It's another plum rainy season, and the misty rain in Yichang Prefecture is hazy.

Nowadays, after three years of hard work, the Qing army was fleeing in Shaanxi, Sichuan, and Hubei's White Lotus Rebels were compressed near the four counties in Guizhou, Changyang, Xingshan and Badong in eastern Sichuan and western Hubei. It was time to close the net.

After three years of depletion, the Qing Dynasty's treasury was empty again.

Since Emperor Qianlong came to power, the silver cost more than 50 million taels of silver in the two wars in Junggar and Xichuan. This time, the White Lotus Cult uprising of the three provinces was even more expensive, and at least 100 million taels of silver was spent in three years!

On the surface, the Qing Empire, which seemed to be burning with fire, was actually on the verge of collapse, and the White Lotus Uprising was not caused by the previous two wars. After the first two wars, in order to make up for the national treasury deficit, the empire had to give up Emperor Kangxi's promise of "never increase taxes" and began to extend the harsh taxes to ordinary people.

Also, since the Qing Empire has developed, the population has increased sharply, nearly 300 million, and the yield per mu has not increased, which will naturally lead to a large increase in land and refugees.

In addition, in normal history, the Qing court won the Junggar War, but in this time and space, they failed, spent the same military expenditure, but did not obtain a large amount of wealth and population, resulting in even greater deficits in the treasury.

In addition to the loss of the Hong Kong Battle, it made even worse, which triggered the White Lotus Cult uprising in advance.

However, after compressing the White Lotus Cultists to the above four counties and their neighborhoods, the Qing court finally breathed a sigh of relief. They obviously knew that the White Lotus Cult members were dragging a large number of people to gather near the four small counties, with little food and a large number of people. There was no need for a large army to attack. Their defeat was in a short moment.

So, the four Qing troops stopped at the same time, and on the one hand, they were naturally waiting for the internal collapse of the rebel army.

As the rear of the encirclement and suppression army, Yichang Prefecture City, Hubei Province, has suddenly returned to the prosperous scene of the thriving businessmen in eastern Sichuan and western Hubei.

A big restaurant outside the city near the Yangtze River Wharf is even more booming. The fish banquet here is famous in eastern Sichuan and western Hubei, especially the sturgeon fillets. Originally, because of the activities of the rebel army for a period of time, the overall situation has been settled, so naturally it has been busy recovering.

Yiling Tower is the name of this restaurant.

In addition to the whole fish banquet mainly composed of sturgeons, there is another reason why he is famous. He was built in accordance with the Yellow Crane Tower in Wuchang Prefecture, and stands on the riverside. It is divided into three floors. All three floors can enjoy the river view while having a banquet.

Since it is a banquet, how can you lose the joy of silk and bamboo?

The only entertainment for people at this time is to listen to operas and listen to books. Nowadays, there are corresponding opera troupes on the three-story restaurant in Yiling Tower. The first floor is storytelling, the second floor is local opera, and the third floor is the best, so it is naturally the most popular Kunqu opera nowadays.

The third floor, the seats near the riverside were naturally covered by dignitaries, and the remaining seats were also people with some identities. In the middle was the stage, where a little actor with heavy makeup was sillying there.

At the corner, there was an apparently temporary seat, a small round table with three people sitting on it. The first one was a young man about twenty-seven or eight years old. He had an ordinary face, no beard, his head was shaved, and a big, smooth braid was dragged behind his head.

Unlike everyone who was obsessed with the whole fish banquet and the gown, this person's eyes were on the little actor on the stage.

The little actor was obviously not old, about fifteen or sixteen years old, with a good appearance, and was different from the ordinary actor's soft and weak appearance. This actor was quite tall. At first glance, he was a martial artist, and his voice was different from the ordinary actor's Yingying and Yanyan. It was soft and strong, but it had a unique flavor.

The actor on the stage naturally had already seen this person. Not only that, she saw this person for three consecutive days. Although she often made fun of good people when she was performing opera, the restaurant has a great background and most people would not provoke him casually.

What's more, her figure does not meet the eyes of ordinary people nowadays. Not many people are obsessed with her, except this person.

As a troupe who defected to a restaurant, it was a big deal to survive in this era. Soon, a name kept popping up in the minds of the little actors.

"Tuo Guang, a big businessman from the south, is said to have some connection with the famous Thirteen Party in Guangzhou and is very close to the government in Huguang area. This time, the official army encircled and suppressed the rebel army and used their ships to transport food and grass for them. This person made great efforts"

"For this reason, he also obtained the title of a fifth-rank civil servant"

"Why is this person staring at him?"

Just as she was thinking, with the sound of a gong, the song ended, and her role today ended.

It was the time of You and Xu, and the guests gradually dispersed, but this person seemed to be still unsatisfied and kept enjoying the following operas. Generally speaking, at the time of Xu, even if the restaurant is in the outer city, it will not be open all night. Most of the guests who can have a banquet here live in the city and will definitely leave early, otherwise they will not be able to enter the city.

In the end, only this table of guests was left.

