Guangzhou in February, has lost the bleak scene of being attacked by the British and French in the old year, here is the outer city of Guangzhou, because of the proximity to the wharf, naturally forming a long street that bends from east to west. Nearly February 2, it is the day when the dragon raises its head, the snacks of each shop are closed, the bacon is hung under the eaves of every house, the steamed steamed steamed snow-white point magenta Panlong steamed buns are stacked high one by one, every household pounds the pestle like the sound of beating the cake, burns the pine basin, burns incense, and the wine and meat fragrance and sandalwood and rosin are intertwined in one place...... If you don't pay attention to the slightly red, thin and green palms, plantains, bananas, and cannas in the courtyards, and the holly cypress branches hanging at the door of the door are sandwiched between various colors of roses and lotuses, the annual scene here is not far from that of Zhili Shandong, but through the weeping willows that have been wet by the rain, and the crosses and dark cedar forests on the gray and lifeless churches in the distance to the west, there is a bit of an eerie exoticism. In the sporadic briquette stove in the smoky miasma of the street, people with wooden faces hurriedly walked, groups of people called Huazi and played lotus flowers, some pretended to be female ghosts, and some pretended to be stove gong, stove woman, Zhong Kui, God of Wealth...... The hand grip bamboo technique wooden wedge begged for money along the door, and shouted in unison:

The stump collar is torn and the hat is old, and the gold is ten thousand taels of incense.

The sword is newly sharpened to drive away ghosts, protect the country and protect the family, and wish you good health.

The master couldn't bear to make noise, and threw out the money through the door, and the cows, ghosts, snakes, and gods jumped away with joy, and a group of horned boys followed suit.

The hostess of the man's house glared at the man who threw the money dissatisfiedly, "Master, the situation is different now, and you can't spend money lavishly." ”

"How could I not know," the man shook his head. sighed helplessly, "It's just that these children are noisy here, and I feel really uncomfortable, so I gave a few money to pass the matter." ”

The hostess listened to the movement outside with her ears sideways, "Those foreigners are really annoying, not to mention the Guangzhou City that occupied our Qing Dynasty, those women are really shameless, half of their breasts are exposed," the hostess took a sip, "It's really unethical!" ”

"That's it. Spend the whole day in the city showing off their might. When will the army of the imperial court come? The male owner has obviously read books for a few years and knows a lot about political affairs, "Don't let the monk king go south, as long as the troops of the governor of Liangjiang are sent down, these ghosts can be solved!" ”

"That's it." The hostess does not understand this. "Nowadays, there are many eye-catching foreigners in Guangzhou. Nothing else has changed, isn't this Governor Bai's grandfather still there, and there are naturally tall people on top of big things. We just need to live our own lives, if the army of the imperial court comes to attack, we don't have a good life to live!"

"That's what it is."

"Master, do you want to go to the Thirteen Lines to find an errand? I heard the neighbor's daughter-in-law say that there is a Mr. in the accounting room over there. ”

"Hmph, how can a scholar of my generation do things for the barbarians," the man was very dissatisfied and snorted coldly.

"Don't be stubborn, sir." The hostess slowed down her tone and persuaded softly, "What kind of world is it now, even if it is Governor Bai, you have to listen to foreigners!" We're not ashamed! ”

The man groaned for a moment, his tone was a little sluggish, and he seemed to be moved, "Then wait and see." ”

Ten miles away from the Liangguang Governor's Palace, the original towering "leaf" flag, was torn off, replaced by the red and blue criss-crossed British flag, Guangzhou people do not know that it is the British flag, only called the "rice flag", the original whip in front of the door of the governor has also been replaced by a blonde foreigner, originally was very majestic so no one in front of the door to walk around the Governor's Palace, it is even more inhabited, people with children are holding the child would rather detour, "Those foreign devils will eat the hearts of children!" ”

An eight-lift green sedan chair slowly turned out from the corner, slowly stopped in front of the gate of the governor's palace, several sedan chair men trembled and half-knelt on the ground, did not dare to look up at the foreigner standing at the door, out of the sedan chair came an elderly man wearing a crane mending uniform, about sixty years old, with a big cake face, small eyes, and a gray goatee, he got off the sedan chair, and smiled at a few British soldiers with red high hats on the steps with a smile on his face, and several British soldiers guarding the governor's door couldn't understand the meaning of the group, Holding the musket and pointing at the group of people at the bottom of the steps, the interpreter next to the official wearing the crane uniform hurriedly came out, waved his hand and explained in English, "Don't be excited, our Governor has come to ask to see Mr. Pashali. ”

