Xie Erren's first impression of Wuzhou was very bad - speaking of it, his impression of any large or medium-sized city under the Ming Dynasty was below the passing line, and overall it was "dirty, messy and bad". On the contrary, some affluent villages and small towns can give him a fresh sense of literary and artistic style.
Because Wuzhou was hit by war, the situation in the city was even worse: rubble and ashes could be seen everywhere, and refugees who had just returned to the city were staggering around picking up their things on the ruins. The wild dogs that were frightened by the gunfire and hid were attracted by the bloody smell of the corpses on the street. They came out to look for food. They were shouted and driven away by the strong men watching the streets, and they ran around everywhere.
Xie Erren was wearing a windbreaker and strutting down the street surrounded by guards - at first he was strutting like Zhukov's recapture of Yelnya in "The Battle of Moscow", but looking at this tragic scene and The gloomy-looking citizens on the street suddenly felt bad - it would be hard to be a leader here...
Wuzhou's city government is temporarily located at the Wuzhou government office. As soon as Xie Erren arrived at the door of the government office, he saw several soldiers and strong men carrying out a body wrapped in reed mats noisily.
He stopped a naturalized cadre who was commanding nearby and asked, "Whose bodies are these?"
"It's the magistrate of Wuzhou in the Ming Dynasty, named Hu Duhua. There are also a few petty officials and officials." The naturalized cadres didn't know where he came from, but looking at his appearance and the guards around him, they knew he must be here. As a "chief", he quickly reported that "all committed suicide in the yamen."
Xie Erren secretly thought it was "bad luck" - there was nothing wrong with these people dying, it would have been to commit suicide in the yamen.
Naturally, as a believer in materialism, or in a situation where materialist believers accounted for the majority in the Senate, Xie Yiren could never show such emotions. When he heard that a prefect had died, he calmly waved He waved his hand and said, "If you die, just die. Where are your family members?"
"The servant said he had sent his family away long ago."
Xie Erren was slightly regretful - he thought of Dong Mingxuan in Guangzhou.
If I were Liu Xiang, I would definitely "care" for this Miss Dong.
In the midst of random thoughts, Xie Erren entered the government office. The house search team from the Planning Institute was "searching" and there was noisy everywhere. He had no intention of watching these digs and searches.
Arriving at the Second Hall, this is the place where civil cases are heard. It is now a municipal government conference room. It is better to say it is a temporary office than a conference room. It is noisy with naturalized civilian cadres and soldiers coming in and out. Zhu Quanxing, dressed in military uniform, was talking to a group of correspondents. After he said a few words, one correspondent immediately stood up and saluted and left, followed by the next one, very crisply. This made Xie Erren, who had been holding back for a long time by the Xijiang River and couldn't think of a word, feel envious and jealous.
Seeing Zhu Quanxing busy at work, Xie Erren didn't want to disturb him, so he wandered around the second hall. But I saw a few lines of ink writing on the west wall, which were scrawled. I became interested. I walked over and took a look, but it was a "Death Letter":
The sage once said: "I have heard of those who used Xia to transform the barbarians, but I have never heard of those who transformed the barbarians." How could someone who was an official of the Ming Dynasty surrender to the beasts and lose his integrity and steal his life? I belong to the Hu family, and my ancestors have no sinful men, and my relatives have no remarried daughters. Having received the teachings of Confucius and Mencius, and the grace of the country, he died in state affairs, which was exactly what he wanted. The virtue of being a minister lies in integrity. A disloyal minister is no different from a bird! Three years later, Hezhen was defeated by Chengmai. My heart was broken and I cried for many years. However, the immortal who endures forbears thinks that the shame of one person is small and the hatred of the country is great. Now the Kun thieves have invaded Guangzhou, Lingnan has collapsed, benevolence and righteousness are overwhelming, and they are leading the beasts to eat people. If I save myself, I will inevitably fall into the trap of thieves, so how can I be a disloyal minister? The matter has come to this, and there is no further humiliation. I only hope that the Ming Dynasty will use heaven's punishment to wipe out the ugly people. Although a person dies on a day, he is still alive.
"Who wrote this?" Xie Erren asked.
A surrender clerk nearby said quickly: "This is the prefect, Mr. Hu - no, the pseudo-prefect Hu Duhua said before committing suicide, he has already sent people to get lime water..."
Xie Erren subconsciously looked at the roof beam, but there was no rope on it. The scribe said: "Master Hu Hu Ni heard that the Heavenly Soldiers had entered the city. He bathed and changed clothes in the back hall. Then he went to this wall and closed the door to bow to the north. He committed suicide by taking poison in front of the public case."
"Oh." Xie Erren nodded, "You are quite brave."
Look at the two desperate poems next to them, but their handwriting is different from Mr. Hu’s. Although Xie Erren graduated from the Chinese Department, he didn't know much about poetry. Although he roughly understood the meaning, he couldn't tell whether it was good or bad. He only knew that it was definitely better than limericks, but not as good as Tang poetry.
"This is Hu Ni's book, written by Master Xing..."
"Where are the people?"
"Mr. Xing Chenghuan... No, Xing Shu also committed suicide in the second hall."
