PS: Thanks to book friend 20181222204728205 for the reward.
Xu Cunzhong never thought about taking the blame for Zheng Shuqi, so he explained: "It was Zheng Shoubei's order to mobilize the garrison camp to Dongshan. My subordinates thought that Zheng Shoubei had your permission."
"Humph, no one has ever come to the Yamen to talk to me, so how can I know?" Guo Binchang snorted dissatisfied.
Xu Cunzhong lowered his head and said with a bitter look on his face: "The top priority is no longer the private mobilization of the garrison camp, but the possibility that the Tiger Banner army will attack Lingqiu County at any time."
As he spoke, he looked at Guo Binchang cautiously.
"Nonsense!" Guo Binchang's face sank and he scolded, "Tiger Flag is just a local business. When did it become a gangster?"
He shook his sleeves dissatisfiedly.
Xu Cunzhong, who was scolded, smiled bitterly and said: "When I came back, I saw thousands of soldiers and horses from the Tiger Flag heading towards Lingqiu County. I'm afraid they should arrive soon."
"How could this be?" Guo Binchang swayed and fell onto the seat behind him.
He, who has been the county magistrate here for several years, understands the situation of Lingqiu County very well. As long as the Tiger-Character Banner army attacks the county seat, the county seat cannot be defended for even a day.
Xu Cunzhong took advantage of the situation and said: "Sir, the most urgent task now is to send people to defend the city. Otherwise, once the soldiers and horses of the Tiger Flag arrive, there will be no one to guard the city, and the county seat will fall into the hands of the bandits."
The tiger-character flag has become a gangster in his mouth.
"We haven't always been in peace, so why did they suddenly attack Lingqiu County!" Guo Binchang looked at Xu Cunzhong for help, and then said, "Where is the garrison camp? Hurry up and let the garrison camp defend the city!"
Mentioning the garrison camp, Xu Cunzhong said with a sour heart: "We can no longer count on the garrison camp. I came here this time in the hope that the elder can send three squads of yamen officers to defend the city."
As he said that, he looked at Guo Binchang.
The third squad of yamen officers is another force of the government besides guarding the camp. There may not be many formal yamen officers, but it is better to have more white officers. It is not a big problem to gather a few hundred people.
"Why can't you count on the garrison camp? It can't be..." As soon as he asked the question, Guo Binchang immediately thought of a possibility and looked at Xu Cunzhong hopefully.
I want to get an answer from the other person that is different from what he thinks in his mind.
Xu Cunzhong nodded gently.
After seeing this, Guo Binchang's heart went cold. He immediately slapped the armrest of the seat angrily and said angrily: "I want to find the governor, no, I want to report to the court and accuse you of forcing the people to rebel."
"Master, now is no longer the time to talk about this. The top priority is to defend the county seat and wait for reinforcements. If it is late, the county seat will not be able to be defended." Xu Cunzhong said eagerly.
"Yes, yes, yes, hurry up and defend the city. We can't let the troops of Tiger Character Banner attack Lingqiu County." Guo Binchang said with trembling lips.
As the magistrate of Lingqiu County, once the place where Mu Shou falls into the hands of thieves, even if he escapes, he will be beheaded by the court.
If he didn't want to die, he had no choice but to defend Lingqiu County.
"Come here, go and find the master!" Guo Binchang shouted to the government servant outside the door.
Xu Cunzhong said: "Sir, don't look for Master Jia at this time. It's better to let the third class of Yamen servants go to the city wall with the officials."
"Yes, yes, yes, let the government officials defend the city first." Guo Binchang nodded repeatedly, and then said to the government officials who were waiting for him, "Go and find all the officials in the county government office and let them follow Xu Qianhu to the city wall. Defend the city.”
The yamen servant ran out in a hurry.
Guo Binchang turned to look at Xu Cunzhong in front of him and said: "Xu Qianhu, Lingqiu will all depend on you from now on. You must hold on to it and never let the county town fall into the hands of thieves."
"Don't worry, sir, I will definitely keep the thieves out of the city and protect the people in the city." Xu Cunzhong raised his fist towards Guo Binchang.
Except for the servants and jailers who were on errands outside, all the servants inside the yamen soon gathered inside the yamen.
Xu Cunzhong took these servants out of the county government office and walked directly towards one of the gates of the county seat.
"Why did it take so long to come back?" Zheng Shuqi, who was waiting on the city wall, said with dissatisfaction when he saw Xu Cunzhong.
Xu Cunzhong said: "The elder asked for a long time, and the lower official explained for a long time before he was willing to send all the servants from the yamen."
"Okay, hurry up and take people to prepare rolling wood and thunder stones, and burn some more gold juice." Zheng Shuqi explained.
Xu Cunzhong nodded and turned around to assign tasks.
But at this moment, Zheng Shuqi shouted: "Wait!"
Xu Cunzhong retracted his steps, turned around, and asked in confusion: "Zheng Shoubei, do you want anything else?"
"Why are so many people here? I remember that there were at least several hundred people in the third class of the county government." Zheng Shuqi frowned.
Xu Cunzhong turned around and looked at the hundred or so people he had brought with him, and immediately explained: "Some of the officers are out on errands and will not be able to come back for a while, and some of them did not come at all. There are only a few officers who are willing to come to defend the city. That’s it.”
"Forget it, you can take the people to prepare first!" Zheng Shuqi waved his hand, indicating that the other party should go about his own business.
A soldier guarding Zheng Shuqi said: "General, I'm afraid we won't be able to defend the city with such a small number of people. Otherwise, we should mobilize the people and let as many people as possible defend the city."
"That's all it can do." Zheng Shuqi nodded.
It is impossible to count on the hundreds of people in the county government to keep the thousands of soldiers and horses of the Tiger Flag out of the city. Without the soldiers and horses to guard the camp, the only people in the city can rely on.
On the top of the city, the only remaining officers, soldiers and government officials had been busy for most of an hour, preparing to place some rolling wood and thunder stones on the top of the city. At the same time, several large pots were set up on the city wall, and the soup inside exuded a pungent smell. odor.
"I'm coming!"
On the city wall, there were sharp-eyed people pointing in the direction outside the city and shouting loudly.
Zheng Shuqi walked quickly to the crenel, holding the parapet with one hand and looking into the distance.
Just outside the city, on the official road, there were many figures in the darkness.
"Let the archers prepare. As long as the rebels dare to approach the city wall, I will shoot them." Zheng Shuqi ordered.
There were more than a dozen archers standing on the top of the city, many of whom were servants of Zheng Shuqi and Xu Cunzhong.
As the tiger-shaped flag army outside the city slowly approached, Zheng Shuqi's nervous palms began to sweat.
On the city wall, except for the dozens of soldiers and servants he brought with him, the other officers and civilians could only serve as heads. It was difficult to expect these people to kill the enemy.
"It's so neat. I'm afraid the elite of the border army will be like this!" A white soldier on the top of the city subconsciously swallowed the saliva in his mouth.
The soldiers and horses he had seen guarding the camp before were walking crookedly on the road in small groups, just like a group of refugees on their way.
But in front of me, the soldiers and horses with tiger-shaped flags on the official road were walking in two rows side by side.
Walking all the way from far to near, there was no confusion at all. The team was very orderly. Except for the elite of the border army, he couldn't think of any other soldiers and horses that could compare with the soldiers and horses in front of him.
