Although Chen Huacheng was just guessing, Yi Zhixiang also had to sincerely admire, the other party was able to move all the way from the general to the commander, it was not a fluke, only this subtle insight was not comparable to ordinary generals, but he was not sure whether Daoguang would make up his mind to fight the British army in Jiangning, he was not sure. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Seeing Chen Huacheng staring at him tightly with a pair of cloudy little eyes, Yi Zhizu showed a smile and said, "Is there a big war in Jiangnan?" How can such a militaristic event be known in the next few members? Shanghai's recruitment of volunteers is to prevent it from happening, as for the whereabouts of the next..... It's not secretive, it's going to Jiangning for some private matters. ”

"Recruit 2,000 volunteers to prevent it from happening? Contentment is a real wealth of money. Chen Huacheng teased him before saying, "It seems that the old man only has to go to Jinling City." ”

Yi Zhizhi smiled, ignoring it, and really didn't know how to speak, to lure the British fleet into the Yangtze River waterway to attack Jiangning, the Yangtze River estuary and the resistance along the way must not show flaws, in other words, the Yangtze River estuary and the defenders along the way had better not know, so that it was the most real.

After a slight groan, he said slowly: "As soon as Chen Junmen took office, he personally led his troops to Wusongkou to inspect and step up the deployment of Wusong Fort defense. ”

When staring at Yi Zhicontent, Chen Huacheng sighed and said: "Contentment is also a person who leads the troops, the old man might as well tell the truth, the Jiangnan Green Battalion was newly defeated last year, the generals are afraid of the enemy like tigers, and the soldiers are like frightened birds, all of them are talking about the change of color, and the cowardly soldiers are tired, and they have reached the ground where they can no longer be added, and the Wusong Fort, the artillery is old, the fortifications are almost nothing, and there is no power to resist the ......Yingyi attack." ”

Speaking of this, he looked at Yi Zhizhi and said: "I heard that the fortifications of Guangzhou Humen Fort, Tianjin Dagukou Fort and Dinghai are all designed and planned by Contentment and personally supervised and built, which can greatly resist the artillery attack of Yingyi........ Contentment, as a sub-patrol Su Songtai, does not seem to care much about the military affairs under his jurisdiction........ ”

These words were already in a tone of accountability, and Yi Zhisuff bowed slightly and said: "It's not that the lower officials don't care, but it's really the first time to take office, and the affairs are complicated, so I can't spare time, and the lower officials originally planned to go to Songjiang Mansion to visit the military gate in a few days and discuss this matter again." After a slight pause, he said, "However, digging and repairing fortifications requires not only a lot of manpower but also a lot of silver....... ”

Co-authored to recruit volunteers and brave people have silver, but there will be no silver for digging and repairing fortifications? Chen Huacheng glared at him angrily, but he didn't want to fight with him, after all, there were a lot of places to borrow from the other party, so he didn't answer this question, and asked rhetorically: "Contentment has frequent exchanges with Yi merchants, can you purchase a batch of firearms on your behalf?" Artillery and muskets are all the same. ”

Yi Zhizu shook his head slightly, and said: "With the war, trade and trade were cut off, and Western merchant ships did not dare to come to Guangzhou to trade at all, and there was no place to buy silver. ”

Chen Huacheng smoothed his beard and said, "The old man heard that Contentment is ready to equip two thousand volunteers with muskets. ”

Yi Zhishu hurriedly waved his hand and said: "It's just to stimulate their enthusiasm for recruiting volunteers, Chen Junmen don't take it seriously." ”

"Really?" Chen Huacheng said suspiciously.

Yi Zhizhi smiled and said: "In the two battles of Modaoyang and Dinghai, the Guangdong Navy Division captured a lot of Yingyi muskets, and I plan to negotiate with them and buy a batch of them." ”

Hearing him say this, Chen Huacheng couldn't help but be a little disappointed, listening to Feng Yaozu's report, he also thought that Yi Zhixin had a channel to buy Western muskets, and he bought them from Guangdong sailors, how could he buy as much as he could? At present, no one will dislike the Western muskets, even if Yi Zhixin comes forward, the Guangdong sailors will not sell them in large quantities, at most, they will sell half and give away two or three hundred, and it is difficult for him to get clean.

Seeing his disappointed face, Yi Zhizhi was a little unbearable, Chen Huacheng was known for his bravery, he was nicknamed 'Chen Laohu', and there were as many as twenty or thirty thousand green battalions under his command, if there was a big war in Jiangning, he would have to cooperate, but he couldn't leave a bad impression on him at the first impression, and he groaned slightly, so he pondered and said: "The military gate turned back from Jiangning, and the subordinate accompanied the military gate to inspect the Wusong Fort." ”

The real situation could not be found out from here, and Chen Huacheng was indeed ready to go to Jiangning to see Lin Zexu, and immediately got up and said: "It doesn't take a few days to go back and forth to Jiangning, be content to handle the matter at hand as soon as possible, don't forget, the first priority at present is military affairs." ”

"Xia Guan understands." Yi Zhishu hurriedly got up and arched his hand.

