Twentieth Century Chronicle

Page 150

Zhao Sheng didn't think much of it. Although he was a member of the Tongmenghui, he didn't really care about the political ideological struggle between the Tongmenghui and the Labor Party. He felt that the most important thing in revolution was to do things, and that empty talk about theory was not helpful to the revolution. This was also the reason why he, who came from an official family, eventually joined the army.

Most members of the Tongmenghui preferred to teach and spread revolutionary ideas through newspapers, and were rarely willing to rush to the front line to do revolutionary work. This was also why the Tongmenghui liked to win over secret societies, because secret societies had their own organizations and could start uprisings as long as they were given money and guns, without needing to do much organizational work.

Therefore, seeing the revolutionary sentiment stirred up among the citizens of Nanjing, Zhao Sheng was overjoyed and did not consider at all whether this would allow Wuhan to take root in Nanjing. After all, this revolution was originally intended to secure a territory for the revolutionaries in the southeast, not to allow Wuhan to expand its influence to the southeast.

Seeing Zhao Sheng's excitement, Lin Shuqing didn't know what to say. He had only joined the revolution after being influenced by Zhao Sheng after joining the Ninth Division, so his thoughts were inevitably more complicated. In his view, it wasn't a good thing for Wuhan to become too powerful, because the Tongmenghui would not be willing to bow down to Wuhan. After all, in terms of revolutionary experience, Tian Junyi, Qin Lishan, Cai E, and others were really inferior to revolutionary predecessors like Sun Yat-sen.

The success of the Workers' Party in Wuhan was not welcomed by some revolutionaries, because the Workers' Party initially followed the path of cooperation with Zhang Zhidong. Later, it launched a mutiny by taking advantage of the dissatisfaction of the Wuhan army with the Manchu bureaucrats who seized power. Then it purged the conservatives and revolutionaries in the army and relied on the working class to consolidate its position.

Looking back at the rise of the Labour Party, according to some revolutionary predecessors, it was full of treachery and exploitation. The reason their revolution failed was that they disdained such despicable acts.

However, Lin Shuqing found such remarks to be utterly sour and pretentious. Everyone was risking their lives for the revolution, yet these people still wanted to preserve their personal integrity, as if their sense of morality was far more important to the Manchu officials than the lives of their revolutionary comrades. Moreover, these revolutionary predecessors who constantly talked about morality showed absolutely no moral compass in their power struggles within the Tongmenghui.

For example, just after they defeated Zhang Xun's forces and mobilized the entire population of Nanjing to take a revolutionary stance, problems arose within the Tongmenghui (Revolutionary Alliance). "Revolutionary" was actually a broad term; for instance, the revolutionaries within the Ninth Division included not only members of the Tongmenghui but also the Workers' Party, and even some progressives inclined towards revolution.

Although the Tongmenghui was nominally a unified organization, it was actually composed of numerous factions. This was because the Tongmenghui was not formed according to revolutionary principles from the beginning, but rather was an alliance of various small revolutionary parties in China that acted to overthrow the Qing Dynasty under Japanese interference.

After the establishment of the Tongmenghui, some small parties with little ideology or organization quickly developed a sense of belonging to the Tongmenghui, but some organized parties maintained their independence, and the resolutions of the Tongmenghui had little binding force on them.

Of course, there were also established revolutionary parties like the Revive China Society, which attempted to turn the Tongmenghui into an expanded organization of the Revive China Society and establish a tightly knit political party similar to the Labor Party. This led to a struggle between unification and anti-unification within the Tongmenghui.

The Ninth Division was actually more influenced by the Restoration Society, but the Tongmenghui headquarters in Shanghai believed that the revolutionaries in the Ninth Division should obey its command. The problem was that before the revolution broke out, the Tongmenghui headquarters in Shanghai judged that the chances of a revolution in Jiangsu were too small, so it had been preparing for a revolution in Guangdong. Now the Tongmenghui headquarters in Shanghai wanted to seize the fruits of victory in Nanjing, which was like picking peaches from the mountain, and naturally it was not liked by the members of the Restoration Society.

After the Tongmenghui was established, it was actually deeply influenced by the Xingzhonghui. Among the various revolutionary parties in China, apart from the Labor Party, the most complete revolutionary theory was Sun Yat-sen's Three Principles of the People. In particular, the Three Principles of the People were supplemented in the three-way debate (Royalist Party, Labor Party, and Tongmenghui). Therefore, many people regarded Sun Yat-sen's Three Principles of the People as the revolutionary proposition of Tongmenghui. For a time, the Guangdong faction led by Sun Yat-sen laid the theoretical foundation for political leadership in Tongmenghui.

Although the Restoration Society wielded considerable influence in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions, its revolutionary propositions were actually closer to those of the monarchists. However, they demanded the restoration of Han Chinese legal system and used the distinction between Chinese and barbarians as a means of rebuilding China after the Manchu Qing dynasty. While they incorporated some European nationalism, they did not discuss the development of productive forces and the distribution of social wealth after the establishment of a nation-state. This meant that the Restoration Society's revolution lost its direction after the collapse of the Manchu Qing regime.

