Lao Baidu is located outside the big east gate, is located in the county's largest river - Zhaojiabang and the confluence of the Huangpu River, the boat can directly enter the city along the Zhaojiabang, although it is not as lively as the sixteen shops, but it is not inferior, the shore is full of large and small boats, the boats on the river are shuttling back and forth, a busy scene. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

Before the passenger ship docked, Xiao Mingliang, who was standing on the bow of the ship, saw at a glance a small boat hanging a striking triangular red flag in a conspicuous place on the pier, which was the flag used by the Yuanqi regiment for communication. ”

Xiao Mingliang recognized him and said with a smile: "What's the matter, all the recruits are complete?" ”

"Not so fast." Wei Housheng said: "The county government will not pick people with those wine bags and rice bags, and the big shopkeeper is waiting for you to come and see them." ”

"I'll go see the treasurer first." Xiao Mingliang said: "The two companies that come, you make proper arrangements first." ”

In the Daotai Office, Yi Zhizu was in the signing room to meet Liu Hong of Fengxian Zhi County, Liu Hong was also an unlucky guy who took office last year, and heard that Shanghai County recruited 2,000 volunteers and called on the gentry to donate all the more than 100,000 taels of silver, he was very moved, and had the intention to follow suit, so he randomly found a reason to come to Shanghai to meet Yi Zhixiang, the new Taoist.

For Fengxian, Yi Zhishu can be said to be a black eye, in fact, it is not only Fengxian, Su Songtai's two prefectures and one state, including the situation in Shanghai County, he almost knows nothing, Liu Hong came to visit, he just took the opportunity to understand the situation, and after warmly greeting the other party to sit down, he said: "Lord Liu has been in office for more than a year, can you be familiar with the situation in the county?" ”

Seeing that he wanted to understand the situation in Fengxian, Liu Hong was secretly happy in his heart, and said with a slight sigh: "Fengxian pillow kelp Pu is not only the gateway of Shanghai, but also the water, land and sea connecting Zhejiang, and is the throat of Pudong, although it is not called a place where soldiers must fight, but it is also an important place for soldiers.

In addition, a considerable amount of grain, white grain are saved by Fengxian, so there are a large number of Cao Ding, salt Ding is also a lot, the population of the county is about 280,000, the annual field is 48,358 stone three buckets four in one spoon of rice, salt tax 8,844 taels ....... ”

Yi Zhizhi was not interested in these data, and asked, "What is Fengxian producing?" ”

"Cotton." Liu Hong said without thinking: "Fengxian is rich in cotton, Songjiang cloth is famous, Songjiang cloth is good, especially Fengxian, Fengxian cotton, Qingcun fishing nets, well-known far and near, in addition to cotton, is fishery." In addition to agriculture, Yulai textile and fishery to support livelihoods. ”

Yi Zhishu casually asked, "What is the price of cotton?" ”

"Back to my lord." Liu Hong didn't expect him to ask so carefully, and after a slight pause, he said: "Fengxian cotton is good, and the price is a little expensive, about two hundred and thirty or forty wen per catty." ”

For cotton, easy to know content is quite familiar, has always been the Sino-British trade in Guangzhou, cotton is the main commodity, but in the past two years, India's cotton sales in Guangzhou is not good, Hong Kong foot merchants in the cotton trade has repeatedly lost money, merchants are not willing to touch cotton, this is actually also a stimulus crow. One of the inducements for the boom in the slice trade was that many Hong Kong traders had to abandon the cotton trade and smuggle crows instead. Slice.

He has never figured out why the once-thriving Sino-British cotton trade suddenly took such a big turn. The slice trade simply doesn't work to ban crows. The piece trade had to be replaced by a commodity, a commodity that made the porters profitable.

Seeing that he was distracted, Liu Hong hesitated, then coughed lightly, and said tentatively: "I heard that Lin Butang called on the local gentry to form a regiment in Guangzhou to practice ......?" ”

Yi Zhishu retracted his thoughts, glanced at him, and said, "Lord Liu is uneasy in his heart, and plans to recruit volunteers and form a local team to practice?" ”

Liu Hong nodded again and again: "The Yingyi fleet is entrenched in the ocean outside Guangzhou, and the situation is unpredictable. ”

Shanghai recruits volunteers, if Fengxian also recruits volunteers and forms a group to practice, then the people who are not making trouble are panicked, smiled, and Yi Zhizhi said: "Although Lord Liu relaxes his heart, there is no need to toss poorly, the person that Yingyi relies on is nothing more than a fleet, even if he commits Jiangnan again, it is also an attack on the prosperous port city along the coast, and it will not go deep, Fengxian will definitely not suffer from Yingyi's attack."

