Pingyang Fu of the Red Chamber

Chapter 524 Night banquet in the city

Lin Yue Mansion,

Fucheng County Government Office.

The host was the prefect Li Cheng who hosted the banquet, accompanied by fellow magistrate Lu Ren, general magistrate Yang Luo and others. They hosted a banquet in the main hall of the yamen for the city's wealthy squires, powerful landlords and, of course, today's protagonists. Qin Yunjiang, the general who defended the city.

It's not dark yet,

Carriages were parked at various mansions in the inner city. Then each family head got on the carriage with his servants to escort him, and gathered at the magistrate's office. In the north of the city, there were many carriages parked in front of the house, and many family heads were there. This wait,

This residence belongs to Zhao Yucheng, the president of Linyuefu City Chamber of Commerce, and a distant relative of Mr. Yu, the governor of the south of Beijing. It is not an exaggeration to say that he can dominate the sky in Linyuefu. Today, he is the only one who can make the decision on the banquet hosted by the prefect.

"President, it's really strange that the prefect hosted a banquet today. Could it be that he has thought of a way to deal with the bandit army?"

The person speaking in front of him has a sharp mouth and monkey cheeks, and looks like a villain, but his face is full of flattery. He is the vice president Cui Xuanli who has always been fawning over Zhao Yucheng.

"Haha, you can really think about it. If you can suppress those rebellious people, why would you write to the county and city asking for help and pull back soldiers from several other cities? I think even the city is in danger. If it weren't for Qin Yunjiang's two weapons Brush, we are about to escape."

Zhao Yucheng had a look of disdain on his face. The people in the government office only care about collecting money. They don't think about other things. Suppressing civil unrest is just a dream.

Cui Xuanli nodded in agreement.

"The president is right. The prefect Li Cheng is just a idiot. He can't take charge of anything. He still claims to the outside world every day that he governs very well. If you, the president, weren't in charge of the city, how would he have any business? "

"Look at you, how are you talking? I am in charge of the city. I am an old man with a white body. He can only help the prefect to govern. Don't dare to say such nonsense."

Zhao Yucheng seemed angry, but his face was rosy and arrogant. Cui Xuanli stretched out his hand and slapped his mouth several times.

"Bah, oh, President, look at my mouth, I just want to be beaten. He will say whatever I don't like. But, President, what does it mean that the prefect's Yamen hosted a banquet for us today? Is it true? Gather us to catch up on old times.”

"Haha, you, knowingly asking, what can you do to us? There are more than 20,000 soldiers in the city, plus 10,000 young men recruited. With the rations and wages of 30,000 people, relying on the little inventory in the city's warehouse, we have already Bottomed out.”

When Zhao Yucheng said this, a glint flashed in his eyes. It must be Qin Yujiang who forced the magistrate. Without food and money, what's the use of having more people? This is an opportunity and a danger!

The prefect’s Yamen,

Lanterns were hung in the hall, dancers and singers were dancing gracefully, and the sound of the huqin was melodious. Even the air was filled with the smell of rouge. It looked like the city was under siege. Even the servants and maids who served people had changed their clothes. Putting on new clothes, it feels like celebrating the New Year.

Qin Yunjiang had just returned from inspecting the attic of the city gate when he received a message from Lieutenant General Lan Xiao, saying that Magistrate Li was hosting a banquet for him at the Yamen and they had important matters to discuss.

Qin Yunjiang, who had just come back and had not yet had a drink of water, couldn't help but cursed,

"Brewed it, when did it happen? You are still thinking about this. The city is trapped by the rebel army. The prefect and others don't want to raise food, grass and money, but they are still singing and dancing there. Isn't he afraid that the city will be destroyed?"

Qin Yunjiang had a look of indifference on his face, and his heart felt completely cold. Although there were more than 30,000 defenders plus those he had forcibly recruited, except for the 5,000 men from his old battalion who had fighting strength, the rest were just like new recruits. It can be used to defend the city, but as long as it goes out to fight, it will inevitably collapse. Those soldiers and horses of the Taiping Religion who don't know where they came from are so brave that it is really unimaginable.

Lan Xiao, who was delivering the message next to him, hurriedly tried to persuade him.

"General, keep your voice down and don't spread the word. Our salary, food and grass are all in their hands,"

"Haha, yes, it's all in their hands, and we will always be controlled by others, so we are the ones who are willing to die,"

Qin Yunjiang laughed angrily and said angrily. Suddenly, as if he had figured it out, he ordered,

"Lan Xiao, how many years have you followed this general?"

