Although the weather is still so cold, the wind is no longer biting, there are more pedestrians on the road, the prodigal son's heart is also sprouting, and Feng Laiyi is full of life again. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

"The real spring is coming!"

"Spring comes early in Jiangnan, and when I was in the capital in the past, I had to wait a month to feel the spring!"

In the past few days, Feng Laiyi has received several people who have entered Beijing to take the exam, thinking that he has not yet participated in the examination of the Ministry of Rites, Chang Wei actually has a little envy of them in his heart.

"Dauntless, you don't have to take the test. Luo Wencheng observed the words and said.

Chang Wei smiled bitterly and shook his head: "I don't have that ability. ”

Others asked for the title of the gold list, but Chang Wei neither needed nor had that mind, and he really failed the exam.

Jinshi is the foundation of the national bureaucratic system, not only the prime minister is from this, but even most of the parents and officials of the seven grades are from Jinshi.

"The juvenile nature is strong, and the rigidity is easy to break, fearless Since you ascended to the court, the edge is exposed, the brilliance is dazzling, and it is not a good thing to say, after all, the officialdom pays attention to the golden mean. ”

Luo Wencheng should be full of emotion in his heart, when he was the same age as Chang Wei now, he was already the champion, but his upright personality finally made him taste the power of imperial power and the indifference of human feelings, although he had already looked down on life, but in the face of Chang Wei, who was quite similar to him back then, he still couldn't help but persuade.

"I will take the teachings of Jin Angong to heart. ”

Chang Wei raised his wine glass and drank it all: "Just like the rivers and lakes, officialdom is not a place for me to stay for a long time, I don't have to wait until I am successful to retire, I will leave when the time is ripe." ”

"It's a pity, you should create an unprecedented atmosphere for someone as amazing and glamorous. Luo Wencheng regained his temperament in an instant, "Why did you retreat at this high-spirited time?"

Chang Wei said with a smile: "This is the reason why I am sharp, in order to bring down political enemies for decades? I don't have the patience of those old foxes, taking advantage of the emperor's favor, I used thunderous means to remove tumors internally, exterminate slaves externally, establish joint consultations, innovate the school system, and after these major events, my enemies will be everywhere, no, now they are everywhere." ”

"And I'm not like some eunuch who wants to kill all his political enemies and monopolize power, so ah, what else can I do but drift away and be at ease? ”

"It turns out that you think so long-term, no wonder you can be a supreme minister in your early twenties and dominate the court. Luo Wencheng's face was solemn: "Admire, fearless, can you tell me about your ambitions......!"

Came to Fenglaiyi in a happy mood, just entered the gate, and met Liang Kecheng and Su Chengcheng, Su Chengcheng smiled faintly, as if the spring breeze had melted her past coldness;

"Wei Shao, I'm afraid you're the busiest in Suzhou City, I've been here for two days, and I've only seen you now. ”

"Where is your mind on me?" Chang Wei shook his head and said, "There is only one Miss Su in your eyes!"

Xie Lang's sleeves turned over the snow at the beginning, Xun Ling Xun furnace changed the incense, Liang Kecheng's abundance was not far behind than the previous dynasty's powder He Lang and Xueyi Xie Zhuang, and Su Chengcheng was a perfect match, looking at the intimacy passed between the eyebrows of the two, thinking of Su Tingcheng's white and tender pink on Honghu, all the wonders were afraid that they would be enjoyed by this guy, Chang Wei couldn't help but feel unhappy for a while.

Liang Kecheng said that in the past two days, several heterogeneous plum blossoms in Shen Zhou's house have been blooming, and Shen Zhou invited relatives and friends to watch, and he also received an invitation, so he invited Su Chengcheng to go together.

Chang Wei also received Shen Zhou's post, but there were many celebrities in the places where he was invited, and he couldn't be busy entertaining one by one, so he casually threw the invitation aside.

But listening to Liang Kecheng's words, Chang Wei's heart suddenly moved, Shen Zhou, a famous salt merchant in the south of the Yangtze River, should be helping Jin Gehui sell illegal salt.

"Master Shen doesn't want to charge for tickets again. ”

There is not much profit from selling official salt, and private salt has been banned repeatedly, and it is not easy to come to Shen Zhou, otherwise it will not be rented out again and again.

