Just joined Wu Chaoyue's shogunate, in order to show loyalty and build prestige, Guo Songtao was of course very willing to be a cow and a horse for Wu Chaoyue to go out of the province on an errand, but when he heard Wu Chaoyue say that he wanted to go to Yuezhou to persuade his old friend Kui Zhen, Guo Songtao had two big heads, so he had to explain honestly, and said: "Wu Futai, you have to confess a crime first, this matter is not sure in the next place, and it is very likely that it will not be done." Pen ~ Fun ~ Pavilion www.biquge.info"

"Why?" Wu Chaoyue asked very strangely, "Aren't you friends with Kui Zhen Tai?" It should be easy to talk, huh? ”

"It's because I know Kui Zhen in Xia and know a lot about him, so I'm not sure."

Guo Songtao said with a sad face: "The Kui people are good, they can fight and dare to fight, they don't have any fancy intestines, they are definitely upright." But the most important thing about him is that he is too upright, he doesn't rub the slightest sand in his eyes, he never backs down when he admits death, and as long as he doesn't like the eyes, he will definitely argue to the end, and he has to ask you to change it and never make any concessions. Because of this, he simply didn't know how many of his colleagues and superiors he had offended. ”

"So I'm really not sure about this time." Guo Songtao said very helplessly: "This matter is done in accordance with the law of the country, and it is easy for Kui Zhen not to hurt those foreigners." But if he wants to release him directly, don't continue to entangle with Luo Futai, I am really not sure that I can do it. ”

"It's okay, you go and try it as much as you can, I won't blame you if you can't do it. Although Luo Futai and he haven't met a few times, the cooperation between each other is quite pleasant, and there are still many places that need to rely on each other in the future. ”

"But you remember, don't say that the silver came from me, just say that the foreigners in Hankou heard that their compatriots were arrested and were worried about their situation in Yuezhou, so they pooled this silver and gave it to Kui Zhen, and asked Kui Zhen to take care of the three foreigners and let them be at Kui Zhen's disposal. Otherwise, with Luo Futai's two-sleeved bullish temper, once he knew that I gave him the money, he would definitely have to be unhappy. ”

With the translation of the International Trade Bureau sent by Huang Sheng to Yuezhou by boat, fortunately, the distance is not far and the whole waterway, it took more than two days, Guo Songtao and his entourage successfully arrived at Yuezhou City on the shore of Dongting Lake, and quickly met the old friend Hunan according to the envoy Kui Zhen Kui Tai.

As Guo Songtao guessed, the honest and honest Kui Zhen really abided by the treaties signed by the Manchu court and Britain and France, and according to the provisions of the treaty, he only arrested and imprisoned Meng Zhensheng and Mai Dox and others, and did not torture and kill, and also promised to give the three foreigners certain preferential treatment at the request of Guo Songtao, waiting for the Manchu court to issue an order.

The matter of stopping Kui Zhen from abusing and killing foreigners was quite smooth, and then the next thing was not so easy to do, Guo Songtao had just asked someone to carry Wu Chaoyue's 1,000 taels of incorruptible silver, and Kui Zhen immediately understood that Guo Songtao was not only here to stop himself from killing foreigners indiscriminately, and immediately asked with a dark face: "Yun Xian, what do you mean by this?" What are you doing with all this silver sent to me? ”

"Brother Kui, don't get me wrong, little brother is not bribing you." Guo Songtao hurriedly explained: "That's the case, after the foreigners in Hankou heard that their compatriots were arrested by you, they were worried about the diet and living conditions of the three foreigners in Yuezhou, so they pooled this money for me to bring, and asked you to take care of their compatriots on their behalf." How do you use it? ”

"Foreigners will also give me silver?" Kui Zhen's tone was still full of vigilance, and said, "Yun Xian, the foreigner asked you to bring me silver, do you have any other requirements?" ”

"No, absolutely not."

Guo Songtao hurriedly shook his head, first asked Kui Zhen to accept the silver with confidence, and then said: "Brother Kui Zhen, to get down to business, according to the rules of the imperial court, the three foreigners you arrested should be handed over to the nearest foreigner consulate for disposal, but now the closest foreigner consulate to Yuezhou is also in Shanghai, and there is still a long hair barrier on the road, and the official ship is not able to pass at all. ”

"So Brother Kui, my suggestion is this, you might as well escort these three foreigners to Hankou first, hand them over to the trade bureau there, and let them be responsible for hiring foreign ships and escorting the three foreigners to Shanghai. If you are not at ease, you can also send your people to escort you to ensure that these three foreigners can be escorted to Shanghai to enforce the imperial decree, what do you think? ”

