Chapter 24 Section 24 Official Rules

Yang Fang left the Changsheng Army's camp and rushed to Songjiang City to meet Wu Xu.Wu Xu was discussing official affairs with Fang Chuanshu, the prefect of Songjiang, at the chief envoy's yamen.When Yang Fang saw Wu Xu, he hurriedly saluted him. Fang Chuanshu saluted him, but he ignored him, and just said: "Uncle Fang, Bai Qiwen, a bastard, has gone against the sky! He's just a leader. He didn't even pay attention to me, the supervisor! If I hadn't wiped my face and reprimanded him severely, he might be such a monster!" Wu Xu glanced at Yang Fang with dissatisfaction, and then said slowly: "You are really used to Kang Baidu, and even your words are false. And you, the supervisor, dare to reprimand Bai Qiwen?" ?”

Yang Fang narrowed his eyes and said: "I'm a dignified supervisor, and I take care of him for the emperor's family. What's the point of scolding him? It made me anxious, and I dared to spank his bastard's ass with a wooden board!" Wu Xu sighed and said, "You, why don't you sit down and talk. Bai Qiwen agreed to go to Jinling to help the suppression? Li Hefei's son is here again, take a look!" Wu Xu picked up the letter from the table and handed it to Yang Fang.Fang Chuanshu said at this time: "The two adults have business affairs, so let's take a step first as an official."

Yang Fang buried his head in looking at Zhazi, Wu Xu who was standing beside him nodded, and Fang Chuanshu walked out quickly.Holding the paper in his hand, Yang Fang raised his head and said, "Uncle Fang, although Bai Qiwen agreed to go to Jinling to assist in the suppression, he has to recall Fasil who was stationed in Ningbo back to the camp, and it will take more than ten days. "Bai Qiwen also suggested that the gunpowder and bullets are insufficient, and let us make up for him. There is also the item of chartering a boat, which also requires a sum of money. Hefei kept urging, but did not mention the three items of renting a boat and replenishing gunpowder and marbles. What does it mean?"

Wu Xu pondered for a while and said: "This is exactly the brilliance of Li Hefei. He knows that foreigners are not easy to offend, so he doesn't come out, but pushes the problem to the two of us and makes us both suffer!" Yang Fang said: "Uncle Fang, do you want to go to Huan Weng for advice on this matter?" Wu Xu said: "If you don't ask Huan Weng for advice, can you come up with a good idea? Also, it's not my brother telling you, your brother should pay attention to it. Anyway, Fang Chuanshu is also a top-ranked official. He got up to greet you, how can you get a university like this? Although you and I are listed in the three constitutions, our background is not the right way after all. Although Fang Chuanshu is a top-ranking student of the fourth rank, he was born in the second rank and was obtained by examination. Fame. Officialdom is different from foreign affairs. We used to be in foreign affairs and could not care about official affairs, but since we have changed to officialdom, we have to follow the rules of officialdom!"

When Wu Xu said something, Yang Fang's face was full of displeasure.Wu Xu added: "My brother, you don't want to listen to what my brother said. At some point, some people will get rich and step on top of us, and we will have to suffer at that time!" Yang Fang still pouted his mouth and said nothing. The two quickly left Songjiang City and rushed to Shanghai's commercial yamen in sedan chairs.Xue Huan had a lot of business that day.When Wu Xu and Yang Fang arrived, Xue Huan was discussing business affairs with a German consul in the signing room.Wu Xu and Yang Fang were taken to the study room to drink tea; after drinking three pots of tea, Xue Huan hadn't come out of the signing room.Yang Fang was so angry that he asked a master to go to the signing room to find out what happened.

The master soon replied: "My lord is negotiating business with an antique dealer in England, and I won't be able to come down for a while." The two had no choice but to leave the post on the table and leave. Wu Xu went back to Songjiang City that night, Yang Fang refused to let it go because he didn't get an idea, so he stayed at the second room's house in Shanghai, planning to come see Xue Huan again the next day. Wu Xu returned to Songjiang, but that night he didn't go back to the yamen, nor did he go back to the mansion. Instead, he went directly to a concubine he had a good relationship with for dinner and overnight.

Neither the Buyuan yamen nor the Wu residence knew that Wu Xu had returned to the city.Bai Qiwen rushed into the city of Songjiang with a thousand men and horses at night; the general Li Hengsong was drinking tea in his room at that time, when he heard the noise of people outside the door, he didn't know what happened, so he went out to inquire about it. Head towards Songjiang City. Li Hengsong didn't think too much about it, and hurriedly pulled out his mount from the stable, called the two guards with him, and hurriedly chased after it. When Bai Qiwen entered the city, he first asked people to close the four gates of Songjiang City, drove all the city guards off the top of the city, replaced them with his men, and then led people into the Buyuan Yamen.The officer on duty suddenly saw a group of foreigners barging in with knives and sticks. He thought it was a robbery. , The atmosphere did not dare to take a breath.

Bai Qiwen walked around inside and outside the yamen, saw no one, said: "You are not in the yamen, you must be at home!" He overturned two tables, led his people to rush out of the yamen, and rushed towards the Wu residence. Bai Qiwen smashed open the big wooden door of Wu's mansion, and led people to search inside and out, but he still didn't see Wu Xu's shadow.Bai Qiwen pulled the butler of the Wu Mansion to him, and asked, "I am Bai Qiwen, the leader of the Changsheng Army. Tell me quickly, where is Master Wu hiding?" The housekeeper knew Bai Qiwen, and while secretly sending someone to deliver a letter to the magistrate, he said, "Master went to Shanghai with Yang Yinyuan in the afternoon. The commander-in-chief wants to discuss business with the master, just go to Shanghai and look for it, you will definitely find it!" "

Bai Qiwen rolled his eyes and asked, "Master Wu went to Shanghai, why didn't I see him? You Qing people all lie, I don't believe what you say. You have to tell the truth, where is Master Wu hiding? I'm not If you want to make things difficult for him, just do business with him!" The butler hurriedly replied: "The commander-in-chief is really good at telling jokes. My master and the commander-in-chief are friends. How could my old man lie to the commander-in-chief? He really didn't come back. If the commander-in-chief doesn't believe it, you can go to the Buyuan Yamen to ask!"

Bai Qiwen said: "Okay, I will trust you old man once. Let me tell you the truth, I came to Mr. Wu to get the money. Now that Mr. Wu is not here, you can give me the money. I will take the money. Get out of here, I will never embarrass you!" The butler said in surprise: "The commander-in-chief is not joking, is he? You always ask the master for money, you should go to the yamen to ask for it, why did you break into the house in the middle of the night to ask for it? Can the public's money be kept at home?" Bai Qiwen knocked the old housekeeper to the ground with one punch, and said viciously: "You have an old saying in the Qing Dynasty, you pay for your life if you kill someone, and you pay for your debts. I will ask him for the money that Mr. Wu owes me. He can't hide." If you are willing to see me, of course I have a solution." Bai Qiwen then shouted at his followers: "Search for me! Find all the money for me!"

The Wu Mansion was in a mess all of a sudden.The old butler was beaten to death by Bai Qiwen, and it took him a long time to wake up.The old housekeeper desperately got up, opened his eyes, and saw that all the servants were thrown into a corner trembling. The nine-room wife and maids of Wu's mansion were all locked in a big empty house, and the foreign soldiers were chaotic in each room. turn.The old housekeeper was so anxious that he didn't know what to do. At this moment Fang Chuanshu, the prefect of Songjiang Prefecture, brought Shouxian and several government servants, and broke in panting.When Fang Chuanshu saw that the steward of the Wu residence was covered in blood and was walking around in place, he hurriedly asked, "Why do you always look like this? What happened here?" When the old butler saw Fang Chuanshu, he quickly clapped his hands and said: "Oh, prefect Fang, you are here! It's amazing! Marshal Bai led people to search for money in each house, and he locked all the wives into a room." in a room. Go and persuade me!" Fang Chuanshu was shocked and said: "Okay, how did you get into trouble with this Yang Taisui!" Fang Chuanshu quickly walked across the yard, opened the door and walked into the upper room. He saw a pile of jewelry boxes under Bai Qiwen's feet, and the people were rummaging through the rooms. . Fang Chuanshu shouted at Bai Qiwen: "Marshal Bai!" Bai Qiwen turned around and saw that it was Fang Chuanshu, and said, "Isn't this the magistrate? You came at the right time. Take me to find Master Wu. He owes the army 500,000 taels of silver. We must get it tonight, and we can't delay for a moment." ! Before I get the money, the rules of the officialdom are invalid for me!" Fang Chuanshu forced a smile and said: "The commander-in-chief originally wanted to find Mr. Fang Bo, so we can discuss this matter. This afternoon, Fang Bo went to the Shanghai Commercial Office with Yang Jietai. The commander-in-chief will definitely meet Fang Bo when he goes to Shanghai. Marshal, please quickly order them to stop! Fang Bo's mansion has been translated into this state, how do you ask this mansion to explain to Fang Bo?" Bai Qiwen was about to speak when Li Hengsong, a member of the Changsheng Army, strode in. When Li Hengsong came in, he bowed deeply to Fang Chuanshu first, but before Fang Chuanshu could return the gift, he stepped up to Bai Qiwen and said urgently: "Commander, why do you always close the gate of the city in private? Since Commander has the nationality of the Qing Dynasty, You should know the laws of the Qing Dynasty!" Bai Qiwen widened his eyes, and said: "I am now looking for Mr. Wu to ask for money for our army. What nonsense are you running here? I don't close the city gate, so what if Mr. Wu runs away? I don't care about my five hundred thousand taels of snowflake silver." Which one is going?" Li Hengsong said anxiously: "It's good that the commander-in-chief asked Wu Fangbo for his salary, but you shouldn't have closed the gates of the city privately. If the matter of closing the gates of the city privately spreads to the higher authorities, it will be a serious crime! Commander-in-Chief, Listen to the humble official, quickly order the city gate to be returned to the Songjiang Mansion, if it is too late, you and I will not be able to get rid of it!" Bai Qiwen said disapprovingly: "So what if you can't get rid of the relationship? It's the money that Mr. Wu owes me, not the money I owe him. I want to get enough money anyway. Li Canjun, you'd better go back to the camp. This matter This matter has nothing to do with you, it is a private matter between you and Lord Wu. What he promised must be done, otherwise the ever-victorious army will become an ever-defeating army!" At this time, a foreign soldier on guard came out of a room, carrying a large bag in his hand, with a pair of beautiful mandarin ducks embroidered on it; Behind is a person who looks like a nanny from the Wu Mansion.The nurse cried and yelled, and while stumbling towards the guard, she said, "This is the dowry brought over by Miss San's family. Why don't you even take the dowry?" The third lady mentioned by the nanny is Wu Xu's newly married ninth concubine.Bai Qiwen snatched the baggage from the guard's hand, pinched it outside with his hands, and said in his mouth: "It's a few pieces of broken jewelry." Fang Chuanshu said: "Marshal Bai, these things are not worth a lot of money. If you always do the house a face, return the things!" Bai Qiwen sneered, asked people to wrap the things under their feet and in their hands with a big white cloth and took them away, then pointed at Fang Chuanshu and said: "Okay, I will give Mr. Fang a face, but I still want to take these things away You tell Mr. Wu that the army will keep these things in his house for him first, and let him take the money to the camp and ask me for it!" After Bai Qi finished speaking, he went out first; the foreign soldiers also rushed out.Li Hengsong whispered to the other party and said: "Please tell Mr. Fang Bo that the humble officer will return to the camp first, and I will apologize after the forgiveness!" The nanny shouted from behind: "Isn't this a house raid? Isn't this a house raid?" Fang Chuanshu took Shangshou County and hurried inside to plead guilty to Mrs. Gaoming of the Wu Mansion. Bai Qiwen returned to the barracks and took a rough inventory of the harvest. Feeling unsatisfied, he quickly ordered another thousand troops to rush to Shanghai City.When Li Hengsong got the news, Bai Qiwen had already left the camp for half an hour, so Li Hengsong had no choice but to take a few soldiers to chase out of the camp.