As soon as Yi Haoran walked out of the door, he saw a row of people knelt down in the courtyard.
Although they are common people without fame and fame, they are actually "reputable" people among the common people: most of them are prosperous merchants in the city, and there are also some elderly people who are "old and virtuous".
The leader is Mr. Qiao, the head of the Rice and Grain Guild.
Mr. Qiao, who usually lives a pampered life and looks like a doughy rich man, is actually wearing a commoner at this moment, kneeling at the foot of the stone steps as if he were mourning for an heir. As soon as he saw him coming out, he immediately started to howl at the top of his lungs.
"Master Yi, you have to save all the people in this city..."
With his name, all the people kneeling behind started to howl, making Yi Haoran's courtyard feel like they were doing nothing.
Yi Haoran quickly bowed and clasped his fists and said: "I don't dare to do it! I don't dare to do it! All the fellow villagers are asking you to stand up and talk, so Yi can't afford it, I can't afford it!" He secretly wondered: It seems that most of the people who come are local merchants. , there are also several generals, although they are not considered "gentry", they are also well-established people in the city who have some say in the county government office. Why do they come to him and cry like this?
In the governor-general's shogunate, he was originally just a "loafer". He wanted status, and even the Qingke Xianggong who made Mr. Xiong laugh and laugh at him during the meal was not included. It was also because of organizing and training the new army that he became a "red man" of the shogunate, which seemed to mean the "military team" of the shogunate. However, just because he had the word "武", most of the people he came to make friends with were Qiu Ba and local officials from various walks of life. The local wealthy gentry rarely came to socialize with him.
Now that this group of "public opinion representatives" are coming to him, it goes without saying that they must be defending the city.
However, Master Qiao refused to get up and continued shouting on the ground: "Master Yi, you have to save all the people in Wuzhou City..."
"What's going on? Please get up, Mr. Qiao, and speak. As long as I, Yi, can help, I will do my best." Yi Haoran saw the rich man bursting into tears. It was obviously not all fake, and his heart tightened: Could it be that he was a guest? The army is plundering the city again? Although the city is chaotic, the general order is still maintained. Xiong Can's supervisors and servants are still patrolling the streets.
Seeing that the fire was almost done, Mr. Qiao got up and wiped his tears and said, "Mr. Yi! Ever since Inspector Xiong brought Guangdong officials and generals to this county, everyone in Wuzhou has done their best to serve. Rewarding people with wine and meat, Silver; the food and grass needed by the army were never handled properly. Although he was only a rice dealer, he still contributed 500 taels of silver and 500 shi rice. There were also 3,000 shi rice purchased and used as military food. , so far only one-third of the food payment has been given - I don’t dare to say ‘no’.”
As soon as he saw it, everyone following him sighed. Some soldiers came to the store to get things and never gave them money, and they did not dare to ask for them; some cried and complained that the government was levying this and that, and they had to send what they did not have even if they bought it, and they did not dare to be short of it; some even cried that some soldiers were forcing them to do so. Asking women to "do laundry" and sending their own maids away is not enough. They actually ask for the female relatives of the family, which is considered a "favour" only after spending money.
The "crying" one after another from this group made Yi Haoran extremely annoyed - he knew a lot about these bad things. Of course, the "village sages" came here just because they were "worthy" of the government officers and soldiers. Set the stage for the next requirements.
He quickly said loudly: "Master Xiong also knows these things. It's just that the military situation is urgent and he doesn't care about military discipline for a while. Brothers are working hard on expeditions and have a career of licking blood with the tip of a knife, so they can't help but be a little disturbed. I ask all the elders to be considerate. ." Then he whispered to Master Qiao: "What's the important matter?"
"Today, Mr. Chang from the Governor's Yamen is sending people around to deliver stickers. Governor Xiong is hosting a banquet for the city's merchants tonight. Let's discuss the city's plans together."
Yi Haoran nodded and said, "I heard this."
"If it is to defend the city, we will naturally go. But there is news that Mr. Chang has offered three poisonous tactics to Governor Xiong - these three poisonous tactics can certainly hurt the thieves, but they are not good for the people of the city. , but it is a desperate strategy to injure the enemy by five hundred and injure yourself by three thousand!"
Yi Haoran was shocked: the plan to burn the city has always been a secret, and not many people knew about it. Although most of the gentry in the city have fled out of the city, either far away to Nanning, Guilin and other places, or hiding in cottages, there are still many people in the city who are famous for their talents and talents. A fire would surely kill many people. If something really breaks out, it can be framed by the thieves and passed on to the wolf soldiers, but if someone really takes the opportunity to cause trouble, it won't be easy to deal with it.
He quickly said: "How can this happen..."
At this point he realized that he had let slip what these three poisonous schemes were, and Master Qiao hadn't come out yet!
Sure enough, he saw a flash of light in Mr. Qiao's eyes which were full of tears.
broken! This old fox found out!
Yi Haoran hurriedly said: "Mr. Chang is a kind man and will not do any cruel tricks. This is a rumor..."
When he said this, he felt his face burning up.
