"Mr. Zhou, our People's Party wants to take people from the West Zhejiang Branch to Anhui." A young man in his twenties said frankly to Zhou Fengshan.

Zhou Fengshan, commander of the Beiyang Army, who was responsible for exterminating the "chaotic party" in western Zhejiang, calmly listened to this, and a force of more than 4,000 people of the People's Party quickly marched towards Changxing after crossing the border into western Zhejiang on 11 March. The Beiyang Army's reconnaissance network was wiped out at the slightest contact with the People's Party's troops. Zhou Fengshan did not make a fool after getting the news, he immediately commanded the troops to start assembling and retreating. The People's Party immediately sent a small force to bring the Beiyang sentinels who had been captured in the past few days to make contact.

For the People's Party soldiers who came under the white flag, Zhou Fengshan knew that they were trying to make contact rather than surrender. However, Zhou Fengshan really wanted to see the other party come to express his true submission.

The representative of the People's Party didn't care what Zhou Fengshan thought in his heart, he continued his work, "Mr. Zhou, our purpose is to bring all the people from the West Zhejiang Branch to Anhui, not to have a war with your army. I don't know if your army's order before this dispatch contains any content of fighting to the death with our army? ”

If the representatives of the People's Party showed naked threats, Zhou Fengshan would not have felt so unhappy. What made Zhou Fengshan extremely unhappy was the People's Party's "self-oriented" attitude. The purpose of the BJP is to take the Liberation Society away, implicitly meaning that if anyone stops it, the BJP will not hesitate to fight against it. Zhou Fengshan asked: "There is no one stopping you from Changxing to the border of Anhui?" Who do you want to take away? ”

"If possible, we would like to pick up all the people from the other two places who are willing to go with us." The representative of the People's Party replied.

"Hmph," Zhou Fengshan sneered with a bit of a bluff, "The chaotic parties in other places are already dead, so you don't have to bother with this." ”

The eyes of the BJP delegates widened, and it was a real shock, and the intense anger that came with the shock.

When Zhou Fengshan said this, he originally had a kind of bluff and self-satisfaction, but under the angry eyes of the representatives of the People's Party, he felt a burst of emptiness in his heart. Because he knew very well that the representatives of the People's Party in front of him knew what it meant to "die out of a chaotic party." That's tens of thousands of lives!

The representative of the People's Party did not pause for long, he took out a map and put it on the table, the map has already marked the area, "Within four days, we will evacuate all those who are willing to evacuate in this area, and we will leave behind the materials that cannot be withdrawn." I hope Mr. Zhou can tolerate these few days. ”

Zhou Fengshan looked at the map and was greatly surprised in his heart, the areas marked on the map were areas that the Beiyang Army did not fully control, and it was likely that there were still some "chaotic parties" in these areas.

"Four days is too much, three days at most." Zhou Fengshan was naturally not stupid enough to agree immediately.

"We will also evacuate as soon as possible, and if we can not cause trouble to Mr. Zhou, we will try not to cause trouble to Mr. Zhou."

Although the words of the People's Party representative were very polite, Zhou Fengshan did not dare to fully believe it. But it would be too timid to ask the BJP at this time whether it will abide by the agreement. Zhou Fengshan said with a condescending look: "Our Beiyang Army will wait for three days at most. ”

This clearly sounds murderous, but in fact it has unequivocally agreed with the demands of the BJP. Officialdom is like this, waiting for three days means not starting to prepare within three days. Doing everything requires preparation time, especially for war, and the first two days are all sentinels, and no matter how quickly the troops are dispatched, they must start on the third day. This time is even one day more than the four days requested by the BJP.

Naturally, the representatives of the People's Party are not fools, and as soon as they hear this, they understand what they mean. He got up and said, "Thank you very much." ”

There was no need to serve tea to the guests, and when they saw that an agreement had been reached, the representative of the People's Party took his leave. Zhou Fengshan also likes such a crisp style, and this order is to exterminate the rebellious party and recapture western Zhejiang. As the commander of the Beiyang Army, Zhou Fengshan can "move with the camera" when facing the People's Party, so he doesn't have to be afraid of someone talking about contact with the People's Party behind his back. As long as there were no major losses in the troops, Zhou Fengshan completed his task. In the current situation, no one wants to fight those tough battles.

Xu Xilin and Qiu Jin don't have so much nonsense, and they also know what Zhexi was like when they were killed. These days, the comrades who have fled to Changxing have told the story of the bloody massacres in various places very clearly. It can be said that the local organization of the western Zhejiang branch has been uprooted, and the comrades who were able to retreat were basically in Changxing County.

Perhaps the luckiest part of the western Zhejiang branch was the troops led by Ji Ye, because fatigue had reduced their mobility, and there were no villages to rely on, this harassing force had fallen into the encirclement of the Beiyang Army. Because of the intervention of the People's Party, the Beiyang Army retreated, and the troops led by Ji Ye safely withdrew to Changxing under the response of the People's Party. However, as soon as he returned to Changxing, Ji Ye had to join a quarrel.

