"Mr. Wan, what's going on? Has the magistrate agreed to mobilize the people of the whole city to jointly guard Gaomi County?"

Wan Yufu shook his head and smiled bitterly: "The master said that what we said is unfounded and does not believe that overseas Chinese will come to attack Gaomi County, so he did not listen to our suggestions."

Several other landlords also nodded repeatedly. It turned out that Wan Yufu could not admit to the magistrate that he took the initiative to organize armed forces to attack overseas Chinese, so he could only rob overseas Chinese in the rural areas outside the city, and even exterminated many landlords, etc., and then said that he had heard the news that overseas Chinese were coming to attack Gaomi County and asked the magistrate to order the whole city to mobilize and jointly guard Gaomi County.

Although I have heard of the so-called land revolution in some rural areas of Jiaozhou County, the magistrate of Gaomi County, Zheng Daiyuan, did not think that this had any impact on the county, or to be precise. First, the activities of overseas Chinese are mainly in Jiaozhou County, and have not yet come to Gaomi County. Although Jiaozhou is close to Gaomi, it is not in the county after all, so the magistrate naturally does not want to worry too much. Second, the activities of overseas Chinese are all outside the county town. According to the Qing court's regulations, as long as there is no accident in the county town, no matter how big the matter happens outside the city, the magistrate's responsibility will not be too great. Anyway, the land that is not taken by Master Zheng, so Zheng's magistrate will certainly not feel distressed.

Moreover, some time ago, Wan Yufu jumped up and down, lobbying other landlords to form an alliance to fight against overseas Chinese. Zheng Daiyuan also knew that although he did not say it on the surface, he criticized Wan Yufu in his heart for being a mantis chariot and did not put his strength. After all, Zheng Daiyuan was the head of a county, and his control over the grassroots level may not be as good as Wan Yufu, but his mastery of major affairs in the court was much stronger than Wan Yufu. Of course, he knew that since the return of overseas Chinese, he had beaten foreigners. The fallen flowers and waters had to retreat to beg for peace, and they also regained Beijing. Now, the Empress Dowager and the Emperor want to return to the capital have to look at the eyes of overseas Chinese. It is said that the court is recruiting overseas Chinese. There is a rumor that it is necessary to enfeoff overseas Chinese in Shandong. In this case, it is natural that it cannot offend overseas Chinese. The Shandong Governor's Office has issued two orders, strictly ordering officials from all over the country that the army must not conflict with overseas Chinese in life, so that the court's attitude towards overseas Chinese can be made.

In this case, not to mention that overseas Chinese robbed the land of several landlords, even if they really occupied the county town, the court would probably turn a blind eye and pretend not to know. Therefore, if overseas Chinese really wanted to attack Gaomi County, all they should do was to go out of the city to accept surrender, welcome overseas Chinese into the city, and then let overseas Chinese deal with life and death. It is estimated that overseas Chinese would unlikely take their lives. Even if the court sued the crime, it would be dismissal and abandoned. If the city really defended the city, it would be impossible for them to escape and die. Even if they defended the county town, they would not be able to survive; because the court would definitely use its own head to please overseas Chinese. Therefore, no matter whether the news said by Wan Yufu and others was true or false, they would never order the people in the city to defend the city.

As a result, no matter how Wan Yufu and others persuaded him, the magistrate Zheng insisted on it. Wan Yufu and others said that overseas Chinese were coming to attack Gaomi County had no evidence and were alarmist, and they just did not order the whole city to mobilize and defend Gaomi County to the death.

Although Wan Yufu can control the money, grain and taxes of the entire Gaomi County, he is just an insignificant official. The real head of Gaomi County is Zheng Daiyuan. To put it extremely, if Zheng Daiyuan was not afraid that the money, grain and taxes of the entire Gaomi County would fall into chaos and affect his political achievements, he would have to kill Wan Yufu. Unless Wan Yufu ran away immediately, he would be unable to escape and die. Therefore, Wan Yufu could not force Zheng Daiyuan to give an order, so he had to leave the county government in disappointment and take many people back to his house.

After listening to what Wan Yufu said, Wang Kefu was also anxious and said, "How can that be done? The style of overseas Chinese has always been decisive and can attack Gaomi County at any time. If you don't mobilize the people of the county to defend the city, you may not be in a hurry."

Wan Yufu smiled bitterly and said, "Why don't I know about this situation? But the magistrate just doesn't believe us. What can we do? We can't replace the order of the master."

A landlord said with a frown: "Yes, we have nothing to do."

Another landlord said, "Why don't the overseas Chinese have not yet come here to kill us, let's run away."

Wang Kefu frowned and said, "Escape? Where can we escape? Our fields, industries, and families are all here. Even if we escape from Gaomi County and lose their fields and industries, how can we survive? I know that some relatives and friends in other counties will escape to other counties to buy land and buy land, and maybe they can buy another industry. Not to mention how difficult it is to buy another home business in other counties, but do you think overseas Chinese will only satisfy Jiaozhou and Gaomi counties? What if overseas Chinese chase you to the county you go to? Therefore, it is better to try hard to fight with overseas Chinese while everyone is together."