The little actor took off his makeup and was having dinner in the backstage. He was thinking about his thoughts. He only ate half a bowl of white rice for a long time. After a while, he suddenly sighed and put down his bowl.

At this moment, the restaurant owner came over.

"Liang'er, Boss Tuo wants to see you"

"No!"

Although I foresaw this, the little actor named Lian'er still refused.

The restaurant owner smiled and said, "Let's meet me, this person has great magical powers and has a relationship with the governor in the city. There is nothing else. He just wants to sit with you and talk to you. He will leave automatically when the time comes."

As he said that, his face changed again, "Your team wants to make a living in Yichang Prefecture, so this person cannot be offended, otherwise there will be an extra body in the Yangtze River tomorrow morning."

Lian'er also changed her face. After hesitating for a while, she finally got up and walked out.

When she arrived at the hall, she saw that except for that table, the remaining guests had left. The person's seat was moved to a location near the river by the restaurant, and his two entourages also left, obviously to create an opportunity for them to meet alone.

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When the restaurant owner saw her agree, he naturally smiled. When she stepped towards the table, he also closed the door between the backstage and the hall.

The night is dim and the candlelight is swaying.

Unlike Lian'er's expectation, the man named Tuo Guang did not touch his feet, but just sat quietly at the table. He was obviously staring at himself, but his gaze was not like a lewd and joking, but looking at him.

As an actor who travels around the world, there is obviously such skill, otherwise he would not have lived until now. When he thinks of this, Lian'er's hanging heart has also been relieved.

"Did he really like himself?"

Immediately, she shook her head in her heart. Although she has a beautiful face, she is more heroic than beautiful, and she is not the most favored appearance of romantic men nowadays.

"Did he see himself?"

When she thought of this, she couldn't help but shivered.

"Liang'er"

While he was thinking about it, the man finally spoke, saying a beautiful official language mixed with a Cantonese accent, his voice was calm and he was calm, as if everything was under control.

"Big...man"

Tuo Guang donated a fifth-rank official. Although it was a false title, it was an official position after all. Lian'er hesitated for a moment and still called it that way.

The man suddenly lowered his voice and leaned forward, which made Lian'er think: "Finally come..."

Thinking about how to deal with this situation, although the man's voice was subtle, it was clearly heard into her ears.

"Liang'er, I'm not greedy for beauty, but discussing something with you. Remember it clearly. It's a big deal. Don't make a statement. Next, I deliberately teased you, and you also deliberately showed a frightened look. Now the boss is eavesdropping behind the door"

Although Lian'er was a little surprised, she still did what he told her.

So, Tuo Guang's lewd laughter and Lian'er's screams kept coming out in the empty third-floor hall.

After a while, Tuo Guang lowered his voice again.

"Okay, all the people on the third floor have been exposed, we can talk about the serious business"

“……”

"You must be very curious, but you don't care about this for now. What I want to say is that I know who you are, you are a White Lotus Sect."

“………!”

When Lian'er heard this, she was shocked. She immediately stood up and then nervously checked her left and right.

Tuo Guang was still sitting upright at the table as steady as Mount Tai, and his subtle voices kept pounced on her.

"Don't panic, I'm not from the government, but from those who came to save the White Lotus Sect"

Although I couldn't believe it, Lian'er sat down.

"Who are you?"

"You don't care about this, anyway, it's a force that the Qing Dynasty dare not offend"

"Don't you dare to offend the Qing Dynasty? Could it be a Westerner?" Lian'er thought suddenly, and then he thought of something again, "There are several major forces from the West, such as France, England, and the Netherlands. Nowadays, the most Dutch people in the Qing Dynasty. By the way, Truqin, this is a great country that even the Qing Dynasty is afraid of."

"Is he Truchen's man?"

Then he asked softly: "Truchen?"

Tuo Guang did not respond directly to him, but said: "Now, the White Lotus Cult is besieged in four mountain towns. A large number of people are gathered nearby. The food and grass are consumed countless times every day. The defeat is right in front of him. Perhaps there will be internal strife without the attack of the Qing army."

"Now, in this world, the only one who can save you is Truqin. As long as you are a believer, you cannot escape the word "death". If you are above the Master of Incense, you must have been executed by Lingchi. The Master of the Church Qi Lin died after being cut into pieces of 3,600 swords"

"The rest of the city either cut off halfway or abandoned the market. Not long ago, the Yichang garrison arrested 3,000 people. Except for the leader who went to the capital, the rest of the rest were buried alive in Taiping Creek."

"The current governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, the general of Xiangyang besieged Xingshan County, the general of Sichuan, the general of Chongqing blocked Badong, the governor of Huguang, the general of Hubei surrounded Guizhou, the governor of Hunan, and the deputy general of Shi Nan were about to break through Changyang County, and with the civil strife, your side was in danger"

"What I need you to do is to use your method to pass the news to the elders of the four cities immediately. Just say that foreign aid is coming, so that they must not be confused by themselves. Each of the four official troops has a maximum of ten thousand people, and your number is several times that of the other party, and you can still hold on for a while."

"A month, at most one month, things can be seen"
Chapter completed!