In the past, he would not have dared to think about it: there was a huge difference between Xiong Wencan and him. Let alone meeting him in person, even meeting his undercover would cost the second master no idea how much money it would cost.
But now, Xiong Wencan has completely lost Guangdong, and now he can only "sit back and wait for death" and "seek medical treatment in case of emergency". He will definitely be more polite and corporal.
But this person was hard to find. Gou Xunli was originally just a "village sage" in a remote small county. At best, he could only be called brothers with the "Five Giants of Chengguan Town" in the county. He was not so "virtuous" outside the county.
When the Gou family was at its most powerful, the master of Qiongzhou Prefecture was the most powerful political figure they had ever made friends with.
When they fled to Guangzhou and searched for connections to complain, Gou Xunli deeply realized his own insignificance. On the ground in Guangdong, except for Li Siya who later took the initiative to recruit him, he had no connections worth mentioning.
Fortunately, the opportunity came soon. For the sake of safety and convenience of robbery, many spies were stationed in and outside the city of Wuzhou. These people secretly colluded with the bandits and constantly passed various news to the village. Kun
After the thieves broke through the city, Gou and Hu felt sick, so they sent many people to the city to contact the four townships and "sit detectives", firstly to see if there was any movement in suppressing the bandits, and secondly to try to find them.
Can I secretly contact the lost people in the government and use this as my guide?
Among them was a detective who used to be a "white-bodied" yamen servant in the county yamen. After the Australians entered the city, he heard the news and hid at home - there was no roster of white yamen servants anyway, so as long as he did not go to the yamen to do errands, he would
Even if you break away from the relationship.
Because of his work as an errand in the Yamen, this person had been assigned to stand outside the Governor's Yamen. Therefore, he had met Yi Haoran several times and knew his details. The day before, he went to the street to do errands, but he stopped in front of a house where a funeral was being held.
I recently met Yi Haoran who was working as a "knowledge guest".
The yamen officer originally just wanted to take the opportunity to extort some money from Yi Haoran, but when he met a bandit coming down the mountain looking for a "guide," he told the visitor the news.
Gou Xunli received the news as if he had found a treasure. Because according to the detective, Yi Haoran once took charge of Xiong Wencan's servants - it can be seen that he must be an important master in Xiong Wencan's shogunate. Since he is hidden among the people, he will definitely not seek refuge with Kun.
The thief, even if he couldn't stop him, he wouldn't report him. So he immediately took the risk and changed his identity and came to Wuzhou to contact him in person.
He said that he was a "gentleman from Lingao County", "went to the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi", "he was in the middle of the town" and so on. This was all to raise his own status and to dispel Master Yi's wariness.
Sure enough, after he said these few words, Yi Haoran's eyes became much less wary. He whispered: "In that case, what is the reason for the strong man coming here?"
Gou Xunli also whispered: "Sir, have you forgotten that this is the land of the Ming Dynasty and want to live in peace and become a citizen of the Song Dynasty?"
Yi Haoran took a deep look at him: "Don't dare forget!" He exchanged a few perfunctory words with the people around him, and then said: "Where are you?"
"It's not convenient for me to stay in the city for a long time - the thieves want to check the household registration," Gou Xunli quickly looked around and whispered, "I will go to the Longmu Temple in the north of the city to offer incense tomorrow at noon. Sir, can you wait for me there."
Gou Xunli couldn't completely believe that Master Yi was meeting outside the city. He could send someone to the scene in advance to check if there was any ambush, lest the Master suddenly want to take his head as a meeting gift.
That night, Yi Haoran thought over and over again and decided to take the Gou Xunli route. Now that the funeral of Jiang Qiuchan's family has been basically completed, he has no reason to continue living here. And he has nowhere to go in Wuzhou - not only that, if he says now
When we went to Teng County, the road was not smooth. Even if the thieves did not block the road, they would not be able to save their lives if they encountered bandits who were robbing them.
Gou Xunli's background is certainly suspicious, but he is a down-and-out master, an old man, neither a handsome man nor a beautiful woman, nor does his family have wealth. Gou Xunli will not set up to deceive himself. If it is a trap for a thief, he is not what he is.
He is an important person, let alone one who is in the city. Why go to such trouble to kill or catch an urban thief with just one sentence?
No matter what this "strong man" is planning, it will not be harmful to him. The worst is to lose his life. On the other hand, if this "gou xunli" really has some clever plan and can turn the tide, it is not a bad thing - anyway
The situation between Xiong Wencan and the Guangdong Ming Army has reached its worst point. If they fight to the death, they can still turn things around.
After thinking about this, he quietly went to see Qiu Chan.
"My niece-in-law's important affairs have been taken care of. It is inconvenient for me to stay here anymore - it will be detrimental to your good reputation." Yi Haoran considered the words, "Tomorrow I will go out to look for a house, and I will move out now."
"Uncle has no relatives and friends in Wuzhou, and the war is in chaos. Where can I rent a house and settle down?" Qiu Chan relied on Yi Haoran to run around and take care of the situation these days, and finally handled this idle matter safely.
