In the late Qing Dynasty, whether to cut the queue became a very interesting question. Due to the oppressive tradition of the Manchu Qing, cutting the queue meant rebellion. However, with the entry of new-style armies and industry into China, large-scale queue cutting occurred in the new-style armies. This was not because the army was preparing to rebel, but because the new-style rifles and military caps imitated foreign ones; keeping a queue was inconvenient for wearing a military cap and inconvenient for aiming when shooting. In June 1905, the newly organized army implemented a change in uniform system. After putting on the new-style military uniforms, many officers and soldiers cut off a bundle of their queues to facilitate wearing military caps. As an officer of the Beiyang New Army, Pu Guanshui, who had returned from studying in Germany, simply cut off his queue entirely like many officers after formally receiving the new military uniform.

The reason why the Beiyang Army became the object of hatred and fear for many old forces in the imperial court had a lot to do with their taking the lead in attacking queues on a large scale. In the late Qing, cutting the queue gradually became a symbol; the queue represented the attitude towards the Manchu Qing tradition. Keeping the queue meant supporting the old order of the Manchu Qing, while cutting the queue became a statement of supporting the New Policies or even revolution.

Perhaps because he had joined the People's Party, seeing Shen Zengzhi, the Assistant Prefect of Fengyang Prefecture, keeping a greying queue himself and leading a group of officials who also kept queues to welcome him, Pu Guanshui, with his short hair, felt an indescribable sense of repulsion in his heart. Because these people were now enemies Pu Guanshui wanted to eliminate. This hostile mentality made Pu Guanshui subconsciously look for any gap between himself and the enemy.

Obviously, Pu Guanshui's feeling was unfair. Shen Zengzhi, the Assistant Prefect of Fengyang Prefecture, didn't care about Pu Guanshui not having a queue. Shen Zengzhi was born in 1850 and was from Jiaxing, Zhejiang. His courtesy name was Zipei, and his pseudonym was Xunzhai. He was knowledgeable about both ancient and modern times, versed in both Chinese and Western learning, famous at home and abroad for his "profound learning and comprehensive Confucianism," and was hailed as a "Great Confucian of China." This great scholar was by no means a person who followed the old ways; he viewed the matter of queues very lightly. In the late Qing, queue cutting became a trend; half of the ministers who went abroad to investigate foreign constitutional government also cut their queues to show support for the New Policies. In the eyes of this great scholar, whether this Vice Brigade Commander of the Anhui New Army in front of him cut his queue or not was not a problem at all.

"Vice Commander Pu. Greetings here." Shen Zengzhi shouted a sentence, then cupped his hands. The military system of the New Army and the official system of the officials belonged to two different systems, not subordinate to each other, nor comparable. However, Pu Guanshui was a guest, so Shen Zengzhi adopted the etiquette between equals in officialdom.

Pu Guanshui immediately returned a military salute. "Greetings, Lord Shen."

After the exchange of greetings, Shen Zengzhi smiled, "Vice Commander Pu, please come inside." The doorway was not a place to talk. For Shen Zengzhi to go to the gate of the yamen to welcome Pu Guanshui was already giving enough face; there was no need to exchange pleasantries at the yamen gate. While leading Pu Guanshui inside, Shen Zengzhi calculated what exactly this young Vice Brigade Commander of the Anhui New Army came to visit for. Shen Zengzhi actually knew that this young Vice Commander had always taken Fengtai County, which bordered Shouzhou, as his base. This visit was probably still related to Fengtai County. regarding Fengtai County, Shen Zengzhi felt completely confused; he was very curious why Pu Guanshui made Fengtai County the base for his official duties.

During the flood, Shouzhou only protected itself and even cut off contact with many places. Although Shouzhou still mainly protected itself after the flood, it couldn't be said that they were completely ignorant of the surrounding situation. At least quite a lot of news from Fengtai County, which was close at hand, still entered Shouzhou City.

Not to mention anything else, the fact that no disaster victims from Fengtai County fled to Shouzhou City was itself extremely abnormal. After a disaster, bandits rose everywhere; as long as the locality could be stabilized and no trouble occurred, for Manchu Qing officials, it was enough to deal with the assignment. Fengtai County was under the jurisdiction of Fengyang Prefecture, but the problem was that Fengyang Prefecture was far from Fengtai County, while Shouzhou City was very close. In previous floods, most disaster victims ran towards Shouzhou City. But the scale of this flood was so large, yet unexpectedly no disaster victims came over after the disaster. At first, the Shouzhou government even thought that the common people of Fengtai County might have all died in the flood.