"That was Song Sanniang's idea. ”

Liang Kecheng smiled indifferently, but a provocative light suddenly shot out of his eyes, and there was even a hint of pride in his eyes.

Chang Wei was slightly stunned, does this guy have the heart to say goodbye to me?

"Sanniang is a ghost. Chang Wei replied casually, but he was thinking about the future of Su Chengcheng in his heart, Liang Kecheng was very likely to use her, thinking of her possible regrets in the future, Chang Wei couldn't help but look at her with a little schadenfreude......

Five days later, Chang Wei set off with Tang Shuxue, Yan Ruyu, and Yu Piaoling.

However, the last time the three daughters participated in the battle against the Japanese invaders, Yan Ruyu was a countess with the name of a general, and the soldiers were not surprised.

After arriving in Songjiang Mansion, the three of them changed into military uniforms, and the three women wore Baoyuefang's specially refined crocodile skin armor, which was thin and tough, warm and windy, and covered with Baoyuefang's special snow wolf skin jacket, buffalo leather boots, steel helmets, heart guards, wrists and elbows. The horse chopping knife was made by He Dingqian, the owner of the Qianzi room, and he carried two short firearms carefully built by the Zhenjiang Manufacturing Bureau, each of whom was equipped with more than 5,000 taels of silver.

Before dark, the three of them finally arrived at the Sheshan temporary military camp located more than 20 miles away from Songjiang Mansion. Beforehand, Fu Zhouzi instructed Chang Wei to report on time, seeing that the huge barracks were silent, and the sergeants standing guard outside the door were like wolves and tigers, Chang Wei knew that once he was late, Fu Zhouzi, who was extremely strict in governing the army, might ignore the title of his grandfather, and really have to act in military law.

"Qin Guogong, General Yan...... Come on, come on, I'll introduce you to it. ”

When Fu Zhouzi saw Chang Wei coming, a smile of relief appeared on his handsome face, took his hand, and pointed to the six people sitting around the big map in the big tent.

"This is Lord Hu Zhenghu, Deputy Qianhu of Haining Wei, this is Lord Zeng Liangzeng of Jinshanwei Baihu, this is ......"

"The last general, Jinshan avant-garde hundred households, Wu Siyuan, see the Lord Guogong, and break the general!"

Before Fu Zhouzi could point out, Wu Siyuan had already stood up and bowed, but his eyes were as hot as fire, and he was obviously a little out of control.

"Qin Guogong is from Suzhou, and Wu Baihu is also from Suzhou, and the two will be able to cooperate happily in the future. ”

Fu Zhouzi pretended not to see it, and introduced the other three hundred households Zhang Lu, Qi Chuan, and Lu Zhong to Chang Wei, and then solemnly pointed and introduced again: "This is the overseer of my extermination camp, the commander of Qin Guogong, the commander of Jinyi Weidu, the three orphans of the dynasty, and the governor of the rear army...... The governor of Qincha Jiangnan, Chang Wei, is often fearless. ”

After exchanging words for a long time, Fu Zhouzi said: "Fearless, we are studying the information gathered by the guards of Nanjing and Zhejiang and Fujian provinces, you and Mrs. Yan are famous generals who raise the prestige of the country outside the territory, and it is time to give us an idea, staff and staff officer." ”

Because it was not a formal military meeting, the atmosphere in the big tent was quite relaxed.

Fu Zhouzi pointed to the map spread out on the table and said: "Although Okita has a wide range of activities, from Chongming in the north to Quanzhou in the south, his traces have been found, but according to the current intelligence, his base is nothing more than two places, either in the area of Yuhuan Island in Wenzhou Prefecture, or in the area of Daqi and Xiaoqidao in Songjiang Prefecture. It is estimated that the number of this group is less than 300 people, and there are more than 10 large and small ships, and the main battleship is an ironclad ship, which is said to have been seriously injured by our sailors last time, and it is likely that it has lost its combat effectiveness......

All the generals breathed a sigh of relief, Zeng Liang of Jin Shanwei was born in the navy, and he was even more overjoyed when he heard the words, twisting his beard and smiling: "Grandma's, this is called the crab without the big ao, the squid has broken its tentacles, and the Japanese have injured their minions, which is a great benefit to our army!"

