Zhou Wenhuai nodded again and again, and said: "The matter of the railway, the imperial court has already made a conclusion, and the county should respect itself, so please rest assured." ”

Wang Sheng nodded and said: "That's good, and we are stationed in Wangjiazhai, we will pay money and grain for Wangjiazhai, and we will never be in arrears, and we will send it to the county at that time, so please don't send someone to the countryside to collect it." ”

When Zhou Wenhuai heard this, he couldn't help but be very strange, so it seems that this group of overseas Chinese is planning to occupy Wangjiazhai for a long time, but there are more than 300 households in Wangjiazhai, and there are only more than 2,000 acres of land on the register. And he also has to pay money and grain for Wangjiazhai. However, as long as overseas Chinese do not come to invade Jiaozhou County, because according to the system of the Qing Dynasty, as long as the county seat is not lost, the responsibility of knowing the county will be greatly reduced, or even nothing, so overseas Chinese can toss as much as they like outside the county, and as soon as they close the city gate, they will not know. Not to mention that overseas Chinese want to pay money and grain for Wangjiazhai, even if they don't pay it to Jiaozhou County, they won't care, in fact, Wangjiazhai doesn't have much money and grain, it's just a few dozen taels of silver, and you can make up for it from there.

Of course, Zhou Wenhuai also understands that what Wang Sheng said about paying money and grain only includes the official taxes of the imperial court, in fact, this part of the tax is not much, generally only about one-tenth of the farmer's harvest, and the officials go down to the local area to collect taxes, the official tax of the imperial court is only a small head, and the private money in the county, as well as the additional private income of the officials is the real big head, of course, a considerable part of this also flows into the pockets of county officials such as the magistrate, the county officer, and the warden. But overseas Chinese obviously won't pay this money.

Then Wang Sheng said: "There is also the village people of Wangjiazhai often come to Jiaozhou City to shop and buy, and we may also go to Jiaozhou City to buy some goods, or sell some items, so please also ask your county to provide convenience, and ensure the safety of personnel, but please rest assured that all the buying and selling transactions, we will be clear about the real price, public purchase and public sale, and the tax will not be in arrears." ”

This request made the three officials a little embarrassed, because in this way, Jiaozhou City was equivalent to not defending the overseas Chinese, and the overseas Chinese could come and leave if they wanted, so it would be easy to capture Jiaozhou City. However, Zhou Wenhuai thought about it, if the overseas Chinese want to capture Jiaozhou City by force now, they can't resist it, and it doesn't make a difference whether they agree to these demands or not, so it's better to agree, and it can drag on for a day, at least Jiaozhou City is still under their own control. Therefore, he also agreed.

Seeing that Zhou Wenhuai agreed to all his requests, Wang Sheng was also very happy, of course, this kind of agreement will not be evidenced on paper, because Zhou Wenhuai does not have such power, let alone dare to set up such a written document, so it can only be regarded as a verbal gentleman's agreement, as for whether the two sides respect or not, it only depends on the conscience of all parties and the interference of external forces, such as the Qing court suddenly ordered troops to enter Wangjiazhai, or the executive committee of the traverser decided to capture Jiaozhou City by force, then this agreement will immediately lose its effect. Of course, in the absence of these circumstances, the agreement should still be able to maintain for a period of time, and this is acceptable to both sides.

The two sides talked for a while before Wang Sheng got up to say goodbye. And Zhou Wenhuai, Li Xingfang, and Liu Yuan sent everyone to the lobby all the way to the lobby before the two sides said goodbye.

After returning to the second hall, the expressions of the first, second and third leaders in Jiaozhou County all changed, and Zhou Wenhuai shook his sleeves fiercely and said: "This Wang Kefu is really hateful, and he dares to tell lies and deceive the county, which is really an unforgivable crime." ”

Li Xingfang also said: "Yes, yes, this time it is really dangerous, our Jiaozhou County almost fell into a state of no return, it is all Wang Kefu's selfish thoughts, so Wang Kefu must not be forgiven." ”

Liu Yuan said: "Please give an order, I will immediately send someone to arrest Wang Kefu, and he will be severely punished." ”

It turned out that just after the traverser captured Qingdao, Jiaozhou County received a message from the Yamen, the governor of Shandong, that Yuan Shikai, the current governor of Shandong, warned the local officials in Shandong that it was strictly forbidden to clash with the overseas Chinese army, and if there was friction between the two sides, they should try to tolerate it as much as possible, and never make major provocations.

Although Shandong Province is located in the north, it has also joined the southeast mutual insurance. At the beginning of the rise of the Boxer Rebellion, Yuan Shikai saw that the Boxer Rebellion could not become a big thing, so after serving as the governor of Shandong, he made every effort to suppress the Boxer Rebellion in Shandong, protect the foreigners in Shandong, and prevent foreign countries from having an excuse to invade Shandong. After the Qing court declared war on other countries, Yuan Shikai immediately joined the Southeast Mutual Guarantee composed of governors and governors in the southeast, becoming the only northern province to participate in the Southeast Mutual Protection.

