Gongren got off the boat not far from the wharf of Wuchang City, and after walking a few steps, he saw a tall city wall standing in front of him, with three big characters of "Wushengmen" written on it. Calculate, the city wall is three or four zhang high, the thickness is also five or six zhang wide, the wide and thick cyan city bricks make the city wall slightly inclined inward, the city gate is recessed into a piece, the outer side of the city wall is built with a pheasant moat, which is just conducive to the soldiers defending the city to shoot directly at the enemy of the city gate from the side of the city wall, and the low wall on the inner side has no battlements, and there is a female wall to prevent the soldiers from falling down when walking back and forth.

The arrow tower on the second floor, the eaves and arches, the whole wooden skeleton is integrated, and the top is paved with pieces of tiles to shelter from the wind and rain. Although the turrets and walls of the city were already covered with grass and were somewhat decayed, if there was a military attack, the whole city would still be a solid fortress without artillery fire.

Gong Ren turned around again and looked across the vast and surging waters of the Yangtze River, opposite the luxurious foreign concessions of Hankow, where foreign warships were floating on the river, and the black muzzles of the guns were aimed at the Chinese territories on both sides of the strait. If you revolt and attack Wuchang City from outside the city, there will be fierce artillery fire from foreign warships behind you, and there will be locust-like bullets on the fortified city head-on, it will definitely be very unfavorable to the attackers, and it can also be said that Wuchang City is easy to defend and difficult to attack.

When Gong Ren entered the city, he saw that although the streets and alleys on both sides were only three or four people wide and looked a little dilapidated, there were many shops and the trade was still thriving. Bypassing a dirt mountain called Daguan Mountain, passing by several garrison camps, I came to a place called Loess Slope, and saw that among the many trading houses, there was a two-story restaurant, which was located in it without showing the mountain and not leaking. On the second floor, there is a sign stretching out, with four big characters written on it, "Tongxing Restaurant", which shakes slightly in the breeze.

Gong Ren swaggered into the restaurant and found a vacant seat to sit down. After a while, a runner came to Gongren and politely asked, "Sir, what do you want?" Gong Ren vigilantly noticed with the eyes of a soldier that the person who ran the hall must have been from the army, and he was also quietly looking at his identity. Casually, serve two dishes and a pot of wine. Gong Ren said. The runner shouted: "Two dishes and a pot of wine." So he hurriedly beckoned the other guests to go.

Gong Ren observed that most of the people who came to eat were New Army soldiers, and they were all talking. When he served food on each table, he readjusted the spoon handle of the soup on the table, and almost every spoon was facing him. The New Army soldiers looked at the handle of the spoon, and a dozen pairs of vigilant eyes from all angles watched them from time to time, and their loud voices changed to whispers.

Gong Ren thought to himself, it seems that the vigilance here is strangely high, the spoon handle is clearly a code, where the spoon is pointed, there will be danger. Unexpectedly, this set of gangs is used here, it is really a big knife in front of Guan Gong, and a three-character scripture is sold in front of Confucius.

After a while, the wine and food came up to the hall, and the public enjoyed the food and wine slowly. Some soldiers said a few words and walked to the back yard, and Gong Ren also put down his chopsticks and walked to the back yard.

Suddenly, the runner stopped Gong Ren and said, "Sir, sir, please stay." Gong Ren said, "I go up to the back of the thatched house?" The runner said, "The thatched house is here, please—" As he spoke, he led Gong Ren to the door of the hotel, in a small dirty public toilet.

Gong Ren didn't say anything, and continued to calm down when he came back, pricking up his ears to listen to what the soldiers were talking about.

One soldier said: "The Guangzhou Revolutionary Party has already taken action and has turned Guangzhou into chaos." We also have guns in our hands, what are we waiting for here? Some soldiers said, "When are we going to do it, we can't just watch the excitement!" Some said: "You have to wait for the opportunity, you can't mess around, I heard about the Guangzhou Revolutionary Party riot, and 72 people died." You have to hold your breath when you do anything, and you can't hold your breath. Another soldier said indignantly, "Calm down, when will it be, not until the beard is gray......

