Shouzhou was a very important military stronghold in the agricultural era, it choked the Huai River, the terrain was quite dangerous, and it was the main point of the garrison. Although the Anhui New Army can be regarded as an earlier unit in Beiyang, after all, Anhui is far away from the Zhili region to which Beiyang belongs, and even if the old establishment exists in name only, at least the establishment is still there. According to the establishment in 1906, the general army of Shouchun Town was under the jurisdiction of the second battalion of the town standard, and also governed the Lu'an and other battalions. Zhenbiao middle camp, right camp, Liu'an camp, Yingzhou camp, Sizhou camp, Luzhou camp, Bozhou camp, Longshan camp. The military chiefs of several state capitals along the Huai River were assembled.

If the Manchu troops under the jurisdiction of Shouzhou are all green battalions, according to the military system of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the green battalions are as few as two or three hundred, and as many as six or seven hundred, and in the case of full formation, the total army of Shouchun Town can use more than 3,000 troops. It can also be regarded as a relatively large military force. However, at the end of the Qing Dynasty, the armament was relaxed, and the total number of people who could pull out of Shouzhou City, including the government officials, did not exceed 1,000. But in the eyes of the vast majority of landlords in Fengtai County, such a number of Qing troops were already a very powerful and irresistible armed force.

The landlord Hu Youdao and his nephew Hu Congjian thought so. They didn't know that the actual number of the insurance regiment exceeded tens of thousands, and this was one of the most powerful military forces not only in Fengtai County, Fengyang Prefecture, but even in the whole of Anhui. Even if they knew this, the Hu landlord's family would still firmly believe that in the face of the Qing army, no matter how many troops they had, it was not worth mentioning.

The current top official in Shouzhou is Shen Zengzhi, the general judge of Fengyang Prefecture stationed here, and it is absolutely impossible for Hu Youdao landlord to have access to such an official. The landlords of Fengtai County know some low-level officials at most, but since they want to play with their lives, Landlord Hu doesn't care so much. According to Hu Youdao's landlord's explanation, Hu Congjian went directly to the Shouzhou Tongju Yamen, although the officers and soldiers on both sides of the door looked lazy, although the uncle repeatedly emphasized that if this thing did not work out, the Hu family's land would definitely be finished. But when Hu Congjian thought about what he was going to do, he still felt that his legs and stomach were weak, and the listless officers and soldiers looked very terrible. But after all, Hu Congjian also knew that this matter was related to the fate of the family, he finally gritted his teeth, cheered himself up in his heart, and then strode to the yamen, knelt down to Goodong, and shouted with his neck straight: "My lord, someone is going to rebel in Fengtai County!" ”

Completely different from what Hu Congjian imagined, the officers and soldiers did not feel like they were facing a great enemy when they heard this, and then rushed up and dragged Hu Congjian to ask him. On the contrary, these officers and soldiers looked at Hu Congjian in front of the door strangely, with a look of doubt and disgust in their eyes. Hu Congjian only felt that they were looking at him as if they were looking at a fool. But since he had achieved this level, there was no way out, so he straightened his neck and shouted: "My lord, someone wants to rebel in Fengtai County!" ”

"Are you fed? What are you arguing about here? What should you be guilty of disturbing the judge? Get out! Finally, a servant shouted as he walked here. The officials have seen a lot of things, if Hu Congjian is very cowardly at first glance, then there may be a possibility of blackmail. But Hu Congjian seems to have a tough attitude, and he has a very kind of bachelor's taste. In addition, the content of the shouting is also quite terrifying, it is actually a rebellion. Obviously, there is no oil and water in extortion. For this kind of person, the official has no interest in him at all, even if he is arrested, this kind of person will only shout and scream, leading to a lot of things. The best way to deal with it is to just throw it away.

Seeing that someone was taking care of him, Hu Congjian immediately felt like a life-saving straw, "My lord, there is Chen Ke, the leader of the insurance group in Fengtai County, who gathered tens of thousands of people to plot against him and intend to rebel. I'm going to sue the officer. As he spoke, Hu Congjian took out the form paper from his arms, "I have the form paper." I have a form of paper! ”

When the official saw that Hu Congjian had admitted the truth, he was even more angry, "Shouzhou is dozens of miles away from Fengtai County, why don't we know that someone wants to rebel?" "In the past years, the officials have seen a case in which a landlord did not want his son to learn anything Western, so in order to make his son honest, he simply forced his son to smoke a big cigarette. Of course, the son refused, but the father of the local lord actually came to the yamen to sue his son for disobedience. This kind of person must have nothing to do.

