After Liu Yong's death, Liu Anjiang's way of doing business was broader than that of his father Liu Yong. He not only inherited his father's raw silk export trade in Nanxun and the salt industry in Huaiyang, but also ventured into the real estate business in Shanghai, buying properties and land in many prime locations in downtown Shanghai and the concession to rent out for profit. Later, Liu Jinzao further promoted the family's business from Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the whole country, investing in shipping, electric power, railways and tea industries in Wuhan, Changsha, Hangzhou, Nantong and Nanjing. In Tongzhou, a large area of estuary and seaside tidal flats were purchased, land was reclaimed from the sea, and a reclamation company was established; co-founded Shanghai Dada Wheel Port Company with Zhang Jian; In Wuhan, it invested in the construction of the Hankou Hydropower Plant.

At the same time, in 1901, because of the donation to the Qing government to relieve the famine in Shaanxi, he was crowned as an alternate of Wupin Jingtang by the imperial court. In the same year, he wrote 400 volumes of the "General Examination of Qing Continuation Literature" and submitted it, and was awarded the title of bachelor in the cabinet. But he never forgot about public welfare.

The negotiation of Huzhou's land purchase was fruitless, and the lake gentry gathered together to discuss:

Liu Anjiang said: Negotiations are fruitless, and the only way to follow the law is to take the road.

The gentry of the lake agreed one after another, and decided to sue the Southern Supervision Council and Han Mingde to the consular court.

They publicly named Shen Ruilin, Yu Hengnong, Shen Puqin and Zhou Tinghua as plenipotentiary representatives to appear in court to sue and hired Coope (White Coope

He formally filed a complaint with the Hangzhou Consular Court on February 19, 1906.

The complaint pointed out that the four plaintiffs were duly authorized representatives of the Huzhou gentry, and according to Chinese law and tradition, the gentry had the responsibility and right to defend the property and land surrounding the tribute courtyard, school grounds, temples, and temples. The buildings of Huzhou, such as the Zun Jing Pavilion, the Yanlu Gong Ancestral Hall, the Cao Xiaozi Temple, the Jingyi Pavilion and the Yizhi Pavilion, are all located in the land involved in this case.

Hu Shen's litigation strategy is to fight for Xu Dinglin's contract on the basis of it. They pointed out that Pan Shenwen and his lawyer Younikan, as plenipotentiary negotiators, had signed the contract promising to return the land; However, Han Mingde's refusal to perform the contract constituted a breach of contract and caused damage to the plaintiff's interests. Therefore, the plaintiff demanded that the defendant perform the Xu Dinglin contract, return the land and the 1,000 taels of sea rules previously paid, and pay the plaintiff 1,000 yuan in damages.

In his reply, Han Mingde claimed that the defendant's acquisition of the above-mentioned land was completely legal and in accordance with the Sino-US treaty, and that all the process of purchasing land in Huzhou, including expressing its intention to purchase the land to the county order, negotiating the land purchase, issuing notices, and finally obtaining the land, improving and renovating the land, and building a ring wall on the border, were all known to the gentry, but the plaintiff never raised any protest.

Han Mingde further alleged that the purpose of the gentry to file the lawsuit until this time was to deliberately cause trouble for the church. It was to obstruct and interrupt the construction progress of the South Supervision Committee in Huzhou, which caused losses of at least 5,000 yuan to the defendant.

Han Mingde added: I and Bi Liwen did not sign the contract, so the contract is not binding on him.

On March 15, 1906, the U.S. Consul in Hangzhou, Yun Feide, formally held a trial of the case, and he basically adopted Han Mingde's argument on the purchase of land and the validity of the contract, and pointed out that the plaintiff did not have sufficient evidence to prove that the disputed land was the property of the Confucian Temple.

Accordingly, Yun Fei determined that, under the formal treaty between China and the United States, the Southern Supervisory Council, like other American commissions, had the right to permanently rent and buy land in Huzhou City, as well as in other parts of China. When they have properly completed the land acquisition process and have acquired the land, they are entitled to complete control of the land, free from interference or nuisance of any nature.

This judgment completely rejected the gentry's claim, and all negotiations returned to the starting point. Zhejiang Provincial officials and Huzhou gentry all thought that Yun Fei did not conduct on-the-spot inspections and measurements, and only listened to Han Mingde's words and was obsessed with favoritism. Subsequently, the lake gentry hired lawyer Danwen (D

ummo

d) and the other three appealed to the U.S. Minister to China, Rou Keyi. After Han Mingde won the lawsuit, he stepped up construction on the land, and the people of Huzhou became more and more dissatisfied. Around March 23, the gentry called for a large rally to protest the outcome of Hangling's trial, and public opinion became increasingly tense.

