Hou Xun waited anxiously for a long time, and finally when the good news came that Wuchang had changed hands, he quickly changed into his official uniform, put on his official boots, and entered Wuchang City under the escort of the cavalry sent by He Renlong.
He Tengjiao was extremely busy. The city of Wuchang was in a mess due to the fighting in the morning. Fires broke out in more than ten places. Young people also took the opportunity to cause trouble. He had no soldiers under his command, so he could only organize servants to put out fires and catch thieves in official uniforms.
, finally calmed down, and heard that the imperial envoy had entered the city, so he hurriedly went to greet him.
The ceremony to receive the order was held in the front yard of the Governor's Yamen. Looking at He Tengjiao covered in mud and water, He Renlong with his wound wrapped in bandages, and Liu Ziguang covered in blood and smoke, Hou Xun couldn't help but sigh to himself that such a ceremony to welcome the imperial envoy was considered the original one.
Chao Shao came. He took out the imperial edict and read it to everyone. The great righteousness was that he was ordered to provide disaster relief. Local officials and soldiers must cooperate. Then Liu Ziguang also took out an imperial edict and began to read it. The content of his edict was that Zuo Liangyu should split.
He should be punished for his crimes, and all his titles such as General Ping Thief and Prince Shaobao were formally dismissed. The military and political power of Huguang was handed over to He Tengjiao.
He Tengjiao immediately shouted long live and thanked him for accepting the order. After many years, he finally became a real governor. Naturally, he was very happy and extremely grateful to the two imperial envoys. After a busy morning, it was time to eat. He Tengjiao said: "Don't be afraid.
The adults are laughing at me, I don’t even have a decent cook in the governor’s mansion, so let’s rent a restaurant and use some of it.”
Hou Xun was dissatisfied. The city of Wuchang was not as prosperous as Nanjing. The streets were very empty, the buildings were very low, and there were not many high-end restaurants and shops. Could it be that the famous port on the middle reaches of the Yangtze River had this kind of virtue? In fact, Hou Xun
I misunderstood. The three towns of Wuchang, Hankou and Hanyang each have their own characteristics. Wuchang is mainly for garrison and government offices, Hanyang has iron factories and arsenals, and Hankou is a prosperous business district.
Although he was unhappy, Hou Xun did not show his displeasure on his face. Instead, he said in a friendly manner: "The war is in chaos. Just grab some food and wine. No need to be formal." But Liu Ziguang was more straightforward than him and said: "What are you going to do?
At the restaurant, the brothers haven’t eaten after working all morning, and the hungry people outside the city haven’t had anything to eat for several days. I think we can just find something to fill our stomachs. I remember there is a noodle shop at the door, which would be very suitable.
.”
Liu Ziguang was talking about the Cai Linji Noodle Shop in front of the Governor's Office. Because of the war in the morning, the owner was so scared that he closed the shop. It had not yet opened. Since Liu Qinqi said so, He Tengjiao and He Renlong did not dare to say anything more.
He then walked towards the noodle shop at the door, Hou Xun followed bitterly, thinking that going out with Liu Ziguang on this errand was really bad luck for eight lifetimes.
Another person who felt unlucky was Cai Lin, the noodle shop owner. Logically speaking, it was a great honor for so many adults to eat in his shop, but he couldn't be happy because he had no noodles to sell.
, fighting everywhere this morning, he was so scared that he hid under the bed and did not dare to come out. He had no time to make noodles. He only had a few handfuls of noodles left from yesterday at home. Because of the hot weather yesterday, there were a lot of noodles left unsold. He was afraid
The noodles turned rancid, so he cooked the remaining noodles, drained them, and dried them on the chopping board. He accidentally knocked over the oil pot on the table and poured sesame oil on the noodles. He had no choice but to mix the noodles with oil and put them out to dry again.
.Cai Lin had no idea whether this kind of noodles could be eaten. But the gentlemen were here. If you push them outside, wouldn't you be asking for death? Cai Lin was heartbroken and simply put the cooked noodles mixed with oil in boiling water and scalded them.
Drain it and put it into a bowl, then add the seasonings used to sell jelly, such as sesame paste, green onions, ginger, garlic, chili noodles, vinegar, soy sauce, etc. After it was served, everyone could not bear to see the steaming and fragrant noodles.
It's no wonder that the index finger is moving. Everyone has been busy all morning without eating, and now everything tastes delicious.
There was no soup in the noodles, but the messy seasonings mixed together were delicious. Liu Ziguang took three bowls of them before asking: "Staff, I've never had this kind of noodles before, what's it called?"
Seeing that he was covered in blood, Cai Lin was too frightened to speak loudly, so he replied in a low voice: "It's a fake name." (Wuhan dialect)
Liu Ziguang tapped the table with his chopsticks and said: "It's hot and dry. I think it's better to order hot dry noodles. Give me another bowl of hot dry noodles."
Cai Lin said: "Master Jun, the noodles are hot. Why don't you give me a bowl of jelly to sprinkle on them?"
Liu Ziguang smiled and said: "Jiangfen is something for women and children, forget it." Seeing that everyone else had finished eating, he asked his soldiers to stay and pay the bill, and then went back to the Yamen with a few adults to discuss matters.
"Hot dry noodles, this name is easy to say, loud and easy to remember." Cai Lin was still thinking about Liu Ziguang's new name for his innovation, and the soldier spared a tael of silver and said, "This is a reward from the Marquis."
