Chapter 25 Section 25 The Most Famous God of Wealth in Shanghai

Bai Qiwen easily called the gate of Shanghai to open. After entering the city, he neither went to the Tongshang Yamen nor the Shanghai Dao Yamen, but went straight to the Yangfang Mansion in the east of Shanghai. Yang Fang came out in plain clothes with a few servants. Seeing that it was Bai Qiwen, he was shocked at first. He suppressed the panic in his heart and said with a smile on his face: "It turns out to be Marshal Bai. Sorry for your disrespect. Please!" Bai Qiwen led into the study room, and hurriedly ordered tea to be brought out: "Marshal Bai came to visit late at night, so we know that the matter is urgent. I don't know what happened to the camp?"

Bai Qiwen sneered, and said: "It took a lot of hard work for me to find you. Lord Yang, where is Lord Wu now? Everyone in Shanghai knows that as long as you find Lord Yang, you are also looking for Lord Wu. They are inseparable. I came to smash the gate of your mansion in the middle of the night just to talk to Mr. Wu." Yang Fang was stunned for a moment, and said: "To find Wu Fangbo, Marshal Bai has found the wrong place this time. This is neither the cloth courtyard yamen nor Fangbo's mansion, it is the place where I live!" Bai Qiwen didn't believe it, and said impatiently: "Master Yang, don't lie to me anymore, Mr. Wu is with you, and you lied that you found the wrong place. Mr. Yang, please let Mr. Wu come out to see me! My lord I have been running around for most of the night, and I am impatient to play hide-and-seek with him."

Yang Fang still smiled and said: "I and Fang Bo did leave Songjiang in the afternoon and came to Shanghai together to rent a ship for the Changsheng Army. But Fang Bo has rushed back to Songjiang before dinner. Marshal Bai, just wait At dawn, when you come to Songjiang Buyuan Yamen, you will definitely see Fang Bo." Bai Qiwen didn't want to listen, but after hearing this, he pricked his beard all over his face, widened his eyes, straightened his neck, stood up and came to Yang Fang, grabbed Yang Fang's braid with his hands La, said viciously: "Do you still think I am the commander-in-chief of the Ever Victorious Army in your eyes? I came across the ocean to your Qing Dynasty to help you eradicate Long Mao, and you treat me like this!"

Yang Fang tilted his head and shouted in fright: "Marshal Bai, what are you always doing? Come, come! Come, come!" Seeing that no one came in, he panicked and cried secretly. It turned out that Bai Qiwen had learned the lesson from the Songjiang Wu Mansion, and had pre-arranged people to guard the study room and all passages, fearing that Yang Fang would call people.Yang Fang saw that no one came to rescue him, so he could only say: "Marshal Bai, if you always have something to say, just talk to me. You should understand the rules of my officialdom. No matter what you say, I am your immediate superior. Just let it go, you're holding on to my braids, what a shame!"

Bai Qiwen sneered and said, "If I don't grab your pig's tail, how can you still be so honest? Hand over Mr. Wu quickly! Otherwise, I will order your woman to be gang-raped!" Yang Fang shouted: "Marshal, you must not mess around! Listen to me, Fang Bo has indeed returned to Songjiang, why don't you go to Songjiang to find him, why are you only making trouble here? You Even if the trouble lasts until dawn, can Fang Bo come out? Why are you looking for Fang Bo?" Bai Qiwen lowered his hands and said, "What are you shouting for? Kneel down and listen to me!" Yang Fang felt pain in the back of his head, so he could only plop down on his knees.

Bai Qiwen said: "You promised to allocate 500,000 taels of salary to the army to supplement the soldiers. I followed your instructions and recruited all the troops, but you also said that you would disband. Do you think recruiting is easy? I want to find Master Wu, just ask him to hand over the five hundred thousand taels of silver he promised to me. Well, you, Master Yang, will hide it for him, so I have nothing to worry about. I have no choice but to ask you for the silver he owes me! If you don’t give it, I’ll take your woman into the camp!” Bai Qiwen suddenly pulled out a dagger from his boot, pointed at Yang Fang's nose and said, "If you want a woman or money, Master Yang, choose one!"