Shouzhou City sent some scouts over, and the news sent back surprised the officials from top to bottom. The Magistrate of Fengtai County and the local Insurance Corps acted jointly and actually quickly began organizing disaster victims to restore production. The scouts said that the whole of Fengtai County was united, actually building simple camps and arranging all the common people of the county inside. There was actually no situation of starvation among the common people. Shouzhou officials, including Shen Zengzhi, were truly shocked. Are there still such capable officials these days? In other places encountering this, it was already considered very capable for the government to stabilize its own position; saving the common people was basically just an idea.

Having Fengtai County Magistrate Shang Yuan as a neighbor made the officials of Shouzhou City quite relieved. Shouzhou City was already extremely strained taking in local disaster victims; having no disaster victims from Fengtai County coming for food was simply good luck bestowed by Heaven.

As a great scholar and official, Shen Zengzhi did not lack the thought of saving the common people. But not everything can be done just because one wants to. Not to mention anything else, the time of this great flood occurred in late spring when the green crop had not yet replaced the yellow, with continuous rain for 60 days. Farmers not only lost this year's harvest, but even next year's harvest was finished. The grain stored in Shouzhou City was simply not enough to relieve the common people. Moreover, the common people swarmed to the solid Shouzhou City for refuge; the city simply couldn't hold so many common people. At first, some disaster victims were accepted, but later the city gates could only be closed, leaving the common people to make a living for themselves. Shen Zengzhi went up to the city wall once; seeing the displaced common people outside the city and the wailing everywhere, his conscience was greatly stimulated. From then on, he dared not go to the city wall head again. Until someone informed him that the common people had gone to Fengtai County, later learned that Fengtai County actually maintained order in this year of great disaster, and later actually learned that Fengtai County organized the common people to start production self-help. Shen Zengzhi felt his conscience settled a lot.

Of course, noises were not absent. The Insurance Corps breached Zhang Youliang's fort, and even the magistrate joined hands with the Insurance Corps to force landlords to lend land to the common people for cultivation. These things had already spread into Shouzhou City. When Shouzhou officials talked about this privately, they all felt it was a bit appalling. Some officials even suggested whether to issue a document to notify Fengyang Prefecture. Shen Zengzhi stopped these discussions.

Although he heard that many people in the Insurance Corps didn't keep queues and acted quite fiercely, this was all Fengtai County's business. Exactly what people Magistrate Shang Yuan reused, and whether these people kept queues or short hair—what did it have to do with Shouzhou? Moreover, news in officialdom was originally very well-informed; Chen Ke, the leader of the Insurance Corps, was a disciple of Yan Fu. Everyone had heard of this matter. While in office in Beijing, Shen Zengzhi and his brother Shen Zengtong studied the abacus and enjoyed a great reputation. Those with whom he associated closely included Wen Tingshi, Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao, Yuan Shikai, Yuan Shuangqiu, Zhu Yixin, Tao Junxuan, Yang Shoujing, Wang Kangnian, Sheng Boxi, Huang Zhongqiang, Xu Shichang, Wang Pengyun, Liang Dingfen, Zou Daijun, and others. Although Shen Zengzhi didn't meet Yan Fu much, he greatly appreciated Yan Fu's translation of *Evolution and Ethics*. Since he was Yan Fu's disciple, it wasn't too strange for Insurance Corps leader Chen Ke to show such ability. Things in officialdom are about mutual convenience. Sending a document to notify Fengyang Prefecture would definitely reach Yan Fu's ears in the future; Yan Fu would definitely be dissatisfied then. Why bother with this?

Besides, Shouzhou didn't have much grain to begin with. Because of the stability of Fengtai County, disaster victims near Shouzhou ran to Fengtai County to find food, greatly relieving Shouzhou's pressure. In a disaster year, even if Magistrate Shang Yuan and that whatever Insurance Corps were removed, the result would only be the disaster victims who had already settled down swarming to Shouzhou City. Isn't this looking for discomfort when there is none? So although there was much news about the Insurance Corps, the officials in Shouzhou City from top to bottom adopted a policy of turning a blind eye. They ignored the "stable situation" of Fengtai County, located downstream of Shouzhou and a straight-line distance of more than 30 li away.

regarding this situation, the big landlord of Fengtai County, Hu Xingzhi, knew it, because he had long sent people to probe the tone of Shouzhou's military and political officials. After understanding the mentality of Shouzhou officials from top to bottom, Hu Xingzhi simply made no other plans. Hu Xingzhi had seen the world and knew that even if he reported to the officials, it would just be going through the motions of officialdom. Fengtai County was not under Shouzhou's jurisdiction; at most, the official lords here would send a letter to Shang Yuan asking what was going on. Shang Yuan naturally had ways to stall.

Shang Yuan could stall Shouzhou, but the news of Hu Xingzhi sending people to report to the officials would definitely be known. At that time, facing the Insurance Corps, Hu Xingzhi would absolutely have no way to stall. Chen Ke told Hu Xingzhi clearly that he wanted to rebel. At that time, Hu Xingzhi's whole family would definitely not be able to live. So after Hu Xingzhi tried a little, he gave up the idea of playing any tricks in the short term.

Shen Zengzhi led Pu Guanshui into the living room. After guests and host were seated, he smiled, "Vice Commander Pu is young and promising. Recently, the vicinity of Shouzhou has been very peaceful; it is all Vice Commander Pu's credit."

These were all polite remarks; leaving the words here was just to show respect. Hearing Shen Zengzhi say this, Pu Guanshui also simply opened his eyes and told lies. "Lord Shen praises me too much. This subordinate hasn't been able to do anything; it is still Your Excellency who governs well here. The folk customs are very upright, plus there are many savings, so we can pass this disaster year safely."

The living room was full of old hands in officialdom. Hearing Pu Guanshui talking nonsense like this, everyone knew Pu Guanshui already had the heart to return to Anqing. Sure enough, they heard Pu Guanshui continue, "This subordinate was ordered to inspect the people's condition this time and help various places guard against riots. Now that Shouzhou is stable, this subordinate prepares to return to Anqing to report in a few days."

Sure enough! The faces of many officials of the Fengyang Prefecture Assistant Prefect's Yamen showed knowing expressions. Pu Guanshui was hinting, hoping Shouzhou would write an official document for him to prove Pu Guanshui's hard work these days, as well as Pu Guanshui's political achievements. Of course, Pu Guanshui would definitely put in a few good words for them with Anhui Governor En Ming. Praise them a bit.

"Then when does Vice Commander Pu plan to go to Fengyang Prefecture?" Shen Zengzhi asked. Since Shouzhou was a military stronghold, Pu Guanshui naturally had to be on the Shouzhou side, but he had to at least show his face in Fengyang Prefecture to fit the rules.

Pu Guanshui smiled, "This subordinate plans to go in a few days. However, I heard that it's not very peaceful over in Fengyang Prefecture. Since the Brigade General of Shouchun is in Shouzhou, this subordinate thought of inviting everyone to have a meal together first to discuss this matter."

A timid person afraid of trouble. Everyone in the Fengyang Prefecture Assistant Prefect's Yamen defined Pu Guanshui like this in their hearts. As long as he got the official document of praise from the Brigade General of Shouchun, Pu Guanshui could actually return to Anqing and say he had fulfilled his responsibility. Since the official system of the New Army had nothing to do with the civil official system, it was actually useless even if Pu Guanshui went to Fengyang Prefecture in person. Fengyang Prefecture and Pu Guanshui had no right to command each other, but if anything happened, Fengyang Prefecture could push a lot of responsibility onto Pu Guanshui. Since Shouzhou was still considered stable, as long as Pu Guanshui got the praise documents from the Fengyang Prefecture Assistant Prefect's Yamen and the Brigade General of Shouchun, he could well return to Anqing to report on his mission first. As for what happened later, Pu Guanshui would have various excuses to shirk responsibility.

"Then has Vice Commander Pu met the Brigade General of Shouchun?" Shen Zengzhi asked.

"Not yet," Pu Guanshui smiled.

Finally understands the rules. Shen Zengzhi's aides thought to themselves. In Shouzhou City, Shen Zengzhi had the highest official rank. If Pu Guanshui went to see the Brigade General of Shouchun first, that would be a big joke. He would be considered to have offended Fengyang Prefecture Assistant Prefect Shen Zengzhi.

If according to the rules, since Pu Guanshui expressed his attitude so sincerely, Shen Zengzhi should have agreed. Unexpectedly, Shen Zengzhi did not answer after hearing this. He pondered for a while and asked, "I wonder what relationship Vice Commander Pu has with Chen Ke, the leader of the Fengtai County Insurance Corps?"