Pu Guanshui hadn't seen Chen Ke for almost half a year. Since the two parted in Beijing in 1905, they only met once in Anqing in early 1906. That time Chen Ke took the backbone of the Insurance Corps to Anqing to receive military training. In March, Chen Ke left Anqing with the Insurance Corps troops. Not long after was the great flood. Chen Ke did send someone over, asking Pu Guanshui to issue an official document for him, to the effect that the Insurance Corps was an organization affiliated with Anqing, responsible for disaster relief transportation, and local governments must not intercept them. Then the contact between the two sides was basically interrupted. A month ago, Pu Guanshui finally received the liaison officer sent by Chen Ke. The liaison officer brought a letter; Chen Ke invited Pu Guanshui to bring all the surveying personnel of the Anhui New Army to Fengtai County.

In China in 1906, as long as young people who had studied abroad and seen the world, even if they wouldn't participate in the revolution personally, they would support the revolution. Pu Guanshui knew half a year ago that Chen Ke was a revolutionary. As the nominal third-in-command and actual fourth-in-command of the Anhui New Army, Pu Guanshui not only didn't mean to report Chen Ke but also gave Chen Ke enough support.

Having seen the power of foreign countries and the corruption of the Manchu Qing, the vast majority of these overseas students whom the Manchu Qing Dynasty tried to cultivate for itself stood on the position of overthrowing the Manchu Qing. Pu Guanshui was no exception.

Although he wanted to fully support Chen Ke, Pu Guanshui was a leading figure in the Anhui New Army after all; he couldn't just leave. He waited for almost a month before finally finding an excuse. Anhui flooded, and the Anhui officialdom up and down knew it was impossible to rely on Anhui's own ability to provide disaster relief. These official masters also knew the Imperial Court itself was basically unreliable. But the superficial effort couldn't be omitted. After the flood ended, Anhui Governor En Ming finally proposed finding someone to patrol the disaster area.

This was a hard job. Moreover, when local officials saw officials from the provincial capital, they would definitely pour out grievances and ask for things. Although Anqing was the provincial capital of Anhui, it was actually a semi-military stronghold on the edge of the Yangtze River, located at the southernmost tip of Anhui. Mobilizing supplies from Anqing to go north was simply unrealistic. This patrol was just a formality. Moreover, these officials lived like princes usually; arriving in the disaster area, they had to "share weal and woe" no matter what. The food, clothing, housing, and transportation must be very inconvenient. Moreover, these people counted as having a minimum conscience of being human anyway, thinking that eating and drinking extravagantly in the disaster area would also make their conscience uneasy. So basically no one volunteered.

Pu Guanshui seized this opportunity and advised En Ming. The current urgent task was not to let civil unrest occur in various places. The matter of relief could wait until relief supplies arrived and be done leisurely. But Pu Guanshui believed military officers should be sent to patrol the disaster area to assist local governments in preventing civil unrest.

In the officialdom of the late Qing, everyone had no intention of doing things, only seeking no fault, not seeking merit. As soon as Pu Guanshui's suggestion came out, everyone up and down felt it was very correct. But which military officer should be sent? The Commander (*Xietong*) of the Anhui New Army, Yu Dahong, certainly couldn't go. Other Deputy Commanders (*Fu Xietong*) were also unwilling. Pu Guanshui, who had just arrived, was suddenly discovered to be loyal, brave, and reliable, and then was "entrusted with important tasks." Such a result was exactly what Pu Guanshui wanted. He took the opportunity to select technical arms of Anhui and soldiers he trusted. A total of 100 people were gathered to go out for patrol and joint defense.

Preparation took a few days. Pu Guanshui sent two waves of messengers to Fengtai County, asking Chen Ke to send a fleet to meet them. Since it was a disaster, Pu Guanshui planned to steal more weapons and equipment to transport to Fengtai County in the name of transporting relief supplies. Chen Ke's Insurance Corps couldn't manufacture weapons and ammunition. This time, in the name of patrolling civil unrest in various places, Pu Guanshui applied for a batch of weapons and ammunition. He prepared to give a large half to Chen Ke.

Late Qing officialdom was just going through the motions. After Pu Guanshui came out with his troops, wherever he went, he only needed to go through the motions formally. That group of people in Anqing didn't care what Pu Guanshui did outside. Pu Guanshui had no intention of going to other places at all. The destination of this troop was Fengtai County. Chen Ke's letter was written very politely, saying the People's Party now had a thousand troops in Fengtai County and urgently needed training for technical arms, especially surveying arms.

