"Mr. Cheng, you are a sensible person. I, Yuan Su, never intend to antagonize Uncle Zhang. Although Zhou Baolin is not Bai Lang himself, as the third person under Bai Lang, he still has a lot of influence in Henan Province.
Not a small influence. I have emphasized many times before that to control civil unrest we must deal with the root causes. Killing Zhou Baolin will indeed severely damage Bai Lang's vitality, but the damage can be healed. It is gone.
This Zhou Baolin will also have other Li Baolin and Wang Baolin. If you don't kill Zhou Baolin and recruit Anna for your own use, then you can truly break Bai Lang's arm." Yuan Su also sounded serious and sincere.
He said it in a profound and serious manner.
"What Mr. Yuan said is not unreasonable, but recruiting security is also based on a clear understanding of the current situation. The civil unrest in Henan has reached such a level now. If we do not punish them severely, how can it have a deterrent effect? How can we try to alleviate the current predicament in the province?
"Cheng Shichang said.
"Mr. Cheng, what kind of situation do you mean by this? As far as I know, the militia in Henan Province have moved to the Shaanxi-Gansu area. This shows that it is precisely because of the intensity of repression in Henan Province.
We have achieved results. If we use both kindness and power at this time and use gentle means to recruit Anna to surrender, isn't this a good start? If we blindly kill one person to serve as a warning to others, the civilian army will have no way out and will continue to resist stubbornly. Is this Mr. Cheng?
What's the scene you want to see?" Yuan Su asked a rhetorical question in succession, with a look of determination on his face.
Although Cheng Shichang is a bureaucratic person, he is not without any knowledge. In the message Yuan Su sent back to Kaifeng to explain, he had already seen that what Yuan Su did was indeed meaningful. However, Zhang Zhenfang was not sure about this.
The matter was very emotional. As an adjutant, what could he do?
Now he listened to Yuan Su's narration again, and saw Yuan Su's unwavering expression. For a moment, he couldn't answer. He could only sigh secretly, and a look of embarrassment appeared on the paper.
When Li Qian saw this, he couldn't help but feel that he couldn't speak in his heart. Of course, it was not for Zhou Baolin's affairs. To be honest, he had been fighting Zhou Baolin for so long, even though he hated this opponent very much, but now that the matter was over, then
There is no need to delve further into this matter. Just seeing that Cheng Shichang couldn't even solve Zhou Baolin's matter, how could he say that the Seventeenth Division would take over the defense of Shangqiu?
"Mr. Cheng and Mr. Li, I have another important thing to do when I hold a banquet here today. I don't want to talk about Zhou Baolin for the time being. But you two adults don't need to feel embarrassed. I can assure you that I will
I will definitely give an explanation to Uncle Zhang and make sure that Uncle Zhang is convinced." After a pause, Yuan Su didn't care about the faces of Cheng Shichang and Li Qian, and then deliberately changed the subject.
"I'm afraid... Governor Zhang is waiting in a hurry..." Cheng Shichang added hesitantly as he still didn't finish his meaning.
"Don't worry, Mr. Cheng. It may be two to three days soon or three to five days later. I will definitely give an explanation for this matter and will never make it difficult for Mr. Cheng. Tomorrow, Mr. Cheng will send a telegram to Kaifeng to inform Yuan."
I report what I said today to Uncle Zhang and beg for his understanding. When the affairs of Shangqiu are decided, I will go to the door in person to apologize." Yuan Su adjusted his tone and said a little impatiently.
"In that case, I'll just wait for the good news." Cheng Shichang responded helplessly. Although he was unwilling to do so, he took into account that Yuan Su's current status was different from that of the past.
After a while, Yuan Su asked Du Yu to arrange for the official opening of the restaurant. The restaurant had already prepared the ingredients, and soon the cold dishes were served first, followed by other dishes and drinks. The atmosphere in the banquet hall suddenly became lively.
Whether it was an officer of the 17th Division or an officer of the 3rd Brigade, they started to make friends with each other enthusiastically as soon as they came to the wine table.
Yuan Su, Li Qian, Cheng Shichang and others also put on friendly and enthusiastic smiles, exchanged glasses, and complimented each other generously. Although Li Qian and Cheng Shichang still had some thoughts in their hearts,
But as he drank three cups and two, he gradually got drunk, and simply ignored so many serious things. As the saying goes, if you have wine now, you will be drunk now, and you will be worried tomorrow. After all, that's what working for the public is all about.
However, Yuan Su remained rational during the entire drinking process. He would frequently drink with others, but he did not actually drink much because he had emphasized before that he had other serious matters to attend to today.
Do it. Perhaps in the eyes of Li Qian and Cheng Shichang, the "another important thing" he just mentioned was referring to the merit-based rewards for the officers of the Seventeenth Division and the Third Brigade, but in fact this is still just
An excuse whose purpose is nothing more than to evade Zhou Baolin's affairs.