The lieutenant beside him murmured, with a look of reminiscence on his face,

"General, I have been following you for ten years,"

"Well, ten years. I never thought it had been so long. These few days will determine our life or death. Let's send someone down first to tell the people in the supply camp that we are going to give each person five days of dry food and clean water. , do it all night, and then ask the brothers from the old camp to gather and go into the city to look for me."

"Here, general, what are you doing? Send troops into the city. Those gentry are going to impeach the general."

Although Lan Xiao didn't know what the general was going to do, he also knew that if the troops were mobilized into the inner city, the civil servants and gentry would inevitably cause trouble, and it would be even more troublesome. This inner city was where dignitaries, wealthy merchants and gentry lived, and the common people were not allowed to live there for no reason. Once inside, I don’t know where Qin Yunjiang is.

But if I don't think of a way, I'm afraid I won't have a chance to leave.

"Humph, impeachment, you just do this. Can't you see who the Taiping believers are who are attacking the city today? They are all refugees. We haven't seen any of the real rebels. You Do you know why?"

Today, although the Taiping Rebellion seems to be attacking fiercely, most of them are unarmed and even attack the city with weapons such as bamboo. Even a blind person can tell that something is wrong, but the camp standing on the opposite hillside is always there. And it seems to be quite elite, the most important thing is the large number of people.

And inside the city,

There are more than 20,000 soldiers gathered from all over the country, including more than 10,000 young and strong men. Except for the 5,000 men and horses in the government army who can be used for one purpose, the rest are just hustlers. If they break out of the city, they are afraid of not being able to catch up. .

"Back to the general, what you said is true. No wonder all the people under my command today asked Qingzhuang to go up to defend the city. It turns out that is the case. But general, the people from the Imperial City Department received a secret message from the county, saying that it was Gu. The general has already led 30,000 elite soldiers southward, if we wait for General Gu to come, wouldn't we..."

Lan Xiao's face was filled with excitement. As long as General Gu arrived here, Lin Yue's Mansion would definitely break the siege, and then the rebels would disperse and flee.

Looking at Lan Xiao's expression, Qin Yunjiang saw what he was thinking and interrupted,

"If General Gu comes, you and I will lead our troops out of the city and fight out to break out with General Gu. As for the rest, we can't take care of it. So tonight, you and I must lead our troops into the inner city and get back the wages and food. At the very least, the dry food for these five days is in the government office's treasury. We'll wait until we get it. Otherwise, who will work for us? As for those officials, aren't they very talkative? Let them preach to the Taiping Sect people."

The deputy general, who was still excited at first, suddenly changed his face. He looked at the general with some surprise and asked,

"General, if you want to escape, will the court and General Gu blame you?"

"I'm still thinking about that. The court will talk about it later. As for General Gu, I have worked with him for many years and know his temperament. If it were as easy as you said, he would have appeared outside the city today, but you haven't seen him yet. When we arrive, there aren’t even any scouts, which means that General Gu is also in trouble and has to wait for any movement over there. With his cover at this time, we really won’t be able to leave if we don’t leave.”

"This, yes, General, I will give the order to summon the brothers from the old camp."

Lan Xiao knew that the matter was of great importance, so he did not dare to neglect and was about to leave. However, as soon as he arrived at the door, he was stopped by Qin Yunjiang.

"Lan Xiao, please slow down and assemble. Let's go last and wait until they are all here."

After speaking, Qin Yunjiang's expression was meaningful. Even Lan Xiao nodded, turned around and left without saying a word.

Only the bonfires lighting up the surroundings were shining with fire, emitting a cold light.

In the inner city, the magistrate’s office,

The prefect, Li Cheng, had already gone out to greet him in person. Officials of all sizes in the city, rich merchants and gentry, no matter who they were, they all came here, whether they had invitations or not, and almost everyone arrived.

Magistrate Li turned around and went to the inner hall, took the main seat, and then looked around. The people in the hall, all of whom were dignitaries from the south of Beijing, looked over here and said with a smile,

"Everyone, today is the day when we gather together. Although there are some rioters outside, I have already anticipated it and have taken the lead to withdraw the soldiers and gentry from various places back to the city. Now there are more than 20,000 soldiers in the city, young and strong. There are more than ten thousand civilians, and there are ten thousand civilians. It is not a problem to defend the city. No matter how many thieves and soldiers there are, it is useless, so don't worry!"

"Yes, Mr. Li has a clever plan."

"Master Li is still planning the strategy. Today, the mob attacked the city, but the defenders did not have any trouble. All those who died under the city were those untouchables. It was really overestimating one's own capabilities."     "As expected of the magistrate, he anticipated the enemy's opportunity and made arrangements in advance. Those thieves wanted to come. The army’s destruction is just around the corner.”

