Zhu Nanzhen pondered for a moment before he said: "If the Luzhou Mansion refuses again this time, what punishment will the Lu Governor's Mansion receive? Can the Governor Yamen directly remove him from his official position?"

Chang Qingde hesitated for a moment before saying: "That's not possible, according to the laws of the Qing Dynasty, the life and death of all officials are decided by the central court center, and it should be played by the governor's yamen to the court, and the court will then rule according to the situation, but according to the practice of the Qing Dynasty, if the governor plays the prefect, the court will most likely approve it, so if the Anhui governor plays the court to play the court, the Lu prefect will be dismissed from office at the least, and he will be imprisoned for punishment. ”

Zhu Nanzhen said: "That is to say, now you Lu Governor's Mansion can only make a choice between us and the Qing court, and there is no room for left and right." ”

Chang Qingde smiled bitterly and said, "That's right. ”

Zhu Nanzhen nodded and said: "Mr. Chang, although we have not been in contact for a long time, during this time, the Luzhou Mansion has indeed given us a lot of help, it can be said that the development of this camp to this point, the support of the Luzhou Mansion for us is also one of the reasons." We have all this in mind. ”

Chang Qingde hurriedly said: "There, there, the relief of the people is still a great act of benevolence and righteousness, and it is also to solve the difficulties of our Luzhou Mansion. ”

Zhu Nanzhen said: "Okay, I can give you a secret, if you Lu Zhifu really can't get along with the Qing court, we can welcome him over, we can not only provide him with protection, but also use the materials." ”

Chang Qingde hurriedly arched his hand and said, "Thank you Director Zhu for your kindness, Director Zhu's words will be truthfully repaid to Governor Lu in the future." ”

Zhu Nanzhen said: "The current general trend of the world, I don't need to say that you and the Lu Governor's Mansion should be clear, I think the Lu Governor's Mansion probably doesn't want to be loyal to the Qing court, so I also ask Mr. Chang to tell the Lu Governor's Mansion, so that you can do it yourself, and you can't make mistakes." ”

Chang Qingde nodded again and again, and said, "Yes, yes, I will tell you truthfully, tell you truthfully." ”

Although in principle, in Anhui, Jiangsu and other provinces only occupy rural areas and towns after the floods, and temporarily avoid large cities to avoid a full-scale war with the Qing court, if there is an opportunity, it is still feasible to occupy a few cities located at strategic points without paying too much price. If Lu Chengxiang can be persuaded to take refuge in East China, he can get the strategic location of Hefei at his fingertips, which is of course quite cost-effective.

Speaking of this step, Chang Qingde's purpose of visiting this time has been achieved, so he got up to say goodbye, returned to Hefei, and immediately went to meet Lu Chengxiang. Although Lu Chengxiang was pretending to be sick at this time and refused to see guests, Chang Qingde must be seen. and also led Chang Qingde to the inner room for a secret conversation.

Of course, Chang Qingde will not hide it, and told Lu Chengxiang in detail about the content of his conversation with Zhu Nanzhen. After listening, Lu Chengxiang's eyebrows were tightly locked, he was silent, and after a long time, he said, "What does Mr. Chang think?"

Chang Qingde said: "Dong Weng, can the Luzhou Mansion refuse this governor's request?"

Lu Chengxiang shook his head and said, "I'm afraid I can't refuse this time." ”

Chang Qingde said: "Then, just like the governor's order, can you send troops to expel East China?"

Lu Chengxiang smiled bitterly and said, "I can't do it." ”

Chang Qingde said: "This is just as Director Zhu said, now Dong Weng can only make a choice between East China ** and the imperial court, and there is no room for left and right." And if the general trend is today, East China has won the world, opened a dynasty to build a country, and building a foundation has been driven by the general trend, and no one can do it. ”

Lu Chengxiang was silent for a while, and said: "Eat the king's Lu, be loyal to the king's business, I have been eating the court's Lu for more than 10 years, although I dare not say that I have made great contributions to the court, but it can be regarded as conscientious, and I have not been responsible for the court, not to mention that the court has never failed me.

Chang Qingde said: "Although what Dong Weng said is reasonable, but now the way of the world is not feasible, since the ancient road 'good birds choose trees and perch, good ministers choose the master and do things', and the way is 'the husband knows and moves, and the person who drives the good fortune and avoids the evil is the gentleman', not to mention that the court has been in the past few decades, although it is not perverse, severe punishment and tyranny, but it is not enterprising, thousands of horses, losing power and humiliating the country, it is really exhaustive, and at this moment abandon the Qing and take refuge in East China ** , not a traitor, but abandon the darkness and turn to the light, not to mention that Dong Weng is not for himself, but also for the sake of the children and grandchildren of the family, so please Dong Weng must not make a mistake about himself. ”

Lu Chengxiang pondered for a while before he said: "Okay, no matter what, the trend of the times, non-people can go against it, okay, I'll ask you to go again and explain things clearly with overseas Chinese." ”

Chang Qingde hurriedly said: "Yes, the student will go tomorrow." ”

Lu Chengxiang nodded and said, "Mr. Hard." ”

So on the second day, Chang Qingde rushed to the camp and met with Zhu Nanzhen again, explaining that Lu Chengxiang was willing to take refuge in East China**, and Zhu Nanzhen also expressed his approval of Lu Chengxiang's resolution, and instructed Lu Chengxiang on his next move. Wait until the decision to dismiss or arrest is issued, and then deal with it.

