Bao Dequan had investigated Han Baihang's origins and snorted coldly: "Wu Ziyu wouldn't have sent him to Yongcheng to suppress the bandits without any skills."
Wu Peifu was a powerful person in the north. To put it bluntly, even if he raised a mangy dog, others would still think highly of him. Han Baihang kept saying that he was under Wu Peifu's military orders, which made people fear him.
Bao Dequan actually had another thing on his mind. Before coming to Yongcheng this time, he received a secret message from Zhao Jie, the commander-in-chief of the Hongwei Army. Zhao Jie ordered him to pay close attention to Han Baihang to prevent the Korean Ministry from gaining power. But when he entered the city
Later, I learned from Xu Wangtang that Han Baihang had formed a considerable force in Yongcheng. There were more than 700 people in a reinforced company. Counting the self-trained militia, the combined strength of the two was more than a thousand, enough to
With such a large group of people, the speed at which the army grows is frightening.
It was not that Bao Dequan had never thought about sending troops to disarm Han Baihang's troops, but the detective learned that Han Baihang's troops were always on alert and did not give him a chance to take action. In this case, if the operation failed, it would be difficult to end the matter.
So he had no choice but to give up.
"Cousin Wang, I won't be able to stay in Yongcheng for a few days. You still need to control the situation in Yongcheng after I leave." Bao Dequan reached out and patted Xu Wangtang on the shoulder, saying with hope.
Xu Wangtang was excited. The guards said they wanted to control the situation in Yongcheng themselves, so there was nothing to hesitate about. He patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, guards, there won't be chaos in Yongcheng."
Bao Dequan praised Xu Wangtang and specifically warned: "Wu Peifu has settled in Henan this time. I have a feeling that something will happen sooner or later. I cannot allow Han Baihang to continue to grow in Yongcheng. I will provide you with the necessary help in secret."
.”
These words undoubtedly gave Xu Wangtang reassurance, and he immediately said confidently: "With the support of the guardian, I dare to go ahead and do it. To be honest with the guardian, I have always disliked Han Baihang, and I have long wanted to do it.
His teeth are broken."
Bao Dequan laughed and said, "I hope my cousin will remain as heroic as before."
Xu Wangtang smiled reservedly, and then sighed: "The guard doesn't know something, and I'm really in some trouble right now."
Bao Dequan calmly took a sip of tea and said with a smile: "Who doesn't know that your brother is stomping his feet and Yongcheng is shaking three times, what kind of trouble can it cause?"
"Hi!" Xu Wangtang hurriedly waved his hand and said: "The guard envoy promoted me, how can I have such great ability? I have no official position now, people think I am a piece of shit."
Bao Dequan looked at Xu Wangtang with a smile but not a smile. He heard that Xu Wangtang wanted an official position, so he pondered for a while and asked: "What official position do you want, brother?"
Xu Wangtang was well prepared and said: "Han Baihang's strength is based on the name of suppressing bandits. The garrison envoy can appoint me as the commander-in-chief of suppressing bandits in Yongcheng and Zhe County to control Han Baihang."
Bao Dequan thought for a while and agreed readily: "It's a small matter. I will ask the secretary-general to write a letter of appointment."
Xu Wangtang was overjoyed. He stood up and stood at attention on his feet and said, "Thank you, the envoy."
"You and I should stop being so out of touch." Bao Dequan yawned and said, "I'm tired after traveling all night. I think we should rest early. There are still many things to do tomorrow."
"Yes, yes, look at my brain, I have forgotten this matter." Xu Wangtang slapped his head and sent all Baode into the upper room, and also sent the two maids in with their beautiful faces.
…
Han Baihang returned to his station with a sullen face and kept pacing back and forth in the room, thinking rapidly. His experience at the Xu family made him deeply understand that the situation in Yongcheng was far more complicated than he thought. Xu Wangtang could
It was difficult enough to deal with, and the high-ranking Yudong garrison commander Bao Dequan was also standing behind Xu Wangtang and eyeing him, making him even more troublesome. Moreover, he judged that Xu Wangtang would not miss this excellent counterattack opportunity and would definitely do something.
Actions must be treated with caution.
"Prepare a car and go to the county office."
Han Baihang didn't bother to rest anymore and hurried to the county government office. The county government office seemed much calmer. Mei Changyuan didn't have many eyes and ears. He was used to being ignored. No one informed him that Bao Dequan led his troops into the city.
, after being woken up, Han Baihang told the story of meeting Bao Dequan tonight. Mei Changyuan was shocked and complained: "Brother Baihang, why didn't you inform me in advance so that I could go with him to visit the guard?"
make."
As he spoke, he hurriedly ordered his servants to prepare a sedan chair and planned to go to the Xu Mansion to meet Bao Dequan. When Han Baihang saw it, he stopped him and apologized: "It happened suddenly at that time. I thought you, the county magistrate, had also gotten the news, so I
I didn't care about the notice."
Then he calmly advised: "The county magistrate will definitely be rejected if he goes there now. Besides, I was insulted when I went there. You may not know how you will be treated when you go. It would be better not to see you."
"What should I do if I don't go to see you, and the guard will blame me?" Mei Changyuan said with a frown on his face.
"At most, a few harsh words won't do anything!"
Han Baihang couldn't bear Mei Changyuan's mournful appearance, and frowned: "For now, we need to discuss countermeasures. Xu Wangtang will definitely attack tomorrow, and what we agreed on before will most likely come to nothing."
Mei Changyuan's face became even more sad when he heard this. He retreated inwardly and sighed: "How can you twist your arm past your thigh?"
Han Baihang's eyebrows were raised. He regretted coming to Mei Changyuan to discuss countermeasures. This man was weak and incompetent. It would be difficult to achieve great things by working with him. He said angrily: "Don't you know that if there is a will, things can be done? He has virtue."
No matter how big the official is, he cannot overstep his authority or act beyond you, the county magistrate. I judge that he is at most supporting Xu Wangtang, so we will still have a chance. If the county magistrate is afraid now, just pretend that he didn’t drink the wine yesterday.
Okay, from now on you and I will do our own thing without delaying each other."
Mei Changyuan was slightly embarrassed. Seeing that Han Baihang was really angry, he hurriedly argued: "I didn't mean that, I just had concerns. As the county magistrate, I am under the jurisdiction of the provincial government, and the guardian envoy cannot control me."
"Since you want to fight for power, don't look forward and backward." Han Baihang stared at him and said every word.
Mei Changyuan gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, I'll give it a go."
Han Baihang then smiled and clapped his hands: "That's right. If we join forces, we are afraid that we can't beat Xu Wangtang. Sooner or later, he will have a plate of Chinese food!"
These words were very domineering. Mei Changyuan felt a little more confident and hesitated: "What Xu Wangtang wants is nothing more than the militia and the chamber of commerce. We must get the business group in our hands. If necessary, we can make some concessions to the militia."
Han Baihang said flatly: "No, the business group can make concessions, but the militia must take control."
When he saw Mei Changyuan frowning and looking over, he explained: "The militia is a legal armed force, and whoever controls it has the right to speak!"
Mei Changyuan retorted: "The chamber of commerce also has a business group. If you control the chamber of commerce, you will not only control the soldiers, but also the money. Wouldn't it be the best of both worlds?"