Chapter 31 Section 31

Wei Han had no choice but to sit in a small sampan in front of the shipyard and sail straight to Guba's flagship.The Rongshidu Luan has already hung up the flag of emergency preparations, and the soldiers on board have all entered the combat readiness position, ready for battle.Looking at the Yangwu and Fuxing ships that are not far away, I don't know whether Guan Jia can't read the flags of the enemy ships, or he just ignores them. The soldiers on the deck lean on the railings and watch, as if they never thought of the imminent battle. Halfway through, I found a French ironclad ship downstream, sailing up at full speed, cutting the waves and splitting the waves, and two white waves dragged out of the stern.

The small sampan hurriedly dodged it, while Wei Han turned his eyes to see it off, and saw the French translation of the painted name on the ship's body, it was called "Dulun Alchemist".While traveling upstream, the ship was communicating with the Rongcedurouan using semaphore. Suddenly, a small French ironclad ship Links opened fire, and with a bang, all the cannons fired together, first sinking the Feiyun, one of the three ships moored under the Luoxing Tower.It was two o'clock in the afternoon. In the upper reaches, the target of the French warship was the Yangwu, and Guba personally commanded the ring attack, but within three to five minutes, amidst the smoke, a loud noise was heard, and the French 46th mineboat sank the Yangwu .

The mine in the Yangwu Institute was at the bottom of the ship. After the ship sank for a while, Zhang Cheng was able to put down the lifeboat and escape in time with the seal and flag of the battalion office.The target of the French warship also turned to the Fu Xing, which was berthed alongside the Yang Wu. Chen Ying, the steward of the Fu Xing, was just like Hu Linyi described Yan Jingming, "he is less than five feet tall but has a great heart".When the artillery fire broke out, Yangwu was attacked and had nothing to fight back, Fubo and Yixin fled in fear of the enemy upstream, and Fusheng and Jiansheng in the west were panicked for two rounds, only Chen Ying ordered the artillery to fight back and cut the cables at the same time. , Ready to rush into the enemy line.

There is an old servant Cheng Er beside him, because he has been on the boat for a long time, he generally understands the way of defense and avoidance on the water, so he hurriedly persuaded him: "Fubo and Yixin have already flowed upwards. We should also follow the past, go to the upper class to concentrate, and then come back to fight according to the situation. " "You want me to escape?" Chen Ying stared and replied sharply, "It's not like you haven't seen my letter from home!" Not long ago, Chen Ying wrote a letter to bid farewell to her family, saying, "The salary accumulated over the years is almost ten thousand gold, and I am supported by the state. If you fight, you will be rewarded with death." I dare not persuade any more.

So Chen Ying used the megaphone on the "observatory" to encourage the whole ship's officers and men: "A man eats the king's salary and is loyal to the king. At this point, there is no retreat. As long as the Fu Xing rushes, there will be ships to follow. Why can't we turn defeat into victory?" The whole ship was full of turmoil, and everyone worked hard. Chen Ying personally steered the steering wheel and rushed downstream, the front and starboard cannons fired one after another.Helplessly, this wooden warship has a draft of only ten feet six inches, a speed of only nine knots per hour, and it has been launched for fourteen years. It is an old gunboat and is no match for the French ironclad ships. The navies of various countries applauded loudly.

At that time, the lower reaches to the east of Luoxing Pagoda had also opened fire. The Dulun Fangshi, which was specially sent to convey the combat order, was the main attacker. The Second Artillery attacked the Zhenwei, and the shells swept past the stern and fell into the river, causing a large splash of extremely high water.The officers and soldiers on the Zhenwei were rushing to get off the lifeboat. There were too many people and few boats. Those who couldn't make it jumped into the river, sinking and floating, hoping to escape from the cracks of the gunfire. . However, Xu Shoushan and a few soldiers on the left and right did not escape.He was very calm, and only used four small cannons to fight back. The eighty-pound muzzle-loading cannon, loaded with shells, endured the firing, and took charge of it himself. Shen.However, the Rongshidu Luan was commanding the battle upstream, and it never lost its tail.

Xu Shoushan's wishes came true, and he hated his subordinates for not being up to date. In a fit of anger, he fired cannons and sank his two lifeboats. More than a hundred deserters were killed or wounded, and most of them were punished by military law.Looking around, Feiyun and Ji'an, the anchorage has not yet been broken, they have been hit by a cannon and caught fire, and the hull of their own ship has already collapsed. Just when the people couldn't stand, they were hit by a cannonball again, and Xu Shoushan fell to the ground , covered in blood, but he still struggled to fire the unfired cannon.With a bang, shaking the surface of the river, he didn't know if he could hit the enemy.