This decision is in the hands of Lu Chengxiang, although he has decided to take refuge in East China, but in his heart, he still hopes to maintain this state of riding the wall, maintaining the left and right, until the situation is clear. Zhu Nanzhen's instruction just allowed Lu Chengxiang to maintain this state for the time being. At least on the ** side of East China, it is possible. Of course, with Zhu Nanzhen's promise, Lu Chengxiang was also confident, so in the official letter of the reply to the governor's yamen, Lu Chengxiang said that the Luzhou Mansion was seriously affected by the disaster and the losses were huge, and now he can only refuse to defend the Luzhou capital city, and he is unable to expel overseas Chinese. In fact, this is an anti-general of the governor's yamen army, to see if the governor has the ability to send troops, anyway, according to the rules of the Qing court, as long as the city is guarded, the responsibility is not great.

On the side of the camp, after Zhu Nanzhen sent Chang Qingde away, he returned to the tent of the office, and Xie Tao, who was sitting in the tent, saw him come back and immediately handed him a telegram and said, "Look at this." ”

Zhu Nanzhen said: "What's the news?" He took a look at it, sat down in his seat, and said, "Shanghai is going to send a press corps to our camp to cover the news? This is to intensify propaganda." ”

Xie Tao said: "Yes, General Luo will also come to inspect and ask us not to make official articles in the face of inspections and interviews this time, nor to engage in any welcome activities, celebrations and the like, as long as the operation of the camp remains normal." ”

Zhu Nanzhen frowned and said, "Isn't that to further stimulate the Qing court? After Lao Chang came yesterday, I said that now the Qing court has reacted, and I am afraid it is going to obstruct us." At this time, it is necessary to hype it up, this is not to further stimulate the Qing court, maybe the Qing court will take risks. Wouldn't it be better to listen to my advice and keep a low profile?"

Xie Tao smiled and said, "Do you think the Qing court dares to send troops to attack us?"

Zhu Nanzhen said: "Is that going to be the case, now that Henan Province is in our hands, the Beiyang New Army can't come, and it is not enough to rely on the local army in Anhui Province alone." Yesterday I ordered the army to intensify patrols in the surrounding areas and to expand the scope of patrols, and as a result, I received a report today, and I really found several groups of suspicious people in the vicinity, and I also caught three of them, and they are being interrogated. ”

Xie Tao laughed and said: "If the Qing court really makes a little move, what can we ask for? Even if it causes a certain loss to the camp, as long as the loss is controlled within a certain range." ”

Zhu Nanzhen was confused when he heard this, and said, "Old Xie, what is the truth of this?"

Xie Tao stood up, fetched a glass of water, patted Zhu Nanzhen on the shoulder, and said: "Old Zhu! You are still a little tender and don't understand the routines here? This time, we have spent a huge amount of manpower and materials to relieve the disaster, not only to help the people, but also to promote our benevolent and righteous image, on the one hand, to prove that we are not only capable in the use of force, but also in the rule of the people. On the other hand, it is to compare with the Qing court, so that all Chinese can see that in this flood, we and the Qing court performed better, so as to prepare public opinion for our next step to overthrow the Qing court, so this disaster relief is impossible to be low-key, but should be widely publicized, send a press corps to interview, that is, for this reason, obviously to further strengthen propaganda, as for this kind of propaganda sting not to stimulate the Qing court, it is not our scope of consideration, or we originally planned to use this disaster relief to stimulate the Qing court。 ”

Zhu Nanzhen said: "I know this truth, but what does this have to do with the Qing court's small actions against our camp and sabotage!"

Xie Tao said: "Think about it, if the Qing court really made some small moves and caused harm to the camp integrity, and then we poke these things out and carry out propaganda and hype in the media, what do you think the consequences will be? In this great flood, we in East China spared no manpower and material resources, and were even willing to put aside political differences and go all out to provide disaster relief, but the Qing court not only did not do a small thing in disaster relief, but constantly set up obstacles, caused trouble, and even sabotaged our disaster relief work. So what do you think the common people will think? I'm afraid that no matter how loyal to the Qing court is, they will be completely disappointed in the Qing court. ”

Zhu Nanzhen nodded and said, "So that's the case, so what if the Qing court doesn't take action? ”

Xie Tao shook his head and said: "That's not good, the risk is too great, this kind of trouble-making thing is difficult to do satisfactorily, in case there is a loophole, it will be bad for us, after all, we are now the dominant party, there is no need to take this risk." In addition, even if the Qing court has a small move, we should try our best to prevent it and not let the camp be damaged, because as long as the Qing court does it, he does one, we can exaggerate it into ten. ”