Yang Fang closed his eyes in fright, trembling all over and said: "I only have 40,000 taels of silver note here, which is the salary that Uncle Fang paid in advance to the Changsheng Army next month." Bai Qiwen didn't wait for Yang Fang to finish his sentence, and he shouted: "Master Yang, you are so hateful! Master Wu has allocated the salary for next month, why don't you give it to me? Do you want to take it for yourself?" Yang Fang blushed and said: "Uncle Fang didn't say anything. Do you dare to pay the Changsheng Army in advance? When Fang Bo handed the bank note to the official, he repeatedly explained that the 40,000 taels of silver will have to wait for the Changsheng Army Pay before setting off to Jinling. Without Fang Bo's words, why should I do this?"

Bai Qiwen said: "Okay, you give me the 40,000 taels of silver first. You can get the rest of the money for me right away. Your Master Yang is the most famous God of Wealth in Shanghai, and 500,000 taels of silver is not enough for you to pay for a dollar." Sleeping sparrow!" Yang Fang said: "If you, Marshal Bai, don't let go, how can I walk?" Bai Qiwen thought for a while, and had no choice but to let go and said, "Okay, let me let go, you, Mr. Yang, don't think of any bad ideas. I recognize you, but the knife in my hand doesn't recognize you. Go and get the silver ticket!"

Yang Fang hurriedly got up, rubbing the back of his head with his hands, and said: "I have been with the commander-in-chief for a long time, the commander-in-chief shouldn't be so unreasonable to me! If this is spread, your brother's commander-in-chief can still Do you want to do it? This official is a provincial criminal name, if you take this official's woman away, will the court agree?" Bai Qiwen kicked Yang Fang over and cursed: "You pig! If you dare to talk too much, I will cut off your pig's tongue first!" Yang Fang covered his ears with his hands and shouted: "Marshal, please spare me!" He kowtowed as he spoke, his forehead was already bleeding from the knock.Bai Qiwen pulled him up and shouted: "Take out the silver ticket!"

Yang Fang scrambled to the front of the case, and soon found a bank note.Bai Qiwen reached out and snatched the bank note, looked at it and said, "This 40,000 taels is my small punishment for you. Take out another 500,000 taels, and I will send you a receipt." Yang Fang's face was bloodless, and he tremblingly said: "Marshal Rong, five hundred thousand taels is not a small sum, how can you ask me to get it out for a while? Marshal Bai, you always listen to my advice and go back to the university first. The camp is resting, and I will go to the Yamen of Songjiang Buyuan to meet Fang Bo immediately!"

Bai Qiwen was so angry that he grabbed Yang Fang with his backhand, and Yang Fang hid back in fright, and hit the corner of the desk with his waist again, Yang Fang squatted down with an ouch in pain. At this time, a foreign soldier ran in and said, "Commander, Master Li is here, and he wants to see the commander!" Bai Qiwen was taken aback, and hurriedly put the banknote into his arms, saying, "This Li Canjun, he is everywhere. Go against me!" He muttered in his mother tongue: "It seems that women can't be tied up." Bai Qiwen kicked Yang Fang fiercely, and cursed: "I'll let your woman go first. I'll give you two days, don't send the money to the camp, and see if I don't burn Songjiang City to ashes! Go! " Yang Fang huddled into a ball, closed his eyes tightly, and dared not speak out.It took a long time for Bai Qiwen to lead the crowd away from Yang's mansion before Yang Fang's family dared to enter the study to greet him, and only then did Yang Fang dare to let go of his voice and cry loudly. On that day, Yang Fang was carried by his family and soon he was with Xue Huan and Wu Xu.Xue Huan decided to make a big fuss about Bai Qiwen's private closure of Songjiang City to ask for payment, and described Bai Qiwen's beating of Yang Fang as a foreign-related incident.He turned up all night, obviously to inform the court of what happened in Shanghai, but in fact he was attending the office to appease Li Hongzhang. Xue Huan speculated that even if the empress dowagers of the two palaces did not question Li Hongzhang after they saw Zhezi, Li Hongzhang's appeasement would be over. Huan's Shanghai, Li Hongzhang is like making a wedding dress for others.Excuse me, Xue Huan's generous face, which had been gloomy for five months, showed a smile for the first time. Li Hengsong, a member of the Changsheng Army, dispatched his horse on the same day to report in detail what happened in Songjiang and Shanghai to Li Hongzhang, who was supervising the battle in Qingpu.