The official was scolding and scolding and was about to come over with a stick to pick people up, when someone suddenly asked: "You said that the insurance group is going to rebel, how are they going to rebel?" ”

"They gathered tens of thousands of people and cut their braids one by one, this is not a rebellion, what is it?" Hu Congjian said loudly.

"Get out, my relative is in Fengtai County, I saw him a few days ago, why didn't he cut his braids." The one who spoke was also a servant.

"This ......, there is an insurance group in Fengtai County. The people there had their braids cut. Hu Congjian hurriedly explained.

"My relative is in the insurance group, why didn't I see him cut his braids?" The official who spoke asked, tilting his head.

Hearing this, Hu Congjian became anxious. He craned his neck and shouted, "Well, then he must be lying." They're going to rebel. ”

In the burst of laughter from the servants, the officer who had just spoken changed his face, "Fart! You say my eldest brother rebelled? You're looking for death. After speaking, the official rushed over with a stick, and before Hu Congjian could react, the big stick of the official had already been slashed.

Hu Congjian didn't expect that he would be treated like this when he came to report to the official loyally. couldn't dodge it, and took several sticks in a row. Fortunately, the officials were not ruthless, and although the pain hurt, they didn't really hurt much. After receiving a few blows, Hu Congjian cried excitedly: "The people of this insurance group forced the landlords of Fengtai County to lend their land for two years and give it to those people in Fengtai County. This is what we want to do, this is what we want to rebel against. ”

Hearing this, the hand-moving official took a sip, "In this disaster year, do you know that it is your family's land?" If you don't farm, everyone will starve to death? Are you going to watch everyone starve to death? Bastard stuff! ”

Hu Congjian never imagined that the people of the Yamen would not stand on the side of the landlords, but on the side of the people of Fengtai County. His heart grew cold. In fact, whether Chen Ke wants to rebel or not, neither Hu Congjian nor his uncle Hu Youdao actually knows. Even the agreement on the division of land was signed by the government. At least the procedures are reasonable and legal, but Hu Youdao signed and drew his fingerprints on it. But the insurance group really succeeded in disaster relief, gathering tens of thousands of people, they look polite now, but once they are ready to turn their faces in the future, Zhang Youliang's family will be destroyed in an instant, and the Hu family is definitely not an opponent. With the idea of fighting to the death, the Hu family came to sue the official. Hu Congjian was even mentally prepared to be dragged away and tortured. But he didn't expect that his newspaper official not only didn't enter the gate, but even the people in the yamen did not support the landlord.

He was so desperate at this point that he no longer had the idea of dodging and resisting the sticks. He suddenly knelt there and was in despair, the place where he was beaten was hot and painful, and Hu Congjian suddenly cried loudly.

When people's true feelings are revealed, there is always an inexplicable contagion. Seeing Hu Congjian crying so sadly, the official didn't want to fight anymore. A relative kicked Hu Congjian on the official of the insurance regiment, "Get out, don't stay here." Unexpectedly, Hu Congjian just fell to the ground and continued to cry desperately. Hu Congjian is really distressed, even if the insurance group really wants to return the land to the landlord in two years, there is naturally no need to think about the harvest of these two years. And what the land will be ruined into, Hu Congjian can't imagine. His own land was occupied by others for nothing, which is the same as digging Hu Congjian's heart. Falling on the bluestone slab in front of the yamen, the cold ground made Hu Congjian feel as cold as if he was in an ice cave.

At this moment, I heard a sound of footsteps. Then the officials immediately left Hu Congjian's side. Looking at it from a crooked angle, the team that came in between had a dragon flag at the head, and all of them were in military uniforms. Hu Congjian was overjoyed, it seemed that it was a big official. He hurriedly got up and prepared to go and cry out. But when he stood up, he saw that the person in charge was a little familiar, and after a closer look, it was actually the deputy assistant commander of the Anhui New Army.

