"But if you do this, Taiwan Controller will lose the support of the people!"
"If the people's support is not popular, what use is it now?!" Chang Qingyun stood up fiercely and said loudly, "In Wuzhou City, there is an undercurrent surging. Everyone probably has blue cloth, red paper, and wax sticks for incense burners prepared. We are ready to welcome the soldiers into the city, and we are waiting to become obedient citizens of the Song Dynasty!"
Yi Haoran said: "You are right. However, the sage said: If the king treats his ministers like dirt, then the ministers will regard the king as a bandit. Since the officers and soldiers entered the city, military discipline has deteriorated. It is getting worse day by day. The common people of Li will not suffer from it every day! They are here to defend the city and protect the people, why not bring disaster to the people! Aren’t you the ones to blame for today’s situation?!”
Chang Qingyun had a stern face but did not interrupt him. It wasn't until he finished that he said, "In that case, what clever plan does Master Yi have?"
Yi Haoran was immediately speechless at this question. All available methods have been used, and Wuzhou City has truly reached the end of its rope.
If there was any way to save the city and the people, the only option was to surrender to Kaicheng.
Yi Haoran was at a loss. He could not say the word "surrender".
Chang Qingyun did not answer, but stood up and walked around the room: "Changzhou and Bangshan were lost, transportation inside and outside Wuzhou was cut off, grain and fodder from Guilin and Nanning could not be transported in, and all the soldiers in the city were without food in an instant! If we don't confiscate the stored grain, are we waiting for them to mutiny? Even if we seize the stored grain of the people and don't organize the strong men in the city into brave teams to monitor them at all times, aren't we afraid that there will be spies among them and open the door to welcome the enemy into the city like Guangzhou? ? Leave those women, children, old and weak in the city, and wait for them to starve to death in this dangerous city, or wait for them to be burned to death when the city is breached? "
"But there is not necessarily food outside the city. How much food can the thieves have to help the people if they go on an expedition?"
"Isn't it said that Australians have always been kind and righteous?" Chang Qingyun sneered, "Even if the people drink porridge, the Kun thieves will consume a lot of food. [ ] Even if they can capture Wuzhou, they still won't have enough to eat. No matter how powerful the Kun thieves are, If you win, you can stay in Wuzhou, which will make Guangxi safe!"
Yi Haoran took a breath of air and his mind went blank. After a while, he came back to his senses and said loudly: "Are we still going to burn the city?!"
"The only plan for now is to burn the jade and the stone together!" Chang Qingyun said, "If we can't hold on, the thieves can't even think about it!"
"I want to see Xiong Zitai!"
Chang Qingyun said: "Xiong Zhitai is no longer in the city."
"What?!"
"Mr. Yi, please be patient." Chang Qingyun's attitude was very calm. "Director Xiong is the manager of the two provinces. What's the use of being trapped in Wuzhou? Naturally, he has to go out and take charge of the overall situation."
Yi Haoran was a little bit disappointed. He had been in charge of the training of the new army in recent months, and he seemed to be a popular figure among Xiong Wencan. Unexpectedly, his boss left him and ran away without saying a word! This is too heartless. What shocked him even more was that since he was not taken with him when he left the city, it was obvious that he was not important in Xiong Wencan's eyes.
Fortunately, Chang Qingyun was also in the city, which made him feel somewhat calmer.
"Master Yi, don't you want to stick to Wuzhou? Now Chang will share hardships, life and death with you. Hahaha, hahaha." Chang Qingyun let out a series of weird laughter and said, "Come, let's go with Chang first With tea…”
On the other side, Luo Yangming was already in a state of confusion. The other big households who were notified of the banquet were even more anxious. If they couldn't save food, their family would suffer, and he would be trapped and die here. At this time, screams were heard from a distance from time to time. Luo Yangming knew that it was the Ming army robbing each household of food. It was obvious that the food stored in the homes of those Xingdou people was better than nothing. The officers and soldiers were targeting big households like them. . 【】The situation is not completely out of control yet, but the reins of the rebels are getting looser and looser, and a disaster for the people is just around the corner!
He and Mr. Qiao had a secret discussion with the heads of various guilds in the Qiao family's house. After discussion, everyone reached a consensus: first, they must not go to the banquet. Not only could they not go, but they should also inform the surrounding big houses as much as possible not to go. Go - if you go there, you will most likely be burned to death in a fire; secondly, the several strong men in the general armor must be under control, and they must not be taken over by the officers and soldiers; thirdly, the water will be everywhere in the city. All equipment must be prepared, and if a fire breaks out, it will be immediately dispatched to extinguish the fire, and a team of strong men will accompany the fire for protection; fourth, be prepared to use force with officers and soldiers.
Despite the fact that the big businessmen are fighting openly and secretly for business on weekdays, they are all willing to contribute at this juncture: after all, Wuzhou City is about their own wealth and life. Therefore, he easily raised 20,000 taels of silver and gave them as gifts to the soldiers, strong squads and strong squads of the city's guard station, ensuring that they would be able to work hard when the time came - or at least not participate in the robbery. At the same time, he made a wish to the officers and lieutenants who led the team. As long as Wuzhou is safe and handed over to the Australians, the big bosses will give thanks afterwards.