At this time, most of the local officials, except the general Mu Tushan who was stationed at the Nagato Fort, mostly fled.The first one to escape was the governor Zhang Zhaodong. As soon as the horsetail cannon sounded and the news reached the city by telegram, he quietly left the governor's office through the back door.He didn't plan to leave forever, and he wasn't completely desperate about the situation. He just wanted to avoid the limelight and take a look at the movement. Because of this, he felt that it was a good idea to alarm anyone and spread the word "the governor has escaped". Very unwise thing.

"I'm going to hide for a day or two, don't be afraid!" He said to his aunt, "The situation is certain, I'll be right back." His concubine who was in charge of the house was very calm, "Master," she asked, "Where you go, there must be a place where I can find you." "Don't look for it, don't look for it! No one can know about this." "So, you always take someone with you?" "No one is emperor." Zhang Zhaodong said, "You ask someone to tell the door that I am sick and can't see guests. No matter who comes to see me, I will block them."

"You walk around like this alone, and you don't know the way of life, which makes people worry." "It's good if you don't know the way in life, but it's not good to recognize me." Zhang Zhaodong comforted her and said, "I bring money, 'money makes ghosts grind', and I can go anywhere. I want to find someone What temple, hide for two days, eat vegetarian food for two days, as long as foreigners don’t enter the city, I’ll be right back.” Since the common people didn't know the news that Mawei had started fighting, the market was relatively calm. Zhang Zhaodong didn't take a car or ride a horse, but walked out of Xicheng with a bag of silver in his car.After less than an hour's walk, the situation was getting worse. Groups of people from the city came hurriedly from behind. Zhang Zhaodong stopped one of them to inquire.

