At the end of the Qing Dynasty, whether to cut braids became a very interesting question. Due to the Manchu tradition of oppression, cutting braids was rebellion. However, with the entry of new armies and industries into China, there has been a large-scale braiding of new armies. This is not because the army is ready to rebel, but because the new rifles and military caps are imitated by foreign countries, and it is inconvenient to wear military caps with braids, and it is inconvenient to aim when shooting. In June 1905, the newly organized army implemented a uniform system, and many officers and soldiers wore new military uniforms and cut off their braids in order to facilitate the wearing of military hats; As an officer of the Beiyang New Army, Pu Guanshui returned from studying in Germany, and after Shui officially received his new military uniform, like many officers, he simply cut off his braids.

The reason why the Beiyang Army has become the object of hatred and jealousy of many old forces in the imperial court has a lot to do with the fact that they took the lead in attacking braids on a large scale. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, the cut of braids gradually became a symbol, and the braids represented the attitude towards the Manchu tradition. Wearing braids meant supporting the old Manchu order, and cutting braids became a gesture of support for the New Deal and even the revolution.

Perhaps because he joined the People's Party, Pu Guanshui, who had short hair, had an indescribable sense of rejection in his heart when he saw Shen Zengzhi, the general judge of Fengyang Mansion, who had gray braids and a group of officials who also wore braids, came to greet him. Because these people are now the enemies that Puguanshui wants to destroy. This hostile mentality makes Puguan subconsciously look for any gap between himself and the enemy.

Obviously, Puguan Shui's feeling is unfair. Fengyang Mansion sentenced Shen Zengzhi not to care about Pu Guanshui's lack of braids. Shen Zengzhi was born in 1850 and is a native of Jiaxing, Zhejiang. The word Zipei, the number Xunzhai, he is a scholar of the past and the present, learning through China and the West, and is known as "China's great Confucianism" with "master's and learning Confucianism". This great Confucian is by no means a conservative person, and he has a very light view of the matter of braids. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, it was common to cut braids, and half of the ministers who went abroad to inspect foreign constitutionalism also cut their braids to show their support for the new policy. In the eyes of this great Confucian, it is not a question at all whether the deputy co-commander of the Anhui New Army in front of him has cut his braids.

"Pu Xietong. Here's the courtesy. Shen Zengzhi shouted, and after speaking, he arched his hand. The military system of the Forces nouvelles and the official system of officials belong to two different systems, which are not subordinate to each other and are not comparable. However, Pu Guanshui is a guest, and Shen Zengzhi adopted the etiquette of the same level in the officialdom.

Pu Guanshui immediately returned the military salute, "Hello Lord Shen." ”

After the two sides finished saluting, Shen Zengzhi smiled and said, "Pu Xietong, please inside." "The door is not a place to talk, Shen Zengzhi can go to the yamen to greet Pu Guanshui is already enough face, there is no need to greet at the door of the yamen. While walking inside with Pu Guanshui, Shen Zengzhi was thinking about what the young deputy co-commander of the Anhui New Army was visiting this time. Shen Zengzhi actually knew that this young Xietong had taken Fengtai County, which is adjacent to Shouzhou, as his base, and he was afraid that this time he had something to do with Fengtai County. For Fengtai County, Shen Zengzhi felt confused, why Puguanshui took Fengtai County as his base for official business, Shen Zengzhi was very curious.

During the flood, Shouzhou only protected itself, and even cut off contact with many places. Although Shouzhou is still only self-protecting after the flood, it cannot be said that it is completely ignorant of the surrounding situation. At least Fengtai County, which is close at hand, still has a lot of news coming to Shouzhou City.

Not to mention anything else, no disaster victims from Fengtai County fled to Shouzhou City, and this incident itself is extremely abnormal. After the disaster, there are bandits everywhere, as long as the place can be stabilized, there will be no chaos. For the officials of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, it was enough to cope with errands. Fengtai County is under the management of Fengyang Prefecture, the problem is that Fengyang Mansion is far away from Fengtai County, and Shouzhou City is very close. In the past floods, most of the victims ran to Shouzhou City. The scale of this flood was so large, there were no victims after the disaster, and at first, the government of Shouzhou even thought that the people of Fengtai County might all die in the flood.