Consequently, the Restoration Society was completely outmaneuvered by the Guangdong faction led by Sun Yat-sen in ideological debates within the Tongmenghui. Therefore, although the Restoration Society had a strong social foundation in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions, the leadership of the Tongmenghui ultimately fell into the hands of Sun Yat-sen and other Guangdong revolutionaries. Those influenced by the Restoration Society to join the revolution naturally turned to laborism or the Three Principles of the People, because the Restoration Society could not offer a clear direction for the revolution.

The Labor Party, outside the Tongmenghui (Revolutionary Alliance), did not need the support of the Restoration Society. However, Sun Yat-sen and other revolutionaries in Guangdong were within the Tongmenghui, and they had direct power conflicts with the Restoration Society, naturally leading to a strained relationship between the two sides. Because of these numerous contradictions, Sun Yat-sen and others believed that the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions were unsuitable for launching a revolutionary uprising, and that the focus of the revolution should be placed in Guangdong or Fujian, away from the influence of the Restoration Society.

However, the development of the revolutionary situation is subject to objective laws. Compared with the expansion of the powers in the Pearl River Basin of Guangdong, the powers actually paid more attention to the operation in the Yangtze River Basin. This is because the Yangtze River not only provided cheap water transportation, but also affected the lives of at least 2 million people in the Yangtze River Basin, which extends deep into the Chinese interior. This means that the powers' plunder in the Yangtze River Basin was much greater than in Guangdong.

Even without the emergence of the Wuhan Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Committee, historically, the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River were the first region to declare independence from the Qing Dynasty. Sun Yat-sen and other revolutionaries' attempt to reverse the direction of the revolution's outbreak through their personal will was clearly futile. Yet, as the revolution in Nanjing neared success, they attempted to seize the fruits of the revolution—how could this convince their comrades in the Restoration Society? Moreover, Sun Yat-sen and others were currently in Guangzhou and unable to return in time to receive the revolutionary gains.

Thinking about the infighting within the Tongmenghui, Lin Shuqing lost the idea of ​​reminding Zhao Sheng. Rather than fighting for the Tongmenghui's dominance in this revolution, it would be better for everyone to wait and see where the people of Wuhan would lead the revolution.

While the officers of the Ninth Division were observing the citizens' activities from the restaurant, a messenger delivered an invitation to Zhao Sheng, asking him to represent the Ninth Division at the upcoming Nanjing All-Circles Representative Conference to discuss the next steps. After receiving the invitation, Zhao Sheng instructed Li Jingcheng and Lin Shuqing to remain in the area on his behalf, while he and several officers went to the west side of the square to attend the meeting.

The so-called Nanjing All-Circles Representative Conference was actually a closed-door meeting of representatives from the academic, educational, military, and worker groups who were leading the revolution at that time. Although the Citizens' Assembly was more representative, with almost all Han Chinese in Nanjing participating, it was precisely because of its broad representation that the assembly was destined to find it difficult to reach a unified consensus.

Keiichi Domoto certainly wouldn't argue with the people's representatives at the citizens' assembly. With the public watching, the representatives would easily be influenced by external factors and reach a consensus. Therefore, the revolution needed a more efficient decision-making body, and the citizens' assembly would take on the function of conveying the decisions of this body to the people.

Although this decision-making body would narrow its scope, it had to include the major revolutionary forces; otherwise, the citizens' assembly would find it difficult to accept decisions made by a minority. With the four main pillars of the revolution—academia, education, the military, and workers—joining the decision-making meeting, the citizens' assembly would find it difficult to raise any objections, because other groups were not yet truly organized, let alone united.

Domoto Keiichi firmly remembered Lin Xinyi's admonition: when guiding the masses to participate in a movement, one must not give them too much time to calm down. Because once the masses calm down, they will think too much about things unrelated to the revolution, and then they will exhaust their enthusiasm and turn away from the revolution. Therefore, when the masses are full of passion, even an organized army cannot stop them from advancing, but when the masses calm down, a few uniformed personnel can disperse hundreds or thousands of people.

Therefore, from the very beginning, Domoto did not expect the Viceroy of Liangjiang to provide any assistance to the revolution, nor did he care about the thoughts of the revolutionaries in Nanjing. He simply incited the masses' dissatisfaction with the Qing Dynasty step by step, and then guided the masses toward one goal after another, eventually establishing a revolutionary organization that was supported by the masses.

The delegates attending this closed-door meeting were quickly stunned by Domoto Keiichi's speech. After the meeting began, Domoto walked up to the delegates and said directly: "This morning, the citizens of Nanjing established an autonomous conference and resolved to break away from the rule of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. It is now almost 5 p.m., but the Viceroy of Liangjiang's office has still not given a clear answer. I think we should not continue to wait. Continuing to wait will only dampen the enthusiasm of the masses."

Secondly, since the citizens of Nanjing have already declared their independence from the Qing Dynasty, if the Governor-General of Liangjiang does not support the resolution of the citizens' assembly, then we can only deny any orders issued by him, because Nanjing cannot accept the orders of the Governor-General of Liangjiang appointed by the Qing government; otherwise, what is the point of talking about independence from the Qing Dynasty?

However, if the Viceroy of Liangjiang chose to support the resolution of the Citizens' Assembly and agree to Nanjing's separation from Manchu rule, then the Viceroy of Liangjiang would lose his source of power and would need the authorization of the people to exercise his administrative power.

