Li Yunrui was being distraught by the heavily armed American troops marching back and forth near the concession border in close formations. Pen ~ Fun ~ Pavilion www.biquge.info he glanced at the people around him out of the corner of his eye, wondering whether they were frightened by the possible turmoil or if they were just as restless by the dangerous actions of the Americans.

Four days...... It is now the fifth day, and the US troops stationed in the Guangzhou Bay concession appear at the border every day in full armor. Sometimes the soldiers would run while singing, sometimes they would march back and forth in a queue like the one now, sometimes they would scream and pierce the scarecrow with their bayonets, or shoot targets with various weapons and even cannons...... For five days, every day, from morning till night, it doesn't stop until it's completely dark.

People know what it is: the ban of the governor of Liangguang. Obviously, the boss of the American company that recruited "security guards" did not like Tan's ban very much, so he persuaded the American troops in the concession to support him, and what the American army is doing now is the signal of the beginning.

As for what they are going to do next, rumors have spread in the county, some people say that the American army is preparing to attack Suixi County; There are also some people who say that the American army will attack Canton by boat and capture the governor of Liangguang alive; Still others claim that the U.S. military is planning to go directly to Beijing, forcing the emperor to issue a decree allowing U.S. companies to recruit "security guards" freely......

There are many theories, none of which can be confirmed, but everyone believes the one they want to believe, so the residents are becoming panicked.

Of course, the same is true for officials, at least several officials close to Li Yunrui are panicking, but he doesn't know how the rest of them feel.

There's no way to know. The officials of Suixi had developed an expression of poise in the face of any crisis that seemed far away, even though their bodies were shaking with fear, but no one could see it.

In fact, unless he was too nervous or scared, Li Yunrui was quite sure that he could easily do this—but now, irritability was bothering him, preventing him from keeping his peace, so when Li Yunrui saw Yi Shui and two white men who were apparently officers walking towards him under the protection of the soldiers, he suddenly found himself unable to stand, and all the words he had prepared in advance had been completely forgotten, as if they had never existed.

Cold sweat broke out from his forehead. Li Yunrui wiped them off with his sleeve, but new beads of sweat soon appeared, and he found that his back was also soaked.

"Calm. Be sure to stay calm. He said to himself, but it didn't have any effect at all, when Yi Shui and the two commanders stood in front of him, he still didn't know what to say, or what to do, and the acting magistrate Li Zhongyu [note] standing next to him also didn't say a word, while Yi Shui chose to wait.

The atmosphere at the scene became a little awkward and dreary, with only the footsteps of mercenaries echoing in the air not far away. But this kind of voice obviously does not have a positive effect.

So the stalemate between the two sides continued for a few minutes, until Li Yunrui finally remembered a beginning.

"Easy water...... Lieutenant Colonel," he said with obvious panic in his tone, "I would like to introduce you next, this is Li Zhixian, the new arrival in this county. Li Yunrui pointed at Li Zhongyu, then turned to his side, and pointed at Yi Shui, "Li Zhixian, this is the Great U.S. Army-"

"Marines." In fact, Yi Shui didn't want to correct this small mistake, but the two brigade commanders standing next to him were from the Marine Corps, and he had to take care of their feelings.

Of course, this correction has only a small symbolic significance, and neither Li Yunrui nor Li Zhongyu does not know what a "marine" is, but only treats it as an army.

Li Yunrui didn't even start over, but continued to speak, finishing his speech. "-- Lieutenant Colonel Yi Shui."

"Fortunately." But Li Zhongyu's expression and tone did not mean "fortunate meeting" at all, he casually made a fist salute to Yi Shui, and Yi Shui only returned him a perfunctory military salute, and then their formal meeting began.

