Chapter 69 1. Villagers in Ma'anshan beat the foreign miner to the bone

Zhang Zhidong has always hated such things as bribery and extortion. If Zhao Maochang's illegal activities were handled by him in normal times, his dismissal would be inevitable, and he might lose his family property and be sent to prison.But thinking that Zhao Maochang was impeached this time because of Zhang Zhidong, and these things have not been verified one by one, so I feel sympathy for Zhao Maochang.Although Zhao Maochang was dismissed according to the decree, he specially set up a table of farewell wine for Zhao, and told Zhao to stay in the village after returning to his original place, and to come back in two or three years.Zhao Maochang was grateful for the governor's kindness, and said that he would serve Zhang Zhidong wholeheartedly in this life.

Zhang Zhidong is a person who is prone to emotional fluctuations.Xu Zhixiang's large participation in the case made him restless for almost half a year. When he was most aggrieved and indignant, he even wanted to hang up his crown and leave.Zhang Zhidong's mood greatly affected the construction speed of the iron factory at the foot of Guishan Mountain.It was only because Cai Xiyong and Chen Niandou, the supervisors and commissioners of the iron political bureau, were supporting that the construction of the entire iron factory, including coal mines and iron mines, did not stop.However, many things that must be done as soon as possible were delayed, resulting in a loss of nearly 500,000 taels of silver.Who should be responsible for this huge loss?Can Xu Zhixiang take the blame?It is the Dali Temple Minister's job to maintain the imperial court and correct impeachment and dereliction of duty, and Xu Zhixiang has no responsibility.Is it the responsibility of Emperor Guangxu and Weng Tonghe?Investigating the facts and cleaning up the official style are the official duties of the superiors in governing the country.Guangxu and Weng Tonghe were also not responsible.Is it Zhang Zhidong's responsibility?Those who stick to the rules are the least likely to make mistakes, and those who bravely venture into new paths will inevitably suffer setbacks, almost as a rule in life.People who are dedicated to serving the country are criticized, and those who are mediocre and ineffective have smooth careers. How can people figure it out!He Zhang Zhidong is not a saint, his mood swings seem to be hard to blame, how much responsibility can he bear?

Half a year later, Zhang Zhidong slowly came out of the shadows, and once again devoted himself to the cause of Westernization with the iron factory as the mainstay. Unexpectedly, not long after, a fight between the mine bureau and villagers in the Maanshan Coal Mine pushed Zhang Zhidong into the vortex of right and wrong. Ma'anshan is eighty miles north of Wuchang City and belongs to Jiangxia County.There is no county seat in Jiangxia County, and the county government office is located in Wuchang Prefecture.Ma'anshan is a bald mountain with few trees and wild animals. It has been a barren mountain without an owner since ancient times.More than 20 years ago, when Li Hongzhang was the governor of Huguang, he hired three British miners to conduct mining surveys in Hubei.British miners discovered coal mines at the foot of Fairy Ridge in Ma'anshan and organized personnel to mine them.Half a year later, Li Hongzhang left Wuchang, and his elder brother Li Hanzhang entered the Huguang Yamen.Li Hanzhang was not interested in Westernization, so the British miners left Ma'anshan, and the Hubei coal mining industry that had just started fell by the wayside.Before leaving, the British miner pointed to the remaining coal piles by the well, and said to the villagers who came to see the excitement, take this thing home, it can be used as firewood.

