Ruizi is the grandson of the university scholar Qishan, and he is a gentleman. He has no talents, and he doesn't have much ink in his belly, but he is extremely jealous. Because he was a mess of his own books, he looked down on people who read the most, especially those who came from military schools, and in his eyes they were all revolutionaries.

In the spring of 1910, the year before the Wuchang Uprising, Ruizi came to Hubei with great ambition and took over as Chen Changlong as governor.

As soon as he arrived in Wuchang, he gave Li Yuanhong a dismount.

According to the usual practice, when the governor arrives, the heads of departments and above should hand in their resumes as self-introductions.

Zhang Biao is the boss of the military circles, so he handed over his resume first.

Ruizi looked at it very carefully, and after reading it, he nodded with satisfaction: "You have followed Zhang Xiangguo (Zhang Zhidong) for many years, you were born in the army, you made a career very early, you should not have two hearts for the imperial court, we think you are trustworthy." ”

It was Li Yuanhong's turn, after reading his resume, he took off his glasses, looked at Li Yuanhong carefully, and said, "What, are you from the Beiyang Sailor Academy?" We are very suspicious, I heard that the school is full of revolutionary parties, and you have military power in your hands, but we are not at ease. ”

Li Yuanhong is very popular among these officials, and he didn't expect the new governor to talk to Li Yuanhong like this as soon as they met, and they were all a little worried about Li Yuanhong.

Li Yuanhong didn't say anything, and said calmly: "The people who came out of the military academy only know that the duty of a soldier is to obey orders, and they don't know what a revolutionary party is. ”

After hearing this, Ruizi felt that Li Yuanhong was not bumping into himself softly or hard, so he asked Zhang Biao angrily: "Do you know him?" Do you know who he is? Even if he didn't make a revolution, wouldn't his soldiers make a revolution? You tell me! ”

Zhang Biao replied: "The soldiers of Hubei have always received military education, and they only know how to defend the country, and they don't know anything else. ”

"So, we can all sit back and relax? Seeing that everyone didn't speak, he turned to Li Yuanhong and said, "I said that I wanted to say it, but don't mind." ”

When Lafayette was alive, he heard Lafayette say more than once: "It is Hubei that cultivates talents, and talents can be owned by us, of course, it is very good, but talents become a big problem, which worries me the most." ”

When he did not come to Hubei to take office, he heard of Li Yuanhong on many occasions. I also discussed with a few friends who talked about everything, and in terms of his style, this Li Yuanhong is very much like a revolutionary party.

As soon as they met, seeing Li Yuanhong's talent and righteous demeanor, he immediately remembered Lafayette's words for some reason. On the one hand, he knocked Li Yuanhong in front of everyone, and on the other hand, he also stood up for himself in front of everyone.

He has always believed that to be an official you must have authority, and only when you speak can people listen.

Seeing that everyone was in danger, the governor felt that the purpose had been achieved and the effect was achieved, so he pulled the words back.

After Ruizi arrived, after further contact with Li Yuanhong, he felt more and more that Li Yuanhong was different, and he was not an ordinary person, so he became more and more suspicious.

He went to the imperial court and the Ministry of War several times to demand that Li Yuanhong be dismissed from his military post. Because he couldn't produce convincing evidence, he couldn't do it.

There was no impermeable wall, and soon after Ruizi took office in Hubei, he heard rumors of the revolutionaries carrying out large-scale activities in the army. On September 24, 1911, after the Nanhu Artillery Incident, the air in Hubei became even more tense, and Ruizi felt as if he was sitting on a volcanic crater.

He trusted Zhang Biao but not Li Yuanhong, and after avoiding Li Yuanhong and Zhang Biao's secret discussion, Zhang Biao ordered the triggers of the guns of each battalion to be unloaded, and together with the bullets, they were sent to the warehouse of the Chuwangtai Ordnance Bureau. From the platoon commander to the assistant commander, they must rest in the barracks every day, and the soldiers are not allowed to leave the barracks.

Not only the barracks, but also the military police have been questioning pedestrians everywhere on the streets for several days.

Hubei Patrol Police Dao Wang Lukang ordered: "All hotels and schools will be investigated, and if there are anyone with suspicious behaviors, arrest immediately." ”

On 2 and 3 October, Ruizi convened a meeting of civil and military officials, saying that he had received definite information that the revolutionaries would start an incident on 15 August.

The revolutionaries did decide to revolt on August 15, borrowing a folk legend from the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty: "Kill the Tartars on August 15." "There were also later measures such as the Mid-Autumn Festival in the military camp in advance.

At the meeting, Ruizi asked everyone what is the best plan? Some people have suggested that Chu Wangtai is the most important. Once the gun triggers and bullets fall into the hands of the party, the consequences are unimaginable.

Ruizi asked, "Who guards the Chuwangtai Armory?" ”

Someone replied: "Engineering Eighth Battalion." ”

At this time, Ruan Rongfa, the acting leader of the Eighth Engineering Battalion, stood up and reported: As far as he knows, there are indeed quite a few revolutionaries in the Eighth Engineering Battalion, and it is really difficult to say whether Chu Wangtai can hold it.

Tie Zhong proposed: The first battalion of the 31st standard is full of people, and it must be reliable, so it is better to transfer them to guard Chuwangtai.

