Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 1724 The Mayor Enters the City
After all, he tilted his head and died.

Wu Guangzhi was shocked. He had no foundation in the local area, and even less power in the army, and he relied on money for maintenance.So I have been worried that the morale of the army will not be stable, and I will not hesitate to spend a lot of money.Unexpectedly, it was still a mess.

He knew that this must have been instigated by the gentry.This group of shameless people who betrayed their father for the sake of their own wealth and lives!
Now that the mutiny has occurred, the city can no longer be defended.However, he put aside the idea of ​​suicide and decided to die on the battlefield to repay the king's kindness.Pulling out the Japanese sword, he shouted: "Everyone come with me! It's the present day to serve the country with allegiance!"

Several trusted family members around him had followed him all the way from Shaanxi, and at this time they all drew out their waist knives and rushed out with him.

The guards of the city and the soldiers rushed towards the county government office, and the small group of officers and soldiers who had been guarding him outside the county government office collapsed without a fight.Only a few family members resisted, and they were killed in an instant, and their bodies fell under the steps of the lobby.

Wu Guangzhi took a few family members with him, and he fought hand-to-hand with the rebellious soldiers before leaving the second hall. Although he was a literati, he was very skilled in swordsmanship, and he had accumulated a lot of combat experience in Shaanxi.Without panic, he cut down a miscellaneous soldier with a knife, and stabbed another Minzhuang in the stomach.Seeing that he was so brave, the rebels who rushed over did not dare to step forward.Instead, he was pushed down the steps.

However, there were so many rebels, and they surrounded their masters and servants in a short while. In an instant, all his family members were killed and injured. Wu Guangzhi had already suffered several wounds and was covered in blood. Charge all the way.At this time, several rebels poked at him with spears, and he was stabbed several times, bleeding profusely.Knowing that he couldn't do it anymore, he knelt down facing north with his sword on the ground, panting and said in a hoarse voice: "Your Majesty, I will be loyal to you..." Before he could finish his words, he was stabbed in the back of the heart by someone. , fell down immediately, and died in a pool of blood.

An hour later, Shi Zhiqi received a report from the communications soldier: conquer Xin'an.

"...the county magistrate has been killed."

The reason why I specifically mention this is because according to the "Guangdong Occupation Minutes", as long as the local officials of the Ming Dynasty were captured, whether they surrendered or were captured, they would be registered and recorded together with their families and servants and sent to Hong Kong for centralized detention.The requirements of the military control committee are that local officials must see people alive and dead bodies, and those whose whereabouts are unknown must be properly registered and reported.

"Are there any casualties among our people?"

"Report to the chief, no!"

"Good job!" Shi Zhiqi said, drawing a blue circle on the map of Xin'an County, which means "occupied".

Judging from the progress on the map, it has been less than 12 hours since the start of the operation, and the Fubo army has encountered almost no resistance wherever it goes. A few sporadic resistances are not at all large-scale. Only Xin'an County resisted.It seems that it is basically a foregone conclusion that it will be decided!
For the people of Guangzhou and neighboring counties, this is an unforgettable day.The Australians came over from the sea, silently, and captured the largest city in southern China without bloodshed.When the sky was bright, the gate of the city had already been replaced by "gun soldiers" wearing blue and gray short uniforms and holding firecrackers.On the street, teams of soldiers in gray clothes were patrolling. The whole city was quiet and orderly, and many shops were also open.The common people were both shocked and fresh: just overnight, Guangzhou had a new owner!
Fortunately, the new owner is no stranger.Australians have existed semi-publicly in Guangzhou in the past few years. Even those who have no business or service dealings with Australians have bought Australian goods to some extent: all kinds of "Australian paper", "Australian fire", " "Australian cloth", "kun socks"... these small things have long entered the daily life of the people.

In the past, they were merchants carrying swords, but now they have become the rulers of this place in a grandiose manner.No one knows how the Australians will rule this big city.

Rumors about the Australians' governance in Lingao have been spread here to some extent. Many people don't believe it, thinking that it is just an overseas anecdote, and some people who know the exact situation want to see: the means of the Australians, in this Guangzhou Whether it can be used in the city: You need to know that the population of a single street in Guangzhou City exceeds the population of the entire Lingao County.

As Liu Xiang said in his speech to the members of the Northward Detachment before entering Guangzhou, this is a "big test" for the Senate.Before that, they were all governing small semi-agricultural counties. Even Qiongzhou Fucheng was not worth mentioning on the mainland.Guangzhou is not only the largest city in south of the Five Ridges, but also a leading big and famous city in China in this time and space.Lin Baiguang estimates that the resident population here is at least 50.

Governing a large city with a population of 50 is not an easy task even in the 21st century.If in the past they drew on blank paper, now they want to redraw on a colorful and bizarre scroll that has already been daubed, so as to erase the flaws without destroying the subtleties.Its difficulty can be imagined.

These problems are currently hovering in Liu Xiang's mind as he enters the city in a sedan chair.