After receiving the appeal, Rou rejected the appeal on the grounds that he lacked the right to adjudicate. However, he specifically stressed to the plaintiff's lawyer that the case had long since left the scope of the contract and entered the legal field, and he said in the conciliation letter: "The judgment of the consul in Hangzhou and the United States is in accordance with the law and should be recognized." At that time, the plaintiff and the defendant were involved in the lawsuit, and they should also comply. We have examined in detail the confessions of the witnesses during the interrogation that day...", suggesting that even if he were to reconvene, the outcome of the trial would probably be the same. However, he also knew very well that if the matter dragged on for a long time, the church would not let it go, the people's anger against the church would accumulate day by day, and the peaceful assembly of the gentry might end in the tragedy of killing the priest and destroying the church--- which was not uncommon in the late Qing Dynasty. Under the entrustment of the original defendant and the defendant, Rou Keyi said that he would "mediate impartially and without partiality". Through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rou also asked Zhejiang officials to appease the people of Huzhou and "not to be too agitated and cause riots", and on the other hand, he also strongly advised Han Mingde to temporarily suspend work and temporarily ease the situation.

On March 29, 1907, Rou Keyi made a ruling, requiring the church to return about 8 acres of land on the east and west sides of the temple, and to return the 1,000 taels of money paid by Xu Dinglin during the contract, but to keep a 20-inch wide road to the west of the temple, so that the church could go straight from its southeast gate to the official road in front of the school. Rou Keyi mistakenly believed that the land occupied by Han Mingde was only outside the wall, so he only returned the land on both sides of the temple, and he himself did not personally conduct the survey, but only sent the deputy interpreter of the embassy to Huzhou to understand the situation. For Hu Shen, this result is worse than Xu Dinglin's contract, and it is even more difficult to admit. After the verdict was issued, Han Mingde immediately built a road to the west of the temple, which became more and more indignant.

In April 1907, the Centennial Commemoration of the Entry of Christianity into China was held in Shanghai

I went to attend, too. Hu Shen seized the opportunity and asked Zhang Zengxi to go to Shanghai as a representative to give a detailed account of the case to the senior management of the Southern Supervision Committee. Later, Willison appointed Lenwald as plenipotentiary to join William Hecto

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k) Negotiate with the gentry in Huzhou. The two Lan Bai and the representatives of the lake gentry went to the island boundary to perform and measure.

It was raining heavily, and everyone was trekking in the mud, tirelessly working hard, so far Lan Huade knew the truth about Han Mingde's occupation. Subsequently, the two sides negotiated for two days and nights, and finally reached an agreement (hereinafter referred to as the Lanhuade contract). The contract stipulates that starting from the southeast corner of Tianning Temple in the west of the Xue Palace, a straight line of 290 inches long will be made to the north, and the rectangular area from the north end of the line to the west to the east wall will be returned to the Fuxue; In a straight line near the east of the Tianning Temple wall, the lake gentry made a road twenty feet wide for public use, so that the southeast gate of the church estate could be easily accessed after being moved to the northeast corner of the Tianning Temple. The land claimed this time was more than the 20 acres of land in Xu Dinglin's contract, and the 1,000 taels of yuan that had been "gifted" to the church were also claimed, and the gentry only had to pay 500 Yingyang as compensation for the church's demolition of the building, and returned the church's original land price of 400 yuan.

Liu Anjiang and other lake gentry also thought that the terms of the contract were very appropriate, showing the equality and goodwill of both parties, and Lan and Bai were also very satisfied with the result.

However, there was no agreement within the church on this contract. In the contract negotiation of Xu Dinglin, Han Mingde was still present as one of the representatives, and in the Qianyuan negotiations, the three parties who purchased the land in Huzhou, Han Mingde, Pan Shenwen and Heng Teli (J.H.He

d

y) were unable to participate.

Han Mingde thinks: I am a legal person. It is illegal for the church to negotiate a contract directly with the gentry by bypassing me, and it is contrary to the purpose of the parties. Moreover, this result will in fact make the people of Huzhou think that I am immoral, and completely point the responsibility for the discord between the people and religions in Huzhou to me, which I cannot accept.

After the contract was negotiated, Liu Anjiang said: We will build a wall on the boundary in case it is difficult to distinguish and speak clearly.

Keheng Terry and Han Mingde resolutely disagreed. Think: This is a lawless thing.

The gentry of Huzhou were extremely angry, so they called on the merchants and citizens of the seven counties of Huzhou to hold a rally to protest against Han Mingde's repudiation.

