Wen Xiang was promoted again, and was promoted twice in just fourteen days.

First, he was appointed as the deputy commander of the Han army in the Yellow Banner, and from the second rank to the second rank.

The afternoon before yesterday, the emperor ordered him to learn to walk on the military minister!

Although he ranked the lowest among several large military aircraft and was nicknamed "the military aircraft of the curtain picking machine", he was also the Minister of Military Aircraft, which made Cao Yuying, who had been in the Military Aircraft Office for so many years, feel uncomfortable. Wen Xiang knew very well that the emperor ordered him to enter the Zhizhong because the four barbarians of Ying, Buddha, Mi, and Russia gathered in Dagukou. How to deal with the Western barbarians became the top priority of the court. Let him, the former "Houyi Hall" shopkeeper, walk on the Minister of Military Aircraft, which is conducive to handling barbarian affairs.

But when he arrived at the military service room, there were not many barbarians who could handle. The only thing he could do was to wait for the report from the governor of Zhili, Tan Tingxiang, and the imperial envoy sent by the emperor, Gui Liang, the former governor of Liangjiang, Zong Lun, the Minister of Revenue, and Wuerkuntai, the Minister of the Ministry of Rites.

With his arrival, Peng Yunzhang, who had no opinion on military affairs, simply became a "hands-off manager". The emperor asked the emperor to draft the order, and the emperor ordered the order to discuss the order. As the foreman of the military affairs minister, what he did every day was exactly the same as those military affairs, as if the sky had fallen, it was not his business.

Wen Xiang saw it in his eyes and couldn't help but walk to his case and said, "Peng Zhongtang, Tan Tingxiang reported the day before yesterday that more than 50 warships and gunboats of Britain and Buddhism had gathered in Dagukou. On the grounds that the envoys came ashore to give the money, he ordered his steamboats to frequently enter the entrance and take the opportunity to inquire about the arrangements of our official army on the north and south sides of Dagukou. This would not work. When the virtuality and reality of the north and south sides of the north and south sides of the north and south sides of the north and south sides of the north and south sides of the north and south sides of the north and south sides of the north and south sides of the candidacy, it would be even more difficult to prevent it."

"Have the British sent envoys ashore?" Peng Yunzhang asked with a look of reading glasses.

"Send someone to the ashore," Wenxiang knew that he was pretending to be confused, but he still said respectfully: "The Yi chief Erjin has ordered his consul to go ashore to talk about the money. According to the Changlu Salt Transportation Commissioner Chonghou, the Yi was aggressive and fierce. Whenever he arrived at Guiliang, the Huashana Mansion would humiliate and roar."

Peng Yunzhang murmured while rubbing his waist: "This Western Yi is really true. If you have something to say, sit down and discuss calmly. Why do you get angry at all times?"

Mu Yin put down the teacup and said, "Mr. Zhongtang, the lower official heard that this country is from Jiayingzhou, Guangdong. He forgot his ancestors for several sects and recognized the thief as his father. He was the mastermind of the British and the British. He usually couldn't even see the seventh-rank magistrate. Now, relying on the support of the barbarians, he saw several imperial envoys, but he still pretended to be a powerful figure!"

The English Consul actually became a Guangdong native. Wen Xiang was ridiculous and didn't know how to explain it, but Cao Yuying walked in with a note and said anxiously: "Report to the Lord Zhongtang, this is a secret note from Chonghou, the commander of Changlu Salt Transportation, and sent it back in a hurry for 600 miles."

As soon as he heard that this was a secret copy, Wen Xiang subconsciously asked: "So the emperor has read it?"

"The officials don't know, but the officials only know that this secret letter was sent by Eunuch Yang from the Emperor's Order of the Insider Office."

"Okay, I'll take a look first."

After waiting for nearly two days, I waited for a news. Wen Xiang didn't care about courtesy and looked at Peng Yunzhang, Mu Yin and Du Han in front of him.

I didn't know if I didn't look at it, and I was stunned when I saw it.

Peng Yunzhang realized that it would not be good news. Just as he was wondering how bad the news could be, Mu Yin couldn't help asking: "Brother Bochuan, what did Chonghou say?"

"What a big deal happened, something big happened!"

"What happened?"

Wen Xiang wiped his sweat and said in a daze: "At around 8 o'clock yesterday, the Yimai Ke Erjin sent someone to the Dagukou Fort and submitted a note. In the words of Western Yi, a ultimatum said that if the defenders from both sides of the north and south do not hand over the fort within an hour, they would start fighting."