"Brother Kui, junior brother, this is really for your own good, if the problem of the three foreigners is not solved quickly, the foreigners over there in Hankou can't wait to make a fuss, and they will definitely ask the imperial court to allow foreigners to establish consulates in Hankou as well. You also know the attitude of the court towards foreigners, and they have always been eager to see out of sight, and when the foreigners make trouble, the incident will be caused by you, Brother Kui, once the court and the emperor misunderstand, I am afraid that your career will be a little unfavorable for your brother. Brother Kui, don't you say? ”

Not to mention, Guo Songtao's outstanding eloquence really impressed Kui Zhen, considering that he still had political envoys, governors, governors, ministers of military aircraft, and cabinet scholars to be promoted in the future, Kui Zhen really did not want to make trouble to the point of establishing a foreign consulate in Hankou -- that would definitely ruin the future of Kui Zhentai's career. So after thinking about it for a long time, Kui Zhen rarely made some concessions, and said: "What Yunxian said is reasonable, so let's do it, I will go to the fold to ask for an order, as long as the court agrees, I will immediately send someone to send the foreigner to Hankou and hand it over to the trade bureau there, and hire a foreigner's ship to send it to Shanghai, so as not to give the foreigner an excuse to take the opportunity to make trouble." ”

Guo Songtao was secretly happy when he saw it, and hurriedly took the opportunity to say: "Brother Kui Zhen is reasonable, but Brother Kui Zhen, the younger brother has to persuade you, you have to be forgiving and forgiving, you and Luo Futai are officials in the same province, why make you want to make a fuss about such a trivial matter, so much so that even Luo Futai's governor Yamen official ship has been detained, how good is it to take a step back and open the sky?" ”

Guo Songtao didn't mention Luo Bingzhang, but just mentioned Luo Bingzhang, and Kui Zhen, who had a belly full of fire, immediately became angry, and said angrily: "Trivial? He, Luo Bingzhang, as the governor of a province, knew the law and broke the law, violated the laws of the imperial court, and privately carried foreigners into the hinterland, and swaggered through the city of Hunan Province, which is called a trivial matter? ”

"Brother Kui, why are you drilling the horns again?" Guo Songtao complained bitterly, and hurriedly confessed: "It's a mistake in the mouth, this matter is very big, right?" But no matter how big it is, why do you have to keep making a big fuss? According to the inspection envoy, the official ship of the governor yamen was seized, and the messenger of the governor yamen was arrested, and the news was immediately shocked by the government and the opposition, and it was difficult to end, how do you get along with Luo Futai in the future, and how can you be an official in the same province as Luo Futai in Hunan? ”

"If you can't get along, you can't get along, I have to get along with others!" Kui Zhen said very straightforwardly: "I don't believe it, for such a big thing as privately bringing foreigners into the mainland, can the imperial court still protect him Luo Bingzhang?" took off his Luo Bingzhang's black gauze hat, and I don't need to be an official in the same province as him! ”

"Brother Kui, why are you bothering with this?"

Guo Songtao had no trick to take Kui Zhen, and said almost pleadingly: "Brother Kui Zhen, please think about it carefully, Luo Futai is indeed at fault in this matter, but over the years, how much has Luo Futai done for the court and Hunan?" Without Luo Futai's hard support, Zeng Butang and Jiang Futai brought their military salaries, grain and grass to support the Hunan army and Chu Yong, and took the Hunan army and Chu Yong out of the province to quell the rebellion? Luo Futai has no credit to the court and hard work, you insist on impeaching him, if the court really takes off his black gauze hat, what will Xiang Jun and Chu Yong do? What should the imperial court do to pacify the long-haired plan? ”

"Without Butcher Luo, would you still have to eat hairy pigs? Xiang Jun and Chu Yong were supported by him Luo Bingzhang alone? It's the people of Hunan! In order to supply the Hunan army and Chu Yong to go out of the province to quell the rebellion, how much suffering and how many sins the people of Hunan have suffered over the years, how can it just become the credit of him Luo Bingzhang alone? ”

Guo Songtao's bitter pleading did not play any role, on the contrary, it made Kui Zhen couldn't help but be vigilant, and asked Guo Songtao: "Yunxian, are you here to be a lobbyist for Luo Bingzhang?" I'll tell you honestly, I must fight to the death with Luo Bingzhang this time, you want to be a lobbyist for him, don't blame me for not recognizing you as a brother! ”

"Brother Kui, where do you want to go? I haven't even spoken to Luo Futai, so will I be a lobbyist for him? Guo Songtao shouted injustice.

"And where did you get all this money?" Kui Zhen pointed to the silver fox brought by Guo Songtao and asked, "Is this silver really from those foreigners in Hankou?" Foreigners are so generous that they can give so much silver for their friends? ”

"Brother Kui, why did you become so suspicious? This silver was not made by foreigners, but fell from the sky? Don't you know how many taels of silver I have in my house? Can you still suspect that I bribed you with money? ”

Guo Songtao, who had a mediocre family, shouted loudly, but Kui Zhen was even more suspicious, and asked: "Say, did Luo Bingzhang use this silver to buy me?" Someone who wants to gag me and let him go? ”

"No, no, don't get me wrong, Brother Kui, this silver is not Luo Futai's."