Sending Chen Huacheng out of the gate, watching him lift the sedan chair and leave, Yi Zhishu secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and was about to turn around to meet the government, but at a glance he caught a glimpse of Dong Qianqiu, the master of the county government, hurried over, some time ago to handle the handover, Dong Qianqiu had come to help, he had seen twice, and immediately stood still.

Dong Qianqiu had already seen Yi Zhishu seeing off the guests, and the sedan chair waiting for him to get up, so he hurried over, and after bowing in front of him, he accompanied him and said with a smile: "The county is inviting a group of gentry and businessmen in the county seat to a banquet at the county office, and the small ones are specially coming to report." ”

This Liu Guangdou's action is not slow, he can't wait to gather all the gentry and businessmen to donate today, Yi Zhixiang glanced at Dong Qianqiu, what kind of report, this is to invite him to go to the county government to sit in the town to strengthen his courage, this matter should indeed be supported, and immediately smiled: "Such a grand event, this official should also go to join in the fun, go, take a look." ”

In the courtyard in front of the county hall, there are more than ten tables, a table of eight people, all the tables are full, the gentry and businessmen who are a little famous inside and outside the county and the family members of the public hall are all invited by Liu Guangdou, the county magistrate, although Yi Zhizhi is to organize a donation in a small area, but the high salary recruits volunteers, and the monthly expenditure will be tens of thousands of taels of silver, he still hopes to raise more donations.

However, there are a lot of people coming, a huge courtyard is full of people, but few are generous, except for a few public halls that have reported the numbers, others are either crying and complaining or silent, which makes Liu Guangdou both surprised, and a little unable to get off the stage, originally wanted to do things beautifully, but seeing that it was going to be done, he had to let Master Dong go to ask Yi Zhi.

Yan Shikuan, the shopkeeper of Yuanqi Shanghai Branch, was also here, and he was sitting in the first place, not only because of the identity of the shopkeeper of Yuanqi Branch, but also because of the donation of fifteen thousand taels of silver, Liu Guangdou specially arranged for him to sit in the first place. If you go on like this, I'm afraid that it will be in vain to sit until dark, after all, you have to dig out real money, and no one's silver is blown by the wind.

Seeing that the sun was already past noon, Yan Shikuan took out a cigar and politely let it go, and then ordered it himself, to be honest, he was a little hungry, this county magistrate posted a banquet, but in addition to a cup of tea for one person on the table, he didn't even prepare a plate of melon seeds, the tea was enough, and someone refilled the water at any time, but the problem was that he didn't care if he was full of tea, but the more he drank, the more hungry he became.

Looking at the other tables, he saw that a group of gentry and businessmen were talking in whispers in each other's ears, he couldn't help but regret a little, he knew this was the case, why did he sit here? Suffer alive! Zhengzi couldn't sit still, but he heard a long shout, "Lord Daoxian has arrived." ”

As soon as he heard that the rescuers had arrived, Liu Guangdou hurriedly got up and walked up quickly, and all the gentry and businessmen in the courtyard also quickly stood up and looked at the past. ”

Along the way, Dong Qianqiu had already explained the general situation in detail, Yi Zhizhi knew it in his heart, and slowly walked to the table in the middle, and then he said loudly: "Everyone does not need to be formal, please take a seat." ”

The waiting group of people sat down hesitantly, and then he said: "There are two things that this official can't think of." After a pause, he said aloud: "The first time this official met with you, it was for donation. Speaking of this, he asked, "Is Ni Siyuan from the Qianye Office here?" ”

Seeing that Yi Zhishu suddenly called his name, Ni Siyuan was stunned, and quickly stood up and said, "What do you command?" ”

"This official told you that you will serve as an official for one term and benefit one party, do you remember?"

"Remember." Ni Siyuan said in a loud voice: "My lord said that for one term as an official, for the benefit of one party, for the benefit of the locality, there is nothing more than the revitalization of the local economy, and the lord is willing to work together with the local gentry and businessmen to prosper Shanghai's economy." ”

Yi Zhizu stretched out his hand and motioned for him to sit down, and then said: "As the saying goes, the iron-clad yamen, the official of flowing water, this official is not a Shanghai road for ten or eight years, I am afraid that it will not flow away, to benefit the local area and revitalize the economy, we have the ability to protect the safety of Shanghai first." After a slight pause, he continued: "The second official didn't expect that the Shanghai gentry and businessmen were all masters of good money. ”