Mu Yin thought it was a big deal, so he couldn't help but laugh: "Just bluffing, Tan Tingxiang and others have been prepared for a long time, so there is no need to worry about it."

Wen Xiang couldn't come out laughing, so he handed the secret letter to Peng Yunzhang, then looked back at him and Du Han, clenched his fists and said, "Tan Tingxiang was prepared for a long time, and like Brother Qingxuan, he felt that it was not worth worrying. After three o'clock, the large ships of the British and Buddhist barbarians fired fire at the north and south turrets. The steam gunboats carried the barbarians into the entrance while firing fired their guns. Although my soldiers guarding the Taiwan Strait fought bloody battles and fought back bravely, they could not resist the Western barbarians' more guns than us and the more soldiers than us. The north and south turrets were lost in less than an hour, and our official army suffered numerous casualties!"

"Dagukou is lost?" Mu Yin couldn't believe it was true, so he murmured: "I have only been talking for a few days. How can the Western Yi start fighting?"

Du Han recovered from his senses and asked anxiously: "Brother Bochuan, what is Tan Tingxiang doing, Guorui and Zhang Dianyuan doing?"

"From the report, Tianjin was in chaos. Tan Tingxiang first heard his family report that Ying and the two barbarians had fired coal, and broke into Dagukou and hurriedly sent someone to inquire. As a result, the first shift went, and the second shift came to report that the officers and soldiers in the mouth fired bombardment, and there was no difference in the winner. As a result, after a while, another spy came to report that the fortress in the front road was destroyed."

"Where is the rear road, there are nearly ten thousand soldiers on the rear road, why don't you hurry up and take back the fort?"

"Maybe it has been taken back." Mu Yin was sweating for a while, turned around and bowed: "Peng Zhongtang, Chonghou's secret letters are written, and no one knows whether it is a news report. The officials thought that everything in Tianjin should be based on the reports of Guiliang, Hua Shana, Tan Tingxiang and others."

Wenxiang has been the shopkeeper of the "Houyi Hall" for three years, and has made him famous for "reporting bad news but not reporting good news". Not only did Du Han not just know Wenxiang, but he also knew about the "Houyi Hall" as the Minister of Military Affairs, and even knew that Chonghou was half a person who went out of the "Houyi Hall".

Because of this, he felt that Chonghou's report could not be fully reported, and he bowed: "Mr. Zhongtang, the official thought that we should not be distracted before receiving the report from Gui Liang and others. The official thought that the emperor was waiting for the news from Gui Liang and others, otherwise it would not be just a secret message from the official office of the Imperial Household Department, but had already summoned us to discuss how to deal with it."

Peng Yunzhang did not think Chonghou dared to lie about such military information. He put down the secrets and pondered for a moment, and looked up and asked, "Bochuan, do you think that if Chonghou's report is true, can the troops in the back be recaptured?"

"The officials... I don't know."

Wen Xiang said he didn't know, but in fact he had no confidence in the way out of ten thousand soldiers.

Just as the four of them were thinking about what to do if they lost this battle and if Tianjin fell, they would go where they should go. A burst of rapid footsteps came from outside. You could clearly hear the guards of the Foreign Memorial Office running and shouting: "Tianjin urgently! Tianjin urgently urgently!"

What was coming finally came. Peng Yunzhang's heart skipped a beat and he couldn't help but look out the door.

...

Because he was far away, Han Xiufeng knew nothing about it.

In the morning, I took Zhuzi and Yu Tiesuo to inspect the Nine Gate. It was said that it was the Nine Gate, but in fact I only inspected four palace gates. After all, Nanyuan is too big, and it will take as soon as two days to inspect the palace wall.

The original vests and the army of the gate were driven away. Later, the recruits were training in the school grounds. Now the people who were responsible for guarding the palace gate were all the soaps in the garden and private settlements, but they could not afford to pay the land silver and the land rent. Anyway, no one could tell the difference between the number clothes, not to mention that there was nothing to guard in those palace gates, they just pretended.

In the afternoon, I returned to the schoolyard and then watched the Heying soldiers and the Eight Banners Vest Gate Army train. It was not until the sun set that I returned to the temporary office of the old palace.

Ren Yuer had just returned from the Old Summer Palace to meet the Empress. While serving him the rice, he said happily: "Fourth brother, I not only saw the Empress, but also the Empress Yi. It turned out that the Empress and Empress Yi were about the same age as me. He pulled me to ask this and that. I heard that I was still in the boudoir, so I even joked with me."

"What a joke?"

"The Empress Yi said that our Qing Dynasty only had a wife and no female officials. She said that I served the court, but the court could not reward me, so she could only ask the emperor to help me find a good husband and marry a good family."

