At the time of unitary, the city of Guangzhou, the remnant sun is like blood.

Under the south wall of the city, in a spacious house, Chen Gongju convened the officials of the state city to discuss the matter.

This mansion belonged to a gentry surnamed Liu, because a few stray bullets shot from outside the city fell in the palace, this house was temporarily occupied by Chen Zhizhou, and the men, women and children of this large family were all crowded into the backyard separated by a wall, leaving a few servants and maidservants in the front yard to serve the people of the state yamen. The servants had never seen so many officials before, and they stood timidly against the wall, their heads bowed, and their eyes fell on the brocade of birds and beasts on their official uniforms with envy and fear. With the sound of tinkling jade pendants, one after another big officials came one after another, military generals carried plain scabbards, and civil officials hung fish bags with gold and silver accessories around their waists. The eldest official, the servants privately called Chen Gongju, sat deliberately in a darkly lit corner.

He watched with a gloomy face as the officials entered one after another, and the people who came up to him either bowed their hands or bowed down.

The scribe Liang Xianjia walked to the window opposite Chen Gongju and wanted to open the curtain to let the light in, but Chen Gongju frowned and shook his head, the light was too bright, but it made people feel uneasy. In the center of the hall is a huge rosewood table, on which are placed maps of the three cities and eight towns of Guangzhou. The people who came to take their seats one after another, because there were too many people to discuss the matter, and there were not enough places at the table, and the servants brought a few benches and placed them on the four sides of the hall.

Some of the officials coughed softly, some spoke quietly, some looked at the map with a pensive look, some looked impatiently at Lord Zhizhou for a while, looked out of the door for a while, and some looked at the looks of others, not knowing what they were thinking. Guangzhou Zuo Xuezheng Huang Yuanlong was late, and Chen Gongju's brows were furrowed even deeper. As the sun set, the bright yellow light slanted in, and Chen Gongju tilted his head back, so that no light could shine on his face.

Liu Gongliang was stranded in Ezhou due to the Great Rites and did not return, and the newly elected Zuo Xuezheng Huang Yuanlong presided over the affairs of Guangzhou Prefecture.

Although the normal state school did not interfere with the plan of war and defense, Chen Gongju insisted on defending Nanfu and defending Haicheng, causing heavy casualties to the Qingliushi who were officers. Therefore, the discontent among the gentry was gradually fermenting, and some people in the state school accused Chen Gongju of ignorant soldiers, leaving the strong sub-city unused, and losing the clear stream seeds of Guangnan in the field battle in vain. The voice of dissatisfaction is getting louder and louder, and there are even people who have contacted Zhizhou to impeach Zhizhou. A large part of the reason why Chen Gongju convened the officials in the city was to calm down the Qing discussion.

Everyone was waiting for Huang Yuanlong, and when he appeared at about the beginning of the morning, Chen Gongju saw him enter the house, bowed slightly, and made a look of wanting to get up to greet him, but did not stand up, only arched his hand, and signaled to the officials in the room that the deliberations could begin.

Huang Yuanlong said: "Everyone, the Haikou is menacing, is the field battle outside the city bloodless in vain?" Or do you rely on a fortified city to defend it? ”

He was answered by silence, and the officials all bowed their heads, and no one wanted to be the first bird. Someone coughed in a low voice, occasionally looking up at Chen Gongju's face, Chen Gongju's face was gloomy, he looked at the people in the room, his gaze occasionally swept over Huang Yuanlong's face, with a hint of mockery and contempt. He is not a state of knowledge that is coerced by academic politics like other states. Chen Shaoyang has been operating in Guangnan for many years, and the Qingliu forces of the Lishe are intertwined, and the first person who is convinced of the Qingliu is Chen Shaoyang, followed by the local Qingliu celebrity, Liu Gongliang, the right scholar of the state school, and Chen Gongju was entrusted by Chen Shaoyang to stay in Guangnan to operate the foundation, and over the years, the popularity is also very high. And Huang Yuanlong has only recently learned in the state, and he wants to succeed after dozens of students, which may not be too simple.

Huang Yuanlong waited in embarrassment for a while, his face was gloomy as if it was going to rain, and Chen Gongju suddenly spoke.

"White! White! Flow! Blood! Chen Gongju repeated Huang Yuanlong's words word by word.

His voice was very loud, in order to show his anger: "Lord Huang, let me tell you, you can still stand here intact, so that you can talk all the time, you are not qualified to say such nonsense!" This is a humiliation of the dead martyrs! His body leaned forward, the red afterglow of the sunset fell on his face, and there seemed to be anger burning in his eyes, "Lord Huang, you have a specialization in the art industry, you don't know the way of battle and defense, it's not your fault, but you have to question the sacrifice of the martyrs!" I will not tolerate it! I want to know, what is the reason for you to say such sensational words? After saying this, Chen Gongju leaned back, his face returned to the shadows again, but his eyes stared sharply at Huang Yuanlong's face.

"You, you ......" Zhizhou's rudeness immediately provoked Huang Yuanlong's anger.

Huang Yuanlong originally planned to advance step by step, but now, the wording he prepared was useless, he was angry, but he was unwilling to admit defeat, so he said his reasons loudly. Although the bloody battle on the periphery ensured the safety of the three cities of Guangzhou, the sacrifice was too great. Huang Yuanlong suggested taking advantage of the night to shrink the soldiers and horses of the Eight Towns to the three cities in Guangzhou, and give up the competition for Hanhai City and Nanyan. While holding on to the city, he waited for reinforcements from the imperial court. In fact, this is also the idea of many officials and gentry in the city.