At this time, someone came to report that the officers and soldiers were driving the strong men at the east and west city gates to dig open the city gates. It seemed that they were preparing to drive the people out of the city at night.
"In fact, once the city gate is dug, the soldiers can take advantage of the situation to enter the city. But it is too late, and the soldiers may not take the opportunity to attack the city for fear of falling into the trap."
"It would be great if someone could risk their lives to go out of the city to contact the soldiers!" Someone suggested.
This suggestion was very appropriate, but all the big players looked at each other and no one dared to respond. It is not difficult to make contacts out of the city. As long as they are willing to pay, there will definitely be someone willing to risk their lives to go out and make contacts. However, if you want to win the trust of Australians, you must have some evidence in hand, and letters are indispensable. If it falls into the hands of officers and soldiers, it will be a disaster in an instant!
"I will handle this matter!" Until now, Luo Yangming was the only one to step forward. "I have dealt with Dachang, the Australian rice merchant, and I heard that Dachang is the one who handles the Australian military supplies this time - I am with them. It’s old business.”
Someone stepped forward, and all the wealthy households heaved a sigh of relief and patted their chests one after another, saying, "Don't worry about your wife and I supporting ourselves." At this time, Luo Yangming no longer cared about whether these people were sincere or fake. He hurriedly resigned from Qiao Dahu's house, walked with his servants, walked through the alleys, and went to lonely places, all the way back.
There was panic and uneasiness everywhere in the city. Many houses and shops had been smashed open on the streets. Dead bodies could be seen lying on the streets from time to time. Screams and cries were heard everywhere.
Luo Yangming couldn't care less. He hurried back to his shop. His old shopkeepers Li Wensheng and Wen Tietou had been waiting for a long time. The two of them couldn't help but be overjoyed when they saw him coming back. Li Wensheng is already sixty and is his old family member. Tears filled his eyes immediately, and he immediately said: "My boss, the officers and soldiers robbed all the rice in our shop! I didn't even save a grain of rice!"
Wen Tietou was also a little embarrassed and muttered: "There are many officers and soldiers, and there are swords and guns. I am weak alone..."
The rice store run by Luo Yangming was technically the property of the Senate. Even so, as a rice merchant on the street, Luo Yangming was still heartbroken to lose so much rice all at once. But now is not the time to care, he comforted:
"If they want rice, just let them take it. These soldiers and bandits can't eat much rice! As long as everyone is safe, everything will be fine." He asked Wen Tietou to go to the back house to take care of his family, and asked Li Wensheng to go to the study. .
Li Wensheng was originally a clerk at Luo Yangming's rice shop when he was in Sanshui. Later, the rice shop was taken away and Li Wensheng became homeless. When Luo Yangming went to Wuzhou to work as an intelligence agent, he met Li Wensheng, who was unemployed and impoverished at home in Sanshui, and recruited him to help him open the rice store in Wuzhou. Although he had never revealed any information about his intelligence work to Li Wensheng, and even refused to talk about his experience in Lingao, Luo Yangming still trusted this old man who had watched him grow up and was now the old shopkeeper.
He is very old and looks like an old man. He has no problem sneaking in when expelling the old, weak, sick and disabled. Moreover, his body is actually quite strong and he can still climb mountains and ridges.
Luo Yangming wrote a letter in secret language and told Li Wensheng that when he left the city, he must give this letter to the Australian officials.
"If they refuse to let you see the Australian chief minister, then you have information to give to the Australian chief minister. If that doesn't work, then you are sent by a lone wolf. I just say one thing, and you must remember it." Luo Yangming warned. .
"My boss, I will definitely fulfill my mission, but we will say goodbye tomorrow, and I don't know when we can see each other again." The loyal old shopkeeper said with tears.
"See you soon."
In the evening, when the Governor's Yamen held a banquet for the merchants in the city, not many of the big businessmen and chief executives came. Only the big family Qiao came. Although there was only one distinguished guest, he brought a large group of common people behind him, numbering hundreds of people. Standing in front of the government office to petition, I didn't know which rumor was spreading, that Master Xiong was going to burn the city, and bring all the men, women, children and jade in the city to death. The old, weak, sick and disabled all knelt down in the street and cried loudly, asking Master Xiong to "take the common people into consideration and open up the city without blood".
The news spread very fast, and within half an hour the whole city was in uproar. The whole city of Wuzhou was in a state of uproar, and the streets were full of people wandering around like headless flies.
The noise and commotion in the city attracted the attention of the Fubo Army reconnaissance team outside the city, but they could not determine what exactly happened in the city. From the confessions of the surrendered officers and soldiers who surrendered from the city, they probably knew that the situation in the city was unstable and disorderly, but what kind of chaos was it inside? What on earth were these high-ranking officials from Xiong Wencan on down planning to do? , but he knew very little about it.
However, from the confession of the soldiers, Zhu Mingxia already roughly knew that the officers and soldiers were likely to set fire to the city when it was broken. This worried him very much. Once the officers and soldiers burn the city, not only Wuzhou is likely to be destroyed, but the food in Wuzhou that was originally planned to be used locally will also be reduced to ashes. Therefore, after capturing Bangshan, he immediately began to mobilize his troops and subordinates to prepare for the attack and prepare to capture Wuzhou as quickly as possible.
