Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 1716 Humen
Zhang Yu ran all the way home, and saw that Huifu Lane was still the same as it used to be. The shopkeepers had unloaded their planks and were doing business slowly.My own walnut cake shop is also open. Dad is kneading dough in the shop. The oven has been turned on, and a scent of walnut oil is wafting out.Parents are busy around the chopping board.

"Old man! Don't do it, close the store!" Zhang Yu rushed in and shouted without hesitation.

His father's face suddenly darkened: people who open a shop and do business are most afraid to say "close the shop", and only say "closed" when the door is closed at night. Originally, the business was not very good, but it was a coincidence that some hair just started to grow, and he was stupefied again. As soon as the boy called out, he couldn't help but scolded: "You are plagued! What are you talking about?!"

Zhang Yu didn't care about explaining, and pulled his throat and said: "Get on the board! Soldiers have passed on the street! Kun... Kun... Thieves have entered the city! Guangzhou—Guangzhou—is broken!"

His father was stunned, and the rolling pin in his hand fell off. Terrible words such as "passing the army" and "breaking the city" drilled into his ears. Since the Japanese pirates were rampant during the Jiajing period, Guangzhou had built a city to protect the commercial area on the river bank, and there has been no warning, let alone experience, for more than a hundred years. The disaster of swordsmen.But the common people at that time were no strangers to such words as "soldiers" and "broken cities".Those terrible scenes immediately appeared in the minds of Zhang Yu's parents: the streets engulfed in fire, the merchants running in all directions, the soldiers who burned and killed the Communists...they couldn't help but turn pale, and couldn't utter a word for a long time. It was still Zhang Yu who saw the opportunity quickly, and urged him to close the door and "upper the board".All the people in the store just woke up like a dream, one by one rushed to get on the plank.Zhang Yuniang said anxiously: "Quickly, turn off the stove too!"

His father said: "What are you doing when you turn off the stove? The walnut cakes inside are only put in, and they need to be raw!"

"This strong fragrance makes me feel like I'm not the first to be robbed!" Zhang Yuniang shouted with her hands on her hips, and as she spoke, she picked up a bucket of water and poured it into the hearth. off.

Zhang Yu didn't care about the inside of the store, and jumped out of the store to collect the cover.The cover is hung high, and it was originally hung up and down with a branch pole.Zhang Yu couldn't reach the hook on it, so he jumped around under the cover anxiously, his appearance was very funny, which made the girl from the tofu shop across the street cover her mouth and laugh.

The daughter of the tofu shop was leaning against the door to sell the tofu that she had made early in the morning. Seeing Zhang Yu rushing back, the walnut cake shop was in a mess, and she was looking at the freshness with her head stretched out. Standing in front of the store watching the excitement, he shouted out anxiously: "Don't tell your father to go to the board! The gangsters have entered the city! The soldiers have passed!"

It doesn't matter if he roared out, the originally quiet and peaceful Huifu Lane suddenly became a mess.In an instant, the residents of each shop were turned on their backs: those who put things away, those who put on the boards, those who closed the doors and windows... Some screamed in pain, some roared at the top of their throats in anxiety, and some clapped for no reason. Thighs cried and sang.Before the lady from the tofu shop recovered her senses, she was dragged to the back by her mother, and painted a big face with ashes from the stove.Hiding in the firewood shed is not allowed to come out.

"You are hidden! No matter what you hear, you are not allowed to come out!"

The lady in the tofu shop was trembling with fright. She knew about the personnel and the fate of the eldest daughter and the younger daughter-in-law in the rebellion. She was so frightened that she hid in the pile of firewood and did not dare to move.

A person's potential is boundless at a critical moment. Zhang Yu took off the cover and dragged it into the store after jumping a few times. As soon as he entered, the last plank behind him closed with a bang, and a thick horizontal bar broke. Go up and buckle another big lock.

The shop was pitch black, save for the few lights that came in through the cracks in the planks.His father lowered his voice and said: "Everyone, keep quiet, pack up your things and carry them to the back."

The few people lowered their voices and tiptoedly packed up their things. Flour, walnuts, sugar... even the unbaked walnut cakes were put away one by one, and Zhang Yu's father took them into the inner house.

Zhang Yu was worried, and followed his mother to look around, checking the doors and windows.His mother hid in the bedroom, packed up the household household items and hid them under the square bricks in the main room of the inner house.He also told Zhang Yu to go to the shop in front of him to look after the clerks and apprentices.

"Look at them, don't let them play tricks. Although they are all introduced by acquaintances, people can be regarded as honest and responsible, but you must guard against others. It's hard to guarantee that they will act up when they see chaos."

The guys and apprentices in the store are all from other counties, and they have served in the army outside, so there is absolutely no reason to be expelled from the house. They usually work on the floor of the store, and now they have nowhere to go.Zhang Yuniang sent him to watch, lest they "seduce bandits".

Zhang Yu nodded: "Mom, I'll save it! I think the license should be hung outside..."

