Changsha City, Yibumen.
Yibumen, like Chaozongmen, is a city gate close to the Xiangjiang River. There is also a pier outside the city gate, which is called "Yibu". It was originally an important thoroughfare for officials to enter and exit Changsha by water, and it was not very prosperous. However, As the population soared, the originally cold Yibumen became lively. Like Chaozongmen, a commercial street along the river appeared. The streets were lined with shops.
Most of the shops inside and outside the Chaozong Gate were selling grain and rice, while the shops outside the Yibu Gate mostly sold livestock. Fatty Wu was selling pigs and sheep into the city this time, so he naturally entered the city through the Yibu Gate.
It was almost noon when Fatty Wu, Sushun, Shengbao and others landed, which should be the busiest time on the street. However, there were not many people on the street outside Yibumen. Most of the shops on both sides of the street were already empty. After closing the door, there is a restaurant near the city gate that seems to have been very prosperous. The door is open, but it does not appear to be open for business. Even the tables, chairs and benches are missing inside. There are only a group of well-dressed refugees crowded inside. I don’t know where they are. Where did the gentry come from? They just stared blankly at Fatty Wu, Sushun, Shengbao and others driving the pigs and sheep by.
There was a Taiping Army tax card outside the Yibu Gate, which blocked Fatty Wu's pigs and sheep and insisted on collecting taxes. Fatty Wu took the purchase contract signed with Angel Mansion to negotiate, and called Sushun. Shengbao first came to this restaurant. Waiting outside the door.
Sushun was a noble man from Manchuria, the son of the dignified Prince Zheng! Naturally, he disdained to deal with these fleeing Han gentry, but Shengbao was a man who could strike up a conversation, and actually got into a conversation with an elderly man who was sitting on the doorstep smoking a dry cigarette. The gentleman struck up a conversation one after another.
"What's your last name, old man?"
"My surname is Huang. This gentleman's accent sounds like he's from the north, right?"
"Yes, I am from Zhili. My surname is Guan. I am a horse dealer going south... Are Mr. Huang from Changsha? Is this shop yours?"
"No, the owner of this shop ran away when the Taiping Army came... I came from Yongzhou as a refugee. I was renting a house nearby. The rent was too expensive and I was short of money, so... the old gentleman said He stopped when he got to the point where he was sad, took a deep breath of dry smoke, and blew out a cloud of smoke, covering his wrinkled face.
Shengbao didn't want to end the conversation, so he asked him again: "Yongzhou Huang family? Who are you Huang Ziying?"
"It's just the same clan, they are both of the same lineage as Linglinghuang, and they are all generations. But Linglinghuang is a big family, there are too many people, and it has been passed down for so many generations..."
"Well, old man, you have been in Changsha for a while, right?" Shengbao did not discuss family history with the old man, but brought the topic to Changsha, "How is the situation in Changsha?"
"It's been a while... The old man took another breath of dry tobacco and exhaled some smoke, "The war is in chaos, and... Oh, I won't say it anymore, I won't say it anymore, I will know it when Mr. Guan enters the city. ! Alas, Xing, the people are suffering! Death, the people are suffering!" Shengbao also sighed and lowered his voice and asked: "Brother, I heard that there is a Bull Demon King in the Taiping Army in Changsha City... This is Really?"
Although this question was asked in a low voice, Su Shun could hear it with his ears straightened up.
"The Bull Demon King... there is such a thing!" Old Man Huang shook his head as he spoke, "It sounds incredible, but on the day when the Taiping Army entered Changsha City, I did see a boss appearing on Huangdao Street. Niu Moxu... "Have you seen it with your own eyes?" Sushun turned his head and looked at the old man with bright eyes, "You have always lived outside Yibumen, and you can still see it?"
"What this gentleman doesn't know is that at that time, I was still living on Taiping Street in Changsha City. That night, the sound of killings and cannon fire was so loud that I couldn't sleep. So I went up to the second floor to watch, and... .What a huge phantom of a bull demon! If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it in my dreams!”