Shouzhou City sent some spies over, and the officials were very surprised when they came back. The county magistrate of Fengtai County joined forces with the local insurance group and quickly began to organize the victims to resume production. The spy said that the entire Fengtai County was united in building a simple camp and arranging for the people of the whole county to enter it. The people did not starve to death. Shouzhou officials, including Shen Zengzhi, were really surprised, there were still such capable officials in these years? When encountering this kind of situation in other places, the government is already very capable of stabilizing its own position, and the matter of saving the people is just an idea.

With Fengtai County Commander Shangyuan as a neighbor, the officials of Shouzhou City are quite relieved, Shouzhou City has been extremely difficult to accommodate the local victims, and it is simply good luck from God that no Fengtai County disaster victims come to eat.

Shen Zengzhi, as a great Confucian and official, is not without the intention of saving the people. But nothing can be done just as you want it to be. If nothing else, the time of the flood occurred in late spring, when there was no green and yellow water, and it rained for 60 consecutive days. Not only are farmers gone with this year's harvest, but next year's harvest is also gone. The grain stored in Shouzhou City is simply not enough to help the people. Moreover, the people flocked to the fortified Shouzhou City for refuge, and the city simply could not accommodate so many people, and at first received some disaster victims, and then they had to close the city gates and let the people make a living on their own. Shen once planted the city wall once, and when he saw the displacement of the people outside the city, the appearance of wailing everywhere, his conscience was greatly stimulated. From then on, he did not dare to go to the city again. Until someone told the news that the people had gone to Fengtai County, and later learned that Fengtai County actually maintained order in this year of disaster, and then learned that Fengtai County actually organized the people to start production to save themselves. Shen Zengzhi felt that his conscience had settled down a lot.

Of course, the murmur is not without it. The insurance group broke through Zhang Youliang's encirclement, and even the county order and the insurance group joined forces to coerce the landlord to lend land to the people for cultivation. These things have already been introduced to Shouzhou City. When Shouzhou officials talked about the incident in private, they all felt that it was a bit appalling. Some officials even suggested whether to notify Fengyang Mansion in writing. Shen Zengzhi stopped these discussions.

Although I heard that many of the people in the insurance group did not have braids, they acted quite fiercely. But this is all a matter of Fengtai County, who is reused by the Shangyuan County Order, do these people have braids or short hair, and what does it have to do with Shouzhou? And the news in the officialdom was already very well-informed, and Chen Ke, the leader of the insurance group, was a disciple of Yan Fu. We've all heard about it. During his tenure in Beijing, Shen Zengzhi and his younger brother Shen Zengtong ruled abacus and enjoyed a high reputation. Those who have close contacts include Wen Tingshi, Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao, Yuan Shikai, Yuan Shuangqiu, Zhu Yixin, Tao Junxuan, Yang Shoujing, Wang Kangnian, Sheng Boxi, Huang Zhongqiang, Xu Shichang, Wang Pengyun, Liang Dingfen, Zou Daijun and others. Although Shen Zengzhi and Yan Fu did not meet much, they were very appreciative of Yan Fu's translation of "The Theory of Heavenly Evolution". Since he is Yan Fu's disciple, it is not unusual for Chen Ke, the leader of the insurance group, to show such ability. Everything in officialdom is convenient for you and for me. This kind of thing in Fengyang Mansion will definitely reach Yan Fu's ears in the future, and Yan Fu will definitely be dissatisfied at that time. Why bother?

Moreover, there was not much food in Shouzhou, because of the stability of Fengtai County, the victims near Shouzhou went to Fengtai County to find food, which greatly relieved the pressure on Shouzhou. In the disaster year, even if the Shangyuan County Order and the insurance group were eliminated, the result was that the victims who had already settled down flocked to Shouzhou City. Isn't it uncomfortable to find nothing? Therefore, although there is a lot of news about the insurance group, the officials at the top and bottom of Shouzhou City have adopted a policy of turning a blind eye. Turning a blind eye to the "stable situation" in Fengtai County, which is located in the downstream of Shouzhou and is more than 30 miles away in a straight line.

