In recent years, the war in the south of the Yangtze River has raged, and the war and disasters have naturally forced people to find a safer place to take refuge, and Shanghai has become the first choice with the advantage of having a concession, and the refugees who have poured into the concession, the old city, and the surrounding county seat have reached hundreds of thousands.

Hundreds of thousands of people, naturally not all of them are big and rich, most of them are ordinary families or even poor families, and after fleeing for a long time, their livelihood will inevitably become difficult, so as long as the recruitment flag is erected, there are naturally many people who are willing to eat food. And Guan Zhuofan was on the boat, and he also had another advice to several officers: "In addition to selecting the best of the best, pay special attention to two things: one is the best to be able to recognize some words, and the other is that someone in the family died on the hands of long hair." ”

The latter one, of course, is to use their hostile hearts, and the former one, like Daniel Zhang, can't figure out what Mr. Guan is thinking - in his opinion, as long as a soldier can endure hardships and is willing to work hard, nothing else, know a few words, what's the use of fart?

Wu Xu naturally didn't know these words, but Guan Zhuofan's idea of recruiting courage from refugees was indeed a feasible way. So he not only agreed, but also took the initiative to ask Jin Yulin, who was the outgoing magistrate of the county and the new governor of Songjiang Prefecture, to assist him in this matter, and Jin Yulin also happily agreed.

"Lao Jin, I am very affectionate!" Guan Zhuofan gratefully arched his hand to Jin Yulin, and said to Wu Xu: "When it comes to Jin Tongzhi, the lower official still has a reluctant request, I don't know whether to say it or not." ”

"Please feel free to speak."

"When I first arrived in Shanghai, I was born in both people and land, but the military situation was urgent, and I was afraid that I would not be able to handle the affairs of the county government for a while. Therefore, I want to ask Lao Jin to stay in the city for a few more days, if there is anything, I can ask for advice at any time, and if there is something that cannot be done, Lao Jin can also correct it at any time. ”

This is really a "reluctant invitation". Since the county order is handed over, some can't even see each other, some are a cup of tea, a few words, the relationship is very haode, spend half a day to carefully explain the things that should be explained, and then have a meal, and it will be the end. And Guan Zhuofan's intention was to leave Jin Yulin in the city first and be a consultant. This has become a six-grade acquaintance, and the "assistant to the government" for the seventh-grade magistrate, will be regarded as a joke, and it will be difficult to get face.

Wu Xu looked at Jin Yulin and thought to himself, even if he was willing to agree, he didn't know what Jin Yulin thought.

Jin Yulin also hesitated and didn't speak for a while. Guan Zhuofan saw it and said with a smile: "The little brother never does the thing of going up the wall to draw ladders, Brother Jin's merits, the little brother will be in the fold in the future, I must explain it in detail." ”

To outsiders, this sentence sounds like a joke: a seven-pin county, what does it say "on the fold"? However, everyone here was in their hearts, and no one dared to listen to it as a joke - this was the imperial guard! Naturally, he can go straight to the ninth fold without being supervised.

"It's incumbent!" Jin Yulin is a smart person, and he immediately tasted the importance of this, and said categorically, "Wherever I can help, Yixuan, you can just command." ”

After solving this problem, Guan Zhuofan was also certain in his heart, and then he went on to talk about his plan of "four ways to go together" in military affairs.

"The so-called defense of Shanghai cannot only be defended, let alone just defended the county seat, and the battle must be fought as much as possible at a few points on the periphery. But if you want to attack it, then the defense of the city will definitely be empty, so this third way is the foreign soldiers in the concession, and they want to play a duty of guarding the city of Shanghai. This is a matter of close importance, they should have made a contribution, but this negotiation, the lower officials don't know what to do? ”

"This is easy to do, it is up to me and Lao Yang to negotiate." Wu Xu said with a smile on his face. The sharpness of foreign soldiers was something he had seen with his own eyes, but he was afraid that Guan Zhuofan would pretend to be orthodox and unwilling to "borrow a gun to help suppress", so he didn't dare to make this proposal rashly. Now Guan Zhuofan took the initiative to say it, which is very much in line with his heart. Several gentry also smiled, for them, with the help of foreign soldiers, the safety of Shanghai was naturally more guaranteed.