The British soldier at the head nodded arrogantly, "You wait here, I'll go in and tell Mr. Pashali," seeing that the official wanted to go up the steps, "stop, don't go any further!" Seeing that the official stopped in a daze, he turned like a proud rooster and entered the governor's palace to pay homage to the Pasha.

The interpreter saw that his adult face was red and blue, and he was embarrassed, so he hurriedly spat at the door, and indignantly helped his adult to relieve the siege, "What a shitty thing!" It's just that our governor is generous, and he gave up the governor's line to live for these people, and now he has set up a fight with his master! ”

"Okay," the official who was known as the "Governor" finally softened his face, waved his hand disapprovingly, and showed that he did not take the matter to heart, "We are the kingdom of the Celestial Empire, the state of etiquette, naturally we don't need to deal with these," said this, lowering his voice, and sneaking a glance at the British army on the steps, "Deal with these barbarians." ”

The interpreter's head nodded like a chicken pecking rice, and the two waited for a while in front of the Liangguang Governor's Palace, and the British soldier who had gone in to pass the word came out, lazily pointed at the two people and said a few words, and the interpreter listened attentively, bent down and said to the official, "Your Excellency, Mr. Pashali will let us in now." ”

"Okay." The official was dressed properly, and entered the Liangguang Governor's Mansion with an interpreter, the original Liangguang Governor Ye Mingchen has always loved Jiangnan gardens, and the rockeries and plum trees in the line can be called a must in Guangzhou, and now the plum trees have been cut down by order of Paxiali, and the number of Western gardening that has been planted neatly built, and the rockery has also been destroyed, and a baroque pavilion has been pressed. The official didn't have time to grieve and mourn, and he was thinking about how to phrase Pa Xia Li when he saw him, so he went around a few halls, and when he arrived at Pa Xia Li's residence, the official looked up and saw that it was Ye Mingchen's previous signing room.

The interpreter said a few words to the British soldiers guarding the door, and took his own adults into the signing room, only to see the pale yellow-brown haired British man sitting on the Luohan bed in the courtroom, with a beard on his face and holding a glass of red wine, and was looking down to taste it.

Pasha Li is of medium stature, his face is fair and slightly yellowish, his hair is light yellow, and he has a soft mustache of sand, which is really dignified, but his nose and mouth make people feel that his behavior is a little neurotic, and he does not have a decisive character, Pasha Li took a sip of red wine, saluted the official's hand and nodded, "Lord Bai, what are you doing here at this time?" "Pasha Li has been in China for a long time, and he speaks Chinese quite fluently, but with a little Cantonese accent.

The one who was called "Governor Bai" by Pa Xiali was the former governor of Guangdong, Bai Gui, who was the acting governor of Liangguang after Ye Mingchen was dismissed by the imperial court. In the 24th year of Jiaqing, he served as the governor of Longxi, Gansu, Puning, Longmen, Dongguan and other counties in Guangdong, the governor of Nanxiong Zhili Prefecture, and the governor of Henan. At the beginning of the third year of Xianfeng, he was appointed governor of Guangdong, and asked to hire the Hongdan merchant ships in Guangzhou to enrich the naval division, and purchased a number of foreign artillery pieces to be transported to the battalions of the naval division to suppress the Taiping army.

Bai Gui stood respectfully on the ground, not caring at all about Pashali's rudeness, "Lord Pashali, the lower official has come this time to send a message to the people of Guangzhou, please review it." ”

Pa Xia Li nodded, Bai Gui saw this and hurriedly took out a piece of paper full of words from the sleeve of the horse's hooves, and presented it to Pa Xia Li who was standing high above with both hands, Pa Xia Li took the piece of paper, and pointed to the interpreter standing next to Bai Gui, "Dirty yellow-skinned monkey, you come and translate it for me." (To be continued......)

PS: What about the monthly pass