If it were a bureaucrat who didn't understand technology, even if the relationship with Chen Ke was good, seeing such a letter, he probably wouldn't be happy in his heart. After seeing this letter, Pu Guanshui not only wasn't unhappy but instead felt a great sense of having a confidant. After studying in Germany, Pu Guanshui deeply understood the significance of surveying and mapping for a modern army. Chen Ke's professional attitude made Pu Guanshui very satisfied. However, there were fewer than twenty people who understood surveying in the Anhui New Army at most. The other eighty people were artillerymen, signalmen, and grassroots officers. Pu Guanshui hoped to use this group of people as the backbone to conduct comprehensive training for the Insurance Corps in Fengtai County.

After departing from Anqing, Pu Guanshui's mind was full of calculations on how to build an army according to his ideal. As a Deputy Commander, Pu Guanshui still had official authority. Like European armies, Pu Guanshui advocated strict army management. The soldiers following him dared not speak loudly. Although they dared not speak, the soldiers going in and out strangely still proved that something happened outside. Because the soldiers all stood on one side of the ship's rail, so that the ship tilted somewhat.

Pu Guanshui glanced at the soldiers outside the small window and said to the guard beside him: "Go out and see what's going on."

The guard went out and soon returned to the cabin with a face full of uneasiness, "Commander Pu, someone outside threw themselves into the water to commit suicide."

"Oh?" Pu Guanshui was somewhat surprised. If there were dead bodies in the river, it wouldn't be anything abnormal. But surviving tenaciously in the flood, yet throwing oneself into the water to commit suicide after the disaster—such a thing was greatly beyond Pu Guanshui's expectation. No wonder those soldiers ran outside. He stood up and walked out of the cabin. As soon as he exited the cabin door, he saw the soldiers all standing on one side of the ship's rail, looking gloomy one by one. Pu Guanshui pushed aside the soldiers blocking densely in front of him, and then he saw it.

He saw several people in ragged clothes on the edge of the river channel. At this time, they had been left behind on the rear side of the boat. The distance was relatively far, and their faces full of dirt couldn't be seen clearly. From the figure and hairstyle, it could be roughly distinguished that there was an adult couple inside, and the others were small children. The clothes on this family were extremely ragged; they shouldn't have been changed since the flood, and the clothes were thoroughly rotted by filth. Holes and tears made the clothes flutter in the river wind. The waists of this family were tied to the same long rope. The man and woman cried bitterly while holding the children, but swayed their bodies and walked towards the middle of the river without stopping. The water gradually submerged their legs, their waists, their chests. The children didn't know the purpose of their parents doing this. Pu Guanshui saw that the child held by the mother even wiped tears for the mother. But the older child looked at the water getting closer and closer to him with some panic.

Suddenly, that child let out a scream, "Dad, Mom, I don't want to. I don't want to die!" While shouting, he began to struggle. Pu Guanshui saw the couple pause for a moment. That man suddenly let out an inhuman howl, holding the constantly struggling child and plunging fiercely into the river water that had already reached the chest. Then the family disappeared into the turbid river water.

This was the first time Pu Guanshui saw someone throwing themselves into the river to commit suicide. He stared at all this dumbfounded, actually completely failing to understand what exactly this was about. Seeing the family sink into the water, a low sigh floated among the soldiers.

"Quick, quick, go save them quickly." Pu Guanshui finally stammered out the words.

"Sir, what do we do after saving them?" asked Ba Yougong (*Commander*), who was in charge of artillery, "We didn't bring much food. Saving them for a moment, then what? Take them with us? How long can we take them?"

These words entered Pu Guanshui's ears. The usually shrewd and capable Pu Guanshui unprecedentedly didn't understand what exactly these words meant, what exactly was going on.

Seeing Pu Guanshui just staring blankly at the place where that family threw themselves into the water, the artillery commander Ba Yougong, who was about forty years old, couldn't help persuading: "Sir, there have been three families throwing themselves into the water along this way. Counting up, there are a dozen people. Since they are forced to throw the whole family into the water, they must have no way out. We save them now; what do we give them to eat? Our boat can only accommodate these hundred people. When we came out, we didn't bring much grain either. It's only enough for ourselves to eat for less than two months. Saving them up, the grain we give them is not enough; they will still die after eating the grain. If we want them to live until next year, and we give all our grain to these dozen people, we won't have anything to eat. This is a disaster area; it's not easy for us to raise grain either. Sir, although your heart is good, we really can't save them."

Pu Guanshui barely understood after hearing these words. Ba Yougong was right, but such a tragic state was something Pu Guanshui had never seen. The great ambition of making contributions and establishing a career that filled his chest a few minutes ago vanished in an instant.

"Save them! Go save them now!" Although Pu Guanshui tried hard to roar, an indescribable thing oppressed his chest, making his voice low and somewhat trembling.