This pile of things is scattered like black mud and sand, and lumpy like burnt rice crackers. Can it be used as firewood?Can you cook rice, cook vegetables, and boil water for heating?Villagers dubiously chose to go home and followed the method taught by foreigners. Sure enough, a raging flame came out of the stove.This black guy is really good. It not only has the function of firewood, but also burns faster than firewood, and has no smoke, and is easy to carry and store.In the face of the facts, the villagers believed what the foreigners said, and they all came to fetch them, and the coal pile by the well was quickly picked up and burned.So someone who was smart and daring went down to the coal well to dig by himself, and even pulled coal.There is too much coal, and besides using it for oneself, it can also be sold to others. In this way, more than a dozen peasant households living near Xiannvling made a little foreign fortune in the first place.The news spread, attracting many people who came to pan for black gold.On the front and back of the mountain of Ma'anshan, at the foot of the mountain and at the waist of the mountain, there are full of peasants digging wells and coal with hoes and shovels.The lonely barren mountain that was originally regarded as useless suddenly became a lively treasure house where you can make a fortune.In the end, those with big capital and strong ability opened the coal wells bigger and bigger, and opened more and more coal mines.Those with little capital and weak ability come to rely on them.In the past few years, three groups of Zhou, Zhang and Shen formed in Ma'anshan area.The three families divided their land and developed independently, as if they had become the masters of Ma'anshan.Seeing that coal mining in Ma'anshan was profitable, the Jiangxia County Yamen set up a tax card here, charging ten cents for a hundred catties of coal.The three bosses were reluctant at first, but they thought that after paying taxes to the government, they would also get the approval of the government. In the future, they could justifiably occupy this land and pass it on to their children and grandchildren, so they accepted the government's collection.Jiangxia is a poor county. With the coal tax income, everyone from the county magistrate to the government officials has benefited from it in varying degrees. Therefore, they all hope that the status quo in Ma'anshan can be maintained for a long time.Unexpectedly, Zhang Zhidong wanted to build the Hanyang Iron Works, and a fire at the city gate caused the fish in the pond, and Ma'anshan's dream was interrupted.

A group of people led by Xu Jianyin, including two foreign craftsmen, came to Ma'anshan. What caught his eyes was a large group of busy and chaotic coal mining and transporting villagers. They grew up in a strict scientific and technological atmosphere. Xu would do it, and couldn't help frowning.He was distressed by this scene: this is not coal mining, this is plundering nature, it is a criminal act!This state of confusion must be stopped immediately.This is not only for the Mining Bureau in the future, as a scientist, Xu Jianyin's more instinctive reaction is to protect the abundant wealth that nature has bestowed on mankind, so that it can serve mankind better and benefit mankind for a longer period of time.

Xu Jianyin, on behalf of the Coal Mine Bureau, discussed with Zhou, Zhang, and Shen, asking them to stop all coal mining immediately, so that they can conduct a comprehensive exploration, evaluation and selection of mechanical mining wells in Ma'anshan.The representatives of the Zhou, Zhang, and Shen families flatly refused without even thinking about it.Xu Jianyin saw that it was not feasible to go directly to the coal diggers, so he went to the Jiangxia County Yamen.The county magistrate Lu Wenkui knew that the Coal Mine Bureau could not be justified theoretically, but the Ma'anshan coal mine was a treasury of the county government, and he really didn't want to be taken away like this.The county magistrate Lu took a common and effective measure in Chinese official circles: delay.He said he promised to mediate, but he didn't take any action.Disorderly coal mining in Ma'anshan continues as usual, and the tax card of the county government also collects taxes as usual.Two or three months passed without any movement.During this period of time, the Coal Mine Bureau had to conduct surveys on the mountains outside Xiannvling, but the result of the survey was that the reserves were not large. From the analysis of the direction of the coal seam, a large amount of coal was buried underground in Xiannvling.Xu Jianyin had no choice but to report to Zhang Zhidong with a letter, asking the governor to come forward.Because of the civil disputes involving Jiangxia County, the provincial governor's office should come forward to urge the Wuchang government office to deal with it, so Zhang Zhidong asked the copywriter to consult the governor's office of Hubei Province.