In theory, all power now belongs to the Citizens' Assembly. However, the composition of the Citizens' Assembly representatives is complex, and they lack governing experience and an executive body to coordinate with them. Therefore, we need a power core to implement the resolutions of the Citizens' Assembly, or to turn these resolutions into actual policies and orders for implementation.

This is the purpose of inviting everyone to this meeting. We need to establish a central authority to replace the Viceroy's Office of Liangjiang. Since this revolution is driven by the people, it is natural that we should defend their interests. For example, the various outdated Qing dynasty regulations that the citizens' representatives raised in the square today must be abolished after the revolution; otherwise, how can it be called a revolution? But will the Viceroy's Office of Liangjiang and the old bureaucrats accept this? I think not, because they are the ones who benefit from these outdated regulations. If they were willing to make sacrifices, how could the masses rise up to support the revolution?

In fact, many of the delegates attending the meeting knew that this revolution had the support of the Viceroy of Liangjiang. Of course, this support became less important after Zhang Xun's troops were defeated and the Yangtze River Fleet was deployed to Wuhan. Although the Manchus were still unwilling to surrender, with the Ninth Division controlling the high ground inside and outside Nanjing, the city became a sitting duck, utterly powerless to turn the tide.

So, who will be in charge of Nanjing next is quite intriguing. The Ninth Division, along with the Yangtze River Fleet and the Wuhan Army, currently exerts a strong pressure on the Viceroy's Office of Liangjiang. However, the Wuhan Army will eventually have to withdraw because the foreign powers simply cannot accept Wuhan's occupation of Nanjing. This means that Wuhan will inevitably have to designate the lower reaches of the Yangtze River as a no-go zone for foreign warships.

With the withdrawal of the fleet and troops from Wuhan, the Ninth Division no longer held a significant advantage over the forces under the Governor-General of Liangjiang. In particular, the Jiangzhe region outside Nanjing still recognized the authority of the Governor-General of Liangjiang. Furthermore, the foreign powers would inevitably support the Governor-General's office, which was expected to maintain social order. Therefore, it was difficult for these revolutionaries to overturn the agreement reached with the Governor-General of Liangjiang.

However, it was different when the Wuhan representative made such a statement. It implied that Wuhan would support their efforts to suppress the Governor-General of Liangjiang and the conservative forces in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, which was certainly worth a try. Therefore, after the initial shock, Zhao Sheng quickly voiced his support for Domoto Keiichi's proposal. With the support of the military representative, the other representatives naturally had no objections.

For Domoto Keiichi, this wasn't the whole story of the meeting. After establishing a new power center to replace the Liangjiang General Headquarters, he immediately proposed, "The primary problem facing the revolution right now is still the control of the army. To ensure the new power center doesn't collapse, it's essential to control all the armies inside and outside Nanjing, making them a fully revolutionary army."

Domoto Keiichi advocated merging and reorganizing the citizens' self-defense forces, the Ninth Division, the privately-run military units, and the surrendered river defense troops to form the First and Second Divisions of the Jiangsu Workers' and Peasants' Red Army. He proposed abolishing all old Qing Dynasty armed forces and establishing a Military Commission to unify the leadership of all armed forces within Jiangsu. This reorganization essentially dismantled the Ninth Division as an independent armed force; the new Red Army would become a new armed force under the Military Commission, rather than an expansion of the Ninth Division.

Zhao Sheng hesitated for only a few seconds before nodding in agreement. He felt this was more beneficial to the revolution and therefore shouldn't be refused. Moreover, he had already supported the establishment of a new power core; if he now opposed the establishment of a military commission, it would be tantamount to empty talk. With the command of the army unified, Tang Benjing immediately felt relieved. Even if Xu Shaozhen came out of the Governor-General's office, it would be difficult to reverse this decision. The revolution in Nanjing had come to a temporary end; now it depended on the reactions of all parties.

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Chapter 537

After the Nanjing Citizens' Self-Government Assembly was established, its first action was to issue a nationwide telegram denouncing the Manchus' plot to massacre the citizens of Nanjing and declaring Nanjing's independence from the Qing Dynasty.

While other factions were still trying to react, a congress of workers, peasants and soldiers was immediately convened in Wuhan. Tian Junyi, representing the Workers' Party, severely condemned the conspiracy between the Manchus in Nanjing and Zhang Xun's forces, stating: "Since the so-called Seven Grievances, the Manchus have carried out a brutal policy of massacre against ethnic minorities in the Northeast and Mongolia, as well as Han Chinese in and around the Great Wall, and ethnic minorities in the Southwest, South and Northwest. Throughout Chinese history, only the Manchu Qing dynasty has made no contribution to Chinese civilization, and it is even more backward and closed than the Mongol Yuan dynasty."

It was precisely because of the Manchu Qing dynasty's policies of ethnic massacres and isolationism that China missed out on the world's technological boom for over two centuries—a historical event unprecedented in China's history. Please remember that my country was never absent from the bronze, iron, and gunpowder civilizations of the past; we only missed the steam engine revolution in modern times. Meanwhile, throughout the 19th century, Europeans, through the Industrial Revolution brought about by the steam engine, created far more material wealth than they had accumulated over the previous millennia.

After the Manchus took control of China, besides massacring people of all ethnic groups and exploiting their wealth for their own enjoyment, when did they ever improve social productivity? Before the Opium War, China's technological level was actually lower than that of the late Ming Dynasty, and the people's living standards were far inferior to those of the Ming Dynasty.