"It's really not Luo Bingzhang's? Hey, why is it still official silver? ”

Guo Songtao's defense still didn't play any role, and he also made the suspicious Kui Zhen open the silver box to check, noticed the silver that was obviously in good condition, and then picked up a silver ingot and looked at it carefully, Kui Zhen was immediately surprised to find that the ingot of silver was actually stamped with the Hubei Domain, proving that the silver came from the Hubei Domain.

Surprised, Kui Zhen couldn't help but be more suspicious, and asked again: "Yun Xian, how is your silver from the Hubei Domain?" This kind of silver from the provincial treasury should be used to hand over to the national treasury or to distribute official money, and the foreigners pooled the silver and asked me to take care of the three foreigners, why did I give me the treasury silver of the Hubei Domain? ”

Guo Songtao couldn't answer anymore, but he regretted that he was too careless, and he didn't notice in advance that the silver given to Kui Zhen was the rare treasury silver of the Hunan Domain, and he didn't preemptively remind Wu Chaoyue to make corrections.

"Yunxian, why don't you speak? Where did the money come from? Kui asked loudly.

"It's ......." Guo Songtao pondered for a long time, and then came up with a good excuse, and hurriedly said: "Oh, I remember, that's the case, the foreign silver dollars used by foreigners are also foreign silver dollars, I am afraid that foreign dollars are not good in Hunan, so I specially asked Wu Futai's account to exchange the silver dollars for silver before leaving, and as a result, the account of the Hubei governor's yamen may have exchanged the incorruptible silver that Wu Futai received for me." ”

Kui Zhen still didn't believe it, and after blinking his straight eyes and thinking for a while, Kui Zhen suddenly shouted again: "Come on, take the seal to seal this box of silver!" Carry it to the back hall and take care of it! ”

The soldiers on the left and right sang the promise, and immediately stepped forward to close the box and paste the seal, Guo Songtao was shocked when he saw it, and hurriedly asked: "Brother Kui Zhen, what are you doing here?" ”

"Seal the evidence!" Kui Zhen said angrily: "Yun Xian, don't blame me for not being a friend enough, it's your silver that is too strange, I must seal it up and hand it over to the imperial court, please ask the imperial court to investigate the true source of this silver!" ”

"Brother Kui, why can't you even trust me? Have you forgotten that when Dongting Lake fought against Changmao, I killed thieves side by side with you, lived and died together, and were like brothers and sisters, how could you not even believe my words? ”

Guo Songtao's loud words never moved Kui Zhen, and the silver with the fire seal of the Hubei Domain Division was always sealed by Kui Zhen as evidence of suspected bribery, and Guo Songtao, who had smashed the mission, could only return to his residence quickly, write a letter to Wu Chaoyue to ask for guilt, and ask Wu Chaoyue to decide how to deal with it.

Coincidentally, on the same night, Luo Bingzhang also sent someone to send an official document, respectfully inviting Kui Zhen to move to the provincial capital, showing the carriage and horses to confess to Kui Zhen, but Kui Zhen, who had human and material evidence in hand, arrogantly refused, on the pretext that there were still military affairs to be dealt with in Yuezhou, and refused to accept Luo Bingzhang's favor, and patiently waited for the reply of the Manchu court.

When Guo Songtao's letter was sent back to Wu Chaoyue, he was shocked by Kui Zhen's fiery and straightforward temper, Wu Chaoyue was inevitably glad that he was still cautious, and he had already made up an excuse for foreigners to give money, and did not let his political enemies catch the direct handle. After quickly arranging all kinds of filling, Wu Chaoyue personally wrote a short letter to Guo Songtao - you have done your best, I am very relieved, come back.

After receiving Wu Chaoyue's reply, seeing that Wu Chaoyue did not blame himself, Guo Songtao, who was relieved, hurriedly said goodbye to Kui Zhen and returned to Hubei, but Guo Songtao had just left on the front foot, and Kui Zhen wrote this suspicious incident on the back foot and sent it to the capital with a post station, asking the Manchu court to send someone to investigate this matter, and also very cleverly raised a question - whether the governors of Hubei and Hunan provinces are suspected of joining forces to control Huguang?

During this period, Hua Shana, who really wanted to keep Luo Bingzhang, finally came up with a good way, and reported the case of Luo Bingzhang privately taking foreigners into the mainland, and asked Luo Bingzhang to be temporarily suspended, and Xu Youren, the political envoy, temporarily acted as governor, and then reported to the Manchu court for disposal after he found out Luo Bingzhang's case.

"Ru Zhai, the old man is also benevolent and righteous to you. The old man checks on you, and if he can help, he can make up for it, but if you change the court and send someone to investigate, you will be in big trouble. (To be continued.) )