Gong Ren was happy in his heart, it turned out that these were all revolutionary parties, but he had found his own people. After Gong Ren finished eating, he sat on the stool again and continued to eavesdrop on their discussions. Seeing that Gongren was always not leaving, the runner came over and persuaded Gongren with a pleasant face: "Sir, if you are full of food and drink, please go out early!" ”

Gong Ren's face changed, and he said: "Get the money for eating, take the money for the store, how can you be like this, you can pick people up casually, do you still want to do this business!" The person who ran the hall still smiled and said, "Sir, don't get me wrong, we are here in a military hotel, specially for entertaining soldiers." No, the seat is tight, and you have to take care of our business. ”

Gong Ren's face became even more ugly, and he said, "Please come to your shopkeeper?" The runner looked at Gong Ren's outfit, and knew that Gong Ren was not a great character, and said softly and hardly: "I'm sorry, our shopkeeper is busy, I don't accompany you." ”

Gong Ren slammed the table, shaking the dishes and chopsticks all over the table, and roared loudly: "Why is this the case, Lao Tzu, I just won't leave today, I have to talk to your shopkeeper's theory!" ”

It didn't matter if Gong Ren slapped the table, and several soldiers cast angry eyes. The shopkeeper also came out of the room when he heard the voice, arched his hand towards Gong Ren, and said politely: "Which one is so magnificent!" ”

Gong Ren looked at the shopkeeper who came over, with a burly figure, a square face, a heroic spirit between his eyebrows, wearing a blue and black robe, and he knew that he was a soldier with every move. Gong Ren yelled at him, "I, what's the matter? Is that how you treat your guests? He naturally wiped his eyebrows with a handful.

The shopkeeper groaned slightly, smiled at Gong Ren and said: "The subordinates are not well taken care of, the fault of the inferior people, the fault of the inferior people, please - I will accompany you inside!?" Gong Ren strode towards the back, and the shopkeeper hurriedly led the way in front, out of the hall, into the small courtyard, and then led Gong Ren into a relatively hidden house, entered the house, and plugged in the door.

Gong Ren took two steps back, crossed his left foot, and touched his eyebrows with his right hand.

The shopkeeper asked, "Where did you come from?" Gong Ren said, "From the south." The treasurer asked, "Where are you going?" Gong Ren replied, "Go north." Then the shopkeeper asked, "Who is your friend?" Gong Ren replied: "Lu Haodong, Shi Jianru." The shopkeeper smiled and said, "The gods and goddesses have created China, digging wells and cultivating fields everywhere." Gong Ren said: "The splendid mountains and rivers will last forever, and the children and grandchildren will stay together." ”

The shopkeeper said: "A source of water flows for thousands of miles, and the Han family has risen to the central government." Gong Ren said: "Since Pai Yan is divided into north and south, the momentum is unstoppable. ”

The shopkeeper paused and said, "The atmosphere of the family in the hall is new, and the family is reluctant. Gong Ren smiled and said: "The new and conservative are the same, and you must recognize the enmity and hatred." ”

Gong Ren tore open his shirt, took out the letter of introduction and handed it over, the shopkeeper looked at it, grabbed Gong Ren's hand and said, "Deng Yulin, I've been waiting for you for a long time!" Gong Ren said: "In Xia Gong Ren, I am fortunate to meet comrades from Hubei today. Fortunately! Fortunately! Deng Yulin hurriedly beckoned Gong Ren to sit down, made a cup of hot tea for Gong Ren, and made a cup himself, and then sat down steadily, and had a happy conversation with Gong Ren.

After gossiping for a while, Gong Ren said: "Long story short, can you quickly introduce me to the situation in Hubei?" ”

Deng Yulin took a sip of tea and said unhurriedly: "The revolutionary situation in Hubei has to start from Wuchang Garden Mountain. In May 1903, Wu Luzhen set up a secret agency in Wuchang and carried out secret work. Wu Luzhen, you may not be familiar with it......" Gong Ren smiled and said, "Wu Luzhen, old friend." That's right, he also participated in the uprising of the Self-Reliance Army, and he was also my leader. However, there are some other things about him that I am not familiar with, so please tell me about it! ”

Deng Yulin said: "He is a native of Yunmeng, Hubei, in 1896 into the Hubei Military Academy to study, in 1897 by Zhang Zhidong sent to the Japanese non-commissioned officer school to learn cavalry, participated in the Xingzhong Society, in 1900 participated in the Tang Caichang Self-Reliance Army Datong Uprising, after the failure of the self-reliance army, still returned to the Japanese non-commissioned officer school to study. First of all, he and his organs vigorously propagated anti-Qing revolutionary ideas, and books such as "Fierce Return" and "Warning Bell" were widely circulated in Wuhan's academic and military circles. The second is to send intellectuals to infiltrate the new army and practice the 'camp-raising doctrine', which means that the best comrades should be thrown into the army as soldiers, and gradually inculcate the soldiers' hatred of the Manchus in preparation for the future uprising. Because Wu Luzhen was valued by Zhang Zhidong, a large number of revolutionary youths entered the New Army through Wu Luzhen's introduction. Later, the activities of Huayuanshan aroused Zhang Zhidong's vigilance, and he adopted the method of drawing salaries from the bottom of the kettle and transferred the backbone of the Huayuanshan organs separately, so that Wuchang temporarily lost the leadership of the revolutionary organs, but the revolutionary seeds sown in Wuchang Huayuanshan took root, blossomed, and bore fruit in the days to come. Later, revolutionary organizations such as the Science Tutorial Institute and the Richikai Society appeared, and after some setbacks and integrations, they have now developed into two major organizations, the Gongjin Association and the Literary Society. The leaders of the Communist Advancement Association mainly include Liu Gong, Sun Wu, Liu Ying and others, and the main members of the Association are the party and the military. The leaders of the literary society mainly include Jiang Yiwu, Zhan Dabei, Zhang Zhenwu and others, and all of them are army soldiers. Although the two organizations are very active, they do their own work and do not interact with each other. ”