"I don't need so much money...Did you just say Mr. Hou? That person just now is Mr. Hou?" Cai Lin asked with his eyes widened in surprise.
"It's our Marquis of Zhenwu. The Marquis likes to tip more when he pays the bill. Just take it. Why do you pay so much?" The soldier left the money and left, leaving Cai Lin there to be stupid: "It's the Zhenwu Marquis."
Marquis Wu came to my place to eat noodles, and even named my noodles, hahaha, I am prosperous."
Liu Ziguang and the others now face two big problems. One is that the victims outside the city may riot at any time, and the other is that the remnants of the left army across the river may counterattack at any time. Liu Ziguang is a military general. He fought against the Qing Dynasty and his record in Platform Bay is unparalleled.
As you know, Zuo Liangyu's remaining strength is still there, so the task of commanding the extermination of thieves naturally falls on his shoulders. As for the task of disaster relief, He Tengjiao and Hou Xun have completed it.
There are still more than 3,000 cavalry in the city, plus Liu Ziguang's 300 death battalion. Although they are not superior in quantity, their quality is far higher than that of the remaining troops of the Zuo Army. He Renlong was a court general on par with Zuo Liangyu at that time.
Later, due to the defeat, he returned to Zuo Liangyu's subordinates. Both his qualifications and strength were not much worse than Zuo Liangyu's. He brazenly launched an army to rebel against Zuo Liangyu, not only because of his temporary anger, but also because of long-term suppression. He
Renlong is not a good person who is loyal to the emperor and patriotic. He joins forces with He Tengjiao to rebel just to gain a better status. The Huguang he envisions is a semi-religious kingdom, and He Tengjiao is still a puppet. At most, he is in charge of civil affairs, water conservancy, and judicial matters.
He is still responsible for the army and taxation. Compared with Zuo Liangyu, he is only a few steps closer to the court.
But things didn't go as smoothly as expected. Although Zuo Liangyu died, Liu Ziguang came. This god of death was really powerful. His men were also very powerful, and their weapons were murderous and invisible. Thinking of this, He Renlong was a little agitated.
Worried about his status, what if the court settles the scores afterwards and investigates his sins of following Zuo Liangyu for many years.
"General He, I think you are the one who belongs to the position of Commander-in-Chief of Wuchang. I will give you the title right now. Without the general's resolute uprising, the left thieves would not have been defeated so quickly." Liu Ziguang could naturally understand He.
Renlong's thoughts, granting officials and making wishes are his specialty. Now that his team has not arrived, of course he must coax He Renlong into peace.
"Thank you, Lord Marquis, for your support. Renlong is in Cao's camp and his heart is with the Han Dynasty. He has long wanted to kill the Zuo thief and serve the court." After hearing Liu Ziguang's words, He Renlong felt a little more at ease.
There were not many shops in Wuchang City, and the grain stocks were very limited. There were only a few hundred bags of rice found in the barracks of Chuangziying. He Tengjiao suggested cooking all the rice for disaster relief. Everyone naturally agreed. Liu Ziguang and the others brought 500,000 taels of silver and waited for Hankou to seize it.
After coming down, you can go there to buy rice. After a while, the imperial grain team will arrive.
While they were discussing, soldiers suddenly came to report, and warships appeared on the river, flying the flag of the left army, heading towards the shipyard in a mighty manner.
Unexpectedly, Zuo Mengeng solved those uncles and uncles so quickly and took the military power into his hands. Liu Ziguang and He Renlong immediately stood up and prepared to go into battle to resist the enemy. Liu Ziguang thought for a while and said: "I'll go to the shipyard, General He."
Let's defend the city to prevent the left army from attacking in the east." He Renlong was eager to save his troops and immediately agreed.
Liu Ziguang left the Yamen and went straight to the shipyard. At this time, Zhong Shouyong and Da Wenxi, who had lurked in Wuchang in advance, came to report to him. As Liu Ziguang walked, he asked them why they lost contact? Zhong Shouyong said that the radio receiver was malfunctioning, so it could not receive reception.
Fortunately, they fulfilled their mission, contacted He Tengjiao and cooperated with He Renlong to successfully carry out the mutiny.
At this juncture, Liu Ziguang would not pursue these details. He asked directly: "You still have a lot of money left. Take it all to the shipyard."
Although the Death Battalion was powerful, it had a Achilles' heel, which was the limitation of ammunition. They came from thousands of miles away from the capital, and every gunpowder and every shell was laboriously transported, and every shot was missed.
Especially incineration shells and shotgun shells, which are relatively complex in craftsmanship, cannot be replenished once they are used up. When their ammunition is used up, the disparity in combat effectiveness will drop a lot. In the past, three hundred people could deal with ten thousand people, but now they can only deal with three.
Thousands of people.
Therefore, Liu Ziguang also tried every means to collect weapons and ammunition. The shipyard still has some equipment that can be used. Wuchang Station still has a lot of pig iron. Pig iron is hard and wear-resistant, has good castability, and cannot be forged. It can be melted and poured into a mold to cast a solid cannonball.
Later, such a simple process could be easily completed by the shipyard's equipment and workers. Those workers survived because of Liu Ziguang's words, so they were naturally willing to serve. As for the gunpowder, they could only be used sparingly, and the gunpowder brought by Zhong Shouyong and others was also used.