In the early morning, there was silence outside the southern city, and a flock of sparrows were foraging in the field. The sound of horses' hooves suddenly came from far and near, causing the sparrows to raise their heads in panic, and then fled, flapping their wings in all directions.

Cough!

When the fast horse arrived, the man on the horse drew his bow and arrows to the fullest, and an arrow shot straight at the castle tower. Seeing that the arrows had landed on the tower, the archer made a circle around his horse and headed back to the camp to the west.

Due to the fact that the soldiers were "approaching the city", the entire city of Guangzhou entered a state of first-class alert.

Seeing this scene, a hundred households in charge of guarding the city hurriedly ran over to pick up the arrow, but saw that there was indeed a letter tied to it, and immediately sent it to his immediate boss, Commander Liu.

Commander Liu personally sat at the south city gate, and after opening the letter, his face looked very solemn. But he didn't dare to be sloppy, so he immediately rode towards the yamen of the Guangdong capital.

The Guangdong Metropolitan Yamen is one of the three divisions, and it is the highest yamen in charge of military affairs in Guangdong.

It's just that the Ming Dynasty has set up two important positions, the governor and the governor, and there are also important military positions such as the Guangdong General Army and the Guangdong Deputy General Army.

However, now the top bosses are not there, especially the "sick" of the Meng staff general who lost the enemy, which caused the Guangdong Metropolitan Division to recover some power, and Commander Liu also found Huang Hui, the commander of the Guangzhou Metropolitan Division.

Although Huang Hui yearns for power, he is also a person who abides by the rules. After reading this letter, he muttered a little, and immediately took a sedan chair to the Yamen of the Chief Minister.

The Ming Dynasty has long had regulations, but whenever there is a major military matter, the three divisions need to be collegial.

Among the three divisions, the status of the chief secretary is undoubtedly the highest.

Although Wang Bai has rarely asked about government affairs, it is now an extraordinary moment, and he has also received Huang Hui's letter. After reading the letter, he immediately sent someone to invite Ding Yizhong to the judge.

"Lin Futai is known as a general, let's invite him to come over and discuss together!" After Ding Yizhong read the letter, he proposed.

Now that he is about to be promoted to governor of Shandong, Lin Haoran is helping him clear his son's innocence, this time he undoubtedly owes Lin Haoran a favor, which can be regarded as a move to repay the favor.

"Good!"

Wang Bai readily agreed, and ordered someone to invite Lin Haoran over.

Not to mention, he wants to give face to Ding Yizhong, who is about to be promoted to governor of Shandong, not to mention that with Lin Haoran's status and future, he is indeed qualified to sit here and discuss this matter with them.

If it weren't for Wang Fang's fact that he wasn't here, they wouldn't be qualified to decide anything at all.

Lin Haoran also received a letter, but when he learned that Wang Bai invited him over, he hurried to this living room. He respectfully saluted his three nominal superiors, and then sat down in the last seat, reading the letter.

The content of the letter is very simple, but it is from the hands of the coffin outside the castle and Shiro Ogawa.

This gang of would-be robbers was not bound to take Guangzhou City, and after some reluctance to kill Yunyun for more lives, they directly asked for 100,000 taels of silver, and they would leave on their own when they got the money.

100,000 taels of silver seems like a big number, but with the current financial resources of Guangzhou City, it is naturally capable of raising this amount of money. And the other party asked for 100,000 taels, presumably there is still room for bargaining.

Taking money to eliminate disasters is undoubtedly a good deal for the "weak" party. Like the Song Dynasty, after the alliance of the Song Dynasty, the Song Dynasty obtained a hundred years of peace, so that the dynasty known as the "weak Song" was continued.

After Lin Haoran read the contents of the envelope, his eyes rolled, and then he looked at the faces of the three bigwigs, knowing that these three bigwigs were obviously moved.

This price is not too much, if you make up more, you can still get 100,000 taels to save the people of Guangzhou City from a disaster. It's just that if this thing is carried out, it will undoubtedly have to bear a certain amount of risk.

After all, the former governor of Fujian, Ruan E, has a lesson in front of him, and if he does not handle it properly, he will inevitably be attacked by the speech officials, and he will lose his official position and go home.

As soon as he thought of this, he first rejected Ding Yizhong in his heart, Ding Yizhong categorically could not take this risk, then turned his head to look at Wang Bai, and finally his eyes fell on Huang Hui, the "most frustrated" commander.

Huang Hui is over fifty years old, and he does not mean to be old and strong, and the whole person looks listless. Although he is a military general of the second grade, he is not a real job, and it is difficult to make great achievements on the battlefield.