"If you can get married by the emperor, it will be a rare honor."

"Just just kidding. Although the Queen and Concubine Yi have noble identities, they are all women. What else can they say besides talking about these." Ren Yuer put down the served rice, wiped her hands, and ran into the room to pick up two pieces of satin, and smiled proudly: "Fourth brother, these are all rewarded by the Queen, and said she would like to give me some suitable clothes."

Han Xiufeng asked curiously: "Where is Concubine Yi? Did Concubine Yi have any rewards?"

"I met Concubine Yi by chance. When I met her, she happened to take the little prince to pay tribute to the Empress. She seemed to have heard the Empress mention me. When she saw the Empress rewarding these two pieces of satin, she pulled down the hairpin on her head and gave it to me." After Ren Yuer said that, she turned her head and asked Han Xiufeng to see.

“Good, good looking.”

“It looks so good?”

"If your sister-in-law knows what she is doing, she will definitely be envious."

Ren Yu'er pulled out the green silver hairpin that Empress Yi had given to her. She was about to give it to Qin'er's sister-in-law. Xiao Shandong stumbled in and ran in. He said unhappily: "Fourth Master, something is wrong. Something big has happened. Tianjin has fallen. The guerrillas you have supported in Baoding, Dusi and General Qian are all killed in battle!"

Han Xiufeng didn't bother to have another meal, so he suddenly stood up and asked, "When did Tianjin fall into trouble?"

"Tianjin has not yet, but that was news a day ago, and I don't know what happened in Tianjin at this moment." Xiao Shandong wiped his sweat, took out a stack of Lin Qingyuan from his arms to help copy it, and then secretly sent out the memorials and decrees, and said breathlessly: "There is an edict here. I came back to report to you early, because I was delayed by this edict."

"You go and have a break first, don't make things public in Tianjin."

"clear."

After sending Xiaoshandong, Han Xiufeng came to the lantern of the wind and frowned, and looked carefully one by one.

Judging from Chonghou's secret letters and the reports of Tan Tingxiang and others, Dagukou has indeed fallen!

Tan Tingxiang, who had been self-righteous before, finally realized the power of foreigners. In the report, the official army had a cannon of ten thousand pounds and thousands of pounds, and only had one or two holes, and had not indulged in it. The three-combined soil roof of the northern fort was knocked off, the southern fort was inlaid and collapsed, and the gun walls were all broken. My cannons were not as fast as possible, and both sides of the ship cannons were launched together and they could not avoid it...

He also said that "Fu Nian's army was defeated because of the rapid artillery and too many injuries, so he could not gain a foothold." He said, "Soldiers cannot gain a foothold, and bravery will retreat one after another. I will supervise the battle in the back and kill the two of them immediately, but they still cannot be exhausted." So he followed him and fled. As for the nearly ten thousand soldiers on the back, they ran away before they saw foreigners.

Han Xiufeng had long expected this result, but he didn't expect that Tan Tingxiang was so incompetent. He walked to the door and looked at Dongfang silent for a long time before he said solemnly: "Sha Chunyuan, Chen Yi, Chen Rong and others died as much as they were, but they also died unjustly!"

"Fourth brother, who is Sha Chunyuan?" Ren Yuer asked carefully.

"I recommended the Taiwan Guerrillas I recommended when I inspected the coastal defense. They did not embarrass me. They were all good things, but I am sorry for them."

"Fourth brother, I know you value love and friendship, but now is not a time to be sad. The most urgent thing is how to deal with it."

"The emperor was furious and issued an order to promote the Zhili Admiral Zhang Dianxian, the general of Tianjin Town, and the deputy general of the Dagu Association, Dekui, was dismissed from office and arrested. He also ordered the monk to be the imperial envoy, and ordered Ming to be the admiral of Zhili, and led two thousand Beijing soldiers and the team trained in our Nanyuan to Tianjin. He should be busy preparing for the start and will set off at noon tomorrow at the latest."

Han Xiufeng looked down at the decree that Lin Qingyuan secretly helped copy, and then said: "The emperor also ordered Prince Hui to be the minister of the regiment defense and to be in charge of the capital's defense. From now on, the capital's martial law will be strictly enforced, and all five cities will have to set up a regiment defense bureau."

"Don't have your errand?"

"Our job is to do the current job," Han Xiufeng thought for a while, then looked up and shouted: "Little Shandong, I'm sending an order. From now on, no one will be allowed to leave the camp. Whoever dares to leave the barracks or schoolyards privately will be treated as a matter of shrinking in the face of the battle!"
Chapter completed!