The relationship between Ba Yougong and Pu Guanshui was quite good. Seeing young Pu Guanshui so excited, if it were normal, he would have obeyed the order. But this time he couldn't help persuading again: "Sir, those people are already thin beyond human shape. Besides receiving them onto the boat, leaving them in place is also death. But there is really no space on our boat. Before coming out this time, I was responsible for loading the boat. Wherever grain could be loaded, I loaded grain. There is really no place. Sir, you doing this is a compassionate heart, but it only makes them suffer more before dying."

Fairly speaking, these were already words from the bottom of the heart. The victims throwing themselves into the river to commit suicide after despair was only momentary pain. But saving them without being able to save them to the end would merely prolong the pain of these victims for some time. Instead, it would be better to let them die now and suffer less. But Pu Guanshui had absolutely no intention of appreciating the kindness. He raised his arm and pointed at Ba Yougong's nose, "Order to save people!" Pu Guanshui finally roared out.

Ba Yougong sighed deeply and shouted to the boats behind: "Commander Pu has an order: save the family who threw themselves into the water."

Not only was the boat Pu Guanshui on full of soldiers watching the bustle, but the boats behind were also full of soldiers watching the bustle. After Ba Yougong shouted, the boats behind had already passed the place where the family threw themselves into the water. They continued to shout backward. On the few boats further back, soldiers already took out grappling hooks, fished randomly in the water, and finally saved that family up.

After a while, the boats behind shouted over. That family hadn't drowned for long and were all revived. No one died. Pu Guanshui listened to this news with an iron-green face, exhaled a long breath, and prepared to return to the cabin. But he suddenly remembered something again. He turned back and said to Ba Yougong: "If you see anyone throwing themselves into the water again, save them up. Take them along."

Hearing this order, Ba Yougong's face also changed a bit, "Sir, where are we taking them? If you really want to save them, you have to take them back to Anqing. If you settle them on the spot, local governments won't take these people seriously either. As soon as you leave, I'm afraid the local government will throw them out immediately. These people will still die. You saving people all the way like this actually won't be able to really save their lives. Moreover, local governments will blame you for meddling instead. Why bother?"

Pu Guanshui didn't answer immediately. He closed his eyes, but opened them again after a moment. He knew Ba Yougong was right. Such simple life-saving really saves for a moment but cannot save for a lifetime.

This young Commander's chest heaved, and his face was gloomy like heavy dark clouds before a thunderstorm. "Take them to Fengtai County. Fengtai County has already said they would send boats to pick us up. Let's squeeze for now. Wait until the boats from there meet us, and we'll put the people on their boats."

"Fengtai County? This big flood, Fengtai County is right in the center. The periphery of this flood is already like this; why should they be fine?" Ba Yougong was already angered by Pu Guanshui's "messing around," and his words were already very dissatisfied.

"A friend of mine is in Fengtai County. I trust him. He said Fengtai County is fine," Pu Guanshui answered.

Hearing this, Ba Yougong was also anxious. Ba Yougong was an old officer of the Anhui New Army but had never encountered any promotion. After Pu Guanshui arrived in the Anhui New Army, he vigorously supported technical arms. Artillery and surveying troops were the objects of Pu Guanshui's key support. And these arms couldn't quite enter the discernment of other commanders in the Anhui New Army, so Ba Yougong threw himself under Pu Guanshui's door. Seeing the young Commander speaking "nonsense," Ba Yougong was furious. He said loudly: "Lord Pu, along this way we have to save at least two or three hundred people. Leaving aside whether this boat can carry these people. How much surplus grain can your friend's family have? Can it let two or three hundred people eat until next year's summer harvest! Moreover, your friend invited you over; I'm afraid he relies on you to help him. He, he is probably a 'Mud Bodhisattva crossing the river—unable to save himself'!"

Pu Guanshui didn't get angry. He looked at Ba Yougong with calm eyes, "Commander Ba, my friend said tens of thousands of common people in the entire Fengtai County are all fine..."

"He is talking nonsense!" Ba Yougong completely lost patience and interrupted Pu Guanshui's words directly.

"My friend manages Fengtai County. Since he says it's fine, then it's definitely fine. Do as I said; save anyone throwing themselves into the water for me." Pu Guanshui was unwilling to say more. After saying this, he went directly back to the cabin.

Sitting in his seat, Pu Guanshui only felt chaos in his brain. He rested his left elbow on the table and pressed his left hand on his forehead. Warm breath blew gently on the edge of his palm. Ba Yougong's words just now echoed in Pu Guanshui's mind.

"Sir, you can save them for a moment, but you can't save them for a lifetime."

"Sir, I'm afraid your friend is a Mud Bodhisattva crossing the river, unable to save himself."

