Xiangshan County is adjacent to the Portuguese-occupied Macau, so it is not easy to be the magistrate of Xiangshan County. Although it seems to be much better than Bao'an County across the sea, positions that are easily involved in Westernization are always not so attractive.
Therefore, Bao Yaopin, the 269th Jinshi of the Third Class of Enke in the ninth year of Tongzhi, was appointed as the magistrate of Xiangshan County.
Although Xiangshan County involves Westernization, after all, the Portuguese are not strong enough, so it is not difficult for him to be the county magistrate. The most important thing in life is to be content. Compared with Bao'an County next door, Bao Yaopin is much better as the county magistrate.
Recently, the French raided Mawei. The Fujian Navy, which had worked hard over the years, suffered heavy losses. The achievements of many years of shipping management were ruined. I heard about Shen Baozhen, and Mr. Shen was so angry that he could not sleep.
The Governor-General immediately ordered the coastal states and counties to immediately organize civilians to patrol the coastline and be on guard against the appearance of the French fleet.
This errand has kept Magistrate Bao busy for a while, and his calves have grown big. Now that the arrangements have been made, Magistrate Bao can finally take a rest.
However, Magistrate Bao was destined to work hard and could not rest.
A government official ran in panting and shouted.
"Sir, it's not good."
"My lord, I'm very fine. Why are you so flustered?"
Magistrate Bao, who was disturbed, immediately came out and gave the officer a warning.
"No, my lord, two large warships have arrived from the sea."
"What!" After hearing the news, Magistrate Bao immediately stepped forward and grabbed the Yamen servant's shoulders. "After the warships came, did you see clearly that there were other ships?"
The officer who was grabbed by the shoulders looked embarrassed. "I don't know about that. As soon as we saw the two large warships, Liu Tou immediately asked me to come back and report to your lord."
Unable to get any more information from the Yamen servants, Magistrate Bao immediately ordered, "Prepare the sedan chair immediately, and I will go and check it out personally. In addition, I will summon the people immediately and prepare to find out what's going on with me."
It can be seen that Magistrate Bao is also a responsible person and does not mess up like others.
However, subsequent news relieved Magistrate Bao's worries.
The sedan has not yet left the city gate, but Liu Bantou is riding over on a fast horse.
"what happened?"
Seeing Bantou Liu coming over, County Magistrate Bao immediately stopped him and asked him.
"Misunderstanding, this is a misunderstanding."
Tired and out of breath, Captain Liu took a breath before continuing. "This is our big warship. I was anxious before and asked Jia Er to come and report back. It turned out to be a misunderstanding."
Upon hearing that it was a misunderstanding, Magistrate Bao felt relieved, but he still had to inquire carefully.
"Please tell me carefully, Master."
Later, through Liu Bantou's words, County Magistrate Bao finally clarified the whole story. It turned out that this morning, Liu Bantou and his people patrolled the coastline as usual, but this time when they visited Jiajia Village, they heard reports from panicked villagers.
, two large warships appeared on the sea in their Jiajia Village, and several small boats were launched from the large warships, on which blond and blue-eyed foreigners could be seen.
Upon discovering the presence of a large foreign warship, the village elders immediately thought of the notice in the county. This might be some foreign prisoner named France. So he sent people to the county to inform the villagers and organized the transfer of the villagers.
After hearing the report from Jiajia Village, Bantou Liu felt that the matter was of great importance and immediately asked Jia Er to report. In addition, he took people to see the truth and reality.
As a result, when we arrived at Jiajia Village, we saw foreigners, but beside the foreigners there were people wearing official uniforms. Such a strange combination made Team Leader Liu feel strange. He sent two bold men to get closer and found out.
It turned out that these two large warships belonged to the imperial court, and those foreign devils were also invited by the imperial court to fight. Foreign devils fought foreign devils, which made Liu Bantou feel that his head was not full, but he also knew that it was not his place to have anything to do with this matter.
Immediately mount the news horse and rush over to report.
After listening to Liu Bantou's words, County Magistrate Bao immediately issued two instructions. "Stop gathering the people. Hurry up and have people buy a batch of pigs, sheep, melons and fruits. Once they're ready, send them to Jiajia Village as soon as possible."
Then Magistrate Bao, led by Liu Banfa, immediately rushed to Jiajia Village.
"I didn't know that Mr. Liu was here, and I missed you from afar. I hope you will forgive me."
As soon as County Magistrate Bao arrived at Jiajia Village, he rushed to Liu Buchan and spoke politely.
"There is no need for Magistrate Jia to be like this. I also made a hasty decision to disturb your county."
Although Liu Buchan was just a guerrilla, when he rushed to Italy, Li Zhongtang specially gave him a Taoist title in order to make him qualified to command the fleet, so he could also become the sixth-rank magistrate of Bao County.
An adult title for the county magistrate.
"Where can I be received by Mr. Liu? I will be very happy. In addition, I will prepare a small amount of wine. I hope you and a few other gentlemen can show my respect to the landlord."
Magistrate Bao didn't know the identities of Leifer and Gomes, but he saw the two of them chatting happily with Liu Buchan, so he called them "sir" together. Anyway, it is customary for foreigners to be senior to officials, and Bao Yao is not inferior to him.
