However, you are actually a group of herders. As for Zhili, the Super Biao, the Extra Biao and the Tiao of each town can each produce 500 soldiers. In short, you can't do anything without money!"

Han Xiufeng paused and said helplessly: "The news of the British and Buddhist coalition forces invading Zhili in the north has not spread. If it spreads, the ministers in the court will be excited and submit a memorial to ask for a fight with the foreigners to the death. But have they ever thought that fighting is not just a talk, but a war costs money. Moreover, the grain is all shipped by sea, and Dagukou is about to catch up with sea transportation. This year, the grain entrance through Dagukou has only been more than 600,000 shi, and most of the grain has not been transferred. If this battle starts, it will definitely be obstructed. What will so many people in Beijing eat at that time?"

"It's hard for the emperor!" Wang Qianli couldn't help but sigh.

Ren Yuer was not worried about the emperor like him, but asked carefully: "Fourth brother, the court would most likely not agree to the conditions raised by foreigners, but it would not be possible to win this battle. What should we do then?"

There are no outsiders in this dilapidated royal Taoist temple. Han Xiufeng didn't have so much scruples. He stared at me and said seriously and seriously: "I have been deeply grateful to the emperor. I can't leave it alone. I can only take one step at a time, but you have to live a good life for me!"

"Fourth brother..."

"Stop talking, don't ask. No matter what happens in the future, I'm listening to my arrangements. I'm not listening to Mr. Wang in everything." Han Xiufeng thought for a while and then reminded: "Just know about this, don't tell Lian'er."

Ren Yuer didn't want to do anything and dared to cause trouble for him, and hurriedly said, "Okay, I'll listen to you in everything."

...

Nanyuan was very big, and the three of them turned dark as they turned.

Just as they were rushing back with lanterns, Defu, a Lanling Guard who had been in the "Houyi Hall" for three years, welcomed an uninvited guest. Seeing that the uninvited guest showed his waist card, he heard the uninvited guest say the emperor's question, and hurriedly knelt down to greet the Holy An.

The uninvited guest asked a few questions, then walked out of the yard and turned over and returned overnight.

The next morning, Xianfeng was called out by the eunuch as usual. As soon as he finished his clothes and walked out of the bedroom under the eunuchs' service, he saw the imperial guard who had gone to Nanyuan yesterday and knelt down and said, "Report to the emperor, I'm back."

Xianfeng suddenly remembered what happened yesterday, and when the eunuchs retreated aside very consciously, they whispered: "Tell me, what have you asked."

"Report to the emperor, Defu said that Fengchen Yuanqing Han Xiufeng is making the worst plan."

"The worst plan?"

"He said Han Xiufeng planned to ask to serve in Tianjin. If the emperor agreed, he would vow to live and die with Tianjin. It is said that even the suicide note was written."

Xianfeng was stunned and asked, "What if I don't know what to do?"

The imperial guard said bitterly: "The emperor forgives his sins, and the servants dare not say anything."

"But it's okay to say that, I forgive you without guilt!"

"Thank you for your grace."

The imperial guard calmed down and said carefully: "Defu said that Lord Han was worried that if Tianjin could not be defended, the Western Yi army would be at the city, and then people would be in panic and chaos in the city. He said that Lord Han was worried that if he really came to that point, the pedantic people in the court would ignore the emperor's safety. So he asked the Qianheying Capital Office Yongxiang, the former Yinku Doctor of the Ministry of Revenue Ronglu and the Qianheying Guard Yuan Datou, the Qianheying Guardian, who was working in the infantry yamen, to raise silver to buy new foreign guns so that he could escort the emperor out of the city at that time."

Tianjin cannot be defended, foreign soldiers are at the city, and there is anything else to escort the emperor out of the city... If these words are said from others, they will be a witch that will shake the hearts of the army and the people, and Xianfeng will be furious.

But it was not someone else who said these words, but Han Si!

Xianfeng took a few deep breaths and asked coldly: "Switch on."

The imperial guards were furious when they saw that the emperor was not long-faced, and breathed a sigh of relief, and then said, "Defu said that because of this, Lord Han had quarreled with Lord Wenxiang."

"Why do they quarrel?"

"Mr. Wenxiang said that if you really get to that point, you must never leave the city, yourselves; Mr. Han said that he has been deeply favored by the emperor and must not let the emperor take risks. If you really get to that point, you must keep the emperor safe even if you fight to the death. If anyone dares to stop him, don't blame him for being ruthless under the knife!"

"I knew that Han Si would not be idle. Although the things he thought about and the words he said were too ridiculous, they were also out of loyalty." Xianfeng thought for a while and pondered: "As for Wen Xiang, it is not wrong, he is also a loyal minister who cares about the country."

"The emperor is wise!"

"This errand is done well, please kneel down."

“Wait.”

"Wait." Xianfeng called out to the imperial guard who was about to retreat, and said, "Give the order to let the surrender come to the palace from tomorrow to serve, and promote the Blue Peel Guard Defu to the third-class guard."
Chapter completed!