Civil war! If it is a small-scale military conflict, it may be tolerated, but if it is a big civil war that can destabilize the overall situation, it is what the East China Autonomous Political Axe resolutely wants to stop.

"Chairman of the Committee, my subordinates believe that we should immediately telegraph the provinces to keep calm so that the situation does not expand." Zhang Taiyan spoke.

"Sun Yat-sen has always been good at deception, and his subordinates thought that he should send troops to suppress the Kuomintang." Tao Chengzhang echoed.

Obviously, these high-ranking personnel from the Liberation Society were determined to overthrow the Kuomintang.

As for those old subordinates who started with Xia Jun in Jian'an, they have little intersection with the revolutionary party, and they basically have no opinion.

However, there are also some revolutionaries within the Ba'ath Party, such as Li Yizhi, Minister of Water Resources, who stood up and said: "Chairman, there is no objection to the subordinates on the matter of stopping the civil war, but there is one matter that the subordinates have not figured out. ”

"What's the matter?" Xia Jun asked.

"Why should we tolerate the existence of the Beiyang political axe?" Li Yizhi asked.

"It's a bit complicated." Xia Jun looked around and said, "I think there are some of you here who don't understand why, so today I will explain to you the future plan of our East China Autonomous Political Axe." ”

"The reason why our East China Autonomous Political Axe allows the existence of Beiyang Political Axe is out of consideration for the overall situation of stability." Xia Jun said to everyone: "It is no longer an era of dominating the world and having one emperor in the world. What we are seeking is not to destroy other forces in order to dominate the world. What we are pursuing is to rejuvenate the nation and win foreign wars. Internally, we seek stability and do our utmost to protect the people of the provinces from oppression. ”

"So our strategy is not simply to eliminate such and such forces, but to try to guide those forces in a good direction. As for how to guide it, I think that our force is our basic guarantee, and on this guarantee, we can get the provincial forces to recognize the law we have proposed, and if anyone violates the law, we will impose sanctions on whoever is in order to restrain the warlords in the provinces. Then, the pattern of provincial autonomy was initially formed. ”

Xia Jun said forcefully: "We should remain neutral in all kinds of political behaviors, we don't care whether the Kuomintang is hypocritical or not, and we don't care whether the Beiyang political axe is counter-revolutionary. As for all kinds of acts of unleashing civil wars by force and exploiting compatriots, we should put a stop to the political axe of East China's autonomy, in the final analysis, that is, we will gradually draw a circle for the warlords, and if they cross the line, it will be regarded as a provocation to our East China Autonomous political axe. ”

There was warm applause in the conference room, and You Zhengbin applauded and said: "We support the neutral politics of the chairman. ”

"There is a bottom line for maintaining neutrality, and what the chairman said is extremely true."

Xia Jun looked at Li Yizhi and asked, "Do you still have doubts?" ”

"There are no subordinates left." Li Yizhi nodded and sat down.

For Li Yizhi, a member of the revolutionary party, their stance has changed dramatically, they used to shout revolution, but now they shout revival.

The dramatic changes in the three provinces of East China convinced them that revival was more correct than revolution, and that the system and atmosphere of the three provinces of East China were ideal.

Revolution, what is there after the revolution?

Just a war-torn country.

"Chairman of the committee, Yuan Shikai is in an emergency." At this time, a correspondent ran in and handed over a telegram to Xia Jun.

Xia Jun took the telegram and read it, looked up and said to everyone in the conference room: "Yuan Shikai has sent a telegram to ask about the position of our East China Autonomous Political Axe, I think we have to take action." ”

"Chairman, my subordinates thought that the power of thunder should be used to calm the Kuomintang in order to stabilize the current situation. Then negotiate peacefully with Yuan Shikai about the salt tax. ”

"If the current situation is not good, it will lead to a large-scale civil war, and even let the situation get out of control.

"My subordinates also think so......"

"If we want to prevent the recurrence of the civil war, we should make an example of the chickens and monkeys."

At the meeting, Xia Jun highly unified internal opinions, and no one opposed the policy of neutrality and the idea of any form of civil war.

After the opinions within the Baath Party were unified, Xia Jun was also relieved.

The main purpose of this meeting is to unify internal opinions, otherwise when he makes a move, the internal chaos will be really unprepared.

Now that the words are clear, and the internal opinions are unified, Xia Jun will be able to let go.

"We should give the KMT a chance, after all, we haven't expressed our position beforehand." Xia Jun said, "If the Kuomintang does not immediately stop starting a civil war, then we will send troops to stop it." ”

…… At 3 p.m. on 13 April, all provinces in China received telegrams from the East China Autonomous Government during this period.

"I hope that the governors of the provinces will maintain restraint and not be instigated by villains to disrupt the situation in China, and in addition, the political axe of our East China Autonomous Government promises to the people of the whole country that the salt tax turmoil will be resolved with the central government axe within one month......