The words of praise and flattery made Li Cheng's face glow red, and he felt a little drunk even before he drank. Looking at the hall full of cheers, he stretched out his hand and pressed it to signal for silence. After a while, the hall fell silent. Magistrate Li I am very satisfied with it.

"Everyone, Li is ashamed. I came here today just to discuss with you how to defend the city. In addition, the money and food in the treasury are almost gone. I still need you to donate generously to deal with it for some time. The other is General Qin. Look. Let’s see if he has any good ideas. Of course, the soldiers under his command are also the guarantee of our safety.”

What he said was reasonable, but at this moment, the people below seemed to have suddenly become cold. The gentry and wealthy merchants were all silent. Seeing that the faces of Li Cheng, the governor, and Lu Ren, the fellow governor, also changed, although they still had food, grass, salary and money. It took a while to give it to someone, but it was finally given. But looking at the appearance of those gentry, they didn't want to give it even though they were giving it. It was simply disgusting.

General Judge Yang Luo noticed that something was wrong in the atmosphere, picked up the wine cup and said with a smile,

"Everyone, this matter still needs your discussion. General Qin has not come yet to arrange the defense of the city, so I will take this opportunity to discuss a charter. When General Qin comes, naturally I will give him some confidence. As the saying goes Well, when you are a soldier, you have to eat food. There are no soldiers who fight on an empty stomach, right?"

Under the guidance of General Magistrate Yang Luo, everyone in the hall also raised their glasses and drank it all in one gulp. Then they sat there whispering to each other and discussing what to do. However, there was a lot of discussion and no one spoke first. Magistrate Li Cheng Looking at the gentry in front of me, I suddenly felt a chill in my heart. It was because of the civil unrest they caused. At this point, they were indifferent. How did they do it?

And Zhao Yucheng, the president of the Chamber of Commerce next to him, is like an old fox, saying nothing or expressing his position. Then Cui Xuanli is Zhao Yucheng's dog. If the president doesn't speak, he can't make a sound, and General Qin It's almost here. Do they have other ideas about this matter? They glanced at their colleague Lu Ren next to them, and saw that Mr. Lu was also full of shock. He knew that Mr. Lu had not thought of this situation either.

"Ahem, everyone, I would also like to say something. The rebels have a lot of troops. Without General Qin and the army, we can't escape even if we run. After the city is defended, the food, grass, and silver treasury are already empty. How many of you are there? Say something."

And in the inner city outside the government office,

Qin Yunjiang led Lan Xiao and five thousand elite troops into the inner city gate, but as soon as he walked in, he was stopped by the inner city soldiers.

"Stop, who are you? You dare to lead troops into the inner city,"

A tall, muscular middle-aged man led a group of guards to block the road.

Lan Xiao's expression changed, and he kicked a big man to the ground. That really scared the people present.

"General Qin dares to stop you guys who don't have a long-sighted mind. I think you are impatient with life."

The remaining soldiers did not dare to speak and then retreated. Even the strong man pretended to faint. Qin Yunjiang ignored him.

"Let's go, Lan Xiao, let the brothers take over the inner city first. Then, let's go to the banquet together and see how the prefect Li raises military pay for me and how he drinks this wine."

"Yes, general, hurry up, go up to the city wall and guard the door."

After saying that, a large number of government soldiers behind him swarmed into the inner city and occupied important areas one by one. More of them followed Qin Yunjiang. At this time, Qin Yunjiang looked at the brightly lit government office in the distance with an unkind expression. , asked,

"Lan Xiao, what do you think we should do if they don't pay the brothers?"

"This, General, we still need to have a good talk. If it really doesn't work, we can find an excuse to recover it. Most of the government army's farmland is in the hands of those gentry. We can only recover the debts owed for many years. As for the others, General, we are currently acting unclearly, so we can't be too cautious. However, there are still some informants in the imperial court, but if it is not possible, call Feng Yun, a hundred households in the Imperial City, to discuss it."

The deputy general behind him also felt the general's unhappiness. This matter really cannot be taken too hastily and the civil servants are forced to do so without permission. The court will definitely investigate the matter.

"Well, what you said makes sense. This time, let's make up for the salary owed by the brothers first. As for the rest, let's see how they discuss it. We will make a statement tonight. General Gu should have arrived at Fallen Leaf Valley. Is there any The situation is within three days, so we have to be quick.”

"Yes, General."