After Zhao Maochang was withdrawn, Liang Dingfen served as the chief copywriter concurrently.He entrusted the affairs of the academy to the head teacher, and lived in the yamen himself.Governor Tan Jixun of Hubei received the message drafted by Liang Dingfen, and after a quick look at it, he put it in the correspondence cabinet.After lying coldly in the cabinet for half a month, Tan Futai took it out again and read it again. The reason why it lasted for half a month was mainly not because he had too much business to do, but because he was not interested in Zhang Zhidong's propositions and actions, and he held a feeling of resistance deep in his heart.On the one hand, he does not believe that the foreigner's method can take root in China, and on the other hand, he does not believe that Zhang Zhidong's waste of money and people can be done for a long time. But Zhang Zhidong is the governor and has the support of the imperial court. Tan Futai can't help it. .Wang Zhichun, the feudal official, and Chen Baozhen, the official official, also echoed Zhang Zhidong, so Tan Jixun seemed relatively isolated among the three constitutional platforms.However, there are many people who support him in the prefecture and county, so he believes that his views are not wrong.

Although Tan Jixun did not publicly oppose Zhang Zhidong, nor did he offend Wang Zhichun and Chen Baozhen, he repeatedly told his two assistants: What Zhang Zhitai did was not what he should do in his job, nor what we in Hubei should do. , He wants to do it, we will not stop it, but we must abide by the principle that Hubei cannot take money for his affairs.Of course, if the money that Hubei should hand over is transferred to him by the official of the Ministry of Household Affairs, we will still pay it, but Hubei can no longer raise money for him.Zhang Zhidong didn't demand too much from Tan Jixun, as long as he didn't prevent Wang Zhichun from transferring the money clearly stipulated by the Ministry of Household Affairs.In the past two or three years, because of Wang Zhichun and Chen Baozhen's mediation, although Zhang Zhidong and Tan Jixun had different views, they lived in peace.

After all, it was an official letter from the governor's yamen, and after all, it was the official business that the governor should handle. Tan Jixun sent the police to call the prefect of Wuchang into the yamen for discussion.The yamen of Wuchang Prefecture is also located in Wuchang City, located in the southwest corner of the governor's yamen three miles away, together with the Jiangxia yamen in the southeast corner three miles away, it forms an equilateral triangle with the governor's yamen. Although it is more direct to summon the county magistrate of Jiangxia to talk, it is not a special case, and the governor does not directly talk to the county magistrate.Jiangxia is under the control of Wuchang Prefecture, the governor talks to Wuchang prefect, and Wuchang prefect goes to talk to Jiangxia county magistrate. This is an official rule and cannot be messed up.

Tu Bingchang, the magistrate who was born in Juren, was also an old man in his early sixties. He failed three times in the test. To a magistrate with a fourth-rank title.He cherishes this big cap with a shiny royal blue top very much, for fear that it will be accidentally blown off by the wind one day.Tu Bingchang has no talent, and he doesn't want to make any political achievements. If he is not an official, no matter what line of work he is in, he will definitely be a mediocre and inconspicuous little character.He has only one knack for being an official, and that is to listen to his boss respectfully and follow his will without compromise. As for whether his boss's words are right or wrong, he never thinks about it.

Tu Zhifu came to the governor's office in a blue sedan chair, and the inspector immediately led him into the living room, and Tan Jixun came over after a while.Tan Jixun is a kind person and never puts on airs to his subordinates.After the two old men were polite to each other, Tu Zhifu straightened his back and asked, "What do you want me to tell you, sir?" Tan Jixun handed the official letter from the governor's office to Tu Bingchang and said, "Look at this first." Tu Bingchang had heard about the ma'anshan coal mine incident. It was a very small matter, and he passed it on after hearing about it.Now that it is connected with the iron factory run by the governor, it will become a big deal, so we must be extra cautious.Regarding matters involving the boss, no matter what the matter itself is, in Tu Zhifu's view, it is a major matter and must be taken seriously.His "seriousness" is to follow the boss's will. "My lord, how to deal with this matter, you give an order, and the humble post will do it." Tu Bingchang said as he handed the official letter back to Tan Jixun