This time the conquest of Okita used six 'Cangshan Iron' warships of the Daming Navy of Jinshanwei, but the performance of Cangshan Iron was far inferior to the ironclad ships of the Japanese Kou, so the original strategy of suppressing Okita was also based on land warfare.

"Okita still has more than a dozen Japanese warships, which should not be underestimated. Fu Zhouzi reminded him, and continued: " Although Zongshi has a base in the coastal islands of our Daming Dynasty, these islands are very scarce in products, and it is difficult to supply, and a large amount of his income comes from the smuggling of jewelry and spices on the southeast coast, so he needs to land frequently to trade, although most of the smuggled goods are at sea and the coastal rich to complete the transaction, but most of the supply and repair ships need to dock at the coastal port wharf, and a small part of the smuggled goods are also at this time with the inland family to complete the transaction, our goal is to use the opportunity of their dock to eliminate it in one fell swoop！”

"If we can really attract them to the shore, one thousand and two pairs is less than three hundred, and if we don't kill these bunnies to death, we should all wipe our necks and hang ourselves!"

Seeing Lu Zhong's hand on his neck, everyone laughed, and Zeng Liang asked: "But the coastline of Zhejiang and Fujian is more than 1,000 miles long, how do we know when and where Okita will land?!"

"Zhejiang and Fujian provinces have tightened the ban on the sea, and have tightened surveillance of the 23 wealthy coastal tycoons who have a fleet at sea, including the Shen family in Songjiang, the Huang family in Suzhou, the Gu family in Taicang, the Xie family in Yuyao, and the Li family in Ninghai, strictly prohibiting their fleets from going to sea, forcing Okita to switch the trade to land. I have asked Nanjing and Zhejiang-Fujian provinces to focus on supervising Nanhuizui in Songjiang Prefecture, Yuyao, Dinghai, Xiangshan, Liuhengdao in Ningbo Prefecture, and Jinjiang and Hui'an in Quanzhou Prefecture where there are many ordinary Chongtian ports. ”

What the general said was extremely true, he just forced Okita to go ashore, and it would be better to take the initiative to set a trap to attract him to the shore, and the general would have a plan. Wu Siming pondered for a while and said suddenly.

Seeing a flash of cold electricity in Wu Siming's eyes, Chang Wei was vaguely uneasy in his heart, and sure enough, he heard him: "Okita is in trouble, to put it bluntly, just for profit, if there is a large amount of business to seduce him, I am not afraid that he will not take the bait." ”

His eyes fell on Chang Wei, and said with a smile: "Qin Guogong is a celebrity in the Jiangdong business community, and the Zhenjiang Machinery Bureau is the most profitable business in the world. You all know how amazing the machine bureau's steam engine is, right?"

Everyone nodded, Zeng Liang shook his goatee and said with a smile: "The storytellers have made it into a joke and sung it all over the street, who doesn't know?! Even my yellow-faced mother-in-law who doesn't go out of the gate went to Zhenjiang to see the factory, and when she came back, she was very happy, saying that Qin Guogong was really a god and a man from heaven." ”

"Needless to say, Qin Guogong's talent is world-famous, but the lower official has an offensive word, don't mind, Grandpa Guo, after the Shen family had that incident last year, there were many people in the market who believed that the Shen family and the Zhenjiang Machinery Bureau were suspected of smuggling!"

Of course, Chang Wei knew that he would go to Jiangnan in the name of investigating this case. In an instant, Chang Wei also understood what kind of strategy Wu Siming came up with, wanting to use the machine bureau and himself as bait to lure Okita, and his intentions were really vicious.

Not to mention that it is difficult for the Japanese to believe in Chang Wei, and it is very likely to be harmed by the Japanese in a dangerous place, even if the Japanese believe in Chang Wei, it is very likely that they will be trafficked by people with a heart, smuggling and selling smuggling, so that Chang Wei can come up with a large list of trumped-up charges without turning his brain.

In an instant, there was a murderous intent in his heart, since he was the son of a Jiangnan family, then he and Chang Wei were naturally hostile to the position, and they were destined to fight to the death, and Chang Wei immediately had several sets of plans to kill him invisibly.

Next, Wu Siming really put forward the strategy of using 'Qin Guogong as bait', Hu Zheng, Zhang Lu, Qi Chuan, Lu Zhong and others fell silent, although they all knew that it was really a very inappropriate move to let a big man like Chang Wei put himself in danger, but he was quite moved.