The landlord who spoke before said, "But if the master does not order the city to defend, what can we do?"

Wang Kefu said: "The magistrate did not give orders because the pressure we put on him was not enough. Master Wan, please contact other gentry with status in Gaomi County immediately, and state the excellence to them, and tell them to go to petition the magistrate tomorrow. It is difficult for the public to disobey the controversy. I think the magistrate will not refuse easily this time."

Wan Yufu nodded. To be honest, he is now in a mess and can't come up with any ideas. In addition, he has been obeying the Wang brothers for a while, so he has no objection to what Wang Kefu said at this time.

At this time, another landlord said, "Young Master Wang, can we guard Gaomi County?"

Wang Kefu said: "Of course I can't hold on, but as long as I can hold on for a while, we can have time to ask for help from other places."

Wan Yufu said: "Who else can we ask for help?"

Wang Kefu said: "Of course it is Governor Yuan. If overseas Chinese attack Gaomi County, it will invade Shandong's borders. Governor Yuan is in charge of Shandong's government affairs, so naturally he cannot sit idly by. Therefore, as long as Gaomi County can hold on for a long time, he will only wait for Governor Yuan's army to arrive, and the danger will be resolved."

After listening to Wang Kefu's suggestion, Wan Yufu suddenly realized that he was a mess in the yamen after all, and knew the rules of the Qing court that losing the city and abandoning land was a serious crime for local officials, but as long as the city was not lost, no matter how much trouble was made outside the city, it was not a big deal. Therefore, overseas Chinese in the countryside outside the city might not take it seriously, but if overseas Chinese attack Gaomi County, the situation would be serious. Governor Yuan decided not to sit idly by or acquiesced to his officers to act privately, but would definitely lead the army to relieve the siege of Gaomi County. As long as Gaomi County can stand firm until reinforcements come, it will naturally turn the danger into safety. Of course, Wan Yufu is not a person in the officialdom after all, and his political understanding can only reach this point.

So Wan Yufu nodded repeatedly and hurriedly called Mr. Wenshu to invite famous gentry in Gaomi County, and assigned tasks to other landlords. Some went to invite people, and some people ordered banquets. After a long time, all the other landlords left, leaving only the Wang brothers.

Wan Yufu said: "Governor Yuan has to ask the two of you to work hard."

Wang Kefu said: "It's easy to talk about, but we don't hesitate. We will set off to Jinan immediately and ask Mr. Wan to arrange horses for us so that we can also set off."

Wan Yufu hurriedly said, "It's true, it's true. I'll make arrangements for you two." After that, Wan Yufu got up and left.

After a while, Wan Yufu came out with two people, carrying two bags, one big and one small, and said to the Wang brothers: "Horse, dry food, and the changing clothes along the road have been prepared for the two of you," he pointed to the big bag and said: "This is 50,000 taels of silver for the two to go to Jinan Prefecture to handle some activities. There is no need to be stingy. As long as Yuan Fuzhang is willing to send troops to solve Gaomi's difficulties, I still have 10,000 tons of silver to thank you." He took the small bag and said: "These 200 taels of silver are for the two of you along the road. As long as the two can invite Governor Yuan to send troops, I will thank you two more."

Now Wan Yufu has regarded Yuan Shikai's troops as his life-saving straw, and the Wang brothers are Wan Yufu's last hope. Of course, the last time their brothers were in Jinan, they really brought the Beiyang New Army to help the war, which also made Wan Yufu feel a little confident in the two of them's trip to Jinan.

However, Wan Yufu has been in the government for a long time and of course he knows the principle of using money to do things and spending money to manage some things. Therefore, he did not hesitate to spend a lot of money at this time, and made a promise to invite Yuan Shikai to rescue Gaomi County. Wan Yufu also understood this very clearly. Once Gaomi City was broken, even if he was not dead, his wealth would definitely fall into the hands of overseas Chinese. It would be better to throw it out now and save his life. As long as he preserved his power, all the money, grain, taxes and taxes in Gaomi County were managed by himself. Even if he dispersed all his property, he could still start over again. If he could not save himself, he would not let all the property go abroad.

The Wang brothers looked at each other, and Wang Kefu said, "Since Mr. Wan said that, we are not polite. When our brothers go to Jinan this time, they will definitely persuade Governor Yuan to send troops. Mr. Wan, please rest assured."

Wan Yufu nodded, bowed to the two of them again, and said, "I will be entrusted to you all."

The Wang brothers picked up the bag and turned around and left the hall. Wan Yufu sent the two of them to the door. At this time, the Wanzhai family had prepared two horses for the two, with all their saddles and bridles. The Wang brothers turned over the horse, bowed to Wan Yufu, and then left.
Chapter completed!