Li Yuanhong said: "I have a lot of rumors in Chu, and I am calm today. If there are many revolutionaries, it will be unpredictable, and a small number of banner soldiers, how can it help? The Manchurian and Han borders were strict, and there was a revolutionary party at the beginning, but now the banner people are replaced by guards, and the army and the people have misunderstood, but they are taken advantage of by the revolution to incite. According to Yu Guan, there are many children of Wuchang Huangpi in the engineering battalion, and most of them have parents, wives and children nearby, and the former battalion commander Li Keguo has a harmonious relationship. ”

The Eighth Engineering Battalion belonged to Zhang Biao's department, and he did not want anyone to say that there were many revolutionaries in this battalion, so he immediately expressed his agreement with Li Yuanhong's opinion.

The two bigwigs in the army have spoken, and what else do others have to say. Afterwards, it was really the Eighth Battalion of the Engineering that took the lead in the incident, and then occupied Chuwangtai, Li Yuanhong's words should have inadvertently helped Shouyi.

As mentioned earlier, the planned uprising in Wuchang was completely leaked due to the accidental bombing of the office of the Baoshan-ri Communist Association on 9 October. The three martyrs of the First Uprising, Peng Chufan, Liu Fuji, and Yang Hongsheng, were arrested that night and killed in the early morning of the next day. The biggest threat is that the roster of rebels has fallen into the hands of Ruizi.

On the morning of 10 October, Zhang Biao convened an emergency meeting of important personnel in the army, at which a dispute broke out between Li Yuanhong and Tie Zhong.

"The roster of officers obtained is too much involved and should be postponed to avoid drastic changes," Lai said. ”

Mr. Tie retorted: "Wuchang's troops for the country are at least eight or nine thousand, so why worry about two or three thousand soldiers. Anti? If you don't put it out quickly, you will be arrested according to the roster, punished according to law, and let the chaotic party run rampant, not only will you not be able to deal with the commander, but what will he say to the emperor! After a pause, he then said directly: "Just now, Commander Li said that the matter should be done peacefully and slowly, and not to be in a hurry, for fear of arousing the morale of the army and causing a big change, I cannot agree with this proposition." ”

After hearing this, Li Yuanhong said excitedly: "I'm talking about a peaceful postponement, not a non-implementation. If there is credible evidence in the arrest, it should be dealt with strictly, not tolerated and nurtured. Don't misunderstand, Senator, I have always been ordered to do things, and I dare not disobey them. ”

On the same day, when Ruizi summoned Li Yuanhong, when talking about the list of seized revolutionaries, Li Yuanhong once again proposed that the search for party members was too hasty, and that the investigation of party members would be too hasty, and that it would cause a bigger incident.

After Ruizi got the roster, he first paid attention to whether Li Yuanhong was on the list, but he didn't see Li's name, and he didn't completely dispel his suspicion of Li Yuanhong. At this moment, after listening to Li Yuanhong's words, he thought that he was exonerating the revolutionaries from their crimes, and their suspicions about him became even heavier. There was no evidence, so Li Yuanhong could only be severely reprimanded, and strictly ordered to take people from Li Yuanhong's department according to the roster.

Li Yuanhong did not dare to continue to argue, and retreated in a huff.

When he returned home, Li Yuanhong said to his family with a sad face: "I killed three revolutionaries early this morning and found the roster of revolutionaries, most of whom are soldiers of the New Army. ”

As mentioned earlier, Ruizi's master once advised him to destroy the roster in public, which was consistent with Li Yuanhong's opinion. And we already know that the self-righteous Ruizi neither listened to the master nor Li Yuanhong. Instead, he ordered Zhang Biao to order the gate of Wuchang to be closed to prevent the people on the roster from fleeing.

At noon, a meeting of the water patrol division and the ministers, ministers, and police officers of the army, constitutional, and police was called to strictly order that the party members should be "searched and arrested as much as possible to eradicate the root plant." He also ordered the commanders of each battalion to strictly monitor the soldiers, and the battalion sent cronies to guard the battalions and inspect the battalions with arms, so that everyone in the barracks was in danger for a while. It can be said that all parties contributed to the joint action, and that night, the first uprising in Wuchang happened.

We already know that the Eighth Engineering Battalion, which fired the first shot of Wuchang Shouyi, took the lead in rushing to Chuwangtai under the leadership of Xiong Bingkun.

Cai Jimin, who was anxiously waiting for the signal of the uprising, heard the gunshots, rushed out of the barracks, fired a few shots into the sky, shouted that the uprising had begun, and rushed out of the barracks with people. The banner soldiers who were blocking were immediately killed, and more than 300 people followed him to Chuwangtai.

Peng Jilin, who was 30 bids, shouted on the roof of the barracks after hearing the gunshots. Everyone "went down from the upper floor, not hearing human voices, only hearing foot sounds". Wu Xinghan's first battalion was mostly flag soldiers, and a small number of Han soldiers also rushed out under his leadership. Gao Xiangchen used his body to file at the camp gate, but to no avail. According to the prior agreement, the rebels of the 30 bids also rushed to Chu Wangtai.

The revolutionaries of the 31st and 41st bids also arrived.

The students of the Surveying and Mapping School were led by Li Yidong, and they went out collectively.

When the Nanhu artillery team heard the gunfire of the uprising, they looked at the flames in the direction of Tangjiao in the north of the city, Xu Wannian and others dragged out the cannons, fired several cannons into the sky, and then dragged more than ten cannons to Chuwangtai. Walked to Changhong Bridge and encountered ambushes, they routed them. Soon they met Jin Zhaolong's men who came to meet them.

Then, the rebels from Zizhong and the two engineering teams who had arrived from Raocheng in Tangjiao, outside the city, also rushed to the assembly area. Chuwangtai became the headquarters of the uprising, and more than 2,000 people had gathered. Under the command of Wu Zhaolin, the temporary commander-in-chief, at 11 o'clock in the evening attacked the governor's palace and Zhang Biao's command yamen.