"Don't want so much equipment and materials?" The comrades of the western Zhejiang branch were very unacceptable to the rapid evacuation. In addition to guns and ammunition, there are dozens of large and small factories in Changxing. There are state-run and private. All kinds of materials are piled up in the warehouse, and if they retreat like this, these materials will definitely be left to the Beiyang Army. Even if they knew that these supplies could not be withdrawn at all, they still could not accept it.

"Even if you burn something, you can't leave it to the Beiyang Army!" Some people have already expressed a tough attitude.

The representative of the People's Party did not think so, "There must be people in Changxing County who refuse to leave and leave things behind, the Beiyang Army has something to grab, and it can also reduce the hostility of the Beiyang Army, and we must take a long-term view in doing things." ”

"What is it to curry favor with the Beiyang Army now?" The representative of the western Zhejiang branch was angry by this reasoning, "Do you still want to let them show mercy to us when we fight with the Beiyang Army in the future?" ”

"Who are the people who are still in Changxing now? It's all those people who oppose us, and if you leave things to them, doesn't it make people slap the left cheek, and then put the right cheek up and let people continue to beat? ”

Seeing that her comrades had begun to get excited, Qiu Jin slapped the table and stood up. "This time all the retreat was carried out by the comrades of the People's Party, and all of them only obeyed and did not oppose. That's an order! ”

Xu Xilin also expressed his support with a clear attitude at this time. Because of lack of sleep, Ji Ye's eyes were as red as rabbits, and she also got up to show her support, but she found that her voice was completely dumb, and she finally said in a voice that everyone could understand: "Absolutely no disobedience to orders!" ”

Several key cadres have spoken, and this can be regarded as suppressing the western Zhejiang branch.

The retreat went smoothly, and all those in Changxing City who supported the western Zhejiang branch retreated with the large army. Weapons and ammunition, as well as various currencies were taken away. Everything that can be cashed in immediately, including food, is taken with it. On the contrary, raw silk and other materials that need to be transported over long distances and are inconvenient to carry are all left after simple storage.

Not only the comrades and the masses in Changxing County, but also members of various grassroots organizations in the surrounding countryside that had not yet been attacked, as well as members of the branch in western Zhejiang, joined the ranks. The flow of people surged, and everyone left their hometowns and headed towards Anhui with the materials they could carry. A long queue of tens of thousands of people was evacuated to Anhui within four days under the support of the People's Party.

The Beiyang Army did not make a stupid breakthrough, and the People's Party, which had been fully investigated and discovered, did not leave an ambush, so they marched quickly towards Changxing County.

When they entered the county seat, the Beiyang Army saw people carrying supplies from various warehouses to their homes on the street.

"Dare to touch our stuff! I don't want to live anymore! While cursing, the Beiyang Army unceremoniously shot these people on the spot. According to the custom, after eliminating the "bad guys who took advantage of the fire to rob", the Beiyang Army began to carry out door-to-door break-ins and searches, and immediately carried out a comprehensive search of those who saw hoarding and property in their homes.

Those who dared to stay in Changxing City were all against the Zhexi Branch, and regardless of whether they put up banners in support of the Beiyang Army, the Beiyang Army personally carried out the looting in line with the principle of "doing it yourself and having enough food and clothing". The protesters were beaten and shot on the spot. These guys, who once thought that Changxing County would be able to restore a clear and clear sky after the Beiyang Army came, found that they were greeted by a thick cloud composed of black muzzles. At one time, they believed that the West Zhejiang Branch would not allow looting and that it was a policy that all regimes would implement to ensure the normal operation of social order. The Beiyang military educated these people with its factual actions, which is a complete delusion.

If when retreating a few days ago, the cry in Changxing City was due to the pain of being uprooted, and now the cry in Changxing City is the despair when it was completely plundered.

On March 20, 1915, the news of "completely annihilating the rebellious party in western Zhejiang and recovering western Zhejiang" came back to Hangzhou, even if it was known that Zhou Fengshan finally connived at the remnants of western Zhejiang to flee into Anhui, Zhu Rui, the governor of Zhejiang, and the commander of the Third Army of Beiyang would not think that Zhou Fengshan had done anything wrong. In this period, keeping the army is equivalent to keeping yourself. Therefore, even if Cai Yuanpei made a very subtle complaint, the military people were only sloppy. Zhu Rui and the others cared more about how much loot they got from Zhexi. The news of the seizure of tens of thousands of loads of raw silk made them almost unable to close their mouths. A load of raw silk can now be sold for at least 50 taels. Tens of thousands of quintals of raw silk are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars when they are shipped to Shanghai, not to mention the equipment of the silk reeling factory and other factories in the bandit area, and there are already Hangzhou factories that mainly buy these equipment. Sending troops to earn millions at a time is a good deal that is rarely encountered.

Cai Yuanpei didn't think about the issue of these trophies at all, and as soon as he returned to the General Association of the Restoration Society, Cai Yuanpei convened a meeting to discuss his next move. A considerable number of people in the general meeting were silent, and the bloody massacre of the Beiyang Army and the militia in western Zhejiang had been transmitted back to Hangzhou, and the killing that was originally only aimed at the western branch of Zhejiang had now turned into a massacre of the entire western Zhejiang, which greatly exceeded the initial imagination of the cadres of the Liberation Society.