with both hands. Tan Jixun took the official letter, put it on the desk casually, touched his thin chin with his right finger for a long time, and then slowly said: "This is a tricky matter. The county magistrate Lu also sent me a letter, saying The coal kilns have been mined by the villagers for more than 20 years, supporting nearly 300 families. It is unreasonable to stop mining and cut off their livelihoods. Mr. Zhang wants to build an iron factory, and the iron factory needs to burn coal. The coal has to come from Ma’anshan Out. Mr. Zhang’s plan was approved by the imperial court, and the Ministry of Household Affairs allocated money for it. If the Coal Mine Bureau is not allowed to take over, Mr. Zhang will not be able to explain it. This matter is difficult!” "Yes. Your Excellency is right, this is a difficult task." Tu Bingchang looked at the thin boss with sympathy.This scene is exactly like two old women chatting about family affairs: one tells about the troubles at home, and the other is unable to help, so he can only say some sympathetic words from time to time to comfort him. "Tu Taishou, both of us are over sixty years old, let's say a few words from the old man's heart!" Tan Jixun put down the hand touching his chin, put it on his lap, and looked at Wuchang Mansion with dazed eyes. the head of the family. "Actually, there are many things in this world that either don't need to be done, or don't need to be done, or don't rush to do them. If you work hard and busily, in the end, there are few successes and many failures. ?Time has changed, and the taste has changed in a blink of an eye. There are many things, and there is no question of success or failure. It is one thing to do or not to do it, and it is also the same thing to do more or less. We are all getting old I'm dead, but when I think about it later, it's all a waste of time. Young people are full of energy and always think that it must be good to work hard, but they don't know that most things in the world are not like this. Looking back and looking at the road you have traveled, can you tell me if this is the case? talk?" Tan Jixun's emotion expresses part of the true meaning of life.With the exception of a few who have achieved greatness in the past and are still ambitious, most old men feel the same way to some degree.Tu Bingchang is a mediocre person who doesn't do anything, and he agrees with these words more deeply and sincerely.He almost thought that the governor's words were just a footnote to his mediocre past, or it proved that he was actually a prophet with great wisdom.Tu Bingchang said from the bottom of his heart: "My lord, this is the real way to understand the Dao. In a hundred years of life, many troubles and pains are actually found by yourself. The ancients have long said that there is nothing in the world, and the mediocre He is obviously a mediocre person who makes trouble out of nothing, but insists that he is a hero with great achievements." Tan Jixun found another confidant, and his interest was immediately high: "Tu Taishou, you are right, if you are an ordinary person, it's fine, if you have nothing to do, you are the only one who is tired, and at most it is your wife, children, relatives and friends; If you become an official, especially a high-ranking official, or even the lord of a country, there will be many sufferings and hardships with him. For example, Qin Shihuang, he is very happy, and he will not let everyone live a good life. What kind of Great Wall does he want to build? Over ten thousand miles to the west, hundreds of thousands of people died. Later generations said that the Great Wall was not made of bricks, but the bones of ordinary people. Governor Tu, you are a well-educated person. Think about it, the Great Wall is really Can it stop any invading enemy? Thousands of troops are coming, can a few bricks stop it? It's nothing more than leaving a political achievement for Qin Shihuang." "Your Excellency is right. The Great Wall is useless to stop enemies outside the pass. After Qin Shihuang, didn't barbarians invade China throughout the dynasties?" Tu Bingchang hurriedly climbed up the pole erected on the Futai. "Let's talk about Wang Anshi. He was originally a very lucky man. He was highly talented, his official career was smooth, his conduct was good, his writing and poetry were even better, and he was a prime minister of peace. Wouldn't it make the world look up to him! But nothing happened. In the end, he came up with new laws such as the loss of all young crops, and finally made himself dismissed and relegated. Not to mention being regarded as a traitor, the common people suffered a lot. Looking back, Wang Anshi's new law and reform , why do you need to do it?" "Yes, your lord is absolutely right. If Wang Anshi is an official, with his intelligence and ability, he