Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 74 Li Yi: Another generous gift?
Upon hearing this, Chen Guangguo stood still and said with helplessness in his voice.

"The bandits are indeed greedy, but there is nothing we can do about it. There are not many soldiers in Teng County right now. If the bandits attack the city, I'm afraid we won't be able to resist them."

"I'm sure everyone has heard what Luo Youtian brought back from outside the city. The reason the bandits want to attack the city is to target the wealthy families."

"Your lives and property are all in this county!"

"If the enemy soldiers break into the city, the consequences will be disastrous..."

Upon hearing this, several wealthy investors looked at each other and saw the helplessness in each other's eyes.

They knew that what Chen Guangguo said was right.

After hearing the news that the bandits had arrived outside the county seat of Teng County, they all sent their slaves and servants to the city to check the situation.

The large black mass of bandits outside the city cannot be fake!
If the enemy troops really attack the city, Teng County will probably be captured soon.

Chen Guangguo was an official in a foreign place, and his family was not in Teng County. After the city was broken, the worst outcome for him was to die for the Qing Dynasty.

The Qing court would certainly not treat the family and orphans of this loyal and brave minister badly.

But what about them?

Everyone's wife, children and elder relatives are in the county town.

Once the city is breached and falls into the hands of thieves, the consequences will be disastrous!
Just when everyone was frowning, the next moment, several huge roars resounded throughout Teng County.

Boom! Boom!
The deafening sound of artillery fire was terrifying.

As soon as the cannon sounded, a yamen runner ran in from outside in a panic and came to the crowd and said.

"Qi... Your Excellency, something terrible has happened!"

"The bandits... the bandits are attacking the city with cannons! The artillery fire is very fierce. The city gate tower on the west side of the city has been blown down by the bandits' cannons. Brothers, we can't hold on any longer..."

If you only listen to the description of the yamen runners, it seems that the battle was quite brutal.

But in fact, this bailiff was just talking nonsense!
In fact, Li's army had just fired two rounds of artillery fire when the yamen runners on the city wall fled in panic, and they didn't suffer many casualties at all.

It was true that the city gate tower was hit by a cannonball, but only a corner of the wall was knocked off; it was still a long way from collapsing.

However, the words of this yamen runner really frightened Chen Guangguo and several wealthy gentry in the lobby of the county government.

"This... How is this possible?! Where did the bandits get the cannons?"

"Is this true?"

"It's over! It's over! We can't defend Teng County anymore!"

"..."

Chen Guangguo remained calm in the face of danger and turned to Luo Youtian and said.

"Mr. Luo, please go outside the city again and give some money and food to the rebel army. Please appease the rebels and make them temporarily stop attacking the city."

"Buy time to raise money and food for Teng County!"

Although Luo Youtian was a little frightened when he heard this, he still agreed.

Immediately, Chen Guangguo turned his gaze to the others and spoke.

"Everyone, now that things have come to this, whether it's money or life, you should make a quick decision..."

……

Luo Youtian left Teng County and once again came to the Li family army's camp outside the city to ask to see Li Yi.

But this time he did not come alone. He was followed by several yamen runners and a cart.

There are several large boxes on the cart!

Soon, he was brought before Li Yi.

"Haha, I said nicely and gave you an hour to make a decision, but what happened? You treated my words as bullshit, and when the time was up, you didn't respond."

"Why, once I start firing, you all come to your senses and are willing to pay the departure fee?"

"What a bunch of bastards! They don't even want to show their respect!"

Li Yi spoke very impolitely.

But in the current negotiation, he is the dominant party in the initiative.

It’s actually good to be a little bit rough!

If he behaves politely, he will be seen as weak and his enemies will think he lacks confidence.

Luo Youtian was embarrassed when he heard this, but he still spoke. "I hope the general will calm down his wrath for now."

"My county lord is not neglecting the general, but the general's travel expenses are too huge, and the county needs time to raise them..."

"I am leaving the city this time because I was ordered to deliver the first payment to the general."

"Five thousand taels of silver, I hope the general will accept it!"

"Pause the siege!"

When Li Yi heard this, the frost on his face disappeared instantly.

Instead, there was a smile that came from the heart.

"Easy to say, easy to say!"

After he finished speaking, he turned to a guard beside him and said.

"Go and pass on my military order, asking our artillery fire to temporarily stop."

After giving orders to the messenger, Li Yi turned to Luo Youtian and said.

"I have called a halt to the bombardment. I have shown my sincerity. I hope you will not let me down. Otherwise, don't say I didn't warn you!"

Upon hearing this, Luo Youtian hurriedly responded.

Then after completing the handover of the silver, he led his men back to Teng County again.

Over the next period of time, horse-drawn carriages continued to drive out of Tengxian, delivering silver, money, food, cloth, medicinal materials and other supplies to Li Yi's troops.

After the ransom money paid by Teng County was paid, Li Yi had almost completed the recruitment work.

He recruited 2,200 combat soldiers and 4,000 auxiliary soldiers in Teng County, which greatly made up for the battle losses of his troops.

Immediately, Li Yi prepared to move his troops southward towards Cenxi.

However, just before he led his troops to set off, Luo Youtian approached Li Yi again.

In the past few days, Luo Youtian has traveled back and forth between Li's army camp and Teng County several times, and has become familiar with Li Yi.

In addition, the troops were about to be withdrawn, so Li Yi did not show any displeasure to Luo Youtian this time. Instead, he smiled and teased him.

"Why did Attorney Luo come to my place again today?"

"Why, you don't want me to withdraw my troops? If you really don't want to, I can lead my troops to stay in Teng County for a while."

Luo Youtian smiled awkwardly when he heard this.

"The general is joking!"

"You are a true hero. Since you have accepted the county lord's travel expenses and promised to withdraw the troops, how could you break your promise because of a small character like me?"

"I came here today on behalf of the county lord to discuss something with the general..."

Upon hearing this, Li Yi showed an interested expression on his face and then said.

"Talk about it!"

Luo Youtian took a deep breath and then spoke.

"The county magistrate wants to ask the general to act out a play with him, a play in which the officials and people of Teng County are united in fighting bravely and defeating the bandits to protect the safety of Teng County..."

"If the general agrees, the county lord will give you a generous gift!"

Upon hearing this, Li Yi lowered his eyelids and fell into deep thought.

After a moment, he looked up and said.

"can!"

The reason why Li Yi agreed to this.

On the one hand, he had just collected the ransom money raised by the people of Teng County, and the money has not yet warmed up, so after-sales service naturally has to keep up.

On the other hand, Li Yi also wanted to use this to paralyze the Qing army...

If Li Yi led his army to a defeat at the gates of Teng County.

Then, the Qing army would probably no longer regard Li Yi as a threat.

Instead, they will continue to encircle and suppress the main force of the Taiping Army with all their strength!

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(End of this chapter)