Even the British envoy to the Qing Dynasty recorded in his diary: Most of the farmhouses by the roadside were dirty and dilapidated... Many people only had one set of tattered clothes on their backs... The dead pigs and chickens discarded by the mission were quickly picked up by the Chinese, salted, and prepared to be eaten during the New Year...

Listen to this, this is how the British describe the so-called "Prosperous Era of Qianlong"—an era where the people were reduced to beggars while the Manchus lived in luxury. What's the difference between those shameless literati who boast about the Kangxi and Qianlong eras and prostitutes? No, they are more shameless than prostitutes; at least prostitutes have some sense of shame, while these literati do not.

What our Labor Party pursues is to establish an era in which workers can enjoy dignity. However, it is clear that as long as the Qing Dynasty is under its rule, this era will never come, because the Manchus always unconsciously regard themselves as superior beings. They have become accustomed to plundering the wealth of others and enjoying their lives. They collude with the scoundrels of other ethnic groups and want to continue to enslave the people of other ethnic groups at all times.

In order to enable workers to enjoy the fruits of their labor, and to liberate all peoples, including the Manchu people, from the rule of the Qing Dynasty and the landlord class, our Workers' Party formally proposes that representatives from all ethnic groups and provinces be invited to discuss ending the Qing Dynasty and establishing a people's republic that truly belongs to all peoples and workers.

Although the delegates to the Wuhan Workers', Peasants', and Soldiers' Congress were summoned at the last minute, they didn't have many immediate thoughts on the events in Nanjing; they were simply angry. However, in the past few years, the delegates to the Congress had changed several times. Those delegates who harbored goodwill or fear towards the government had almost all been expelled from the Congress. The current delegates consisted of 40% workers, 12% soldiers, 25% peasants, 7% small vendors and shop assistants, 3% cadres, 8% intellectuals, and 5% propertied persons.

Through repeated ideological education and propaganda, the people of Wuhan have come to realize that the Qing Dynasty is a thing of the past, and that ending the feudal dynasty and entering the republic is an inevitable step towards modern civilization. This is also a political concept that has been incorporated into school textbooks in Wuhan.

Therefore, although Tian Junyi's speech was somewhat sudden, the delegates were not actually too surprised. On the contrary, they felt a sense of relief, thinking, "Ah, this day has finally come. We can finally move towards modern civilization and say goodbye to the era of ignorance."

Thus, the vote to end the Qing Dynasty, initiated after Tian Junyi's speech, received the best possible result of unanimous approval. When this news was disseminated to the entire city of Wuhan in an extra edition, the streets were filled with congratulatory and celebratory sounds. Many hotels were packed with people, and some even bought up bottles of liquor from small shops to distribute to passersby as a gesture of celebration.

A Japanese man in Wuhan described the scene that afternoon when the citizens of Wuhan celebrated the passage of the vote to end the rule of the Qing Dynasty: "This reminded me of the scene nearly 20 years ago when the Imperial Constitution was passed and the citizens of Tokyo celebrated. Everyone took to the streets to parade and celebrate, and sake in hotels was distributed to passers-by as if it were free. Whether they knew each other or not, they would have a drink and congratulate Japan on becoming a member of the civilized nation."

The biggest beneficiary of Britain and France's intervention in the Far East war was actually the Beiyang government. Yuan Shikai, following the advice of pro-British and pro-American elites who had studied abroad, actively participated in the peace conference hosted by the Americans. However, he was severely humiliated by Japan and Russia. The so-called fair-minded US government completely ignored China's status as both a victim and a victor in the war, and only made achieving peace its ultimate goal.

In fact, the reason why the US government took the lead in hosting this peace conference was twofold. On the one hand, it was to curry favor with Britain and France and prevent Russia from suffering too many losses in the war, so as to avoid the complete collapse of the Russian government and its eventual neutrality in the confrontation in Europe. On the other hand, it was naturally to suppress Japan's ambitions and extend its reach into East Asian affairs. This was also a way for the US to declare itself as a Pacific nation.

Tang Shaoyi and other elites who had studied abroad only saw that the United States and Britain would not tolerate Japan's position of monopolizing Northeast Asia after defeating Russia, but they did not think too much about the confrontation between the two major European camps. Therefore, they naively believed that Japan could not afford to offend the European powers such as Britain, France, the United States and Russia, and would make concessions in peace negotiations.

This one-sided worship of the power of European powers led Yuan Shikai to realize he had stepped into a huge pit after he listened to their advice. While the Western powers might still have some fear of Japan and Russia, they were ruthless in suppressing China, which was far from Europe and had no naval power.

The British and French also initially used strong pressure tactics against Wuhan, but Wuhan consistently resisted with a tough stance, ultimately forcing Britain and France to back down. However, the Beiyang Fleet lacked the resources to confront the British and American powers, as it lacked an industrial base like Wuhan. If the powers blockaded the Bohai Sea, the Beiyang Fleet would quickly crumble.

Therefore, Yuan Shikai soon realized that sending people to the peace conference was the biggest mistake. China had no right to make any demands in the peace conference, but it had the responsibility to accept the peace agreement. He did not dare to order the withdrawal from the peace conference, as this would cause dissatisfaction among countries such as Britain, the United States, France, Russia, and Japan. However, not withdrawing from the peace conference would also subject him to fierce criticism from domestic public opinion.

