After the last foreign warship left, the two sides of Dagu Port turned into two large construction sites in full swing.

Shi Rongchun, the newly appointed governor of Zhili, sat on the south bank and watched with his own eyes two thousand soldiers and nearly three thousand civilians summoned by local officials to build forts according to the drawings given by the imperial envoy Seng Gelinqin, and supervised the construction of iron bars and rafts to block the river.

Just as he was about to send someone down to see what materials were loaded on the two boats that had just gone down the river, he saw a dozen horsemen galloping along the river bank. Looking at the flags of the horse teams again, he was shocked and hurriedly adjusted his official uniform.

, picked up the waist knife, and rushed down with a few guards to greet him.

"Shi Rongchun, a humble official, pays homage to the prince. When the prince arrives, he is not welcomed at a distance. Please forgive me!"

"Brother, there is no need to be polite." Seng Gelinqin did not dismount, but pointed at the soldiers who were shouldering the burden with the civilian men and asked: "Brother Shi, why don't you summon your subordinates to practice quickly?"

"Your Majesty, the fort project is huge, I am worried that it will be too late."

"No matter how strong the fort is, it must be defended by soldiers capable of fighting. If you are worried that the construction period will not be met, you can move it to the local government to recruit more civilians."

"I humbly obey my orders!"

Seng Gelinqin's expression softened a little. He got off his horse and strode toward the site of the fort. He asked coldly: "How are these newly recruited soldiers?"

Shi Rongchun felt depressed when he mentioned this, and said with a bitter face: "Your Majesty, most of these newly recruited soldiers have no skills and cannot make a living. They only come here for food and salary. There are hundreds of them who dare not cross the river!"

As expected, Seng Gelinqin stopped and muttered: "Those who dare not cross will have their water rations withdrawn. The rest of the brave soldiers will start practicing day and night from now on, using the skills of carrying guns and shotguns."

If you can fire the cannon accurately, you will be given an additional five silver coins as a labor fee; if you are able to practice skillfully with a shotgun and can withstand a spear in a confrontation, you will be given an additional five gold coins as a labor fee; if you are able to perform various acrobatics with spears, waist swords, etc.

, one penny of silver will be added to the labor cost for each skill; there must be brave men under the heavy reward, and I don’t believe that we can’t train a soldier who can fight.”

"Your Majesty is wise and humble, so let's summon them for training."

Seeing the smoke rising in the distance, Seng Gelinqin thought that dinner would be served soon, so Seng Gelinqin whispered: "Let's wait until they finish lunch, and first show me the foreign cannons shipped from Fujian."

"The cannon is at the front, Your Majesty, please."

"Where's the gunpowder and cannonballs?"

"Your Majesty, I was worried that the gunpowder would get wet. Yesterday afternoon I sent someone to transport the gunpowder to the back road and ordered someone to keep it safe. The cannonballs and cannons are together, all at the front."

"Have you fired a few shots to see?"

"Gunpowder and cannonballs are precious, but I dare not let them go in my humble position."

"Confused! How do you know if these cannons are effective or sharp without firing a few cannons?"

"What the prince said is that I am humble enough to send someone to transport two barrels of gunpowder."

"Go quickly."

Seng Gelinqin stopped and waited for Shi Rongchun to finish explaining to the soldiers, and then they went to the place where the foreign cannons were stored.

Don't be afraid of not knowing the goods, just be afraid of comparing goods.

The twelve large and small foreign cannons that Fugui sent from Fujian looked stronger than the six iron cannons sent from the capital next to them. Even the iron bullets piled in the corner looked rounder than the cannonballs cast by the Beijing Bureau.

.

Seeing that Seng Gelinqin was holding the cannon balls and was reluctant to put them down, Shi Rongchun remembered something and said cautiously: "Your Majesty, Mr. Han Xiufeng, the Minister of Fengchen Yuan, came here yesterday afternoon and also saw these cannons."

"What is he here for?"

"The humble official also found it strange. He said that he came to Tianjin on an order to purchase the materials needed to dredge the Nanyuan River Channel Haizi. But this is Dagukou, not Tianjin. The transport officer who delivered the cannon came with him, and he took a look

Cannon, wandered around the area, and then took a boat to the north shore with a few followers."

Seng Gelinqin didn't think that Han Xiufeng came here just to take a look at the cannons. He looked at the other side and said lightly: "I don't know something. He sent people to take care of these cannons. It is reasonable for him to come and take a look."

"I see, I really don't know about this."

"Did he ask anything else?"

"No, he was just walking around." Shi Rongchun didn't have much ability to observe people's movements and couldn't be an admiral. Seeing that Seng Gelinqin's face didn't look right, after thinking about it, he raised his arm and pointed to the west and said: "I remember, he

I stayed there for a long time.”

"What are those people doing?"

"Those are craftsmen summoned by Tianjin County and are building river rafts."