"Master Yi," Li Zhongyu started first, and unceremoniously and harshly reprimanded: "What do your troops want to do with such a brazen show of force?" Are you going to intrude on my Suixi County? Or," he sneered, "you plan to lead your troops into Canton?" ”

Yi Shui looked at him strangely, not understanding why he had such an attitude - according to the results of his discussion with Rachel, no matter who the Qing government sent, he should lower his posture and ask him to end the military operation, or ask him not to attack Suixi County - but the county magistrate behaved as if he had eaten a whole barrel of gunpowder. If his aim is to negotiate, it is clear that such an attitude can only lead to the opposite effect; If he uses intimidation as a negotiating tactic, there is no doubt that he made a big mistake.

It's also a joke, of course: Why, to put it bluntly, would he think he has the power to intimidate the commander of an American army?

Of course, from his own point of view, Yi Shui still admires Li Zhongyu, and there are not many Qing officials who can still show courage in front of foreign troops in this era - but it is also possible that because he saw that the commander of this American army was Chinese, out of a habit developed over the years, he tried to show his majesty, but Yi Shui preferred to consider the bright side.

He admires Li Zhongyu, but that doesn't mean he will lower his posture even a little, after all, he is standing on a diametrically opposed position.

"Lord Zhixian, I don't think you have the right to interfere or accuse my troops of any military action on the territory of the American Concession." Yi Shui replied sternly,-for-tat, "I have to remind you that you are violating the sovereignty of the United States of America. ”

"This official also wants to remind Lord Yi that the military operations carried out by your army for four consecutive days have affected the lives of the good people in the jurisdiction of this official." Li Zhongyu's attitude is still resolute.

Yi Shui was even stranger, but equally unceremonious. "My troops only operate within the U.S. Concession, and no soldiers have entered the area under the jurisdiction of the magistrate, so I do not think that the activities of the past four days have had any adverse impact on the lives of ordinary civilians."

"There are rumors that your army is preparing to attack our county and Guangzhou, so it has caused the good people of this county to be panicked and restless.

"Rumors? Since it was just a rumor, what the magistrate wanted to do was to arrest all the rumor-mongers who created the rumor, not to interfere with the normal operations of the US military in the US concession. ”

"Lord Yi-"

"Alright, Lord Magistrate." Yi Shui interrupted Li Zhongyu, the conversation should not and there is no need to continue, "I think you are too excited now, so I suggest that you take a rest first and negotiate with me after your mood has calmed down." He smiled, "As long as the price is right, there is nothing in this world that is not negotiable." ”

A very appropriate hint. Since everyone knows why the U.S. military has behaved so abnormally these days, and naturally they also know what to do to put an end to this anomaly, the only question is whether the officials in Suixi have the guts to break Tan Zhonglin's ban before the new order arrives.

Theoretically, of course, they should have the courage to do so.

Yi Shui smiled more obviously, turned around, and walked towards the concession with the two commanders who were actually just foils, leaving Li Zhongyu, who was obviously already angry, in place. When they were far enough away, one of the commanders, retired Marine Corps Lieutenant Ryan, had arrived in the concession only a few weeks earlier. Philip suddenly said: "Obviously, the Chinese official just now lacked enough sense. ”

"How?" Yi Shui glanced at him.

"Sir, although I don't understand Chinese, his tone and expression indicate that he is trying to intimidate you." Philip shrugged, "Whatever his thoughts, it's extremely unwise. ”

"That's true." Yi Shui nodded, "But people like him have become rare recently. ”

"Maybe he should be taught a lesson." Another commander stepped in - but Jack. Lieutenant Kiplin, who was clearly not in the best of his mind, was quick to make the wrong statement: "A tentative skirmish, and at the same time a warning." ”

Offensive? This is not what Yi Shui wants, gathering troops for demonstrations is almost the limit of what he can do, really ordering troops to attack the Chinese, even if Qin Lang's orders he will not necessarily carry out.

His face stiffened. "Mr. Kiplin, pay attention to your words."

At the same time, Philip also gave Kiplin a warning look: there was no doubt that launching a substantial attack would violate Qin Lang's orders, and it would mean that someone would lose their jobs.