The two of them were at the inner city gate,

After discussing the countermeasures, he took his soldiers and went to the government office.

At this time, in the hall,

Everyone kept silent and looked at their noses and hearts. The prefect Li Cheng and fellow magistrate Lu Ren looked ugly. Li Cheng became angry, slammed the wine cup on the table, and said with a sneer,

"Why, you all are the elites of Lin Yue Mansion. Not to mention the number of servants and acres, all of them are rich owners. Although I have not been here for a long time, I still have a ledger in my heart. Those acres, you You haven’t paid a cent of your taxes, and you still used your guards and others to receive a lot of military pay and wages under your own name. Don’t you understand these things?”

"Everyone, the court and our government are in trouble now. The rebels have besieged the city. We urgently need your generosity to tide over the difficulties. This is why the prefect and I spoke first. If we wait a while and General Qin comes, you will still be indifferent. , this matter will be difficult to handle, what do you think?"

Tongzhi Lu Ren still took the opportunity to clarify his words. Now there are 30,000 soldiers and young men guarding the city in Fucheng. The salary, silver and grain directly eat up the warehouse of Fucheng. If there is a shortage of silver and grain at this time, don't worry. It was said that the city could be defended, but if the soldiers under his command did not have these, they might have lost their military pay, and the city could still be defended, which was also a consolation.

"Ha ha ha ha"

At this moment, an old man sitting with the prefect, Zhao Yucheng, the president of the Chamber of Commerce in Linyue Fucheng, sat there laughing, then picked up the wine cup and drank it all in one gulp.

"Master Magistrate, what you said is correct. We are in trouble, and we should donate generously to tide over the difficulties together. But Mr. Li, Mr. Lu, our gentry's family property is all in acres of land and grain. Now these have long been in the hands of the rioters. How can we still spend so much money, food and supplies? Besides, it has been the duty of adults and generals to defend the city since ancient times. Could it be that we cannot defend the city without us?"

"Yes, that makes sense."

"Besides the house, wherever else we have the food and money, they have been confiscated by the rebels a long time ago."

"Who says it's not the case? Even if you have it, you'll save it for a comeback in the future. There won't be any money left."

Just hearing the chaotic discussion in the hall, Vice Chairman Cui Xuanli also sighed and said,

"Master Magistrate, Master Tongzhi, it's not that I don't want to give you face. The warehouse of the government has always been full. We respect your money, but not a penny is missing. Logically speaking, the warehouse of the government should not be used. Now At a critical moment, things in the treasury should not be used to meet urgent needs. As for what you said, you can ask those here. The things in your hands may not be ours. If you don’t believe me, just ask."

Seeing the two of them talking like this, Li Cheng's face darkened. He could also say such things. What does it mean to take no less? You don't earn more. Of course, the two of them also understand that there is someone else behind it. Let's not talk about it. , but food is urgently needed, and there is really not much in the treasury. I look at a young man opposite, smiling, sitting there inconspicuously. This person is the shopkeeper of a rice shop in Fucheng, in charge of most of the food. Although he looks young in the business of grain trading, he cannot be underestimated behind the scenes.

"Si Boqing, shopkeeper Si, what do you mean by being silent here? Could it be that you are not watching a show?"

I also know that Lu Ren can't bear it anymore. It's really unseemly to be able to sit still.

"Ahem, my lord, please call me."

"Hmph, could it be that there is a second person named Si Boqing here?"

Lu Ren's tone was unkind, he looked at the young man opposite and asked.

Si Bo Qing straightened his clothes and sat there steadily. Seeing everyone's eyes turning over, he chuckled and replied calmly,

"Oh, Mr. Lu, I'm ashamed. It's my fault. I just met all the adults and what the president said is reasonable. As for why I didn't say anything, I really have nothing to say, because I am just a rice shop. I am the shopkeeper who runs errands for my boss. No matter how many things I have, it has nothing to do with me. In this case, I am speechless. Of course, you can buy them with money. I have the final say. Can I sell them to the prefect at a half discount? .”

"What a half-discount, Si Boqing, Si Boqing, as a big shopkeeper, you are not telling the truth. No one in the city knows your name. Although it makes sense, you can't say it like that. The mob surrounded the city, and the court The officials, soldiers and horses are working hard there, who is that for, not for everyone, besides, it is a good deed to share the worries of the court, it is not good for you to push back and forth, and besides, who is your boss?"

The speaker was Yang Luo, the general judge who had just smoothed things over. He took this opportunity to test it out. Li Cheng and Lu Ren were also curious, who could be the owner behind this rice shop?

(End of this chapter)