Besides, is it easy to recruit volunteers? Shanghai recruited before the volunteers, as soon as the British attacked the city, they became bandits, to form a disciplined, can be used volunteers, must have strong financial resources, Shanghai's two thousand volunteers, a year of 200,000 taels of silver, Fengxian can afford to raise? ”

Speaking of this, his heart moved, this guy wouldn't want to donate in the name of recruitment, right? He immediately slowed down his tone and said: "Yiyong is not easy to recruit, and it is not easy to let the gentry and businessmen donate, the reason why Shanghai can raise such a huge donation is that Yuan Qi exchanged interests, and now these gentry and businessmen, how many of them are not iron roosters?"

In addition, Lin Butang was very strict in supervising the local donations in the name of organizing regimental exercises and recruiting volunteers, and the money from donations in Shanghai was supervised and reviewed by the chamber of commerce formed by the gentry and merchants, and the county government and the provincial government did not dare to act without permission. As he spoke, he said leisurely: "Lord Liu, why bother looking for trouble." ”

Hearing what he said so directly, Liu Hong's face was a little scornful, and he hurriedly said: "Since it will not be attacked by Yingyi, the lower officials will be relieved." ”

"Peace of mind." Yi Zhixiang smiled, paused slightly, and continued: "Fengxian is rich in cotton, and I also bothered Lord Liu to report a detailed investigation of the number of acres of cotton planting, yield, and price in Fengxian in the past five years. ”

"The subordinate obeys." Liu Hong bowed slightly, and at a glance he saw the other party holding a teacup and drinking tea, he quickly got up and politely saluted and retired.

Glancing at his back, Yi Zhishu took a cigar and lit it slowly, I don't know if this guy is worried about being attacked by Yingyi, or if he wants to take the opportunity to raise donations, but he still has a lot of courage, and just thinking to himself, Li Wang came in with a smile on his face and reported: "Young master, Xiao Mingliang is here." ”

Xiao Mingming, who listened, came, Yi Zhizhi was happy in his heart, and ordered: "Take him to the study." With that, after he got up and went out, he thought about it, and then folded into the backyard and changed into civilian clothes before going to the study.

Xiao Mingliang was already waiting in the study, and when he saw him come in, he hurriedly got up and saluted, and said, "Student Xiao Mingliang has seen the principal. ”

Glancing at him up and down, Yi Zhizhi smiled and said, "Did the journey go well?" ”

"Back to the principal, it went pretty well."

"Sit." Yi Zhishu said and slowly paced over and sat down, and when the other party sat down, he then asked, "Is there any damage to the baggage of the personnel?" ”

"Nope." Xiao Mingliang said loudly: "The next class is a hired big ship all the way, and all the personnel, all the baggage, arrived safely in the Taiping Mansion." As he spoke, he asked, "Is there any news for a mess?" ”

One group was to go to Jiangning by land, through Fujian and Zhejiang, Yi Zhishu nodded and said: "I received a report the day before yesterday that most of them have entered Zhejiang and arrived in Jinhua Mansion. Then he asked, "How many people have you brought?" ”

"Two companies." Xiao Mingliang said: "In two days, there will be two escorts to come over." ”

Sending a battalion to Shanghai is easy to know and order, he, the big treasurer of Yuanqi, is in charge of Shanghai Dao, if there is no Yuanqi regimental training accompaniment, it is easy to make people suspicious, slightly groaning, he said: "The 2,000 volunteers recruited in Shanghai, although they do not belong to the Yuanqi regimental training sequence for the time being, will sooner or later be merged into the Yuanqi regimental training, and there must be no sloppiness in the selection and training of soldiers." ”

"Students understand." Xiao Mingliang replied loudly before saying, "The principal has taken a fancy to this dock in Shanghai?" ”

Yi Zhixiang glanced at him: "But some people are dissatisfied with coming to Shanghai to train these volunteers?" ”

"Back to the principal, there is indeed a discussion." Xiao Mingliang said unresponsively: "The Jiangning War is imminent, but he was transferred to Shanghai to train recruits, and many people complained. ”

"I'm afraid that I won't be able to fight, which is a good thing." Yi Zhizhi said with a smile: "Tell them, you can train those recruits for me, Shanghai is very likely to be the first battlefield, even if there is no war in Shanghai, they will not be idle, some are fighting, leaving you time to train recruits However, it is February now, and May is the peak season for maritime trade." ”

Hearing this, Xiao Mingliang was overjoyed, and hurriedly said: "The principal can rest assured, the students will live up to the principal's high expectations." ”

"There's one more thing I have to explain to you." Yi Zhizhi said: "Shanghai Yiyong is a monthly salary of six taels of silver, which is higher than that of Yuanqi's group training, but they are not among Yuanqi at the moment, and they do not enjoy Yuanqi's benefits. ”

"Students understand."

"Why don't you recruit this batch of recruits in the name of Yuan Qi, you should understand, right?"

Xiao Mingliang nodded and said, "The student understands." ”

"Okay, then I won't go into details." Yi Zhizhi said with a full jaw: "Go to the county government to find Lord Liu, the county magistrate, take over the recruitment and training of volunteers, what do you need, just look for him." ”

"Yes. The student quits. Xiao Mingliang hurriedly stood up and saluted, then turned around and strode away.