…… After Sun Cannon shouted out the Second Revolution, it was quickly met with a cold reception, and the whole country was not all against the war, and since the East China Autonomous Political Axe represented by Xia Jun sent a telegram, very few provinces responded to the Second Revolution.

Yunnan Governor Cai Yi, after receiving a telegram from the East China Autonomous Government, also made a public statement in no uncertain terms: "The Song case should be punished by law, so the outcome of the trial will be determined by law." Let's ask about the current situation of our country, the weak breath is the only one left, and the people and gentlemen of the state will work together, and they will be flawless to save each other, how can they be in the same room and call themselves to split! Whoever is the culprit is the enemy. If someone makes a mistake, it should be regarded as a public enemy of the whole country. ”

Xu Xue'er, a well-known journalist who had been following and reporting on the "Song case" and identified Yuan Shikai as the mastermind of the Song murder, also published an article opposing the "Second Revolution" in the Kuomintang background "Minli Bao", in which he pointed out: "Now that we have been for the Republic of China, and if we seek chaos against the Republic of China, we are cutting ourselves off from the country, and the crime is unforgivable." That is, the political axe is evil, and the law and the Congress should eventually have the ability to solve it, and there is no need to plot chaos to disturb the common people. Therefore, the conspiracy is regarded by the businessmen and the people, and it is also abandoned by Mingda. ”

At the same time, the Hangzhou press and the Yanjing press all lashed out at the second revolution to the blood.

In fact, the Xinhai Revolution was more of a peaceful regime change than a violent revolution. After the establishment of the Republic of China, opposition to solving the problem by force became the general public opinion in China at that time, so it is reasonable to launch a civil war under the pretext of the "Song Case" and "Salt Tax", which was received coldly by the majority of the people.

Even within the KMT, there were many who objected to the use of force to resolve the "Song case"; As for the "salt tax", most people will know that it is inevitable to get out of the financial predicament after thinking about it. After the League was reorganized into the Kuomintang, due to the participation of some miscellaneous small parties, although the momentum was great, the elements were no longer pure, and many old comrades of the League also believed that the revolution had been accomplished.

However, the Second Revolution was not stopped because of this situation, Jiangsu first read Li, and then Yuan Shikai, supported by the East China Autonomous Political Axe, immediately dismissed the Jiangsu overseer Cheng Quande, the Anhui overseer Bai Wenwei, and the Guangdong overseer Hu Hanmin (who jointly controlled Guangdong with Chen Jiongming), and designated these three as rebellious parties. Subsequently, Anhui Bai Wenwei turned on the power of reading, and Hu Hanmin of Guangdong also announced the power of reading.

At the beginning of the outbreak of the "Second Revolution", many local officials, chambers of commerce, and their organizations sent messages opposing the use of force, as well as the strong opposition to the revolution from the East China Autonomous Government.

In this atmosphere of general support for the political axe, Yuan Shikai dismissed three overseers in a row under the pretext of maintaining the authority of the central government, which eventually intensified the conflict and triggered the first war after the Republic of China.

On April 14, Yuan Shikai urgently transferred Feng Guozhang's Second Army south to suppress the Second Revolution.

Feng Guozhang's Second Army was incorporated from the Manchu Janissaries, and the Second Army's stay in Yanjing has always made Yuan Shikai's bedroom uneasy, and the outbreak of the Second Revolution gave Yuan Shikai a chance to transfer Feng Guozhang.

On 18 April, Feng Guozhang's Second Army took a train along the Beijing-Pudong Railway all the way south to Xuzhou, where it joined forces with Zhang Xun in the Xuzhou area.

The East China Autonomous Government issued a second telegram of armistice, in which the wording was fierce, demanding that the Kuomintang in Nanjing immediately stop the civil war, otherwise it would be reprimanded to end the civil war by force.

At the same time, the Nanjing political axe has fallen into madness.

Huang Xing, the commander-in-chief of Yuan, gathered 50,000 people's troops to the north, and then fought with Zhang Xun and Feng Guozhang's troops outside Xuzhou, and Yuan's army was defeated at the first touch...... At the same time, a situation occurred that shocked Xia Jun.

The Beiyang Army gathered nearly 10,000 people, including Lei Zhenchun, Wang Yuxiu, and Lei Cunxiu, to encircle and suppress it. Lang broke out of the encirclement, and the troops were divided into two routes, one to the west to attack the Lu family, and the other to the south to break through Xichuan Xiping Town, Jingziguan and other places, and when posting notices, he claimed to be the commander of the Fu Han army of the Republic of China to fight against Yuan, and publicized the fight against Yuan.

Bai Lang is a peasant rebel army in modern China, to put it bluntly, he is an ancient thief, and there is no difference in the quality of his surname.