However, the chaos in Wuhan forced Britain and France to intervene directly. This rendered the American peace conference virtually powerless against China, removing a significant burden on the country. To ensure Wuhan remained a safe haven, Britain and France had to express their support for the Beiyang-led State Council and pressure Japan to relinquish considerable power in southern Manchuria. They also compelled St. Petersburg to order the Russian military and civilians in Port Arthur to surrender to both China and Japan, as the original agreement between Japan and Russia stipulated the transfer of Kwantung Leased Territory to Japan.

Because the State Council sent people to take over Lushun and once again obtained guarantees from Britain and France that Manchuria was part of Chinese territory, domestic criticism of Yuan Shikai and the Beiyang government finally eased. Pro-British and pro-American elites also campaigned in the media, believing that peace should be reached as soon as possible to avoid any unforeseen complications.

The reason why domestic public opinion had previously criticized Yuan Shikai and the Beiyang government was not because they supported the joint declaration of Wuhan and the Republic of Chita, but because the great powers did not respect China's territorial sovereignty and status as a victorious nation. They seemed to regard China as a colony without autonomy, which aroused the unanimous anti-imperialist propaganda in public opinion.

However, once the great powers were willing to give China some concessions, public opinion in China began to diverge. Some members of the elite class believed that China should stop while it was ahead, because China was indeed inferior to foreign countries. Now that the great powers were willing to make concessions, China should not provoke them too much and make them lose face. If they refused to give China even this small concession, wouldn't that be a loss?

Some elites were even more opposed to the laborism in Wuhan that targeted the propertied class. In their view, the Republic of Chita was also a group of rebels, and both Wuhan and Chita were extremists who should be eliminated. Their joint statement was nothing but a lie; this alliance was intended to eliminate the propertied class in China and Russia, not to create a happy life. However, due to the previous surge in domestic nationalist sentiment, they couldn't openly oppose it. Now that Britain and France had shown a friendly attitude, they immediately jumped out to advocate for peace.

For the vast majority of Chinese people, excluding farmers who have never left their place of residence by more than 30 miles, most of those who are able to care about national politics are urban residents or property owners in the countryside. Therefore, public opinion in Chinese society is mainly from the perspective of urban residents and gentry and landlords.

Apart from industrial cities like Wuhan, the people of other cities almost universally support peace over justice. This is because, apart from industrial cities like Wuhan that can continue to develop during wartime, other cities will only become desolate because of war. Naturally, the people hope to win peace and restore the social prosperity they enjoyed before the war.

Once nationalist sentiment subsided, realism dictated that public opinion would once again turn towards the peace-loving Beiyang groups. The people, especially those in the northern regions beyond the Great Wall, hoped for a peace agreement to expedite the departure of foreign troops; they felt they could not expect a peaceful life until these troops left.

To his astonishment, Yuan Shikai found that the newspaper articles that used to vehemently criticize him had suddenly decreased, while articles praising him had gradually increased. These were not reports he had bribed, but rather articles written voluntarily by journalists praising him. These were probably the most pleasant days Yuan Shikai had experienced since assuming the chairmanship of the State Council.

Yuan Shikai originally thought that the people had finally become rational and realized that he was the truly mature and capable ruler. He believed that although the people in Wuhan were talented, they were too radical and, although they had good intentions, they might not be able to do good things.

Yuan Shikai focused his energy on peace in the Far East, trying to regain as many rights as possible in Manchuria in order to improve his reputation in public opinion. However, the telegram from Nanjing was like a blow to the back of his head, shattering his self-perceived stable situation and causing him to utter a curse after reading it.

Although his confidants were skeptical about the matter, Yuan Shikai pointed out that Chengxun wouldn't dare to do such a thing. Although Zhang Dingwu was stubborn, he wasn't stupid. Wei Guangtao was framing him and using the opportunity to eliminate his political opponents.

Why did Wei Guangtao purge his political opponents? This was clearly a problem with Zhang Xun. After all, Yuan Shikai's confidants knew that Zhang Xun's trip to the south was intended to expand the Beiyang Army's power, and Wei Guangtao obviously couldn't tolerate it any longer.

However, even knowing this, the Beiyang clique couldn't tolerate Wei Guangtao's smear campaign against Zhang Xun. If everyone did this, wouldn't the Beiyang clique be confined to their own territories, with each faction able to act independently? They couldn't afford to offend the Wuhan clique, but they weren't about to tolerate or back down from the already weakened Hunan clique.

Therefore, Yuan Shikai quickly convened an internal meeting of the Beiyang Army, clearly intending to send troops to Nanjing to demand an explanation. The Beiyang generals also largely supported Yuan Shikai, after all, the southeast was a land of wealth and resources, and without control of the southeast, the Beiyang Army simply could not support an army capable of confronting Wuhan.

Zhang Xun's appointment as the Governor-General of Jiangnan was considered a truly desirable position by these Beiyang generals, far more appealing than the Governor-General of Shaanxi and Gansu. When the imperial court still held considerable authority, the Governor-General of Shaanxi and Gansu was a true regional governor, incomparable to the Governor-General of Jiangnan. However, this was the twilight of the dynasty, where territory was far more important than position. Compared to the impoverished Shaanxi and Gansu, the wealthy regions of Jiangsu and Zhejiang truly had the right to establish their own independent regimes.

