After Hong Renji entered Jinkui City, he was personally greeted by Qiao Zhiqing's personal barracks to the county office, all of them were tall and armed, carrying foreign guns and sabers on their hips.Due to its close proximity to Suzhou, Jinkuicheng has also been greatly affected by Suzhou's new policy, and there are constantly young and beautiful young girls on the street, dressed up in flowers, wearing the latest fashionable cheongsam, frolicking.After Hong Renji and his party came over, the girls pointed at the young man in the barracks with admiration in their eyes, and laughed, forming a different scenery in the sun."
These women's clothes don't seem to be the dress of the Qing Dynasty" The more Hong Renji looks, the more strange it is, the Taiping Army of Jinkuicheng has also captured it many times, and Hong Renji has never come here once, but he didn't expect to come here this time but it has changed greatly, not only widening the streets, but also adding so many houses and shops, there are wine shops, tea shops, rice shops, grain stores, inns, it really has everything, especially the clothes of pedestrians on the road, it is not at all like coming to the Qing Dynasty, even more civilized than Hong Kong, The young women were all tight-fitting cheongsams, bright in color and with a variety of patterns, and some of the corners of the cheongsam even reached the thighs.These women don't seem to care about the gaze of passers-by, but generously show off their feminine beauty.Fortunately, Hong Renji did not go to Suzhou, where the women's dress will be more unexpected to him, Pan Qiaoyu after George's mentions, there are constantly the latest fashion clothing designs, the women in Suzhou City are now all hand-embroidered short-sleeved T-shirts and satin pleated short skirts, and they also decisively threw away the heavy chest wrap cloth and replaced it with a refreshing camisole.Qiao Zhiqing wanted to invent a bra, but he didn't have such a slender steel wire for him to use, so he could only do it first, so that the women's white and tender dough could relax for a while.The shops on both sides of the street have been opened one after another to welcome customers, as if they are used to seeing such a scene, they don't care about the arrival of the pro-barracks, they are all busy with their own work, and the kind of trust in the faces of the Qing Zi Army is something that the merchants in Nanjing City can not imagine."
Wait a minute, can this king go to the rice shop over there to have a look" When the horse team walked by, a rice shop had just opened, and Hong Renji was full of curiosity to inspect the actual situation, and asked the person who looked like the general of the barracks."
Your Excellency is free to do so, we Qiao Dashuai has ordered it, and your Excellency can inspect any place in Jinkui City."
The captain of the pro-barracks replied with a smile."
You Qiao Dashuai really said that," Hong Renji showed a hint of surprise.The captain of the pro-military camp nodded with a smile and motioned for Hong Renji to be casual.Hong Renji was not pretentious, smiled and responded, and then got off the horse and walked into the rice shop, which was not big, slightly thirty square meters, and there were rice cabinets of various colors in the middle of the shop, all of which were filled with tender white rice grains."
What does the guest officer want" The boss just went out from the ear room, and saw that Hong Renji was dressed gorgeously, so he hurriedly greeted him.Hong Renji smiled and grabbed a handful of rice and looked at it, sure enough, the color was bright, the grains were large, and he asked casually, "Boss, how much is a pound of rice of this color" The boss opened his two pairs of fingers and replied with a smile, "The guest officer is really eye-catching, our store is all good Nanyang pearl rice, and it only costs ten cents a catty." ”Note: In the Qing Dynasty, 1 tael of silver 1000 Wen 200 yuan "Ten Wen" Hong Renji shouted out in surprise, you must know that now the war is in chaos, and there has been a shortage of food in the Tianwang Mansion in Nanjing City, not to mention the life of the people in the city, where can you still eat rice, and the rice of such color on the black market has also been raised to 100 Wen per catty.The boss thought that Hong Renji was too expensive, so he hurriedly laughed, "Well, the customer is the first customer of the shop today, if you want more, I will give you eight cents." ”"Boss, how many rice shops are there like you in Jinkui City, I came all the way, the farmland around Jinkui City is basically barren, where did this rice shop come from, Hong Renji couldn't help frowning, the boss frowned and thought for a while, and counted with his fingers, "Don't hide it from the guest officer, the small shops are all small shops in Jinkui City, and there are more than 30 shops like me in Jinkui City, and there is also an official grain shop in the east of the city, which is run by Qiao Dashuai in Suzhou, and the area is much larger than the small shop, And they are all wholesale, never sold in bulk, and the rice from the small shop comes in from there. ”"That's right" Hong Renji pondered for a while, and said goodbye, "Then let's do this first, and when I need to, I'll send someone to your store." ”"The guest officer walks slowly, and the small shop welcomes you at any time."
The boss sent him off with a smile, and scolded in his heart, he was a poor ghost again, pretending to be an uncle, and he didn't buy it after asking for a long time.After the owner of the rice shop sent Hong Renji out of the door, he saw that a general of the Qingzi Army personally dismounted and helped Hong Renji onto the horse, he couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat, smacked his tongue, and secretly exclaimed, God willing, fortunately he didn't scold, this person is really a big official."
Do you want to go somewhere, my lord, I'll take you there."
After Hong Renji got on the horse, the captain of the pro-military camp asked with a fist."
No need, go directly to the government office."