must be a rare famous eunuch in history." Tu Zhifu climbed along the pole again. "Hey," Tan Jixun sighed, "It's still Zhang Yanghao who said it well: 'Prosperity, the people suffer; death, the people suffer.' In the end, the people are still suffering!" "Yes, yes." Tu Bingchang nodded repeatedly.Master Futai’s talk about ancient times has given the magistrate who has been an official for many years a clue: It turns out that the purpose of talking about ancient times is to discuss the present. He probably said that Zhang Zhidong set up an iron factory and a coal mining bureau to make trouble out of nothing. , and the result is suffering for the common people. "Let's not go too far. Governor Tu, I invited you here today because of the Ma'anshan Coal Mine. Let me tell you from the bottom of my heart. I don't agree with Mr. Zhang's Westernization in Hubei. I say no. It's a good saying: It's useless to waste people's money. Although it's not good, it will be proved in the future. The people's life is hard, and it's not easy to find a way to survive. Why should you fight against them. But you can't say this to Mr. Zhang now, he He is on the verge of prosperity, and there are people in the imperial court backing him up. How can he listen to this? I invite you, the magistrate, to come up with a plan that will satisfy both Master Zhang and Jiang Xia. For the benefit of the common people, do you have any good ideas?" Sure enough, he guessed right, and Tu Zhifu was secretly happy, but what Futai came up with was obviously a difficult problem: What is a good way to get the best of both worlds, so that neither side will be offended?It is not easy for this elderly Wuchang prefect to come up with ideas and ideas. He has been an official for more than 20 years, and he has never come up with ideas on his own.He scratched the thin white hair under the big hat, thought for a long time, but couldn't come up with an idea that he was satisfied with, he couldn't keep staring like this, he had to speak! "My lord, I think the best way is to let the Coal Mine Bureau go to another place to mine coal. The Ma'anshan place will remain the same as before, so that neither party will be offended." "What kind of idea is that!" Tan Jixun laughed dryly. "Do you think that neither party will be offended, and this is clearly offending Mr. Zhang?" "Oh, yes, I offended Mr. Zhang. It's not a good idea." After rolling his eyes a few times, Tu Bingchang said, "Either way, the Coal Mine Bureau will buy all the coal that the villagers have dug, and then the villagers will remove it. Ma'anshan is handed over to the Coal Mine Bureau to operate." "This may not work, the coal mine bosses will disagree; besides, the boss is the one who takes the money, and hundreds of villagers have lost their jobs since then!" After Futai vetoed it again, Tu Zhifu had no more ideas in his stomach. "My lord, I can't think of a good way for a while, let me think about it after I go back." "Slow down." Tu Bingchang's two ideas were not ideal, but they inspired Tan Jixun, why not combine them and do this together? "Tu Taishou, I have an idea." "My lord, you still have a lot of options. You just say it, and the humble post will do it." How much he hoped that Futai would stop going around in circles and speak earlier, and he would pass the words to Jiangxia County, so that the county magistrate Lu can do it. ! "I think so. The Ma'anshan Coal Mine is still handed over to the Coal Mine Bureau. However, the current stall has to be managed by the Coal Mine Bureau. The three bosses, Shen, Zhou, and Zhang, are the small bosses of the Coal Mine Bureau. Min Tongtong is left to work for the Coal Mine Bureau. As for the specific matters, the two of them will discuss in depth. I, the governor, don’t care about it, and you, the prefect, don’t care about it. You don’t even care about the Jiangxia County Yamen, let them handle it by themselves.” "Okay, my lord, this is the best way." As soon as Tan Jixun finished speaking, Prefect Tu couldn't wait to applaud. "When the Coal Mine Bureau is established, people are always needed to do things. Let the current group of people do it, and they are familiar with the road. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if there are more people and more expenses, anyway, they have money from the Ministry of Households. Mother's tits are everyone. If you have a share, everyone can use the money from the imperial court." "Since Prefect Tu agrees, I will trouble you to handle this matter." "Don't worry, my lord, the humble job will be done with care." Tu Bingchang went back to the magistrate's yamen, and ran through this set of procedures again and again.He sent someone to summon Lu Wenkui, the county magistrate of Jiangxia.Magistrate Lu sat on a black woolen sedan chair and wore an official uniform that at first glance looked the same as the magistrate's. He came to the magistrate's yamen with a full set of ostentation, and Tu Zhifu conveyed Governor Tan's words.After hearing this, the magistrate of Lu County felt very reluctant: If according to the governor's wishes, although the people in Ma'anshan Coal Kiln Township have not been cut off, the county government's money path has been cut off. It was hidden from the above: the prefect didn't know, and the governor didn't know.The county magistrate Lu couldn't give any reason for his objection, so he had to agree to do so. Because the magistrate Lu was not happy, he deliberately suppressed the matter when he returned to the county yamen. It was not until half a month later that the three bosses of the coal mines were called to the yamen to deliver the governor's order from the magistrate.Unexpectedly, the three bosses did not agree with this solution, because they did not want the Coal Mine Bureau sent by the governor to settle in Ma'anshan at all.They are the kings of the mountain in Ma'anshan. They want to be the big bosses of kiln digging by the local method, and they don't want to be the small foremen of coal mining by the foreign method. Lu Wenkui was about to profit from their reluctance to merge, but he couldn't encourage them to openly resist the governor's order, so he said you can figure it out, and sent them out of the yamen. From the words of the magistrate Lu, the owners of the three coal mines figured out that the attitude of the provincial capital and county is not to ask them to give up, they have a bottom line.Relying on the backing of a strong background, the three bosses decided to follow Futai's will and agreed to partner with the Coal Mining Bureau, but at a higher price: all three bosses were co-organizers of the Coal Mining Bureau, and all the villagers who worked on the coal mines could not They all went to the Coal Mine Bureau, and their minimum income should not be less than two taels of silver a month.The Bureau of Coal Mines obviously cannot accept this plan, so the responsibility lies with the Bureau of Coal Mines.If the negotiation fails, everything will remain as usual in Ma'anshan.This is exactly what they are trying to achieve. Xu Jianyin originally thought that the government would fully support the Coal Mine Bureau, but unexpectedly the owners of the three coal mines came to negotiate with great pomp, saying that they were ordered by the governor to jointly develop Ma'anshan and announced their plan first. Xu Jianyin was so angry that he couldn't utter a word when facing the three coal mine owners who had nothing to fear. Xu Jianyin got the true biography of his father Xu Shou, and he was exactly the same as his father in life, study and work.He believes that science and technology are the only way to bring happiness to mankind. China is not as good as the West. The key is that it is not as good as science and technology.Therefore, like his father, he did not want to be an official, hated the personnel entertainment and mutual competition in the officialdom, and only wanted to engage in scientific and technological operations or translation of Western books in a stable and simple environment.Xu Shou spent important years of his life in the Anqing Nei Ordnance Institute and the Translation Hall of the Jiangnan Machinery Bureau, and his achievements were completed in this environment.Xu Jianyin studied and translated with his father in the translation hall of the Jiangnan Machinery Bureau since he was a child, and later worked in the Jinling Machinery Bureau run by Li Hongzhang.Not entering the officialdom, Xu Jianyin was able to maintain the peace of mind, but because of this, he did not understand the complex personnel relationships in society. In Xu Jianyin's view, this is a very simple matter: the mountains are the mountains of the country, and the coal mines are the coal mines of the country. The random digging of the small coal mines in Ma'anshan is a completely anarchic act.I have made a lot of illegal profits for more than 20 years, and it is very tolerant not to punish them. Now the Coal Mining Bureau represents the country to do mechanized excavation here, which is completely exercising the rights that the country should have. The small coal mines of the villagers should be stopped immediately and unconditionally. evacuate.How can there be any reason for partnership?What's more, wouldn't it be extremely absurd and unreasonable to put forward such harsh conditions! Xu Jianyin flatly refused, and the negotiation broke down.While Xu Jianyin reported the situation to the governor's office, he decided to conduct a sampling survey of the distribution of coal seams under Xiannv Ridge. In the afternoon of this day, Henry and Swick, two British miners from the Coal Mine Bureau, led by Liang Pushi, who returned from