"Master Wan, what's wrong, did the county magistrate promise to immediately mobilize the people of the whole city to jointly defend Gaomi County?"

Wan Yufu shook his head and said with a wry smile: "The master said that what we said was completely groundless, and he didn't believe that overseas Chinese would come to attack Gaomi County, so he didn't listen to our advice." ”

Several other landlords also nodded again and again, it turned out that Wan Yufu could not admit to the magistrate that he had taken the initiative to organize armed forces to attack the overseas Chinese, so he could only add fuel to the overseas Chinese who had forcibly seized land in the countryside outside the city, and even executed many landlords, and so on, and then said that he had heard the news that the overseas Chinese were coming to attack Gaomi County, and asked the magistrate to give an order, and the whole city was mobilized to cooperate in guarding Gaomi County.

Although he had heard that overseas Chinese were carrying out the so-called land revolution in some villages in Jiaozhou County, Zheng Daiyuan, the magistrate of Gaomi County, did not think that this would have any impact on the county or even himself. First, at present, the activities of overseas Chinese are mainly in Jiaozhou County, and they have not yet come to Gaomi County, although it is said that Jiaozhou and Gaomi are close at hand, but after all, they are not in this county, and the county magistrate naturally does not want to worry too much; second, the activities of overseas Chinese are all outside the county seat, and according to the rules of the Qing court, as long as there is no accident in the county seat, no matter how big the trouble that occurs outside the city, the responsibility of the county magistrate will not be greater. Anyway, it wasn't Master Zheng's land that was collected, and of course Zheng Zhixian wouldn't feel distressed.

And some time ago, Wan Yufu jumped up and down, lobbied other landlords, and formed an alliance to prepare for confrontation with overseas Chinese, Zheng Daiyuan also knew that although he didn't say it on the surface, he slandered Wan Yufu in his heart This is a mantis arm as a car, and he doesn't think about it. After all, Zheng Daiyuan is the lord of a county, and his ability to control the grassroots may not be as good as Wan Yufu, but his grasp of major affairs in the court is much stronger than Wan Yufu, of course he knows that since the return of overseas Chinese, the foreigners have been beaten to the ground, and they have to retreat to beg for peace, and they have also recovered Beijing, and now the queen mother and the emperor want to return to the capital to see the eyes of overseas Chinese, it is said that the imperial court is appeasing overseas Chinese, and there is a rumor that overseas Chinese will be feuded in Shandong, in this case, naturally can not offend overseas Chinese. The governor of Shandong, Yamen, had issued two orders in succession, strictly ordering officials in various localities that the army should not clash with overseas Chinese, so that the imperial court's attitude towards overseas Chinese could be improved.

In this case, not to mention that overseas Chinese grabbed the land of several landlords, even if they really occupied the county seat, it is estimated that the imperial court will turn a blind eye and pretend not to know, so if the overseas Chinese really want to attack Gaomi County, what they should do is to go out of the city to accept and surrender, welcome the overseas Chinese into the city, and then live and die at the disposal of the overseas Chinese, it is estimated that the overseas Chinese are unlikely to take their own lives, and even if the imperial court is condemned, it is just a dismissal and abandonment of office。 Therefore, no matter whether the news said by Wan Yufu and others is true or false, he must not order the people of the whole city to be mobilized to defend the city.

As a result, no matter how Wan Yufu and others persuaded them, Zheng Zhixian was adamant, and Wan Yufu and others said that there was no evidence for the overseas Chinese to attack Gaomi County, and the alarmist words were not ordered, that is, they did not order the whole city to mobilize and defend Gaomi County.

Although Wan Yufu can control the money and grain taxes in the entire Gaomi County, but after all, he is just a non-mainstream official, the real head of Gaomi County is still the county lord Zheng Daiyuan, to put it to the extreme, if Zheng Daiyuan is not afraid that the money and grain taxes in the entire Gaomi County will fall into chaos and affect his political performance, but must kill Wan Yufu, unless Wan Yufu runs away immediately, otherwise it will be difficult to escape death. Therefore, Wan Yufu couldn't force Zheng Daiyuan to give an order, so he had to leave the county government and take everyone back to his house.

After listening to Wan Yufu's story, Wang Kefu was also anxious, and said: "Then how to do it, the style of overseas Chinese has always been vigorous and resolute, and they may come to attack Gaomi County at any time. ”

Wan Yufu smiled bitterly and said, "I don't know about such a situation, but the county master just doesn't believe us, what can we do, we can't give orders on behalf of the eldest master." ”

A landlord said with a sad face: "Yes, we can't help it." ”

Another landlord said: "If we don't take advantage of the fact that the overseas Chinese have not yet been killed, let's flee quickly." ”

Wang Kefu frowned and said: "Escape? Where can we flee to? Our fields, industries, and families are all here, even if we escape from Gaomi County and lose our fields and industries, how can we survive, I know that you have some relatives and friends in other counties who have fled to other counties to buy land and land, and maybe you can buy another property, not to mention how difficult it is to buy another family business in other counties, but do you think that overseas Chinese will only be satisfied with the two counties of Jiaozhou and Gaomi? What if overseas Chinese chase you to the county where you go? Therefore, it is better to take advantage of the fact that everyone is together to fight hard and fight with overseas Chinese. ”

The landlord who spoke earlier said: "But if the lord doesn't give the order to defend the city, what can we do?"

