For a moment, the Pujun government became the target of thousands of people. Although the interests of all parties were different, they all pointed the finger at the Pujun government. Although the Pujun government also tried hard to defend itself, saying that Taizhou Prefecture and Wenzhou Prefecture were just renting, not ceding, and did not sell the country, etc., at this time, any distinction was meaningless, let alone everyone understand that the so-called renting was just to put it nicely, and in fact, it was essentially selling territory.

Faced with the surging public opinion, Zai Yi, the actual ruler of Pu Jun's government, was also scared. Because Zai Yi had no ability, she would have been a free prince for her whole life. It was just a coincidence that she was able to enter the core of power after the Wuxu Coup. As a result, a series of operations during the Gengzi Kingdom were short-lived, so she had never seen any big storms. If she was a clear-headed person, she would not agree to the Japanese request, let her son be emperor and become the regent himself, which was a puppet. Now Zai Yi realized that this position was really difficult to do, but it was already difficult to get rid of the tiger.

However, although Zai Yi was afraid, Japan was unwilling to stop. Of course, when the situation developed to this point, Japan could not stop easily and could only resist to the end. Therefore, on the one hand, in the name of Pu Jun's government, he ordered Zhou Fu to go through the lease procedures of Taizhou Prefecture and Wenzhou Prefecture immediately, otherwise Fujian would send troops to force it to collect it; on the other hand, he dispatched troops from Japan, Yanran was preparing to take over the force of force.

After receiving the order from Pu Jun's government, Zhejiang Governor Zhou Fu was also a little nervous. Although the Governor was in charge of the military and political power of a province, Zhejiang Province also had troops stationed in Zhejiang Province. Moreover, the Beiyang Navy is now stationed in Ningbo Military Port in Zhejiang Province, and its military strength is actually not weak. However, Zhou Fu was a civilian official after all, without military affairs. He only participated in some major military affairs when he was an aide to Li Hongzhang. The most important thing is that although in theory, the army in Zhejiang was controlled by Zhou Fu, in fact, Zhou Fu had no military team except for the more than 200 servants he raised, which was quite unfavorable in such a chaotic era.

If the Qing court was still there, there was still a big-name discussion. Zhou Fu was able to mobilize Zhejiang's army, but now the Qing court has also been destroyed, and this big-name discussion has disappeared. Zhou Fu could not mobilize Zhejiang's army any longer. Of course, Zhou Fu also knew that if Japan really wanted to seize Taizhou Prefecture and Wenzhou Prefecture by force, even if he could mobilize Zhejiang's army smoothly, he might not be an opponent. Of course, Zhou Fu has not been idle these days, and has tried hard to contact Britain, France, the United States and other countries, as well as other governors and governors, hoping that they could speak out and interfere and stop Japan.

Of course, Zhou Fu is very clear that what Japan is most afraid of now is the East China Government. As long as the East China Government comes forward to stop it, the Japanese will never dare to act rashly. Moreover, after Japan requested to force the leasing of Taizhou Prefecture and Wenzhou Prefecture, the East China Government also issued consecutive statements, on the one hand, opposing Japan's invasion of *China's territory, and said that the East China Government will never sit idly by; on the other hand, it also requires Zhou Fu not to agree to Japan's request and lease Taizhou Prefecture and Wenzhou Prefecture to Japan, otherwise it would be equivalent to stolen the country. At the same time, the East China Government also expressed its willingness to provide assistance to Zhou Fu, and could send troops to Zhejiang to resist the Japanese army, and there was no need for Zhejiang Province to bear military expenses.

But Zhou Fu is also a person who has been in the officialdom for a long time. He knows the principle that it is easy to invite gods to send gods. He wants to ask the East China Government for help, but he just hopes that the East China Government can say a few harsh words to Japan and express his attitude, but he does not want the People's Army to enter Zhejiang, which is to drive away wolves at the front door and tigers at the back door. Therefore, this is not accepted.

However, the Japanese were not talking about it. Originally, Japan had garrisons in Taiwan, which was only one sea away from Fujian. Therefore, after the Pujun government issued an order to Zhejiang Province, two wings of Japanese troops immediately crossed the sea to Fuzhou. Then six wings were ready to go. At the same time, Japan also sent a fleet from the local area, including eight warships, the armored cruisers Imao, Asahi, the protective cruisers Chitose, Kashiya, the Shingao, the Tonoha, the Chiyoda, and the Izumi, and rushed towards them.

Although Britain, France, the United States and other countries, as well as other governors and governors opposed Japan's forced leasing of Taizhou Prefecture, Wenzhou Prefecture, Britain, France, the United States and other countries even stopped or reduced their economic aid to Japan, Japan is now like crazy and insisted on doing its own thing, so it was quite helpless. After all, Britain, France, the United States and other countries still have to use Japan to restrain the East China government, so they are unwilling to break up with Japan. They can only wait until Japan's madness passes, and other governors and governors dare not directly confront Japan, so they naturally cannot give any direct help from Zhejiang Province.

At this time, the only one who can help Zhejiang Province was really the East China Government. But if the People's Army really entered Zhejiang Province, the situation would not be controlled by Zhou Fu, so Zhou Fu was also hesitant.