As he spoke, he stretched out his hand to Liu Guangdou and said, "Show the list of donations to this official." ”

Liu Guangdou hurriedly presented the list with both hands, Yi Zhizhi glanced at it, and read aloud: "Merchant Marine Club, donate one thousand taels of silver." After a slight pause, he asked, "Is Wang Tongchun, the owner of the Merchant Marine Club, here?" ”

"The villain is here." Wang Tongchun hurriedly stood up, he only reported 1,000 taels at the beginning, that is, it was estimated that Yi Zhizhi would come, and he had already prepared to increase the price, and he arched his hand, and he said: "The villain was confused for a while, and the recruitment of volunteers was really to maintain local peace, and the merchant marine club was willing to serve the silver ........" ”

"Sit down first." Yi Zhishu said and stretched out his hand and pressed it, and then read: "The cake and bean industry office, donate eight hundred taels of silver." ”

Without waiting for Yi Zhi's content to take the roll call, Ruan Kaiming, the president of the Cake and Bean Industry Office, hurriedly got up and said, "The villain is here." ”

Yi Zhishu nodded and said, "Bean cake is the largest trade commodity in Shanghai, eight hundred taels is not a lot. ”

Ruan Kaiming's back was covered with cold sweat, and he hurriedly said: "My lord, the bean cake trade is a small profit...... ”

"Sit down first." Yi Zhizhi said contentedly, saying that he glanced at the list and didn't read it one by one, and when he saw the Chaohui Hall, he said loudly: "Chaohui Hall, donate one hundred taels of silver." Pavilion owner Zhong Haichao. ”

"The villain is here." Zhong Haichao hurriedly stood up and explained: "The Chaohui Hall was only established last year, and as soon as it was established, it was ...... by Yingyi to break the city. ”

Yi Zhishu asked, "Who are the Chaohui merchants?" How much did each of them donate? ”

Hearing this, Zhong Haichao looked at a few people at the same table, hesitated and didn't dare to reply, Liu Guangdou had a very good memory, pointed to the bottom of the list and said, "My lord, it should be these people." ”

Yi Zhizhi looked at it, and they all donated ten taels or eight taels, and there was one who donated two taels, he couldn't help but say: "There are also those who donate two taels, you really give Chaohui people a face, just now the official came over and called fifteen tables of two red and two white barbecue seats for you in Luqing Building, which is enough for food." ”

Hearing this, a burst of laughter erupted in the courtyard, a table of two red and two white barbecue mats costs twelve taels of silver, a table of eight people, an average of one person is two or five dollars, donating two taels is really only enough for this table, of course, many people are also happy, the county master only gives a cup of tea, but the Taoist Lord is called two red and two white barbecue mats, this gap is not ordinary.

Yi Zhishu slowly drew a match and burned the list, then glanced at everyone and said, "How much did Yuanqi Shanghai Branch donate?" You should all know, in contrast, I think you should be extremely ashamed to recruit 2,000 volunteers, for what? In order to protect the territory and the people, protect your property, and protect your lives, you don't need to complain. ”

After a slight pause, he raised his voice and said: "You are all gentry and businessmen with a little fame in Shanghai, this official said, I am willing to work together with you to prosper Shanghai's economy, this is not a lie, this official is not only a Shanghai Taoist, but also the treasurer of Yuanqi, give you two quarters of an hour to renegotiate the amount of donations, declare a point, completely voluntary, no limit to how much, and it is okay to pull out a dime." ”

As he spoke, he strode into the lobby, Yan Shikuan couldn't sit still for a long time, and immediately followed up in the lobby, handing over a cigar and saying with a smile: "What kind of medicine is sold in this gourd, sir?" Small dull ....... ”

"Get to the bottom of it." Yi Zhishu took the cigar and lit it, and took a slow breath.

Getting to the bottom of it? What's the bottom of it? Liu Guangdou, who followed in, told the officials to move the tables and chairs, and then he said curtly: "The despicable and incompetent will affect the ..... adults." ”

Yi Zhizu waved his hand and said: "The county of Shanghai changes three times a year, and these gentry and businessmen are also bottomless in their hearts, and in this case, they can't complain about Lord Liu, and they can't complain about them." ”

This is the truth, Liu Guangdou's heart was hot, and he muttered: "Adults are considerate ......." ”

Yi Zhizhi smiled contentedly and changed the topic: "A cup of tea fundraising, who did Lord Liu learn from?" ”

"The county government really has no money." Liu Guangdou said with a sad face: "Yingyi broke the city, the county government was looted, and the government clerk's food and silver last year were all dragged. ”

Yi Zhizhi glanced at Yan Shikuan and said: "The shopkeeper Yan is not here, borrow money from him, and the work, food and silver cannot be delayed, otherwise it will be the merchants and people in the city who will suffer." (To be continued.) )