The so-called "rewards based on merit" can only be applied to the Third Brigade under Yuan Su at most. No matter how special the other party's status is, it is absolutely impossible to interfere with the Seventeenth Division. Furthermore, the highest officer in charge of suppressing civil unrest in Henan is Zhang Zhenfang
, it was Governor Zhang’s business to ask for credit from all the troops in the province. The reason why Li Qian had no objection was just to give Yuan Su face.
The drunkenness was getting higher and higher. After about five rounds of drinking, there were more than twenty empty jars of wine. All the officers at the wine table were blushing, and some of them could not speak clearly.
, started to go crazy with alcohol.
At this moment, a security guard from the First Regiment of the Third Brigade hurriedly ran up the stairs to the second floor, came to Du Yu, who had been standing not far from the stairs, and whispered something in his ear.
This scene just happened to let Cheng Shichang, who was getting up to pour the wine, see that Cheng Shichang, as the adjutant of Zhang Zhenfang, went to various dinner parties on a daily basis, and his drinking capacity was extraordinary, and he was still sober. He noticed that Du Yu, the adjutant of Yuan Su, was quite
What was wrong was that he didn't join the banquet in the first place, and he had no smile on his face from beginning to end. He looked serious, which was completely incompatible with the atmosphere of the banquet hall.
He saw the guard hurriedly turned back and ran downstairs after finishing speaking, while Du Yu immediately left the table next door, called Sun Youtai, commander of the second regiment of the third brigade, aside and whispered
Sun Youtai said some words. It seemed that Sun Youtai's drinking capacity was not good, and he had not drank much before, but he was still a little drunk after all. However, after listening to Du Yu's words, his face became serious and serious, and he nodded.
Then he returned to the table.
Even though he was confused, Cheng Shichang didn't know what was going on, but he always felt that there was something fishy about tonight's banquet.
After Du Yu finished talking to Sun Youtai, he came to the chief's side. However, he did not speak to the chief. He just stood aside and nodded slightly to Yuan Su.
Yuan Su took a breath and suddenly stood up. Cheng Shichang and Li Qian on the left and right were a little surprised.
"Everyone, please be quiet and let me say something." Yuan Su said loudly to the audience.
Someone from the chief's side spoke, and the other tables immediately stopped what they were doing no matter how drunk they were. The whole place quickly became quiet, and everyone's eyes focused on Yuan Su. Even there were a few middle-level officers at a few remote tables.
Because he was drunk and confused, he was still yelling, but he was shouted down by others.
"Brothers, Yuan is hosting another banquet today. The only purpose is to reward the brothers who participated in the battle to recapture Shangqiu. But there are some things to say up front. As the saying goes, those who have merit will be rewarded, and those who have made mistakes will be punished. Rewards and punishments
Only by clearing up the army can we clean up the appearance and discipline of the army. At this stage of the banquet, you brothers may not have had enough to drink, but it doesn't matter. After the serious business is over, brothers can continue drinking and be drunk until dawn." Wait until the whole place is silent.
Finally, Yuan Su spoke again calmly.
After hearing what Yuan Su said, everyone at all tables in the hall was overjoyed. Almost everyone only took into their hearts that Yuan Su wanted to "reward based on merit" and "drunk until dawn", but completely ignored these two points.
There was an underlying meaning in the words. Several officers of the 17th Division even cheered excitedly, as if they would soon be promoted and make a fortune.
However, the expression of Cheng Shichang, who was sitting to the left of Yuan Su, gradually changed. His brows were furrowed, his hands were clenched into fists, and there was unconcealable nervousness in his eyes. Even no one else present could hear what Yuan Su said just now.
The hidden meaning, but I heard it clearly. I was afraid that the banquet that day was not arranged to shirk Zhou Baolin at all, but it turned out to be a "Hongmen Banquet".
At this time, Du Yu, who had moved to stand near the chief, walked up to Yuan Su, took out a document that had been prepared and handed it to the other party. Yuan Su took the document, opened it, glanced at it briefly, and then cleared it.
He cleared his throat, put on a very formal look and read to the document.
"In this battle of Shangqiu, our Third Brigade and the Seventeenth Division each performed outstandingly. I won't go into too much gossip. Now I will list the meritorious ones one by one. All rankings are arranged in order of merit.
All rewards will be distributed tomorrow and will also be delivered to the capital tomorrow."
Although this list was compiled without any consultation with the 17th Division and was completed privately by Yuan Su, everyone present, whether they had thought of this or not, did not take it to heart at all. Maybe they
I am not very impressed with Yuan Su, and I don't know what kind of role Yuan Su is, but since the other party can hold a banquet and discuss merits in such an upright manner, it already gives people a preconceived sense of authority.
Regardless of whether it is Governor Zhang who has the final say or Governor Yuan who has the final say, in the eyes of many people, Governor Zhang and Governor Yuan are clearly a family. Since they are a family, they both have the final say. Even Yuan Su
The young master is not as qualified as Zhang Zhenfang, but it is much better to have one more person to recommend merit than one less person to recommend merit. Anyway, there is no loss, so why not?dd