But did the foreign soldiers enter the city?What Zhang Zhaodong was concerned about was this matter. He thought that he would not be able to find out from the group of people who escaped first, so he decided to wait until he found out the truth before making a decision. Not far away, there is a Notiao House, with a few white wooden tables under the bean shed and melon racks, where many people rest their feet.Zhang Zhaodong decided to ask for news here, went in and found a remote seat and sat down, fearing that someone would recognize him, he hid his face and listened quietly. The voice of the conversation is very noisy, I only know that the river is already on fire, and I don't know who will win and who will lose.Zhang Zhaodong couldn't help being depressed, and the hand holding his face was a little sore, he had to turn it around, but when he raised his face, his eyes met, his heart froze, he hurriedly avoided, he couldn't help himself, the real enemy was in a narrow road! "Hey! You're here...." "Huang Tong, Huang Tong!" Zhang Zhaodong hurriedly begged in a low voice, "Please take care of my face." "Take care of your face! Why didn't you think of taking care of my face?" Because Zhang Zhaodong didn't do a good job in Huang Tong's sentence, he once beat the case in the official court and reprimanded him. At this moment, Huang Tong judged that he had a chance to retaliate. "Let's go!" Huang Tongpan grabbed Zhang Zhaodong's clothes by the chest, "Find a place to judge." I don't know what he wants to judge?Zhang Zhaodong was worried because he was afraid that he would reveal his identity, so he could only beg with kind words: "There is something to say, this is ugly!" "Are you also afraid of being ugly? Let's go!" Of course, Huang Tong is not an idiot. If he really exposes his identity, it can be done quickly, but the crime of "committing" afterwards is hard to bear.It is expected that Zhang Zhaodong would not dare to reveal his name knowing that Zhang Zhaodong was "walking in private" like this, so he just grabbed him and wanted to embarrass him. At this time, there were already tea guests gathered around to persuade them, and when asked the reason for the dispute, Huang Tong replied confidently: "Ask him yourself!" "We are good friends." Zhang Zhaodong said, "I owed him money, and he demanded debt from me. Here," he handed over a bag of silver, "I'll pay you back! " It's called paying off debts, but it's actually bribery.When Huang Tongpan was in his prime, he felt that if he took the money, he would be worthless, so he pushed his hand: "Who wants your stinky money? You must make yourself ugly!" "That's what's wrong with your Excellency. It's fine to pay back the debt." Someone complained for Zhang Zhaodong, "Besides, you are good friends!" "Who is his good friend? Don't listen to his nonsense, this person is only doing things that hurt nature and reason!" One is domineering, the other bows his head and smiles wryly. Others don't understand what's going on with them?We can only persuade each other in general, but naturally we can't persuade them.At the time of the stalemate, two soldiers came to investigate. This is Quan Yong, a new recruit from the City Defense Battalion.The Hokkien dialect is different from the Fuzhou dialect. They don't understand Zhang Zhaodong's Shandong dialect, and Zhang Zhaodong doesn't understand their Hokkien dialect, so he had to tie his hands and arrest the team officer who went to see them.However, the treatment was fairly fair, and Huang Tongpan was taken away with him. The city guard stationed in areas other than Xicheng was a general, who was originally on duty as a supervisor, of course he had met the governor, and was shocked when he saw it. "What did you do?" Mr. Qian went up and kicked his soldiers twice, "Tie your hands with the governor, you really don't want to live, do you?" When Zhang Zhaodong heard that his identity had been revealed, he immediately put on his face, his face turned frosty.When Mr. Qian came to untie him in person, he didn't even look at him. "I'm Huang Tongpan. You release me too." When Huang Tong was still released from bondage, Zhang Zhaodong had already sat down in the middle, yelling in an official tone: "Your soldiers are too undisciplined! In this state, the law is not enough to set an example." Huang Tongpan was furious because he was tied up for no reason, and now seeing Zhang Zhaodong in high spirits, he became even angrier.At the same time, he also realized that as long as this boss is under his control, he will inevitably use other people to deal with him.This must be the first to act first! "You are a big official in the frontier, and your soldiers are approaching the city, and you fled privately.The imperial court is about to kill you, which one do you want to kill? As he said, he stepped forward quickly, rolled up his sleeves, and slapped Zhang Zhaodong in the mouth. Mr. Qian knew the general situation, tried his best to resolve it, persuaded Huang Tongpan to leave in a huff, and relieved Zhang Zhaodong's siege.However, his offer to escort the governor back to the city was declined. Zhang Zhaodong continued to act privately and found a monastery to stay temporarily. Zhang Peilun also fled to the monastery.As soon as the cannon rang, the five high schools were on fire, and they ran to the mountain behind the shipyard with their own soldiers. On the way, there was a thunderstorm, the mountain road was muddy, and they lost one of their shoes. They were dragged by the soldiers and escaped in one breath. Lilu, panting like a cow, I really can't walk. "Find a place to rest," he said, "discuss with others." So the soldiers found a decent farmhouse. Many people were talking about the artillery fire on the river. When they found soldiers, they couldn't help being nervous. "My lord, I want to borrow your place to sit." "My lords," the host asked, "is that lord?" "Master Zhang." The soldier replied, "Master Zhang, the minister who will be in charge." "So it was him! Where is Zhang Peilun who killed us in Fujian?" Hearing that the tone of the personal soldier was not good, he hurriedly stopped him: "Don't mess around! I will borrow your place to sit, if you are willing, you will be willing, if you are not, then you will be pulled down." While talking, Zhang Peilun hurriedly backed out, Zhang Peilun stared at the distance under the tree, and also saw that the villagers' attitude was not good, so he became cold at first.Looking at his body and feet, he was extremely embarrassed and ashamed of his appearance, so he turned around involuntarily. "My lord!" said the soldier, "Go away! The country people here are very wicked." Zhang Peilun gritted his teeth, got up and left, just now he was fleeing for his life, now he was avoiding humiliation, walking just as fast, fortunately it was the way down the mountain, and it was not too strenuous.At dusk, I found a red wall, hidden among the pines, the wind sent the evening bell, and my ears and heart were clear. Zhang