"What happened next? What happened to the phantom of the Bull Demon?" Seeing that the old man was speechless, Shengbao asked again. "What happened next? Then..." The old man seemed to be hesitating to speak.
Shengbao seemed to understand something and immediately took out two broken pieces of silver and handed them over.
Old Man Huang put away the money and started talking again: "Then I saw groups of fireballs emerging from the Huangdao Street, and the phantom of the Bull Demon disappeared." "Have you seen me again since then?" Sushun He asked again.
"I've never seen it before," the old man shook his head, "I've never seen it again... maybe even a demon is afraid of disappearing, right?"
Shengbao and Sushun looked at each other. Sushun seemed to want to ask something more. Fatty Wu had already walked over in a hurry. He first hugged the old man Huang and then said to Shengbao Sushun: "Finally, let's talk about it." Okay, these Guangxi people are really hard to reason with... Let's go into the city and send the pigs and sheep to the Angel Mansion first."
The situation inside Changsha City is similar to that outside Yibumen, except that there are many more ragged beggars on the streets.
Most of the shops on both sides of the originally bustling street were closed. Only some shops selling rice and grains were still open. There was some business, but the customers who came in and out all had sad faces, and some of them even cursed. Sushun and Shengbao Fatty Wu, who didn't quite understand Hunanese, told the two of them in a low voice: "The price of rice in Changsha has been rising every day recently, more than twice what it was before the Taiping Army entered the city!"
"It's increased so much?" Sushun asked in surprise, "They don't care whether the people live or die?"
Fatty Wu just shook his head: "What's the point? The waterway in and out of Changsha has not been fully opened yet. I don't know how much money I have to pay along the way...
As soon as he said this, a group of Taiping soldiers with red scarves and turbans suddenly appeared at a crossroads ahead. Everyone held spears and lined up at the crossroads, blocking the road. "What's going on? " Fatty Wu complained, then turned to Su Shun, Sheng Bao bowed his hand, and hurried up to negotiate.
"Let's go and have a look," Shengbao leaned into Sushun's ear and murmured in a low voice, "It's not far from the governor's office. I don't know what happened?" Sushun nodded and followed Sheng. Bao chased Fatty Wu to the intersection.
The three of them had just arrived at the intersection. Before they could ask any questions, they heard a Taiping soldier with a Hunan accent shouting in Mandarin: "Don't be anxious, don't be anxious... A great master has come to Changsha to pay homage to the angel. The road will be temporarily closed!" "Why?" Has the great master come to Changsha to worship the angel?" asked a commoner passing by Changsha City.
The Taiping Army was kind and replied with a smile: "Master Angel and Deputy General Manager Su are getting married soon. Sirs from all walks of life will send people over to have a drink and keep in touch. It's human nature!" Sirs from all walks of life?
What does this mean?
Sushun, Shengbao was thinking about it when the Taiping Army shouted: "Here it comes, here it comes... Stop making noise, it will be fine soon!"
Sushun and Shengbao looked around and found that none of the Changsha people who were blocking the intersection had any intention of kneeling down or avoiding them. Instead, they stretched their necks to watch the excitement. They knew that there were no rules in Changmao, so they also stretched their necks to watch.
After a while, a group of people came from the front. The Taiping soldiers walking in front were about a hundred people wearing red scarves. Then there appeared more than a hundred people wearing green cloth wearing short robes, carrying swords and spears. Among the soldiers with shotguns, one of them was holding a banner with the slogan "Regiment Training Minister Zeng".
The League Training Minister Zeng? Is there a Hunan League Training Minister named Zeng in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom?
Sushun and Shengbao were confused when a familiar face and familiar clothes appeared in their sight.
The familiar face is composed of hanging eyebrows, triangular eyes, high cheekbones, a big beard and some other features. At first glance, isn't this the evil face of Zeng Guofan? He was a Hunan regiment training minister who didn't stay in Changde Mansion. Why did he come to Changsha? Whose team training minister is he?
Chapter completed!