Chapter 46 Section forty-six turning enemies into friends

When he arrived at the Anqiu county government office, Li Hongzhang didn't care about taking a rest. He sent Liu Mingchuan, Liu Changjin and others first, and then escorted the city gate officials to the lobby for questioning. When Liu Mingchuan entered the city, he first set out to guard the four gates of Anqiu with his soldiers. In addition to the personal soldiers accompanying the imperial envoy, he specially arranged 300 Huaiyong guards around the county government.When the people in the city saw the officers and soldiers coming in and out, they thought that Nianzi was about to kill them, so they ran away one after another, making the streets in the city empty, like an empty city.

Li Hongzhang sat upright in the hall, with Ding Baozhen, the governor of Shandong, and Liu Mingchuan, the commander of the Mingzi Battalion of the Huai Army, the admiral of Zhili. After Li Hongzhang asked the reason, he first sent the city gate official to the death row prison, and then asked Li Shuqiao, the county magistrate, to come to the hall for questioning.Li Shuqiao came to the lobby, plopped down on his knees facing Li Hongzhang, and repeatedly shouted: "I am really wronged! Please learn from the imperial envoy!" Li Hongzhang said: "Li Shuqiao, don't cry for injustice. The imperial envoy is going to ask you a few words now, and you must answer truthfully without any concealment. If not, the imperial envoy will definitely punish you with multiple crimes and destroy your life! Can you hear me?"

Li Shuqiao hurriedly replied: "My lord, if you ask me, I will answer it according to the official's instructions." Li Hongzhang asked: "Li Shuqiao, since the beginning of my imperial envoy's appointment, I have already written a document ordering the local government along the way to purchase or pre-purchase military rations for the officers and soldiers from all walks of life, so that the officers and soldiers can offer them at any time. Don't you know ?" Li Shuqiao replied: "My lord, let me tell you. I have been in office for more than two years, and I have never seen the imperial envoy's writing. If you don't believe me, you can ask the master."

Li Hongzhang smiled, turned to Ding Baozhen and said, "Ding Futai." Ding Baozhen got up and replied: "The lower official is here." Li Hongzhang asked: "This imperial envoy writes in various provinces. Didn't the governor's yamen have written down? Also, didn't the former imperial envoy Master Zeng Hou issue an order?" Ding Baozhen replied: "My lord, let me tell you that the lower officials think that the conscription of the army is urgent, and the local officials pre-purchase the reserves for the barracks to use at any time. This is not the case in all the military booms in my dynasty. Li Ling is familiar with official affairs and will not be unreasonable." Know."

Li Hongzhang nodded his head and said: "Ding Futai said that the governor's office has not written down the document. Li Shuqiao, have you really not seen the official document of the governor's office?" Li Shuqiao replied: "My lord, it is clear that there is really no writing in the governor's yamen." Li Hongzhang waved his hand and said: "Come here, take Li Shuqiao back to the prison first, and wait for the order to be issued." Li Shuqiao was taken out of the hall. Li Hongzhang nodded to Ding Baozhen and said, "Ding Futai, please sit down too."

Ding Baozhen said: "Thank you, sir." Then he sat back in his original position. Li Hongzhang suddenly said to Liu Mingchuan: "Liu Junmen, this imperial envoy wants to have a few words with Ding Futai alone, please take someone to avoid it first, if something happens, this imperial envoy will pass it on to you." Liu Mingchuan hurriedly agreed, and walked out of the lobby with a group of people. In a blink of an eye, only Li Hongzhang and Ding Baozhen were left in the lobby. Li Hongzhang looked at Ding Baozhen, and suddenly sneered and said: "Ding Futai, you are old in Jiuli, and you are well versed in the laws and regulations. Don't you know that you will be punished for concealing the official documents of the imperial envoy?"

Ding Baozhen blushed, and hurriedly got up and replied: "Your Excellency, please calm down. I don't want to conceal the official documents of the imperial envoy on purpose. It's because of the military prosperity in the past, I have always handled it like this. If my lord must take this matter to the next official, the next official will have nothing to do with it." In other words, we can only report the cause to the court, and let the court decide." Li Hongzhang said casually: "Ding Futai, it's so easy for you to say it! You tell the court the cause, will the court listen to you? Before the imperial envoy accepted the imperial envoy's defense, the imperial court had issued an order to all the provinces along the way. After returning to dispatch, the imperial court granted this imperial envoy the right to act cheaply. Didn’t you receive the imperial edict?”

Ding Baozhen shuddered when he heard this, and replied: "Responding to your lord's words, the lower officials have the courage to resist and disobey orders!" Li Hongzhang said: "You can talk! Are you still timid in Ding Futai? Before the former imperial envoy Zeng Houye left his post, there was nothing you could do in Shandong Governor's Yamen, such as transferring officials, buying food and raising salaries. You have to understand! Marquis Zeng thinks you were born in the top two rankings, and it is not easy to survive until now, and you don’t want to make it difficult for you, but you always think you have a plan! What do you say in front of your staff, do you think Marquis Zeng doesn’t know? It’s not that you are obedient and vigilant, Master Zeng’s river defense plan will fall short! But Master Zeng would rather take responsibility for himself than say that the local government is wrong. Was he the governor of Shandong at that time? Huh?"

Ding Baozhen's spine was shivering when Li Hongzhang said it with a gun and a stick.He didn't dare to put on the big airs of the governor anymore, he knelt down in front of Li Hongzhang, kowtowed and said, "Don't talk about it when you are old! After all, there are thousands of mistakes, and it's all the fault of the lower official! I hope you can forgive me." On the one hand, give the lower official a chance to atone for his sins. If the lower official still doesn’t do what the lord ordered, the lower official will take off the black yarn by himself and hit the sharp point of the knife with his head!”

Li Hongzhang saw that Ding Baozhen had indeed known his mistake, so he got up and left the case. He helped him up with both hands and said, "Ding Futai, since you already knew your mistake, how can this imperial envoy hold you on? My lord, please sit down and listen to this imperial envoy." Let me tell you a few words from my heart." Ding Baozhen repeatedly thanked him and sat back in his seat. Li Hongzhang sat down and said: "Ding Futai, to be honest, your old actions are not all wrong. Not long after you were promoted to governor of Shandong, you built dams along the Yellow River to dredge the rivers in the territory, so that the people on both sides of the strait can live and work in peace; Dare to do what you say, and act according to the facts to participate in the unjust officials of the counties and counties in the territory, which greatly improved the official atmosphere in Shandong. All these have been praised by others, and finally won the reputation of being a competent official. You have made such a big mistake, and this imperial envoy still wants to preserve it. You, it's just because you are willing to do something for the people. The imperial envoy hopes that you will be old, and take this as a lesson, and cooperate with the army from all walks of life in the territory to suppress the Nian thieves, so that the suppression of the Nian will be completed as soon as possible. At that time, the Ben The imperial envoy will definitely reward you with a reward from the imperial court."

Ding Baozhen had nothing else to say besides saying yes repeatedly. Li Hongzhang finally said: "However, this imperial envoy will also attach a piece of memorandum to Ming Shengshang about the shooting and killing of the guerrilla Yu Wenjian by the gate officials of Anqiu County. One is to stabilize the morale of the army so that the soldiers will not feel resentment towards the local government because of this incident; the other is to Yuwenjian invites credit and sympathy. Yuwenjian Fengtian originally had a wife, children, and children, all relying on him to survive. Now that he died unexpectedly, this imperial envoy can't just watch their family go hungry, and has to find a way for them to survive." Ding Baozhen hurriedly said: "Your Excellency's words are very true. After the lower officials go back, they will allocate three thousand taels of silver from the treasury and hand them over to Yu Wenjian's family. How about it?" Li Hongzhang thought for a while and said: "There is no doubt that the city gate officials in Anqiu County will be executed immediately. Li Shuqiao, the magistrate of the county, was born in two rankings. It is indeed a bit wronged to lose his official position. Ding Futai, do you think this is good? The imperial envoy first petitioned the imperial court to dismiss him for questioning. After that, you always come forward and ask his family to bring out 5,000 taels of silver to redeem him. After the silver is handed over, you and I will jointly file a petition to the imperial court. How about restoring his reputation? In this way, his future is not damaged, his reputation is preserved, and his memory is also longed." Ding Baozhen asked in a low voice: "My lord, what should I do with Li Ling's five thousand taels of silver?" Li Hongzhang laughed and said, "You Ding Zhihuang, how do you know what to ask? After the money is handed over, together with the three thousand taels allocated by the feudal commander, the total is eight thousand taels. It must be handed over to Yu Wenjian's family to live. You will never hide it." Half of it, I tucked in half, watching Yu Wenjian's family starve to death!" Upon hearing this, Ding Baozhen smiled and said, "It is better to be famous than to meet, and to do a few things to see if you meet! Your method, Li Jueshuai, is really brilliant. As the saying goes, those who kill should be killed, and those who are punished have no regrets." , Even the dead are beautiful. Shandong people have a slang saying that a bowl of water is not level. In my opinion, the bowl of water you Li Jueshuai holds is level." Li Hongzhang said with a smile: "Brother, I have lived to be forty-four years old this year. I have never met a person who can really level a bowl of water. The so-called leveling of a bowl of water is just talk." Ding Baozhen lowered his head and thought for a while, then laughed.