Gong Ren heard the problem from his words, and interjected: "How bad is that, to hold a big event, the two organizations must unite. If we do not unite, we will not be able to check and exclude each other, and this will affect the entire great cause of the revolution. ”

Deng Yulin said: "Who says no, in the same standard and battalion, the two groups have their own representatives, the same soldiers, and the two groups compete with each other, causing a lot of contradictions. For example, Zhang Yukun and Huang Weihan, soldiers of the horse team, had already joined the Literature Society, and the Gongjin Association held a meeting and invited Zhang Yukun and Huang Weihan to participate. Yang Yuru took out the volunteer form for the two to fill in, Huang Weihan held a pen to fill it in, and Zhang Yukun left without filling it out. After Zhang Yukun returned to the team, he reported the matter to the team's literary club, and accused Huang Weihan of not filling out the volunteer form of the Communist Party through the organization alone, which was very bad and almost caused a quarrel. For the sake of friendship, some soldiers of the standard and battalion did not participate in the Communist Association and the Literary Society, and some only participated in activities and did not participate in the two factions. The leaders of the two groups often boasted of their large numbers and even hated each other, which caused a lot of trouble for the revolutionary activities. ”

Gong Ren said: "Then we have to unite, otherwise once something happens, if you and I don't fight, it will be even more troublesome." ”

Deng Yulin said: "For the sake of unity, the revolutionaries of the two factions have done a great deal of work. Well, we have finally decided to hold a meeting tomorrow to discuss the joint matter, and although you are new to the city, I can't let you attend the meeting, but you can sit in on it. ”

Gong Ren said, "Then thank you." Gong Ren thought for a while and asked, "What kind of work did I come here for, could you please arrange it?" Deng Yulin thought for a while and said, "It is imperative that you have a professional cover to deal with those secret agents who are clear of dogs." Well, there are a few spare rooms across the door, and you can open a bookstore, so that you can secretly sell some revolutionary books and do some propaganda for the revolution, and second, we can be close to each other so that we can take care of each other. Gong Ren said, "Then thank you." ”

When Deng Yulin sent Gongren to the door of the dining room, Gongren still looked angry, and shouted loudly: "What kind of restaurant is this, how can you treat guests like this." I'm in a hurry, I have to smash your hotel! Deng Yulin respectfully accompanied the smiling face behind and said: "The guests are angry, the guests are angry, I will definitely take care of these eyes that don't have long eyes." ”

The next day, Deng Yulin took Gongren to No. 7 Wuchang Watershed, Deng Yulin knocked on the door with a code, and a short man, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, came to open the door. After he let Deng Yulin and Gong Ren into the house, he looked outside vigilantly and quickly closed the door.

Deng Yulin saw that the young man's eyes showed a hesitant look, and he couldn't stop looking at Gong Ren, and hurriedly introduced: "This is what I told you, Comrade Gong Ren from Guangzhou. He said to Gong Ren: "This is Comrade Sun Wu." ”

Sun Wu grabbed Gongren's hand and said: "Looking forward to the stars and the moon, I finally looked forward to you, from now on, we will have the direct leadership of the Alliance." Gong Ren smiled modestly and said, "How can it, you still do it, I am not familiar with the situation here, at most, it is to ventilate with Guangzhou and report the news." ”

Sun Wu introduced Gao Shangzhi, a member of the Communist Party next to him, and Yang Yuru to Gong Ren, and several people exchanged a few words of greeting.