Wang Kefu said: "The county magistrate didn't give the order, because the pressure we put on him was not enough, Master Wan, please contact other squires with status in Gaomi County immediately, state to them, and say that they will go to petition the magistrate tomorrow, the public opinion is difficult to disobey, I think the magistrate will not easily refuse this time." ”

Wan Yufu nodded, to be honest, he was in a mess now, and he couldn't come up with any ideas at all, plus he had been obedient to the Wang brothers for a period of time, so he had no objection to what Wang Kefu said at this time.

At this time, another landlord said: "Young Master Wang, do you think we can defend Gaomi County?"

Wang Kefu said: "Of course we can't hold it, but as long as we can hold it for a while, we can have time to ask for help elsewhere." ”

Wan Yufu said: "Who else can we ask for help?"

Wang Kefu said: "Of course, it is Governor Yuan, if overseas Chinese attack Gaomi County, it will be a violation of the border of Shandong, Governor Yuan is in charge of Shandong's government affairs, naturally he can't sit idly by, so as long as Gaomi County can hold on for time, just wait for Governor Yuan's army to arrive, and the danger will be solved." ”

After listening to Wang Kefu's suggestion, Wan Yufu also suddenly realized, after all, he was in the Yamen to make trouble, knowing the rules of the Qing court, losing the city and abandoning the land was a big crime for local officials, but as long as the town was not lost, it was not a big deal to make trouble outside the city, so the overseas Chinese were making trouble in the countryside outside the city, and the governor Yamen might not take it seriously, but if the overseas Chinese attacked Gaomi County, then the situation would be serious, and Governor Yuan would no longer be able to sit idly by, or acquiesce in the private actions of his officers, but would definitely personally lead the army to relieve the siege of Gaomi County。 As long as Gaomi County can hold out until reinforcements arrive, it will naturally be able to turn the corner. Of course, Wan Yufu is not a person in the officialdom after all, and his political understanding can only go so far.

So Wan Yufu nodded again and again, hurriedly called Mr. Clerical, sent invitations to the famous squires in Gaomi County, and gave tasks to other landlords, some went to invite people, some set a banquet, and after being busy for a while, the other landlords all left, leaving only the Wang brothers.

Wan Yufu said: "Governor Yuan's side, I have to ask the two of you to work hard." ”

Wang Kefu said: "Well, don't hesitate, our brother will leave for Jinan immediately, just ask Master Wan to arrange horses for us, and we will set off." ”

Wan Yufu hurriedly said: "Self is the right, the self is the right." I'll make arrangements for you two later. After saying that, Wan Yufu got up and left.

After a while, I saw Wan Yufu come out with two people, holding two burdens, one large and one small, and said to the Wang brothers: "The horses, dry food, and a change of clothes along the road have been prepared for the two of them," pointing to the big bag, and said: "This is 50,000 taels of silver, for the two of them to go to Jinan Mansion to do some activities, no need to be stingy, as long as Yuan Fuxun is willing to send troops to solve the difficulties of Gaomi, I still have 100,000 silver to thank you." He took the small bag again and said: "The 200 taels of silver are given to the two of them along the road, as long as the two can invite Governor Yuan to send troops, I should thank the two of them again." ”

Now Wan Yufu has taken Yuan Shikai's increase in troops as his life-saving straw, and the Wang brothers are Wan Yufu's last hope, of course, the last time their brothers were active in Jinan, they really got the Beiyang New Army to help in the war, and Wan Yufu also had some confidence in the two of them on this trip to Jinan.

However, after all, Wan Yufu has been messing around in the government for a long time, of course he knows the truth of doing things with money and spending money, so at this time, he did not hesitate to spend a lot of money, and made a heavy promise, just to invite Yuan Shikai to rescue Gaomi County. This point Wan Yu Fuzhi also sees very clearly, once Gaomi City is broken, even if he is not dead, but Wanguan's family wealth will all fall into the hands of overseas Chinese, it is better to throw it out now, in order to save his own life, as long as he keeps his power, anyway, all the money, grain and taxes in Gaomi County are in charge of himself, so even if he scatters all his family property, he can start all over again; if he can't keep himself, then he will not change these family properties to overseas Chinese.

The brothers of the Wang family glanced at each other, and Wang Kefu said: "Since Master Wan said so, we are not welcome, our brother will go to Jinan this time, and he will definitely say that Governor Yuan will send troops, Master Wan, please rest assured." ”

Wan Yufu nodded, bowed to the two again, and said, "Everything is up to the two of you." ”

The Wang brothers picked up the baggage, turned around and left the hall, Wan Yufu kept sending the two of them to the door, and at this time, Wan Zhai's family had prepared two horses for the two, and the saddle was complete. The Wang brothers turned over and got on their horses, said goodbye to Wan Yufu, and then beat their horses and left.

And Wan Yufu stood at the door, watching the two brothers disappear into the distance, and then turned back to the mansion, but he still suffered from gains and losses in his heart, and he couldn't settle down.