the United States with Chen Niantou, came to an unmanned small area with machines, benchmarks, and recording boards on their backs. Next to the coal well, they wanted to use this abandoned coal well for sampling investigation.The three started erecting poles and installing machines, while taking on-site records. The blond-haired, blue-eyed, high-nosed foreigner, his chattering foreign language and shiny foreign gadgets immediately attracted the crowds of many villagers picking coal.Facing this scenery, these villagers who are far away from the city and have never been in the valley for a lifetime are more exciting and interesting than watching a monkey show.At this time, Zheng Yangui, the accountant of the Shen family coal mine, came over, and he suddenly realized that this was a good opportunity to take advantage of. "Look, these guys are here to occupy Fairy Ridge and drive us away. If they succeed, brothers' jobs will be ruined!" "Damn it, if they smash my job, I will smash their heads!" The man who spoke was surnamed Lu. He had an eighty-year-old mother who had been bedridden for many years, and he had four young children waiting to be fed.The Lu family has no land, and they rely on hard work to survive. In the past few years, the family has been half-starved by relying on the coal mine; if there is no coal mine, he will be in a desperate situation.Coal mines are literally life and death for him. "What qualifications do foreigners have to break ground on our Chinese mountains. Huh, blind their eyes! They want to drive me away, but I have to drive them away first!" The speaker was a young man surnamed Hu, who was also full of strength. Coal mines to feed their families. "Do you know who they are?" Zheng Yangui made up indiscriminately, "I met these two foreigners in Hankou, and they both belong to foreign churches, and they specialize in things like gouging children's hearts and eyes, and raping women. The son came to us again to pretend to be a ghost and deceive people." Although these villagers have never seen foreigners, they have heard that foreign churches bully Chinese people, lure them into churches, women go in and are raped, and children go in and their hearts and livers are gouged out to make pills, and their eyes are turned into mercury. It's been decades.In their minds, the foreign church is a den of devils, and the foreign priests are devils who cannibalize and harm others.Now that there are such two devils in front of them, and they are indeed doing things that hurt themselves, the villagers' chests begin to ignite the anger of hatred. "Kill these two foreign devils!" Lu suddenly let out an angry roar. "There's also that traitor, don't let it go!" The surname Hu responded quickly. While talking, two people surnamed Lu and Hu rushed out of the crowd at the same time and ran towards the foreign craftsmen. Zheng Yangui hurriedly said to the people around him: "You all go up to help, the foreign devils don't have foreign guns on them, don't be afraid!" So everyone followed in a swarm, and the miners who were working were stunned. From the angry faces and loud roars of the villagers, they knew that the visitor was not good. Liang Pushi said to his two foreign colleagues: "They are here to beat us. There are so many of them, we can't beat them, so we have to run back quickly!" The three carried the detector on their backs and ran down the mountain holding the pole.Led by those surnamed Lu and Hu, more than a dozen villagers chased after them, shouting, "Kill these bastards!" While the three were running, they looked back and saw that they were getting closer, and then small stones flew past them.Suddenly, a stone hit the thigh of Henry, who was carrying the machine, and he fell to the ground.The one surnamed Lu rushed forward and kicked him on the back.Henry rolled on the ground in pain, the machine on his shoulder fell to the ground, and several villagers smashed the detector to pieces with stones.When the surname Lu was about to hit Henry on the head with his fist again, Henry got up from the ground, and the two immediately twisted into a ball.When Liang Pu saw this, he said to Swick, "Run back quickly and ask Xu Huiban to send someone. I'll save Henry!" Svek threw down the recording board, picked up his long legs, and ran down the mountain quickly.Liang Pushi had just turned back and ran a few steps when he was caught up by Hu.The one surnamed Hu snatched the pole from his hand, broke it into two pieces with a "click", then waved the two broken poles in his hand and hit Liang Pushi head-on and face-to-face.Before Liang Pu could help Henry, he had already been beaten with black eyes and blue eyes, and his face was covered with blood.Fortunately, Svik ran fast and had already reached the station of the Coal Mine Bureau. Seeing two guards with foreign guns by the door, he