In the thirty-fourth year of Guangxu (1908), Lang was falsely imprisoned by Wang Zhen, the landlord of the village, and was released after selling 100 acres of land to bribe officials. Later, he took his horses to a horse team in Yu County, and returned because he was blackmailed, and went to Liangwa, and the horses were snatched away by the township team. Lang has been innocently victimized many times, and his anger is unusual. At that time, there was a severe drought in the county for many years, and the hungry people were everywhere, and many people turned to Lang and persuaded him to come out to "make trouble". Lang's wandering was undecided, and it happened that the county government arrested the plasterer hired by his sister's family in the city in the name of bandits, and robbed him of the property stored in his sister's house, so he became angry and started an incident in October of the third year of Xuantong (1911).

At the beginning of the incident, there were only twenty or thirty people and a rifle. Soon after, he seized the rich man's rifle and pistol, and 30 earthen guns; And combined with Li Lang, Zhang Qun and other poles, the number of people increased to more than 100. On February 8, the first year of the Republic of China (1912), Bai Lang led the crowd to move from Yaodian to Daogutian Village. When the Spring Festival was approaching, Bai Langji gathered hungry people in the four townships and went to the Liuji warehouse in the east of the city to grab more than 170 trucks of grain. That night, Bai Lang learned that the county magistrate Zhang Litang would leave his post the next day, passing through Jiaomaling. Lang led people to volley, and in one fell swoop captured 16 rifles (fast), and captured Zhang Zi and obtained more than 10 redemption guns. After that, he united with Li Fengchao and other poles, supporting more than 200 people, and his power grew.

On April 23, Yu Yaoting, commander of the 13th Battalion of the Beiyang Army, marched to suppress Bai Lang, and Lang retreated from Gaohuang Temple to the area of Madao and Zhangzhuang in the west of the city. On May 12, Yu led his troops to the camp, and when he arrived at Li Wenyi, he was defeated and retreated by Langbu. In June, Lang joined forces with Du Qibin and others to attack Daying Town, where Yu Zhi was stationed, at night, and the Yu army was defeated and fled.

After Bai Lang repelled the official army, he performed in the village to celebrate for three days, and discussed the activity plan with Du Qibin, Niu Tianxiang, Gao Yongcheng (Qin Jiaohong) and other pole leaders. On October 24th, Lang led the people to attack Yu County in the north, and went south to open Chunshui, Xiangheguan and other places in Miyang.

In the winter of that year, Langfu went south, entered Wuyang Sow Gorge (now belonging to Wugang City), and successively united with Wang Chuanxin of Nanyang, Song Lao, Li Hongbin, Wang Zhen and other poles in Lu and Bao, totaling more than 600 people, captured Tang County (now Tanghe County), wiped out most of the 59th Regiment of the Army in one fell swoop, captured a large number of rifles, machine guns, cannons, and bullets, and the righteous army increased to more than 1,000 people, and the prestige was great. So he returned to the north, attacked Lushan and Poyu County, and clearly put forward the slogan of "fighting the rich and helping the poor". The Beiyang Army gathered nearly 10,000 people, including Lei Zhenchun, Wang Yuxiu, and Lei Cunxiu, to encircle and suppress it. Lang broke out of the encirclement, and the troops were divided into two routes, one to the west to attack the Lu family, and the other to the south to break Xichuan Xiping Town, Jingziguan and other places.

Bai Lang claimed to be the commander-in-chief of Yuan, obviously in contact with Sun Cannon.

At this time, the thieves led by Bai Lang had begun to take shape, and together with the civil war of the Second Revolution, the commerce of the three provinces of East China Autonomous Province in other provinces was greatly disturbed.

This forced the East China Autonomous Axe to make moves to stabilize the situation.

Xia Jun was furious and declared war on the Kuomintang on April 23!

"Our East China Autonomous Government cannot tolerate any form of civil war, let alone the Kuomintang colluding with thieves and corrupting production and law. When the Kuomintang wanted to go to war, I declared war on the Kuomintang on behalf of the people of the three provinces of East China on behalf of the people of the three provinces of East China. ”

…… As soon as Xia Jun declared war, there was support within the three provinces of East China.

The people of the three autonomous provinces of East China opposed the civil war, but at this time the civil war was inevitable, and the Kuomintang colluded with the thief Bai Lang, and the people were already deeply disgusted.

The populace supported the declaration of war.

Especially those agricultural reclamation companies, their business has been seriously disrupted this year, and seeing that spring sowing has arrived, if the situation is not stable again, it will be difficult for spring sowing to proceed normally, and the losses will be very huge.

Moreover, because of the outbreak of the Second Revolution, the railways from Hangzhou to Shanxi were suspended, and most of the people in the three provinces in East China bought railway bonds or stocks.

The other provinces were surprised by the sudden declaration of war on the autonomous government of East China.

In their opinion, the second revolution can still be troubled for a while, and some people even suspect that Sun Dacang's second revolution was secretly instigated by the axe of East China's autonomous government.

What I didn't expect was that this time the East China Autonomous Political Axe and the Beiyang Political Axe joined forces to suppress the Second Revolution.

(To be continued)