"He is a minister, not an official of the imperial court. He has the responsibility to protect the land. Whatever he does, he must be buried in the Ming Dynasty. Xiong Wencan lost Guangzhou and Zhaoqing and ran all the way here and slipped out of the city. It is really unreasonable!" Xie Erren heard this. The master also committed suicide, which was a bit baffling. The Senate and Fubo Army would not pay attention to such a small prefect master.
"Yes, yes, I just couldn't think about it at the moment." The clerk sighed, "He is from Guangdong. I heard that my family just got engaged to him. It's really a pity."
"very young?"
"In his early thirties, I heard that he only entered school the year before last year. He came out to play because of his poor family - he has some family connections with Mr. Hu. The two of them really get along well with each other."
Xie Erren said a few words such as "It's a pity". He said these words deliberately, with the intention of using Xing Chenghuan's "horse bones" to attract "thousand-mile horses".
His pretentiousness reassured the surrendered officials.
After Zhu Quanxing finished arranging work, he realized that Yiren had arrived and quickly called him to a side room next to him to "discuss important matters."
"I will leave Wuzhou City soon, and the next thing will be up to you." Zhu Quanxing said.
"What?!" Xie Yiren was surprised. The city of Wuzhou had just been taken, and order had not been restored in all aspects. As the garrison commander of Wuzhou, Zhu Quanxing was the backbone of his military here. As soon as he left, he was left alone. How can people without military capabilities encircle Wuzhou's security?
"This, Wuzhou has just been captured, and not all surrounding counties have been captured..."
It was seen that Xie Erren admired Mr. Lin very much and recalled Mr. Lin's orders vividly. However, he actually knew very little about military affairs, let alone commanding a war. As soon as he heard that Zhu Quanxing was leaving, he immediately became anxious.
"You are right." Zhu Quanxing said, "I am going to lead the team to capture the counties in Wuzhou, so that Wuzhou's defense line can be arranged as soon as possible."
"Isn't this Brigadier Zhu's job?"
"Zhu Mingxia can't care about this now..." Zhu Quanxing lowered his voice and said, "The brigade headquarters just received a telegram that the situation in Bapaiyao is not good and the situation is very urgent. Brigadier Zhu has to rush back to Zhaoqing to take charge. "
Although Xie Erren, as the elder who took over Wuzhou, had read the background information of the Badai Yao riot in 1635 in advance, he did not take it seriously. He felt that this was just a piece of historical data, and he didn't take it seriously at all - in his heart, the Fubo Army was a powerful force that could win every battle, and it was also a sea-fixing needle that could not be invaded by evil spirits. As long as the army was there, no problems would matter. . I didn’t expect that I would encounter this situation as soon as I took office!
Xie Erren still understands the consequences of the Badai Yao riot. Now that the troops' offensive momentum is just right, Zhu Mingxia has to rush back, which fully illustrates the criticality of this matter.
"You won't leave..."
"I am the garrison commander in the Wuzhou area, so of course I won't leave." Zhu Quanxing hurriedly cheered him up, "But I can't stay in Wuzhou city and not go out. The strategy plan around Wuzhou will be carried out as usual - only in this way can the security of Wuzhou be fully guaranteed. .”
"That's good." Xie Erren breathed a sigh of relief.
"Don't worry." Zhu Quanxing secretly laughed at Director Jie, "I'll leave you a company. The Wuzhou Squadron of the National Army will arrive soon - expand to the size of a brigade as soon as possible. The local militia must also be organized as soon as possible. Only in this way can Wuzhou’s safety be ensured.”
"As long as the National Army is here, nothing will happen to Wuzhou! You can go there without worry." Xie Erren probably felt that he was too nervous just now, so he quickly adopted a "calm" attitude.
I feel certain that I am indeed a bit unfounded. With one company of regular troops and one squadron of National Army, it is no problem to defend Wuzhou City to a minimum extent.
"Who is the commander of the army..."
Zhu Quanxing said: "The company commander of this company is an old naturalized civilian officer. He is very experienced in leading troops and fighting, and he is also very reliable politically - you can completely trust him."
After the explanation was completed, Zhu Quanxing called over the commander of the 7th company of the battle infantry who stayed in Wuzhou.
"This is Captain Qian Duo, commander of the 7th company." Zhu Quanxing introduced, "He is an officer from the old security regiment."
The original Bairen Security Regiment was the first armed force of the Senate, and this background was a well-known qualification in the Fubo Army. The first line of the military song of the First Infantry Battalion, which inherited the mantle of the Bairen Security Regiment, is "The army is gloriously founded, in front of Bairen Beach." As long as the soldiers who joined the security regiment did not die in battle or were discharged from the army, they have now grown into officers. Regardless of whether the military level is good or bad, at least there is no problem with qualifications and loyalty.
Qian Duo clicked and stood at attention to salute. Xie Erren nodded, feeling a little uneasy: This money is short, dark, and unattractive. Can it take on the heavy responsibility of Wuzhou garrison?
Seemingly sensing Xie Erren's uneasiness, Zhu Quanxing added: "Captain Qian is not only senior, but also has rich service experience. He has participated in many major military operations. His military and political qualities are first-rate."
Qian Duo stood at attention again: "Thank you for the compliment, chief! I promise to complete all the tasks assigned by the Senate!"
Xie Erren nodded: "The next Wuzhou city defense work depends entirely on you."
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Next update: Volume 7 - Guangzhou Governance Chapter 332
