The Silent Reforms of Eldridge Chapter 23

The war was fierce and dangerous, and I didn't know much about military affairs. But the situation forced me to deal with it as best I could. As for whether I could defeat the enemy, I was not sure. My plan was finalized, and I secretly reported the plan to Yiliang, the acting governor of Fujian and Zhejiang. He wrote back to express his agreement, and warned me that the forward ships of the British and barbarians were strong and powerful, and that we must be fully prepared and not take it lightly.

Linrun, the city guard guerrilla, secretly discussed with me: "Now there is a person who knows how to cast poison. He can curse cowhide, which is only as big as a mustard seed. Once it enters the stomach, it will kill people. I have tried it several times and it is very effective. Now I want to use it to deal with Yingyi. "We need to be cautious. The governor strictly prohibits us from taking the initiative to provoke. We must do it so that Yingyi can't find an excuse, let alone the governor Linrun." After leaving, he asked the poisonous man to cast a spell according to the law, mix the cowhide poison into the flour, and send smart soldiers to pick it up and sell it on a pirate ship outside Quanzhou City. The flour was very white and the price was slightly lower than in Quanzhou City. Yingyi bought it. A few hundred kilograms. After the soldiers returned, the poisoner cast a spell that night. I didn't know whether it could kill the thieves. Later, I saw a newspaper in Guangdong saying: Bai, the leader of the Yingyi, was poisoned at the Xiamen banquet. Nearly a hundred of the Yi soldiers were poisoned and fed with excrement, but only one or two were saved. Calculating the time of the incident, it happened just after the flour was sold. The crime is so heinous that a small punishment is not too much.

Believe it or not!

flee

On March 15, I received the news that my stepfather had passed away. According to the regulations, I have to leave my job and go home to observe filial piety. This is the so-called Ding You. After the death of their parents, the children must mourn for three years according to the etiquette. During this period, they are not allowed to get married or have any auspicious celebrations. Those who hold office must resign, which is called "Ding You", also known as "Shou Zhi". Those who conceal their mourning without reporting it will be dismissed from their posts. My biological parents passed away before I became an official, but I still worried about my stepfather, Jian Kao, and Jian Ciding three times.