Sixteen ships were seized during the investigation of anti-smuggling salt, but they were not willing to sell them in the first lunar month but were sold all last night.

However, the so-called selling is just to turn the left hand and the right hand, and to establish a contract to "sell" to several merchants who were traveling on Chuanchang River, and then spend 1,500 taels to buy eighteen ships from Wang Jiansheng, Yu Jiansheng and other gentry, sixteen of which were large ships and two were small ships.

In addition to the twenty-three large and small ships requisitioned by Han Chen, ambassador of the Kouxichang Salt Course, this fleet that transported the township heroes and food to Taizhou and even Yangzhou was magnificent and spectacular. Once the ships were too many, they naturally couldn't get up. They set off from Hai'an and then picked up the township heroes of Qutang Tuan, and rushed to Baimi to the night.

Fortunately, the Baimi Tuan supervisor Li Zhiyong, who came back first, was prepared. As soon as the fleet arrived, it agreed with the Baimi Tuan Township Yonghe Zao, and Baozheng helped settle down together.

There is no military camp, so you can only go to the people's house to borrow a dormitory.

The family lived in Yishi Township, and they spread straw to make the floor. The rice and pickles had been distributed. The dinner was cooked by the chefs from Geshi to the people's houses. Datou, Liang Jiu and Jiaoxiangchang Salt Course Ambassador Han Chen, each led a team of local heroes to patrol the streets to prevent those local heroes from disturbing the people's houses.

Han Xiufeng stayed at Li Zhiyong's house again. After dinner, he was about to go back to his room to rest. Datou actually brought a familiar boy.

"Mr. Han, I am Zhang Wu, don't you remember?"

"Oh, I remembered it, I said why do you look so familiar? If you don't stay in Jiangyan with your young master, why are you here to come?"

"My young master asked me to deliver a letter to you." Zhang Wuyi did not dare to delay, so he took out a letter from his arms and said anxiously: "Master Han, Old Gui Xu is neither at ease nor at ease to worry about my young master. He actually sent the master named Hu, and is waiting for you in Jiangyan now."

"Send a military supervisor again." Han Xiufeng muttered, took the letter and opened it.

I didn't know if I didn't see it, but I was shocked when I saw it. Master Hu didn't go to Jiangyan alone, but actually brought twelve green camp soldiers from Caobiao, and sent more than 100 weapons such as spears, oxtail knives, twelve bird guns and four guns.

Han Xiufeng put down the letter and turned around and said, "Zhiyong, Master Hu is not good, please write a letter to Dean Gu. Please ask Dean Gu to ask Fang Shimei to quickly deliver the 5,000 taels of silver and 500 stone rice to Taizhou!"

"Yes, yes, that person named Hu is not as convenient as we do things now. We have to cut off the food and salary before he sees you."

"That's what I mean, write it quickly, and send someone to Hai'an overnight."

"Okay, I'll write it now."

As soon as Wang Jiansheng finished speaking, Yu Jiansheng couldn't help asking: "Master Han, I'll cut off the money and food tomorrow. Is it too hasty? If Old Gui Xu asks, how can I explain to him?"

"What's wrong with explaining? Isn't it just to settle the score? Even if I spend 1,500 taels of money to buy a boat, I spent a few hundred taels of food to buy food. When the trip was launched, I gave the young and strong people a few hundred taels of money to the young and strong people. The rest was handed over to President Gu, and Dean Gu asked Dean Gu to help purchase military rations." Han Xiufeng put the letter aside and said, "Will Ambassador Han send someone to deliver food in a few days? He said that the grain was purchased by the Baojia Bureau for us."

"Master Han, what if the grain is purchased by the Baojia Bureau in a few days, what should Ambassador Han do?"

"Ambassador Han doesn't have to worry about it. In fact, there is nothing to worry about on the side of Xu Laogui. He won't dare to be petty when facing the enemy. If he even cares about this, who would help him fight to the death?"

Li Zhiyong asked curiously: "Master Han, do you think Xu Laogui is running away now? Do you know that Xu Lequn has run away? Do you know that we can only raise food and grass on our own?"

Han Xiufeng couldn't help laughing and said, "He must have known it a long time ago."

Li Zhiyong asked: "He knew a long time ago why he didn't send someone to become a grain official again?"

"He wants to send, but no one can send him." Han Xiufeng sighed lightly and stood up and said, "You don't know what kind of virtues the clerks and servants in the prefecture yamen are. Now he wants to recruit young men to defend the city, raise food and grass, and kill each village town to organize group training, and also convene people to demolish houses and fill the river. No matter what the matter is done, he has to send his family to watch, otherwise how can he feel at ease. He has only more than twenty family members, not to mention that he is unable to clone his family members, even his family members are unable to clone them."

"It's not easy to think about Old Gui Xu," Wang Jiansheng murmured.

"It's not easy, but he can't kill everyone." Han Xiufeng pointed to the letter on the table and pondered: "He has sent friends here now, and even sent more than a dozen shotguns, which shows that he doesn't plan to let us defend the city."

"He is going to let us block it?"

"pretty close."

Wang Jiansheng knew the best that the village heroes under him were useless, and he immediately said with a bitter face: "Master Han, let alone the young and strong men who were temporarily recruited by Mr. Zhang and Mr. Li, our village hero who had been practicing for more than 100 for more than 20 days really encountered a bandit, and he would probably run away without starting the fight. Old Ghost Xu asked us to stop him. Isn't this our life?"

How could Han Xiufeng not know whether those rural heroes could fight? He said lightly: "Just run, just run. We have legs too long. At worst, we can run together at that time."