This time.
"No need." Faced with Magistrate Bao's banquet, Liu Buchan directly refused, and of course he also gave a reason. "The Taiwanese Master may be coming later, and we understand Magistrate Bao's kindness."
When he heard that the Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi was coming, Bao Yaopin certainly wouldn't be angry. Instead, he felt that his previous decision was correct.
"You're welcome, Mr. Liu. Since Mr. Taiwan Maker is coming, I'll let someone prepare for it."
Then Magistrate Bao immediately ordered his servants to send people to call the best cook in Xiangshan and buy another batch of food. As for greeting Mr. Dutai, there is no need. Who doesn’t know that Zeng Guoquan and Zeng Dutai are the most unlucky people?
If you like complicated etiquette, just let them see that you are already preparing.
About an hour later, the master's guard of honor appeared in front of everyone.
As expected, Zeng Zitai was different from the others. He actually came on horseback. As soon as he arrived in front of them, Zeng Dutai immediately smiled and said to Liu Buchan who came up to him. "You Liu Zixiang, you actually asked me to rush from Guangzhou to Xiangshan."
I came to welcome you, knowing my sin."
Upon hearing Zeng Dutai's words, Liu Buchan immediately knelt down and explained, "Please forgive me, Mr. Zhengtai. I have no choice but to do this."
Their fleet had no choice but to stop at Xiangshan. Their ship could not go to Guangzhou, and in order to prevent being caught in the trap by the French fleet, they could not go to Guangzhou at all. Considering safety and convenient communication, they rushed to Xiangshan.
"Okay, I was just joking with you, Zixiang. I think it was a great achievement that you traveled thousands of miles to command the Zhijing 2nd Ship back home. How can I blame you? Don't tell me that you asked me to come to Xiangshan to greet you. I just came to Fangcheng.
No comments."
Liu Buchan was moved by Zeng Guoquan's words for a while. Then he remembered the two Italian captains who were accompanying him. After standing up, he immediately introduced them to Zeng Dutai. "Master Taipei, these two are Italian Leifer and Gome.
Captain Si, the second ship Zhijing is currently under their command."
"Thank you to the two people who traveled thousands of miles to help me. Daqing will not let down our friends who help us."
Since Zeng Guoquan did not speak a foreign language, Liu Buchan acted as a translator, making communication between the two easy.
"Your Excellency, Governor Zeng, is too polite. We are just doing our part."
Although communication can be achieved in this way, neither party is very satisfied, but it is more or less okay.
At this time, Magistrate Bao appeared at the right time. "My lords, I have prepared a banquet. Would you like to sit down first and talk while eating?"
This just relaxed the atmosphere, and Zeng Guoquan, who was from Guangdong and Guangxi, immediately said, "Since the master has invited me, let's be guests for once."
Then the group sat down at the banquet. After drinking for three rounds, Zeng Zhitai finally said, "Zixiang, what are your plans next?"
Yes, this was Zeng Guoquan's goal. He was interested in these two large warships. Although he knew that these were Li Shaoquan's pet peeves, but now that the Fujian Navy was in ruins, as long as they were pulled out of the plate, they would be the food. So he hurriedly abandoned the others.
The purpose of running from Guangzhou to Xiangshan on official business is not to hope that these two ships can continue to stay in the South China Sea and prevent Bogu's fleet from wreaking havoc in the southeast and affecting the people's hearts.
Otherwise, just Liu Buchan would not be worthy of him as a platform maker rushing to meet him. After all, the platform maker is a high-ranking official, and he does not have so much free time to take care of everything.
Facing Zeng Zhitai's inquiry, Liu Buchan looked embarrassed because the issue had not been discussed yet. Because according to his original intention, that was to arrive at Jinmen as soon as possible and return to Li Zhongtang. But unfortunately, the thoughts of the two Italian captains
But they need to stay in the South China Sea, disrupt French shipping, and seize the opportunity to attack lone French military and civilian ships.
Although Liu Buchan issued the order forcefully, the people in charge of the operation on the ship were all Italian officers and soldiers, and he was not easy to use force, so there was no result discussed along the way.
But now Zeng Zitai's questioning was like pinching him by seven inches, leaving him unsure of what to say.
But although Liu Buchan didn't speak, someone wanted to talk.
"Liu, what are you asking, Governor-General?"
As the captain of the Zhiyuan, Leifer was also born in a noble family, so he was very good at observing people's emotions, so he asked him about it at this time.
In the face of Leifer's inquiry, Liu Buchan could conceal it, but as long as this situation was exposed, he was destined to be in trouble. Even Li Zhongtang would not protect him for this, so he could only tell the truth.
When the two Italian captains heard Liu Buchan's translation of Zeng Guoquan's words, their eyes lit up. "Please tell Governor Zeng that we are very willing to lead two warships to continue to attack France's maritime power."
As a result, this banquet where the host and guest enjoyed themselves was an unusual success, except for Liu Buchan who was in a somewhat complicated mood.
However, this matter is no longer under his control, so he can only take it one step at a time.
Fortunately, their ship was well maintained in Calcutta, so now they don't have to worry about maintenance issues, otherwise they would have to go to Japan.
