Chapter 19 Chapter 19

After Wu Xu went out and got on the sedan chair and left, Li Hongzhang paced back and forth in the room. He deduced that Feng Rikun had obviously heard something and was preparing to join the Taiping Army.Maybe, they have already had contact with the Taiping Army. It is obvious that the development of the matter is no longer allowed to be handled as usual.According to the system of the Qing Dynasty, to move a lieutenant general of the green battalion, the governor must be approved; and to bring a second-rank military officer to justice, the court's permission is required.The deputy general is the top son of the second-rank military officer, a real military officer of the imperial court.Don't talk about it, it's a set of procedures that are quite cumbersome.

Li Hongzhang further speculated that if Feng Rikun led the crowd to surrender to the enemy at this time, not only would the overall situation in Shanghai be ruined soon, Jiangsu might also become Xue Huan's Jiangsu again instead of Li Hongzhang's Jiangsu. Li Hongzhang had a premonition that the situation was urgent, and if it was delayed, it would be a mistake, so he decided to take another risk.He first wrote a secret letter to Admiral Zeng Bingzhong, and after Zeng Bingzhong read the letter, he immediately led his troops to approach Feng Rikun's camp.In the letter, he instructed Zeng Bingzhong that as long as Feng Rikun left the camp and entered the city, he would first dispatch the soldiers from the Feng's battalions bravely, break them up into pieces, and prepare for the next step of dismissal.

In order to do things safely, Li Hongzhang also wrote a letter to Liu Mingchuan and sent it there, asking Liu Mingchuan to move to camp near Feng Rikun's camp to observe the movement nearby in case of accidents. Li Hongzhang also transferred Huang Risheng's third battalion of the Huaiyang Navy to quickly cut off the soldiers and ships.After finishing these tasks, Li Hongzhang summoned Wang Zonglian, the magistrate of Shanghai County, and asked him to transfer ten arresters for urgent use.After receiving the order, Wang Zonglian hurried to arrange it, and it was done soon.Wang Zonglian was already waiting outside with a dozen or so good arresters, and another twenty or so personal soldiers were scattered around, waiting patiently for Feng Rikun.

Li Hongzhang took care of all the above things properly, and then he asked his soldiers to make a pot of tea, and he and a copywriter sipped tea while patiently waiting for Feng Rikun's arrival. But Feng Rikun was late.Li Hongzhang waited for a while, but he couldn't sit still on the bench. The master stretched his neck anxiously and looked out the window. Li Hongzhang thought for a while, asked his master to pass Wang Zonglian on, and said, "Wang Ling, this Wu Dao will never return, and I don't know if this Feng Xietai can enter the city. The Ministry has to bother you to send someone out of the city." Welcome, if something unexpected happened, we should be prepared."

Wang Zonglian, in his fifties, raised his sparse beard and hurriedly agreed, and was about to leave when Li Hongzhang suddenly added: "Wang Ling, I have to explain the following sentence. You can only observe the movement outside Bingyong's camp, and never enter the camp." Go inside, in case of accidents." Wang Zonglian hurriedly said: "Your Excellency, you have to think carefully! The servants are ordered to act according to your orders." At this time, a personal soldier suddenly ran in from the outside and said: "My lord, Wu lord and Feng Xietai have arrived at the gate and are waiting to be passed on!"

Li Hongzhang was taken aback, and quickly asked, "How many people did Feng Xietai bring?" The soldiers replied: "There are more than fifty people. Feng Xietai is riding a horse, and Mr. Wu is sitting in a sedan chair." Li Hongzhang nodded, and said to Wang Zonglian in a low voice: "Let Feng Xietai and Master Wu come in, and then take the people who came with Feng Xietai to the side room in the backyard to take care of them. Remember, the equipment in your hand must be taken care of." Hand it over first, and those who disobey will be tied up first." Wang Zonglian walked out quickly with his soldiers.Li Hongzhang said to the master: "I'm sorry to bother you to go out and make arrangements. Feng Xietai is a person who has practiced kung fu, so don't let him get away."

The master agreed, and walked out trembling all over.Not a moment later, Wu Xu strode in with Feng Rikun. As soon as Feng Rikun stepped into the door, he took the first step and saluted Li Hongzhang, saying in his mouth: "The humble official came to pay my respects to Mr. Futai!" After Feng Rikun finished speaking, he waited for Li Hongzhang to come to help him. Li Hongzhang saw that Feng Rikun was arrogant and still had a short foreign gun in his waist, so he couldn't help shouting: "Feng Xietai, don't you understand my Qing rules?" Feng Rikun was taken aback, and Wu Xu was also taken aback.Feng Rikun bowed his head and replied: "My lord, I don't understand what your lord is saying, please speak clearly!"