It's just that there are always people who can't help it, and when the West Zhejiang Branch retreated, they didn't detain the two tax policemen, they had already run back to Hangzhou and told Zhao Hanqing what they had seen and heard. Looking at the smiling faces of some of the members of the Restoration Society, thinking about the cruel acts he heard, Zhao Hanqing couldn't help but stand up, "Mr. Cai, I don't know something. The western branch of Zhejiang has defected to the People's Party, betrayed our Guangfu Society, and it is nothing to eliminate them. But the people of western Zhejiang are just bewitched, so why should they kill people's heads? ”

These words are righteous and strict, and some people in the Liberation Association can't help but speak out in support. Cai Yuanpei originally didn't expect that the killing in western Zhejiang would be so tragic, and he was brought up by Zhao Hanqing in person, his face hesitated, but he didn't say anything.

"Zhao Hanqing, I think you are also a chaotic party!" Liu Zonghan, one of the six-member group of the Restoration Society, who participated in the planned massacre of Zhu Rui, the governor of Zhejiang, did not explain, and came up to Zhao Hanqing with a hat of a chaotic party, "Anyone who sympathizes with the chaotic party is the wings of the chaotic party." There are only a few people in the chaotic party in western Zhejiang, and they have grown to the point where they have grown to the present, and the new people who have joined are the people who have been bewitched. Moreover, when the official army entered and suppressed, these people did not say that they would abandon the secret and turn against the attack, but they tried their best to resist. These bewitched people are not chaotic parties, who else are chaotic parties? ”

Zhao Hanqing never expected Liu Zonghan to look at the problem like this, and simply put the hat of clinging to the chaotic party on his head. After all, he is the one who has supported Xu Xilin in private, and he is naturally a little uneasy when he is said like this. So he simply sat back in his seat and said nothing.

Zhao Hanqing sat down, but Wu Huiqiu stood up. One of the Restoration Fathers was a woman. is also Qiu Jin's schoolgirl, who left home to participate in the revolution because of her opposition to arranged marriages. He participated in almost all the battles in the early stage of the Liberation Society, and is now the deputy director of the Hangzhou Education Department and the principal of the Hangzhou Girls' School. Her students came from all over Zhejiang, and many parents of students from western Zhejiang were massacred by the Beiyang Army and militia groups in western Zhejiang. With a fit of rage, she got up and spoke.

"Comrades, didn't we stand up against the Manchus just to save the people from fire and water. Now even if the western Zhejiang branch has defected from the Liberation Society, it is only a political difference. And as far as I know, most of the people who were slaughtered in this massacre did not join the army in western Zhejiang at all. Even if you are bewitched, how can you talk about resistance? Mr. Cai, you are virtuous and noble, and you must not turn a blind eye to this matter. ”

"Wu Huiqiu! Are you crying out against your teacher? Since Liu Zonghan has already expressed his attitude, he has not made the slightest concession at this time.

Wu Huiqiu was originally quite strong, even if she was threatened by Liu Zonghan, she was not afraid at all, "I am indeed crying out for injustice!" If it were to be explained at the beginning that the expulsion of the Zhexi branch was to kill people like this, I would never agree! ”

Although this clear and eloquent remark did not make many people support and agree, there were not a few people who nodded slightly.

Cai Yuanpei's face was gloomy, he still didn't think there was anything wrong with the matter of purging the party, he was blamed by Wu Huiqiu like this, and his unhappy look was fully revealed on Cai Yuanpei's face. But this has already happened, and although everyone disagrees, it is impossible to turn back time. So the argument is not very heated. So Cai Yuanpei didn't get angry in public.

The meeting broke up unhappily, but Liu Zonghan and the others found Cai Yuanpei, "Cai Gong, since the western Zhejiang branch has been cleared, we need to strike while the iron is hot, and completely eliminate the gang of people who were bewitched by the People's Party in our Restoration Association according to the original plan." ”

"Brother Liu is right, judging from today's situation, there are many people within our Guangfu Association who tend to disrupt the party. These people have an irreversible relationship with Xu Xilin and Qiu Jin. Xu Xilin Qiujin is in western Zhejiang, but it is easy to deal with. But these people are all inside our Restoration Society, which can be said to be a terminal disease. If you can't get rid of it quickly, it will be a big disaster in the future. ”

"Cai Gong, Beiyang is not effective in suppressing bandits this time. insisted that the rebellious party in western Zhejiang fled to Anhui. If they want to counterattack Zhejiang in the future, they must contact these people first, which will be an unforeseen disaster. ”

Cai Yuanpei knew that what these people said was right, since they had completely broken with western Zhejiang, then all those who sympathized with western Zhejiang within the Restoration Society would be a great threat in the future war. Even though he has seen the true face of the Qing Party, Cai Yuanpei still believes that it is absolutely necessary to clean up the Party. Thinking of this, Cai Yuanpei said: "The matter of purging the party must be completed. But this time we need to be more careful. A careful list must be drawn up so that no innocent people are implicated. ”

Several people replied almost in unison: "Don't worry, Gong Cai, we will never act sloppily." ”