The officials who convened the meeting this time were not all Chen Gongju's confidants, and when the discussion got to the point, some people politely agreed with Huang Yuanlong's opinion, but most of the officials expressed their opposition, and they argued with each other. Some people talked about the "reinforcements" of the imperial court in a disdainful tone, believing that it was better to burn jade than to bow to the traitorous henchmen who usurped power, and they blamed Huang Yuanlong's statement that he was pinning his hopes on Deng Su and Liu Guangguo's reinforcements as a shameless act of wall-to-wall grass. Except for the words at the beginning, Chen Gongju didn't say a word, and sneered at the arguments of everyone in the lobby, however, everyone understood that the discussion was actually a confrontation between Chen Gongju and Huang Yuanlong. No one can convince anyone, everyone can only express their own positions.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I," Lu Gan, the regimental training officer, glanced at Huang Yuanlong and said slowly, "I can't agree with Huang Xuezheng. Whether it is defending Haicheng, Nanyan or the eight outer towns, the battle is very fierce, and if you want to retreat to the inner three cities under the nose of Haikou, the risk is extremely great. As for the withdrawal at night, because our army has not been trained for a long time, once the retreating troops are raided by the pirates, it is very likely that the whole army will be in chaos, and the withdrawal will turn into a great rout. In addition, there are still millions of people in Bazhen and Nanyan, and the army is easy to withdraw, how can these people withdraw quietly? Do you want to throw them all to the red-eyed thieves?! God and man learn from each other, who will bear this responsibility? Under the long history, who will bear this infamy?! ”

Then there was a silence of incense, some people saw sweat on their foreheads, some people coughed gently, Huang Yuanlong's face was cloudy, everyone looked at each other, and there was a feeling of having nothing to say, at this time, Chen Gongju sighed long, as if he was going to speak, everyone looked at Chen Gongju at once, he looked at everyone, slowly, but very resolutely: "Your opinions, I know. As the governor of Guangzhou," he paused, and said in a deep voice, "I have decided to stick to the eight outer towns and the south to keep Haikou out of the hinterland of Guangzhou!" He glanced at Huang Yuanlong and said coldly, "If someone thinks that I am not worthy of sitting in this position, they can follow the rules of the Great Rites Law, but if someone is spreading rumors behind their backs and sabotaging the battle defense plan, Hugh blames the law for being ruthless!" ”

The hall was silent, the ceremony was over, the officials solemnly got up to say goodbye, and Huang Yuanlong left with a blushing face.

Several officials stayed and discussed some specific city defense matters with Chen Zhizhou, and they also left. After everyone left, Chen Gongju was still sitting next to the huge map, his chin in his palm, thoughtful. He has made full preparations for today's showdown, not only finding out the positions of various officials early in the morning, but also planting some secrets on the side of the state school. Huang Yuanlong rushed back angrily, even if he intended to launch an impeachment, it would be impossible to gather the number of joint students. first pressed him down with the power of thunder, and when he got through this difficult moment, Liu Gongliang, a respected right scholar, returned from Ezhou, and Huang Yuanlong was even less worried.

"Teacher," the scribe Liang Xianjia stepped forward and asked cautiously, "Can't you convince Huang Xuezheng to make peace?" ”

"Will it be reconciled?" Chen Gongju raised his head and looked at this disciple with a smile. Liang Xianjia is simple in nature, and his knowledge is also good, but he has less experience in the yamen, and compared with Luo Huan, Luo Lie and others, he is obviously more bookish and angry, and has a lot less practice. Chen Gongju took him with him to participate in major events, hoping that he could learn more from the experience of doing practical things and hone his mind.

Chen Gongju looked at Liang Xianjia and said in a low voice: "Xiaochun, in a word, you slowly figure it out with your heart." ”

Liang Xianjia said respectfully: "Yes, please teach the teacher." ”

"It is better to believe in a book than to have no book." Chen Gongju said expressionlessly. He let out a long sigh and stopped talking.

The sun was setting outside, and the night was gradually falling, Chen Zhizhou had been sitting in the hall and meditating, his body motionless like a black statue.

…………

As night falls, the area around the WA Pier is brightly lit, with many lanterns hanging on the boats and bonfires on the shore.

This bonfire was lit in preparation for night attacks by the officers and soldiers. In the Nanyan area, the officials and soldiers resisted desperately, almost every inch of land, and they could not take advantage of it during the day, so they selected many fishermen who dared to die, dived into the water at night, and scuttled the big ship of the Haikou. At first, the pirates were defenseless and gave these water ghosts a few successes, so they were carefully guarded at night. These days, the officers and soldiers have suffered heavy casualties, and there are not a few casualties among the pirates, but they have suffered enough, and there is not much to be gained from looting. All the forces were dissatisfied, if it weren't for Qiu Darui's coercion and temptation, they would have stopped attacking the fortified city a long time ago and scattered and plundered. However, the Great Cannibal has always preserved its strength, and most of the warships are moored outside the mouth of the Pearl River, posing as if they can withdraw at any time, which annoys the local pirate leaders, and they find Qiu Daguan together, claiming that if the Great Cannibal is so cheating and slippery again, everyone will be scattered.