Mr. Qiao said: "According to this, Mr. Chang proposed to Xiong Zhitai: confiscate the grain stored by the people in the city, organize all the strong men in the city into brave teams, and expel the old, weak, women and children from the city - these three strategies were considered inappropriate by everyone! "
Upon hearing that there was no plan to burn the city, Yi Haoran couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that these three plans might be true.
As long as the city is not burned down, some vitality can be left for Wuzhou. Although it was cruel to expel women and children from the city, it at least gave them a way to survive. The thieves were known as "kind" and would not massacre the people, and they might even get relief.
However, since he was a "fellow citizen", he had to be comforted to some extent.
Before he could speak, Mr. Qiao said again: "The people in the city will be devastated if the grain reserves are taken away. Although it is possible to recruit young men to defend the city, most of them are people who have not fought in battle formations, and the formations are just filling gullies; If you drive the women, children, old and weak out of the city, how can the strong men in the city be willing to risk their lives to defend the city?"
"What Mr. Qiao said is absolutely true, but this is just a rumor after all." Yi Haoran thought to himself that you can't provide any evidence anyway. As long as you insist that it is a rumor, Mr. Qiao will have nothing to say.
"Master Yi, why are there still rumors?" Master Qiao said, "Now the soldiers are on the streets and are searching for food from house to house - they are searching for food, and they are all taking the opportunity to plunder!"
As if to confirm his words, a shrill scream suddenly came from far away, and then suddenly stopped. Everyone trembled in shock.
"Master Yi! Now that the bandits have not entered the city, Wuzhou will turn into a hell on earth."
Yi Haoran's eyes almost burst into flames. He didn't expect that things would develop to this point. He shouted loudly: "Jiang Suo!"
Jiang Suo responded.
"Hurry up and lead the brothers here to suppress them! Don't allow looting!" He shouted loudly, "The arrows ordered by the governor are in the study, you can take them!"
After giving the order, he turned to Master Qiao and said, "I don't know about this matter yet. As for the soldiers looting outside, I don't know if they were ordered by Feng. You guys, please be patient. I will go to the Governor's Yamen to meet Xiong. Governor! We must seek justice."
"Thank you, Mr. Yi." A group of people were about to kneel down again. Yi Haoran no longer wanted to deal with them. He waved his hands repeatedly and asked others to prepare their horses.
Seeing Yi Haoran leading a dozen servants and soldiers and galloping away, the "village sages" who came to "cry and complain" also hurriedly went home - no one knew what had happened to their home. Only Mr. Qiao and Luo Yangming who were among the crowd were not in a hurry.
"Brother, you are right." Mr. Qiao's face showed a mixture of fear and cruelty, "These officials are really not fun! They have red faces and black hearts!"
Luo Yangming was happy and worried at the same time. He was happy that Master Qiao completely believed his words, but he was worried that there was really not much time left for him. He made a worried expression and said: "As of now, I don't know..."
"He is unkind and I am unjust." Mr. Qiao said, "It's no big deal if an Australian becomes the emperor."
"It doesn't matter whether an Australian comes to be the emperor or not, the current situation..."
"Go back with me. We'll discuss it again!"
Yi Haoran rushed to the Governor's Yamen on horseback, and the order on the street was indeed a lot of chaos. There were many rebel soldiers along the street, some carrying them on their shoulders and some holding them in their waists. They had bags and bags of food, as well as various kinds of soft goods. Some soldiers pulled the woman's hair and dragged the beaten and bruised woman away.
On normal days, Yi Haoran would have to scold and stop him, but at this time, he didn't care much anymore. He rushed to the Yamen in one breath, jumped off his horse, threw down the reins, and rushed in.
He was a "red man" in the shogunate. None of the servants and soldiers stopped him. Yi Haoran broke into the signing room at the back in one breath. But he didn't see the governor. He only saw Chang Qingyun drinking tea in the flower hall outside, looking at ease.
Yi Haoran ignored the politeness and asked:
"Where is Master Xiong? I want to see you immediately."
"Master Xiong is not in good health and is taking a rest." Chang Qingyun said, "Whatever happens to my brother, it's the same as mine."
Chang Qingyun had always been at odds with Yi Haoran, but Chang Qingyun's status in the shogunate was much higher than that of Yi Haoran. If you want to see Xiong Can, you really have to pass him.
Yi Haoran had no choice but to suppress his urgency and asked: "I'm going to invite the city's big family to a banquet tonight to discuss the plan to defend the city. Is that okay?"
"It's true."
"Three strategies for defending the city will be announced at the banquet, and the general manager of the big households will be asked to follow them..."
"This is also the case."
"In this way, it is really possible to collect the entire city's grain reserves, drive all the strong men into soldiers, and drive out the women, children, old and weak people from the city!"
Chang Qingyun was startled, then nodded again: "This is true."
"In this case, the plan offered by Master Chang of Enping County is no longer needed?"
Chang Qingyun put down the tea cup and said: "Master Yi, these three strategies are all to defend the city. Aren't they in line with your wishes?"
Yi Haoran was startled, this is indeed true. Only those who defend the city will use these three strategies. Otherwise, if it is burned down, why bother with all this effort?
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Next update: Volume 7 - Guangzhou Governance Chapter 320
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