Nowadays, the floating population in the old city is large, and commerce is highly developed because of this. The entertainment industry includes brothels, casinos, soup houses (baths), restaurants, and inns. There are also more than a dozen commercial streets, and the streets are very prosperous.
The waste steel slag from steelmaking is a very good road construction material. Under the leadership of Wei Bancheng, after the city's sewers were expanded, the streets and alleys were paved with steel slag, and then compacted with stone rollers. Even commercial streets were installed
Carbide lamp street lamp.
Today's Zunhua is really like Jiangnan in the north of the Great Wall. As long as you are not short of money, everything is available here.
In the large house of a salt merchant in Zunhua North City, the generals were having a meeting.
In the past few days, they have gradually collected more than 40,000 defeated troops and gathered them in a temporary military camp outside Zunhua City. The fifth general soldier of the 3,000 battalion and the two general soldiers of the fifth military camp have all returned.
The officers and soldiers who escaped from the Shenji Battalion ignored them and went directly to find Zhou Yuji.
Zhou Yuji did not stop in Zunhua at all, and went directly to the capital. Because he knew that the Great Wall could not be defended at all. Now along the Great Wall, only the 35,000 people of Ji Town's headquarters still have fighting power. They have not been annihilated or defeated.
It was very dangerous here. He even risked his life to disobey orders in order to save the carriage camp and these precious five hundred heavy cannons. These Dingyuan Marquises used to pay for their wealth by themselves.
With the imperial court in its current state, it is impossible to afford the money to rebuild it.
Ten thousand well-trained gunners, five hundred armored carriages, and five hundred heavy artillery are the real assets of the Beijing camp. The rest are just fake.
Since the Cheying camp entered the pass, they have been rushing towards Nanyuan non-stop. Those who escaped from the Shenji camp also went straight to the Nanyuan camp. They did not stop in Zunhua at all.
Mangui looked at the room full of chiefs and deputy chiefs. The lowest ones were all generals. He felt a little proud. Now he has the highest rank here. He is the chief general of the fifth army camp. These people are all the chief generals in charge of the road.
It's just that everyone is in trouble, and some of them are bandaged horribly, which looks a bit funny.
"Everyone, you all know that the Great Wall cannot be defended. There was a big chaos in Ji Town last year, and now many officers and soldiers are rebels. Did these bastards sincerely surrender at that time, or were they forced by the situation? Everyone has a question in their hearts.
There are a lot of them, it would be strange to expect them to be able to hold on." Man Gui said.
Hu Dawei recognized Mangui's words and continued: "Although we have gathered more than 40,000 defeated troops, these people are already frightened. As soon as the Eight Banners soldiers appear, they will immediately collapse and flee. So we cannot fight.
, and it is impossible to cooperate with Ji Zhen to defend the Great Wall."
Zuo Liangyu said with a frustrated look: "What should we do now? We will definitely be impeached when we return to the capital, and we might even go to jail directly. I think Donglin is in danger of being defeated this time. Let's not become cannon fodder."
The current Beijing Camp has nothing to do with Yang Fan. It was all expanded by Donglin, and the officials inside were all replaced by our own people. Therefore, most of these people have defected to Donglin. Only He Huchen and Man Gui are British
On the government side.
Zuo Liangyu had to consider the coming storm in the court.
The trend of overthrowing Donglin has already begun.
"I can't go back. Is there any food and salary here? How can I live a good life?" Meng Ruhu also said worriedly.
Zuo Liangyu rolled his eyes and said, "A certain family has a plan. I don't know if you guys dare to do it."
Everyone turned their heads and looked at Zuo Liangyu.
"It is absolutely impossible for us to go to the capital now. It is at the cusp of the storm. It will not be fun if His Majesty tries to take advantage of us. And we cannot stay here. Soon the slaves will come to the city.
We must be looking for a place to retreat. However, without money and food, the few troops we have will continue to be dispersed." Zuo Liangyu said with narrowed eyes.
Soldiers are the foundation for military leaders like them to live and work. Without soldiers, they are nothing and have been abandoned by civil servants long ago. Therefore, we must keep our soldiers and horses. And if we want to keep our soldiers and horses, we must get food and pay. It is natural for soldiers to eat food.
Mangui narrowed his eyes, and he also believed that his value was his soldiers and horses. Without his soldiers and horses, what would the British government want him to do? Even if he is a lackey, he must be useful, right?
"you mean"
"Help!" Zuo Liangyu said. "Jiannu is about to invade the city. Think about it, there are so many factory owners, mine owners, and wealthy people in Zunhua. They have to show their support. Otherwise, if Jiannu comes in, they will
Weren’t all their property and women taken away by the slaves? This was a time to save their lives, and they couldn’t help but lose their wealth.”
Several people immediately understood what a bad idea this fight was about.
"At that time, when we get the money and food, we will stop the Jiannu, and then we will disperse and retreat." Zuo Liangyu said.
They wouldn't dare to stay and resist, as they would be frightened out of their wits. And the people below would collapse at the first touch. However, it is still possible to get some money out of this method.
Several people immediately started discussing it.
Wei Bancheng sent out all his servants and mobilized from house to house, so that all factory and mine personnel outside the city retreated into Zunhua City. Jianu was about to attack.
Wherever the slaves passed, they were like locusts passing by, taking away the entire population.
Aren't these people seeking death by staying outside the city?
Either retreat to Zunhua. After all, Zunhua is the seat of Governor Shuntian with strong city walls. There is also the seat of Ji Town more than 20 miles to the east, where the Yamen of Governor Jiliao is located, and the Santun Camp Military City. There is also a military city there.
Thousands of troops were stationed.
If you really don't want to enter the city, you have to evacuate to the wild. The Qing soldiers are not familiar with the mountains here, and they don't have the energy and time to search the mountains. Their main goal is to attack Zunhua.
Wei Bancheng has always had prestige in Ji Town, and is now the leader of the guild. Naturally, he has a huge influence. All of a sudden, everyone was busy moving and escaping. They buried the heavy iron ingots, extinguished the fire,
The wells were buried. Then some of the family members were dragged into Zunhua City, and some fled south to the capital area. After all, it was too unsafe here.
After Wei Bancheng mobilized according to Yang Fan's instructions, he took his wife, son and servants and ran into the industrial zone in the northeast corner of Zunhua Old City. Yang Fan had already arranged accommodation for his family in Xinghe Castle.
As soon as Wei Bancheng's wife crossed the small bridge, she was surprised to find that in the industrial zone in the northeast corner of the old city, weapons were being distributed everywhere and the workers were armed.
Barricades are being built on the streets, and bundles of barbed wire are being deployed along the river banks. These rolling ring-shaped barricades are two meters high, with cross-wired wires arranged horizontally.
Neither humans nor horses could pass through the four to five meter barbed wire fence.
"Master, what does this mean? Are they preparing for street fighting after the city of Zunhua is destroyed? Is it safe here? If not, let's go to the capital to escape."
Wei Bancheng said without hesitation: "I don't know if Zunhua can be defended, but Marquis Dingyuan arranged for our family to stay in Xinghe Castle. Then Xinghe Castle will never be breached by Jian Nu. You should keep this in mind."
Okay. Now there are no decent soldiers and horses in the whole of Northern Zhili. It is not safe to escape anywhere. It is better to listen to Marquis Dingyuan."
At this time, the little fat man said: "Mom, don't worry, Brother Yang is the most reliable. If he says there is no problem here, there will be no problem. Let's just live in peace of mind."