Zhejiang Governor Zeng Yun was deeply afraid that the rally would lead to murder and destruction of the church, so he tried his best to comfort the people, saying that he had sent officials to negotiate with the US consul. And said to Liu Anjiang: You are an influential person among the gentry of Huzhou, and you should comfort the people, and do not act rashly, so as not to make tongues.

Liu Anjiang also repeatedly comforted the people of Huzhou, saying: What we have is time, and if we delay it, it will not be beneficial to them, and it will be unfavorable for everyone to make trouble. We still took legal steps to resolve the case. After careful deliberation, Hushen decided to take the case to the newly established U.S. Court in China, which was called the "U.S. Prosecutor's Office" at the time.

On November 19, 1907, Hu Shen publicly appointed Liu Anjiang, Shen Puqin, Zhang Zengxi, and Yu Hengnong as plenipotentiary representatives, hired lawyer Younikan, and formally submitted a complaint to the U.S. court in China.

Unlike the Hangzhou consular court lawsuit in 1906, the lawsuit was filed in the name of the Zhejiang Foreign Affairs Bureau. The New Synod Newspaper specifically quoted the theory of constitutional law to explain: "According to the law of the country, where the land and water surface are built into the territory of the country, and do not belong to the owner of the individual, or after it is owned by the individual, and all its owners are destroyed, it is under the direct jurisdiction of the state." The land occupied by the Southern Supervisory Council is both public land and wasteland, that is, it is directly owned by our state, and the officials of our country should come forward to sue it. ”

As for the litigation strategy, lawyer Yonikan suggested that an application should be made to the judge for the acquisition of the deed documents, the measurement of the land, and the fact that the church occupies the land should be revealed. Wang Fenghao, the governor of Zhejiang and the Foreign Affairs Bureau, suggested that the Lanhuade contract should be used as the basis to fight for rights; Because the contract was signed by the gentry, if the contract was abandoned, or if the official came forward directly, everything had to start from scratch. A year later, on October 22, 1908, the U.S. court in China finally heard the case. The plaintiffs, Liu, Zhang, Shen and Yu, as representatives of the Huzhou local government, Huzhou gentry, and the people, were authorized and recognized by the governor of Zhejiang Province to attend the trial, and the defendants were Pan Shenwen (A.P.Pa), a member of the board of directors of the China Committee of the Southern Supervision Council of the United States

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), T.A. Hea

and so on.

There were two main points of contention between the two parties, one was the total amount of land occupied by Han Mingde and the amount of land without tax deeds, and the other was the validity of the Lanhuade contract.

The plaintiff argued that Han Mingde occupied a total of 100 mu of land, of which 50 mu belonged to public land or wasteland owned by the Chinese government, and that the defendant had not legally purchased the aforesaid land. However, despite the plaintiff's warning, the defendant illegally entered the said land, demolished the building and built the house. Second, the contract signed between the plaintiff and the representatives of the Southern Supervisory Committee, Lan Huade and Bai Lewen, had been approved by the Governor of the Association, Wei Lisheng, but the defendant refused to enforce it. Accordingly, the plaintiff demanded that the defendant abide by the Lanhuade contract, and at the same time requested the court to send someone to measure the land on the spot and obtain the title deed from the defendant to ensure the fairness of the trial.

Han Mingde admitted at the trial that the total amount of land occupied by the defendant was only 85 mu, of which only 12 mu involved the plaintiff's alleged public land or wasteland of the Chinese government, and it was legally obtained by the local officials after two public sales. As for the plaintiff's claim that more than 50 acres of land were purchased without deeds, Han Mingde claimed that this part of the disputed land was in fact only 27 acres. And he insisted that the land was wasteland and that there were no buildings on it; For a long period of time before the construction of the fence and until the construction of the hospital, there was no protest of any kind against him. Han Mingde emphasized that after the legal contract purchase and the notice of the Chinese government, in accordance with the Sino-US treaty and customs, the defendant obtained the full right to dispose of the above-mentioned 85 acres of land.

With regard to the Lanhuade contract, Han Mingde argued that the plaintiff had resorted to fraud and "intimidation" during the negotiation, which was contrary to the free will of the parties. He claimed that the plaintiff deceived Lan and Bai by using two stone slabs with inscriptions to prove that the aforesaid land belonged to the Confucian Temple estate; The plaintiffs also claimed that if the negotiations failed, it would trigger a riot against the church by the people of Huzhou, which led to Lan and Bai making wrong judgments. Defendant counsel, E.P. Alle

It argued that the authority of Governor Willison and the nature of his authorization to Lan and Bai were questionable, and therefore the validity of the contract was questionable. At this point, the trial arguments came to an end, and the judge adjourned the trial.