On the night of the eighth day of Liu Jin's departure, Lin Wanjing received a telegram from Ganzhou that he had sent back, and the report contained only three very concise words:

A ride to the mountains

Although there were only three words, Lin Wanjing read it many times, and finally was willing to fold the letter neatly under the pillow and slept the most restful sleep in these days.

In Liu Jin's absence, Lin Wanjing's most diligent place was probably the British consulate in Luzhou, where the parliament voted for a new consul for Greater China, who was said to have been in charge of colonial governance in the East Indies and was proficient in leveraging his strength, mellow and shrewd. When the new consul arrives, Ti

A's father was about to take over his official duties and return to the embassy and consulate in the Qinyu Public Concession to temporarily take charge of clerical work and await further transfer instructions.

Ti

A is a sociable personality, naturally unwilling to go to Qinyu to do nothing, it just so happens that recent demonstrations and protests have been frequent, and the xenophobia in the market is high, Lin Wanjing's previous piano shop owner plans to go back to his hometown in Liverpool, and the piano shop is going to change hands, Lin Wanjing is reluctant, and after discussing with her best friend, she took over the piano shop and handed it over to Ti

A takes care of it, and when she has nothing to do, she often comes to the store to help and do some trivial things.

In the evening, Lin Wanjing returned to the Imperial Kuntai and saw the black sedan leaning under the porch from a distance, and the Lu character at the beginning of the license plate was very eye-catching. As soon as Lin Wanjing got out of the car, Lu Canghan had already come out of the house with a solemn expression:

"Young lady, something happened, can you take a step to speak?"

Lin Wanjing was shocked, looked at his serious expression, and said after a while:

"Admiral Land, please come with me."

The two entered the house and went straight to Liu Jin's study, and retreated left and right, leaving only Ah Ling waiting outside the door.

"General Lu, please speak, but what went wrong with Yun Rou?" Lin Wanjing was concerned about Liu Jin's safety, and asked when she closed the door. Seeing that Lu Canghan shook his head, her hanging heart had just let go of half of it, but she listened to Lu Canghan:

"But at this time, it does have something to do with the young marshal. On the grounds of the fire at Funan Port, the Japanese demanded that the Luzhou Merchant Port be opened and that Japanese merchant ships and warships be allowed to dock. Negotiations will be held at the city hall in two days. ”

"The warship is indeed excessive, but ......" Lin Wanjing frowned and thought for a moment, puzzled, "But I heard rumors in the market before, saying that the Funan Port generation was originally going to be assigned to the Japanese as a concession......"

"The two can't be compared." Lu Canghan said, walking quickly to the sand table, "Young lady, do you remember the giant cannon that the young marshal showed you before?" His hand tapped on the hill near the coastline of Luzhou: "There are two giant cannons, guarding Funan Port in the east and Dingnan Port in the southwest. ”

Lin Wanjing looked at the sand table, but saw that Funan Harbor and Luwei Island farther away were all in a red circle centered on the giant cannon.

"So, in fact, the area that was originally supposed to be designated as the Japanese concession is within the range of the giant cannon, right?"

"Not only that, but there is an island arc around the sea off Luwei Island, and Luwei Island is just a vacant section of water. The young marshal originally planned to deploy defenses on the periphery of the island arc company**, but if the Japanese made any changes, they would immediately block the entrance to the sea and close the door to fight the dogs. But the commercial port is different. Although the range of the giant cannon is long and powerful, the commercial port is just in the blind spot of the range of the two giant cannons, which is a prosperous trouble, and the opposite side is a public concession. ”

The Japanese are not fools, and naturally know which of the two ports is superior or inferior, so they just used the pretext of fire to withdraw the concession of Funan Port. If warships were really allowed to enter the port, I was afraid that most of Luzhou City would fall under the threat of Japanese naval guns.

Lin Wanjing understands the truth, but where can she talk about this diplomatic negotiation.

"You're coming to me, but what do you need me to do?" Lin Wanjing deliberately avoided Lu Canghan's scorching gaze, what he wanted her to do, she could guess a few points, "What can I do in my current situation?" ”

"As smart as you, don't you understand the meaning of Canghan's words? Foreigners have always been competitive, so they won't sit idly by at this time, right? Seeing that Lin Wanjing didn't answer, but lowered her eyes, turned around and went to the window, he hurriedly followed: "Canghan is brave, and please use the consular privileges of the young lady to save Luzhou from fire and water!" ”

Yuebai's figure stopped in front of the window, the sea breeze caressed, the long hair that blew her ears shook slightly, her warm cherry lips bit white, and her eyes stared at the surging sea outside the window, as if she had no focus. Lu Canghan approached behind her, and she could clearly hear her sigh in the moonlight:

"You came to me about this, Yun Rou knows?"

"I've telegraphed to the young marshal, but I haven't received a reply yet."

"Wanjing's first class of women, there have been too many military and political matters, and I don't know which merit or fault is greater. I cherish Yun Rou so much, but if I don't know how to restrain myself, I'm afraid that even he won't be able to tolerate me......"

"Don't worry about the young lady, when the young marshal comes back, Canghan will definitely bear the guilt and not let the young lady bear the slightest grievance."

"If I can be as useful as you say, what if I am wronged. But in the current situation, I'm afraid that my words will not work as the land general expected......"

"Although the young lady has a try, that Shinichiro Kitano is suspicious by nature and cautious, even if he can let out some rumors, let him hesitate for a while, and drag it out until the young marshal comes back."

Yes, Liu Jin is not in Luzhou now, if he is here, I don't think they will dare to be so unscrupulous. Besides, Lu Canghan just said that there would be negotiations in two days. In such a hurry, I am afraid that I deliberately want to negotiate this matter before Liu Jin returns, which shows that the Japanese are afraid of Liu Jin.

"Have you figured this out? The British were not necessarily easier to deal with than the Japanese. If they are allowed to taste the sweetness, I am afraid that it will be easy to invite God and difficult to send God. ”

This sentence really touched Lu Canghan's worries, but he was silent for a long time, and finally said:

"Now that the situation is urgent, I'm afraid I can't take care of so much. Last year, the Japanese had just taken over Germany's rights and interests in Shandong, and the wolf ambition to encroach on China's Greater China was well known to everyone. We can only gamble, the British who gamble on the mountains and rivers can't take care of here, and it is better to be watched by them than to lure the wolf into the room. ”

His words are indeed reasonable—the European countries thousands of miles away have just come out of the haze of war, and their financial and material resources have reached their limits, and they should have no extra thoughts to think about other things.

"Well, I'll go to Mr. Richard tomorrow to discuss the matter. The land general is also requested to arrange for the deployment of maritime defenses in case of emergency. ”

"Good. All the things that need my cooperation, although the young lady said it, Canghan will go all out. ”

Lin Wanjing bit her lip and thought about it, but finally shook her head:

"If there is, help me pray that God will favor Luzhou and bless me to negotiate the right time, place and people."