Huang Hui coughed lightly, and said righteously in front of everyone's eyes: "Now that the situation is pressing, this gang of Japanese robbers has come to the city, endangering hundreds of thousands of people in Guangzhou City. If you have no opinions, this commander is willing to personally handle this matter and avoid this disaster for the people of Guangzhou City! ”

Although the words are vague, the meaning is very obvious, he wants to agree to the asking price of the Japanese Kou, and is willing to handle it himself, taking this political risk.

"In this case, then it will be annoying Commander Huang!" Wang Bai and Ding Yizhong were overjoyed, and immediately responded.

Now the problem is in front of us, if Huang Hui is willing to come forward, this is undoubtedly a good result. Even if the court held them accountable afterwards, they would not be to blame.

"Don't dare!"

Huang Hui returned the salute, but his face could not hide his happiness. This has his own intentions, and it seems to bear great political risks, but the potential benefits are not small.

Not to mention that under the banner of raising 100,000 taels of silver, he was able to knock on the big families in the city openly, and the money given to the widows did not necessarily have to be in full, and he could also intercept a sum of money into his own pocket.

Anyway, he has no hope in his career, so it is better to take advantage of these once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to make a lot of money to ensure that he will be prosperous and rich for the rest of his life.

"I'm against it!"

Just when Huang Hui was happy, a discordant voice suddenly sounded.

Everyone asked and looked, but saw Lin Haoran, who was sitting in the last seat, pressing his hand on the envelope, his eyes firmly facing everyone.

Hey?

Wang Bai and Ding Yizhong were both slightly stunned, looking at Lin Haoran suspiciously. Obviously someone is willing to take the initiative to take responsibility, why do they still want to jump out, isn't this asking for trouble?

Huang Hui's old face was blooming with a smile, but he froze for a moment, and then asked unceremoniously at this little character: "Lin Futai, why do you want to oppose the old man!" ”

Lin Haoran knew that he had disturbed people's wishful thinking, but he was not afraid of offending this greedy old man, and replied calmly and confidently: "There are only more than 2,000 widows outside the city, so we should not be so ruined to avoid disasters!" ”

"You yellow-haired kid really only talk about it, but you know that this gang of widows is extraordinary, and no one can stop them from Chaozhou! Relying on the current Guangzhou Siwei alone, there is absolutely no ability to exterminate them! Huang Hui seemed excited to accuse loudly, and concluded with certainty.

Lin Haoran had already made up his mind, but he replied sharply: "Commander Huang, you're afraid you're exaggerating, right?" Lin is willing to shoulder the responsibility of suppressing the widows, and he is bound to exterminate all the more than 2,000 widows in this area, and return the peace of my Guangzhou Mansion! ”

Hey?

Wang Bai and Ding Yizhong sat on the first seat and drank tea, and at this time they couldn't help but secretly exchange glances. They found that Lin Haoran was now very radical, full of sharpness, but he was less stable and cunning than before.

Although the four guards of Guangzhou exterminated more than 2,000 Japanese pirates, the odds of victory were quite large. But if you are not afraid of 10,000, you are afraid of what happens, once you lose, it will put a stain on your career.

With Lin Haoran's current status and potential, as long as he honestly survives for twenty or thirty years, he will definitely be able to enter the cabinet and pay homage to the prime minister. It is not wise to take such a risk for the sake of this political bargaining chip.

It's just that Lin Haoran's eyes are firm, and he is determined to take this risk and strive for this political achievement.

Huang Hui felt his fist hit the cotton, stared at it for a moment, and then questioned Lin Haoran: "Lin Futai, once the Japanese invaders break the city, what should we do?" ”

"If the Japanese invaders break the city, Lin is willing to bear it!" Lin Haoran met Huang Hui's gaze and said directly.

But he knew very well in his heart that if he wanted to take the lead, he must take full responsibility for the defeat. If it weren't for that, not to mention that Huang Hui would continue to oppose him, neither Wang Bai nor Ding Yizhong would support him.

Huang Hui looked unwilling, squinted his eyes and said sarcastically: "Can you afford it?" ”

"I, Lin Haoran, am a Hanlin servant, a fourth-grade official of the imperial court, and now a dignified prefect of Guangzhou, how can I not afford this responsibility?" Lin Haoran said for tat.

Huang Hui was immediately deflated in his heart, although he was very unwilling, he had to admit that this young man did have the qualifications to be tough.