shouted in extremely blunt Chinese: "Fire the gun, fire the gun!" When the two guards looked in the direction Sveck was running from, they saw the chaos on the mountainside, so they knew something had happened.The two guards immediately drew out their foreign guns and fired several shots into the air. The gunfire alarmed Xu Jianyin, and he hurriedly led all the employees of the Coal Mine Bureau to the troubled place.The gunshots also frightened the rioting villagers. Zheng Yangui yelled: "The foreign gun team is here, brothers, go back!" When the villagers abandoned Henry and Liang Pu, they fled in all directions. Xu Jianyin led the crowd to run up, and when he saw Henry and Liang Pu lying on the ground, they were bloody and seriously injured, and they were extremely distressed.After the two were carried back to the Coal Mine Bureau, they were immediately put on a stretcher, and Xu Jianyin personally escorted them back to Hankou for treatment.In the evening of the next day, they were sent to a small hospital run by the British in Hankou. Due to timely rescue, although Henry and Liang Pushi suffered injuries to their tendons and bones, their lives were not in danger. Xu Jianyin breathed a sigh of relief at this moment, crossed the river to the governor's office, and reported the ins and outs of the incident to Zhang Zhidong. After Zhang Zhidong heard the report, he trembled with anger, slammed his palm on the coffee table, and cursed: "I will arrest all these lawless troublemakers and punish them severely!" Xu Jianyin said: "The coal mine boss keeps saying that the joint venture is an order from the governor. If the governor really issued such an order, the order itself is wrong, and it has boosted their prestige." Zhang Zhidong said angrily: "Call Tan Jingfu over, I'd like to ask him if he has ever said such a bastard!" Xu Jianyin was shocked when he heard this sentence: No matter how badly Tan Jixun did this matter, he is the lord of a province after all, how can he be asked to come over and question him face to face?If the governor and the governor quarreled, wouldn't he be the instigator of right and wrong?Xu Jianyin knew that governors and governors were often at odds, and he was afraid that this would cause discord among governors and governors in Wuchang.Xu Jianyin's worries are not superfluous, the governors' discord not only happens from time to time, but it has become a common phenomenon in recent years.The emergence of this phenomenon must first be attributed to the imperial court.At the beginning, the establishment of this system contained a layer of mutual restraint.The governor is the second rank, and the governor is from the second rank. Although the ranks are different, the governor is not the governor's staff, and when they meet each other, they greet each other with ordinary courtesy.The governor is in charge of military affairs, and the governor is in charge of civil affairs.But the military and the government are often entangled together, and they live in the same city and face the same province, so entanglements arise.There were governors from the same city in the Qing Dynasty, such as the governors of Guangdong and Guangxi and the governors of Guangdong, the governors of Yunnan and Guizhou and the governors of Yunnan, the governors of Shaanxi and Gansu and the governors of Gansu, the governors of Fujian and Zhejiang and the governors of Fujian, and the governors of Huguang and Hubei. mostly.During the period of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the military prevailed, and the governors and governors were all in charge of the same thing, so there were more disputes between the governors and governors in provinces where troops were used. At this moment Xu Jianyin thought of this, and hurriedly said: "My lord, please calm down, don't come over to Tan Futai for the time being, I will go to his place first, report this matter to him, and ask the owner of the coal mine if what he said is true." Zhang Zhidong thought for a while and said, "Alright, you should report to him, but I have to have an attitude on this matter. After all, I am in charge of the Iron Factory Coal Mining Bureau." After finishing speaking, he took out a piece of letterhead , wrote in pen: Zhang Zhidong handed the letter to Xu Jianyin and said: "I wanted to give Tan Futai a face and let him handle it. Unexpectedly, this gentleman was confused and caused a big problem. Now there is no room for him, so let him do it like this. " Although Xu Jianyin felt that it was a bit too much for Zhang Zhidong to write such a harsh letter to the governor as a governor, but when he thought of Tan Jixun's incompetence, he felt that it was not too much.He took the letter, cast an admiring look at Zhang Zhidong, and thought: To do great things, you must really have the courage of Zhang Zhitai!