However, Zhang Xun was senior enough that no one could challenge him. Now that Zhang Xun was finished, and Wei Guangtao had fallen out with the Beiyang Army and the imperial court, everyone felt that the Beiyang Army had a pretext to send troops. So, one after another, they volunteered to lead troops south to quell the riots in Nanjing. After all, even Wuhan had not declared its independence from the Qing Dynasty, yet a small city like Nanjing had raised the banner of independence. The Beiyang Army, which was in charge of state affairs, certainly had the right to quell the unrest.

At the meeting, Lu Jianzhang argued: "If I were to send troops, I should have made the decision earlier. If Wuhan takes the opportunity to move east, we will not be able to outpace the Wuhan army that is moving down the Yangtze River."

Lu Jianzhang's suggestion was widely accepted by the Beiyang generals, but their superficial unity crumbled over the question of who would lead the army south. Apart from Feng Guozhang, who was far away in Shengjing, all the major Beiyang generals in Beijing participated in the competition for this position. After all, the Beiyang forces at that time were powerless without real strength, and that strength was measured by the number of soldiers and guns they controlled. Staying by Yuan Shikai's side was merely a matter of becoming a familiar face.

Before the Beiyang generals could reach a conclusion, Zhao Bingjun entered the hall with a telegram and presented it to Yuan Shikai. Upon reading the telegram, Yuan Shikai's face darkened, and he abruptly ended the meeting and left. Although Yuan Shikai took Zhao Bingjun with him, he did not take the telegram. So Duan Qirui, who was sitting nearby, picked up the telegram from the table and began to read it.

Other generals chimed in, asking what the telegram said. After reading it, Duan Qirui looked up and glanced at his colleagues, his expression somewhat complicated, and said, "Wuhan has issued a telegram supporting the Nanjing citizens' resolution to break away from Manchu rule, and has also issued a nationwide telegram to convene a People's Representative Conference to discuss the end of Manchu rule and the establishment of a republic..."

Chapter 538

Facing the distraught Yuan Shikai, Qin Lishan suddenly realized that Yuan was nothing special. He was merely a scion of a noble family who had turned to military affairs after failing in his literary pursuits, far inferior to Li Hongzhang. If Li Hongzhang were in this situation, he probably wouldn't have lost his composure like this. However, Qin Lishan also doubted whether Li Hongzhang would leave such a large opening for them to exploit.

The root cause of the Nanjing Incident was that Yuan Shikai valued centralized power too much and wanted to replace all the local warlords with people from the Beiyang clique. This made local forces unwilling to get too close to Yuan Shikai. Although Wuhan's political views offended the gentry class in various places, the behavior of the Beiyang clique led by Yuan Shikai was really ugly.

The Hunan clique shifted its neutrality to Wuhan because it felt that since it couldn't hold onto its territory anyway, it might as well side with the stronger Wuhan clique. After all, Wuhan was just about redistributing land, not about seizing it by force like the Beiyang clique.

Although the Hunan clique has declined, thanks to the accumulation of the past few decades, land is actually just a fallback for each family in the Hunan clique. They have all started to invest in real industries, and their children have almost all been sent abroad to study Western learning. They are no longer the rural nouveau riche of the past.

Therefore, while dissatisfied with relinquishing the land, many could reluctantly accept it if they could find their place again in the new era. Wuhan's prioritization of industrialization provided an opportunity for the Hunanese community to integrate, given that many Hunanese youths were now turning to Western learning.

However, for the Beiyang Group, the overlap in power between the two sides was too great. Although Beiyang also developed some industries, it was mainly for making money and enhancing Beiyang's military strength. Many Beiyang generals' simple idea was to make a fortune in other places and then return to their hometowns to buy property and become big landowners.

This style of work by the Beiyang government was unbearable for both local gentry and the Hunan clique. On the one hand, they couldn't withstand the Beiyang government's exploitation; on the other hand, the Hunan clique really didn't want to be driven back to be landlords. They were used to civilized urban life, and besides, Hunan was now under the control of the Workers' Party, so they couldn't be landlords back home anyway. Thus, going directly to Wuhan became the best option.

In the past, Qin Lishan had quite admired this scholar who had created a legendary experience in Korea. He believed that Yuan Shikai's failure in Korea was not a personal failure, but a failure of the Huai clique. However, he now felt that this Grand Tutor's personal flaws were too obvious, and his selfishness was too strong.

While power struggles exist within the Labour Party, they are almost entirely driven by departmental interests. Those who attempt to form personal cliques are not only looked down upon by party members but also criticized and marginalized. This is because the emergence of such cliques is a betrayal of the ideals of a socialist party. When the party is filled with such cliques, it becomes a new bureaucratic group.

Because of this general consensus within the Party, Qin Lishan found Yuan Shikai's political maneuvering within the Beiyang clique utterly pointless. As the leader of the Beiyang clique, Yuan Shikai did not think about setting a direction for the entire group, but instead focused on building his own clique. If the upper beam is not upright, how can the lower beam be upright?