Deng Yulin said to Sun Wu: "Otherwise, let Gongren participate in the meeting after a while." Gong Renqian said to Deng Yulin: "I'm afraid this is not good, the original plan was not good without me, and it is not good to mix it temporarily." Besides, there are many situations that I am not familiar with and cannot interject. ”

Sun Wu was quite enthusiastic just now, but when he heard that Gongren was holding a meeting, he kept his face up, closed his mouth and didn't say anything. Deng Yulin saw that Sun Wu didn't speak, so he had no choice but to say to Gong Ren: "It's okay, we have a meeting with the Literary Society, and I don't know how the meeting will go, so it's okay if you don't expose it." Gong Ren said, "That's the best." ”

After a while, there was a rhythmic knock at the door, "Dang Dang Dang, Dang Dang Dang," which paused for a moment and knocked again.

Deng Yulin opened the door and brought in a simple young man of medium height and slender eyes, followed by a small man, partial-headed, and very alert young man.

Sun Wu hurriedly stepped forward, took the hand of the slender-eyed young man, and said enthusiastically, "Hello Mr. Jiang! Hello! He greeted the young man behind him and said, "Brother Liu, fortunately!" Fortunately! Through their words, Gong Ren knew that Mr. Jiang was Jiang Yiwu, and Brother Liu was Liu Fuji.

Jiang Yiwu just smiled, didn't speak, and when he arrived at the hall, he sat on the upper seat.

Liu Fuji was very lively and talkative, took a dig in Deng Yulin's armpit, and said: "Boss Deng, your hotel, so many brothers come every day, you must have made a fortune, you have to bleed." When are you going to invite us to a table? ”

Deng Yulin knocked on Liu Fuji's stomach and said: "Your belly, if you fall into the noodle jar, you won't grow meat, and you can't raise oil when you soak it in an oil drum, what's the matter, it's all too much heart, and it falls!" Besides, my threshold is too high for you to climb up. ”

After the two of them quarreled for a while, Liu Fuji glanced at Gongren and said, "This gentleman is so good-looking?" Deng Yulin was about to introduce, but Gong Ren hurriedly said: "I am a guy from Tongxing Restaurant, and I came out to play with Boss Deng." ”

Liu Fuji didn't say a word, Meng Guding's fist hit Gong Ren's chest, Gong Ren subconsciously flicked his left hand, pulled Liu Fuji's right hand out, and then slapped his left hand towards Liu Fuji's chest, just at the moment when he was about to hit the skin, he took back the vertical palm.

Liu Fuji smiled and said: "I am also from a military background, I think there is still a little kung fu." Gongren hurriedly said modestly: "Where, where, there is no return of rudeness." ”

Everyone was lively for a while, and then they sat on their chairs one after another, and Gong Ren flashed to the side, listening attentively to the movement outside and observing the pedestrians outside.

Deng Yulin came straight to the point and said: "Revolutionary comrades, after several rounds of consultations, our Communist Party and the Literary Society have finally sat together. As long as our two factions unite, the revolutionary forces in Hubei will be much stronger, and only when the two factions unite will we have the strength to carry out a military uprising. Let's just discuss the joint matter, talk about it casually, talk about it casually. ”

Everyone was silent for a while, but they were actually listening to Sun Wu and Jiang Yiwu, Sun Wu had the highest prestige in the Communist Association, and Jiang Yiwu was the president of the Literary Society.

After a pause, Jiang Yiwu finally spoke, he spoke clearly and clearly: "After the 4 and 27 Guangzhou Uprising, the whole country was filled with righteous indignation, and an armed uprising was imperative. The Hubei revolutionaries are the strongest in the Literary Society and the Communist Advancement Association, as long as we unite, are we afraid that the revolution will not succeed? But I think that everything has a priority, so that it is conducive to unified command and unified action, and if these two organizations are united, who will be the main one? That is, who is the main leader? After Jiang Yiwu finished saying this, he didn't say anything else, but swept everyone around with bright eyes.

Everyone was watching him and listening to what he was saying.

After being silent for a while, Jiang Yiwu said: "It turns out that all the uprisings have been uprisings of the Hui Party, and the Hui Party is loosely organized, second, the weapons and equipment are poor, and the third is that they are running and screaming when they are victorious, and they are rushing to run for their lives when they fail, so they can't be a big deal." This uprising should be dominated by the army, and it is precisely the shortcomings of the party that are the advantages of the army, and our army is well organized, well armed and equipped, and able to resolutely carry out orders. The Literary Society is the most powerful in the military, so I say that if the two factions are united, the Literary Society should be the main force. ”

After Jiang Yiwu finished speaking, he glanced at everyone with confident eyes, hoping to get everyone's support.

The people of the Literature Club burst into sparse applause, and Liu Fuji of the United Literature Club did not echo the voice, and the people of the Communist Association did not speak. Gong Ren thought, Jiang Yiwu went around such a big circle, it turned out that he wanted power!