Thinking that the seaport was so wide, Seng Gelinqin said gloomily: "The raft is useless, stop working!"

"Stop work?" Shi Rongchun couldn't believe this was true, and couldn't help but remind him: "Your Majesty, a lot of wood has been shipped, and Tianjin Prefecture and Tianjin County are still trying to find ways to purchase it. It would be a pity to just stop work and not use it like this.

.”

"The wood has other uses, such as building fortress walls or building anti-cannon caves. There is no need to build rafts anymore. It is really important to cast more iron bars."

"As commanded."

…

Regarding Han Xiufeng, an uninvited guest who ran to the fort without saying hello, Seng Gelinqin had extremely complicated feelings. He knew very well that Han Xiufeng would not come for no reason. In all likelihood, he came on the emperor's order. He didn't like it either.

Being criticized, he couldn't accept the fact that the emperor was not at ease with him. He directly believed that the reason why the emperor ordered Han Xiufeng to come was because Prince Yi, Prince Zheng, Sushun and others had requested it.

What made him even more depressed was that it was neither possible nor easy to complain when something like this happened.

After all, the dozens of foreign cannons just now were sent by Han Xiufeng's people. The forts on both sides of the North and South Straits that are currently under construction are also built according to the drawings drawn by Han Xiufeng when he inspected the coastal defense years ago. Even the automatic fire guns used by the guards are

It was obtained from the soldiers of Heying who were recommended by Han Xiufeng to serve in Nanyuan.

Just when he was annoyed with Han Xiufeng but had nothing to do with Han Xiufeng, Han Xiufeng was sitting at the door of a private house not far from the North Bank Fort, drinking tea and talking to Fugui. Fugui's second son Jixiang was busy

Prepare lunch with the host family.

"Fourth Master, let's eat our own food. We really don't have to wait for Master Rong and the others?"

"They brought dry food, don't worry about them."

Fugui thought about it and couldn't help but ask: "Fourth Master, when I came out in the morning, I heard Master Chonghou say that the Monk King will come to inspect every three or five days. If we encounter him, should we go and see him?"

"If we really meet him, we will naturally want to meet him."

"Will he be unhappy if we hang around under his nose?"

"So we have to hide a little bit. If we can't see each other, then we won't see you." Han Xiufeng put down his tea bowl and looked at the children laughing and playing at the entrance of the village. After thinking about it, he smiled bitterly and said, "It's just once, if it always comes under his nose."

, it’s really hard to say this after seeing it.”

"What should we do?"

"Isn't he short of money and food? We can do something about money and food. If we encounter him, we can say that we are giving him food and salary. At least he can live with it in terms of face."

"I know about the food. The Emperor has ordered you to work with Lord Chonghou to help raise food, but where does the money come from?"

"Hubu, this offending job was forced on me by Sushun. I'll send him a letter later, asking him to leave some for me when he allocates military pay to the general grain officer in Tongzhou. Again.

Ask him to find a way for me to negotiate with the emperor to help me transport the army's salary, and then it will be justifiable."

"Fourth Master, you still have a way."

"Stop complimenting me. There is no other way. In fact, the monk king is like a mirror in his heart. At this point, all he can do is try to save his face."

"That's true. After all, you are the Minister of Fengchenyuan. You won't come here for no reason."

"Let's not talk about this anymore. Let's talk about you and what your plans are next." Han Xiufeng asked with a smile.

Fugui waited for a few days and finally waited for this opportunity. He hurriedly handed over his hand and said: "Fourth Master, I have no future and I don't have much ink in my stomach. I am here today because of your support. This time, although I have set up a small business to prepare foreign cannons,

It’s a great achievement, but even if the emperor gives me a favor, how much more can I do in this position?”

"Go on."

"I'm not afraid of your jokes, Fourth Master. I feel regretful now. I really shouldn't have let Jixiang go to Fujian with me back then. With you and Mr. Wen taking care of me, Jilu doesn't have to worry about me anymore, but Jixiang has accomplished nothing, and the palms of his hands are just meat."

The back of my hand is also fleshy, so I would like to ask you and Mr. Wen for help to see if I can help Ji Xiang find a job. It doesn’t matter whether I am an official or not."

Han Xiufeng looked up at Ji Xiang, who looked nervous, and couldn't help but sigh: "What a pitiful parent in the world!"

"It made Fourth Master laugh. I have no other thoughts now except for good luck."

"Ji Lu is able to be the head of Nanyuan because he has worked in the book store for several years. Even if he has no credit, he has worked hard. Although Ji Xiang follows you, he is still doing errands for the court, but he does not have an official status and is not in Houyi Hall.

On the official list, the emperor did not even know that there was such a person as Jixiang."

Han Xiufeng paused and then said: "So it's a bit difficult to reach the sky in one step. If I can endure the hardship, I can think of a way to see if I can send Jixiang to the palace as an errand. I'll start with the Blue Ling Guards and work hard first.

Work hard for a few years.”
Chapter completed!