Wang Bai looked at Lin Haoran's firm attitude, exchanged a look with Ding Yizhong, and said to Huang Hui: "Since Lin Futai has this confidence, why don't we believe in Lin Futai once?" ”

Huang Hui saw that the two bigwigs had already expressed their attitudes, and Lin Haoran was an upstart in the officialdom, so he nodded lightly as a small commander.

"Guangzhou City will please Lin Futai!" Wang Bai arched his hand solemnly.

"The lower officials will exterminate all the pirates outside the city!" Lin Haoran naturally replied.

With the support of the three bigwigs, plus he is the prefect of Guangzhou, he is really the absolute talker of Guangzhou City. After leaving the political envoy department, he immediately issued the command, and asked the four guard commanders to invite the government to come.

Although he took the initiative to take over the work of suppressing the widows, he took a certain risk, but the gains were not small.

If he can succeed in suppressing the Japanese, it will not only clear the resistance for his opening of the sea, but also allow him to accumulate considerable political achievements. With his age and current grade, I am afraid that it will be difficult to be promoted again, but this political achievement will accompany him for a lifetime, and it will definitely be of great benefit to his future promotion.

At present, with the strength of the four guards in Guangzhou, it is not difficult to exterminate the more than 2,000 Japanese pirates, as long as the morale of the four guards can be mobilized.

Lin Haoran soon issued an order and began to challenge the elite soldiers of the Guangzhou Siwei. The people screened are all the elites in the guard, and too many of them are people who are willing to take the initiative to fight.

It is worth mentioning that the newly formed team is not limited to positions, there are 1,000 deputy households serving as 1,000 households, 100 households serving as deputy 1,000 households, and 100 general banners serving as 100 households.

This effect was immediate, and greatly increased the enthusiasm of these generals.

At the same time, the head bounty was also announced, regardless of whether it was a real widow or a pirate outside the city, and the reward was according to the real widow, which greatly stimulated the enthusiasm of ordinary soldiers.

With the cooperation of the three divisions, a brand new army of 4,000 people was formed after only one day of reorganization.

Lin Haoran firmly believed in the principle of "employing people without suspicion, and suspecting people without suspicion", and made Li Mu, a fellow intellectualist of the avant-garde in Guangzhou, the commander of this incoming army, fully responsible for the suppression of Japanese affairs.

Li Mu is indeed a promising general, and in a very short period of time, he has already organized a military formation. He placed the sword and shield men in front, the spearmen followed, and then the archers and the bird's guns, and worked out a workable battle plan.

Lin Haoran is a very careful person, and at the moment when he decided to suppress the Japanese, he also used all the forces that could be mobilized. Even if you fail in the end, you won't leave any regrets for yourself.

The night before the battle, Lin Haoran sent a letter to the sailors of Nantou City in the name of the three divisions, ordering them to go to battle on time.

But it doesn't mean that the other party will definitely follow his instructions, but now that the instructions are issued in the form of official documents, even if the sailors of Nantou City can't work, they will take action.

If the sailors of Nantou City still do not move, then the imperial court will really investigate afterwards, and the sailors of Nantou City will not be able to escape the blame, and Yan Rudou and others will not be able to bear this responsibility.

In the blink of an eye, it was already the day of the decisive battle.

"Heaven and earth, man and god learn together, we are waiting here to swear! If you go out of the city today to kill the enemy, if you retreat without a reason, natural disasters and man-made disasters will cause the whole family to die; If you go into battle and don't fight bravely to kill the enemy, men will steal and prostitute women, more than ten generations. ”

Li Mu led the generals, and after worshipping heaven and earth, they drew their swords and dripped blood, and drank blood wine for the alliance.

This move, not to mention how effective it was, but many soldiers just believed in it. After the constraints of the oath, even if it does rout in the end, it will not be defeated so quickly.

"Out of town!"

Li Mu sat on a tall horse and drew his sword high, and then led the neat team out of the city slowly, filled with a bit of slaughter, full of a heart to serve the country.

Chirping......

The south gate, which had been closed for several days, had been slowly opened, and the neat procession walked out of the city.

The widows led by the coffin knew the choice of Guangzhou City, but they did not take Guangzhou Wei seriously, and they were also ready to fight, planning to come to teach these old soldiers a lesson with blood, and even take the opportunity to kill Guangzhou City.

Lin Haoran, who was wearing a crimson official robe, stood on the city tower, looking down at the battle formation of the two sides condescendingly, and his face looked very solemn.

Although he was not involved, his honor and disgrace were already on the battle. Once this battle is won, this will be a brilliant achievement for him, which will inevitably provide a huge boost for his future promotion; But once he loses, it will be a stain on his career.