Li Hongzhang sneered and said, "Feng Xietai, since you have come to the governor's office to greet the headquarters, you should follow the rules of the governor's office. Why did you come in with a musket strapped to your waist? Do you want to assassinate the headquarters?" Feng Rikun replied: "My lord is serious! When I came in, no one told me not to bring a musket to my lord. What's more, when I met Master Xue before, I also brought a musket. Master Xue didn't take offense. Please be careful!" Wu Xu also said at this time: "My lord, please calm down. When Feng Xietai and Feng Xietai entered the door, no one declared the rules set by your lord. I hope your lord will stop haggling with Feng Xietai!"

Li Hongzhang shouted: "Come on!" Two policemen strode in, stood behind Feng Rikun one on the left and one on the right, and said, "Please give orders, my lord!" Li Hongzhang said to Feng Rikun: "Feng Xietai, since you already know the rules of the governor's office, why don't you hand over your musket? This is the governor's office, not your barracks camp!" Feng Rikun lowered his head and thought for a while, then helplessly pulled out the musket from his waist, and handed it to the policeman behind him hesitantly.While one policeman took the gun, another policeman rushed towards Feng Rikun.

Feng Rikun was half-kneeling on the ground at that time, when he saw the arrester coming to get it, he rolled on the ground, followed by a sweeper; taking advantage of the arrester's evasion, he jumped up and broke through the door. Li Hongzhang was startled, and hurriedly shouted: "Don't run away, Feng Rikun!" Wu Xu was dumbfounded, and he just muttered to himself: "How could this be? How could this be? Could it be that the profession is still in a dream?" After fighting outside the door for a long time, the master walked in with Wang Zonglian with trembling legs and said, "My lord, Feng Xietai has finally been captured! Please tell me, what should I do in the future?"

Li Hongzhang breathed a sigh of relief, and said to Wang Zonglian: "Wang Ling, you have been troubled this time, please, brother, temporarily put Feng Rikun in prison, and I will make a decision after I request an order!" "This..." Wang Zonglian said with a bitter face, "Your Excellency, you may not know that the prison in this county has been in disrepair for a long time, and no prisoners have been detained for more than a year. The lower officials are afraid that Feng Xietai will not be locked up!" "What?" Li Hongzhang was taken aback, and asked, "Why didn't your brother say this before, and only now did he say it? As a majestic county government, he didn't even repair the big prison where the prisoners are held. The court sent your brother What are you doing here?" Wang Zonglian's legs also began to shake.He coughed dryly, stabilized his emotions, and said: "My lord, I also know that as a county government, there must be a large prison for detaining criminals. But since I took office, because I am busy defending, all the money is spent on After training in the regiment, and because they are all fighting Changmao, the Changmao caught, beheaded, and recruited, have never been sent to the county. The three generations of Xiaguan's ancestors believed in Buddhism, and they dare not tell half a lie .Please be aware, my lord!" Li Hongzhang was so angry that he was speechless for a while. Wu Xu said at this time: "My lord, I still don't understand the profession. I dare to ask my lord, what crime did Feng Xietai commit and why did he have to be put in prison?" Li Hongzhang glared at Wu Xu, and said: "This department is about to ask you, you are Su Song's magistrate and the governor of Jiangsu, don't you know what Wang Ling just said?" Wu Xu replied unhurriedly: "My lord, it's only a few days before the treasury of the Office of Vocational Affairs. As for the dilapidation of the prison in Shanghai County, before leaving office, the predecessor never explained to the treasury, nor did Wang Ling report to the treasury. Shen Ming, how can one know the profession? What's more, the money in the treasury is fully used for military pay, and if it is not enough, how can there be a share for building a big prison?" Li Hongzhang ignored Wu Xu, turned to Wang Zonglian and said, "Speaking of which, it's all caused by the long hairs, and the headquarters can't blame you. Wang Ling, the headquarters will write you a note first, and you go to the grain counter in the military camp." Go borrow some money and repair the big prison as soon as possible. As a county government office, there must be both a court and a big prison. ?” Wang Zonglian hurriedly said: "Your Excellency, there are many empty houses in the yamen, but they are all dilapidated. Only the fasting room built by the official himself is still strong!" Li Hongzhang was taken aback, and quickly asked, "What's the matter? Wang Ling himself still has a fasting room?" Wang Zonglian hurriedly replied: "My lord, what I eat is a long fast, and I can't import any meat in a year. For my own convenience and for the convenience of others, I built a fast room at my own expense." Li Hongzhang said: "Okay, you can imprison Feng Rikun in your fasting room for the time being. It is not too late to put him in the big prison after it is repaired. Feng Rikun is a repeat offender of the imperial court. He is not comparable to ordinary criminals. You But order people to take good care of it, and make no mistakes!" Li Hongzhang then took the pen and paper, and handed over a note to Wang Zonglian.Wang Zonglian took the note and resigned; Wu Xu felt bored, so he also resigned and walked out.