Peilun breathed a long sigh of relief, thinking in his heart: I probably won't sleep in the open tonight. "This is probably Yongquan Temple." Zhang Peilun guessed after reading "Fuzhou Fuzhi", "Go and see it." It really is Yongquan Temple.Of course, the old monk in the temple would not be as angry as the countryman just now, welcome Zhang Peilun into the temple, treat him hospitablely, and the vegetarian food is clean, but he can't eat. "How far is it from here to the shipyard?" "Twenty miles away." "It's no wonder the artillery can't be heard." Zhang Peilun said, "I don't know if the French soldiers have landed?" The old monk was silent and had no answer.Buddhism is quiet, and they don't even know there is such a thing as ponytail fighting. "There must be some solid news." Zhang Peilun said anxiously. "I'll go find out." A soldier volunteered. "Okay! You go." Zhang Peilun warned: "No matter how late it is tonight, there will be an answer." For more than 20 miles, he drove back and forth and asked for news. How could there be an answer for a while, Zhang Peilun was alone in the monk's dormitory, facing the lonely lamp, wandering around the room, until the morning bell started to ring, and then he saw his soldiers rushing profusely. back. "How is it?" Zhang Peilun asked anxiously, "Have the French soldiers landed?" "The French soldiers didn't go ashore. But the shipyard was bombed." The guard replied, "Some people say that a shot from the French warship hit the landmine in front of the dock, adding fuel to the fire and making it even more powerful. Now both sides of the strait It's fire, and the river is red." "So, is there anyone helping?" "Who will save? Those who escaped escaped, and those who did not escape took advantage of the fire to rob. The shipyard's warehouses were all robbed." "Damn it, damn it!" Zhang Peilun gnashed his teeth and stomped his feet, but the following sentence "must be investigated and dealt with strictly" felt difficult to utter, so he only paused and asked about the damage of the warship. "The Yangwu was hit by a torpedo and sank immediately. The Fuxing went backwards for a while, but it didn't work. Later, it was also sunk by the French soldiers. It is said that the gunpowder tank was hit by a gun, and everyone on board died in the river. .” "Then what about Fusheng and Jiansheng?" "It's all sunk too." Of the six boats upstream, four sank, leaving Fubo and Yixin. According to the news from the soldiers, they fled upstream without being poisoned.Zhang Peilun was slightly relieved, and then asked about the two boats in front of the shipping bureau. These two ships, one named Chenhang and the other named Yongbao, were unarmed merchant vessels. According to Zhang Peilun and Zhang Cheng's ideas, they could be used to ram enemy ships when necessary, and they could both belong to Jing. However, this idea fell through. "Chenhang and Yongbao were both sunk." The soldiers replied, "After sinking these two ships, the French warships bombarded the shipyard and only fired one or two shots." "What about downstream?" Zhang Peilun asked anxiously, "Can the three boats downstream escape?" "It's doomed." The soldiers shook their heads, "Feiyun and Ji'an sank before they were released. Zhenwei fought hard for a while, but they were no match for the siege of the French warships, and finally sank!" "It's sunk, it's sunk!" Zhang Peilun's face was ashen as death, but there was still a glimmer of hope, "Our ship has sunk so much," he asked, "There must be some French warships that we sank, right?" "No. Just wounded one of their torpedo boats." "Could it be that the turrets on the shore don't work?" "Nine times out of ten, those guarding the fort escaped. It's useless not to escape." "why?" "The guns are all dead, the muzzle cannot be turned, and it is useless at all." "Alas!" Zhang Peilun sighed, "Mr. Xiao Song, what can I say about the seven years of management?" The guards couldn't listen to his emotion, but they had a very solid suggestion: "My lord! Everyone said that the French soldiers dare not go ashore, and that they are throwing themselves into a trap. It doesn't matter for a while, my lord, let's go back!" If there is no one in the game, and the snake has no head, things will get worse." All the soldiers have such insights, Zhang Peilun is really ashamed.He nodded and said, "I wanted to go back, but the French soldiers made an inch of their way. Even though they didn't dare to go ashore, they would definitely fire. How can the ship's bureau stay?" "You have to go as far as you can, the closer the better. It's more than 20 miles away from the shipyard, and there are mountains across the road. It's not good if there's no news." "You're right. Let's see where we move it?" With no staff around him, Zhang Peilun took a personal soldier as a confidant of Counselor Miwu.That soldier also had some knowledge, and thought that he might as well seek help from the old monk of Yongquan Temple. "It makes sense!" "Then, I will invite the old monk." "No, no!" Zhang Peilun said, "I should go to the abbot for advice. But I don't know if the old monk has gotten up yet?" "It's almost dawn! The monk is doing morning lessons, and the old monk must have gotten up. Please go, my lord!" Of course, you have to check your clothes and shoes and do your best to be polite.Helplessly, a "two-section shirt" made of bamboo cloth and woven silk was covered with mud and dirt, and a set of shorts and pants on his body also smelled of sweat and steamed, making it hard to get close to others.But you can't be naked, you have to make do with it.I can no longer wear the white socks under my feet, and there is only one shoe left, so I can only wear the sandals sent by the temple barefoot.If you really "pack lightly and follow the rules", go to pay homage to the abbot. After seeing the old monk Dao Ming's intention, it was indeed a good idea for the soldiers, and the old monk took it upon himself to arrange it for him.To plan for him, it is advisable to stay in Pengtian Township, which is close to the shipping bureau. There are many benefactors of Yongquan Temple there, and he will definitely be able to find a place to stay. So, accompanied by a Zhike monk from Yongquan Temple, Zhang Peilun went to Pengtian Township and went directly to a wealthy family named Chen.The Chen family believed in Buddhism the most, and they were the guardians of Yongquan Temple. Although they were dissatisfied with Zhang Peilun, they looked at both the Buddha's face and the monk's face, and they still treated him hospitablely.After bathing and changing clothes, Zhang Peilun looked like a "Master Imperial Envoy" again. When he was talking calmly with his master, he could only hear a faint clamor, Zhang Peilun was a frightened bird, he was afraid that someone would question him, so his white face was so frightened that it lost all color. The master saw what was on his mind, and hurriedly said: "Master Zhang, please sit down. I'll go and see what's going on?"