Even Fu Zhouzi cast an inquiring look, he was a natural soldier, he didn't care about danger or not, as long as he could kill the enemy, it didn't matter what way he could, besides, Fu Zhouzi knew Chang Wei's skills, even if there was any danger, with Chang Wei's skills as the number one master in the world, it was a fool's dream for only 300 people to take him down.

Zeng Liang scratched his bald head, and didn't think about it: "Xiao Wu, you kid is really a tailor's ruler, and you don't measure others but yourself! What kind of character is the widow, suspicious and ruthless by nature, you let the grandfather of the country put himself in danger, what are you like?"

"Brother Zeng, what are you talking nonsense, Grandpa Guo fought for 2,000 miles outside the Saiwai, Lin Dan Khan of the Northern Yuan Dynasty was beheaded by him, and Beylerhaug of Jiannu was killed by him and fled. ”

Wu Siming smiled, his eyes seemed to inadvertently glance at Chang Wei's waist, and he couldn't help but be slightly stunned when he saw that there was a divine sword hanging on his waist that was not the same as before, but an ordinary horse chopping knife.

Hu Zheng and the others were all solemn, and Zeng Liang exclaimed, "I almost forgot this stubble, but hearing is false, and the last general wants to try his hand with Grandpa Guo." ”

As he spoke, he glanced at Chang Wei, and seeing that Chang Wei didn't say anything, he suddenly picked up his big fist and smashed it on the ground, although there was no discipline, but it was full of strength.

Chang Wei didn't even blink his eyelids, Yan Ruyu, who started his hand, and Fu Zhouzi on the opposite side shot out in unison, and while Fu Zhouzi firmly held his fist, Yan Ruyu flew him out with a light finger.

Fu Zhouzi is quite famous in the army, but he is not an old man in the Jiangnan army, and the generals don't know much about him, and now they see that Zeng Liang, who is known as the first wrestler of Hangzhou Wei, has the strength in his hands is inferior, and everyone was shocked for a while, only to know that this white-faced scholar-like boss actually has extraordinary strength, and even Wu Siming's face showed a trace of surprise.

As for Yan Ruyu, a frosty beauty, what they gave them was a shocking pressure, and they would fly Zeng with just one finger, if it was a real enemy, he was afraid that he would already be a dead man.

Fu Zhouzi turned his head and said: "Fearless, but he is the number one master in the rivers and lakes, with the title of the first in the world, and Mrs. Yan is also a heroine among women." We are not opponents alone, however, this time to conquer Okita, I have selected all elite soldiers, on bow and arrow fearlessness can not catch up with your brother Wu, you are the army Li Guang, archery is superb; on water fearlessness can not catch up with your Zeng big head, your black loach name is not given in vain, you don't have to be presumptuous. Besides, the two armies are fighting, how many opportunities do Jianghu kung fu have?"

With Fu Zhouzi's wisdom, he also thought of the insidiousness of Le Maosheng's strategy: "Brother Wu's plan is very good, but there are some problems with the candidates. Qin Guogong has no shortage of money and power, and the Zhenjiang Machinery Bureau is an important partner of the imperial court, so it is not guilty of smuggling, and the lack of reasons for smuggling is easy to arouse Okita's suspicion and startle the snake. ”

"Yes, yes, Grandpa Guo is the God of Wealth wearing a black gauze hat, and Grandma's is rich and powerful, so she can't commit smuggling!" Zeng Liang echoed, but his words were full of envy.

Wu Siming laughed twice, saying that he had not thought it through, but he rolled his eyes, and said: "Grandpa Guo has a close connection with Shangjia, like Shen Kuang, the head of the Shen family in Songjiang, is a classmate and friend of Guogong, and the Shen family is also engaged in maritime trade, why don't you ask him to come forward and lure Okita?"

Zeng Liang and Zhang Lu were suddenly a little unhappy, the two of them were Jin Shanwei's, Wu Siming's words were almost equivalent to accusing Jin Shanwei of dereliction of duty, and he and Zeng Zhang belonged to two provinces, and the most taboo for officials to cross the line was to point fingers. But Chang Wei was secretly surprised in his heart, Wu Siming is not only vicious, but also flexible enough, but he is a difficult opponent.

