Fu Guodong's question was to the point, and even Leng Rui didn't expect him to ask so directly.

Fu Guodong had to ask clearly, if he let his troops come forward, he would definitely make excuses, after all, he knew very well what it meant to cook a rabbit and a dog, and he also knew that the revolutionary army would use his opportunity to attack the concession to weaken his strength and finally swallow him whole.

Anyway, by this time, what Fu Guodong was thinking about was still self-preservation.

This is also the main reason why he asked Guan Mochen to come to Yongcheng in the first place.

Leng Rui's answer also surprised Fu Guodong.

Leng Rui said: "The best plan is for General Fu, Fenghua New Army and the Seventeenth Army to work together, so that they can be caught off guard and take Xingang as quickly as possible, but because the three armies belonged to different camps before, the first cooperation will inevitably cause chaos, but the resumption of the concession cannot go wrong, so I think that none of our three parties can move." ”

Fu Guodong immediately asked: "If we don't move, there will be no army, who will recover it?" ”

Leng Rui said: "Guan Mochen's trade union." ”

Fu Guodong was stunned: "Are they all workers?" ”

Leng Rui said: "Before we joined the army, weren't all our soldiers also civilians?" ”

Fu Guodong said: "However, I haven't received any training, once the fight starts, the gains outweigh the losses?" ”

Leng Rui smiled: "General Fu is underestimating the strength of the people, don't forget, the peasant rebel armies of all dynasties and dynasties have very strong combat effectiveness. ”

Fu Guodong just smiled embarrassedly, the battlefield today is completely different from the past, in the era of firearms, whether you have fired a gun or not is one thing, how many bullets have been fired, whether you are familiar with guns is another matter, it is not at all an era when you can charge into battle with sharpened bamboo.

Fu Guodong said honestly: "I think it's still inappropriate, I can't hide it, although I am not a qualified governor, I don't want to watch the people of Yongcheng die." ”

What Fu Guodong said was from his heart, why didn't he want to be a good official? But in this era, surrounded by a group of selfish people, if he showed his best side and made a look of mud and unstained, it is estimated that he would have died eight hundred times.

Moreover, Cai Qianqing's death is extremely guilty to him.

Leng Rui said: "General, what I said earlier was just a temptation, I'm sorry, but I really didn't misread the general." ”

Is it really a temptation? Fu Guodong sneered in his heart, what kind of medicine is sold in Leng Rui's gourd, he knows too well.

Leng Rui said again: "The friction between the trade union and the foreigners is just the beginning, after all, we have to send troops directly to Xingang, which is not justifiable." ”

Fu Guodong said: "We Chinese have recovered our own place, what is not justified? ”

Fu Guodong suddenly changed his words, which made Leng Rui also feel surprised, didn't he say that the time was wrong before? Why is it all of a sudden and now it's supported again?

Leng Rui was thinking in his heart, could it be that Fu Guodong was also persuaded by Guan Mochen?

But that's okay, if Fu Guodong is willing to help the union, he will save a lot of effort.

Leng Rui said: "What does General Fu mean is that he is willing to cooperate with the trade union?" ”

Fu Guodong asked: "I want to know, what is the specific plan of the commander-in-chief?" ”

Leng Rui said: "Arm the trade union, let the trade union directly attack Xingang, and after the foreigners send troops, we will surround and annihilate it!" ”

Fu Guodong said: "Will we send troops together?" ”

Leng Rui said: "Yes, we will send troops together, and the specific action plan depends on how the union arranges it." ”

Fu Guodong's face was full of embarrassment: "There is something that I can't say." ”

Leng Rui said: "General Fu, but it doesn't hurt to say it. ”

Fu Guodong said: "Mr. Leng must also know that Yongcheng has experienced two disasters before, and after the catastrophe, I exempted Yongcheng from a large amount of taxes, but because of this, the military salary has been repeatedly delayed and cannot be paid, and now the whole army is quite dissatisfied." ”

After listening to this, Leng Rui secretly scolded Fu Guodong in his heart, and suddenly mentioned military salaries at this time, which was obviously making excuses for not sending troops.

Moreover, this is also Fu Guodong's temptation, if Leng Rui is sincere, then he will definitely find a way to solve the matter of military salary, otherwise, there must be fraud in this.

Leng Rui said: "The most appropriate way to deal with the matter of military salaries is the Yongcheng Chamber of Commerce." ”

Finally mentioned the Chamber of Commerce again, Fu Guodong immediately said: "Mr. Leng, I have been the governor of Yongcheng for many years, and those foreigners in Xingang and the Yongcheng Chamber of Commerce wear a pair of pants. ”

Going around and around, Fu Guodong still talked about the most critical issue, after all, Leng Rui didn't really mention how to deal with the Yongcheng Chamber of Commerce at all, and when he mentioned it before, it was vague and vague, and it was said in his words that as long as the foreigners are honest, the Chamber of Commerce will naturally be honest.

And now, Fu Guodong went around the question again, and asked him simply and directly, now that he has no military salary, he needs to be paid by the Chamber of Commerce, and the Chamber of Commerce and foreigners stand together, isn't this equivalent to letting the Chamber of Commerce pay for itself?

At this moment, Leng Rui knew that he had underestimated Fu Guodong, this warlord was too different from the rumors, he was meticulous, he was not under him, and he knew where the key point of the problem was from the beginning.

But Leng Rui still threw the question to Fu Guodong: "General, the military budget on the Seventeenth Army is not abundant, so it is unlikely to be transferred from the Seventeenth Army, if I remember correctly, there is a deputy chief of staff next to you named An Wanghai, known as the King of Tongtian, that is also a genius, it is better to let him contact the people of the Chamber of Commerce first, think of ideas, this is the only way." ”

Leng Rui's words were equivalent to drawing an end to today's meeting, Fu Guodong didn't say anything anymore, just agreed, drank a few cups of tea with Leng Rui, chatted a few words and left.