"Fengtai County is right in the center of the flood; why should they be fine!"

These words were definitely not Ba Yougong stalling; Pu Guanshui knew this very well. He wiped his face with his palm irritably. Yes, the edge of the flood area was already so terrifying; why could Fengtai County located in the center be safe and sound? Although Pu Guanshui appreciated Chen Ke very much, Chen Ke was just a mortal. Why could he make the whole Fengtai County safe and sound? Was Chen Ke deceiving him?

Before seeing this whole family throwing themselves into the river, Pu Guanshui actually had no understanding of the severity of the flood. Actually, he didn't care about this matter originally. Just leaving Anqing not far, it was already bad to this degree. The words Chen Ke said didn't reveal the disaster situation in Fengtai County at all. I'm afraid the real situation was far from what Chen Ke said. Pu Guanshui knew Chen Ke also had preparations for disaster relief this time and also asked for official documents. But Pu Guanshui didn't believe Chen Ke could really do anything too big. If so, I'm afraid what Ba Yougong said was really very possible.

Once the thought of doubting Chen Ke arose, various assumptions came out one after another. But amidst these numerous doubts, the memories of Chen Ke's interaction with Pu Guanshui also constantly emerged. That Chen Ke who could talk deeply about military development with Pu Guanshui, that Chen Ke who wrote the tune "Beiyang New Army Marching Forward" with a wave of his hand, that Chen Ke who led the backbone of the Insurance Corps to Anqing to receive military training. In dealings with Chen Ke, Chen Ke was always cautious, modest, and responsible. Absolutely not an arrogant person who deceived people with big talk. And the book *Chinese Cultural Inheritance and the Rise of Materialism* written by Chen Ke, every time Pu Guanshui read it, he felt endless admiration. If such a Chen Ke really encountered difficulties, how could he not tell the truth? Why did he have to deceive him?

On one side was past trust in Chen Ke, on the other side was worry about reality. Pu Guanshui's mood was extremely chaotic, and he could no longer recall the train of thought on how to establish a new-style army.

Sure enough, as Ba Yougong said, in five days, the number of people throwing their whole families into the river exceeded three hundred. Pu Guanshui simply ignored Ba Yougong's advice and insisted on saving them all. And seeing this government fleet saving people, many more people knelt to beg for food, or even simply threw themselves into the river intending to be saved. Encountering such a situation, Pu Guanshui dared not mention docking either. The fleet moved forward day and night. Fortunately, the victims were generally physically weak and couldn't keep up with the speed of the boats, so at least no one deliberately threw themselves into the water in front to expect rescue. But the fleet originally planned to transport one hundred people was suddenly stuffed with three hundred more people. There was simply not enough space. Pu Guanshui also had to squeeze with others to live. But since the request to save people was made by himself, Pu Guanshui accepted it.

Pu Guanshui no longer considered army building matters. He asked the victims saved from various places. These victims with the backbone to throw themselves into the river to commit suicide were not bad people. Long hunger made these people skinny as sticks and dying. After eating a few meals of thin porridge, they recovered some strength slightly. Facing the life-saving benefactor and high official of the Imperial Court, the victims kowtowed repeatedly to thank him on one hand, and on the other hand, cried and complained about the disaster situation with tears and mucus flowing. Since the continuous sixty days of heavy rain, the Anhui disaster area was really too horrible to look at. Water was several feet deep on flat ground. The common people had nowhere to flee at all. These victims all held on until now, but seeing they could no longer live, they had to choose to throw themselves into the river to commit suicide.

Listening to the various human tragedies too horrible to look at in the flood, young Pu Guanshui couldn't help but burst into tears. Even among the New Army soldiers and officers gathered nearby, there were quite a few who couldn't help but cry loudly. They were mostly Anhui locals, and many people's families were also in the disaster area. Thinking that their relatives might also be encountering such terrible things, they were heartbroken one by one. The speakers were crying, and among the listeners, victims thinking of their own experiences also cried loudly. And the officers and soldiers of the New Army also couldn't help but cry loudly. The whole ship cried in a mass. Many New Army soldiers even emboldened themselves to cry and beg to go home and see.

If it were before, Pu Guanshui would not only reprimand the soldiers asking to go home with words but probably also punish them physically. But now, hearing the crying requests of these soldiers, Pu Guanshui said with an iron-green face: "We haven't reached Fengtai County yet. We'll talk after we arrive in Fengtai County and see."

At noon on the sixth day, Pu Guanshui's fleet finally met the Insurance Corps' fleet. Looking at the large red flags with hammer and sickle flying on the bows of four large black-awning boats, hope and worry emerged in Pu Guanshui's heart simultaneously. After signaling each other, the two fleets merged.