The arrival of Puguanshui a month ago had destroyed almost all the will of the landlords in Fengtai County to resist, and Chen Ke, the leader of the insurance group, claimed to be a disciple of Xi Yanfu, the head teacher of the Beiyang Naval Academy, and the landlords would be skeptical of this statement. However, the county order of Fengtai County must be subservient to Chen Ke. After the local lords saw with their own eyes that the dignified deputy co-ordinator of Anhui Xinjun also took the lead in saluting Chen Ke, most of them gave up their hostile thoughts against Chen Ke. There are many connections in the officialdom and thousands of soldiers of the insurance regiment, and there is no hope of winning against Chen Ke. Hu Youdao landlord and Hu Congjian were the most daring people among the landlords, and they had the courage to sue the official. But seeing Pu Guanshui appear in front of the general judgment yamen of Fengyang Mansion, Hu Congjian was so frightened that the three souls came out of his body, and he was desperate in his heart, it seemed that Pu Guanshui came to arrest him personally. What will happen to Puguanshui, Hu Congjian didn't even dare to think about it.

Hu Congjian's worries were completely superfluous, Pu Guanshui didn't know that someone had come to Shouzhou to sue the official, although he had seen many landlords at the welcome party where Chen Ke forcibly pulled the landlords to greet him, but the appearance of these people did not go to Pu Guanshui's heart at all. After meeting the landlords, Pu Guanshui forgot all about their appearances. Not to mention Hu Congjian, who was squeezed behind, who had not even taken a photo.

Today, he was ordered by the Military Commission of the People's Party to meet with the officials of Shouzhou. The operation of the water detachment to break the fence in various places came to an end for the time being. The morale of the troops was high and they were full of confidence. And after such a series of battles, the water detachment also selected loyal and reliable fighters. The Military Commission finally made a new battle plan to uproot Shouzhou, a Manchu stronghold. And Pu Guanshui's visit is imperative.

A year ago, if it weren't for Shang Yuan's appointment as a county magistrate in Fengtai County, and Pu Guanshui's response to the new army in Anhui, Chen Ke might not have had any big plans. Fengtai County is not a good base, first of all, geographically, Fengtai County is located on the edge of the plain, and next to the Huai River. It is convenient to transfer troops, and Shouzhou, as an important military base, is only a few dozen miles away from Fengtai County. The Manchus were full of troops. Fengtai County is a little troubled, and the Shouzhou officials and troops can be dispatched. The People's Party was unfamiliar with Fengtai County, had the encirclement and suppression of officials and troops, had no mass base, and the revolutionary situation was very difficult.

Therefore, the insurance team acted very low-key at the beginning, because it was afraid that excessive actions would cause unnecessary trouble.

However, the flood of 1906 solved the problem once and for all. The people of Fengtai County have no choice, and no one can save them except the People's Party. Shouzhou City is a thousand-year-old city with rich experience in flood resistance and self-protection. As a result, during the floods, they will inevitably close their doors and will not be mobilized. Although Shouzhou and Fengtai County were close at hand, Chen Ke firmly believed that in the early days of the vigorous development of the revolution in Fengtai County, there would definitely be no military threat from Shouzhou.

In the early days of the floods, Chen Ke convened a plenary meeting of the People's Party to discuss the revolutionary situation. As a figure in the lower reaches of history, Chen Ke knows a lot of history. The year 1906 was the end of the Qing Dynasty and not the Republic of China. If it is a Kuomintang soldier, they will definitely not care about 3721, after the flood, as long as they can move freely, these Kuomintang "suffering troops" will definitely go out and rob everywhere. Unlike other revolutions in Chinese history, the Manchu era, although very twilight, did not collapse financially. It is even less likely that the officials will reach the level of the Kuomintang who regard themselves as bandits. In recent years, there was some grain in the grain depot, and the Manchu official system had not yet reached the level of the Kuomintang's shameless and reckless behavior.

In the aftermath of the floods, most of the comrades felt that they were too busy to take care of themselves, believing that whether they could survive the floods was a big question. As for the military threat to Shouzhou City, it is not the point at all. Chen Ke and his die-hard comrades, like outlaws, personally led the team to start the disaster relief. Other comrades also began to follow suit. So there was no argument, and the comrades acquiesced in this prediction of Chen Ke. Even after the flood waters receded, the comrades never mentioned the matter of Shouzhou again. To be sure, it is not so much that they have full confidence in Chen Ke's predictions, but rather that because of their lack of experience in struggle, the comrades hope that things will develop as Chen Ke predicted.