But the Japanese did not consider Zhou Fu. Three days later, the Japanese army entered Fuding County, Funing Prefecture, which was the junction of Fujian Province and Zhejiang Province, and the troops headed directly to Wenzhou Prefecture. At the same time, the Japanese fleet also arrived at Taizhou Bay to anchor and moor. He also issued the final spy to Zhou Fu, requiring Zhou Fu to hand over Wenzhou Prefecture and Taizhou Prefecture after three days, otherwise a military strike would be launched.

Zhou Fu hurriedly dispatched troops to guard Wenzhou Prefecture, and ordered the Beiyang Navy Admiral Sa Zhenbing to attack the Japanese fleet. However, the two generals who received the order directly refused to implement Zhou Fu's order, and the Beiyang Navy Admiral Sa Zhenbing also made a special trip from Ningbo to Hangzhou. When he met Zhou Fu, he said that the five main warships of the Beiyang Navy lacked maintenance and could not go to sea to fight. This is not a deception from Sa Zhenbing, but it is indeed a matter.

After the Gengzi State Reform, the Beiyang Navy lost its base in Tianjin and could only relocate to Shanghai. It could also rely on the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau to provide some maintenance. Later, the East China Government occupied Shanghai again, so the Beiyang Navy had to move south again. This time, he chose to stay in Ningbo and then go south to Fujian, which was the Nanyang Navy's berth.

In fact, Ningbo also belongs to the southern port. However, although Ningbo Prefecture's economy is developed, it does not have any large machine ring factories, so it is difficult to provide the Beiyang Navy with necessary maintenance. Although there was a discussion in the Qing court, it was just a matter of combining the Beiyang Navy and the Nanyang Navy, so that the Beiyang Navy would also be stationed in Fuzhou, because Fuzhou has always been the base for the Nanyang Navy and various logistics and maintenance facilities are relatively complete. The Beiyang Navy is stationed in Fuzhou and can also use Fuzhou's facilities to obtain effective maintenance.

But this involves too many interests, and neither the Beiyang Navy nor the Nanyang Navy are willing to merge. From the perspective of the Beiyang Navy, once it merges, the Beiyang Navy will definitely go to Fujian to stay in the capital, which is the territory of the Nanyang Navy, and the Beiyang Navy is hard to defeat the local snake; and in the position of the Nanyang Navy, although the vitality of the Beiyang Navy was greatly damaged after the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, the main ship shrank from the "Eight Great Far" to the "Five Seas", and its strength was greatly reduced, it was still much stronger than the Nanyang Navy. Therefore, if the Beiyang Navy entered Fujian, it would be a Raptor crossing the river, and there would be the Nanyang Navy. In addition, after the Far East War, the Qing court spent one day and wanted to make too much trouble, but it was naturally left alone. The Beiyang Navy kept staying in Ningbo.

However, the port facilities in Ningbo were too poor. Several warships of the Beiyang Navy were not properly maintained, and the fleet's funds were not guaranteed. After all, the Qing court did not care about the Beiyang Navy at all. Not to mention building port facilities, even the salaries of sailors and officers were not guaranteed. They could only rely on using warships to transport some private goods and make some extra money to maintain. Later, Zhou Fu served as the governor of Zhejiang. He was also inquired about the incense. Moreover, the Qing court was separated by the East China Government and could not pay the taxes and stayed locally for their own use. He then pulled out a sum of money to give the Beiyang Navy, which was considered to be free from strong solutions to the sailors and officers' salaries, but the port facilities and warship maintenance were still not settled. Therefore, the state of the warships was naturally deteriorating. Now the five main warships have a large number of mechanical failures, and they can also avoid strong support when sailing out of the sea, but basically have no combat capabilities.

Of course, Sa Zhenbing also told Zhou Fu that even if the five main warships of the Beiyang Navy were in good condition, they were not opponents of the Japanese fleet, because the five main warships of the Beiyang Navy were all protective cruisers. The largest Haitian, Haiqi, only 4,300 tons, while the Japanese fleet had 8 warships, the Imperatus, and 7,300 tons, and all of them were armored cruisers. Both sides were not opponents of the same level at all. If they fought, the Beiyang Navy would have to end up with annihilation. Therefore, to fight against the Japanese army, they could only ask for help from the East China Government.

After listening to Sa Zhenbing's suggestion, Zhou Fu could only smile bitterly. If he could ask for help from the East China Government, would he have to wait until now? But he couldn't say these words to Sa Zhenbing, so Zhou Fu could only send Sa Zhenbing back to Ningbo, saying that he thought of another way.

After Sa Zhenbing said goodbye, Zhou Fu sat alone in the bookstore and had no choice but to do anything, but at this moment, a family came to report and Li Jingfang asked for a meeting. After hearing this, Zhou Fu couldn't help but smile bitterly, knowing that this was a lobbyist sent by the East China Government. Because since Li Hongzhang's death, Li Jingfang resigned from the Qing court and had been settling in Shanghai. Although he had not served in the East China Government, many veterans had a close relationship with Li Jingfang. Therefore, at this time, Li Jingfang came to Hangzhou, why would it be? He wouldn't have made a special trip to visit Zhou Fu.

But the person who came was Li Jingfang. He just looked at Li Hongzhang's incense and had to meet him no matter what. In addition, Zhou Fu also wanted to know what Li Jingfang would say to the East China government.
Chapter completed!