Xiao Mingliang took over the recruitment and training of 2,000 volunteers in Shanghai, and Yi Zhifen was also a thing, and the rest was to wait for Chen Huacheng to come back from Jiangning, and arrange digging and repairing fortifications for Wusongkou Fort, this matter is over, he should leave Shanghai and go back to Guangzhou, Yuanqi regimental training is purely a hot weapon unit, and the consumption of ammunition in the war is not ordinarily large, his return to Guangzhou to arrange logistics supplies, and by the way, he also ran to Changhua, and the fleet needs to be properly arranged.

As for the government affairs of Shanghai Dao, he really doesn't have the heart to take care of it at the moment, and he threw it to Bao Shichen, and after this battle, Chen Huacheng is right, the first priority in Jiangnan is military affairs at the moment.

"Young Master." Li Wang walked in, handed over a pamphlet and said, "The copied Di Bao is here." ”

I took the newspaper and looked through it quickly, but I didn't see a piece of news related to the military, Yi Zhi couldn't help but be disappointed, put down the newspaper, and walked out slowly, it is February now, but there is still no movement in the imperial court, what is going on? It stands to reason that when he heard that England had increased his troops, Daoguang couldn't be so calm, after all, Tianjin and Jiangning are one bright and one dark, so there's no need to arrange them secretly, right?

Two days later, Jiangnan Admiral Chen Huacheng returned to Shanghai from Jinling Weifu, as soon as he entered the city, he retired his entourage and went to the Daotai Yamen alone, Yi Zhizhi was still in front of the courtyard of the study to greet him, Chen Huacheng made a straight face, and went directly into the courtyard without saying a word.

After entering the room, Chen Huacheng sat down with a golden knife, and when he saw Yi Zhizhi come in, he said: "Good boy, if you have to let the old man go to Jinling, you are not afraid of delaying time?" ”

Yi Zhizu smiled and sat down, and then said, "What did Lin Butang say to Chen Junmen?" ”

"Do you want to find out what is true and what is true?" Chen Huacheng sneered as he spoke, and said, "Lin Butang asked the old man to tell you that the emperor is mobilizing heavy troops from outside the mouth to gather in Tianjin, and has secretly ordered Henan, Shanxi, and the Green Battalion of the Two Lakes and Eight Banners to assemble in Xuzhou and Jiujiang. ”

Xuzhou is a strategic place and a transportation artery, you can use the canal to transport troops, the land route is only eight or nine hundred miles away from Jiangning, not to mention Jiujiang, down the river, you can reach Jiangning in a few days, it seems that Daoguang is finally determined to fight a big battle in Jiangning! Yi Zhi's content was relieved, and this thought was finally not in vain.

Glancing at Chen Huacheng, who seemed to be angry, he smiled and said: "Chen Junmen, why should he care, such a big matter, how dare the kid say anything, besides, the sacred heart is unpredictable, and the kid doesn't dare to speculate." ”

"Less nonsense." Chen Huacheng said: "Old man, let me ask you, what about Yuanqi group practice?" ”

Yi Zhi couldn't help but be satisfied, he was really not sure whether Lin Zexu would tell the other party about Yuanqi's group training, and immediately said vaguely: "Why does Chen Junmen pay so much attention to Yuanqi's group training?" ”

"Luring the British army to attack Jiangning, and the battle in Jiangning was suggested by your kid, right?" Chen Huacheng rolled his eyes and said, "The initiator, the Yuanqi group training will stay out of the matter?" ”

It seems that Lin Zexu's mouth is strict enough, Yi Zhizhi put his mind at ease, and said: "Yingyi may not be fooled, Guangzhou is also one of the key points of defense, Yuan Qi's family business is in Guangzhou, how can Yuan Qi group practice leave Guangzhou?" ”

How could Chen Huacheng believe his nonsense, the battle of Jiangning was easy to be content, how could there be a reason for Yuanqi Tuan to practice not to participate in the war, seeing that he refused to say it, he was too lazy to ask, and said instead: "The imperial court has made up its mind to ambush Yingyi in Jiangning, and contentment should always say something about the plan for this battle." ”

"Chen Junmen's words are killing the kid." Yi Zhizhi said with a smile: "Four provinces, no, plus the two rivers are soldiers and horses from seven provinces, tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of troops gather around Jiangning, such a big battle, either Lin Butang is deployed in the center, or the imperial court sends a general to preside over military affairs, which turn is the kid to talk nonsense." ”

Hearing this, Chen Huacheng sighed secretly, although Lin Zexu was the governor of Liangjiang, and he did win some battles against Yingyi in Guangzhou, but the gathering of the eight banners and green battalions in several provinces, how could Lin Zexu command it, and he must send the minister to preside over military affairs, but the problem is that the imperial court generals have withered, and there are no generals to send at all. (To be continued.) )