But things went exactly as Chen Ke expected, and there was no movement in the direction of Shouzhou for several months. The insurance corps moves with complete freedom. When the insurance group began to break the fence along the Huai River, because Fengtai County was located in the lower reaches of Shouzhou, the action of the insurance group did not rely on the direction of Shouzhou. The soldiers of the water detachment of the insurance regiment even arrived at the shore of Hongze Lake, but Shouzhou was still as blind as if he was blind, and there was no movement. Chen Ke's strong prediction ability made the comrades sincerely admire. Therefore, when Chen Ke gathered the 1,200 elite soldiers in the water detachment back to Fengtai County and prepared to deal with the enemy in Shouzhou, the Military Commission and the Party Committee also had no objection.

Pu Guanshui handed over the name and stabbed it in, and he waited outside. It was not the first time he had been to Shouju. After arriving in Fengtai County, Puguanshui came once. But it was just a courtesy visit. Although Shouzhou is also known to have heavy troops, the armament was lax at the end of the Qing Dynasty, and the good equipment was given to the new army. This is clearly put forward in the program for the construction of the new army put forward by Yuan Shikai, and since the fate of reduction and reorganization is inevitable, these officers of the old military system in Shouzhou are even more reluctant to bother reorganizing the army.

Regarding the arrival of Pu Guanshui, the deputy co-commander of the new army, Shouzhou's side was okay on the surface, and saw that the official document brought by Pu Guanshui asked all localities to guard their own territory, and Puguanshui would coordinate with all localities to avoid the rebellion of the victims. The attitude of the military in Shouzhou is very consistent. They are reluctant to dispatch, anyway, after something happens, Pu Guanshui will bear it. Why do you bother to do this?

Pu Guanshui knew what the Shouzhou military was thinking, and this was what he and Chen Ke wanted to happen the most. The battle for the insurance regiment to break the siege was all under the jurisdiction of the Shouzhou military. Although with the ability of the Manchu army, even if they knew the news, they would not really have any combat ability. But they are too close to Fengtai County, even if the army in Shouzhou is dispatched casually, Fengtai County will be jumping.

More importantly, an army that has not experienced a battle has no combat capability, especially the will to fight. If the army has not broken the siege on a large scale, if the army has not understood what it is fighting for. Directly let them go to Shouzhou, Chen Ke didn't believe that his troops could have any will to fight. It is light to shake and escape, but I am afraid that many locals in the army will go to the informant.

Now, after a series of battles to break the siege, the troops have been trained, and they have seen so many tragic victims struggling on the line of death, and the soldiers have understood that if they want to save the people, it is simply nonsense according to the previous methods. Thinking of those tragic victims, Pu Guanshui couldn't help but close his eyes. Those scrawny people, those people who are struggling to die in the disaster......

"There's an adult here, why don't you get out of here!" A low angry shout interrupted Pu Guanshui's train of thought. When he opened his eyes, he saw that two officials were pulling and kicking a guy sitting on the ground. The guy let the servants beat him but didn't say a word, just stared at him with wide eyes.

Thinking of the people in the disaster area, Pu Guanshui's heart was full of compassion. Seeing someone being beaten, he couldn't help but be born and persuaded: "These two brothers, just take him away." Why bother? ”

The official didn't expect Pu Guanshui to stop him, so he quickly turned his head and smiled: "My lord, this person has just arrived here and is full of nonsense. We are afraid that he will disturb the adults by talking nonsense. That's when I wanted to get him away quickly. ”

"Alas!" Pu Guanshui sighed, thinking about what kind of grievance this person had suffered, so he came to Fengyang Mansion to sue the official. If it weren't for the fact that the Military Commission had already solved the military and political system in Shouzhou City, Pu Guanshui would have wanted to see if he could help. He turned his head to look at the man on the ground, but was surprised to see that the young man suddenly let out a scream, and then got up and fled with his life.

The official spat in the direction where Hu Congjian had fled, then turned his head and smiled: "My lord, you see, that person is a madman. When he was full of nonsense, he actually met our adult, but I didn't expect to see you, but he ran away. ”

After hearing this, he didn't know if it was flattery, Pu Guanshui could only smile bitterly, "What did he just say?" ”

"It's all crazy talk, he actually said......" The official laughed and was about to answer Pu Guanshui's question, but when he saw the door of the Yamen slowly open, they swallowed the next words back into their stomachs.

"My lord, we have come to meet you." After speaking, the official hurriedly retreated to his position. But he couldn't tell Pu Guanshui what had just happened.

Pu Guanshui turned his head and straightened his military hat. In between, an official in his fifties with a long beard walked out surrounded by a crowd of people. This official is Shen Zengzhi, the general judge of Fengyang Mansion.