"It's unclear what's going on outside the meeting, so if we hang it up, it will attract attention. Why don't we just look at it first and then talk about it."

At the same time, in the Yamen of the Central Army in Humenzhai, more than a dozen fully clothed generals and foreign commissioners gathered together.They were summoned to the Zhongjun Yamen for a meeting before dawn today, but when the sky turned pale, Mr. Liu Qian still didn't show up.Can't help but gather together in groups of three or four and whisper.

Although I don't know what Mr. Liu Qian called the meeting to discuss, but everyone guesses that it has something to do with the Kun thief.

In recent months, the boats of the gangsters on the river have come and gone frequently. Standing on the top of Wushan Mountain, which is high on Yaniangxie Island, you can see the situation on the river clearly. more than.Although the thief said that it was the goods and decorative building materials prepared for the opening of the big world.But the soldier's intuition still told them that there was something strange in it: these ships were not loaded with ordinary cargo!

Some people said that they saw many booted feet exposed under the canvas canopy, others said that the cannons were unloaded from the Great World Pier in the middle of the night, and another time, an Australian ship suddenly exploded when it was driving on the river. , and then sank to the bottom of the water in a moment...

What the Australians transported on board is a matter of great concern to local officials.If the Pearl River is a provincial river in Guangdong, you can know what medicine is sold in the gourds of the Australians just by intercepting the boats for inspection.However, since the Australian soldiers came to Baietan, Daming lost the right to inspect Australian ships.Although there were a few stunned or money-obsessed people who were "defying violence" and "snatched" and "detained" ships flying the Senate flag, the result was that the whole family either caught fire at night or threw themselves into the water hand in hand during the day. After coming back, naturally no one wants to do this anymore.

The officers on the river defense can see the Australian steamer passing by the river every day, and the Australians, who are privately talking about it, will make a "major move" recently.But even if they knew what the Kun thief was going to do, what could they do?These people were deeply impressed by the battle when the Kun bandits broke into the provincial river and reached the White Swan Pool - a sense of complete powerlessness made most of them lose the idea of ​​​​resisting.

What if we really want to fight?Everyone is anxiously considering this question.It's not like hitting a stone with an egg, and the jade and the stone will die together!

Under the hopelessness of being invincible and unable to walk, everyone has no plans for the future, and lives with the idea that one day is a day. Many people also secretly accept the "subsidy" of the Australians and send their soldiers And ships "rented" to the Australians for service.I spent my days and nights in the Ziming Building, dreaming and drinking.

The officers were whispering, when suddenly someone shouted from behind: "Raise the account!" The crowd was chaotic and waited in line of duty according to their ranks.

I saw Liu Fengsheng, the commander-in-chief of the coastal defense guerrilla in Humenzhai, coming out from behind with a full body garb, with a stern expression and a face about to kill, all the generals were stunned: There is no warning at the moment, and Mr. Liu Qian looks like he wants to fight and fight What's the matter with your expression?Did the Australians do it?
While in doubt, suddenly a report came from the pond of Ya Niangxie Fortress: more than [-] warships of the Kun bandits are going up the provincial river, approaching the Humen East Waterway!
Then there was also a pond report on the Shanghengtai Fortress, more than a dozen Kun bandit warships had sailed into the West Waterway of Humen, approaching the Shanghengdao Fort from the side and rear.Immediately afterwards, inland river vessels flying the Venus flag also appeared in the Sanmen Waterway between Wushan and Humenzhai.

Inadvertently, the army of the Kun bandits had already approached the city, forming a double-strike force on the Humen village. , the soldiers dare to fight has a deep impression.

Right now, this army is coming to Humen Village again, like a pair of iron tongs, it can crush the not-so-hard walnut Humen with a little force.

In panic, everyone turned their attention to the person in charge of Humen Village: Liu Fengsheng

Mr. Liu Qian coughed, and said, "Australian soldiers are approaching, and everyone can see the situation in Guangzhou. If the response is wrong, not only Humen Village will be destroyed, but even Guangzhou will not be able to escape the calamity of the soldiers..."

He didn't talk about how to deploy defenses, how to assign troops to resist, he said such a set of words first, and the cleverness immediately understood his thoughts.Most people here don't want to fight, so someone immediately echoed: "The general is right, we only have six to seven hundred troops here, and only a dozen or so cannons. I'm afraid it won't be good to fight the gangsters head-on..."

Seeing that Mr. Liu Qian didn't scold him, everyone nodded slightly, seeming to agree, and they became bolder, and they all echoed, saying that the officers and soldiers "weak soldiers and inferior weapons, they are not suitable for battle", and He suddenly got up "love soldiers like sons", crying that the officers and soldiers were not paid enough, and his subordinates couldn't get enough to eat for days, so they were forced to go to battle and died in vain.

Liu Fengsheng asked them to talk for a while, and was about to speak, only to see one person shouting: "You can raise soldiers for a thousand days, and use them for a while. Don't you feel ashamed when you say such words?!"

(End of this chapter)