Wu Siming saw that Zeng Zhang and the two of them were hesitant on their faces, and seemed to know that they were in a hurry and did not choose what to say, which made the two of them feel guilty, and hurriedly apologized, and said: "The last general also wants to exterminate the group of widows in Okita in one fell swoop, everyone has earned military merits, wouldn't it be happy to seal his wife and son!"

One sentence made everyone's faces brighten, and Zeng Liang smiled: "Damn, I love to hear this." has no military merits, I'm afraid that he will always be a six-grade hundred-hundred-hundred-

Zhang Lu and Lu Zhong also nodded, in fact, Fu Zhouzi is the best example, if it weren't for his outstanding achievements in Liaodong, how could he have achieved the high position of the second-grade Nanjing Chinese Military Governor's Mansion at a young age!

And Chang Wei also understood the attraction of military exploits to these people in the big tent, and said in a deep voice: "Don't hide it from your colleagues, Shen Kuang is indeed my friend, in order to exterminate Okita, I will go to Songjiang, if his Shen family has done anything illegal and undisciplined before, then give him a chance to bring the guilt and merit, and he will be responsible for luring Okita ashore; ”

"I didn't expect Wu Siming to have such a deep resentment towards you!" Seeing off the generals, Fu Zhouzi said with some emotion: "You must cover up the whereabouts of your two younger siblings, otherwise you may really let him set off a storm, this person is quite insidious and vicious." ”

sighed again and said, "Grandma's, why didn't I see his heart when I was in Hangzhou Wei?!"

"It's hard to draw the skin and bones of a tiger, and you don't know your face but your heart!" Chang Wei smiled: "Xijue, with you here, forgive him for not making any tricks." "The heart that has eradicated him in his heart has become stronger.

"Then you really want to go to Songjiang Shen's house?"

Chang Wei nodded and said: "All the generals want to follow you to make a great achievement, I won't give it a try, they are afraid of complaining, which is not good for morale, and Wu Siming also saw this, so I not only want to go, but also try my best to make this thing happen, but in the future, the water division, Songjiang Mansion and Nanjing will have to take more care of the Shen family." ”

Fu Zhouzi nodded happily in agreement, and immediately wrote a letter to Old Man Xu and asked him to send it to Nanjing with the school for 800 miles, and then discussed with Chang Wei how to train the troops.

This time, more than 1,200 soldiers were set up to conquer the fields, including 600 horses, 100 carriages, 50 birds, two tiger cannons, and six Cangshan iron ships.

Fu Zhouzi was the main general, Hu Zhengfu was the auxiliary, and Chang Wei was the overseer; the whole battalion consisted of five generals, Wu Siming, Zhang Lu, Zeng Liang, Lu Chuan, and Lu Zhong were divided into 200 archers, horsemen, birds, knives and axes, sailors, and rattan players, and Chang Wei led 100 soldiers and artillerymen under his name, and the rest were Fu Zhouzi's personal guards.

According to Fu Zhouzi's original plan, while discovering Okita's whereabouts, the anti-Japanese battalion began to train troops in Sheshan for half a month; first, these soldiers were drawn from Nanjing and Zhejiang provinces, and although they were all elite guards of each other, they needed to be familiar with each other in order to have a tacit understanding; second, the formation of a tactic required a great deal of training, and even repeated drills were required to form combat effectiveness.

"The guns of the Okita ironclad are quite sharp, but the Japanese don't seem to have too many bird muskets in their hands. Chang Wei recalled the naval battle outside Jinshanwei and said: "At least I didn't see a single bird gun that day. ”

"Birds are afraid of water, even if they are not willing to use them easily at sea, especially in naval battles, warships have hidden bodies, and birds can't play any role, and when the two ships are in short arms, it is much more convenient to use bows and arrows than birds. However, there is a lot of room for the bird gun on land, and I have tried it myself, and it can still hurt people at a distance of 150 paces, and the archers who can shoot the enemy at a distance of 80 paces are already superior in the army, and there are not many archers in the army who can still kill people at 120 paces like Wu Siming. ”

"Fearless, in fact, whether it is a bow and arrow, or a bird, as long as you can lead Okita ashore, it is a sure thing to eat him in one bite, I care about the bird, because of Liaodong, where the bird's gun shows its talents. ”

Chang Wei laughed: "Don't worry, after this battle, I will definitely take you to Liaodong, and then let you see how majestic and mighty my army of guns is!"