Kiplin knew this very well, so he immediately defended himself, "Of course, this is just a joke, I won't until I get Mr. Qin's new order-" He suddenly realized that he had said too much, but it was too late.

"Qin Lang's new order?" Yi Shui stopped, turned to look at him and Philip, "Did Qin Lang have an order before?" ”

Under his stern gaze, Philip first glared at his reckless colleague, and then reluctantly admitted: "Mr. Lieutenant Colonel, Mr. Qin has asked us to obey Miss McBride's order for troops to demonstrate to the Chinese government, but not to launch an actual attack. ”

"When?"

"Just when Miss McBride visited Mr. Morgan." Philip spread his hands, "You have to admit that Mr. Qin's prediction is very accurate. ”

"Yes, his predictions were accurate...... Accurate all the time. After being silent for a while, Yi Shui sighed and said slowly, "But it's best not to let Rachel know about this matter." ”

He knew Rachel very well. If she knew that the order she had given on impulse had been accurately predicted by Qin Lang, she would first feel very frustrated, and at the same time, she would wonder if her other actions had also been accurately predicted...... Of course, there are also the small setbacks encountered, and then she will wonder if all this is Qin Lang's careful arrangement: although he has not done this before, no one can be sure that he will not do it......

If everything that had happened was indeed Qin Lang's arrangement, Rachel's confidence would definitely be deeply hit, because it meant that she would never be able to surpass Qin Lang; But that might be a good thing, at least it would save him from worrying about the eventual development of the situation.

Yi Shui let out a long breath and walked towards the troops again. Seeing him and the two commanders return, the mercenaries stopped and waited for new orders, but some moved faster.

Rachel stepped forward quickly and stopped Yi Shui. "What did the Chinese official say?"

"He wants us to put an immediate end to the current demonstrations." He changed his rhetoric slightly. If it is true, maybe Rachel will immediately give the order to attack Suixi County, so that Qin Lang's order will be exposed.

Yi Shui didn't believe that Kiprin could keep a secret, and neither did Philip.

To avoid possible problems, the commander added: "There is no doubt that the Chinese have been completely frightened by the rumors you have spread, Miss McBride." ”

"But they are still unwilling to lift the ban." She snorted, "It looks like that Governor Tan doesn't care about my threat at all. ”

On the first day of the demonstration, she sent a warning to Tan Zhonglin that if he did not lift the ban within a week, she would order the troops to attack Guangzhou, but apparently he took this warning as air.

"Maybe the Italians said something to him."

"I'm afraid so." She looked a little angry. "Stupid Italians, I will definitely make them pay."

Yi Shui smiled bitterly, and then said: "The officials here are very timid, and without an order from Tan Zhonglin or others, they dare not lift the ban without authorization. After a pause, he continued: "But Qin Lang has put pressure on Beijing through Yang Ru, and it is only a matter of time before the ban is lifted." ”

This time, she didn't say anything, just snorted. Rachel didn't like Qin Lang's callback, and he didn't like what he did: if things were resolved in his way, then he would get credit, and she was just a poor fool who was getting into trouble in the eyes of others. Rachel hates this ending, and she wants things to be resolved in her own way.

But she couldn't change anything at all, first of all, Yi Shui would never agree to attack Suixi or Guangzhou, and she didn't intend to embarrass him too much. So armed demonstrations are the limit of what she can do.

Secretly cursing, she asked, "What next?" ”

"Wait until the magistrate proposes to negotiate again." "At the same time, the troops continue to demonstrate. ”

Continue to demonstrate, for Rachel.

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Note: Li Zhongyu's appointment as the acting magistrate of Suixi should have been after 1898, but he was brought forward here, and he had fully supported the Suixi militia's anti-French struggle - so it is not surprising that his attitude was a little tougher. (To be continued, if you want to know what will happen next, please log in to the www.qidian.com, more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!) (To be continued.) )