No matter how skillfully Yuan Shikai manipulated politics, it was all just a farce to the Workers' Party, because they wouldn't be fooled by such meaningless power struggles. For example, even though the Workers' Party had already declared its intention to end the Qing Dynasty, Yuan Shikai was still accusing them of playing power games and betraying the Beiyang government, essentially using a moral high ground to criticize Wuhan.

After enduring for a while, Qin Lishan finally interrupted the other party impolitely, saying, "Chairman Yuan has said so much, why don't I say a few words as well?"

Yuan Shikai paused for a moment, then stopped speaking and nodded, though his face remained sullen, clearly indicating that his anger had not been fully vented. Qin Lishan, however, disregarded Yuan Shikai's mood and simply stated, "I do not agree with Chairman Yuan's claim that we betrayed the Beiyang government. Firstly, our party's cooperation with the Beiyang government was to resist foreign invasion, not to maintain the continuation of the Qing Dynasty. Our party has always advocated for land reform domestically to ensure that farmers own their land."

Secondly, if our party truly wanted to deal with the Beiyang clique, then it should have eliminated the treacherous officials at the emperor's side in the name of upholding the imperial system. However, we did not do that. Instead, we advocated ending the rule of the Manchu Qing dynasty and called on representatives from all ethnic groups and provinces to discuss the establishment of a new China. Was this solely aimed at the Beiyang clique?

Finally, while Chairman Yuan is indeed the current Chairman of the State Council, this appointment comes from the Qing Dynasty, and I don't believe this position can exert any influence over Wuhan. Furthermore, does Chairman Yuan really intend to use the Qing banner to oppose us? I think that's not a good choice. Does Chairman Yuan remember how Wu Sangui was disgraced?

Yuan Shikai felt a tightness in his chest as he listened. He understood the unspoken meaning: Wu Sangui had served the Manchus and personally strangled the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty. This made it difficult for almost anyone to respond to his uprising when Kangxi tried to reduce the power of the princes, because his reputation was simply too bad.

Seeing Yuan Shikai's increasingly grim expression, Zhao Bingjun, standing to the side, couldn't help but speak up for his master, saying, "Representative Qin's words are far too harsh. How can Lord Gongbao be compared to a traitor like Wu Sangui? Justice resides in the hearts of the people. Don't treat the world like fools. Are you forcing the Manchus? Aren't you forcing Lord Gongbao and our Beiyang Army right now?"

Qin Lishan glanced at Zhao Bingjun, then turned to Yuan Shikai and said, "Mr. Zhao is right. Justice resides in the hearts of the people. So, Chairman Yuan, why don't you see whether the people of the world side with me or with the Qing Dynasty? I've heard what I wanted to hear, and I've said what I wanted to say. Now it's up to Chairman Yuan to make his decision..."

Yuan Shikai watched helplessly as Qin Lishan took his leave, ultimately offering no words of apology. This conversation with Qin Lishan had revealed much to him: Wuhan was not bluffing this time, but was determined to end the Qing Dynasty. The so-called waiting for the Beiyang government's decision was a blatant act of intimidation; Wuhan was not afraid to use force to end the Qing Dynasty.

Yuan Shikai could not make a strong statement because the Beiyang Army was not prepared to go to war with Wuhan. Although Wuhan had invested far more resources in the war than the Beiyang Army, Wuhan's war potential was not yet exhausted and it could even replenish the Beiyang Army's weapons and ammunition. However, the Beiyang Army was already struggling to continue. After all, the Beiyang Army had not carried out land reform, so it was naturally unable to reorganize local taxes. In addition, with salt taxes and customs duties mortgaged to foreign powers, the Beiyang Army could not even control the tax system in its own territory and was fighting the war entirely on loans.

In contrast, although the land reform implemented in Wuhan aroused dissatisfaction among the gentry, in the areas where the land reform was completed, the large landlords almost all disappeared. Wuhan not only rebuilt the grassroots organizations in the countryside, but also rebuilt a complete tax and circulation system. As a result, the portion of agricultural surplus that had been swallowed up by the landlords now completely fell into Wuhan's national treasury, which made Wuhan's mobilization capacity rise every day.

Yuan Shikai greatly admired the financial reforms implemented in Wuhan. If these reforms could be implemented in the Beiyang Army's territory, the size of the Beiyang Army could immediately double, and he wouldn't have to spend his days robbing Peter to pay Paul to make ends meet in order to cover the military budget shortfall.

Despite his envy, he knew he couldn't emulate Wuhan's reforms because the Beiyang clique would immediately erupt in discontent. After all, these reforms would come at their own expense, and the reason they supported him as their leader wasn't for that.

Secondly, he didn't have that many honest officials under his command. After all, Wuhan had purged the vested interests of the entire rural area. Even if he appointed a few more sons of landlord and gentry families, these people would lose the protection of their families and wouldn't dare to cause any trouble. But the Beiyang government's territory was full of these gentry's deep-rooted relationships. No one would dare to offend so many people when they went to the local area. Even if there were such hotheads, Yuan Shikai wouldn't dare to use them.

Hai Rui, hailed as the most incorruptible official in history, accomplished only two or three things in his lifetime. Most of the time, he was sidelined and left idle. Was it because the emperor was unaware of his reputation and abilities? No, it was because the reforms Hai Rui implemented threatened the rule of the imperial power. Even Zhang Juzheng, a fellow reformer, could not tolerate him. Therefore, Hai Rui could only have the reputation of an incorruptible official but could not realize his political ambitions.