Hong Renji sighed, and admired Qiao Zhiqing for three points in his heart, he was inferior to him in military affairs, inferior to him in culture, and inferior to him in economy, he had only been based in Suzhou for a few months, and even the auxiliary city of Suzhou was well governed, civilized and civilized, and he was really a genius.Hong Renji even began to suspect that Qiao Zhiqing must have returned from a trip to the West.After Hong Renji crossed the horse and came to the county office, Qiao Zhiqing had already led the generals to greet him at the door, and the two met for the first time, but their faces were full of sympathetic expressions.Hong Renji fixed his eyes and saw that Qiao Zhiqing's camouflage military uniform was no different from the dress of the Qingzi army, and his figure was very thin, but he was very strong.On the contrary, Hong Rengan is dressed as a Confucian student, and he is often proud of his Confucian identity, if he is not forced by Hong Xiuquan, he will not come back from Hong Kong to take the risk of rebellion.When Hong Renji first met the Qing character army, he also specially asked people to go to Suzhou to search for two sets of military uniforms and study them carefully, this kind of camouflage uniform is a world-class design today in terms of style, clothing and practicality.Hong Renji also tried to design a unified military uniform for the Taiping Army according to the military uniform of the Qing Army countless times, but he gave up because of the successive battles."
Ganwang is tired all the way, Zhiqing is really sluggish."
After Hong Renji dismounted, Qiao Zhiqing greeted him with a smile and carefully held Hong Renji's arm."
Qiao Dashuai is so polite, not hard, not hard."
Hong Renji hurriedly hugged his fists and bowed in return, his face was full of flattery, he didn't know what Qiao Zhiqing's idea was, and he was so courteous to the thief in his eyes."
Don't say anything, hurry up and enter the house, Ben Shuai has already prepared a good banquet for you, catch the wind and wash the dust for you, you and I will talk while eating."
Qiao Zhiqing said and helped Hong Renji into the county office, Hong Renji's face was full of discomfort, and he thanked him again and again, sometimes he almost forgot what he was doing in Jinkuicheng, as if he was a guest at a good friend's house, but the matter of the young king was not important.The group entered the lobby of the county office, and a table of wine and food had been set up in the hall.After Qiao Zhiqing and Hong Renji did a good job according to their primary and secondary positions, the other generals all retired, leaving only Wang Shumao to accompany them."
Qiao Dashuai, Ming people don't say secret words, Xiao Wang came this time for the sake of my young king.Please also ask Qiao Dashuai to raise his noble hand and let go of my young king, if you have any conditions, just say it, Xiao Wang will definitely discuss with the king of heaven after returning to Nanjing, and Xiao Wang can meet all reasonable conditions. ”Wang Shumao picked up the wine jug and filled a glass for each of the three people, and after three rounds of wine, Hong Renji finally had the courage to put forward his request."
It's really good wine," Qiao Zhiqing drank a glass of wine and chuckled, "The king is really happy, and Ben Shuai has nothing to hide from you, the reason why he invited the young king over is to leave Li Xiucheng's soldiers and horses in Jinkui City and eat them in one bite, Ben Shuai can't tolerate anyone interfering with the process of Suzhou's new deal." ”Hong Renji didn't expect Qiao Zhiqing to say what he thought in his heart so nakedly, he was stunned, and said calmly, "Qiao Dashuai has such a big tone, although the equipment of King Zhong is not as good as yours, but he also has hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses, and you are not afraid of breaking your stomach." ”Qiao Zhiqing smiled calmly and said coldly, "Chaowang Huang Zilong's 20,000 soldiers and horses were wiped out in just two hours, even if all the soldiers and horses of your Taiping Army were added together, it was not enough for me Qiao Zhiqing to stuff his teeth, the reason why Li Xiucheng was kept and he was reluctant to do it was because this king didn't want to kill again." ”Qiao Zhiqing's words couldn't stop being domineering, and he only couldn't hold Hong Renji up.In fact, Qiao Zhiqing is just to scare Hong Renji, Huang Zilong's 20,000 people were annihilated in one fell swoop by making careful arrangements in advance before they were annihilated in two hours, if they really confronted Li Xiucheng's more than 100,000 soldiers and horses, even if they annihilated 100 enemies, I am afraid they would lose more than half of themselves, you must know that Li Xiucheng's army is also equipped with foreign guns and artillery, and the combat effectiveness of Bingyong is not inferior to the Qing army."
Then there is nothing to talk about in this matter" Hong Renji clenched his wine glass and forced himself to meet Qiao Zhiqing's fierce gaze."
Actually, I have never met the god-king, but I have already heard of the god-king's name.Qiao Zhiqing smiled, eased the atmosphere, and continued, "The new chapter of senior administration written by King Gan, Ben Shuai has also read it carefully, it is really a rare medicine, but it is a pity that your kingdom of heaven is already terminally ill, even if King Gan has the art of resurrecting the dead, it is difficult to go against the sky."
Therefore, the king should also understand that the destruction of Nanjing should be a matter of time. ”"It doesn't matter what Qiao Dashuai means."
Qiao Zhiqing changed the topic and talked about Hong Renji's sore spot, Hong Renji couldn't help but hang his head, secretly ashamed, his new policy only stayed on the surface, and he had not seriously implemented it, and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was already a dilapidated ship, as Qiao Zhiqing said, no matter how hard he tried to repair it, he couldn't change its sinking fate after all
.
: