The one who came to welcome Pu Guanshui's fleet was the Brigade General of Shouchun. Chen Ke, who mixed in Pu Guanshui's team, did not know this person. And he had no interest in knowing this person. The plan to seize Shouzhou this time was very simple: Pu Guanshui would gather the officials of Shouzhou from top to bottom to have a meal together, and the vanguard troops of the People's Party would take the opportunity to seize the city gates, coordinate with the main force to kill into the city, and catch the officials from top to bottom as well as the government and army personnel in one net from inside and outside.

The intelligence department of the People's Party operated quite well; the list of personnel to be arrested had long been drawn up. This long list carefully listed the roster of all officials in Shouzhou. As long as these people were swept away, the political power of the Manchu Qing in Shouzhou and surrounding areas would be uprooted.

The reason why Chen Ke decided to send a large part of comrades to create new base areas in other regions was certainly because the time had come. But his issuing orders forcefully like this was also largely due to the plan to attack Shouzhou City. The current Fengtai County Base Area was not very different from the traditional rule of the Manchu Qing. Once these people of the People's Party were cleared out, the Anhui revolution would also vanish in puff of smoke. Agricultural countries lack grassroots organizations; because of backward communication means, the government can only place strength in various "strongholds." In the people's revolution of the Party in history, the vast majority of political power was urgently combined with the masses. Even if the central government was destroyed, with the enemy's strength, they simply could not completely destroy the grassroots party organizations. And among the extensive grassroots party organizations, excellent leadership talents could always emerge continuously.

The Brigade General of Shouchun spoke cordially with Pu Guanshui; he didn't pay attention to these New Army soldiers who came with Pu Guanshui at all. Such performance was completely the normal behavior of Manchu Qing officials. The Brigade General of Shouchun heard that his troops would be reorganized into the New Army within two years. With Pu Guanshui's current status as Vice Brigade Commander of the Anhui New Army, he would be Pu Guanshui's subordinate in the future. Although Pu Guanshui was much younger than the Brigade General of Shouchun, in officialdom, one looks at official rank, not age. Although very resentful in his heart, the Brigade General of Shouchun still lowered his face to flatter deliberately. "Vice Commander Pu is really young and promising. This older brother envies you very much."

Pu Guanshui had heard such words a lot. He laughed, "This younger brother was just lucky to have studied abroad for a few years. There will be many opportunities to go abroad in the future. Presumably, the General's children will definitely be able to go abroad to study, and after returning, establish merits and careers to bring glory to the ancestors."

Hearing this, the Brigade General of Shouchun laughed loudly. Pu Guanshui's flattery really touched his heart. Actually, in the eyes of this General in his forties, Pu Guanshui was really nothing special except for having studied abroad.

"Vice Commander Pu is too polite, too polite. By the way, the adults in Shouzhou City are all waiting for Vice Commander Pu. Let's go in now." The General said with a smile.

An hour later, the Brigade General of Shouchun asked Pu Guanshui with a dry laugh, "Vice Commander Pu, what is the meaning of this?"

At this time, the officers and soldiers of the "Anhui New Army" with live ammunition surrounded the living room where the banquet was held. The yamen runners who tried to stop these soldiers from rushing into the Shouzhou Assistant Prefect's Yamen just now were either beaten to the ground or struggling in their own pools of blood. Pu Guanshui held pistols in both hands, the dark muzzles pointing at a group of dumbstruck officials.

Pu Guanshui smiled slightly. "I am acting under orders. Gentlemen, do not panic. As long as you don't offer meaningless resistance, everyone can keep their safety."

"Under whose order?" The Brigade General of Shouchun was frightened quite a bit by these words. A figure who could mobilize the Vice Brigade Commander of the Anhui New Army must be a high official of the imperial court. Could it be that he was implicated in some major event?

Watching the General's performance, Shen Zengzhi, who was sitting at the seat of honor at the banquet, sneered. Pu Guanshui was clearly rebelling, yet he didn't know what exactly this General was thinking. Shen Zengzhi said loudly: "Vice Commander Pu, are you going to rebel?"

"Lord Shen, the Manchu Qing stole the great unification of China; they themselves are the rebels, the national traitors. I raise the flag for revolution; how can it be called rebellion?" Pu Guanshui answered gently and refinedly. Of course, what was refined was Pu Guanshui's tone; the gun muzzle in his hand pointed at the officials all along, not looking gentle no matter how you looked at it.

Shen Zengzhi sneered: "Revolution? Extremely ridiculous! You say the Manchu Qing stole the great unification of Huaxia, yet you say you want revolution. The Revolution of Tang and Wu acknowledged that Jie of Xia was the Son of Heaven. Aren't you contradicting yourself?"

Compared to biting words and chewing characters, Pu Guanshui was far behind Shen Zengzhi. As a great scholar, Shen Zengzhi was well-read in poetry and books. He also had quite some research on Western learning. Picking on Pu Guanshui's words casually, he found a logical loophole. Pu Guanshui's momentum was immediately suppressed a lot.

Seeing a bit of shame on Pu Guanshui's face, Shen Zengzhi continued: "Commander Pu, if you put down your gun and surrender now, perhaps you can still keep your life. If you persist in your errors, there is only a dead end." After speaking, this Assistant Prefect of Fengyang Prefecture wanted to stand up.

This action frightened the Brigade General of Shouchun badly. He actually didn't understand Shen Zengzhi's words either, but also being a soldier, he could understand Pu Guanshui better. Since Pu Guanshui wanted to rebel, it was impossible to persuade Pu Guanshui to surrender with just a few words from the Assistant Prefect. Especially since Lord Shen wanted to stand up; once Pu Guanshui wanted to "kill the monkey to scare the chickens," Lord Shen Zengzhi, who had the highest official rank in the whole banquet, was that excellent monkey.

Just when he didn't know how to persuade Lord Shen not to act rashly, the General heard a loud voice coming from outside the living room: "Vice Commander Pu is a comrade of our People's Party. Our People's Party comrades only obey the orders of the People's Party. Lord Shen's words are probably playing the lute to a cow."

Hearing this voice, the cadres and soldiers inside the room showed joy on their faces. This was Chen Ke's voice; Secretary Chen had arrived. Many people felt an inexplicable sense of relief in their hearts. The soldiers might not have realized that when they aimed their guns at these court officials they had never met, they still had a kind of awe. Everyone knew, big or small, that the government managed everyone and was very powerful. Although everyone hadn't really seen the "high officials" of the government. The biggest official they could see was actually Magistrate Shang Yuan, who was also a People's Party comrade. Really facing a group of officials in various colors of official robes and with various different buttons and peacock feathers on their caps, the People's Party comrades were inexplicably nervous. The People's Party and the troops appointed people on their merits. Those who could become cadres had to have some skills. So everyone was very worried: in case a few masters popped out of this group of high officials and fought back desperately...

Now hearing Chen Ke's voice, everyone felt a sense of stability in their hearts that they couldn't explain.

Shen Zengzhi's face changed slightly after hearing this, and the shock in his heart was much greater than what was revealed on his face. Just now Shen Zengzhi was not really reckless, nor did he listen to storytelling too much and prepare to rely on his eloquence to persuade these rebellious New Army officers and soldiers. This old gentleman observed that although these New Army soldiers surrounding the living room had fierce eyes, they were quite nervous. Presumably, this inexplicable rebellion was launched by Pu Guanshui on his own initiative, and these officers and soldiers didn't know how they were coerced by Pu Guanshui. As long as he stood up and explained the pros and cons, Pu Guanshui might still resist stubbornly, but those coerced New Army officers and soldiers might not necessarily be willing to rebel dead set. As long as a soldier dared to turn his gun muzzle towards Pu Guanshui, then the situation would have the possibility of a complete turnaround. So Lord Shen Zengzhi prepared to try hard.

But after the voice of that person came from outside the door, the eyes of all the soldiers changed. Shen Zengzhi observed very carefully; he saw that even Pu Guanshui's expression underwent the same change. The trace of nervousness and hesitation in that gaze instantly turned into joy and love. It seemed the person outside was the real mastermind of this rebellion.