On the second day, the whole army was reviewed, and the establishment of the anti-Japanese battalion was officially announced, and Fu Zhouzi, who was standing on the review stand, was dressed in military uniform, heroic and cool, and had the demeanor of a famous general, and his speech was also extremely inflammatory, which aroused the morale of the whole battalion; and then Wu Siming's 100 steps through Yang and Zeng Liang's iron-headed cracked stone opened the soldiers' eyes and at the same time greatly increased their confidence.

After the review, the various arms began their own training, and Chang Wei also saw the 100 soldiers under his command and his deputy, Tong Guan, the general banner of a hundred households in Zhenhaiwei.

These soldiers are no strangers, and when they came under a pseudonym before, they were brought with them.

Looking at Lu Sanchuan's subordinates, Chang Wei smiled and said, "You have the same name as the traitor of the Song Dynasty, do you want to aspire to be a traitor?"

Tong Guan sighed, obviously not knowing that there was such a thing, and hurriedly waved his hand and said: "Grandpa Guo, the little one is a good person, and he is by no means a traitor." ”

Compared with several other branches of the army, these soldiers who are responsible for logistics and baggage look mostly dull-headed, and there are very few clever people -- it is no wonder that the errand of the baggage soldiers is dirty and tiring, and it is rare to have military merits, and they have run to other branches of the army early; and most of these soldiers look at Chang Wei with a suspicious face, after all, he is a very human prince, and his face is as tender as his son's brother, no matter how he looks at it, he does not look like a person who can fight.

Tong Guan is a honest young man in his twenties, after assembling the team, he reported to Chang Wei that today he practiced how many miles to run with weights, how many miles to run with carts, how many times to lift stone locks, how many piles, how few times to swing a knife, etc., etc., are all compulsory training subjects for the soldiers, and although Chang Wei led the troops many times, he was the shopkeeper, so he let Tong Guan lead the brothers to practice, and he was silently observing on the side.

Fu Zhouzi's soldiers are really unique, more than an hour of high-intensity training, this hundred seemingly weak soldiers but only thirty people failed to persevere, the physical endurance is much beyond imagination, looking at the people who are tired and sweating in the cold of the spring, Chang Wei's heart is actually hot, if the army of the Ming Dynasty is so strong, why worry about the border woes!

After a general understanding of the situation of his subordinates, it was estimated that it would take five or six days for Fu Zhouzi's messenger to travel to and from Songjiang in Nanjing, and he could use the efforts of these few days to conduct some intensive training for them.

In fact, for a soldier, they are all outstanding, and Tong Guan's training methods have obviously been tempered in the army for a long time, plus Chang Wei taught them how to wield a knife before, and they can't come up with a better method in a short time.

However, this time the suppression of the Japanese may have to travel thousands of miles, for the sake of operational secrecy, it may not even be possible to get in touch with the local garrison military office, the soldiers are responsible for the supply of food, grass and ammunition, once they are attacked by the Japanese when they are alone, if they have no ability to fight back, they are likely to be eaten by the Japanese invaders.

"My lord, you said you want to teach us martial arts? Last time, an adult taught us a trick. ”

Tong Guan looked Chang Wei up and down in a daze, his face was full of doubts, but his brain was finally not completely broken, and he forcibly omitted these doubts, and only said: "My lord, at the beginning, we were not soldiers, but those knives and guns are too difficult to practice, we can't learn how to learn, so we have to come to be a soldier, anyway, as long as the strength of the soldier is enough, the last time the adult taught us a simple knife technique, but we have all practiced." ”

"A soldier also has the dignity of a soldier. Chang Wei said solemnly, the soldiers are looked down upon like thieves in the rivers and lakes, but people must live with dignity.

"Dignity?" Tong Guan looked confused.

It seems that the level of dignity is a little out of reach for him, Chang Wei couldn't help but sigh secretly: "Tong Guan, everyone is flesh and blood, and no one else can be promoted to make a fortune, and our soldiers can only drink the northwest wind! Don't you want to marry a wife and give birth to two fat boys?"

Tong Guan's eyes lit up at this time: "Adult, do you listen to you, we can have wives and children?"

"I don't dare to guarantee the ticket, but it's better to have hope than no hope!" Chang Wei smiled faintly.