After joining the Southeast Mutual Insurance, Yuan Shikai was also very concerned about the movements of the Eight-Nation Alliance, and overseas Chinese suddenly appeared, defeated the Eight-Nation Alliance, captured Tianjin, and reversed the situation in China, Yuan Shikai naturally knew it. Although Yuan Shikai was also a little skeptical about the origin of overseas Chinese, he was still quite relieved in his heart, anyway, the other party claimed to be an overseas Chinese descendant, and he was an enemy of the Eight-Nation Alliance, which was naturally beneficial to the Qing Dynasty. There is no conflict of interest with Yuan Shikai, so Yuan Shikai naturally will not be hostile to overseas Chinese.

Then the traverser launched the Shandong Campaign, successively conquered Weihai and Qingdao, Yuan Shikai was also surprised, this group of overseas Chinese really dare to do it, isn't this the first naked slap in the face of Britain and Germany? And Britain and Germany will probably never give up, and will definitely send troops to retaliate, and once the two sides fight, the outcome is really unpredictable. Originally, the overseas Chinese, the British, and the German had nothing to do with Yuan Shikai, but if they really wanted to fight, the battlefield was in Shandong, so he, the governor of Shandong, would be in big trouble.

However, for a few days, Britain and Germany did not seem to move, and the information received from Shanghai was that the negotiations between the countries seemed to have collapsed in order to increase the number of troops and clear the country, and they were planning to negotiate with overseas Chinese. Yuan Shikai couldn't help but be shocked again, of course he would not think that it was because of the kindness of the countries that they did not increase their troops to fight with the overseas Chinese, but that the strength of the overseas Chinese made the countries feel that they were not sure of victory, so they decided to negotiate with the overseas Chinese.

And this time Yuan Shikai's mood is much more complicated, because overseas Chinese have already stepped into Shandong, which is Yuan Shikai's area, and Yuan Shikai naturally does not dare to be as indifferent as the spectators. And Yuan Shikai also vaguely felt that now in this chess game in China, there will be another powerful chess player, and this change is a blessing or a curse for the Qing Dynasty, even Yuan Shikai can't understand.

However, Yuan Shikai knows one thing very well, that is, whether it is overseas Chinese or foreigners, it is not a force that he can offend, and now that overseas Chinese have landed in Shandong and entered their own jurisdiction, then they will also face the problem of how to deal with overseas Chinese.

Yuan Shikai was appointed governor of Shandong in December 1899, and during his tenure, he got along well with Britain and Germany, because before the governor of Shandong, Yuan Shikai was very clear that he did not use force to deal with the capital of Britain and Germany, and it was even more whimsical to use the Boxers to deal with Britain and Germany, so Yuan Shikai advocated the strategy of "first self-manager, not to use the excuse of use, not to take advantage of the gap, when the peace can be gradually settled, by protecting my own rights". Yuan Shikai put forward a four-point detailed plan for Germany: first, carefully select the order, second, pay attention to the charter, three points to garrison the patrol, and four to garrison the Jiao. The main emphasis was on the use of administrative techniques and international treaties to restrain Germany's behavior in Shandong and to strive to preserve China's sovereignty.

Therefore, after Yuan Shikai became the governor of Shandong, on the one hand, he actively suppressed the Boxer Rebellion and maintained the stability of Shandong; on the other hand, he also negotiated repeatedly with the German side, and finally signed the "Sino-German Jiaoao Negotiation Charter and Dehua Mining Regulations" with Germany on March 21, 1900, including 11 paragraphs of the Jiaoao Regulations, 20 articles of the Mining Regulations, and 28 paragraphs of the Railway Regulations; The two sides agreed that China would send a negotiator and Germany would appoint an official in Qingdao to discuss and handle all matters together. 5. Take into account the rights and interests of the people.

Although it guaranteed the interests of the German concession in Shandong, as well as the right to build railways and open mines, it also clearly stipulated that the railways and mining areas outside the leased land were under the jurisdiction of China, which could be regarded as winning a lot of rights and dignity for the Qing court, and also restricted the development of German forces in Shandong to a certain extent.

On the whole, Yuan Shikai served as governor of Shandong for one year, on the one hand, he actively suppressed the Boxer Rebellion, ensured the stability of Shandong, and prevented foreign forces from having an excuse to intervene in Shandong; on the other hand, he maintained good relations with Britain and Germany, and at the same time won a certain degree of sovereignty for China.

But now Yuan Shikai is no longer facing Britain and Germany, but overseas Chinese, how to deal with overseas Chinese, Yuan Shikai did not count in his heart, after all, this group of people appeared too suddenly, Yuan Shikai did not know anything about the situation of overseas Chinese, and naturally he had no idea how to communicate with overseas Chinese. Therefore, Yuan Shikai inquired about the situation of overseas Chinese in Shanghai, and on the other hand, he strictly ordered local officials in various parts of Shandong to strictly prohibit conflicts with overseas Chinese. Of course, this was only a verbal order, and it did not use the official words of the Yamen, the governor of Shandong.

This is also Yuan Shikai's cleverness, because there is no formal writing, and if something happens in the future, he will not be handled.