But Lord Shen Zengzhi did not give up the hope of effort. He asked loudly: "Who is coming outside?" As if summoned by Lord Shen, Chen Ke strode in following Lord Shen's shout.

Completely beyond Lord Shen's expectations, after entering the living room, Chen Ke didn't look at the room full of officials, but looked at Pu Guanshui. Pu Guanshui stuck the gun in his hand back into his waist and saluted Chen Ke seriously. "Secretary Chen, all the officials are here. We have controlled the situation."

Chen Ke also returned the salute neatly, then said: "Comrade Guanshui, you've worked hard."

Only after saying this did Chen Ke turn his head and size up the officials filling the hall for the first time. He was tall to begin with, and the officials were all forced to sit on stools. Chen Ke now looked over from above without saying a word. All the officials were frightened quite a bit after seeing Chen Ke's bright gaze.

Lord Shen Zengzhi saw that Chen Ke's calm gaze didn't look at him at all, and he was both shocked and angry in his heart. Just now he wanted to speak first to see if he could awe this rebel leader who came in. But he didn't expect that this person simply didn't follow his pace. He didn't even look at him. It seemed this person was dead set on rebelling, and was definitely not some ordinary roving bandit. If an ordinary roving bandit caught a high official like himself, he would definitely be ecstatic. Or arrogantly curse at him to reflect his status. Or let his subordinates threaten the officials to boost morale. But this person outside the door simply didn't treat these officials as anything.

Shen Zengzhi was 56 years old this year and was also proficient in worldly affairs. He saw very clearly that the performance of this rebel leader was not feigned, but a genuine expression. The performance of this rebel leader only explained one thing: whatever the reason for rebellion, this person had completely controlled the situation. Only then could he come to the Fengyang Prefecture Assistant Prefect's Yamen as if nothing happened. After the flood, it couldn't be said that the precautions in Shouzhou City were not strict enough. But such a group of rebels suddenly popped up, and as the highest local official, he knew absolutely nothing about it. This fact gave Shen Zengzhi a heavy sense of frustration.

Before Fengyang Prefecture Assistant Prefect Lord Shen Zengzhi could think more, he heard this bandit chief shout loudly: "Comrades, everyone tie up these official lords and take them away."

The officers and soldiers of the "Anhui New Army" immediately responded loudly: "Yes!"

Then these officers and soldiers pounced like wolves and tigers. Three people were responsible for one official. Lord Shen Zengzhi saw someone carry a rope over. Then his neck was strangled, and then a ball of hemp cloth was stuffed into his mouth. Lord Shen didn't care about dignity anymore and instinctively began to resist. But a hemp cloth sack had already covered his head. Lord Shen's world was shrouded in darkness.

The soldiers were initially worried that there might be hidden dragons and crouching tigers among these "high officials." When they first started the action, they were inevitably a bit worried. But once they started tying them up personally, they found that most of the officials actually had no strength to tie a chicken. Once the grappling skills in the troops were deployed, this bunch of people were immediately subdued completely. Moreover, some officials couldn't even stand the pain and started howling. This arrest operation required "quietness." A soldier went up and gave that howling official two big slaps. The official felt pain but dared not shout anymore. Such performance made the soldiers watching unable to help laughing out loud.

"Stop laughing! Act quickly!" The officers immediately ordered seriously.

The soldiers stuck out their tongues, and their hands and feet nimbly began to gag, hood, and tie. A moment later, the room was full of people tied like zongzi [rice dumplings], with hoods on their heads and sacks on their bodies. The group of court officials just now could no longer be seen.

This operation could be said to be unprecedentedly successful. Those who should be arrested were arrested, and those who should be controlled were also controlled. The troops stuffed these "hemp cloth zongzi" into specially made boxes, lined up, and carried them out.

When the common people of Shouzhou didn't notice at all, Shouzhou City had changed its master.

For Chen Ke, this was merely good news. When he took the boat back to Fengtai County with the captives, he saw a long-lost figure at the dock. After identifying carefully, Chen Ke recognized that person was Chen Tianhua.