"The fourth way," Guan Zhuofan looked at the three gentry and said with a smile, "I heard that when Changmao fought Shanghai last year, there was a foreign gun team in the city, and it fought well, and that Wall, I don't know if it is still in the city?" I want to raise a sum of money to restore this foreign gun team. This money is not listed in the regular salary, so I have to ask the local government for help. ”

Who knew that after saying this, even a few gentry, the look on everyone's face became quite embarrassed, you look at me, I look at you, he didn't speak for a while, only the eyes of the alternate Dao Yang Fang flashed, but he didn't speak.

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"It's not because of the money - they treated others like that in the first place, and now they're naturally embarrassed to speak again." In the mansion prepared by Wu Xu for Guan Zhuofan, Libin listened to Guan Zhuofan's description, hahadaxiao.

The mansion is in the middle of the county, diagonally opposite the county office, which is very convenient. After eating the wind wine, it was not early, but Guan Zhuofan had already told Zhang Shun that if a Mr. Li came to visit, he would be invited to wait in the house, so when he stepped into the main house, he saw Libin, whom he had not met for a year.

Libin has admired his "owner" to the extreme. Others are in Shanghai, but they care about the news of the capital all the time, and when Gu Ming pushes it, the two palaces are curtained, and the reputation of "Chengnan Guan San" suddenly rises, he knows that he really has no wrong person. And Guan Zhuofan actually used the method of surrendering himself to Qipinzhi County to lead his troops to Shanghai and reached that "one-year contract", Libin felt even more that this young official had a strange situation in his chest, to the point of being a little unfathomable - how could he have such a grasp a year ago?

Since it is "unmeasurable", then simply do not measure it, and do the things he explains one by one, which is better than anything else. Guan Zhuofan didn't even bother to say a pleasant greeting, so he first mentioned the matter of the foreign gun team, which was extremely important, and Libin also told him in detail what he had learned after receiving Guan Zhuofan's secret letter.

"The chief, an American named Wall, went to Paris, France, for treatment after being wounded last year, and only returned to Shanghai in June this year. He had saved a little money in his hand, so the situation was still passable, and he opened a restaurant in the British Concession. I've been to his restaurant, the business is good, and the food tastes good. ”

And Wall's two deputies are not so happy. According to Libin, Bai Qiwen was working as a bodyguard for a foreign firm's Taipan, while Forrest was reduced to working as a "western catcher" in the Ministry of Industry Bureau of the concession, with a monthly salary of 30 yuan, which was 22 taels in silver.

"What a mess?" Guan Zhuofan frowned.

"What's the solution? They only know about war, and they don't know how to do business, and even if they want to do it, they don't have the capital. ”

"I heard that at the beginning, it was Yang Fang who found Wall's ......" Guan Zhuofan tried his best to search for all the historical knowledge related to the concession in his mind, "Now that others are embarrassed to meet them, is Yang Fang also embarrassed to go?" ”

"At the beginning, the supply of the foreign gun team was cut off, firstly, because they felt that they had lost two battles in a row and did not fight well, and secondly, they felt that the long hair had retreated, and it was useless for the foreign gun team to keep it, so this matter was not authentic. Only Yang Daotai was against it, but no one listened to him, but now if he took the initiative to mention this matter and go to Wall, it would not look good in the face of his colleagues. ”

"Oh, I see." Guan Zhuofan nodded, thought for a moment, and said categorically: "These three people, I want to find them back, they are of great use." ”

"Yixuan, I look at that Wall, I haven't been so easy to come back." Libin reminded.

"Give him money!" Guan Zhuofan said with confidence, "It's not possible that he still can't get along with silver?" ”

"It's not just about money." "I've inquired, and he's a proud man with a good reputation, and he never does anything to tear down the dirt. In the last incident, he felt that it was 'detrimental to dignity', so he complained a lot about the officials and gentry in Shanghai. Foreigners, like us, also talk about face. ”

"Why, do you still want to beg him?"

"That's not really, but if someone can talk about this kind of thing, it will be better."

Guan Zhuofan understood, thought for a while, and said: "Mr. Li, there is a person named Jin Nengheng in the American Concession, who is the director of Qichang Steamship, do you recognize him?" ”

"Naturally. This man is very competent, and he is also a nominal vice-consul. ”

"I also have a relationship with him." Guan Zhuofan made up his mind, "Please go to the concession tomorrow, make an appointment for me, and I will invite him to dinner." ”

"Okay!" Libin nodded in agreement.

After this matter was finished, Guan Zhuofan leaned back in the chair, looked at Libin again with a smile, and said: "Mr. Li, I haven't seen you for a year, and your demeanor is still the same, how is my sister-in-law now?" ”

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(Second watch, ask for recommendation votes)