Even moderate reformers like Zhang Juzheng couldn't tolerate the gentry and landlords of the Ming Dynasty. After his death, they humiliated and persecuted his family. Yuan Shikai felt that his reputation was not as good as Zhang Juzheng's, and his status was not as legitimate as Zhang Juzheng's. Naturally, he dared not easily touch the interests of the gentry and landlords.

Given the current domestic situation, Yuan Shikai believed that the Beiyang Army alone was insufficient to defeat Wuhan; they needed the full support of the great powers to have any chance of success. However, the Beiyang Army had not yet reached an agreement with the great powers. Although Britain, France, and Japan verbally supported him, their support for the Beiyang Army was far less substantial than Germany's support for Wuhan. Yuan Shikai certainly did not see this as an opportune moment to wage war against Wuhan; on the contrary, he worried that Wuhan might use this as an excuse to attack the Beiyang Army.

While Yuan Shikai was pondering the matter, Qin Lishan returned to his residence, where a visitor was unsurprisingly waiting. Upon seeing him, Qin Lishan politely bowed and greeted him, saying, "Mr. Zhuoru, what brings you here today? I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting."

Liang Qichao looked at his former student for a long time before sighing and saying, "How did things come to this? The world has finally settled down, and with the Russians defeated this time, we can regain some of the rights and interests in Manchuria and Outer Mongolia. The spirit of the Chinese people will surely be greatly boosted. If everyone can work together, we might be able to replicate the situation of the Meiji Restoration in Japan. Your telegram has really added fuel to the fire and has also caused the country to lose the opportunity to get back on the right track."

Under the bright electric light, Qin Lishan shook his head slightly and said, "I can't agree with what you said, teacher. If the Manchus really had a sense of national identity, they should have accepted the parliamentary resolution long ago, dismantled the Manchu cities in various places, abolished all preferential treatment for Manchus, and honestly regarded themselves as ordinary citizens. Then none of this would have happened today."

Now the Manchus are reaping what they sowed, yet the teacher thinks our reaction is too extreme—isn't that ridiculous? Weren't the six gentlemen, including Tan Sitong, who held hope for the Qing dynasty already killed by the Manchus? Why does the teacher think we still have any expectations of the Manchus? Since the teacher can't persuade the Manchus to face reality, does the teacher think that all ethnic groups can continue to be enslaved by the Manchus?

It seems that it's not just the Manchus who are blind to the situation; you, Teacher, are also stuck in the past and haven't kept up with the times. When we try to talk to the Manchus politely, they want to use swords and guns. When we take up arms, they suddenly want to talk things out. I advise Mr. Zhuoru, don't be an accomplice to evil.

Seeing his former student's blunt rebuttal, Liang Qichao knew there was no point in continuing the debate. After all, he had a fairly clear understanding of the Workers' Party's political ideology during the three-way debate. Therefore, he finally revealed his purpose: "His Majesty is willing to abdicate and transfer power to the National Assembly in order to prevent further enmity between the Manchus and Han Chinese. As you know, His Majesty has done nothing wrong. He is willing to exchange abdication for reconciliation between the Manchus and Han Chinese, which is also a good thing for you."

Qin Lishan looked at Liang Qichao for a long time before speaking: "I have no opinion about the Emperor. In fact, many comrades in our party sympathize with the Emperor's plight. After all, he once tried to change this country, which is different from those reactionary diehards who treat China as the private property of the Manchus."

However, a new nation must be established based on the will of the people; this is the moral imperative of the new China. If the ruling power of the new China comes from the transfer of power by the Qing Dynasty, then what is the point of our revolution? How should we settle accounts for the crimes committed by the Qing Dynasty against all ethnic groups? Should we applaud the Yangzhou Massacre and the Jiading Massacre? Should we also bear responsibility for the genocide of the Dzungar people?

We do not carry out a physical purge of the Manchus out of revolutionary humanitarianism. However, a historical and political reckoning with the crimes of the Qing Dynasty is the ideological foundation for the legitimacy of the founding of the new China and the only way to resolve the historical issues concerning the Manchus and other ethnic groups. Without this reckoning process, the Manchus will never be able to become a member of China. This is the consensus of our Party and a principle that we cannot compromise on.

We welcome the emperor's voluntary abdication, but we will not accept the so-called transfer of ruling power, because the legitimacy of the new China comes from the people's relinquishment of power, not from the previous rulers. What right does a dying dynasty, unable to maintain its rule, have to relinquish the power to rule the people? This is both a denial of the revolution and a denial of the people's democratic rights, which our Party will absolutely not accept.

Liang Qichao was speechless for a moment, and after a long silence, he questioned them somewhat irrationally: "Although the Manchus committed excessive killings when they entered the Central Plains, they still managed to bring Manchuria, Mongolia, Xinjiang, and Tibet into China. You insist on settling accounts with the Manchus for their historical responsibility, but have you ever considered the feelings of the Mongols, Tibetans, and Uyghurs? If they were to propose independence from China, would you agree to that?"

Qin Lishan looked at Liang Qichao and shook his head slightly, saying, "I have already stated the Party's principles. The new China ultimately comes from the transfer of power by the people, not from the ownership of land. What slave would be proud of the slave owner's property? As long as it is the will of the people, our Party will naturally obey."