"Master Yi" was very grateful: You must know that orphans and widows like her, if they have no relatives to support them, are the targets of bullying and blackmail in society. Often, after a futile thing is done, the family will go bankrupt before their bones are cold.
Although he knew that "Hao Ran"'s departure would be good for him and for this already incomplete family, the fear of being orphaned and widowed and helpless, and living with him day and night in these days, had a profound impact on his gentlemanly character and crisis.
Her favorable impression of his boldness and fearlessness made her unwilling to let him leave just like that.
But it is really unreasonable for him to live like this. Qiu Chan thought for a moment and said, "Don't be anxious, cousin. Now is the time of war, and my cousin is a stranger. No one will be willing to rent the house for a while."
It’s better to find a job here and settle down—either teaching a private store or being a bookkeeper. Once you have a job, you will have a place to live.”
Yi Haoran said: "That's true, but where can I find work in a hurry?"
"Don't worry, cousin. My mother-in-law is doing business locally and has quite a lot of connections. I'll just ask my relatives to inquire for my cousin tomorrow."
Naturally, Yi Haoran was more respectful than obeying orders. The next day, he left the city as promised.
This was the first time he went out of the city after the war, and he lamented the devastation outside the city after the war. However, the order outside the city had been restored to a large extent. There were thieves and soldiers leading a group of "group soldiers" equipped with spears and swords.
The patrol station gives people a sense of stability. The ruins on the streets are being cleaned up by teams of workers. On the river bank south of Longmu Temple, various collected materials are piled up, and many boats are moored. Approximately
The purpose is to repair the pontoon bridge on the Guijiang River. The shops are all open. Although the business is slow, there is finally a little bit of vitality to survive the disaster.
Suddenly, a whistle came from far away, and when he looked up to see the thick smoke billowing on the Xijiang River, there was another group of ships, slowly approaching here in a row - this must be the warship of the Kun thief. Yi Haoran suddenly felt that he
What an idiot. Xiong Wencan's tens of thousands of troops were beaten to pieces in Wuzhou, and he had to flee in a hurry. He is a scholar, but he has to "discuss the state affairs" with a green forest hero. Is it possible that he has hundreds of thousands of soldiers?
Can ten green forest heroes save the day?
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but secretly feel sad. He felt that his future was bleak and he was just carrying snow to fill the river and cooking sand to make rice.
While I was in distress, I suddenly heard a voice saying: "Your team has a total of seventy-six workers in the morning. Where did the ninety workers come from? You see, they all clearly recorded their signatures..."
The voice was very familiar. Yi Haoran followed the sound and saw a man who looked like a scholar talking to several foremen in a hut on the roadside. When he looked carefully, he saw that it was not Chang Qingyun!
In the midst of surprise, Chang Qingyun suddenly raised his head. Judging from his instantly frozen expression, he must have recognized himself!
Chang Qingyun was startled, and immediately said: "...If you don't believe it, I'll show it to you..." After saying that, he gave Yi Haoran a "go away" look.
Yi Haoran nodded slightly, not daring to linger any longer, and quickly walked towards the Dragon Mother Temple.
On the way, he hesitated for a while whether to go to Longmu Temple to meet Xun Li again, but then he thought that although Chang Qingyun had been captured by the Kun bandits, it seemed that he was getting preferential treatment and was not rushed to build the city. He agreed.
He didn't report it on the spot, but still motioned for him to leave quickly. It seemed that he still had a trace of conscience in his heart.
Affected by seeing Chang Qingyun again and his "unyielding captivity", Yi Haoran's mood improved somewhat. He walked as fast as flying, thinking:
"As for this brave man, no matter how capable he is, he can finally serve the country wholeheartedly. Whether he can turn the tide or use his arms as a chariot, I have to give it another try!"
While Yi Haoran secretly met Gou Xunli at Longmu Temple, the fleet coming from the Xijiang River docked at the Guibei Pier outside Dayunmen. As soon as the springboard was set up, groups of soldiers wearing brand new gray uniforms
Then they lined up and walked down from the boat.
Probably because they had been on the boat for too long, the queues were sparse and not neat, and the soldiers seemed listless. Qian Duo was on the dock, looking at the group of people and shaking his head - he had been notified that he would arrive today.
It was the Wuzhou Brigade of the National Army. He had been waiting for this brigade for a long time. After all, with only his 100 people and hundreds of militiamen, Wuzhou's defense was too weak.
But the team in front of us: new clothes, new guns, obviously the people are also new. Judging from their military appearance, most of them may have been expanded in Guangdong - many of them still carry standard spears.
It is too difficult for the Senate to expand enough National Army from the "homeland". Therefore, in the construction of the National Army, it is mainly based on the original National Army as the base of the army and recruiting and expanding old guards in Guangdong.
The soldiers and various Ming troops surrendered.
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Next update: Volume 7 - Guangzhou Governance Chapter 348