Sun Wu's voice was not loud, but he said very clearly: "President Jiang is right, this uprising must be dominated by the army. But then again, revolution is not just a matter for the army, nor is it just a matter for the Hubei Revolutionary Party, but for the entire Chinese Revolutionary Party and the Chinese nation. The Gongjin Association was a system of confederacy associations, which had liaison with the revolutionary parties in all provinces, and its number in the Hubei army was not under the literary society. Therefore, I suggest that if the two factions are united, the Communists should be the main ones. ”

Jiang Yiwu's face was a little ugly, while Sun Wu looked aggressive, and the audience was a little embarrassed for a while. When the male toughness saw it, it was broken, and the cow came up.

After a pause, Deng Yulin said: "I see, as long as it is united, there is no need to argue about who is the master and who is secondary." At present, the great enemy must not spoil the overall situation for the sake of minor issues. Liu Fuji stared at his little eyes, and also interjected: "Our two groups are both for the purpose of sweeping away the Tartars and establishing a republic as the purpose of the revolution. ”

Gao Shangzhi and Yang Yuru also expressed their views, supporting the views of Deng Yulin and Liu Fuji.

Jiang Yiwu stopped talking, quietly listening to everyone's opinions, as if thinking attentively. Sun Wu straightened his belt, clapped his pistol, glanced at Deng Yulin, and then said: "In whose hands is the leadership of the revolution in whose hands, this is a major question of right and wrong. I think, first, that this leader must have a high prestige in order to be able to respond to the revolutionary party; The second is that this leader must be wise and wise, so as to ensure the success of the uprising; Third, this leader has to maintain smooth contact with the leaders of the revolutionaries and the League throughout the country, without which it will not work......"

Liu Fuji suddenly interrupted Sun Wu and said, "Does that mean that this leader can't do it if you don't do it!" ”

Sun Wu did not immediately express his position, but closed his eyes slightly, habitually arranging his armed belt.

Deng Yulin saw that the wave had just calmed down and the wave was rising again, and he hurriedly said: "That's not what President Sun meant, and what Chairman Sun meant was to choose an excellent leader, so as to ensure the success of the uprising...... What do I mean? The two factions still have to focus on unity, and the rest of the matters can be discussed later. ”

Sun Wu glanced at Deng Yulin, obviously dissatisfied with his slimy and ambiguous words.

Jiang Yiwu looked at Sun Wu and then at Deng Yulin, wanted to speak, but endured it and did not speak. Liu Fuji was still angry with Sun Wu and glanced at him dissatisfied. Comrades, you look at me, I look at you, they are all muttering quietly, obviously everyone has their own opinions.

Gong Ren couldn't help it, stood forward, and said impassionedly: "Comrades, we have only one enemy, and that is the Qing government, and our alliance is only one, that is, all revolutionary party groups that oppose the Qing government. From the Guangzhou Uprising in 1895 to the Independence Army Uprising in 1900, the Huizhou Sanzhoutian Uprising, from the Pingliuli Uprising in 1906 to the Chaozhou Huanggang Uprising in 1907, the Fangcheng Uprising, the Zhennanguan Uprising, from the Qinlian and Shangsi Uprisings in 1908, the Hekou Uprising to the Guangzhou New Army Uprising in 1910, and the Huanghuagang Uprising this year, how many good comrades we sacrificed and how much blood we shed. Thinking of such a good comrade who has sacrificed his life, do we still have the face to argue in front of them about who is the leader and who is not? ”

One stone stirred up a thousand waves, and there was some chaos in the venue for a while, many people cast approving glances at Gong Ren, and many people expressed dissatisfaction with Gong Ren, an outsider, casually interjecting.

Jiang Yiwu closed his eyes slightly, thinking about Gong Ren's words. Sun Wu was a little angry, as if he was talking to Deng Yulin, but in fact, others heard it: "What is this person doing, I'm afraid it's not appropriate to speak, right?" ”

Deng Yulin felt bad about Sun Wu's words, so he had to bow his head and remain silent.

Liu Fuji said loudly: "Don't look at this person as just a young man from Tongxing Restaurant, it makes sense to speak." He can think like that, and we should all focus on the big picture. ”

But Jiang Yiwu still didn't speak.

Sun Wu was angry with the public, but when he saw everyone's faces, he was afraid that if he continued to talk about it, it would cause everyone's annoyance, so he didn't speak again. Since neither of the two leaders expressed their positions, there was no practical result of the meeting, and everyone talked about their views for a while, and had to break up unhappily.