After Fu Guodong left, Leng Rui got up and stood at the gate of the courtyard looking outside, he knew that to solve the problem of Yongcheng once and for all, now it was too difficult, and the army, merchants and foreigners in Yongcheng were not easy to deal with.

But in any case, the problem still has to be thrown to the union, after all, the foreigners have not come forward to find themselves yet.

It seems that we have to force the foreigners to let them know the seriousness of the situation.

●

After leaving the Eight Kings Courtyard, Fu Guodong did not return to the Governor's Mansion, but went to the hospital to visit An Wanghai.

After An Wanghai's accident, although the police department sent people to protect him, Fu Guodong was still not at ease, and privately arranged for his own spies to be in the hospital in disguise.

After entering the ward, An Wanghai saw Fu Guodong coming, and immediately asked the nurse to help him get up and sit down.

Fu Guodong put down the fruit and gifts with his own hands, and signaled to the nurse to go out.

After the door was closed, Fu Guodong sat on the edge of the bed and said, "Mr. An, I'm here to ask for sin." ”

An Wanghai was surprised: "Please? ”

Fu Guodong said: "Mr. Cai's death is directly related to me, if it wasn't for me to protect myself, I'm afraid Mr. Cai would not have died, and I promised to save Mr. Cai at that time, but I broke my promise." ”

An Wanghai didn't know why Fu Guodong mentioned this matter again, did he really repent in his heart?

An Wanghai was silent, just looked at Fu Guodong.

Fu Guodong said: "I am indeed cornered, I can't hide it, I have wanted to run for a long time, but once I leave Yongcheng and leave my army, whether it is the Five Provinces Alliance Army or the Revolutionary Army, they will not let me go, and they will definitely kill me, and the place I can go is only Sun Sanna, you say, what should I do now?" ”

An Wanghai was silent for a while and said: "Listening to the meaning of the marshal's words, you already know very well what the revolutionary army is going to do, right?" ”

Fu Guodong said: "Before coming to the hospital, I had already met the special commissioner sent to Yongcheng by the revolutionary army, this person is called Leng Rui. ”

An Wanghai frowned: "Leng Rui? Are you about 30 years old and wearing glasses? ”

Fu Guodong asked, "Do you know?" ”

An Wanghai shook his head and said: "I don't know, but I've heard of him, in the past, he and Guan Mochen competed for the title of Yubi Chenghuang, and in the end Guan Mochen won." ”

Fu Guodong said: "There is such a past, it seems that the road is narrow. ”

An Wanghai said: "If Leng Rui becomes a commissioner, then we are all about to face a catastrophe." ”

Fu Guodong was surprised: "Is it so serious? ”

An Wanghai said: "Leng Rui has always felt that he is a talent, and he has not been reused for many years, when he was under Chen Jiongming, he became a small staff division, but he was used by Chen Jiongming to support the scene, so at the beginning, when Chen Jiongming rebelled, Leng Rui was supportive, he knew very well that Chen Jiongming would be defeated if he dared to rebel, and he would be ridiculed by the world if he left Chen Jiongming, so he simply instigated Chen Jiongming's Guangdong army to destroy itself, as long as Chen Jiongming fell, he would leave justifiably. ”

Fu Guodong said: "It seems that Leng Rui was sent to Yongcheng as a commissioner this time, and he was reused by the upper echelons of the revolutionary army. ”

An Wanghai disagreed: "You are wrong, if he is reused, he will not come to Yongcheng." ”

Fu Guodong asked, "Where will it go?" ”

An Wanghai only said two words: "Shanghai." ”

Fu Guodong said: "I heard that the situation in Shanghai is even more severe than here, and the workers there are completely armed. ”

An Wanghai said: "The focus of the revolutionary army is in Shanghai, and Yongcheng is a microcosm of Shanghai. ”

Fu Guodong looked at An Wanghai: "Please make it clear to you." ”

An Wanghai changed his comfortable posture slightly: "Shanghai is China's economic center and a money bag, and the most similar place to Shanghai is Yongcheng. After the Northern Expedition, the revolutionary army has always received the support of the people, because of the slogans they shouted, the people believe that the revolutionary army can make the country equal and free, and can also let the Chinese face foreigners on their own land, no longer inferior, but the revolutionary army is now facing many problems. ”

Fu Guodong asked, "What's the problem?" ”

First of all, the supporters, for today's revolutionary army, the support of the people is important, but they also need money, they need weapons. When the revolutionary army set out from Guangzhou, it was Soviet Russia that supported them, and when they arrived in Shanghai, they had too many choices.

And Soviet Russia was ideologically completely different from the Western powers, but after all, what was said had to be done, and what would be the consequences after doing it?

Therefore, before the revolutionary army came to the city of Shanghai, they regarded Yongcheng as a small Shanghai, and wanted to use Yongcheng to throw stones to ask for directions.

Fu Guodong roughly understood: "In other words, the revolutionary army used Yongcheng as an experiment? ”

An Wanghai nodded and said: "That's right, that's what it means, what result did Yongcheng get, after Shanghai was defeated, the result was much the same, but in any case, the revolutionary army didn't want those red elements in the army to sit big, that is, Guan Mochen's group of people, you know, on the road of the Northern Expedition, the power to mobilize the masses and unite the people depends on them, and when it happens along the way, it is shocking to some people in the revolutionary army, they are worried that one day, these red elements will take away the power in their hands." ”