He originally wanted to take an official carriage into the city to show the prestige of the Senate, so he had already transported the red flag carriage to Wuyangyi, but Lin Baiguang said that the carriage could not be used in the city.Except for a few main avenues in the city, the general streets are very cramped, and it is difficult for horse-drawn carriages to pass.Not only that, the bridges in the city did not consider the problem of vehicle traffic at all, and they were all towering arch bridges with densely packed steps.In the past, Guangzhou Railway Station wanted to introduce rickshaws in the city of Guangzhou, but it was not implemented because of bridge problems.

Although Liu Xiang did not object to entering the city on foot, his subordinates all objected: firstly, it was not conducive to the defense, and secondly, the dignified director of the Guangzhou Military Control Committee and the mayor of Guangzhou entered the city on foot, which would unavoidably compromise the prestige of the Senate.

In view of this reason, it is impossible for two people in the sedan chair shop in the Dananmen area to carry a small sedan chair. Fortunately, there are ready-made official sedan chairs in Wuyang Post Station. .He wanted to please, so he found out all the monsters and ghosts scattered in the inn outside the Great South Gate.

"Quick! Make way for the Australian master!"

Liu Xiang came out and saw that the whole set of ostentation had been set up.The gong to clear the way, the two signs of "Quiet" and "Avoidance", various flags, and guards of honor are fully furnished and majestic.People of all colors are all wearing official uniforms and serving below.

When Yicheng saw him coming out, he trotted all the way to the front and knelt down, and said: "My lord! The guard of honor has been arranged, please lift up the sedan chair!"

Liu Xiang didn't know whether to laugh or cry, this is really not a small feudal official's ostentation.Immediately he took care of him and said: "You don't need so many people, just prepare a sedan chair..."

Yicheng, who has been obedient since the surrender, insisted on his principles: "My lord's words are wrong. The Song Dynasty restored Guangzhou, and my lord is an imperial envoy. It is absolutely impossible to do things too simple, otherwise it will easily make the people feel contemptuous of the Song Dynasty. From a young age, this ostentation is a little too small to show off my great Song's prestige."

Liu Xiang looked at the naturalized civilian cadres and soldiers around him, and also showed approval.I couldn't help feeling a bit in my heart.He said: "These gaudy guards of honor and flags are all Zhu Ming's etiquette, how can I make them?"

This is also reasonable, Yicheng thought for a while and said: "Since this is the case, the guard of honor that clears the way must be used. Otherwise, it will be bad for the people to bump into the guard of honor."

Liu Xiang couldn't refuse any more, so he "raised the sedan chair" and set off immediately.The gong man who cleared the way didn't know what level of official Liu Xiang was in the Song Dynasty, so he didn't dare to knock randomly, so he asked a naturalized civilian cadre, "What is the official residence of Mr. Liu?"

Guihua civil cadres said: "Chief Liu is a veteran, extremely honorable, there is nothing wrong with it."

The heart of the gong said that this is "Super Grade".Generally, there are people at the level of princes.Anyway, many people were not surprised by the ceremony, so he struck the gong thirteen times in a row.

Amidst the sound of gongs saying "Civil and military officials, soldiers and civilians, all big and small, get out of the way", Liu Xiang's men and horses marched towards the city mightily. The guards with bayonets and rifles were in the center of a large sedan chair with eight lifts. Behind the sedan chair, someone held up his eagle flag, followed by more than ten naturalized cadres, and finally twenty armed guards.

The place where Liu Xiang went was the Guangzhou government office, which was the one he was most concerned about.For him, the mayor of Guangzhou, the Guangzhou Mansion and the Panyu and Nanhai counties below and the old officials played an inestimable role, and many basic information had to be obtained from it.Therefore, when formulating the occupation plan, he specifically asked the national army entering Guangzhou to occupy these places first.

Liu Xiang's ranks passed through the streets and alleys slowly, and there was a crowd of spectators for a while—the Guangzhou citizens had already recovered from the panic of breaking the city in the morning, and the citizens of Guangzhou already knew that it was the "prefect of Guangzhou" from the Australians, and everyone wanted to see it. Look at the demeanor of this new "Master of Futai".The National Army had to deploy along the road to maintain order.Even the yamen servants from one prefecture and two counties in Guangzhou City came to show their hospitality, and came to open the way and shouted.For a time is the infinite scenery.

Sitting in the sedan chair, Liu Xiang watched this scene with a lot of feelings in his heart.The so-called man should be born like this, probably this is what it means.I am a doctoral student who was ravaged and exploited by my tutor, and now I am a local official with a living room of eight. How can ordinary people understand the feeling...

In the monotonous sound of gongs came to the Guangzhou government office.Get off the sedan chair in front of the screen wall.Liu Xiang got off the sedan chair and stomped on his numb legs.I saw that the screen wall in front of me was concave, five meters high and more than 20 meters wide. It was built with blue bricks, and there were brick inscriptions of "Guangzhou Fucheng" and "Guangzhou Mansion".Look at the horoscope wall in front of the gate on the opposite side. The blue brick wall is inlaid with stone tablets in four directions.I don't know what is engraved on it.

Even before entering the yamen, the gate already feels extraordinary.

(End of this chapter)