"It should be possible to run away, but if this happens, will Xu Laogui make things difficult for you?"

"If I really get to that point, will I still worry about these things?" Han Xiufeng asked back, and then said, "The sky fell and there were tall men holding on to the Cao Governor, the Transport Department, the Mansion and the military officers all ran away. Not to mention Xu Laogui, the general general of the Qing army, the imperial court would not investigate me, a small official who brought a group of young and strong people to fight against the bandits."

"That's right, we should run away desperately with the bandits. Why should the court make things difficult for you?"

"The court will not make things difficult for me, but that Master Hu will definitely make things difficult. And Zhang Guangcheng and Li Changjing are all anxious now. For the sake of the safety of their family, they will really give up and dare to fight against the bandits."

"What should I do?" Li Zhiyong asked subconsciously.

Han Xiufeng was prepared, so he turned around and walked out of the yard and said to Zhang Wu who was waiting for the letter: "Zhang Wu, help me tell your young master that when you arrive in Jiangyan tomorrow, except for me and the three family members of the supervisor, the town will be chosen by your young master. Even if you want it all, I won't have any questions."

Zhang Wu was stunned and then said carefully: "Master Han, you are the camp official. Give all the village heroes to my young master. What should you do?"

Xu Laogui even sent his most trusted friends. It can be seen how critical the thief is. Han Xiufeng didn't want Zhang Guangcheng and Li Changjing, who were waiting for news in Jiang Yan, guessed and said bluntly: "I am a battalion official, but I am not a military officer. I can only plan and not charge in the battle."

"Young man will go back and tell my young master now."

"Let's go, be careful on the way."

After sending Zhang Guangcheng's family away, Yu Jiansheng couldn't help but ask: "Master Han, will Mr. Zhang Er have any ideas?"

"No, he is grateful, it's too late." Han Xiufeng thought for a while and said, "Three, you will gather your family and available young men to your side early tomorrow morning. After Lu Daming and Liang Liu come back, we will start a new camp of useful local heroes!"

...

At the same time, Lu Daming and Liang Liugang rushed to a village outside Taizhou City.

This village is not far from Taiba. The coolies who used to carry salt on Taiba had no land or houses, and they could only build thatched huts on the river bank, one by one, densely packed, and if it was daylight, they could not see at all. The Taiping bandits lost most of the land at more than a dozen salt fields in Huainan, and the salt merchants lost their business, so naturally they had no salt to carry.

Lu Daming looked at the coolies surrounded by the bonfire and waved his arms and said, "We used to work hard on the dam, but in fact it was no different from working hard. Zhang Da was three years younger than me, so he was exhausted because he wanted to carry a few more packets of salt and earn a few more copper coins! Jiang Ertou was as old as me. When he carried salt in the morning, he said his stomach hurt and he died in the afternoon! How many people have died in the years? If you die, just die. Anyway, you have a bad life, but if you die, you don't even have a place to bury it. You can only bury people in the fields in the middle of the night like a thief, and you can't even pile up a grave!"

Liang Liu took over the conversation and pointed to Taiba and said, "No matter how hard or tired you were, you could still keep talking. Now the bandits have killed Jiangning and cut off the waterways to Huguang, Anhui and Jiangxi, which made everyone not even have to carry salt. If you have no work, you have no food to eat. If you have no food to eat, you can only wait to die!"

"Brother Six, I'm not afraid of you making fun of you. We haven't had a full meal these days." A coolie rubbed his stomach and said.

"Sixth brother, I know about the thieves. The yamen has been crazy these days, and has posted several notices at the city gate. I heard that as long as I enter the city, I will have food to eat."

"Then why don't you go?" Liang Liu asked in confusion.

"I've been there, but I can't even get in the city." The short coolie looked helpless.

"Why can't you get in?"

"I am not a local, not a local accent. There are many cards outside the city. All those who enter and leave the city will be stopped and interrogated. If I were not a local and had no local protection, I would be imprisoned by spies who act as thieves."

"Is there really no way to survive?"

"It's gone, it's gone." A tall coolie squeezed in and said, "Sixth brother, we have decided. If the bandits really come here, we will go and surrender to the bandits. Anyway, if you have a bad life, you can at least make a living by committing a fortune. Even if you die, you won't be a starving ghost!"

"Don't talk nonsense, this is going to lose your head!" Lu Daming glared at the tall coolie, then got up and said, "Brothers, I and the Liu Gang have found a way out. If you want to eat, follow us. There is no need to vote for any thieves, but if you want to vote, you will be in the court! As long as you dare to go out and work with me and Liu for Mr. Han, you can join the army and eat food, and three meals of white rice a day will make you full!"

"If you are lucky and don't die, if you can cut a few thieves in the first quarter, you will not only have food to eat but also reward!"

"What do you want?" a coolie couldn't help asking.

"Our Master Han said that if we can kill one thief, we will help settle down and become a naturalized person. If we kill five thiefs, we will have our own land like me and Lao Liu. Although it is a saline-alkali land by the sea, it is also a land. If you take good care of it for three or five years, you can turn it into a fertile land!"

"Ming Dynasty, Brother Six, do you have land?" the tall coolie asked in surprise.

"What are you lying to do? Uncle San and your sister-in-law have already gone. Master Han is worried that Lao Liu and Lao Jiu are not at home. Uncle San and your sister-in-law can't reclaim the dozens of acres of newly silted land, and they also lend us money to buy us a cow."

"You have land, home, and cows!"

"It's not true or false, and it's not true. Can you join Mr. Han with me and Lao Liu, and give me a happy word!"

"Is this still necessary to ask, when will I go?"
Chapter completed!