Hu Xingzhi, a big landlord in Fengtai County, knew about such a situation, because he had already sent people to probe the tone of the military and political officials in Shouzhou. After understanding the mentality of the officials in Shouzhou, Hu Xingzhi had no other plans at all. Hu Xingzhi has seen the world and knows that even if he reports to the official, it is just a process of officialdom. Fengtai County is not under the jurisdiction of Shouzhou, at most the officials and adults here sent a letter to Shang Yuan to ask what was going on. Shang Yuan naturally has a way to prevaricate.

Shang Yuan can prevaricate about Shouzhou, but the news that Hu Xingzhi sent someone to sue the official will definitely be known. At that time, Hu Xingzhi had absolutely no way to prevaricate in the face of the insurance group. Chen Keming clearly told Hu Xingzhi that he was going to rebel. At that time, Hu Xingzhi would definitely not be able to live. So after Hu Xingzhi tried it a little, he gave up the idea of playing any tricks in the short term.

Shen Zengzhi led Pu Guanshui into the living room, and after the guests and hosts sat down, he smiled and said: "Pu Xietong is young and promising, and the recent Taiping near Shouzhou is all due to Pu Xietong." ”

It's all a scene, and to put the words down here is just to show respect. When Pu Guanshui heard Shen Zengzhi say this, he simply opened his eyes and said nonsense, "Lord Shen praised it falsely." I couldn't do anything here, but the adults managed it very well, the folk atmosphere was very positive, and I saved a lot of money, so I was able to survive this disaster year. ”

The living room is full of old officialdom rivers and lakes, everyone listens to Pu Guanshui's nonsense, and they know that Pu Guanshui has the heart to return to Anqing. Sure enough, I heard Pu Guanshui continue: "I was ordered to check the people's situation this time and help all localities to prepare*." Now that Shouzhou has settled down, I will go back to Anqing to report in the next few days. ”

And so it was! Many officials of the Fengyang Mansion General Judgment Yamen had expressions of clarity on their faces. Pu Guanshui is hinting that he hopes that Shouzhou will write him an official document to prove Pu Guanshui's hard work these days and Pu Guanshui's political achievements. Of course, Pu Guanshui must also have a few kind words from Anhui Governor Enming. A round of compliments.

"Then when is Pu Xietong going to Fengyang Mansion?" Shen Zengzhi asked. Shouzhou is a military stronghold, Pu Guanshui is naturally on Shouzhou's side, but he has to go to Fengyang Mansion to take a picture to meet the rules.

Pu Guanshui smiled: "I plan to go in a few days." However, I heard that Fengyang Mansion is not very peaceful, since there is the general soldier of Shouchun Town in Shouzhou, I thought about inviting everyone to have a meal together and discuss this matter. ”

The timid and scared. Fengyang Mansion sentenced everyone in the Yamen to define Puguan Water like this. As long as he received the official letter of praise from the chief soldier of Shouchun Town, Pu Guanshui could actually go back to Anqing and say that he had completed his responsibility. Since the official system of the new army is completely incompatible with the civilian system, it is useless for Pu Guanshui to go to Fengyang Mansion in person. Both Fengyang Mansion and Puguanshui have no command power over each other, but if anything happens, Fengyang Mansion can put a lot of responsibility on Puguanshui. Since Shouzhou is still stable, as long as Pu Guanshui gets the official document of praise from the general judgment of Fengyang Mansion and the general soldiers of Shouchun Town, he can go back to Anqing first. As for what happened later, Puguanshui had all kinds of excuses to shirk responsibility.

"Then can I see the chief soldier of Shouchun Town?" Shen Zengzhi asked.

"Not yet." Pu Guanshui said with a smile.

I finally understand the rules. Shen Zengzhi's staff thought to themselves. In Shouzhou City, Shen Zengzhi has the highest official position, if Pu Guanshui goes to see the general soldiers of Shouchun Town first, it will be a big joke. He can be regarded as offending Shen Zengzhi in Fengyang Mansion.

If it was according to the rules, Pu Guanshui expressed his attitude so sincerely, Shen Zengzhi should have agreed, but he didn't expect that Shen Zengzhi didn't answer after hearing this. He pondered for a while, and asked, "I don't know what the relationship between Pu Xietong and Chen Ke, the leader of the Fengtai County Insurance Group, is?" ”